Lei Shaoqing arrived in Lae on 14 February, when the battle on the side of Port Vila was not over, so Yan Guozhong still set up the theater headquarters in Lae, while he himself rushed to Port Vila to command the operation. It wasn't until the third day after Lei Shaoqing arrived in Laicheng, that is, on the 16th, that Yan Guozhong rushed back from the front line, and the first thing he did after he came back was to invite Lei Shaoqing over.

"General Lei, I'm really sorry, the battle situation on the front line is very complicated, so I stayed there for a few more days." Yan Guozhong said as he invited Lei Shaoqing to sit down, and after Adjutant Haha went to prepare dinner, he came over. "I have received a telegram from the marshal, and it is the most pleasing thing for me to have your help this time. The other day, the Marines had already landed in New Caledonia ......"

"So soon to New Caledonia?" Lei Shaoqing was very surprised, in the latest battle report he saw, the Marine Corps was still fighting fiercely with the US army on Efate Island.

"Yes, it's just that the advance force has landed in New Caledonia, and the main force is still behind, and now the transport fleet and landing fleet can't be deployed, and I can't handle it alone." Yan Guozhong nodded with a smile, and at the same time handed a cigarette to Lei Shaoqing, "I heard that Tan Renhao was arranged to come over before, and I thought it was strange at the time, why did I let Tan Renhao come over?" However, General Lei was able to come, and I was in a lot less trouble. General Lei, don't blame me for speaking too directly, in the past, I could handle the affairs of the Marine Corps and the fleet alone, and Huang Xiaotian and Hao Dongjue's abilities are good, so there is nothing to worry about. But now, with the expansion of the scale of the campaign, more and more troops have participated in the battle, not to mention the fleet, and even the affairs of the Marine Corps cannot be handled. And now that you can come and help, then I can make it a lot easier. ”

Lei Shaoqing also laughed, he had heard Tan Renhao mention Yan Guozhong before, and knew that Yan Guozhong was a general with a very straight temperament. It's better to be famous than to meet, and now he knows how "straight" Yan Guozhong's temperament is. If it weren't for Lei Shaoqing's mental preparation, then Yan Guozhong's words would have offended him. And now in Lei Shaoqing's opinion, the problem of cooperating with a straight general like Yan Guozhong should not be very big.

"Now, it is Task Force 2 and the Theater Fleet attached to the Southwest Pacific Theater to support the Marines in New Caledonia, and Task Force 4 has completed its rest on schedule and is now rushing over. I have already contacted Huang Xiaotian, they will be busy arriving, the main problem is that the training time of the fourth task force after the refitting is very short, and it may be difficult to exert its combat effectiveness immediately. So, this aspect of the problem needs to be considered. Yan Guozhong lit a cigarette and said, "Now, these things are up to you." By the way, is your office ready? ”

"It was ready yesterday, but ......"

"I'll arrange it for you, and I'll report to you tomorrow." Yan Guozhong rushed to the front and said, "If you need to send people from other places, you list the names, and I will help you find a way to transfer these people, of course, it's best not to dig Hao Dongjue's corner, otherwise, that kid will be muddy, and I won't be able to cure it." ”

Lei Shaoqing immediately laughed. "Don't worry, I won't rob Hao Dongjue, I'll give you the list tomorrow."

"Then let's go eat first, and we'll talk while we eat." Yan Guozhong stood up, "I'm hungry, there are still some situations in the war zone that you must understand, I'll tell you about it later." ”

Lei Shaoqing immediately followed Yan Guozhong out of the office, and in just a few minutes, he had a general understanding of Yan Guozhong. Like Han Shaofeng, who he knew in the Pacific Theater before, Yan Guozhong has the characteristics of a typical Marine Corps general, that is, he speaks quickly, does things vigorously and resolutely, and does not fight anything at all. On the battlefield, this is definitely an advantage, which is also an important reason why the Marine Corps is strong in combat, but outside the battlefield, this is definitely a disadvantage, which is also an important reason why it is difficult for Marine Corps generals to climb to high positions.

At the dinner table, Yan Guozhong gave Lei Shaoqing a general introduction to the situation in the southwest Pacific, especially the situation of some major generals and troop commanders. Needless to say, the only thing that surprised Lei Shaoqing a little was that the commander of the Southwest Pacific Theater Fleet was Brigadier General Li Wenlong of the First Task Force, and he did not follow Tan Renhao to the Indian Ocean, and when the First Task Force set off, Li Wenlong suffered from acute appendicitis, and before he was discharged from the hospital, the fleet set off, and then he was sent to the Southwest Pacific Theater to be responsible for commanding the theater fleet directly belonging to the Southwest Pacific Theater to fight.

Generally speaking, the situation in the Southwest Pacific Theater is rather complicated and different from that in the Pacific Theater, because of the differences in geographical conditions and the differences in the nature of operations, in the Southwest Pacific Theater, in addition to the main force of the fleet, the Marine Corps is also the main force, and the shore-based combat units of the Navy that cooperate with the Marine Corps' offensive are also the main force. In addition, in terms of the size of the troops participating in the war, the size of the military in the southwest Pacific far exceeds that of the Pacific theater. It is precisely because of the large number of troops participating in the battle that the situation is very complicated, especially in the coordination of various units and logistical support, and the problems exposed in the battle are not found in the Pacific theater.

"Xiao Lei, it's not that I look down on the fleet, I said that it was implemented, and I admired you very much after being the commander of the theater in the past few years." Yan Guozhong obviously drank high, and he also changed his name, and Lei Shaoqing looked like friends for many years. "In the past, I always thought that the Marine Corps was the real essence of the Navy, but now I know that without the fleet, the Marine Corps is nothing. If nothing else, if you look at the operation of attacking Port Vila, the credit of the fleet is far superior to that of the marines. And now on the New Caledonian side, the role of the fleet is even more pronounced, and without the full support of the second task force, our first landing operation would have failed. If the Marine Corps is my right hand, then the fleet is my left. And now, I give you this left hand to command. I don't have anything else to ask for, except to hope that in the next battle, the fleet will work closely with the other forces to achieve our common goal! ”

"General Yan, you are serious, we are all imperial soldiers. Everything you do is fight for the Empire. It is my job to command the fleet well and try to coordinate with other fraternal forces. Lei Shaoqing didn't drink much, he was still very sober.

"That's good, I've heard Xiaotan mention you many times, and I know that you two are fellow countrymen, it seems that you dragged him to join the Navy back then, right?" Yan Guozhong laughed, "Hao Dongjue's bastard boy has also mentioned you many times, at the beginning, you, Tan Renhao, Hao Dongjue, and Chang Jianxin can be said to be the 'Four King Kongs' of the First Task Force." And now you're all generals. They are all on their own, so to speak, no one would have thought of it at all. I heard that you are coming, Hao Dongjue still wants to come back with me, but now he can't leave at all......"

"General Yan......"

"Don't be so polite, just call me Lao Yan in the future"

Lei Shaoqing hesitated for a moment, then laughed. "Old Yan, it's not early today. You've been on the road for a day, so go back early and rest, and we'll talk about the battle tomorrow. ”

"It's okay, I'm not tired." Yan Guozhong beckoned the waiter of the restaurant over, "Two more bottles of daughter red!" ”

Lei Shaoqing immediately stopped the soldier who was a little hesitant, and then drank the last glass of wine. "Okay, let's all go back and rest first, and I'll come back to you early tomorrow morning."

What else did Yan Guozhong say, Lei Shaoqing couldn't care so much, he called Yan Guozhong's adjutant over, and the two helped Yan Guozhong out of the restaurant. The pressure on people from the war is quite huge, and as the commander of the theater, Yan Guozhong has more pressure than anyone else. Lei Shaoqing felt that Guozhong's drunkenness was not a big deal, if the pressure on Yan Guozhong's body could not be relieved, then he would have to collapse sooner or later, and let him get drunk once, early tomorrow morning, Yan Guozhong would be the general of the Imperial Marine Corps who made the enemy fearful.

Early the next morning, when Lei Shaoqing returned to the theater headquarters, he was surprised to find that Yan Guozhong was arranging the work of the staff officers assigned to him, and he had completely returned to normal, and he couldn't even tell that he had been drunk last night. This made Lei Shaoqing have to admire, and he had already heard that all the generals of the Marine Corps had a good amount of alcohol, and in the past, whether they could become a general of the Marine Corps depended on whether they drank a lot.

"Xiao Lei, you will be here for the time being." Yan Guozhong called Lei Shaoqing over, "The conditions here are a little simpler, but the battle on the side of Port Vila is almost over, or in a few days, we will move to Port Vila." I've had the command of the U.S. Third Fleet cleared out, and it will be your headquarters from now on. ”

"Shall we move to Port Vila?" Lei Shaoqing was a little surprised, he hadn't heard of this news, but this was an internal affair in the theater, and there was no need to notify the Navy Command in advance.

"Yes, Lae is a small place, and it's too far from the front line to come and go. I have already contacted Gan Yongxing, and the headquarters has approved my request. When the situation in Port Vila stabilized, the Theater Command was transferred to Port Vila, where it was much easier to direct the battle. Yan Guozhong turned around and walked towards his office, and Lei Shaoqing immediately followed. In addition, we will try to repair the infrastructure of Port Vila as soon as possible, which was previously the home port of the U.S. Third Fleet, and has enough capacity to accommodate our task force. As long as the infrastructure is repaired, then our task force does not need to return to the ports of the empire mainland for maintenance, and can receive logistical support behind the front line, which will be of great help to the fleet's operations. ”

Lei Shaoqing nodded slightly, the fourth task force spent more than ten days sailing on the road in order to carry out maintenance, if the relevant maintenance can be completed in Port Vila, then these ten days can be saved, which improves the fleet's continuous combat capability in disguise, which is a very important thing.

"So, will there be a fleet that will be transferred to Port Vila, with Port Vila as its home port?"

"This hasn't been decided yet." Yan Guozhong waited until Lei Shaoqing entered the office and closed the door, "Gan Yongxing is already thinking about this arrangement, the main question now is when the infrastructure of Port Vila can be repaired, and which fleet is more appropriate to arrange here." None of this is a definite number at the moment, and it is not too late to determine the stationing of the fleet after there is a clear schedule of plans. ”

Lei Shaoqing sat down, as the plan to attack the Australian mainland gradually unfolded, there will definitely be a fleet stationed in the Southwest Pacific Theater in the future, and Port Vila has the natural conditions to be the home port of the fleet. The biggest problem now is that when the US military withdrew from Port Vila, almost all the infrastructure was blown up, and it was quite troublesome to repair these infrastructures, and it was not enough to invest in engineering troops to solve the problem, many large equipment needed to be transported from the empire itself, and a group of professional engineers had to be organized, and the amount of work was quite huge, and no one dared to determine when Port Vila could be repaired. However, this is Yan Guozhong's problem, and Lei Shaoqing is not responsible for logistics.

"Wait a minute, you get acquainted with the staff officers assigned to you, who were previously in charge of fleet operations at the Theater Command." Yan Guozhong also sat down, "You give me the list of personnel who need to be replenished as soon as possible, and I will help you arrange it in the next few days." If you have time, you should hurry up and learn about the situation in the theater of operations, as well as the situation in the Pacific Ocean in general, and the situation in the US military in particular. ”

"I know, I'll deal with it later, and I'll give you the list of personnel in the afternoon. Also, where is Li Wenlong now? ”

"Li Wenlong?" Yan Guozhong frowned slightly, "He is still commanding the fleet on the front line, but if you need it, I can let him come back and let Hao Dongjue temporarily take his place to command the theater fleet." ”

"No, I'll look for him when we get to Port Vila."

"It's okay, when the time comes, the theater fleet should also be maintained." Yan Guozhong stood up, "Then we won't delay much time, there is nothing major in the past few days, you adapt to the situation here as soon as possible, after arriving at Port Vila, I will not let you relax." ”

Lei Shaoqing nodded with a smile, and then said goodbye to Yan Guozhong, he also knew that after he arrived in the Southwest Pacific Theater, he would not have an easy life.