The two main fleets arrived 200 nautical miles west of Midway Island on the night of 21 July, and after contacting Han Shaofeng, Tan Renhao asked the Third Fleet to go to resupply first, and while the Third Fleet was resupplying, the First Fleet would be on alert in the southwest direction, while the long-range reconnaissance planes and patrol planes on Midway Island would be responsible for guarding in other directions. Subsequently, it was replenished by the First Fleet and guarded by the Third Fleet. Because the size of the two main fleets was quite large, even if the main replenishment was fuel, fresh water and fresh food, it still took a full three days.

During the three-day replenishment operation, the training of both fleets remained unstoppable. Moreover, the fighter units of the two fleets also conducted "friendship" training with the fighter units of the shore-based aviation units of the Navy on Midway. The two sides engaged in several simulated air combat confrontations, as well as a simulated surprise attack on Midway by fleet aviation, as well as a fleet that was resupplying near Midway.

On the afternoon of 22 July, Ellsler and the Qiu Gengbo group conducted a simulated attack on Midway Island and the Third Fleet anchored at the anchorage west of Midway. Zhu Rongzhe did not inform the Third Fleet and the shore-based air force on Midway about the training topic. When hordes of fighters and bombers flew over the Third Fleet and the airfield at Midway, a riot was triggered, and the officers and men who were judged to be "finished" were full of complaints. Huang Xiaotian naturally wouldn't talk to Ren Hao about this trivial matter, but the commanders of the good troops on Midway Island all came to Han Shaofeng, and Han Shaofeng also came to Tan Ren Hao, asking Tan Ren Hao to restrain the actions of his subordinates. As for whether Tan Renhao took this matter seriously, I'm afraid others don't know, at least at that time, Tan Renhao only verbally condemned An Shile and Qiu Gengbo, but behind his back, he asked Zhu Rongzhe to write down the results of this exercise into the "battle record" of the two.

The next morning, Wei Dongbei also organized a similar exercise, and also wanted to be in the limelight, and this time the Third Fleet. As well as the shore-based aviation on Midway, the bombers of Task Force 2 were "intercepted" by a large number of fighters before they could get close. If it weren't for the smoke of gunfire, the flames of the explosion, and the sound of explosions, seeing hundreds of warplanes hovering over Midway, I'm afraid anyone would have thought that Midway had been hit suddenly. This time was no exception, Han Shaofeng found Hao Dongjue in a hurry and asked Hao Dongjue to severely punish those officers and soldiers who did not abide by discipline. Since he didn't even talk about Renhao to punish those pilots. Hao Dongjue, who has always protected his shortcomings, is afraid that not only will he not punish the pilots who have caused trouble, but will also reward them.

When it was the First Fleet's turn to replenish, the three task forces of the Third Fleet did the same. In particular, the exercise organized by Fenglingdu on the evening of 23 June almost caused a catastrophe. A malfunctioning bomber crashed into Midway Island just as it was getting dark. Both pilots jumped out, but the bomber landed in an open field less than 50 meters away from Han Shaofeng's headquarters, and the bomber's fuel tank exploded, and a jeep that was driving nearby was thrown over, injuring all four marines on the ground. If it was a little bit more off, Han Shaofeng, who was complaining to Huang Xiaotian on a shortwave phone at the headquarters at that time, would probably become the general with the highest accidental casualties in the Imperial Navy!

For three days, the officers and men on Midway were in great fear. Especially on the twenty-fourth. Because of the bomber crash, all the officers and men who went out had to keep an eye on the bombers hovering overhead, and they might know when one of the bombers would fall. And it just hit yourself? This terrifying exercise was not over until the replenishment of the two fleets was over. Later, even Han Shaofeng, who was recognized as the number one fierce general of the Imperial Marine Corps, had to admit that the pilots of those carrier-based aviation units were even crazier than him.

Tan Renhao and Huang Xiaotian would not punish those pilots who had gone too far in training, in fact, except for the three wounded marines, the lost bomber, and the three days of terrified days spent by the officers and men on the island, this kind of exercise was of great benefit, which could improve the pilots' ability and play a role in warming up. Second, it can also raise the vigilance of the officers and soldiers on Midway, who have not been harassed for several months. Let them all know that Midway is still a front-line area of the battlefield, and it may be attacked suddenly at any time. Of course, the most important thing is that this gives many novices who have just been integrated into the fleet aviation a valuable opportunity for real combat training.

Since there was still no news about the Fifth Fleet during these three days, on the evening of the 24th, after the First Task Force had completed its replenishment and left the anchorage west of Midway, Tan Renhao and Huang Xiaotian decided to immediately start the next round of training. And this is the offensive and defensive training of the two main fleets, and this round of training is divided into two stages.

In the first stage, the Third Fleet will play the role of an imaginary enemy and leave the waters near Midway Island first, while Midway Island will be set up as the Kauai Island that the Marines will attack, and the First Fleet will be responsible for supporting the landing of the Marines and striking the military targets on the island, while the enemy fleet played by the Third Fleet will suddenly kill and strike at the First Fleet. The prerequisite for the exercise was that Tan Renhao did not know when and in what direction the enemy fleet would appear, nor did he know the specific battle plan of the enemy fleet. Because the first phase of the projected landing on Kauai is only three days, the Third Fleet has only three days to "take out" the First Fleet, and this stage of training is only three days, as long as the First Fleet is not "annihilated" within three days, then the First Fleet is the victor, and vice versa, the Third Fleet is the victor.

This exercise attracted a lot of attention, and even the officers and men of the Marine Corps knew that Tan Renhao and Huang Xiaotian were the two best fleet commanders in the Imperial Navy at present, and this was a direct "confrontation" between the two. Even if the exercise does not really take place, at most the bombers and fighters will go through the motions, and the referee composed of more than 100 staff officers of the two fleets will judge the battle situation, which has also attracted the interest of many people. As a result, even Han Shaofeng was interested, and Long Zhen and Fang Xiaoxian, who were on the front line, also sent a telegram that if they could take time to return to Midway, they would definitely come back to see the excitement.

Tan Renhao has never underestimated Huang Xiaotian, although he knows very well that Huang Xiaotian's skills in sneak attacks are not enough. However, Huang Xiaotian's talent in aviation combat command is enough to make up for this shortcoming. In addition, the initiative in the first round of exercises was in the hands of Huang Xiaotian, and the First Fleet was on the side of passive defense, which made it even more difficult. Therefore, that night, Tan Renhao called Hao Dongjue and Chang Jianxin over, he didn't want to lose in the hands of this rising star.

"If I were Huang Xiaotian, I would definitely have rushed over on the 26th." Hao Dongjue knows Huang Xiaotian best. "As planned. The Marine Corps is landing tomorrow, and this is also the most dangerous day, we will not relax our vigilance, and according to the plan, we do not need to undertake all the strike missions, we will send most of the forces, at least all the reconnaissance planes, to the most likely dangerous direction, it is difficult for Huang Xiaotian to quietly approach us tomorrow. And by 26, the Marine Corps needs to expand the landing ground, and the pressure on our aviation support will not be reduced in the slightest. Other than that. The officers and men of the fleet have been fighting for a day. I should be tired. We will definitely have to revise the reconnaissance mission tomorrow, and even if there is only the slightest loophole, it will give Huang Xiaotian a chance. So. We must heighten our vigilance on the 26th, let the reconnaissance plane fully deploy, and not give him any chance. ”

"Dongjue, you can't think like that, we're cheating!" Chang Jianxin laughed, Hao Dongjue did not completely consider the problem from the perspective of actual combat, because in 26 years, it was impossible for all reconnaissance planes to be dispatched, and during the exercise, Hao Dongjue ignored the issue of the quality of officers and soldiers.

"Yes. We must arrange our operations in accordance with the actual combat method, and we must not violate the basic principles of the exercise. Tan Renhao also laughed, "Boss, according to the plan, the Third Task Force will go to the landing site tomorrow and break away from us, at least at this time, we can't expect to use the warships of the Third Task Force to strengthen our air defense." ”

"Then we'll have to do a dozen or three."

"Dongjue, don't think so much. We didn't have much of an advantage. Chang Jianxin patted Hao Dongjue on the shoulder, and then said to Tan Renhao, "Then I'll go back and arrange the fleet's actions now, and it's up to you here." ”

Tan Renhao nodded and sent Chang Jianxin to leave the battleship. As a matter of fact, Tan Renhao was not very sure, and the conditions at the exercise site were very harsh, which was not necessarily a bad thing, at least, it would make the officers and men of the fleet realize that in an extreme situation, they should not expect to receive assistance, but should be mentally prepared for a decisive battle with the Fifth Fleet alone.

That night, Tan Renhao and Hao Dongjue discussed for several hours before deciding on a general plan of action for the exercise. The two of them can only try to do their best, after all, this is only an exercise, and in actual combat, they still have the support of the Third Fleet, and they will not fall into the situation of being exposed to the enemy.

On the 25th, the "landing" operation officially began, and the Third Task Force had been operating near Midway, but the bombers of the Third Fleet did not appear. On the 26th, the marines who successfully landed on the shore quickly expanded the landing ground, and met with stubborn "resistance" from the other side, constantly calling for air support from the fleet. Of course, these signals were all sent by Han Shaofeng's personnel, and the Marine Corps did not take any action, just let the fleet send bombers. Tan Renhao and Hao Dongjue spent a busy day, and the bombers of the two task forces took turns to dispatch, and after the results of the judgment in the evening, it was decided that the first task force had lost 30 percent of its bombers, and the second task force had lost 3 percent of its combat aircraft. That night, Tan Renhao and Hao Dongjue contacted again, and they both decided that Huang Xiaotian must be waiting for this opportunity.

Early in the morning of the 27th, a large group of bombers flew over the First Task Force against the rising sun, which was an increase in the bomber group of the Third Fleet, but to the puzzlement of the pilots on the bombers, they did not find any trace of the Second Task Force. Although all of Task Force 1's carriers, most of the escort ships, and almost all of Task Force 3's ships still operating near Midway were judged to be "sunk". But it was at this time that the exercise took a turn for the better. When Tan Renhao asked the "Taihu," which had been judged to have "sunk," to leave the formation, the news of the Second Task Force came, and the bombers arranged by Hao Dongjue found the Third Fleet and "killed" the three aircraft carriers of the Eighth Task Force in the first round of assaults. Two hours later, new news came that the second round of bombing organized by Task Force 2 had "killed" three aircraft carriers of Task Force 7. Until the end of the exercise, there was no "fighting" between Task Force 4 and Task Force 2. The result of the judgment was a draw, the Third Fleet was unable to defeat the First Fleet, and the First Fleet was unable to support the landing marines at the most critical time, resulting in heavy losses for the landing force, and finally let the Fourth Task Force go.

That night, the two fleets swapped places in preparation for a second round of exercises, in which the Third Fleet played the role of the red side and the First Fleet played the role of the blue side of the sneak attack. The officers and men of both sides were already excited, and to put it bluntly, the results of the first round of exercises gave great excitement to the officers and men of both sides.

On the surface, the two sides were tied, but in fact the First Fleet had already won, because the battle had already been lost after the Fifth Fleet, played by the Third Fleet, was defeated. However, to the dissatisfaction of the officers and men of the 1st Task Force, the 1st Task Force was the victim of the 2nd Task Force this time. Of course, Tan Renhao wouldn't care so much, because this was the tactic he determined, no matter who was the victim, the commander of the First Fleet was Tan Renhao, not Hao Dongjue.

"I don't know what General Huang Xiaotian is thinking now." Zhu Rongzhe has been trying to assist Tan Renhao, and when Tan Renhao was in charge of commanding the main fleet, he was basically arranging the actions of the First Task Force. "Perhaps, he's thinking about how to drag us into the water."

"Don't think so much, we've actually won the first round of exercises." Now, Tan Renhao is also more satisfied with this partner. "No matter what others say, at least our defense has been successful, and this will certainly be of great help to our future combat operations."

Zhu Rongzhe nodded, in less than a month, Zhu Rongzhe learned a lot of knowledge and experience from Tan Renhao, and he now understands why Hao Dongjue recommended him to be the chief of staff of the First Task Force, and why everyone thinks that the position of Chief of Staff of the First Task Force is for the next fleet commander.