When he returned to the naval headquarters, it was already early in the morning, and Lei Shaoqing declined Tan Renhao's invitation and still returned to the hotel to live. Tan Renhao returned home alone, and when he came upstairs, he found that the light in the study was still on. After hesitating, Tan Renhao entered the study, and as he expected, Liao Hanxiang was still waiting for him in the study.

"Have you had a good night, huh?" Liao Hanxiang raised his head, took off his glasses, and put down a document in his hand at the same time.

"It's not bad, we haven't seen each other for a while, so we're all happy to be back a little late." Tan Renhao sat on the sofa, "Dad, why haven't you slept yet?" ”

"I've only been back for a short time." Liao Hanxiang walked over and sat opposite Tan Renhao, "In the evening, the marshal called me and Yan Guozhong to his house for dinner, and everyone also chatted. By the way, how did you talk to Huang Xiaotian? ”

"Huang Xiaotian?" Tan Renhao frowned slightly, and then thought that it must be the principal or the chief of staff who told his father-in-law about the arrangement of the fleet. "It's not bad, I talked to him, if it's only two or three months, he doesn't think the problem is very big."

Liao Hanxiang pondered for a moment as he listened, and then sighed. "When the marshal mentioned this matter, I was also a little difficult to understand, after all, we all know the strength of the Fourth Task Force, and the US military's counterattack this time is concentrated in the Central Pacific, and no one has much hope for the Fourth Task Force."

Tan Renhao sighed, the problem is here. Even if Huang Xiaotian had guaranteed that the Fourth Task Force would be able to complete the mission, how much was his guarantee worth, and could his guarantee be accepted? Although the Central Pacific Theater is only a secondary battlefield at present, it is directly related to the situation in the entire Pacific Theater. In order to ensure the smooth progress of the offensive in the southwest Pacific, a certain retreat and even a certain defeat can be accepted in the Central Pacific theater, but a crushing defeat must not be accepted. If the Fourth Task Force could not defeat the US Fifth Fleet, and Huang Xiaotian made a mistake in the process of maneuvering with Spruance, the result would definitely be a fiasco. Huang Xiaotian will be responsible for the fiasco of the Fourth Task Force, but who will be responsible for the fiasco of the navy?

"Do you think Huang Xiaotian has the ability to stop Spruance?" Seeing Tan Renhao, he didn't speak for a long time. Liao Hanxiang simply asked directly.

"Dad, I can't say for sure." Tan Renhao leaned on the armrest of the sofa. Judging from the confidence shown by Huang Xiaotian, he is still relatively sure of the assurances he made. The problem now is that he never fought Spruance. Spruance didn't know much about him, but we couldn't afford to fail this time. In any case, the Fourth Task Force must hold out in the Central Pacific until about August, and if it loses too quickly, I am afraid that we will have to completely change the strategic deployment on the ground in the Pacific theater. ”

Liao Hanxiang nodded slightly. "No one thought of it. At this time. This is the case in the country. Huang Xiaotian: He has already made a guarantee? ”

"Yes, I talked to him, he said. With sufficient cooperation, Task Force 4 is capable of holding out until August. ”

"But who believes his promises?" Liao Hanxiang pondered for a while, "It seems that we have to agree on it first. ”

Tan Renhao frowned slightly. "Dad, how did you talk about it at night?"

"The marshal also mentioned this issue." Liao Hanxiang patted the armrest of the sofa, "Generally speaking, we all believe that in this case, only one task force can be left in the Central Pacific Theater, and the other fleets have to concentrate on the Southwest Pacific Theater to support the landing operations of the Marine Corps, and the fastest can only be after the capture of Sydney Harbor." Send more fleets to the Central Pacific theater to stabilize the situation. Judging from Yan Guozhong's campaign arrangement, it is already quite good to be able to capture Sydney at the end of July, and the premise is that the campaign must be launched in early June, and the campaign deception arranged by Yan Guozhong is completely successful, and it is possible to capture Sydney Harbor at the end of July without too many obstacles. If anything goes wrong, it's likely that Sydney Harbour won't be available until mid-August, and by then. The fleet could only be transferred to the Central Pacific theater by the end of August at the earliest. In other words, Task Force 4 must be ready to hold out until the end of August. ”

Tan Renhao nodded slightly. Yan Guozhong clearly put forward the time required to realize the various campaign steps in the battle plan submitted by Yan Guozhong, although this is only an approximate time plan, but with this plan as a reference, it can also roughly calculate the time for the Marines to capture Sydney Harbour.

"If you lead the First Task Force to the Central Pacific Theater this time, it shouldn't be a big problem. Even if you were to command Task Force 4, it shouldn't be a big problem. But ......" Liao Hanxiang hesitated slightly, "Gan Yongxing resolutely opposes your going to the Central Pacific, thinking that your stay in the Southwest Pacific Theater will be of the greatest help to our attack on the Australian mainland." Yan Guozhong also agreed with this, so the marshal did not insist. Have you talked to Lei Shaoqing? ”

Tan Renhao laughed. "Dad, it seems that you know quite a bit."

"I have heard about Lei Shaoqing and Jiang Zhongmin a long time ago." Liao Hanxiang also laughed, "Jiang Zhongmin will only come back tomorrow, I heard that the reconstruction of the Fifth Task Force is going well, and Jiang Zhongmin will personally take care of the training after returning to the Fifth Task Force." If nothing unexpected happens, Task Force 5 will be able to rush to the Southwest Pacific Theater at the end of this month to temporarily replace Task Force 2 and give Task Force 2 time to deal with the issue of the newly formed aircraft carrier battle group. However, judging from the marshal's words tonight, on the issue of Lei Shaoqing's authority, the marshal's attitude has been somewhat relaxed. ”

Tan Renhao nodded slightly. "If the Chief of Staff insists that Task Force 1 go to the Southwest Pacific Theater, then the Principal will definitely make concessions."

"In other words, you will secretly help Lei Shaoqing?"

"No, I didn't say that, I just won't compete with Lei Shaoqing for command. Since I'm still the commander of the task force, I'll take this commander first, and I won't think much about the rest. ”

Liao Hanxiang immediately laughed. "That's good, in fact, as long as you go to the Southwest Pacific, then the problem doesn't exist, unless Jiang Zhongmin thinks he has the ability to compete directly with you. Otherwise, he will make concessions. ”

"Dad, don't worry about this," think about how to deal with the U.S. military's counterattack in the Central Pacific. ”

Hearing his son-in-law say this, Liao Hanxiang laughed even louder. "Well, now it's your turn to teach me a lesson. However, what you said is indeed the truth, Yan Guozhong will definitely support Lei Shaoqing. Plus Gan Yongxing and you. Jiang Zhongmin is no longer a threat. As for what happened in the Central Pacific theater, what do you think? ”

"I haven't had time to think about it yet." Tan Renhao touched his forehead, "After talking to Huang Xiaotian in the afternoon." I only think that there should not be much of a problem overall, if all the units in the Pacific Theater try their best to cooperate with the Fourth Task Force, with Huang Xiaotiandi's ability. Even if you can't beat Spruance, you will definitely be able to deal with Spruance for a while. ”

Liao Hanxiang went and got a small map. "The main problem now is that Wake Island is still under the control of the U.S. military. Before April, Nimitz had even dispatched submarines to provide the most basic supplies to the American forces on the island. Judging by the latest information we have now, after the Fifth Fleet has returned to combat effectiveness, Nimitz has already sent its first convoy to Wake Island, and a larger convoy will arrive at the end of the month, when the time comes. The U.S. forces on Wake Island will receive the most important war materials, and after we generally turn to a defensive state in the Central Pacific, we will not want to take Wake Island lightly. ”

"In other words, because the U.S. military controls Wake Island, our defense line in the Central Pacific is split into two parts?" Tan Renhao immediately grasped the point.

"Yes, that's where the biggest hole in our direction is." Liao Hanxiang sighed, "Now we have to be at Midway, Lysan Island. Gardner Island has deployed a large number of local defense forces, and at the same time, it has to be wary of the U.S. military using Wake Island as a base. Attacking the Marshall Islands to the south and the Mariana Islands to the west, we still have to leave enough defensive forces in the rear. The Fifth Fleet could have penetrated the rear of our line of defense through this loophole, and if the Fourth Task Force wanted to entangle the Fifth Fleet in the Central Pacific and ensure that it would not be attacked by surprise, then the Fourth Task Force would not be able to operate in the waters near Midway, and it would be better to withdraw to the waters of the Mariana Islands. But in this way, it is equivalent to giving up Midway, Lysan and Gardner Island. Now Han Shaofeng is in charge of that side, but without the support and cover of the fleet, with only the aviation and ground forces on the three islands, it will not last long! ”

Tan Renhao's gaze fell on the map. Liao Hanxiang mentioned that this problem is indeed very serious. Wake Island is the salient of the U.S. line, and Wake Island is between Midway and the Marshall Islands, as well as between Midway and the Mariana Islands. The island has long been a key island in the battle between the U.S. and Imperial Navies. Geographically, it can be said that Wake Island is connected to two lines of defense in the Central Pacific, and its geographical location is very important. Previously, Liao Hanxiang had planned to attack Wake Island and retake the island, but later invested his forces on Gardner Island and Lysan Island. Subsequently, the 1st Task Force suffered heavy losses in a decisive battle with the Fifth Fleet, and the 4th Task Force, the only task force still active on the battlefield, had to support Yan Guozhong's attack in the southwest Pacific. Therefore, without the support of the fleet, the attack on Wake Island was delayed. Now the problem is exposed. Wake Island is like a big gap in the Imperial Navy's defense line in the Central Pacific, where the U.S. fleet can enter and exit freely, and the waters around Midway are no longer safe.

"After I go back, I will discuss it with Huang Xiaotian in detail, and if necessary, we can only give up the first line of defense."

"You have to wait as much time as possible on the first line of defense." Tan Renhao raised his head, "We finally took Gardner Island and Lysan Island, if we give up so easily, I'm afraid that the U.S. military will directly abandon Midway Island and other islands and directly march into the Mariana Islands, when the time comes, we will not be able to hold the second line of defense!" ”

Liao Hanxiang frowned slightly, he had already considered this, but the problem was that if the Fourth Task Force was deployed, it would be easy to be attacked by the Fifth Fleet. As long as the Fourth Task Force is finished, then the US military can advance to the Mariana Islands without hindrance, and when the time comes, the second line of defense will not be able to hold at all.

"If I were to take command of Task Force 4, there would be only one option this time, and that would be mobile defense." Tan Renhao sketched several ranges on the map. "If you take fixed-point defense, let alone the Fourth Task Force, even if you send a few more task forces over, you may not be able to stop the Fifth Fleet. The only way to do this was to defend on a mobile basis, to keep the Fourth Task Force in a forward presence, and at the same time not to allow the Fifth Fleet to seize the opportunity for a decisive battle. As long as Huang Xiaotian handles it properly, the problem will not be very big. And if it is necessary to adopt mobile defense, then the reconnaissance capabilities of the fleet itself are quite limited. Therefore, the cooperation of shore-based aviation will be very crucial. As long as the shore-based air forces are well coordinated and the Fourth Task Force has been operating at the front, then the US military will not dare to launch an attack lightly, or even attack Gardner Island and Lysan Island, but will first let the Fifth Fleet destroy the Fourth Task Force, or at least drive the Fourth Task Force back to the waters of the Mariana Islands before launching an attack. That way, we can buy enough time. ”

When talking about Renhao's explanation, Liao Hanxiang was also trying his best to think.

"Therefore, whether the defense line in the Central Pacific can be held, the fourth task force is only a key force, in addition, shore-based aviation, marines are all key factors. Coordination between the various branches of the armed forces is quite important. Tan Renhao put down his pencil, "It's like walking a tightrope, one wrong step will be completely finished, and in the next three months, you must not take any wrong step." ”

"It seems that this is not just Huang Xiaotian's pressure." Liao Hanxiang sighed, "Okay, I can take a little more time to think about this." ”

"Dad, let's go and rest early." Tan Renhao stood up as he spoke, "After the principal has determined the specific arrangements, we will discuss them in detail, and it doesn't make much sense to say these things now." ”

Liao Hanxiang didn't say anything more, and after Tan Renhao left, he also went back to his room to sleep.