Beginning on the evening of the 23rd, Liao Hanxiang organized all the staff officers of the Theater Command to begin planning the landing on Gardner Island. The opinion of all was that Gardner Island could only be attacked using the Marines that had been planned to capture Wake Island. Liao Hanxiang also thought so, and he directly appointed Han Shaofeng as the commander of the Marine Corps for this landing operation, and asked Han Shaofeng to complete the preparations on the front line, and the specific combat plan was completed by the theater command.

It can be said that Liao Hanxiang had no choice at that time, and was able to undertake the offensive mission, and the only troops that could be put into battle after the 22nd were the Marine Corps that was sent to Midway Island, which was originally planned to land on Wake Island and confuse the American army. The problem is not with the Marines.

The Marine Corps was well manned, the landing fleet transported three Marine divisions, and there were far more American troops on Wake Island than on Gardner Island. According to Han Shaofeng's estimate, at most two divisions of troops will be able to capture Gardner Island. In addition, the convoy carried a lot of combat materials, which was enough to support the landing operations of the Marine Corps on Gardner Island. If the troops were not enough, or the supplies were not enough, Han Shaofeng could even directly transfer some of the garrison from Midway Island instead of sending them from the rear.

The biggest problem with the landing operation was that the Tang Imperial Navy knew very little about the deployment of US troops on Gardner Island at that time, and there was almost no relevant intelligence except for some aerial photos provided by Tan Renhao. And these aerial photographs can only provide the Marines with an idea of the deployment of the U.S. military's defensive positions, and how many troops the U.S. forces have on Gardner Island and how many underground fortifications they have built (which is important. The Imperial Marines suffered a lot in the face of the underground fortifications of the American army), how much artillery there was, and how much war materiel was stockpiled. None of this is too clear. According to previous intelligence, the U.S. military's defense on Gardner Island is between 5,000 and 20,000. And the war materiel should be relatively sufficient. This is very vague information that will do little to help the Marines.

In fact, no one is to blame for this, because the navy itself is mainly responsible for the collection of tactical intelligence, and the military intelligence bureau basically provides information on a large area, and it is difficult for spies to spy on the enemy's tactical intelligence sites. And before that. The main purpose of the Pacific Theater is to return to Wake Island, so the focus of tactical intelligence gathering is on Wake Island. Before the 1st Task Force arrived at Apra Harbor, Liao Hanxiang was already well aware of the deployment of US troops on Wake Island, so he arranged three divisions of marines to attack Wake Island. But the problem now is that the landing location has changed to Gardner Island, and he knows no more about Gardner Island than anyone else.

There are also many other questions, such as whether the Fifth Fleet will threaten the Marine Corps, and if so, how many reserves need to be prepared. The landing site was chosen on that part of the beach on the island, and. Whether artillery preparations are in place before landing, and even whether the front-line officers have grasped the situation on Gardner Island, and how the Marines should advance after they go ashore.

Plainly. It is a landing operation, and it is not something that can be fought if you want to. Unlike traditional ground operations, landing operations have high requirements for firepower and the suddenness of the battle site. This is the characteristic of landing operations, and at the same time, it is also a difficult point. This is also why army units cannot directly participate in the initial battles of the landing operation. The only reason for the beach-grabbing is the responsibility of the marines. For any landing operation, even if the troops are well prepared and the supplies are in place, it is impossible to complete the plan in just two days, and then let the officers and men of the Marine Corps rush to the beach in the face of the enemy's bullets and bullets, which is almost sending them to death!

Liao Hanxiang did not deal with this problem himself, after all, he was a general of naval aviation, not a general of the Marine Corps. After asking the staff officer to summarize these problems, he gave the trouble to Han Shaofeng. Han Shaofeng is a Marine Corps general, and he is proficient in landing operations, and he directly commands Marine Corps operations on the front line, so it is naturally a good choice for him to plan the details.

By the afternoon of the 21st, Han Shaofeng came up with a brief plan, which was actually not a complete plan. He only proposed to devote all three divisions to the Gardner Island battlefield, to transport war supplies in two batches, and to draw one Marine Division from the defenders of Midway Island as a reserve. As for the other details, Han Shaofeng could not solve them immediately, and could only deal with them one by one on the way to the battlefield by the marines.

Tan Renhao received the news on the evening of the 21st, and he was a little surprised at first, and then realized that he was lacking in landing operations.

The actual situation is completely different from Tan Renhao's ideal situation. As a campaign commander, he does not need to think about the details, but this does not mean that he does not need to solve the details, and if these problems are not solved, then the troubles exposed in the landing operation may even lead to the complete failure of the operation! In fact, this was the defect of most of the generals of the imperial navy at that time, such as Tan Renhao, who were born in the orthodox navy and lacked in landing operations. It can be said that when Nie Renfeng appointed Yan Guozhong as the commander of the Southwest Pacific Theater, it was precisely in consideration that the Southwest Pacific was densely populated with islands, and landing operations were the most common combat methods in the theater, and if a fleet general or an aviation general commanded it, it would definitely expose a large number of problems, and it might even lead to the complete failure of combat operations in the Southwest Pacific Theater!

"It seems that we were naïve." Tan Renhao was also very uncomfortable in his heart, if he really wanted to risk the lives of the Marine Corps soldiers, he couldn't hate it.

"Maybe we should be glad that this time it was Han Shaofeng who commanded the landing operation, and he should be able to give full play to the capabilities of the Marine Corps."

"Actually, that's what I'm worried about." Tan Renhao suddenly smiled bitterly.

Hao Dongjue frowned. "What do you mean?"

"You should know Han Shaofeng better, when he attacked Wake Island and Midway, his bravery was undoubted. But the problem is that on the battlefield, he wants to win. You can do anything. Tan Renhao sighed, "If this landing operation doesn't go well." He will definitely fight hard, just like when he fought the American army on Midway, he will definitely fight the enemy at all costs! ”

Hao Dongjue also sighed, of course he knew who Han Shaofeng was. "What we can do now is to help the Marines as much as we can. Try to destroy U.S. military ground fortifications before Marines come ashore. ”

"We have to defeat the Fifth Fleet!" Tan Renhao stood up, "No matter what method is used, no matter how much it costs, this time we must defeat the Fifth Fleet!" ”

"Then we'll have to catch Spruance first, and we can't let him slip away again!"

Tan Renhao nodded, forcing himself to calm down. If he wins this battle, it will also be a victory at the sacrifice of the marines, and if he loses, he probably won't have the face to go back to the principal and the chief of staff.

"Don't think about it so much, haven't you always been very confident in yourself?" Hao Dongjue patted Tan Renhao's shoulder. "We all have a lot of faith in you, and besides, you still have me as a partner!"

Tan Renhao laughed. "The same goes for you."

"I'm going to arrange tomorrow's reconnaissance mission. You go to rest early, and I'll let you know if there's important news in the evening. ”

After Hao Dongjue left, Tan Renhao returned to his cabin. It's not that he doesn't have confidence in himself. It was the intense pressure that made him a little breathless. In every battle, Tan Renhao was under strong pressure, especially in the battles before the "Coral Sea Battle", because the battle had not been smooth, the pressure on Tan Renhao can be imagined. Perhaps, every imperial soldier on the battlefield has different pressures, but there is no doubt that as the commander of the fleet, Tan Renhao is not only responsible for the tens of thousands of officers and soldiers of the fleet, but also for the campaign itself, and his pressure is the largest among these tens of thousands. In this sense, any fleet commander of the Imperial Navy must have great perseverance, and if he cannot withstand the pressure, then there is no way to command the fleet to victory.

Tan Renhao couldn't sleep as he lay on the bed, and when he decided to let the Marines land on Gardner Island and turn a feint into a real attack, he realized that the outcome was likely to cost the Marines a huge amount of money to capture Gardner Island. Moreover, whether or not Gardner Island can be captured in the end is not decided by the Marine Corps, but by Task Force 1. As long as Task Force 1 had taken out the Fifth Fleet, the operation to capture Gardner Island would have been successful, the difference was only in the number of casualties. If the First Task Force can't defeat the Fifth Fleet, then the Marine Corps will be defeated!

In the middle of the night, Tan Renhao fell asleep, he was too tired. At this time, in the landing fleet, Han Shaofeng was organizing the middle-level officers of the Marine Corps under his command to make pre-battle preparations.

"Although the attack on Gardner Island was rushed, the information we have is very limited, and even the battle plan is improvised." Han Shaofeng's expression was unusually firm, "However, we can only succeed, not fail." Whether or not we can attack the Hawaiian Islands and defeat the enemy depends on this battle. Now, Task Force 1 is in front to help us prepare for artillery fire, while the U.S. Fifth Fleet has left Pearl Harbor and is heading to the battlefield. The First Task Force was bound to fight the Fifth Fleet for a decisive battle. Perhaps, the First Task Force will have huge casualties, and we must not let the sacrifice of the First Task Force become meaningless, and what we have to do is to take Gardner Island, and drive a nail under the ass of the Yankees, so that Nimitz will not be able to sleep, and Spruance will be restless! ”

The participants in the meeting were all officers above the battalion level (the corresponding rank is major or above), and all of them looked very serious, most of the officers had participated in combat operations with Han Shaofeng, and they knew very well the command style of this general, who was known for his iron blood.

"This time, we have three divisions, more than 40,000 officers and soldiers, and the strong support of the fleet, not to mention Gardner Island, even if we are allowed to land on the mainland of the United States, we can do it!"

Han Shaofeng slammed his fist on the table, attracting everyone's attention to himself, "According to intelligence, the strength of the U.S. military on Gardner Island is only between 5,000 and 20,000 people, and our strength ratio is more than 2, while in the previous combat operations, we could defeat the enemy one-on-one, or even one-on-two." Now that we have such a huge advantage in troops and a large amount of war materials, it is not difficult to take Gardner Island! ”

The officers were all listening quietly, and like most Marine Corps generals, Han Shaofeng never liked to be interjected while he was speaking.

"Plans will be distributed to battalion units by tomorrow evening, and a map of Gardner Island is being made." Han Shaofeng's tone calmed down a little, "All the preparations must be in place tomorrow night. Ladies and gentlemen, I don't have any other requirements for you, I only hope that every officer and soldier participating in this combat operation will remember one thing, we are soldiers of the Imperial Marine Corps, we have a glorious history of hundreds of years, no matter where we are, we must remember one thing, we are the defenders of the Zhenhai Banner, we are the defenders of the empire, on the battlefield, we only have two results, one is to defeat the enemy, and the other is to sacrifice our lives for the empire! ”

The room was as quiet as death, and all the officers knew in their hearts that this battle must be extremely difficult, otherwise Han Shaofeng would not have said it so deadly.

In the Imperial Navy, the work of raising the flag was carried out by the Marine Corps, so the Marine Corps also always considered themselves to be the defenders of the Zhenhai flag of the Imperial Navy.

Han Shaofeng glanced at everyone. "I've said everything I need to say, and when I go back, I will immediately do pre-war mobilization. There's not much time for us to prepare, so we'll have to get started right away! ”

After the meeting, a staff officer handed Han Shaofeng a thick roster.

"All the officers and soldiers have already been registered?" Han Shaofeng is actually not so iron-blooded.

The staff officer nodded. "All the officers and men, including the seamen of the transport fleet and the landing fleet, are recorded in it."

"Okay, you go get busy first, don't bother me if it's okay!"

When Han Shaofeng saw the thick roster in his hand, he had a feeling that he couldn't speak. Although as the old saying goes, one will make ten thousand bones wither. But Han Shaofeng didn't want more Imperial soldiers to fall on the battlefield, could victory only be based on sacrifice?