Before dinner, Tan Renhao thought about the actions of the US Fifth Fleet during this period, and used empathy to carefully consider the next possible actions of the US Fifth Fleet from the position of Spruance.

Spruance's previous actions are not difficult to understand, judging from the combat operations of the US Fifth Fleet with the Fourth Task Force last year, Spruance has always lacked good officers and men. It can be said that at that time, Huang Xiaotian missed several opportunities to annihilate the Fifth Fleet, or a certain task force of the Fifth Fleet. Similarly, Spruance missed several opportunities to annihilate Task Force 4. Judging by the belligerent actions of both sides at that time, the reason for the missed opportunity of the Fifth Fleet was almost always Spruance's lack of confidence in the quality of its aviation. Even in the final battle, the Fifth Fleet was successfully attacked by the Fourth Task Force, mainly because the quality of the Fifth Fleet's aviation was not high enough, so that Spruance did not dare to rashly adopt the tactics of active attack, and was suddenly attacked in the passive defense.

Although more than half a year has passed, the problem of the quality of the officers and men of the US Navy has still not been fundamentally resolved, and it can even be said that it has become worse. In the next few battles, the Fifth Fleet suffered losses and a large number of experienced pilots were killed, resulting in a substantial improvement in the Fifth Fleet's aviation strike capability after the addition of six new aircraft carrier battle groups, otherwise Spruance would not have kept the fleet training outside Pearl Harbor, let alone risk bombing Nihua Island and making a detour to attack Wake Island, so as to train the fleet air force through actual combat. In addition to the air force, the quality of the officers and men of the US Fifth Fleet is not much better.

Compared with years ago, the size of the Fifth Fleet has more than tripled, and now the number of recruits in the Fifth Fleet is more than sixty percent, that is, a veteran should bring more than one recruit! Relatively speaking, the proportion of recruits in the naval fleet of the Tang Empire has always been less than thirty percent. Like Task Force 1. The proportion of recruits in the main task forces such as the Second Task Force and the Fourth Task Force is not even 20 percent, and even the proportion of recruits in the newly organized task forces is less than 40 percent. However, because the Third Task Force did not replenish new warships and did not assign veterans to other fleets, the proportion of new troops was not even 10%. It is obvious that the quality of the officers and men of the US Fifth Fleet cannot be compared with that of the Imperial Navy fleet.

These are the most basic inferences, and they don't even need to be analyzed by Tan Renhao too much, and they don't need much intelligence support. This was the main factor that determined Spruance's actions. After figuring this out. Tan Renhao also knew in his heart that Spruance had been trying to avoid the war instead of fighting a decisive battle with the Imperial Navy fleet. Of course, Spruance could not decide the actions of the Fifth Fleet, as long as the Imperial Navy attacked Kauai, then Spruance would inevitably come to meet him, and could not continue to avoid the battle.

So, in what way will Spruance challenge the Imperial Navy? A sneak attack is the only option. If you go head-to-head. Only the First Task Force and the Second Task Force could defeat the Fifth Fleet, and there was no need for Huang Xiaotian's Third Fleet to intervene. When the time comes, even Task Force 1 and Task Force 2 will suffer heavy losses. But as long as the U.S. Fifth Fleet is defeated and Huang Xiaotian's Third Fleet is still combat-ready, it will be a decisive victory. The problem is that there are many ways to sneak attack, and there are many times for Spruance to choose from.

If Spruance decides to sneak attack, when will he do it? This problem was also easy to solve, and there were only two opportunities for Spruance to sneak attack, once when the fleet was providing advance firepower preparation for the marines, and the other when the fleet was supporting the landing operations of the marines. These two phases, especially the latter one, are the most vulnerable to the fleet's own defense capability. At the same time, the maneuverability of the fleet was at its worst. In order to ensure that the Marine Corps is provided with timely, rapid, and powerful firepower preparations, the fleet cannot maneuver at will during this period, and it has to stay near the landing site, within the search range of the US shore-based reconnaissance planes, and it will also have to make frequent contact with the Marine Corps, so it will not be able to achieve concealment. Therefore, at this time. As long as the U.S. Fifth Fleet is in the vicinity, it is easy to find an opponent and seize the opportunity to launch a fatal blow without giving the opponent any chance to counterattack.

So, what method will Spruance choose to launch a sneak attack? This is one of the most troublesome and the most difficult to make accurate judgments. At this time, the only thing Tan Renhao knew was that the US Fifth Fleet was still bombing Wake Island, and perhaps had completed the bombing operation on Wake Island. Judging from the sortie density of US bombers and the combat radius of US bombers, the US Fifth Fleet must be operating in the waters of about 200 nautical miles near Wake Island, perhaps only 150 nautical miles away from Wake Island. Then, if Spruance wanted to launch a sneak attack while the Imperial fleet bombarded Kauai and provided the Marines with early fire preparation, they would have to enter from the south and put the strike support fleet first. If Spruance chooses to launch a sneak attack during the Fleet Support Marine Landing, then he has more options to threaten the Imperial fleet from the south, east, or even north.

Thinking of this, Tan Renhao probably knew it in his heart. Spruance has actually been fighting passively, rather than actively looking for fighters, which can be regarded as an advantage of the Imperial fleet. Moreover, when Tan Renhao considered the next phase of the US Fifth Fleet's operations from Spruance's point of view, he also felt that there was not much chance. This made him breathe a sigh of relief. If Spruance had a fleet of excellent quality in his hands at this time, then he still needed to have some scruples, but when the quality of the US Fifth Fleet could not meet the minimum requirements for defeating the opponent, there was really no need to imagine the enemy so terrible.

After dinner, Huang Xiaotian and other commanders and chiefs of staff rushed to the aircraft carrier "Longganhu," the flagship of the First Task Force. The twelve generals all went to the conference room, and Tan Renhao first expressed several analyses and judgments about the possible next actions of the US Fifth Fleet.

"If the U.S. Fifth Fleet leaves the waters off Wake Island this evening, Spruance is most likely to appear south of us in the next seven to eight days." Tan Renhao marked a sea area on the south side of Nihua Island on the chart. "And we won't be able to bomb Kauai until at least the morning after tomorrow, and the landing fleet and convoy will be in place within five days. That is, while we are preparing the Marines for early firepower, the U.S. fleet is most likely to attack from our south. Calculating the distance from Wake Island to Kauai Island, the US Fifth Fleet will arrive as soon as the evening of the day after tomorrow. So, on the first day of bombing. We should concentrate all our forces to first destroy the US military aviation facilities on Kauai and seize air supremacy, at least not to let the US shore-based bombers on Kauai threaten us. ”

"This requires both of our fleets to act together." Huang Xiaotian added.

"Yes, all five task forces must dispatch all the bombers at the same time to accomplish this mission." Tan Renhao looked at Hao Dongjue, "The specific bombing mission is arranged by Hao Dongjue, Dongjue, this is the bombing mission of the five aircraft carrier task forces." And not just the bombing mission of Task Force 2, which is very difficult, but of course, it is also extremely important, and we can only be more sure of a decisive battle with Spruance without any worries. ”

Hao Dongjue nodded immediately. "Don't worry, I'll take out the plan in the next two days and send it to the fleets."

Tan Renhao smiled at Hao Dongjue, and then looked at Chang Jianxin. "Often, while we were bombing Nihua Island, Task Force 3 was rapidly approaching Nihua Island. Shelling of Nihua Island began the night after tomorrow. The focus is on several airfields that are within the range of naval guns, as well as landing sites. The scale of this landing operation is very large, so it is necessary to pay attention to the arrangement of the feint attack and the direction of the main attack. Try to create a false impression of the US military. ”

"No problem, I'll act according to the battle plan." Chang Jianxin had already memorized the battle plan, and the battle plan drafted by Liao Hanxiang clearly stipulated the feint attack and the action in the direction of the initiative.

"As long as we achieve good results in the first day of bombing, then the next preliminary fire support will only need to be completed by a maximum of three aircraft carrier task forces." Tan Renhao hesitated slightly, "For us, this is also a good opportunity for military training, so I suggest that the Third Fleet carry out the next bombing mission, Xiaotian, what do you think?" ”

"I have no opinion." Huang Xiaotian looked at Yan Yulong and Zheng Guanhua.

Zheng Guanhua smiled and nodded. Of course, he wouldn't have a problem. Yan Yulong hesitated for a moment, and nodded, in fact, he knew that this was a piece of chicken ribs, but he couldn't object, after all, the quality of the seventh task force could not catch up with the previous main task forces.

"Then, from the day after tomorrow, that is, on the first of May, the 1st and 2nd task forces will be on covert and stand by the 4th task force in the southeast direction of Nihua Island. The 7th Task Force, 8th Task Force, and 3rd Task Force prepare the Marine Corps for preliminary firepower. "Seeing that no one raised objections, Tan Renhao continued to make arrangements." However, I don't think Spruance is likely to sneak up on us during this period. He knew very well that we would focus our defense on the south side, not on the east side, or on the north side. If the U.S. Fifth Fleet had come out from the south, it would have hit us with guns. So if I were Spruance......"

"Then it must be from the east, preferably from the north!" Hao Dongjue preempted Tan Renhao and said it.

Tan Renhao glanced at his brother-in-law, and then nodded. "Yes, Spruance is likely to choose to attack from the east, or from the north. But that would allow the U.S. Fifth Fleet to spend more time maneuvering. In terms of time, it would take seven days for the Fifth Fleet to go around to our east, and more than eight days to go around to our north. By this time, the Marines had landed on Kauai, and this was when our defenses were at their weakest. ”

"Then we'll have to adjust the deployment of the fleet." Feng Lingdu said something that didn't have much flavor, and after noticing everyone's gaze at him, this usually grumpy general also lowered his head, and he also knew very well that among this group of generals, he was the one who had the least right to speak.

"General Fenglingdu's words are exactly what I am saying, we must adjust the deployment of the fleet." Tan Renhao did not have the confidence to hit Fenglingdu. "If we had used conventional tactics to defend the way we had done it, we would inevitably have left Spruance with a flaw, and Spruance would certainly have caught our flaw. We must change our defensive tactics and adopt a mobile defensive approach to deal with the threat of the US Fifth Fleet. ”

"You mean, our two fleets take turns in the task of main attack and defense?" Huang Xiaotian immediately understood what Tan Renhao meant, but he didn't think this was a good way.

"Yes, the two fleets take turns in defensive and active roles." Tan Renhao circled several sea areas on the map, "When the time comes, our two fleets will keep a distance of 100 to 150 nautical miles, and try to keep the task force and the aircraft carrier battle group in the fleet closer, which can enhance the density of air defense and cover each other." Then, the two fleets took turns, one to cover and the other to attack, and maneuvered according to the planned route, trying to avoid staying in one sea area for too long. ”

"This will certainly increase the difficulty of command, and there is a possibility that both fleets will be exposed."

"The problem of command is not very serious, and as for whether the fleet will be exposed, I don't think it is so serious." Tan Renhao looked at Huang Xiaotian, "Even if our positions are exposed, the fleet is maneuvering, so it is difficult for the US military to determine our exact location." In addition, this can also create problems for the intelligence system of the US military, and when the time comes, the US military is likely to think that we are a fleet, and Spruance will not believe that our two main fleets will be dispatched at the same time. In addition, it can also preserve the physical strength of the officers and men of the fleet, and they can exert their maximum combat effectiveness when encountering the US Fifth Fleet. Most importantly, it gives us all the opportunity to send forces to attack the U.S. Fifth Fleet, rather than fighting Spruance alone. ”

Huang Xiaotian just nodded, he still felt that there was a problem. Of course, in front of so many people, it is difficult for him to directly raise objections.