Chang Jianxin was also very happy after knowing that Lei Shaoqing had recovered from his illness. In his busy schedule, he also took time to come to Tan Renhao and asked about Lei Shaoqing's specific situation.

"Lao Chang, I'm just like you, and that's all I know." Tan Renhao didn't know much more than Chang Jianxin, "Shaoqing should be in Lae, maybe he has been transferred to Port Vila now, the telegram said that he is now responsible for coordinating the coordinated actions of the fleet and other troops, and the specific command of the fleet is still in the hands of Huang Xiaotian and Hao Dongjue." It seems that he resembles the chief of staff in the theater command who is responsible for fleet operations. ”

"This kid is really, he is a good person, and he doesn't send us a message, so we continue to worry about him." Chang Zhixin smiled and shook his head, "But it's okay, at least he's back." ”

"Lao Chang, we also have to be more considerate, Shaoqing must have a lot of things to deal with, and the telephone line has not been laid to our side, do you want him to send you a greeting on the military radio?"

Chang Jianxin immediately laughed, it was not a strange thing to send greetings on military radio in the navy.

"Now we should also be happy for Shaoqing, he can stand up and be able to return to the navy, this is what we should be most happy about. When we get back, it's not too late to settle accounts with him, isn't it? ”

"Yes, yes!" Chang Jianxin nodded, "When I go back, I will find him to drink, call Hao Dongjue, Huang Xiaotian and them, we must drink him down, and we must let him have a treat!" ”

Tan Renhao also laughed. "I'll talk about this later, Shaoqing will definitely have a treat. Judging from the current situation, the progress of the campaign on the other side of the southwest Pacific has been much delayed than expected. ”

Chang Jianxin's expression sank. "I noticed it too. According to the plan, the land of Noumea was supposed to be captured at the end of February, and the battle dragged on until mid-March. If nothing else, just the restoration of the port. The work of hoarding supplies and assembling troops takes a lot of time. In addition, the repair of Port Vila and Port Noumea will definitely not be completed in time, so Yan Guozhong can only delay the operation time of attacking the Australian mainland. ”

"If you take into account the fact that the US military has a new fleet in the Pacific Ocean by the end of March at the latest. Maybe the situation over there will be more complicated. Tan Renhao sighed, "If we can annihilate the British and French joint expeditionary fleet in the last operation, even if it is only to eliminate the British expeditionary fleet, we can at least arrange a task force to go back now, which will have a huge impact on the situation in the entire Pacific theater." At present, we can only rely on the Second Task Force, the Fourth Task Force, and the two theater fleets that are not large in scale and have poor combat effectiveness to deal with the next combat operations and the threat of the US military. ”

"Don't we have a surplus of aircraft carriers? Wouldn't the Headmaster consider a new task force? Chang Jiexin said as he took out a cigarette.

"There will definitely be a suitable arrangement for a few more aircraft carriers. Both the Second Task Force and the Fourth Task Force will be strengthened into a three-carrier task force, and even if one aircraft carrier is left for the First Task Force, the principal will still have three aircraft carriers in his hands. Tan Renhao picked up the teacup. Judging from the current situation, the headmaster will definitely consider the establishment of Task Force 6, but the question is, who is more suitable to command Task Force 6 now? ”

I often recommend a few new puffs of cigarettes. Only then did he say: "Maybe the chief of staff of the fourth task force will be transferred, but the problem is that no suitable person is selected to be the commander of the new land fleet, whether it is the second task force or the fourth task force." If this candidate cannot be determined, it will be difficult to play a role even if a new task force is formed. ”

Tan Renhao nodded, in fact, there was still a possibility, but he didn't say it in front of Chang Jianxin. What kind of arrangement the principal will make is not something that ordinary people can guess.

Tan Renhao was rarely able to guess the principal's arrangement, and it was not supposed to talk about the principal in front of Chang Zhixin.

"Maybe the principal will let Lao Lei go to the temporary ......"

"Let's not discuss this matter, the principal will make appropriate arrangements." Tan Renhao stopped Chang Jianxin's words, "Even if a new task force is established, there is still a problem, that is, after defeating Noumea, if you want to land directly on the southeast coast of the Australian mainland, then you have to shorten the landing distance a little closer." ”

Chang Zhixin frowned slightly, he also saw that Tan Renhao still had something to say, but he didn't ask any further.

"In addition to the six new fleet aircraft carriers, the fourth batch of four 'new provincial capitals' in the third batch has also been commissioned, and it is very likely that these battleships will be arranged in the Southwest Pacific Theater Fleet first, and it is not very important whether they will be transferred to the third task force in the future or stay and re-establish a new task force with battleships as the core force." Tan Renhao rummaged as he spoke, and finally turned over a map of the Pacific Ocean. "Lao Chang, come and see, if we attack the Australian mainland, where would we better land?"

The scale of this map is too large, many of the details are not marked, and the map is a bit distorted, especially in southern Australia, which is already at the edge of the map, so the scale is not completely accurate.

"From the perspective of our overall strategic arrangement, the best way to attack the Australian continent is to land directly in the southeastern region of the Australian continent, which is the most densely populated, the most densely distributed and the most economically concentrated area in Australia. From the perspective of geographical conditions, this side is also more suitable for military combat, and it is much more advantageous than other regions of the Australian mainland. Seeing Chang Jianxin looking at the map, Tan Renhao continued, "Since opening up the Southwest Pacific Theater, all our efforts have been to finally land on the Australian continent and capture the Australian continent. From the Solomon Islands to the New Hebrides, and in New Caledonia, these operations were not just strategic outflanking, but also strategic detours. The capture of Port Moresby was in fact part of a backup plan. Now that we have laid Noumea, the overall strategy has achieved initial success, and the groundwork for a direct landing on the south-eastern coast of Australia is ripe.

But where do we have the responsibility for the landing site? Also, before landing in Australia. Do we still need to take away another forward base? ”

"In the most conservative way, if I want to land on the Australian mainland, I will choose Brisbane first." Chang Jiexin raised his head. "It's closer to Noumea, and it's furthest from other heavily defended strongholds. It belongs to the remote area of the US army's defense line on the Australian mainland, and the landing operation site is the least difficult, and the operation to capture Brisbane is relatively easy. We could also launch a smaller landing operation to the south, separating Brisbane from the rest of the U.S. military, in that case. It was even easier to capture Brisbane. After the capture of Brisbane, we were given a deep-water port, where transport ships could deliver war materiel directly to the ground forces, which was also more logistically advantageous. ”

Tan Renhao laughed. "Lao Chang, how much do you know about Yan Guozhong?"

"Yan Guozhong?" Chang Jianxin frowned slightly, "I don't know too much, except for fighting in the southwest Pacific during the 'Coral Sea Sea Battle', I have been active in the waters of the Pacific Theater at other times. ”

"If you knew Yan Guozhong, then you wouldn't think so. And, I think too.

Landing in Brisbane in the first place is not a good option. ”

Chang Jianxin looked at Tan Renhao with a little surprise, he didn't see it that way.

"First of all, Brisbane is home to the U.S. Southwest Pacific Theater Command. This is MacArthur's lair, and from the intelligence we have obtained before, all the troops sent to the outlying islands, as well as war materiel. Most of it was shipped from the port of Brisbane, which is certainly the place where the U.S. military is most concentrated. Secondly, MacArthur was not a fool, he would certainly have thought that Brisbane could be the first place to be hit, so MacArthur would certainly continue to strengthen Brisbane's defenses after the loss of Noumea. Third, Brisbane is far away from big cities such as Sydney and Melbourne, and there are not many land passages here, and there are US military fortifications, if you fight all the way, how much time will it take, and how much investment will it take? Land supply lines are comparatively more vulnerable, and their supply capacity is quite limited. Finally, and most crucially, it is difficult for the Army to provide ground forces to take on the heavy responsibility, and if it is necessary to have the Marines as the main offensive force, then the combat operations should be concentrated as much as possible on the coast and avoid going deep inland, and if they land in Brisbane, then the Marines will most likely have to fight deep inland. After Tan Renhao finished speaking in one breath, he paused for a while, and finally said, "Therefore, if it were me to plan this offensive operation, then I would not choose to go ashore in Brisbane first, but would have placed the landing site a little further south, such as a certain section of the beach near Sydney that is more suitable for a large-scale landing operation."

Of course, Brisbane can be used as a place to contain the US military, and as long as we put on the posture that we will land in Brisbane, then MacArthur will have to continue to strengthen Brisbane's defenses, and at the same time weaken the defense forces in other directions, which will also help us a lot. ”

When Tan Renhao expressed his views, Chang Jianxin was also thinking quickly. After Tan Renhao finished speaking, he said: "If you choose to land near Sydney, then the sea line will have to be extended by hundreds of nautical miles, and this has exceeded the combat radius of most bombers, and this problem is not easy to solve." ”

"Therefore, before landing in Australia, we must first seize an forward base, at least an forward base that can deploy shore-based tactical bombers for sea navigation."

Chang Jianxin's eyes immediately fell on the map, but the map did not clearly mark the small islands near the Australian mainland, not even some important islands.

"Lord Howe Island, and Borspiramid Island." Tan Renhao used a pencil to point out the two small islands that were close to each other on the map. "About 400 nautical miles northeast of Sydney and less than 300 nautical miles from the Australian mainland, if the location of the landing site is appropriately moved to the north, then the shore-based tactical bombers deployed on these two islands can provide support to the Marine Corps."

Chang Jianxin thought for a while and remembered these two islands. These are indeed two small islands, and the only ones in the southeast of Australia. The area of the island is not very large, and it is enough to build a field airfield on it.

"If Yan Guozhong really wants to directly hit the soft underbelly of the US army, then he has to seize these two islands first, maybe now Yan Guozhong is already preparing for the Marine Corps."

"But the problem is that if we take these two islands, then our offensive intentions will be obvious."

"Often, true and false, false and real, a few more times, MacArthur will not be able to judge our intentions." Tan Renhao laughed, "As long as Yan Guozhong does his job well, I'm afraid that when our Marines set foot on the Australian mainland, MacArthur won't believe that we have landed outside Brisbane." ”

Chang Jianxin also laughed, the landing operation against the mainland is different from the island landing operation, and there are many differences. The landing operation on the mainland is not only larger in scale, but also allows the landing force to choose more locations. On the contrary, even if the defending side has sufficient troops, there will be loopholes. Therefore, the defending side will mainly take a mobile defense, and there will not be too many troops deployed on the front line, but more troops will be left behind the line as reserves. After clearly determining the enemy's landing location, the reserves were sent over to deal with the marines who had landed. The US military does not have a lot of troops on the Australian mainland, but it is impossible to send all the US troops to the Australian mainland to defend the coastline of more than 1,000 kilometers. Therefore, the US military can only adopt the tactics of mobile defense, and judging the landing site is crucial. For the attacking side, confusing the opponent and making the opponent make a wrong judgment is also the most important pre-war preparation.

Tan Renhao also followed Yan Guozhong for a lot of time, and he also commanded several small-scale landing campaigns, so he also had a little understanding of landing operations. Although it is thousands of miles away, Tan Renhao has clearly seen that Yan Guozhong will definitely come up with a big deal this time.

3z436D。

The two discussed for a while before they went to sleep, to put it bluntly, no matter what Yan Guozhong fought, it had little to do with the battle in the Indian Ocean, even if they wanted to go back to the Pacific Ocean to help, they had to deal with the enemy in front of them first!