This map is fairly straightforward, although you need to be rather thorough to receive the hidden objective.
Primary Objectives
- Destroy all enemy airfields.
- Sink the USS Yorktown.
- Sink the USS Enterprise.
Secondary Objectives
- Sink the USS Atlanta.
- Launch 8 squadrons.
Hidden Objectives
- Destroy all fuel tanks.
The destruction of enemy airpower is first and foremost here. You can easily knock off one of the secondary objectives and complete a primary objective right away - start the mission by splitting your force up in two. The carriers should move south, toward the shipyard island, and have the Fusō advance with your warships to the east. You also have a submarine on this map, provided you received a gold medal in a previous mission. If you have it, send it to the water between the two largest islands on the atoll, and have all three ships - the Fusō, its cruiser escort, and your submarine - launch their recon planes.
Put up eight squadrons of D3A Vals and have them all charge, simultaneously, in the direction of the enemy airfields. Aim at the destruction of two of them and save the third for dessert. It's important to launch all your bombers at the airfield simultaneously, and overwhelm the enemy's Buffalo and Wildcat defenses. Additionally, the tail guns provide some protection against enemy CAP. However, some players may prefer to launch six Val squadrons and two Shinden or Zero squadrons, depending on your playing style. Have a seaplane - one unequipped with depth charges, preferably - assist the bombers in paving the way to the airfields. If you disable an airfield, make sure all bombers switch targets to the second one. Otherwise they'll simply circle around and do you absolutely no good.
Bombers who have unloaded their cargo should do three things, in order of priority - target the enemy fuel tanks for the hidden objective, target enemy CAP for the other bombers, and then finally target the enemy land-based anti-aircraft artillery. The destruction of the airfields is paramount, but is probably the most difficult objective in this map. That said, the Fusō can pretty much handle the entire map alone.
Occasionally, to the north, you'll encounter a Narwhal-class submarine. This can be easily sunk by recon planes launched from your battleship and your cruiser. Also send the destroyer to hunt it and make things quick. It will invariably head for your carriers, but you can turn this against it by moving into the shallow water around the islands. Don't move in, though, until you've neutralized the enemy command buildings - thereby preventing enemy coastal guns from firing on the carriers. Although the carriers are not necessary for victory, it's best to avoid damage to them where possible.
Neutralize the airfield with bombers, the Fusō, or a combination of both. As you close in on the enemy islands, your NPCs will state that an Atlanta-class cruiser is closing in on the islands. It will always spawn in front of your planes so it won't be possible to flank to the north to try to avoid it. Its AA defenses can make bombing the island - and it - problematic. This is what you've positioned your submarine earlier for - use it to eliminate the Atlanta with a few well-placed torpedoes. Be careful around the islands, however, because enemy PTs lurk around, and try not to surface near the Atlanta or near any coastal guns on Midway. Although you can also use your dive bombers and torpedo bombers to eliminate the Atlanta, it's best to use a boat of some kind - the Atlanta will cause unnecessary damage to your air forces. If you lack the submarine, launch a few squadrons of Kate torpedo bombers once a few spaces have cleared on your carriers, and send these in to attack - three or four squadrons should take the ship out in a matter of moments, and these can then be kept in the air for the incoming carriers.
Once the enemy no longer has the airfields and the Atlanta-class cruiser is down, take some time to ensure the enemy does not have any more fuel stocks on Midway. These are easy to find - the large fat cylinders are your objective. Take a plane and fly over both islands in the atoll, destroying all of them. On the shipyard island, there are three of these cylinders (they are grouped together), and on the airfield island, there are six fuel tanks in three groups of two. The only indication of you completing this objective is the sound saying you received a naval supply, so be thorough and take your time - the enemy is not in a position to stop you. To make things easier, neutralize the enemy command building (that is, the command building on the shipyard island and the radar tower on the airfield island) to silence all land-based AA guns. Don't bother trying to capture either island, however. Also, have your submarine sails to the northeast of the airfield island, near the border to await incoming enemy fleet.
Around this time the American carriers begin appearing. The first is the USS Yorktown, and it appears on the eastern border near the island. If you've positioned your battleship close to this position, you'll be almost in a firing position as soon as it appears. It is escorted by a pair of Fletcher-class destroyers and a single Northampton-class cruiser. None of these ships, nor the carriers planes (especially when the Fusō is escorted by destroyers) pose a considerable threat to you. Be careful of the enemy destroyers, though - they have an annoying tendency to turn overconfidence against you by unleashing a spread of torpedoes at you if you let them in close. Destroy the Fletchers first and then the Yorktown. Save the Northampton for dessert.
Once you've sunk the first wave, a second wave will show up a little to the north of the first. It consists of an identical attack group, consisting of the USS Enterprise escorted by a Northampton and a pair of destroyers. The Fusō should still be in good health afterwards, so long as you didn't take any torpedo hits from the previous destroyer group. Have your submarine positioned earlier and the Fusō sail in and gun down the final carrier for the victory. Congratulations, Japan has conquered the Midway atoll.