While the battle, which later became known as the Battle of Taunji, was still going on, Tan Renhao was also trying to find a way to find Halsey's whereabouts. Task Force 1 maneuvered to about 120 nautical miles south of Rennell Island before dawn and then let the reconnaissance planes depart. At this time, Task Force 4 also maneuvered to about 150 nautical miles south of Tagura, and released reconnaissance aircraft before dawn.

The 3rd Task Force maneuvered to about 100 nautical miles west of Rennell Island, ready to move south to shield the two carrier task forces.

When he learned that the Second Task Force would bomb the US convoy on the morning of the 25th, Tan Renhao knew that Halsey was very likely to make a move on the 25th, so he set the time for the decisive battle on the 25th. And on the night of the 24th, he arranged a seaplane to go to the other two task forces and told Huang Xiaotian and Chang Jianxin the news of the decisive battle. The naval air forces on Tagula Island and Rennell Island also received an order to intensify patrol operations in the Coral Sea all day on 25 May to determine the specific location of the US fleet as soon as possible.

According to Tan Renhao's idea, if Halsey still avoids fighting, then he chooses to take the initiative to attack and look for fighters, and he must not delay time any longer. And under the circumstances, no one would have known that Task Force 2 was running to death. Even Tan Renhao didn't know that the war situation in the Central Pacific would take a huge turn, he just felt that he had to deal with the enemy in the Coral Sea as soon as possible, and then go to the Central Pacific Theater to block Nimitz's strategic counterattack, if it dragged on here for too long, then the situation would be extremely unfavorable to the Tang Imperial Navy.

At that time, there was only the southern part of the Coral Sea. That is, the waters between New Caledonia and the Australian mainland have not been reconnoitred, and long-range reconnaissance planes deployed on Rennell Island and Tagoura Island cannot fly over, and this sea area has always been a key antisubmarine area for the US military. Therefore, the number of submarines of the Tang Empire operating in this sea area is extremely small, and almost no submarines will take the initiative to go to this sea area to operate. The hundreds of long-range anti-submarine patrol planes of the US military pose a very huge threat to submarines and grounds!

"That is, there is a good chance that the US fleet is here." Hao Dongjue has also been judging Halsey's whereabouts, "In addition, after the 32nd and 33rd task forces departed from Brisbane Port, our submarines discovered this fleet twice. Their course was exactly northeast, that is, into this sea. In all likelihood, Halsey will unite Mitchell and act with Kincaid, rather than alone. ”

Tan Renhao held his chin, and his eyes still fell on the sea area on the chart. It is likely that Halsey will choose the two carrier task forces to operate jointly, with Task Force 33 behind.

If the outcome of the day is uncertain, he will definitely let Kincaid lead the battleship north, just like Tan Renhao's disappearance and let the Third Task Force move behind him, if the daytime bombardment does not work, he will not hesitate to let Chang Jianxin lead the Third Task Force south.

Right now. The situation in which the US military has three task forces is basically certain. Task Force 31 has the ability to compete with Task Force 1, both are three-carrier task forces, and both are capable of organizing two large waves of bombers. There is even the ability to organize a third wave of bombers, and whoever strikes first will be the winner. But the problem is that Task Force 32 has only six small aircraft carriers. The number of fighters carried by these six small aircraft carriers is not lower than the three fleet aircraft carriers of the 31st Task Force, but the problem is that the small aircraft carriers are not as fast as the fleet aircraft carriers in terms of the speed of fighter sorties and the survivability. If Task Force 32 were to face off against Task Force 4, it would likely result that Mitchell would be completely knocked down, and Task Force 4 would even be able to organize a group of aircraft to bomb Task Force 31.

Of course, it is very likely that Halsey will adopt a different tactic, which is to use Task Force 32 to confuse Task Force 1, and he will lead Task Force 31 to take out Task Force 4 first. Perhaps the battle would continue throughout the day, and Task Force 1 would not be able to reinforce Task Force 4 in time, Halsey sent Task Force 33 north in the afternoon, forcing Task Force 1 to retreat and Task Force 3rd to the south to block Task Force 33. After daybreak, Task Force 31 and Task Force 32 joined forces to eliminate Task Force 1, and even had the ability to take out Task Force 3, which was not completely annihilated, and won the final victory.

In addition, Halsey has a third option, that is, to set up a maze array, first let the fourth task force or the first task force be dragged down, and then he concentrates all the air strike forces of the two aircraft carrier task forces to kill one of the task forces, and then quickly transfer the battlefield, kill the second task force, and retreat south at night, let the 33rd task force block the third task force going south, and wait until dawn to send bombers to deal with the third task force and win the final victory.

This is Tan Renhao's analysis of the three possible tactics adopted by Halsey, and among them, the third one, that is, the possibility of concentrating forces to take out an aircraft carrier task force of the Tang Imperial Navy is the greatest. Neither the 31st Task Force nor the 32nd Task Force had much confidence in winning the 1st Task Force or the 4th Task Force alone, and it was even very likely that they would be counterattacked and finally completely destroyed. On the contrary, if two US aircraft carrier task forces act in a concentrated manner, then one wave of bombers will be enough to finish off one aircraft carrier task force of the Tang Empire. In fact, this is also the main reason why Hao Dongjue judged that Halsey would let the two task forces be dispatched at the same time.

"It seems that we have to get closer to Huang Xiaotian." Tan Renhao raised his head, "Go and contact Huang Xiaotian and ask them to maneuver 50 nautical miles to the east, and we will also maneuver a little west, so that the distance between the two fleets is kept at about 80 nautical miles, if Halsey wants to fight a large-scale decisive battle with us, then the bombers of any of our task forces can completely destroy him." ”

"Do you want to get Task Force 3 closer?"

Tan Renhao pondered for a moment and said, "Contact Lao Chang and ask him to set the fleet a little south, and it will be about 50 nautical miles behind us at noon." If the daytime battle is not decided. Then Halsey is likely to let Task Force 33 go north at night, and when the time comes, we will have to let the old man come and help us block the shells. ”

Hao Dongjue did not waste time. Immediately went and called the communications staff officer.

"General, a new telegram from the Theater Command. Task Force 2 bombed the U.S. convoy! "When the communications staff officer came, he also sent a telegram that had just been received.

Tan Renhao and Hao Dongjue were both shocked, and the two of them looked up at the navigation clock at the same time, it was half past nine, and it took a certain amount of time for the telegram to be transferred. That is, the bombers of the second task force should have started bombing the American convoy at about nine o'clock.

"Send the news out now." Tan Renhao looked at the communications staff officer, "When there is new news, come and tell us immediately." ”

Over the next few hours, Task Force 1 began to sail westward, while Task Force 4 was also heading east, and both task forces had the second group of reconnaissance planes set off at noon. Task Force 3 reached about 50 nautical miles behind Task Force 1 by noon and continued to wait for news. During this period, Tan Renhao and the others received several telegrams from the theater command, and when they learned that the second task force was being bombed. They couldn't believe it was true, and then, when they learned that it was the fleet carrier with the number 13 that appeared on the battlefield. Only then did I understand that the Yankees repaired the aircraft carrier "Franklin" that was injured in the "Battle of Midway" before!

"Newly received, the USS Bell Lake is finished." Hao Dongjue's hand holding the telegram was trembling slightly, "Zheng Guanhua led the remaining warships to retreat south. So far, they have been attacked five times in a row, and the number of US bombers bombing the second task force is more than 140, and Zheng Guanhua judged that the US military has at least two or more aircraft carriers, or even two fleet aircraft carriers. ”

Tan Renhao gritted his teeth, he had already received bad news again and again. It was almost two o'clock now, and he couldn't believe that there would be more than two aircraft carriers fighting Task Force 2. Moreover, the appearance of the US Fleet northeast of the Second Task Force could not have been Halsey's Task Force 31, and it was impossible for the 31st Task Force to rush to any sea area. So, how did the United States come up with another aircraft carrier? Could it be that at this time there were no six small aircraft carriers in the 32nd Task Force, only five, or even four small aircraft carriers? This is obviously unlikely, the submarine has confirmed three times that there are six small aircraft carriers in the 32nd task force, it is impossible for all three captains to judge the 10,000-ton freighter as a small aircraft carrier, right? Moreover, in these three contacts, Task Force 32 was able to reach speeds of more than 20 knots, while none of the 10,000-ton freighters could exceed 18 knots. Could it be that the United States transferred escort aircraft carriers from the other side of the Atlantic? However, the problem is also obvious: it is difficult for escort aircraft carriers to carry bombers such as SBDs, and the speed is almost below 20 knots, making it difficult to accompany the fleet in combat, which is the reason why the United States has not allowed escort aircraft carriers to be active in the Pacific theater so far.

"But the question is, why are there so many bombers?" Hao Dongjue was also very puzzled, "The number of standard carrier aircraft of the 'Essex' class is less than 100, and the limit number of carrier aircraft is only about 120. Is it true that Task Force 31 has only two fleet aircraft carriers instead of three? ”

Tan Renhao shook his head slightly, and said: "Task Force 31 went south before the 'Battle of Midway', if there were four fleet aircraft carriers in Spruance's hands at that time, then why did he keep one during the Battle of Midway, instead of using all four?" ”

Hao Dongjue smiled, and knew that there was no problem with Tan Renhao's judgment. If Spruance had four fleet aircraft carriers in his hands at that time, then the outcome of the "Battle of Midway" would have been completely different, and today's battle would not have happened, and Task Force 2 would have been killed long ago.

"It seems that Spruance has increased the strike power of aircraft carriers in a way that we have not yet thought of." Tan Renhao sighed, "It's already a fact that the Second Task Force was defeated, it's useless for us to guess how many aircraft carriers Spruance has, the key now is that we have to kill the aircraft carriers in Halsey's hands as soon as possible, and it won't last long in the Central Pacific." ”

"Do you think Halsey still has three fleet carriers?"

"Yes, three fleet aircraft carriers, six small aircraft carriers, it doesn't hurt to think a little bit stronger about the enemy." Tan Renhao's gaze returned to the chart, and then he realized the danger, "Dongjue, how many reconnaissance planes are we searching the waters west of the New Hebrides?" ”

"This ......," Hao Dongjue hesitated for a moment, and said, "The fleet has sent a small group of reconnaissance planes over, and in addition, HNA has also arranged about 50 long-range reconnaissance planes here, and the sea area within 350 nautical miles in our direction is under surveillance." ”

"So, how many reconnaissance planes are there on the west side of the Coral Sea?" Tan Renhao clicked on the chart again.

"The Fourth Task Force should have arranged a small group of reconnaissance planes here, and there are more than 20 reconnaissance planes patrolling here on Tagura Island, and the key monitoring range is still 350 nautical miles."

Tan Renhao nodded slightly, and then, his gaze fell on the Great Barrier Reef. This is the collective name of a group of coral reefs in the northeast of the Australian continent, in the western part of the Coral Sea, and it is also the largest coral reef group in the world. The US military has set up radar stations on several of these coral reefs, and the US military has always had fighter planes patrolling here, especially those P-51D "Mustang" fighters that have just been deployed to the southwest Pacific theater and have an extremely long range are concentrated at airfields in the northeast of the Australian mainland, so the long-range reconnaissance planes of the HNA rarely patrol the waters over the Great Barrier Reef.

Previously, Tan Renhao did not pay much attention to this area, the average water depth of the sea area was less than 20 meters, and the reef was dense, and there was no suitable route for large warships to pass through. But the problem is that if Halsey has the courage to pass through this side, then he can appear in the northwest waters of the Coral Sea, that is, to the west of the Fourth Task Force, and the number of reconnaissance planes patrolling here is the least, even if the reconnaissance planes of the Fourth Task Force discover the American fleet, Halsey still has enough time to kill the Fourth Task Force before the First Task Force arrives!