After the war, there was no controversy about whether the navy wanted an opponent, but in the situation at that time, whether or not to have an opponent was something that many people could not be sure, especially in the later stages of the war, when the empire was about to establish a ministry of defense and the sensitive period of the independent air force, did the navy want an opponent? Even Gan Yongxing couldn't make a decision. For this reason, Gan Yongxing had to ask Nie Renfeng's opinion.

No one knows what Gan Yongxing and Nie Renfeng talked about at that time, because when Tan Renhao sent the telegram, it happened to be the evening of the fifth day of imperial time, and Gan Yongxing went directly to Nie Renfeng's house, without discussing this matter at the naval headquarters, and there was no third party present at that time. What kind of decision Nie Renfeng made can only be inferred from the actions taken by the navy later.

At three o'clock in the afternoon of Kingston time on the 5th, that is, after Tan Renhao woke up and went to lunch, he received a call back from Gan Yongxing. And the main content of the telegram was to ask Tan Renhao to resolutely annihilate the Atlantic Fleet without any encouragement. This telegram was sent by Gan Yongxing, and in fact, it must have been Nie Renfeng's decision.

Tan Renhao also had a question when he received this telegram: Isn't the chief of the General Staff worried that the Navy will lose its biggest opponent because of the destruction of the Atlantic Fleet, which will lead to a sharp decline in the position of the Navy? Tan Renhao couldn't figure out this question at the time, but a few days later, when he received a secret document sent to him by Gan Yongxing, all his doubts were resolved.

At that time, few people knew that Gan Yongxing had given Tan Renhao a secret instruction, which was not a glorious thing, and there were already many problems with the establishment of the Ministry of Defense, the independent air force, and even the independent formation of the Marine Corps within the empire. After the war, no one found this document either. Only a senior staff officer of the Combined Fleet Command at that time mentioned this incident in his memoirs written after his retirement, and it was only mentioned in passing, so the question of whether Tan Renhao received the secret instructions issued by Gan Yongxing became one of the issues of debate after the war, especially those military historians who talked about Renhao.

There is no doubt that at that time, whether it was Tan Renhao, Gan Yongxing, or even Nie Renfeng, the worry about the value of the existence of the navy was superfluous, even decades after the end of the war, no one ever doubted the importance of the navy, and the navy was still the most important army, the most powerful army in the empire. However, under the circumstances, such fears were not unreasonable.

First of all, the air force has quickly become the absolute main force in the war field, especially in the large-scale strategic bombing, the air force has displayed an unparalleled strike power, which dwarfs both the army and the navy. Then. Many countries have established independent air forces. In the war, the position of the air force even surpassed that of the army and navy. For example, in Germany, the Air Force was once the most powerful branch of the German military. At that time, Xue Xiyue was already determined to establish a separate air force. So after the establishment of the Air Force, will it be the first branch of the Empire, and where will the Navy go? As Nie Renfeng, who is in charge of the future of the Imperial Navy and the fate of the Imperial Navy, he must not ignore the influence of the Air Force, so he must try to strengthen the position of the Navy, and use some things to increase the importance of the Navy and prove the great value of the Navy's existence.

Secondly, there is a high probability that the Marine Corps will be separated, and then the Navy will actually be left with only two arms. Fleet and carrier-based aviation. In order to prove the importance of the navy and the necessity of keeping the Marine Corps in the navy, Nie Renfeng needs to prove the necessity of the navy's existence.

Finally, when the war is about to end, Nie Renfeng will inevitably consider the post-war disarmament. There is no doubt that after the end of the war, the empire will not retain all its troops, let alone continue to raise more than 20 million soldiers. In other words, disarmament is inevitable, and the navy cannot avoid it, so how can we avoid the navy being seriously weakened in the course of major disarmament? That would only prove that a strong navy was the most important guarantee of the interests of the empire, and therefore the importance of the navy had to be demonstrated.

These three factors all affected Nie Renfeng's decision-making, so it was reasonable for Nie Renfeng to ask Gan Yongxing to give Tan Renhao secret instructions at this time. As for what kind of instructions Nie Renfeng gave at that time, in fact, it can be analyzed through the later actions of the United Fleet, and as for the content of that secret document, there is no value for controversy.

After receiving the telegram from Gan Yongxing, Tan Renhao held an operational meeting with Chang Jianxin, Hao Dongjue, and Yan Yulong, and decided that Yan Yulong would be responsible for drawing up the fleet's battle plan, while Chang Jianxin and Hao Dongjue would be responsible for the mobilization and campaign preparations of the two main fleets respectively.

By 8 September, Yan Yulong had come up with a battle plan, which was completely drawn up in accordance with Tan Renhao's intentions. The mobilization of the two main fleets was also completed on this day, and the officers and men who had been resting on the shore returned to the fleet, and fuel, ammunition and other materials were also loaded onto the battleship, and only a batch of fresh food needed to be replenished for the battleship before departure, and the fleet was ready to depart.

It took Tan Renhao two days to revise the battle plan, and on 10 September, Han Shaofeng rushed to Kingston to exchange operational views with Tan Renhao, and a temporary staff team was formed by the Marine Corps and the fleet, which was responsible for combining the two battle plans of the Marine Corps and the fleet to come up with a final campaign plan.

This work was not completed until September 14, when Tan Renhao also received a secret document sent by Gan Yongxing. In the evening of the same day, Tan Renhao gave the order for the fleet to depart, and before dawn on September 15, both main fleets left Kingston.

"Talking about the general......" Yan Yulong looked like he wanted to say something.

"That's it, immediately send it to the First Fleet and the Third Fleet, and let them adjust their course as soon as possible." Tan Renhao gave the order to the navigation staff officer and glanced at Yan Yulong. "What's the matter?"

"I think this combat operation is a bit problematic."

"What's the problem?" Tan Renhao walked out of the command cabin as he spoke, he didn't want the other staff officers to see the argument between him and the chief of the general staff.

"It's not a combat problem, and our preparations are also very thorough, it's just ......" Yan Yulong touched his forehead and stopped beside Tan Renhao, "Is it necessary for us to take out the Atlantic Fleet so actively?" ”

Tan Renhao was stunned for a moment, and immediately laughed. It turned out that Yan Yulong had the same doubts as he had before, that is, after killing the Atlantic Fleet, where should the Combined Fleet go.

"Actually......" Yan Yulong didn't know what Tan Renhao was thinking, and thought that Tan Renhao was laughing at his naïve thoughts, so he didn't continue, after all, this is not a problem that the chief of staff of the fleet should consider, this is a problem that belongs to the commander of the fleet.

"Do you think that after we take out the Atlantic Fleet, there is no value in continuing to exist?" Tan Renhao leaned against the railing, "Actually, I had such thoughts as you before. And I'm more hesitant than you, but when you think about it, don't you think this question is a bit ridiculous? ”

Yan Yulong didn't speak, but avoided Tan Renhao's gaze by lighting a cigarette.

"As long as the war is not over, then we will not have a day to relax, and there will be no question of whether it is worthless or not." Tan Renhao turned his head, "After defeating the Atlantic Fleet, we still have a lot of things to do. For example, the blockade of sea shipping routes in the East Coast region of the United States and the attack on important targets in the East Coast region of the United States. You know, the East Coast of the United States is a bit similar to the East Coast of the Empire, which is the most industrial, populous, and densely populated area. In addition, the transportation of goods between coastal cities in the United States mainly relies on sea transportation. As long as we defeat the Atlantic Fleet, will the United States dare to continue to use the maritime routes in the east? Of course, sending a fleet to attack the coastal areas of the United States requires a lot of conditions, and it will also encounter great challenges, but as long as we are operating at sea, we will pose a huge threat to the United States, and this is the value of the fleet's existence. As the war progresses, we will certainly take part in combat operations against the American homeland, therefore. There is no reason to doubt the value of the existence of the fleet. ”

Yan Yulong listened carefully, and at the same time kept smoking.

"In addition, we have to correct the erroneous view that the enemy of the fleet is not necessarily the fleet." Tan Renhao's words were a bit awkward, he paused for a moment, and then said, "Before the end of this war, our main opponent is indeed the enemy's fleet, whether it is Japanese. British, or American, we have always had the defeat of the enemy's fleet as our highest goal. However, do you think about it, after the end of the war, there will still be such a fleet? Even if we don't annihilate the Atlantic Fleet and let it wait until the end of the war in Norfolk, will it still be our enemy in the future? ”

Yan Yulong shook his head slightly, this is for sure.

"That's right, so after the war is over, our opponent will no longer be the enemy's fleet, so we have to change our old mindset." Tan Renhao turned around, "At the same time, we also have to establish a new concept, that is, in the future, the main task of the navy is to strike at the enemy's homeland, to attack the enemy's coastal areas, and even to attack targets in inland areas. So, do we now have a ready-made system of tactical theory? No, so to speak, not at all, we have not yet summed up such tactics in war. And in the foreseeable twenty years after the war, I am afraid that it will be difficult for a large-scale war to break out, so do we need to summarize the tactical theory after twenty years? Obviously not, and if we wait until we need to, is it too late? ”

"Are you saying that we are going to take the opportunity before the end of the war to sum up a new theory of fleet operations and tactics?"

Tan Renhao nodded slightly. "That's right, judging from the current pace of advancement, the war will probably last for about a year, and the sooner we defeat the Atlantic Fleet, the sooner we can implement new tactics, so as to sum up new tactical experience in the war and lay a theoretical foundation for the future development of the navy, so that we can avoid detours, and the navy can also get better development, isn't it?"

Yan Yulong had to admit this, to put it bluntly, after killing all the enemies, the navy would go to find another "enemy", or to find something to do. There is no doubt about the value of the Navy's existence, and the key point is whether the Navy can find a place to play its role and give better play to its powerful strike capability. It can be said that Tan Renhao and Yan Yulong both made serious formalistic mistakes, and when they realized this mistake and corrected their wrong ideas, they found that there was no way out. The future of the Navy is by no means a dark road, but a bright road.

"Looks like we're going to have to hurry."

"Of course, the Atlantic Fleet slipped through our fingers twice, and the so-called good things are no more than three, so do we want to give Spruance a third chance?" Tan Renhao laughed, "Maybe we were worried about this before, what are we worried about, but now we can let go of our hands and feet and fight with Spruance to see who is more powerful, and let everyone know that the Imperial Navy can, and defeats all enemies, is the most powerful navy in the world, and the only one most powerful!" ”

In the light of the rising sun, two huge fleets lined side by side, and the number of warships on the sea was too numerous to count, and the size of the fleet could not be seen at a glance. Perhaps, the strength and size of these two fleets have not changed, but their essence has changed significantly. Before that, Tan Renhao had not made up his mind to compete with Spruance for other reasons, and now, there was no obstacle between him and Spruance.

The sea breeze is blowing, and the fleet is accelerating, speeding to the other side of victory. It was the last victorious route for the Imperial Navy to once again dominate the global seas in more than three hundred years. For more than 300 years, how many officers and men of the Imperial Navy have fought bloody battles for the same dream, and how many soldiers have returned to the sea for the same goal. This is not the route of Tan Renhao alone to victory, nor is it the route of the 130,000 officers and men of the two fleets to victory, but the route of dozens of generations of naval officers and men of the Imperial Navy for hundreds of years to go to victory together, a victory route that was once brilliant and once bleak, but is destined to be brilliant again!