In the Age of Artillery, naval battles were like duels between two samurai with shields and swords, while naval battles in the Age of Aircraft Carriers were more like battles between two sharpshooters.

The report sent back by Shen Guangwei's reconnaissance plane was not only delivered to Hao Dongjue, but also to Tan Renhao and Huang Xiaotian, and it was the Second Task Force that was the first to respond. Hao Dongjue didn't think about why the U.S. Fifth Fleet was so close to them, all he thought about was how to attack and drive out the U.S. Fifth Fleet. Shen Guangwei's reconnaissance report was sent back at around 7:30 a.m., and the US fleet was about 250 nautical miles away from the Second Task Force, 275 nautical miles from the First Task Force, and less than 300 nautical miles from the Fourth Task Force. This is dozens of nautical miles closer than previously expected. In addition, there is another detail that Hao Dongjue did not notice, that is, the distance between the two task forces found is less than 20 nautical miles, which is much closer than the normal distance, and even less than the range covered by the fleet itself.

Hao Dongjue is a very direct thinking person, since he has discovered the enemy, what are he hesitating about? At 7:35, that is, just after receiving the second reconnaissance report sent back by Shen Guangwei, he gave the order to attack. Two minutes later, the first "water bird" roared out of the flight deck of the aircraft carrier, which was the bomber piloted by Colonel Zhang Naiding.

After Shen Guangwei and their reconnaissance plane departed, Zhang Naiding's landline was sent to the flight deck. Because there was no need to carry out a ground bombing mission this time, the dive bombers were all equipped with aviation armor-piercing shells, and the torpedo bombers were all equipped with aviation torpedoes, so there was no problem of replacing ammunition. Hao Dongjue also issued a clear order: After the reconnaissance planes set off, all bombers must be ready to take off before 7:20 a.m. Zhang Naiding entered his landline at half past seven, that is, when Hao Dongjue received the first reconnaissance report and gave the battle order. After the command of the fleet gave the order to attack, he was the first to set off.

All three aircraft carriers in the fleet are releasing bombers. The bombers of the 2nd Task Force were divided into two batches. The first batch was led by Zhang Naiding, and the second batch was led by Yang Shihong. Zhang Naiding's task was to tear open the enemy's air defense network and disrupt the air defense order of the US fleet. According to the battle plan, the bombers of the First Task Force and the Fourth Task Force will definitely take off, and as long as Zhang Naiding's assault is successful, the bomber group will be able to destroy the US fleet. But Hao Dongjue didn't think that he needed the help of others to defeat the U.S. army, he had his own ideas. If both groups of bombers could arrive in time, then he would be able to defeat the Americans alone. Re-establish the prestige of Task Force 2!

Zhang Naiding's group all left the aircraft carrier before 8 o'clock, to be precise, at 7:54 a.m., the last escort fighter took off, and it was the two squadron ground fighters led by Colonel Jiang Wenhan who carried out the escort mission. This is also the place that has been arranged in the entire aviation battle plan, and the first batch of bomber groups to set off must need enough escort fighters, otherwise they will not be able to deal with the US air defense fighters, so Hao Dongjue sent out two fighter squadrons. And at this time the second task force was closest to the American army, if nothing else. Fighter planes from Task Force 1 and Task Force 4 will reach Task Force 2 in less than half an hour. Assist Task Force 2 in its defense. At that time, the second task force will be able to get the cover of at least three squadrons of fighters, which will be enough to block the counterattack of the American army!

Because ammunition was hung up in advance. Loaded with fuel, the bombers of Yang Shihong's group took off immediately after Zhang Naiding's group. At 8:30 a.m., the "Sea Eagle" piloted by Colonel Yang Shihong was the first to leave the flight deck, and other bombers also took off one after another. By 8:24 a.m., all of the bombers in Task Force 2 had left the carrier, with the exception of the 31 reconnaissance planes that had gone on reconnaissance missions and the 14 bombers that had been lost during the previous bombing of Oahu. Among them, there are two squadrons in Zhang Naiding's aircraft group, with a total of 68 "water birds" and one squadron. A total of 33 "Sea Eagles", as well as two squadrons with a total of 69 "Peregrine Falcons". Yang Shihong's fleet consisted of one squadron with a total of 34 "waterbirds", two squadrons with a total of 67 "sea eagles", and one squadron with a total of 32 "peregrine falcons". That is, Hao Dongjue did not leave a single fighter to carry out the task of air defense of the fleet. He dispatched all the fighters he could. Moreover, the fighters in Yang Shihong's group were all hung with rockets. The "Peregrine Falcon" has a super endurance and a large ammunition carrying capacity, giving Hao Dongjue this new choice. If Jiang Wenhan's group can defeat the US air defense fighters, then the air combat mission of the second batch of escort fighters is not very heavy, and with rockets, it can also suppress US warships and attack small warships, so that the bombers can concentrate on the most important aircraft carriers in the US fleet, as well as other main warships! And he pinned all the task of fleet air defense on the fighters of the 1st and 4th task forces that were about to arrive.

Watching one fighter after another leave the flight deck of the aircraft carrier, Hao Dongjue laughed. Ever since he arrived at Task Force 2, the veterans who had been here since the inception of the fleet had been full of expectations for his superiors. Long before the reorganization of the First Task Force, that is, the separation of the Second Task Force from the First Task Force and Lei Shaoqing as the commander of the fleet, Hao Dongjue was the chief of aviation operations staff of the First Task Force, just like Jiang Wenhan, Zhang Naiding, Yang Shihong and other veteran pilots were originally directly commanded by Hao Dongjue. After learning that Hao Dongjue was appointed commander of the fleet, these veterans saw hope. I also see a brilliant future.

Comparatively speaking, what happened to Task Force 2 was the most dismal and unfair of the three task forces established by the Imperial Navy at the beginning of the war. No one can shake the position of the main force of the first task force, and the third task force is relatively special, and it has achieved good results, so its prestige is not small. Only the Second Task Force, which had been active in the Pacific Theater for a long time and confronted the US Fifth Fleet, suffered many setbacks. In all fairness, Lei Shaoqing and Chang Jianxin performed well, all they lacked was luck and a little bit of strength. It can be said that several battles are caused by bad luck as the opponent, but no one can deny the influence of luck in the battle. This also caused a problem, the second task force was supposed to be one of the most powerful fleets in the Imperial Navy, but it was surpassed by many rising stars, not to mention the fourth task force. Huang Xiaotian's ability was recognized, and the combat effectiveness of the Fourth Task Force was also recognized. Later, even the Fifth Task Force surpassed the Second Task Force, and the commander of the Fifth Task Force was none other than Jiang Zhongmin, who made the officers and men of the Second Task Force the most unconvinced. For the tens of thousands of officers and men of the Second Task Force, this was obviously the most uncomfortable thing for them, and it was also the most unacceptable thing for them. There were even many officers and soldiers who applied to be transferred to other fleets during this period, and even went to Luo Jinming's teaching brigade. Hao Dongjue's arrival gave many people hope, and it also rekindled the battle of the officers and men of the Second Task Force.

In Tan Renhao's eyes, his brother-in-law Hao Dongjue will always be an immodest person. But Tan Renhao himself had to admit that Hao Dongjue was a smart person, and he was very diligent and knew how to fight the enemy. In the eyes of many officers and men of the Second Task Force, Hao Dongjue is a completely different image. For those officers and soldiers who often came into contact with Hao Dongjue, the new commander was an approachable old man who was not very strict with his subordinates and often joked with his subordinates. For the other officers and men in the fleet, Hao Dongjue, the commander, was a commander who could reassure them and bring them good benefits at the same time. A commander who can bring them victory. And for aviation. Hao Dongjue is a commander who can best show their combat effectiveness on the battlefield. For the staff officer of the fleet headquarters, Hao Dongjue was a brave general who was usually a fool of himself, but he was never ambiguous in battle. is a commander who does not know fear, does not know fear, and never bows to any enemy.

This is also the impression left by Hao Dongjue, the best fleet commander of the Imperial Navy during the Great War, compared to Tan Renhao, Huang Xiaotian, Lei Shaoqing, Jiang Zhongmin, Chang Jianxin, and later Yan Yulong, Zheng Guanhua and others. Hao Dongjue is a very complex commander, in different places, at different times, in different situations, he has completely different performances, and can give people a completely different impression. Even Tan Renhao had to admit that Hao Dongjue had the most sophisticated aviation command ability of the Imperial Navy, but at the same time, he didn't know anything about navigation. He is observant, but he tends to ignore important issues. He was able to seize the fleeting opportunity. However, many opportunities are often missed in the decision-making stage, and even unnecessary losses in the fleet as a result.

In the eyes of opponents, people like Hao Dongjue are also the most difficult to deal with, because no one can predict what he will do next. Although Spruance did not have the opportunity to directly fight Hao Dongjue, when Hao Dongjue served as the chief of staff of the First Task Force, Spruance attached great importance to this secondary opponent. Especially after learning that when Hao Dongjue was the chief of staff of the First Task Force, most of the aviation combat operations of the First Task Force were planned by him, Spruance also had to sigh that if he had such a chief of staff who was proficient in aviation operations, perhaps the outcome of the war would have been completely different. This also just illustrates the value of Hao Dongjue.

When he was in the first task force, Hao Dongjue was just a supporting role, a supporting role that could allow Tan Renhao to better exert the combat effectiveness of the fleet. Even when he served as the fleet commander of the Second Task Force, Hao Dongjue was still a supporting role many times. Taking this combat operation as an example, Tan Renhao only arranged for him to plan aviation combat operations, which was actually exactly what Hao Dongjue did in the position of chief of staff of the First Task Force, while other affairs were decided by Tan Renhao and Huang Xiaotian, and Hao Dongjue rarely even attended the meetings of the fleet commanders. Therefore, after the war, many people thought that Hao Dongjue was Tan Renhao's number one partner and the most outstanding "supporting role" in the Imperial Navy, and few people would regard him as the protagonist on the battlefield. But in fact, it was the existence of this supporting role that allowed the Imperial Navy to finally defeat the enemy.

As far as Hao Dongjue himself is concerned, he is unwilling to be a supporting role. This is not to say that he is dissatisfied with Tan Renhao, if Hao Dongjue is not afraid of anyone, then he is only afraid of Tan Renhao, the brother-in-law. A person who dares to question the marshal of the Navy in the fleet must be a person of courage, but Hao Dongjue has never shown any suspicion of Tan Renhao. Hao Dongjue just felt that he had more room to play, and the second task force was the basis for him to get more opportunities.

It is precisely because of this that Hao Dongjue's performance after arriving at the Second Task Force is often jaw-dropping, causing a lot of problems, and almost every time he needs to talk about Renhao to "wipe his ass". There is only one thing that cannot be denied, Hao Dongjue has become the new soul of the Second Task Force, the "engine" and brain of the Second Task Force, it is his appearance that this fleet, which has been doubted, has once again become the super main fleet of the Imperial Navy, won the respect of everyone, and also won the due honor!

Thinking about what has happened in the past few years, especially in the past year or so, Hao Dongjue can't help but wonder. It can be said that the world makes people, Hao Dongjue was still unwilling to come to the second task force at the beginning, and who could know that this young man who was the least favored and the most lacking in training in Tan Renhao's eyes could rebuild a fleet that was almost losing confidence into a strong fleet? Who would have thought that it was this person who allowed the Imperial Navy to have an "invincible armada" again? A lot of things are unpredictable, including the battles that may follow! "Dongjue, the fighters of the 1st Task Force have arrived!"

Hearing Wei Dongbei's words, Hao Dongjue turned to look at the sky to the east, a group of fighters was approaching, obviously, the first task force first let the fighters covering the second task force take off.

"Give them a new place!"

Wei Dongbei nodded, and went to find the aviation staff officer. Hao Dongjue's gaze returned to the northwest direction. If the bombers he sent out at the beginning were the arrows fired by the Second Task Force, then the Second Task Force was a sharp arrow for the entire Imperial Navy!