On the third day, the 3rd Task Force led by Chang Jianxin arrived at Apra Harbor, just as the 2nd Task Force went out for intensive training and vacated the berthing space. Hao Dongjue did not set off with the fleet, but stayed in the port of Apra, and let Wei Dongbei be in charge of the training work alone, and he also called it a beautiful name: to exercise Wei Dongbei's aviation command ability. This is just a reason for him to stay and eat the free meal that Tan Renhao treated.

"How's that ship doing?" Tan Renhao was not stingy, he paid out of his own pocket to invite Chang Jianxin, as well as all the fleet commanders and chiefs of staff who were still in Apra Harbor to dinner.

"What battleship?" Chang Jianxin didn't react.

"It's the battleship that went wrong and delayed the fleet's departure." Hao Dongjue added a question about Renhao next to him.

"What about radar?" Chang Jianxin only then understood what Tan Renhao was asking, "There is no problem, when I checked it, I found that there was a problem with an important part, which reduced the performance of the radar a lot, and now it has been repaired, and I also asked each warship to prepare a set of spare parts in case of emergency." ”

"That's good, it looks like we're doing well with all four fleets right now." Tan Renhao looked at the other people, "The Seventh and Eighth Task Forces will arrive in the next few days, and their refitting time will be a little earlier, and the training work will be carried out during the voyage, so we must arrange the training work as soon as possible, and the fleet must be ready for battle as soon as possible." ”

"It's a bit too intense, and if we start the campaign at the end of April, we will only have less than a month of acclimatization training. It was difficult for pilots to fully adapt to the performance of new fighters. Huang Xiaotian put forward his opinion.

"I've been thinking about this for the past few days." Tan Renhao nodded, "The training time is indeed very rushed, but the fleet must leave Apra Port on April 20, before that, the basic training must be in place, the specific campaign tasks must also be clarified, and there is also the question of how to organize our two main fleets." Xiaotian, let's talk about it in detail tomorrow. In fact, the most difficult part is the training work, which will definitely not be completed by then. We had to think about continuing our training during the voyage. ”

"Then you have to consider the problem of supply, training consumes a lot of fuel, although the ammunition problem should not be serious, but it should also be considered." Hao Dongjue also raised a question, "If the supply is not in place, it is very likely to affect the next combat operations." ”

"The Rapid Combat Support Fleet will arrive with the 7th and 8th Task Forces." Tan Renhao put down his chopsticks, "The supply capacity is not a problem, the main thing is the supply time, and the supply location chosen." If Spruance had mastered our whereabouts and knew that we would be fully resupply at least once in the frontline waters before the battle, it would have given him the opportunity to sneak up on us. ”

"Then only our two fleets cover each other and rotate supplies."

"But this will delay time and expose the whereabouts of the fleet. The problem is complex. ”

"yes. It's a complex issue, and we have to think about it in detail. Tan Renhao sighed, "We will discuss the details of the problem tomorrow." In addition, General Liao Hanxiang will be back in two days, and when the time comes, we will try to delay the landing on Kauai as much as possible. Buy us enough time to take out the Fifth Fleet. Even if you can't take out the Fifth Fleet, you must first figure out what the Fifth Fleet is doing. and their approximate whereabouts, so that we can have more options and be more flexible when it comes to supporting the Marine Corps. ”

Everyone nodded, it was the only way.

The meal didn't take much time, and no one proposed to continue the entertainment after the meal. A group of people returned to their places of residence early, although Tan Renhao did not officially give the order to start the campaign, and it was not his turn to give it, but these commanders and chiefs of staff understood that after eating this dinner, they had to devote all their energy to the next combat operations, and the happy time was over.

Early in the morning of the third day, Tan Renhao went to the study and asked Du Xing to call Zhu Rongzhe up.

"You can discuss the specific training arrangements with the aviation staff officer and a few group leaders." Tan Renhao did not have much hope for Zhu Rongzhe's aviation command ability. "The fleet will leave the port for training today, mainly to pay attention to safety, and let the three fighter captains be responsible for the training of novices."

"I know, I've already made a specific training plan, do you want to take a look at it first?"

"No, you can go back to the fleet as soon as possible, and I'll come back when I'm done with this side of things."

Zhu Rongzhe nodded. "Then I'll go back to the fleet after breakfast."

Tan Renhao did not ask Zhu Rongzhe to return to the battleship on an empty stomach, after all, he can't be too impersonal.

After breakfast, Tan Renhao called Huang Xiaotian, Hao Dongjue, and Chang Jianxin to the study, and he didn't let the captains of staff of the fleet come over.

"First of all, we have to determine the issue of the establishment of the two main fleets." Tan Renhao looked at Huang Xiaotian, "Originally, this matter should have been determined when we were in Zhoushan, but the chief of staff thinks that we have a better understanding of the actual situation after we get to the front, so let us temporarily decide how to distribute the task forces." Now we don't need to draw a definitive conclusion, just a rough one. If the situation changes, we will make changes. ”

"It depends on the specific battle plan." It makes sense to say that I often recommend new people.

"You've all seen the battle plan, right?" After Tan Renhao saw that the other three nodded, he continued: "Although this fleet battle plan was drawn up by me, most of the content is not much different from the three sets of battle plans that Xiaotian has already determined before, and it is only supplemented for some unexpected situations that may occur. The general idea is clear, our mission is to find and annihilate the Fifth Fleet before the Marines land on Kauai, and if we can achieve this, then the battle will be much easier. The backup plan was that if we were unable to annihilate the Fifth Fleet within this period, we would have to support the landing of the Marines on Kauai while guarding against the Fifth Fleet. And we have only two months at most, at least a month to carry out this phase of combat operations, and we must attack Kauai before the U.S. Navy gets a new aircraft carrier again in June! ”

"It's difficult!"

"Maybe we'll have to take some riskier approaches." Hao Dongjue blinked his eyes and hoped to get the support of others, but it was obvious that the other three people did not support him.

"In this battle, taking risks is the next policy, we have an absolute advantage in strength, and there is no need to take risks."

"But ......"

"Dong Jue, Ren Hao's words make sense. It's not worth the risk. Huang Xiaotian's thoughts are consistent with Tan Renhao's.

"I'll also consider risky tactics, but we must not take risks until the last resort, Dongjue, if you have any ideas, let's talk separately." Tan Renhao gave Hao Dongjue a little face. "Or the beginning. In my opinion, this time the First Fleet pressed to the front, and the Third Fleet played cover in the back. ”

"I think it's the Third Fleet at the front."

"Xiaotian, listen to me first." Tan Renhao pressed his hand, "The first task force, the third task force is the main force of the first fleet, in the search for the annihilation of the fifth fleet, the warships of the third task force are organized into two task forces, mainly to improve the air defense capability of the fleet, and when necessary, the third task force can also be killed." Of course, the actual situation is not yet certain, so I am not sure of the specific actions of Task Force 3. We're pressed to the front, and Spruance will surely know that we only have six carriers, and he has nine, which can give him the determination to compete with us. If it were up to us to fight the Fifth Fleet, the gap between the three aircraft carriers would indeed be a bit large, but we could at least guarantee that we would not be defeated. When the time comes, the task of completely annihilating the Fifth Fleet will be on the Third Fleet. If, on the other hand, Spruance is forced to fight, then we will try to drive him out of the battlefield, or keep him at Pearl Harbor and not dare to move lightly. There is a third possibility, and that is Spruance looking for an opportunity to deal with the Third Fleet first. At this time, the Third Fleet had to get as close as possible to not give Spruance a chance to break through, and at the same time try to find the Fifth Fleet's action. The distance between our two fleets will not be too far, as long as the Fifth Fleet exposes its whereabouts, it will definitely not be able to escape our encirclement! ”

"In that way, Spruance has a good chance of avoiding the fight." Huang Xiaotian was listening carefully together, and as soon as Tan Renhao's words were finished, he found the key point.

"Yes, therefore, the concealment of the Third Fleet is quite important. As long as the Third Fleet is well concealed and creates the illusion that Spruance is not on the battlefield, then the Fifth Fleet is very likely to take the initiative to attack the First Fleet. This is the only way to get the Fifth Fleet to take the initiative to fight a decisive battle with us, other than directly attacking Pearl Harbor or bumping into the Fifth Fleet by chance. ”

"Why don't you let Task Force 2, Task Force 7, and Task Force 3 form the Third Fleet, and we will press to the front? At the very least, the aviation strike capabilities of Task Force 1, Task Force 2, and Task Force 8 are more elite, and our bait is easier for Spruance to be fooled. ”

Tan Renhao shook his head with a smile, and at the same time looked at Chang Jianxin.

"I don't have any problems, it's the same everywhere." I often recommend new answers quickly.

Huang Xiaotian reacted now. "Okay, then let's make it according to General Tan's arrangement."

"This is only a temporary formation, and now we don't know much about the situation of the Fifth Fleet, if it is different from what we predicted, we can also adjust the establishment of the two fleets." Tan Renhao didn't say it to death, "With what we know about Spruance, there is a chance that Spruance will not take the initiative to fight with us this time, even him." I don't even have the confidence to fight us. Therefore, the most likely scenario is that we will attack Kauai before annihilating the Fifth Fleet. This is one of the ways to force the Fifth Fleet to come to a decisive battle, but it is the most risky. If, according to the structure I mentioned at the beginning, when the time comes, the First Fleet will be pressed to the front to support the landing of the marines, and the Third Fleet will only participate in the initial bombing of the US airfields on Kauai, it will not be possible to destroy all the airfields on Kauai in a day or two with the strength of the First Fleet. This is certainly our most dangerous time, and all bombing operations must be decisive and swift. After completing the bombing mission, the Third Fleet immediately withdrew from the battle and stood by to provide us with cover. When the First Fleet was supporting operations, it was very difficult to take care of the fleet's air defense, and it was even impossible to concentrate its activities together, let alone conceal it. In addition, our bombers were well organized in time to deal with the sudden attack of the Fifth Fleet. Therefore, the only one that can guarantee the safety of the First Fleet is the Third Fleet, and as long as the Third Fleet does not appear, then Spruance will not dare to attack the First Fleet easily. ”

Huang Xiaotian knew very well that in this battle plan, the key to the Third Fleet's operation was to quickly withdraw from the battle after bombing the airfield on Kauai Island, and immediately conceal it, and at the same time not too far away from the First Fleet, at least after ensuring that it was already hidden, not too far from the First Fleet. It is very important to grasp the scale of not only making Spruance feel the existence of the Third Fleet, but at the same time not letting Spruance know where the Third Fleet is. This is very similar to the combat operations of the Fourth Task Force against the Fifth Fleet before, except that at that time, the Fifth Fleet forced the Fourth Task Force to fight a decisive battle, and now the two powerful main fleets of the Imperial Navy are forcing the Fifth Fleet to fight a decisive battle.

"This is the approximate possible result that I have come up with after my analysis, of course, the situation on the battlefield is ever-changing, and no one can say for sure now, but when carrying out the operation, accurately judge the situation and flexibly take combat action, which is the most important thing." Tan Renhao also basically finished, "Now, our most important task is to complete the training, so that our new fighter can exert great power in battle. Xiaotian, over there for the 7th and 8th task forces, you have to keep an eye on it. ”

"Don't worry, when they arrive, I will go to Yan Yulong and Zheng Guanhua."

"So let's talk about it here. Today, the First Task Force will go to sea for training, and you will also go to sea for training so that the officers and men of all warships can familiarize themselves with how to cooperate with the aircraft carrier battle group and how to play an important role in air defense operations. ”

Chang Zhixin nodded, he was also thinking about it.

Tan Renhao finally looked at Hao Dongjue, he had to find time to repair this brother-in-law who often made him unable to get off the stage.