In the next two days, both Tan Renhao and Hao Dongjue devoted their energies to fleet navigation and reconnaissance work. Because Hao Dongjue was born in the aviation force, he was indeed lacking in navigation, and Tan Renhao had to personally shoulder this work. Aerial reconnaissance is Hao Dongjue's strong point, so naturally there is no need to worry about Renhao.

In two days, many destroyers sounded the alarm four times, but all of them were confirmed to be false alarms, and the sonar detected whales instead of submarines, and the gunners on one of the destroyers took the blue whale floating to the surface for air as a submarine (the water column emitted by the blue whale is somewhat similar to the situation when the submarine floats to the surface and discharges), and as a result, he also bombarded with artillery.

Tan Renhao's biggest concern is the American submarine, and he regrets a little that he did not apply to the chief of staff for a few more destroyers. These destroyers will not contribute much to the air defense of the fleet, mainly because their anti-aircraft firepower is too weak (compared to heavy cruisers and large air defense cruisers), but the position of destroyers in the fleet is too important, and without destroyers, those large battleships will become live targets for submarines, and they will not even have the strength to fight back. Eight destroyers are indeed a little too little, and you should apply for a few more destroyers when you come out, even those old destroyers are much stronger than nothing.

In order to avoid exposing the fleet, Hao Dongjue strictly restricted the range of activities of the reconnaissance planes when determining the reconnaissance route, which actually reduced the probability of the current enemy. In order to increase the current probability, it is necessary to expand the reconnaissance range, and this may expose the reconnaissance plane to the line of sight and radar detection range of the US military.

On two occasions, the reconnaissance plane almost caught a fleet with strange tracks, once because of a sudden change in the weather, the reconnaissance plane did not immediately follow, and the other time at night, the seaplane in charge of patrolling mistakenly took the faint light in the fleet for starlight (the light on the sea antenna at night can easily be regarded as starlight), and only after returning did the pilot think that it might not be starlight, but the light on the battleship. Missed these two chances to appear first. made Tan Renhao feel embarrassed, but at the same time, he felt that there was a problem in the middle.

At about 5:50 p.m. on the evening of the 31st, a "Osprey" on reconnaissance and patrol made its first appearance of the mysterious fleet between Ulysi Atoll and Thorol Atoll. Because the fleet had a clear rule at that time, it could only send telegrams when the reconnaissance planes were sure that there were aircraft carriers in the enemy fleet, and they could not send telegrams at will (mainly to avoid exposing their positions when using radio, and the United States had deployed a large number of radio detection stations on the Caroline Islands), the reconnaissance plane did not immediately report when it could keep up. The fleet entered a thunderstorm area, and the reconnaissance plane lingered nearby for half an hour before reluctantly returning home. By the time we returned to the fleet, it was already about half past eight in the evening.

At 10:35 p.m. that night, a seaplane that took off from the large air defense cruiser "Li Jing" reappeared about 75 nautical miles northeast of the Voile Atoll. The interval between the two engagements was less than five hours, and the two locations were about 14o nautical miles apart. The seaplane was not sure that it was the fleet, and the pilot came back thinking that it was most likely the fleet, so he reported it to his superiors.

When Tan Renhao received the second reconnaissance report, it was already half past one in the morning, and he was called up by a staff officer.

"This is the site of two contacts."

In the evening, Hao Dongjue had already marked the place where the reconnaissance plane had come into contact with the enemy fleet twice on the nautical chart, before Tan Renhao arrived on duty. "The straight-line distance is about 14o to 16o nautical miles. The navigation equipment on the reconnaissance aircraft was not so precise. ”

"Is there any data on the course of the enemy fleet?"

Tan Renhao said. I buttoned it on one side, and it was cold at night in the tropical sea.

"For the first time. The second time it didn't. ”

Hao Dongjue picked up a pencil and a scale as he spoke, and soon indicated the course of the enemy fleet on the chart. "That's the case, the second contact was too far away, and the pilots themselves couldn't be sure it was a faint light in the fleet, not starlight."

Tan Renhao lay on the chart table and looked at it carefully.

At the time of the first contact, the enemy fleet was sailing northeastward, probably in the direction of Guam, at a distance of more than 24 knots (this can be roughly judged by the shock wave generated by the battleship while sailing, and the pilots and navigators of the reconnaissance planes were trained in this area). The second present. The pilots could not even determine whether it was an enemy fleet or not, and it was even more difficult to determine the course and degree of the enemy fleet, and they could only roughly judge that the fleet was sailing eastward.

"Can you tell the scale?"

Tan Renhao stood up, and at this time, a staff officer brought over the freshly brewed tea.

"At the time of the first contact, the pilots determined that the size of the enemy fleet was about ten, including at least four large warships, but there was no way to determine whether there were aircraft carriers. The contact was too short, and the weather in the area was terrible. ”

Hao Dongjue sighed. "The second contact was not judged, maybe it wasn't the American fleet at all, it was just a plankton that floated to the surface at night."

Tan Renhao was not in a hurry, and when he touched the cigarette, he was in a hurry and forgot to bring it. Hao Dongjue immediately took out a cigarette, Tan Renhao shook his hand, and picked up the teacup.

"Renhao, do you think this is a fleet?"

Tan Renhao shook his head slightly and put down the teacup. "If it were a fleet, in less than five hours, it would have appeared in two seas at a distance of at least 14o nautical miles, and that would have been the largest voyage of the fleet."

Hao Dongjue also lay down, he lit a cigarette for himself, and every night he smoked at least a pack and a half of cigarettes, otherwise it would be as if he couldn't survive.

Tan Renhao glanced at Hao Dongjue and said, "Judging from the first contact, I am inclined to the American fleet that patrols between the Mariana Islands and the Caroline Islands. ”

"That small American fleet based in Guam?"

"Isn't this fleet always patrolling around here?"

Tan Renhao pulled his chair over: "Now that the US task force has come out, and our intention to attack the Mariana Islands has been exposed, it is very likely that the United States will let this fleet go south, so as to avoid our first round of attacks, and second, to strengthen the security defense between the Mariana Islands and the Caroline Islands." Luo Yunchong: When did they start bombing? ”

Hao Dongjue hesitated for a moment, first did not understand why Tan Renhao suddenly jumped on this question, and then replied: "The first round of bombing was carried out yesterday morning. And then it didn't stop, and by now there have been about three rounds of bombing. ”

"Then it couldn't be more obvious."

Tan Renhao suddenly laughed. "What do you think the U.S. commander will do if he thinks that the current forces cannot hold the Mariana Islands and that reinforcements from home will not arrive in time?"

"It must be the transfer of troops from nearby areas to strengthen the defense of the Mariana Islands."

"Where will the troops be deployed, and where will they be deployed?"

Tan Renhao glanced at Hao Dongjue and stood up again. On the chart, he clicked: "Yap Island is a key defense island between Guam and Palau, where there are at least 25oo U.S. troops, of which about 15oo are 6 warbands." The U.S. military has been using the island as a large rear construction for the Palau archipelago, where it has stockpiled a number of munitions and supplies. The U.S. military on the mainland of Yap Island is under the command of the U.S. generals of the Mariana Islands, and in the immediate situation, he will inevitably draw troops from here. ”

"But can they use air freight and not be stupid enough to take a slower sea route?"

"The only people who can be sent back by air are soldiers. And not materiel. ”

Tan Renhao picked up the teacup. He felt his hands light a little, probably hungry. "Send the troops back by air, and then use the fleet to bring the supplies back. This should be the best way to go. At present, our "Falcon" fighters deployed on Iwo Jima can go to Guam to carry out combat patrols near Guam for at least 15 minutes (Iwo Jima is about 1ooo kilometers from Guam, and the "Falcon" fighter can barely do this with one large fuel tank and two small fuel tanks attached), which is not a big threat to US fighter planes, but it is a great threat to those transport planes. It is the safest for the United States to use its fleet to deliver supplies. ”

Hao Dongjue nodded slightly, in fact, those "Falcon" fighters are basically on escort missions, and HNA has not let the fighters go to the Mariana Islands to carry out free hunting missions until now, mainly because the distance is too far. The combat patrol that a fighter can perform is too short.

"If this fleet had left yesterday morning, it would have arrived at Yap Island last night and then returned early this morning."

Tan Renhao picked up a pencil and a scale, and quickly drew a route: "It appeared in the evening in the sea where we first came into contact with them, and judging by their course, they returned directly to Guam, not to the east. ”

"And what about the second contact?"

"Maybe it's the U.S. fleet, maybe it's like you say. It's just a bunch of plankton. ”

Tan Renhao sat down, and then motioned to Hao Dongjue that he didn't have to stand anymore. "It's very close to what we guessed was the U.S. fleet's area of activity, so it's likely to be the U.S. fleet. Until now, there has been no telegram from the command of the Navy indicating that the American fleet is also in radio silence. More importantly, our attack on the Mariana Islands has already begun. Today it is already ...... No. 1: In the next two days, the bombing of the Navy and the Strategic Strike Force will be in full swing, and with the appearance of our 6th Fleet, the Yankees will definitely not be able to hold their breath. ”

"You mean the American fleet will appear at this time?"

"Whether he shows up or not, they're going to take action."

Tan Renhao took a sip of tea and felt a little warmer, "We can act according to the plan to ensure that nothing goes wrong." When the U.S. fleet does not appear, according to the battle plan, we will cover the 6th unit of the Mariana Islands east of the land and establish the first barrier. Now, although we have not sailed to the east of the archipelago, we can still guarantee that we will hold this line. It would be best if the American fleet showed up, and I didn't want to let go of this big fish. ”

"But ......"

Hao Dongjue admired Tan Renhao's courage very much, but he still felt a little unsafe: "If we make a mistake in judgment, the US fleet is not in the Hall Islands......"

"Then it's up to us to bet."

Tan Renhao will not change easily after making a decision. "Don't worry, the Chief of Staff will definitely take this into account, and the missions of Task Force 2 and Task Force 3 will also change. Most likely, Task Force 3 will be deployed to the east of the Maug Islands, which is within cover of shore-based fighters. Moreover, the 6th team will capture Asunción Island first, and the 6th team will rush to build a field airfield within a few days. The position of the second task force will be a little further south, patrolling the waters of Agrihan Island, probably 2oo nautical miles west or 25o nautical miles to the southwest. That way, even if the American fleet comes in from the east, we will have enough time to make adjustments. ”

"But the first two days of fighting will still be very dangerous, and it will take us at least a day and a half to maneuver, and the second task force may not be able to withstand it for so long."

"But we have a greater sense that the Yankees are in front of us, not to the east of the archipelago."

Tan Renhao stood up and sat for so long, he felt cold, "Tomorrow we will start to strengthen the patrol force in this sea area between the south of Guam and the Hall Islands. Let the reconnaissance planes fly with as much fuel as possible in the maximum patrol radius. Send as many as you can, except for the bomber group that left the first wave! ”

"Okay, I'll make arrangements for the evening."

Hao Dongjue sighed secretly and talked about Renhao's desperate bet on playing this gambling game.

"I'll go rest and come back to me when I have something."

Tan Renhao patted Hao Dongjue's shoulder: "I'll change shifts at eight o'clock tomorrow, don't smoke too much." ”

Hao Dongjue was stunned for a moment, talking about Renhao, he was a smoker, and persuaded others to smoke less. By the time he threw away his cigarette butt, Tan Renhao had already walked out of the command cabin. A cool breeze poured in as the hatch was opened, and he shuddered, wondering if that was a good sign. Will Task Force 1's desperate sortie get a happy outcome or a bad one?