"That's not good, is it?" Jiang Zhongmin didn't believe his ears a little, from the time Tan Renhao walked into his office, he felt that he had seen the wrong person, this was the first time Tan Renhao came to his side.

Jiang Zhongmin's office is much smaller than Tan Renhao's office, and even much worse than Tan Renhao's previous office, and the furnishings inside are also very simple, the table is ordinary cypress, and the documents are stored in several iron bookcases, instead of the mahogany bookcases on Tan Renhao's side, which looks a little shabby.

"That's actually what the chief of staff meant." Tan Renhao smiled reluctantly, "I've already asked Du Xing to decorate the office, you can also ask someone to clean up your things, and move over in the afternoon." ”

"Okay, I'll pack ...... now"

"Let your lieutenant do this, and we'll go out for a walk."

Jiang Zhongmin hesitated for a moment, then nodded, went out first and called the adjutant in, and then took his coat and followed Tan Renhao out of the office. The two soon came to the garden outside, it was already mid-October, and the air was a little cool, especially when the sea breeze was blowing, Tan Renhao and Jiang Zhongmin both tightened their coats.

"You're still used to going back to the Navy Command, right?" Tan Renhao himself didn't know why he asked such a question, which made him seem very close to Jiang Zhongmin, but in fact, he didn't feel that way at all.

"It's not bad, it's very different from before, now that the theater command has been established, the naval command has a lot fewer tasks, and the chief of staff is much easier."

"It's not going to be easy for us." Tan Renhao sat down on a chair, "What happened to those Japanese?" ”

Jiang Zhongmin pulled a chair over and sat opposite Tan Renhao. "The Military Intelligence Agency did not let us interfere in the interrogation work, and it was very mysterious, and the specific situation was not clear, but occasionally we could hear some rumors."

"Rumors?" Tan Renhao laughed, there were rumors everywhere.

"We also heard it while those MIA people were chatting." Jiang Zhongmin shrugged his shoulders, "In order for the United States to agree to accept their personnel, Tojo spent a lot of money. They are ready to send all local technology, especially the technical information that the United States lacks, to the United States free of charge. In addition, Japan had about 4oo tons of gold reserves before the war, and I heard that this amount of gold was also going to be sent to the United States to support the Japanese government-in-exile's spending in the United States, and perhaps even to buy a desert island from the United States so that the government-in-exile could gain a foothold. ”

"It seems. Tojo did spend a lot of money, but the gold wasn't easy to get out. ”

"It's not clear how to ship it to the United States, but it's nothing more than two ways: air and sea. 4oo tons of gold is not a small amount of construction, if it is transported by air, it is difficult to mobilize a lot of aircraft, and it is difficult to conceal it, even if an aircraft only transports a few tons, and loses one. That's amazing.

So sea freight is more likely. “

"Or with a submarine?" Tan Renhao also came to be interested. 4oo tonnes of gold is not a small amount.

"We speculated that submarines would be used, but the CIA people didn't give any information about it." Jiang Zhongmin sighed, "It is very likely that the United States sent a submarine to Japan to transport the gold out." The MIA should have relevant information. Maybe forces will be organized to intercept this submarine. It's just that there has been no formal request for naval cooperation yet, and plans are probably still underway. ”

"Whatever, if the MIA can handle it on its own, it would be great." Tan Renhao hesitated for a moment and changed the topic, "The US counterattack will begin at the end of the year, and the chief of staff has asked us to come up with several sets of operational plans for possible counterattack actions by the US military, what specific ideas do you have?" ”

Jiang Zhongmin frowned slightly and did not speak immediately. Tan Renhao didn't say what he thought, he wanted to listen to Jiang Zhongmin's opinion first.

"Are you sure it's at the end of the year?" Jiang Zhongmin thought for a while. As he asked the question, he felt for his cigarette.

"By the end of the year, the United States will have four aircraft carriers, two battleships, and a large number of escort warships, which is enough to form four aircraft carrier battle groups." Tan Renhao paused, "If the U.S. military chooses to counterattack after January next year, there will be four more battleships at that time." As well as a group of escort warships. Whether it is the end of this year or the beginning of next year, the US military's counterattack will be very sharp and pose a great threat to us. ”

"The possibility of delaying it until early next year is not very large." Jiang Zhongmin lit a cigarette, then leaned back in his chair, a little away from Tan Renhao. "If you want to delay the counterattack and hope to surpass us in terms of strength, the US Navy should completely delay the counterattack until the middle of next year, when the number of their aircraft carriers will be at least equal to ours, and they will surpass us in terms of battleships, and the number of other escort warships will not be less. But the problem is that the US military will not be able to delay until the middle of next year, unless they don't even want Australia anymore. ”

Tan Renhao nodded slightly, which is also the reason why he judged that the US military would launch a counterattack at the end of this year. If by the middle of next year there will be at least eight aircraft carriers, six (and possibly even nine) miniature fleet aircraft carriers, eight (and possibly ten) battleships, more than 30 cruisers, and hundreds of destroyers operating in the Pacific Ocean, and then the Tang Empire will have only ten aircraft carriers, an unknown number (at most four, possibly eight) of small aircraft carriers, as well as eight battleships, more than 40 cruisers, and nearly 100 destroyers deployed in the Pacific theater. At that time, the US Navy will actually be on par with the Tang Imperial Navy in terms of overall strength, and even a little more in terms of the number of aircraft carriers. But the problem is that if it is delayed until the middle of next year, the Solomon Islands are very likely to be in the hands of the Tang Empire, and even the Tang Empire's 6th team will go all the way to New Caledonia. At this time, the US military is already completely passive, and the effect of the counterattack will be greatly reduced.

"If we counterattack at the end of this year, the strength of the US military is actually not much worse than ours, and the key is to see the results of the naval battle." Jiang Zhongmin still continued to think, "In this way, then our best way is to take the initiative to attack, but the problem is that we don't have the ability to open up a new battlefield." Passive defense can only lead to defeat, so we can only choose active defense and try to force the US military to fight a decisive battle on the battlefield we choose, rather than we go to the battlefield chosen by the enemy to fight a decisive battle. ”

Tan Renhao laughed, Jiang Zhongmin's thinking was the same as his, which may have something to do with the education they received at the Imperial Navy Officer Academy.

"If aggressively defensive, I think. The best place for a decisive battle should be the Southwest Pacific Theater, which is the same direction as our landlord's attack, and the fleet can rely on the support of amino aviation, rather than fighting alone. Jiang Zhongmin looked at Tan Renhao, "Then we have to let the U.S. fleet fight here." ”

Tan Renhao nodded, and then he said what he thought.

"It's a good plan, if we can get the Fourth Task Force into the war, we can ensure that we have enough troops in the southwest Pacific. Allowing Task Force 2 to operate in the Pacific Theater forced the U.S. military to abandon its plan to launch a counterattack in the western Pacific. Jiang Zhongmin nodded slightly, "And the key point of the entire combat site is whether we can grasp the key points of the US military and let them have to send troops to the southwest Pacific." ”

"Solomon Islands." Tan Renhao mentioned this point.

"This key point must be in the Solomon Islands, but there are so many islands in the Solomon Islands, if you fight them one by one, it will not only take time, but also may not be able to achieve the goal!"

"What do you mean......"

"Choose a place where the U.S. military has to defend and fight, and fight hard. The Yankees were afraid to lose the fortress. It was necessary to increase troops, and not only to reinforce the ground forces and aviation, but also to reinforce the fleet. Let them know that if our fleet is not crushed, then their fortress will fall, and when the time comes, their defense line in the southwest Pacific will completely collapse, and even Australia will be threatened! ”

Tan Renhao immediately laughed, he really didn't expect this, it seems that Jiang Zhongmin does have a certain ability.

"The best option is Guadalcanal, which is not only the core of the U.S. military's defense in the Solomon Islands. And it is also the core of the defense of the US military in the entire chain of islands in the southwest Pacific. ”

Jiang Zhongmin looked around for a while, then picked up a dead branch from the ground and roughly drew the distribution of islands in the southwest Pacific Ocean on the ground. "If we take Guadalcanal, we can quickly sweep the surrounding islands, and then drive straight south into the Coral Sea, cutting off the New Hebrides, New Caledonia from Australia, and not only blocking Australia. In order to lay the foundation for the future landing of 6 Australia, you can also go north to attack Port Moresby, or sweep the New Hebrides and New Caledonia. As long as this strategic offensive is completed, Australia will basically be finished. It is impossible for the United States to tolerate the loss of Australia, then they will inevitably defend Guadalcanal and fight a decisive battle with us here! ”

"There are tens of thousands of US troops stationed on Kuah Island, and there are well-established defense facilities, and there are several airfields, so it is very difficult to take this island." Tan Renhao bent down, "In addition, it is a question of whether the 6th team has the ability to defeat Kuah Island before the end of the year, and it is not easy to even advance the front to Kuah Island." ”

"Our first purpose is to get the American fleet to come over for a decisive battle, and the second purpose is to capture Kuah Island." Jiang Zhongmin drew another circle outside the circle representing Kuah Island with withered branches, "We can attack Kuah Island first, it doesn't matter whether we can fight it or not, it is important, but we must let the United States realize that Kuah Island is already dangerous." Let the 6th Squadron send several divisions of troops up, the 3rd Task Force is responsible for close support and blockade operations, and the HNA and the 4th Task Force are responsible for seizing air supremacy and air strikes. If we can commit three divisions of 6 teams here, the American side will have to reconsider the situation on Kuah Island, as well as the defense line in the entire southwest Pacific. ”

"Skip the other nearby islands and go straight to Kuah Island?" Tan Renhao immediately understood what Jiang Zhongmin meant.

"Yes, we should be able to seize air supremacy now, and with the existence of the third task force, it is not a problem to ensure sea supremacy. It is completely possible to skip other islands where U.S. troops are stationed, and use the New Britain Island Ground Air Force to provide cover and support for the 6th Sentai Team to attack Kuah Island! ”

Tan Renhao nodded slightly, during the Battle of the Mariana Islands, the 6th team once bypassed Pagan Island and attacked the islands in the south, but then this tactic was not used, but one island after another, as a result, the Battle of the Mariana Islands lasted for several months, and the 6th team suffered huge losses and consumed a lot of war materials. If you can skip those secondary islands and use your sea and air supremacy to help Team 6 land on important islands and capture important islands, then you can reduce your investment, and at the same time, you can speed up the attack.

Thinking of this, Tan Renhao laughed, this is indeed a good way, no one has ever thought of it before. According to the traditional concept, since it is a place occupied by the enemy, it is valuable, and it must be taken. However, it now seems that this concept is completely wrong; in a battle in which air supremacy is the mainstay, as long as the shore-based air force of the HNA can be guaranteed to fly over, then all the islands in the middle can be raised and the most important islands can be directly attacked, and then the battle will continue all the way, and there will be no need to fight with the enemy island by island.

"Well, do you think this plan is feasible?" Jiang Zhongmin not only asked Tan Renhao's opinion, but he was a little unsure of his thoughts.

"It should be feasible, but this has to be determined by General Yan Guozhong, after all, he is the general of the 6th team, and he knows the most about the Deng 6 operation." Tan Renhao stood up, "After the principal comes back, a meeting of the commanders of the theater will be held, and when the time comes, we can have a good talk with General Yan Guozhong."

Now, let's take a look at your new location. “

Jiang Zhongmin also stood up, and he glanced at Tan Renhao gratefully. Tan Renhao also noticed Jiang Zhongmin's color, he smiled slightly, and walked towards the headquarters.

Duchenne found a few logistics personnel from the naval headquarters and divided his office into two parts with thick wooden planks, of which Tan Renhao's part was obviously much larger, and all the previous furniture was also moved. Jiang Zhongmin's part is smaller, and the desks and bookcases are all newly delivered, and they are all bargains. It seems that Duchenne still can't let go, and has done a little trick within his own power.

Jiang Zhongmin did not raise any objections to this arrangement, and Tan Renhao did not directly blame Du Xing, he had already made a lot of concessions.