After listening to Jiang Zhongmin's story, Yan Guozhong's expression sank. The three of them all looked at Yan Guozhong, waiting for Yan Guozhong to say what he thought.

"Let's just say we have no plan for that, and the attack on Port Moresby will be more difficult than we thought. General Jiang, do you have a map here? ”

Jiang Zhongmin immediately spread out the map, and at the same time gave the pencil to Yan Guozhong. … ap．１６

"The first attack on Port Moresby was not at all in our initial plans."

Yan Guozhong circled Port Moresby on the map. "The biggest advantage of capturing Port Moresby is that it can lay the foundation for entering the Australian mainland, and we don't have this strength now, at least until the army can transfer the main force over, and prepare a large enough landing fleet and transport fleet, we don't have any ability to enter the Australian continent, don't even think about it."

All three nodded, and this was already clear when the offensive operations in the Southwest Pacific were determined.

"The second is the difficulty of attacking Port Moresby, let's take a look." Yan Guozhong drew several routes on the chart. "There are three routes to choose from for the attack on Port Moresby, one by land and two by sea. If you use engineers to build it, then you need to build at least a 500-kilometer-long road, as well as dozens of bridges, even if you don't encounter any resistance, it will take several years to repair this road, especially those bridges, even if they are built in a field way, it will take a lot of time, manpower, and material resources. When this road is repaired, I am afraid that the war will be over, so we will not have to think about attacking Port Moresby by land at all. ”

Liao Hanxiang first agreed with Yan Guozhong's statement, he worked in the army, and he served in the armored corps. It is well aware of the importance of the transport base for the army, and without traffic roads, there is no way to fight a ground battle.

"Then, we can only choose to attack at sea." Yan Guozhong circled both sea routes. "One is to pass through the archipelago to the east of the peninsula, and the route must pass through the Dontelkasto Islands and the Louisiad Islands. Although the U.S. military does not have many troops on these islands, we must capture them if we want to ensure the safety of sea routes. At least to capture important islands. The whole offensive operation site is not very difficult, but it is very cumbersome, and in addition to dispersing our forces, it will certainly delay time, and it will not be possible to complete the sweeping of these islands in just over a month. If we were to attack the Australian mainland, it would take us more than a month to prepare, but right now, we don't have that much time, so. This line is also unrealistic. ”

"Then there's only one last line." Tan Renhao glanced at Yan Guozhong. Eyes fell on the map.

The other two also had their eyes on the last line on the map.

"The third route is to go around the Louisiade Islands, from the Solomon Sea into the Coral Sea, and then sail west. Attack Port Moresby. Not to mention the lengthy route, what is even more troublesome is that a large part of the route is within the strike range of US tactical bombers on the Solomon Islands.

In addition, our fleet does not have the ability to enter the Coral Sea for the time being, and there is no way to protect this sea route, and the small fleet of the American army operating in the Coral Sea is enough to wipe out our transport fleet and landing fleet. Even if they could pass safely, where would the artillery support needed for the landing of the Marines come from? Yan Guozhong dropped the pencil, "In other words, this line is actually unrealistic." The attack on the Solomon Islands is critical, one could even say. The co-colonization of the Solomon Islands itself is to lay the groundwork for a future attack on the Australian mainland and for our capture of Port Moresby, and we will not consider any action to attack Port Moresby until the Solomon Islands are captured. “

All three sighed, and Jiang Zhongmin imagined that he had been sentenced to death. Yan Guozhong is an expert in landing operations, and his analysis is reasonable, and there is no bias, and even he vetoed it, so naturally no one will approve of it.

That is to say. The Solomon Islands is actually a key point on the battlefield. ”

"That's true, and the commanders of the U.S. military are well aware of it." Yan Guozhong leaned back on the sofa, and then took out a cigarette. It can be seen from the defensive deployment of the US military that MacArthur was well aware of the importance of the Solomon Islands, and he even weakened the defenses in the Bismarck Islands and Lae to concentrate his forces on the Solomon Islands. We have spent so much effort attacking Lae, and if we want to capture the Solomon Islands, we will definitely run into even greater trouble. The entire Solomon Islands is the strongest fence of the US military in the southwest Pacific, and Kuah Island is the top priority. Since MacArthur was able to recognize the importance of the Solomon Islands, he was naturally able to recognize the importance of Kuah. Therefore, if we want to capture Kuah Island, I am afraid that we will pay more than ten times the price of capturing Lae. ”

Yan Guozhong's remarks hit the key, Kuah Island is now the most critical place in the entire southwest Pacific Ocean, and it can even be said to be the most critical place in the entire Pacific theater, and it is an island that the Tang Empire and the United States must fight for after the Battle of the Mariana Islands. Kuah Island is like a lock on the U.S. military's defense line in the southwest Pacific, locking the pace of the Tang Imperial Marines moving south.

Tan Renhao sighed secretly, in his opinion, after the US army lost the battle of the Mariana Islands, it would definitely collapse, and then retreat strategically, but the actual situation was not like this at all, the US commander accurately grasped the key points on the battlefield, and controlled the time, and turned the situation on the battlefield through stubborn defense. This is the difference between the United States and Japan, and against a country like Japan, it is possible to destroy its will to fight through one or two major battles, and as long as it falls into a passive situation, Japan's commanders are easily confused and unable to grasp the key points on the battlefield. The United States does not have this problem, its huge industrial strength allows the United States to quickly recover and gather the strength to fight again, and the American commanders are more calm and will not be easily defeated, at least, now Nimitz and MacArthur have proved this, the US military can still control the overall situation on the battlefield in an extremely unfavorable situation, which is indeed worthy of admiration.

"Actually, I've been thinking about this combat operation for a long time." Yan Guozhong gave Liao Hanxiang and Jiang Zhongmin a cigarette, and then helped them light it first. "Let's put it this way. The situation is not in our favor. On the surface, we still have the advantage in troops. Now we have six aircraft carriers in the Pacific Ocean, four battleships, and the United States four and two, and all kinds of other warships, and we have a quantitative and even qualitative advantage. On the part of the ground forces. Our superiority is even more obvious, because the US military has only 500,000 combat troops deployed in the entire Pacific Theater of Operations, while we have 800,000.

In terms of aviation, we have invested nearly 10,000 aircraft, of which more than 3,500 are combat aircraft, while the United States has only more than 5,000 aircraft and only 2,500 combat aircraft. We have an advantage in all aspects, but this advantage is only reflected in the statistical figures, not in the specific battlefield. “

The three of them all smiled bitterly, and Yan Guozhong hit the nail on the head.

"First of all, we are the main attacker. And the attacking side must have invested much more troops than the defending side. At least twice as much, and we don't have that advantage. Secondly, our front is too long. Troops need to be committed almost everywhere. Third, our offensive was too slow, "we had to leave enough reserves, and we had to fight the U.S. forces in the southwest Pacific."

As a result, on the entire front, we are actually not much more invested than the US military. Of the 800,000 combat troops, at least half of them were left behind, many of them were troops on rotational leave, and there were still investments in Japan, and in the Nanyang region. We also have a large number of garrisons, and these troops are difficult to put into the frontline battlefield, and as a result, the number of troops we invest in the frontline battlefield is actually not much different from the American army. “

"It seems that we have to fight a head-on decisive battle with the US military in a passive situation." Liao Hanxiang spoke at this time.

"Lao Liao, I see it this way too." Yan Guozhong nodded at Liao Hanxiang, "Instead of entangled with the US military in the southwest Pacific, why don't we change our thinking and fight the US military in the Pacific Theater?" ”

Tan Renhao and Jiang Zhongmin glanced at each other. Then waited for Yan Guozhong to continue.

"According to the current situation in the Southwest Pacific Theater, even if the main fleet of the US military enters the southwest Pacific region, it will mainly operate in the direction of the Coral Sea, using shore-based air forces on the Solomon Islands to fight a decisive battle with our fleet. Relatively speaking, even if we put four task forces here, we don't necessarily have an advantage in terms of troops. Yan Guozhong drew a large circle on the map, "On the contrary, the sea surface of the Pacific Theater is wider, and Wake Island, Marshall Island, and Gilbert Islands are already under our control, we can make full use of these islands as support points, concentrate our forces to kill the main fleet of the United States, and after seizing the sea supremacy, we will turn around and sweep the Solomon Islands, it is not too late!" ”

"But the problem is that we must ensure an offensive in the southwest Pacific, and if we concentrate our forces in the Pacific theater to fight a decisive battle with the US military, the US military will seize this opportunity to counterattack, and our previous victory in the southwest Pacific will become meaningless." Jiang Zhongmin interjected and came in.

"All I need is Task Force 3 and Task Force 4 on my side." Yan Guozhong laughed, "With the support of the two task forces, as long as we don't transfer marines from the Southwest Pacific Theater to the Pacific Theater and ensure a sufficient number of shore-based bomber units for sea flights, we can continue to attack without worrying about being counterattacked by the US military." I can guarantee that by using these forces to keep MacArthur at bay, you can concentrate Task Force 1 and Task Force 2 in the Pacific Theater and fight an evenly matched naval battle with the main fleet of the United States. Well, it depends on the performance of the commanders of the two task forces. ”

Everyone looked at Tan Renhao, Tan Renhao is the commander of the First Task Force, if there is a decisive battle with the main fleet of the United States here, then the First Task Force is the main force, and Tan Renhao's command is extremely crucial.

"If it's Spruance, I'm half as sure." Tan Renhao smiled reluctantly, "But the problem is that if the First Task Force is transferred to the Pacific Theater, then the defense of our Southwest Pacific Theater will be extremely empty, and at that time, it is very likely that the US military will use the Southwest Pacific Theater as the main point of attack." ”

"We can monitor the activities of the U.S. fleet, and in addition, the offensive in the southwest Pacific will not relax, leaving the second task force in the waters off Wake Island." Liao Hanxiang came to answer Tan Renhao's question, "The First Task Force will remain in the waters near the Kaping Amalei Atoll as a mobile force, and the United States will only choose to attack Wake Island at that time." ”

"Then, the second task force will bear the brunt of the blow, and whether Lei Shaoqing can stabilize his position and not lose the aircraft carrier will be directly related to the victory or defeat of the later stage of the operation."

"It depends on how quickly Task Force 1 can get to the battlefield." Yan Guozhong also laughed, "If the Second Task Force retreats appropriately, the U.S. forces will inevitably have to make firepower preparations for a few days before landing on Wake Island, and the First Task Force can rush over during this period, and at the same time we can find the U.S. Fleet's words, then the hope of victory will be great." ”

"General Yan's words are not wrong, whether the US fleet can be discovered in time, and whether the First Task Force can quickly rush to the battlefield is all related to the outcome of the battle." Jiang Zhongmin also spoke, "In addition, as long as the Second Task Force is active in the waters near Wake Island, the US fleet will not dare to rashly land on Wake Island, but will choose to destroy the Second Task Force first. ”

Tan Renhao was thinking quickly, in fact, all opinions are based on speculation and speculation, and there is not much evidence to prove the actual combat operations of the US military.

"It seems that we should first determine the deployment of troops, and the battle plan is not completely determined for the time being, draw up several key battle plans, and then make a decision according to the actual situation."

Tan Renhao put forward his final thoughts, "It's too early to determine any specific battle plan. ”

The other three also agreed with Tan Renhao's viewpoint, saying that the US military's operational arrangements must first be clarified, at least on a basis, and then the operational plan can be determined.