Hao Dongjue wiped the sweat on his body with a towel while walking into the command cabin, and after seeing Tan Renhao lying on the chart table, he threw the towel to a staff officer by the door, and then walked over.

"The order sent by the Pacific Theater Command, you can take a look at it first!" Tan Renhao handed the message to his partner, and then put the teacup in front of Hao Dongjue, "Drink some water, take a breath first, the effect of this workout is good, right?" ”

"There must be a lot of people who won't be able to get up tomorrow!" Hao Dongjue laughed, and then the smile froze on his face, "What time is it today?" ”

"September 21." Tan Renhao leaned on the chart table. … Ａp．

"We want to bomb Tarawa Island on the 22nd, unless we have wings and can fly there!" Hao Dongjue threw the message on the table, "This is your father-in-law's order?" ”

"Yes, it was an order from General Liao Hanxiang." Tan Renhao corrected Hao Dongjue's title, in the army, there is only a relationship between superiors and subordinates, and there is no kinship.

"It seems that he regards your son-in-law as an omnipotent immortal!"

Tan Renhao immediately laughed. "I initially thought it was a joke that even if we were to drive at full capacity, we would only be able to reach the sea 250 nautical miles from Tarawa Island tomorrow afternoon. I began to think about it carefully, and the possibility of bombing Tarawa Island tomorrow was not out of the question. ”

Hao Dongjue took a sip of tea, and then looked at his partner.

"We used to bomb in the morning, so why can't we send bombers at dusk?"

"Unless we can dive under the surface of the sea, we won't be able to avoid the US reconnaissance planes!" Hao Dongjue's answer was very refreshing.

"It's a problem, but it's also an opportunity for us."

"Well, what's your specific plan?"

"It's not a concrete plan, it's just a general idea." Tan Renhao pushed the things on the chart table aside, "I have designed a few routes to reach the sea about 250 nautical miles from Tarawa Island at about five o'clock tomorrow afternoon, and send bombers at this time, just in time to bomb Tarawa Island before dark." It's just that the bomber has to land at night, which is a bit difficult. ”

"It's not a big problem, now pilots are able to land at night. The question is, how do we avoid the reconnaissance planes of the US military? ”

"The U.S. military has deployed about 50 long-range patrol planes on Tarawa Island, but the number of tactical reconnaissance planes they deploy is very limited, and they generally only use long-range patrol planes to carry out reconnaissance missions." Tan Renhao took out a piece of paper with some data he had just written down. "About half of these 50 long-range reconnaissance planes are night reconnaissance planes, and unless the US military assigns two sets of crew members to each reconnaissance plane, these reconnaissance planes will not take part in daytime patrol work."

"Probably not, the performance of 'Katarina' is good, but it also needs normal maintenance, and after flying for nearly ten hours at night, there must be a lot of maintenance work to be done during the day, and it is difficult to dispatch during the day."

"Then, only half of the U.S. military's patrol aircraft can be dispatched during the day." Tan Renhao turned out another chart. Several areas of the sea are marked on it. "At this point. The focus of the US military is on dealing with the second task force, and they also know that the second task force still has one aircraft carrier to fight. Therefore, their long-range patrol planes must be concentrated on the north side of the island, and the more than 20 patrol planes can barely guarantee a search within a sector of 90 degrees to the north. ”

Hao Dongjue nodded, then frowned.

"We entered from the southwestern side of the island, and there are certainly few or no US patrol aircraft in this direction." Tan Renhao straightened up, "We were still operating in the waters of the Solomon Islands on the 20th, and an aircraft carrier was already injured, so the US military would definitely not have thought that we would be killed in the waters near Tarawa Island on the 22nd." ”

"In other words, they don't really need to guard against the southwest direction at all?"

"Yes. This is our chance, if we can get there safely, even if there is only one aircraft carrier, it will be enough to blow up the Tarawa airfield! Tan Renhao flipped to the chart above, "This is a few routes designed by me, you can take a look first." ”

Tan Renhao designed three routes, all of which had one feature in common, that is, they had to pass through the waters around Nauru. If the fleet wants to get excited to the southwest sea of Tarawa Island, it will have to take this route. Hao Dongjue also immediately discovered this.

"The U.S. military also has an airfield in Nauru. And there must be reconnaissance aircraft, we pass from here, isn't it too dangerous? ”

"The most dangerous place is actually the safest place." Tan Renhao pointed to the route drawn with a red line, "The U.S. military does have an airfield in Nauru, and dozens of warplanes have been deployed before, but now they must have all been transferred to Tarawa Island. In addition, the US patrol planes deployed in Nauru certainly do not have radars, and can only carry out patrol missions during the day, and their night reconnaissance capability is very low, and unless we are particularly unlucky, they will not hit the muzzle of the gun.

Following this route, the fleet will enter the search range of the US patrol planes this evening, and have already passed through this most dangerous sea area before dawn to the southwest of Tarawa Island, and then the fleet will turn around four and a half to reach the attack area, and perhaps, we can get a little closer and send two groups of bombers in succession to deal with the Tarawa airfield. “

A route on a chart is not just a line. As a result of the calculations, several points were also marked on the route, on which various data such as the time of arrival of the fleet, as well as the speed of the fleet, were indicated. Tan Renhao graduated from the regular naval officer academy, and even though he has rarely done this kind of work in the past two years, it is not very difficult to draw a nautical chart.

"Looks like we're going to have to take the risk!"

"So, let's get the fleet ready!" Tan Renhao left the chart table, "After the replenishment is over, the fleet will set off immediately, in the evening, I will announce this combat mission, you go and organize the pilots, let them hurry up and familiarize themselves with this bombing mission." After arriving at the predetermined sea area, the bomber group had to depart immediately, and there was no time for us to make pre-war preparations. ”

The replenishment was completed at about eight o'clock, after which Task Force 1 separated from the supply fleet and embarked on a new course. In the afternoon, Tan Renhao supplemented the battle plan, and gathered together the escort warships of the "Daihai" aircraft carrier formation, as well as the cruisers and destroyers that had been replenished before, into a larger artillery bombardment formation. If the bombing campaign is successful. It is necessary to use artillery formations to suppress the US airfield on the island at night and cause even greater damage, so as to ensure the seizure of air supremacy.

The officers and men of the fleet did not know much about this operation, and some of them were still discussing it in private. The replenishment, which was originally planned to be completed in twenty hours, took only twelve hours, and most of the warships were only about eighty percent fuel, and they were not filled at all, so the fleet hurried on its way. And at the beginning it sailed at a maximum speed of 33 knots. Many boiler soldiers are worried, now the boilers of every battleship in the fleet have been running continuously for more than two months, according to the usual regulations, it should have been maintained a long time ago, but there is no time to maintain at all, no one knows how long these boilers can last, a day, or an hour?

"The officers and men have paid attention, I am Vice Admiral Tan Renhao, the commander of the fleet, and everyone has paid attention to the voice coming from the loudspeaker interrupting the discussion of the officers and men. At this time, half of the officers and soldiers were at their posts. The other half of the officers and men were scattered in the quarters, either in the dining room or in the recreation room. Everyone looked towards the horn hanging in the corner of the ceiling of the cabin. Some people put down their books and magazines, others put down their chopsticks, and some put out their cigarette butts, and soon the battleship fell silent, except for the noise made by the machines running, only the sound of heavy breathing.

"Maybe we should have gone back to Hong Kong to rest, but now is not the time. Just a few days ago, Task Force 2 was attacked by the U.S. military, and an aircraft carrier was forced to return to Guam. And Tarawa Island is still under the control of the US military, and US fighter planes are still flying in the sky, and we must go to complete a mission that the second task force has not completed, and we must destroy the airfield on the island, seize air supremacy, and provide cover and support for the landing of the marines......

Tan Renhao's voice was very peaceful, there was not much modulation, and the officers and soldiers were listening quietly, and their expressions were also very calm. The veterans, in particular, didn't have much expression, but some of the soldiers had already diverted their attention.

"Some people may think that this is not what we should do, we only have those dozens of bombers on an aircraft carrier now, can we go and blow up an island? Perhaps some people will think that whether the Marines can take Tarawa Island or not, what does it have to do with us? Yes, whether the Marines can take down Tarawa Island or not really doesn't have much to do with us, who cares about all that bullshit?

We should go back and rest, we have been fighting at sea for months, and we should be given the opportunity to reunite with our loved ones. But we can't go. I know that many of our mountain brothers are in the Second Task Force, and the commander of the Second Task Force was your chief of staff, and the chief of staff of the Second Task Force was your maritime staff. They are my brothers, and your former rulers. In addition, many officers and men of Task Force 2 have fought alongside us. There is a dogma in the navy, that is, never abandon any comrade-in-arms, never give up any brother. Now, our brothers are bleeding and dying in front, and if we go back home, back to our loved ones, how can we tell them? Do we want to tell them that we are enjoying a comfortable life in the rear while our other comrades are still fighting, and do we want to tell them that we should come back to reunite with our families because we have been fighting for more than two months, and that the other brothers will lose the opportunity to see their relatives forever? “

The attention of the officers and soldiers was concentrated again, some people had already stood up, and some people had already excited their love.

"We are not fighting for bullshit missions, bullshit goals, we are not fighting to defeat the enemy, we are fighting for our brothers, for those brothers who have lived and died with us, fought with us against the enemy's bombs, and fought together with the enemy's shells on the battleship. We should all remember that the officers and men of the 2nd Task Force are our brothers, we are brothers from a big family, and for the sake of our brothers, for our victory, we must go to war! ”

The cabin was lively, and the enthusiasm of the officers and men was aroused. The army is a big family, and the relationship between soldiers, especially those who fight together on the battlefield, is brotherhood, and it is more intimate than that of brothers.

"Now, I give a new order, the fleet is in a state of combat readiness, head at full speed towards Tarawa Island, and use our bombs to help the brothers of Task Force 2 survive the difficulties!"

When Tan Renhao put down the microphone, he quickly wiped the sweat off his forehead, and then glanced at the staff officer in the command cabin. More than a dozen staff officers looked at the fleet commander with admiration, they really didn't know that the fleet commander had a talent for speeches.

"That's right, if I listen to the radio below, I might jump!" Hao Dongjue walked over and handed the teacup to Tan Renhao, "It seems that morale is not a problem anymore, now it depends on how good our luck is." ”

"We can only do our best, to be honest, I am not very sure about this operation!" Tan Renhao took a sip of tea, "Okay, you guard at night, and I will come to replace you at dawn tomorrow." ”

The accident still happened, and in the middle of the night, the boiler on one of the destroyers failed, the speed quickly decreased, and finally it could only sail at a speed of 22 knots, which could no longer keep up with the speed of the fleet, and was forced to break away from the fleet to the south alone. At dawn, when the fleet had just left the search area of the U.S. patrol planes on Nauru Island, the boiler on a heavy cruiser exploded, an oil pipeline was aging and ruptured, and heavy oil flowed out, which then caused a fire, and the pressure relief valve of the boiler was burned and deformed, and the boiler pressure increased rapidly, and finally exploded. More than a dozen officers and men in the boiler room were all killed, and as a result, the cruiser was able to sail at a speed of 18 knots with another boiler and broke away from the fleet.

Tan Renhao returned to the command cabin before dawn, and after knowing about these two accidents, he did not let the fleet slow down, the fleet must maintain the fastest speed to be able to reach the attack area in the afternoon, as long as the aircraft carrier does not have problems, he will not slow down!