The fleet began to turn around at 10:50, and the aviation crews on the aircraft carrier also prepared the fighters for departure. At half past five, after the fleet had just arrived at the scheduled fighter departure area, the first fighter piloted by Ellsler left the aircraft carrier and flew into the night sky. Within fifteen minutes, all 36 fighters that had taken off from the two aircraft carriers had risen into the air and quickly disappeared into the darkness.

After Tan Renhao saw the navigation light of the last fighter disappear in the night sky, he turned around and looked at the communications staff officer. The communications staff officer shrugged his shoulders and said that he had not yet received a telegram from Task Force 3, and that the commander had asked this question no less than twenty times during the night. Tan Renhao sighed secretly and looked up at the navigation clock, it was almost five fifty o'clock. The fighters of the squadron led by Ellsler would arrive near Europa between half past seven and seven forty o'clock, and perhaps the Third Task Force would be there.

At that time, the only thing Tan Renhao could count on was that these fighters would arrive in time.

"The take-off of the bombers has been arranged, and after receiving the news from Task Force 3, we can let the bombers go." Zheng Guanhua came to the command cabin at this time, "I talked to Qiu Gengbo and Yang Qinkai alone, and they have no problem. ”

Tan Renhao nodded. "Then keep waiting, maybe there will be news of Task Force 3 soon."

The command cabin was quiet, and Zheng Guanhua went to arrange some detailed work, and then sat down in his place. Tan Renhao also sat down. All the arrangements have been arranged, and now we have to wait until the return of the Ellsloth fleet. The fleet can turn, otherwise, Ellsler and they will not be able to come back. Shortly after dawn. Du Xing brought over the breakfast of Tan Renhao and Zheng Guanhua.

Subsequently, the staff officers of the fleet command also began to change shifts one after another. After breakfast. Tan Renhao was still sitting quietly, and he suddenly realized that he was not anxious at all. This made him feel strange at first, he used to have a very impulsive feeling at this time, but now he didn't feel this feeling at all.

By half-past seven. Tan Renhao stood up, he still looked at the communications staff officer first, but he didn't get any reply, not only did he not receive any news from the third task force now, but even Ansle and they didn't send any news back. In other words, Ansloth they hadn't reached the skies over Task Force 3 yet. Moreover, the 3rd Task Force had not yet encountered the Anglo-French expeditionary fleet, nor had it been bombed by the enemy.

Tan Renhao felt that his thoughts were strange. He knew very well that no news was the best news at this time, and that Task Force 3 would only send a telegram if it encountered the enemy or was bombed by the enemy. But he wondered what was going on over there. That is, to immediately receive a telegram from Task Force 3. This is obviously contradictory, and it can be said that Tan Renhao's mood is also very contradictory. He hoped that Task Force 3 would survive the storm. Returned safely, but at the same time, he hoped to take advantage of this opportunity to seize Cunningham and dispatch the bombers of the fleet to take out the Anglo-French joint expeditionary fleet, even if the bomber pilots could only swim ashore. That would also be an attack.

Time passed minute by minute, less than ten minutes had passed, and Tan Renhao felt as if a few hours had passed, he also began to get anxious, and his mood was changing.

"General, a telegram from Task Force 3!"

Tan Renhao was startled, and when Zheng Guanhua rushed to receive the telegram, he glanced at the navigation clock, which was exactly seven forty o'clock.

"Our fighters have reached the skies over the Third Task Force, but the Third Task Force has not been bombed by the enemy, nor has it encountered the enemy fleet." Zheng Guanhua quickly read the content of the telegram, and then gave the telegram to Tan Renhao, "It's strange, could it be that the British and French joint expeditionary fleet went north, or fled south, and did not encounter the third task force at all?" ”

Tan Renhao is also a little strange, Cunningham's purpose in entering the Mozambique Channel must have been to find them for a decisive battle, but why did he avoid a fight? If he did escape, why did he need to enter the middle of the Mozambique Channel?

"Contact Task Force 3 and have them head north to Moroni immediately." Tan Renhao quickly made a decision, "Tell Chang Jianxin to be careful on the road, beware of enemy bombardment, and at the same time pay attention to possible enemy fleets." In addition, contact Jiang Zhongmin and ask him to immediately arrange for all seaplanes to repeatedly search the northern waters of the strait, and in addition, we will return directly to Moroni for resupply, and the supply fleet does not need to go south. ”

The two telegrams were quickly sent, and Tan Renhao also quieted down. Now, Task Force 1 had to continue sailing in the area, and Ellsroth's fighter group would return to the fleet around half-past ten, when the fleet would be able to head north for Moroni, probably a little later than Task Force 3. However, Tan Renhao no longer felt too worried, in his opinion, Cunningham should not go north, unless the Anglo-French joint expeditionary fleet ventured to shell Moroni, otherwise, Cunningham had no reason to go north. Therefore, it is unlikely that Task Force 3 will be hit suddenly. By tomorrow morning, the distance between Task Force 1 and Task Force 3 would be within 150 nautical miles, and even if Cunningham suddenly appeared, he would not be able to defeat both task forces at the same time.

But Tan Renhao is still very puzzled by Cunningham's appearance in the middle of the Mozambique Channel and his sudden disappearance. He had been thinking about this before the fleet returned to the fleet. What reason was there for Cunningham to enter the Mozambique Channel, and why did he suddenly disappear when he could have fought Task Force 3 and he had a better chance of victory? It simply doesn't make sense!

After thinking about it for more than two hours, Tan Renhao didn't have a clue, he felt as if several gongs had been struck in his head, and his head hurt so badly that he couldn't think about the problem in detail at all. After Ansle's fleet returned to the fleet, Tan Renhao ordered the fleet to go north at full speed to return to Moroni as soon as possible, and put Zheng Guanhua in charge of adjusting and redeploying the fleet's reconnaissance operations. After arranging these things. Tan Renhao went back to the cabin, ready to sleep first, after recuperating his spirits. It's not too late to think about these issues. Of course, he didn't forget to ask Zheng Guanhua to call him when there was an emergency.

I slept for nearly ten hours. By the time Tan Renhao woke up, it was already dark, the fleet was sailing in a northwest direction, and the reconnaissance planes responsible for patrolling during the day were landing on the aircraft carriers one after another. And by this time the wind and waves on the sea were already weak, and the fleet had already left the storm zone. On the way to Moronidi.

"Xiao Zheng, nothing happened during the day, right?" Tan Renhao's spirit has completely recovered, and he is much more cheerful.

"There was nothing on the ground, and the reconnaissance planes didn't find anything.

In addition, the new general sent a telegram half an hour ago that they had entered the search area of the shore-based patrol planes, and had not encountered the enemy fleet, and that the third task force was expected to reach Moroni by the evening of tomorrow evening. ”

"When can we get to Moroni?" Tan Renhao called Zheng Guanhua out of the command cabin and walked towards the restaurant.

"About ten o'clock tomorrow night at the earliest. The sea conditions here are much better, and I asked the navigation staff. Now the fleet is on the nearest route. ”

"Pay attention to the night voyage......" Tan Renhao hesitated, "Let's go eat first, let's eat." You go and get a good night's sleep, and I'll take charge of the command of the fleet at night. ”

"It's okay, I'm not tired yet."

"You're not tired? You haven't closed your eyes in more than two days, don't hold on. Even if we swap each other a bit, when we get to Moroni, we'll just change back. Tan Renhao smiled and patted Zheng Guanhua's shoulder, "Only when you have your spirit can you fight the enemy, right?" If you're exhausted, where am I going to find a new chief of staff now? ”

Zheng Guanhua smiled shyly, he didn't argue anymore, he was so tired that he couldn't hold on.

After dinner, Tan Renhao asked Zheng Guanhua to go back directly to rest, and he turned around twice on the flight deck of the aircraft carrier before returning to the command cabin. The staff officer had already changed shifts, and Tan Renhao directly found the staff officer who was in charge of navigation operations at night, and asked him to re-correct the route of the fleet and increase the frequency of anti-submarine evasion. Then, Tan Renhao issued several orders, including having the radars on the two cruisers in front of the fleet and in the southwest direction activate to monitor the two most important directions. He also asked the staff officer to send him the next day's reconnaissance plan, and after making sure that there were no major problems with the reconnaissance operation formulated by Zheng Guanhua, he did not continue to trouble the staff officer of the fleet.

After dealing with these basic tasks, Tan Renhao quieted down. His energy has regained and his mind has become flexible. In addition, in the afternoon telegram, Chang Jiexin gave a detailed account of the actions of the Third Task Force after discovering the whereabouts of the Anglo-French joint expeditionary fleet near the island of Rurione. When Tan Renhao once again connected the before and after of this operation, he quickly guessed Cunningham's actions, and probably guessed why Cunningham retreated in a hurry last night!

Although he could only use speculation to simulate the actions of the Anglo-French joint expeditionary fleet, from the perspective of a bystander, he could clearly see the concerns of the commanders of the two sides in the combat operation and the instinctive actions taken in extreme situations. This can be regarded as a little skill that Tan Renhao learned after fighting Spruance many times. In order to judge the battle situation more accurately, he must look at what is happening on the battlefield through the eyes of a bystander!

Tan Renhao first judged that Cunningham believed that the 1st Task Force and the 3rd Task Force had always been together, and it was precisely because he was afraid that he would be bombed by the 1st Task Force at dawn that he chose to retreat at full speed at night, and did not dare to fight the 3rd Task Force at all. And Chang Zhixin's choice is the same, so the two sides almost passed by, even if Cunningham judged the general direction of the third task force at night, he did not dare to challenge, or even expose himself. Therefore, Chang Zhixin did not find the whereabouts of the Anglo-French joint expeditionary fleet at night, and the two sides missed the opportunity for a decisive battle.

As for why Cunningham let the fleet enter the Mozambique Channel, Tan Renhao did not speculate too much, he just judged that Cunningham had obtained fuel supplies here and was trying to sneak up on Moroni, or return to the waters southeast of the island of Madagascar after completing the resupply and continue to intercept the 1st and 3rd task forces. This is just an intuitive judgment, Tan Renhao didn't make too many guesses, but he noticed one point, that is, Cunningham let the fleet enter the Mozambique Channel, and go deep into the strait, then there must be the idea of a sneak attack on Moroni, and if he dares to plan a sneak attack on Moroni, then he can only take advantage of the first task force and the third task force to go to Moroni for supplies. And this proves one point, that is, there are British and French spies in Moroni, and Cunningham has received the information sent by these spies, otherwise, he would not have known that the supply fleet is in Moroni, let alone think that the first task force and the third task force may go to Moroni for resupply!

When Tan Renhao thought of this, he was not surprised, but he felt a headache. Colombo certainly had British and French spies, but Colombo is a large city with hundreds of thousands of inhabitants, and it is impossible to eliminate enemy espionage activities. The problem was that Moroni had less than 10,000 inhabitants, and the intelligence sent by the British and French spies here was too much of a threat to the fleet. Therefore, Tan Renhao's first thought was that after arriving at Moroni, he had to find a way to get rid of the British and French spies here!

He did not rush to send a telegram to Jiang Zhongmin, because he could not rule out that there were internal ghosts in Jiang Zhongmin's troops, and this time hundreds of internal ghosts suspected of betraying intelligence were caught in the navy, and many of Jiang Zhongmin's troops were officers and men who had been stationed overseas all year round, so it was even more difficult to rule out the possibility of internal ghosts among these officers and soldiers. Therefore, he couldn't let Jiang Zhongmin prepare in advance, and he could only find a way to dig out the enemy's spies after the fleet returned to Moroni!

Tan Renhao was also thinking about what method to use to find out the enemy's spy personnel, but he soon didn't think about it, this is not his strong point, and when the time comes, it will be more often recommended to recruit new ones, Jiang Zhongmin will discuss it, and a few more people will consider it, so it will naturally be easier to find a way.