The fleet went south at night at a maximum cruising rate of 24 knots, and now the oil tanks on all battleships were full, and there was no need to worry about fuel, what to worry about was the whereabouts of the enemy's fleet. During the night, the command of the Navy received several telegrams, mainly information about the enemy's fleet and the deployment of enemy troops. Tan Renhao stayed until before dawn, and after knowing that the Second Task Force had left Naha Port and was advancing eastward as fast as possible, he left the command cabin and went to rest.

After sleeping for less than four hours, Tan Renhao was dragged up from bed by Hao Dongjue.

"The telegram I just received, damn it, the Yankees dare to touch the tiger's ass!"

Hao Dongjue threw the telegram on Tan Renhao's body, and he was trembling slightly.

Tan Renhao was startled at first, then immediately regained his composure, then picked up the telegram, and when he saw the contents on it, he immediately jumped up from the bed. Two minutes later, the two men rushed into the communications room.

"Any news on this?"

Tan Renhao directly asked the communications staff officer.

"I just received a telegram from the Commander's Department, let's keep in touch at any time, ready to receive new news!"

"Okay, you guys are here to stay, there's news, send it immediately!"

Tan Renhao glanced at the staff officers who looked a little nervous inside, and then called Hao Dongjue out of the communication cabin, and when he came outside, he asked, "When did this happen?" ”

"I received the telegram just ten minutes ago, and I'll be looking for you right away......"

"No, I mean bombing!"

Tan Renhao stuffed the telegram into Hao Dongjue's hand, "This only mentions that Kaohsiung and other places were bombed, when was the bombing?" ”

"It shouldn't be long before we know the situation."

Tan Renhao looked back at his partner and didn't say anything more. When the two of them walked into the command cabin, the staff officers inside were all nervously busy, and they already knew about the bombing of the empire itself.

"Everybody go and do their own thing!"

Hao Dongjue didn't joke with the staff officer this time, "They are all guarding their posts and have nothing to do." Don't run around, just walk around! ”

Ten minutes later, the communications staff officer ran over with a second message and returned to the communications room.

"Damn, an hour and a half ago!"

Hao Dongjue glanced at it and gave the message to his partner.

After Tan Renhao read the telegram, he immediately took out a cigarette, and his hands trembled a little.

An hour and a half ago, it was around seven thirty o'clock in Imperial Time (Imperial Time). Several cities on the island of Taiwan, the empire's home province, were suddenly bombed. Kaohsiung was the center of the bombing, and the most damaged was the port of Kaohsiung and the shipyard next to the port. At that time, the aircraft carrier "Pearl River" of the Second Task Force was undergoing overhaul here, and if the aircraft carrier was bombed, the overhaul time would have been extended by several months, which would mean that the Imperial Navy had lost one-fifth of its aircraft carrier strength! However, the telegram only mentioned the time of the bombing and the place where it was bombed, and did not mention the damage. The Navy command must have been investigating the matter as well, and it was immediately reported to the front-line commander as soon as there was new information.

Truly. When Tan Renhao was so anxious that he was about to jump up. Gan Yongxing is already cursing people in the staff department. The one who was scolded was the staff officer in charge of the Imperial Navy Command's liaison with government departments. It was only an hour after the bombing of the island of Taiwan that the Navy Command received the news, which could not but make Gan Yongxing angry. The other staff officers stood and watched. No one dared to interject. Gan Yongxing is usually amiable and angry, and rarely reprimands his subordinates, but now that he suddenly has such a big fire, he must be about to be blown up. However, then again, the scolded staff officer is also innocent, and the problem is not with him, but with the local government.

"Chief of Staff!"

As the voice came, Nie Renfeng walked into the conference room.

The staff officers were like seeing a savior, and at least half of these staff officers were Nie Renfengdi students. They all know what the principal is like. The chief of staff, the "senior", is also obedient to the principal, and now that the principal is here, there is no need to be afraid of being scolded.

"You all go back to your posts, and when there is new news, immediately transfer it to the front commanders, and remember to send a copy to my office!"

Nie Renfeng watched Gan Yongxing finish saying this.

After the staff officer 6 continued to leave the conference room, Nie Renfeng glared at Gan Yongxing fiercely, and then turned around and walked out. Gan Yongxing also calmed down at this time. After he let out a sigh, he immediately followed Nie Renfeng's pace and entered Nie Renfeng's office.

"Is this the attitude towards your subordinates?"

Nie Renfeng said as he closed the office door, "No one wants to see such a thing, and everyone has worked hard." During this time, everyone's nerves are very tense, but you are a senior general, and you are an example for all staff officers! This is the command of the Navy, not the fleet where you used to be. As the chief of staff, you should not easily scold your subordinates, but encourage them, encourage them, give them morale, and give them fighting spirit! ”

"Headmaster, I know, I'm getting so excited at first!"

"Sit down, I don't want a next time!"

Nie Renfeng's expression also softened, "How is the situation now?" Was the aircraft carrier damaged? ”

"The focus of the bombing is Kaohsiung, but the enemy should not know that we have aircraft carriers for maintenance in the Kaohsiung shipyard."

Gan Yongxing looked a little upset, "The damage report has not been received, and the government's efficiency is too low." I have arranged for personnel to rush to Kaohsiung, and I have also called the heads of the local garrison command, the local patrol fleet command, and several other local bases of the navy, asking them to immediately participate in the investigation and notify us as soon as they have any news. ”

Nie Renfeng nodded slightly. "That is, American bombers are not aimed at our aircraft carriers. But the question is, where did these bombers fly from? ”

"It can't be the Mariana Islands, unless the United States doesn't want these bombers. If they thought they could get an aircraft carrier, they might have done it, but they shouldn't have known that our aircraft carrier was being repaired at the Kaohsiung shipyard. ”

"Where could that be?"

Nie Renfeng crossed his hands.

Gan Yongxing pondered for a moment and said, "It is very likely that it took off from a certain island or several islands in the Caroline Islands. Although there is a distance of more than 2ooo kilometers from the Caroline Islands to the island of Taiwan, if these bombers only carry 2 tons of bombs, just like we did when we modified the 'wolf dove,' they can still fly to the island of Taiwan to drop bombs and then return after temporary modification with a few large auxiliary fuel tanks. ”

Nie Renfeng just opened his mouth. There was a knock on the door, and then a staff officer walked in briskly and handed a telegram to Gan Yongxing.

"Now you can be sure. The bombers were heading back to the southeast, and they must have flown back to the airfield. ”

"So how did these bombings move to the Caroline Islands? Didn't they deploy in the Mariana Islands before? ”

Nie Renfeng asked the second question.

"On the 3rd, we bombed the airfields of the US military, and these bombers are still there, and yesterday Luo Yunchong did not arrange the bombing of Guam and Tinian Island, maybe ......."

"Within a day. Evaded all our reconnaissance aircraft, transferred to the Caroline Islands, and immediately organized the bombing of the island of Taiwan......"

Nie Renfeng gritted his teeth slightly, "This is a completely premeditated operation, why would the US commander arrange such an operation?" ”

Gan Yongxing thought about it, he didn't expect this to come up.

"It's definitely going to grab our attention!"

Nie Renfeng stood up and walked back and forth in the room twice, "Bombing the empire mainland, the enemy wants to force us to attack the Caroline Islands first to distract us. This slowed down our attack on the Mariana Islands. This trick is ruthless enough! ”

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

Before Gan Yongxing's words were finished, the phone on his desk rang.

"Here it is, it seems. We've got a great opponent! ”

Nie Renfeng walked towards the point, "Immediately find a way to find out the commander of the US Pacific Theater, collect all the information that can be collected, and then conduct a comprehensive analysis." Nimitz had heard of him before, but he hadn't caught our attention, and now we had to pay attention to him! ”

"Then I'll do it right away!"

Gan Yongxing immediately stood up.

Nie Renfeng pressed his hand towards Gan Yongxing, signaling him not to leave in a hurry, and then picked up the phone. "Minister-sama...... Yes, it's me...... Okay, I'll arrange it...... The Navy will not back down...... That's it. I'll call you right away if there are further arrangements! ”

"Did you call in person?"

Nie Renfeng nodded. Xiang Zheng was meeting with representatives of the business group, and immediately dismissed the meeting after receiving the news. Now, here comes our trouble. ”

Gan Yongxing sighed secretly, the American commander's hand was indeed ruthless enough. The empire had been fighting Japan for more than two years, and apart from occasional skirmishes on its homeland, Japan had not been able to pose much of a threat to the empire's homeland. Therefore, the empire has always considered the homeland to be the safest. Now that the US bombers flew to the island of Taiwan and dropped hundreds of tons of bombs, I am afraid that no one will think that the empire itself is safe. Maybe when. What would be the result of hundreds of American bombers flying over the imperial capital and dropping hundreds or thousands of tons of bombs? Even if Nie Renfeng didn't say it, Gan Yongxing knew what Xiang had said about this call.

"How many troops can we use to attack the Caroline?"

"The reserves have, but the problem is that we don't have enough delivery capacity and ......"

Gan Yongxing glanced at the principal, "The Caroline Islands are only a secondary battlefield, and the US military is only a sneak attack, we only need to deploy some more air defense fighters on Taiwan Island and Luzon Island, and the US military will not dare to sneak attack again." If we disperse our forces to attack the Caroline Islands now, then we will have to draw and project forces from the Mariana Islands battlefield, which will inevitably reduce the strength of our next combat operations. ”

Nie Renfeng nodded slightly, the focus of the next combat operation was decided by him, of course he knew it. "The question is, what is the purpose of the US military luring us to the Caroline Islands?"

"This ......"

Gan Yongxing had no way to answer.

"Sooner or later, we will attack the Caroline Islands, and the commanders of the US military are well aware of this, and it is only a matter of time."

Nie Renfeng clasped his hands in front of his chest, "Then why did the U.S. military drag us over to fight?" What are they fighting for, what do they want? ”

"Time!"

Gan Yongxing suddenly thought of this.

"Yes, it's time for sure!"

Nie Renfeng laughed, "The U.S. military wants to buy time, either by fighting a tug-of-war with us on the Caroline Islands, or by using their defense system on the Caroline Islands. So why buy time? ”

"Perhaps, the American commander is waiting for those aircraft carriers that are being repaired."

Gan Yongxing quickly thought of the key issue, "If the four American aircraft carriers can be repaired in two or three months, then they can return to the balance of power at sea by sacrificing the Caroline Islands." When the time comes, we will inevitably have to fight a decisive battle with the US fleet, and it is impossible to determine who will have the right to control the sea. Judging from the current situation, if we switch to the Caroline Islands, it will take at least half a month to mobilize and prepare alone, and then it will take at least two to three months to attack the islands held by the US military next to each other. And this will inevitably lead to a delay in our offensive on the Mariana Islands, and it is likely to drag on for two to three months. If the US aircraft carrier is repaired and participates in the war during this period, then the outcome of this battle will be unpredictable, and we will be equivalent to returning to the same starting point! ”

"If this is the enemy's intention, then it must not be allowed to happen!"

Nie Renfeng slammed his fist on the desk, "You go and arrange it immediately, the next stage of the operation will start as scheduled, and there must be no delay!" ”

"Headmaster, ...... there"

"I'll go there!"

Nie Renfeng gritted his teeth, "Xue Xiyue is very clear about the situation in front of him, and I will buy a certain amount of time." Even if we are asked to take retaliatory action, then we cannot mobilize our forces on the frontal battlefield and cannot affect the next stage of the battle plan. You arrange a separate group of staff officers to be responsible for planning retaliatory actions, and you can only use the rear forces, and you must minimize the amount of supplies consumed! ”

Gan Yongxing immediately nodded. "Then I'll arrange it immediately!"

"Also, send a telegram to the front-line commanders, so that they can fight with peace of mind, don't be distracted by this, and if it is not necessary, there is no need to give them any more news!"

Nie Renfeng glanced at Gan Yongxing, "Let's arrange it immediately, the Yankees take the initiative to provoke this time, then we will give them a little color on the frontal battlefield!" ”