On the night of the 28th, the fleet also organized a night bombardment, dropping all the submunitions on the airfield, and then the fleet gave a signal to "invite" the third task force to come to the meeting, and then withdrew from the Bismarck Sea, ready to receive ammunition and fuel supplies, and at the same time to receive a batch of additional fighters. This time it was an all-round resupply, counting the one refueling that had been missed before, and this large-scale resupply would take at least a day, plus a round trip, at least two days.

"We've probably calculated that the bombs dropped will be enough for the Yankees to keep them busy for a while."

Hao Dongjue leaned on the fence and flicked the cigarette butt into the sea, "In addition, Luo Yunchong's side is also about to get ready, if the field airfields on Seylan Island and the Bird of Paradise Peninsula can be put into operation as planned, then heavy bombers will visit Lae and New Britain Island tomorrow." ”

Tan Renhao looked in the direction of the sea to the south, and the battleship was turning. Because the anchorage for the replenishment was near Biak Island in the Sezhen Islands, it took a day for the fleet to make a round trip. There is no way to do this, it is impossible for the supply ship to get close to the waters of the war zone, and that side is the nearest supply point. During these two days, they could only rely on the heavy bombers of the strategic strike force commanded by Luo Yunchong to suppress the US airfield.

"Let the officers and soldiers hurry up and rest, they have also been exhausted in the past two days."

Tan Renhao patted his partner on the shoulder, "You also go to rest first, come to change shifts in the afternoon, the fleet is still in a high state of combat readiness these days, don't relax." ”

Hao Dongjue nodded, yawned and walked towards the cabin below. He is indeed tired, as the chief of staff of the fleet, and he is also fully responsible for aviation operations (at the request of Hao Dongjue, the fleet staff does not have a chief of aviation operations staff, and Hao Dongjue directly leads the aviation operations staff) His burden is the heaviest.

Tan Renhao was not in a hurry to return to the command cabin, and the navigation staff officer was responsible for the navigation of the fleet, and the communication staff officer was also in charge. The intelligence staff officers are also busy over there, and they will be notified immediately if there is any news, and Tan Renhao is not too tired, at least he can hold on until the afternoon.

The fleet passed through the Bismarck Strait (i.e., the sea lane west of the Bismarck Sea) at noon, and while making a second turn, the flagship of the Third Task Force appeared to the north of the fleet. Previously, Task Force 3 had been on standby about 15o nautical miles north of the Peleluhu Islands, and immediately began to move south upon receiving the news. When the two fleets staggered. Tan Renhao saw Rear Admiral Yan Shiqi standing outside the bridge of the "Guangzhou". He took off his military hat and waved to the other party, and Yan Shiqi was also waving to this side. The officers and men on duty on the battleship also came out, relatively speaking, the officers and men of the first task force appeared to be untidy (Tan Renhao never asked the officers and men to wear strictly on the battleship, after all, the living environment on the battleship was bad enough, and there was no need to artificially cause trouble for the officers and men) and the officers and men of the third task force were wearing snow-white uniforms, and the difference in the style of the two fleet commanders could also be seen from this point.

"Task Force 3 is here so soon?"

Hearing Hao Dongjue's voice, Tan Renhao turned his head in surprise. "You woke up so soon?"

"I haven't been asleep."

Hao Dongjue shrugged his shoulders. He looked at the battleships on the other side.

"Do you want me to ask the doctor to prescribe you some sleeping pills?"

"I don't want to fall asleep and not be able to get up."

Hao Dongjue laughed. "The degree of the third task force is quite fast, it seems that Yan Shiqi and they have been waiting for several days."

"Maybe I've been waiting impatiently."

Tan Renhao let out a sigh. "Well, at least there's someone in front of me now. If you don't want to rest, I'll go to bed first, and then come back to change shifts in the evening. ”

"Ren Hao, why didn't you let Task Force 3 operate with us at the beginning?"

Tan Renhao stopped, hesitated, and said, "Do you like to work with Yan Shiqi?" ”

Hao Dongjue shrugged his shoulders. "I don't care, I'm afraid Yan Shiqi doesn't like to cooperate with us, it's better to wait outside than to work in vain next to you."

Tan Renhao smiled and shook his head. He went down the gangway. He also has some understanding of Yan Shiqi, and he doesn't have much affection for a commander like Yan Shiqi, and he doesn't like to cooperate with Yan Shiqi. Presumably, General Yan Guozhong also knew the difference between the two fleet commanders, so he did not arrange for the two task forces to act together.

After staggering with the First Task Force, Yan Shiqi returned to the command cabin. After a decisive battle with the U.S. "Z Fleet", Yan Shiqi regained his confidence that the Empire's battleships were still the most powerful battleships in the world, and he finally killed eight U.S. battleships with two losses, even if the quality of the opponent was very poor. But no matter what period of time, with a disadvantage of six to eight, to achieve such a huge record, this can be regarded as a perfect victory. Of course, the result was that the 3rd Task Force returned to the port and climbed for more than three months before it regained its combat effectiveness.

In Yan Shiqi's opinion, in this promotion, he should be the fleet commander who is most qualified to be promoted to vice admiral, but the result was unexpected, among the three task force commanders (the commander of the fleet in the South Atlantic Theater is also the commander of the theater, not counted among them) only Tan Renhao was promoted to vice admiral, and Yan Shiqi did not even have a chance to enter the list of candidates for promotion. This made him feel very dissatisfied, but he couldn't complain about anything to the marshal, after all, Nie Renfeng's prestige in the navy was recognized. Perhaps, there is no one in the navy who can replace Tan Renhao, after all, the Imperial Navy still lacks the commander of the aircraft carrier fleet, but there are definitely many people who can replace Yan Shiqi, and the Imperial Navy has never lacked masters in artillery warfare.

"Here is the list of shelling."

Gu Zhenyun sent a telegram over, "The First Task Force only bombed the airport, and the US coastal defense positions near Lae were not bombed, and our task is rather heavy. ”

Yan Shiqi glanced at the message. "When will the fleet reach Huon Bay?"

"Tonight, try to arrive in the first half of the night."

"Then prepare as soon as possible, and when you arrive, start shelling as soon as you arrive."

Yan Shiqi glanced at the navigation clock, "The first task force will need about two days to replenish fuel and ammunition, they will return the night after tomorrow, resume bombing on the morning of the first day of next month, plan the intensity of the shelling, we will hold out for at least three days, and then resupply ammunition." The 6 team still plans to go ashore on the second day. ”

Gu Zhenyun didn't say anything more, and immediately went to call the staff officer to plan the artillery operation.

Task Force 3 is the only artillery fleet of the four task forces currently in the Imperial Navy. At the time of the formation of the Third Task Force, some people raised objections, believing that it was not appropriate to form a fleet with battleships as the core at a time when aircraft carriers were in full swing, and that it would be better to assign those four fast battleships to other fleets and act as bodyguards for aircraft carriers. Outcome. This opinion was rejected, and later in actual combat proved that in some special battlefields, battleships still played an irreplaceable role. And the biggest use of the 3rd Task Force, in addition to blocking the enemy's fast fleet at night, is to support the 6th Sentai Fleet. Task Force 3 also accomplished this task several times, proving with its cannons that they were the strongest supporters behind Team 6 when they were rushing to the beach.

Naval warfare can never be separated from the Deng-6 operation, starting from the day the ocean becomes a battlefield. Grab the island. The port has become a highlight and focus in naval warfare, which is the main reason why the Imperial Navy 6 Squadron was born almost at the same time as the Navy. And there are Deng-6 operations. Then it is inseparable from artillery support, and strong artillery support is an important guarantee for the success of Deng 6. In hundreds of years of warfare, this has not been denied, and even at the advent of the era of aviation, the role of artillery, to be precise, naval guns, in the operation of Deng-6 is still irreplaceable, which is the main reason why the 3rd Task Force, a fleet dominated by shelling warships, is needed.

The 3rd Task Force reached Huon Bay at about half past ten in the evening, and the first artillery formation, consisting of four heavy cruisers and six destroyers, immediately attacked Lae. The shelling began at about eleven fifty o'clock, and the main formations arrived at about half past twelve. The shelling also reached the high level at the same time. Four battleships, eight heavy cruisers, and twelve destroyers lined up, aiming their side guns at the American defensive positions on the beach and the American facilities in the harbor. Then, several seaplanes with flares arrived over Lae Harbor and dropped flares, and the shelling reached its peak in an instant, with the huge cannons of more than twenty warships firing in unison. Steel shells swooped down on the American defenses like locusts.

The heavy shelling continued until about two o'clock, when the fleet withdrew to the open sea of the port and began to count the consumption of ammunition, as well as to clean up the artillery and maintain the battleship. At dawn, several seaplanes again came over Lae and began to confirm the effects of the previous night's shelling. Around ten o'clock in the morning, the fleet returned again. This time, the fleet began shelling under the guidance of artillery aiming aircraft, mainly to carry out supplementary strikes on the permanent fortifications of the US army, important infrastructure, barracks, ammunition depots, material warehouses, etc.

Because the firing range of the naval guns on the battleship was above the range of the US shore defense guns (at that time, the firing range of the 155 naval guns reached more than 1o nautical miles, the firing range of the 2oo naval guns was about 14 nautical miles, and the firing range of the 4oo mm caliber giant guns exceeded 18 nautical miles, while the maximum firing range of the ground anti-aircraft guns of the US Navy and the 6th Army would not exceed 12 nautical miles, and the general firing range was within 1o nautical miles) The battleships have been operating outside the enemy's artillery coverage, and the US coastal defense artillery positions are to hit targets again. So the fleet was not threatened much.

The main force of the shelling was heavy artillery of 2oo mm caliber on the cruiser. From an economic point of view, the cost of a 2oo mm shell is about one-tenth of that of a 4 oo mm shell, which is about 50% more expensive than a 155 mm shell. In terms of power, more than 2oo kg of shells are enough to destroy all targets, and 4oo mm shells are much more powerful. In addition, the range of 2oo mm shells was long enough, on the contrary, the range of 155 mm shells was slightly closer. This is also the reason why the Tang Imperial Navy focused on heavy cruisers and replaced light cruisers with large destroyers.

In the Tang Imperial Navy, the main force of naval warfare has always been battleships and aircraft carriers, and cruisers are actually supporting ground operations in many cases. Light cruisers could only be armed with 155 mm guns, while large destroyers could be armed with the same guns (in smaller quantities), on the contrary, heavy cruisers could be armed with guns of 2oo mm caliber. If the fleet is mainly ground support, the 2oo mm gun is much more effective than the 155 mm gun. Even after destroying the enemy's coastal defenses, it is possible to replace the light cruiser with a destroyer equipped with a 155 mm gun or a destroyer with 13o mm guns to carry out close artillery support missions. Judging from this use, light cruisers really have little value in the navy of the Tang Empire, and perhaps they will be valued in the navies of Britain and France (in fact, the large destroyers of the Tang Empire are not inferior to the light cruisers of the United States, Britain, France and other countries in terms of the number of artillery, and they are not lagging behind in other terms of performance, and even a lot, and on the battlefield where light cruisers are needed, the Tang Empire can completely replace light cruisers with large destroyers) By the time of the 31st, Task Force 3 has carried out at least eight rounds of artillery shelling of Lae and its surrounding coastal areas, including three at night. During the entire bombardment operation, the 3rd Task Force consumed more than 32,000 ammunition (at that time, the entire fleet carried about 50,000 shells of 155 mm caliber).

"It seems that Yan Shiqi, this old boy, has vented all his anger."

Hao Dongjue looked at the aerial photos sent back by the reconnaissance plane, and shook his head again and again, "We don't need to carry out supplementary bombing, continue to suppress the US military airfields, at least Yan Shiqi and the shells they fired can't fly to those airfields!" ”

Tan Renhao also shook his head, judging from the dense craters in the photo, the Third Task Force is really "hot" this time. "Then let's do it according to the plan, they will do the last round of artillery shelling tonight, maybe all the shells, and then withdraw to resupply the ammunition, and rush back on the second to support the 6th team to board the 6th. We resume bombing from tomorrow morning. ”

"Perhaps, the Yankees are now praying that our 6th team will come ashore sooner, otherwise they will always be in a situation of being passively beaten."

Both of them laughed, it was not pleasant to be beaten passively, but now at least the enemy was passively beaten, not they passively beaten.