Before arriving at the battlefield, Tan Renhao received a message from Yan Guozhong that the Fifth Task Force had replaced the Second Task Force and was continuing to bomb US targets near Brisbane as planned, and that the Second Task Force had returned to Port Vila and was taking a temporary rest there. In the telegram, Yan Guozhong asked Tan Renhao to directly lead the First Task Force to Port Vila, and after determining the specific combat operations, the First Task Force then set off for the war zone.

On the morning of the 14th, Task Force 1 reached the Coral Sea, and instead of heading south from the west of New Caledonia into the Tasman Sea, the fleet bypassed the New Caledonian Islands and went directly to Port Vila. On the afternoon of the 15th, Task Force 1 arrived in Port Vila.

After months of work by the Marines, much of Port Vila's infrastructure has been repaired. In order to allow Port Vila to support the fleet fighting on the front line, Yan Guozhong managed to bring a large number of equipment and materials from the rear, and organized thousands of Marine Corps engineers.

Seeing the warships of the Second Task Force on the east side of the harbor, Tan Renhao suddenly had a feeling that he couldn't even speak. Two years ago, he was still worrying about Hao Dongjue, but now Hao Dongjue has become the commander of the main task force of the empire, commanding dozens of powerful warships and tens of thousands of officers and soldiers. Although Hao Dongjue made some trouble on the battlefield, on the whole, his ability has been recognized. Task Force 2 has been operating in the South-West Pacific for several months, surpassing even Task Force 4 if the performance of air strikes is measured. Hao Dongjue, who let go of his hands and feet, has more room to play, which is also what Tan Renhao did not expect at the beginning.

The anchorage of the 1st Task Force is to the west of the harbor, and the harbor area has been cleared, and more than a dozen tugboats are hovering over the sea, and these tugboats will be responsible for positioning the battleships and moving them in small areas while the large warships are moored. These are all arranged by Lei Shaoqing a long time ago. After his terms of reference were confirmed, Lei Shaoqing was directly responsible for the command of Port Vila. This can be regarded as part of the logistics of the fleet.

"Talking about the general, it seems to be General Lei."

"Yes. It's him, I'll go down first, and after you settle the officers and men of the fleet, you will come to us at the theater fleet headquarters. Tan Renhao glanced at Zheng Guanhua, and then called Du Xing to leave the bridge.

Lei Shaoqing was not the only one who came to greet Tan Renhao, Hao Dongjue also rushed over, and after the two saw Tan Renhao coming to the dock, they immediately greeted him.

"Why don't you see the old man? Didn't he come a few days before I did? Tan Renhao looked around for a while. There was no new recommendation in sight, and according to the previous plan, the 3rd Task Force was supposed to arrive in the theater of operations in early June. Then the new recommendation should be here.

"Task Force 3 has been transferred to Noumea, and Port Vila is mainly responsible for providing logistical support for the carrier task force, which is a new adjustment for us." Lei Shaoqing explained, and then took Tan Renhao and them towards the car outside the dock, "I have already called Lao Chang, and he will come over tomorrow." ”

Only then did Tan Renhao notice that there were no ground warships of the Third Task Force in the port, and it would already be quite difficult for one port to support three aircraft carrier task forces at the same time. I'm afraid it's even more troublesome. Since the main logistical support obstacle for the Third Task Force is ammunition and supplies, Nouméa is closer to the front line, so it is reasonable to arrange for the Third Task Force to be stationed in Noumea.

"Dongjue, I heard that you almost had a conflict with Jiang Zhongmin again?" Tan Renhao called Hao Dongjue over.

"Who said that? I'm a conscious person, and I don't have anything to do with him. Hao Dongjue looked dazed.

"Don't pretend to be garlic with me, anyway, you have to be behind me in the future, and you don't want to make a name for yourself." Tan Renhao was testing Hao Dongjue, "How long have you been here?" ”

"It's been almost five days." Lei Shaoqing answered this question for Hao Dongjue, "Now it's the Fifth Task Force in front." According to Yan Guozhong's intentions, after the arrival of Lao Chang tomorrow, we will immediately determine the detailed battle plan, and if everything goes well, then it is possible to land on the 18th at the earliest. ”

"Only now have the battle plan decided?" Tan Renhao frowned slightly, it has been fifteen days, and the fleet still needs to go to the combat area, which will take at least two days, that is to say, Yan Guozhong may only have a few hours to determine the battle plan.

"The battle plan has been basically completed, and now there are only a few more important issues that need to be clarified." Lei Shaoqing opened the car door, first let Tan Renhao get in, and then he let Hao Dongjue sit in the front co-pilot's seat, and he followed Tan Renhao to get into the car, "The main thing is the cooperation between the fleet and other forces, and the targets that need to be attacked by the fleet, the support provided by the fleet to the marines, and so on." ”

"No advance fire preparation?" Tan Renhao was still a little confused, he didn't know what Yan Guozhong was thinking.

"At least, I didn't see the part of the preliminary firepower preparation in General Yan Guozhong's battle plan." Lei Shaoqing shrugged his shoulders, "Wait a minute, we'll go to Yan Guozhong, and he will explain it to you." ”

Tan Renhao was very puzzled, and the preliminary firepower preparation in the landing operation was an important experience summed up by the Marine Corps in the bloody battle in the Pacific, and it could even be said to be a necessary means of victory. Yan Guozhong has commanded dozens of landing operations, large and small, from being unfamiliar at the beginning to being proficient now, he should have a clear understanding of the possible troubles in the landing operations and the difficulties of the landing operations. Without extensive, protracted, and powerful advance fire preparations, the landing force would most likely encounter fierce resistance from the enemy after coming ashore, and the consequences would be unimaginable. Compared with previous landing operations, this landing operation is more difficult and more demanding, so Yan Guozhong will not be unaware of the importance of advance firepower preparation, so why did he give up advance firepower preparation?

The three of them went to Lei Shaoqing's theater fleet headquarters first, and when Zheng Guanhua arrived, Lei Shaoqing arranged the supply of the first task force to Zheng Guanhua, and then took Tan Renhao and Hao Dongjue to Yan Guozhong's theater headquarters. Taking advantage of this opportunity, Tan Renhao and Hao Dongjue talked about one person alone, and they still asked about the situation of the second task force. Because Hao Dongjue arrived a few days earlier than Tan Renhao, he had already seen the battle plan formulated by Yan Guozhong. So Tan Renhao learned more news from Hao Dongjue.

Yan Guozhong did not give up the preparation of firepower in the early stage, but greatly shortened the time for preparation of firepower in the early stage. In previous landing combat operations. There are at least three days of preliminary fire preparation, and if conditions permit and the combat intensity is relatively large, then the preliminary fire preparation will even be extended to five days. At the time of the assault on Port Vila, the preliminary fire preparation even reached eight days. This time, in the plan formulated by Yan Guozhong, the time for preliminary firepower preparation was only eight hours! And in most cases, this can only be regarded as the direct fire preparation of the landing force before going ashore. Because in previous operations, the time for preparation for direct fire alone was about four hours.

There were several reasons why Yan Guozhong decided to shorten the preliminary firepower preparation. First, the US defensive positions near the landing site were not solid, judging from the aerial reconnaissance in the early stage. The U.S. coastal defense line in the area north of Sydney is very sparse, the deployment of troops is seriously insufficient, and the number of reserves in the rear is not sufficient, so the landing operation is not very difficult. Second, there is a large fleet to provide real-time support for the Marine Corps, and the Marine Corps will receive continuous fire support from the fleet in the first 10 hours of the landing operation, that is, the most critical 10 hours, and the three aircraft carrier task forces, plus the theater fleet, have a total of more than 1,000 combat aircraft, and these bombers are enough to destroy most of the US military fortifications. The third is to continue to confuse the US military. If the pre-firepower is prepared in advance. Then the U.S. military will perceive the real landing place of the Imperial Marines, and MacArthur's reinforcements from Brisbane to Sydney will only take two days, and if MacArthur dispatches the main armored force, I am afraid it will only take one day. Therefore, the time for pre-fire preparation must be shortened.

With the existence of these three factors, Yan Guozhong could only shorten the preliminary firepower preparation to eight hours, plus the four hours of direct firepower preparation. The first ten hours of landing. That is, within twenty-two hours. The success or failure of the landing operation will be determined, and any problem in any link will lead to failure!

Tan Renhao also felt understandable about Yan Guozhong's arrangement, and at the same time, he also noticed a serious problem. Immediately, after meeting Yan Guozhong, Tan Renhao raised this question.

"You're saying that the bombing will take place mainly at night?"

"If we had been ashore early in the morning, as has been customary, and brought the landing time forward to seven o'clock without taking into account the effects of the tides, then we would have to start bombing American targets at seven o'clock the night before, and as a result, all the bombing operations would be concentrated at night." Tan Renhao touched the corner of his forehead, "Even if the First Task Force and the Second Task Force have a certain degree of night bombing capability, judging from the operational statistics of the night bombing operations carried out by the Second Task Force before this, even if the best pilots are dispatched, the bomber's efficiency at night bombing is less than half that of the daytime, and it can only bomb large fixed targets, and there is almost no way to deal with mobile targets and small concealed targets." What is even more serious is that after the high-intensity bombing at night, the carrier-based aviation will certainly suffer losses, and the pilots will be extremely tired, which will inevitably affect the combat operations during the daytime the next day, and it will be difficult to provide timely and effective support to the marines at that time. ”

Yan Guozhong's face sank, there had been staff officers who had mentioned this issue before, but no senior general had raised this issue. Tan Renhao's opinion is very reasonable: Although the carrier-based aviation units of the First Task Force and the Second Task Force are the best carrier-based aviation units of the Imperial Navy, the high-intensity combat operations carried out for more than 20 consecutive hours are in itself a test of the pilots' physical fitness.

"Perhaps, we should reconsider the early firepower preparations."

Yan Guozhong glanced at Lei Shaoqing, and then asked Ren Hao, "Ren Hao, how do you think we should fight?" ”

"The main purpose of shortening the preliminary firepower preparation should be to confuse the US military, so that MacArthur will not have time to make a correct judgment, and as long as our operation is smooth, even if MacArthur makes an accurate judgment in the first time, he will not be able to send troops over in time." Tan Renhao held his chin and pondered for a moment, "Maybe we have other solutions, but I haven't thought of them yet." ”

"The battle plan must be determined early tomorrow morning, otherwise the fleet will not have time to rush to the theater of operations, and it will be difficult for us to launch a landing operation in the middle of the month." Yan Guozhong sighed, "I only received a call from the chief of staff and the marshal yesterday, and the landing operation must be launched on June 20 at the latest, and even if the fleet sets off tomorrow, it can only reach the theater on the afternoon of the 17th at the earliest. ”

"Well, then I'll come back to you in the evening." Tan Renhao also knew that time was pressing, "I took the time to think about it, and when I had a clear idea, we will talk about it." ”

"It's okay, let Xiao Lei accompany you to dinner in the evening, I still have some things to deal with." Yan Guozhong didn't say anything polite, "By the way, Chang Jianxin will be here in two hours, you go to the airport to pick you up, and come to me after dinner in the evening, I'll wait for you here." ”

Tan Renhao and the others immediately got up to say goodbye, they were all a little surprised, Chang Jianxin called Lei Shaoqing before, and said that he would arrive tomorrow, and he would rush over now, it seemed that he also rushed over immediately after knowing the news of the arrival of the first task force.

"Renhao, do you have any specific ideas?" After leaving Yan Guozhong's office, Lei Shaoqing asked.

"Not yet, I just don't think it will work according to Yan Guozhong's current plan." Tan Renhao sighed secretly, "Let's go pick up Lao Chang first, and then talk about it during dinner, are there any better restaurants around here?" ”

"No, I'll ask the adjutant to get a few dishes, and then go to where I live." Lei Shaoqing shrugged his shoulders with a smile, "This place where birds don't, let alone restaurants, now even the residents in the city are controlled, I'm afraid we will have to wait until we successfully land in Australia before the military control is lifted." ”

The trio immediately went to the airport, where Port Vila remained under military control for several months in order to ensure the safety of the garrison and prevent the activities of enemy spies.