In the gray night, more than a dozen warships of the 1st Task Force, led by the flagship "Yangtze River", slowly sailed out of the narrow exit of Naha Port. At this time, there were two aircraft carriers in the fleet, two large air defense cruisers (the two air defense cruisers planned to be replenished were not in place on time), four heavy cruisers, eight destroyers. This is just enough to form two aircraft carrier formations to escort the number of warships, which cannot be smaller. The only thing to be thankful for is that these warships have been strengthened to varying degrees during maintenance, especially the anti-aircraft fire has been strengthened (for this reason, the displacement of the two aircraft carriers has increased by more than 5oo tons, almost all the places where anti-aircraft guns can be installed have been pressed anti-aircraft guns, most of which are 2o mm machine guns), and the air defense of individual ships has been strengthened to varying degrees.

During wartime, it was a tradition of the Imperial Navy to sail at night, mainly to prevent enemy spies. In fact, at night it is easier for spies to show up in this fleet, which has not yet been light-controlled. At that time, there were no civilians on Ryukyu Island (mainly to strengthen security, and the civilians in the urban area of Naha were transferred to the imperial mainland), there were military restricted areas within several kilometers around the port area, guarded by more than 2,000 officers and soldiers of the 6th Sentai Brigade, and on the opposite Kerama Islands, there were still garrisons of the 6th Sentai stationed on the islands, and there were five radio listening stations on the island, and no spies could infiltrate the Ryukyu Island, and it was safe to send the telegram out, unless it was a spy who was not afraid of death (in fact, there were really two spies later), at 8:55 a destroyer passed the flagship and began to lead the way, and the Canadian fleet also began to quickly adjust its formation and sail in a loose anti-submarine formation。 At 10:30 a.m., the fleet made its first "Z" turn (anti-submarine formations would do this type of quick turn at regular or irregular intervals when sailing, first, to avoid submarines, and second, to allow destroyers to take the opportunity to expand the anti-submarine search range, and now following the enemy submarines behind the buttocks) at 10:45. The fleet resumed normal sailing and began to move on the newly set course. … bsp; Tan Renhao came to the command cabin at 10:40, and Hao Dongjue was arranging the work of the staff officer on duty. In combat readiness, the commander will be responsible for command during the day (8 a.m. to 8 p.m., but the situation on the battlefield will vary depending on personal reasons), while the chief of staff will be responsible for command at night. And in the ordinary work of the crossing combat staff (actually. The General Staff of the Task Force has abolished this position, and the chief of staff and the aviation operations staff officer share the work of the previous combat staff officer) Navigation staff officers and other important staff officers replace the fleet commander and the chief of staff to carry out command work (this is not a separation of powers, but to exercise the ability of these staff officers, so that they can one day be promoted to the chief of staff of the fleet, until they become the commander of the fleet, Tan Renhao has undertaken such a job in the Fifth Fleet before): "Okay, you all go and get busy!" ”

Hao Dongjue has a good relationship with the staff officers, and no matter where he goes, he can quickly blend in with the people around him. This is one of Hao Dongjue's abilities that Tan Renhao admires the most.

"It's all arranged?"

Tan Renhao is not so easy-going in the eyes of most staff officers.

"yes. These young staff officers need to be trained, and we did the same in the past. ”

Hao Dongjue glanced back at a few staff officers who were on duty in the command cabin, "They all have strong learning ability. Especially after regaining confidence, they can quickly master their part of the work. Why can't you sleep? ”

Tan Renhao took out a cigarette, and as soon as he boarded the battleship, he was in a state of excitement, and he was full of energy after sleeping six hours a day, so why did he go to bed so early.

"What do you think Lao Lei will think after receiving the telegram?"

Hao Dongjue had already received a telegram from the headquarters and knew that the mission of the Second Task Force had also changed.

"I will definitely scold us for not being righteous enough."

Tan Renhao smiled and lit a cigarette: "But one yard is one yard, we can't let the officers and soldiers in the fleet be wronged because of brotherly righteousness." You say, don't you? ”

"Of course, Lao Lei has been in the limelight for so long, why should it be my turn to taste the benefits, otherwise I won't wait for most of the year?"

Hao Dong laughed meaningfully.

"You kid has been calculating for a long time!"

Tan Renhao immediately saw that Hao Dongjue must have deliberately given up the position of chief of staff of the Second Task Force to Chang Jianxin, and he bet on Tan Renhao.

"Don't treat me as a stupid person, I was the top student of the aviation school back then, and I was your right-hand man to talk about the general."

Hao Dongjue revealed his "rogue" nature: "Although you talk about generals better than you." I'm still a little bit behind, but I'm much better than the wooden fish head of Lao Chang. ”

"Don't be too happy, don't you kid, aren't you afraid that after I go back, I will tell Lao Chang about these things, and then you will have bitter fruit to eat!"

"Renhao, you won't be so ruthless, right?"

Hao Dongjue immediately screamed: "I'm loyal to you, you also said that one yard is one yard, and I have always been the eldest brother I admire, I can give him the best, and leave some leftover water for myself, is this still wrong?" ”

Hao Dongjue's change came too fast, the previous sentence also regarded Tan Renhao as a treasure, and the latter sentence became "leftover water", Tan Renhao only felt helpless about this, anyway, Hao Dongjue was so virtuous.

"You're worth it, I'll change you tomorrow morning."

Tan Renhao threw away his cigarette butt: "Don't disturb my sleep at night, don't disturb my sleep, you kid don't have anything to do, it's all weird, noisy my dreams, I want you to feel good." ”

Hao Dongjue rolled his eyes and watched Tan Renhao leave the command cabin, his screams were indeed very "infectious", but they couldn't compare to the huge roar of the steam turbine.

The fleet sailed safely for more than two days, and made more than 20 "Z" halfway The actual range of the word turn has reached more than twice the sailing distance (this is why the battleship must have enough endurance, in combat operations, the distance between the fleet and the predetermined sea area is actually not equal to the actual range, the actual range will generally be more than 50% more than this distance, and in some special cases it may even be more than twice as long, if the endurance of the warship is too poor, it will be difficult to complete the combat mission) Tan Renhao and Hao Dongjue have always been vigilant, but as a result, they did not encounter any trouble, not even a whale (anti-submarine destroyers often treat whales as submarines), and the fleet arrived at the scheduled supply sea area at about 10 o'clock in the morning of the 30th。 Because it has always maintained a high voyage (an average of 24 knots), the fuel consumption of the battleship (heavy fuel oil) is almost sixty percent faster than that of the cruise (equivalent to the cruising capacity of the battleship has shrunk by nearly forty percent), in order not to encounter the problem of lack of fuel in future battles. So Tan Renhao specifically asked for this supply. In fact, the destroyers with the worst endurance in the fleet at that time still had seventy percent of the fuel, and there was no shortage of fuel at all, but who knows what the battle will be like later? In order to meet the requirements of the First Task Force, Gan Yongxing personally arranged for four express fleet supply ships to rush from Zhoushan to this predetermined sea area to provide nourishment for the warships of the First Task Force.

The recharge area is over the sea about 25o nautical miles north-east of Luzon Island in the Philippines. The supply fleet did not show up until half past eleven (in order to ensure the safety of Task Force 1. Both sides must maintain radio silence and can only go to the predetermined sea area according to the navigation equipment, and the first task force will send seaplanes to find the supply fleet and pilot the supply fleet at this time) Tan Renhao and Hao Dongjue are worried about whether the supply fleet has been attacked by American submarines and there is no way to arrive on time. Just when the two of them were about to lose heart, a seaplane returned, and one of the fast supply ships in the fleet had a malfunction in its power system (it was very common for these fast supply ships to have a higher task load than any other warship, and their attendance rate was the highest in the entire navy), and as a result, they lost 4 knots. Arrived two hours later than scheduled.

Twelve fifty a.m. The flotilla joined the fleet, sixteen battleships, divided into two batches of eight each. Each oil tanker was responsible for providing fuel, fresh water and food for two warships at the same time with the horizontal supply method (at that time, it was also possible to provide fuel for the battleships through vertical supply, but the Tang Imperial Navy paid more attention to horizontal supply, and many supply ships did not have vertical supply equipment installed before the war, and it was not until the middle of the war that the Tang Empire's newly built land express fleet supply ships began to use the vertical supply method) to provide fuel, fresh water and food.

The entire replenishment work continued until half past four in the afternoon, and after the last two destroyers had received enough heavy fuel, the four supply ships immediately turned around and returned home, which had been the area of activity of American submarines. Even if the fleet is escorted by four destroyers, it will not be too safe.

The 1st Task Force also quickly resumed its anti-submarine formation, adjusted its course, and headed for the southeast. When Tan Renhao returned to the command cabin at 4:50 a.m., the first order he gave was to put the fleet into a state of Class A combat readiness, which is the highest level of combat readiness, and all officers and men of the fleet would remain vigilant, and they would arrive at their posts within five minutes after the alarm was sounded, and even pricked up their ears when they were sleeping. I can't sleep with one eye open!

"Staff officers work in two shifts, and all posts must ensure one-sixth to one-third of the redundant manpower."

Hao Dongjue conveyed the order to the staff officers in charge of fleet management: "The pilots should make preparations for taking off at any time, gather all the staff officers of the aviation combat department, and I will personally convene a meeting after dinner." Go ahead and arrange it. ”

Tan Renhao did not interfere in Hao Dongjue's work, which is also the work that the chief of staff should be responsible for, and there is no absolute necessity, and the fleet commander will not interfere with the arrangement of the chief of staff.

"Alright, now we're ready to fight the enemy."

Hao Dongjue clapped his hands and walked to the chart table, "Ren Hao, what should we do now?" ”

"Let the nautical staff make a plan for the next twelve hours according to this route."

Tan Renhao rolled up the transparent chart, on which he had marked several of the most important course turning points and steering parameters. "In the next twelve hours to five days, we are all likely to have a sudden encounter with the American fleet. Before dawn, the first batch of reconnaissance planes will be arranged to focus on searching the waters of the Caroline Islands in the south, but they should not get too close to the islands where there are US airfields, and the remaining 20 percent of the reconnaissance mission will be deployed according to our radar detection distance. Also, the fleet voyage is back to 18 knots, so we don't want to get new fuel supplies before defeating the American fleet, and it's time to save a little now. ”

Tan Renhao's order is very detailed, in fact, in most cases, the fleet commander does not need to arrange the task in such detail, because this will reduce the training opportunities of the chief of staff (in the Imperial Navy, the chief of staff has always been the object of training), Tan Renhao is from the position of staff officer, maybe this is a shortcoming of becoming a staff officer and then becoming a fleet commander, so that he strives for perfection and detail in many things.

"No problem, I'll arrange it right away."

Hao Dongjue took the chart: "I'm still on duty at night, what else did I not think of?" ”

"Sit down for a while."

Tan Renhao pulled a chair: "Now we are going to enter a state of high tension. All of our bets are placed here. The key is whether the U.S. fleet can be present in time and at the same time not be prematurely prematurely displayed by the enemy. Therefore, we must try our best to make arrangements for the fleet's course and reconnaissance operations, and this is the prerequisite for our victory. ”

"I'll deploy the reconnaissance mission myself, and if I'm here, he'll be able to arrange the route in the most reasonable way."

Hao Dongjue breathed a sigh of relief, among their four-member group, Chang Jianxin was the most familiar with the work of navigation.

"Have confidence in yourself, you have also participated in relevant training, and you have been in the fleet for so many years, listening to monks chanting scriptures, and you can recite it backwards for three years, I don't believe you, you haven't learned anything in the past few years."

Tan Renhao smiled and grabbed Hao Dongjue's shoulder: "We are going to ambush us like an assassin now, near the place where the enemy is likely to appear, so that the enemy does not know that we are already here." Then, the moment the enemy appeared, we stabbed the sword in our hand, cleanly and quickly dealt with the enemy, and then immediately fled for our lives, not giving the enemy any chance to fight back. And success depends on whether we can hide ourselves well, whether we can meet the enemy in time, whether the sword is pierced accurately, whether the strength is enough, and how quickly we can escape for our lives in the end. As long as these five points are achieved, then we have successfully completed the task! ”

The metaphor of talking about Renhao is very vivid, Hao Dongjue smiled and nodded, and he also had confidence in himself.