The Navy Command is still the same, because now the workload of the Navy Command has been reduced a lot, and nearly half of the staff officers have been transferred to the Theater Command, so the remaining staff officers have been given more spacious office space. The room next to Gan's office was retained, and over the course of more than a month, it was renovated with a safe and some accessories.

When Tan Renhao saw the awards hanging on the wall, the medals, trophies, and letters of commendation placed in the derailment by the door, he was very surprised. Those were all the awards he received when he was a student at the Naval Academy and when he served in the army, and there was also a group photo of him when he graduated from the Naval Academy, which was wittily decorated and placed in the cupboard. At that time, Tan Renhao was still a high-spirited officer, dreaming of becoming a deputy lieutenant officer of the Navy one day, and the Sea Lion Medal on his chest was very eye-catching, and now, he is already a vice admiral.

When Tan Renhao opened the drawer of the cupboard, he was even more surprised, among the more than ten medals he had obtained, the Sea Lion Medal was placed in the most eye-catching position, and it sank unstained, and the dark red bronze made him feel very kind. This is the first medal he has received, and it may not be of much actual value, but it is of great significance to Tan Renhao, after he received such a medal, it has actually been decided that he will become an excellent general.

Tan Renhao picked up the medal and pinned it to his chest, the principal Nie Renfeng pinned this medal to him, and he now clearly remembers the pride and confidence he showed when the principal patted his chest and nodded with satisfaction. That was only five years ago, and at that time five years ago, he didn't know where he was going, and he was still worried about where he was going, and he was even more unconvinced that he didn't get the gold medal.

Thinking about these. Tan Renhao laughed, five years is just a snap of his fingers, in the past five years, he has changed a lot now, if five years ago he could have thought that he was now wearing a vice admiral's uniform, he was the youngest vice admiral in the history of the Imperial Navy, commanding the most powerful fleet of the Empire, and establishing immortal feats on the battlefield. I'm afraid he'll wake up laughing even when he's asleep. Now, he was not so excited, especially at this time, when he knew that the enemy was much stronger than he expected. Five years may be just the beginning, but who can predict when it will end?

"How's it going, are you satisfied?"

Hearing the principal's voice, Tan Renhao turned around in surprise, and then wanted to take off the medal on his chest in a little panic.

"It's nice to wear. I also feel that this medal is the most valuable to you. ”

Nie Renfeng walked over with a smile. "There were some things at first, so I didn't go to the airport to pick you up, and the chief of staff rushed to the German side more than ten days ago. It will probably be back in a few days. Knowing that you are coming back, I asked people to come to your house and bring all these things over, are you still satisfied? ”

"Headmaster, there is no ......"

"From now on, this office will be yours." Nie Renfeng glanced around, "This is one of the three best offices in the headquarters building, anyway, you will often go back to the headquarters, it is necessary to prepare an office that belongs to you." According to our tradition, these things should be put in the most prominent position. ”

Tan Renhao smiled and nodded, those awards and medals in the principal's office. There are many more trophies and letters of commendation than he has here, which is the commendation that Nie Renfeng has received for 6 consecutive years in his service for decades. And in order to show their status and status, any admiral would put these things in the cupboard next to the door in his office, where he usually received guests, so that others could see the medals when they came in. This is a centuries-old tradition of the Navy, and it is also a manifestation of cultivating the sense of honor of naval servicemen, and it is to stimulate other servicemen to fight hard. Effective ways to strive for awards. In the same way, this is also the most direct manifestation of the general's status, identity, and the merits he has made, and to a large extent, it is very much like showing off his merits.

"This time I asked you to come back, of course, by telegram in the name of the Chief of Staff." Nie Renfeng sat down with a smile, "The battle was fought very well, I have read the reports submitted by all sides, you have done your best, although the result is a great loss, but this is completely within our expectations." What do you think of this campaign? ”

Tan Renhao made two cups of tea first, and then went over and sat opposite the principal. "The battle was very difficult, and we won in terms of the quality of the officers and men, the performance of the fighters, and the ability of the pilots, and of course, luck is also important. Tactically, we have nothing to boast of a victory, perhaps, at the level of a campaign no less significant. ”

"I see it that way, Spruance is a very difficult enemy to deal with." Nie Renfeng crossed his hands, "I have some more detailed information about this American general over there, you have time to study it carefully." As you said, our tactical victory is very small, there is nothing to show off, but the victory in the campaign and even at the strategic level is still huge, at least, in the short term, the US military will not be able to launch a large-scale counterattack, Yan Guozhong has plenty of time to advance his front, sweep the Solomon Islands, if possible, we can also concentrate on attacking Midway, depending on the progress of the Southwest Pacific Theater and how many troops we can mobilize. At the very least, for the time being, we still maintain the initiative on the battlefield, the situation of the war is very unfavorable for the US military, and we are gradually consolidating the previous victories and moving the war forward. ”

Tan Renhao nodded slightly, this is also what he wants to say.

"I am very satisfied with the results of this battle, you put up the list of commendations and promotions as soon as possible, and we will get this matter done quickly while you are in a good mood." Nie Renfeng laughed, "Although Xiang has asked me to be in charge of the Navy's awards and promotion arrangements, but letting Xiang get his hands on it will not only give Xiang a little favor, but also have greater significance for the award-winning personnel, isn't it?" ”

"Then I'll sort out the list in the next few days." Tan Renhao immediately laughed, the principal's little abacus played really well.

"We have a piece of good news this time beyond your victory at Wake Island."

Tan Renhao frowned slightly and looked at the principal.

"Do you remember the last time I told you about Japan's plans to transfer its domestic gold reserves to the United States?"

"We intercepted the submarine carrying the gold?"

Nie Renfeng shook his head. "It is impossible to intercept it, and the Japanese soldiers on the submarine responsible for transporting it are diehards, and they can't let this gold fall into our hands. However, with the cooperation of the intelligence services, we have sunk the submarine. ”

"Sunk?" Tan Renhao was a little puzzled.

"Yes. Sink it, since we can't get it, then naturally we can't let the Yankees get it, and, perhaps, we can still scoop up those hundreds of tons of gold. ”

"What do you mean?" Tan Renhao was even more puzzled.

"The submarine sank about 3o nautical miles east of the island, and the depth of the sunken sea area was only 1ooo meters, and now we are trying to find a way to salvage the submarine. At the very least, the gold from the submarine must be scooped up. Nie Renfeng picked up the teacup, hesitated for a moment, and then said, "This matter is very confidential, and the main work is the responsibility of the intelligence department, and we are only responsible for assisting and cooperating." Remember when we deciphered the code of the Japanese Navy? ”

Tan Renhao nodded, it was precisely because of the decipherment of the Japanese Navy code that the Imperial Navy seized so many opportunities in the strategic counterattack.

"We salvaged the cipher machine from a Japanese submarine at that time, and although it was very difficult this time, there was still hope. A few hundred tons of gold is not a small amount. Nie Renfeng said with a smile. This must not be leaked, and the intelligence department wants us to cooperate as much as possible and to assign a trusted senior general to take charge of the specific work. ”

"Me!?" Tan Renhao immediately understood.

Nie Renfeng nodded slightly. "You should know the importance of this gold. And now you don't have anything to do, the salvage work lasts for a maximum of ten days, you have to arrange the relevant equipment and personnel first, and determine the salvage plan. When it comes to specific facilities, it will only take two or three days at most, and then you may have to go to the front line to arrange work. I won't delay you from returning to command the fleet. ”

Tan Renhao sighed, every time he returned to the naval headquarters, there would be drudgery.

"You prepare first, and tomorrow I will arrange for a few officers to come and assist you. You have to keep in mind that this matter is the most confidential, so you can't give all the details to anyone. Just tell them what part they are responsible for, and it can't be about gold. ”

"Headmaster, I know what to arrange."

"That's good, you can go back and rest early today, and come back early tomorrow morning." Nie Renfeng stood up, "The chief of staff will probably not come back until the beginning of next month, and when the time comes, he will help you." ”

After the principal went out, Tan Renhao sighed. Although it is said that those who can work harder. But the headmaster completely treated him as a panacea, and sent him wherever there was trouble, is this more work? Tan Renhao was also well aware of the importance of these hundreds of tons of gold, and set the degree of secrecy to the maximum, which obviously meant that the empire would never admit to obtaining these gold after the war, and naturally there was no possibility of returning it to Japan.

Before World War I, gold was the only hard currency in the world, and at that time, several of the world's most widely circulated currencies were directly linked to gold, such as the Tang Yuan, the US dollar, the British pound, the franc, the gold mark, etc. In the post-war economic crisis, in order to reduce the pressure on their own countries and expand exports at the same time, several large countries abandoned the gold standard, and the currency was no longer equivalent to gold, and then the currency was completely depreciated, and at its worst, the Deutsche Mark depreciated tens of thousands of times! After the economic crisis, the gold standard system was not restored, except for the fear of economic crisis, as the economy expanded, the amount of gold was in short supply, and if the gold standard system was continued, the result would be that gold continued to increase in value, which would not benefit any country. After the end of the gold standard, gold became the only hard currency in international trade.

Before the outbreak of the Great War, the United States and the Tang Empire had the largest gold reserves in the world. The Tang Empire relied on thousands of years of accumulation, especially in the last few hundred years of expansion, while the United States collected a large amount of gold through the export of large quantities of arms and materials to other countries during World War I, and war loans. In peacetime, gold is the only international hard currency, and in wartime, gold is an irreplaceable international hard currency.

Before the United States entered the war, Britain, France, Japan, Russia, and other countries could only use their own gold reserves to buy arms and materials in the United States, except for aid and loans from the United States. And before the Tehran Conference, trade and mutual aid between the Tang Empire and the Persian Empire, Germany was actually calculated in gold, for which Germany and the Persian Empire exported a large amount of gold to the Tang Empire in order to obtain the aid of the Tang Empire.

Perhaps, gold cannot be eaten, used, worn, and used as a cannonball against the enemy, but in war, gold is almost priceless. Otherwise, Japan would not have been in a hurry to transport those hundreds of tons of gold to the United States. In addition, after the end of the war, the price of gold will be further increased, if the Tang Empire wins the war, and to continue to control the world, it must first control global trade, and the best way to control global trade is to control the world finance, to control the world finance, the Tang Empire must have enough gold in its hands as collateral, so that businessmen from other countries can rest assured and boldly invest in the Tang Empire, rather than because they are afraid that the Tang Empire will not be able to take out enough hard currency as collateral, and dare not invest in the Tang Empire.

Tan Renhao doesn't know much about economics and finance, but he knows the value of gold and the great significance of this rare metal. In the colonial era, empire expansion was carried out almost exclusively for the sake of gold, and it has been for hundreds of years. Maybe it's different now, but no one can deny the value of gold. This time, the government has made the salvage of gold the top priority, which naturally makes a lot of sense.

After sitting in the office for a while, Tan Renhao went home. He just wanted to get some good sleep and then come back and do something else. After returning from the battlefield, Tan Renhao always felt as if he hadn't slept enough, and he even wondered if he was coming to his second adolescence.