It was not until the night of the sixteenth that the Atlantic Fleet barely left Norfolk, and the situation could not have been worse.

Only about eighty percent of the Atlantic Fleet's warships left Norfolk that night, and more than a dozen cruisers remained in Norfolk. On the battleships leaving the port, the full manning rate of officers and men was only about seventy percent, that is, there were still thirty percent, nearly fifteen thousand sailors did not set off with the fleet, some of them were still under investigation, the other part had already returned home, there were many deserters, and the sailors who had replenished the fleet had not yet arrived. Although according to wartime standards, the officers and men on each ship are redundant and less than three, and the battleship can still sail normally, its combat effectiveness will inevitably be affected, and morale is also a serious problem. Admiral King was therefore compelled to leave the dozen or so cruisers in Norfolk, which would not leave Norfolk until 17 days and nights at the earliest, and at the same time to send some of the officers and men of the fleet to replenish the other ships.

The Atlantic Fleet wandered outside the Chesapeake Bay for a whole day, during which time it made several contacts with unidentified submarines, and by the evening of the same day, it had been confirmed that the submarines that had encountered three times were American submarines that were returning to the Chesapeake Bay, while several other contacts could not be proven, that is, it was most likely a submarine of the Don Imperial Navy. The whereabouts of the Atlantic Fleet could not be kept secret, and Admiral Kim had no hope of doing so.

At eleven o'clock on the night of the 17th, the last cruiser joined the formation, and the Atlantic Fleet did not immediately sail south, but had to first send the officers and men brought by the cruiser that had departed later to the battleship that was in dire need of manpower. At the same time, Admiral King sent Spruance to the flagship of Task Force 23. When sending Spruance away, Admiral King only said one thing, that is, the two of them cannot be finished at the same time, otherwise, the US Navy will be completely hopeless, and no matter what, there must be someone who continues to hold on, for the last glimmer of hope.

Spruance, who came to the aircraft carrier "Enterprise", could not calm down for a long time. Admiral King's words kept ringing in his ears, and he knew very well that Admiral King was ready to sacrifice, and that the "last ray of hope" that Admiral King said was a new batch of warships to be commissioned by the end of the year. But is that hope? The Atlantic Fleet also acquired new warships at the beginning of 28, but in less than a year, what has become of the fleet? Maybe many people only noticed the gap in the number of warships with the Tang Empire, but how many people noticed. How big is the difference between the quality, morale, and confidence of the officers and men of the two sides? What the US Navy lacks now is not warships, but a group of excellent officers and men!

This is the second aircraft carrier named after the "Enterprise", which the officers and men call the "Big E", and it is also one of the last three "Essex" class aircraft carriers built. Spruance knew that the more advanced "Midway"-class aircraft carriers were being built, and although the Tang Empire's navy was also building new aircraft carriers, as long as the "Midway"-class aircraft carriers were put into service, their performance would surpass the Tang Empire's new aircraft carriers. But. Is it enough to have a good aircraft carrier?

Think of these. Spruance was upset, and what worried him the most was Admiral Kim's state of mind at this time.

The blow to the Atlantic Fleet, as well as to the Navy as a whole, was quite enormous. The blow to Admiral Kim himself was also very great. To put it bluntly, Spruance was directly appointed by Admiral King, and it was Admiral King who entrusted Spruance to command the Atlantic Fleet, that is, Spruance represented Admiral King himself, and the president's investigation of the Atlantic Fleet, as well as Spruance, was itself a serious distrust of Admiral King. As a military man, after being suspicious of the commander-in-chief, whoever it is. There will be a huge change in mindset. Besides, this time the president let Admiral King directly command the Atlantic Fleet, ostensibly distrusting Spruance, but in fact, it was also a suspicion of Admiral King's vision. For a veteran general who has been fighting in the Navy for more than 40 years and should have retired long ago because of the war, if it were a few decades ago, the president's attitude was not to push the military to death. It's just forcing the military to rebel! Admiral Kim would not choose the latter, so he could only choose the former, and when he went to sea, he probably did not think about returning alive.

It was the President who personally approached Admiral King and asked him to become Commander of the Atlantic Fleet, and later appointed him Secretary of the Admiralty. And when Admiral King became commander-in-chief of the Atlantic Fleet, he had reached the age of retirement. The sense of duty to serve the country made Admiral Kim stay, but who would have thought that at this time, the old man who should have been weeding in his own garden, or planting some sunflowers and tomatoes, would be driven to a dead end?

Maybe it can only be said that it is a creation to make people, but can this be blamed on fate? From the beginning of the 24th year of the war, to the present, the US Navy has fought so many battles on the battlefield, but how many victories are really worth celebrating? Is the U.S. Navy, which appears to be powerful on the surface and has one of the world's largest fleets, just as powerful on the inside? Perhaps, for the US Navy, what is lacking is certainly not a powerful warship, but on the contrary, what is lacking is the morale, confidence of a victorious army. And these can not be obtained by building warships, more often than not, they must be tempered on the battlefield of blood and fire. Compared with the Tang Imperial Navy, what the US Navy lacked most was the perseverance and tenacious fighting spirit that had been tempered in the midst of blood and fire, defeat and complete victory.

If we take a long-term view, we can see the huge historical gap between the navies of the two countries.

The navy of the Tang Empire has been the world's first-class navy since the era of sailing, and has dominated the seas of the world for almost the entire era of sailing. On the contrary, when the U.S. Navy was founded, the sail warships were almost out of the stage of history, and the U.S. Navy did not do anything significant, except for a few raiders in the Revolutionary War, and achieved some insignificant small victories that did not have a significant impact on the war.

The transition period from sail warships to ironclad ships dominating the seas was the period when the Tang Empire's navy began to decline, but under such unfavorable conditions, the Tang Empire's navy still crisscrossed the seas and fought against the rapidly rising Western powers for hundreds of years, and was finally driven only to the South Atlantic, while firmly controlling the Indian and Pacific Oceans. At the same time, the U.S. Navy was still growing, and the really important naval battles during this period were the Second War of Independence against enemy interference. In addition, the first war with Mexico was dominated by ground operations, and the Navy hardly participated in combat operations.

In the era of ironclads. The Tang Imperial Navy still maintained a certain superiority over the Western powers, and after nearly a hundred years of confrontation with Japan, it still maintained the most powerful fleet in the world, and the quality of its officers and men was also the best in the world. Although the United States defeated Mexico and defeated Spain during this period, and its power expanded rapidly, the U.S. Navy did not encounter an adversary that posed a serious threat to it, and therefore did not fight a large-scale naval war in the true sense of the word, and its accumulated experience was quite limited.

The most important thing was the first global war, from the total defeat of the Tang Imperial Navy in the early stage of the war, to the counterattack in the later part of the war, and finally to having to sit down and sign a compromise armistice. In the years of war, the Tang Empire's navy not only withstood the pressure, but also defeated several powerful enemies, if there was no threat from the United States, I am afraid that the Tang Empire's fleet would have returned to the European seas and re-become the maritime hegemon. On the contrary, the US Navy took part in almost no decent military operations throughout the first global war. Only to assist the British against German submarines in the North Atlantic (and exactly. During World War II, the U.S. Navy was quite capable of anti-submarine warfare) and sent fleets to the South and Central Pacific towards the end of the war. Block the counterattack of the Tang Imperial Navy.

It can be said that after entering the era of steam power, until the outbreak of the second global war, the US Navy experienced only one naval war of some scale, that is, the "Spanish-American War" with Spain for Cuba. During the same period, the Tang Imperial Navy almost never stopped, and was constantly fighting the enemy. On the surface, the Tang Imperial Navy was weakened as a result, and the United States was given an extremely rare opportunity for development. But behind all this, the Tang Empire forged a perseverance. A powerful navy that is not afraid of defeat and is able to stand up in the face of setbacks, defeat the enemy, and achieve victory. All the United States has gained is a large number of warships and a group of naval officers and men who are extremely psychologically fragile and have little practical experience.

In other words, the strength of the U.S. Navy is only superficial, not internal. Perhaps, in the early days of the war. When defeat is still far from the United States and victory is very close to the United States, the U.S. Navy is able to display amazing combat effectiveness on the battlefield, just as the U.S. Navy performed in the Pacific theater during the 24-26 years. But when the situation quickly reversed, the United States gradually failed, and more and more people realized that the United States was bound to fail, the U.S. Navy was no longer a powerful army, but a flock to be slaughtered.

Spruance thought about this problem when he was relieved of his duties as commander of the Fifth Fleet and went home to relax. This is also the main reason why he has comprehensively strengthened his training after coming to the Atlantic Fleet. Many visionaries at the time, such as Nimitz and Admiral King, were aware of the serious problems in the navy's officer and crew, and both were staunch supporters of Spruance. But most importantly, will there be time for the officers and men of the Navy to regain their confidence, and will the enemy give them the opportunity to revive the fleet? There is no doubt that the answer is no, whether it is its own or external factors, when the United States is less than one step away from final defeat, I am afraid that no one except some crazy fantasists will have the confidence of victory.

When the fog cleared and the truth surfaced, Spruance also realized that Admiral King was ready to die, and perhaps had written his suicide note. A gust of sea breeze blew, and Spruance shivered, and he looked in the direction where Task Force 22 was located, and there was no trace of Task Force 22 warships on the pitch black sea. If Admiral Kim is ready to complete his final mission, how many people will be buried with him?

The fleet began to turn to accelerate, and the wind on the sea became stronger. Under the effect of the Labrador cold snap, the temperature in mid-September is already a bit cold. Spruance was also chilling in his heart, even Admiral King had lost confidence, so what hope was there, and all this should be blamed on the president's unwarranted investigation. Perhaps, the president's ultimate goal was to boost the morale and fighting spirit of the navy, but it backfired, and in the end, instead of allowing the officers and men of the navy to burn the flames of battle, it seriously undermined the confidence of the navy and became the last straw that broke the camel's back.

"General, the commander sent a telegram."

Spruance hesitated, then turned to take the telegram. This is an operational order from Admiral King to Task Force 23. The message was simple, just a few dozen words, and Spruance swept it all at a glance, and then he froze. Admiral Jin asked the 23rd Task Force to continue sailing eastward, and the attendant turned south, the 22nd Task Force would take the initiative to find the main fleet of the Tang Empire for a decisive battle, and the 23rd Task Force should use the opportunity created by the 22nd Task Force to launch a sneak attack and strive to defeat the main fleet of the Tang Empire, and the last sentence of the telegram was added, that is, if there was no chance of a sneak attack, the 23rd Task Force must return to Norfolk after receiving a new telegram to end the combat operation.

There is no doubt that Admiral King is ready to die, and he will use Task Force 22 as a decoy to create an opportunity for Task Force 23 to annihilate the enemy. Regardless of the chance, Task Force 23 should play the bait, rather than letting the Fleet Commander himself lure the enemy into it.

"General......

Spruance's hand holding the telegram was trembling slightly, it was impossible for the two task forces to defeat the main fleet of the Tang Empire, and the actions of the 22nd task force were undoubtedly moths to the fire, what is the difference between this and death? Moreover, even if Task Force 23 seized the opportunity, how sure could it be that it would defeat a main fleet with at least six aircraft carriers, and possibly even nine?

"General......

"Do what the commander commands." Spruance returned the telegram to the communications staff.

The sea was still pitch black, so dark that people felt the slightest fear in their hearts, the two fleets had been separated, Spruance had no way to change Admiral King's decision, and the only thing he could do was to try not to let Task Force 22 die in vain.