The battered ships of Task Force 2 reached anchorage at daybreak. On the evening of the 9th, these battleships left the anchorage at Iwo Jima under the escort of eight lightly damaged destroyers and set off for a large-scale overhaul.

Hao Dongjue also returned to the "Yangtze River" on the same day, and with his help, Chang Zhixin's letters of condolence to the families of all the officers and soldiers who died in the battle were signed and stamped (he went to help stamp them, and by the way, Chang Zhixin's mood stabilized) The First Task Force still did not receive a new order, and had to continue to stay at anchorage.

On the night of the ninth day, news came back from Anatahan Island. After the 3rd 6th Division went ashore, the 6th Brigade quickly expanded to 6 battles, and in the afternoon battle, it attacked the airfield in the northwest corner of the island, and was fighting a fierce battle with the American troops. This was the second pivotal battle in the entire Anatahan Island Den 6 battle. After capturing this airfield, the 6th team had a solid stronghold and could send additional troops and materials to the island by air (at that time, the Tang Empire had at least 4oo transport planes deployed on the front line, but the capacity of these transport planes was limited, so it was difficult to undertake the heavy task of transporting materials, and could only provide emergency assistance to the front-line troops and transport troops) to send additional troops to the island and transport supplies. In addition, HNA fighters can also replenish ammunition and fuel here, strengthen the intensity of sorties, and provide timely support for the 6 teams.

The battle for the airport was fierce, and the U.S. military was well aware of the importance of the airport. This is the only regular military airfield of the US military in the Mariana Islands except for Saipan, Tinian, Rota and Guam, and has a large amount of infrastructure, which can support at least 200 tactical aircraft (after expansion, it can even support 35o tactical aircraft). Therefore. The U.S. military has also made the airport a defensive priority.

The fierce battle of the 6th squadron did not affect the 1st Task Force. The "Washington Express" also did not go to "harass" the 6 teams. In order to strengthen the support of the 6th Sentai team, the HNA even dispatched night fighters (to hang bombs and carry out bombing missions) as well as night bombers. And Yan Guozhong rushed to the frontline battlefield and personally commanded the attack on the airport. I'm afraid that only he, the general of the 6th Imperial Clan, will brave the rain of bullets to the front line to command the battle!

"At this level, it will take at least three days for Team 6 to capture the airport."

Hao Dongjue sent the third telegram to Tan Renhao, and every hour, the 6th team would reply with a telegram on the progress of the battle. "If the fourth division is sent up. The progress should be a little faster. ”

"It's not that simple, Yan Guozhong won't concentrate on the reserves."

Tan Renhao is also paying attention to the battle ahead, "And judging from the current situation, Team 6 seems to have come to keep a hand." ”

"Got a hand?"

Hao Dongjue was a little puzzled, "Don't they want to hit the airport?" ”

"I want to think about it, but it depends on how I fight!"

Tan Renhao laughed, "You know the battle on Agrihan Island very well, right?" The U.S. military defended according to the danger, how long did it take for the 6 teams to fight? The area of Anatahan Island is much larger, and the US military will definitely have more strongholds on the island, if they continue to fight one by one. I'm afraid I won't be able to finish it in two or three months. ”

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

Hao Dongjue hesitated. "The 6th Sentai is going to use the airport as a bait to lure the US troops out to fight?"

"Yes, Yan Guozhong must think so."

Tan Renhao patted his partner on the shoulder. "The airfield was flat and unsafe, and the U.S. military could only rely on a few fortifications that were vulnerable to bombing and shelling, as well as a lot of investment, to confront the attacking 6 Sentai Squadron. Up to now, Yan Guozhong has only sent a little more than one regiment to attack at the front line, and he has at least six regiments in his hands, and there are at least two regiments that can be mobilized except for those left behind. Why didn't he send it? It's very simple, take advantage of the importance of the airfield to pull the US military out of the crypt and fight. It's easier than going to wipe out the U.S. strongholds one by one. Of course, the battle for the airport may last a few days, but as long as it is fought here, then the next battle will be easier, and the 6th team may even complete the operation to capture Anatahan Island within half a month, and start the battle to attack Saipan in advance! ”

Hearing Tan Renhao's explanation, Hao Dongjue couldn't help but nod again and again.

"Of course, I'm not an expert on the 6th team, nor am I the commander of the 6th team. What General Yan Guozhong's plans are, I can't guess! ”

"You kid is still pretending to be stupid, I think this is the plan of Team 6!"

Hao Dongjue smiled and punched Tan Renhao, "But, to be honest, I'm really a little envious of you who came out of the Naval Academy, I didn't take this course in the aviation school." ”

This time it was Tan Renhao's turn to be embarrassed, when he was in the Naval Academy, although he had studied the tactics of the 6th team, his grades were not very good, it was a minor course, not a compulsory course.

Just when Tan Renhao didn't know what to say, the communications staff officer ran over. "Commander, urgent telegram from the headquarters!"

Tan Renhao immediately took the telegram, glanced at it quickly, his expression sank, and then gave the telegram to Hao Dongjue.

"Let you go back?"

Hao Dongjue immediately shouted, "What kind of order is this, now let you return to the naval headquarters, are we going to give up the battle in the south?" ”

"No way, maybe there's something else."

Tan Renhao sighed secretly, now that the First Task Force is still in the theater of operations, it is the only main fleet in the theater, and it is by no means a simple matter to let the fleet commander return to the naval headquarters at this time.

"What about the fleet?"

"Of course you're in charge!"

Tan Renhao grabbed his partner's shoulder, "You are the chief of staff of the fleet, the second-in-command of the fleet, now I want to go back, naturally you will command the fleet to fight." ”

"But ......"

"It's nothing, aren't you trying to get over me? Now is the best time to do it. ”

Tan Renhao was encouraging his partner, "Do a good job, I have confidence in you, maybe I will come back soon, don't make any stubble, keep an eye on the officers and soldiers in the fleet!" ”

Hao Dongjue nodded helplessly, what else could he say?

"Wait a minute, help me contact the logistics troops on the island, the plane will be ready in two hours."

Tan Renhao walked out of the command cabin and said to Hao Dongjue, who came up. "I thought I could wait until Luo Yun rushed back to have a good chat, but now this kid is not here, after seeing him, help me say hello, and say that there is a chance, let's get together again!"

"No problem, he should be back in two days."

Hao Dongjue immediately agreed. After arriving at the anchorage, they contacted Luo Yunchong. But Luo Yunchong had already gone to Ryukyu Island at that time to arrange the adjustment of the troops, and he has not returned until now.

"So be it."

Tan Renhao listened outside his living cabin, "Is there anything you want me to bring back, or is there anything you want me to bring back for you?" ”

Hao Dongjue hesitated for a moment and said, "There is a letter, you can help me bring it back." ”

"Letter?"

Tan Renhao hesitated for a moment, and saw Hao Dongjue take out a sealed letter from the inner pocket of his jacket.

"I wanted to send it myself, but you know ......"

Hao Dongjue's face flushed.

When Tan Renhao saw the name on the envelope, he immediately laughed.

"Renhao. I'm serious this time. Actually, this should have been discussed with you a long time ago, but ......"

"Nothing, can it be successful. Then it's up to you kid! ”

Tan Renhao put his partner on the shoulder and said, "But, if you kid dare to play emotional games again, the next time you go to sea, I will tie you to the anchor and throw you into the sea together!" ”

Hao Dongjue immediately nodded vigorously.

"If it's okay, just go back and stare at it, I'm not here these days, everything is on your shoulders, and this is also an opportunity to test you. Whether you can become the commander of the fleet depends on your performance! ”

"Can I be the commander of the fleet?"

Hao Dongjue looked at Tan Renhao in surprise.

"Who said you can't? Well, I'm not the commander of the Navy, so I don't count. ”

Hao Dongjue smiled and shook his head, looking a little disappointed.

"Go and get busy with you, I'll just go to the airport by myself later."

Tan Renhao pushed open the hatch, then looked back at his partner, "There is news, I will take the initiative to contact you." It's your job right now, you know? ”

After Hao Dongjue walked away, Tan Ren Hao quickly packed his luggage. When he picked up the letter, he immediately burst into laughter. Two hours later, Tan Renhao arrived at the airport in the western part of Iwo Jima, where a transport plane was ready to take off. The transport plane flew at a distance of 16o knots for almost four hours before reaching the sky over the island of Ryukyu. At dawn, the plane landed at Kadena Airport, and before it could fully come to a stop, a jeep drove by. When Tan Renhao saw the man driving the jeep through the porthole, he was immediately surprised.

"When did you come back and the training ended so quickly?"

Tan Renhao handed the luggage to the adjutant Du Xing.

"No, now that I've completed a third of my studies, we have a week's vacation, and I thought I had nowhere else to go, so I came back, and I just heard that you were coming back, so I rushed to pick you up."

Duchen helped Tan Renhao open the car door.

"How's the school, it's hard to study, right?"

Tan Renhao jumped into the co-pilot's seat. For more than a month, without the care of the adjutant, he had to do everything by himself, and Tan Renhao also deeply understood the importance of having an adjutant by his side.

Duchenne smiled, and then moved the jeep. "It's barely enough, not the best, not the worst. I met a lot of friends, everyone was an adjutant, and we could talk together. ”

"That's good, make a few more friends, it's better than you reading around me all day."

Tan Renhao nodded, his expectations for Duchenne were not high, to put it bluntly, the adjutant was the kind of person who lived in the shadow of others all his life.

"By the way, do you know about Jiang Zhongmin and Fan Peikun?"

Tan Renhao was stunned, where could Du Xing hear about these two people?

"Their adjutant had also attended the training course, but then he was transferred."

Du Xing shrugged his shoulders, "We don't know why, they were all transferred suddenly, I heard a few students who had a good relationship with them say that General Jiang Zhongmin's adjutant was transferred, it seems that he still went to be his adjutant, and Fan Peikun's adjutant should have been transferred to the front-line troops." ”

"Front-line troops?"

Tan Renhao was even more surprised. In the Tang Imperial Navy, the adjutant was like a parasite, and his commander was one with glory and one with loss. If the chief is in power, then the adjutant is also in power, such as Marshal Nie Renfeng's adjutant, although he is a major, who dares to provoke him? Similarly, if the commander is finished, the adjutant is basically finished, and most of these adjutants who follow the commander will be transferred to front-line combat units (or overseas, if in peacetime), this personnel arrangement is very impersonal, but it is a "glorious" tradition of the Imperial Navy.

"I'm not sure either, it's all from others anyway."

"Whatever, the two of them deserve any kind of punishment!"

Tan Renhao is talking about Jiang Zhongmin and Fan Peikun, not their adjutants.

Duchenne didn't say anything more, and it was a common practice in the navy for adjutants to discuss their respective commanders in private, and in fact it was also an important channel for naval officers to get to know each other and get news from other officers. But the problem is that adjutants should not speak ill of other officers too much in front of their own officers, especially in front of those who are upright, and should not make unwarranted comments on other officers.

Tan Renhao didn't ask much, after all, what the adjutant could know was the rumors outside. Even if rumors are not groundless in many cases, they are always rumors. He didn't have a good impression of Fan Peikun, and even wished that bastard would be finished soon, but the problem was that he couldn't judge a person by relying on hearsay, let alone show it. Let's put it this way, if a person is bitten by a dog, it is impossible to bite it back. Beat a dog, and not with a mouth, but with a stick!

The jeep quickly drove to the officers' rest area, and after waiting for half an hour, an officer from the airport rushed over, and the plane to take Tan Renhao back to Zhoushan was ready. Without delay, the two immediately rushed back to the runway again and boarded the transport plane. From Ryukyu Island to Zhoushan Island, the plane flew for just over three hours, and it was close to noon when it arrived. Tan Renhao did not immediately go to Gan Yongxing, but first asked Du Xing to send him home and prepare to go to the headquarters in the afternoon.

When he returned home, Tan Renhao suddenly felt a lot more relaxed, as if the burden of a thousand catties on his shoulders had suddenly disappeared, and the feeling of home would never be found on a battleship!