In the early hours of 16 September, the fleet passed through the Windward Strait and officially entered the waters of the Bahamas. On the morning of the same day, five aircraft carrier task forces dispatched bombers to strike at more than 10 US military bases on more than 10 islands, and the bombing began almost simultaneously and on a fairly large scale, with at least half of the carrier-based aircraft taking part in the bombing operation. At noon, Task Force 3 shelled the town of Matthew on the island of Great Inagua, and the shelling, which lasted nearly two hours, nearly flattened the town, which was mainly inhabited by American officers and soldiers, as well as their families.

"When are we going to end the shelling?"

"About half-past three, and there's still an hour." Yan Yulong has just contacted Chang Jianxin.

"Contact Hao Dongjue and Zhu Rongzhe, conduct a second round of supplementary bombing in the afternoon, don't care about ammunition and fuel, we will meet with the supply fleet in the evening." Tan Renhao glanced at several battleships in the distance that were still firing. "In addition, tell Chang Jianxin that the shelling should be stopped, don't hit too hard, this guy is strong, no one can do anything about him!"

Yan Yulong shook his head and smiled, and asked the communications staff officer to send a telegram. Reducing the intensity of the shelling is not to save ammunition, but the continuous sound of shelling is indeed a bit frightening, and the battleships of the Third Task Force have only replaced their barrels, and if they are broken again after a few battles, it will be troublesome to go back and change them.

In the afternoon of the same day, carrier-based bombers carried out a round of supplementary bombing, and the escort fighters also engaged in several skirmishes with US fighters. At this time, the number of aviation units that the US military was able to use to cover the Bahamas was rather limited. Luo Yunchong's strategic bombers bombed Baton Rouge for the second time on the 15th, and before that, they also bombed Lafitte, Jackson, and Pensacola. The bombing of Pensacola was the most influential, the main training center for U.S. Naval Aviation, the cradle of U.S. Naval Aviation, and the main base for the U.S. Marine Corps. After several strategic bombings in a row, the US military quickly adjusted its air defense deployment, and a large number of fighter jets were dispatched to the Gulf Coast region. Perform native air defense missions. When the Combined Fleet suddenly landed in the waters of the Bahamas and began to bomb US military bases in the Bahamas on a large scale, the US military simply had no way to send more air forces to deal with the Combined Fleet's strike.

In the evening, the fleet withdrew from the battle and rendezvoused with the supply fleet in the waters east of Cuba, replenishing ammunition and fuel. Because the combat consumption was not very large, the replenishment work was carried out for only five hours, in the early morning of the 17th. The fleet left the supply sea and began to sail in a northeasterly direction.

"A telegram from General Han Shaofeng that the 1st Support Fleet had left the port of San Diego four hours ago, and the landing fleet had already departed."

Tan Renhao took the message, quickly scanned it, and then gave it to Yan Yulong.

According to the finalized battle plan, the combined fleet first entered the theater of operations, bombed US military bases, and seized sea and air supremacy, after determining that the US forces could not launch a large-scale counterattack. The landing fleet and support fleet deployed in the port of San Diego will depart. Although the landing fleet with the support fleet is much slower than the combined fleet. Its cruising speed is only 14 knots, and the maximum speed will not exceed 20 knots, but after departing from San Diego. It only takes one day to reach the waters around Great Inagua, and up to two days to reach the waters of Mayaguana and Arinke. A few days late departure is not a problem, after all, the fleet also needs time to clear the obstacles, and the marines will land later.

"Han Shaofeng is still quite active, it seems that he can't wait for a long time."

"That's fine, we're almost done anyway." Tan Renhao doesn't like to joke much when he fights. "Contact Hao Dongjue, he should act alone tonight."

Yan Yulong didn't joke anymore, he nodded at the communications staff officer. Let the communications staff go and send a telegram.

"We will also continue to sail northeast to the sea area where we are scheduled to fight, so that Chang Zhixin can act according to the plan." After Tan Renhao finished deploying, "I'll go to sleep, I'll change you tomorrow morning, if it's okay, don't call me." ”

"No problem, you go and rest!" Yan Yulong sent Tan Renhao outside the commander's cabin, and it was already early in the morning. According to the rotation system of the two, Tan Renhao should have gone to rest a few hours ago.

Before dawn on 17 July, the Third Fleet broke away from the formation and accelerated its voyage to the northeast, and according to Tan Renhao's campaign allocation, the First Fleet would be responsible for supporting the landing of the Marine Corps, to be precise, to cover the Marine Corps, so as to avoid heavy losses caused by the Marine Corps being attacked by US bombers, after all, the defense capability of the support fleet itself was not very good. The task of the Third Fleet is to go out of the ambush, wait for the Atlantic Fleet to come to a decisive battle, and then annihilate the Atlantic Fleet in one fell swoop. Therefore, the Third Fleet had to speed up, otherwise it would not be able to reach the intended area of ambush.

On the morning of 17 July, the 1st and 4th Task Forces again sent bombers to strike at US bases in the Bahamas. At that time, there were not many targets worth bombing and shelling, and the suppressive bombing of the ground was more symbolic.

Although the American forces organized several counterattacks, they were all routed and did not pose a threat to the fleet. There was nothing fierce about the battle on this day, everything went according to plan. The most noteworthy thing is that the two US submarines that tried to sneak attack the First Task Force were killed before they approached the aircraft carrier, and as a result, Tan Renhao caused the First Task Force and the Fourth Task Force to retreat dozens of nautical miles and distance themselves to avoid being attacked by the US submarines.

By the evening of the 17th, the First Fleet had passed through the Caicos Strait and reached the Atlantic waters east of the Bahamas. This was also the intended area of operation, and the two carrier task forces were still sailing out to the open sea that night, and only the third task force remained in the waters near Mayaguana Island. The Marines will attack Mayaguana Island first, and then use it as a base to attack the other islands, thereby reducing the pressure on logistics.

According to the plan, the Third Fleet had reached about 120 nautical miles east of Huatlin Island and was still heading north at a maximum cruising speed of 24 knots. Tan Renhao did not contact Hao Dongjue, as long as there was no accident, Hao Dongjue would not mess around, and if there was an accident, Hao Dongjue would take the initiative to send a telegram. That is, as long as the Third Fleet did not send a telegram on its own initiative, it turned out that everything was going according to plan.

This time, Tan Renhao gave Hao Dongjue huge decision-making power. At the time of determining the battle plan. Tan Renhao took the initiative to propose that Hao Dongjue alone command the Third Fleet against the Atlantic Fleet, and he also had a separate talk with Hao Dongjue. In the specific battle plan, Tan Renhao would not ask the Third Fleet how to defeat the Atlantic Fleet, but only gave Hao Dongjue a final task, that is, as long as the Atlantic Fleet left Norfolk, it would not be allowed to return to Norfolk intact, and if it could annihilate the Atlantic Fleet without suffering heavy losses. That's the best thing to do.

This can be regarded as talking about Renhao's trust in Hao Dongjue. At the beginning, Tan Renhao left Hao Dongjue in the First Task Force as the chief of staff for several years, the purpose was to train Hao Dongjue, so that Hao Dongjue could gain more experience in the position of chief of staff, and at the same time be able to become more cautious and no longer impulsive. After Hao Dongjue went to the Second Task Force, Tan Renhao was a little disappointed at first, because Hao Dongjue was still very impulsive, not to mention anything else, when he was fighting in Australia. Hao Dongjue's troubles almost made Tan Renhao himself unable to get off the stage. But as time went by, Hao Dongjue gradually matured. When the Marines attacked Cuba, the Third Fleet and the Atlantic Fleet suddenly encountered, and Hao Dongjue made a wise decision at that time, instead of taking risks blindly. It was also through this incident that Tan Renhao changed his opinion of Hao Dongjue, and decided to give him the most important and perhaps final chance, as long as Hao Dongjue could grasp this opportunity, then he would become one of the best fleet commanders in the Imperial Navy, thus establishing his position in the Navy, not just Tan Renhao's brother-in-law!

At this time, Hao Dongjue, who was on the aircraft carrier "Xingkaihu", was not excited. To be honest, after Tan Renhao made this arrangement. Anyone knows that Tan Renhao is helping his brother-in-law, and this is by no means something that anyone can get. Hao Dongjue also knows it in his heart. At the beginning, when Tan Renhao did not recommend him, but recommended Jiang Zhongmin to serve as the commander of the Fifth Task Force, Hao Dongjue almost fell out with Tan Renhao. Later, Hao Dongjue was also very dissatisfied with Tan Renhao's repeated attempts to keep him in the First Task Force instead of letting him serve as the commander of other fleets. It wasn't until he went to the Second Task Force and really began to command a task force alone that Hao Dongjue realized. At the beginning, his brother-in-law asked him to stay in the First Task Force, not to suppress him, but to let him be ready before he went to command the fleet to fight.

It can be said that among all the descendants of Tan Renhao, Hao Dongjue is the most important one, and among all the generals who came out of the first task force, Hao Dongjue is also the most experienced, but he is also the one who has made the least mistakes after becoming a commander. It was precisely because of this that Hao Dongjue was able to serve as the commander of the Second Task Force without suffering a single setback, and laid the foundation for him to later become the commander of the Third Fleet. But there is also a major problem, that is, Hao Dongjue has never commanded the fleet alone to win a major victory, and at that time, almost all the generals of the same level as him have already won such a victory, whether it is Lei Shaoqing, Chang Jianxin, or Huang Xiaotian, who came out of nowhere, have all proven their abilities on the battlefield, but Hao Dongjue has always been regarded by others as just Tan Renhao's brother-in-law, and his victory has something to do with Tan Renhao.

Now, Tan Renhao has given him this opportunity to perform alone, as long as he can defeat the Atlantic Fleet, then no one dares to suspect that he relied on nepotism to climb up. For a general who wants to make a long-term career in the navy, it is more important than everything to get a victory under his own command. This is also the tradition of the navies of various countries, and those who can really go down in history are those generals who have defeated the enemy on the battlefield and defeated the enemy's fleet, and by no means rely on the generals who served as staff officers to help the fleet achieve victory.

Hao Dongjue himself also knew the importance of this opportunity, after Tan Renhao talked to him alone, Hao Dongjue spent almost all his time studying the materials of the Atlantic Fleet, and even stopped going out to drink with those staff officers who had a good relationship, and stayed on the battleship for several days in a row, and some people even suspected that he had a brain problem.

The task given to Hao Dongjue by Tan Renhao was not light, from the battle plan, to the implementation of the operation, to the final victory, all of which had to be grasped by Hao Dongjue himself, Tan Renhao only gave him a goal, and did not give him any other help. This can be regarded as a test for Hao Dongjue. And only in this way can we prove that the victory has nothing to do with Tan Renhao, and only then can we make others not associate this campaign with Tan Renhao, and prove Hao Dongjue's ability. It can be said that Tan Renhao's arrangement is well-intentioned, if he were someone else, he would definitely not do it, probably only by treating his brother-in-law, Tan Renhao would be so dedicated.

"General, we'll turn in ten minutes."

Hao Dongjue glanced back at the navigation staff. "Act according to the plan, pay attention to anti-submarine patrols, there are many American submarines in this vicinity, and you must not be careless."

The nautical staff officer nodded and went to call the staff officer in charge of anti-submarine warfare.

"Xiao Li, have you received the telegram?"

The communications staff officer shook his head, and he had been close to the long-distance radio station.

"If you have news, come and tell me immediately." Hao Dongjue said as he walked to the chart table.

The fleet was still heading north, and what he needed most now was intelligence on whether the Atlantic Fleet had left Norfolk. Lei Shaoqing is personally responsible for this matter, and the intelligence department has already launched an operation, and the submarines operating in the coastal areas of the United States have also received orders, and at least a dozen submarines are operating on the periphery of the Chesapeake Bay, and as long as the Atlantic Fleet leaves the Chesapeake Bay, the submarines will find something, and Lei Shaoqing will send the news to Hao Dongjue as soon as possible.

When the sky began to shine, Hao Dongjue was a little unbearable. When the chief of staff of the task force came to the command cabin, Hao Dongjue instructed the communications staff officer, and after sending someone to call him when there was news, he returned to his cabin. Like several other fleet commanders who have served as chief of staff, Hao Dongjue is used to sleeping during the day, which is probably the "bad habit" left over from when he cooperated with Tan Renhao, who called Tan Renhao likes to be on duty during the day, and let his chief of staff sleep during the day?