The comment broke the tension, and Nagumo smiled at the intense young man, whom he genuinely liked. “Has it ever been otherwise, Genda? You have always spoken your mind.”

“Then please let me remind you of our objectives, which were threefold. First, we were to destroy the American battleships and, second, the carriers along with their heavy cruiser escorts.” Genda felt that the order of precedence was reversed but discreetly said otherwise.

“Our third and final task was to destroy the oil storage and maintenance facilities at Pearl, thus eliminating its usefulness as a base. We have accomplished only one of those three goals, in that the battleships are destroyed. Fuchida says at least four are sunk and three others badly damaged.

“As to the carriers and cruisers, it is simply bad luck that they are at sea. They are gone, and there is nothing we can do about it. But if we destroy Pearl Harbor as a base, neither the missing carriers nor the replacement battleships the Americans are sure to send from the Atlantic will have a home to return to. All of Hawaii will be useless to the Americans, until and if they replace what they will lose if you will only permit us to attack once more.”

Nagumo wavered. The attack was indeed part of the plans, and the oil and dock facilities were extremely important targets. Again, Genda was correct. The Americans had lost badly, but they had other battleships in the Atlantic, and, since they were not yet at war with Germany, they would likely transfer some of those to fight Japan. It occurred to him that they might even transfer other carriers. The United States had been hurt, but far from fatally or even permanently.

He agonized. Perhaps he was being too cautious, too shocked by the ease of victory.

“We will suffer heavily,” Nagumo said. He hated the thought of losing the brave young men under his command. In the earlier attacks, he had lost an astoundingly low number considering the risks entailed. However, most of those lost had been from the second wave. By that time, the Americans were alert and outraged, and had fought like furies with what weapons remained at their disposal. This meant that a final attack would be against an aroused and infuriated enemy.