The U.S. bombers attacking Task Force 1 were all cleared by four o'clock. In the face of hundreds of fighters, almost none of the more than 200 US tactical bombers and medium bombers that arrived in five batches were able to fly over the fleet and successfully drop bombs. Over the course of the engagement, Task Force 1 lost only 27 fighters, 22 of which were later rescued, and the destroyer, which was on anti-aircraft alert duty in the southwest of the fleet, was bombed and sunk on the way back to Port Vila. Another cruiser, with a 250-kilogram bomb, broke away from the fleet and returned to Port Vila. A total of 86 officers and pilots of the fleet were killed and more than 100 wounded. 174 U.S. bombers were shot down, and at least 400 U.S. pilots were killed or captured.

The US bombing did not cause the First Task Force to lose its combat effectiveness, especially its air combat capability, and the fighters and bombers provided by the Navy Air Force landed on the aircraft carrier of the First Task Force before 5 p.m. that day. Of the 22 fighter pilots who were rescued, 18 were able to continue fighting, and the other four were sent to Lord Howe Island and recovered from their injuries in about a week.

Just when the First Task Force was resisting the US bombardment, to the north of the battlefield, the Fifth Task Force and the Theater Fleet were powering to bomb the US mobile units heading south!

By four o'clock in the afternoon, when the theater fleet arrived, Task Force 5 arranged a third round of bombing. The pilots, who had already carried out two rounds of bombing missions, continued to fly the bombers and set off. At half past four, the bombers of the theater fleet also began to take off one after another. At this time, it was Jiang Zhongmin who arranged the two fleets in a unified manner. At that time, there were nearly 200 fighters in the two fleets, Jiang Zhongmin left two squadrons of air defense fighters, and the rest of the fighters were arranged to carry out bombing missions. Other than that. More than 300 bombers from the two fleets were also dispatched continuously.

The bombing campaign continued until about half past five, and three batches of bombers from Task Force 5 and one batch of bombers from the theater fleet were dispatched. At that time, the Fifth Task Force and the Theater Fleet were operating near Middleton Reef, and the nearest US airfield to the two fleets was still 300 nautical miles away, and the US tactical bombers could not fly at all.

Actually, the main reason is: On the night of the 18th, a large number of American bombers moved to the south. On the afternoon of the 19th, the US bombers attacking the 1st Task Force were transferred from Brisbane. MacArthur had already confirmed that the Tang Imperial Marines would land near Tari, so when Bradley organized a mobile force, MacArthur had the air force move over first, and clearly stipulated that the Tang Empire task force off Tari would be defeated at all costs, especially the aircraft carrier task force. Therefore, on the 19th, the US military simply did not have the ability to organize a group of planes to bomb the Fifth Task Force. Rather, they were concentrating their forces on Task Force 1.

By this time, the battle situation had become completely clear. There is no secret about the landing operation of the Tang Imperial Marines, and MacArthur knows very well in his heart that if the Tang Imperial Marines have revealed their true intentions, then the landing operation will definitely start soon, if he cannot adjust the defensive line in time. Then it was impossible to prevent the Tang Digu Marine Corps from going ashore, and on the 19th, the third task force had been operating off the coast of Tali and had not withdrawn, which strengthened MacArthur's judgment, and when night fell, MacArthur received news that the Tang Empire's artillery fleet had returned to the sea near Tali and was shelling the US shore defense positions in the tower!

Judging from the actions of the fleet of the Tang Imperial Navy, MacArthur judged that the Tang Imperial Marines would be on the 21st at the latest. It will make landfall as soon as the early morning of the 20th. That night, another piece of intelligence confirmed his suspicion that the Tang Empire landing fleet, which had been assembled more than 100 nautical miles north of Middleton Reef, had left the assembly area during the day, and was likely to be heading south at full speed, and was expected to reach the sea off Tali in the early morning of the 20th. In other words, it is very likely that the Tang Imperial Marine Corps will launch a landing operation on the 20th.

That same evening. MacArthur sent five other divisions on the road, which were ready to go. But the problem was that at this time the vanguard under Bradley's personal command had just arrived in Tentfield, a full 300 kilometers from Armidale and more than 500 kilometers from Tary. Because during the daytime bombardment, a large number of transport vehicles, armored vehicles were destroyed, and Bradley's vanguard had stopped, so at this time, even MacArthur sent all the American combat units in Brisbane. It was also difficult to reach the tower in the early morning of the 20th.

MacArthur gave Bradley a death order to hit the road immediately. Even if they were to walk, they had to go to the tower, and never stop halfway, and it was guaranteed that the main force would be brought with more transport vehicles, and the mobile force had to reach Armidale before dawn on the 20th, and try to reach the tower by noon on the 20th. Obviously, this was an impossible task, and Bradley was helpless when he received the order.

That night, the various fleets fighting on the front line also received orders from Yan Guozhong.

After Jiang Zhongmin read the telegram, he gave it to Dai Li. "Looks like we're going to have to keep busy tonight."

Dali quickly read the telegram. A long-range reconnaissance plane taking off from Lord Howe Island discovered that the main force of the US military was massing south of Brisbane, and that the vanguard of the US army, which had been blocked in Tentfield, was also moving from the departure area. Therefore, Yan Guozhong demanded that the Fifth Task Force and the Theater Fleet organize night bombing to slow down the US advances as much as possible, and never allow US reinforcements to reach the landing site on the 20th.

When Dai Li went to arrange the new route of the fleet, Jiang Zhongmin organized the aviation staff officers.

"At night, arrange a few more bombers for lighting missions." Jiang Zhongmin still has a certain understanding of night bombing tactics, and when the Fourth Task Force partnered with Huang Xiaotian, he learned a lot of aviation tactics from Huang Xiaotian. "These bombers all carry incendiary bombs, and they drop them first, and then the other bombers follow suit."

"General. We don't have many incendiary bombs. ”

"I know, but Task Force 1 has converted auxiliary fuel tanks into incendiary bombs before, and we can do the same." Jiang Zhongmin hesitated for a moment, "In addition, the main function of the incendiary bomb is lighting, so the amount used is not very large." In accordance with the main officer served as the leader of the captain plane. Night bombing operations do not need to worry about being intercepted by US fighter jets, so. Fighters were to take part in bombing campaigns. ”

Jiang Zhongmin said as he deployed relevant tasks on the aviation combat map, while the aviation staff officers quickly recorded the orders issued by the commander.

"At half past eight, the first batch of bombers took off, and in the evening there were three rounds of bombing missions, and two-thirds of the bombers and fighters were dispatched each time, so that our pilots had enough time to rotate and rest." Jiang Zhongmin put down the pencil, "Also." Contact the theater fleet and let them organize bombing operations at the same time. Although it was very difficult to bomb at night, the U.S. forces were now concentrated near Tentfield, and the density of our troops was quite high, so we could hit the enemy as long as we dropped the bombs. ”

"And what about our daytime bombing mission tomorrow?"

Jiang Zhongmin hesitated. This is a big problem, if the high level of sortie is maintained at night, then the pilots will not get enough rest time, and it will be impossible to carry out bombing missions during the day.

At this time, the communications staff officer trotted over. "General, a telegram from Task Force 1."

"Task Force One?" Jiang Zhongmin frowned slightly, and immediately took the telegram, and after reading it, his brows relaxed. "Now the trouble is gone. We carried out only two rounds of bombing at night, half of the bombers and fighters at a time, so that the pilots had enough time to rest, and tomorrow's bombing operation still went according to plan. ”

The staff officers were a little confused, but they must have received good news.

"Alright, immediately go and prepare for the bombing operation. An hour and a half later, the bomber departed on time! ”

Jiang Zhongmin received good news, when he received Yan Guozhong's order, Tan Renhao and Hao Dongjue also received orders forwarded by Lei Shaoqing. Task Force 1 was to carry out a round of bombing during the night, while Task Force 2, which had been scheduled to return to Lord Howe Island for temporary recuperation, was to head north at night to support Task Force 5 and bombard the U.S. forces gathered at Tentfield.

Originally, this telegram should have been sent by Hao Dongjue to the Fifth Task Force. But Tan Renhao took into account Hao Dongjue's prejudice against Jiang Zhongmin, so he sent this telegram on behalf of Hao Dongjue. And for Jiang Zhongmin. This is undoubtedly a help in the snow. The Second Task Force is one of the four aircraft carrier fleets currently operating in the theater with the most experience in night bombing, and if the Second Task Force comes to help, then the ground pressure on the Fifth Task Force will be much less, at least there will be no need to fight the enemy at night, and the pilots will be able to get sufficient rest and take part in daytime combat operations on the 20th.

After sending the telegram, Tan Renhao was not in a hurry to go to bed, he did not have the habit of going to bed so early, and the Marine Corps will go ashore tomorrow, he still has a lot of things to deal with.

"I just received a telegram that the landing fleet is expected to arrive at the landing area at about four o'clock in the morning, and the flotilla that supplies ammunition to the third task force will arrive about four hours in advance, and the third task force needs at least four hours to replenish." Zheng Guanhua is now in a state of excitement, he only slept for four hours in the afternoon, "I have already contacted the new general Chang Jianxin, they will resume the shelling of the US coastal defense positions at about half past four, the landing time is scheduled for half past seven, and we must provide direct fire support to the marines within the hour of half past six to half past seven, and in addition, between half past seven and half past nine, at least three squadrons of bombers must be ensured to operate over the landing field at any time." ”

Tan Renhao nodded slightly, he was still looking at the chart.

"I've roughly calculated that if we want to ensure this kind of high-intensity sortie, then we have to get the fleet to about 100 nautical miles from the coastline."

"I know that tomorrow's first round of bombing will begin at half past six, and half of the bombers will be dispatched to provide direct fire support to the Marines." Tan Renhao circled a few points on the chart, "The other half of the bombers will focus on dealing with the US military airfields in the vicinity, especially the airfields that have been bombed before, and we must ensure that these airfields will not be usable during the daylight tomorrow." And this batch of bombers could depart in advance. ”

Zheng Guanhua immediately wrote down the order, and the specific tactical arrangements were completed by him.

"Is there any news from Task Force 2?"

"A telegram came half an hour ago, they are heading north, and the first bombers are expected to be dispatched before nine o'clock."

"That's good, I hope Hao Dongjue won't have any conflicts with Jiang Zhongmin." Tan Renhao looked at Zheng Guanhua, and after a while, he said, "In addition, to contact the second task force, they must return to the battlefield before dawn, and during the day tomorrow, they will also take on the task of direct support." In addition, we don't have any more forces to deal with the lines of communication in the rear of the US forces, so let the Second Task Force arrange bombers to focus on bombing the bridges behind the US defense lines during the day tomorrow, and if the Fifth Task Force and the Theater Fleet cannot stop the US troops from moving south tonight, then we will have to keep the US troops out of the landing ground. ”

"Then I'll go and contact Task Force 2 later, and ask them to adjust tomorrow's bombing operation."

After Zheng Guanhua left, Tan Renhao went to call the navigation staff officer, and after revising the route of the fleet, he asked the navigation staff officer to send an order to the artillery bombardment formation, and asked the more than ten warships of the artillery formation to rush to meet the third task force at night. According to the campaign arrangement, while the 3rd Task Force is replenishing ammunition, the 1st Task Force will continue to shell the US coastal defense positions at night.

The relevant operational arrangements were quickly arranged, and before 9 o'clock, Task Force 1 dispatched a group of bombers to carry out a round of night bombardment of US coastal defense positions. The actual significance of this round of bombing was not very great, so the bombing operation ended hastily, and the group returned to the fleet before half past eleven. At this time, on the battlefield to the north, the night bombing operations of the Second Task Force, the Fifth Task Force, and the Theater Fleet had just entered their climax.