Japan faces a harder approach to a Sydney-based fleet

Japan could still attack Malaya and Singapore, but doing so would give a reinforced Australian base time to send a fleet north. A carrier strike on Sydney in place of Operation C into the Indian Ocean would resemble Pearl Harbor in purpose. Its approach would require a dogleg through island waters where observers with radios could warn the defenders. American forces falling back toward Sydney would also be moving toward the United States and a supporting base. An Allied concentration there could lead to a major fleet battle in the Coral Sea.