It is not easy to turn an idea into a practical action, and this requires a complete set of plans, especially campaign plans. To a large extent, the campaign plan is a statistical count of one's own forces, an estimate of the enemy's forces, the deployment of forces on both sides, and a pre-estimate of the forces that need to be invested to achieve the goal, and then to determine how many troops and how many supplies need to be invested in the campaign, and where these troops should be deployed and where the materials should be delivered. After all this work was done, it was the turn of the troops to attack, as well as tactical problems.

What Tan Renhao has to do is to first count how many forces the Imperial Navy still has in the Pacific Ocean that can be mobilized. Because the attack on the Australian mainland is in the first place, after the attack on the Australian mainland is satisfied, the remaining forces can be invested in the attack on the Hawaiian Islands. That's the problem.

It is not difficult to count the strength of the Imperial Army, every month, the relevant personnel of the Imperial Navy Command will make a statistical report, Tan Renhao does not need to spend too much effort in this regard, there are ready-made things to use. It is not very difficult to estimate the strength of the US military, there is a wealth of intelligence in all aspects, and there are before and after comparisons, at least we can roughly figure out how many troops the US military has in the Pacific. And the real trouble is the question of how many troops need to be invested in attacking the Australian mainland.

Tan Renhao approached Gu Xunlei several times, and each time he received the reply that the army would try its best to provide 50 divisions of ground combat troops for the Pacific theater. Forget it, the combat effectiveness of 50 army divisions is still not bad, but the problem is. The Army will not be able to undertake the logistical support of these troops, and the Navy will have to do it. In addition, intelligence support. fire support, as well as other aspects of the problem. All will be in charge of the Navy. In other words, the army only provides troops, and how exactly to fight, the right navy decides. At least, that's the attitude of the Army at the time.

Judging from Tan Renhao's understanding. At that time, the main efforts of the army were focused on the general offensive against Russia that began in the spring of 26. By mid-October, the Reich had reached a concrete agreement with Germany that Germany would attack St. Petersburg with all its might, while the Reich Army would attack Moscow. Both sides will launch a general offensive campaign at the same time, so that the strategic reserves of the Russian army can be contained, so that the Russian army will not be able to gather enough defensive forces in a certain direction. But this brings up a new question, that is, whether the huge strategic reserve of the Russian army will be invested in the defense of St. Petersburg, or in the defense of Moscow?

Whether it is Germany or the Imperial Army, it will definitely take into account first that the Russian army will invest its strategic reserves in the direction of its own attack. Therefore, the Imperial Army will definitely take into account the strategic reserves of the Russian army when formulating the campaign plan. At the very least, you have to prepare more reserves on your side to deal with the eventuality, and this will also ensure the successful completion of the attack and achieve the goal of defeating the Russians. The Imperial Army could only devote more troops to the continental battlefield. And the forces that can be drawn to reinforce the Pacific theater will be weakened.

This was the biggest problem of the Navy at that time. Can the Army provide 50 divisions? And, how many transport fleets would be needed to support these 50 army divisions? What is the size of the paired aviation? Also, how many flotillas do these aviation need to deliver ammunition supplies?

Every problem is actually not big, but every problem has uncertainties, and when all these problems are summed up, then the scope of uncertainties far exceeds Tan Renhao's estimate. According to the report made by Tan Renhao at that time, if everything goes well, the navy only needs to prepare five transport fleets at most, about 250 merchant ships, and more than 80 destroyers to escort these fleets on the route from the empire mainland to the Australian battlefield. If the offensive does not go well, then the Imperial Navy will have to prepare at least fifteen transport fleets, more than 750 merchant ships, and at least 250 destroyers! This does not take into account the investment of the Marine Corps, and if the Marine Corps has to be deployed on the Australian continent in the end, I am afraid that there will be no troops to be sent to the Central Pacific Theater.

It can be said that the uncertainties of war are fully manifested here, and this is the most difficult stage in formulating a campaign plan. If the distribution of forces is not appropriate, it will be very troublesome to transfer troops between two battlefields thousands of nautical miles apart, and it will even affect the combat effectiveness of the troops and the final outcome of the campaign. Before the campaign begins, troops must be deployed in place, and war materials must be transported in place, and troops and materials cannot be deployed at the beginning of the campaign. Often, a major campaign takes months to prepare, and if the preparation goes wrong, there is no way to start a campaign.

This was the first time that Tan Renhao had been involved in the preparatory stage of the campaign. Gan Yongxing did not directly hand over all the work to Tan Renhao, but set up a special staff group responsible for this matter, which was led by Tan Renhao, and Gan Yongxing himself provided a lot of help to Tan Renhao.

In fact, this is also to exercise Tan Renhao's ability, so that he gradually understands a series of problems to face in the process of determining the campaign, planning the campaign, and then implementing the campaign, as well as how to avoid and solve these problems.

As the chief of staff of the Imperial Navy, Gan Yongxing's ability to plan battles is very strong, and he has become a good teacher for Tan Renhao, just like every time in the past, as long as Tan Renhao has something to understand, he can go directly to Gan Yongxing to ask, and gain the experience he lacks from Gan Yongxing.

"Overall, the plan is doable." Gan Yongxing is the person in charge, and he has been supervising Tan Renhao's work, "As long as the army provides 50 divisions, and our newly established 30 marine divisions can complete training and form combat effectiveness according to the plan, then we will not have a problem with troops." According to your proposal, if we first hoard supplies in the war zone and transfer some transport ships on several other routes to strengthen our transportation forces, then we will not have a big problem in terms of supplies. ”

Tan Renhao listened very humbly, Gan Yongxing was not only his senior brother. Now it's more like his teacher.

"I contacted Liao Hanxiang, and he will also complete the preparations as soon as possible." Gan Yongxing is also responsible for liaison and coordination with frontline theaters, and his burden is also very huge. "As we prepare to attack the Australian continent. He will try his best to complete the deployment on Gardner Island and Lysan Island, and use these few months to gradually dismantle the US military's air combat capability on the Hawaiian Islands. Lay the groundwork for fleet and marines to attack the Hawaiian Islands. The bombing campaign would last for several months, which was exactly what we had planned. ”

"Then the problem is the Pacific Southwest."

Ngan Guozhong also made an assessment, and now his focus is still on the New Hebrides, and strive to complete the capture of Port Vila by the end of November, or early December at the latest. He then marched into New Caledonia to make final preparations for an attack on the Australian continent. Gan Yongxing hesitated slightly, "The real problem is not Yan Guozhong, judging from the news that Yan Guozhong fed back, the resistance to attacking the New Hebrides is not very large, the US military's ground defense line is not solid, and in the absence of sea and air supremacy, MacArthur cannot hold these islands at all." New Caledonia is not a problem either, as long as Port Vila is captured, our tactical bombers will be able to fly over it. MacArthur had no choice. ”

"The main problem is the Army."

"Yes, whether the army can provide 50 divisions in time is the key, and there is time." Gan Yongxing sighed. "Yan Guozhong is moving according to plan, but we can't predict how difficult it will be to attack Port Vila and New Caledonia, and if it is blocked here, then the attack on mainland Australia will have to be delayed. So. Our biggest enemy right now is time. It would be difficult to capture two islands in less than five months, and there were at least 200,000 U.S. troops on them. ”

Tan Renhao also sighed secretly, the arrangement of the entire campaign was too tight, and there was almost no free time, and this was the biggest problem.

"If Task Force 2 can regain combat effectiveness at the beginning of next month, let Task Force 2 go to replace Task Force 4, which will need two months to recuperate.

When it is finished, the third task force can also be put into battle, and by then, we will have three task forces fighting in the southwest Pacific, and Yan Guozhong should also march into New Caledonia at this time. ”

"Then we can only count on Yan Guozhong to successfully complete the capture mission with the support of the fleet."

"If it goes well, then you may have to go to the Southwest Pacific to command the battle."

Tan Renhao smiled bitterly, he had already realized this.

The commander of the second task force is Hao Dongjue, the commander of the third task force is Chang Jianxin, and the commander of the fourth task force is Huang Xiaotian. If we talk about qualifications, it is natural that the new commander-in-chief of the three task forces should be recommended by the permanent one, but it is not the aircraft carrier task force that is often recommended to be the new commander, which is obviously not appropriate. Then it should be Hao Dongjue, but the problem is that Hao Dongjue has only been promoted to fleet commander, and Huang Xiaotian and Chang Zhixin have been in the position of commander for a long time, which is obviously not suitable.

The last is Huang Xiaotian, but Huang Xiaotian was Hao Dongjue and Chang Jianxin's subordinate before, and now he has been replaced to command the two former commanders, which is obviously not suitable.

"Let's think about this question in the future, at least, you have to continue to be in the headquarters for the next few months." Gan Yongxing also laughed, "Moreover, this matter has not been decided for the time being, maybe the principal will let you stay in the First Task Force." ”

"Hopefully, at least I can't leave Task Force 1 until there's a suitable person to replace me as Commander of Task Force 1." Tan Renhao shrugged his shoulders, "Chief of Staff, I will hand over this report to you, if there is a problem, we will revise it." ”

"I'll read it carefully, and I'll definitely look for you if I have any questions. But don't think you're done. Gan Yongxing went to the desk and brought a document, "Now, there is still something you need to deal with." ”

Tan Renhao frowned, can't he have a little easier time?

"Don't make that sad face, many people are staring at your position, and it's too late for others to envy you." Gan Yongxing gave the document to Tan Renhao, "This is the news we have just received, in a few days, the delegations of the German Navy and the Persian Navy will come to Zhoushan. ”

"Let me go and receive them?"

Gan Yongxing nodded. "Now, you are the number one celebrity in the Imperial Navy, if someone doesn't know me Gan Yongxing, I won't find it strange, but if someone doesn't know Tan Renhao, it would be really strange."

"Chief of Staff, if you want to be sarcastic about me, you don't have to be so direct."

"Okay, I'm not kidding you." Gan Yongxing himself laughed, "There are several important things for the German Navy and the Persian Navy delegation. The first is to discuss with us future combat operations, the second is the cooperation of the navies of the three countries, and finally, and most crucially, the handling of those warships. ”

"Battleship?" Tan Renhao frowned, he didn't know what outdated warships the empire had to deal with.

"It's all in the documents, you can take a closer look." Gan Yongxing did not explain too much, "This is a task arranged by the prime minister himself, the reception work must be in place, the principal and I will receive them, however, you have to be responsible for the specific things, especially some issues involving the interests of the three parties, you have to make arrangements, and when the time comes, we will conduct relevant negotiations." ”

"The Headmaster knows?"

"This is what the principal asked you to arrange, and you have also seen that I have a lot of things to deal with during this time, and I can't be busy at all, otherwise, I wouldn't have handed this matter over to you." Gan Yongxing stood up as he spoke, "Hurry up and familiarize yourself with the relevant situation, the delegation will arrive in a few days, and I will inform you two days in advance." ”

"Okay, then I'll go and study the contents of the file first."

"That's right", Gan Yongxing stopped Tan Renhao, "Let Gu Xunlei go out to relax, don't stay in the naval headquarters these days, otherwise the Germans will be in trouble if they see him." ”

Tan Renhao nodded, he also thought of this question, and before he could ask it, Gan Yongxing mentioned it.