Tan Renhao attaches great importance to Huang Xiaotian's proposal, first, the proposal is very feasible, and second, Huang Xiaotian is also a little unwillingly in the theater command, so he must take care of his emotions. After Lei Shaoqing told Tan Renhao about this, he went to Huang Xiaotian in person to find out more deeply.

"Overall, this campaign can kill two birds with one stone." Since arriving at the theater command, Huang Xiaotian has rarely been so excited. "The most important thing is that now that the Marine Corps has free hands, and there is no way to continue to advance into the heart of Cuba, Han Shaofeng is also looking for a new direction of operation, and he does not want to be idle. I think he will definitely agree to this battle plan, as long as the Marine Corps cooperates with the fleet, we don't even need the support of other troops, and we can let the tactical aviation support Gu Xunlei, and Gu Xunlei will not have any objections at that time. ”

"So, how to guarantee the materials needed for the battle?" Tan Renhao asked a pointed question.

At that time, most of the transport capacity was in the service of Luo Yunchong's strategic bombing operations. In addition, according to the previous agreement, after Han Shaofeng conquered the southeastern region of Cuba, he would shift the focus to the Mexican battlefield and let Gu Xunlei launch the third campaign, that is, to advance north from Mexico City, which had just been occupied. Therefore, not only did it need to provide more aviation support for Gu Xunlei, but also more combat materials for him, and the combat materials that could be allocated to Han Shaofeng and the fleet were quite limited.

"The scale of the landing campaign will not be very large, and our main purpose should be to destroy the Atlantic Fleet of the US army, so the naval battle is the key, as long as the material supply of the fleet is guaranteed, the consumption in other aspects should not be very much." Huang Xiaotian flipped through for a while and took out a document. "This is what I found from the theater command, and now Han Shaofeng should still have a batch of combat materials in his hands, otherwise his marines will not be able to hold the defense line from Bayamo to Holguin. Therefore, there was no need to even think about transporting other combat materials for the Marine Corps, as long as Han Shaofeng was willing to take some of his reserves. It will be able to meet the needs of this campaign. ”

Tan Renhao quickly looked at the document, and the data on it surprised him. If Han Shaofeng is not a soldier, then he must be a miser. This guy took advantage of the half month that Luo Yunchong's strategic bomber unit had not officially launched its operation to collect all the supplies in the Panama area, and now the total amount of supplies hoarded in Jamaica and San Diego exceeds 1.8 million tons, which is enough for his more than a dozen marine divisions to consume at least three months in defensive operations. At that time, Gu Xunlei's combat materials were only 1.2 million tons. Probably Han Shaofeng didn't want these materials to be sent to Gu Xunlei, so he rushed back and snatched all the materials before Luo Yunchong adjusted the focus of the battlefield.

"Have you contacted Han Shaofeng?"

"Not yet, I discussed it with Lei Shaoqing first, and after we confirm it, it's not too late to contact Han Shaofeng."

Tan Renhao nodded slightly and put down the document in his hand. "You started saying that the main purpose this time was to take out the Atlantic Fleet?"

"Yes, it is more important to defeat the Atlantic Fleet than to conduct a landing operation." Huang Xiaotian took out a cigarette, "Although the Atlantic Fleet remaining in Norfolk poses no threat to us. But after all, it's a henchman's trouble. And the more time is given to Spruance. The more opportunities he will be able to get, and he can even make the Atlantic Fleet gradually regain its strength and become a major threat to us. We'd better be able to take out the Atlantic Fleet before it becomes a real threat, rather than feeding the tiger. ”

Tan Renhao frowned slightly, during this time he was busy helping Luo Yunchong deal with transportation matters, but instead put aside the threat of the Atlantic Fleet. Huang Xiaotian's remarks are very reasonable, Spruance must be stepping up training, and what the US military needs is training, and more time. In addition, by the end of the year, or early next year, the US Navy will receive a new batch of warships. The threat will be even greater. If the Atlantic Fleet can be eliminated before then, then even if the U.S. military acquires more warships, it will be difficult for the fleet to function because of the lack of sufficient officers and men.

"In addition, this offensive campaign is also quite important to Luo Yunchong." Huang Xiaotian is looking for more reasons for himself. "With the strategic bomber forces deployed on the Yucatan Peninsula in combat, and by October, our maritime capabilities will be greatly enhanced, and at that time, Luo Yunchong will definitely want to consider deploying strategic bombers to Jamaica and Cuba. If the range of strategic bombing is expanded, then our fighter planes deployed in Cuba will not be able to provide full escort for the bomber group. Forward bases closer to the continental U.S. are needed so that escort fighters can provide the tightest protection for bomber groups. If we launch another attack at that time, I am afraid it will be too late, so we should attack in advance, take down the Bahamas before the US military has time to adjust its defensive deployment, and seize the forward base for the air force. ”

Tan Renhao nodded slightly, when he first proposed to attack the Bahamas first, it was to consider getting an advance base for the escort fighters of the bomber group. At that time, the combat operation on the ground was unsuccessful, and now that the southeastern region of Cuba has been conquered, it will be much less difficult to attack the Bahamas, and the certainty of success will be much greater. What's more, Han Shaofeng will definitely not refuse this plan.

"What do we know about the situation in the Bahamas now?"

"I've been in contact with the intelligence services, and they've started to gather intelligence on the Bahamas. In addition, a few days ago, the reconnaissance aircraft of the HNA began to operate, and we will soon be able to grasp the situation in the Bahamas. ”

"But the problem is that the U.S. military can't be unaware of the importance of the Bahamas. Especially after the start of the operation of our strategic bombers, the US military will inevitably pay more attention to the defense of the Bahamas. ”

"Then we must launch an offensive before the U.S. military completes its defensive adjustments, and we can't wait until the U.S. military deploys a defensive line before attacking."

Tan Renhao was silent, this is for sure. "If the U.S. military is determined to hold on to the Bahamas, then we are going to face a tough battle. It's not a problem in terms of troops, but if the supply of war materiel can't keep up......"

"The only thing that the U.S. military can use to strengthen the defense of the Bahamas at this time is the Atlantic Fleet, and it will also consider the Atlantic Fleet first, and we will use this opportunity to take out the Atlantic Fleet."

Tan Renhao glanced at Huang Xiaotian, the two of them considered different angles, but he had to admit that Huang Xiaotian's analysis was more reasonable. When the U.S. military was stuck in Mexico and had to commit more troops to Cuba. In order to prevent the Marines from continuing to advance westward, it is unlikely that sufficient ground forces will be deployed to strengthen the defence of the Bahamas. In addition, the Bahamas are not suitable for ground forces, most of the islands are flat, and it is the fleet, not the ground forces, that really decides the fate of the islands. Therefore, the US military can only send the Atlantic Fleet to protect the Bahamas.

"Then, contact Han Shaofeng as soon as possible." Tan Renhao finally adopted Huang Xiaotian's suggestion. "If he agrees to this battle plan. As soon as possible, I will personally be in charge of the fleet's combat operations, and discuss this matter with Luo Yunchong, you are mainly responsible for logistics and intelligence matters, and contact Lei Shaoqing more. ”

"No problem, I'll contact Han Shaofeng later."

"Then, I will return to the fleet after talking to Luo Yunchong tomorrow." As he spoke, Tan Renhao picked up the hat on the table and stood up. "After you have the results on your side, send them directly to the fleet, since we are dealing with the Atlantic Fleet. Then we need to be proactive. The Marines can't be allowed to run to the front. ”

In fact, that night, Tan Renhao went to find Luo Yunchong. At first, Luo Yunchong was a little opposed. After all, he is preparing to start a strategic bombing campaign against the United States, so how can he still support the Marine Corps in attacking the Bahamas? After Tan Renhao proposed that only the combined fleet should be dispatched to support the Marine Corps, and at the same time, Han Shaofeng would distribute the materials needed for this campaign from the remaining combat materials of the Marine Corps, so as not to add a burden to the theater command, and it would not affect the strategic bombing and Gu Xunlei's actions on the battlefield in Mexico, Luo Yunchong agreed to Tan Renhao's proposal, first verbally approved the campaign operation, and then formally approved the campaign operation after contacting Han Shaofeng.

Huang Xiaotian is much smoother on Han Shaofeng's side. After learning that he was preparing to attack the Bahamas, Han Shaofeng, who was worried that the more than 200,000 Marine officers and men had nothing to do, immediately agreed, and agreed to allocate a part of the materials he had hoarded to complete the combat operation of attacking the Bahamas. In the end, Han Shaofeng promised to come up with a landing operation plan before 10 September, and asked the marines participating in the campaign to make preparations for departure.

On the evening of September 4, after receiving Luo Yunchong's verbal support, Tan Renhao returned to the fleet by plane. At that time, the Combined Fleet was deployed in Kingston. After the end of the combat operation in support of the Marine Corps from September 1. The two main fleets rested in Kingston, and the third task force arrived in Kingston on 29 August. After ceding the port of Cologne to the arriving convoy, Kingston became the new base of the Combined Fleet in the Caribbean.

On the way back to the fleet, Tan Renhao rethought the campaign actions proposed by Huang Xiaotian. Fundamentally, attacking the Bahamas is not the point, the point is to take the opportunity to take out the American Atlantic Fleet.

At least until late September, Luo Yunchong will not have the ability to deploy strategic bombers in Jamaica and Cuba, so there will be no question of seizing forward bases for the sake of strategy. In addition, the Bahamas itself is not difficult to attack, after losing the southeastern region of Cuba, even without the support of the fleet, the Marine Corps can use the support fleet, and the support of shore-based aviation is enough to take the Bahamas, and the battle will not be too difficult.

Judging from Huang Xiaotian's own intentions, he also wanted to use the Bahamas to force the US military to send the Atlantic Fleet to war, and after killing the Atlantic Fleet, the Imperial Navy would have no worries. Of course, there are still many benefits to conquering the Bahamas. For example, tactical aviation can be deployed on several islands in the northern part of the archipelago to bomb Florida, as well as the southeastern region of the United States, so that there is no need to dispatch strategic bombers. In addition, this can also force the US air force to pay more attention to the Bahamas, so that it will not be able to fully cover the US forces in the central and western regions of Cuba, so that Han Shaofeng can seize the opportunity to continue to advance the front westward. At the same time, it made Luo Yunchong's strategic bombing smoother. So, in many ways, the value of quickly conquering the Bahamas is enormous.

However, when Tan Renhao thought about it carefully, he found that the defeat of the Bahamas, to be precise, was a negative effect of taking out the Atlantic Fleet, that is, after losing the last opponent, is it necessary for the Combined Fleet to continue to exist? Or what else could the Imperial Navy contribute to the war?

If Tan Renhao was not an admiral or the commander of the Combined Fleet, he would not have thought about this issue, after all, defeating the opponent is the most important thing. However, now that the end of the war is far away, can he not think about it? If the Navy became a secondary power, then what impact did this have on the development of the Navy after the war, as well as on its status? Also, will this affect the military budget of the Navy in the 29 year, as well as those large warships that are being built? Anyway, when Tan Renhao thought about this issue in depth, he realized that when necessary, he still had to leave an opponent, at least, this could allow the navy to expand its strength justifiably, rather than being questioned by others.

With this worry, Tan Renhao came to Kingston, and after returning to the battleship "Hefei", Tan Renhao did not rush to send someone to invite Chang Jianxin and Hao Dongjue, nor did he rush to tell Yan Yulong about this matter, but returned to his own cabin, and he needed more time to consider this powerful relationship.

On the morning of the 5th, Tan Renhao, who had not slept all night, asked the communications staff officer to send an urgent telegram to the Navy Command. He couldn't make a decision on this issue, or make a complete judgment, and he had to ask Gan Yongxing to let Gan Yongxing pay attention to him. After sending the telegram, Tan Renhao went back to sleep. Gan Yongxing also needed time to think about it, so there was no need for him to wait for a call back at the communication center.