The comment considers a Japanese fleet operating closer to home, where land airfields could recover naval fighters and reduce pressure for suicide attacks. Small bombs would have limited effect against heavily protected British carriers, which could make torpedo strikes more attractive than dive bombing. HMS Hood would remain more vulnerable to air attack than an armoured carrier and might have to operate farther from Japanese reconnaissance. The passage offers a conditional tactical forecast rather than a claim about what Japan historically chose in the later Pacific War.
Notable Point · 4:25-5:14
How a 1939 naval war might change Japanese air attacks
A counterfactual considers how home airfields, stronger carrier defenses, and early combat experience could alter Japanese strike tactics.