After sitting in the office for a while, Tan Renhao went to find Yan Guozhong. Yan Guozhong is a general of the Marine Corps, and the Marine Corps Arms Headquarters is not in Zhoushan, but has set up an office in Zhoushan, which is located in a small three-story building behind the Navy Headquarters building. Tan Renhao called Yan Guozhong and confirmed that Yan Guozhong was over there, so he rushed over.

"Last night, I talked to the marshal, Gan Yongxing, and Liao Hanxiang about you." After Yan Guozhong came back, he had to deal with more than just the tasks arranged by the campaign, he was busier than Tan Renhao, "Sit down, what do you want to drink?" ”

"Just whatever, Lao Yan, you're welcome."

"Let's have a cup of tea, then." Yan Guozhong quickly brought the teacup over, "Your performance in the Indian Ocean and the South Atlantic is not bad, and when I was in Port Vila, I often talked about you more than Lei Shaoqing." Had it not been for your swift victory over the Anglo-French Combined Expeditionary Fleet, I am afraid that our landing in Australia would have been delayed for a long time. ”

"Lei Shaoqing's performance on your side is not bad, right?" Tan Renhao watched Yan Guozhong sit on the sofa opposite.

"It's very good, but compared to you, it's still a little bit worse, especially in terms of grasping the overall battle situation and reflexes, it still needs to be improved." Yan Guozhong took out a cigarette, "Are you here to ask Lei Shaoqing about the arrangement of his authority?" Computer station.. cn

Tan Renhao frowned slightly, he didn't come to ask about this.

"You don't have to worry about this, I've already talked to the Chief of Staff. Now that Task Force 1 has returned. Even if Lei Shaoqing is not allowed to be in charge of the command of the fleets in the theater, you should take on this responsibility......"

"Lao Yan, let's talk about this later, in fact, I don't want to rob Lei Shaoqing of his job." Tan Renhao immediately changed the topic, "I'm coming to you today for another thing. ”

"What's the matter?" Yan Guozhong glanced at Tan Renhao, and then lit a cigarette.

"The day before yesterday, Gu Xunlei came to look for me."

"Gu Xunlei?" Yan Guozhong immediately furrowed his eyebrows. "What is he looking for you for?"

Tan Renhao hesitated for a moment and said: "He wants me to help him talk to you, this attack on the Australian continent, he is in charge of the command of the army's participating units, and he ......"

"You mean logistics?"

Tan Renhao nodded, he hadn't figured out how to say this, and now Yan Guozhong took the initiative to mention it. There's no need to worry about it.

"I've thought about it, too." Yan Guozhong went to get a document, "According to the results of our previous consultations with the army, the logistics support work of the army's participating units is the unified responsibility of the Marine Corps. In other words, the logistics support unit of the Marine Corps is responsible for providing combat materials to the army's participating units. I decided on the arrangements a few months ago. Any questions now? ”

"This ......," Tan Renhao took the document. He hesitated for a moment, then put the document on the coffee table, "I have also participated in the work in the preparation stage of the campaign, and I have a little understanding of the logistics support work of the ground combat forces. Actually, it's not a problem."

Yan Guozhong nodded, waiting for Tan Renhao to continue.

"According to the results of our previous discussions with the Army, the Army will commit at least 50 divisions to the Australian battlefield. And these forces are already in place. Tan Renhao touched the corner of his forehead, "But now, the situation has changed a little." ”

"What's changed?" Yan Guozhong frowned slightly, "The army is ready to provide more troops?" ”

"No, the pressure on the army is even greater than ours now, and the prime minister has demanded that the army must complete the combat operation to defeat Russia this year, so the army has invested almost all the main forces on the mainland battlefield, and it is impossible to provide more troops for the Australian battlefield. Combat operations that can attack the Australian continent are also very crucial. We have to get a decisive victory before the end of the year, so. The Army will help us more. ”

Yan Guozhong nodded slightly, he also knew what was happening in the country.

"According to Gu Xunlei, he will get two tank divisions."

Yan Guozhong immediately laughed. "You mean the equipment of his two tank divisions? I've known this for a long time, and I've set aside a vacant space for him on Efate Island to use for his training. ”

"That's why I'm coming to you this time." Tan Renhao didn't detour anymore, "The consumption of tank divisions is much higher than that of infantry divisions, and if the logistics support arrangements determined before are followed, it will be difficult for Gu Xunlei and these two tank divisions to play a role on the battlefield, so Gu Xunlei hopes to improve the level of logistics support for the army's combat units." ”

Yan Guozhong didn't agree immediately, obviously he also had a lot of difficulties.

"As for the logistical arrangements, I also took the time to look at them in the past two days. The Marine Corps has great difficulties of its own, and I am well aware of this. In addition, ground warfare is different from naval warfare, and logistical support is far more important than naval warfare; without adequate logistical support, neither the Marine Corps nor the Army will be able to attack smoothly. Therefore, logistics support is very important for both the Marine Corps and the Army. ”

"I'm still struggling with this for the past few days." Yan Guozhong sighed, "Before returning to Zhoushan, I discussed it carefully with Yuan Ye, and it is very difficult for us to support the Marine Corps even in our current logistics support capabilities. Yuan Ye has already made trouble with me several times, and now he has to solve the problem of the army, I'm afraid ......"

"Lao Yan, I also know that you are very difficult, but this question is very important." Tan Renhao immediately rushed to the front and said, "Judging from the information we have obtained now, although the US military deployed on the Australian continent does not have formed armored troops, and the performance of the US army's tanks and armored fighting vehicles is not very good, MacArthur still has enough armor in his hands, if he uses it properly." So is the Marine Corps capable of defeating the U.S. Army's ground armored forces alone? ”

Yan Guozhong furrowed his eyebrows. He didn't bother to answer the question.

At the beginning of the war, the Imperial Marines did not have much armor force, and fortunately, Japan did not have any decent armor forces. Thus, in the early days of the Pacific War, the Imperial Marines did not have much trouble fighting the Japanese for the islands. As the scale of the war grew, and the problems exposed against the Japanese forts, the Imperial Marines began to gradually build up their armor. At the time of the attack on Iwo Jima. The Marine Corps' ground armored units played an important role, but at the same time, some problems were exposed. And what really made the Marines determined to expand the size of their armored forces was the "Battle of the Mariana Islands". In the attack on the Mariana Islands, the marines lacked armor and were very passive in the face of the permanent fortifications of the American army, and often needed to deploy the artillery in the front, which not only increased the combat burden of the artillery, but also led to heavy artillery losses. Therefore. The Marine Corps at this time put forward the requirement to create individually, powerful armored forces. In the second half of '24, the Marine Corps began to have one to three tank battalions for each Marine Division, and later even expanded the tank force of the Marine Division to a single tank brigade.

Unlike the battlefield on land, in the battle for the islands. The space for tank units to maneuver is quite narrow, which dooms the Marine Corps to use tanks and other armored forces completely different from the tactics of the Army. For the most part, the Marine Corps used tanks as mobile fire points and mobile pillboxes, and the main purpose of tanks and armored vehicles was to provide cover and close heavy fire support for the Marine Corps' infantry, so that the infantry could more quickly take down the enemy's permanent fortifications. Obviously, this is a special tactic developed against the special geographical conditions of the islands. But the problem is that Australia is now a continent, not an island, and the armored tactics of the Marine Corps are obviously lagging behind on the Australian battlefield.

"I'll have to think about it." Yan Guozhong looked at Tan Renhao, "I haven't considered this question you raised before. Indeed, as you said, although the Marine Corps has a large number of armored forces, the armored forces of the Marine Corps lack excellent tactics on the battlefield of the Australian mainland. Moreover, the commanders of the Marine Corps were not very familiar with combat operations on the continental battlefield. If MacArthur had concentrated his tank forces for use, we would be in big trouble. ”

"So. We have to pay attention to the two tank divisions in Gu Xunlei's hands. Tan Renhao secretly breathed a sigh of relief, Yan Guozhong's attitude has basically been clear, of course, we have to continue to emphasize. Gu Xunlei is the best armored force commander in the army, and if he hadn't caused so much trouble in Europe, he would definitely be commanding armored forces on the mainland battlefield by now. And all Gu Xunlei needs is logistical support, if he is given enough logistical support, I dare to guarantee that he will surprise all of us. ”

"Renhao, it seems that your kid is a bit of a eater!" Yan Guozhong immediately laughed.

"Lao Yan, I'm not saying that the Marine Corps is inferior to the Army, I'm just telling the truth. We all know Gu Xunlei's ability very well, he can defeat de Gaulle's French Panzer Army on the European battlefield, then he can clean up MacArthur's armored troops on the Australian battlefield! ”

"This is a fact, some time ago, I also specifically inquired about the details of Gu Xunlei, this kid is indeed a powerful character, I heard that on the Russian battlefield, he also fought against Zhukov several times, if it wasn't for his lack of strength, I'm afraid he would have driven Zhukov back to Moscow a long time ago. Those things on the battlefield in Western Europe were also caused by him, if I didn't promise to give him enough protection this time, I'm afraid this bastard would dare to lead the troops to grab the supplies of the marines! ”

Tan Renhao smiled and shook his head, it seems that Gu Xunlei is already notorious.

"I can do my best to arrange logistics support, after all, I'm not the kind of person who is cautious, and the question now is, when will Gu Xunlei's two tank divisions become an army?"

"This ......," Tan Renhao hesitated, "he has already made a guarantee, and you should know something about the training on Efate Island." The main problem now is that Gu Xunlei does not have enough officers, and he has already gone to several large rear hospitals in the army, ready to poach all those officers who have returned from injury. As long as he can get enough officers, it shouldn't be a big problem. ”

"He's going to dig someone else's corner?" Yan Guozhong was stunned for a moment, "This kid is really a ruthless character, I'm afraid that if he does this, those generals in the army will kill him." However, this is my appetite, if he can't continue in the army, he can come to me at any time, and I welcome such a young general! ”

"Lao Yan, you are digging the corner of the army!"

Both of them laughed, and Tan Renhao also saw that Yan Guozhong admired Gu Xunlei very much, otherwise he would not have given Gu Xunlei such a high evaluation.

"Okay, don't worry about it, I'll arrange it." Yan Guozhong first reassured Tan Renhao, "As long as Gu Xunlei can make his two tank divisions form combat effectiveness, then I will give him enough material support." Of course, on the battlefield, he has to listen to my command, and he has to focus on the overall situation, if there is any chaos, I will be the first to kick back to the army headquarters and let Yan Dingyu arrange another position for him! ”

"That's fine, I'll talk to him when he comes back." Yan Guozhong is a man of his word, and with his words, Tan Renhao is relieved. "Then I won't bother you too much, and we'll talk again if we have time."

"No problem, when you get to Port Vila, I'll treat you to dinner." Yan Guozhong immediately stood up, "You told Gu Xunlei that in the Southwest Pacific Theater, there is no distinction between the army and the marines, and whoever can defeat the enemy is the best force." I wouldn't be biased because he's an army general. ”

After Tan Renhao thanked Yan Guozhong, he said goodbye to Yan Guozhong. As he expected, there was no problem on Yan Guozhong's side, and he could see that Yan Guozhong had been supporting Lei Shaoqing, otherwise, Lei Shaoqing's waist would not be so hard.

On the way back to the office, Tan Renhao connected the matter and thought it carefully. At present, Gan Yongxing and Yan Guozhong have clearly expressed their support for Lei Shaoqing's command and coordination of various fleets in the Southwest Pacific Theater. Although Liao Hanxiang has nothing to do with the Southwest Pacific Theater side, his attitude is also very clear: since the Theater Fleet Command has been established, this command should be allowed to play its due role. In other words, all three of them clearly supported Lei Shaoqing to command the fleet to fight, instead of having a task force commander take charge of the command of all task forces in the previous way.

Thinking of this, Tan Renhao also felt that there was nothing to worry about, if he first stated that he would withdraw from the competition and was willing to accept Lei Shaoqing's command, then the principal would have no reason to continue to support Jiang Zhongmin, and he would definitely give Lei Shaoqing more real power!