Tan Renhao watched in fear for half the night, and in the second half of the night, when the fleet turned and approached in the direction of Cape Town, he went to sleep for a few hours, and arrived in the command cabin just in time for the reconnaissance plane to depart. It was around 5:20 a.m. When Tan Renhao returned to his post, the two "Golden Eagles" left the flight deck of the "Hongze Lake". At this time, the fleet is about 400 nautical miles from Cape Town and about 25 nautical miles from Port Elizabeth to the north, and the reconnaissance planes will reach the skies over Cape Town at about half past seven and send back a message before eight o'clock at the earliest.

Zheng Guanhua has been holding on all day, and he is already very tired at this time. Under Tan Renhao's "persuasion," he left the command cabin and prepared to rest for three hours before returning to the post of chief of staff after the reconnaissance plane sent back the report. Then, Tan Renhao asked the staff officers of the fleet headquarters to also change shifts one after another. This combat operation began on the 11th and has lasted for more than seven days now, and the fleet has been in a state of operation, and most of the officers and men are tired.

After anxiously waiting for more than two hours, just after eight o'clock, the reconnaissance plane sent back a report that no large enemy warships had been found in the port of Cape Town, and no trace of the enemy's large warships had been found outside the port, and the two fighters had not even been intercepted by enemy planes, and were on their way back to the fleet.

Because of the limited distance of the radio communication on the fighters, the reconnaissance reports were sent back from about 300 nautical miles away from the fleet when they returned home (which is one of the reasons why the fighters were not allowed to carry out reconnaissance missions). The two fighters will be back in the fleet around half past nine.

Tan Renhao's speculation was confirmed, and the Anglo-French expeditionary fleet did not remain in Cape Town Harbor, although it was not possible to confirm that the enemy fleet left before they headed south. They left on their way south, but one thing is certain, that is. The Anglo-French expeditionary force did not retreat from Cape Town, as a little was mentioned in the telegram. That is, there are several small ships in the port of Cape Town, and in addition, there are signs of enemy activity. Based on this situation, Tan Renhao deduced that the Anglo-French joint expeditionary fleet was in the waters near Cape Town. And they are waiting for the opportunity to sneak up on Task Force 1!

So where is the enemy? Tan Renhao's eyes searched the chart. Staff officers have marked on the charts the sea areas that have been searched, as well as the areas where they will be searched today. Now, the waters east of the Cape of Good Hope, on the southern Indian Ocean, have been searched, or will be searched completely. Then the Anglo-French expeditionary fleet could only appear in the waters of the South Atlantic.

Zheng Guanhua returned to the command cabin at 8:15, he overslept, but it was not a big deal. After arranging the second round of reconnaissance aircraft missions, he also came to the chart table.

"Now we can basically rule out the possibility that the enemy fleet is on this side of the Indian Ocean."

Tan Renhao drew a red cross in the waters of the Indian Ocean in the sea chart. "They can only appear in the sea west of Cape Town, and we just need to keep the fleet moving west. Then Cunningham will be cornered by us. When the time comes, unless he escapes back to the Gold Coast, if not. We have to have a face-to-face showdown with us! ”

"Then we must prevent the Anglo-French expeditionary fleet from escaping. If, while we storm Capton, the Anglo-French Expeditionary Fleet comes out from behind, it will be a great threat to us! ”

Tan Renhao laughed. "I'm thinking about that as well. Only by annihilating the Anglo-French Combined Expeditionary Fleet can we completely guarantee security in the South Atlantic, and we can return to the Pacific Theater, if we let Cunningham, a bastard, escape to the Gold Coast, then we will definitely be left behind to garrison the western gate of the Imperial Navy, which is not a good errand. ”

Zheng Guanhua also laughed. "General Tan, in my opinion, the fleet should maneuver to the sea southwest of Cape Town as soon as possible, and then immediately go north to cut off the escape route of the British and French joint expeditionary fleet, so that Cunningham will have to fight a decisive battle with us!"

"You mean, a detour to the battle?" Tan Renhao drew a route on the chart, and then glanced at Zheng Guanhua, after Zheng Guanhua nodded, he said, "I haven't thought about this carefully, whether to do this or not, we still have to think about it in detail, without being completely sure, such an adventure is meaningless." By the way, is there a new weather forecast? ”

"The weather will continue to improve over the next three days, which is even better than we initially predicted."

Tan Renhao nodded slightly. "Come up with a detailed weather forecast as soon as possible, and then mark the new situation on the chart."

Zheng Guanhua did not hesitate, and immediately went to find the meteorological officer, and asked the meteorological officer to hand him the detailed weather forecast, and then Zheng Guanhua marked the weather changes in the next three days on the chart according to the sea conditions and time. And Tan Renhao also considered Zheng Guanhua's proposal in detail at this time, whether to make a big detour in the battle, cut off Cunningham's passage to the north and return to the Gold Coast, and force Cunningham to fight a decisive battle!

When Zheng Guanhua marked the detailed weather forecast on the chart, Tan Renhao knew what to expect. Although Zheng's suggestion was contrary to the basic principles of the campaign, it was now clear that Cunningham did not want to fight his opponent and was likely to continue to wait for an opportunity to sneak up on the Imperial Marines when they attacked Capton. The most effective way to do this is to destroy Cunningham's hopes and prevent him from returning north to the Gold Coast, and then advance from north to south, and finally make Cunningham have to come out for a decisive battle.

Thinking of this, Tan Renhao knew it in his heart. He looked at the chart and thought for a while, and then made a specific route on it. Zheng Guanhua has also been thinking about it, and after seeing Tan Renhao make this route, he also understood the commander's intentions, and knew that the commander adopted his suggestion.

"Let the nautical staff follow this direction and redesign the course of the fleet." Tan Renhao put down his pencil, "Weather conditions may change at any time, so when designing routes, we must refer to weather changes at any time, arrange a few more seaplanes to cooperate with the weather forecast, and shorten the interval between weather forecasts by half." At the time of designing the route. It was necessary to ensure that the seaplanes on the cruiser could be dispatched. In addition, reconnaissance work should also be adjusted. ”

Zheng Guanhua immediately nodded, as long as the seaplane on the cruiser could take off. Then the aircraft carrier on the ground bomber will be able to take off. That is, when designing the route. It is necessary to ensure that the aircraft carrier can carry out its combat mission normally, and it must not be unable to operate because it has entered a zone of bad sea conditions.

When Zheng Guanhua went to arrange the relevant work, Tan Renhao called the communications staff officer over. "Contact Task Force 3, the battle plan was revised, and the fleet went into radio silence after two hours. The radars are all turned off. Let Task Force 3 arrange as many reconnaissance ships as possible, and keep sailing to the north of us, and I will inform you of any other arrangements later. ”

The communications officer hesitated for a moment and asked, "Are we going into radio silence too?" ”

"Yes, it's the same for both task forces." Tan Renhao nodded to the communications staff officer, and then walked towards the navigation staff officer who was discussing with Zheng Guanhua to modify the fleet's route. "The fleet sails in anti-submarine formations, and there is a group of enemy submarines here, although there are not many of them, but they are always a threat.

And also. The range of activities of the reconnaissance ships on the periphery should be expanded a little, don't worry about fuel consumption, the supply fleet will come in time. ”

"Need to arrange a separate reconnaissance destroyer?" The nautical staff officer furrowed his eyebrows slightly.

Tan Renhao hesitated slightly. said: "Let the battleships in the shelling formation be responsible for peripheral reconnaissance operations, organize several more reconnaissance formations, and have a reasonable combination of cruisers and destroyers." All the destroyers in the aircraft carrier battle group are carrying out anti-submarine patrol duties, and the aircraft carrier must not be threatened by enemy submarines. ”

After the nautical staff officer fully understood what the commander meant. It's time to arrange the relevant deployment.

"Xiao Zheng, you can arrange the fleet reconnaissance mission later." Tan Renhao called Zheng Guanhua aside, "The fleet will enter a state of radio silence, so the deployment of the fleet's air defense fighters should be a little more flexible." Now what we need to worry about is not being found by the enemy's ground reconnaissance plane, but encountering the enemy's main fleet by mistake, so we will adjust the patrol method and patrol range of the air defense fighters. ”

"Let the fighter also take care of the search?"

"No, the fighter is only responsible for the search of the sea area near the fleet, and does not participate in the large-scale search work, in fact, it is to let the fighter expand the surveillance range of the fleet itself."

Zheng Guanhua nodded, and now understood what Tan Renhao meant.

"Okay, I'll arrange it right away."

Watching Zheng Guanhua walk away, Tan Renhao sighed secretly, Zheng Guanhua needs more time to reach Hao Dongjue's height, and it is indeed not easy to train a new chief of staff!

Soon, Chang Jianxin sent a telegram, he did not ask Tan Renhao why he wanted to revise the battle plan, said that he would adjust the actions of the Third Task Force according to Tan Renhao's arrangement, and asked Tan Renhao to tell him the relevant news as soon as possible after the new battle plan was determined, so that he could let the Third Task Force keep up with the pace of the First Task Force.

Before noon, the nautical staff re-established the new course of the fleet, which was complicated and took a lot of time because there were too many variables on this route. After Tan Renhao inspected it, he ordered the fleet to prepare to turn. Before the fleet turned, seaplanes from a nearby cruiser went to Task Force 3 with a new route map and a rough plan for the new Combat Plan operation, and let Task Force 3 turn with Task Force 1. By this time, the two task forces had entered a state of radio silence, and by one o'clock in the afternoon, both task forces had adjusted to a new course.

The second group of departing reconnaissance aircraft returned to the fleet at about twelve o'clock. Because of the adjustment of the reconnaissance plan, the departure time of the third group of reconnaissance planes, which was originally scheduled to take off at 1 p.m., was postponed to 2:30 p.m. At that time, two sorties of carrier-based reconnaissance aircraft had already been made, two sorties of seaplanes carried by cruisers, and the second group of seaplanes were on their way back. The 150-nautical-mile area around Task Force 1 is under absolute surveillance, and with the exception of submarines under the surface, any ships that appear in this area, even fishing boats, are under the watchful eye of reconnaissance planes and seaplanes. Carrier-based reconnaissance planes, on the other hand, carried out long-range reconnaissance missions in four key 1 directions within a range of 150 degrees due north to southwest, with a reconnaissance radius of 300 nautical miles. Although the sea area within 150 nautical miles to 300 nautical miles from the fleet was not thoroughly searched, several key directions were repeatedly searched twice, and any fleet that appeared in these key directions would certainly not be able to escape the eyes of the reconnaissance planes. However, the result is still the same as the reconnaissance in the past few days, and all the reconnaissance planes and seaplanes have returned in vain.

Although it was frustrating that every reconnaissance failed after consuming a large amount of aviation gasoline, as the reconnaissance returned expanded, and as it became clear that there was no trace of enemy fleet activity in an increasingly wide area of sea, Cunningham's range of activities would become less and less. According to Tan Renhao's newly designed battle plan, as long as Cunningham did not flee back to the Gold Coast and still wanted to ambush Tan Renhao, then the reconnaissance plane would definitely gain something! And when the time comes, unless the battleships under Cunningham's command have grown wings and can fly as fast as bombers, they will have to suffer bombs and torpedoes!

When the sky gradually darkened, the reconnaissance planes that had set out at 3:30 p.m. to carry out the fourth round of reconnaissance missions returned to the fleet one after another. Tan Renhao didn't have any impatient feelings. The presence of an enemy fleet within 150 nautical miles of the fleet is impossible, and the probability of the presence of an enemy fleet in the sea area within 300 nautical miles of the fleet is no more than half. The First Task Force will sail at cruising speed at night, and the Anglo-French Joint Expeditionary Fleet will most likely sail at cruising speed, and even if the two sides go head-on, the relative speed will only be about 30 knots, and the possibility of encountering at night is very low. Of course, if you take into account the 3rd Task Force at a distance of about 50 nautical miles from Task Force 1, the possibility of a sudden encounter with the enemy fleet at night is essentially zero.

In the evening, Tan Renhao went to sleep peacefully, and returned to his post two hours earlier than before, that is, at about half past four, so that Zheng Guanhua could go to rest two hours earlier. Before dawn, the fleet's reconnaissance planes also began to set off one after another, and the reconnaissance mission was arranged by Zheng Guanhua. As time passed, Tan Renhao firmly believed that he was getting closer and closer to the sea where Cunningham was hiding.