Canoerebel
Posts: 21100
Joined: 12/14/2002 From: Northwestern Georgia, USA Status: offline
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I think I understand John's thinking here: Ningpo is a major threat to Japan; at long last, he had a window to take on a major Allied fleet under somewhat favorable odds (at least, not impossible odds). He was hoping to win the naval battle to get a crack at Ningpo, eventually to close down the airfield. I think that was a good idea. He probably needed to go "all in" with everything he had, including carriers. When the Allies took Ningpo a month or two back, John wrote something to this effect: "Oh, I was afraid you were coming for something important." I don't think he was playing mind games there. I think he briefly but truly thought Ningpo was of considerably less importance than other possible targets. I believe he changed his mind pretty soon, probably with an assist from his Peanut Gallery. He knows Ningpo is dangerous, dangerous, dangerous. Will he come again? I don't know at this point. If he has enough to fight with, yes. If he doesn't have enough, then the state of his navy is really critical.
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