When he saw the First Task Force without aircraft carriers, Tan Renhao had a very strange feeling. Ever since he arrived in the Fifth Fleet, he has been revolving around the aircraft carrier, and when it is not good, there is also an aircraft carrier for him to command. Now, the only cruisers and destroyers moored in Rabaul Harbor were used, and the only ones that could be used were the heavy guns of the battleships.

At this time, the situation of the First Task Force was actually better than Tan Renhao had initially expected. Eight cruisers and twelve destroyers were moored in the small harbor. The eight cruisers were: "Wei Chigong", "Duan Zhixuan", "Chai Shao" large air defense cruisers; The "Heavy Snow", the "Winter Solstice", the "Xiaohan", the "Qingchenghe", the "Fenhe" heavy cruisers, and the twelve destroyers were all destroyers of the "City" class. Of these 20 battleships, six were slightly damaged, and there were obvious traces of temporary repairs on the hulls, especially on the port side of the heavy cruiser "Fenhe", which had several steel plates that had been temporarily patched, like patches on clothes, which were very dazzling.

"The situation of the battleships is not bad, yesterday they pulled out and ran around, and the maximum speed of the fleet can reach 31 knots." Hao Dongjue looked at the group of battleships in the harbor, "Except for the main gun barrels of several battleships that need to be replaced, there are no other major problems. In a few days, the transport ship will be able to bring in new barrels, and then they can be replaced. ”

"The flagship is the 'Wei Chi Gong'?" Tan Renhao saw the flag fluttering on the battleship. １６Ｋ…

"Yes, I originally wanted to set it up on the 'Duan Zhixuan', but later I felt that it was not good to grab territory with Wei Dongbei, so I still set it up on the 'Wei Chigong'."

Tan Renhao nodded slightly, the "Duan Zhixuan" used to be the flagship of the Southwest Task Force, and there was a complete fleet command system on it, so it was most appropriate to let the "Duan Zhixuan" be the flagship. The command system on the "Wei Chigong" is still lacking, and Hao Dongjue takes into account "Duan Zhixuan"

It was Wei Dongbei's ship, and did not compete with Wei Dongbei for command, which was very thoughtful.

"Wei Dongbei is here."

Hearing Hao Dongjue's words, Tan Renhao looked towards the approaching fireboat. Colonel Wei Dongbei was standing at the front of the fireboat, and from a distance, he was saluting Tan Renhao.

"General, you're finally here." As soon as Wei Dongbei jumped onto the dock, he immediately shouted loudly.

"Tohoku, how are you doing lately?" Tan Renhao also won immediately, and Wei Dongbei was one of the best cruiser captains in the fleet.

"Hey, don't talk about it. It's good that you're here this time! "Wei Dongbei is a Northeasterner. It's a typical straight soldier.。 When Tan Renhao arrived at the Fifth Task Force, he was still the captain of the destroyer, and later rose to the rank of cruiser captain, and was promoted to colonel officer during the last time he went to the Southwest Pacific Theater alone. He and Tan Renhao have known each other for several years, although the two have not had much contact, but they know each other better.

"I worked hard for you some time ago, and my brothers have suffered a lot!" Tan Renhao patted Wei Dongbei's shoulder, "Let's go, let's go to the flagship and have a look." ”

Soon, Tan Renhao and the others boarded the cruiser "Wei Chigong" on a fireboat. Relatively speaking. The ships that previously belonged to Task Force 1 were in a slightly better state. And the warships that were incorporated into the Southwest Task Force were in a slightly worse state. After seeing the commander return, the officers and men on the battleship all put down their work and saluted the commander. Tan Renhao also returned the gift one by one.

From the expressions of these officers and soldiers, Tan Renhao found that the morale was not bad, and many officers and soldiers were consciously doing what they could to restore the battleship to a state of state.

Tan Renhao was satisfied with the state of the fleet, especially the war-seeking mentality naturally expressed by the officers and men, which made him feel that there was no need to worry about the morale of the fleet and the fighting spirit of the officers and men. That morning, after breakfast, Tan Renhao ordered the fleet to leave the harbor and enter the Solomon Sea from St. George's Strait, where it conducted some training in the northern part of the sea. Tan Renhao also took this opportunity to readjust the order of the fleet and determine a new number. Eight cruisers were in the 11th cruiser formation, while twelve destroyers were divided into two groups, seven in one group for the 12th destroyer formation and the other five in the 13th destroyer formation.

The training work began immediately, and Tan Renhao did not use artillery shells sparingly, because there was a large amount of ammunition reserves in the port of Rabaul, and what Tan Renhao was most concerned about was whether the officers and men of the fleet, who had become accustomed to accompanying the aircraft carrier operations, could quickly adapt to the fighting style. This. They can only engage in artillery battles with the enemy, and Tan Renhao still has a little grasp of his artillery tactics, even if he is not as good as generals like Yan Shiqi, but to deal with small-scale artillery battles, Tan Renhao still has not many problems. The main question is whether the officers and men of the fleet can adapt quickly.

During the two days of fleet training, Tan Renhao also seized the time to review the knowledge he had learned in the academy, especially the tactics of gunnery and torpedo attack. When reviewing his past homework, Tan Renhao felt a little helpless. In school, he was not very proficient in gunnery and torpedo tactics, and his grades in both courses were worse than any of his compulsory courses. But now he has no planes to use, and all that is left to him is the heavy artillery on the battleship, whether he can win in the future battle depends not on bombers, but on these artillery.

Hao Dongjue was not idle, most of the work was handed over to a few major staff officers to be responsible, and when Tan Renhao was reviewing his homework, Hao Dongjue also consciously joined in. He didn't study, he learned from scratch.

"Do you know why I didn't go to the Naval Academy, but went to the Aviation School?" When it comes to learning these boring knowledge, Hao Dongjue doesn't have so much patience.

"Why?" Tan Renhao's gaze still fell on the thick book in his hand, which was a textbook in the Naval Academy, with hundreds of examples of artillery battles.

"Don't you think it's boring?" Hao Dongjue lit a cigarette, "Just looking at these theoretical things can make people's heads bigger, which is simply living a sin." ”

"I thought you didn't enter the Naval Academy because of your bad grades." Tan Renhao laughed, and then threw the book in his hand to Hao Dongjue, "Look at this book, it's mainly a battle example, don't hold on to the theory, it's not very interesting, learn from the experience of the war example, and summarize the way of fighting." In this way, you can master this knowledge as quickly as possible. ”

Hao Dongjue picked up the tome. "So much?"

"This is more than 100 classic examples of naval warfare selected by the Imperial Navy for hundreds of years, from the age of sails to the age of steam, the age of ironclads, and all modern naval battles, all of which are the most representative examples of artillery battles." Tan Renhao leaned back in his chair, "The standard textbook of the Naval Officer Academy, every cadet has to read it and remember every combat example. It took me a long time to find out the place. I thought I was lost at home, but I didn't expect Duchenne to bring it to me. ”

"Have you seen it all?" Hao Dongjue flipped through it and found that this book was at least a thousand pages thick, and he really admired Tan Renhao a little, he even felt that a book with a hundred pages thick was a "book from heaven".

"I've seen it before, but I've forgotten most of it, but now that I've reviewed it, I've recalled a lot of it." Tan Renhao laughed, "There are not many theoretical things in it, mainly to explain actual combat examples. And how the commander commanded when he was fighting. It is necessary to understand the meaning of these examples. What is needed is understanding, although your kid's head is a little worse in logical thinking, but the understanding is not bad. ”

"Isn't it the same as reading a story?" Hao Dongjue was also a little interested.

"That's not a story. These more than 100 examples are all real battles, and many of them are battle records of battlefield commanders. Tan Renhao sighed secretly, "Take your time, you can ask me if you don't understand anything, but I can't guarantee that I will be able to give you a complete answer." ”

Hao Dongjue nodded, then flipped to the table of contents first, and after browsing it, he began to read the text.

Tan Renhao picked up a theoretical book and read it for a while, but he was about to lose it. Hao Dongjue's complaint was justified, when he was at school. Tan Renhao didn't think that theory was boring, but when he really got to the battlefield, he found that theory had no effect in many cases, at least he would not rely on theory to command the fleet to fight. In fact, this is precisely one of the deficiencies of the Imperial Navy in cultivating talents, too much theoretical study not only makes the officers' thinking rigid, but in the end it may not be the most talented, but the most rigid thinking. He knows best how to command a combat ground according to theory. That's why there are so many diehards in the Imperial Navy.

"Dongjue, how is your affair with Qinglian?"

"Qinglian?" Hao Dongjue was also fascinated, which is indeed a bit like reading a story. "Why, aren't you against us?"

"Kidding you, you're seven months younger than me?" Tan Renhao threw away the book in his hand.

"Seven and a half months, what, do you think I'm a little older?"

"Don't think about it, you kid, I'm about to become a father, and Shaoqing heard that he also talked about a girlfriend, a nurse in a war zone hospital, and I heard that they are all preparing to get married." Tan Renhao hesitated for a moment, "Have you ever considered setting up your own home?" ”

Hao Dongjue was slightly stunned, then laughed awkwardly, and his face turned slightly red.

"I'll be serious with you, Qinglian is two and a half years younger than me, and you're not too young, it's time to think about your own affairs." Tan Renhao never felt that Hao Dongjue was a shy person.

"I'm not here to promote Qinglian, I'm not worried that my little sister won't be able to get married. I'm just asking for your opinion. Last time I went back and talked to General Liao Hanxiang, he agreed to help you be a matchmaker, which is not a small face. ”

"This ......" Hao Dongjue hesitated, "Let's finish these things first, if I can have a chance to take a vacation, I will go back and mention this matter to my parents, their problems are not big, mainly uncles and aunts." ”

"They won't have an opinion, are you now a dignified imperial admiral, or my buddy, with me as a guarantor, are you afraid that they won't agree?"

Hao Dongjue immediately became excited. "So, you agree?"

"What does it matter if I agree or disagree? It's mainly Qinglian's side, you go and ask Qinglian's opinion first, as long as she has no opinion, she can say anything. ”

Hao Dongjue nodded immediately. "Then I'll write a letter later, so that Qinglian will be happy and happy."

Tan Renhao smiled and shook his head, Hao Dongjue was still so anxious. However, he and Tan Qinglian are both half the age, and when they reach the age of talking about marriage, they should indeed consider lifelong events.

The room was quiet again, and soon the smoke was filled, and Hao Dongjue kept smoking, making it smoky. Tan Renhao didn't bother Hao Dongjue, he went to dig out a map of the Solomon Islands and looked at it carefully.

Judging from the distribution of islands in the entire southwest Pacific region, the Solomon Islands are a chain in the southwest Pacific, which not only blocked the southward passage of the Tang Empire's army, but also locked the pace of the US military. If any army wants to attack Australia in the south (the southeast of the mainland is the most prosperous area in Australia), then it must first capture the Solomon Islands, use it as a base, and advance southward step by step. In fact, this is the fundamental reason why the Tang and US armies are fighting to the death here.

If the Mariana Islands are the chains on the gateway to the western Pacific, then the Solomon Islands are the chains on the gateway to the southwest Pacific.

I don't know how long it has passed, and a knock on the door woke up Tan Renhao and Hao Dongjue. When Tan Renhao raised his head, Hao Dongjue had already gone to open the door. Outside the door stood a staff officer, who gave Hao Dongjue a telegram and stepped aside.

Hao Dongjue quickly read the message, and then gave it to Tan Renhao. "It seems that MacArthur was much more daring than we thought, and this time, he will not be so lucky."

Tan Renhao also quickly skimmed through the message, pondered for a while, and said: "Immediately contact Buin's side to prepare a batch of ammunition for us, the fleet immediately turned around, went to Buin to replenish ammunition and supplies, and then went south at full speed!" ”

"Not going back to Rabaul?" Hao Dongjue followed Tan Renhao and walked outside the cabin.

"There is no time, there is also ammunition reserves at the Buin anchorage, and a signal for preparation will be issued to shorten the ammunition supply time to two hours." Tan Renhao walked quickly towards the command cabin, and the officers and men in the battleship were returning to their posts, "Contact General Yan Guozhong and ask him to help us arrange escort fighters during the day." And Task Force 4, ask when they'll be able to join Task Force 2, and send us a message. ”

Tan Renhao's series of orders were sent to the command cabin one step ahead of him, and then they were sent out, and the battleship began to turn.