On Gardner Island, Han Shaofeng was almost going crazy when he got the specific damage report, and more than 100 American bombers destroyed most of his hopes.

The U.S. bombers must have received accurate information, and their bombing was mainly carried out by transport ships that had not completed their unloading work, as well as landing ships carrying reserves, and this information must have been provided by U.S. troops on Gardner Island, otherwise, the pilots of the U.S. bombers would not have known which ships were most worthy of bombing and which were not worth wasting ammunition. In this bombardment, which lasted just over twenty minutes, the losses of the marines exceeded that of the previous day!

Four transport ships carrying tanks and armoured vehicles for the assault were blown up as they were preparing to dock at the makeshift pier, destroying most of their equipment. Five large landing ships carrying officers and men of the Landing Corps were blown up, and more than 1,000 officers and men of the Marine Corps were killed. In addition, three transport ships that were unloading ammunition were blown up off the coast, and tens of thousands of tons of ammunition were lost. At that time, more than 1,000 boxes of ammunition and thousands of tons of other materials were all destroyed on the beach, and after the ammunition exploded, a huge crater with a diameter of 100 meters and a depth of several meters was left on the beach, and dozens of nearby Marine officers and men were all killed. Although some transport ships and landing ships escaped the bombardment, Han Shaofeng lost one-third of his supplies, especially the most important tanks and ammunition, and thousands of Marine officers and men died. What made him even more angry was that the hospital ship parked in the open sea was bombed by the US military, dozens of medical officers, and hundreds of wounded people were killed, and only a few escaped! One of the key points of the US military's concentrated bombing was the seaplane base that had just been built, and several long-range patrol planes of the Navy that had just been transferred at that time were destroyed.

"General. We caught two U.S. military pilots. ”

"Go and interrogate them immediately, find out their unit numbers, and." Han Shaofeng gritted his teeth, "The specific location of the Fifth Fleet." Ignore those bullshit orders, even if it's torture, you have to ask the results! ”

At the beginning of the interrogation, Han Shaofeng was also beginning to adjust the combat deployment of the Marine Corps.

Just anger, curses. Or maybe it's any other agitation that doesn't help. At this time, what the Marine Corps needs is a general who can stabilize the morale of the army, and Han Shaofeng just played this role.

"Let the front-line troops stop for a while and build defensive positions on the spot." Han Shaofeng also quickly calmed down, "The U.S. military will definitely launch a counterattack at night, otherwise, they will not choose to bomb us in the evening." All reserves were brought up, and the front-line troops switched to defense in depth.

Since the Yankees are ready to counterattack, we will first consume their forces in the defense and then launch a final attack. ”

"How is the artillery deployed?"

"Concentrated on the commanding heights on the north side of the beach. Arrange a battalion of troops to assist the artillery in combat. Han Shaofeng marked the artillery positions on the map, "We don't have a lot of ammunition, so let the front-line troops provide accurate strike parameters for the artillery as much as possible." And also. Pay attention to the economical use of shells. ”

"General, what about the wounded?"

Han Shaofeng hesitated. "Send them to the landing ship first, and arrange for some medical officers to take care of the wounded."

By the time it got dark, Han Shaofeng had completed the relevant transfer of troops. He withdrew two regiments. With the remaining reserves, the Xindi Reserve was formed. Then, the front-line troops were switched to full defense, with a focus on strengthening machine-gun fire points, while the mortar battalion, which had already come ashore at that time, was deployed to the core of the position. This was also the only heavy firepower of the Marine Corps at that time. Then, Han Shaofeng contacted Wei Dongbei, and the artillery formation would rush back to the battlefield before nine o'clock to provide artillery cover for the marines, which may be the only good news.

"Prepare to send a telegram to General Liao Hanxiang.

Han Shaofeng did not forget the most important thing, "I asked if we can provide us with new ammunition support in the near future, in addition, we urgently need a hospital ship, as well as the construction of a temporary dock, as well as the basic equipment of the seaplane base, I hope to arrange it as soon as possible." ”

The telegram was sent back quickly, but in the end, Han Shaofeng got a very bad reply.

Liao Hanxiang is already organizing a new transport fleet, but the problem is that if he rushes over from Apra Port, it will take at least ten days, that is to say, during this period, Han Shaofeng can only use the troops in his hands to attack, don't want to get more support.

Han Shaofeng then made contact with the troops left behind at Midway, but he still received a disappointed answer. There was a shipment of ammunition on the Midway side, but the problem was that there were no transport ships to bring it. In the end, Han Shaofeng could only ask the transport ships that had already unloaded the goods to rush back to Midway Island as soon as possible to deliver the supplies, but it would take at least six days.

Han Shaofeng had to continue to hold on for at least six days. And when the staff officer counted the remaining materials, Han Shaofeng had to decide to spend these six days in the defense, and the combat materials he now had, especially the ammunition, would only allow him to hold out for six to seven days at most. If the U.S. military launches a fierce counterattack, I am afraid it will not last so long. In other words, Han Shaofeng can't continue to attack.

"This is a new assessment made by Han Shaofeng." Hao Dongjue sent the newly received telegram to Tan Renhao, "He has already put the troops on the defensive, and the main attack of the US military this time is the transport ships and landing ships that transport war materials, and the remaining ammunition of the Marine Corps is not sufficient." He had already sent some of the convoys back to Midway Island first, and gathered a batch of supplies from Midway, but it would not be until six days later at the earliest. ”

"That's what Spruance is for." Tan Renhao sneered, "Hold back the speed of the Marine Corps' attack, he has enough time to deal with us, and then go and settle the battle on Gardner Island." ”

"But he has to beat us first."

Tan Renhao nodded slightly, that's for sure, and Spruance needs these few days. "If the U.S. counterattack isn't fierce tonight, then our guess is certainly correct."

"By the way, there is another piece of news, Han Shaofeng and they captured two US pilots, and they are now being interrogated."

Tan Renhao was taken aback. "Is there a result?"

"For the time being. We will definitely be notified as soon as the results are available. Hao Dongjue said as he took out a cigarette. Judging from Han Shaofeng's performance now, he is much calmer than we imagined. He should know what is several. ”

"I hope so, but we can't completely expect Han Shaofeng to ask what kind of name he is."

Tan Renhao put his hands on his waist, "Now, we have to rely on ourselves and try to find the Fifth Fleet as soon as possible." You go and arrange the pilot's business. I'll come back to you after I've figured out how to take the next step. ”

Hao Dongjue didn't say much, he thought at first that the Fifth Fleet was just north of Gardner Island, but after thinking about it, he felt that this was unlikely. After all, there are quite a few long-range reconnaissance and patrol planes operating there, and the Fifth Fleet can be easily spotted if it gets too close to Gardner Island. Therefore, he also knew what Tan Renhao was worried about.

On Gardner Island, Han Shaofeng took his guards to the front line. The front-line troops have already moved into defensive positions. He went to the headquarters of each company on the front one by one, on the one hand, to boost morale, and on the other hand, to understand the situation at the front. so that he would know in the evening where to send more reserves.

After eight o'clock, the preparation of American artillery fire began. The American artillerymen, who had been silent for a day, finally began to show their capabilities. Like the Imperial Marines, the American forces on Gardner Island had no heavy artillery and were armed with mortars. But there are quite a few large-caliber mortars among them. The shelling lasted fifteen minutes, after which the American counterattack began.

"Son of a bitch!" Han Shaofeng watched the battle ahead from the regimental headquarters more than two hundred meters behind the battle line, "Let the artillery prepare for battle, and besides, when will the fleet in the northeast of Wei come over?" ”

"It's going to take about fifty minutes."

"Then let our artillery hit a few times first to slow down the American attack." Han Shaofeng put down the binoculars, "In addition, let the reserves report to the regimental headquarters, it seems that the counterattack of the US army tonight will not put us under too much pressure." ”

Han Shaofeng's judgment was very accurate, in fact, the scale of the US army's counterattack can be judged from the intensity of the US army's artillery preparations, and before a large-scale counterattack, artillery fire preparation is definitely necessary and very important, while the US army's ground artillery preparation time is only 15 minutes, which cannot even threaten the officers and men of the Imperial Marine Corps on the front-line positions.

Five minutes to nine o'clock, the artillery formation led by Wei Dongbei arrived at the battlefield and began to provide artillery support to the marines. This time, Northeast Wei did not indiscriminately consume ammunition, and when the bombers of the 1st Task Force could not arrive, the artillery formation was the only long-range support firepower of the Marine Corps. And Wei Dongbei also knew very well that they retreated in the afternoon to resupply, just avoiding the bombing of the American army. In fact, he did not know that the US military chose to bomb the shelling formation when it was leaving, and if the shelling formation was near the landing site at that time, the anti-aircraft guns on the six cruisers and 12 destroyers would certainly not allow the US bombers to succeed easily, and the US bombers would certainly not be able to blow up so many transport ships.

By 2 o'clock in the morning, the US military's counterattacks were carried out sporadically, and most of them were tentative. It was not until after two o'clock that the American forces organized a large-scale counterattack, but in the end it still did not pose much threat to the Marine defense line, and under the artillery support of the fleet and the blockade of the machine gun points designed by the Marine Corps, the American counterattack force retreated after dropping more than 200 corpses. It was also the last large-scale battle fought before dawn on the 25th.

Han Shaofeng did not forget to send this important information to Tan Renhao, and in addition, he also sent out another important piece of news in the early hours of the morning, that is, the preliminary results of the two US pilots.

"Sure enough, the U.S. military did not launch a large-scale counterattack."

"In addition to proving that the U.S. forces on the island are limited, it also proves that they are waiting for the support of the Fifth Fleet." Tan Renhao took the telegram, "In addition, these bombers were sent by the Fifth Fleet. ”

"It's a pity that the two pilots only gave their names, home addresses, and the number of the unit they worked for." Hao Dongjue sighed, "They haven't explained more information yet, at least we don't know where the Fifth Fleet released the bombers." ”

"Perhaps, they don't know where the fleet is at that time, but they must know their flight path, and we can at least use this to roughly determine where the Fifth Fleet is." Tan Renhao sneered, "Moreover, we all know what kind of person Han Shaofeng is, if he just interrogated and not tortured these two pilots, I wouldn't believe it!" ”

"Then I can only hope that he can torture some valuable information faster."

Tan Renhao nodded slightly. "I hope so!"

Han Shaofeng was indeed doing this, and after the US counterattack was repulsed, he would go to his headquarters, and the first thing he asked about was the interrogation of the two pilots.

"They still won't explain?"

The officer in charge of the interrogation was a scout. "All the formal means have been used, but there is still no way to get them to explain more things."

"Then use all the informal means, whatever method you use, before dawn, I want to know where they flew from!" Han Shaofeng gave an order without ambiguity, "One more thing, don't kill them, at least before they start the ** generation, you can't let them finish." ”

The captain nodded, and he was inside the tent, and then there was a howl like a pig.

Han Shaofeng has been waiting outside, even if Tan Renhao has not sent him a message so far, asking him to provide accurate information on the Fifth Fleet as soon as possible, Han Shaofeng also knows that the greatest threat to the Marine Corps now is not the US military on the island, but the Fifth Fleet, and the First Task Force has not come to provide aviation support for the Marine Corps, and it is precisely because of the existence of the US Fifth Fleet.

Torture of prisoners of war was strictly forbidden, not only by the international laws of war, but also by the imperial army. But on this life-and-death battlefield, in order to obtain information that determines the outcome of the battle, let alone torture, even if Han Shaofeng is asked to shoot a few prisoners, he will not hesitate. Perhaps, any commander would do this, especially when this piece of information is related to the lives of tens of thousands of soldiers, in order to save himself, what is it to make the enemy suffer a little?

Han Shaofeng had already finished smoking a few cigarettes, he couldn't hold back anymore, he didn't believe it, there is no one in this world who is not afraid of death!