Spruance arrived at the theater command five minutes before Turner arrived. At this time, it was already late at night, so the officers of the command were still busy with the battle in the southwest Pacific. When Spruance walked into Nimitz's office, he found that Mitchell was also here, and it seemed that the two had been discussing it for a long time. Nimitz made Spruance a cup of coffee, and Turner arrived.

"Here are a few telegrams from Admiral MacArthur during the day." Nimitz placed a stack of messages on the coffee table in the middle, "The landing began at about eight o'clock in the morning, and the Don Marines did not go ashore near Brisbane, but chose to disembark on the beach near Taary, north of Sydney, which is exactly the same as MacArthur had inferred two days earlier." Because of this, MacArthur had not yet had time to adjust the defensive forces, and the current situation was very unfavorable for us. It is certain that at least ten divisions of ground forces have landed on the Australian continent, and that there are at least five divisions of land forces and five more divisions of marines. And judging by the information provided by MacArthur, Tari had been captured a few hours earlier, and the Marines of the Don Empire had consolidated the landing grounds, and its second group of troops arrived five to seven days later. In other words, whether or not the Australian mainland can be held depends on whether the ground forces of the Tang Empire that have come ashore can be annihilated in the next five to seven days. ”…． 1

Everyone's expressions were a little ugly, to put it bluntly, there was anger, dissatisfaction, and more of a helpless expression.

Spruance's mood is very complicated, and it can be said that all this is caused by MacArthur's old stubbornness. Although the situation in the Southwest Pacific theater has nothing to do with Spruance, and he can't control it if he wants to, Spruance knows very well that as long as MacArthur holds out one more day, then the United States will have one more chance to turn the tide of the war. There was even hope of a final victory in the war, but the problem was that MacArthur was an old bastard, a bastard who could only brag and had little real ability, and he was the most harmful bastard.

As early as the beginning of May, Spruance tactfully proposed to Nimitz that it was very likely that the Tang Imperial Navy would not directly attack Brisbane, which was heavily defended, but would choose another breakthrough. The ultimate goal of the landing operation was to seize a deep-water port, find a suitable landing place for the convoy transporting troops and war supplies, speed up the pace of the war, and eventually conquer the Australian continent. In the southeast of Australia, apart from Brisbane, the only eligible one is Sydney Harbor, so it is very likely that the Tang Imperial Navy will land near Sydney, or even directly in Sydney Harbor. Because MacArthur was an Army General. Moreover, the Southwest Pacific Theater has always been under the responsibility of the Army, so Nimitz did not directly send advice to MacArthur, and even if he did, MacArthur would not listen. Nimitz tactfully gave this warning to Admiral Marshall, Chief of the Army Staff, through General King, and, as far as Spruance knew, Marshall also strongly hinted at MacArthur and asked MacArthur to pay attention to the situation in Sydney. However, MacArthur's action was only to deploy 10 Australian divisions in Sydney, but did not strengthen the defenses around Sydney.

It wasn't until the 18th that MacArthur came to his senses, but it was too late. At that time, the Fifth Fleet had already departed. Spruance did not pay so much attention to the news after receiving the news, after all, his energy was focused on the problem of fleet operations. And now it turns out that the Don Empire Marines did come ashore in the northern area of Sydney, and right at the most vulnerable point of the line of defense deployed by MacArthur!

"Now it is useless for us to blame anyone, MacArthur knows the consequences. And every effort is being made to arrange for troops to move south. Nimitz sighed that if MacArthur had lost Australia, his life would not have been much better. The big problem now was that it would be difficult for MacArthur to hold Australia without the support of the fleet. ”

Spruance looked up and noticed that Turner and Mitchell were also looking complicated. All four of them were admirals, and they didn't have a good opinion of MacArthur, an old bastard who could only brag, so the ideas of several people were quite similar.

MacArthur also sent a telegram. As chief of staff in the theater of operations, Mitchell did not let Nimitz alone explain the intelligence. It was originally his job. "Now the offensive of the ground forces of the Tang Empire is fierce, but for the United States and Australia. The biggest threat is not the ground forces of the Tang Empire, and it is impossible for ten divisions of ground forces to take down Australia. Therefore, it is the naval ground fleet that really decides the victory. ”

"But we can't rush to Australia right away!" Turner was in a hurry to speak, but he immediately realized that he was too impulsive for Spruance to say anything.

Mitchell forced a smile, then shook his head.

Nimitz looked over to Spruance, and it was clear that Spruance was the one who had the most to say.

"What was MacArthur's request?" Spruance was in no hurry to show his attitude.

"He had a lot of demands, and I and Admiral Nimitz agreed that most of them could not be met." Mitchell hesitated for a moment, then said, "Now, MacArthur wants to get the support of the Fifth Fleet, at least to open the sea route from New Zealand to Australia, let our ground troops stay in New Zealand go to Australia to fight, and send him the necessary war materials." In addition, it is best to contain the two task forces of the Tang Empire, so that the pressure on the United States and Australia will be much less, and he can concentrate his forces to deal with the ground forces of the Tang Empire that have already landed. ”

Spruance gritted his teeth, and even if he didn't think about it, he immediately figured out MacArthur's intentions. MacArthur was already designing a retreat for him. After making these demands, if the Fifth Fleet had not gone south, then MacArthur could have put the blame for the defeat on Nimitz rather than his poor command on the ground battlefield. MacArthur was an old bastard, and a scheming old bastard, an old bastard who valued politics more than military! Thinking of this, Spruance looked towards Nimitz.

"He had sent the telegram to General Marshall, and the president must have known about the war on the Australian side." Nimitz's lips trembled slightly. "In the afternoon, Admiral King called, and now that the Admiralty is trying to deal with the danger on the President's side, we all know that it is impossible for the Fifth Fleet to go south now, even if I let the Fifth Fleet go south at once. None of the ground forces of the Tang Empire could reach the Southwest Pacific Theater until they came ashore. Moreover, the Tang Empire had at least five fleets with aircraft carriers, and even if the Fifth Fleet went, it would be difficult to reverse the defeat. ”

"It's MacArthur shirking responsibility!" Turner was even more indignant.

"But what can we do?" Mitchell had worked with MacArthur for a while and knew the general better than Turner. "Sooner or later, the president will give an order, and then the Fifth Fleet will have to go south, and Admiral Kim will not be able to stand up for long. Therefore, we have to consider the combat operations of the Fifth Fleet......"

"Unless the Fifth Fleet has a mission to do, or the situation in Australia is irretrievable." Spruance interjected. He was probably speaking to Nimitz. "Judging from the current situation, even if the Fifth Fleet goes south and goes to the Southwest Pacific Theater, it will probably be useless. Judging from the deployment of the Tang Imperial Navy, the concentration of three aircraft carrier task forces and a theater fleet with six small aircraft carriers in the Southwest Pacific Theater is enough to prove that the Tang Imperial Navy has considered the possibility of the Fifth Fleet moving south. In addition, Task Force 4, operating in the Central Pacific, will not sit idly by. When the time comes. Whether it is the Tang Imperial Navy's launch of a new offensive in the Central Pacific with the Fourth Task Force as the core, or the Fourth Task Force also follows south to the Southwest Pacific Theater, the result is the same for us, the Fifth Fleet cannot change the situation in Australia, and we cannot meet MacArthur's unreasonable demands. ”

"If MacArthur can hold out for a while, in fact I don't think he will last long, after the ground forces of the Don Empire have received full support from carrier-based aviation. The breach would certainly be expanded quickly, and perhaps MacArthur would have collapsed before his second ground force came ashore. But we have to make such a guess. Turner spoke much more cautiously this time, "So. We can only launch a counterattack as soon as possible and get the Fifth Fleet into the battle in the Central Pacific Theater, and then we will have enough reason to refuse to let the Fifth Fleet go south. ”

"It's not just a question of counterattacks, if our counterattacks can't fundamentally change the situation in the Pacific theater. Then it is still possible for the Fifth Fleet to go south. Mitchell gets to the point.

At this time, Spruance really didn't feel a good feeling in his heart, the Fifth Fleet went south, not only to wipe MacArthur's ass, but also to make senseless sacrifices with the little strength left by the US Navy.

"There is only one way to change the fate of the Fifth Fleet." Nimitz made it clear directly, "We must not only launch a counterattack in advance, but also counterattack quickly and decisively, and achieve results as soon as possible, and at the same time have a major impact on the situation on the ground in the entire Pacific theater." ”

"The key is to annihilate the Fourth Task Force." Turner nodded slightly. He didn't realize the impact of his words. Even if it was the only way, and it just came out of Turner's mouth. The others had thought of it a long time ago, but it was still like a stone thrown into a calm pond, which immediately caused the other three to react strongly.

The room suddenly fell silent, and the thoughts of the four people were directly expressed on their faces, because the four of them knew very well in their hearts that it would not be easy to take out the Fourth Task Force. Whether the Fifth Fleet is capable of taking out the Fourth Task Force is a question. The most important thing is that Task Force 4 will not be so idiotic as to take the initiative to send it to death. After the landing in Australia, the commander of the Fourth Task Force will be more cautious, and its purpose is to drag the Fifth Fleet in the Central Pacific theater rather than a decisive battle with the Fifth Fleet. So, if it is very difficult to capture the Fourth Task Force, how can we talk about the operation of annihilating the Fourth Task Force?

"I'll do my best." Spruance broke the silence, "Now, the only thing we can count on is that Commander of Task Force 4, Huang Xiaotian, has also made a serious mistake and given us a precious opportunity. ”

Nimitz knew what Spruance was thinking, even if the Fifth Fleet could annihilate the Fourth Task Force, the losses would not be too small. But is there any other way? If there were, the four generals wouldn't be here to worry either.

"We will try to mobilize other forces to support the Fifth Fleet, and after the elimination of the Fourth Task Force, we will immediately launch an attack on Midway, and before that, we will concentrate our efforts on bombing Lysan Island and Gardner Island, and try to open a passage to the two islands for the invasion of Midway." Mitchell's words were said by Denimitz, "And the key to the entire combat operation is whether the Fifth Fleet can defeat the Fourth Task Force!" ”

Spruance didn't need to be reminded that Spruance knew the crux of the operation, but he didn't have much confidence in it.

Before dawn, Spruance returned to the USS Hancock, and the fleet was already in the waters south of Oahu, and was still continuing to sail westward, but the speed did not reach 16 knots, so the distance to the west at night was about 100 nautical miles less than he had planned when he left the fleet.

The key to defeating Task Force 4 is to find Task Force 4, and the most effective way is to tempt or force Task Force 4 to fight, rather than hiding behind shore-based aviation. Therefore, after returning to the fleet, Spruance began to revise the fleet's battle plan, but it takes time to develop a new battle plan, and for Spruance, what he lacks most is time.

With Spruance's keen observation, it is not difficult for him to know that the situation of the war is already very unfavorable for the United States at this time. The landing operation that the Tang Imperial Navy had been preparing for several months had already begun, and the Australian mainland was in danger, and as long as the Australian mainland fell, then the Hawaiian Islands would become the next target of the Tang Imperial Navy. If the U.S. Navy still has strong strength at this time, then the problem will not be so complicated, but the question is, if the U.S. Navy has enough threats, will the Tang Imperial Navy attack the Australian continent?

Spruance spent the night thinking about the fleet's operations, and he finally came to the conclusion that if he wanted to take out the Fourth Task Force, then he could only take risks, not adopt a peaceful tactical arrangement!