The fiasco of the "First Battle of the Marianas" did not allow the American side to abandon the fight for the Mariana Islands. Nimitz was well aware of the islands' importance, and the U.S. president was well aware that the Mariana Islands were directly related to the entire Western Pacific theater. If the Mariana Islands were abandoned, the Tang Imperial Navy would be able to advance straight into the Hawaiian Islands, seize sea supremacy in the Central Pacific, and finally threaten the U.S. mainland. Obviously, this is impossible to accept, no matter how great the cost, the Mariana Islands must not be lost!

With Task Force 17 destroyed, Task Force 16 battered, and USS Saratoga and USS Yorktown still receiving medical treatment, the U.S. Pacific Fleet had few options.

Nimitz (who was also the commander of the Pacific Theater) first thought of sending more fighters to the Mariana Islands. The basis of the Tang Empire's offensive was not sea supremacy (in fact, by this time, the Tang Empire Navy had not completely seized sea supremacy in the waters near the Mariana Islands, and the US military could still obtain supplies at sea) but air supremacy. It is precisely because the Tang Empire has air supremacy that its fleet can move freely (in the northern waters of the archipelago), its 6 warbands can quickly gather forces, and can get strong air support. In addition, as long as the air supremacy was recaptured, the Tang Imperial Fleet would naturally regain sea supremacy under the blows of US bombers.

The U.S. military was not slow, and on the day that the 6th Squadron of the Tang Empire landed on 6 Agrihan Island, a group of fighters was transferred to Guam. The F4u came directly from the Hawaiian Islands, landed at Midway, Wake Island, and Pohnpei Island to refuel, and finally arrived in Guam in the evening of the same day. There was also a group of B-17 bombers that arrived two hours early. The bombers were a few hours behind the fighters and only landed on Wake Island, so they arrived two hours ahead of the fighters. Net...

Nimitz was also a big deal, at that time the United States made a total of about 5oo B-17s, and 12o were put into the Pacific theater in the early stage. Another 12o were aided to the British. There were also 1oo planes on the east coast of the United States, ready to fly to Britain (which was later canceled and all sent to the Pacific theater) Nimitz On the 6th, the day the plan to counterattack Asunción Island was canceled, he demanded that all the B-17s that could be concentrated be concentrated in the Pacific theater of operations, and that they must reach the Hawaiian Islands by the 8th. As a result, this batch of 2oo B-17s arrived in the Hawaiian Islands on the night of the 7th, and after two days of flight training, they were all sent to the Mariana Islands. Together with the B-17s previously deployed in the Mariana Islands (most of which have already been destroyed), the US military concentrated 3oo B-17s, which was all the heavy bombers of the United States in the entire Pacific direction at that time!

The performance of the B-17 was close to that of the "Wolf Dove" (in the early days of the bombing of Japan, the United States obtained the wreckage of a downed "Wolf Dove" from Japan. American engineers immediately took some of the best designs of the "Wolf Dove" and used them in the later refinements of the B-17. In addition, at that time, the gap between the United States and the Tang Empire in the aviation industry, especially in aviation technology, was not very large, and the design indicators of the B-17 were also relatively close to the "wolf dove", so the performance of the two bombers was very close) was a standard heavy bomber at the beginning of the war. Whether it is in terms of bomb load, range, degree, ceiling, self-defense firepower, etc., the two bombers are very similar.

The arrival of this batch of bombers may not be able to threaten the fleet (proven in real combat. Heavy bombers are not a great threat to warships, unless a few hundred bombers are concentrated to drop bombs, and they cannot be intercepted by fighters) but they have a huge impact on the situation on the entire battlefield. The bombers bombed the airfield on Iwo Jima that night (that is, five hours before Tan Renhao received the telegram), blowing up more than 1oo heavy bombers of the Tang Empire parked on the ground, and hundreds of bombers were damaged. And the transfer to F4u also carried out an attack on the island of Agrihan, as well as on the island of Asunción, on the same night.

This is just the first batch of US military reinforcements to arrive in the Mariana Islands. In this cable, the Navy command also reminded Tan Renhao that the United States is organizing more fighters to reinforce the Mariana Islands, including six American ground fighters. These planes will be transferred in a few days (some will be deployed to the Caroline Islands, as well as the Hall Islands), and it is likely that the size of the aircraft will exceed 1ooo in the end!

This is by no means the enemy's most powerful challenge, and there is still a little content in the telegram that the US Navy's Pacific Fleet is organizing an artillery fleet consisting of several battleships, ready to go to the Mariana Islands to support the defenders after seizing air supremacy!

This is what Tan Renhao is most worried about. Eight battleships is not a small number, and there were only six battleships in service in the Tang Empire at that time, and new battleships were still under construction. These battleships will definitely be covered by shore-based fighters, and it will certainly be difficult to attack them. Moreover, Task Force 1 has been exposed, and it is almost impossible to penetrate deep into the waters controlled by the US military to launch a surprise attack. If these battleships were to strike at night (the carrier-based aircraft force could bomb stationary targets on the islands at night, but it was difficult to bomb warships at sea at night), then Task Force 3 would have to go up to the top. Six against eight, which is not a good thing.

At that time, the battleships deployed by the United States in the Pacific theater were: "Nevada", "Oklahoma", "Pennsylvania" (flagship), "Arizona", "Tennessee", "California", "Maryland", "West Virginia" (in order of construction class, service time) In addition, there was also a "Utah", but this ship has been converted into a training ship and does not participate in fleet operations.

Now, the US Navy has put aircraft carriers in key positions, but the status of battleships is still not low. These eight battleships were the absolute main force of the US Pacific Fleet, and were organized into a main fleet. More importantly, at that time, the US Navy had a total of 16 battleships (not counting the USS Utah), two more were already in service (training had not been completed), three more were under construction, and they would be commissioned by the end of the year ("South Dakota" class), and the new first class ("Iowa" class) had completed the design, and the ships had already begun to be built and would be commissioned next year at the latest. That is, the US Navy actually had 18 battleships, which will increase to at least 21 during the year. And by next year it will be 22 ships, or even more.

On the other hand, the Tang Empire now has only six battleships (four battleships built during the First World War have been opened and ready to be corrected and put into service), and the four "New Provincial Capital" class (that is, "Guangzhou" class) battleships under construction will also be commissioned by the end of the year at the earliest. In time, the Navy will add another batch, and the construction of the four ships currently being built will start as soon as they are launched (vacated slipways), and they will only have to wait until the second half of next year to enter service. At that time, the Tang Imperial Navy had only 18 battleships at most. The number is still less than that of the US Navy.

Of course, the battleship is no longer the main force of naval warfare, but its huge guns and strong combat ability at night are still irreplaceable for the aircraft carrier for the time being. If eight American battleships were to be dispatched, Task Force 3 would not necessarily be its opponent. The Navy Command did not affirm that the US battleships would be killed immediately, but Tan Renhao realized that if the US shore-based aviation could ensure the air defense of the fleet, then these eight battleships would definitely not wait for the final result of the Battle of the Mariana Islands in Pearl Harbor, and they would definitely be killed! Nimitz will not rest on his laurels, let alone give up the Mariana Islands easily. The battleships of the navies of both sides are bound to come to a duel at sea!

Both young admirals had a bit of a headache. The U.S. Navy did not participate in World War I naval battles. However, the "Battle of Jutland" and the "Battle of Hachijojima" are all extremely classic examples of artillery battles, plus the "Battle of Ryukyu Island", the aircraft carriers of the Tang Empire annihilated the Japanese first battleship fleet during the day. This was enough to make the US naval commanders realize that the battleships were active at night, and not during the day. If these battleships reached the Mariana Islands, they would definitely be in Guam, or Saipan, or some nearby sea area during the day, and they would be provided with strong air cover. From the waters off Guam, these ships could reach the waters near Agrihan Island in the first half of the night, even if they sailed at 22 knots, and it would take at least a few hours to take out the transports in the vicinity of the six wars. Then evacuate safely before dawn!

"Task Force 3 must go south!"

Tan Renhao brought the chart, "They must guard the southeast side of Agrihan Island, which is the most likely direction for the American fleet. ”

"Then we'll follow south, too."

Hao Dongjue glanced at Tan Renhao, "We have to follow behind the third task force, if we ......"

"If possible, I'll add eight more capital ships to Task Force 1's ground record!"

Tan Renhao laughed, "Well, we can't go the old way. The Third Task Force is still a bit strong, and they may not be able to win. But it won't be a bad loss......"

"What do you mean......"

Hao Dongjue immediately became curious.

"What do I mean, if someone is coming to die, why don't you kill them?"

Tan Renhao sneered, "The praying mantis catches cicadas, and the yellow finch is behind." If Task Force 3 can hold out for a few hours, dragging it out until dawn, or even before dawn, we can catch this big fish! ”

At this time, Hao Dongjue also laughed. As long as the morning dawns, unless the American warships run faster than the planes, there will only be the fate of being slaughtered!

"Okay, find a few staff officers to plan it well!"

Tan Renhao stood up and wiped the sweat from his face with a wet towel, "The chief of staff will definitely come with more orders, of course, provided that the intelligence department can give us more help." ”

When the two arrived at the command cabin, the new telegram was just translated. This was an urgent telegram that Gan Yongxing had made up within half an hour of the previous telegram. The content of this telegram was even more important, and after Tan Renhao read it, he immediately handed it to Hao Dongjue.

"Damn, the Yankees are going to fight hard!"

Hao Dongjue's hand trembled slightly as he held the telegram.

"It's best to work hard, damn, I'm afraid they won't come to fight hard!"

Tan Renhao glanced at the staff officers in the command cabin, "Come early and die early, die early." Help me contact General Yan Guozhong and ask when the 6th team will be able to gain a foothold, damn, let's pull out our hands quickly, we can't be dragged here all the time! ”

Immediately, a staff officer went to find the two liaison officers sent by the 6th team, and as soon as Tan Renhao broke out, even the staff officers were infected. The Yankees were in a hurry to send them to death, so naturally they couldn't let them go back alive.

"Renhao, the enemy's strength is strengthening, and it is ......"

"I know."

Tan Renhao sat down and forced himself to calm down. "The United States urgently transferred four battleships from the Atlantic theater of operations, and this is really a huge threat. If they really even sent the 'Raider', it would only prove one thing! ”

"What?"

"It's important enough!"

Tan Renhao pointed to the floor. "The Americans are desperately defending the Mariana Islands, and the more important the enemy is, the more important it is, and we can't make the slightest concession. The fact that the Chief of Staff had sent new information so quickly proved that both the Chief of Staff and the Headmaster were taking the battle very seriously. The Americans are desperately trying to hold here, then we will desperately take it! ”

"If only there were a few aircraft carriers now!"

Hao Dongjue smiled bitterly, then shook his head.

"Afraid of what? Not to mention that we have two aircraft carriers in our hands and so many shore-based fighters to support us, even if there is only one aircraft carrier now, I dare to fight to the death with the enemy! ”

Tan Renhao glanced at his partner, "The initiative is in our hands, how to fight, we have the final say, don't you have confidence?" ”

"It's not that I'm not without confidence, but now we don't even know whether the U.S. fleet is at Pearl Harbor or the enemy's battle deployment, so how can we fight?"

Tan Renhao laughed immediately. "Don't worry, what you didn't expect, the chief of staff has thought of. Now the command of the Navy is definitely arranging the relevant reconnaissance and deployment, and there will soon be intelligence on the enemy fleet. As soon as the whereabouts of the enemy fleet are determined, then we will immediately go into action! ”

Hao Dongjue nodded, but still a little hesitant.

"Okay, you go and rest, I'll work during the day!"

Tan Renhao patted his partner on the shoulder, "We are now the backbone of the Imperial Navy, and we are the key to the victory or defeat of this battle. Don't think so much, the enemy is willing to take the initiative, which is much better than us killing the door! ”

After sending Hao Dongjue away, Tan Ren Haoxun regained his composure. Motivation and encouragement are necessary, and more importantly, he must come up with a campaign plan as soon as possible, and not go to a duel with the enemy empty-handed!