When the 3rd Task Force and the 6th Task Force were engaged with the enemy on the front line, Tan Renhao, as the commander of the Combined Fleet, did not sleep all night on the aircraft carrier "Longganhu". He was not arranging reconnaissance and combat missions for the First Task Force, but waiting for news from the ground. Zhu Rongzhe, the chief of staff, was not bad, and he knew that Tan Renhao would devote more energy to handling the fleet's joint combat operations, so he took the initiative to take charge of the task of commanding the ground of the first task force and warned all the ground staff officers. If there is nothing to do, don't bother the commander, just go to the chief of staff to solve the problem. But as a result, it was not the staff officer who bothered Tan Renhao, but every few minutes, Tan Renhao would ask the communications staff officer if he had received any news from other task forces.

At that time, the aircraft carrier "Longganhu", the flagship of the First Task Force, was also the flagship of the First Fleet, and it was also the flagship of the Combined Fleet. At the time of the establishment of the First Fleet, that is, when the "Ryuganko" was being repaired in Naha, the aircraft carrier island was rearranged, several secondary ground compartments were transferred to the ship's interior, and a special ground communication center was added to it, equipped with more than 20 ground radio stations of various types, and this communication center was under the command module, and there was a staircase connected to the command module. In this way, Tan Renhao can command multiple fleets in the command cabin and easily fight with other troops. For example, the Marine Corps, shore-based aviation, and the Port Command are in contact.

At that time, the ground radio stations on the battleship were all on, and Tan Renhao was not very worried about the safety of the first task force. Anyway, the fleet was far enough away from the British mainland, and it was difficult for British ground bombers to attack the 1st Task Force under the cover of fighter planes. And without fighter escort, those British bombers just came to send them to their deaths. Of course, the most important thing is that Tan Renhao wants to grasp the situation on the battlefield and know the changes on the battlefield at any time, but the problem is that since eleven o'clock, no fleet has taken the initiative to send a telegram!

There are several kinds of ground radio stations on the aircraft carrier "Longganhu". Among them, there are ultra-long-wave radio stations specially used for communication with the rear command, and this kind of radio station has a lot of power. Its transmitting and receiving antennas are more than ten meters long, erected on both sides of the flight deck of the aircraft carrier, which is very conspicuous, and its communication distance is also very long. In fact, this is also commonly known as the ground wave station, the ultra-long wave propagates against the surface of the earth, and the signal attenuation speed is relatively slow, so as long as there is enough power. Its communication distance can reach thousands of kilometers. In addition, there are long-wave radio stations that communicate with other friendly forces, which also transmit signals through ground waves, but the wavelength is slightly shorter. Therefore, the signal attenuation speed is a little faster, the communication distance is much closer, but the transmission speed of information is much faster, and this kind of radio is mainly used for communication between fleets. The third type of radio station is the shortwave radio station used for communication between warships and flying units. The ground signal emitted by this kind of radio station is basically transmitted in a straight line, and the ground attenuation speed is very fast when propagating in the air. Moreover, it will be blocked by obstacles, so the communication distance is affected, especially when considering the influence of the curvature of the earth, even if it communicates with an aircraft flying at an altitude of several thousand meters, its range is not more than 300 nautical miles at most. The last one, that is, the Imperial Navy was equipped with ultra-shortwave radio stations at that time. The principle of this radio station is to reflect radio signals through the ionosphere above the atmosphere, so as to solve the problem that the curvature of the earth affects the distance of the station. In addition, because the signal is transmitted through the ionosphere after multiple transmissions, it is difficult for the enemy's ground radio listening station to measure the location of the signal source by receiving the ground radio signal. And this kind of radio is also being provided to the Navy one after another to replace long-wave and short-wave radio, but because of the power limitation of the radio station at that time, it cannot replace the ultra-longwave radio.

At that time, each of the three task forces in the First Fleet had one of these new radios installed on each of them. It's just that the Second Fleet has not been able to return to the Empire, and the production of this new type of radio station is not very large. Therefore, only the flagships of the First and Third Fleets are equipped with this station. Chang Jianxin and Tan Renhao mainly rely on this kind of radio station to communicate.

Received a report from Task Force 6 from eleven o'clock. And after forwarding it to the third task force, Tan Renhao has been a little anxious. Although he and the constant recommendation of the new are convinced that the British home fleet will pass through the Strait of Dover. But who is sure until the enemy fleet is found? Also, when did the British Home Fleet pass? When did Task Force 3 encounter it? Will Task Force 6 be able to arrive on the battlefield in time to assist Task Force 3 in defeating the British Home Fleet? These are all questions, and they are all variables on the battlefield. Tan Renhao has always believed that he can defeat the enemy even without the support of the Sixth Task Force, but Tan Renhao still does not want the Third Task Force to pay a heavy price because of this. Because he knew that the defeat of the British Home Fleet was only a small part of the First Fleet's operations in the Atlantic. If the First Fleet wants to become the main force in the Atlantic, then there are still many things to do, and the position of the Third Task Force in the First Fleet is irreplaceable by the other two task forces. It can be said that at that time, Tan Renhao was even willing to sacrifice the first task force or the second task force to protect the third task force!

After twelve o'clock, that is, in the early morning of the 23rd, Tan Renhao became even more anxious. According to his analysis, if the British Home Fleet passes through the Strait of Dover at night and enters the English Channel, then Summerville has two purposes. The first is to directly look for the decisive battle of the 3rd Task Force or the 6th Task Force in the shelling of Alderney Island, seize the sea control of the English Channel, and force the 1st Task Force and several other aircraft carrier task forces to get close to the British mainland, or close to the Celtic Sea, so as to create an opportunity for the British Royal Air Force and the British aircraft carrier fleet ambushed in the Irish Sea to destroy the enemy. Another option is to head to the port of Pratsmouth and let the fleet rest first. Then the aircraft carrier fleet will go out of the Celtic Sea, forcing the first task force and other aircraft carrier task forces to catch up and fight. Then the home fleet will fight from the flank, take the opportunity to take out the third task force or the sixth task force, and maybe even assist the Royal Air Force to take out several Tang Empire naval aircraft carriers.

Whatever the tactical arrangement, however, Satsumville had to pass through the Strait of Dover in the first half of the night, no later than twelve o'clock. At twelve o'clock, when he had not received the report of the 3rd Task Force, Tan Renhao expected that Satsumville did not know the specific whereabouts of the 3rd Task Force, or that he had not thought of a decisive battle with the 3rd Task Force on this night, and that his goal should be the port of Pontesmouth, otherwise. The British Home Fleet was supposed to pass through the Strait of Dover in the first half of the night to gain more time for the decisive battle. Then at this time, the British Home Fleet has been discovered by the Third Task Force, and Chang Zhixin should have sent a report. Summerville chose to enter the English Channel in the second half of the night, and he still had enough time to enter the port of Pontesmouth before dawn to avoid the Imperial naval bombers.

Tan Renhao's analysis is very accurate, and he also believes that Chang Jianxin can make the same judgment, but this does not make Tan Renhao feel relaxed. If Sarmoville were to go to the port of Puffmouth, the new general would have no choice but to stand between the British Home Fleet and the port of Pottsmouth and intercept it. At that time, Satsumville is very likely to break through frantically, and the third task force is at a disadvantage in terms of strength after all, if the ground is in close combat, Chang Zhixin may not be able to take advantage, and if the sixth task force cannot arrive at the battlefield in time, then the third task force can only fight alone, with five battleships against the enemy's eight battleships, and at the same time, the position of the defensive line must be considered, and it cannot be easily retreated, and the result will definitely be that the third task force will suffer heavy losses!

Of course, Tan Renhaodi's prediction was not so accurate this time, he did not expect that Satsumville would fight a head-on battle with Task Force 3 because of his superiority in strength, instead of breaking through quickly. In fact, it was this that ultimately determined the fate of the British Home Fleet, and if Satsumville had been determined to break through from the beginning, the outcome would not have changed much. That would only make the Third Task Force pay a heavier price in battle, and it might even make the Third Task Force return to the Imperial Territory for repairs due to heavy losses, and it would not be able to carry out combat missions for a few months, or even half a year!

He waited anxiously until about two o'clock in the morning, and when the communications staff officer sent the ground battle report from the Third Task Force, Tan Renhao became even more nervous. The telegram confirmed his previous inference that Sarmoville was indeed on his way to P. Portsmouth. So will Task Force 3 be able to stop the British Home Fleet from breaking through?

What annoyed Tan Renhao the most was that after sending out the report of the encounter with the British Home Fleet, Chang Jianxin never sent a telegram back, that is, Tan Renhao didn't know how the battle was going in front of him. Although Tan Renhao knew that this was Chang Jianxin's command style, and as long as Chang Jianxin did not send a telegram back, it proved that the 3rd Task Force had no big problems, the battle was developing in its favor, and the enemy was being eliminated. It's like the battle in the Coral Sea. From the beginning of the battle, Chang Zhixin did not send a telegram until the end of the battle. After successfully taking out the Kincaid task force, Chang Jianxin sent a good news. However, Tan Renhao was still very worried, after all, there were many reasons why the Third Task Force did not send telegrams, and it was not just the Third Task Force that was winning. Perhaps the flagship of Task Force 3 has been destroyed. Having lost the ability to communicate between fleets, or the battle was very fierce, Chang Zhixin simply did not have time to send telegrams!

That's more than three hours. It was just after six o'clock, more than half an hour after the departure of the ground reconnaissance plane on the first round of reconnaissance mission. The telegram from the 3rd Task Force arrived. When I saw this telegram. Tan Renhao breathed a sigh of relief. As always, this is good news. Task Force 3 not only won, but it did so without paying too much for itself!

The so-called good things come in pairs, less than ten minutes after the 3rd Task Force sent back the good news, the 6th Task Force, which had been "secretive" before, also sent a message. At this time, Tan Renhao can be said to be overjoyed. All eight battleships of the British Home Fleet were sunk. None of them escaped! After a whole night of anxious waiting, Tan Renhao not only did not feel tired, but was very excited.

"It was, so to speak, a decisive victory!" Tan Renhao's face turned red with excitement, "In just one night, after several hours of fighting, the last bit of capital of the British Navy was also wiped out by Lao Chang and Gu Zhenyun. Leaving aside what the British used to defend their homeland, I bet the first thing the British Prime Minister did when he received the war report was to contact the negotiators in Rio de Janeiro. Take the initiative to ask us to restart negotiations and discuss the surrender of the land! ”

Zhu Rongzhe also smiled happily. But now he felt tired rather than excited. While Tan Renhao was anxious, he had to deal with all kinds of affairs in the fleet, deploy reconnaissance operations, arrange tasks for bomber pilots, and even keep an eye on the location of various warships in the fleet.

"There should be no complaints this time, from the very beginning, this is the third task force fighting, except for the last minute by the sixth task force to take advantage of. No one has interfered with the ground operations of Task Force 3." Tan Renhao let out a sigh. With a smile on his face." The battle report of this battle must be well written, since it is the credit of the third task force, it should belong to the third task force. I'll have to take the time to sort it out and send it back, and I'll try to get more officers and men the honor they belong to! ”

"But the battle isn't over yet." Zhu Rongzhe didn't want to spoil the atmosphere, but as the chief of staff, he had to remind the commander who was a little too excited." Our ground reconnaissance planes have not yet found the British ground carrier fleet, and the British native bombers are certainly preparing to attack the 3rd and 6th task forces. We still have a lot to do before we write a war report."

Tan Renhao was stunned for a moment, and then laughed. Yes, you look at me. I was so excited that I didn't know why. Are all the bomber units arranged? ”

"The mission has been arranged, and now we are just waiting for the reconnaissance plane to send back a report." Zhu Rongzhe gave a piece of paper to Tan Renhao, "This is the latest weather forecast report today, there is no sign of improvement, and there is a high probability of thunderstorms in the morning, which is not good news for us."

Tan Renhao immediately finished reading the weather forecast report, Zhu Rongzhe was right, but for the third task force and the sixth task force, this is not a bad thing, but a good thing!