A carrier has a fleet of ship with it. 2 carrier battle group was enough.
Japs almost won against US in the pacific. They just ran out of steam and nukes made the war untenable.
There was no way Japan would have won in the Pacific war. One point is it overextended to many countries, like
Guam, part of
China, Taiwan, united Korea, etc. After this, the USA slapped a sanction against Japan barring ships to carry fuel from Indonesia.
. So, Japan invaded the Philippines and
expelled America.
. It invaded Vietnam and
expelled France.
. It invaded Indonesia and
expelled Holland.
. Next, they attacked Malay and Singapore and
expelled the British.
. Next, they attacked Burma and
expelled the British.
. There were some countries where Australia interfered and Japan
expelled Australia. I do not remember which countries, could it be south Pacific islands?
. It bombed some places in
Chittagong and Kumilla by flying its Zero fighter planes from Burma.
The Zero fighters were even better than German planes those days. British planes were no match.
Japan did not invade only Thailand. it respected the latter because of its
sense of dignity of not accepting a European rule. However, from Japan to Indonesia to Burma was a vast territory when Manchuria and other parts of China is considered.
It lost the war because the USA won against Germany and re-directed its troops and strength to the Pacific. The USA kept Japan under occupation for a few years. But, most Japanese would say it was good for the population because General MacArthur introduced a very effective land reform and the warmonger rightists here lost steam.
Japan lost about 3,000,000 armed and civilian population in the long five year of heavy fighting in the Pacific war. Every name of the dead is registered. Now, read about Onoda Hiroo who finally surrendered in 1974.
https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2...wwii-soldier-hiroo-onoda-hid-jungles-decades/