"What, don't you have an appetite?" Seeing that his partner put down the lunch box without eating a few bites, Hao Dongjue also knew that Tan Renhao was under a lot of pressure.

"I'm not very hungry, I ate a little too much for supper last night." Tan Renhao gave the lunch box to Du Xing next to him. "Dongjue, don't you think we're a little too risky this time?"

Hao Dongjue shrugged his shoulders. "Is there a safe place on the battlefield? Every battle is an adventure, and you're in the best luck. ”

Tan Renhao laughed. "Yes, we've been taking risks every time before, but this time I feel that the danger is too great and beyond our control."

"Can you still control the danger?" 16K. Computer Station.

"That's not what I said." Tan Renhao leaned on the guardrail, "In the past, we first clarified the approximate location of the enemy and made accurate inferences before deciding to take the risk. However, this time, we have made mistakes in our previous inferences, and we are still unable to make a sufficiently accurate judgment, and we have taken risks on the basis of no certainty, and perhaps, we have not won in exchange. ”

"Don't think about it so much." Hao Dongjue also gave the lunch box to Du Xing, and then patted Tan Renhao on the shoulder, "Dude, this time we are first opening our chests, making Spruance think that we have exposed a flaw, and then let him attack, and we are ready to give him a fatal blow, anyway, Spruance will come, and it must be very close to us, within an hour, we should let the bomber on the road." ”

"You're confident?" Tan Renhao looked at his partner who was taking out a cigarette.

Hao Dongjue lit a cigarette first. "I'm very confident that I can't talk about it, but I believe it. Spruance wasn't stupid, even if he thought it was most valuable to save the Fifth Fleet, but he knew it. As long as the First Task Force is still around, then he will not have a good life. So, he's definitely going to come to us for a showdown. ”

Tan Renhao smiled and shook his head. He also believed that Spruance had taken Task Force 1 as a thorn in his side, and that Spruance would do everything he could to take out Task Force 1.

The problem is, until now, they don't know what Spruance will do to take out Task Force 1. Is it a frontal fight, or a sneak attack, or something else? Tan Renhao had never doubted Spruance's cleverness, and perhaps he could really think of a way to deal with Task Force 1 that no one else could think of.

"Let's go, let's go in and wait for news, or I'll go to the aviation operations center first and get the pilots ready?"

"No, it's not too late to arrange it when you get the news. At least Qiu Gengbo and Yang Qinkai both knew what they should do later. ”

Hao Dongjue nodded, and followed Tan Renhao into the command cabin. Dozens of staff officers were still busy in an orderly manner, and the communications staff officer shook his head at Hao Dongjue. Indicates that no message has been received. At this time, the reconnaissance plane had only been off for less than an hour, and had not yet reached the maximum reconnaissance radius, and the seaplane flew even slower, probably flying less than 50 nautical miles.

Tan Renhao did not interfere with the work of the staff officers. He looked at the chart quietly. Every minute that passed, he felt a little more uneasy. At 7 o'clock, he began to look up at the sailing clock frequently, almost every minute, and asked the communications staff officer with his eyes if any reconnaissance plane had sent back the news, but until 7:15 a.m., there was still no news from any reconnaissance plane.

"Dongjue, when will the reconnaissance plane reach the limit reconnaissance sea area?"

"It's now, but the batch that took off late will probably be around half past seven."

"It looks like we've swooped down this time." Tan Renhao looked at the navigation staff, "It's too dangerous here, prepare to evacuate." ”

The navigation staff hesitated for a moment and looked at Hao Dongjue.

"Do you want to wait another fifteen minutes?" Hao Dongjue immediately walked to Tan Renhao's side.

Tan Renhao hesitated. "The fleet is ready to turn, and in fifteen minutes, if there is no news yet, then ......"

Before he could finish his words, an air defense siren sounded on the battleship.

"Over there, the U.S. military reconnaissance plane!"

Tan Renhao and Hao Dongjue immediately rushed to the porthole on the right side, and in the sky southwest of the fleet, a US long-range reconnaissance plane was rapidly approaching, and four air defense planes patrolling this side had already rushed up, and soon, the unlucky US reconnaissance plane was hit and caught fire, dragging black smoke and falling to the sea.

Before the enemy plane crashed into the sea, Tan Renhao looked at the staff officer in charge of radio listening.

"A telegram has been sent, it lasted about two minutes, and it should be a full telegram."

"The fleet immediately turned to 30 degrees and sailed at full speed." Tan Renhao immediately gave the order, "The fighters on standby will take off immediately, and let the first batch of fighters return to the aircraft carrier one after another to replenish fuel." Also, the radar is ready to turn on, contact the reconnaissance aircraft, tell them about the new rendezvous point. ”

"Wait a minute......," Hao Dongjue looked at Tan Renhao, "This is just a shore-based reconnaissance plane, maybe ......"

"Maybe the Fifth Fleet is near us, and now is no time to hesitate." Tan Renhao gritted his teeth, "Go and carry out the order, save your life first, if we can't even keep the fleet, how can we defeat Spruance?" ”

Hao Dongjue also gritted his teeth, and then nodded his head in a daze, and asked them to convey the order of the fleet commander.

Within five minutes, the radars on the three large air defense cruisers of the "Rui Beast" class were first turned on, and then the radars on the other cruisers were also activated one after another, but no new targets were found, and it was supposed to be a US military plane carrying out a reconnaissance mission alone. The fleet had turned in ten minutes, accelerated to 31 knots, and began to flee the battlefield at full speed. The fighter planes that took off before dawn were returned to the aircraft carrier to refuel in small groups. Then, the fighters that had been parked on the flight deck left the aircraft carrier one after another.

"The Fifth Fleet is definitely near us, and we want to make sure we find them in key directions, so we can't take care of all directions." Tan Renhao glanced at the voyage, "All our carrier-based reconnaissance planes have flown 250 nautical miles away. The fact that nothing has been discovered so far proves that the Fifth Fleet is not going up where we expected it, but in a place that we did not expect. ”

"Maybe. The Fifth Fleet is a little too far from us. ”

"It's better that way, at least Spruance can't send bombers right away." Tan Renhao's expression was already quite serious. "But it's just one possibility, and there's another possibility, and that's that Spruance is letting the bombers go. Even if the Fifth Fleet is 250 nautical miles away from us, then US ground bombers will arrive within an hour and a half. ”

Hao Dongjue nodded. The arrival time of the US bombers must have been between 8:30 and 9:00, and if no bombers appeared after 9:30, then the Fifth Fleet would not be within the scope of attacking the First Task Force.

"Reducing the patrol radius of fighter jets to 30 nautical miles, you have to be prepared in all four directions."

Tan Renhao didn't hesitate, "Especially to the east, and to the southeast, these two directions are what we didn't consider before, and two squads of fighters should also be arranged in the south, maybe Spruance has already maneuvered to our south at night." When will all the fighters be in the air? ”

"Within fifteen minutes."

"Good.

When will the reconnaissance aircraft return? ”

"Between nine and half past nine."

"Then, if there are no American bombers before ten o'clock, then we can breathe a sigh of relief." Tan Renhao glanced at his partner. "Let's go and arrange it first, after the reconnaissance plane returns, it will concentrate on landing on the 'Gaoyou Lake' aircraft carrier."

"All landing on an aircraft carrier?" Hao Dongjue frowned.

"Between nine and half past nine is the time when we are most vulnerable, if all three aircraft carriers recover reconnaissance aircraft. Then all three aircraft carriers are in danger. Tan Renhao paused slightly, "We can't let all three aircraft carriers be threatened, at least we have to save enough counterattack forces." ”

"Then we have to transfer some of the bombers on the 'Gaoyou Lake' to the other two aircraft carriers first."

"How much time does it take?"

"Forty minutes at most."

"Arrange it now, don't waste a minute." Tan Renhao agreed to Hao Dongjue's proposal, "It seems that we have to be beaten first, hoping to be able to judge Spruance's position, otherwise, we won't even have a chance to fight back." ”

The atmosphere in the fleet became tense, and after the battle alarm sounded, all the officers and men entered their positions, and even if none of the radars had detected UFOs, these officers and men who had been on the battlefield for several years knew very well that the enemy's ground bombers were definitely on their way, and any luck would certainly bring a painful lesson, and whether or not they could win the victory would depend on whether they could block the enemy's blow.

The superiority in the quality of the officers and men of the First Task Force was manifested at this time, and at that time, if it were another fleet, some internal problems would certainly be exposed. In the First Task Force, since Tan Renhao became the commander of the fleet again, the quality of the officers and men has improved a lot, and the First Task Force also has the largest number of veterans, and the vast majority of the officers and men have sufficient combat experience.

The orders given by the commander were carried out quickly, and every officer and soldier was doing the most appropriate job.

At half past seven, the last fighter left the aircraft carrier. The squadron of torpedo bombers on the "Gaoyou Lake", as well as two squads of dive bombers (a small squad had already been sent out on reconnaissance missions) began to take off, and these bombers were to be transferred to the other two aircraft carriers.

And at this time, there was enough space on the other two aircraft carriers to accommodate these fighters. At this time, Tan Renhao made adjustments to the fleet's formation, placing the "Gaoyouhu" aircraft carrier battle group in the east of the fleet, while the "Xingkaihu" aircraft carrier battle group was in the northwest of the fleet, and the "Hongzehu" aircraft carrier battle group was in the southwest of the fleet.

Watching the bombers on the "Gaoyou Lake" aircraft carrier in the distance take off one after another, Tan Renhao gritted his teeth, although no one broke his intention to make this arrangement, but everyone knew that Tan Renhao had decided to sacrifice the "Gaoyou Lake" aircraft carrier battle group when it was hit, and Tan Renhao himself knew best. Of course, if the fleet had not been hit, it would have been a great thing.

The peculiarities of the Imperial Navy's use of battle group formations are evident here. Any fleet is composed of one or more battle groups, and each battle group is actually an independent combat unit, which can be said to be an independent small fleet. Especially in defensive operations, each battle group operates independently and does not affect the other battle groups. In previous battles, such as the Battle of the Coral Sea, Task Force 4 lost a small aircraft carrier battle group that had been temporarily formed, thus ensuring the safety of both fleets' carrier battle groups. Tan Renhao's arrangement was to put the "Gaoyouhu" aircraft carrier battle group in the direction where the fleet was most vulnerable to attack, and to be responsible for receiving the reconnaisance planes returning to the sea at the most dangerous time. In this way, the other two aircraft carriers will not need to carry out the operation of recovering reconnaissance planes, and can remain under the protection of escort warships, so that they can be fully protected. But the problem is that if the enemy's bombers arrive, then the first to attack will definitely be the aircraft carrier "Gaoyouhu"!

If Tan Renhao was just an ordinary officer, he would not have made such a decision. However, he is a fleet commander, he commands three aircraft carrier battle groups, and his task is to preserve the combat effectiveness of the fleet as much as possible and protect as many officers and men as possible when the fleet is attacked. Perhaps, for the officers and men of the "Gaoyou Lake" aircraft carrier battle group, this is a bit cruel, but for Tan Renhao, he must first ensure that more aircraft carriers can be guaranteed!

"The reconnaissance planes are all starting to return home, and nothing has been found." Hao Dongjue also knew the intention of Tan Renhao's arrangement.

"I know, it seems, that we still haven't been able to accurately estimate the location of the Fifth Fleet." Tan Renhao clutched the steel pipe on the guardrail, "Or maybe I'm too worried, maybe Spruance is still a few nautical miles away from us." ”

Hao Dongjue grabbed his partner's shoulder. "Don't think about it so much, at least we've done our best now, and it's too early to say who will be finished this time."

Tan Renhao smiled reluctantly, he knew that Hao Dongjue was comforting him and letting him relax, but he couldn't relax at all, he had a strong premonition, that is, Spruance had seized the opportunity, the American bombers had set off and were flying towards them, and there would be an answer soon.