Looking at the table full of food, the five people were not in a hurry to move their chopsticks. The room was full of smoke, except for Tan Renhao, who didn't smoke, the other four people were smoking.

"This is a send-off banquet for Shaoqing, Huang, and General Jiang Zhongmin." Tan Renhao broke the silence, "The wine is not rich, and after we return triumphantly, I will set up a table to celebrate everyone." ”

Everyone raised their glasses, the quality of the food was secondary, and they didn't come to eat this meal.

"Let's wish victory first!"

"Wish you victory!"

All five of them have done it all, the commander's meeting has ended, except for Tan Renhao, who wants to stay in the headquarters for the time being, the other four will immediately return to the fleet. Now, with the exception of Chang Zhixin, chief of staff of the Second Task Force, who remained in the fleet and did not return to the Navy Command, the commanders and chiefs of staff of the three aircraft carrier task forces have arrived. Because Tan Renhao has the highest military rank, and he will not return to the fleet immediately, this meal is a treat for Tan Renhao in the name of seeing him off.

Everyone chatted about some lighter topics, and they also took this opportunity to fill their stomachs. In the past few days of the meeting, although there are official banquets every day, few people have eaten a comfortable meal, and almost all of them are busy with various things. For example, Lei Shaoqing had to send a list of the meritorious officers and men of the Second Task Force, and then discuss in detail with the admiral in charge of personnel in the navy who could be promoted and who could be rewarded. These things can only be done during the interval of the meeting, and cannot affect the arrangements of the conference, as a result, after a few days, Lei Shaoqing has not even slept well, how can he have time to eat a comfortable meal?

Tan Renhao was also paying attention to everyone's looks, especially Huang Xiaotian and Jiang Zhongmin's looks. Huang Xiaotian was promoted to commander of the fleet, although he was only an acting commander, but it also caused quite a stir. Before Huang Xiaotian, except for Liao Hanxiang and Ji Xiaobin, no officer who was not from the navy could be promoted to the rank of fleet commander. What's more, Liao Hanxiang and Ji Xiaobin have also served in the Navy for more than 20 years. made outstanding contributions, the Fifth Fleet at that time, and the First Task Force when it was only formed, were indeed not very good, but now, the Fourth Task Force is one of the four main fleets of the Imperial Navy in the Pacific Theater, with one-third of the aircraft carriers of the Imperial Navy. It really feels a little strange that a man who had just been promoted from staff officer to aviation operations staff and then by fire to chief of staff of the fleet commanded almost a third of the combat strength of the Imperial Navy.

As Tan Renhao expected before, the most unacceptable thing is the pair of Huang Xiaotian and Jiang Zhongmin. There is not only the relationship between the two people, but also the doubts about the two. Jiang Zhongmin was more suitable than Huang Xiaotian to be the commander of the fleet in all aspects, but the result was that the two hung upside down. In addition, Jiang Zhongmin himself was also questioned, he was the general of the defeated army, and he almost completely buried the first task force, according to the previous practice of the navy, it was good that a defeated general like him could stay in the navy. Rather, to command the fleet again to fight. It's almost impossible.

Perhaps, no one can understand Nie Renfeng's arrangement, but at the same time, no one dares to oppose Nie Renfeng's arrangement. Nie Renfeng's prestige in the navy goes without saying. Relying on the fact that more than eighty percent of the officers and generals of the Young Zhuang faction in the navy are his students, no one dares to oppose it in person. The second is that few people doubt Nie Renfeng's vision. After Nie Renfeng took office, three people were promoted, one was Gan Yongxing, the chief of the General Staff, one was Liao Hanxiang, and the other was Tan Renhao, and the performance of these three people was enough to prove Nie Renfeng's ability to see people and use people. Later, although he made mistakes in promoting Lei Shaoqing, he performed very well in the command of the recent local campaign. There are also people like Hao Dongjue, Luo Yunchong and others. They are all non-descendant generals promoted by Nie Renfeng, and their performance is also very good. Now, Nie Renfeng arranged Huang Xiaotian and Jiang Zhongmin together, so naturally he has his reasons.

Tan Renhao's concern is whether Huang Xiaotian and Jiang Zhongmin can try their best to cooperate, and not cause conflicts for some special reasons. To put it bluntly, the commander of the fleet and the chief of staff of the fleet are the left and right brains of the fleet, and if these two people are not in harmony, then the fleet will not be able to fight normally, let alone defeat the enemy.

After observing for a while. Tan Renhao was also relieved a lot. Huang Xiaotian's personality is a bit similar to Hao Dongjue, but he is more calm, and he is very good at handling interpersonal relationships. Jiang Zhongmin is a person who has taken a detour, so he naturally knows how precious the opportunity is, and naturally he will not waste this precious opportunity in front of him, and this is probably his last chance. Both of them need to prove themselves with results and victories to get better opportunities to show. Then they must work together, and any contradiction will only be harmful, not beneficial.

"Ren Hao, you say, will the U.S. military make any tricks?" Hao Dongjue broke the silence, he was also going to return to Naha tomorrow and then lead the fleet out, while Tan Renhao had to finish his work at the naval headquarters before returning to the fleet.

"Tricks?" Lei Shaoqing looked at Hao Dongjue, "Dongjue, what are the tricks you are talking about?" ”

Hao Dongjue did not rush to speak, but used his eyes to ask Tan Renhao's opinion. Tan Renhao put down his wine glass, then nodded slightly, and motioned for Hao Dongjue to say what he thought.

"Let's put it this way, we have always thought that the direction of the U.S. military's counterattack is either Wake Island or the Southwest Pacific, but the question is, is Nimitz the only one with these two options?"

Everyone's eyes fell on Hao Dongjue, and the topic was brought over.

"These are the two main directions, but are there no other holes in our defensive line?"

"Yes, and there are a lot of loopholes." Tan Renhao picked up the teacup, "Japan in the north, the Marshall Islands and Gilbert Islands in the middle, and the Solomon Islands in the south. These are all holes in the defense, and the US military has many options. ”

"It's really a problem, the U.S. military can choose a lot of places to attack on our defense line of thousands of nautical miles." Jiang Zhongmin dipped his fingers in wine and drew a few dots on the dinner table, "As the general said at the beginning, the US military can choose to counterattack in the direction of Japan, the Marshall Islands, the Gilbert Islands, and the Solomon Islands, while our defense focuses on Wake Island and New Britain Island. There are a lot of holes in the whole direction. With the exception of Task Force 2 on Wake Island and Task Force 4 on New Britain Island, the actions of Task Force 1 will determine the outcome of the entire operation. ”

"We ......"

"Task Force 1 won't have a problem." Tan Renhao stopped Hao Dongjue. He said, "Whether there is a problem on Wake Island or in the southwest Pacific direction, we will reinforce it in time, and the problem is that it will take at least three days for Task Force 1 to complete the transfer, and then it is necessary to choose the time of the decisive battle, which is extremely critical in the middle." ”

"We're going to try to deal with the U.S. military. It's okay to stick to it for a few days. Lei Shaoqing immediately stated, "Of course, the timely reinforcement of the First Task Force is the key to victory." ”

"The problem on our side won't be huge." Huang Xiaotian glanced at his partner Jiang Zhongmin, "With the cover of the Third Task Force and the support of shore-based aviation, as long as we properly control the scope of the fleet's activities and try to avoid the sea areas where the US fleet may appear, we are very sure that we will hold on until the First Task Force arrives." ”

"But the problem is that the direction of the U.S. attack may not be what we expected." Hao Dongjue looked at Tan Renhao the same, and did not talk to Tan Renhao this time.

"Dong Jue's words are not wrong. If the U.S. military chooses another direction of attack. Then we're going to have to reconsider. Tan Renhao smiled and nodded, "Judging from the principal's deployment, several other secondary directions have actually been taken care of. Judging by the probability. The probability of the U.S. military counterattacking Wake Island and advancing into the southwest Pacific is also about 40 percent, while the possibility of counterattacking from the direction of Japan is almost zero, and the counterattack is launched in the Central Pacific, that is, in the direction of the Marshall Islands and the Gilbert Islands. I thought about it for a long time, and I always thought that the defense of the ground in these two directions was not stable, and now we have strengthened the defense in the direction of Wake Island and the Mariana Islands, and the investment in the southwest Pacific is increasing. Considering the success rate of the counterattack, the US military is very likely to take the initiative to attack the Marshall Islands and the Gilbert Islands. Trying to connect the two theaters of war can be very helpful in changing the strategic balance, and then moving on to a larger offensive to turn the tide of the war. ”

"If that's the case, then Task Force 1 will take the brunt of it!" Lei Shaoqing nodded as he spoke, in fact, he had already taken this into account.

"The Headmaster's arrangement for Task Force 1 is probably to take care of this, right?" Jiang Zhongmin frowned slightly, he also felt that the principal trusted Tan Renhao more, otherwise he would not hand over the most important task to the First Task Force. He would even discuss these important issues with Tan Renhao alone, without explaining them to others.

"That's the key point of the campaign, and it's the point where the risks are the greatest. Perhaps, the American commander does not see this hole in us, but we cannot pin our hopes on the enemy's mistakes, at least, Nimitz has not shown much of a flaw now, he has caused us a lot of trouble in his previous command, MacArthur is not a fool, at least his defense in the southwest Pacific has made us miserable. Tan Renhao smiled bitterly, "If the U.S. military attacks the Marshall Islands and the Gilbert Islands first, the First Task Force will meet the enemy first, and at this time, the support of your two fleets will be needed." I could delay the U.S. offensive as much as possible, and avoid a decisive battle with the U.S. before the support fleet arrived, but the problem was that it was not enough to rely on the strength of Task Force 1 to stop the U.S. attack. Therefore, I implore you that if this is the case, then Task Force 2 and Task Force 4 will arrive as soon as possible! ”

"Don't worry, as long as you give an order, we will come in a hurry, and we will not delay for the slightest."

"We are the same, we will never let the First Task Force meet the enemy alone, and defeating the US military is our common goal."

Lei Shaoqing, Huang Xiaotian and Jiang Zhongmin all immediately expressed their attitudes.

"Then, the key is in the coordination and liaison of the fleet." Hao Dongjue interjected again, and then closed his mouth, this should be said by Tan Renhao.

"Dongjue is right, if your two fleets are coming, cooperation and liaison are extremely important." Tan Renhao smiled and nodded, "So, I suggest that you set up a communication network as soon as possible after you go back." When the time comes, if you need to move closer to us, then you will have to keep the radio silent, and we will most likely remain hidden, so make full use of the communication facilities on the islands and make basic preparations, so that we can keep in touch at all times and lay the foundation for a joint operation. ”

"I will discuss this matter with General Liao Hanxiang, and the problem will not be very big." Lei Shaoqing nodded in thought, the contact of the fleet while maintaining a covert advance would be the most difficult thing.

"We will also handle the liaison affairs with General Yan Guozhong and General Liao Hanxiang."

"That's good, I believe that the Yankees won't come to touch us, so it's just a backup plan." Tan Renhao raised his glass, "Then, let's say so first, no matter what the situation is, when the time comes, we will cooperate with all our strength and do everything we can to defeat the opponent!" ”

"All together!"

The five wine glasses clashed together, and the previous grievances vanished, and the five young generals stood together for a common victory. This is just like the reconciliation between the Navy and the 6th Army at the beginning, when the great enemy is present, the contradictions within the Navy are also rapidly eliminating and diluting, and the victory is not the victory of one person, but the victory of the entire Navy and the entire empire. For the sake of victory, the contradictions between the soldiers are nothing, and as soldiers, they also know that they are winning for the empire, and in the face of justice, personal grievances can only stand aside.

Tan Renhao ate very happily at this meal, and he was naturally happy when he paid the bill. Before, he was worried about the relationship between Huang Xiaotian and Jiang Zhongmin, and judging from the performance of the two singing and harmonizing at the wine table, there should be no problem between them, to a certain extent, they are not a relationship between the top and bottom, but a cooperative relationship, Huang Xiaotian needs Jiang Zhongmin's rich knowledge in navigation operations, and Jiang Zhongmin needs Huang Xiaotian's foundation in aviation operations. The other problem that Tan Renhao was worried about did not exist anymore, as long as the three main fleets worked together, no matter which direction the US military counterattacked from, it would have to face a Tang Imperial Navy that fought as a whole, not the Tang Imperial Navy that was scattered into three forces.