Yes, I am aware of that. But "ferry range" is exactly that. Like those bombers being flown to Hawaii on 7 December, they have nothing on board but fuel, and are flying a flight profile to maximize the range over all other considerations. It is like trying to compare a NASCAR race with a cargo truck.
One never uses "Ferry Range" when calculating combat range. But the combat range of the Zero was not 1,160, it was 1,105 miles. And that drop tank range is the maximum combat range. The pilots take off and use the drop tank for as long as possible, either dumping it right before they are empty, or in case they are about to enter combat.
But the A6M fighters bombing Manilla? In case you did not know those were Naval fighters. And the IJN Ryujo was involved in that battle and provided Zero and Kates for the operation.
With the distance of over 700 miles each way, the Zero could never have made that trip. There is not much information available, but they likely would have done like the US did during the war. Send the bombers off with a fighter escort for as much of the trip as they could, then the fighters would return to base. Then pick up other fighters that would do the same thing. For the longest range missions late in the war it was not unusual for Allied forces to have three different sets of fighter escorts, as the ranges of the bombers exceeded anything the fighters could do and there was no mid-air refueling in that era.
