Task Force 4, which operated near Namorik Atoll for more than 30 hours, received several telegrams from the early morning of the 20th to the evening of the 21st, but received no important information, and the only thing that was certain was that the Fifth Fleet did not return to Pearl Harbor, and that the submarines on the submarine cordon east of Wake Island did not find any trace of the Fifth Fleet. By about 8 o'clock in the evening of the 21st, Huang Xiaotian received two important telegrams from the theater command almost simultaneously.

The first telegram was about the activities of the Fifth Fleet, a submarine operating about 300 nautical miles west of the island of Hawaii discovered a task force with at least three fleet carriers sailing west that afternoon, but it was not possible to confirm the specific number of this fleet, and also did not confirm the number of the three aircraft carriers, the submarine found the target several nautical miles away, immediately made an emergency dive, hid under the surface of the sea for several hours, waited for the enemy fleet to leave, and sent a telegram at half past seven. Liao Hanxiang then sent the telegram to the Fourth Task Force.

Another telegram was sent from the intelligence agency, that is, a piece of intelligence. This information was originally provided by the German intelligence agency, a German spy lurking on the island of Oahu discovered that the US military was organizing a transport fleet, and sent the news out on the evening of the 20th, and the German intelligence agency sent this extremely important information to the imperial military intelligence department on the morning of the 21st, and after several cumbersome procedures, the information was delivered to Liao Hanxiang at almost 8 o'clock on the evening of the 21st, and when it was delivered to Huang Xiaotian, it was already past 8 o'clock.

Although these two pieces of information were still not enough to confirm the whereabouts of the Fifth Fleet, Huang Xiaotian was able to figure out at least four things.

One is that the Fifth Fleet did not immediately move westward after leaving Pearl Harbor. Rather, they operated in the waters off Pearl Harbor and carried out training missions. This made Huang Xiaotian feel a little annoyed, or it was a pity that if he had known that the Fifth Fleet had not moved westward, then he could have spent two or three more days bombing Wake Island, dropping all the bombs carried on the aircraft carrier, and even being able to organize a group of escort warships to shell Wake Island, so that the US troops on Wake Island could taste the taste of shells. But it was obviously too late to regret it now, and in any case, Task Force 4 was safe and sound.

Second, it is very likely that the training of the Fifth Fleet has not yet been put in place. And even far from being in place. If the Fifth Fleet has already completed its training. Then Spruance had no reason to be heavily bombed on Wake Island, and Task Force 4 had already signaled a challenge, and remained in the waters east of the Hawaiian Islands without taking the initiative. Even if Spruance feared that this was a trap against the Fifth Fleet, he should have been more aggressive. Rather than watching from the sidelines. Therefore, the training work of the 0 Fifth Fleet is certainly not over, and the quality of officers and men is still a huge problem. For Huang Xiaotian. This is obviously an extremely favorable condition, and if the officers and men of the Fifth Fleet, especially the pilots, are very incompetent, then the Fourth Task Force will not necessarily be able to defeat the Fifth Fleet.

Third, it was determined that the Fifth Fleet was divided into two task forces, and that six fleet aircraft carriers were equally divided, and each task force had three fleet aircraft carriers, and the size of each task force was not much different from that of the Fourth Task Force, except that it was slightly inferior in terms of escort forces. Moreover, Huang Xiaotian also numbered these two task forces according to the usual practice. The 51st Task Force was under the direct command of Spruance, while the other was the 52nd Task Force. As for whether the 52nd Task Force was commanded by Turner. This Huang Xiaotian is not clear. After figuring this out, Huang Xiaotian had more ideas in his heart. If the two task forces were to act together, then Task Force 4 would not have much chance of taking the initiative to sneak attack. The problem is that if the two task forces act separately, then Task Force 4 will have a chance to defeat each of them. Moreover, Huang Xiaotian was confident enough to completely defeat a task force when dealing with it alone.

Finally, Task Force 4's bombing of Wake Island had worked, and it was significant, otherwise Nimitz would not have organized a convoy to deliver supplies to Wake Island. Moreover, Huang Xiaotian also thought that at this time, a task force of the Fifth Fleet was sailing westward, so it must be to escort the transport fleet. But the question is, where is the other task force? If the other task force did not appear, then the worst judgment Huang Xiaotian could make was that Spruance would once again use the transport fleet, or even one task force in his hand, as bait to let the fourth task force bite the hook, and finally use another task force to annihilate the fourth task force.

After making the above four guesses, Huang Xiaotian suddenly discovered that Spruance had given him a huge problem, and there were not many options for the Fourth Task Force at this time.

If war is to be avoided, Task Force 4 should stay in the waters southwest of the Marshall Islands. But the problem is that Huang Xiaotian does not understand the specific tactical arrangements of Spruance, if Spruance's purpose is not only to support Wake Island, then the Fifth Fleet is very likely to bombard Kwajalein Atoll and Majuro Atoll, and at that time, the waters of the Marshall Islands will no longer be safe, and if the Fourth Task Force stays in the waters of the Marshall Islands, it will be blocked by the Fifth Fleet in this sea area, and the result can be imagined.

If you want to take the initiative to fight, there are two problems. The first is to attack the transport fleet, and a certain task force of the Fifth Fleet, which will definitely operate in the vicinity of the transport fleet, is likely to be the 52nd task force, so how to deal with the threat of the 51st task force? On the other hand, it would certainly not be easy to find Task Force 51, and Spruance would not be stupid enough to let two task forces come out at the same time as bait and engage in a face-to-face battle with Task Force 4, especially when its pilot training was not yet in place, and Spruance would not have taken such a risk. Even if there is a chance to find Task Force 51, I am afraid that the U.S. transport fleet will have already arrived at Wake Island before the 51st Task Force 51 is found.

That is, whether it is retreating or advancing. The Fourth Task Force is likely to be plotted by the Fifth Fleet. Now, Huang Xiaotian has finally realized the horror of Spruance's opponent.

As fleet commanders, they are more like a group of highly skilled chess players. And a good chess player will definitely think about how to play several moves or even a dozen moves before taking the step in front of him. Huang Xiaotian can also take into account possible changes in the battle situation, but at the same time, he feels that Spruance is more distant than him, and he can also force his opponent to follow his routine through various methods. As a result, they fell into his trap. In the end, they all lost.

On the evening of the 21st, Huang Xiaotian and Yan Yulong did not rest, and the two arranged the daily work of the fleet to the staff officer, and then discussed the next move of the fleet together. Like Huang Xiaotian's feelings, Yan Yulong also saw the terrifying thing about Spruance's opponent. And the two discussed all night. In the end, only one conclusion was reached, and that is. Task Force IV cannot remain in the waters off the Marshall Islands. Judging from the deployment and movement of the US forces, Spruance is likely to have judged the approximate location of the Fourth Task Force, so the Fourth Task Force must be transferred to another place, and cannot wait for a decisive battle with the Fifth Fleet under unfavorable circumstances.

By the time it was almost dawn, both men had a clear idea, and just as they were having breakfast and preparing to turn the fleet, a new ground telegram came from the theater command.

"The U.S. convoy left Pearl Harbor in the early hours of the morning, and the intelligence was only four hours late." Yan Yulong sent the telegram to Huang Xiaotian. "Two submarines spotted the US convoy leaving the port, one of which followed for three hours. Judging from its initial course, it should be heading directly towards Wake Island. ”

"The size of the fleet is not small." Huang Xiaotian quickly read the telegram, "I'm afraid it's not just about sending a few desalination devices over, maybe Nimitz also wants to make a fuss on Wake Island." ”

"You're saying that the U.S. military plans to attack the Marshall Islands?"

Huang Xiaotian did not rush to give a reply. The fleet consisted of dozens of large and small transport ships, and the captain of the submarine also judged that some of them should be landed ships. And this is only a rough judgment, and there is no accurate witness evidence. If the fleet had a sizable landing fleet sailing in the direction of Wake Island, the only explanation was that the U.S. military was planning to attack the Marshall Islands. But what makes Huang Xiaotian a little puzzled is, what reason does Nimitz have to attack the Marshall Islands?

Compared with the previous dispute between the two sides over the islands in the southwest Pacific, the battle for the islands in the Central Pacific is not complicated. The Tang Imperial Navy had only one purpose in capturing the Marshall Islands and the Gilbert Islands, that is, to build a defensive barrier for the Southwest Pacific Theater and to connect the Pacific Theater with the Southwest Pacific Theater. After capturing these two islands, the U.S. military would need to make a detour of at least 2,000 nautical miles if it wanted to move south, and it would not be able to threaten the flanks of the Southwest Pacific theater. The spearhead of the Tang Imperial Navy in the Central Pacific Theater is very clear, that is, to fight the Hawaiian Islands to the death, not to give the US military any chance to counterattack, and the Hawaiian Islands are the key islands in the Central Pacific Theater. This was also evidenced by previous battles between the two sides, and from the beginning to the end, Nimitz did not attack the Marshall Islands and the Gilbert Islands, but tried to compete with the Tang Empire for several key islands such as Wake Island and Midway. So, what reason did the U.S. military have to suddenly move south at this time and attack the Marshall Islands?

For the U.S. military, the only advantage of attacking the Marshall Islands is to expand the breakthrough of Wake Island, and correspondingly, the capture of Midway Island will also be able to expand the breakthrough and obtain a broader sea area for the fleet, and at the same time it will be able to remove the threat to the Hawaiian Islands. Therefore, in judging the direction of the US counterattack, whether it is Huang Xiaotian, Liao Hanxiang, or even the vast majority of staff officers, they all believe that the US military will focus on attacking Midway rather than attacking the Marshall Islands in the south. This is also where Huang Xiaotian suspects, Nimitz has no reason not to attack the most important island, but to attack an archipelago that has little strategic value, or cannot maximize the meaning of victory.

After pondering for a while, Huang Xiaotian looked at Yan Yulong, and then he thought for a while before he said: "Regardless of whether the U.S. military plans to attack the Marshall Islands or not, there is only one thing we can be sure of now, that is, the fleet can no longer stay here, and must be transferred immediately. ”

"And we're going to sail in a direction?" Yan Yulong is mainly responsible for the navigation operations of the fleet.

At this time, Huang Xiaotian has a headache again, even if he clearly knows that the waters of the Marshall Islands are no longer safe, he has to think about which direction to move.

"If the U.S. military does want to attack the Marshall Islands, then we should retreat into the waters of the Caroline." Seeing that Huang Xiaotian was still pondering, Yan Yulong first said his thoughts. "On the contrary, if the U.S. military is only to strengthen the defense of Wake Island, then we can consider moving to the western waters of Wake Island, and wait until the Fifth Fleet withdraws, and then bomb Wake Island, so that the Fifth Fleet can be delayed, and at the same time, the strategic counterattack of the U.S. military will be delayed, so that Nimitz will not be able to immediately launch an attack in other directions."

"Don't make any inferences just yet." Huang Xiaotian took a long breath, "Maybe General Liao Hanxiang is also thinking about this issue, and he will give us a clear answer." The fleet first shifted 100 nautical miles to the west, and from the day after tomorrow, all reconnaissance aircraft were sent out. Also, remember to contact the garrisons on the surrounding islands and ask them to keep a close eye on possible waterways for the Fifth Fleet to not let the Fifth Fleet slip in. ”

Yan Yulong hesitated for a moment, then nodded, he didn't continue to insist on his opinion, after all, he was only the chief of staff of the fleet, and he only had the right to make suggestions, not decisions.

Liao Hanxiang was indeed considering the same issue, and sent a telegram to Huang Xiaotian on the morning of the 22nd, asking the Fourth Task Force to be wary of a possible US attack on the Marshall Islands. In the telegram, Liao Hanxiang only used the speculative word "maybe", but did not explicitly mention that the US military would attack the Marshall Islands, that is, the fleet's actions were still relatively free, and Huang Xiaotian would make decisions based on his own judgment.

By the afternoon of the 22nd, Huang Xiaotian thought about it for a while, and it was not until the evening that he made a decision, a decision based on his own inference.