On the afternoon of 28 July, the two returned to Midway Island by plane and arrived at Han Shaofeng's forward headquarters, while the bombers of the Fifth Fleet continued to hover over Wake Island.

"The first is the reason why the U.S. military bombed Wake Island." Huang Xiaotian was waiting for Tan Renhao at the airport, and the two rushed to Han Shaofeng together. "Why did Spruance go bomb Wake Island? This simply does not make sense, and now the main task of the US military should be to defend the Hawaiian Islands, not to launch a counterattack, and Spruance cannot fail to understand this truth. ”

"That's what I was thinking about." After intercepting the telegram sent by Long Zhen, Tan Renhao was thinking about this issue. "Xiaotian, you had a fight with Spruance, you should know something about the situation in the Fifth Fleet, right?"

"It's kind of understanding, but it's not very in-depth." Huang Xiaotian looked a little modest.

"Well, what do you think of the quality of the Fifth Fleet Aviation?"

Huang Xiaotian hesitated. "You're saying that Spruance is using Wake Island to train his troops?"

Tan Renhao laughed. "If there is no other reason to explain the Fifth Fleet's bombing of Wake Island, then this is the only reason."

Huang Xiaotian pondered for a while. "That's true, otherwise the Fifth Fleet wouldn't have bombed Nihua Island before."

"So, why did Spruance choose Wake Island?" Tan Renhao looked at Huang Xiaotian next to him, "Actually, it's not difficult to explain, Wake Island is an isolated island, and Spruance must know that we are operating in the waters near Midway Island, so we can't rush over to support it immediately, relatively speaking, Wake Island is more bombardment valuable than Nihua Island." If the Fifth Fleet retreats this evening, it will be enough to prove that Spruance is exercising his aviation over there. Computer Station.16

"Then let's wait for Han Shaofeng to send a telegram over, if the Fifth Fleet doesn't bomb Wake Island tomorrow morning. That would prove the inference. ”

"We can't wait until tomorrow morning, and Spruance won't wait until tomorrow morning to retreat. Of course, we can ask Han Shaofeng to send a telegram to Long Zhen first, and then notify us after receiving the news. ”

The two of them agreed so, and after arriving at Han Shaofeng's front-line headquarters, Tan Renhao first asked Han Shaofeng to send a telegram, and said to Han Shaofeng that after receiving the exact news from Wake Island. Contact the fleet now.

"Long Zhen has sent a telegram that he will try to send a few seaplanes to find the US Fifth Fleet at night, but the problem now is that I am afraid he will not be able to find a few seaplanes that can take off." Han Shaofeng hurried back, "Half an hour ago, the US bombers visited Wake Island for the third time, and now the bombing is not over. It seems that the Fifth Fleet will bomb Wake Island again, and after four rounds of bombing, the aviation infrastructure on Wake Island has basically been destroyed. ”

"That's not a problem. Even if there are no seaplanes. As long as the bombers of the US Fifth Fleet do not fly over Wake Island by tomorrow morning, it will be enough proof that Spruance has left. After Han Shaofeng sat down, Tan Renhao continued. The key question now is what to do next after the U.S. Fifth Fleet bombed Wake Island, and what impact it will have on our attack on Kauai. ”

"General Han, how are the preparations of the Marine Corps going?" Huang Xiaotian's words are still relatively polite, now Han Shaofeng is still a lieutenant general in the Marine Corps, and Huang Xiaotian is a fleet admiral, and there is at least one level difference between the two, but Han Shaofeng's qualifications are far above Huang Xiaotian, and Huang Xiaotian is extremely polite.

"The preparations of the Marine Corps are in place. We had at least twelve divisions of Marines stationed on Nihua Island, Gardner Island, Lysan Island, and Midway Island on the front. Han Shaofeng flipped out the map, "The landing fleet arrived the day before yesterday, and it will be accompanied by a transport fleet, and the other two transport fleets and the supplementary landing fleet will arrive one after another in the next two days." Judging by the current situation, we can do it at the end of the month. An attack on Kauai will be launched on the 2nd of next month at the latest. Of course, the premise is that the fleet can complete the firepower preparation and seize sea supremacy before this. ”

Huang Xiaotian nodded, and then looked at Tan Renhao. Tan Renhao was the commander-in-chief of the fleet in this combat operation, and although both of them were commanders of the main fleet, Huang Xiaotian still had to obey Tan Renhao's command, so major issues were decided by Tan Renhao.

"It's almost impossible to annihilate the U.S. Fifth Fleet before landing on Kauai." Tan Renhao said while thinking, "Judging from Spruance's recent actions, he hasn't thought about a decisive battle with us yet, otherwise he wouldn't have left Nihua Island before we arrived, and went around in a big circle to bomb Wake Island. The US Fifth Fleet was not even ready for battle. Therefore, Spruance will not fight with us. We have a very small chance of catching the U.S. Fifth Fleet, or luring Spruance into it, and this will affect the combat operations of the attack on Kauai, so we can only try to annihilate the U.S. Fifth Fleet when we attack Couai. ”

"Spruance will come to fight us?" Han Shaofeng took out a cigarette and gave one to Huang Xiaotian before lighting it.

"I'm not afraid that Spruance won't come, I'm just afraid of how Spruance will fight us."

"Huang Xiaotian's words are right, as long as we attack Kauai, Spruance will have no other choice." Tan Renhao clicked on the map, "Kauai is less than 150 nautical miles from Oahu and is the gateway to Pearl Harbor. And there are so many airfields on Kauai that as long as we control Kauai, then Oahu is at our fingertips, and when the time comes, there is no need to even send a fleet, and the tactical bombers deployed on Kauai will be enough to destroy Pearl Harbor. Therefore, even if Spruance knew that there was no chance of winning a decisive battle with us in Kauai, he would have to come, and Nimitz would have let him rush back. ”

"Well, we'll have to plan it well." Han Shaofeng didn't have any doubts about Tan Renhao. "The main thing is that if the U.S. Fifth Fleet comes out halfway, it will definitely affect the combat operation of landing on Kauai, and our first task is to capture Kauai, as long as the Marines successfully land on Kauai, even if the Spruance is not finished, then the U.S. military will not be able to hold the Hawaiian Islands."

Tan Renhao and Huang Xiaotian both laughed, which made Han Shaofeng feel a little confused by the second monk. "General Han. How long does it take for the Marine Corps to prepare for firepower, and additionally, how many days will it take to complete the combat operations of the landing phase? Huang Xiaotian took Tan Renhao to ask this question.

Han Shaofeng thought for a while and said, "The more fully prepared the firepower in the early stage, the better, and it will take at least ten days." ”

"I'm afraid we can't do that." Tan Renhao smiled and shook his head, "Even if I give you ten days, General Liao Hanxiang will not delay the attack on Kauai until mid-May." ”

"Then five days, at least five days of preliminary firepower preparation." Han Shaofeng also laughed.

"That's fine. We can guarantee five days of fire preparation, and if conditions allow, a few more days. Huang Xiaotian promised.

"The question is how much time it will take to complete the operation of the landing operation phase, and this is certainly the most vulnerable phase."

Han Shaofeng nodded and thought for a while. "At least three days, maybe five days. The scale of the landing operation was very large, and it was not as simple as one or two divisions going ashore. Twelve Marine Divisions need to make at least three trips to the landing fleet, and you have to count the time it takes to deliver supplies and the time to set up a landing ground. Three days will be intense. It's best to prepare for five days. ”

Tan Renhao and Huang Xiaotian glanced at each other. That's the crux of the matter. The initial stage of the landing operation is the most vulnerable stage of the entire combat operation. It can be said that the landing operation is a real "last battle." Before the beachhead was established, the marines who came ashore were quite vulnerable. An organized counterattack was capable of crushing the landing force, leaving the Marines ashore in a position of disarray, and the final result was complete annihilation. In the past, because the scale of the landing operations on the islands was relatively small and they were far away from the core of the US defense, the initial stage of the landing operations was relatively smooth, and victory was often determined in a day or two. The problem is that the defense on Kauai is very strong, and from the intelligence available so far, the U.S. military has deployed at least 200,000 to 250,000 defense troops on Kauai. There are thousands of combat aircraft, thousands of artillery pieces of all kinds, and even more than 100 tanks. In addition, Kauai is less than 150 nautical miles from Oahu and just over 200 nautical miles from several islands such as Maui. The tactical fighters deployed on these islands can easily fly over Kauai Island to assist the US military in defense, so the landing operation will be even more difficult.

Han Shaofeng's request for five days is not excessive, even very short. The problem is, five days and days. Spruance can seize many opportunities, and the officers and men of the fleet will also be extremely tired after five days of high-intensity combat operations. As long as Spruance seizes an opportunity, he can turn the tide of the battle, which is what Tan Renhao and Huang Xiaotian are most worried about.

"If there's a problem......

"It shouldn't be a big problem." Tan Renhao did not let Han Shaofeng continue, "We will try our best to ensure that we will provide support to the Marine Corps for ten days to assist the Marine Corps in establishing a landing ground, of course, it is best for the Marine Corps to capture a front-line airfield during this period, so as to reduce the pressure on the fleet." As for how to deal with the US Fifth Fleet, this is a matter between me and General Huang Xiaotian, so I don't need General Han to worry about it. ”

Han Shaofeng nodded. "Okay, I'll try my best to ensure that after the Marine Corps goes ashore, they will lay down a forward airfield as soon as possible, and maybe they will be able to dispatch shore-based aviation to support the fleet at that time."

"Then we will make an agreement for the time being, the fleet will leave the waters of Midway Island after completing the replenishment work tonight, and rush to the war zone as soon as possible." Tan Renhao didn't delay the time, "General Han, I also want to ask you to contact General Fang Xiaoxian at the front, so that the front-line aviation can cooperate with our actions." ”

"This is no problem, the battle plan has already been issued, and Fang Xiaoxian knows very well how to cooperate with the fleet."

The three of them made up their minds, and Tan Renhao and Huang Xiaotian also immediately said goodbye to Han Shaofeng.

On the way back to the anchorage, Huang Xiaotian asked. "Talking about the general, is five days too long?"

"Han Shaofeng has already considered our actions, and if the Marine Corps wants to establish a landing ground within five days, the pressure is even greater than ours, and it is impossible for us to make any more excessive demands."

Huang Xiaotian sighed secretly, he also knew the difficulty of attacking Kauai.

"As long as we can figure out what Spruance wants to do and hurry up, it shouldn't be a big problem."

"The problem is, we simply can't tell what Spruance is going to do next."

Tan Renhao grabbed Huang Xiaotian's shoulder. "At the very least, we know what Spruance was doing before, and as for what he's going to do next, that can be judged based on the previous actions of the U.S. Fifth Fleet. After dinner, let several commanders and chiefs of staff come to my flagship, and we will discuss it together. ”

"It's okay, brainstorming, maybe you can really get something."

"Don't worry, the water will flood the earth, and the soldiers will stop it. Spruance has already suffered a loss in your hands, and he must know that this time our fleet is concentrated in the Pacific theater, even if Spruance has a powerful fleet in his hands, he will not dare to act rashly, let alone a fleet that has not even completed basic training? ”

Huang Xiaotian shrugged his shoulders, he could only think so, but he felt that Spruance would not stop there, and Nimitz would not be restrained, and Nimitz would not easily give up resistance until the officers and soldiers of the Imperial Marine Corps set foot on the ground of Oahu.

"Of course, there is nothing wrong with valuing the enemy. If Spruance doesn't do anything, then I think it's weird that he's going to do something. Now, it doesn't do much to say this, and what we should do is to get the fleet out as soon as possible, and fight in the best way possible, with as few mistakes as possible, and not give Spruance any chance. ”

Tan Renhao did no longer do Huang Xiaotian's ideological work, and Huang Xiaotian did not need others to do ideological work. Since the "Battle of the Coral Sea," the US military has been passive everywhere on the battlefield, and the situation has changed rapidly. The U.S. military has been able to drag on until now, mostly because of internal reasons in the empire, rather than the performance of the U.S. military on the battlefield. Now that the problems within the empire have basically been solved, the good days of the Yankees are almost over.