As time passed, Tan Renhao became more and more irritable. On the 12th, the reconnaissance plane found several US submarines sailing on the sea, but still did not find the US fleet, which on the contrary led to the exposure of the reconnaissance plane, and those US submarines would certainly send out a message. The reconnaissance work on the 14th still yielded no results, and in the evening of the same day, Tan Renhao couldn't sit still, so he sent someone to invite Huang Xiaotian over.

"Could the U.S. Fifth Fleet have already left the battlefield?" This is Huang Xiaotian's first judgment.

"It's possible, but there's no way to make it official." Tan Renhao invited Huang Xiaotian to sit down, and they did not go to the command cabin, but went to Tan Renhao's cabin. "At least, the submarine we arranged for the east side did not find anything. Although the probability of a submarine spotting the US fleet is not very large, the Fifth Fleet is extremely large, with three task forces, nine aircraft carrier battle groups, and an independent battleship formation, and such a huge fleet, with a route width of more than 20 nautical miles, it is very difficult to covertly pass through our submarine blockade line. ”

"Perhaps, Spruance bypassed our submarine cordon."

Tan Renhao nodded slightly, and at the same time placed the ashtray in front of Huang Xiaotian. "It's a possibility, but the question is, how does Spruance determine the width of our submarine cordon? And how does he know where to bypass our submarine cordon? ”

Huang Xiaotian was silent, he always believed that Spruance did not leave, but the problem is that it has been four days, and after four days, nothing has been discovered, which cannot but make people suspicious.

"Xiaotian, do you think Spruance is gone, or is he staying?"

"It's hard for me to say." Huang Xiaotian flicked off the cigarette ash on the cigarette butt. "Judging by Spruance's personality, he certainly won't give up easily. And the current battlefield situation also makes him unable to give up. But the problem is that Spruance has been behaving very abnormally in recent times, and the training of the Fifth Fleet has certainly not met his minimum requirements. What's more, four days have passed, and we have searched for the places we should have searched several times, unless the Fifth Fleet is all submarines, we would have discovered it long ago. ”

Tan Renhao walked back and forth in the room. He wasn't sure what Spruance was doing, or what he wanted to do. As Huang Xiaotian said, Spruance's performance these times was very abnormal, and he showed several serious flaws when fighting against the fourth task force, and he was not as shrewd and meticulous as he used to be. The situation on the battlefield is also a decisive factor, but the problem is that Spruance has a lot of independent decision-making power, and Nimitz has not restricted Spruance's actions, so will Spruance arrange the actions of the Fifth Fleet from the overall situation?

"We should consider the actions of the Fifth Fleet from the Spruance perspective."

Tan Renhao turned around. "I've been doing it all the time. But the problem is. Now we don't have much to do with the Nimitz campaign. ”

"Renhao, have you noticed any details?"

Tan Renhao frowned slightly, and motioned for Huang Xiaotian to continue.

"Han Shaofeng sent a telegram last night. The U.S. military basically abandoned counterattack operations and switched to full-scale defense. Huang Xiaotian threw away his cigarette butt, "Before, the U.S. military has not given up counterattacks, and Han Shaofeng has mentioned many times that the U.S. military is actively preparing for large-scale counterattacks, and its troop mobilization and material build-up are all prepared in accordance with large-scale counterattacks. Obviously, without the support of the fleet, the counterattack of the American army could not have been successful. Therefore. I believe that the U.S. military's previous counterattack preparations were based on the successful surprise attack of the Fifth Fleet and the seizure of sea supremacy from us. ”

"Are you saying that now the U.S. military has given up on counterattacking, indicating that the Fifth Fleet has left the battlefield?"

Huang Xiaotian did not give an affirmative answer. "It's just speculation on my part, but I don't think Nimitz could have given up so easily. Kauai is the key to the entire Hawaiian Islands, the gateway between Oahu and Pearl Harbor, and the loss of Kauai is equivalent to the loss of the entire Hawaiian Islands, which is equivalent to tearing a big hole in the U.S. defense line. It doesn't matter if it's Nimitz or Spruance. It's impossible not to know the strategic importance of Kauai. Therefore, the U.S. military will not abandon Kauai, and the U.S. military has now stopped preparing for a counterattack and is preparing for a new one. ”

"No matter what kind of counterattack, seizing sea supremacy is the first step."

Huang Xiaotian immediately laughed. "Well, it's just an illusion."

Tan Renhao also laughed. "If your analysis is correct, then it says a lot about the problem, ......"

"Spruance hasn't left the battlefield yet, he's waiting for us to show his flaws!"

This time, the two men came to a consensus, and both agreed that the performance of the American military on the battlefield was actually creating an opportunity for the Fifth Fleet to surprise the attack. The two then discussed various possible scenarios, and the only conclusion they came to was that Spruance certainly did not retreat, but went into hiding. So, where exactly is Spruance hiding?

"First of all, we must be sure that as long as our two main fleets are active together, then Spruance will not dare to fight a decisive battle with us." Tan Renhao first said his thoughts. "Compared with the U.S. military, we can afford to lose, even if we lose half of the fleet, as long as we defeat the U.S. Fifth Fleet, we will still firmly control the sea supremacy, and at that time, the U.S. military will have no way to stop us from attacking Kauai. In this case, Spruance will not rush to attack, he will wait for an opportunity, wait for a suitable opportunity, and take out one of our main fleets first, so that our offensive forces will appear insufficient, and he will have more options. ”

"We can take advantage of that." Huang Xiaotian also agreed with Tan Renhao's judgment, and he thought of another point. "If we had been working together, the U.S. Fifth Fleet would not have come to challenge, and we would have been pinned down. Although the Marine Corps was sure to capture Kauai in the end, Han Shaofeng relied on the aviation support provided by the escort aircraft carriers and shore-based air forces, as well as the combat effectiveness of the Marine Corps itself, and had sufficient ability to take Kauai Island, but it would certainly take more time, lose more troops, and invest more materials, and even exceed the arrangement of the battle plan. Therefore, we have two options. Either they stay together and don't give Spruance a chance to sneak attack, or they do the opposite and set a trap for Spruance. Tan Renhao nodded slightly, which was exactly what he thought. If the two main fleets had been working together, Spruance would have no chance of winning, and the worst outcome would have been an equal exchange. If you choose the latter, you will have to take a certain amount of risk. There will definitely need one, or two, task forces to tempt or create illusions, and isolated task forces will be ideal targets. Until the exact whereabouts of the U.S. Fifth Fleet cannot be determined, any division of forces is risky.

"I will choose the latter, passive combat is not good for us, and we have an advantage in troops, even if we want to make a bait, we can take a bait that Spruance can't swallow in one go, and when the time comes, Spruance can't eat it and walk around!"

"Why make bait?" Tan Renhao raised his head. "All Spruance needs is for us to act separately. I'm sure Spruance has been in contact with Kauai in the hope that Kauai will arrange for a reconnaissance plane to look for us. Other than that. Whether or not our bombers were over Kauai, and how many bombers were over Kauai, is enough for Spruance to judge. Therefore, we only need to let Spruance know that we have a fleet returning to the Kauai battlefield, and Spruance will take the initiative to seek a decisive battle. ”

Huang Xiaotian frowned slightly, this is also a way.

"For us, timing and convincing Spruance that our main task force has returned to the Kauai battlefield is crucial." Tan Renhao sat down. "At least, now Spruance knows that all of our main task forces are concentrated on the battlefield, and relatively speaking, Spruance prefers to fight the seventh and eighth, the two newly formed task forces, rather than come to trouble the first, second, and fourth task forces."

"But the problem is the quality of the officers and men of the 7th and 8th task forces. In particular, the quality of the pilots is far inferior to ours, if they stand in the way, it will be easy to be hit, and Yan Yulong and Zheng Guanhua are not necessarily Spruance's opponents. ”

"Herein lies the problem." Tan Renhao pressed his hand, "If we want to defeat Spruance, we must do one thing, that is, let Spruance think that our three main forces, at least two of the main task forces, have gone to Kauai Island, and it is our newly formed task force that remains on the periphery to cover." But at the same time, we have to keep the 1st, 2nd, and 4th task forces here to ambush the 5th fleet. ”

Huang Xiaotian nodded slightly. "This method is not difficult, let Chang Zhixin be in charge of commanding the First Fleet, and the First and Second Task Forces will be transferred to the Seventh and Eighth Task Forces. In addition, the numbers and badges of both sides should be reversed, the communication channels should be changed, and all the pilots should be greeted. ”

Tan Renhao didn't rush to speak, these little things are secondary.

"Renhao, I think it's most appropriate for you to direct our actions." Huang Xiaotian also knew what the key issue was, "This time, our six task forces disrupted the formation of operations, and the three strongest task forces formed a fleet, which will definitely be able to defeat Spruance." ”

Tan Renhao nodded slightly. "Specificity of the ...... of the preparation problem"

"It's not a problem, although the first task force and the second task force are transferred, they are still under your command, and I obey orders."

"I'm afraid it's not good......"

"Nothing bad." Huang Xiaotian laughed, "And I don't dare to command Hao Dongjue, his temper can only be suppressed by you." ”

Tan Renhao did not refuse. "Well, then it's decided. The Third Task Force, the Seventh Task Force, and the Eighth Task Force were temporarily organized into the First Fleet, with Chang Jianxin in charge of the overall command work, Yan Yulong in charge of the fleet's air operations, and Zheng Guanhua in charge of coordinating with us. The other three task forces all stayed behind and ambushed the U.S. Fifth Fleet. Now, there's the question of timing, and where we choose to ambush the sea. ”

"If we do fight like this, we don't necessarily have to deal with the Fifth Fleet in an ambush."

Tan Renhao frowned slightly, and motioned for Huang Xiaotian to continue.

"If Spruance thinks that we are leaving a weaker main fleet, he will take the initiative to look for an opportunity to fight us, and when the time comes, it will be him who ambushes us, not us who ambushes the U.S. Fifth Fleet." Huang Xiaotian hesitated for a moment, "Therefore, we can fight an offensive battle with the US army in an open and honest manner, and win directly with our strength, without using our swords to go sideways." ”

Tan Renhao pondered for a while and said: "The orthodox tactical arrangement is also the most stable, and I also support this fight, so we don't need to play hide and seek with Spruance." But there are two problems, one is that we have to find Spruance's whereabouts, and the other is that Spruance has to not be suspicious, and neither of these two conditions can be missing. ”

"If Spruance hadn't left, it would not have been difficult to roughly judge the possible waters of the Fifth Fleet. The most troublesome thing is not to make Spruance suspicious. ”

Both fell silent, and the problem was obvious. If Tan Renhao and Huang Xiao and Tian's actions were too active, Spruance would definitely have some scruples, and he would not necessarily fight a head-on battle with them at that time. On the contrary, if the performance is too negative, it is easy to miss the opportunity to annihilate the US Fifth Fleet. The most important thing is to grasp the difference between the positive and the negative.

This is also the most difficult problem that Tan Renhao faced in this campaign, and the grasp of this degree has become the key to controlling the war situation. If you look at the overall situation of the war, this is a matter of the details of the fleet's actions. And when it comes to concrete actions, it is the sea area that is chosen for a decisive battle.

Both men understand the subtlety of this, and when it comes to fighting against a very clever opponent like Spruance, the slightest mistake can lead to disastrous consequences. To put it bluntly, it is the mutual support relationship between the two fleets, if the distance is too far, then it will lead to a situation of fighting alone, if it is too close, and Spruance cannot be hooked, how to fight, Huang Xiaotian and Tan Renhao both feel very tricky, and this will be the most critical step to victory, after this step, the next battle situation will be easy to grasp.