On 19 February, that is, five days after the end of the sweeping battle in Port Vila, Lei Shaoqing's Theater Fleet Command was first transferred to Port Vila, and Yan Guozhong's Theater Command was also transferred later, but there were still many things that the Theater Command had not handled at that time, so Yan Guozhong asked the newly established Theater Fleet Command to transfer it first. Lei Shaoqing also has a new task, that is, before Yan Guozhong's theater headquarters arrives, he has to make preparations here to meet him, which can be regarded as an additional task.

In the few days before leaving for Port Vila, Lei Shaoqing also had some understanding of the Southwest Pacific Theater and the personnel assigned to him by Yan Guozhong, and the situation did not make him optimistic. In particular, in Lei Shaoqing's view, the quality of the staff officers assigned to the Theater Fleet Command was much worse than that of the fleet staff team when he was in the Second Task Force, and this was also a common situation at that time.

As the main body of the navy, the status of the fleet in the navy is very high, far surpassing the other arms of the navy, and it can also be said that the navy has the longest history and the most important branch. Relatively speaking, the Marine Corps, the Air Force, etc., were formed later, and their status has always been inferior to that of the fleet. The theater system also emerged during the Great War, so the theater command is actually a multi-service composite command. Just as the HNA assigns pilots, all the best pilots will be assigned to carrier-based aviation units first, and the rest will be assigned to shore-based aviation units. The same is true in the distribution of staff officers, the fleet first selects the best staff officers, and after the fleet has selected them, the theater command selects them. As a result, the staff officers assigned to the Theater Command in charge of the operational affairs of the fleet were actually selected by the fleet, and naturally could not be compared with the staff officers of the fleet command in terms of quality.

When he was in the second task force, Lei Shaoqing felt that this arrangement was reasonable, after all, the fleet was fighting on the front line, and the quality of the staff officers of the fleet headquarters directly determined the combat effectiveness of the fleet. The fleet does not rely on the commander to command alone, and the commander's command must rely on the staff officers of the fleet headquarters under the command of the chief of staff of the fleet. It can be said that the fleet command, including the fleet commander, is actually the nervous system of the entire fleet, the fleet commander is only the brain of the fleet, and the staff officer of the fleet command is the neural network. Whether the brain's commands can be delivered to all limbs in time, that is, the warships and combat departments in the fleet, the reaction speed of the neural network and the understanding of the brain's instructions are extremely critical. But now, Lei Shaoqing felt a little headache, and the ability of those staff officers arranged by Yan Guozhong for him was a serious problem. Many staff officers do not even have the experience of fighting with the fleet all the time, so how can they understand the combat mode of the fleet and how can they plan the combat operations of the fleet?

Perhaps, the ability of any staff officer is only a small problem, but when so many small problems are concentrated, it becomes a big problem. Whether or not they can effectively play the role of the theater fleet command is of paramount importance to the ability of staff officers. In desperation, Lei Shaoqing could only select a group of slightly better capable ones from them according to the service records of these staff officers. Let them take on some important responsibilities and let them be responsible for training staff officers who are less competent. There is no way to do this, and if you want to increase the role of the theater fleet command in a short period of time, then you have to find ways to improve the personal capabilities of the staff officers. Not to mention anything else, just reading the personal files of those staff officers who served in the navy, which took Lei Shaoqing a lot of time, and these personal files cannot fully explain the problem. In order to strengthen the role of the theater fleet command, on the afternoon of 19 July, Lei Shaoqing gave Yan Guozhong a list of the personnel he needed, and asked Yan Guozhong to help him try to get these people over.

Of course, he did not dig into Hao Dongjue's corner, but selected a group of staff officers who had left the Second Task Force due to injuries before, or who had been transferred to other places. These people all served in the Second Task Force with Lei Shaoqing back then, and Lei Shaoqing was more familiar with the personal abilities of these officers. In addition, there is a group of staff officers who originally belonged to the Pacific Theater Command and were specifically responsible for the operational affairs of the fleet. Previously, the Second Task Force under Lei Shaoqing's command had been operating in the Pacific Theater, and he had had a lot of contacts with the staff officers in charge of fleet operations in the Pacific Theater Command, and he was quite clear about the personal abilities of these people.

Lei Shaoqing is only responsible for making requests, as for Yan Guozhong's methods to get these officers, he can't control so much, but he can imagine how Yan Guozhong will feel when he gets this list of personnel. and what Hao Dongjue and Liao Hanxiang would feel when they knew that Lei Shaoqing was going to dig their corners. But Lei Shaoqing didn't care so much, his first task now is to set up the Southwest Pacific Theater Fleet Command and start to play a role, these people are indispensable!

It was also when Lei Shaoqing was about to go to Port Vila that these officers came to report one after another, and later when he went to Port Vila to establish the Theater Fleet Command, the last group of officers also rushed over one after another. Lei Shaoqing had to admire Yan Guozhong's ability, many of them had already served in other important departments, and Yan Guozhong was able to dig them up, obviously it took a lot of effort, and even owed a lot of favors to others!

On 20 February, the day after Lei Shaoqing arrived in Port Vila, the Southwest Pacific Theater Fleet Command was officially established, and at that time, a lot of basic work had not been completed. For example, Lei Shaoqing also worked in a large warehouse with many staff officers, and the clean-up of the headquarters of the US Third Fleet, which was originally planned to be used as a theater fleet, has not yet been completed. On this day, Lei Shaoqing issued an order to all the staff officers, that is, within three days, he would grasp the specific situation in the Southwest Pacific Theater, and then he would formally assume the task of commanding the operations of all fleets in the Southwest Pacific Theater.

In fact, by this time, Lei Shaoqing had not completely understood the situation in the Southwest Pacific.

At that time, the main fleet operating in the southwest Pacific was the Second Task Force, and Hao Dongjue sent a telegram to Lei Shaoqing on the afternoon of 19 July; in addition to congratulating Lei Shaoqing on his return to the "throne" of commander of the theater fleet, Hao Dongjue also gave a general introduction to the situation of the Second Task Force.

The Second Task Force has been on combat duty in the southwestern Pacific for more than a month, and its performance is remarkable. Under the command of Hao Dongjue, the Second Task Force, an almost completely re-established fleet, was very conspicuous in the battle. In particular, the aviation support for the Marine Corps has not only won the affirmation of Yan Guozhong, but also won unanimous praise from many Marine Corps generals. Hao Dongjue's talent in aviation tactics was also thoroughly brought into play, and under his arrangement, the Second Task Force simply became the protagonist on the battlefield, and as long as there was trouble, the bombers of the Second Task Force would appear there. What's more, Hao Dongjue also took advantage of this opportunity to make all fighter pilots strengthen their bombing capabilities in actual combat. At that time, the air threat to Task Force 2 was not significant, and in order to maximize air support for the Marine Corps, Task Force 2's fighters undertook at least 30 percent of the bombing missions. The "Golden Eagle" was designed with the requirements for carrying out bombing missions in mind, and could carry up to two 250-kilogram aerial bombs, and its bombing capabilities were not even worse than those of the "Shooting Birds". Under Hao Dongjue's application, almost all of these fighters have become "bombers," and many of the air combat aces of the Second Task Force have also become "bombing aces." Not to mention others, Jiang Wenhan has carried out more than 40 bombing missions in this month or so, nearly 100 bombs, and destroyed more than 30 ground targets, and even many bomber pilots are not comparable to him!

In addition to the Second Task Force, the Theater Fleet commanded by Li Wenlong also played an important role in the operation. After the "Xingkaihu" aircraft carrier battle group was assigned to the Second Task Force, Hao Dongjue left Li Wenlong with Tan Renhao, but as a result, the First Task Force went to the Indian Ocean shortly after it regained its combat effectiveness, and Li Wenlong was still in the hospital undergoing appendectomy surgery, so he was not able to follow the First Task Force to set off. After he was discharged from the hospital, he was assigned to the Southwest Pacific Theater of Operations, where he was responsible for commanding the theater fleet in the Southwest Pacific Theater. It was a small fleet of two small aircraft carriers and more than a dozen escort warships, whose direct mission was to support the Marine Corps offensive. With the Second Task Force playing the leading role, Li Wenlong did not have any chance to shake Hao Dongjue's status, but his performance on the battlefield was not bad at all. After working with Tan Renhao for several years, and also having experience in commanding aircraft carriers, Li Wenlong can be said to be handy in commanding two small aircraft carriers.

In addition to these two fleets, the Fourth Task Force, which had completed its rest in the port of Guangzhou, was also heading to the battlefield. Originally, the Fourth Task Force was planned to arrive in the theater in mid-February, but after leaving the port of Guangzhou, it was found that the condition of several warships had not fully recovered, and then the fleet was rerouted to the port of Kaohsiung, where it was again overhauled, and among them was the "Chaohu" aircraft carrier (several doctors from the Guangzhou shipyard who were in charge of the maintenance of this aircraft carrier at that time were severely punished afterwards). Huang Xiaotian also sent a telegram from Kaohsiung Port that the arrival of the Fourth Task Force in the theater would be delayed until at least late February, and that they would rush over to take over the Second Task Force as soon as possible after the fleet's overhaul work was completed.

In other words, by the end of February, there were still at least two fleets in the southwestern Pacific still carrying out combat missions, and judging from the current battle situation, it is unlikely that the second task force will leave the battlefield as planned after the arrival of the fourth task force, mainly because the combat operation of attacking New Caledonia is not going well.

In early February, after Yan Guozhong's first batch of marines landed on the island of New Caledonia under the command of Major General Yuan Ye, the battle did not go well, which was due to the stubborn resistance of the enemy, but also to the reasons of the marines themselves. The haste of the campaign, the serious shortage of troops invested, the lack of logistical preparations, and the lack of firepower to support the fleet and aviation put the Marines in danger on the island of New Caledonia. If it weren't for the full support of Hao Dongjue and Li Wenlong, the little marines commanded by Yuan Ye would have been driven into the Coral Sea by the U.S. army, let alone attacking Noumea.

The stubborn resistance of the U.S. military more or less exceeded Yan Guozhong's estimate, after the capture of Port Vila and the fall of the New Hebrides into the hands of the Imperial Marines, New Caledonia has opened its doors and lost its defensive barrier, before landing in New Caledonia, Yan Guozhong estimated that the resistance of the U.S. military will not be too strong, and MacArthur will scatter his precious forces back to the Australian mainland to strengthen the defense of the Australian mainland. But in fact, Yan Guozhong's judgment was completely wrong, MacArthur did not retreat, but strengthened the defenses of New Caledonia, causing great trouble for the Imperial Marines.

The biggest trouble is the time limit of the campaign. Yan Guozhong originally planned to conquer New Caledonia in early March, and then amass troops here to prepare for the next attack on the Australian mainland. But now, the time has dragged on to the end of February, and if it continues as it is, it will be a question of whether Noumea can be defeated before the end of March. Noumea is also an important springboard for attacking the southeast coast of the Australian mainland, and is the main assembly point for the landing fleet and supply fleet. Therefore, Yan Guozhong can only continue to expand investment and strive to defeat Noumea according to the plan. In addition to continuing to invest a large number of marines, the support of the fleet is of paramount importance to ensure that the combat operation is completed in accordance with the planned time of the campaign, especially before the shore-based aviation of the HNA is deployed to the airfield on the island of New Caledonia.

It is also for this reason that it is unlikely that Task Force 2 will withdraw from the battle and return to the rear to rest after the arrival of Task Force 4. At that time, Lei Shaoqing did not directly ask Yan Guozhong about the arrangements of the Second Task Force, and he also felt that there was no need for this. The state of Task Force 2 is not a big problem, but other than that, the enemy factor is perhaps more important than the internal factor of the fleet!