The proposed evolution of the Japanese plan begins with a raid intended to draw the enemy forward. Under the attrition sequence, Japanese forces would wear down the advancing fleet, win a decisive battle and then undertake the southern advance from a stronger position. The Russo-Japanese War supplies the analogy for securing a favorable negotiated settlement after victory. The alternative was to disable the enemy fleet's core at the outset and launch the southern operations simultaneously or nearly so. This sequence sought to seize objectives before American power could be rebuilt. The change is interpreted as an implicit acceptance of a longer war than the original attrition strategy hoped to produce.
Notable Point · 59:53-1:01:45
From attrition raid to off-balance strategy
Expanding Pearl Harbor from a raid into a massed strike marked a shift from luring the U.S. Fleet toward battle to disabling its core while Japan seized southern objectives.