The results of the interrogation were delivered to Tan Renhao at half past eight. After receiving the maximum authorization, the intelligence staff officer quickly let those US prisoners who were unwilling to open the ** generation speak up, which is also the most important and timely information that Tan Renhao received.

"Quite possibly, quite possibly!" After reading the report submitted by the intelligence staff officer, Hao Dongjue immediately shouted, "Ren Hao, think about it carefully, after the Fifth Fleet left Pearl Harbor, they didn't have time to replenish at all, and we have the performance data of the US warships in our hands, right?" We can totally calculate how much fuel is left in the Fifth Fleet! ”

Tan Renhao was not so excited, he first needed to confirm the accuracy of the information given by these American prisoners of war. He had every reason to believe that the American prisoners of war had confessed false information, and Spruance would definitely have arranged for this, so he could not easily believe the correctness of this information.

"What are you doing?"

"Go to the command cabin and bring the information of the American warship." Tan Renhao glanced at Hao Dongjue, "Hurry up, we have to calculate whether the Fifth Fleet is running out of fuel first!" ”

Hao Dongjue nodded and immediately ran out.

Tan Renhao dug out the charts, and so far he has not been able to completely determine the route of the Fifth Fleet on the battlefield, and it is impossible for those captured US pilots to know the route of the fleet, they are not seafarers. Therefore, Tan Renhao first had to estimate how far the US fleet had traveled on the battlefield, and how far it had sailed at ordinary cruising speed, how far it had traveled at the fastest cruising speed, and how far it had traveled at combat speed. Only after these points are clarified can we roughly calculate how much fuel the Fifth Fleet has consumed and how far it can sail with the remaining fuel.

Because there are too many uncertainties. So Tan Renhao couldn't accurately estimate the remaining fuel of the Fifth Fleet, but he was sure in the end. That is, most of the destroyers of the Fifth Fleet should have run out of fuel, and these destroyers can continue to accompany the fleet, they must have received fuel from aircraft carriers or cruisers, and this kind of refueling between warships is very common. After all, the endurance of the aircraft carrier far exceeds the endurance of the destroyer, and if necessary, the aircraft carrier can provide fuel for the destroyer. Moreover, the Fifth Fleet may have less than two percent of the fuel left.

Now, Tan Renhao has a plan in his heart.

According to the operational regulations of the Imperial Navy, if the remaining fuel on the battleship is less than 30%, it must be refueled, and most of the time, the battleship will contact the supply fleet when there is only about 40% of the fuel left. Refuel the battleship. And when the fleet's fuel consumption is less than 20%, it proves that the fleet has lost the ability to continue fighting and must be resupplied. Although Tan Renhao is not very clear about the combat regulations of the US Navy. But he was sure that the U.S. Navy should be close to the Imperial Navy, and not too far off.

At this time, Hao Dongjue also ran back. He brought not only information on the American warship, but also a new piece of news.

"It was sent by Liao Hanxiang." Hao Dongjue first sent the telegram to Tan Renhao, "As you estimated, this convoy should have left Pearl Harbor last night, and our submarine was first found in a rapid supply fleet, followed by a convoy of about 20 transport ships, Liao Hanxiang judged that this was a convoy to transport reinforcements and supplies to Gardner Island, and it would arrive on the evening of the 28th." ”

"The supply fleet is ahead?"

"Yes, the speed is about 24 knots, and it will reach the sea near Nihua Island tonight, maybe, it won't come to Nihua Island, after all, ......"

"That's not for sure!" Tan Renhao suddenly laughed, "It seems that what the US prisoners confessed is the truth. ”

Hao Dongjue furrowed his eyebrows slightly, waiting for Tan Renhao to continue.

"Our reconnaissance aircraft finally discovered that the Fifth Fleet should be around here." Tan Renhao turned over the chart and first marked the sea area where the Fifth Fleet might appear at the end, "Because the reconnaissance plane was not able to directly find the Fifth Fleet, and only encountered US fighters, then we cannot judge the course of the Fifth Fleet." Judging by the direction of the return of the first batch of US shore-based bombers, the Fifth Fleet should have been on this line at that time! ”

Seeing that Tan Renhao made a horizontal line on the chart, Hao Dongjue nodded.

"That is, the Fifth Fleet, after the start of the battle, has been sailing to the south, or to the southeast, which is clearly evading our blows."

"It's entirely possible, Spruance doesn't dare to hold it up, otherwise, he won't let the carrier-based bomber land on Necke Island." Hao Dongjue held his chin. "In this way, he does not have to take back the carrier-based bomber, and after releasing the bomber, he can immediately flee south to avoid our bomber."

"Herein lies the problem, Spruance has always been worried about our blows, otherwise, he would definitely not have turned to flee, not even those shore-based bombers." Tan Renhao put down his pencil, "Look again, if the Fifth Fleet is going to get fuel, where will Spruance go?" ”

"Neck, of course, but ......"

"But there is no decent dock on Necke Island, and there is certainly not much heavy fuel oil in reserve to meet the needs of the Fifth Fleet."

"So Nimitz arranged for a rapid supply fleet to deliver fuel specifically for the Fifth Fleet."

"And ammunition." Tan Renhao added, "The Fifth Fleet has dispatched three batches of bombers in a row, and there should still be a lot of ammunition on the fleet aircraft carriers, but there is not much ammunition in reserve on the small aircraft carriers, and there may not be much left." ”

"Yes, then, they will replenish at Necke Island?"

"Of course not, unless Spruance believes that we have fled back to Gardner Island, he will not dare to stay near Necker Island at all." Tan Renhao laughed, "Think about it, how many fighters are there on Necke Island now?" It would be impossible to provide cover for the Fifth Fleet, and the replenishment of warplanes would arrive only tomorrow at the earliest, if we were to attack tomorrow morning.

Then the Fifth Fleet is waiting for death if it stays near Necker Island! ”

"Well, now he should flee back to Kauai. There are hundreds of shore-based fighters over there, enough to cover the Fifth Fleet. But from the point of view of time......" Hao Dongjue hesitated, "Spruance will not be able to reach the Kauai Island tonight, he will reach the waters near Nihua Island at most, and the supply fleet will also reach the waters near Nihua Island this evening, that is to say, ......"

"They met near Nihua Island. And complete the supply here! Tan Renhao said the rest of the words.

"It's entirely possible, but the question is, wouldn't Spruance consider that we're going to trouble him on the island of Niwa?"

"He would have thought that Spruance knew that we still had two aircraft carriers, and he would definitely think that we would stay on the battlefield and look for an opportunity to annihilate the Fifth Fleet."

"Then why did he ......?"

"Look at the time of arrival of the convoy." Tan Renhao reminded his partner.

Hao Dongjue thought for a while, and then he understood a little.

"Here's the problem, the convoy will arrive at Gardner Island on the 28th, and this is not much different from the reinforcement time arranged by Han Shaofeng and them. And Nimitz should know very well that if the Fifth Fleet does not take out the artillery formation in the northeast of Wei, then his transport fleet will not be able to reach Gardner Island.

Therefore. Nimitz definitely asked the Fifth Fleet to complete the replenishment as soon as possible, and then go to cover the convoy. And for the Fifth Fleet to accomplish this task, it must first replenish fuel, otherwise. They were unable to return to Pearl Harbor after traveling to Gardner Island, and even to Nihua Island was difficult. At the same time, we have to replenish ammunition, because we may appear at any time, and if he runs out of aerial bombs and torpedoes, it will be completely finished. In addition, he had to replenish the fighters, without bombers, the Fifth Fleet was nothing. Of course, the most important thing is that Spruance has to hurry. Tan Renhao told his analysis in its entirety, "In addition, the Fifth Fleet must have another task, which is to prevent Han Shaofeng's transport fleet from reaching Gardner Island. If he returned to Kauai for supplies, he would arrive at most on the night of the 28th and enter the battle on the 29th, by which time the northeastern Wei had already eliminated Nimitz's convoy. Moreover, it is very likely that Han Shaofeng has already obtained the materials he needs. Therefore, it is impossible for Spruance to return to Kauai Island to resupply, he can only resupply in the waters near Nihua Island, and return to the vicinity of Gardner Island on the night of the 27th, kill Northeast Wei, and intercept Han Shaofeng's transport fleet at the same time! ”

"But the problem is, Spruance probably thought that we would go south, so he would use the shore-based bombers on Nihua Island, and at the same time ask for additional fighters to reach the Fifth Fleet before dawn, and if we kill it, it will also be dangerous, maybe it will be the same as during the day today."

"He will definitely use shore-based fighters on Nihua Island, but he will not necessarily receive additional ground fighters before dawn."

Hao Dongjue looked at Tan Renhao a little puzzled, not knowing if Tan Renhao had made such a judgment.

"First of all, it is very dangerous for fighters to land on aircraft carriers at night, and we all know what the quality of the pilots of the US shore-based aviation force is like. When the time came, Spruance had to get his aircraft carrier to turn on the landing guidance lights. If our reconnaissance plane arrives at this time, he will be showing us the target to strike, and our bomber will fly over the Fifth Fleet at dawn, and he will not even have time to prepare for resistance. Tan Renhao paused, and then said, "Also, if the U.S. military's supplementary fighters can't find the Fifth Fleet, then I'm afraid they will have to make a forced landing at sea!" ”

Hao Dongjue nodded slightly. "Then we don't have to worry about that, as long as we can attack first, Spruance is finished."

"We're not bombing one target, we're going to bomb two targets." Tan Renhao stood up, "The number of fighters we have left is very limited, and if we want to ensure the safety of the fleet, we must first strike at the enemy and destroy the strike capability of the US military, so when we bomb the Fifth Fleet, we must bomb the US airfield on Nihua Island, and even bomb the airfield on Nihua Island first, to ensure that the US shore-based bombers do not pose a threat to us!" ”

Hao Dongjue nodded slightly. "But the problem is, if we don't find the Fifth Fleet in time, Spruance will definitely run for his life after the bombing of Nihua Island."

"He's definitely going to run for his life, and when the time comes, it's up to us to see if we can intercept him."

"So, in which direction will the Fifth Fleet be on Nihua Island?"

"If you were Spruance and you wanted to save your life, in which direction would you let the fleet receive supplies on the island?"

Hao Dongjue thought for a moment and said, "It must be in the south, try to stay away from us." ”

"That's right, Spruance might have thought we'd kill us, but he couldn't get the fleet back to Kauai and pinned his hopes on the reconnaissance planes on Niwa and Neck. Therefore, he will send the fleet to the south of Nihua Island to rendezvous with the convoy, and try to stay as far away as possible from us. ”

"But we have to go through the reconnaissance area of the US military, and it is not easy."

"It's certainly not going to be easy to get between the two islands, but we'll have to take advantage of it, and as long as the fleet can get close enough to strike the Fifth Fleet before dawn, we'll have hope!" Tan Renhao slammed his fist on the table, "Since we have already taken a risk, then why not come again, maybe, Spruance would not have thought that we would take a risk at all!" ”

"Then I'll have to prepare a few more bombing plans at night, maybe we'll have to deal with more than just two targets tomorrow!"

Tan Renhao glanced at his partner, and then laughed. "I also have to hurry up and adjust the course of the fleet, if we can't find the Fifth Fleet tomorrow, then we will prepare to flee for our lives!"

Both of them laughed, and at this point, Hao Dongjue also understood Tan Renhao's intentions. Tan Renhao can be regarded as all out this time, but it has not reached the point of becoming benevolent if he is not successful. The only chance for Task Force 1 was the hours after dawn, and if they could not achieve victory within those hours, they would have to spread their feet and flee for their lives at full speed.

That night, Hao Dongjue gathered all the staff officers in charge of aviation operations and determined several sets of bombing plans. Tan Renhao was also busy, and if he wanted to seize the opportunity, the fleet had to be deployed in time, so he had to work out the route of the fleet with the staff officer in charge of navigation, and at the same time, he also had to work out several sets of routes for retreat, maybe it would be really useful when escaping!