During the six days from April 6 to April 12, not only were the secret negotiators of the Tang and British sides discussing the ways and means of the British surrender, but at the same time, the Tang Imperial Cabinet and the Army and Navy Command were also making careful preparations for this. At that time, the most worrying thing was the German Airborne Forces. If the Germans had noticed it and quickly prepared for it, then Britain would have been very likely to be occupied by the Germans, and it might even lead to the rupture of the alliance between the Tang Empire and Germany!

How to occupy LinkedIn before the Germans? This conundrum was kicked by the Cabinet to both the Army and the Navy. At that time, the army proposed to send airborne troops into Britain so that it would not lose to the Germans in terms of the speed of the troops, but this proposal was immediately vetoed by Prime Minister Xue Xiyue. And the prime minister's reasons for veto are also very simple.

First of all, the Imperial Army did not deploy large-scale airborne troops in Europe, as well as in North Africa, if the airborne troops were deployed from the rear. That would take at least a lot of time. Secondly, if there is a large-scale investment in airborne troops, then it is necessary to have enough airfields within 1,500 miles of the British mainland, but at that time, except for a few airfields in Spain, it was necessary to borrow airfields from Portugal, which also required tedious diplomatic activities. Thirdly, it was impossible to achieve complete secrecy in the large-scale deployment of airborne troops, which could easily arouse suspicion among the Germans, and eventually led to the German army first dispatching airborne troops to occupy Britain.

These three questions were enough for Prime Minister Xue Xiyue to veto the army's proposal. In the circumstances, to keep the Germans out of the British. It was only possible to send troops to England quickly and covertly, without arousing the suspicion of Germany. It was with this in mind that the Imperial Navy Command did not submit the plan of action to the Prime Minister until the evening of April 8. After the Army's submission of the Ground Action Plan was rejected, the Prime Minister had no choice but to adopt the Naval Action Plan.

The scale of the ground operations proposed by the Navy is very large and detailed. The significance of each action and the possibility of finally completing the task are comprehensively analyzed.

Concealment must be guaranteed, but it is impossible for any large-scale operation, whether it is an army or a navy, to achieve complete concealment. At that time, Luftwaffe ground reconnaissance aircraft had already appeared several times near the fortress of Gibraltar. It is clear that the Germans are also monitoring the activities of the Tang Imperial fleet, and if the fleet is allowed to move at this time, the Germans will definitely be suspicious. Therefore, it is impossible to achieve the goal by covert action alone. The command of the Navy clearly mentioned in the plan of action that in order to achieve concealment. Suddenly, it was necessary to find a good reason for the fleet and marines to leave the fortress of Gibraltar. And to convince the Germans . These troops are not going to occupy LinkedIn territory.

Then. The only one that was able to get the fleet out of the Gibraltar fortress. At the same time, there was only one way to do it without arousing the suspicion of the Germans, and that was to send a fleet to fight in the Caribbean. Let the fleet go. In order to achieve this goal, the Navy Command has made more deployments and arrangements.

On the night of 8 April, after Prime Minister Xue Xiyue approved the plan of action for the Navy and the Ground, the Navy Command ordered the Third Fleet to launch an attack on the Greater Andres Islands ahead of schedule. That is, to establish a combat operation to attack the US mainland and forward bases, with a focus on Cuba. Prior to this, the Third Fleet and Han Shaofeng jointly determined the time of attack at the end of April. And at that time the Third Fleet was temporarily resting in Panama. Or Han Shaofeng's ground marines are not ready to launch a campaign. Both were amazed after receiving the ground call order from the Navy Command. It was not until the early morning of 9 April that the two men received a second telegram from the Navy Command, confirming that the previous orders had not been modified, that they had to start the campaign.

On the morning of 9 April, the Third Fleet left the Gulf of Limón and began the front line. At that time, naval aviation units deployed in Central America and several islands in the Lesser Andrés Islands were also fully dispatched to bomb the islands of Hispaniola, Jamaica and Cuba. The landing fleet and convoy did not leave the Bay of Limon until April 10. On the same day, the Third Fleet was attacked by the US Air Force, and although there were no losses, Huang Xiaotian was also frightened into a cold sweat, and at the same time felt extremely dissatisfied with the orders of the Navy Command.

Because the U.S. military's defense forces in the Greater Andrés Islands were not weakened, but strengthened their air forces in Cuba and other places after the Third Fleet swept away the Little Andres Islands, so the battle was quite fierce. On April 9 alone, the Imperial Naval Air lost 214 combat aircraft, including 176 bombers, the Third Fleet was attacked even more fiercely by American bombers, two cruisers were damaged in battle, and the aircraft carrier "Qinghai Lake" of the Seventh Task Force was almost bombed! As a result, in the battle between the day and the ground, the Third Fleet and the Navy completed less than half of the combat missions, losing 300 combat aircraft in the battle. On the night of the 10th, the Third Fleet had to retreat southward, and Huang Xiaotian also sent a telegram to temporarily suspend combat operations.

In the case of not knowing the whereabouts, Tan Renhao was also unable to sit and lie down in the past two days, but the naval headquarters had already reached its goal. The Imperial Navy was in trouble with ground operations in the Caribbean, and the Third Fleet was unable to take on the task of attacking the Greater Andrés Islands. In order to convince the Germans that the Imperial Navy must reinforce operations on the other side of the Caribbean, the Admiralty Command, in response to the Third Fleet's request on the night of the 10th, still ordered the Third Fleet to launch a strong attack without the slightest flinch. As a result, on the morning of April 11. The Third Fleet was forced to return to the battlefield. During this battle, two more cruisers were damaged and forced to turn back. In addition, the aircraft carrier "Lake Belga" of the 8th Task Force suffered a near-miss, and a two-meter-long crack appeared on the port side of the battleship, and it had to withdraw from the battle in the afternoon of the same day. In this heaven and earth battle. Another 200 fighters were shot down by the US military, and the losses were quite heavy.

It was not until the night of the 11th that the Imperial Navy Command made the decision to temporarily withdraw the Third Fleet to the Gulf of Limón, leaving only the Fourth Task Force to temporarily pin down the enemy at the front line. At the same time, the naval command did not forget to send the relevant ground battle reports to the Germans . By 12 April, the HNA had reduced the number of bombers on its sorties, and the Third Fleet did not participate in the bombing operations. In the afternoon of the same day, after the intelligence services confirmed that the Germans had mastered the situation on the other side of the Caribbean, the naval command made a decisive decision. The 4th Task Force withdrew from the battle at night and sent an order to Tan Renhao with a new land code. The fleet leaves the fortress of Gibraltar. There was no mention of the Xindi mission in this order, which led Tan Renhao to think that they would rush to the Caribbean Sea to support the Third Fleet. At the same time, the Navy Command also sent an order to Lei Shaoqing with the previous password, asking the Marine Corps to prepare for the departure place and be ready to go to the Caribbean at any time!

The old cipher system of the Imperial Navy has long been deciphered by the Germans. During the war, any country's local intelligence agency will not only try to decipher the enemy's code, but also try to decipher the code of the allies. This is an open secret, just as the Reich intelligence service has deciphered several sets of codes for the German army, and the German ground intelligence has managed to decipher several sets of codes for the Reich army. The telegram sent by the Navy Command to Lei Shaoqing was intercepted by the German ground intelligence service and deciphered. By this time. German intelligence has been affirmed. The Tang Empire Expeditionary Force deployed in the Mediterranean will go to fight in the Caribbean. As a result, in the evening of the same day, when the German intelligence services sent the relevant information to the German High Command, the Reich intelligence services also intercepted the German telegrams, confirming that the German troops had made a wrong judgment. At this point, the plan of action proposed by the command of the Navy is already half successful.

The 1st Task Force left Algesila at about 10 p.m. on the 12th■■■■■ and from the 10th, several task forces anchored in the interior of the bay entered a state of combat readiness. At that time, Tan Renhao did not know that this was just a cover operation, and always thought that they would rush to the aid of the Third Fleet. Going to fight in the Caribbean, he kept the fleet in combat readiness. After receiving the order from the naval command, it took only 2 hours for the fleet to prepare for the departure place. After the 1st Task Force left the bay, the 2nd Task Force, the 3rd Task Force (the unrepaired ships did not depart with them), and the 2nd Task Force and the 5th Task Force left the bay.

After the departure of the fleet. Tan Renhao has been thinking about the next combat operation. Although he was a little surprised after receiving the news of the Third Fleet's attack on the Greater Andres Islands on the 10th, after all, neither the Third Fleet nor the Marine Corps had been able to prepare for the attack, and the Navy Command ordered Huang Xiaotian and Han Shaofeng to launch an attack at this time, which was a bit reluctant. But. In the next two days, the unfavorable battle reports were sent one after another, and Tan Renhao did not have the energy to consider the rationality of the naval command's order. Especially on the night of the 11th, Huang Xiaotian took the initiative to complain, you can imagine how fierce the battle on the front line was. If the Third Fleet is unable to take on the task of attacking alone, then the First Fleet must be sent to the rescue. Tan Renhao thought about how to launch an attack the most.

"The SHKP route has been confirmed." Zhu Rongzhe was in charge of arranging the navigation of the fleet, "I have asked the communications staff officer to contact the several task forces in the back, and they will be able to follow soon, if it goes well, two hours later. We'll be able to start sailing west, across the Atlantic."

"Not bad. Get in touch with Dongjue as soon as possible, and don't forget to send a telegram to Jiang Zhongmin as well." Tan Renhao raised his head. The Navy Command sent Task Force 5 to the same time. This made him a little puzzled, after all, the Fifth Task Force was the core of the Second Fleet, and if the Fifth Task Force was also sent to the Caribbean, then who would be responsible for guarding the Mediterranean? Could it be that the situation in the Caribbean is so serious that it is necessary to use all the task forces?

"I've already made arrangements, if Jiang Zhongmin doesn't mess with us, then he will follow."

Tan Renhao nodded, but he didn't speak yet. The communications staff officer trotted over with a telegram he had just received." Only then did the command of the Navy send a telegram through the new ground cipher system."

Tan Renhao hesitated. After taking the telegram and looking at it, he was immediately shocked, and after a while, he handed the telegram to Zhu Rongzhe." This time the Navy Command played a trick that confused us all. Reroute in accordance with the Xindi order, and in addition, immediately ask Task Force 5 if this telegram has been received."

Zhu Rongzhe quickly read the message, he was also shocked, and then called the communications staff officer to go to the communication center.

This was the order for the First Fleet and the Second Fleet to turn to the English Channel, and at this point, Tan Renhao understood the true intention of the naval command, and the questions that had arisen before that were also answered. In the Novaya Zep, the First Fleet was to force its way into the English Channel and then into the North Sea through the Strait of Dover, and was responsible for blocking the German passage to British soil, and if the Germans were ready to send airborne troops, the First Fleet would have to use fighter planes to intercept German transports, but the telegram did not mention that the First Fleet could use force. The Second Fleet, also known as the Fifth Task Force, will be joined by the landing fleet and transport fleet to cover its arrival at British ports.

There is no detailed battle plan in the whole order, which means that Tan Renhao must determine the plan of action for this time by himself. This is a new land problem, Tan Renhao thought about it for a while, and first clarified the two main points in this operation, one is concealment, and the other is suddenness. Subsequently. He only then began to develop a relevant action plan.

In order to achieve its covert purpose, the fleet must not turn directly to England, so the fleet must continue to sail westward, but it can change course appropriately and move closer to England. In order to achieve the sudden goal, the First Fleet could not enter the English Channel and the North Sea in advance, and must appear in the sea area where German reconnaissance planes could detect them on the same day that the transport fleet and the landing fleet arrived at the British port, and then take advantage of the fact that the German army had no time to respond, quickly send troops into Britain, making the occupation of LinkedIn a fait accompli, and finally leaving Germany with no reason to send troops to occupy LinkedIn, just as the German army occupied Italy.

It's not easy to come up with an action plan quickly. But there wasn't enough time for Tan Renhao to think about it. By dawn on the 13th, Tan Renhao had roughly determined the steps of this operation, and then he went to the plane with water. Instead of sending the relevant orders to the other task forces by telegram. Right now. Tan Renhao is competing for time with the Germans. LinkedIn must be occupied before Germans become suspicious and wary!