Task Force 32 left Brisbane on the night of 1 April, and although the battleships were taking advantage of the darkness to leave the port, the six battleships, all over 2oo meters long, were all too easy to identify.

A Tang Empire submarine that had come over two days earlier and was ambushing outside the harbor immediately showed the whereabouts of this fleet. As soon as the captain of the submarine raised the periscope to the surface, he immediately saw the huge warships, and then the submarine immediately made an emergency dive, listening to the roar of the battleship overhead, the officers and men in the submarine were so nervous that they could not breathe, and the loss rate of the submarine carrying out the reconnaissance mission was higher than that of the submarine carrying out the task of breaking the diplomatic relationship, and as long as the destroyer appeared, there was a seventy percent chance that they would never be able to surface in the sea. But this time, not a single destroyer appeared on this submarine that was under the belly of the fleet. The submarine lurked under the surface for at least six hours, only to rise to the surface when it was certain that the U.S. fleet had gone far. The captain ordered the submarine to be ventilated immediately, and at the same time had a telegram sent out, and then the submarine dived again, slowly leaving the dangerous sea area at a distance of four knots.

The telegram was delivered to Yan Guozhong at three o'clock in the morning, and half an hour later, another submarine operating about 15o nautical miles north of the port of Brisbane also showed the traces of the US fleet, and this submarine also sent the telegram, but it was immediately sunk by the escort destroyer in the 32nd task force, and more than 4o submarine officers and men showed their lives for an important telegram.

By about 8 o'clock in the morning of the 2nd, Yan Guozhong had received three more telegrams, all of which were related to the US fleet, and these telegrams were transmitted almost immediately to Tan Renhao on the "Xingkaihu" and to the flagships of the other two task forces. Tan Renhao did not hesitate, and when he received the news that night, he sent a seaplane out, asking Yan Guozhong to apply for the transfer of the Second Task Force as soon as possible, because it was a foregone conclusion that the US military would launch an attack in the southwest Pacific, and it was no longer necessary to leave the Second Task Force in the Marshall Islands, but to have one more aircraft carrier. It will change the balance of forces on the battlefield.

Just when Tan Renhao began to get busy, a huge fleet was sailing high in the northeast sea of the New Hebrides. The fleet was divided into two parts, the front of which consisted of two aircraft carriers, four cruisers, and several destroyers, and the latter part of which consisted of three small aircraft carriers and three cruisers. As well as several destroyers. There is about fifteen nautical miles between the two parts. The fleet sailed in strict anti-submarine formations, with aircraft carriers at the core, cruisers following nearby, and destroyers on the periphery.

This is Task Force 31 commanded by Halsey, who separates the large fleet carriers in the fleet from the small ones, with the large fleet carriers being the main combat force and the small fleet carriers only supplementing the forces. Of course, Halsey is not taking those three small aircraft carriers with more than 1oo fighters on board, and in the absence of a choice, it is much better to have these three aircraft carriers than nothing.

To beware of a surprise attack by submarines. The distance between the battleships was wide. And the destroyer hovered around the perimeter of the fleet like a hound. Halsey stood outside the Commander's Bridge, looking at the destroyers in the distance. At this moment, he was very touched. The U.S. Navy is perhaps missing more than just aircraft carriers. Battleships, cruisers, such capital battleships, in fact, there was a serious shortage of destroyers, and even a group of destroyers built during the last war had to be mobilized.

In fact, the number of destroyers in the United States is not small. Before entering the war, the U.S. Navy had more than 2oo destroyers (a large part of which was leased to Britain and France to escort the transport fleet in the Atlantic, and most of these leased destroyers were old warships built during World War I), and in the first half of the war. The U.S. Navy has acquired more than 40 new destroyers, all of which have been deployed to the Pacific theater. In the second half of the year, two or three destroyers were commissioned for almost every trip, and most of these destroyers were also sent to the Pacific theater. But the problem is that the loss rate of US destroyers is also quite high, and in several naval battles, the Tang Empire's ground bombers will continue to bomb escort warships after killing the aircraft carriers. In addition, with the elongation of the battle line.

Fresh blood is needed on every battlefield. The "Washington Express", which was previously active in the Mariana Islands and is now active in the Solomon Islands, is mainly composed of destroyers, and the loss rate of these destroyers is even higher. In a night battle in early December, the 1 destroyers who participated in the operation lost 8 ships, and all 4 ships that came back were wounded!

In other words, the U.S. Navy has always lacked escort warships and cannot provide a large number of escort warships for aircraft carriers like the Tang Empire. In fact, this is also a major reason for the high battle loss rate of US aircraft carriers, and aircraft carriers without escort warships are vulnerable to bombers and even cruisers. But this problem will not be solved in the short term, at least for now, Halsey will not be able to get more escort ships.

Just when Halsey was worried about whether the fleet would encounter the submarines of the Tang Empire, the alarm suddenly sounded, and it was really an anti-submarine alarm. By the time Halsey could react, a staff officer had already rushed out, and before he could speak, the staff officer pointed to the left front of the fleet.

A destroyer was firing its guns, and the sound of the cannon was quickly heard, followed by a huge column of water from the explosion of a water bomb on the surface of the sea, and a dull explosion was heard.

"General, that submarine has been killed!"

"Is there a telegram?" Halsey was on the verge of a violent attack, and even brought the enemy's submarine within two nautical miles.

"Well, but it was short, it lasted less than five seconds and then it stopped suddenly."

"Abruptly stopped?" Halsey didn't believe his ears a little, even the shortest telegram would take tens of seconds to get out.

"Yes, it has been aborted, the submarine has been sunk, and now the destroyer is judging the situation."

Halsey glanced over again, and the destroyer had stopped dropping depth charges, and had lowered a gunwale, picking up something from the sea.

"General, shall we move on?"

"Why don't you move on?" Halsey glanced at the staff officer, "Let the destroyers follow after determining the situation, and the fleet will continue to maintain course and degree, and hope that the five-second telegram does not contain important information!" ”

The five-second telegram did go out, and the submarine was unlucky, just as the conning tower was stretched out of the water, and the telegram began. The conning tower was destroyed by a single shell, and then the submarine swooped down urgently, and then it never returned, and the captain who commanded the submarine had just risen, and most of the officers and men on the submarine did not have much actual combat experience, so they did not know at all, and they could stay under the surface of the sea for a few more hours before they came up to the surface of the sea to report after they were safe. I'm afraid they didn't even accurately calculate the distance of the enemy fleet.

The telegram was first sent to the temporary submarine base in Rabauldi, then back to the submarine headquarters, and then to the naval headquarters, where Gan Yongxing immediately sent the telegram to Yan Guozhong, Tan Renhao, Huang Xiaotian, and Yan Shiqi, and it took about half an hour to transit along the way.

"I just received a telegram that this fleet should be numbered 3rd and 31st Task Force." Hao Dongjue sent a telegram from the Navy Headquarters. "Also. One of our submarines has a U.S. fleet about 12o nautical miles northeast of the Bank Islands, and only mentions the size of this fleet, not whether there are aircraft carriers. The telegram was interrupted before it was finished. ”

Tan Renhao frowned slightly. "The Banks Islands?"

"It's just a part of the northern part of the New Hebrides." Hao Dongjue hesitated for a moment, and immediately marked the location of the submarine telegram on the chart, "We calculated the approximate position of this submarine through the method of triangulation, and the telegram was only a very short part, and it did not even mention the location of the telegram, which is a pity." ”

"Those dozens of submarine officers and men have already made sacrifices." Tan Renhao is not so cold-blooded.

"Now, we should make their sacrifice a little more worthwhile."

"Mainly, we don't know at all whether there are aircraft carriers in this, and, judging by the information provided by the command of the Navy, this is a submarine that has just been commissioned. Most of the crew members were novices, and the captain had only just been promoted. Hao Dongjue sighed secretly, "Perhaps, this is just a fleet of transport ships heading to Port Vila." ”

"But it's also possible that Task Force 31 is rushing over!" Tan Renhao glanced at his partner, "In the previous telegrams, there was no mention of aircraft carriers in the 32nd Task Force, and several submarines were reported a few hours later, and they clearly mentioned the number of battleships and cruisers in the fleet, and even roughly estimated the number of destroyers, if there were aircraft carriers." They will definitely mention it first, and if it is not raised, then it turns out that there are no aircraft carriers! ”

Hao Dongjue nodded, this is for sure, three of the five previous telegrams came from the submarine of the navy's ace submarine captain (referring to the captain who sank more than 1o merchant ships at sea, or the captain of more than 5 warships), these captains are very experienced and know how to explain the situation clearly.

"That is, Halsey has at least five aircraft carriers in his hands!" Tan Renhao pointed on the chart, "The previous radio wave came from the south of this sea, and after the 32nd Task Force left the port of Brisbane, this radio station never sent any more signals. Then, there is a good chance that your previous speculation was correct. If Task Force 31 had started heading north, it would have reached this area right now. ”

"It seems that there is a good chance that this is Halsey."

Tan Renhao nodded slightly. "It looks like Halsey is going to get into the war zone first, grab a good position, and then wait for us to die."

"It's not that easy, they won't be able to reach the eastern waters of the Solomon Islands until at least tonight."

"One night is enough for Task Force 31 to maneuver hundreds of nautical miles." Tan Renhao glanced at his partner, "Halsey has enough time to occupy the attack position. ”

"Then we should act now!"

Before Tan Renhao could speak, the communications staff officer ran over and delivered the seventh telegram in six hours. Tan Ren glanced at it quickly, and then gave it to Hao Dongjue.

"The transport fleet is out, it seems that the 32nd Task Force is determined to go north tonight!"

Tan Renhao touched his chin and thought for a while. "This is from Yan Guozhong's side, he should have informed the Third Task Force and the Fourth Task Force. If Task Force 32 were to move north tonight, Halsey would certainly enter the attack area this evening and attack us at dawn. ”

"We also attack at dawn."

"The premise is that we can find Halsey." Tan Renhao sneered, "However, he also has to find us first." Let the fleet turn, send seaplanes to Task Force 4, and the rendezvous time will be brought forward to five o'clock in the afternoon. ”

Hao Dongjue nodded, and immediately went to convey the order, and ten minutes later, "Li Jing" next to him

A seaplane aboard the cruiser was ejected and flew all in a north-western direction.

Forty minutes later, the seaplane reached the area where Task Force 4 had previously been active, but found no Task Force 4, only a destroyer. He then followed the destroyer to the southwest, and arrived over the Fourth Task Force 10 minutes later, and then landed next to the aircraft carrier "Yangtze River," the flagship of the Fourth Task Force, and delivered Tan Renhao's order to Huang Xiaotian.

In fact, as early as an hour ago, Huang Xiaotian had made the decision to arrive in the rendezvous area ahead of schedule, and he also considered that Tan Renhao would make the same decision, so he left a destroyer in the previous sea area to wait for the seaplane that came to convey the order. Huang Xiaotian also received those telegrams at the same time, and made the same judgment, Halsey was heading north, preparing to seize the attack position at night, and they must first enter the attack area, prepare for battle as soon as possible, and then arrange reconnaissance planes to find the 31st Task Force.

Both task forces are hurrying to the rendezvous area. Until this time, Tan Renhao did not make a final decision, in fact, the biggest problem is still the weather. Aircraft carrier operations require higher reconnaissance and intelligence, and if the enemy fleet cannot be found, then it will not be able to attack, let alone destroy the enemy fleet. Because the two sides are fighting in waters hundreds of nautical miles apart, or even hundreds of nautical miles, the possibility of a collision by mistake is very slim, and reconnaissance work is of great importance. But the problem is that in the current bad weather, it will be very difficult to find the enemy fleet.