After Hao Dongjue and the others arrived in a hurry, Tan Renhao asked them to sit down, and when he was about to start the meeting, Liao Hanxiang arrived last with several staff officers from the theater headquarters. Tan Renhao could only arrange a place for them before announcing the start of the meeting.

"This is the news we just received from the No. 542 submarine, I believe that Huang Xiaotian should be very familiar with the captain of this submarine."

Huang Xiaotian smiled and nodded, the submarine No. 542 was the same submarine that sank the "Shangri-La" and damaged the "Bennington" last time. The captain of the boat is still Wen Haomao. Originally, Wen Haomao had the opportunity to leave the arduous and dangerous front-line troops, but he refused, and remained on the 542 submarine as the captain, of course, now he is one of the most famous submarine captains in the Imperial Navy.

"This submarine is ...... here," Tan Renhao pointed with a long wooden stick to a certain area south of Oahu, a huge paper sand table placed in the center of the conference room, "and spotted the U.S. aircraft carrier task force that was turning." This was its first contact with the US fleet, and it was about half past eleven last night. In the early hours of this morning, the No. 542 submarine ...... here again," Tan Renhao moved his long wooden stick and hit another sea area on the sand table. "To the southeast of the last contact, there was another U.S. aircraft carrier task force at a distance of about 40 to 55 nautical miles. These must have been two task forces, because the first task force was sailing in a southwesterly direction, and it was impossible to maneuver to this area at four o'clock in the morning, as evidenced by the telegram from the submarine No. 542, and the escort warships in the two task forces were of different types. Therefore, we judge that these are two task forces. Perhaps, there is a third task force. Before you arrive, the Submarine Command has sent all the submarines operating in this area to search for a third task force, and it is believed that news will arrive soon. Now, what we can say for sure. The Fifth Fleet has already left Pearl Harbor, and as for what their purpose is, we do not yet know. ”

"Maybe it's just coming out to train." Yan Yulong immediately added Tan Renhao's words.

"Yes, maybe the Fifth Fleet is only out to train, after all, last year, Spruance did not rush to launch a counterattack, but trained in the rear for several months. Now that the quality of the officers and men of the Fifth Fleet is even worse, Spruance will certainly step up their training. But the problem is. Who can be sure that the Fifth Fleet is out for training? Tan Renhao looked at the commanders and chiefs of staff of the task force. There is no intelligence to prove that the Fifth Fleet left Pearl Harbor for training purposes. Another point that we must pay attention to is that before this, the task force of the Fifth Fleet had also left Pearl Harbor, but only one task force left Pearl Harbor at a time, and it was only in the last ten days or so that two task forces left the port for training at the same time. And most of the training is confrontational. But they never left the 100-nautical-mile area near Pearl Harbor. The Project 542 submarine encountered it 100 to 150 nautical miles from Pearl Harbor. In addition, you have a piece of information in front of you, which was delivered yesterday. ”

The crowd immediately opened the document that had been placed in front of them. This is what the staff officer has been preparing for a long time.

"The U.S. Navy has been refurbished with a new fighter jet, identified as the latest model F4U, which is codenamed 'Super Corsair.'" Tan Renhao sat down, "The intelligence department managed to obtain some performance data of this fighter as much as possible, and in addition, our bombers also encountered this fighter near Oahu, with the evaluation of the bomber pilots attached to it. As you can notice, this fighter is very fast, perhaps not much worse than our Peregrine Falcon. If that's the case, then. The combat effectiveness of the Fifth Fleet will increase considerably. ”

"They don't have a new land bomber?" Hao Dongjue spoke first, "If there are no new bombers, then the combat effectiveness of the US military is still below us, and we have nothing to fear." ”

"Perhaps, Spruance is going to familiarize the pilots with the new fighter this time." Huang Xiaotian knew that Hao Dongjue was going to be trained again, so he quickly changed the topic.

"This should not be very likely, because the 'Super Island' was provided to the Fifth Fleet at the beginning of last month, and in addition, it is only for the purpose of organizing fighter flight training. It's not worth leaving Pearl Harbor with all the fleets. Tan Renhao glanced at Hao Dongjue, "Now my approximate judgment is that the US military has preliminarily grasped our next combat operation, and the departure of the Fifth Fleet from Pearl Harbor is part of the US military's campaign deployment." ”

"Maybe it's to prevent us from attacking Pearl Harbor." Zheng Guanhua also spoke, "If the Fifth Fleet stays at Pearl Harbor, it will be an extremely tempting bait, and as long as the Fifth Fleet leaves Pearl Harbor and leaves the waters where our submarine is watched, I am afraid that it will be difficult for us to find the Fifth Fleet, and there will be no reason to attack Pearl Harbor." ”

"There is also a possibility of this, but the problem is that we cannot be careless in the slightest, let alone think that the US military is defenseless." Tan Renhao looked at Liao Hanxiang, who was sitting on the other side.

"It makes sense to talk about the general's words." Liao Hanxiang only spoke at this time, "Although we have several months, or even half a year, to complete the campaign deployment, and our campaign deployment arrangements are quite detailed and complex, the main purpose is to avoid being discovered by the US military and plunging the US military's intelligence system into chaos." However, it is impossible for any troop movement to be traceless, let alone completely conceal it. In the past few months, we have been using various methods to conceal our campaign deployment, but our campaign intentions cannot be concealed. Therefore, it is possible that the U.S. military perceives that we have deployed enough offensive troops on the front line and stockpiled enough combat supplies. In this way, it will be possible for the US military to deduce the time when we will launch a campaign offensive and make targeted campaign deployments. Just as General Tan Renhao analyzed, if the US military is indeed aware of this, then the Fifth Fleet's departure from Pearl Harbor this time is not for training, but for campaign deployment. ”

"What we need to figure out, then, is what the Fifth Fleet's intentions were in leaving Pearl Harbor."

"Definitely not here to fight us, Spruance doesn't have the capital now, and there is no way he can kill near Guam, unless he thinks he can deal with our five aircraft carrier task forces, and withstand the encirclement and interception of thousands of shore-based bombers!" Hao Dongjue spoke again.

"It's really unlikely." Huang Xiaotian followed Hao Dongjue to speak. "But we have to take into account that if Admiral Liao Hanxiang's initial analysis is correct, then the U.S. military may take the initiative, maybe it can't completely stop us from attacking the Hawaiian Islands, but as long as the Fifth Fleet's operation is successful, it can delay our offensive and force us to spend more time reorganizing the offensive force."

"You mean, bombing our front-line islands?" Zheng Guanhua followed and asked.

Huang Xiaotian nodded. "Bomb the airfields that we are deploying on the front-line islands. Marines, as well as hoarded war materiel. Even if the personnel losses caused by the bombing are unlikely to be very large and will not affect the combat effectiveness of the troops, as long as part of the combat materials we have hoarded on the front line are blown up, then we will have to adjust the deployment of the campaign. ”

"However, they have to consider our ground-based bombers on the front line. In addition, our fleet is trained in turns, and if the U.S. submarine is monitoring Apra Harbor, then Spruance will have to first consider what our fleet is doing and whether it poses a threat to him. Yan Yulong also expressed his opinion.

"That's the crux of the matter." Tan Renhao spoke at this time. "The rotation of our fleet for out-of-port training is five days. And at the cruising speed of the fleet, within five days, we will reach the sea near Midway at most. When there are no special circumstances. The fleet generally does not sail at a speed of more than 18 knots. Therefore, it is quite possible that Spruance has mastered the laws of our activities. If he bombards Nihua Island tomorrow or the day after tomorrow, I am afraid that we will not be able to react at all, and the Fifth Fleet will not be threatened. As for the shore-based fighters on Nihua Island, even if the Fifth Fleet's whereabouts are exposed, it will hardly pose a huge threat to the Fifth Fleet, and it is more likely that when the bombers of the Fifth Fleet arrive, I am afraid that the air force on Nihua Island will sound the air defense alarm. ”

"So. Whether or not the Fifth Fleet bombed Niwa Island is the standard by which we judge whether Spruance has finished training and begun its campaign deployment. Zheng Guanhua looked at Tan Renhao.

"Unlikely, I think the Fifth Fleet should continue training." Hao Dongjue didn't notice that Tan Renhao was also going to speak, "At least, the current state of the Fifth Fleet can't beat us at all, even our two task forces are enough to make the Fifth Fleet completely finished." If I were Spruance, I would continue to train intensively. Even if the Fifth Fleet bombed Nihua Island, it should have been part of the training, or Spruance wanted us to misjudge because of it. Then the battle was launched in advance before the preparations were fully in place, while the Fifth Fleet watched from the sidelines as we fought Kauai, while he continued to train on the sidelines, ignoring us and not giving us any chance of a decisive battle. ”

"I don't think it's very likely, anyway, Spruance will not let the Fifth Fleet participate in the battle when the training is not fully in place, and after we rush over, it will not be up to the Fifth Fleet to decide, and whether to fight or not will not be decided by Spruance at that time. As soon as we landed on Kauai, Nimitz would have the Fifth Fleet in the war, not the Fifth Fleet watching from the sidelines! Yan Yulong immediately put forward the opposite opinion.

"I think it's possible, the U.S. still has a bunch of warships in service in June, and if the U.S. forces can hold out on Kauai for a few months so that we can't get to Oahu, then Nimitz won't let Spruance participate in the battle, but wait until the Fifth Fleet expands again before fighting us." Wei Dongbei was the first chief of staff to speak.

"But the problem is that the quality of the officers and men of the Fifth Fleet will be reduced again, and even if there are more warships, it will be in vain!" Feng Lingdu immediately jumped out, as if he couldn't get along with Wei Dongbei.

"We also have to consider the mutual location of Oahu and Kauai, the tactical aircraft deployed by the US military on Oahu can support Kauai, and there are thousands of combat aircraft on Oahu, why is it necessary for the US military to use the carrier-based aircraft of the Fifth Fleet to help defend Kauai?"

"The combat efficiency of shore-based aircraft, in addition, Oahu is also within the strike range of our bombers, if the airfield is destroyed, will the US fighters still be able to fly?"

……

The voices of the two chiefs of staff immediately overpowered the voices of the others, and even Hao Dongjue and Huang Xiaotian couldn't stop it. Tan Renhao could only smile bitterly, as long as Wei Dongbei quarreled with Feng Lingdu, it would be really difficult to end for a while.

Just as Tan Renhao was about to come out to stop it, a staff officer from the theater command ran over and whispered a few words in the ear of the colonel officer on Liao Hanxiang's right, and then the colonel officer immediately whispered a few words in Liao Hanxiang's ear.

"Alright, guys, there's no need to argue." Liao Hanxiang slapped the table, and the room suddenly fell silent, and the two chiefs of staff, who were still fighting at the beginning, immediately shut their mouths. "I just received the news that Nihua Island was bombed by the US military, and our patrol fighters discovered the US bomber group in advance, and shot down at least more than 50 US bombers, but the airfield on Nihua Island was temporarily unusable. In addition, at least two task forces of the Fifth Fleet are located southeast of Nihua Island, less than 300 nautical miles from Nihua Island, and our bombers have now moved to Gardner Island. U.S. forces are still bombing Nihua Island. ”

"Then there's no need for us to talk about it anymore." Tan Renhao stood up, "Huang Xiao, heaven, the Fourth Task Force will set off immediately, rendezvous with the Seventh and Eighth Task Forces, and immediately rush to Midway, the relevant arrangements, I will inform you later, when we arrive at Midway, we will meet with the supply fleet." ”

Huang Xiaotian nodded, and then looked at Yan Yulong and Zheng Guanhua.

"The Second Task Force, the Third Task Force, and the First Task Force should also be ready to leave as soon as possible." Tan Renhao looked at Hao Dongjue and Chang Jianxin, who had not spoken, "We set off immediately, trying to catch up with the Third Fleet during the voyage, so we must ensure that the warships can continue to sail at a speed of more than 18 knots, no problem, right?" ”

The two of them also nodded, they often do this, what else could be wrong?

This was the end of the meeting, but Tan Renhao was not in a hurry to return to the fleet, because he also had a lot of questions.