For this kind of task of supporting the enemy, Tan Renhao has also done it before, from Ryukyu Island to Iwo Jima, he also jokingly called it "drudgery" Admirals almost all have this view, the fleet, should go and kill the enemy's fleet, what is the 6th Sentai going to do, and what does it have to do with the fleet?

After Task Force 2 returned to recuperate, the position of Task Force 1 became very important. In addition to the bombers of Task Force 1, the support that the 6th Sentai received during the operation on the 6th Aglihan Island came from three main sources.

One was the Third Task Force, which had six battleships and many more heavy cruisers, and the guns on the destroyers were not vegetarian. In particular, the huge guns on the six battleships could shoot a shell weighing almost a ton (a high-explosive shell of 4oo mm caliber weighed 97o kilograms, but the charge was only 25o kilograms) for each shell, and the main gun shells on heavy cruisers also weighed more than 1oo kilograms. These shells are falling so overwhelmingly that no life, no man-made object, can resist them!

The second is the shore-based bomber of the HNA Army. At that time, the HNA had already deployed fighter planes on the island of Asunción, but most of them were fighters, and the main task was to cover the 6th Squadron, protect the island of Asunción, and provide air defense cover for the 3rd Task Force operating nearby. HNNA's shore-based bombers mainly came from Iwo Jima and the Ogasawara Islands, and if they wanted to bomb Agrihan, they had to refuel at the field airfield on Asunción and land again. Obviously, this would greatly limit the efficiency of the bombers' sorties, and the field airfield on the island of Asunción would be extremely busy and chaotic.

The third is the First Strategic Strike Army commanded by Luo Yunchong. Heavy bombers did not need to land and refuel at all, and after taking off from Iwo Jima and Ogasawara Islands, their combat radius was large enough to cover the entire Mariana Islands. But at that time, Luo Yunchong was simply unable to send more heavy bombers to deal with the US targets on Agrihan Island. At that time, the bombing of Japan had not yet ended, and most of the bombers were still carrying out the mission of bombing Japan. Luo Yunchong sent a regiment and a half of bombers to support the Mariana Islands campaign, and the main task of these heavy bombers was not to bomb Agrihan, but to sail further south to Saipan. U.S. rear bases on Tinian Island and Guam.

Obviously, in addition to the 3rd Task Force, the only ones who can really provide support to the 6th Squadron are the carrier-based bombers of the 1st Task Force. This is why Task Force 1 is particularly important. It is impossible for the guns on battleships to dump shells all day, they need time to replenish ammunition, and officers and men need time to rest (in fact, the main guns on battleships rarely participate in ground shelling, and the main gun shells are expensive, not to mention that the life of the giant cannon barrel at that time was about 5oo). If you want to replace the gun barrels, you have to return to the shipyard, which cannot be done at sea, and these barrels are very expensive and extremely cumbersome to produce) It is a natural choice to use the 1st Task Force and the 3rd Task Force to rotate to support the 6th Squadron on the 6th Squadron.

From the seventh day, the fleet made 12o sorties a day, dropping dozens of tons of bombs on the island of Agrihan. This task is not onerous, two aircraft carriers, four bomber squadrons have a total of 144 bombers (if you count the reconnaissance aircraft that can carry out bombing missions. And the words of those fighters who can hang bombs. It's much more than that) On average, a bomber sorties less than one sortie a day, and the pilots can take turns to rest. In line with the principle of training the abilities of staff officers. Tan Renhao and Hao Dongjue left all the tasks of ground strikes to the staff officers below, and Hao Dongjue, like his partner, had little interest in bombing those immobile targets. Moreover, the two have one more important thing to care about.

"This is General Wu Xianyu."

Hao Dongjue would run to the communications department almost every day, and he handed the telegram he got back to Tan Renhao, "Lao Lei and Lao Chang have returned to Zhoushan, and both of them are fine." ”

"Is there any news of an investigation?"

Tan Renhao has also been concerned about this matter. Task Force 2 suffered a huge defeat, and the responsibility of the fleet commander and chief of staff must not be evaded.

Hao Dongjue shook his head and sat down on the chair next to him. "No, at least General Wu Xianyu didn't mention it in the telegram."

Tan Renhao sighed secretly. After the last "Ryukyu Sea Basin Naval Battle", he was investigated, Lei Shaoqing's record was far below him, and this time the defeat was even worse, and the timing was not good, it was strange that he was not investigated.

"The chief of staff and the marshal must be active now."

Hao Dongjue leaned back in his chair and took out his cigarette, "Anyway, now we still have the initiative." The battle exhibition is also very beneficial to us, Lao Lei did not make serious mistakes, and also equalized the results in the counterattack, it is impossible for the marshal not to know this! ”

"The principal's attitude is very clear, how to say it, Shaoqing is also the principal's proud disciple."

Tan Renhao stood up and walked back and forth in the cabin a few times, "The principal will definitely use the success of the overall strategy of the Navy as an excuse to help Shaoqing and Lao Chang be exempted from responsibility." In addition, the chief of staff will help them with other reasons, such as inadequate intelligence work, misjudgment of the naval command on the enemy's situation, and so on. But the question is ......"

Hao Dongjue has been listening carefully, and in this regard, he is not even qualified to express his opinion.

"Actually, the problem is not with Shaoqing, but with us."

Tan Renhao let out a sigh, then pulled over a chair and sat opposite Hao Dongjue, "Think about it, why did the Second Task Force fail?" According to the previous campaign plan, we may not be able to annihilate Task Force 17, but we will never inflict heavy damage on Task Force 2. In that case, we will be pushed to the front, and we will deal with Task Force 16, and maybe the result will be completely different. ”

"But who knows for sure?"

Hao Dongjue knew that Tan Renhao was looking for his own reasons.

"yes, who's for sure? Task Force 2 has suffered heavy losses, and we are half responsible. If Task Force 1 hadn't gone south, the result would have been completely different! ”

"But we've lost our chance to take out Task Force 17!"

Hao Dongjue still felt that there was nothing wrong with the First Task Force going south.

"Dongjue, you don't understand a little!"

Tan Renhao shook his head, "Let me tell you this, if the above wants to investigate the cause of the defeat of the Second Task Force, it will start with the plan formulated by the Navy General Staff, right?" And in order to ensure that we are not investigated, the chief of staff will certainly submit the revised plan instead of the original battle plan. As a matter of fact. This is to put the responsibility on the second task force, and it is to put our responsibility on Shaoqing and them! ”

Hao Dongjue was stunned for a moment, and then reacted. "Renhao, ...... say that?"

"The problem can't be so serious!"

Tan Renhao picked up the cigarette case, "The chief of staff will definitely first set the responsibility on the judgment and intelligence errors of the Navy Command." Subsequently, the principal will be successful in the overall operation, and the battle exhibition will be beneficial to us. and on the grounds that it will not affect the overall campaign, the investigation will be put on hold for the time being. ”

"And then?"

Hao Dongjue was a little nervous, he was nervous for his two friends.

"Well, it's up to us to see the final outcome of this campaign!"

Tan Renhao lit a cigarette, and then slowly exhaled the green smoke. "If we win, then the second task force will have nothing to do, Shaoqing and Lao Chang will write a report at most and send it to the principal, and then they will be locked in the secret archives of the Navy forever, and they can continue to stay in the second task force. If we fail, then it won't be the two of them who will be investigated. ”

Hao Dongjue nodded. Then he let out a long sigh. The thing of fighting is troublesome enough. Now that the country has to create so much pressure on the soldiers in front, it seems that it is not easy to be a good soldier.

"Don't think about it so much, do what you do. is helping Shaoqing and Lao Chang! ”

Tan Renhao patted his partner on the shoulder, "We have no way out, this time we can only move forward, not backward." Well, now the situation is under our control, unless the Yankees can conjure up a few aircraft carriers, otherwise they have no hope! ”

Both of them laughed, even if the Yankees could really conjure up a few aircraft carriers, they were confident that they would continue to expand the exploits of the First Task Force.

The boring bombing excitement continued until the evening of the 9th, after the last bombers returned to the aircraft carrier. The fleet retreated to the northwest according to the predetermined plan, receiving supplies before the start of the Battle of Deng-6. Task Force 3 was already restocked with ammunition during the day (fuel was not the most important thing for the bombardment fleet, and the large ships had a ground endurance of more than 10,000 nautical miles) While Task Force 1 was receiving night resupply, Task Force 3 would carry out the final round of artillery bombardment of Agrihan Island at night, and then would work with Task Force 1 to provide strong fire support for Squadron 6 during the next day.

After rendezvous with the supply fleet, Tan Renhao was not in a hurry to rest, he was still waiting for an important telegram.

"I just received it. The Deng 6 plan has not changed. ”

Hao Dongjue is still in charge of night duty, "The boarding time is half past eight, we must carry out the first round of bombing at seven o'clock, and provide at least 1oo bombers to support the 6th team when the 6th team goes ashore at half past eight, and then ensure that two squads of bombers are on standby over the island." ”

Tan Ren Haoxun finished reading the telegram, and then said: "Then you go and arrange, the fleet enters the predetermined sea area according to the plan, makes a briefing at half past five, and lets the bombers take off at six o'clock." I'll take your place after the first wave of bombers comes out. ”

"Okay, then I'll do the deployment now."

Tan Renhao nodded, and looked towards the large fast combat support ship on the right side of the aircraft carrier. This should be a new supply ship, dedicated to supporting the Clippers, and even keeping up with the fleet's supply ships. The battleship was large, even slightly taller than an aircraft carrier. Several steel ropes were pulled up in the two warships, and high-pressure oil pipelines were hung underneath, and several steel ropes were used to transport ammunition. The supply work is very busy and dangerous, which requires the mobilization of the entire ship's officers and men, which is very labor-intensive. After smoking a cigarette on the gangway, Tan Renhao returned to his cabin.

After the first wave of bombers came out, Tan Renhao came to the command cabin, and the staff officers had already changed shifts in advance (the time of staff changes would vary depending on the specific combat operations), and Hao Dongjue was still in the aviation war room to give a pre-takeoff briefing for the second wave of pilots. According to the plan, after the first wave of bombing, the 6th team will storm the beach, and the second wave of bombers must arrive at this time to provide close air support for the 6th team and suppress the American defensive positions near the beach. This was a very tight schedule, and even if the bombers flew at the fastest cruising speed, they had to take to the air within fifteen minutes of the first wave of bombers. Therefore, Hao Dongjue had to give two pre-war briefings in a row. At the same time, aviation crews are refueling and loading ammunition for bombers that are about to take to the skies.

"Commander, is breakfast still the same?"

Tan Renhao nodded, he didn't have a high opinion of the food on the battleship, and whatever he ate felt was a taste.

"Commander, just received the telegram, the 6th team is coming."

Tan Renhao took the telegram, only glanced at it, and immediately asked, "General Yan Guozhong personally went to the front line to command?" ”

The communications staff nodded. "General Yan Guozhong will go ashore after the first batch of troops to board the 6th unit successfully seize the beach, they have provided the contact code, and the liaison officer will arrive in an hour."

"Okay, wait for the chief of staff to come, let him ......"

Tan Renhao suddenly thought that Hao Dongjue should go to rest. "Go and get the aviation operations staff officer, and let him be responsible for arranging the liaison officers sent by the 6th team. Also, when do our planes come out? ”

"Takeoff will begin in fifteen minutes, and the chief of staff is making arrangements for the pilot."

Tan Renhao waved his hand and let the communications staff officer leave. He glanced at the eastern sky, which was already faintly bright. The officers and men of the 6th Sentai must have boarded the 6th boat on the 6th, and the shelling of the 3rd Task Force should have begun. This Deng 6 operation, the US military should have been aware of it a long time ago, this is a tough battle, both sides have made sufficient preparations, this will definitely be a bloody battle!

Fifteen minutes later, the first "Kingfisher" with bombs (two 25o kg high-explosive bombs instead of 5oo kg aviation armor-piercing shells) was successfully lifted into the air, followed by other "Kingfishers" "Ospreys" with horizontal bombardment, a batch of bomblets with small bombs, and "Falcons" with rocket launchers. The battle for the island of Agrihan on the 6 of Deng began!