As I understand it the japanese plan in the pacific was for a swift victory as they knew that they could not keep up with the manufacturing capability of the US. To do this they planned to draw out and cripple the US carrier force and so my question is this - had yamamotos plans come to fruition and the american codebreakers not been on top of the situation, could the japanese have achieved this goal and if so do you think that this would have really given them a chance to win in the pacific?
Hi, I wrote about Japanese war aims in the Pacific before -- here's the link. The short version of this is that the Japanese plans to fight a limited war in the Pacific and force the United States' hand by destroying its fleet were not sustainable.