At noon, reconnaissance planes returned to the fleet one after another. Hao Dongjue had already arranged for a group of bomber pilots to replace the morning reconnaissance plane pilots to carry out the afternoon reconnaissance operation. It's just that if the reconnaissance plane wants to take off again, it will have at least an hour of preparation time. The seaplanes had to depart at about two o'clock, and the search radius in the afternoon was reduced to 200 nautical miles, while the search radius of carrier-based reconnaissance planes was still 350 nautical miles.

Watching the aviation crews busy inspecting the returning reconnaissance planes and refueling them, while the pilots who had been flying for five hours dragged their tired bodies to rest, the newly arranged pilots were making preparations for departure. Tan Renhao's brows were tightly locked, until now, he still felt like he was sailing in the fog, and he couldn't see clearly ahead at all. Hao Dongjue was already arranging a new reconnaissance mission, and he only went to sleep for four hours before returning to his post.

"It's all arranged, and the reconnaissance plane will take off in half an hour." After Hao Dongjue arranged the task, he immediately returned to the commander's bridge.

"You go and rest, and recuperate in the afternoon." Tan Renhao patted his partner on the shoulder, "It seems that the enemy is still far away, so there is nothing to worry about for the time being." ”

Hao Dongjue shrugged his shoulders, then took out a cigarette. "I'm not tired yet, I'll go to bed later. What, still very worried? ”

Tan Renhao nodded, and then looked ahead. Mobile station ap.. cn

"It's a strange feeling now, in the past, we could always roughly judge the enemy's intentions, but this time, we don't even know if the enemy is around here, this is probably the worst battle we've ever fought."

"Don't worry, there will be a road before the car reaches the mountain." Hao Dongjue didn't think as much as Renhao did. He was originally the simpler kind of person. "Regardless of whether the U.S. fleet arrives or not, we will act according to the plan, even if Spruance is commanding the fleet to fight this time. We also have nothing to worry about, at least. It will be difficult for them to launch a surprise attack on us. ”

"Hopefully ......"

Before Tan Renhao could finish speaking, the communications staff officer walked out quickly, still holding a telegram in his hand.

Hao Dongjue immediately took the telegram, read it quickly, and then gave it to Tan Renhao.

"Urgent information from the Navy Command. It seems that your suspicions are completely correct. ”

Tan Renhao also glanced at it quickly, the telegram had two contents, and they were the two things he was most concerned about. First, there are only 10,000-ton transport ships of the US military in Port Vila, and there are no small aircraft carriers. The flat-topped ships that had previously returned to Port Vila were transport ships, not aircraft carriers. A long-range reconnaissance aircraft that took off from the island of Makila took photographs over Port Vila and confirmed the presence of ships anchored in the port. In addition, Spruance is still the commander of the Fifth Fleet, has not been removed from his post, and most likely has left Pearl Harbor. This was the information provided by the military intelligence of the Don Empire.

Both of these extremely important pieces of information came a little too late. Prior to this, the skies over the New Hebrides were overcast, making it difficult for reconnaissance planes to reach Port Vila to conduct reconnaissance. This morning, when the weather improved, several long-range reconnaissance planes immediately took off, and one of them flew smoothly over Port Vila and took dozens of aerial photographs. The photographs were read by intelligence officers at the Southwest Pacific Theater Command. In the end, it was determined that there were no other large warships in the port, except for a few old ground destroyers, and some were only 10,000-ton transport ships. The intelligence bureau also came very late, and I am afraid that in order to determine who the commander of the Fifth Fleet was, and whether he was in Pearl Harbor, many local spies paid the most painful price for this.

Tan Renhao and Hao Dongjue didn't have time to care about the safety of those reconnaissance planes and spy personnel, and the two immediately returned to the command cabin. But when the two calmed down, they found that these two pieces of information were still very vague, especially the first piece of information, at most, it only confirmed that the three small aircraft carriers of the US military had left the Southwest Pacific Theater, but it was impossible to judge the specific location of these three aircraft carriers from it!

"The only thing that can be confirmed now is that Spruance commanded those three small aircraft carriers, operating near Midway!"

"But the problem is that we don't know where these three small carriers might exist."

Hao Dongjue sighed, "If these three small aircraft carriers left the Southwest Pacific Theater after the bombing of Tagura Island, then now they could even appear on the east coast of the United States." ”

"On what day did we last find the U.S. fleet?" Tan Renhao quickly thought about love.

"In the middle of last month, it was already more than 20 days, which was enough for the US fleet to maneuver for tens of thousands of nautical miles." Hao Dongjue climbed on the chart table, "From this point, we can't judge its position at all. ”

"I know, but at least we know now that Spruance is commanding this fleet, and according to the U.S. military's naming rules for task forces, this fleet should now be numbered Task Force 51."

Hao Dongjue nodded, and then looked at his partner. "So what's the point?"

"It's easier to call." Tan Renhao laughed, "Well, we can narrow down the possible scenarios to two. ”

"What do you mean?" Hao Dongjue was a little puzzled.

"One is that Spruance has enough time to complete the maneuver, and the other is that Spruance does not have enough time to complete the maneuver." Tan Renhao circled Midway on the chart, "If Spruance has enough time to maneuver the fleet to the most advantageous position, where is he most likely to appear?" ”

Hao Dongjue thought for a while and said, "It depends on what the purpose of his mission is. ”

"Tell me, what do you think his purpose is?"

If he was only responsible for covering Midway, Spruance would have the fleet operate in the waters south of Midway, 150 to 250 nautical miles from Midway, so that he could send bombers against the landing force and fighter jets to provide air defense cover for Midway. If he felt in danger, the fleet could also immediately retreat to the west and enter the cover range of shore-based fighters. In this area, we can't pose a threat unless we go around it. ”

"It's like the First Battle of Wake Island. What tactics did Fletcher use? ”

Hao Dongjue smiled and nodded. "This is the most conservative tactical arrangement, and the purpose is only to ensure that we cannot make it to Midway and delay the battle.

Wait for the American fleet to return to strength. If Spruance's purpose was to come against us, then he should have placed the fleet northeast of Midway. Or even the north.

If we're exposed tonight, then he'll be able to maneuver in place at night and then send bombers against us while we're bombing Midway. ”

Tan Renhao pondered, and after a while. "It's unlikely, if he's in our northeast direction, then we're probably going to find him early tomorrow morning, at least the U.S. bombers have a shorter strike radius than ours." In addition, the combat effectiveness of the three small aircraft carriers is very limited, and we only need to use half of the bombers at most to deal with the US airfield on Midway, leaving half of the bombers with armor-piercing shells and torpedoes, and as soon as Spruance appears, we can destroy them immediately. ”

"The premise is that Spruance judges that we have three aircraft carriers."

"This problem should not exist, we commissioned six new aircraft carriers in June. Plus a few aircraft carriers repaired, Spruance would certainly be the first to judge that we have three, not two. ”

Hao Dongjue laughed. "It seems. You still know this opponent very well. ”

"I've beaten it twice, don't you understand?" Tan Renhao glanced at his partner, "And the other situation is that if Spruance doesn't have enough time to get the fleet in place." Where will he appear? ”

Hao Dongjue clicked on the chart. "It's southeast of Midway, and it should still be sailing toward Midway."

"Then, his only option is to release the fleet to the east of Midway, and the purpose of the mission is to cover Midway, not to attack us!"

"Yes, that's the only case."

"In other words, there are three most likely areas in the sea area where the US fleet is most likely to appear, and we cannot search the waters east of Midway." Tan Renhao raised his head, "The reconnaissance planes in the afternoon will be redeployed, and the focus will be on our northeast and southeast directions. ”

Hao Dongjue immediately took action, he spent 10 minutes adjusting the reconnaissance deployment, and then went to the aviation operations center and gave the pilot a new task.

After Hao Dongjue went out, Tan Renhao still had a very uneasy feeling, and at the same time rethought the analysis and judgment he had made at the beginning.

Regardless of whether or not Task Force 51 has time to maneuver in place, in reality, it is unlikely that Spruance will choose Task Force 1 as the main target. Tan Renhao is more certain of this point, in the battle with the First Task Force, even if Spruance can approach covertly, there is not enough certainty of victory, and what he wants to lose is the last three aircraft carriers of the US military before the end of this month. As long as Task Force 51 is finished, and Task Force 1 still bombs Midway first, the Imperial Marines will have a good chance of capturing Midway before the U.S. Navy has the ability to counterattack. In other words, striking Task Force 1 was not the best way to prevent the Imperial Marines from landing on Midway. So, will Spruance focus on bombing the landing force?

This judgment made Tan Renhao feel a little puzzled. The bombing of the landing force was only a passive defense, and when the time came, the fighters of Task Force 1 would dominate the skies of Midway, and it would be difficult for the bombers on the three small aircraft carriers of Spruance to break through the interception net of the fighters. And this passive defense can have a very limited effect, not to mention three small aircraft carriers, even if Spruance has three fleet aircraft carriers in his hands, if he adopts this tactic, it is still impossible to ensure the defense of Midway, as long as the Imperial Marines land on Midway, then the US military is finished. In other words, the best way to defend Midway is never to be reactive, but to be proactive!

Spruance is by no means the kind of commander who likes to fight passively, and Tan Renhao is well aware of this. Passive warfare will put the US military in an embarrassing situation, and the possibility of defeat is very high.

So, if Spruance takes the initiative, he should choose Task Force 1 as the target, but the problem is that he is not sure of defeating Task Force 1 at all, so will he have a new choice?

Thinking of this, Tan Renhao's gaze fell on the chart again. After looking at the nautical chart and thinking for half an hour, just as the reconnaissance plane was about to take off again, Tan Renhao's eyes fell on the landing fleet and transport fleet behind the fleet. If Spruance had had had enough time to maneuver, and he had chosen to take the initiative, it would have been entirely possible that he would have chosen to strike the convoy instead of Task Force 1. And the size of the landing fleet and the transport fleet, which did not implement strict radio control, is likely to have been discovered. If Spruance were to attack the landing fleet and convoys, Task Force 51 would be to the northeast of the convoys, which would be northwest of the 1st Task Force.

Thinking of this, Tan Renhao gasped, he didn't doubt that Spruance had the courage to implement the plan after discovering the opportunity. But at the same time, he also discovered new problems. If a telegram had been sent to warn Han Shaofeng, who was in command of the Marine Corps, the location of Task Force 1 would have been exposed, and the plan to attack Midway would have been frustrated. If it returns to cover the landing fleet now, then the attack on Midway will also be abandoned, delaying the landing time and causing the mission to fail.

If the troops are divided, there is also a possibility that they will fall into the trap of Spruance. Perhaps, Spruance had already expected this, and whether the 51st Task Force was in the northwest or northeast direction, as long as the First Task Force was divided, Spruance would definitely attack the First Task Force immediately, and then deal with another formation, and finally completely kill the First Task Force. Obviously, it is also impossible to divide the troops. So, what now?

Tan Renhao only hesitated for five minutes before making his first decision, it was necessary to keep the landing fleet and transport fleet out of danger, and to keep the landing fleet and transport fleet safe, even if it was worth delaying the landing time for a day or two. In the absence of radio contact with the landing fleet, planes could only be sent over.

By the time Tan Renhao made his decision, the carrier-based reconnaissance planes had already taken off, and he immediately rushed to the aviation operations center and found Hao Dongjue.