The next day, Nie Renfeng convened a meeting of senior officers and officers of the Navy Command, which was attended by Tan Renhao and Liao Hanxiang, as well as the heads of various departments of the Navy Command, as well as several other staff officers who returned to the Headquarters.

Presiding over the meeting was Gan Yongxing, who first gave a briefing on the operational situation of various units of the navy during this period and the changes in the battlefield. Then, the topic came back. It fell to the bombing of the island of Taiwan and the retaliatory actions that were being planned.

Nie Renfeng did not put the prime minister in the picture, but elaborated on the importance of this retaliatory action. This is a bit redundant, and all the generals who attended the meeting knew very well that the bombing of the empire itself could be said to be an extremely serious matter, and if the empire did not retaliate, then there would be a real problem. This revenge must be decisive, resolute, strong, and not just symbolic. Of course, the marshal emphasized this at this time, and in fact this also emphasized the attitude of the upper echelons of the empire.

The question came down to concrete actions, and to Tan Renhao's surprise, no one had come up with a plan to send Task Force 1 to attack Pearl Harbor, or San Francisco (where the Saratoga and Yorktown were repairing at the time). And there is only one plan that has been put forward for discussion, and that is the plan brought by Liao Hanxiang.

"The group of aircraft departed from Malaoqi, with a flight radius of about 2,500 kilometers and a total range of 5,400 kilometers (yaw and bombing will produce excess range) This is exactly the limit flight distance of the 'wolf dove', taking into account other interference factors, the bomber can carry a ton of bombs, and a large auxiliary fuel tank is installed in the bomb bay."

The specific report was made by a colonel staff officer, who was the specific person in charge of the plan, "The total flight time is more than 14 hours, so the fatigue of the pilots must be taken into account." In addition, in order to increase the range of the bomber, it was necessary to remove part of the self-defense weapons, reduce the weight and increase the amount of fuel carried. There is also the possibility of interception by enemy aircraft on the way. We made a rough estimate if we did a surprise attack. Moreover, the enemy is not prepared at all, and the success rate of the bombing will be very high, but the loss rate of the aircraft group may exceed 20 percent. ”

The conference room fell silent, and Tan Renhao glanced at Liao Hanxiang, this must be Liao Hanxiang's plan, using the bombers of the strategic strike force to do long-distance raids, just like the US military did.

"Does Marrouch have our airport?"

Nie Renfeng broke the silence first.

"Not yet. But a field airfield can be built quickly, and it will take about ten days from the time of preparation. ”

"What is the capacity of the airport?"

Gan Yongxing raised the second question.

"If a bomber flies with bombs, it only needs to be refueled at the airfield, and it can support 250 bombers, which is the limit."

"There have always been reconnaissance aircraft of the US and Australian forces in the Arafura Sea, will our action in building the airport be exposed?"

At this time, another general asked questions.

The colonel's officer hesitated for a moment and said, "There is a possibility of exposure, but it will not be very large. We can build an airport in the jungle. And intensify fighter patrols in the Arafura Sea. ”

"That's ostentatious!"

Tan Renhao whispered.

The sea level of Arafura is between Australia and Ilian Island and the Maluku Islands. This is the border between Australia and the South Seas, although it is also part of the battle line. But now neither the Tang Army nor the American Army has invested much strength here. If the Tang Army suddenly strengthens its combat patrols over this unimportant sea area, it will certainly attract the attention of the US military. The U.S. military has already attacked the mainland of the Tang Empire with a long-distance attack, and it is easy to imagine that the Tang Empire will use the long-distance attack method to attack the U.S. military base in Australia, or the cities on the Australian mainland where American expatriates gather.

"This is too dangerous, if the US military guesses that we will use bombers to attack for a long distance, it will definitely strengthen the deployment of air defense in Australia, and at that time, the loss rate of bombers will be so high that we can't accept it!"

Immediately, someone raised an objection on behalf of Tan Renhao.

"General Liao Hanxiang, this opinion was put forward by you. Do you have any solution? ”

Nie Renfeng looked directly at Liao Hanxiang.

"Actually, this problem is not difficult to solve."

Liao Hanxiang stood up and walked to the large map on the wall. "Although the location of Marauch is close to the front line, now we do not have many troops with the American army on Ilian Island, and there is no basis for a large army to fight here. The field airfield was used to refuel the bombers and land on their way back. We have tested that the Wolf Dove can take off and land on hard ground, which only extends the distance between take-off and landing. We can choose a piece of jungle, strengthen it first, and level the ground. And without rushing to get rid of the trees. The night before the bombing, engineers were mobilized to cut down all the trees on the runway, and then reinforced and leveled the ground again. If you can use a team of 2,500 engineers, plus some necessary equipment, it will only take eight hours. The bombers arrived before dawn and took off immediately after refueling. Even if U.S. patrol planes discover our airfield at dawn, it will take a long time for them to react and guess what we are building here. And the bomb we dropped in Brisbane was a signal to them! ”

"Where did the bombers move from?"

Another question was raised.

"Taiwan Island."

Liao Hanxiang pressed his hand and did not let the colonel answer the question. "The Third Army of Strategic Strike has been transferred to Taiwan, and it can fly directly to Ma Laoqi."

"So, how do you send the materials, equipment, and personnel?"

"I'll take care of that."

Gan Yongxing answered this question, "We have done precise calculations, and when the bombers set off from the island of Taiwan, they will bring bombs and fill them with fuel. By the time the 350 bombers arrived in Marauchi, they needed about 1,200 tons of aviation gasoline, as well as some other supplies, such as rations for pilots, which were transported by about 40 trucks. Together with the 2,500 engineers and the equipment used to build the airfield, and the 150 trucks that transported the engineers, it would be necessary to see the transport ship in total. We could send this convoy directly from the island of Taiwan, but it would be better to send it from the South Seas, and the troops would go ashore on the lower reaches of the Dygur River on the island and reach Marauchi in three days. ”

"Won't this be exposed?"

"Unless the U.S. military sends troops into the jungle, no one will find this force advancing in the jungle. Of course, trucks driving in the jungle are a problem, and the engineers will solve this problem as well. ”

"So, how much time does it take to prepare?"

This. It was the question that the Cabinet Commissioner asked.

"Ten days at most."

Liao Hanxiang returned to his position, "From tomorrow, if the fleet leaves on time, then within ten days, we will be ready." ”

The cabinet commissioner nodded slightly, and said nothing.

"Do you have any questions?"

Nie Renfeng stood up, "If there is no problem, the meeting will be here." General Liao Hanxiang was solely responsible for this operation. General Gan Yongxing is responsible for coordination, and other departments must do a good job of cooperating. ”

When he walked out of the conference room, Tan Renhao immediately caught up with Liao Hanxiang.

"Now you're relieved?"

Liao Hanxiang walked towards Tan Renhao's office, "The First Task Force will not make sacrifices!" ”

"You brought this up?"

Tan Renhao walked to the front, then pushed open the door of the office and let Liao Hanxiang in first.

"Yes, I had a good talk with the marshal and the chief of staff last night."

Liao Hanxiang sat on the sofa. "It's a really risky plan, but it seems to me that the loss of a thousand bombers is worth it over the loss of the 1st task force, of course. We will not lose so many bombers. ”

"But here's the problem. This plan is risky. ”

Tan Renhao closed the door and walked over and sat opposite Liao Hanxiang.

"It's really risky, but here's the problem. We had no other choice. ”

Liao Hanxiang took out a cigarette, and at the meeting, no one smoked, so he was embarrassed to smoke. "You say, apart from this plan, what else can we do to meet the Prime Minister's demand for retaliation?"

Tan Renhao shook his head, although Brisbane is not a mainland city in the United States, but this is a city on the Australian continent with a relatively high concentration of American expatriates, and the Port of Brisbane is also one of the most important military ports of the US Navy on the Australian continent. There are about 2,000 U.S. troops, and a small local fleet. The bombing of Brisbane was not small. More importantly, this directly gags the mouth of the army, proving that the navy is capable of striking important cities on the Australian continent, so that the army will not interfere in the battlefield of the navy.

"How high will the loss rate be?"

Tan Renhao had already seen that the reference data on the loss ratio provided by Liao Hanxiang at the meeting was fake.

Liao Hanxiang laughed. "It's not too low."

"Forty percent?"

Tan Renhao participated in the bombing of Japan, and he still has a good understanding of the loss rate of the bomber unit.

"It's not that high, maybe two out of ten, maybe two out of five."

"Will the pilot do it?"

Tan Renhao is not worried about the airport. Rather, it is the pilots who are worried about the mission.

"Volunteer, I won't force pilots to participate."

Liao Hanxiang sighed, there is a huge risk of such "suicide" attacks.

Tan Renhao nodded slightly. "Okay, can I do something?"

"Nothing is needed."

Liao Hanxiang glanced at his son-in-law, "What you have to do is to command the battle below and win the battle of the Mariana Islands!" ”

Tan Renhao smiled reluctantly. "I'll do my best, but I can't make promises."

"Don't worry, I know what you're thinking."

Liao Hanxiang threw the cigarette case to Tan Renhao, "The United States is different from Japan, since the beginning of the 'Philippine Sea Battle', the strength of the United States has been demonstrated. Although the US military has exposed many problems on the battlefield, especially its lack of combat experience, the US military is much stronger than the Japanese army, and it is still accumulating combat experience, and it will be even more difficult to deal with in the future. The naval battle of the Mariana Islands also actually exposed the problems we have in the chain of command. ”

Tan Renhao did not speak, he had thought about the impact that the chaos that existed in command had on the operation. For example, in the decisive battle with the "Z Fleet," there was a serious problem of difficult communication between the three task forces and difficulty in coordinating with each other. In several landing operations, inconsistent coordination between the Marine Corps, the Navy, the Fleet, and the Logistics Forces was exposed. This reduced the combat effectiveness of the Imperial army in disguise, and increased the cost of the battle. The root cause of this actually lies in the command link of the battlefield. The lack of a unified and effective command system makes it difficult for the various units to work together. It's just that now this problem has not been exposed, or it has been covered up because of the great investment of the empire. As the war intensifies, as the enemy grows stronger, when this problem erupts, I am afraid that it will not only be a danger now.

"The marshal has talked to me about this issue."

Liao Hanxiang saw Tan Renhao's thoughts, "In fact, the US military's theater command system is superior to ours. Judging by the current performance of the US military, if they had not had an advantage in this regard, I am afraid that they would have been defeated by us a long time ago. The marshal is thinking about adjusting the command system of the Navy, and will act soon. ”

"The headmaster will agree?"

Tan Renhao was a little unconvinced, and the reason was very simple, the US military's theater command system actually weakened the power of its naval commander-in-chief and handed over the power to the commanders below. If the Imperial Navy did the same, it would be equivalent to weakening the power in Nie Renfeng's hands!

"Definitely, don't you know the marshal?"

Liao Hanxiang walked to Tan Renhao's side, "There are still many personnel arrangements that also need to be modified. If my judgment is correct, you will soon be promoted! ”

Tan Renhao was stunned, and now he was surprised and delighted. If he is promoted again, he will be a lieutenant general, which will surpass all the cadets of his class. Moreover, it also means that the Navy's previously restricted personnel arrangements have been broken, and the commander of the task force is eligible to be promoted to vice admiral, rather than being limited to rear admiral. More importantly, with the increase in the rank of commander of the fleet, his status has also improved a lot. In other words, the fleet has once again become the focus of the navy, and the status of the task force itself has been greatly improved!

"Wait for the good news!"

Tan Renhao nodded slightly, and there was a knock on the door at this time.

"Major General, the marshal invites you to his office."

Standing outside the door was Nie Renfeng's secretary.

"Okay, I'll go right away!"

Tan Renhao nodded at the officer, and then said to Liao Hanxiang, "When are you leaving?" ”

"Tomorrow, you won't have to send me, by the way, is there anything you want me to bring to Xiaoyu?"

Tan Renhao laughed awkwardly, he really forgot about his wife!