To this day, many people still struggle to understand why, in world war II, Japan dared to sneak into Pearl Harbor and drag the United States into World War II. After all, at that time, in terms of the strong industrial strength of the United States, once it joined the battlefield, Japan had little chance of winning. In fact, the main reason for this situation is that Japan is the end of the crossbow, and dragging the United States into the battlefield is not only a last resort, but also hopes to be able to put it to death and live again. Some people have put forward a point of view, in the original US-Japan aircraft carrier showdown, the level of the pilots of the United States and Japan is higher than that of the American pilots. Is this true?
Battle loss ratio
In this regard, many people may be more skeptical, after all, the United States' own air force system has developed earlier than Japan, how can it lose to Japan at this point? On this issue, a certain degree of judgment can be made by the proportion of the battle damage of the Coral Sea In the Pacific War at that time. Only in this way can we understand which American and Japanese pilots are stronger or weaker.
During the Battle of the Coral Sea, the United States and Japan each had one aircraft carrier sunk and one was damaged. However, the two armies lost 3 fighters and 6 bombers respectively in the war, while the Japanese lost 1 Zero fighter, 5 dive bombers and 1 torpedo aircraft. It can be seen that the losses on the Japanese side are obviously smaller than those of the United States.
In particular, the Japanese suffered mostly bombers and were vulnerable to battleship attacks, which was enough to reflect the piloting level of Japanese fighter pilots, perhaps slightly higher. What is more worth mentioning is that the Coral Island Naval Battle is enough to be called a new type of naval warfare in human history. Before the battleships could see each other, the carrier-based aircraft had already decided the winner or loser.
Military preparations
In addition, it is easy to understand that Japanese pilots can have a higher level of flight than American pilots. In order to be able to achieve the relevant strategic objectives and continue the war, the Japanese had made a lot of preparations before deciding to attack Pearl Harbor. Naturally, there will be more flight training for carrier-based aircraft than in the United States.
In the case of sufficient preparation on one side and relatively hasty response to the battle on the other side, the level of flight reflected by the Japanese pilots in a short period of time will naturally be higher. This is the same as when Japan launched the war of aggression against China, and in the early stage of the war of aggression against China, the average combat effectiveness of Japanese soldiers was indeed more powerful than ours.
However, with the passage of time, when the Chinese army gradually adapted to the offensive rhythm of the Japanese army, the superiority of the Japanese no longer existed. It can also be seen from here that the original Japanese aggressors were completely reckless in their decision-making. If the American army had also adapted to the Japanese offensive, with the blessing of strong industrial strength, Japan would have no chance of winning at all.