When the situation on the field changed, he was confident that he would take out the Third Fleet operating in the Caribbean Sea, and had already arranged all aspects of the plan of action, just waiting for the Third Fleet to attack the Greater Andrés Islands again, and he could do it, but the sudden change made all of Spruance's plans come to naught. By the time Spruance figured out the situation, the First Fleet was already on its way to the Caribbean theater. At this point, he had to abandon all his previous plans, and at the same time no longer focus on how to take out the Third Fleet, but how to deal with the challenge of the two most powerful main fleets of the Tang Imperial Navy.

Relatively speaking, Spruance was a little afraid of the First Fleet, after all, only Tan Renhao had defeated him in an evenly matched confrontation, on the contrary, Huang Xiaotian had only caused him a little trouble at most. Besides, the First Fleet was the number one main fleet of the Tang Imperial Navy, and it was stronger than the Third Fleet in terms of collocation, the quality of officers and men, and even the quality of the staff officers of the fleet headquarters. In this case, Spruance must have considered dealing with the Third Fleet first, and then trying to defeat the First Fleet.

By the end of May, after the First Fleet had reached the Gulf of Limón, Spruance had to consider how to fight the two main fleets at the same time. At the time, the Atlantic Fleet remained in Norfolk, and Spruance abandoned the idea of heading south into the Gulf of Mexico to stand by, preparing to make a decision when the situation became clearer. But the situation has developed to this point. It's no longer Spruance that can sway the land.

At that time, the intention of the Tang Imperial Navy to storm the Greater Andrés Islands was quite obvious, and the US authorities were also very clear that the Greater Andrés Islands, especially Cuba, would be a springboard for the Tang Imperial Navy to attack the US mainland, and whether or not the Tang Imperial Navy could ensure the security of the mainland was the most important threshold. Under these circumstances, the United States authorities will certainly do their utmost to defend Cuba. Strive to block the advance of the Tang Imperial Navy in Cuba.

On the Mexican side, Gu Xunlei's expeditionary force of the Tang Imperial Army also caused a lot of trouble for Eisenhower. Although Eisenhower's beautiful defense a few months earlier had kept the Tang Expeditionary Force at bay in southern Mexico, making it difficult for it to override the American defenses at Tehuacan. But the problem is that the expeditionary force of the Tang Empire has been increasing its troops, and its engineering troops are still building airfields and roads. With the expansion of the port, as these infrastructures were improved and the size of the expeditionary force expanded, Eisenhower's defense line in Mexico would also be severely tested. Under these circumstances, Eisenhower began to ask for reinforcements in April, and in addition to the troops, he had to be provided with more war supplies and even to arm more Mexican Federal Army (rebels). And relying solely on the road system from the southwestern United States to Mexico could not meet Eisenhower's supplementary requirements.

There are also some other problems, such as the activities of the submarines of the Tang Empire Navy in the Gulf of Mexico, the patrols of the shore-based aviation forces of the Tang Empire near the Gulf of Mexico, and so on. All this made the US authorities realize that the war had reached the Gulf of Mexico. Securing the Gulf of Mexico will be a key factor in ensuring the outcome of the war in Mexico, as well as the defense of Cuba. Then. In addition to the air forces deployed in several southern states of the United States, and the interior of the Gulf of Mexico escort and patrol ships, the only thing that can strengthen security in the Gulf of Mexico is the Atlantic Fleet that remains in Norfolk.

At the end of May, when Gu Xunlei began to adjust his deployment and prepare to launch a second campaign, Eisenhower accurately judged his intentions and reported the situation back. In Eisenhower's new report, the importance of the Gulf of Mexico route is highlighted. And repeatedly stated that if the Gulf of Mexico route is cut off. Then he would not have any ability to defeat the Tang Empire Expeditionary Force in Mexico, and would even retreat all the way to the US-Mexico border to organize a new line of defense. It is clear that Eisenhower asked the Navy to ensure the security of the Gulf of Mexico shipping lane.

It was at this time that the President of the United States gave Admiral King an order that the Navy should guarantee the security of the Gulf of Mexico at all costs, and that the Atlantic Fleet would sail to the Gulf of Mexico if necessary. This command is somewhat vague, and the reference to "when necessary" is not an accurate concept of time. At that time, Admiral King also took advantage of this, so he did not order Spruance to set off immediately, after all, Admiral King was also an orthodox admiral, and he knew very well that in the narrow waters of the Gulf of Mexico, it was impossible to accommodate the Atlantic Fleet, let alone let the Atlantic Fleet use its skills. In addition, the Atlantic Fleet is the only barrier to ensure the security of the east coast of the continental United States, if it is transferred to the Gulf of Mexico, then the fleet of the Tang Imperial Navy can directly attack the cities on the east coast, and who will deal with these fleets at that time?

After a delay of more than ten days, on June 6, when Gu Xunlei launched his second campaign, Admiral King again received an order from the president to ensure the safety of the Gulf of Mexico route and to send a batch of reinforcements and supplementary war materials to Tampico, Mexico, by sea. At that time, these troops and the supplies needed by Eisenhower had already been loaded onto transport ships in New Orleans, and Admiral King did not hesitate to order the fleet to set off. This is the flotilla found by the submarine operating outside New Orleans at that time.

By June 12, Admiral King had drawn two other fleets to deliver supplies to the Mexican battlefield. Originally, both fleets were sailing on the route from the United States to Cuba, and the fleet reached New Orleans, loaded with supplies, and then set sail for Tampico. Together, these three flotillas sent Eisenhower 12 divisions of ground troops, plus more than 800,000 tons of war materiel. It is fair to say that without these aids, Eisenhower would have lost Mexico City by the end of June. And it was the arrival of these aid forces that allowed Eisenhower to hold out longer, and also made Gu Xunlei pay a greater price for the capture of Mexico City. You can see how important the route from New Orleans to Tampico was at that time.

While Admiral King was doing his best to meet Eisenhower's needs, Spruance was watching the movements of the two main fleets. The U.S. submarine was discovered on 8 June, when the First Fleet was on its way to the Strait of Dominica as it reached the eastern Caribbean Sea. This piece of information was also sent to Admiral Kim at the same time, and anyone at that time could have judged that these two

The action was the signal for the beginning of a new offensive of the Tang Imperial Navy. With the new offensive launched by the Expeditionary Force of the I Army on the battlefield in Mexico, it is obvious that the land and sea armies of the Tang Empire will advance at the same time.

Admiral King immediately asked the President of the United States to promise to keep the Atlantic Fleet in Norfolk on the grounds that the main fleet of the Tang Empire had already left Limon Bay and was leaving the Caribbean Sea, and it was very likely that it would come to attack the east coast of the United States, and Spruance would take full responsibility for commanding the Atlantic Fleet to meet it. At this point, Spruance no longer had to worry that he would be sent to the Gulf of Mexico, but he also had to lead the Atlantic Fleet to meet the challenge of the enemy's two main fleets. This was neither a good nor a bad thing for Spruance.

Over the next few days, Spruance was thinking about what to do. Perhaps everyone else thought that the main fleet of the Don Empire would go and attack the major cities on the east coast of the United States, bombard New York, Boston, Philadelphia, Baltimore with the heavy artillery of five aircraft carrier task forces, fifteen aircraft carriers, or even attack Washington with the heavy artillery of several battleships! But Spruance did not think at all that the Tang Imperial Navy would send the two most powerful main fleets to carry out such a mission of little significance, the defense of the US mainland was not defeated, at least 6,000 combat aircraft were deployed on the east coast of the United States, and thousands of bombers could be drawn from the interior at any time, and the Tang Imperial Navy fleet was easy to detect as long as it was close to the US mainland. It is also easy to attack, and even the most powerful fleet will not end up much better in the face of thousands of bombers. It was this judgment that while others were worried about those large coastal cities, Spruance was worried about the fate of the Atlantic Fleet, because in his opinion, the two main fleets of the Don Imperial Navy had abandoned the Caribbean theater. The main purpose of the joint northward movement is precisely to stay in Norfolk for the Atlantic Fleet!

Fearing an attack on the fleet, Spruance did not immediately let the fleet go, but waited for more news in Norfolk. On the 11th, that is, on the night when Tan Renhao and Huang Xiaotian acted separately, Spruance received another piece of information. This is also the most important piece of information. The intelligence agencies of the United States have already received information that the naval forces of the Don Empire have revised the target of the attack, and one of their underground destinations is not Cuba, but the Bahamas!

At the time, this information was not officially sent back by a spy who was embedded in the Tang Empire, and there was no mention of whether this information came from the Tang Empire's cabinet government, the naval command, or the front command. Because of this, few people believed this information at the time. Including the President of the United States. Admiral King and others, among others, believe that Cuba has not been captured. Attacking the Bahamas will be very difficult and not very likely. It is believed that the counterintelligence department of the Tang Empire released a piece of false information in order to confuse the United States, and the real purpose of the Tang Empire's navy is still to attack Cuba. Spruance did not immediately deny the importance of this piece of information, because in his opinion, if the attack was planned by the commander of the First Fleet, then Tan Renhao would most likely abandon Cuba and choose the Bahamas.

Spruance has been dealing with Tan Renhao for several years, against this young opponent. Spruance is still familiar. Perhaps, when everyone else thinks that the time is not ripe to attack the Bahamas. Tan Renhao will take action, which is also Tan Renhao's usual policy of using troops. Judging from the strategic importance of the Bahamas, as long as the Bahamas are captured, the Tang Imperial Navy will not even need to send troops to occupy Cuba, and will be able to complete the strategic advance and approach the US mainland, and at that time, Cuba will have no strategic significance. More importantly, when the U.S. military was fully defending Cuba, the defensive forces deployed in the Bahamas were quite limited, and if the Tang Imperial Navy impulsively moved the two main fleets and put in an appropriate number of marines, the possibility of taking the Bahamas was not impossible.

Immediately after making this analysis, Spruance telephoned Admiral King, explained his views, and asked Admiral King to arrange forces to strengthen the defense of the Bahamas as soon as possible. However, the problem was that at that time, the United States Navy deployed several transport fleets in the south were all transporting troops and supplies to Mexico, and the other transport ships were also used in the direction of Cuba, so there was simply not enough maritime force to strengthen the defense of the Bahamas. Admiral King could only ask for support from the Army Airlines, which arranged for a fleet of transport planes to send the Marines deployed in Jacksonville to the Bahamas. Apart from these moves, the only thing that could guarantee the security of the Bahamas at that time was the Atlantic Fleet.

That evening, Admiral King ordered the fleet to prepare for departure. The next morning, Admiral King went to the White House and explained to the president the importance and danger of the Bahamas, and finally the president agreed to Admiral King's request to let Spruance lead the Atlantic Fleet to defend the Bahamas, but asked Admiral King to ensure the safety of the Atlantic Fleet as much as possible, and after the Bahamas defeated the attack of the Tang Empire Navy, the Atlantic Fleet should be transferred to New Orleans as soon as possible to assist the Army in repelling the attack of the Tang Empire Expeditionary Force in Mexico.

Having received the president's lifespan, Admiral King immediately ordered Spruance to lead the fleet and set off. This was exactly the order that Spruance was waiting for, at that time he did not think that there was any major strategic significance in going to the Gulf of Mexico, and no one could guarantee that the Atlantic Fleet would be able to defeat the two main fleets of the Tang Imperial Navy in the waters of the Bahamas, and even Spruance himself did not have the slightest confidence. But Spruance knew very well that if he did not act, the Bahamas would fall quickly, and the Atlantic Fleet would be forced to leave Norfolk for safer bases in the north. Similarly, the east coast of the continental United States will also be exposed to the strike range of the fleet of the Tang Empire, as well as strategic bombers, and the United States will also be defeated as a result. At this point, only the Atlantic Fleet can save the United States and keep the United States out longer.

When most of the officers and soldiers were excited about the departure, Spruance did not feel a little excited, and he even wrote a farewell letter to his wife before the departure, which can be imagined how pessimistic Spruance was at that time.