The 1st Task Force left Apra Harbor on 17 April, three days after the Fifth Fleet bombed Nihua Island for the first time. On the same day, Task Force 1 departed with Task Force 2, Task Force 3, and the Theater Fleet with the three restored small aircraft carriers as the core. Instead of following Task Force 1 to Midway, the Theater Fleet will continue training near Guam and wait for the landing fleet and convoy to arrive from Naha before heading to Midway.

Before leaving, Tan Renhao received the last message that the Fifth Fleet had not bombed Nihua Island on the morning of 17 July, and that the long-range water patrol planes that had gone to reconnoiter had not discovered the Fifth Fleet. Liao Hanxiang's inference was correct, and after the last bombardment on the afternoon of 16 July, the Fifth Fleet left the waters near Nihua Island and disappeared into the vast sea. Liao Hanxiang had already telegraphed the submarines operating in the eastern part of Nihua Island, asking them to find the whereabouts of the Fifth Fleet as soon as possible, but Tan Renhao did not hold out much hope, the role of submarines in the extensive search was quite limited, and if Spruance wanted to hide, he would leave the main sea area where the Imperial Navy's submarines operated, and it would be difficult to find the Fifth Fleet by relying on the strength of submarines.

When arranging the command structure of the main fleet, Tan Renhao did not give Hao Dongjue special privileges, but asked Chang Jianxin to be the temporary chief of staff of the main fleet, that is, if Tan Renhao could not continue to command the First Fleet in battle, Chang Renhao would take over his command. This is not because Tan Renhao feels that Hao Dongjue is incapable of commanding the First Fleet to fight, but mainly because Hao Dongjue is not stable enough. Moreover, when Tan Renhao lost his command ability, the situation of the First Fleet must be quite dangerous, and what was needed at that time was not a commander like Hao Dongjue who led the attack, but a steady commander like Chang Zhixin who could lead the team to safely withdraw from the battle, at least, Chang Jianxin was still very trustworthy in this regard.

The three task forces did not leave the port of Apra until after five o'clock in the afternoon. Task Force 2 and Task Force 3 quickly caught up. Tan Renhao did not immediately let the Third Task Force be incorporated into the two aircraft carrier task forces, and the main thing to watch out for during the voyage was submarines, not bombers, so he could not let the fleet formation become too dense and give US submarines a chance to sneak attack. The training work had to be carried out as usual, and the air units of the two task forces were seizing all the time to train, and the fighters led by Ellsler landed on the aircraft carrier only after dark, which could be regarded as a night landing training. A high-stakes training session.

During the voyage, the three task forces practiced several tactics, including the integration of the third task force into the first task force and the second task force, and the training of the air defense capability of the two aircraft carrier task forces. In addition, it also includes simulated combat training for two aircraft carrier task forces to jointly strike one target, as well as two targets separately, or even three targets. During the training, the bombers were not allowed to drop bombs, nor did they take off with bombs, but the main thing was to familiarize the pilots with how to act in different situations. And warm up the aviation crews on the aircraft carrier. Improve work efficiency.

Because it departed a day later than the Third Fleet, the First Fleet's cruising speed was increased to 24 knots from seven o'clock in the evening of the 17th. In this way, the First Fleet was able to catch up with the Third Fleet two days later, when it was about a day and a half away from Midway. As for the issue of fuel, Tan Renhao didn't think too much about it, there were enough heavy fuel and aviation gasoline reserves on Midway Island, and Liao Hanxiang had already contacted Han Shaofeng, and the fleet would carry out the first refueling after arriving in the waters near Midway Island, which didn't need to worry about Renhao.

Tan Renhao was most concerned about what Spruance was doing, and after the fleet left Apra Harbor, he arranged for three communications officers to take turns to be on duty next to the radio station used to receive the theater command. And ask them to report back to any news as soon as they receive it. On the night of 17 July, Tan Renhao first received that Fang Hsiao-hsien had sent back to Guam from Nihua Island, and then the theater command had forwarded the loss report.

During the three days of 14, 15, and 16 days, the Fifth Fleet bombed Nihua Island five times, an average of less than two times a day, and the combat sortie rate was not high. Throughout the combat operation, the Fifth Fleet was 250 to 30 nautical miles from Nihua Island, calculated according to this distance. Bombers can make sorties three times a day, and at least twice. In addition, during the three days, the Fifth Fleet only flew about 2,200 bomber sorties, accounting for only about 40 percent of the sorties of US bombers bombing Nihua Island in these three days, and the proportion was not high. Probably each bomber of the Fifth Fleet made only three sorties, once a day. This sortie efficiency is also quite low.

Judging from the information provided by Fang Hsiao-hsien, if the three task forces of the Fifth Fleet all participated in combat operations, then the purpose of the US military was not to blow up the military facilities on Nihua Island, at least the Fifth Fleet, which was under the direct command of Spruance, had no such intention. This is obviously training newcomers, so that pilots can experience the feeling that can never be found in training in actual combat, and master some basic combat skills. And it will not cause the pilots to be overly tired because of the high-intensity sorties, which will lead to greater combat losses. It's a very reasonable arrangement.

This was also the most valuable piece of information that Tan Renhao received before the First Fleet caught up with the Third Fleet, and other information sent by the theater command could only be telegrams at most, informing them of the reconnaissance and search situation of various units on the front line. By the night of the 19th, when the two main fleets met, Tan Renhao still did not know the whereabouts of the Fifth Fleet. Judging from the sea areas searched by reconnaissance planes deployed on several other islands at the time, the Fifth Fleet should have left the front-line waters, probably in the waters east of Hawaii Island, or in the southern seas.

"It seems that Spruance has made our military installation on Niwa Island, as well as the anti-aircraft guns of the Marine Corps, the object of training." Chang Jianxin came to the aircraft carrier "Longganhu" in the evening. "Now Spruance must know that we are rushing over, and at worst, he will believe that our fleet has appeared between Gardner and Lysan, and hastened to withdraw from the battle."

"But where will he go?" Hao Dongjue arrived only half an hour late. "Anyway, Spruance didn't go back to Pearl Harbor, we have more than a dozen submarines outside Pearl Harbor, and there's no way the Fifth Fleet slipped back to Pearl Harbor without us noticing."

"He won't go back to Pearl Harbor unless he thinks Pearl Harbor is absolutely safe." Tan Renhao sat down, "Anyway." The Fifth Fleet is also active at sea......"

Before Tan Renhao finished speaking, there was a sound of an aircraft engine outside.

"It must be Huang Xiaotian who is here." Hao Dongjue ran to the porthole.

A seaplane had landed on the starboard side of the aircraft carrier and was slowly approaching, a seaplane flying from the Third Fleet. Tan Renhao sent a telegram to the "Taihu" an hour and a half ago, and Huang Xiaotian rushed over at about this time.

"How's your fleet doing?" Tan Renhao went outside to greet Huang Xiaotian.

"It's not bad, but the main reason is that the training of the pilots of the two newly formed task forces is still very inadequate, at least compared with the quality of the aviation unit of the fourth task force." Huang Xiaotian followed Tan Renhao up the stairs, "I didn't let Yan Yulong and Zheng Guanhua come over. Now they are still planning for tomorrow's training, which is the main thing for them during this time. ”

"That's the best, now the aviation of the 7th and 8th task forces is the worst of our fleets, and the total flight hours of those bomber pilots are probably not as good as those seaplane pilots of the third task force." Tan Renhao let Huang Xiaotian into the conference room first. "We've been discussing the whereabouts of the Fifth Fleet, and you've received those telegrams, haven't you?"

Huang Xiaotian nodded at Hao Dongjue and Chang Jianxin. "Got it, the Fifth Fleet withdrew in time, I'm afraid Spruance thought we were going to rush over as quickly as possible, so he withdrew from the battle ahead of schedule. In addition, this proves at least one point that we were not detected by the submarines of the American army. Otherwise. Spruance must have had to wait there for two more days, if not three days. ”

"We all think so, and now the problem is. Where is the Fifth Fleet, and what else does Spruance want to do? Tan Renhao invited Huang Xiaotian to sit down. The Fifth Fleet has not been spotted by submarines operating outside Pearl Harbor, at least not yet. In addition, our reconnaissance planes deployed on Wake Island, Gardner Island, Lysan Island, and Midway Island were all dispatched to search all the surrounding waters, but nothing was found. This proves that the Fifth Fleet should have withdrawn from the battlefield to the east, or to the south. Therefore. Now we can be sure that Spruance does not want a decisive battle with us yet, at least the Fifth Fleet is not ready for a decisive battle, so he will withdraw from the battle. ”

"There's one more detail." Huang Xiaotian took out a report that had just been written from the briefcase he brought. "This is a conclusion I have come to after analyzing the combat operations of the Fifth Fleet in the past few days. The main attention was paid to the total range of the Fifth Fleet, its losses in battle, and the amount of ammunition dropped on Nihua Island. ”

Tan Renhao and the three of them passed on the fact that they had finished reading this report that was not too long.

"Fuel for the Fifth Fleet should not be a problem yet, and it is relatively easy to replenish the lost ground combat aircraft. The problem is that they dropped almost a thousand tons of bombs on Nihua Island, which were carried by aircraft carriers. Then the bomb depots of those aircraft carriers of the Fifth Fleet are almost a third empty. If Spruance had trained pilots to use live ammunition at any cost, the ammunition stock would have been lower. ”

"That is, there is a good chance that the Fifth Fleet will have to carry out a replenishment?" Hao Dongjue said it directly.

Huang Xiaotian nodded. "Yes, there is a good chance that the Fifth Fleet will be resupplied in the near future. If it was just a task force, then Spruance could resupply anywhere, but now the Fifth Fleet has three task forces, at least from the American pilots captured by Fang Xiaoxian, it is proved that all three task forces of the Fifth Fleet participated in combat operations. Well, the replenishment of these three task forces will not be an easy task. ”

"If Spruance doesn't return to Pearl Harbor, he'll have to resupply from the outside." Chang Jiexin also spoke, "And the ideal place for replenishment is an anchorage near the islands, at least there are not enough islands in the Central Pacific for the Fifth Fleet to choose from." ”

"However, the Fifth Fleet does not necessarily have to resupply in the waters off the Hawaiian Islands. As long as Nimitz didn't let Spruance help defend Kauai, the Fifth Fleet could even calmly return to San Francisco to complete the resupply, or go somewhere else. Hao Dongjue paused slightly, "For example, Christmas Island in the south, the U.S. military began to strengthen the role of Christmas Island more than two years ago, and after we captured the Marshall Islands and the Gilbert Islands, the U.S. military identified Christmas Island as a more important island, and there should be fuel and ammunition needed by Spruance there, if it ......"

"We're not going to consider a sneak attack on Christmas Island." Tan Renhao vetoed Hao Dongjue's idea before Hao Dongjue could say it. "We can't be sure if the Fifth Fleet will go to Christmas Island, or return to Pearl Harbor, or go straight back to San Francisco, or even complete the replenishment somewhere in the eastern part of the Hawaiian Islands, so we can't just scatter the fleet at will."

Hao Dongjue smiled, and didn't talk back to Tan Renhao, he just thought of it suddenly, not that he had to make this suggestion, but if Tan Renhao didn't veto it in time, I'm afraid he would really say it.

"Then our approach now is to wait and see what happens." Huang Xiaotian changed the topic, no one would approve of attacking Christmas Island at this time, this is basically useless work, regardless of whether the Fifth Fleet went to Christmas Island or not, after all, without intelligence support, the two main fleets cannot disperse their actions, and Spruance cannot be given any chance.

"Yes, no matter what the Fifth Fleet is doing, we will still act according to our plan." Tan Renhao glanced at each of the three, "After arriving at the waters near Midway Island, the two fleets took turns to train and replenish, strengthen the surveillance of the surrounding waters, and wait for more information. Before we know the whereabouts of the Fifth Fleet, our first task is to get the fleet in the best condition, and as for what to do next, we will have to see what problem Spruance has given us. ”

There was no objection to it, and it was the only more reliable arrangement that could have been adopted at that time.