After sitting down in Liao Hanxiang's office, Tan Renhao sighed. When Wei Dongbei and Feng Lingdu began to argue, he was also listening carefully. There is some truth in the words of both of them, which makes it even more difficult to judge. Subsequently, Tan Renhao asked Zhu Rongzhe to return to the fleet first and organize the departure of the fleet, while he stayed.

"Those two men seem to have a fiery temper." Liao Hanxiang also paid attention to the controversy between Wei Dongbei and Fenglingdu. "There's a good thing about arguing, though, because at least it gives us some insight into what we haven't taken into account. What do you think about the Fifth Fleet leaving Pearl Harbor at this time to bomb Nihua Island? ”

"It's not going to be a good thing." Tan Renhao took the teacup from his father-in-law, "At least, Spruance didn't let us be idle, and at the same time, he should have judged the time of our campaign, at least made a rough judgment." In addition, the Fifth Fleet will not sit still, and Nimitz will not relax in the slightest. None of this is good news for us. ”

"So is there a good side?"

Tan Renhao pondered for a moment. "I don't know, maybe the Fifth Fleet won't be able to avoid battle easily, but I can't make that judgment right now. If the Fifth Fleet takes the initiative to fight us, this will certainly be good news, but it seems to me that the odds are quite small. ”

Tan Renhao has been thinking about whether the Fifth Fleet will take the initiative to come to the decisive battle, and he has been thinking about this issue for several months, and finally came to the conclusion that the Fifth Fleet will most likely not take the initiative to come to the decisive battle. The first reason is that the strength of the Fifth Fleet is still far inferior to the two main fleets of the Imperial Navy, and although there are three aircraft carrier battle groups in name, its actual combat effectiveness is probably not comparable to that of the First Task Force and the Second Task Force. If the two sides meet, even if Spruance has a chance to attack early, he is unlikely to win a complete victory, and as long as the Fifth Fleet is annihilated, then the United States will lose the Hawaiian Islands. The second reason is that the U.S. Navy will be replenished in June, and those newly commissioned warships will be able to reach the Pacific Ocean by July at the latest. At least in terms of aircraft carriers, the US military can be on par with the fleet deployed by the Imperial Navy in the Pacific, while the Imperial Navy will only get two aircraft carriers in July, and even if the repaired "Chaohu" is added, there will only be 18 aircraft carriers, and the advantage is not too obvious, and the comparison of strength between the two sides will be further narrowed at that time. Finally, and most importantly, the attack on the Hawaiian Islands cannot be accomplished overnight. It is even more unlikely that a quick victory will be achieved. If nothing else, it will take a lot of time to take Kauai, and as long as the U.S. military holds out on Kauai for a while longer, then the U.S. Navy will have enough time and opportunity to find a chance to turn the tables and turn the tide of the war. These factors all determined that the Fifth Fleet would not blindly come to the decisive battle, Spruance would be patient, and Nimitz would give him time.

"And what are you going to do?" Liao Hanxiang lit a cigarette, and he asked very directly.

"Let's see the move." Tan Renhao smiled reluctantly, "At least." No one would think of attacking Pearl Harbor now. Other than that. The Fifth Fleet's actions did not cause us much damage, so it should not affect the operation of attacking Kauai, right? ”

"It's hard to determine for the time being, I'm still waiting for the loss report from Fang Xiaoxian." Liao Hanxiang sighed. "Thankfully, our troops and supplies are not mainly concentrated on Nihua Island. Nihua Island was originally the front line, and even if the bombing of the Fifth Fleet and the US shore-based air force achieved good results, our losses could not be too great. I will take the time to readjust the campaign deployment and try not to affect our attack on Kauai as much as possible. ”

"So, will Spruance also realize that the bombing of Nihua Island doesn't make a big difference?" Tan Renhao touched the corner of his forehead, which he had to consider now.

Nihua Island is of great significance as it is the forward base for the Imperial Marines to attack Kauai, and Kauai will be the base from which to march next to Oahu. The Fifth Fleet's bombing of Nihua Island can be explained. But Spruance will not be unaware that Nihua Island is within the strike range of the US shore-based tactical bombers, and the US shore-based air force has been bombing Nihua Island before, and the warplanes deployed by the Imperial Naval Air Force on Nihua Island are also bombing Kauai. Then, the Imperial Navy will not deploy too many supplies and gather too many troops on Nihua Island, at least until air supremacy is ensured, it will not gather troops and materials here, then it will not make much sense for the Fifth Fleet to send bombers to attack Nihua Island. If it was Tan Renhao who was commanding the Fifth Fleet. He wouldn't bomb Nihua Island, but would attack Gardner, Leysan, or even Midway, and the effect would be completely different.

"You think Spruance is deliberately exposing himself?"

"No, it doesn't make any sense, he can easily deduce that we are still in the waters west of Midway, there is no threat to him, and it doesn't make sense to expose it or not." Tan Renhao raised his head, "Although Spruance has suffered several defeats in a row, his judgment of the battle situation should not be a big problem. If Spruance knew that the bombing of Niwa Island was of little significance, and he took the risk of bombing Nihua Island at the cost of considerable losses, then what was his purpose? ”

"Maybe Hao Dongjue's judgment is correct."

"You're saying the Fifth Fleet is still training?"

Liao Hanxiang nodded. "We are equipped with new fighter jets, and it takes more than a month, or even two months, just to train for adaptation. And our pilots are all experienced, from the outbreak of the war to the present, this group of pilots in Ellsle has been mixed on the battlefield for more than five years, and he has also flown several fighters, it takes him a month to fully master the performance of the new fighter, so, can the pilots of the US military do better than him? ”

Tan Renhao shook his head, this question is easy to answer. He had talked to Deng Zichao, who had not died at that time, a few years ago, and that pilots need to spend a lot of time getting used to the new fighter after receiving a new fighter. This is not a task that can be accomplished by flying several times a day, because in battle, the fighter is a part of the pilot, and only when the pilot can use his arms and feet to fly the fighter plane, can the performance of the combat aircraft be brought to the limit. Hao Dongjue also proved this, so every time the Imperial Navy was equipped with a new aircraft, the aviation unit needed to spend about two months for the pilots to fully run in with the new fighters. Achieve the best state so that you can exert your maximum combat effectiveness on the battlefield.

"The Fifth Fleet was equipped with new fighters less than a month ago. In addition, the new bombers that the US military equipped last year performed quite poorly in combat. All this proves that the US military is still seriously undertrained. Tan Renhao nodded slightly, "Therefore, it is very likely that Spruance is still training his troops." ”

"I also think it's possible, otherwise he wouldn't have bombed Nihua Island." Liao Hanxiang extinguished the cigarette butt, "Even if he doesn't know the actual situation on Nihua Island." He should also consider a sneak attack on Midway or Wake Island, especially Wake Island. If he knew about the situation on Nihua Island, he would not have surprised the snake in order to achieve tactical or battle goals, and he should have attacked Midway Island. Now that he has bombed the island of Nihua, we have raised our alert, and our fleet will certainly rush to it at once. Spruance had to think of the worst-case scenario, i.e., the 7th and 8th Task Forces, who had left Apra Harbor three days earlier, were already sailing in the direction of Midway, so he only had two days, and maybe only one day now. And he couldn't go and bomb Midway tomorrow. That's missing the best opportunity, he wouldn't be so stupid as not even thinking about it, would he? ”

Well, the only explanation is. Spruance was training the pilots of the Fifth Fleet, especially the Fifth Fleet, and perhaps those 'super pirates' to participate in bombing operations. ”

"If that's the case, then we don't have to rush."

Tan Renhao nodded thoughtfully, it was true. If Spruance had sent the Fifth Fleet to attack Nihua Island for the purpose of training pilots, then the Fifth Fleet would never have taken the initiative to challenge, let alone launch a decisive battle. As soon as the Imperial Navy fleet appeared in the waters near Midway, Spruance would retreat. Perhaps, before that, Spruance will hurry up and let his bombers drop as many bombs as possible on Niwa Island. And let the pilot adapt to the battlefield environment as quickly as possible, but he will never stay there and wait for a decisive battle with the main fleet of the Imperial Navy!

"Looks like we should reconsider."

"I don't think it's necessary." Liao Hanxiang took out another cigarette, and after seeing Tan Renhao's gaze, he didn't light it. "Let's put it this way, Spruance must have arranged for the submarine to monitor our activities, and he'll be on time. I'm willing to bet you at most the day after tomorrow, maybe tomorrow night. The Fifth Fleet will take the initiative to withdraw from the battle, and when the time comes, we will not have any chance to fight the Fifth Fleet, and Spruance will not give us any chance. Perhaps, he will attack other islands, but only by sneak attack, and it will definitely be launched after the whereabouts of our fleet have been determined, and the sneak attack will be quite rapid, hit and run, and not give us a chance to catch him. If we keep chasing the Fifth Fleet on the front lines, we will be exhausted, and our defense line will be full of holes, which will create opportunities for Spruance. ”

"So what are we going to do?" This time, it was Tan Renhao's turn to ask this question.

"Respond to change with the same." Liao Hanxiang laughed, "I still have the old saying, sharpening a knife is not a mistake to chop firewood." Our training is not done either, and pilots need more time, so why don't we focus on training first? Of course, we don't need to go to the front line to drop a few bombs, or find US fighters for actual combat training, our pilots do not lack actual combat experience, they just need to master the performance of the new fighters as soon as possible. Therefore, we don't have to go-for-tat with the Fifth Fleet, he does his, I do mine, and as long as the actions of the Fifth Fleet do not affect our attack on Kauai Island, Spruance will do whatever he wants. The so-called often walking at night always has to meet ghosts, sneak attacks such an action is indispensable, I'm afraid that when the time comes, we really have to count on him to launch a few more sneak attacks! ”

Tan Renhao also laughed. "This is a test of our determination, especially the determination of people like Wei Dongbei and Fenglingdu."

"As long as you don't give orders, what dare they?" Liao Hanxiang lit a cigarette this time, "In addition, in my opinion, as long as the whereabouts of the First Fleet and the Third Fleet are uncertain to Spruance, then Spruance will think twice about every step he takes, which will definitely affect his battlefield decision-making, and also have an impact on the actions of the Fifth Fleet, which will cause him to miss a lot of fighters, and even make him make wrong judgments." At that time, you and Huang Xiaotian only need one chance, even if it is a very inconspicuous and slim opportunity, as long as there is a chance, Spruance will be completely finished. ”

Tan Renhao thought for a while and said: "Then do it, when we get to Midway, we will continue to train, and at the same time closely monitor the actions of the Fifth Fleet, if Spruance shows his flaws, then his end is almost here." ”

"I will let Han Shaofeng fully cooperate with you, and Long Zhen on Wake Island and Fang Xiaoxian on Nihua Island will provide you with full support." Liao Hanxiang hesitated slightly, "Ren Hao, it is naturally best to be able to annihilate the Fifth Fleet this time, but don't force it." Spruance has suffered a few defeats, but he is still our most difficult enemy to deal with, and perhaps he is waiting for an opportunity. If we can't take out the Fifth Fleet, then we have another way. ”

"I know, don't worry, I won't take risks easily, and I talked to Huang Xiaotian a few days ago, Huang Xiaotian also thinks that we don't need to take risks, at most it's just to storm Kauai, and then we still have enough advantages, there is no need to bet with Spruance."

"That's good, you'll go back to the fleet today?"

"yes, I'm going back in about a minute." Tan Renhao stood up, "It's not that I don't believe in Zhu Rongzhe's ability, if I'm not in the fleet now, the impact will not be good, and there are many things waiting for me to deal with." ”

The two also talked about this, Tan Renhao returned to the first task force in the afternoon of the same day, and several task forces anchored in Apra Harbor were making preparations for departure.