The novel begins where the previous book left off. 1800hrs on December 7, 1941, the Japanese carrier fleet is still 150 miles north of Oahu. The three air strikes that Yamamoto has despatched to Oahu has cost him over 80 aircraft, leaving the fleet with just under 300 planes still airworthy. Yamamoto is grimly pleased with the results thus far but he is troubled by reports that the Japanese Foreign Ministry failed in their mission to deliver a formal declaration of war to the US prior to the air attacks, thus allowing the Americans to brand them as ‘sneak attacks’, igniting their anger and righteous indignation.