The last damage report was sent on the morning of 8 December, when the fleet had entered the Mindoro Strait and was heading towards the South China Sea, expecting to reach the port of Canton on the night of the 9th. The damage report was relayed back to the Naval Command through a naval intelligence station on Mindoro Island (which was actually a naval radio listening station) and then sent to Canton. At the same time, Hao Dongjue's promotion order was also sent, as well as a set of brigadier general ranks.

In the battle, which came to be known as the Battle of the Philippine Sea, five ships of Task Force 1 were sunk, four were heavily damaged, and two were lightly damaged. The five battleships sunk were: the aircraft carrier "Taizu", the large cruisers "Liu Hongji" and "Li Xun", and two destroyers of the "City" class. The battleships that suffered heavy damage were: the aircraft carrier "Yangtze River", the large cruisers "Wei Chigong" and "Duan Zhixuan", and a destroyer of the "City" class. Both lightly damaged battleships were destroyers. In addition, the fleet also lost 218 warplanes (28 of which were voluntarily thrown into the sea) The fleet lost a total of 1,459 officers and men, and 764 were seriously wounded, including 176 pilots who died in battle, and 53 pilots were captured (21 of whom died in American prisoner of war camps, and the others returned to the empire one after another) More than 100 officers and men of the fleet who fell into the water were also salvaged by the US Navy (most of the officers and men who fell into the water were killed, was included in the list of the dead) This loss can be described as "miserable". Although the "Xuanzong" aircraft carrier has maintained its combat effectiveness, it is difficult for the "Yangtze River" to recover its combat effectiveness in a short period of time. What pained Tan Renhao's heart the most was the more than 200 pilots, which were the essence of the First Task Force and the core of the strike force of the entire fleet. These pilots have actual combat experience, and they are all the best pilots (those who can be selected into the carrier aircraft unit are the best) To train more than 200 experienced excellent pilots, it is much more difficult than building two aircraft carriers!

At present, the first task force actually has only one aircraft carrier left, the "Xuanzong," two large cruisers, the "Qin Qiong" and the "Chai Shao," and six destroyers of the "City" class, which can continue to carry out combat missions. And the 1st Air Company also had less than a hundred fighters left. The commander of the fleet shrank by two-thirds. It is difficult to shoulder a major combat mission.

"Morale must be restored as soon as possible, and you know best how to motivate the morale of officers and soldiers."

Tan Renhao also quickly entered this new role, and the fleet commander he dreamed of was definitely not the fleet commander he was now. "Dongjue, now we must have confidence in ourselves, so that we can give the officers and soldiers enough confidence."

Hao Dongjue nodded silently, his mood was also not calm. Although when the second task force was established, the first task force was only given a number. Almost all the veterans of the former First Task Force were assigned to the Second Task Force, but the First Task Force was brought out by Tan Renhao and several brothers, this is their home, and now that the "home" has become like this, can Hao Dongjue's mood be calm?

Tan Renhao didn't know what to say anymore, he had already decided to visit the wounded who had been sent back (through the airport on Binduro Island) in advance, and the most important thing now was to restore morale and convince the officers and soldiers that victory would come, and that the setbacks experienced before victory were not terrible.

"Renhao—"

Hao Dongjue stopped Tan Renhao, who was walking outside. "What kind of punishment will the two of them receive?"

"I don't know."

Tan Renhao hesitated. Then he turned around and walked towards Hao Dongjue. "These things shouldn't be our concern. The Prime Minister will certainly give an account to the Navy, and also to the subjects of the Reich. Now, all we have to do is get Task Force 1 back on its feet. We have great difficulties ahead of us. If we can't even overcome this difficulty, then how are we different from those two people? ”

Hao Dongjue still couldn't figure it out, this was actually them to solve the trouble caused by others, and they were helping the two bastards wipe their butts.

"Okay, if you figure it out, go and call a staff meeting immediately."

Tan Renhao patted Hao Dongjue on the shoulder, "Now I need your help, understand?" ”

"I'll do a good job!"

Hao Dongjue smiled reluctantly, "I'll go organize the staff officers now and hold a meeting in advance." There's still a lot of work to do, and wasting time is not a Navy tradition. ”

Seeing Hao Dongjue's back walking out of the office, Tan Renhao sighed secretly. If from a personal point of view, he will never help Jiang Zhongmin and Fan Peikun wipe their butts. However, now is not the time to talk about personal feelings, the Imperial Navy needs a strong fleet, and with the next stage of the battle plan, the Navy needs the First Task Force even more. This is why Xue Xiyue named Tan Renhao to serve as the commander of the First Task Force, a time of crisis. Naturally, the best commanders should be used.

In the afternoon, Tan Renhao went to visit the first batch of wounded (most of them were seriously wounded, and most of them were officers) who were sent back, and Hao Dongjue also held a meeting of the staff officers of the fleet, emphasizing several main contents (mainly restoring morale, restoring the strength of the fleet, and restoring the combat effectiveness of the fleet) and arranged specific tasks. On the same day, the staff headquarters of the first task force first returned to normal, and Hao Dongjue also sent the list of personnel needed back to the naval headquarters before the evening of the same day (the chief of staff of the fleet is specifically responsible for the personnel arrangements of the fleet and has the right to directly submit the list of personnel requirements to the superiors) Tan Renhao and Hao Dongjue's first thing to do is to return the fleet to normal and come out of the trough after suffering blows and defeats, at least, both of them have experience in this area, and they have done a good job.

That evening, two new telegrams arrived, one on the situation of Task Force 2 and Task Force 3, and the other on the loss of the United States Task Force 16.

When the first task force was attacked, the second task force almost caught another American task force, but because the distance was too far away, and the telegram sent back by the first reconnaissance plane that discovered the American task force was inaccurate, and when the second reconnaissance plane rushed over, the American fleet had already entered the thunderstorm area, and the second task force missed the target. This may have been lucky, and just when Lei Shaoqing was desperately trying to catch the enemy and launch a fatal blow, the news that the First Task Force had suffered heavy losses arrived, and at the same time sent a telegram ordering the Second Task Force to retreat. Lei Shaoqing did not hesitate, knowing clearly that the main fleet of the United States was in the south. And having lost the opportunity to support the 1st Task Force, he immediately led the ship pair back to the waters near Iwo Jima, and soon had shore-based fighters come to escort him.

The Second Task Force was not smooth sailing when it returned home, and when it was about 150 nautical miles away from Iwo Jima, it was attacked by submarines, and the "Pearl River" aircraft carrier flashed three torpedoes, but in the end it was hit by a torpedo in the bow and suffered moderate damage. Now the aircraft carrier is returning to Naha.

Instead of taking part in the battle to the south, the 3rd Task Force rushed to the waters off Iwo Jima to join the 2nd Task Force and strengthen the 2nd Task Force after receiving the order. At that time, US bombers could attack the Second Task Force at any time, and the purpose of sending the Third Task Force south was to increase its ability to resist bombing. But until the two fleets rendezvous, and after the shore-based fighters on Iwo Jima came to the skies over the two fleets one after another, the American bombers did not appear.

The attack on Task Force 1 was the United States Task Force 16. While Task Force 1 was heavily damaged, Task Force 16 did not escape the bombers sent by Task Force 1. Perhaps most admirable were the bomber pilots, who had lost hope of returning. But they didn't give up on attacking. They made the greatest sacrifice for the Empire, and the significance of this sacrifice was significant.

In the near-frenzied offensive, U.S. Navy officers and men learned what real bombing is. Relatively speaking. The First Air Wing was the less experienced and less qualified of the two aircraft carrier wings of the Tang Imperial Navy. Compared with Deng Zichao, Zhang Naiding, Jiang Wenhan, and others, who had already experienced a hundred battles and were sophisticated, the pilots of the First Air Wing lacked experience in naval operations. But at the same time, they are much better than the pilots of the US Navy, because before that, they have been on the battlefield for several months and have already mastered a lot of actual combat experience. Opposite. The U.S. Navy was in its first war, and although the training of American pilots was also very strict (there was no shortage of fuel and infrastructure, and the ability of the United States to train pilots was not under the Tang Empire), there was no actual combat experience. In the first encounter, the superiority of the pilots of both sides immediately came out.

In two waves, nearly 150 American bombers sank and severely damaged one aircraft carrier of the Tang Empire, and this result was not small. Compared with the pilots of the Tang Empire, this result was significantly worse. Only 47 Tang Empire bombers reached the skies over the US 16th Task Force, and only 32 of them successfully dropped bombs (mines), and 24 of the 32 bombs (torpedoes) hit the target, severely damaging the US aircraft carriers "Saratoga" and "Yorktown", of which the "Saratoga" suffered eight bombs and four torpedoes. It is a pity that the aircraft carrier did not sink. The Yorktown also survived with the help of damage crews.

In the tragic attack, the 21 "Falcon" fighters escorting the bomber group (5 of which were shot down during the air defense operation) "Falcon" fighters also killed 18 American F4Fs, and then covered the bombers to drop bombs (mines).

It can be said that these pilots were loyal to the empire until their deaths, and later, a monument was built outside the Imperial Naval Aviation Command to commemorate those outstanding soldiers who fought for the empire in the war and made selfless contributions. And it was their brave attack that caused the USS Saratoga to lie in the shipyard for half a year, missing several brutal naval battles that followed. The aircraft carrier "Yorktown" was also repaired at the shipyard for three months, missing the most important naval battle that followed. That is to say, more than two hundred pilots and nearly a hundred fighters gave the Imperial Navy a chance, an extremely valuable opportunity in the next three months.

These two telegrams also restored Tan Renhao's confidence. The damage to the "Pearl River" aircraft carrier should be repaired soon (at that time, the number of "Yangtze River" class aircraft carriers was eight, but only four were actually completed, and the spare parts that had been built for the other four aircraft carriers were retained for the repair of damaged aircraft carriers, and this became the main spare parts for the maintenance of the "Yangtze River" and "Pearl River") Then in the short term, the Imperial Navy had four aircraft carriers, and the US Navy had only four aircraft carriers at most. The number of aircraft carriers on both sides was the same in the short term, and the Imperial Navy did not lag behind in strength. And by the middle of next year, when the first batch of "Lake" class aircraft carriers will be commissioned, the Imperial Navy will have more aircraft carriers and gain an advantage in strength!

In order to boost morale and boost the morale of the troops, the news of the heavy damage of the US Task Force 16 was quickly made public. The Imperial Navy's propaganda agencies claimed to have sunk two U.S. aircraft carriers, severely damaged one, and sank and severely damaged several other large warships, and the Imperial Navy won the "Battle of the Philippines". Although this propaganda is not true, it is certainly necessary, and now the army and people of the Empire need an uplifting message to stimulate their fighting spirits.

The 2nd Task Force returned to Naha on the 12th, and the 3rd Task Force arrived in Zhoushan two days later. Lei Shaoqing also sent a telegram to Tan Renhao as soon as possible (the submarine cable from the empire mainland to Naha is being upgraded, and it will not be used until March, so it cannot be contacted by phone) Tan Renhao was busy until the fourteenth, and when all the ships of the First Task Force returned to the port of Guangzhou and began to carry out repairs, he finally relaxed a little. On this same day, Tan Renhao received an urgent telegram from Chief of Staff Gan Yongxing.

"Such a short period of time? There's no way we're going to do it! ”

After reading the telegram, Hao Dongjue couldn't believe his eyes.

"I think so too, but this is an order, and now the Navy needs this aircraft carrier."

Tan Renhao sorted out the documents that had been processed, "The Navy needs a miracle, and now we must create this miracle." I'll return to Zhoushan in the evening, and you'll be in charge of the work here. If there's something I can't solve, I'll wait until I get back. ”

Hao Dongjue didn't say anything more, the Imperial Navy really needed a miracle, and it was an almost impossible miracle. As a soldier of the Imperial Navy, he could only do his best to create this miracle. Sea Soul Volume 7 Turning the Tide Section 2 The Navy Needs a Miracle