On the 25th of June, having completed the reorganization already two days earlier, and with the headquarters in place, the combined fleet left the port of Cologne that evening. According to the campaign plan, the Combined Fleet will set off first, seize sea supremacy, and bomb the identified targets in advance. Most importantly, the U.S. Atlantic Fleet had to be kept out of the battlefield and, if possible, the Atlantic Fleet had to be taken out between the Marine Corps landings.

When he left Cologne, Tan Renhao did not receive the news that the US Atlantic Fleet had left Norfolk, so he could only tell Lei Shaoqing to inform him as soon as he had the information of the US Atlantic Fleet. Because of this, Tan Renhao had to ask Yan Yulong to formulate a few more sets of combat plans to deal with possible unexpected situations.

Like most other young generals who were promoted during the war, Yan Yulong had always been a staff officer or chief of staff in the fleet before becoming the commander of the fleet, and these experiences allowed him to quickly adapt to his new position. Especially when Tan Renhao had to spend more energy on joint operations with other units and went to several theater meetings, Yan Yulong was almost alone in charge of the organization and planning of the Combined Fleet Command, and Tan Renhao was not allowed to worry about it, and when Tan Renhao returned to the fleet, the Combined Fleet Command had already begun to operate normally.

In order to ensure the status of the main fleet, the personnel system of the Combined Fleet was different from the past, which was mainly reflected in the ranks of staff officers at all levels of the Combined Fleet Command, which was also part of the reform of the Imperial Navy's rank system at that time. According to the previous method, the chief of the general staff of the combined fleet, as the number two person in the fleet, would only have a lower military rank than Tan Renhao and one level higher than the commanders of the other fleets. This poses a problem. Dongjue and Chang Jianxin have both been promoted to third-level generals, and Tan Renhao is a first-level general, so Yan Yulong must be at least a third-level general, but according to Yan Yulong's qualifications, he has not yet become a general. It's not impossible to be promoted exceptionally, it's just that Yan Yulong has been promoted three times, and if he is promoted again, I'm afraid many people will think of his background.

This problem was widespread in the Navy, and a large number of officers and generals who had been promoted during the war had been promoted several times. In the past, this would never have been possible. In addition, the commanders of front-line combat units are at most generals, and many people are nearing the end of their careers, and unless the navy changes the military rank system and promotes front-line commanders to generals, there will be a situation in which superiors and subordinates have the same ranks. However, the appointment of a general is completely different from that of an admiral, who can be appointed directly by the commander of the navy, and the prime minister has delegated this power to the commander of the services. However, the general belongs to the wartime military rank, which has a great rewarding nature, and must be appointed by the prime minister himself, and I am afraid that no one knows how many people can pass the prime minister's level. In other words, the appointment of a general is not up to the command of the Navy, which is very troublesome.

In response to this situation, at the beginning of 28, the rank and position of the head of the Naval Personnel Service were separated, and it was not necessary to make the two equal. Moreover, the command is determined by the position, and not by the rank. In other words, perhaps a staff officer is just a colonel, but he can give orders to the generals of the subordinate combat units. This was unthinkable in the past. However, under the circumstances at that time, in many cases, orders were given by the staff officers of the higher headquarters, rather than every order being given directly by the higher commanders.

This new system of personnel and ranks was supported by Nie Renfeng and Gan Yongxing, after all, it could narrow the problem down to the navy, and it would not be up to the prime minister to solve it. The establishment of the Combined Fleet was the first personnel change since the beginning of the system, and a new system was introduced. At that time, Yan Yulong was actually a third-class lieutenant general and had not been promoted, and as the chief of the general staff of the combined fleet, he could give orders to the two commanders of the main fleet with the rank of admiral. And in exceptional cases, it is not necessary to be approved by the commander of the Combined Fleet, Tan Renhao.

At that time, Tan Renhao himself was more opposed to this, not that he thought that Yan Yulong should get the fourth opportunity to be promoted, but that it would lead to chaos, after all, the difference in military ranks has a great impact in the army, but as the command structure becomes more and more flat, and the coordinated operation of various arms gradually becomes the main development direction of the war, then the development trend of replacing military ranks with authority is irreversible. The navy was the first to carry out reform in this regard, which also provided reference and help for the reform of other branches of the armed forces later.

When Yan Yulong was the chief of staff of the Fourth Task Force, Tan Renhao met him. And what impressed him the most at that time was Yan Yulong's background, especially after Tan Renhao knew that Yan Yulong was Yan Dingyu's own grandson. I can't believe it. At that time, if it weren't for Yan Yulong to be the commander of the Seventh Task Force, Tan Renhao even hoped that he could go to the First Task Force to serve as the chief of staff. Because of this, Tan Renhao only knew Yan Yulong's life experience before, and he had only heard about Yan Yulong's performance on the battlefield from Huang Xiaotian. This is the first time the two of them have cooperated, and Tan Renhao's understanding of Yan Yulong also started at this time.

On the contrary, Yan Yulong has long had a relatively in-depth understanding of Tan Renhao. When he was in the Fourth Task Force, he often heard from Huang Xiaotian about Tan Ren Haodi. And I know from Huang Xiaotian that Tan Renhao is a general who is not too strict with his subordinates, but at the same time has very strict requirements for the ability of his subordinates. In other words, Tan Renhao will not care about the private life of his subordinates, and will not even have strict requirements for the dress and appearance of his subordinates like many old-school generals. But at the same time, if anyone wants to eat under Tan Renhao, then they don't want to get any chance of promotion, and they can't get ahead, and they will even be excluded because of this.

These understandings made Yan Yulong a little nervous at first, afraid that he would not be able to meet the requirements of the commander, and he even talked to Huang Xiaotian on the phone a few times, wanting to know what he should do and how he could do it well. However, after a few days, Yan Yulong is no longer so nervous, Tan Renhao really doesn't care much about the private life of his subordinates, as well as his appearance. As for whether he can meet the requirements of the commander, he is gradually grasping

After the situation of the headquarters and the contact with those transferred from the First Task Force, Yan Yulong gradually built up his confidence. Perhaps, the only thing he lacks is a chance to play.

The space on the "Hefei" is much larger than that on the aircraft carrier "Longganhu". This is Tan Renhao's new "flagship", because he no longer directly commands the First Task Force to fight, Tan Renhao has changed to a flagship. And the "Hefei" was originally the flagship of the Sixth Task Force, with a ready-made command system on it, so Tan Renhao naturally chose this battleship. In addition, the "Hefei" and two other battleships were also integrated into the third task force.

At that time, the three battleships of the Sixth Task Force returned to the Imperial mainland for repairs in mid-July, only two days later than Tan Renhao, and arrived in Panama City. These three battleships replaced the two battleships that had been badly damaged by Task Force 3 and needed to be returned to the Imperial mainland for repairs, bringing the 3rd Task Force to seven battleships and expanding its lineup once again. After Chang Jianxin became the commander of the First Fleet, the Third Task Force became the main fleet of the First Fleet, and he still commanded the fleet operations on the "Nanning".

This was the first time that Tan Renhao had chosen a battleship as his flagship, and he was not too familiar with the situation on the "Hefei", and he didn't even know where many passages were connected. However, one thing cannot be denied is that the bridge of the commander of the "Hefei" is much larger than that of the "Longganhu", and there is more space to accommodate the staff officers and equipment of the fleet headquarters. More importantly, the living conditions on the battleships were obviously much more comfortable than on the aircraft carriers, and perhaps only the "Island" class aircraft carriers that had only been commissioned at that time had a more comfortable living environment.

Looking at the two main gun turrets in front of him, Tan Renhao had a strange feeling. Since the status of aircraft carriers in the Navy was determined, the Imperial Navy rarely made battleships flagships, most of the time. All are made up of aircraft carriers as the core of the fleet. And this time he set up his headquarters on battleships, will this make the still staunch "big ships and big guns" people laugh at him, the most staunch "aviation victory" of the Imperial Navy?

"General, the route map has been sent."

Tan Renhao pulled back his thoughts and looked at Yan Yulong next to him. "Nothing else, right?"

"No, it's all going well, and in about ten minutes, the fleet will turn."

"Very well, and besides, it doesn't have to be so formal in the future. Just call it whatever you want. Tan Renhao nodded at Yan Yulong. Did you receive a telegram from Lei Shaoqing? ”

"Not yet, I have arranged for the communications officers to take turns to stay by the radio, and I will notify you first if there is news." Yan Yulong is still a little uncomfortable with this new position.

Tan Renhao glanced at the huge fleet on the gloomy sea ahead, and then turned around. "After receiving the telegrams from the task forces, the fleet will enter a state of radio silence, as long as it receives the telegram from General Lei Shaoqing, come and notify me immediately."

Yan Yulong nodded, and only after Tan Renhao walked down the gangway did he return to the command cabin. Dozens of staff officers were busy at their respective posts. The core members of the Combined Fleet Command were all transferred from the First Task Force, and these staff officers knew how to cooperate with the commander, but Yan Yulong was not very familiar with them, so he still had to get close to these staff officers and master the personnel relationship of the fleet headquarters as soon as possible.

Knowing how to deal with interpersonal relationships is a necessary quality for fleet commanders, which Tan Renhao has personally experienced, and he also knows that Yan Yulong must establish a relationship with many staff officers in the headquarters as soon as possible, which can be regarded as a test of his ability. Tan Renhao didn't take the initiative to introduce Yan Yulong, anyway, in his opinion, if Yan Yulong didn't even have this ability, then he would not have been able to become the commander of the task force in the first place.

The night sky was not completely dark, and under the moonlight and starlight, the fleet of hundreds of warships was unusually majestic and mighty. After receiving confirmation telegrams from the task forces one after another. The fleet went into radio silence. Before dawn, the fleet will leave the near sea and leave the sea area where US submarines are active. The night won't be too safe, and the ground destroyer, which is responsible for protecting the capital battleship, has been wandering around the fleet, looking for killers hiding beneath the surface.

Tan Renhao is not very worried about the threat of US submarines, after several years of fighting, the US military has lost a large number of submarines, and the chances of survival of the officers and men in those sunken submarines are quite slim, that is, every time a submarine is lost. It will cost dozens of experienced submarine officers and men. In addition, the size of the U.S. submarine force has been expanding, recruiting a lot of new recruits, and at the same time having to promote more captains. All this has affected the quality of the officers and men of the US submarine force. The same situation existed in the submarine forces of the Don Empire and the German Navy.

At that time, the battle loss rate of the German submarine force's ace captains had remained high, and there were no more than 5 submarine captains who could really live from the outbreak of the war to 28 years. The loss rate of submarine officers and men in the Tang Imperial Navy was lower, but there were also too many new recruits, resulting in a serious decrease in the quality of the submarine officers and men. All this led to a decrease in the effectiveness of submarines in raid operations. In the Caribbean, the combat efficiency of US submarines has been greatly reduced. Similarly, in the Gulf of Mexico. The combat efficiency of the submarines of the Imperial Navy has also decreased a lot!

What worries Tan Renhao the most is the US Atlantic Fleet, which is still holding its ground. Judging from the initial information received, it was July 20. The repair of the Atlantic Fleet is almost over. Although another piece of information was subsequently received, and several warships were still unrepaired, and it was unlikely that the Atlantic Fleet would leave Norfolk, the message also used the word "probably" rather than the usual affirmative tone. That is, the Atlantic Fleet could leave Norfolk at any time and come to meet the Combined Fleet.

Considering this combat operation, Tan Renhao's worries are not unreasonable. If Spruance had judged that the Imperial Marines were about to attack San Diego, he would have seized the opportunity to attack the Combined Fleet. This may be the last battle between the two navies, but who will have the last laugh?