Throwing a head fake intended to fool the enemy on Formosa, Halsey ordered a sixty-one-plane fighter sweep over Aparri Airfield on northern Luzon. The ruse did not succeed, however—radar screens revealed many Japanese scouts headed out from Formosa in wedge-shaped search vectors. The aviators would have to fight their way into Formosan airspace, where the Japanese would be ready and waiting for them. Halsey realized that he had erred in hitting Okinawa first; he should have aimed the first strike at Formosa.
