When Tan Renhao returned to the command cabin, Zhu Rongzhe had just had lunch and was chatting about some navigational matters. Both of them looked at the commander who was walking towards them in a little surprise, the navigation staff officer nodded to Tan Renhao and returned to his position, Zhu Rongzhe threw away the cigarette butt in his hand and walked over to Tan Renhao.

"Can't sleep?" Zhu Rongzhe deliberately glanced at the navigation clock, and Tan Renhao had only gone to rest for less than four hours.

"I haven't been asleep, and I'm worried about something." Tan Renhao stopped at the chart table. "Perhaps, we made the wrong judgment from the beginning."

Zhu Rongzhe's expression immediately became nervous, and it was definitely not a small mistake that could be said by Tan Renhao himself, but a serious mistake that would affect the entire campaign.

"We always thought that Spruance's goal was to take out the Third Fleet first, but did we think about whether Spruance would fight us first if he was sure that he could not annihilate the Third Fleet first?"

"This ......"

Tan Renhao pressed his hand and stopped Zhu Rongzhe's words. "If we have been trying to cover and protect the Third Fleet without noticing the threat we are facing, then we should not be thinking about the safety of the Third Fleet, but about our own survival."

"But the problem is, Spruance can't accurately judge our position so far, how can he sneak up on us?"

"Even Spruance can't accurately determine where we are. But he can at least roughly deduce where we are. Tan Renhao opened the chart and marked two sea areas on it. It's my own analytical judgment, and Spruance is well aware of my commanding style, and there's a good chance he'll make the same judgment. If he chooses us as the first target, then what do you think the Atlantic Fleet should be doing at this time? ”

Zhu Rongzhe looked at the chart for a while. "There's a good chance that Spruance will approach us from the northeast, or north, and then launch a surprise attack!"

Tan Renhao nodded slightly. "Avoid a sudden blow. We're going to have to realign the fleet's reconnaissance deployment. ”

"I'll arrange it, there are two rounds of reconnaissance in the afternoon, and it's still too late to revise."

After Zhu Rongzhe finished speaking, he went to the aviation staff officer, and Tan Renhao also quieted down. Just as Spruance knew him very well, Tan Renhao also knew Spruance's courage and determination. Perhaps, from the beginning. Spruance has always wanted to deal with the Third Fleet, otherwise, when the First Fleet went to the Caribbean theater, Spruance should have led the Atlantic Fleet to intercept the First Fleet, instead of staying on the US mainland and looking for an opportunity to fight the Third Fleet. But the problem is that Spruance is by no means a legalist who doesn't know how to be flexible. As soon as Spruance confirms that a sneak attack on the Third Fleet is too difficult, or that a sneak attack on the First Fleet is more likely to be successful, then he will change his strategy. And it is not the Third Fleet that is threatened. It's the First Fleet.

The focus of the two rounds of reconnaissance operations that afternoon was on the north and northeast sides of the fleet, and all 24 reconnaissance planes on reconnaissance missions were fully fueled. It will be able to fly for half an hour on a maximum patrol radius of 450 miles, which will ensure that the radar on the reconnaissance aircraft can search all the nearby sea areas. Spot any of the warships sailing on the sea. In order to strengthen the reconnaissance forces in the two main directions as soon as possible, all of these reconnaissance planes were replaced by a group of bomber pilots who had flown the "reconnaissance eagles" before half past six o'clock to carry out the second round of reconnaissance missions on the ground after dark. In addition, 36 reconnaissance planes of the Second Task Force also took part in the night reconnaissance operation that night, and Hao Dongjue also adjusted the reconnaissance plan in accordance with Tan Renhao's new deployment. Hereunto. Of the 72 Scout Eagles of the First Fleet, 48 were used in the north and northeast sides of the fleet.

In the evening, Tan Renhao returned to the command cabin after dinner. He received a telegram from the Third Fleet. When he saw the telegram, his head grew again. On the same day, the ground-air defense fighters of the Third Fleet intercepted more than a dozen US reconnaissance planes that tried to get close, and although they were not able to allow the US reconnaissance planes to fly over the ground of the fleet, there was no guarantee that the whereabouts of the Third Fleet were not exposed, nor could there be any guarantee that the US military did not find out the specific scale of the Third Fleet. That is, it is possible that the Third Fleet has already been exposed! At that time, the Third Fleet was able to successfully intercept US reconnaissance planes, mainly relying on the excellent radar detection capability of the "Reconnaissance Eagle." During the training, the pilots of the reconnaissance planes of the Third Fleet also discovered that the sea search radar on the "Reconnaissance Eagle" was also capable of detecting air targets. If the detection distance of a large aircraft at an altitude of 7000 at an altitude of 5000 meters reaches 30 nautical miles, this is not much worse than the radar on a destroyer. In addition, the Third Fleet has 108 "reconnaissance eagles," while only about 70 are needed for other reconnaissance missions, and there are still a large number of reconnaissance planes that can carry out other tasks; therefore, when bombing the Bahamas, Huang Xiaotian deployed two "reconnaissance eagles" in each direction where the US reconnaissance planes might arrive. The main task of these reconnaissance planes, which flew at a distance of 100 miles from the fleet and at a maximum altitude of 7,500 meters, was to search for and discover any enemy reconnaissance planes approaching the fleet.

It was precisely these reconnaissance planes that played a key role, and the long-range reconnaissance planes that the US military took off from the airport in the Greater Andrés Islands were all discovered hundreds of nautical miles away from the fleet, and they were immediately intercepted by the fleet's air defense fighters, so that they were not able to approach the Third Fleet, and it was impossible to judge the exact location and specific scale of the Third Fleet. This is also the first time that the "reconnaissance eagle" has shown excellent reconnaissance capabilities in real combat, and of course, no one would have thought that the reconnaissance aircraft, which was originally used for sea searches, would be able to play such a huge role in the air defense operations of the fleet. However, in the same way, the "Reconnaissance Eagle" had not undergone similar training before, and there was no guarantee at that time that there would be any other US reconnaissance planes approaching the fleet from other directions, so it was difficult to guarantee whether the fleet would be discovered.

After receiving this telegram, Tan Renhao was a little embarrassed. If the specific location of the Third Fleet had not been revealed, and the specific size had not been revealed, then Spruance would still not have rushed to deal with the Third Fleet, but

Determine the whereabouts of the First Fleet. On the contrary, Spruance is very good, first killing the lone Third Fleet, and then looking for the First Fleet for a decisive battle. The question is here, has the Third Fleet been exposed?

After thinking about it for a while, Tan Renhao did not send a telegram back to Huang Xiaotian, but asked the fleet to turn to the southeast half an hour later, narrowing the distance with the Third Fleet, and at the same time focusing on reconnaissance in the northeast direction. If Spruance were to attack the Third Fleet, he would first approach the Third Fleet from the east. Conversely, if Spruance was not in a hurry to find the Third Fleet for a decisive battle, he would still first reconnoiter the northeast direction of the Third Fleet to determine whether the First Fleet was covering the Third Fleet here. At this time, what the First Fleet could do was to get as close as possible to the Third Fleet, not to give Spruance a chance to break through, and at the same time to try to find the Atlantic Fleet first and take advantage of the weakness of the US reconnaissance planes that could not operate at night to defeat the Atlantic Fleet.

"It's too risky." Zhu Rongzhe very much disagreed with Tan Renhao's deployment. "As with your analysis, if Spruance's goal is to annihilate us, he will look for us first, and we will go to the northeast of the Third Fleet, which is clearly a gun shot, and when the time comes, I'm afraid we will have to let the Third Fleet provide cover."

"It's not that bad." Tan Renhao was not disgusted by Zhu Rongzhe's questioning. "First of all, our main reconnaissance direction also covers Spruance's range of activity, he is looking for us, and we are looking for him. Secondly. Our ground reconnaissance planes are certainly much better than Spruances, and they have a strong night reconnaissance capability, and their patrol radius is also farther. Finally, and most importantly, Spruance is even more conflicted than we are, and perhaps he is struggling with whether or not to deal with the Third Fleet. ”

"But we can't stand in front of the Third Fleet. Instead, we should contact the Third Fleet and keep them on alert for threats to the northeast and east, while we ambush the Atlantic Fleet on the most likely route and take advantage of the opportunity to attack Spruance. ”

"Is it that simple?" Tan Renhao shook his head, he had already considered this point. "One is that we are now in a very troubled position to contact the Third Fleet. Unless we send a telegram, which will expose our whereabouts. Second, the Third Fleet is clearly a decoy, and if the bombing of the Bahamas is reduced in order to guard against the threat of the Atlantic Fleet, will Spruance be fooled? Finally, and most importantly, the Third Fleet has enough tasks now, and if Huang Xiaotian is distracted to deal with other things, I'm afraid that the Third Fleet will not be able to do anything well. ”

"But ......"

"Don't worry. Even in an equal confrontation, we are 80% sure of defeating the Atlantic Fleet. Now we haven't been exposed. For us, the worst-case scenario is nothing more than an encounter with the Atlantic Fleet. Opposite. Spruance should be more worried than we are at this point, so there is no need for us to be afraid! Tan Renhao grabbed the chief of staff on the shoulder, "Go and give the order, now we have to buy time, we must find out the whereabouts of the enemy fleet as soon as possible, so that we can be more sure of victory, isn't it?" ”

Zhu Rongzhe was a little reluctant to give the order. He still felt that there was something wrong with Tan Renhao's decision, if Spruance had been so easy to deal with. Then in the Pacific theater, Tan Renhao has already defeated Spruance many times, and will not let him continue to fight against the Imperial Navy in the Atlantic!

The fleet quickly completed the turning work, and Tan Renhao and Zhu Rongzhe did not argue any further. After the change of staff officers, the two came to the outside of the command cabin, of course, Zhu Rongzhe would not forget the fundamental duty of the chief of staff of the fleet, and in the absence of anyone else at the venue, he once again put forward his own suggestion, thinking that at least the Third Fleet should be contacted, so that Huang Xiaotian could prepare accordingly. This time, Tan Renhao did not reject Zhu Rongzhe's proposal. Half an hour later, the three seaplanes left the cruiser of the "Longganhu" aircraft carrier battle group and flew to the sea area where the Third Fleet was located with Tan Renhao's order. Because the Third Fleet was also constantly maneuvering at that time, and its position was not fixed, Tan Renhao could only send several seaplanes to find the Third Fleet.

By about half past nine, the speed of the fleet had increased to 24 knots, and at the same time the day =: a group of reconnaissance planes had also been dispatched. At this speed, the fleet will reach the northeast direction of the Third Fleet's active sea area before dawn, and the distance from the Third Fleet will be between 150,200 miles, and if Huang Xiaotian also takes the corresponding deployment, this distance may be even closer. At that time, the First Fleet and the Third Fleet will be able to cover each other, and it will be impossible for Spruance to sneak attack either fleet. Tan Renhao returned to his cabin at around ten o'clock, and he hadn't rested for more than a day. But less than half an hour after he lay down, the shrill sound of sirens woke him out of bed.

"What's going on?" Tan Renhao arrived at the command cabin five minutes later, and the alarm had stopped, but the staff officers of the fleet headquarters and Zhu Rongzhe, who was dealing with emergencies, were busy.

"A submarine, it should be a U.S. submarine." Zhu Rongzhe walked over, "In the northwest direction, three destroyers have already rushed over, and the other destroyers are searching the surrounding waters, I don't know if there are more submarines." ”

"Our location exposed?" Tan Renhao frowned, this is definitely the worst news.

Zhu Rongzhe nodded. "We had already detected a telegram from a U.S. submarine, and it was too late for the destroyer to rush over. Maybe the telegram wasn't finished, but ......"

Tan Renhao pressed his hand, the situation was already very clear, and the fleet was discovered. He was worried that the US military would arrange submarines to find the First Fleet, but he did not expect that the US submarines would find the First Fleet so quickly and send a telegram.

"Shall we turn the fleet?"

"No, not yet, let those destroyers report at any time." Tan Renhao walked to the command position, "The fleet continues to sail in the southeast direction, in addition, when will our other two groups of reconnaissance planes be able to take off?" ”

Zhu Rongzhe hesitated, it was obvious that Tan Renhao was going to revise the battle plan, which was also the last thing he wanted to see.