While the battle on Anatahan Island was still raging, a long-range reconnaissance plane sent by the HNA to patrol the north of Saipan sent back a telegram that the US Navy's "Z Fleet" had left the waters of Saipan and was heading north at full speed! At this time, it was 4:38 p.m. on the 7th.

"This is where the American fleet was found, and this is the route of this reconnaissance aircraft."

After Hao Dongjue got the news from HNA, he immediately marked it on the chart. In total, HNA deployed 24 long-range seaplanes to a 180-degree sector north of Saipan. The plane No. 21 spotted the 'Z Fleet' patrolling the northwest of Saipan, about 60 degrees north-west. The reconnaissance plane only reported that it had spotted the US fleet, but did not send back any other information, perhaps because the pilot was too nervous, or that it had been shot down by a US fighter. ”

"It should be the latter."

Tan Renhao took the scale and made a few comparisons on the chart, "This is not the first time that the pilots of the reconnaissance planes of the Hainan Airlines have participated in the war, and the operation of looking for the 'Z Fleet' is directly related to the victory or defeat of this battle, and they will not arrange for novices to go over." The sea area where the 'Z Fleet' was discovered was also within the range of US fighter jets. During the day, the U.S. military did not put many fighters into Anatahan Island, and they had enough ability to send fighters to escort the 'Z Fleet'! ”

"But there won't be many fighters in the U.S. military, and Luo Yunchong assured that in their bombing, at least hundreds of fighters parked on the ground were destroyed, and all of them were tactical aircraft. Most of the U.S. airfields have been badly damaged and will not be repaired until tonight at the earliest, so they are unlikely to send too many warplanes. ”

"It doesn't matter!"

Tan Renhao glanced at his partner, "Obviously, the 'Z Fleet' has already set off. If they go north at full speed, they will be able to reach the landing ground at about ten o'clock. If my guess is correct, there should be at least one 'Washington Express' that will accompany the 'Z-Fleet'. Now, where are Task Force 2 and Task Force 3? ”

"Task Force 2 will move at night to this waterway between Anatahan and Medinilia, which is where the 'Washington Express' is most likely to appear."

Hao Dongjue immediately marked the location of the two fleets on the chart. and the route, "Task Force 3 is right in front of us, about 120 nautical miles from Anatahan Island. Now they should have received the news that if they go south at full speed, they can reach the south of the island in four hours and wait for the arrival of the 'Z Fleet'! ”

Tan Renhao looked up at the navigation clock, and then pondered for a moment, it was now past five o'clock. If the 3rd Task Force had already moved south at full speed, it would have reached the south of the island at around 9 o'clock, at least an hour earlier than the "Z Fleet", and had set up a position and waited for the enemy to come to the door, and the 3rd Task Force would have an advantage at least in choosing its position and entering the battle.

"Looks like tonight is the time for a decisive battle!"

The two looked at each other, then both laughed.

When the news of the landing of the Don troops on Anatahan Island reached Guam, Kimmel immediately ordered the fleet to prepare for departure, and soon. Nimitz's order was delivered. "Z Flotilla" remained in Guam, awaiting new orders. Kimmel almost didn't jump, Anatahan Island is directly related to the security of the entire southern archipelago. The main fleet of the Tang Empire was near Anatahan Island (the U.S. forces on the island also sent back the news of the appearance of the Third Task Force), which was the opportunity that the "Z Fleet" set out to annihilate the enemy, and Kimmel had been waiting for a long time. But Nimitz left the "Z fleet" in one telegram, can Kimmel not be angry?

Before Kimmel's anger broke out, the heavy bombers of the Don Army arrived. This time, instead of bombing the port and fleet, the heavy bombers of the Don Army concentrated on bombing the airfields and hangars on the island, as well as the warplanes parked on the airfields. Apparently, the Don Army did not take the "Z fleet" into account. Moreover, the mission of the bombing was to support the landing operation, paralyzing the US air force, so that the US fighters could not provide support to the defenders on Anatahan Island.

Within a few hours, a large number of reports were sent back from the ground front. At half past eleven, when the U.S. troops began to counterattack, the battle report was transmitted back every fifteen minutes. Kimmel was in a state of mind at this time, as the battle ahead had reached the most critical time, and nearly 10,000 Tang troops had already gone ashore, and there must have been a number of Tang troops ashore before dark. If it is not possible to drive the Don army into the sea in time. By dawn the next day, the Don army would consolidate the landing ground and advance into the hinterland of the island, and it would be even more difficult to hold Anatahan Island.

It wasn't until after twelve o'clock, when the news of the failure of the American counterattack came, that Kimmel finally couldn't help it. Although Nimitz had not yet given the order for the fleet to attack, Kimmel still ordered the fleet to prepare for departure, and must leave the port before one o'clock and go to the battlefield. Kimmel was not thinking about going court-martialed for violating orders, but about whether Anatahan Island could be defended. If the landing force of the Don Army cannot be annihilated tonight, then this most precious opportunity will be lost.

Just as Kimmel walked into the bridge of the commander of the battleship "Pennsylvania", Nimitz's order finally came: "Z Fleet" immediately set off and rushed to Anatahan Island, entered the landing ground of the Don army at night, destroyed the transport ships and landing ships of the Don army assembled at the landing site, as well as the war materials hoarded near the beach, and assisted the army defending the island to annihilate the landing force of the Don army! Without any hesitation, Kimmel immediately ordered the fleet to depart. The Pennsylvania sailed out of port at 1:15 a.m.!

Almost at the same time, the commander of the U.S. forces on the mainland of Anatahan Island also received an order from Nimitz. It is necessary to organize a large-scale counterattack at night, cooperate with the "Z fleet" to annihilate the landed Tang Army, at least drive the Don Army back to the beach, and if it cannot be annihilated, wait for the support of the aviation after dawn.

The U.S. Air Force Command (a joint command of Army Air Forces and the Navy) on Guam also received an order to organize all air forces to fully support the defenders on Anatahan Island on the 8th (one day later local time) and complete the important task of counterattacking.

This series of Nimitz's deployments is enough to prove that the US military has no choice at this time. If you lose Anatahan Island, you will lose the whole battle, and if you don't fight, you won't have a chance to fight. Perhaps Nimitz did not want to fight a decisive battle at this time chosen by the Don Army, but he could not retreat.

The attack of the Don Marines was so fierce that on the first day a landing force of one and a half divisions could be put in, and on the second day the same number of troops would be thrown, and then the attacking forces would outnumber the defending American troops. The firepower of the Tang army was even more fierce, and the American army simply could not hold Anatahan Island in the case of inferior troops. The only hope is to drive the Don Army out of the sea on the first day, at least to complete this task before the arrival of the third batch of ground forces of the Don Army!

Kimmel was not angry now, and he didn't even care so much about the Don Army reconnaissance plane that flew in before the evening. In his opinion, what could eight battleships not do? As long as the battleships entered the landing field, those ships of the Tang Army and the troops of the Tang Army on the shore could only be slaughtered by him. Of course, the fleet of the Don Army was not terrible. Eight battleships against six, 84 huge guns against 54, this advantage is obvious, what else can't be beaten? Kimmel also wished that the main fleet of the Tang Army (in his eyes, only the Third Task Force was the main fleet of the Tang Empire) to fight a decisive battle, as long as the Third Task Force was annihilated, then the US Army would have mastered the sea supremacy, and if it mastered the sea supremacy, it would win half of the victory. Kimmel overlooked one thing in this dream, and that was that his fundamental task was not to deal with the fleet of the Don Army. Instead, take out the transports and landing ships in the landing field. Let the troops of the Don Army ashore lose support and ensure the holding of Anatahan Island!

At the time when the "Z fleet" went north at full speed and rushed to Anatahan Island. The Second Task Force received the news that the Chief of Staff of the Fleet, Chang Zhixin, did not impulsively go to a decisive battle with the "Z Fleet", which was the task of the Third Task Force, and the cruisers in the Second Task Force were no match for the American battleships at all. His mission was to live in this passage in the southeast corner of the island, to prevent the "Washington Express" from entering the landing site, and to provide support to Task Force 3 if necessary, and to flank the "Z Fleet", of course, this was a secondary mission.

Yan Shiqi's performance when he received the news was completely different, he only gave one order: act according to Plan A!

Arguably. In this battle, Yan Shiqi held his breath even more than Tan Renhao. As an excellent artillery commander, Yan Shiqi has always felt that young officers like Tan Renhao who have little foundation and shout all day long about "fly ships" (the nickname used by many battleship commanders for aircraft carriers) do not have much affection. But now the ranking in the navy is very clear, Tan Renhao is the number one cadre among the fleet commanders, and even Lei Shaoqing, the former deputy of Tan Renhao, the commander who suffered the defeat is the second cadre (Nie Renfeng and Gan Yongxing tried their best to protect Lei Shaoqing, and on the grounds that the war was at a critical moment, they withstood the pressure of the failure of the second task force investigation above) and Yan Shiqi, the prime generals who have been in the navy for more than ten years, can only stand aside. Not to mention Yan Shiqi, even any other similar generals (most of whom are sitting on the cold bench) will not be convinced!

This campaign lasted for more than a month, from the initial decisive battle at sea, to the later landing operations, the battle for islands, and the fierce battles in the sea and air, the Third Task Force never hit the position of the main force. Whether it's acting as a shield for Task Force 2 (which is a dereliction of duty), supporting the landing of the Marines, or lying in ambush for a decisive battle. In Yan Shiqi's view, these are simply insulting the Third Task Force, the six battleships in the Third Task Force, the tens of thousands of officers and soldiers of the Third Task Force, and the Imperial Navy!

It must have been a big joke that a powerful battleship was reduced to becoming a "sea-based artilleryman" of the Marine Corps if it was ten years ago, if twenty years ago such a person would have been sent to a military tribunal! This is what Yan Shiqi can't figure out the most, from the day he joined the navy, he served on the battleship (very special service experience) and climbed up step by step, became the captain, and now he has become the commander of the fleet, and has the opportunity to command six battleships to fight. But this opportunity came too late.

Yan Shiqi often thinks that if he was born for 30 years, he would be the best general in the history of the empire, the greatest general in the history of the empire, he could command a dozen battleships to fight the enemy, and he could feel the feeling of the main gun flying away from the muzzle and the flames covering the sky. The so-called current affairs make people, and creation makes people, that's the truth. When he finally had the opportunity to command a powerful fleet, he found that this world had turned into a world of "fly ships", and those buzzing "flies" were actually pressed on the head of the sea hegemon, what kind of world is this?

If we look at it from the perspective of the sunshine of development, if we stand from the perspective of the aircraft carrier officers, Yan Shiqi is the kind of thorough conservative general who is deeply poisoned by traditional thinking, rigid in thinking, and does not know how to be flexible. This may not be wrong, it cannot be denied that Yan Shiqi was indeed the most outstanding general in commanding artillery battles in the Young Zhuang faction of the Imperial Navy at that time! Although Yan Shiqi is too young in his 30s compared to many veterans, he can be regarded as a "veteran" compared to the aircraft carrier generals who live by Tan Renhao's group of generals, In Yan Shiqi's own words, he is waiting for an opportunity, waiting for a chance to appear on the big stage, and he is the protagonist to appear on the big stage. In this respect, he is very similar to Kimmel. There is a big difference in age between the two, but they are both "pure" "naval guns" and battleship deciders. Their encounters were also similar (the difference was only time) and their purpose in participating in this naval battle was also similar, all for a "brilliant" battle!

For this battle, the two waited for a long time and prepared for a long time. When Kimmel was in a hurry to set off, Yan Shiqi organized the fleet staff officers and drew up several sets of battle plans for several tactics that the US "Z Fleet" might adopt. These battle plans had already been memorized by Yan Shiqi and the staff officers, and they spent more than half a month preparing for the final decisive battle.

When the fleet began to slow down, Yan Shiqi came to the outside of the bridge. Like an honest admiral of the past, he had a secondary telescope on his chest, and his military uniform was spotless, and even the tiniest sharp corners were burned straight. The sun is setting, the night is coming, what a wonderful night view, what a wonderful night!