Since the "Battle of Neck Island", Tan Renhao has been thinking about why he is passive everywhere in the confrontation with Spruance, and almost every time he defeats his opponent in extreme circumstances, and he also loses a lot of himself? These questions used to bother Tan Renhao very much. When confronting generals like Fletcher and Halsey, he is often able to take the lead and dominate the enemy in one fell swoop, but when confronting generals like Spruance, he seems to be very passive.

Perhaps, what Tan Renhao feels most unsolvable is his age. Being young has the advantage of being young, he has plenty of energy, extraordinary courage, and an indomitable will.

But being young also has the disadvantage of being young, that is, he seriously lacks rich experience, lacks sufficient experience, and lacks the ability to deal with changes in a complex environment. Age itself is a wealth, and it is a wealth that cannot be exchanged for anything else. This is also the wealth that Tan Renhao lacks the most.

When playing against an experienced, experienced, and thoughtful opponent like Spruance, Tan Renhao's flaws are obvious. But the problem is that although he recognizes his flaw, it is a flaw that cannot be immediately remedied!

After receiving information on the specific activities of the British and French expeditionary fleets, Tan Renhao went to dig out the personal information of Cunningham and Godford and read them carefully again. Godford wasn't a big threat, but Tan Renhao had to deal with Cunningham carefully. Cunningham was a general with Spruance's experience and a similar background to Tan Renhao. Such a general is also the most difficult for Tan Renhao to deal with.

He tried to convert himself to Cunningham, to learn to imitate his opponent's way of thinking to judge the situation in front of him, and even to arrange the actions of the Anglo-French expeditionary fleet. But he found it a difficult thing to do. Don't talk about imitating an opponent you've never fought before.

After fighting Spruance so many times, Tan Renhao couldn't completely imitate Spruance's command style according to Spruance's ideas, and it was even more difficult to imitate the command style of an unfamiliar opponent. And what he knows about Cunningham. It's just what the information says.

This way of constantly changing angles and positions to judge the situation is like a person playing chess. It's a lot of mental work. But this is also necessary mental work, if he wants to find out the opponent's intentions and judge the opponent's whereabouts, then he has to finish this game of chess and play this game well.

"Talk about the general. News has been delivered again. ”

Tan Renhao raised his head, and after seeing the time on the navigation clock, he realized that he had been sitting and thinking for more than two hours.

Zheng Guanhua sent the telegram to Tan Renhao. "The three spies who sent back the intelligence service from Colombo confirmed that there was a problem with our spy network in Cape Town, and that the three spies who had sent back the intelligence had lost contact with the intelligence agencies, and now the intelligence services are trying to find them."

Tan Renhao was slightly startled, and immediately picked up the telegram and read it quickly.

At this time, his last suspicion was also confirmed, the information he received earlier about the Anglo-French joint expeditionary fleet in Cape Town must be fake!

"Do we need to contact Task Force 3?" Zheng Guanhua is also thinking about this combat operation repeatedly. "In half an hour, Task Force 3 should be turned, if we don't contact Task Force 3 in time. Then we will not be able to change the course of the fleet. ”

Tan Renhao nodded slightly, he read the contents of the telegram again, and then said: "There is no need to contact the Third Task Force for the time being, Chang Zhixin should also receive this telegram." Is there a situation on Jiang Zhongmin's side? ”

"They have already established the first base for seaplane activities near the mouth of the Bezibuka River in the north of the island of Madagascar. Now preparations are being made to build a second seaplane base a little further south. Since this morning, long-range patrol aircraft have been patrolling the northern waters of the strait. ”

"If the combined Anglo-French fleet is not in the port of Cape Town, then it is quite possible that it is somewhere nearby." Tan Renhao walked to the chart table, "If our previous guess is correct, then within two or three days, we will encounter the British and French joint expeditionary fleet." ”

"But will the French expeditionary fleet continue to take part in combat operations?"

"It is very likely that if Goldford had answered the call of the government-in-exile and had made an agreement with Cunningham, then perhaps Cunningham would have been in command of the French expeditionary fleet by now." Tan Renhao lay on the chart table, "Is there a new weather forecast?" ”

"The weather forecast for midday is out, and the most optimistic estimate is that the weather conditions will not continue to get worse, and the probability of improvement is almost zero."

Tan Renhao also saw the air pressure lines marked on the chart, as well as the grade line of the sea state.

These are several curves, and different colors are used to indicate the weather conditions in different ranges, which gives Tan Renhao an intuitive impression that the weather conditions within the red line are the worst, and the weather conditions in the sea area outside the yellow line are acceptable. In fact, this also restricts the activities of the fleet, especially Task Force 1.

The centre of the storm remains a short distance south of the Masklean Islands and shows no signs of abating.

In addition, new storms have spawned further south, and judging by the known area of influence on the charts, the weather at the Cape of Good Hope should be worse. The situation in front of Tan Renhao was still very bad, the First Task Force could only operate in the waters near Tromland Island, and although the Third Task Force could go south, the problem was that without the support of the First Task Force, it was impossible for the Third Task Force to defeat the British and French Combined Expeditionary Fleet.

After thinking for a while, Tan Renhao flipped out the several telegrams he had received before, picked the key points and read them again, this time, he had a more complete idea. If the Anglo-French joint expeditionary fleet had already gone north, then the three British aircraft carriers would have been in the storm zone as well. Even if the British aircraft carriers are much better resistant to wind and waves than the Imperial aircraft carriers, don't think about letting bombers take off in the storm zone. Moreover, all the seaplanes on the battleships and cruisers were certainly not usable. The Anglo-French Expeditionary Fleet, then, would have to deploy a long line of defense between the Mascelyn Islands and Madagascar if they were to keep the Third Task Force out of Cape Town. Other than that.

It is also necessary to leave some patrol ships on the other side of the Mozambique Channel. And this line of defense is hundreds of nautical miles long, and if it is only patrolled by warships, the loopholes are very huge!

Come to think of this. Tan Renhao suddenly had a bold idea, if the third task force went south at full speed. To bombard Cape Town, even if the Anglo-French Combined Expeditionary Fleet cannot be destroyed, as long as it can destroy the Cape Town port infrastructure, then the Anglo-French Combined Expeditionary Fleet must also withdraw, at least to the Gold Coast. After all, at the southern tip of Africa, apart from the port of Cape Town, there is no second port where large warships can dock and repair. And warships operating in the storm zone, especially cruisers, destroyers, and other types of warships need to be repaired frequently. The Anglo-French expeditionary fleet, which had lost its infrastructure, also lost its foothold. At that time, you don't even need to fight the enemy to recapture Cape Town and close the gates of the Indian Ocean again, and this is Tan Renhao's number one task!

But Tan Renhao quickly hesitated. This tactic was very risky, and if the 3rd Task Force had encountered the Anglo-French Expeditionary Fleet halfway through, the result would have been predictable. In the case that Task Force 1 could not help. Even if the 3rd Task Force retreated at full speed, it would definitely suffer heavy losses, and after losing the 3rd Task Force as a barrier, the Anglo-French joint expeditionary fleet would be even more unscrupulous. What's more. From the very beginning, Tan Renhao had no intention of taking risks, after all, the risks of this combat operation were already very large, and if he took risks again, it would be equivalent to gambling with God. If the 3rd Task Force were to go south to Cape Town alone, it would be completely contrary to the basic principles of the campaign.

"Xiao Zheng, help me prepare the plane." Tan Renhao decided to discuss with Chang Jianxin, anyway, the two fleets are only a few dozen nautical miles away now.

"Talking about the general, this ......"

"Go ahead, don't delay."

Zheng Guanhua didn't say anything more, and immediately asked the staff officer to prepare a seaplane for Tan Renhao.

Fifty minutes later, Tan Renhao came to the new flagship "Nanning". After seeing Tan Renhao, Chang Jianxin was also very surprised.

"Renhao, is there anything important?"

Tan Renhao nodded, he first glanced at the staff officer of the Third Task Force, and then called Chang Jianxin to the outside of the command cabin. Chang Jianxin also gave Gu Zhenyun a look and asked him to control the staff officer. After letting go of the two staff officers passing by in the aisle, Tan Renhao told Chang Jianxin what he had thought.

"I have also received these telegrams, and Gu Zhenyun and I both believe that the French expeditionary fleet must continue to operate, and the probability that the Anglo-French joint expeditionary fleet will appear in the waters south of the island of Madagascar is more than fifty percent." "If they really go north, then the main purpose is to intercept us, catch us off guard, and prevent us from reaching Cape Town."

It is basically impossible to monitor a passage hundreds of nautical miles wide with two fleets, especially when the seaplanes on battleships and cruisers are not available, and the reconnaissance planes on aircraft carriers cannot be dispatched, and it is impossible for the battleships themselves to monitor such a wide sea surface. But the question is, how accurate is our inference? Also, what if you're unlucky? ”

"That's what worries me." Tan Renhao sighed, "Moreover, we have been wandering around Tromland for two or three days now, and we have been hesitating not to go south, even if Cunningham does not know our whereabouts, from the time we left Colombo, he should have deduced that we have already arrived in this sea area, so why didn't we go south?" Could Cunningham be suspicious? If he found out that we had seen through his trap, what would he do? ”

Hearing Tan Renhao say this, Chang Jianxin nodded at first, but then he looked at Tan Renhao. "Ren Hao, don't you say that I haven't thought of it yet, I think there is a way to determine if Cunningham is to the south of us."

"What's the solution?" Tan Renhao frowned slightly.

"We're suspicious now, so why don't we have a 'scareless'?"

Tan Renhao was even more surprised, but he reacted immediately.

"Let Task Force 3 go south, and not go straight to Cape Town, if Cunningham is in the waters south of Madagascar, then we will most likely encounter him, let him know that we have arrived. If we encounter a British expeditionary fleet, or a French expeditionary fleet, destroy it, and if we encounter both an Anglo-French expeditionary fleet, run away immediately. As long as Task Force 1 is behind us, Cunningham will know that he has seen through his trap, and when the time comes, he will have no choice but to return to Cape Town and not dare to linger here, so that we can at least determine the whereabouts of the Anglo-French expeditionary fleet! ”

Tan Renhao nodded slightly, and at the same time was thinking quickly. This means that Task Force 3 will take the risk, but as long as it is not too far away from Task Force 1 and does not enter the stormy seas, then Task Force 1 should be able to give Task Force 1 sufficient cover when Task Force 3 retreats. In addition, this stab left Cunningham with no other choice, even if he could not take out his opponent in battle, it could force the British and French expeditionary fleet to withdraw from Cape Town. The most important thing is that this gives Tan Renhao and Chang Zhixin more choices!

Chang Jianxin also just thought of this method, and he didn't take into account the details, so he was a little unsure. In addition, the commander-in-chief of this operation is Tan Renhao, and Chang Jianxin is only a deputy position, so he also needs to wait for Tan Renhao's decision.

"Let's take a closer look, if that's the only way, then we don't have a choice."

Chang Jianxin nodded and took Tan Renhao into the command cabin. He also called Gu Zhenyun over, and arranged several senior staff officers to be responsible for assisting.

There are many people and great power, even if Tan Renhao is powerful, he is indispensable for the help of others. And the first thing they have to determine is some details that must be solved. For example, how to choose the route of the 3rd Task Force to the south, what is the speed, how far the 1st Task Force should be from the 3rd Task Force, and the communication between the two sides, if necessary, what contingency plans the 3rd Task Force can use, and so on. And when these details are solved, the overall plan will come out naturally.