Concentration as a command-and-control solution

Combining Yamamoto's main body with First Air Fleet would have given Nagumo direct access to his senior commander. In the proposed alternative, Yamamoto could have stopped the premature rearming order while the reserve still stood ready for an enemy fleet. Additional capital ships and cruisers would also have supplied reconnaissance aircraft, following the Japanese practice of scouting from those vessels. Their guns would have increased the air defence available against incoming American attacks. Second Fleet and the invasion force would form a separate supporting group well behind the main force, giving the slower ships a clearer place in the operation.