After Hao Dongjue's third telegram, Tan Renhao was not surprised by Spruance's words, after finding out that he had been found by the enemy's reconnaissance plane, he would definitely choose to flee for his life first instead of rushing forward to fight the enemy. In other words, Spruance will choose to escape as fast as possible, and the two sides will almost encounter in the extreme strike radius, as long as the Atlantic Fleet runs away at full speed, Hao Dongjue will not be able to catch up at all!

"Hey, that's a shame." Yan Yulong also looked very sorry, just a little bit, if it was closer than 50 nautical miles, maybe the result would be completely different.

"There's nothing to be sorry for, at least, our basic purpose has been achieved." Tan Renhao put down the message, "After this toss, Spruance will not dare to approach us rashly for a few days, of course, we must not relax our vigilance, at least we cannot despise this opponent." ”

"Then we have to continue to let the Third Fleet operate in the waters south of the Bahamas."

Tan Renhao nodded slightly, but he didn't make a decision immediately.

Will Spruance return to Norfolk immediately? The answer is no, and Spruance may not even report this encounter to his superiors, after all, he chose to escape instead of fighting the Third Fleet, which is not a glorious thing. However, he can't do this alone, and if he wants to stabilize the officers below, Spruance can only continue to operate in the war zone, and at the same time look for a suitable reason, such as looking for a better chance to sneak attack. In this way, the Atlantic Fleet will stay, just not in a hurry for a second contact with the Third Fleet. That is, Spruance will wander around the periphery of the war zone, looking for opportunities. In this case, whether it is to keep the Atlantic Fleet out of the battlefield or to try to lure the Atlantic Fleet over for a decisive battle, one thing must be done first. That is to create more fog. It makes Spruance unable to accurately judge the situation on the battlefield, so that Spruance seizes the opportunity, or rather, makes the wrong decision.

Thinking of this, Tan Renhao's thoughts gradually became clearer. Judging by this contact, Spruance was more afraid of the main fleet of the Empire and was more reluctant to fight a decisive battle with the Imperial fleet, which was something that could be exploited. Then, if you want to disturb Spruance's judgment, you have to make it difficult to distinguish between fiction and reality. So how do you get there?

After thinking for a while, Tan Renhao looked at Yan Yulong and said, "Send a telegram to Hao Dongjue, let the Third Fleet continue to operate in the waters of the Bahamas, and start bombing US military targets in the Bahamas this afternoon." ”

"Bombing the Bahamas?" Yan Yulong was a little confused.

"Yes, create some illusions so that Spruance can't tell our exact intentions." Tan Renhao sneered. "In addition, let Zhu Rongzhe join us as soon as possible, and we will turn back to the landing site in the afternoon and support the landing force from tomorrow. Only the Third Fleet was left to operate in the waters south of the Bahamas. ”

"This ......" Yan Yulong was even more surprised.

"We're fighting on two battlefields at the same time, and it's even harder for Spruance to judge our intentions." Tan Renhao walked to the chart table, "The fleet is operating in the southwestern waters of the Windward Strait, trying to avoid being discovered by the US military, and it can also dispatch fighter jets to cover the Third Fleet." If Han Shaofeng's movements are fast enough, the day after tomorrow at the latest. His troops will advance to San Diego, and when the time comes, we will provide direct support to Han Shaofeng, and the U.S. military will assume that our main fleet has participated in the landing operation. Add to that the Third Fleet's operations in the waters of the Bahamas, and if you were Spruance, would you be able to judge our intentions? ”

Yan Yulong pondered for a moment, then shook his head, so to speak. Tan Renhao's deployment was chaotic and lacked any rules. Naturally, it is difficult to judge what exactly the combined fleet is going to do.

"That's right, as long as Spruance doesn't know what our real intentions are, he won't dare to act rashly." Tan Renhao grabbed Yan Yulong's shoulder, "We only need to keep the Atlantic Fleet outside the battlefield and not pose a threat to our landing operations, and we have already achieved our goal." According to the battle plan, Han Shaofeng's Marine Corps will advance to San Diego by 10 August at the latest, and as long as the Marine Corps captures San Diego, we will not need to continue to support the landing operation, even if Spruance discovers our true intentions at this time, he will not rashly enter the war zone in consideration of the need for a decisive battle with our two main fleets. ”

"But before that?"

"As long as the two carrier task forces of the First Fleet are not exposed, and the Third Fleet has been operating in the waters of the Bahamas and is focused on monitoring the direction in which the Atlantic Fleet is likely to appear, Spruance will not dare to attack the Third Fleet. What's more, as long as the Marines captured San Diego, the role of the Atlantic Fleet would no longer be obvious, and the most sensible option would be to return to Norfolk. ”

"But we can't defeat the Atlantic Fleet either." Yan Yulong only understood now, it turned out that Tan Renhao's purpose was only to drive away the Atlantic Fleet, not to kill the Atlantic Fleet.

"I want to take out the Atlantic Fleet too, but there's no need to risk our fleet because of this. In addition, our fundamental task is for the Marines to capture the southeastern part of Cuba, and as long as we achieve this goal, there will be many opportunities to take out the Atlantic Fleet in the future, so why rush for a while? ”

"Then, the third task force should mainly go to support the landing of the marines, and there is no need to act with the two aircraft carrier task forces."

"Yes, that's it, let's deploy it as soon as possible."

At about half past twelve, when Tan Renhao was about to go to lunch, Hao Dongjue sent a new telegram saying that the fighters of the Third Fleet had intercepted three US long-range reconnaissance planes flying towards the Eighth Task Force, and that in order to avoid being attacked by US shore-based aviation, the Third Fleet had turned to sail south.

Tan Renhao did not interfere with Hao Dongjue's arrangement, and at that time, the US military could not deploy shore-based aviation to attack the Third Fleet. In the afternoon of the same day, Zhu Rongzhe led two task forces to join the third task force, and then the first fleet left the southern waters of the Bahamas and headed for the southwestern waters of the Windward Strait. According to Tan Renhao's arrangement, the 1st and 4th Task Forces will operate in the Windward Strait, send bombers to support the Marine Corps' combat operations in Cuba, and the 3rd Task Force will return at night

Field. In addition, the Third Fleet will be deployed mainly in the northern waters of the Windward Strait. Bombers were dispatched to strike US military bases in the Bahamas.

In the evening, Tan Renhao asked Yan Yulong to send the newly proposed deployment of the fleet's combat operations to Luo Yunchong and Han Shaofeng, and after receiving the callback, the fleet resumed radio silence, and the sky was already dark.

Luo Yunchong and Han Shaofeng were extremely happy about the First Fleet's return to the battlefield to support the Marine Corps, especially the fact that the Third Task Force was in close proximity, which was of great help to the attack on San Diego.

On the morning of the fourth day. Han Shaofeng asked the two Marine Divisions, which did not participate in the battle on the night of the 3rd and the early morning of the 4th, to tentatively advance inland and in the direction of Santiago, and at the same time arranged several fire support ships to provide direct fire support to the Marines advancing towards Santiago.

At noon on that day, the fire support ship sailing close to the coastline was suddenly blocked by the American artillery, and more than 20 heavy guns hidden in the dense forest suddenly opened fire on the fire support ship, although the bombers arrived quickly, and the marines immediately sent assault troops to capture the American artillery position. But still a step too late. In less than five minutes, four fire support ships were shot, one of them quickly exploded and sank, and the other was seriously damaged. Shortly after withdrawing from the battle, they sank due to the explosion of the ammunition in reserve, and only the two ships that reacted the fastest escaped with only minor injuries. The American artillery was quickly wiped out, but after only five minutes of fighting, the lack of fire support for the ships was exposed. At that time, Han Shaofeng ordered. No fire support ship should be close to the coastline, at least 3 miles away from the coastline, to avoid a sudden attack by American artillery.

This skirmish proved that fire support ships were only a temporary option, and that it was impossible to fundamentally replace them. There are too many flaws in its performance, such as almost no armor, a very vulnerable hull built to merchant standards, and no compartments. It is also difficult to control the damage from the inside, and the speed is slow. Lack of flexibility makes it difficult to quickly flee the danger zone in the event of a blow. And these problems do not exist on battleships, and most of the guns used by the US Army are difficult to pose a threat to battleships and cruisers. Therefore, fire support ships are at best suitable for use only on the battlefield where absolute fire superiority has been seized, and in slightly more dangerous places, such thin-skinned ships simply do not have survivability.

It was only a skirmish, and according to the photographs taken by reconnaissance planes at the time, the port of San Diego was much more fortified, and many of the hidden fire points were difficult to destroy, and if fire support ships were sent to suppress the American artillery in San Diego, several more ships might be lost. At that time, what Han Shaofeng wanted most was a few powerful and strong-skinned battleships, and the battleships in the Third Task Force that best met his requirements were naturally the battleships in the Third Task Force.

This is also why Han Shaofeng was so happy after knowing that the Third Task Force would come to provide support. Moreover, as far as Luo Yunchong is concerned, the tactical aviation unit under his personal command has also exposed many deficiencies in supporting combat operations, and its combat efficiency is far less than that of carrier-based aviation, and it is not even as good as those fire support ships in the support fleet. Now that the First Fleet has arrived, it is natural to relieve the pressure on the tactical air forces, and at the same time provide stronger support to the Marines, take San Diego as soon as possible, seize the airfield, so that he can start the strategic bombing of the United States as soon as possible.

That night, after the 3rd Task Force arrived near the landing site, a small anti-submarine frigate escorting the landing fleet sent the Marine Corps and the liaison officers of the shore-based aviation to the battleship "Nanning." In addition, two groups of liaison officers will go to Task Force 1 and Task Force 2 to undertake the task of liaison and coordination between the fleet and other combat units.

Tan Renhao did not take part in the command work to support the landing operation, and this was directly under the direct responsibility of Chang Jianxin.

Beginning in the early morning of the 5th, Task Force 3 joined the ranks of direct support for the Marine Corps. At that time, the Marines, who were advancing towards San Diego, also increased the pace of their attack. With the artillery fire of the 3rd Task Force opening the way, the Marine offensive went much more smoothly. Before dawn, the US shore defense artillery carried out a sneak attack on the 1st cruiser formation, which resulted in only two cruisers being slightly damaged, and the US artillery positions were immediately covered by the cruisers' artillery fire, and the US troops were not even allowed to dispatch assault teams, and the US shore fire was solved.

This is the difference between a battleship and a fire support ship converted from a merchant ship, and there are three types of artillery that the US Army is most equipped with, one is a 75 mm caliber field gun, the second is artillery, and the third is a 155-meter caliber heavy gun, no matter what kind of artillery, it is difficult to threaten a cruiser. Moreover, the heavy artillery of the US Army is basically not equipped with armor-piercing shells, and with high-explosive shells, it is difficult to even threaten large destroyers.

This is also the advantage that the fleet has, because the guns on the battleship do not have the problem of moving, so they can be made as large as possible, and the body can be measured a little longer, so the power and range of the guns are far more than the army artillery of the same caliber. In fact, as early as the beginning of naval warfare into the era of artillery, the navy's naval guns had obvious advantages over the army's artillery, and it was impossible to compare with the main guns on battleships when it was the most powerful coastal defense artillery in the world at that time.

By daybreak on the 5th, the Marines had advanced about a mile in the direction of San Diego, the city was in sight, and the exit to the harbor was a few kilometers to the west of the Marines. At this time, Han Shaofeng first sent an infantry unit to control the exit of the harbor and remove the obstacles set up by the American army there, so that the fleet could enter the harbor. As soon as the ships of the Third Task Force entered the harbor, the Marines would be able to take advantage of the opportunity to launch an attack and occupy the city and harbor area of Santiago, which would be much easier than the previously planned operation to storm Santiago from the ground.

In fact, by this time, it was impossible for the US military to drive the landed Imperial Marines into the sea, and the fall of Santiago was only a matter of time, as long as Santiago was occupied, then the US Army would lose the ability to defend Cuba, let alone defeat the Imperial Marines in Cuba!