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Lots of Hiryus would make a difference. Lots of Shoukaku would have be a nightmare if one on one to the Essex, as they were fairly even with the Yorktowns.
Trouble is too little, too late. The Japanese did figure out what they were doing wrong about half the time and tried to fix it. But the Americans had designed their own fixes for thing before the war started.
Yamamoto and several other Admirals knew exactly what the Americans could do industrially if they could not secure a peace were America basically sticks its nose out of Japan's business within six to seven months. They knew they were out numbered. They just figued the Americans would not have the will to fight a long distance war over islands. They might have gotten that, if things hadn't gone as they had at Pearl Harbor. Americans don't like a long fight. We've seen this in Vietnam and in out more recent Gulf War situation. However, Americans have a low tolerance for sneak attacks, and are very willing to give ten-fold in return in a straight up fight. The Japanese didn't know. I doubt we even knew we would do that.
One wonder if the Japanese could get the Americans to negotiate a peace if they managed to take Midway and destroy at least two or three of the Americans six carriers? Yorktown, Enterprise and Hornet are at Midway/Hawaii. Saratoga is on her way to Hawaii after being repaired. She also has replacement aircraft wth her. Wasp and Ranger are in the Atlantic for the Torch Landings in Africa. Wasp will soon be transfered to the Pacific. Ranger is not going to the Pacific. She has been rated as not having enough spare capacity for the needed AA guns to combat the Japanese. She just was not designed for this sort of combat. She remains the small fleet carrier in the Altantic. (Lexington has been sunk at Coral Sea, and the old Langley was converted to a seaplane carrier and sunk at Java Sea). The Essex and Independance class carriers won't be fully in combat service until the Summer of 1943, more than a year after the Battle of Midway.
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