As the problems were solved one by one, the general plan for the next stage of combat operations in the Pacific Theater was also determined, and immediately afterward, Nie Renfeng personally presided over several major meetings and implemented the tasks to various units. As Gan Yongxing's main assistant, Tan Renhao attended most of the meetings. Not exactly as he expected, when determining the specific campaign mission, the principal also made detailed adjustments according to the actual situation.

The Fourth Task Force remained in the Central Pacific theater, and Huang Xiaotian was officially appointed, and only the Fourth Task Force faced the U.S. Fifth Fleet in the Central Pacific before a major turning point in the Southwest Pacific. Huang's priority was to make sure he could hold out until the end of August, and until then, the Fourth Task Force would try to avoid a decisive battle with the Fifth Fleet. As commander of the Pacific Theater, Liao Hanxiang fully cooperated with and supported the Fourth Task Force.

During the meeting, Nie Renfeng and Gan Yongxing both approached Huang Xiaotian alone and explained to Huang Xiaotian the key tasks of the Fourth Task Force. As Tan Renhao said, the main task of the Fourth Task Force is to hold out in the Central Pacific Ocean for as long as possible, so as to force the US military to keep the Fifth Fleet in the Central Pacific instead of sending it to the Southwest Pacific. To this end, Task Force 4 alone is not enough. Therefore, Liao Hanxiang also has a very important task. That is, when attacking Australia, Liao Hanxiang must assume an offensive posture in the Central Pacific Ocean and pose a direct threat to the important islands in the eastern part of the Hawaiian Islands, so as to force the US forces to leave the Fifth Fleet behind.

The relevant campaign deployment is that Task Force 4 will operate freely in the Central Pacific theater, and mobile patrols will be carried out from Midway Island to the Mariana Islands, and the specific actions will be determined by Huang Xiaotian. Liao Hanxiang strengthened the deployment of marines on Gardiner Island and Lysan Island, and at the same time stepped up the bombardment of Kauai Island and other islands. The landing fleet was to assemble at Midway, while the convoy of transport ships supplying the Marines with combat materiel remained in the port of Apra. It was only an offensive posture, not a real offensive, and it was only after a decisive victory in the battle on the Australian mainland that Liao was able to initiate an offensive against the eastern islands of the Hawaiian Islands.

The focus of the entire campaign remained on the Southwest Pacific. Yan Guozhong is still in charge of the overall command of the attack on the Australian mainland, Lei Shaoqing is the commander of the theater fleet, Yuan Ye is the commander of the Marine Corps, Gu Xunlei is the commander of the army's combat units, and other commanders have also been confirmed. The most important thing is Lei Shaoqing's terms of reference.

During the combat operations during the landing phase, Lei Shaoqing's command of the fleet was quite limited. The task forces are still under the command of the fleet commander, and Lei Shaoqing can directly command only the strengthened Southwest Pacific Theater Fleet, and the main task of this fleet is to provide direct fire support to the Marine Corps, in addition to the local fire support fleet attached to the Marine Landing Fleet. The only unit capable of providing direct fire support to the Marine Corps. In addition, Lei Shaoqing will also be responsible for coordinating the operations of various task forces, coordinating the actions of the fleet and other units, and arranging the supply of the task force. In other words, to a large extent, Lei Shaoqing is actually only the commander of the logistics support of the task forces, and he has no direct command over the operations of the task forces.

At that time, this arrangement was also quite reasonable, the task force was still the main combat force of the Imperial Navy, and before the command system was adjusted, if the power of the commander of the theater fleet was too great, it would affect the combat operations of the task force, and in addition, Lei Shaoqing could not command the task force in the rear, and this fact had to be admitted, and he had already given him enough power to deploy the combat operations of the task forces. From the point of view of the chain of command. Lei Shaoqing's position has been recognized, and throughout the combat operation, he is the commander of the task force and is responsible for assisting the task force in combat operations, rather than the commander of the task force giving orders to him. This alone gives Lei Shaoqing enough power.

Certain adjustments have also been made to the composition of the fleet. The 1st, 2nd, and 5th task forces were all strengthened into a three-carrier task force, which was the most powerful establishment under the command system at that time. Moreover, the escort warships of the three task forces are all organized according to the maximum capacity, except for the second task force which does not have a separate artillery formation for the time being. Both Task Force 1 and Task Force 5 had separate artillery formations.

The changes in the 3rd Task Force were the largest, as the four battleships that had been planned to be sent to the South Atlantic Theater after the return of the 3rd Task Force, as well as the accompanying cruisers and destroyers, were retained. Except for some cruisers, which were assigned to the 1st Task Force and the 5th Task Force, all of these warships were temporarily assigned to the 3rd Task Force, under the command of Chang Jiexin. Task Force 3 was the most powerful artillery strike formation at the time, and its main task was to provide artillery support to the Marines at close range.

The establishment of the theater fleet has also changed, and the theater fleet, which was originally subordinate to the Pacific theater, was sent to the Southwest Pacific theater of operations, and was combined with the Southwest Pacific Theater Fleet into a single fleet, and the six small aircraft carriers in the fleet were divided into two independent aircraft carrier battle groups, and in the operation, the task of the fleet was still to provide support for the Marine Corps, and the two small aircraft carrier battle groups would take turns to ensure that they could continue to provide support to the Marine Corps.

The landing fleet of the Marine Corps has also been adjusted accordingly, and the biggest change is that the newly built escort aircraft carriers that have just been commissioned will all be integrated into the fire support ship group of the Marine Landing Fleet, and will be equipped with an aviation unit directly under the command of the Marine Corps (before, the Marine Corps did not have a separate aviation unit). In addition to providing support to the Marine Corps, the ship group also has an important task, that is, to undertake the task of transporting combat aircraft for the task force and the theater fleet when necessary.

In terms of ground combat units, both the Marine Corps and the Army combat units have made corresponding adjustments.

Yan Guozhong organized at least 30 marine divisions, and these marine divisions were tasked with landing, seizing, and consolidating the landing grounds. That is, in a landing operation, the marines will take on all the tasks. The Army participating units do not participate in the landing operation, but only after the Marine Corps has come ashore and established the landing field, the Army participating troops will set foot on the Australian mainland to replace the Marine Corps. Responsible for launching a large-scale offensive.

These 30 Marine divisions were organized into the First Marine Army Group, with Major General Yuan Ye (who had already been confirmed to be promoted to lieutenant general) as commander. The army group was further organized into three armies, "A", "B", AND "C", OF WHICH THE "A" ARMY HAD 8 MARINE DIVISIONS, INCLUDING 6 MAIN MARINE DIVISIONS. Its mission was to take charge of the beach-grabbing landing, and to expand the landing ground in subsequent operations to cover the disembarkation of other troops. Army Group "B" has 12 marine divisions, including 4 main marine divisions. The main task is to undertake the second round of offensive operations, open up the links between several landing sites, expand the depth of the landing grounds, and be responsible for launching an attack on the depth of the US defense line before the army participating units go ashore. The "C" Army Group has 10 marine divisions, including four main marine divisions, which are the reserve forces of the entire campaign area, and if the early stage of the operation goes smoothly, the "C" Group Army will cooperate with the army's participating units in the subsequent combat operations. Attack Sydney Harbour together. However, the establishment of the "C" group army is not fixed, and during operations, some units can be transferred from the other two group armies to strengthen it according to the actual situation, so as to enhance its offensive capability.

In the entire operational arrangement, the troops participating in the ground army under the command of Gu Xunlei were the main force of the ground offensive. And in the meeting. Gu Xunlei has already assured that by mid-June, his two tank divisions and the newly formed artillery division will complete their training and reorganization work, and will play the most important role in ground operations.

Judging from the entire landing campaign plan, the ground tasks of the army's participating troops accounted for about half, and its main task was to seize Sydney after going ashore as a follow-up force. as well as a fleet of transport vessels providing ideal disembarkation locations. In fact, the capture of Sydney was a watershed moment in the entire Australian campaign. This is preceded by a landing phase, and as long as Sydney is captured, it will enter the ground combat phase.

Initially, Yan Guozhong did not plan to let the army participating troops go ashore before this, believing that the Marine Corps had enough ability to take Sydney, but when it came time to determine the specific battle plan, Yan Guozhong made concessions. At that time, there were already signs that the U.S. military was strengthening Sydney's defenses, although there were not many additional U.S. troops sent to Sydney, and the main force of the U.S. troops remained in Brisbane, but with the strengthening of Sydney's defense forces, if the strength of the Marine Corps alone attacked Sydney, I am afraid it would take more time. In addition, in order to contain the US Fifth Fleet in the Central Pacific, Liao Hanxiang needed more Marines to put on an offensive posture on the front line, so he had to put 10 Marine Divisions that were supposed to be used in the Southwest Pacific Theater into the Central Pacific Theater, which forced Yan Guozhong to consider letting the Army take on the heavy responsibility of attacking Sydney.

In the first phase, the Army will deploy two tank divisions, two artillery divisions, and six infantry divisions to cooperate with the Marines to attack Sydney, and in combat operations, the Marines will advance along the coastline towards Sydney, and the Army units under the command of Gu Xunlei will advance to Sydney to the west, along the Brisbane-Sydney road line of communication. In addition to attacking Sydney, the Army's combat units will also be responsible for cutting off the land passage between Sydney and Brisbane and organizing the arrival of U.S. troops from Brisbane to Sydney.

In addition, transport fleets, naval aviation, strategic strike forces are also deployed. At the last meeting, the exact date of the campaign was set on a certain day in mid-June, and this day was determined as the "starting point". When the "starting point" is added to the four days, the landing operation must be completed, that is to say, the first four days after the start of the landing operation will be the crucial four days of the entire landing campaign, and these four days and days of fighting will determine the success or failure of the entire landing campaign.

Immediately after the meeting, the deployment of troops in the relevant areas began.

On 18 May, Jiang Zhongmin left Zhoushan and went to Gaoya to rendezvous with the Fifth Task Force; according to the campaign arrangement, the Fifth Task Force would arrive in the Southwest Pacific Theater by 30 May to replace the Second Task Force so that the Second Task Force could get a temporary rest.

The next day, Lei Shaoqing and Hao Dongjue were also ready to leave Zhoushan.

"Shaoqing, after you go back, you will arrange logistics support first." Tan Renhao and Lei Shaoqing walked side by side towards the plane, "This time the principal gave you a very heavy task, and the principal also talked to me alone, from the meaning of the principal, this is an important opportunity for you, and your performance will directly determine your position in the next stage of action." ”

"I know, I've thought of it a long time ago." Lei Shaoqing nodded, "Renhao, I have to thank you this time......"

"Keep these words for now, and when we win the battle, it's not too late for you to say more, and besides, you don't need to thank anyone, it's something you earned yourself." Tan Renhao patted Lei Shaoqing on the shoulder, "I don't think it's necessary to say some things, but I still have to remind you." This is the end of the matter between you and Jiang Zhongmin, in the combat operation, you should know your duties and obligations, so don't treat it alone. ”

Lei Shaoqing laughed. "Do you think I'm a person who doesn't distinguish between public and private? Don't worry, since the Headmaster has given me this power, then the Headmaster can take it back, and I don't want to joke with my future and the future of the Imperial Navy. ”

Tan Renhao glanced at Lei Shaoqing twice, and felt that there was nothing to advise.

Next to him, Hao Dongjue and Chang Jianxin have been talking for a long time, Tan Renhao did not blame Hao Dongjue again, he also felt that there was no need to blame Hao Dongjue anymore, Hao Dongjue was gradually adapting to his current position.

"Alright, let's get on the plane!" Tan Renhao waved his hand at the two friends, "It won't be long before we meet in Port Vila, there's no need to be so reluctant." ”

"Renhao, take care of yourself!" Lei Shaoqing said goodbye first, "Chang, you too, come over early!" ”

When Chang Jianxin said goodbye to Lei Shaoqing, Hao Dongjue walked next to Tan Renhao, a little like he wanted to say something.

"Dongjue, my words were a bit heavy that day, but you know it in your heart, do it well!"

"I know." Hao Dongjue nodded, "You should also take care." ”

Tan Renhao patted his brother-in-law on the shoulder, he knew that Hao Dongjue still had something to say, and he didn't ask, in his eyes, Hao Dongjue seemed to be never mature. Tan Renhao knew that he was very harsh on his brother-in-law, but he knew better that if there were no harsh requirements, then Hao Dongjue would not have his current achievements.