By the early morning of the 20th, Tan Renhao was also a little unable to sit still, ten days had passed since the "Battle of Midway", and even if Nimitz had started preparing from scratch, the US Marines had already arrived near the landing site, but why did the US troops still not take any action? Didn't Nimitz have enough marines in his hands, or did he not have enough landing fleets?

After breakfast, Tan Renhao came to the command cabin, Hao Dongjue arrived one step earlier than him, as soon as he walked into the command cabin, he felt that the atmosphere was a little wrong, and the staff officers who took turns to rest did not leave, but were doing assistance work on the side.

"I was about to send someone to call you." Hao Dongjue walked over quickly, and gave the telegram in his hand to Tan Renhao, "General Liao Hanxiang just sent it, the US military bombed the Wake Island airport early this morning, and most of the HNA fighters have been transferred to the Kwajalein Atoll, and the loss of the airport is very serious. In addition, our long-range reconnaissance planes have also spotted the US landing fleet, which is probably about to storm the beach. ”

Tan Renhao didn't react at first, then took the telegram and glanced at it quickly.

The telegram was only a few hundred words long, and it highlighted the size of the US bomber group, the damage done on the islands, and the size of the US landing fleet.

"How many of our Marines are on the island?"

"About 8,000 people, this is all the troops that Liao Hanxiang can send over. He must have received your warning, but now the forces in the Pacific Theater are very tight, and the transportation force is insufficient, so Liao Hanxiang can only reinforce part of his troops by air, and cannot provide large-scale reinforcements by sea. ”

"There are at least two divisions of marines in the U.S. Army!" Tan Renhao walked to the chart table, "And the size of the U.S. Marine Division is larger than ours. At least one division has 20,000 officers and soldiers, and we only have 8,000 defenders, damn. Nimitz isn't crazy, Wake Island so little place. He actually had to invest two divisions and 40,000 officers and soldiers! ”

Hao Dongjue also followed. "If the U.S. Army invests two divisions, the defenders on Wake Island won't be able to hold out for ten days!"

"Did Task Force 2 leave Guam?"

"It's not very clear, now there is no news of the departure of Task Force 2."

Tan Renhao pondered, and at this time, a staff officer brought his teacup. After the commander quit smoking, teacups replaced cigarettes.

If the U.S. military invests two Marine Divisions on Wake Island, it is shooting eggs with stones, and even if Liao Hanxiang is the most elite Imperial Marine Corps deployed on Wake Island, it is impossible for him to hold out for more than ten days, or even five days. But the question is, how many troops does Nimitz have in his hands to complete the next phase of the attack?

Judging from the information obtained earlier, Nimitz should have ten marine divisions in his hands, and the transportation capacity and the number of landing battleships are enough for him to project two divisions at a time. Three of the ten Marine Divisions would definitely have to stay in the Hawaiian Islands. Unless Nimitz doesn't even want his own lair. And before at Midway, at least three Marine divisions of the US Army were consumed, that is. Nimitz had at his disposal a maximum of four Marine Divisions that could be used to counterattack, while those three Marine Divisions on the Hawaiian Islands would be used as reserves. Now two divisions have been put into Wake Island in one go, and the other two divisions will not be able to defeat Midway, but will quickly sweep the Marshall Islands. The Gilbert Islands are also very difficult. So, what exactly does Nimitz want to do?

"General, a new telegram, sent from the theater command."

When Tan Renhao turned his head, Hao Dongjue had already taken the telegram. "Yan Guozhong sent it, the US fleet left Port Vila, the scale is unknown, the submarine found this fleet in the early hours of this morning, and it was a few hours late to send back the telegram."

"It's not too late, Nimitz's counterattack is a signal flare for Halsey to attack, and when the U.S. military deployed a fleet to bomb Wake Island, Nimitz must have told Halsey the news, a beautiful cross-theater coordinated operation." Tan Renhao took the telegram and read it quickly, "There are dozens of warships, including at least six large warships of more than 10,000 tons, and this must be the 31st Task Force." ”

"Now they're heading west, are they going to rendezvous with Task Force 32?"

Tan Renhao was not in a hurry to speak, he moved to the side so that the staff officer could mark the route of the American fleet on the chart. It didn't matter which direction Task Force 31 was sailing in now, after all, Halsey could make the fleet turn quickly. What matters now is when Halsey will attack! Tan Renhao looked up at the navigation clock, it was already past seven o'clock, the battle on Wake Island must be going on, and now the US Task Force 52nd must be northeast of Wake Island, so the bombers from Kwajalein Atoll could not threaten this fleet. At a normal pace of preparation, the U.S. troops landed between half past seven and half past eight. Thinking of this, Tan Renhao smiled and shook his head, the battle on Wake Island would drag on for a few days, and what he should be concerned about was Halsey's actions.

Hao Dongjue didn't bother Tan Renhao either, and the staff officers he arranged for those staff officers to rest in shifts left the command cabin one after another. The commander has not yet given an order for combat readiness, so there is no need for so many people to stay in the command cabin.

Tan Renhao has been pondering, he always feels that there is something wrong. Nimitz's counterattack has already begun, but the question is, his counterattack this time is a little too fierce, after the first battle, is he going to stop at Wake Island and not continue south? The most important thing is that the current battle on Wake Island has not affected the Southwest Pacific Theater side, so why should Halsey continue to move forward? This is inconsistent with Tan Renhao's previous analysis, Nimitz's attack did not bring any shocking effect, and the blow to Wake Island was already expected, so Halsey had no chance to launch a surprise attack. As long as it drags on in the Central Pacific for a few days, the battle on this side of the Southwest Pacific will have a result, and the storm stirred up by Nimitz in the Central Pacific will not hurt at all.

Seeing that the communications staff officer had received another telegram, Hao Dongjue immediately walked over and did not let him disturb the commander. After reading the telegram, Hao Dongjue hesitated for a moment, and then walked over to Tan Renhao.

"Task Force 2 has departed.

Tan Renhao raised his head. His gaze was a little discrete and not focused on one point.

"In addition, there is news of Lao Lei. He has already passed the danger period, and he will be sent back to Zhoushan in about these two days. ”

"What did you start saying?" Tan Renhao suddenly reacted.

"Old Ray has ......"

"It's not. Task Force 2, you mean, Task Force 2 has already left the port? ”

Hao Dongjue nodded and said, "The second task force left Apra Harbor at around six o'clock, and it was commanded by Zheng Guanhua. It is now heading in the direction of Wake Island. ”

Tan Renhao pressed his head, as a bystander, he saw it more clearly than anyone else at this moment. Perhaps, forcing the second task force to go to war is the ultimate goal of the US military. But the problem is that Nimitz now only has three small aircraft carriers in his hands, and even if Spruance replaces Turner, the three small aircraft carriers will not be much stronger than an aircraft carrier of the Imperial Fleet, at least the two sides are equal in terms of aviation combat capabilities. In addition, both sides had powerful escort warship groups. And this decisive battle between aircraft carriers will certainly not happen soon. Why, then, did Nimitz think he was sure enough to defeat Task Force 2? If it is the U.S. military that loses in the end, then his counterattack will be a complete failure. Unless......

Come to think of this. Tan Renhao immediately put down the telegram and returned to the chart table, and when he saw the red route indicating the 31st Task Force, he immediately frowned. If the ultimate goal of the U.S. military is to launch a strategic counterattack in the Central Pacific. Moreover, Nimitz's target is the Mariana Islands, and if MacArthur continues to defend the southwest Pacific, then Halsey's 31st Task Force is very likely to maneuver to Nimitz's side, and the US military in the southwest Pacific has six small aircraft carriers and seven battleships, as long as they operate under the cover of shore-based fighters, Tan Renhao has almost no way to take them. In other words, this time the focus of the US military is not on the Southwest Pacific.

"How many submarines do we have northeast of the New Hebrides?" Tan Renhao asked Hao Dongjue.

"There will be no more than ten, and most of them are not in reconnaissance positions."

"Immediately send a plane back to Rennell Island, contact General Yan Guozhong, and ask him to immediately arrange for a long-range reconnaissance plane to monitor the waters northeast of the New Hebrides, and in addition, order all submarines here to carry out reconnaissance missions. If Task Force 31 appears here, report it immediately. ”

Hao Dongjue nodded at the communications staff officer, and then approached Tan Renhao. "Do you suspect Task Force 31 will go to the Nimitz?"

"It's possible, but it's not certain." Tan Renhao held his chin, "It's okay to monitor it closely, it's just a possibility now." As for what the situation is, I'm afraid we'll have to wait for more news. And the actions of Task Force 2 are key. ”

Hao Dongjue nodded slightly, he just thought of this at first.

"This Nimitz deployment is very confusing, false and real, and I can't figure out where he is focusing." Tan Renhao smiled and shook his head, "Now our entire defense line is likely to be attacked, if the 31st Task Force goes to the Central Pacific, then Liao Hanxiang's side will be in big trouble." ”

"We can force him to stay."

Tan Renhao nodded. "I know this, General Yan Guozhong must be waiting for this news. As long as Task Force 31 dares to leave the Southwest Pacific Theater, then we will attack the New Hebrides and put the US military in the Southwest Pacific passive. When the time came, Task Force 4 supported the Marines in attacking Port Moresby. If the U.S. military is attacking in the Central Pacific, we will attack in the Southwest Pacific, and when the time comes, see who can't hold on first! ”

"Nimitz should be aware of our deployment, and there is no secret about the strength of the more than a dozen divisions of marines in Yan Guozhong's hands now. And our landing fleets and convoys assembled in Lae, Rabaul, and Kuah are enough to support the Marines attacking the New Hebrides and Port Moresby at the same time, and we only need time. If Nimitz had transferred Task Force 31 to the Central Pacific Theater at this time, I am afraid MacArthur would not have agreed.

"We don't have to guess." Tan Renhao sat down, "Let's act according to the plan, and wait for the next plane to send planes to contact the fourth task force and the third task force to see what they are doing." ”

As soon as Hao Dongjue went to arrange for the seaplane to depart, the staff officer sent another piece of information, which was the second telegram sent from Yan Guozhong. A submarine operating outside the port of Brisbane spotted the departing U.S. fleet, which was heading northeast. By the time Hao Dongjue rushed back, the staff officer had already marked the sea area where the fleet had been discovered and the course at that time on the chart.

"It should be Task Force 32, and maybe Task Force 33 is in there."

Tan Renhao pondered for a while and said, "It seems that we can't know what Halsey is going to do now. If all three U.S. fleets have already left the port, then they may have two purposes. First, we started to analyze, Halsey went to the Central Pacific to support Nimitz, and Mitchell and Kincaid were holding us back. The second is that the three task forces will fight collectively to try to quickly eliminate us, and then assist MacArthur in launching a full-scale counterattack, and Nimitz will also launch a larger offensive at this time. ”

"Anyway, they're going to have a fleet operating in the Coral Sea."

"Is there any news from the reconnaissance plane?"

"If the intelligence is correct, we will not be able to encounter the US fleet at the earliest."

Tan Renhao was stunned for a moment, then shook his head with a smile. "Then, let's first determine how many US fleets are operating in the Coral Sea, and after figuring out the situation, this battle will be easy to fight."

"Then we'll have to continue to wait patiently."

Tan Renhao sat down. On the battlefield, the most formidable opponent he has encountered is Spruance, and Halsey is not the most formidable opponent. However, judging from the layout of the battle, Nimitz's ability was obviously higher than MacArthur's, and Nimitz knew how to skillfully use the power of the naval fleet, how to attack while the enemy was unprepared, and how to maximize victory. These are all abilities that MacArthur does not have. Until this time, Tan Renhao had no way to figure out Nimitz's purpose and main movements, which made him feel that it was pitch black in front of him, and he didn't know how to punch or move his feet!

The news of the other two fleets, as well as the news of Yan Guozhong, were delivered one after another, and at this time, the Coral Sea was calm and calm, without the slightest smell of gunsmoke.