At the same time, three submarines operating outside Pearl Harbor discovered the whereabouts of the Fifth Fleet, and all three submarines sent back the news one after another, and the fastest news arrived only four hours late. Two other telegrams that followed confirmed that the Fifth Fleet had left Pearl Harbor. After Liao Hanxiang received the telegram from the submarine, he immediately forwarded it to Huang Xiaotian. At that time, the fleet still could not communicate directly with the submarine, and the telegram sent by the submarine could only be received by the base, and it needed to be forwarded by the base before it could be delivered to the fleet commander.

Liao Hanxiang was not sure that the 4th Task Force had received the telegram, after all, the 4th Task Force had not turned on the long-wave radio station and could not contact the base. In order to ensure that the fleet was able to receive telegrams from the base, there were three radio stations in three different frequency bands, at a frequency of once every half hour, more than five times in a row. In this way, even if the long-wave radio on the flagship of the Fourth Task Force was out of order and could not receive the signal, the long-wave radio on the other two aircraft carriers and some cruisers would also be able to receive the telegram and be transmitted to Huang Xiaotian in time.

The Fourth Task Force did not use those backup radio stations, and the long-wave radio on the "Taihu" aircraft carrier had been receiving signals from the outside world, so after Liao Hanxiang sent the first round of telegrams, Huang Xiaotian knew the whereabouts of the Fifth Fleet, and the communications staff officers in the fleet did not bother the commander with the same telegrams sent later.

"It's less than five hours late." Huang Xiaotian glanced at his watch, "It seems that the submarines deployed by Liao Hanxiang outside Pearl Harbor still played a role, and I hope those submarines can evade the anti-submarine destroyers of the US military." ”

Yan Yulong didn't have so much sentimentality, he pondered after reading the telegram.

Huang Xiaotian also noticed Yan Yulong's expression. "What, are you worried?"

"The Fifth Fleet is leaving the port in two batches." Yan Yulong put down the telegram, "That is to say, the Fifth Fleet is very likely to be organized into two task forces, and this telegram was sent after the departure of the second task force, so the departure time of the first task force should be five hours in advance." ”

"That is to say. It is quite possible that this fleet is almost 150 nautical miles from us, of course. This is unlikely. ”

"But it's not impossible." Yan Yulong raised his head, "General Huang, Spruance won't be bluffing again this time, right?" ”

Huang Xiaotian immediately fell silent, which was what he was most worried about.

Judging from the time when the Fifth Fleet left Pearl Harbor, it is likely that it did not depart until after receiving the news of the bombing of Wake Island, after all, there was a lot of preparation work to be done before the fleet set off. It takes time to replenish ammunition, fuel. In peacetime training, the fleet would not carry all the ammunition, so the Fifth Fleet left Pearl Harbor a day late. This one is easy to explain. Herein lies the problem. Will the Fifth Fleet go to sea again for training, or will it go to war?

Be careful! Huang Xiaotian thought of this and said, "We must be vigilant, if the Fifth Fleet is coming to trouble us, according to its departure time?" Fastest when can I get there"

"Within two days, take the nearest route and go as fast as you can, but that's not very likely."

"There can't be any negligence, otherwise General Tan Renhao wouldn't have told us to be careful, be careful, be careful." Huang Xiaotian climbed on the chart table and asked Yan Yulong to mark the route of the Fifth Fleet on the chart.

Yan Yulong's basic skills are still very solid, and depicting the route is the most basic course in the academy. In less than ten minutes, he could take a ground course for the Fifth Fleet. As well as some important navigation parameters, even the hydrological conditions on the route are marked.

"Two days at the earliest, five days at the latest, the Fifth Fleet will appear near us." Yan Yulong put down the pencil and scale, "Of course, the premise is that Spruance will be determined to deal with us this time." ”

Huang Xiaotian admired Yan Yulong's ability in navigation operations. Last time he participated in the general training class with Hao Dongjue, he also learned navigation cartography, but he learned it, and he never applied it practically, and this is also the biggest problem for generals like Huang Xiaotian and Hao Dongjue. The training course is not useless, at least, Huang Xiaotian now knows how to read nautical charts and how to understand the meaning of the numbers on them.

"Yes, there's a good chance that Spruance is here to trouble us this time." Huang Xiaotian looked at the chart for a while, "Set the bombing time to two days, and on the evening of the 19th, the fleet turned and avoided it to the south at full speed. In addition, we will arrange for a plane to go to Kwajalein Atoll later, so that the shore-based aviation forces there are ready for battle, and if Spruance wants to deal with us, then HNA will have to provide us with full assistance. ”

"Into the Marshall Islands?" Yan Yulong frowned slightly.

Huang Xiaotian circled an island on the chart. "The fleet maneuvered to the vicinity of the island and waited for an update. If the Fifth Fleet were to move in a straight line, then our submarines deployed to the east of Wake Island would have a good chance of spotting the Fifth Fleet. If the Fifth Fleet wants to go south around the Marshall Islands, Spruance will have to consider that the shore-based bombers on Kwajalein Atoll and Majuro Atoll will not let him through. If he had come from the north, it would have been too far away for us. So, we entered the waters of the Marshall Islands on the 20th, sat back and watched the next round of operations of the Fifth Fleet, and then decided what cards we should play according to the cards played by Spruance! ”

It's like a gamble, now Huang Xiaotian has played a card, and Spruance has also played a card, although Huang Xiaotian still doesn't know the intention of Spruance's card, but he has to play another card, and then wait for Spruance's response. As both sides have fewer and fewer cards in their hands, the hands will become more and more obvious, and the winners and losers will become more and more obvious. In order to be able to delay time, Huang Xiaotian played a card to delay time, which was a choice he had to make. In the same way, the battlefield is originally a casino, especially when the belligerents do not know what cards are in each other's hands, then this gamble will be even more exciting.

The task was quickly arranged, and in the evening of the same day, a seaplane flew to Kwajalein Atoll and brought Huang Xiaotian's orders with him. Before the departure of the Fourth Task Force, Liao Hanxiang gave to the troops on the front line. In particular, the officers of the air forces on the islands issued orders for Huang Xiaotian to command the front-line troops in battle. Therefore, these troops had to obey Huang Xiaotian's orders and cooperate with the Fourth Task Force.

Huang Xiaotian's task for the shore-based aviation is very simple, that is, to prepare for battle, avoid a surprise attack by the US military, and to expand the scope of surveillance and vigilance as much as possible. So, from the 18th. All shore-based long-range reconnaissance aircraft deployed in Kwajalein Atoll, Majuro Atoll, and Tarawa Island, as well as long-range water patrol aircraft, set out to conduct a close search of the waters east of these islands. The small speedboats deployed on these islands are also fully mobilized. Responsible for the inner guard.

Task Force 4 is still bombarding Wake Island. Although the Fifth Fleet is a formidable opponent, the Fifth Fleet can only sail on the sea, not in the sky, and even if it flies in the sky, it will take a certain amount of time to reach the battlefield. Unless Spruance is able to move the Fifth Fleet abruptly to the vicinity of the Fourth Task Force, it will take at least two days for the Fifth Fleet to reach the battlefield.

The bombing continued until about 3 p.m. on the 19th, and half an hour before the last bombers returned, the fleet turned south. Before five o'clock, the seaplane responsible for rescuing the overboard pilot also returned to the fleet, which was heading south at full speed, only a few dozen nautical miles from Bikini Atoll. It is expected to reach the waters near Namorik Atoll in the early morning of the 20th to avoid possible ground attacks.

For two days. Huang Xiaotian was a little nervous, and he didn't know why he was nervous. Especially on the morning of the 19th, he was a little restless. Although Huang Xiaotian knew very well that if the Fifth Fleet came in a straight line, it would definitely run into the submarine cordon east of Wake Island, the captains of these submarines had received orders to send a telegram as soon as the Fifth Fleet was discovered. However, by noon on the 19th, Liao Hanxiang still did not send a telegram, which proved that the Fifth Fleet did not directly attack, so it was impossible to reach the waters near Wake Island on the 19th. But Huang Xiaotian was still a little uneasy. These uneasiness made him feel a little funny, Spruance was indeed a very formidable opponent, he had defeated the second task force twice, and the second time he had completely annihilated the second task force, and he had fought with the first task force several times, which made Tan Renhao feel extremely tricky. But the problem is that Spruance is also a person, he can't violate the basic laws, then the Fifth Fleet can't threaten the Fourth Task Force.

After dinner, Huang Xiaotian walked around the command cabin and arranged relevant work for the staff officer, and then he came to the flight deck of the aircraft carrier. The officers and men on board the aircraft carrier are cleaning the flight deck. Under normal circumstances, the flight deck is directly cleaned with seawater, and the fresh water on the aircraft carrier is very limited, which can only be used for domestic use, and the boiler also has to use fresh water, so in the case of being able to use fresh water, seawater is used. But in the same way, seawater contains a lot of salts and is corrosive to steel, so after cleaning the flight deck with seawater, it is necessary to wipe the deck dry and apply oil to some important areas to avoid seawater erosion. This is a very physically demanding job, which used to be carried out by aviation service personnel together with the officers and men of the fleet, but now the aviation service personnel are tired for several days and all go to rest.

"Hello General—"

Huang Xiaotian nodded at the soldiers who saluted him, and then walked to the side of the ship island, he did not delay the work of the officers and soldiers, these people are veterans, they all respect Huang Xiaotian very much, an important reason is that Huang Xiaotian never puts a stand in front of them, and he will not come to delay their work.

At this time, Yan Yulong walked out of the hatch at the bottom of the ship island, still holding a document in his hand. He went to bed in the afternoon, probably just for dinner.

"Statistical Report of Results." Yan Yulong gave the document to Huang Xiaotian, "I just got it, the four-day bombing has received good results, more than seventy percent of the targets have been destroyed, and we have only lost 18 fighters." ”

Huang Xiaotian glanced at the report quickly, and immediately noticed several details in it. There are three desalination facilities on Wake Island, that is, three small desalination plants, and these three targets have been bombed, at least 100 bombs have been hit in four days, and now they have been completely destroyed. In addition, three of the island's five oil depots were blown up, two of which were diesel depots, which are essential fuel for the island's electricity supply and desalination. Two of the three ammunition depots were also blown up, and it is not clear what ammunition was mainly stored in these two ammunition depots.

When Huang Xiaotian was reading the documents, Yan Yulong lit two cigarettes at one time, and he handed one to Huang Xiaotian. "Judging by the current situation, Nimitz must have received a report from the U.S. forces on Wake Island, and perhaps he is preparing to send a convoy of convoys."

Huang Xiaotian nodded slightly, he also took this into account. There is no electricity, no ammunition, as long as there is water and food, then the US military can continue to hold on. Now, the most important desalination equipment has been blown up, and the US military will certainly not have too much fresh water in reserve, and the tens of thousands of US troops on the island will die of thirst in five days if they have no fresh water. Nimitz will definitely find a way to send new desalination facilities to the US troops on the island, and even a batch of diesel fuel and ammunition. In this case, Nimitz would have to organize a not too small convoy of transports.

"Shall we have a vote?" Yan Yulong is a bit like the pirates on the ships flying the flag of the Drum Tower more than 200 years ago.

"No, we can't risk it yet, even if Nimitz were to send a convoy, he would send the Fifth Fleet at the same time, and Spruance must have thought that we would attack the convoy, and if he used the convoy as bait, then we couldn't be fooled."

"Wouldn't he ignore the lives and deaths of tens of thousands of U.S. troops on the island?" Yan Yulong frowned slightly.

"It's not like he hasn't done it before." Huang Xiaotian let out a sigh, and then laughed.

Yan Yulong was even more puzzled, he didn't understand what else Huang Xiaotian was funny about at this time.