The next day, the fleet arrived in the waters near Kure Island, and at this time, Han Shaofeng sent people to send over the deployment of US troops on Laisang Island, including photos taken by HNA reconnaissance planes in the past few months. Tan Renhao and the others already had an information on the deployment of US troops on Laisang Island, and combined with the information provided by Han Shaofeng, Hao Dongjue was able to arrange the bombing of Laisang Island more smoothly.

"Probably four squadrons of bombers will need to be used." Hao Dongjue also quickly completed this work, "The bombing of the other two squadrons, plus one fighter squadron carrying out the bombing mission, was organized into the second batch. The fleet retains one squadron of air defense fighters, and another squadron of fighters performs escort missions. ”

"Is there a lack of air defense fighters?"

"I can only ask Han Shaofeng for help." Hao Dongjue circled a sea area on the chart, "The fleet is operating about 150 nautical miles east of Midway, and the HNA should be able to provide us with some air defense cover, plus one of our own squadron of air defense fighters, the problem is not very big." ”

"Then you have to establish a good way of liaison and command." Tan Renhao nodded, "Go contact Han Shaofeng immediately and ask him to deploy HNA fighters." ”

Hao Dongjue put down the pencil, and then went to the staff officer to deploy the task.

"Also, the fleet should slow down", Tan Renhao called his partner, "We only bombed Lysan Island on the 19th, and the fleet didn't have to enter the attack sea area too early." ”

Hao Dongjue looked back at his partner, originally this was a job arranged by Tan Renhao, but now Tan Renhao was handed over to Hao Dongjue to deal with. Hao Dongjue didn't say much, he knew that Tan Renhao was testing him.

Because there is no longer a rush to bomb the island of Lysan. Therefore, the work of various aspects can be arranged in more detail. Tan Renhao tried his best to hand over all the important matters to Hao Dongjue to deal with, and he was only responsible for checking at the last time to see if there was any problem with Hao Dongjue's arrangement. Aviation combat this piece. Tan Renhao has nothing to worry about, Hao Dongjue is the best aviation combat commander that the navy can find. Again, the main problem is focused on navigation. Because of the lack of foundation.

Hao Dongjue had to rely on the help of the navigation staff on many occasions. And Tan Renhao finally came to the conclusion that if Hao Dongjue was allowed to serve as the commander of the Second Task Force, then the Second Task Force must be equipped with a chief of staff who was proficient in maritime affairs, otherwise Hao Dongjue would not be able to control the fleet at all.

By the afternoon of the 18th, all preparations were in place. Han Shaofeng also sent a telegram, saying that he would do everything possible to arrange for HNA fighters to provide air defense support for the fleet. In the evening, the fleet passed through the waters near Midway and headed for the intended strike zone.

"Say, what is Spruance doing now?" Hao Dongjue was also rarely relaxed.

"It's supposed to be dinner." Tan Renhao laughed, "No matter what he's doing, our intentions are obvious, if Spruance is still at Pearl Harbor, he will leave Pearl Harbor tomorrow or the day after tomorrow." If he had already left Pearl Harbor. I'm afraid they're coming towards us right now. ”

"So do you bet big or small?"

"There's nothing to bet on, at least we haven't received any intelligence related to the Fifth Fleet yet. I'd rather believe that the Fifth Fleet is still in Pearl Harbor and that the fleet carrier hasn't been fully repaired. Tan Renhao turned, "But one thing is for sure, Nimitz has raised the battle alarm. The U.S. military is definitely making relevant preparations, and the U.S. air forces on Lysan Island and Gardner Island are definitely already prepared. ”

"You're saying that the U.S. military has a good chance of attacking us?"

"This one may have, but it won't be huge." Tan Renhao said as he walked up the gangway, "What do you want to eat at night?" ”

"Whatever." Hao Dongjue also followed, "I think the U.S. military will take the initiative to attack, and will not be passively beaten." ”

"It's up to Nimitz to judge our actions." Tan Renhao quickened his pace, "I heard that Han Shaofeng sent us a batch of fresh vegetables a few days ago, do you have a snack tonight?" ”

"You're F4U?"

"Of course F4U, don't you have F4U?" Tan Renhao glanced back at his partner. "Actually, the most important thing is what Nimitz wants to do."

"Then you don't think he will take the initiative?"

Tan Renhao nodded and took his partner into the officer's cafeteria. Most of the officers had already eaten dinner, the cafeteria was empty, and the two cooks were busy preparing for the evening supper. Seeing the two generals coming, the cook immediately went to get busy and began to prepare dinner according to the menu given to them by the adjutant.

"Let's just say Nimitz definitely has a confidence problem, too." Tan Renhao sat down, "In that battle in the southwest Pacific, the 31st Task Force under the command of Halsey launched two rounds of bombardment against the Fourth Task Force and put in more than 200 bombers, what was the result? Fewer than 20 returned, and only sank the two small aircraft carriers left behind by the Fourth Task Force and damaged a few escort warships, while the two most important fleet carriers were unharmed. More than 200 bombers, what is this feeling? If we send out more than 200 bombers, it will be enough to take out the four fleet carriers of the US army, as well as most of the escort warships. ”

"I'm also thinking about this, the performance of the US military fighters is not much behind, and the power of the ammunition used is not much different from ours, mainly because the quality of the US pilots has decreased, right?"

"In fact, it is not the quality of the US pilots that has decreased, in fact, the two air defense operations of the 4th Task Force are exceptional.

Tan Renhao laughed, "The US military has strengthened the training of pilots and officers and men of the fleet, and the quality of new pilots has improved. But the question is, how many air defense fighters were there in Task Force 4 at that time? Both times there were more than 60 planes, and the quality of our pilots has been improving, coupled with the huge escort fleet group of the Fourth Task Force, it is reasonable that the US bombing was unsuccessful. Of course, Huang Xiaotian's luck was very good, he actually got the time right twice, and adjusted the air defense deployment of the fleet in time, if he made a mistake. The result will certainly be different. ”

Hao Dongjue nodded slightly. "This kid has always had good luck, and he has a good hand at commanding aviation operations, otherwise Task Force 4 wouldn't have been able to fight so smoothly."

"These are secondary issues. The main thing is, what will Nimitz think? ”

"What do you mean?"

"The difference in the quality of our pilots on the battlefield. It will definitely catch the attention of Nimitz. Tan Renhao leaned back in his chair, "The US military airfield on Lysan Island has a maximum of 100 tactical bombers, and we are within the cover range of shore-based fighters on Midway Island, and our strength is above the Fourth Task Force, with more than 100 carrier-based fighters alone.

Together with shore-based fighters, how many ground fighters can we use to carry out air defense missions? ”

"But we have to arrange escort fighters, and some of them will carry out ground bombing missions."

"Do you think Nimitz would think so carefully?"

Hao Dongjue was stunned for a moment, then shook his head with a smile.

At this time, the chef brought over the stir-fried side dishes and brought two bottles of beer.

"Nimitz wouldn't think about it that much, all he had to think about was whether those bombers on Lysan Island could possibly destroy us." Tan Renhao opened a bottle of beer, handed it to Hao Dongjue, and then picked up another bottle. "The answer is definitely no, then he will withdraw these fighters to ensure that they are not destroyed by us."

Hao Dongjue took a sip of beer. said: "The question is, how can he withdraw? Could it be that he withdrew all the way to Pearl Harbor and didn't want any of the islands in the western part of the Hawaiian Islands? ”

"Of course it can't be, if you lose these islands in the western part of the archipelago. Then Nimitz is finished. Tan Renhao also took a sip. These fighters should have withdrawn to Gardner Island first. ”

Hao Dongjue hesitated for a moment and said, "You mean, if Nimitz thinks that we have landed on Lysan Island, they will use the bombers on Gardner Island against us?" ”

"Yes, if we concentrate our forces on Gardner Island, he will have more than 200 bombers at his disposal, and then if it is not enough to completely kill us, it will at least make us lose something, even a tragic loss, and if Spruance kills us at this time, then we will definitely be finished."

Hao Dongjue pondered for a while, then nodded. "Then, we have to blow up the airfield on Gardner Island before Spruance maneuveres in place, so as not to give the U.S. troops a chance to flank them."

"Then it depends on how fast Spruance is." Tan Renhao picked up the chopsticks as he spoke, "Eat quickly, let's talk again in the evening." ”

The two had a detailed conversation for a while in the evening, and finally decided that the information on Spruance's departure from Pearl Harbor with Task Force 5 was the most important. Tan Renhao arranged for a plane to go to Midway Island that night, and told Han Shaofeng again that Han Shaofeng would send it to the fleet as soon as he received the information about Pearl Harbor. In addition, Hao Dongjue once again made adjustments to combat operations, and this time the adjustments were all focused on reconnaissance.

From the very beginning, Hao Dongjue did not count the 12 reconnaissance planes carried on each aircraft carrier in the bombing campaign, and in addition, there were dozens of seaplanes in the fleet. These reconnaissance planes and seaplanes will be responsible for hovering around the periphery of the fleet while the fleet bombs the US airfields on the islands, establishing a reconnaissance network, and preventing the US fleet from approaching and launching a surprise attack. Whatever the purpose of the campaign, ensuring the safety of the fleet itself was the most important task.

Tan Renhao went to sleep for three hours at night and returned to the command cabin before the departure of the bomber group. Hao Dongjue didn't sleep all night, and when Tan Renhao rushed over, he was busy arranging the bombing mission.

At half past five, the bombers began to take off one after another. The first group of bombers included two squadrons of bombers that took off from the "Xingkai Lake," two squadrons of bombers that took off from the "Hongze Lake," and one squadron of escort fighters that took off from the "Gaoyou Lake." The fighters left the aircraft carrier before six o'clock, and after completing the formation along the way, they all flew to the island of Lysan in the east.

"It's five minutes later than planned, Qiu Gengbo should adjust his speed halfway through and try to catch up on these five minutes."

"When will Yang Qinkai's fleet depart?"

"The specific take-off time will be decided after half past six, and the mission has been arranged."

Tan Renhao nodded slightly. "Let's arrange for the air defense fighters to take off first, if Nimitz wants to fight to the death, then the US bombers should arrive at about half past six."

The fighter squadron on the aircraft carrier "Hongzehu" is taking off one after another, and these 36 fighters will be responsible for patrolling the east side of the fleet. At this time, the 1st Task Force was about 230 nautical miles away from Lysan Island, and if the US forces wanted to bomb the 1st Task Force, then its bombers could only appear within 90 degrees to the east, and it was impossible to go around in other directions of the fleet, because the US tactical bombers could not fly that far.

At 6:15 a.m., the escort fighter squadron sent by the Navy arrived over the fleet, and the 36 "Falcon" fighters were all equipped with large auxiliary fuel tanks, which could patrol the sky over the fleet until after 8 o'clock, and then another fighter squadron came to replace them. In this way, there are 72 air defense fighters in the sky over the First Task Force, plus the powerful anti-aircraft firepower of the fleet itself, and the batch of fighters parked on the "Xingkai Lake" aircraft carrier, even if the US fighters on Laisan Island pour out, they may not be able to tear apart the air defense network of the First Task Force.

When the fighter planes of the HNA flew towards the east of the fleet, Tan Renhao looked at his watch, and it was already 6:20. "Preparing to turn on the radar, it seems that Nimitz has no intention of fighting with us. Fifteen minutes later, he contacted Qiu Gengbo and asked him to report the situation on Lysan Island as soon as possible. If it is not necessary, Yang Qinkai's fleet does not need to set off. ”

The order was immediately transmitted, the radars on the cruisers were turned on one after another, and the sky around the fleet within a range of 25 to 70 nautical miles was being monitored, and no matter what direction the American bombers were flying from, they could be detected in time.

Tan Renhao glanced at Hao Dongjue, now they only need to wait for Qiu Gengbo's bombing report.

The atmosphere in the command cabin was also tense, and this time Tan Renhao and they got a new communication station, an ultra-short-wave radio specially used for intra-fleet communications, and the only advantage of this radio station was that its signal decay was very fast, and it could not be received at all at a distance of 200 nautical miles. Although this limits the communication distance, it can avoid detection by enemy listening stations, allowing the fleet to communicate internally at close range without fear of being exposed!