By using various means to make the enemy make wrong judgments and ultimately achieve the goal of war, this is known as war deception. On the battlefield, "deception" can be seen everywhere. For example, a soldier wearing a combat uniform close to the background color is used to deceive the enemy's vision. And covering tanks, planes, etc., with camouflage nets to avoid being detected by the enemy, is also a means of deception. What's more, the navy has also begun to paint warships with paints that are easy to cause visual errors, so that the enemy cannot identify the type of battleship from a distance, which is also a deception. In addition to deception at the tactical level, there are various deception methods at the campaign level and at the strategic level. And, as the scope of the coverage expands, the more ways to deceive the enemy, the more difficult it becomes. To achieve the purpose of campaign deception, it is not just as simple as putting soldiers in combat uniforms, covering tanks with camouflage nets, or painting warships with camouflage paint.

In charge of the specific deception planning work was a group of young staff officers specially arranged by Yan Guozhong, some of whom were borrowed from the intelligence agencies. In addition to these people planning tactical deception plans, Yan Guozhong also recruited the main commanders of the various units in the theater to implement each task to specific units, and directly appointed the commanders of each unit to be responsible for specific command arrangements.

On 18 March, after the staff officers of the theater command came up with dozens of detailed plans, Yan Guozhong had copies of these deception plans sent to the commanders of various units, and Lei Shaoqing also received a copy. At the same time, Yan Guozhong also informed the responsible persons of all units to hold a meeting on 20 March to implement specific task arrangements. In other words, Yan Guozhong gave the commanders of each unit two days to come up with a specific action plan.

Lei Shaoqing had to admire the imagination of those young staff officers, and in order to achieve the goal of deception in the campaign, these staff officers came up with all kinds of methods, and some even mentioned deliberately going to the coast of Australia to sink a submarine and leaving a combat plan for landing on the Australian mainland on this submarine. That is, the US military was deliberately allowed to get the battle plan, which of course was a fake battle plan. There is also talk of creating an air crash to have a high-ranking "officer" fall into the hands of the enemy with documents, so that the US military can get a plan for the landing operation from him. It has also been mentioned that a group of prisoners who had been escorted back to the empire were deliberately allowed to escape, so that these captives happened to break into a certain headquarters, get the battle plan and flee back. It can be said that these are all "deviations", and the real effective methods are some concrete actions.

At that time, the main methods proposed by the staff officers of the theater command were as follows.

The first is the build-up and deployment of troops. As far as possible, the attack on the port of Brisbane should be carried out in accordance with the arrangements for the attack, that is, the main forces will be concentrated in Noumea, and activities will be intensified in the northern waters of the Tasman Sea and the southern waters of the Coral Sea, so as to make the appearance of attacking the port of Brisbane. And when it comes to the real landing, the first batch of landing forces invested does not need a lot, a few marine divisions will be enough. The late arrival of reinforcements two days later did not have a great impact, and these two days were enough time for the troops deployed in the northern part of the battlefield to maneuver.

The second is to concentrate on striking US defense facilities near the port of Brisbane. and the main military objectives behind the defensive line, while the main use is the fleet and heavy bombers. Selective bombing of targets in the vicinity of the actual landing site should not be too high, and the bombing time was concentrated on the capture of Lord Howe Island and Borspiramid Island, and then concentrated three days before the landing operation, while at the same time, the bombing campaign against Brisbane had to be further intensified.

Third, in terms of reconnaissance arrangements, it is necessary to comprehensively strengthen reconnaissance activities in Brisbane, mainly using long-range reconnaissance planes to carry out reconnaissance missions day and night. In addition, carrier-based reconnaissance planes also have to take part in reconnaissance activities, and they also have to arrange for ground reconnaissance units to go ashore and conduct close-range reconnaissance. In addition, after seizing the advancing islands, it is possible to make appropriate arrangements for aerial reconnaissance, to carry out reconnaissance only in key areas, without expanding the scope of reconnaissance, and to strictly control the number of reconnaissance operations.

Fourth, it is necessary to exercise strict control over the activities of the various units participating in the war, especially the radio liaison between the various units, and to create a large number of radio wave activities in key areas, so that important information is transmitted on paper rather than through radio. In order to enhance the effect, it was even necessary to divert part of the radio stations of the main forces to the direction of the attack on Brisbane, in order to achieve the purpose of deception.

Finally, and most importantly, the build-up of combat materials and the investment of logistical support capabilities must be carried out in full accordance with the requirements of the attack on Brisbane. That is to say, logistical preparations should be made according to the maximum investment limit, and the intensity of logistical preparations should not be reduced because the selected real offensive location requires little investment, after all, the most effective way to judge the direction of the opponent's attack is to observe the opponent's preparations for the attack.

In addition to these main aspects of deception, several other secondary approaches are also important. For example, using new passwords, using the enemy's spy network that has already been mastered to spread false news, and even announcing fake offensive plans within the army, and so on. Lei Shaoqing read this document very carefully, and in addition to admiring it, he still admired it. Some of the methods mentioned by these young staff officers may seem fanciful, but when you think about it, they are indeed of great significance. For example, one suggestion at the time was to create a fake air crash by adding a fake senior officer to the martyrs, and this senior officer happened to have a plan for a combat operation on the Australian mainland, or as part of the plan. As long as this fake plan falls into the hands of the US military, it will be difficult for MacArthur to doubt its authenticity.

On 20 March, the commanders of the various units arrived in Port Vila, and at this time the plan remained top secret, known only to the top commanders of the units. Lei Shaoqing didn't even tell Li Wenlong about the plan, which Yan Guozhong clearly requested. The commanders of the various units who came to the meeting brought only the adjutants, not even the main assistants. The time of this meeting was also very secretive, and many commanders who came to attend the meeting at that time found other reasons to leave the unit, for example, the commander of the front-line Marine Corps, Rear Admiral Yuan Ye, went to Port Vila to attend the meeting on the pretext of returning to the naval headquarters, and then he would really rush back to Zhoushan, rest there for a few days and then rush back. Anyway, in order to keep it secret at that time, Yan Guozhong used all methods.

The meeting was held in the evening. Yan Guozhong first emphasized the confidentiality of the meeting and the importance of this meeting. The commanders of the units then discussed in detail the main deception techniques proposed by the Theater Command and the detailed tasks of the units in carrying out this arrangement. In addition, several minor deception tactics of great importance were discussed, and the operational arrangements of the various forces were determined. At that time, Lei Shaoqing represented the fleet at this operational meeting, and the fleet was also assigned several tasks, or in several tasks, it was to cooperate with other units.

The meeting lasted until the early hours of the morning, and before dawn, the commanders of the troops who had arrived from other places all left by plane, and Lei Shaoqing's headquarters was in Port Vila. So he doesn't have to go through the trouble of disguising his whereabouts. After Yan Guozhong sent off the commanders of the other troops, he also left Lei Shaoqing alone.

"Sit down, you're also thinking about the fleet's actions these days, right?"

Lei Shaoqing nodded, and then took the cigarette handed by Yan Guozhong. "I've probably thought about it, and now the two task forces haven't returned. The specific arrangements have not been made either, so I think it would be more appropriate for Li Wenlong's theater fleet to be spared specific actions. There is also no need for us to explain specific actions to the commander of the fleet, which also has certain benefits for secrecy. ”

Lei Shaoqing did not suspect the loyalty of Hao Dongjue and Huang Xiaotian, but if the task force was to carry out the mission, then both Hao Dongjue and Huang Xiaotian would have to report to the Navy Command, and it would definitely need to change hands from many people halfway, and the more people who knew about it, the lower the degree of secrecy.

"That's fine. If Li Wenlong is in charge, you don't need to explain too much, and there is no need to explain. It is best for you to be responsible for these things personally, and you only need to give Li Wenlong an order to carry out the task. ”

Lei Shaoqing nodded, that's exactly what he thought. If the theater fleet is responsible, this is an internal matter of the theater and does not need to report to the naval command before completing the mission. Moreover, Li Wenlong was responsible to Yan Guozhong and Lei Shaoqing, and did not directly contact the naval command, so the number of personnel who knew about the plan was reduced.

"I already mentioned this operation to Gan Yongxing this morning." Yan Guozhong's gaze stayed on Lei Shaoqing for a while, "This operation was proposed by you, and the chief of staff was also very happy when he found out, he asked me to tell you that the Fifth Task Force will be able to reach the Southwest Pacific Theater of Operations by next month at the latest, and Jiang Zhongmin will come here in advance, if you can, you should talk to Jiang Zhongmin alone." ”

"How?" Lei Shaoqing frowned slightly, he felt that he really had nothing to talk about with Jiang Zhongmin.

Yan Guozhong laughed, then shook his head, "I don't want to comment on your relationship with Jiang Zhongmin. To be honest, I have cooperated with Tan Renhao for several years, and I know him very well. And you and Renhao are good brothers, so you should think about it in his place. ”

Lei Shaoqing didn't answer, he didn't know what Yan Guozhong meant by what he said.

"I think General Tan Renhao definitely doesn't want your relationship with Jiang Zhongmin to be stiff." Yan Guozhong sighed secretly, the competition between these young generals in the northern part of the navy was very cruel. "Let's put it this way, I'm not interested in what kind of person Jiang Zhongmin is. As the commander of the theater, my sole responsibility is to command the combat operations in the theater and achieve the objectives of the campaign. And you, as the commander of the theater fleet, have the responsibility to cooperate and support me. Therefore, I hope that you will be able to put aside your personal feelings and do your job as a theater fleet commander. ”

Lei Shaoqing let out a sigh, and then said: "Old Yan, you don't need to worry about this, since I accepted the arrangement of the chief of staff and agreed to come here to take on the duties and tasks of commanding the fleet to fight, then I will do my job well." It's just that I don't even know what kind of authority the commander of the theater fleet has, so how can I command the fleet in the theater? ”

"This ......," Yan Guozhong's expression also sank, "I have also mentioned this question to Gan Yongxing many times, but he did not give me any direct answer." Now, what I can guarantee is that you are responsible for commanding the theater fleet, and Li Wenlong is directly responsible to you, and I will not interfere in your command work, of course, you have to cooperate with the actions of other troops in the theater. ”

"I know this, I have already contacted Li Wenlong, he will come back in the next few days, and when the time comes, I will talk to him in detail."

Yan Guozhong laughed, "That's good, Li Wenlong is also from the First Task Force, when you were the chief of staff of the First Task Force, he should be the captain of the fleet, right?" Your relationship should be good, and Li Wenlong should also obey your command. As for the rest, I'll try to help you with the Chief of Staff. If possible, there will be specific arrangements before we attack Australia. ”

Lei Shaoqing did not continue to "embarras" Yan Guozhong, and it can be seen from Yan Guozhong's attitude that he is still somewhat dissatisfied with the matter of the naval command's arrangement of the commander of the theater fleet, mainly because the scope of authority of the commander of the theater fleet has not been clearly defined at all, and the problems that this may cause in the command link will be quite serious. If there is a contradiction between Lei Shaoqing and the commander of the task force on the front line because of the unclear terms of reference at that time, or if there is a difference in the understanding of the campaign, it will directly threaten the progress of the campaign. As the commander of the theater of operations, Yan Guozhong would never want to see such a thing happen, so even if Lei Shaoqing did not take the initiative to raise this issue, Yan Guozhong would try to get a clear answer from Gan Yongxing, determine the terms of reference of the commander of the theater fleet, and straighten out the relationship between the upper and lower levels of the command system.

The two did not delve into this issue, and after discussing the specific arrangements for this deception operation, Lei Shaoqing took the initiative to leave. The tasks assigned to the fleet are not light, and the arrangements for each link are also very compact, and he has to go back to deploy all the relevant things, and after Li Wenlong returns, he will arrange the specific actions.