Tan Renhao did not rush to Huang Xiaotian to discuss the combat operations of the Fourth Task Force in the Southwest Pacific, and he was busy completing the battle damage report of the First Task Force in the morning and afternoon. This was the lightest battle damage report Tan Renhao had ever written during his two tenures as commander of the First Task Force.

During this combat operation, the losses of Task Force 1 can be described as minimal.

The fleet itself did not suffer major losses, only more than a dozen anti-aircraft gunners were killed or wounded during the battle, and the real losses were huge for the 1st Air Wing. In two rounds of bombing and several interceptions of US heavy bombers, the First Air Wing lost more than 80 combat aircraft, more than half of which were fighters. Pilots killed and missing (because it was impossible to determine whether they were killed or captured by the enemy, so they were directly included in the list of missing persons), some of the pilots who fell into the water near the enemy fleet were salvaged, and all the pilots who fell into the water over their own fleet were recovered.

In the course of the entire operation, the First Task Force lost less than 100 officers and men, which was also the slightest loss since the establishment of the First Task Force. Tan Renhao did not spend much time to complete this battle damage report, although when he wrote this report, he still felt very heavy, but he knew very well that many officers and men were able to return from the battlefield, not only because of his command ability as a fleet commander, but also because of the sacrifice of the officers and men of the Fourth Task Force. If Task Force 4 hadn't helped Task Force 1 hold off so many bombs, Task Force 1's losses would have been much greater.

One can imagine how heavy Huang Xiaotian's mood was when he wrote the battle damage report of the Fourth Task Force. Writing a war damage report is actually a recollection of a combat experience. It was a severe test of the psychological endurance of the fleet commander. No one is an exception, Tan Renhao has experienced such pain and torture many times, so Huang Xiaotian sat in the position of commander of the fourth task force. He will go through the same test.

This is actually also a chance for the fleet commander to reflect. War damage reports have always been written by the fleet commander, and the chief of staff cannot do it for him. And by ending the lessons after the war. This is a huge help for the fleet commander to avoid making mistakes in future combat operations. It is also in this way that the fleet commander constantly sums up the previous combat experience and improves his ability step by step in the battle. Although it was a painful task to write a war damage report, the tradition was preserved until later. It has become a tradition in the Imperial Navy that the battle damage report has no more formal significance, and in this way, more commanders can fully understand the cruelty of war before they even set foot on the battlefield through the experience and lessons learned by other commanders.

If you want to use a metaphor, then the navy is like a living organism, this life form is still evolving in the process of growth, and the "battle damage report" is a mechanism for the navy to evolve itself, a way to reduce errors. Enhance the Navy's own ability to evolve the mechanism.

In fact, there are many similar mechanics in the Imperial Navy, such as the Naval Academy to teach naval combat skills. Starting from the grassroots level to temper the ability of officers and men, as well as summing up every combat operation, and so on, these are all self-evolution and self-improvement of the navy. This is also the reason why the Imperial Navy has been able to defeat every opponent for hundreds of years!

He was busy until the evening, and it wasn't until Hao Dongjue came to call him to dinner that Tan Renhao finished the battle damage report, which should have been easy. When the two arrived at the officers' quarters, there were not many people here, and most of the officers had gone to the shore to eat. The cook prepared a sumptuous dinner for the two generals, and later Tan Renhao learned that in order to make the officers and soldiers relax, Hao Dongjue's food on the battleship had been very good in the past few days.

"Finished with the report?" Hao Dongjue didn't seem to have much appetite.

"I'm done, just take it back." Tan Renhao didn't have much appetite either, "Is there anything I need me to help you bring to Qinglian?" ”

"It's nothing, I sent the letter yesterday." Hao Dongjue took out a cigarette, "I contacted Lao Chang, tomorrow we will set off together, a few cruisers will be assigned to Naha for maintenance, just by me to bring it, he doesn't have to go to Naha for a special trip." ”

Tan Renhao nodded slightly. "I'll wait for Huang Xiaotian, are you going?"

"No, you can go, there are still some things to deal with in the fleet." Hao Dongjue shook his head with a smile, "Did General Yan Guozhong ask you to tell Huang Xiaotian?" ”

"It's not an exhortation. This time I want to go back to Zhoushan, the first task force will go to Naha, Huang Xiaotian is the commander of the fleet with the most changes, and there are some things that still need to be explained. Tan Renhao stood up as he spoke, "Okay, you go and get busy first, and I'll come back to you in the evening." ”

Task Force 4 was anchored on the other side of the harbor, several warships that had been lightly wounded in the battle were being overhauled, and hundreds of naval engineers were busy on the ships. If the injuries of these ships are not serious, there is no need to return to the empire for repairs, and they will be repaired directly here. Huang Xiaotian must have been busy, and the losses of the Fourth Task Force this time were not small, two small aircraft carriers were sunk, hundreds of officers and men were killed in the sea, and a number of escort warships were injured, in addition, more than 100 planes did not return. Generally speaking, the Fourth Task Force is still able to continue fighting, and the additional air forces have already arrived, and now the Fourth Task Force can set off when a new mission is issued.

As soon as Tan Renhao and his adjutant arrived at the improvised dock, a senior staff officer of the Fourth Task Force Headquarters greeted him.

"General, are you looking for General Huang Xiaotian?"

Tan Renhao nodded, he came to the Fourth Task Force, naturally he came to find Huang Xiaotian.

"Please come with me." The major officer immediately led the way in front, "General Huang is still dealing with the settlement and transfer of the wounded, and I will take you there directly." ”

Tan Renhao glanced at the "Taihu" aircraft carrier not far away, and immediately followed the officer in the direction of the beach. There's a makeshift hospital over there, which is mainly for the fleet's wounded.

Hao Dongjue was in charge of the resettlement of the wounded of the First Task Force. Tan Renhao didn't ask.

Thinking that Huang Xiaotian was able to visit the wounded in his busy schedule, Tan Renhao felt that he was a little incompetent, how to say. As the commander of the fleet, it is his responsibility to visit and comfort the wounded.

Haven't been to the hospital yet. Tan Renhao smelled the pungent smell of the potion, and there was also a faint smell of blood.

"General Tan, you wait here, I'll go find General Huang."

Tan Renhao stopped and waited outside the hospital. Wait for the officer to walk away. He called Duchenne over. "Go buy some condolences and send them to the hospital and distribute them to the wounded."

"Doesn't anyone have a copy?"

Tan Renhao nodded. "The money is in my closet, you hurry up and do it."

Duchenne didn't say anything more and immediately walked away.

Hearing the painful moans of the wounded in the hospital, Tan Renhao felt very heavy. When he wrote the battle damage report, the casualties of the officers and men of the fleet were only reflected literally, and in many cases they were just a string of numbers. But now, he can truly experience the pain and suffering brought by the war to the soldiers.

A truck drove over, and Tan Renhao turned around. He knew that it was the vehicle that had come to transport the bodies of the fallen officers and soldiers. Many of the wounded were on the verge of death by the time they arrived at the hospital, and in such poor conditions in front-line hospitals. Many of the seriously injured are not well treated. The Imperial Navy had already put a lot of effort into improving medical conditions at the front, setting up a theater general hospital, as well as numerous front-line hospitals, and even small hospitals on large warships. But the problem is. In the heat of battle, there are often so many wounded that the medical officer is simply too busy. In fact, many wounds are not fatal, and many wounded people will not be sacrificed if they can be treated in time, let alone crippled!

Tan Renhao is not a medical officer, and he can't understand the feeling of a medical officer on the battlefield. In many cases, without proper equipment and medicine, medical officers watched wounded fighters fall without any way to save their lives. On the battlefield, the Medic in the Red Heart uniform (the Imperial Navy Medic's uniform has a red circle on the front and back) is definitely the most popular person, and there are even many soldiers who would rather sacrifice their lives to protect the Medic for only one reason, when a soldier is wounded and falls, only the Medic can help them. But the most dangerous on the battlefield is also the medical officer, especially on the ground battlefield, the first thing the two warring sides must shoot is definitely the other party's medical officer! At the same time, it is these soldiers who are responsible for treating the wounded who are under the greatest pressure on the battlefield.

There was an uproar in the hospital, and Tan Renhao turned around to see more than a dozen soldiers in one-piece rubber suits carrying body bags onto the truck, and his mood was extremely sad.

Those are soldiers who have died because of ineffective treatment, and each body bag means that a life has left this world, and a name will be added to the list of fallen officers and soldiers of the Imperial Navy. Perhaps, in this list, it is just two words, three words, or just one word, but here, it means that another lamp of life has been extinguished, another heart has stopped beating, and another Imperial soldier has died on the front line for the oath he swore allegiance!

Seeing that the soldiers who were carrying the bodies of the sacrificed officers and soldiers were acting rudely, Tan Renhao immediately walked up. At first, those people hadn't found Tan Renhao yet.

"Stop it!" Tan Renhao yelled.

The two officers and soldiers who were carrying a body bag turned around, and when they saw that it was a general coming, they immediately put down the body bag and turned to salute Tan Renhao.

"Which unit are you from?" Tan Renhao walked over quickly, "Are you treating your brothers and your comrades-in-arms?" ”

Several soldiers were stunned for a moment, and immediately became frightened.

Tan Renhao walked over to the body bag and unzipped it. It contained the remains of an ordinary naval soldier, the body had been washed after a simple wash, and the blood had been washed away, this soldier was probably not more than twenty years old, and his expression was very peaceful, as if he had fallen asleep. Two tears rolled down, Tan Renhao didn't know why he shed tears, he didn't even know this soldier, he didn't know the name of this soldier, he didn't know which army this soldier belonged to, but he knew very well that in this war, thousands of such imperial soldiers had fallen on the battlefield!

Tan Renhao felt like a knife was stirring in his heart, in this war, too many people paid for it with their lives and blood. He knew very well that behind this soldier who died for his country, there were parents who were looking forward to his return, maybe there were brothers and sisters, and even a girlfriend or wife who was waiting for him, and in the end, all these people could receive was a death notice issued by the Imperial Navy Command and the Imperial Ministry of Internal Affairs, a notice was equivalent to a life being taken by the war.

"What are you all doing? Go all and don't be here to watch! ”

Hearing Huang Xiaotian's voice, Tan Renhao stood up, and he took one last look at the somewhat immature face, which was forever imprinted in his mind. If there was no war, a young man under the age of twenty would have been at school, in a factory, or at home, enjoying the protection of his parents, enjoying a peaceful life, but now, he has become a cold corpse.

"General Tan......" Huang Xiaotian walked over, he had already noticed Tan Renhao's expression.

Tan Renhao nodded at Huang Xiaotian, and then walked towards the outside of the hospital.

"Actually, those soldiers are also tired, we should understand."

"I can understand that it's not easy for everyone here." Tan Renhao sighed, "Many people think that soldiers can only reflect their value in war, so soldiers love war, and even want to start war at all costs." But there are a few people who really know that in war, it is the soldiers who make the greatest sacrifices. I dare say that it is the military who do not like war the most and want peace the most. Military men also love life, and who wants to sacrifice themselves in war? Don't we want the war to end, and don't we want peace to come sooner? ”

"But our enemies don't want it, and if we want peace, we have to defeat the enemy, so that the enemy can no longer wage war and destroy the peace."

Tan Renhao nodded, looking towards the night sky that was gradually darkening, since the night had come, would the dawn be too far away?