Reversing the information advantage exposes how much the historical result depended on detection and positioning. Two Japanese destroyers probably could not have destroyed the entire American group, but a larger prepared torpedo force might have inflicted losses resembling the costly American experience at Tassafaronga. Losing three cruisers, or the whole six-ship group, could have changed later memory of the Solomon Islands campaign. A one-sided action becomes a test of how intelligence changes tactical possibilities.
Notable Point · 1:25:07-1:26:31
A reversed ambush tests the value of information
A closing counterfactual asks how the Solomon Islands campaign might be remembered if Japanese destroyers had detected the cruisers first and launched an ambush.