The purpose of the task is clarified, but it does not mean that the task can be successfully completed. When Hao Dongjue took out the list of task objectives, Tan Renhao himself was startled.

"There are a total of five regular airfields and twelve field airfields, and this is only the number of targets that can be determined by current intelligence." Hao Dongjue was not too surprised, or had already been surprised, "According to our analysis and judgment, there are about fifteen airfields where the US military has deployed aircraft, and there are at least as many backup airfields for the same purpose. If all these targets are included, I am afraid that if we pull the second task force over, we will not be able to blow up these targets in one go. ”

Tan Renhao sighed and continued to look at the bombing target in his hand.

The number of bombers needed to deal with an airfield depends on the size of the airfield, especially the length of the runway, and the amount of infrastructure, such as ammunition depots, oil depots, hangars, pilots' quarters, combat command centers, towers, etc. From the calculation of these targets it was possible to determine the number of bombers that needed to be put into service.

For example, to destroy a tower, you need at least one 25o kg bomb, and the dive bomber's bomb delivery accuracy is about 50%, you need to drop two bombs, and a dive bomber can deal with two such targets. To destroy a 1oo meter long runway, a horizontal bomber was required to drop two 5oo kg bombs. The destruction of an underground ammunition depot requires at least two dive bombers to drop four 5oo kg aviation armor-piercing shells, or six 25o kg aviation armor-piercing shells. The amount of ammunition required to destroy an underground oil depot is comparable. The destruction of a hangar requires at least two 25o kg bombs. The destruction of an anti-aircraft position with 2o anti-aircraft guns requires at least four 5oo kg bombs, as well as four 5oo kg submunitions, as well as indeterminate rockets. And to blow up a pilot's quarters, you need at least four 25o kg bombs, and four 25o kg bombs to blow up an aviation command center.

According to the normal level, the regular airport of the US military has at least one underground ammunition depot, an underground fuel depot, divided into two dormitories (it is impossible to distinguish the pilot's dormitory from other personnel quarters from the outside), and at least ten hangars (each hangar can accommodate several tactical aircraft). Three air defense positions, an aviation command center, a tower, and a runway at least 15oo meters long. Even at this level, at least two squadrons of bombers must be used, and in order to be safe, at least several bombers must be prepared for supplementary bombing, because it is impossible to guarantee all hits when dropping bombs. And the hit rate itself can also be affected by other conditions, disturbed by some unexpected factors.

The US army's field airfield is a little smaller, and there are no underground facilities, no hangars, pilots' quarters are relatively concentrated, the aviation command center and the tower are together, there will be no more than two, or even none, anti-aircraft artillery positions, and the length of the runway is within 8oo meters. Even at this level, at least one squadron of ground bombers is needed.

Follow the list of goals now. It is necessary to kill the seventeen airfields that have been identified in one trip.

Tan Renhao had to prepare at least 22 squadrons of bombers. Even if all the fighters are used as bombers, there are only three squadrons of one aircraft carrier, and Tan Renhao needs at least seven aircraft carriers to be able to complete this task. And he only has two aircraft carriers in his hands!

This is a very simple arithmetic addition problem, and Hao Dongjue has made a detailed list of requirements at the end of the list. To accomplish this task, Tan Renhao had to prepare at least 36o dive bombers and 36o horizontal bombers. In fact, this list does not have much significance, and even if the shore-based fighters deployed by the HNA at that time are added, there is no way to meet this need.

Tan Renhao put down the list, and then glanced at his partner. "It looks like we'll only be able to choose important targets to bomb."

"I still have a plan." Hao Dongjue shook his hand and immediately took out another document. "I have carefully analyzed the records of the bombing of Rabaul by the US fighters provided by the 6th Squadron and HNA during this period, and there is a loophole in the US fighter planes."

"Vulnerability?" Tan Renhao sat down.

"Yes, one is easy to spot. But it's hard to exploit. Hao Dongjue immediately turned out the nautical chart of the Solomon Islands. I have carefully studied that American bomber groups generally carry out the first round of bombing of Rabaul between eight and half past eight. This time is very stable and has not changed much. And the long-range reconnaissance aircraft of HNA also obtained some information that there was only one reason for the inconsistency in the time of the first arrival of the US bombers in Rabaul every day, and these bombers took off from different airfields. ”

Tan Renhao nodded slightly, motioning for Hao Dongjue to continue.

"These airfields are not the same distance from Rabaul, so the arrival time of American bombers is not the same......"

"Focus!" Tan Renhao glanced at his partner, he knew that Hao Dongjue would go off topic as soon as he said he was happy.

"That's the point right away." Hao Dongjue pulled up a chair and sat down, "The time of the US bomber is fixed. Otherwise, there would be no difference in the time they arrived in Rabaul, would it? ”

"yes, what's wrong with that?"

"Renhao, haven't you thought about it carefully?" Hao Dongjue showed a very surprised look, "I have calculated, the time for the US military plane to take off is about 6:45, and the error before and after is about five minutes. That is, the US bombers will take off between 6:40 and 6:50. ”

Tan Renhao frowned slightly, he kind of understood what Hao Dongjue meant.

"Our purpose is to seize air supremacy, and destroying the US airfield is the most effective way, but in a situation where this goal cannot be achieved, destroying the US fighter planes can also achieve the same goal!"

"The U.S. military can replenish fighters, and the degree of replenishment of fighters should be faster than repairing the airfield, right?"

"That's not likely, and pilots aren't so easy to add!" Hao Dongjue immediately laughed, "Our intelligence department has confirmed that because we have occupied Lae and also control the air supremacy of the East Solomon Sea, the US planes will not be transferred to the Solomon Islands through Port Moresby, and can only take the route of New Caledonia." The fleet needs to make two stopovers, and the flight distance reaches more than 3ooo kilometers, even if you don't count the time to refuel, it will take at least nine hours to fly more than 3ooo kilometers. In addition, the US military's spare planes cannot be ready to take off at any time, and there is still time for the message to be transmitted. I'm afraid that when the reinforcement planes arrived in the Solomon Islands, it was already twelve hours later, and the number of reinforcement planes arriving in the first batch would not exceed 1oo. Moreover, there is a high probability that this reinforcement time will be one day. ”

Tan Renhao also laughed, this time he did not raise any objections, not only is the US military's response only so fast, but in fact, the reaction of the Tang Imperial Air Force is also about the same. This is limited by the underlying conditions and is not subject to change by the will of the individual.

"This day is enough time for us to do a lot of things, if the third task force is nearby, we can also take advantage of the night to kill and shell a few coastal airfields!"

"What do you have in mind?"

"Take advantage of the place where the US bombers take off, launch an attack, and strive to destroy the US bombers on the ground."

"But the U.S. military will dispatch bombers on one or two airfields at most, what about the other airfields?" Tan Renhao glanced at his partner.

"Other airfields were bombed in the same way, but the bombers didn't drop all the bombs. The group of aircraft that completed the bombing did not retreat for the time being. Stay in the vicinity, and if the U.S. fighter planes rush to take off, then immediately let the bombers bomb again. Other than that. Arrange a group of fighters in each direction and try to destroy the US fighters on the runway! ”

Tan Renhao nodded, and then pondered for a while. "It's a risky plan."

"But we have no choice, according to the previous method, even if the first round of sneak attacks is successful, we will destroy at most thirty percent of the US fighters, and there is no guarantee that the runway will be blown up, and the US fighters will immediately counterattack, and then we will have to face hundreds of bombers, or hundreds of sBd and TBd. We don't even have a chance to resist." Hao Dongjue also immediately stood up, looking a little excited, "We have no other way at all, even if we take risks, there is still a little chance, if we don't take risks, there is no chance at all." ”

"It seems that we really have to ask Yan Shiqi's old stubbornness to help a little." Tan Renhao sighed secretly, "Are there any airports that are closer to the coast?" When the time comes, let Yan Shiqi kill them at night, and try to help us block several airports and reduce our burden. ”

"Most of the U.S. military's airfields are close to the coastline." Hao Dongjue immediately found several other charts, "If we want to let the ground strength of the Third Task Force be stretched to the limit, we should choose a place where the US military airfield is relatively concentrated, so that the Third Task Force can concentrate its activities, and if necessary, we can also provide some air defense cover." Here......"

Tan Renhao's gaze fell on Hao Dongjue's finger, which was in the southern part of the Solomon Islands.

"Guadalcanal is the core of the US military's defense line in the Solomon Islands, and it is the place where the US military is most concentrated, and it is also the place where the US military airfields are concentrated, and there are three regular US military airfields on this alone." Hao Dongjue circled the island on the chart with a red pencil, "In addition, there are at least five US field airfields on several nearby islands. Sixty percent of the U.S. fighters deployed in the area are concentrated on these airfields, and if Task Force 3 can kill here, then our burden will be much smaller. ”

Tan Renhao nodded slightly, the intelligence has long been official, Kuah Island (the abbreviation of Guadalcanal) is the focus of the US military's defense in the Solomon Islands, and fifty percent of the US military's deployment in the Solomon Islands is concentrated on this island.

"I've also set the course, and if Task Force 3 goes south before dusk, it will be able to kill here before dawn......

"Your route?" Tan Renhao glanced at Hao Dongjue in disbelief, in his understanding, Hao Dongjue can be said to be full of loopholes in navigation operations, in the fleet, Tan Renhao has always been in charge of navigation operations, and this should have been the work of the chief of staff.

Hao Dongjue immediately laughed and scratched his scalp. "I asked the navigation staff to do it, anyway, it was set by our staff, and we all have everyone's credit."

"Okay, draw the route." Tan Renhao glanced at this partner, and really didn't know what to say about Hao Dongjue. If the chief of staff of the First Task Force of the Tang Imperial Navy does not understand navigation operations, I am afraid that this will be a big joke.

"We designed three routes, all of which served their purpose." Hao Dongjue drew three routes on the chart, "What is the specific situation, the navigation staff officer knows more than me, let him explain later." ”

"There's no need, I can see that." Tan Renhao graduated from the Naval Academy, and navigation is a basic skill that any student who has graduated from the Naval Academy must master. He looked at the chart for a while, and then he understood the purpose of these three routes designed by the staff of the HNA staff.

"Renhao, what do you think?"

"Let me think about it and leave it undecided for now." Tan Renhao walked towards the outside of the command cabin with a teacup, "You first organize the staff officer to come up with the specific plan, and I will announce the decision half an hour later." ”

Hao Dongjue did not hinder Tan Renhao, he also knew that the decision made by Tan Renhao was directly related to the life and death of the fleet and the success or failure of the battle, and it was not a simple decision.

This is indeed not an easy decision, Tan Renhao knows very well that if he plays according to conventional tactics, he has no chance of winning. Those American pilots have accumulated experience in combat, and there are more than 8oo US bombers deployed on the Solomon Islands, even if they can blow up half of them, the other half of the US bombers will be enough to completely send the first task force into the sea and become a diving fleet. If Hao Dongjue's suggestion can be adopted, it is still actually a bet on the life and death of the First Task Force and the success or failure of the entire campaign. The only difference is that this time Tan Renhao still has the opportunity to gamble, and if he chooses the former, he doesn't even have the opportunity to gamble!

After half an hour of the sea breeze blowing outside, Tan Renhao finally made up his mind that it was better to give it a go than to have no chance, even if the final result was still a failure, it would not be worse than another choice. When he returned to the command cabin, Hao Dongjue was working out the details of the battle plan with the staff officer.

"Contact General Yan Guozhong and tell him about our plans......"

"Our plan?" Hao Dongjue hesitated for a moment, and immediately reacted.

"Also, contact Task Force 3 and ask when they will be able to maneuver in place, and when we can refuel and ammunition." Tan Renhao glanced at everyone, "The chance is slim, but we believe that this victory still belongs to us!" ”

The staff officers immediately moved, and after so many vicious and thrilling battles, almost everyone was convinced that they had the best fleet commander in the world.