Weather forecasts are just weather forecasts, and forecasts can be inaccurate and uncertain. On April 4, Tan Renhao finally understood what this meant. Forecasts are not necessarily accurate, and accurate forecasts are not predicted. Not only is the weather at sea not starting to improve, but it continues to deteriorate.

"The news has just been sent that the center of the storm is moving towards the archipelago, and the bad weather will continue until at least tomorrow noon."

Hao Dongjue said as he grabbed the handrail next to him, and the battleship shook very hard. "The reconnaissance planes of Hainan Airlines are all back, and in this weather, there are no reconnaissance planes that can take off. There is no news from Luo Yunchong's side, but judging from the current situation, the bombers he sent over will not be able to take off at all. ”

"What's the weather like in the eastern part of the sea?"

Tan Renhao had long expected this, and bad weather would not only affect the activities of the fleet, but also the activities of the aircraft. At this time, even if the plane can take off, it will not be able to appear on the surface of the sea at all, because it is very difficult for the reconnaissance plane to fly at a low altitude in the rainstorm, and after the visibility is reduced, it will be even more difficult for the reconnaissance plane to appear.

"It's not clear, but it's definitely going to be sunny earlier than in the west."

Hao Dongjue tethered himself to the handrail under the porthole, "The storm is moving from southeast to northwest, and it has been weakening. Now the weather planes can't fly there at all, and they can't know the weather conditions in the eastern part of the sea. We can only roughly tell that the eastern sea will probably clear tomorrow morning. ”

"Tomorrow morning?"

"Yes, it's likely to be sunny tomorrow morning."

Tan Renhao staggered to the chart table, but fortunately, the charts were all stuck on the table and would not fly away. The aircraft carrier jolted violently, and he immediately grabbed the armrest of the chart table.

The U.S. fleet was discovered three days ago, and although no relevant information was received after that, it can be judged that the U.S. fleet had already moved westward on the first or second day, referring to the main U.S. aircraft carrier fleet. From the waters off Midway to the northwest of Wake Island. It is about 1ooo nautical miles, and if the cruising degree of the aircraft carrier fleet is 18 knots, then it will take 6o hours, that is, two and a half days to sail. If the American fleet sailed at the fastest 3o knots, it would take only thirty-six hours, a day and a half. Extrapolating from the time of departure of the American fleet, it probably arrived between the early morning of the 3rd and the night of the 4th.

Tan Renhao glanced at the navigation clock, it was already four o'clock in the afternoon. If the American fleet is in three days. And if they continue to advance, then the distance between the two sides will now be within three hundred nautical miles, that is, tomorrow morning, the two sides will "meet". Obviously, this is not very realistic, at least in yesterday's reconnaissance report, there is no mention of the current American fleet, and the American fleet should have gone out in one day. Then it is very likely to be revealed yesterday afternoon.

Think of these. Tan Renhao had a bit of a headache. Now he was sure that the American task force with at least three aircraft carriers was lying in ambush somewhere to the east or northeast of them. And they are sharpening their knives, ready to come up and give them a fatal blow. Now, the two fleets are like two soldiers holding only one bullet, each has the opportunity to deal a fatal blow to the opponent, but neither dares to rashly pull the trigger.

"Dong Jue, is there any new news about the American fleet in the south?"

"It's still yesterday afternoon's news, the reconnaissance plane's telegram is not finished, and it has not returned until last night, it must have been shot down!"

Hao Dongjue also staggered over and pointed out the sea area where the reconnaissance plane had lost contact on the chart. "Here, from what we have now, there are no fighter jets deployed on the islands around this, and there are no airfields. Only the air defense fighters of the American fleet were able to shoot down reconnaissance aircraft. ”

"In other words, there is at least one aircraft carrier in this fleet in the south?"

Hao Dongjue nodded and said: "The reconnaissance plane did not mention the current US fleet, and only mentioned in the telegram that it was intercepted by several US Navy fighters. HNA judged that it was the F4u that shot down the reconnaissance plane, not the F4F. ”

“F4u？ Didn't the American aircraft carrier use the F4F before? ”

"Maybe it's been replaced. After all, everyone knows that the F4u is much more powerful than the F4F, and the Americans are not stupid, if they don't replace the fleet with better fighters, then they will only be beaten. ”

It is true that the F4F is no match for the "Falcon", and even most of the fighters used by the US 6 Army Aviation are not opponents of the "Falcon". In the months of fierce fighting in the Mariana Islands, only F4u can barely fight the "Falcon" and not fall into the situation of being slaughtered by others. If the US Navy does not equip their aircraft carriers with F4u at this time, then they are really stupid.

Tan Renhao connected the fleet twice by the sea area with lines on the chart, and then he had a problem. The first time was at the time of the second appearance at west longitude (that is, when the reconnaissance plane was shot down), it was already in the sea area near 162 degrees east longitude and 17 degrees north latitude. If you connect these two points with a line, you will immediately see that Wake Island is on the southeast side of the line, not on the northeast side! Perhaps, many people will not notice this, but Tan Renhao has noticed.

Seeing Tan Renhao drawing on the chart, Hao Dongjue also came upstairs.

"You see, this American fleet in the south is actually not going south, but coming towards us!"

Tan Renhao made a day extension, "If they stopped near Wake Island on the way, then the current route is right on our side." ”

"You're saying there's a good chance that the enemy will come straight at us?"

"That's what we judged before."

Tan Renhao made a straight line on the chart again, "When it was revealed yesterday afternoon, how far away was this fleet from us?" About 85o nautical miles, if the fleet is advancing at 21 knots, then what time will they arrive? ”

Hao Dongjue immediately glanced at the navigation clock, and then Xun did the mental calculation. "Tomorrow after dawn, between eight and ten o'clock!"

"Will the storm last until noon tomorrow?"

Tan Renhao had already calculated it.

"Yes, but the wind will definitely weaken tomorrow morning, and it will not be until tomorrow afternoon that our reconnaissance plane may come out."

"That is, we will not be able to take off the bomber at all tomorrow morning!"

Tan Renhao suddenly laughed, "It seems that we have met a very powerful opponent this time, at least this opponent calculates the time extremely accurately." If the U.S. fleet keeps moving with this downwind all the time. And if we don't know that the enemy is coming, then we won't know where the enemy is until tomorrow morning's shells fall! ”

"Then we'll have to get out of here!"

Hao Dongjue also understood.

"That's for sure, don't worry, we still have time, and the most we can do is run back and let the shore-based bombers deal with them in the afternoon."

Tan Renhao took out a cigarette and lit it in the command cabin, which was constantly shaking and the wind was blowing in from time to time. That's a skill. "The question now is which way we're headed."

Hao Dongjue nodded, this is the most important thing, choosing different directions will determine different tactics. If it goes west, it is actively avoiding war, and the fleet can be covered by shore-based aviation, which can be described as foolproof. But the problem is that now in the midst of the storm, it is not easy to contact Task Force 2. And Lei Shaoqing will not easily change the scope of activities of the fleet. When the time comes. The 2nd Task Force was pushed to the front and beaten, and in fact, the positions of the 1st Task Force and the 2nd Task Force were reversed. This is the exact opposite of Tan Renhao's plan.

If it went east, then Task Force 1 would have been killed, and it was very likely that it would encounter the American fleet to the south before dawn, and the aircraft carriers would face the guns of the battleships, which was obviously impossible. To the south, it is very likely to enter the strike range of American shore-based bombers, and the fleet will encounter even greater danger. To the north, the second task force was actually exposed.

"Do you know where the storm is moving?"

Tan Renhao is also thinking about this problem, the patrol area of the fleet is very important, if it is not handled well, then the first task force will be in a dilemma. And in the end, it will be a complete failure.

"There should be, I'll look for it."

Soon, Hao Dongjue turned out a telegram, "The meteorological department is coming, the direction of the storm is about 3o degrees north-west, 25 nautical miles per hour, the width of the storm is 3oo nautical miles, the diameter of the storm center is 8o nautical miles, and the surrounding 25o nautical miles are not suitable for aircraft carrier operations." ”

Hao Dongjue was seen drawing the area of influence of the storm on the chart. After moving forward, Tan Renhao immediately laughed.

"This is important?"

Hao Dongjue is not from an orthodox naval background after all, and he does not understand the relationship between the weather and the sea battlefield.

"We put the fleet here."

Tan Ren Haoxun circled a sea area on the chart, "The fleet is advancing 15o nautical miles to the northeast. Here you can use the cover of the storm and not expose it in advance. Second, after the storm has passed, we have at least half an hour, or even an hour, to prepare. Dispatch reconnaissance planes half an hour in advance, and immediately after the US fleet is present, bombers will be dispatched to give the enemy no chance to fight back! ”

"In this way, our backs are exposed to the American aircraft carrier fleet!"

Hao Dongjue looked at Tan Renhao in surprise. It is very likely that the main aircraft carrier fleet of the United States will be in the northeast of them, and the fleet will still go up, so isn't that a chance to give the enemy a chance to strike at the ground? Moreover, the main US aircraft carrier fleet will certainly send reconnaissance planes first, and perhaps when they organize the bombing of this US fleet in the south, they will already be attacked by the opponent, and the result will be disastrous.

"Then it depends on who moves fast."

Tan Renhao did not have any fear, "Leave a group of reconnaissance planes, if the US bombers come from the northeast, then immediately send reconnaissance planes, and at the same time contact the second task force." As long as Shaoqing and the others can grasp this opportunity, then our chances of victory will be great! ”

Tan Renhao was thinking about the combat operations of the two task forces, not just the first task force. Hao Dongjue also immediately saw that Tan Renhao let the fleet move in the northeast direction, in order to use the first task force to resist the two American fleets, entangle the forces of the other side, and win a valuable opportunity for the second task force.

"Okay, then I'll arrange it immediately."

"Dongjue, get the news out first, and let General Liao Hanxiang transfer it to other troops."

Tan Renhao stood up straight, "After the fleet began to move, we will keep the radio silent, we can't easily expose it!" ”

It was not easy to deliver the news, the wind blew the antenna on the battleship, and the communications crew repaired it for several hours to fix the wires and then sent the telegram, but the problem was that Task Force 2 was also in the storm zone at that time. The sea conditions have passed the fifth level, and the fleet should have taken refuge in the harbor or anchorage a long time ago, but the task is on its own, and the fleet can only continue to stay at sea.

Liao Hanxiang received the telegram during the night, and immediately forwarded the telegram, and for the sake of insurance, Liao Hanxiang also asked the communications officer to repeat it two hours later. The problem is that Liao Hanxiang didn't know that the telegram he sent out was not delivered to the hands of the Second Task Force!

Lei Shaoqing and Chang Jianxin are also cursing this damn weather. In the Pacific, it is unusual for such a large storm to occur in early April. Moreover, this is already the middle of the Pacific Ocean, far away from the stormy western Pacific seas, there will not be many wind and waves all year round, but at this juncture, a strong wind blew, and a tropical storm was generated! This is a very unusual thing! However, God is fair to both sides, and the wind and waves are not only against the naval fleet of the Tang Empire.

The impact of the bad weather on both sides was very huge, and when Tan Renhao and the others began to turn against the windy wolf, the other two fleets were also turning. Above the fifth level of sea conditions, the aircraft carrier was very fragile (at that time, the aircraft carriers of the Tang Empire and the United States were open hangars and bows, which were easily damaged by wind and waves), and the fleet galloping in the wind and waves could only adjust its course at any time to minimize the losses caused by the wind and waves. Sailing in formation is already impossible, and perhaps the only thing to be thankful for is that in such bad weather, the submarines will all hide in the sea and will not surface the sea, and the fleet will not be attacked by submarines.

The sea is unforgiving, and in the face of the wrath of the sea, there is no one who does not sigh at the power of the sea. Battleships weighing tens of thousands of tons are like dead wood in the sea, which will be pushed to the top of the waves, and then fall to the bottom. Even the best naval officers and sailors could hardly endure such harsh conditions. Of course, the weather does not change the upcoming battle, and real soldiers do not stand still before bad weather!