More destroyers could buy time without changing the result

The proposed destroyer programme is explicitly judged insufficient to change the war's ultimate result. Its suggested benefit is a larger force able to carry out more Japanese plans in the early and middle phases. That could alter the timing of operations and buy more time. The argument connects that endurance with hopes of winning a decisive battle or wearing down American forces enough to secure negotiations. The Russo-Japanese War supplies the precedent invoked for that expectation. Additional time could also prolong false hopes, so a larger destroyer force is not presented as a route to assured strategic success.