The bombing of Nihua Island was indeed a special "training" arranged by Spruance. In the fleet battle plan submitted to Nimitz, Spruance made it clear that the bombing of Nihua Island was meaningful, and the U.S. Marines did not have the ability to counterattack Nihua Island, not even the ability to leave Kauai and land on Nihua Island. Although shore-based air forces can effectively bomb Nihua Island with good results, the Fifth Fleet can also play a small role in the operation against Nihua Island.

In addition to achieving the purpose of military training, Spruance also had another purpose, that is, by bombing Nihua Island, telling the Tang Imperial Navy that the Fifth Fleet had left Pearl Harbor, don't think about attacking Pearl Harbor, in addition, the Fifth Fleet already has a certain combat effectiveness, and it cannot be easily annihilated! At least that's what Spruance himself thinks, and that's a very helpless thought.

When it came time to arrange combat missions, Spruance felt like a cloaked lizard in the Australian desert. It is a small lizard that has a large membrane on its neck, and its main habitat is the eagle. After being targeted by the eagle, the cloak lizard will stretch the skin around its neck, making the eagle think that it is a behemoth and dare not attack easily, and then the cloak lizard will have a chance to escape. The Fifth Fleet is like a cloak lizard, it is very weak, and it is also targeted by a stronger enemy, in order to make the enemy dare not attack easily, you have to make the enemy feel that the Fifth Fleet is very strong, and then the Fifth Fleet has a chance to escape. Spruance felt that his idea was ridiculous, but it was true, the Fifth Fleet was indeed targeted, and it was difficult to escape if it could not be beaten and defeated, so was there any other way for him?

Spruance was disappointed by the results of the bombing of Nihua Island, and in the first round of bombing, less than 180 bombers were shot down by more than 30 of them! This made him work hard to rescue the pilots who had made a forced landing in the open sea, but in the end, more than 20 pilots were killed or captured. In the next four rounds of bombardment, the Fifth Fleet lost nearly 100 bombers and fighters. The loss rate was frighteningly high, and Spruance wanted to cancel the bombing campaign several times. But he eventually held back, the rate of loss was decreasing, and the rescued pilots were rarely shot down during the second round of bombing. Lost fighters are easily replenished, while pilots' experience can only be gained here, and there is no other way to choose. Of course, in any case, most of the bomber pilots of the Fifth Fleet flew two-round bombing missions. Even some fighter pilots carried out a bombing mission, and they also fought several times with the Tang Empire's shore-based fighters over Nihua Island, which greatly tempered the quality of the officers and men and allowed the pilots to gain a little actual combat experience.

By the evening of the 16th, Spruance had the fleet leave the waters near the island of Niwa. The fleet had been operating here for three days, and the two task forces of the Tang Empire had been spotted by US submarines outside Apra Harbor on the 11th, when the two task forces were leaving Apra Harbor. If the two task forces had advanced at cruising speed by the morning of the 14th and had accelerated by the morning of the 14th, they would have been able to reach the waters near Gardner Island on the night of the 16th, if the Fifth Fleet had not withdrawn. Then on the 17th it was possible to encounter the fleet of the Tang Imperial Navy. As a result, it is inevitable to fight a head-to-head battle with the opponent.

At that time, Spruance did not know that it was the 7th Task Force and the 8th Task Force of the newly formed Tang Imperial Navy that left Apra Harbor. The main reason is that the five aircraft carrier task forces of the Tang Imperial Navy are all three-aircraft carriers, and the "Lake" class aircraft carriers are much the same. The aircraft carriers of the Tang Imperial Navy did not have a Tu broadside, and the names painted on the ship island were so small that they were difficult to identify, so the US submarines who found these two task forces could not identify which two task forces they were. Spruance had to think as far as possible on the worst side, if these were the two task forces of Task Force 1, Task Force 2, and Task Force 4, even if he was given a few more daring efforts, he would not continue to stay in the waters near Nihua Island, waiting for the other party to kill him and fight him. With the strength of the Fifth Fleet at that time. It was impossible to defeat the two most powerful task forces of the Tang Imperial Navy.

By the evening of the 17th, Spruance had received another telegram that another U.S. submarine had spotted the task forces leaving Apra Harbor. At this point, Spruance finally understood that the two task forces that had left Apra Harbor on the 11th must not have sailed east before the 14th, otherwise the other task forces in Apra Harbor would not have set off so quickly. Of course, he didn't tell anyone about this new judgment, and at the time Turner and Mitchell both thought Spruance's decision to let the fleet leave Niwa Island was prescient. And the actions of the Fifth Fleet have already worked. Now all the task forces of the Tang Imperial Navy have poured out, and this is enough to prove it.

Spruance did not let the Fifth Fleet return to Pearl Harbor, this was not part of the plan, and the Fifth Fleet that returned to Pearl Harbor could only tempt the Don Imperial fleet to attack Pearl Harbor, and whether the sneak attack could succeed, Spruance didn't know, he hoped not, but who could guarantee it? In addition, if the Fifth Fleet returned to Pearl Harbor, it would definitely be discovered by the Tang Empire submarines ambushed outside Pearl Harbor, and at that time, the Tang Empire Navy only needed to deploy two task forces nearby, and the Fifth Fleet would not dare to leave the port easily. Even if there was no task force to stand outside Pearl Harbor, the Fifth Fleet would be discovered by the Tang Empire's submarines when it left Pearl Harbor again, and its whereabouts would be exposed and pursued by the adversary. Therefore, in any case, the Fifth Fleet could not return to Pearl Harbor at this time!

This was already spelled out in Spruance's plan, and he didn't even ask Nimitz to arrange for the supply fleet to supply the Fifth Fleet with fuel and ammunition, because the supply fleet would not be fast and would be easily tracked by submarines. If one, or several submarines were to follow the supply fleet, then the whereabouts of the Fifth Fleet would also be revealed. At that time, even if the Tang Empire's task force could not arrive at the time of the Fifth Fleet's replenishment, the Tang Empire's submarines that followed the supply fleet would definitely not skimp on 650 mm heavy torpedoes. When the aircraft carrier stops to replenish, one submarine with six torpedoes in one salvo is enough to sink two, or even three!

The Fifth Fleet's supply point was located on Christmas Island. This is the place Hao Dongjue had in mind, Christmas Island, about 1,100 nautical miles south of Oahu. This was the closest place to Oahu to supply fuel and ammunition to the fleet, outside of San Francisco and the Aleutian Islands further north. In addition, there is a dock on Christmas Island that is not too small and can dock two aircraft carriers at a time, and rely on the dock for replenishment. It is much more efficient than replenishing at anchor at sea.

At that time, the Fifth Fleet was heading for Christmas Island. By the morning of the 19th, the Fifth Fleet had arrived at Christmas Island, and the three task forces were taking turns to carry out the replenishment work. At that time, the fleet was most lacking fuel and ammunition, and Spruance was able to get a batch of fresh fruits and vegetables, especially some popular tropical fruits, which was a windfall. It was a reward for the officers and men of the Fifth Fleet for their performance in the previous phase of combat operations, but Spruance did not think that their performance was good enough to be rewarded.

The replenishment work continued until the 21st, that is, when the fleet under the command of Tan Renhao and Huang Xiaotian was replenishing near Midway, Spruance received news that the Tang Empire's task force had reached the waters near Midway. This time, it was not the submarine that discovered the Tang Empire's task force, and at that time, not a single US submarine felt that the waters around Midway were operating within 300 nautical miles, and the hundreds of anti-submarine patrol planes deployed on Midway Island, as well as more than 20 frigates (small destroyers specially used to carry out anti-submarine missions) were enough to make US submarine captains think twice. This time, it was the US military's radio monitoring stations that intercepted several telegrams between Midway and Guam, and one of these telegrams had a recurring code name. And this code name should be the fleet code name in the naval code of the Tang Empire. But the intelligence agencies of the U.S. military are not completely sure, because the password of the Tang Imperial Navy has to be changed at least once a month, and the password will be updated from time to time. Therefore, at that time, the U.S. military only calculated based on the time when the Tang Empire's task force left Apra Harbor, and those task forces should also reach the waters near Midway.

The Fifth Fleet left Christmas Island on this day, and a day after heading north, even on the 22nd, the planes replenished the Fifth Fleet flew over. It was almost a miracle that the planes had flown hundreds of nautical miles from airfields on the island of Hawaii, and that the pilots were able to pinpoint the fleet. In fact, at that time at least a batch of 12 TBFs got lost halfway and did not reach the Fifth Fleet in the end. The pilot drifted for nearly two days after a forced landing at sea before being rescued by a merchant ship that received a telegram from the Navy and then arrived.

In terms of next moves, Spruance, Turner and Mitchell were at odds. Mitchell advocated another bombing of Nihua Island, forcing the Tang Empire's task force not to rest at Midway, and to get the front line to carry out combat readiness patrol missions, and then the Fifth Fleet had a chance to launch a sneak attack. Even if you don't have a chance to launch a sneak attack, you can still hold back the opponent. In this way, when the Tang Empire's marines attacked Kauai, the Tang Empire's fleet could not be in the best combat condition.

Turner advocated leaving the frontier waters and heading to the eastern waters of Hawaii Island, waiting for an opportunity. It is meaningless to bomb Nihua Island, and the task force of the Tang Imperial Navy did not appear near Nihua Island at all, which also proves that the other side will not support Nihua Island, even if the Fifth Fleet bombs Nihua Island again, the Tang Empire's fleet may not necessarily rush over, and maybe it will try to outflank the Fifth Fleet, so that the Fifth Fleet cannot safely withdraw from the battle. Therefore, the most important thing now is to ensure the safety of the Fifth Fleet, withdraw to the east of Hawaii Island, and wait until the Tang Imperial Marines attack Kauai Island, and then quickly kill their fleet, seize the opportunity to kill one or two task forces, and gradually turn the tide of the war.

There is some truth in both men's opinions, and Mitchell is more aggressive, but he also has more risks to take. Turner's was a little more negative, but he hardly had to take risks, at least not until the Tang Empire's navy attacked Kauai. But Spruance does not think that their method is the best way, the reason is very simple, the combat effectiveness of the Fifth Fleet is still quite unsatisfactory, whether it is to avoid war or take the initiative to provoke, the most important basis is to improve the quality of the officers and men of the Fifth Fleet, especially the air force, so that the Fifth Fleet can defeat the opponent in the next battle!

To put it bluntly, Spruance wants the opportunity to train his troops. Now that the Tang Empire's task force has been concentrated in the western waters of the Hawaiian Islands, the military targets on Nihua Island are of little value, and they still need to take risks. Obviously, Nihua Island is no longer the best place to train troops. And the islands to the west of Nihua Island are not to be considered, the danger is too great. If Spruance wanted to find a more suitable place to train, he would have to look a little south of the map.

Tarawa Island, Majuro Atoll, Kwajalein Atoll, and Wake Island are all ideal training sites. The problem is that there are a large number of long-range water patrol planes on the islands near Tarawa, Majuro Atoll, and Kwajalein Atoll, and I am afraid that they will be the first to be spotted by these planes before the Fifth Fleet can get closer. Even if the Fifth Fleet forcibly bombed these islands, it would not be a problem, but as long as the Tang Imperial Fleet knew what the Fifth Fleet was doing and then killed it at full speed, I am afraid that the Fifth Fleet would never have a chance to return to Pearl Harbor or San Francisco.

Comparatively speaking, Wake Island was closer to Midway, so the Don Empire fleet could come over faster. However, Wake Island is actually an isolated island, with no other islands nearby, and the north and east sides are vast seas, with no mutual support. Therefore, the fleet has a great chance of approaching, without being detected. This has been proven by several previous battles between the two sides at Wake Island. Therefore, Wake Island is the ideal place to train. Moreover, as long as the bombing time is controlled within one day, and you can run and fight, even if the Tang Empire fleet on the other side of Midway arrives, it will not be able to catch up with the Fifth Fleet!

It is for this reason that Spruance finally decided to take Wake Island and continue to train the aviation of the Fifth Fleet here, and when the sword in his hand is sharpened, it is not too late to fight the opponent!