In the opinion of many people, Gu Xunlei's actions on the battlefield in Mexico had nothing to do with him, but in Tan Renhao's view, Gu Xunlei's actions were directly related to the overall strategy of the US military. If Gu Xunlei can make a major breakthrough on the battlefield in Mexico, it will inevitably affect the actions of the US Atlantic Fleet. It is precisely because of this that Tan Renhao has been paying attention to the progress on the battlefield in Mexico.

This is what makes Tan Renhao different from others. At that time, Huang Xiaotian did not attach much importance to Gu Xunlei's actions, believing that the Mexican battlefield did not have a great impact on the actions of the US Navy. At that time, there were not many people who had the overall vision of Tan Renhao. In Tan Renhao's view, the impact of the Mexican battlefield is quite significant, and perhaps the United States ranks Mexico's importance before Cuba.

At that time, there were only two ways for the U.S. military to send troops and supplies to the Mexican battlefield, one was by land lines of communication, and the other was by sea. Because Mexico's transportation system was quite poor, and there was no railway communication line running through the north and south of the country at that time, it was difficult for the US military to meet the needs of front-line operations with ground transportation channels, and at most it only delivered some urgently needed supplies to the front line. At that time, the main means of sending U.S. military power to Mexico was by sea, connecting several shipping routes between the ports of the U.S. Gulf Coast and the Port of Tampico in Mexico.

At that time, the U.S. military put more than 2 million 10,000-ton ships on several routes in the Gulf of Mexico. Five transport fleets were formed to transport supplies and troops back and forth. Because of this, in February, the Imperial Navy had sent its first submarine squadron to Panama, and by the end of May, five submarine squadrons had been stationed in the Caribbean. These submarines have two main bases of operation, one is the port of Colón in Panama and the other is the port of Basseterre on the island of St. Kitts in the Little Andrés Islands. The 27 submarines of the two submarine squadrons deployed in the port of Colon operate mainly in the Gulf of Mexico. In Basseterre, 41 submarines of the three submarine squadrons are concentrated in the Atlantic.

Comparatively speaking, the difficulty of breaking the diplomatic battle in the Gulf of Mexico is quite enormous. The Gulf of Mexico is an intercontinental sea, and although its average water depth reaches 1,500,500, the water depth in the coastal areas is less than 200. In addition, the Gulf of Mexico is just south of the continental United States. Within the ground coverage of US anti-submarine patrol aircraft. It would be extremely difficult for any submarine to operate safely here, let alone attack a convoy of convoys covered by escort warships. Prior to May, the Empire's submarine forces had achieved rather limited success in the Gulf of Mexico, with few decisive raids and even the ability to sink a few merchant ships. Actually, after that, the submarines of the Imperial Navy did not gain much in the Gulf of Mexico. However, there is one thing that cannot be avoided, at that time, the submarines of the Imperial Navy were indeed operating in the Gulf of Mexico, which forced the US military to put more escort warships into the Gulf of Mexico to escort the battlefield. Because of this, routes to the Gulf of Mexico have been unsafe.

Except for submarines. At that time, one of the main tasks of the ground-based air force deployed by the Navy on the Yucatan Peninsula was to deal with American merchant ships in the interior of the Gulf of Mexico. The U.S. military had to commit more escort forces and even fighter jets. Escort convoys during the day. At the time, the number of airfields on the Yucatan Peninsula was quite limited, and the number of combat aircraft that could support it was quite limited, so the HNA operation did not really threaten the shipping routes within the Gulf of Mexico. However, Han Shaofeng arranged for several engineering units of the Marine Corps to build field airfields, and Han Shaofeng originally wanted to use these airfields when attacking Cuba and Jamaica, but in the same way, the bombers deployed at these airfields could also deal with ships. The first five field airfields were ready for operation in mid-June. At that time, the bombers of the HNA will inevitably directly threaten the fleet in the bay, and the threat will be much greater than that of submarines.

By submarines with airplanes. The U.S. military's shipping routes in the Gulf of Mexico are already quite dangerous, and although some threats can be dealt with through escorts, this kind of passive defense cannot fundamentally solve the problem, and the most effective way is definitely to destroy the activity bases of submarines and bombers. The port of Colon is too far away for the U.S. Navy to pull its toes, but the Yucatan Peninsula is in the southern part of the Gulf of Mexico, and if a fleet were to be dispatched, it could devastate the airfields in the area. In other words, as long as the naval bombers deployed on the Yucatan Peninsula really threaten the US military's transport routes, then the US military will send the Atlantic Fleet to deal with the airfields there.

Maybe Han Shaofeng wouldn't be in a hurry to let HNA go all out to deal with the transport fleet in the Gulf of Mexico, after all, the Mexican battlefield was a distant battlefield for him, and he didn't necessarily have much to do with Gu Xunlei. However, Gu Xunlei would not have watched the US military send a large number of war materials and reinforcements. As long as those airports are completed, even if Han Shaofeng will not take any action at that time, Gu Xunlei will deploy the bombers of the Army Airlines and let the Army Airlines deal with the US transport fleet!

Tan Renhao had already seen this, so he judged that as long as Gu Xunlei took a larger action to force the US military to increase troops on the Mexican battlefield, and Gu Xunlei wanted to intercept the US transport fleet, then the US Atlantic Fleet might be dispatched to escort the transport fleet and destroy the airfield on the Yucatan Peninsula at the same time. At this time, the Atlantic Fleet was still in the Chesapeake Bay, and to get to the Gulf of Mexico, it had to pass through the Florida Strait and pass near the Bahamas. At this point, Tan Renhao's deployment intention of choosing to wait for an opportunity in the waters southeast of the Bahamas is self-evident.

The Bahamas is less than 800 li long from north to south, which is about 430 li, and about 750 li from east to west, which is about 400 li. If it is located in the southeastern part of the archipelago, that is, in the waters east of Mayaguana Island, then no matter which route the US Atlantic Fleet takes, it will eventually pass through the search area of the fleet's reconnaissance planes. The First Fleet and the Third Fleet have a total of 5 aircraft carrier task forces, 15 fleet aircraft carriers, and a total of 180 "Reconnaissance Eagles". Even if the First Fleet has been lurking, the Third Fleet has 108 "Scout Eagles". These reconnaissance planes can be divided into three groups to monitor all the straits in the Bahamas that can accommodate large warships, as well as the sea routes between the Bahamas and the continental United States. That is, as long as reconnaissance

In place, both during the day and at night, the US Atlantic Fleet passes through the surveillance sea area without being detected and goes to the Gulf of Mexico.

The specific reconnaissance arrangements of the two main fleets were arranged by Hao Dongjue, and in fact, Hao Dongjue only used the reconnaissance planes of the Third Fleet, and there was no need to use the reconnaissance planes of the First Fleet. According to Tan Renhao's plan, if the First Fleet wanted to defeat Spruance before it attacked the Third Fleet, then the First Fleet's hidden position would have to move at least 250 nautical miles to the north, and it would be difficult to participate in reconnaissance operations.

In fact, in the entire campaign plan, the most important thing is the search and reconnaissance capability of the "Reconnaissance Eagle". Tan Renhao also took this into account and made use of it.

At that time, the "Reconnaissance Eagle" was still a high-secrecy weapon, and the Tang Imperial Navy did not even sell this reconnaissance aircraft to the allies, and even its specific performance parameters were strictly kept secret. In order to avoid leaks, the "Scout Eagle" used the code name of a maritime patrol aircraft in the Navy's archives at the time. In other words, it is very likely that the US intelligence services at that time did not know about the existence of the "Reconnaissance Eagle" and were unlikely to master the performance of the "Reconnaissance Eagle".

Compared with previous reconnaissance aircraft, in addition to possessing a sea search radar, the greatest improvement of the "Reconnaissance Eagle" is that it has for the first time possessed an effective night reconnaissance capability. This is also what Tan Renhao and others valued most at that time. Even this still does not change the reality that carrier-based aviation cannot carry out sea bombing missions at night. But the ability to conduct reconnaissance at night was enough to change the tactics of naval aviation.

At that time, in order to allow the "Reconnaissance Eagle" to take off and land safely at night, and at the same time not to expose the whereabouts of the aircraft carrier at night because of the take-off and landing navigation lights, the Navy also specially developed a night fluorescent landing guidance system. This is very similar to the later optical landing guidance system, except that it emits a faint fluorescence, not a strong white light (but it has caused a lot of problems in actual use, proving that this kind of system can only be used in wartime emergencies, and its practical use value is not very large. Often the aircraft carrier still has to activate the landing guidance lights at night).

According to Tan Renhao's estimate, the news of the departure place of the First Fleet and the Third Fleet will soon reach Spruance, and even if the fleet is not discovered when it leaves the Gulf of Limon, it is very likely that it has been discovered on the way to the Dominica Strait and after entering the Atlantic. Spruance could not have difficulty judging the purpose of the First Fleet versus the Third Fleet. Then, when he had to lead the Atlantic Fleet to the Gulf of Mexico, he would certainly put a lot of effort into formulating the route.

If Spruance did not know that the "Reconnaissance Eagle" would still be able to spot him at night, then it is very likely that he would choose to pass through the waters of the Bahamas or Florida at night, enter the northeastern part of the Gulf of Mexico at dawn, avoid the search of the Tang Empire's shore-based long-range reconnaissance aircraft, and then stealthily reach the Gulf of Mexico, and then surprise the airfield on the Yucatan Peninsula, and withdraw from the battle before the First and Third Fleets arrive. Or lay in ambush and attack the First Fleet or the Third Fleet that came to support.

This set of tactics is not complicated. This is also a characteristic of Spruance's commanding place. In the past, this didn't seem like much of a problem. After all, at night, it is actually very difficult to detect the US Atlantic Fleet, whether it is a carrier-based reconnaissance plane or a shore-based reconnaissance plane. However, the appearance of the "Scout Eagle" has changed this situation. As long as the "Scout Eagle" discovered the US Atlantic Fleet at night, Tan Renhao and the others had time to maneuver to the attack position, and then launch the first round of attacks at dawn, and Spruance did not even have a chance to send bombers to counterattack.

If the Spruance destination is not the Gulf of Mexico. He also realized that the First Fleet and the Third Fleet would come to intercept the attack, and that he would be able to use the US shore-based reconnaissance planes to find the First Fleet and the Third Fleet. Then the Atlantic Fleet will not rush south, but look for opportunities for a sneak attack in the waters of the Bahamas.

In this case, Spruance would most likely approach at night and then attack at dawn. If the Third Fleet were too close to the Bahamas, he would even choose to let the battleship fleet approach the Third Fleet at night and shell the Third Fleet at dawn, at least making it impossible for the Third Fleet to organize an attack and creating an opportunity for his air strike. Under such circumstances, it would be difficult for the Third Fleet to fight back. However, for this set of tactics to be successful, the prerequisites for this set of tactics are that the Atlantic Fleet can maneuver covertly at night, and at the same time, the US shore-based reconnaissance planes can find and track the Third Fleet.

It is clear that the "Scout Eagles" of the Third Fleet will not give Spruance a covert approach. At that time, as Dong Jue said before, the Third Fleet could not be defeated, and it could run, at least it could ensure that it would not be caught up by the battleships of the Atlantic Fleet, and the First Fleet would have the opportunity to attack, and by the time Spruance organized the defense, the Third Fleet had already turned around and launched a coordinated attack with the First Fleet.

In this case, the night reconnaissance capability of the "Scout Eagle" remains critical. It can be said that the campaign operations planned by Tan Renhao at that time were very different from those of previous combat operations, and these differences were brought about by the night reconnaissance capability of the "reconnaissance eagle," especially the "reconnaissance eagle." If there were no "Scout Eagles," then it would be impossible for Tan Renhao to take such a campaign deployment.

Waiting is still inevitable. On the evening of 10 November, the fleet had already reached the intended patrol area. The First Fleet was also separated from the Third Fleet here. The Third Fleet will operate near Mayaguana Island and will begin dispatching bombers to attack US military bases on several major islands in the Bahamas on the morning of 12 July, actively exposing its whereabouts. At the same time, the First Fleet will arrive at the waiting sea area about 250 miles north of the Third Fleet on the night of 11 July, waiting for the appearance of the US Atlantic Fleet.

By the night of 12 July, bombers of the Third Fleet had made more than 1,000 sorties and dropped more than 1,000 tons of bombs on US military bases. The U.S. Atlantic Fleet did not appear, and even the U.S. heavy bombers did not harass the Third Fleet. Just two hours after Tan Renhao received the new battle report on the battlefield in Mexico from Lei Shaoqing, he received a telegram from Lei Shaoqing again, and this was a telegram related to the US Navy!