The news of the 21st task force's turn was quickly delivered to Tan Renhao, and the \I machine sent back the message almost simultaneously. At this time, Tan Renhao was also a little puzzled, at first Spruance also put on a look of wanting to fight with the First Fleet, but now he was in a hurry to turn and retreat, could it be that Spruance was just acting like he turned around and fled when he found that the First Fleet was also preparing to fight him?

The sudden action of the American fleet made Tan Renhao feel puzzled, but soon, he was sure that Spruance definitely did not want to fight the First Fleet too early, and the threat of those battleships was relatively small. If Spruance's goal was to take out the First Fleet, he could have used shore-based bombers from airfields on the surrounding islands and at airfields in Florida without having to dispatch the fleet. What's more, the U.S. aircraft carrier fleet still hasn't appeared, and perhaps Spruance has already deployed those aircraft carriers in place, just waiting for the bombers to be dispatched at dawn.

Thinking of this, Tan Renhao didn't hesitate anymore, and he didn't have time to continue to hesitate.

"Contact Task Force 3 and get them to immediately turn to the battlefield and get out of the field." Tan Renhao directly called the communications staff officer, but did not let Zhu Rongzhe convey the order. "Retreat at full speed directly to the east, without delay. In addition, contact Dongjue, before dawn, to provide air defense cover for the third task force, now, where is the third task force? ”

"It should be about 300 miles northeast of us." The nautical staff member marked a general range on the chart. "We have not been in contact with the Third Fleet, and the Third Fleet has not taken the initiative to contact us, this is just the sea area where they are approximately, and the specific location is not clear."

"Then contact the Third Fleet and have them provide us with air defense cover before dawn. We left only one squadron of anti-aircraft fighters, and all the others were sent to Task Force 3. ”

"Then are we going to strike at the U.S. fleet?" Zhu Rongzhe asked at this time.

"It depends, maybe by daybreak, Spruance was out of our range. And we cannot venture into the strike zone of US shore-based bombers to pursue the Atlantic Fleet. Tan Renhao touched his forehead, "This time, we completely underestimated our opponent, maybe from the beginning, Spruance wanted to lure us into the range of shore-based bombers, and then the shore-based bombers would destroy us." His Atlantic fleet was only responsible for the final blow. ”

"Then we have to get out of the strike range of the US shore-based bombers as soon as possible to avoid losses."

Tan Renhao nodded slightly, and asked the communications staff officer to send a telegram. At this time, Tan Renhao was most worried about the Third Task Force. The First Task Force and the Second Task Force are both sailing eastward at the fastest speed, and they are about 1,500 miles away from the nearest US air base before dawn, while there are only four 350 heavy bombers at the US airfield within 2,000 kilometers, and with the carrier-based fighters of the two task forces, it is certain that the 300 bombers arriving in batches will be intercepted. The most important thing is that only the B-29 bomber of the US military can deal with targets 2,000 kilometers away, and other serious situations. Its combat radius is around 1500 km. It is a question of whether B-29 bombers are deployed at these four airfields.

Comparatively speaking, the position of Task Force 3 is much more dangerous. Because it was delayed for several hours. Moreover, during this period, the 3rd Task Force was still sailing at full speed in the northwest direction. By daybreak, there were at least six large U.S. airfields between 1,500 and 2,000 kilometers from Task Force 3. Four of these airfields are only about 1,500 miles from Task Force 3. At least 500 heavy bombers could be deployed at these airfields, and if these bombers arrived in three groups, there would be an average of about 170 bombers per batch. Under these circumstances, Task Force 1 and Task Force 2 had to cover Task Force 3 with all their might in order to be able to hold off the US heavy bombers. At the same time, Task Force 3 had to be prepared for bombing.

Now, Spruance is in full throttle retreat, there is no doubt about it. The heavy task of striking at the Third Task Force fell to the US shore-based bombers. Tan Renhao could even think that the US bombers on those airfields were refueling at this time. Mounts bombs. Moreover, there must be quite a few Type 29 heavy bombers > from the airfield in the rear, trying to take off with bombs before dawn.

What made Tan Renhao feel even more headache was that the Third Fleet might be 300 nautical miles away, so that by dawn, the Third Fleet would only be able to provide air defense cover for the First Task Force and the Second Task Force at most, and even if its fighters could fly over the Third Task Force, their combat missions would not exceed 20 minutes. In such a situation, only Task Force 1 and Task Force 2 would provide air defense cover for Task Force 3, and then the Third Fleet would have ground fighters cover the two task forces. Leaving aside the trouble of command for the time being, whether or not the fighters of the Third Fleet can arrive in time is a problem, and if the US military wants to take the risk of assaulting the First Task Force or the Second Task Force, it will be a big trouble.

In addition to the shore-based bombers of the US military, there are also US aircraft carriers that have not been seen. Maybe these aircraft carriers are somewhere nearby waiting for the moment for the bombers to take off. Comparatively, tactical bombers on aircraft carriers pose a much greater threat than heavy bombers. If the US carrier-based tactical bombers of the US military are also rushed over while the Third Task Force is dealing with the US shore-based heavy bombers, then the Third Task Force will be more than lucky. Similarly, if Spruance had sent bombers against Task Force 1 or Task Force 2 at this time, the First Fleet would have suffered huge losses.

The situation was already quite dangerous, and Tan Renhao didn't think about how to kill the Atlantic Fleet at all at this time, his first consideration was how to protect himself. Shortly after the telegram to the Third Task Force was sent, numbered 12, it participated in the search for the US military [the reconnaissance plane sent back a report, and the US aircraft carrier fleet, which had always made Tan Renhao feel uneasy, was finally found!]

"These are the coordinates sent back by the reconnaissance plane." Zhu Rongzhe first read the telegram, and he quickly marked the location of the reconnaissance plane on the chart. "The U.S. aircraft carrier has appeared

The northwest of Shendao, the southern part of the Exuma Strait, is still continuing to sail at speeds of more than 30 knots. Several other reconnaissance planes have already rushed over to track and monitor the US fleet. ”

Looking at the location marked on the chart, Tan Renhao frowned. Previously, he had always suspected that the US aircraft carrier was in the Exuma Strait, but what he did not expect was that the US aircraft carrier fleet was also sailing at full speed in the northwest direction. This means that the US aircraft carriers are not approaching the third task force, but are distancing themselves from the third task force. Tan Renhao quickly calculated the distance between the Third Task Force and the US aircraft carrier fleet, and at the same time estimated the distance between the Third Task Force and its aircraft carrier fleet if the US battleship fleet intercepted the Third Task Force. After these two data came out, Tan Renhao was even more puzzled.

Obviously, if Spruance's fleet of battleships had intercepted Task Force 3, its carrier fleet would probably be able to reach the northwest of the Exuma Strait at dawn, no more than 300 miles from Task Force 3, and more than 500 miles from Task Force 1 and Task Force 4. In other words, at this time, the bombers on the US aircraft carrier could hit the Third Task Force, but the bombers of Tan Renhao and Hao Dongjue could not threaten them. That is, from the very beginning, Spruance wanted to take out Task Force 3 first, and at the same time not risk his own aircraft carriers. But the question is, why did Spruance choose to retreat at the last moment?

Right now. The Spruance Ground battleship formation had already retreated, so it was impossible for the Third Task Force to continue to pursue the US fleet, and it would inevitably turn to withdraw from the battlefield, and as long as the Third Task Force turned three hours before dawn, the US aircraft carrier fleet would be more than 400 miles away from the Third Task Force at dawn, and it would not be able to threaten the Third Task Force. That is, when Spruance turned the battleship formation, he had already abandoned the idea of striking the third task force. But why did Spruance make such a drastic change?

Could it be that Spruance was afraid of losing his own battleship? After all, when the U.S. forces bombed the 3rd Task Force, the 1st Task Force and the 2nd Task Force could also bomb the U.S. ground battleship fleet. But relatively speaking, Spruance can get the cover of shore-based fighters, and when the time comes, the US military will definitely dispatch heavy bombers to attack the first task force and the second task force, so that Tan Renhao will not be able to effectively organize bombing operations. Thus unable to effectively threaten Spruance's fleet of battleships. In this case, Spruance should not choose to retreat, but should choose to move on, and his odds are far above Tan Renhao. So, what was the reason for Spruance to choose to withdraw from the battlefield on his own initiative? Could it be that Spruance sensed other dangers?

Tan Renhao did not expect that Spruance gave the order to retreat because he was afraid of the opponent's night reconnaissance and night bombing ability. At that time, Tan Renhao's first thought was the Third Fleet, which had never shown up.

"Have you received any news from the Third Fleet?" Tan Renhao asked the communications staff officer again.

"The telegram has been sent, but no reply has been received from the Third Fleet. Probably they are making relevant preparations, and in order to ensure the concealment of the fleet. So no telegram was sent back to us. ”

"Then contact the Third Fleet and ask where they are. Ask them to call back as soon as possible. Tan Renhao gritted his teeth, what is Huang Xiaotian doing? He had already sent several telegrams to the Third Fleet in a row, but Huang Xiaotian had not replied, could it be that Huang Xiaotian was taking his own actions?

The communications staff sent another telegram to the Third Fleet, but after more than 10 minutes, the Third Fleet still did not reply. At this time, Tan Renhao felt even more annoyed. It is clear that Huang Xiaotian has taken other actions. At this time, Tan Renhao had to be suspicious. Spruance may have felt threatened by the Third Fleet and decided to retreat, but how could the Third Fleet threaten Spruance? Could it be that Huang Xiaotian also killed him? Or is it that the reconnaissance planes of the US military have already discovered the Third Fleet? But the problem is that if Huang Xiaotian finds out that he has exposed the words, then he should contact the First Fleet to report its actions, but Huang Xiaotian did not send a telegram. In this way, Huang Xiaotian may not have found out that he has been exposed, then the Third Fleet is heading towards danger!

"Continue to contact the Third Fleet, send a telegram every ten minutes, no, every five minutes, until the call is returned!" Tan Renhao's hands were trembling slightly, if the Third Fleet had taken blind action at this time, maybe the result would have been completely different.

Zhu Rongzhe also published Tan Renhao's nervousness, he nodded to the communications staff officer, and let the communications staff officer go to work.

Tan Renhao's worries are not unreasonable, the safety of the First Fleet mainly depends on the Third Fleet, and if the Third Fleet cannot even protect itself, how can it provide air defense cover for the First Fleet? As a result, Tan Renhao had to reconsider the matter of allocating air defense fighters, and could not pin his hopes entirely on the Third Fleet. What annoyed him even more was that if the Third Fleet was threatened, and it happened to be within the cover range of the First Fleet, he would have to provide cover for the Third Fleet at that time, and the First Fleet's air defense fighters would definitely not be able to deploy them.

The situation was already dangerous, and at 2:10 a.m., Task Force 3 completed its turn and retreated eastward as fast as it could. The 1st and 2nd Task Forces did not slow down, and were still withdrawing eastward at full speed. Tan Renhao is still trying to contact Huang Xiaotian, but the problem is that Huang Xiaotian has not called back, which makes Tan Renhao an ant on a hot pot, and he is almost going crazy.

At about 3 o'clock, two reconnaissance planes monitoring the US aircraft carrier fleet first sent a telegram saying that they had been intercepted by US night fighters and had no choice but to leave the US fleet. Then, the reconnaissance planes that were monitoring the US battleship fleet were also intercepted by US night fighters and had to retreat. It is clear that these American night fighters arrived from the airfields in the rear, and must have arrived after receiving a call from Spruance. At this point, Tan Renhao also lost information on the activities of the US fleet.