In this campaign, Tan Renhao and they ignored one person, that is, the commander-in-chief of the US Navy's Pacific Fleet, the commander-in-chief of the Pacific Theater, and the five-star admiral of the US Navy, Nimitz. And the one who made Midway let his guard down was not Spruance, but Nimitz.

On the 8th, the U.S. submarine discovered the Tang Empire landing fleet sailing eastward, and Nimitz first sent this important information to Spruance, and after the staff officer of the theater command calculated the approximate time for the Tang Imperial Marines to land on Midway, Nimitz ordered the defenders on Midway to prepare to meet the enemy, and at the same time let a group of long-range patrol planes remaining on Oahu prepare to transfer to Midway.

Task Force 51 did not send a telegram back, and Nimitz was not worried about whether Spruance had received the message, and that important information was sent six times every half hour, and Task Force 51 must have received the message. In order to remain covert, Task Force 51 would not send a telegram back, so Nimitz was not aware of Spruance's arrangement. In this regard, the command system of the US military is very similar to that of the Tang Army, after the fleet leaves the port to carry out combat missions, the fleet commander is the supreme commander, and the theater commander in the rear is only responsible for providing important information to the fleet commander and preparing for support after the fleet commander makes requests (mainly for supplies, as well as requirements for accepting the wounded, repairing warships, etc.), and as for what kind of tactical arrangements the fleet will adopt, the theater commander can only wait until the end of the campaign to know.

In the early morning of the 9th, a returning submarine sent another telegram. The telegram nearly caused Nimitz to cancel the operation of Task Force 51. About 80 nautical miles northwest of Midway, the submarine spotted a fleet of three carriers and about ten escort ships. Because the submarine is observing the ground with a periscope from several nautical miles away. It was not possible to identify the specific models of those ships, and the fleet was turning. In order to avoid detection, the submarine immediately dived to the maximum depth. After two hours, it was confirmed that the fleet had departed.

That's when the telegram was sent! Therefore, the specific course of the fleet was not mentioned in the telegram.

At that time, most of the staff officers of the theater command believed that this must be the first task force of the Tang Empire, because intelligence showed that the first task force was very likely to be a three-aircraft carrier fleet. Although the number of escort battleships was a little less, the submarines were observed at a great distance and at night, so it is quite possible that there were no escort battleships capable of launching places. But Nimitz didn't think so. And in the end, Nimitz came to a conclusion that was different from the other staff officers, it was not the fleet of the Tang Empire, but the 51st task force under the command of Spruance!

Nimitz came to this conclusion for three reasons. One is that this fleet is too far away from Midway, and it is simply impossible to bomb Midway in the early morning of the 10th, which is different from the previous judgment. Moreover, there was absolutely no reason for Task Force 1 to choose the farthest route to the north, and to take the central route. It's now less than 700 nautical miles from Midway. Second, at that time the fleet was turning, if it was normal (to avoid a surprise attack by submarines. When the fleet is sailing, it will turn at a large angle from time to time), then it will return to its original course in half an hour, then after an hour. That submarine will be able to send a telegram, so why wait two hours? This only proves one point, the fleet did not sail in the southeast, but to the west, or to the southwest, so the submarine had to stay in the sea for an extra hour. And why should Task Force 1 sail in the opposite direction to Midway? The last is that the number of escort warships is too small, since the submarine can be determined to have three aircraft carriers, with the fleet of the Tang Imperial Navy, there are at least twenty or more escort warships near these three aircraft carriers, and the number of ten is obviously too small, and the escort warships of the 51st Task Force are almost so little.

Therefore, Nimitz judged that it was Task Force 51, and that Spruance was leading the fleet to the west. The question is, why did Spruance sail west, his mission was to cover Midway, so why leave the waters of Midway? By this point, Nimitz had understood Spruance's intentions. There are two best ways to cover Midway, one is to defeat Task Force 1, which must be difficult to do, and the certainty is very small, so Spruance gave up. The other is the landing fleet to annihilate the Tang Empire, and this landing fleet is still two thousand nautical miles from Midway, and this must be the reason why Spruance led the fleet to the west.

Nimitz had to admire Spruance's courage, and at the same time felt that Spruance's decision to take command of Task Force 51 was not wrong. After coming to this conclusion, Nimizzy asked the staff officer to calculate the approximate time of the encounter between the 51st Task Force and the Tang Empire's landing fleet. After determining that the battle was likely to take place early the next morning, Nimitz's first thought was to help Spruance, after all, until now, Task Force 1 had not appeared, and if the other party found that his landing fleet was threatened, he would definitely immediately rendezvous with the landing fleet, and Spruance's surprise attack was to send him to death.

Nimitz's solution was simple: use Midway as bait. He was also gambling, and the bet was that Spruance would be able to destroy the landing fleet of the Tang Empire. As long as the landing fleet of the Tang Empire is killed, then even if Midway is blown into ruins, the Marines of the Tang Empire will not be able to land on Midway, let alone occupy Midway.

Judged by this, Nimitz ordered all long-range patrol planes on Midway to move to the seaplane base on Gardner Island that morning, and stopped patrolling the waters west of Midway. It was precisely because of this that when the First Task Force approached Midway, it did not encounter a US reconnaissance plane, which also strengthened Tan Renhao's determination to bomb Midway Island first, and then turn back to rescue the landing fleet.

From this point of view, Nimitz is very clear about the characteristics of Spruance's command, and he is really bold. If Spruance's sneak attack fails, the consequences will be unimaginable. Task Force 1's strike capability could completely paralyze the two airfields on Midway in two hours, and the subsequent bombardment fleet could leave Midway in ruins. By the time the Tang Empire marines landed, the troops guarding Midway did not even have the ability to resist. Apparently, Nimitz placed all his bets on Spruance.

Whether or not this battle can be won depends on whether Spruance's sneak attack can be successful.

At the time when Tan Renhao gave the order to prepare the fleet aviation for departure. Spruance gave the same order. Before the reconnaissance plane took off, Spruance spent several hours rethinking the operational arrangements for this time. After making sure that there were no major mistakes, Spruance did not revise the battle plan, but went on firmly.

At 5:15 a.m., the three small aircraft carriers of the 51st Task Force were bustling with activity. The first five reconnaissance planes were towed to the front of the flight deck, and then the bombers and fighters on the bombing mission were successively transported to the flight deck, and these fighters were all hung with bombs and filled with fuel.

At 5:25 a.m., all five reconnaissance planes sent by each of the three small aircraft carriers took off and adjusted their routes over the fleet. The fifteen reconnaissance planes flew south according to a pre-set route. The bombers were then towed to the front of the flight deck, and the pilots on bombing missions were concentrated at the aviation operations center. Listen to a pre-departure operational briefing.

Almost at the same time, the three aircraft carriers of Task Force 1 were also busy. The escort warships had withdrawn several nautical miles away, and dozens of bombers had been sent to the flight deck of the aircraft carrier.

On the "Xingkaihu" aircraft carrier, the first bomber took off at 5:15 a.m. By half past five, all 48 bombers that made up the first wave of bombers had taken off, and bombers from the other two aircraft carriers had also set off one after another. The three aircraft carriers did not immediately return to the formation, but then released 18 reconnaissance planes, six of which were bombers on temporary reconnaissance missions. After the take-off of these reconnaissance aircraft, three aircraft carriers sent another squad of air defense fighters.

When the aircraft carrier began to slow down and was ready to return to the core of the fleet, the seaplanes on the escort cruiser also began to depart one after another, and by this time it was already past six o'clock. Several of these seaplanes flew to Midway to confirm the results of the bombing, while others were on reconnaissance missions.

When the seaplanes left the fleet one after another, Tan Renhao asked Hao Dongjue to arrange for the second batch of bombers to take off. In order to ensure the destruction of the two airfields on Midway, as well as the radar station, towers, anti-aircraft gun positions, barracks and other important infrastructure, it is difficult to do it with one batch of bombers, and it is very necessary to arrange two bomber groups in two shifts. The second group of bombers left the sky over the fleet five minutes after dawn.

"Let the fleet turn!" After Tan Renhao watched all the bombers depart, he returned to the command cabin, "Dongjue, let the staff officer prepare for the shift change, and in addition, let Du Xing help us get two copies to come over early." ”

Hao Dongjue nodded, and immediately sent a staff officer who was resting in shifts to find Du Xing.

"You rest in the morning, come and change me in the afternoon." Tan Renhao walked to his partner's side, "I'll go rest in the afternoon, maybe we won't encounter Task Force 51 today." ”

"I'll go after breakfast, I'm not tired yet." Hao Dongjue took out a cigarette, "What do you say Spruance is doing now?" ”

Tan Renhao was stunned for a moment, then shook his head with a smile. "I don't care what he's doing, if his target is Han Shaofeng, then we'll get the news soon. If his target is us, we'll find out soon. ”

Hao Dongjue nodded, and didn't say anything more. The radars on those air defense warships in the fleet have been activated. The radars on the three large air defense cruisers of the "Rui Beast" class are already fourth-generation products, and the detection range of group targets above 4,000 meters has reached 70 nautical miles, and the detection range of a single tactical aircraft at an altitude of 1,500 meters (the cloud height is about 1,600 meters at this time, and 1,500 meters is the most likely flight altitude adopted by reconnaissance aircraft) is also about 35 nautical miles, and the detection range of a single tactical aircraft above the sea surface is at least 20 nautical miles. Therefore, any aircraft will certainly be spotted when it approaches the fleet.

The fleet quickly completed the turn, and Tan Renhao and Hao Dongjue both had breakfast in the command cabin and did not go to the officer's cafeteria. Both of them were a little nervous, after all, the danger was likely to come within this hour or two, or receive a telegram from Han Shaofeng during this period. Whether or not the airfield on Midway can be blown up will also be decided during this period.

At 7:15 a.m., when the two were wondering whether Spruance had gone to deal with Han Shaofeng's landing fleet, a telegram came from the theater command: Han Shaofeng's landing fleet had been discovered by a US reconnaissance plane.

Now, neither of them doubted it anymore. The reconnaissance plane appeared over the landing fleet just after seven o'clock, and then Han Shaofeng sent a telegram to the theater command, and at this time the landing fleet was still 400 nautical miles from Wake Island, outside the cover range of shore-based fighters. A squadron of fighters on Wake Island had already taken off urgently, and the pilots, without thinking about whether they would be able to return to the airfield, set off as soon as they received the news.

"Contact Han Shaofeng immediately and ask him to pay attention to air defense." Tan Renhao hesitated for a moment, "Forget it, you don't need to send a telegram to the landing fleet." Contact the artillery bombardment formation, ask Wei Dongbei when they can reach Midway, and ask Qiu Gengbo and Yang Qinkai to report the bombing situation immediately after completing the bombing. ”

The staff officer quickly went and gave the order.

"Dongjue, you go and rest! If you can't sleep, ask the doctor to prescribe you a few sleeping pills, we are unlikely to have an encounter with Spruance today, take care of your spirits, otherwise you won't be able to hold on tomorrow. Tan Renhao patted his partner on the shoulder, and then called the communications staff officer over, "After the bomber group returns, immediately stop sending any radio signals, and let Wei Dongbei report the shelling situation every two hours, and the matter of supply will be contacted by him to the theater command." Also, contact General Liao Hanxiang and tell him that we have arranged for the bombing of Midway, that the shelling formation will ensure that the US forces will not be able to repair the airfield, and that as for the landing operation, we will make a decision after the 51st Task Force has been resolved! ”

Hao Dongjue stood by the door of the cabin for a while, and seeing that Tan Renhao had already begun to deploy combat operations, he didn't have to worry too much, the battle had already begun!