The sky gradually brightened, and the staff officers who received the battle order also came to their posts one after another, and Tan Renhao's mood slowly became nervous.

He had staked the fate of the entire fleet, and his own fate, on his own judgment, and on a judgment that was not supported by much evidence. Perhaps, many people will admire Tan Renhao's courage, but now, Tan Renhao admires the commander of the US fleet very much. For so many days, the submarines and reconnaissance planes of the Tang Empire have been looking for this fleet, but they have not gained anything. In addition, dozens of radio listening stations deployed by the Tang Empire in the western Pacific were monitoring the invisible radio waves, but they did not receive any radio from the American task force. What Tan Renhao admired was that the commander of the American fleet was so calm, and after the Tang Imperial Marines landed on Asunción Island and the attack began, they were able to hide without showing their heads, and this kind of patience and steadiness are not possessed by ordinary commanders.

"Renhao, the fleet will arrive at the new patrol area at about eight o'clock."

Hao Dongjue came over, and after revising the reconnaissance arrangement, Tan Renhao also reset the patrol area of the fleet.

Tan Renhao nodded slightly. "Okay, you go and rest for a while, maybe you won't be able to sleep today."

"It's okay, I can stand it."

Hao Dongjue smiled and took out a cigarette, "Do we want to strengthen the fleet's air defense now?" ”

Tan Renhao hesitated, he forgot this. The new fleet patrols the sea area only about 120 nautical miles from Guam and about 100 nautical miles from Olimalaau Island, where American troops are stationed (there is no airfield, there is a radar station on the island). This is an extremely dangerous sea area, the fleet may be exposed at any time, American bombers will swarm in, and the escort warships of Task Force 1 are not as good as before.

"At seven forty o'clock, take off a squadron of air defense fighters."

Tan Renhao quickly made a decision, "All fighters must bring auxiliary fuel tanks, and at least ensure that they have half an hour of spare fuel after three hours of patrol." In addition, the air defense patrol radius is 20 nautical miles. Don't spread too far apart, and focus on monitoring the northeast and southwest directions, which are the directions in which US reconnaissance planes are most likely to appear. ”

Hao Dongjue immediately called a staff officer over and gave an order.

"After the air defense fighters take off, immediately prepare the bomber group for takeoff, this time the escort fighters are released first, and the bombers are on standby in the hangar first."

When Tan Renhao gave the order, he didn't need others to interject, "If there is no news before 10:20." Then let the escort fighters replace the air defense fighters, and it is necessary to keep a squadron of air defense fighters over the fleet at all times. ”

"Okay, I know what to do."

Hao Dongjue knew very well what Tan Renhao meant, he used to be the aviation operations staff officer of the fleet, and he was very familiar with these arrangements.

Tan Renhao glanced at Hao Dongjue and asked him to deploy. Now, he had cast the net out, and he had tightened his grip on the hilt of his sword, waiting for his target to appear, and then quickly stabbed the sword. But the problem is. Even the command of the Navy could not be sure that there was an American fleet activity in the waters off the Hall Islands. Could Tan Renhao's bet be in the wrong place?

Waiting is the most uncomfortable thing, and after so many naval battles, Tan Renhao still can't get used to waiting before finding the enemy. Arrived in the theater of operations from the 30th. On the 31st, reconnaissance patrols were launched, and it has been five days now. During these five days, Task Force 1 flew hundreds of reconnaissance sorties, searched almost all the waters of the Caroline Islands, and determined that the US fleet was not near the Caroline Islands. Now for just a few hours, Tan Renhao still feels a lot of pressure, if nothing is found in these hours, then his judgment is wrong, the US fleet is not in the waters of the Hall Islands, but all concentrated in the east of the Mariana Islands.

It was getting dark. The orderly in the officer's canteen brought a box lunch, and most of the staff officers entered their posts before breakfast, and they all insisted on it hungry. Tan Renhao and Hao Dongjue are no exception, but neither of them has the slightest appetite. The fate of the entire First Task Force, the success or failure of this battle, and even the future status of the Imperial Navy in the Pacific Ocean will be determined by Tan Renhao's judgment and the development of the next few hours.

Perhaps, at that time, Tan Renhao and Hao Dongjue saw only the fate of the First Task Force, but the facts will prove it. Their judgment will at least determine the direction of the Western Pacific theater in the next six months, and decide whether the United States or the Tang Empire will have the initiative. And the half-year cooperation is also the most critical half-year during the entire Pacific War, and it is the half-year that determines the outcome of the war.

At seven o'clock, the ticking sound of the navigation clock startled Tan Renhao. He couldn't sit still, and now that the reconnaissance planes have only arrived in the search area one after another, it is unlikely that they will make a discovery so soon. He stood up, ready to go outside the cabin to get some fresh air, it was too stuffy.

"Sir, a telegram from the headquarters!"

As soon as Tan Renhao walked to the door, the communications staff officer shouted.

He hesitated, and when he turned around, Hao Dongjue had already taken the telegram first, and when Hao Dongjue saw the content of the telegram, his face immediately changed.

"Did you find it?"

Tan Renhao immediately saw that Hao Dongjue was already excited.

"yes, just a few hours late."

Hao Dongjue immediately handed the telegram to Tan Renhao. "Our listening station intercepted a telegram last night. The telegram was sent from the vicinity of Nomwyn Atoll, initially judged to have been sent by a U.S. military radio station on Nomwyn Atoll, but later judged to be a telegraph from a radio station on a U.S. Navy warship. The content of the telegram is simple, the decoding experts are still working on it, and now there is no way to know the contents of the telegram. The Chief of Staff must have seen this information and sent it to us immediately. ”

Tan Renhao's hand holding the telegram was trembling slightly, this telegram was eight hours late, eight hours deadly. Those intelligence officers must have judged it to be low-value information at the time of screening, so they did not immediately submit it to the top, if it had not been discovered by the chief of staff in time, I am afraid that this extremely important information would still be on the desk of a certain intelligence officer!

"This must be an American task force!"

Hao Dongjue walked quickly to the chart table and looked at it carefully for a while, "Yes, it must be like this." There is no activity of our submarines in this area, and our reconnaissance planes have never flown over, it is too far away, and there are several islands with US troops stationed nearby. The American fleet must have been hiding here, they sent this telegram before heading north. ”

Tan Renhao did not rush to make a judgment. There is a U.S. military radio station on Nomwin Atoll, which is mainly responsible for relaying telegrams in peacetime (the radio station has a limited range of operations. So there needs to be a signal amplifier at a certain distance, the latter is a relay station) If the American fleet is indeed in the waters near here, then why not use the island's radio station to send the telegram, but use the warship's radio to do this?

This is what Tan Renhao fears, and if the American commander had a premonition of danger, he would certainly not have done so. The battle has begun, and now only the third task force has appeared, and it is still a task force without aircraft carriers. The commander of the US fleet will certainly have some scruples, and he will not easily use the radio station on the battleship to send a telegram (the battleship radio station is different from the shore-based radio station, and the listening device can judge which radio wave is sent by the strength of the radio signal and other characteristics, and even which warship sent it) "If the Americans suspect that we are nearby, what will they do?" ”

Tan Renhao looked at Hao Dongjue.

"What do you mean?"

Hao Dongjue felt as if someone had poured cold water on him.

"Why would the commander of the U.S. fleet do this if there is no reason for the commander of the U.S. fleet to use the radio on the battleship for long-distance communication when there is a shore-based radio nearby?"

Tan Renhao also walked to the chart table and looked at the chart for a while. "If that's a trap. So what to do? ”

"Trap?"

Hao Dongjue's expression immediately sank.

"Yes, trap!"

Tan Renhao glanced at the time, "Of course." It's just a possibility. Even if it's a trap, then you can be sure that the U.S. fleet is indeed here in the Hall Islands, otherwise, what's the point of this trap? Of course, if it wasn't a trap, it would have been even better, and we had finally caught the big fish. ”

Hao Dongjue nodded immediately. "In any case, as soon as our reconnaissance planes discover the US task force, then we will immediately launch an attack and give the enemy no chance."

Tan Renhao was stunned. Immediately rummaged through the chart table. "Dongjue, where is the chart you deployed for the reconnaissance mission?"

Hao Dongjue immediately helped Tan Renhao find the chart that indicated the route of the reconnaissance plane, and each bomber had a fixed forward and return route, and there was also a fixed patrol area. In this way, if something goes wrong with the reconnaissance plane, or if the telegram sent back is not entirely accurate, it can also roughly judge the position of the enemy fleet according to its course and patrol area, which is much better than nothing.

Tan Renhao looked at the chart for a long time, when he slowly pulled out his cigarette. His gaze shifted to the underside of the chart. "How many more reconnaissance planes do we have to make sorties now?"

"There are still two squads of the originally planned third batch of reconnaissance planes that have not been sent."

"Let them rise into the air immediately."

Tan Renhao took out a match, "Here, comprehensively search this sea area." ”

Hao Dongjue glanced at the place where Tan Renhao was pointing, and immediately frowned.

"We've been ignoring one point. Hurry up and arrange to put it. ”

Tan Renhao sat down, and when Hao Dongjue found a staff officer to redeploy the reconnaissance operation, he said to himself, "We always thought that the US task force would go north, but we did not consider the possibility of the US fleet moving westward. If the U.S. side guessed that we would take the initiative to go south to find fighters, then why did the U.S. fleet deployed in the Hall Islands not go west, but go north? They could well go north from the west of Guam, so that the American fleet would appear to our south, not to our east! ”

"Yes, that's it, deploy it immediately, and move quickly!"

Hao Dongjue patted the staff officer on the shoulder, and then turned around. "It's all been arranged, the reconnaissance plane will take off as soon as possible, and now there are fighters on deck, so ......"

"As soon as possible, don't delay."

Tan Renhao looked up at the navigation clock again, it was already seven past thirteen. "After the reconnaissance aircraft are released, it is necessary to prepare the bomber group for takeoff as soon as possible. Now, how many bombers do we have left? ”

"72 'Kingfishers', 24 'Ospreys'. That's all we have left. ”

Hao Dongjue sighed, 48 "Ospreys" have been sent out to carry out reconnaissance missions (excluding the 24 reconnaissance "Ospreys" on the two aircraft carriers, "Ospreys" are organized into two bomber groups, and when the time comes, the bombing tactics will be decided according to the specific situation. ”

Tan Renhao hesitated for a moment, "You know what to do, you must complete the attack as soon as possible, and if the bombing does not achieve satisfactory results, then let the returning reconnaissance plane set off immediately." ”

"I've made several copies of the bombing plan, don't worry, I know what to do."

"Alright, I'll go out and take a breath!"

Tan Renhao smiled at Hao Dongjue and nodded, "I'm on the gangway outside, come and call me immediately if there is news." ”

The aircraft carrier was turning, the fighters that had been placed on the flight deck were removed, the elevator lifted the "Ospreys" that had replaced the torpedoes with auxiliary fuel tanks to the flight deck, the pilots boarded the bombers in the hangar, and the service personnel quickly dragged the first two "Ospreys" to the catapult, and hung the hook of the catapult on the hanging ring on the belly of the aircraft (in front of the hanging point of the auxiliary fuel tank). The bomber's engine roared, and the pilot and the attendant in the cockpit quickly exchanged a few gestures, and then the first "Osprey" was ejected. While the catapult was still in place, the "Osprey" on the other side was also ejected, and then the second batch of two "Ospreys" was dragged onto the catapult......

After watching the first batch of two "Ospreys" circling in the air for half a circle and flying towards the south, Tan Renhao looked at the "Xuanzong" aircraft carrier a few nautical miles away. The two reconnaissance planes that took off from the "Xuanzong" also completed their turn and were leaving the sky over the fleet. The "Xuanzong" was overloaded with fighters, and at the time of design, this aircraft carrier did not reserve 12 places for reconnaissance aircraft, so its attendance rate was slightly lower.

When the aircraft carrier was sailing at full speed, the sea breeze was blowing strongly. Tan Renhao took a deep breath and looked towards the south side of the fleet, as if he could see things hundreds of nautical miles away......