While the battle on Midway was still going on, Tan Renhao received more than a dozen telegrams in Lae City. When discussing combat operations with Yan Guozhong, Huang Xiaotian, and Chang Jianxin, Tan Renhao has been paying attention to the battle situation on Midway. If he hadn't concentrated on planning combat operations in the southwest Pacific, he would definitely have sent a few telegrams to Lei Shaoqing.

As a bystander, although he was not on the battlefield, Tan Renhao could see the subtleties of the battle situation more clearly. He never doubted his own judgment, especially when he received the news that the Marines on Midway Island had been bombed, and immediately judged that this was a trick by the American military to lure the snake out of the hole. The next few messages were sent, and Tan Renhao was also a little relieved, the US bombing was only carried out once, and the second task force still did not send a telegram, which is enough to prove that Lei Shaoqing was not fooled, and the second task force was still waiting in concealment. When the news of the complete capture of Midway by the Marines came, Tan Renhao was not as excited as the others, he knew very well that the second task force was already very dangerous at this time.

In the eyes of most people, after the capture of Midway, Spruance could only choose to retreat, and Nimitz would also let Spruance retreat, organizing troops to take Midway first, rather than letting the Fifth Fleet take the risk. But Tan Renhao knew very well that Spruance would never retreat easily, especially after the fall of Midway. If the U.S. military wants to fight back to Midway, then it must seize sea supremacy, and if it retreats now, it will take more time to deal with the second task force, but the U.S. military does not have so much time. As a result, Spruance will definitely be looking for opportunities. Maybe it's the last chance to take out Task Force 2. Then, the key at this time is whether Spruance has a way to find the second task force.

If Tan Renhao commanded the Second Task Force. His first retreat would not be to the southwest, but to approach Midway. The reason is simple. It is impossible for the U.S. fleet to appear in the 200-nautical-mile waters west of Midway, withdraw to the waters near Midway, and then turn south and finally leave the battlefield. Although the route was a little tortuous, there was hope that the group would avoid the blows of the American fleet. But Tan Renhao didn't know which route Lei Shaoqing would choose.

Then there was more than an hour of waiting. It wasn't until eleven o'clock that Tan Renhao received the most crucial telegram, which was sent back from the "Xuanwu" of the Second Task Force. Task Force 2 was attacked, and at the same time, Task Force 2 also attacked the main fleet of the United States, confirming that there were three fleet carriers and two groups of bombers had departed.

Now, no one doubts Tan Renhao's judgment anymore, but Tan Renhao is not happy at all. Because it was already mentioned in this telegram that the aircraft carrier "Hulun Lake" had already suffered heavy losses. The telegram was sent from the cruiser "Xuanwu", which only proves that the fleet command had been transferred to this cruiser. In addition, the telegram was not signed by Lei Shaoqing. Rather, it was the headquarters of the Second Task Force, which was a formal, not the semi-formal battle report that took the commander to pay for it in the past!

Since receiving this telegram, Tan Renhao has been guarding the communications center of the theater command.

Never left half a step. He drank three cups of coffee in a row, and if someone gave him a cigarette at this time, he would definitely smoke it. This is not that Tan Renhao has the perseverance to not have martial law, it is that he knows that Lei Shaoqing must be in trouble now, otherwise, this telegram will not fall into Lei Shaoqing's name.

"You go and rest for a while." Hao Dongjue is actually very anxious, and Lei Shaoqing is also his brother.

"No, maybe there will be news soon." Tan Renhao smiled reluctantly at Hao Dongjue, "You go and discuss the matter of combat operations with Huang Xiaotian and the others." ”

"You think I want to go away now?" Hao Dongjue also smiled bitterly, "Then let's wait together for a while." ”

The news did come quickly, but not much about Task Force 2. The Marines' combat operations on Midway were soon over, and the last American troops had surrendered. Liao Hanxiang has already sent a group of transport planes to Midway to deliver more supplies and troops, and the convoy will arrive at Midway Island as planned. Also, long-range patrol planes on Midway have set out to help the fleet search for overboard pilots. The results of the bombing of Task Force 51 (in the afternoon, it was determined that Spruance was commanding Task Force 51) also came out, and two American fleet carriers, several light cruisers, and several destroyers were sunk. A fleet aircraft carrier was heavily damaged, a large cruiser was heavily damaged, and several other warships were also heavily damaged. Task Force 51 had left the war zone at 3 p.m., was missing, and was probably returning to Pearl Harbor. It is likely that another fleet, Task Force 52, is still operating in the waters east of Midway. Finally, there is the loss of the Second Task Force, two small aircraft carriers, the "Songshan" and the "Hengshan," which have already been sunk in battle, and have lost more than 1,000 officers and men. The "Hulun Lake" aircraft carrier was heavily damaged, and the captain had already given the order to abandon the ship, and if the aircraft carrier had not sunk in the end, it would have been sunk by a destroyer. The aircraft carrier "Lake Bell" was once again in a great disaster, and its luck was so good that it did not even receive a few machine-gun bullets, and only two gunners on board the battleship were killed, and more than a dozen people were wounded. In addition, the fleet also lost several cruisers and destroyers, and about 3,000 officers and men were killed and missing. The most regrettable thing is that the pilots of the two waves of bomber groups have lost a lot, and those pilots who parachuted or made a forced landing over the US fleet have not been found, and it is very likely that they have been captured by the US military.

At about three o'clock in the afternoon, Tan Renhao was called over by Yan Guozhong. Yan Guozhong also knew the current state of Tan Renhao, so he didn't bother him, he had already handed over the planning of combat operations in the Southwest Pacific Theater to Huang Xiaotian and Chang Jianxin, he just wanted to persuade Tan Renhao and let Tan Renhao take a rest.

"General Yan, I know." Tan Renhao also slowly regained his composure, "Then I'll go to sleep, and tomorrow we will continue to discuss the matter of combat operations." ”

"Okay, I'll send someone to take you back." Yan Guozhong knew that Tan Renhao needed to rest now, and he hadn't had a relaxed time in the past few days. "Get a good night's sleep. Maybe when you wake up, the good news will come. ”

Tan Renhao nodded and didn't say anything more. He was accompanied by a Marine Corps captain and officer arranged by Yan Guozhong and returned to the barracks where he was staying. But Tan Renhao couldn't sleep, he knew it very well.

Lei Shaoqing would not leave the flagship during the battle as ordered. This is just as if he will not easily leave the aircraft carrier "Xingkaihu". And, judging by the situation at the time. The American bombers came very suddenly, and the second batch of bombers of the fleet had not yet fully taken off. Lei Shaoqing also did not have time to transfer to the cruiser.

Now that there is even the last news of the "Hulun Lake" aircraft carrier, why is there no news of Lei Shaoqing?

After lying on the bed for a long time, Tan Renhao couldn't stand the exhaustion and fell asleep. Since coming to Lae. He hadn't had a good night's rest in three days, and he had slept less than six hours in those three days combined. If it weren't for worrying about the battle situation of the Second Task Force, Tan Renhao would have gone to sleep a long time ago.

A big hand shook Tan Renhao awake, and when he opened his eyes, the first thing he saw was Hao Dongjue.

"Is there any news from Lei Shaoqing?" Tan Renhao rolled over and sat up.

"Renhao, you have to control your emotions."

"When did I lose control of my emotions? Tell me quickly. Shaoqing, how is he? ”

"Renhao, you calm down first."

"Tell me!" Tan Renhao grabbed Hao Dongjue's shirt, "Shaoqing, what's wrong with him?" ”

Hao Dong sighed. There was no rush to say it.

"Damn, do you want me to beat you up before you say it?" Tan Renhao jumped out of bed.

"Renhao. This shouldn't have been told to you right now. But ......"

"Don't tell my mother-in-law, tell me!"

Hao Dongjue nodded. "You have to control your emotions first."

"Damn, what the hell are you trying to say?" Tan Renhao walked up in the room barefoot.

He couldn't take it anymore. Then he stopped, forcing himself to calm down.

"Well, I'm calm now. Tell me Lei Shaoqing, how is he. ”

"Old Lei he ......" Hao Dongjue hesitated, "Zheng Guanhua was only slightly injured, and now he is in command of the fleet, and the fleet is ......"

"I didn't ask you this question, what happened to Lei Shaoqing?"

"Renhao, calm down." Hao Dongjue sat down, "Lao Lei was seriously injured, he just finished the operation, and now he is still in a coma, he has not passed the dangerous period, and he is ......"

"What!?" Tan Renhao had actually guessed this result a long time ago, which was even much better than his worst prediction, but he couldn't believe his ears at all.

Hao Dongjue covered his face with his hands, and then lowered his head.

While Tan Renhao was waiting for news, Lei Shaoqing was lying in the operating room of the cruiser "Xuanwu", the "Rui Beast" class cruiser was the first battleship in the Imperial Navy to be equipped with perfect surgical and medical equipment in addition to the battleships, battlecruisers, and aircraft carriers. The three medical officers on board the battleship were operating on the fleet commander together, one of which lasted a full eight hours.

When it was attacked by the second group of dive bombers, a bomb fell on the left side of the "Hulun Lake" aircraft carrier island. At that time, Lei Shaoqing was on the left side of the command cabin, and Zheng Guanhua was on the right side of the command cabin. At the time of the explosion, the chart table (a steel frame structure with iron sheets wrapped in iron) blocked most of the shrapnel and debris fired at Zheng Guanhua, so he was only stunned on the spot and injured in several places. And Lei Shaoqing didn't have such good luck, when the medical officer on the aircraft carrier rushed in, he only had his last breath left, his blood loss reached one-third, his whole body was hit by more than ten shrapnel and fragments, and his left arm and left leg were seriously disabled.

When Lei Shaoqing was sent to the "Xuanwu", Zheng Guanhua immediately ordered the rescue of the commander. Before they came to the cruiser, the medical officer had received the news and was ready for surgery. It took several hours just to remove most of the shrapnel in Lei Shaoqing's body. Because the blood bank of the battleship was not enough to reserve plasma at that time, Zheng Guanhua also mobilized a group of officers and soldiers to donate blood. Fortunately, there were more than 1,000 officers and men on board the "Xuanwu," and in the end, more than 10 officers and men donated their blood for the commander.

This is also the reason why Lei Shaoqing's news has not been sent back, and this is also the reason why the "Xuanwu" did not retreat with the "Bell Lake" aircraft carrier, because the battleship must reduce its speed to less than 12 knots, otherwise it will not be able to perform surgery! Fortunately, the second batch of US bombers did not attack this frighteningly strong anti-aircraft warship, otherwise, Tan Renhao would not have received the news that Lei Shaoqing was wounded.

"Renhao, you can take a rest." Hao Dongjue stood up after being silent for more than ten minutes, "General Yan has canceled tomorrow morning's meeting. I'll let you know when there's new news. ”

"Dongjue." When Hao Dongjue walked to the door, Tan Renhao stopped him, "I was too excited at first, don't take it to heart." ”

"I can understand that Lao Lei is also my brother." Hao Dongjue nodded at Tan Renhao, "If you can't sleep, just take two sleeping pills." ”

Tan Renhao didn't say anything, and after Hao Dongjue left, he didn't go to bed, but turned out the notebook he had always brought with him.

Tan Renhao did not have the habit of writing a diary (this is extremely rare in the navy, because naval officers have to write navigation logs, combat logs and the like, and many people have developed the habit of writing diaries because of this), and that notebook was given to each other by him and Lei Shaoqing after entering the Naval Academy. On the title page of the notepad there are three photographs. The first is a group photo of the two when they were in their teens, and it shows two childish teenagers. The second one was taken by the two when they graduated from high school, and there were already two young people on it. The third is a group photo of the two of them taking their graduation photos before graduating from the Naval Academy, showing two young officers wearing the military uniform of a second lieutenant.

Since officially joining the Navy, Tan Renhao has always carried this notepad with him. In addition to the three photos on the title page, only on the first page is a bold sentence left by Lei Shaoqing when he presented this notepad to Tan Renhao: I wish General Tan a high promotion. This is the only sentence in the entire notepad, although this is a playful sentence, but Tan Renhao is extremely precious.

Looking at it, Tan Renhao's vision blurred, and he sobbed in a low voice......