On the way to the airport, Tan Renhao asked the staff officer who had taken him in a car to buy two local newspapers. After the "Battle of the Philippines", the Imperial propaganda apparatus operated at full speed, calling this "the shameful sneak attack of the Yankees", of course, the results of the battle were fake, and all the purpose of propaganda was to make the Imperial military and civilians hate the same enemy, arouse the fighting spirit of the military and civilians, let the anger burn, and then turn the anger into actual action.

The media, which is controlled by the government, has put a lot of effort into propaganda, and if Tan Renhao did not know the truth, he would definitely think that this was a sneak attack by the Yankees, and in the end, he could not steal chickens, and the imperial navy fought a beautiful turnaround and won a great victory. From this, Tan Renhao also saw that the prime minister did not want to publicize the failure of the imperial navy, which would definitely have an impact on the handling of Jiang Zhongmin and Fan Peikun's dereliction of duty, at least, these two bastards who almost made the navy fall to the bottom will not be punished too harshly, otherwise it will not be worthy of the current propaganda.

Tan Renhao arrived in Zhoushan in the middle of the night, and instead of looking for Gan Yongxing, he went home first. Liao Yingyu had already received the news (it was Hao Dongjue's call to Liao Yingyu after Tan Renhao left) that she had prepared a supper for her husband and had been waiting for her husband to come back.

"It's just hot, it's been a few hours, and you're hungry, right?"

Liao Yingyu brought the rice balls over, "I'm so stupid, I knew you were going to come now, but as soon as I got the call, I went to cook the rice balls......"

"It tastes good, it seems that your craft has improved again!"

Tan Renhao cares about the taste of supper, what he cares about is the taste of this home. "Sit down, don't be busy with this and that, do you miss me these days?"

"Miss you? It's weird to miss you! ”

Liao Yingyu leaned on her husband's chest, "I heard, the navy is in trouble this time?" ”

"You read it in the newspapers?"

Tan Renhao frowned slightly, the news of the fiasco of the First Fleet had long been blocked, and it was impossible for Liao Yingyu to know about this matter from other channels.

"No, I guessed it myself."

Liao Yingyu looked up at her husband. "On the day you left, my father also went to Qingdao in a hurry, saying that there was something very important. I guess something is wrong, right? ”

Tan Renhao put down the soup bowl. "It's not a big deal. By the way, when are you going back to school to report? ”

"For just a few days, I was going to leave tomorrow, but you're back, and I want to stay a few more days."

"You'd better go back tomorrow and report on it."

Tan Renhao hugged his wife. "It's not that I don't want you to spend a few more days with me, it's just that your studies are very important, and this is your best chance to become a medical officer. Moreover, I may have to return to Guangzhou tomorrow, and this time I will come back to discuss some important matters with the chief of staff, so I don't have time to accompany you. ”

Liao Yingyu nodded, she also knew that her husband didn't come back to see her. "Okay, then I'll report back to school tomorrow. Also, the little sister has been recruited by the art condolence group, and Duchenne will go to the training class to report in two days. ”

"Not bad. What is the attitude of the little sister towards joining the Navy Art Troupe? ”

Tan Renhao wants to smoke. But after a moment's hesitation, he held back.

"It's not bad, she's quite positive."

Liao Yingyu sat up straight. "You know what? These few times, Xiaomei often receives calls from others, and when Hao Dongjue told me that you were coming back, he also asked about Xiaomei's situation? ”

Tan Renhao was stunned for a moment, and immediately laughed. "Don't meddle in their affairs, if Hao Dongjue really has the ability to catch up with the little sister, then we should bless them, right?"

Liao Yingyu smiled and nodded. ”

It's time for the little sister to fall in love, she used to worry about family affairs, but now she can't use this reason to shirk it. ”

Tan Renhao shook his head with a smile, and was about to call his wife upstairs to sleep. The doorbell rang.

"It must be Duchenne, he has come to you three times when he heard that you are coming back."

"Duchenne?"

Tan Renhao immediately stood up.

"Maybe I'm here to thank you, after all, this time he was able to enter the officer training class, all because of your help."

"Then I'll take a look, you go upstairs and go to sleep first, don't wait for me."

Tan Renhao pinched his wife's cheek, and then immediately walked towards the door, he knew. Duchenne wouldn't come to the door in the middle of the night for such a trivial matter.

It was Duchenne who came to the place. "General, the chief of staff knows that you have returned, so let you go over immediately and go to his office."

"The chief of staff is still working overtime?"

Tan Renhao said as he walked towards the jeep parked on the path outside.

"Everyone is working overtime today."

Duchen helped Tan Renhao open the car door, "The marshal didn't go back to rest, I heard that an official was sent down from above, and he is still in the marshal's office." ”

Tan Renhao nodded slightly, and then got into the jeep. "Looks like I can't sleep tonight, does the chief of staff have anything else to say?"

"No, the chief of staff just asked me to pick you up, and right away."

Duchenne quickly drove the car out of the villa area.

Tan Renhao took out a cigarette, and he was suffocated at first. "By the way, you're going to report in two days, right? How's the preparation going? ”

"It's okay, there are still a few officers to go to further study, and we are going to Weihai together."

Du Xing quickly glanced at Tan Renhao, "General, thank you for your help this time, it's actually ......."

"Study hard, you earned it yourself, and I didn't help much."

Tan Renhao patted Du Xing's shoulder, "After you finish your course, call me immediately, and then confirm your arrangements, how about it?" ”

Duchenne nodded, and didn't say much, he knew that he was with the right person this time.

In the naval headquarters, not only the floor lights in the offices of Nie Renfeng and Gan Yongxing were on, but also the lights in almost all other offices were on, and most of the staff officers were working overtime. When Tan Renhao was brought into Gan Yongxing's office, Gan Yongxing was not here. The officer who had brought him in had made him tea and went out first.

"This is definitely not going to work, go and tell the people in the shipyard that this is not a requirement, but an order, and the task must be completed within the deadline, otherwise they will all be punished!"

Hearing Gan Yongxing's voice, Tan Renhao immediately stood up, and then the door was pushed open, Gan Yongxing walked in quickly, and the staff officer who had started talking to him stayed outside.

"Renhao, it's good if you're back. Sit down, you're welcome. ”

Gan Yongxing nodded at Tan Renhao, "As soon as I received the news, I asked Du Xing to look for you, just arrived?" ”

"Yes, I just got home, and I didn't even change my clothes."

Tan Renhao smiled and nodded.

"Did you get those telegrams?"

Gan Yongxing touched his body a few times, and only found an empty cigarette case to come out.

Tan Renhao immediately took out a cigarette and lit one for the chief of staff. "I received the telegram and rushed over. Chief of Staff, is this a little too urgent? ”

"No way, it's the pressure from above right now."

Gan Yongxing invited Tan Renhao to sit down, and he also sat down on the sofa opposite, "The Prime Minister sent a commissioner to this afternoon, nominally to strengthen the relationship between the Cabinet and the Navy Command, but in fact to supervise the Navy's operations. The headmaster hasn't gotten rid of that official yet,! ”

Tan Renhao hesitated for a moment and asked, "Is it because of the location of the First Task Force?" ”

Gan Yongxing nodded slightly. "Someone has to be responsible for this, and someone has to carry this black pot. Jiang Zhongmin and Fan Peikun's backbones are not hard enough. They are not qualified to shoulder this responsibility. But. Now it seems that the problem is not too big, the prime minister does not want to expand the impact of this defeat, and the punishment of Van Pei Kun will not be publicized. ”

"Jiang Zhongmin is not responsible?"

Tan Renhao was shocked again. To take responsibility, it has to be the commander of the fleet, not the chief of staff, at least Tan Renhao will not let his chief of staff take responsibility.

"The results of the investigation have come out, and Jiang Zhongmin only has secondary responsibility."

Gan Yongxing smiled bitterly, "When the battle broke out, Jiang Zhongmin was wounded, and it was Fan Peikun who was in charge of the later command. In the few orders issued by Jiang Zhongmin, he did not make serious mistakes. The main problem was the misjudgment and indiscriminate command of the fleet commander in the later period, especially in the second round of bombardment. ”

"Then what will be the ending of Van Peikun?"

Tan Renhao also sighed secretly. Perhaps this statement is just the will of some people.

"I don't know, the prime minister is personally responsible for handling this matter, and we have no right to intervene."

Gan Yongxing's words are very tasteful, this kind of thing should have been the responsibility of the naval commander, but the prime minister personally intervened, obviously there are many things that are difficult to say directly. "Well, these things aren't worth worrying about, at least those two bastards won't be in trouble for you. This time I called you back for the next phase of our offensive operation. The Prime Minister has made it clear. The Navy must complete the capture of the Mariana Islands by March, and not until the middle of next year at the latest. In other words, we must act now, and we must not delay a single day. ”

Tan Renhao's mouth opened even more in surprise at this time, and in the telegram sent to him by Gan Yongxing, he only mentioned the next stage of combat operations, but did not say so in such detail.

"The Rector has tried his best to raise our difficulties with the Prime Minister, but the problem is that now the Prime Minister wants a victory that is enough to determine the outcome of the war, and you are well aware of the Prime Minister's tough hand, otherwise, there would not have been a commissioner to supervise the Navy."

Gan Yongxing looked very embarrassed. "That's why I'm asking you to step up the maintenance of the 'Yangtze River' aircraft carrier. To capture the Mariana Islands, we must first defeat the U.S. Pacific Fleet, complete the mobilization of marines, and the deployment of long-range strike forces. The most important thing in this is whether we can seize sea supremacy. It has now been established that the United States has four aircraft carriers operating in the Pacific Ocean, namely the USS Lexington, the USS Yorktown, the USS Enterprise and the USS Wasp. The Saratoga and Yorktown survived, but they had to be repaired for several months. If we can restore the combat effectiveness of the 'Yangtze River' as soon as possible, then we will have five aircraft carriers and gain superiority in terms of troops, and this is the key to gaining the initiative in the Pacific theater. ”

"And how much time do we have?"

Tan Renhao had already thought of this, otherwise he would not have put so much pressure on Hao Dongjue.

"Half a month, maybe ten days."

Gan Yongxing went to get a top-secret document, "This is the information I received before I sent you a telegram. The U.S. side is also sending more troops to the Mariana Islands, and the U.S. Navy has a similar plan to ours. They are preparing to launch an offensive campaign against Iwo Jima and the Ogasawara Islands at the end of the year, and at most the beginning of next year. When the time comes, the U.S. fleet will certainly be in the waters of the Mariana Islands, and we will have to attack the Yankees before the Yankees, and before that we will have to decide the outcome at sea. Therefore, the 1st Task Force must restore the combat strength of the two aircraft carrier groups by the end of the month, preferably 25 July, and maneuver to the predetermined sea area to complete the campaign deployment. There are not a few days left for you. ”

Tan Renhao opened the intelligence book, the content of the intelligence is very incomplete, the only thing that is certain is that the initial plan of the US Navy is to capture Iwo Jima and Ogasawara Islands. The location of these two archipelago is extremely important. For the United States, as long as these two islands were occupied, it ensured the security of the northern front of the Mariana Islands, drove the bombers of the Tang Empire back to the Ryukyu Islands, made it difficult for the Tang Empire to threaten the security of the Mariana Islands, and at the same time opened the door to the territorial defense circle of the Tang Empire. Perhaps, these two islands are more important to Japan, now that Japan has not surrendered, if these two islands fall into the hands of the US military, then the Tang Empire will not be able to continue to blockade Japan, the United States can send a large amount of war materials to Japan, and Japan will also resurrect. What's even more terrifying is that the United States is mass-producing B-17 bombers, and if these bombers are deployed to the Japanese mainland, then the northeast region, the eastern coastal areas, the Korean Peninsula, the Ryukyu Islands, and Jeju Island of the Tang Empire will be within the strike range of American heavy bombers.

It can be said that the Mariana Islands, Iwo Jima, and Ogasawara Islands are directly related to the fundamental interests of the Tang Empire and the United States, and the two sides will inevitably have a decisive battle at sea here, and whoever can finally gain sea supremacy will be able to finally control these three islands, and will also be able to grasp the initiative in the Pacific theater. And the key to all this is actually the decisive battle of the fleets of the two sides, and the strength of the fleet is the basis of the decisive battle of the fleet. If the Tang Empire can have one more aircraft carrier, then the advantage will not be half a bit.

"A pre-war meeting will be held tomorrow, and Lei Shaoqing and Yan Shiqi will both come back."

Gan Yongxing stood up, "After the overall battle plan is determined, you will immediately return to Guangzhou to make pre-war preparations." ”

Tan Renhao also stood up. "Okay, then I'll go back and get ready now."

Gan Yongxing nodded with a smile and sent Tan Renhao all the way to the door.