With the officers and men of the fleet and the air force returning one after another, around 25 May, the fleet returned to normal order, and all kinds of preparations for departure were arranged one after another. Tan Renhao and Zheng Guanhua were very busy, and the departure of the fleet was said to be an ordinary thing, but when they were preparing, Tan Renhao and Zheng Guanhua couldn't wait to have a few doppelgangers.

The battleships repaired at the Guangzhou shipyard were also returning one after another, and a group of cruisers that were not seriously damaged were the first to regain their combat effectiveness. In order to make room for repairs for other warships, these ships that have completed repair work cannot continue to remain in the shipyard. Tan Renhao contacted the port of Guangzhou, let the port of Guangzhou vacate a number of berths, and then let these warships transfer over, just this matter, he ran for two days, and finally contacted Gan Yongxing, so that Gan Yongxing put pressure on the port of Guangzhou before it was resolved.

There was also some trouble at Baiyun Airport. By the 27th, most of the officers and men of the carrier-based aviation unit had been reorganized, and these personnel were temporarily arranged at the Baiyun airfield, but the bunks that could be provided at the airport were limited, and the shore-based troops of the naval aviation were originally stationed here. After all the three air brigades of the First Task Force were rebuilt, more than 300 combat planes and several thousand officers and men were concentrated at Baiyun Airport, and the airport simply could not accommodate so many fighters and personnel. Especially personnel. As a result, Tan Renhao could only find the garrison headquarters in Guangzhou, contact two nearby airports, and let some personnel and planes transfer over, which solved the problem.

These can be regarded as relatively big troubles, and small troubles are even more numerous. Don't say anything else. The problem of food for tens of thousands of officers and men of the fleet is very troublesome. Before most of the warships were repaired, these officers and men could only stay on the shore, and although there were several naval barracks in Guangzhou, it was a big problem to suddenly accept so many people. There is also the problem of the logistical supply of fuel, ammunition and so on consumed during training. It is enough to give Tan Renhao and Zheng Guanhua a headache. In particular, the fuel consumed by the aviation forces. This almost got to the command of the Navy.

At that time, it was the local garrison commands that were responsible for providing training fuel for combat units. In times of war, fuel is a controlled substance, and the availability of local fuel by the local garrison commands is quite limited, and it must be approved by the naval command. This can be said to be a direct manifestation of the naval bureaucracy, but Tan Renhao doesn't care about so much at all, and he won't think about those troubles, but just asks the garrison headquarters in Guangzhou to provide him with the fuel he needs. As a result, the Guangzhou Garrison Command was simply unable to raise the training fuel needed by the First Task Force Air Force. If Gan Yongxing hadn't noticed this problem in time and immediately sent a few oil tankers to transport aviation gasoline, I am afraid that Tan Renhao would have had trouble with the commander of the garrison here to the naval headquarters.

Tan Renhao is not without experience in dealing with these troubles, when Ji Xiaobin was the commander of the First Task Force, he was responsible for handling the logistics support of the First Task Force, but most of the time, he handed over some things to Chang Jianxin and Lei Shaoqing to deal with, and the scale of the First Task Force at that time. In addition, the actual situation in the rear was different from now, and most of the supply work was also carried out in Songjiang and Zhoushan, so there was not much trouble at all. Later, the supply of the fleet was in charge of Lei Shaoqing and Hao Dongjue, and he almost didn't ask about it, but now when he personally dealt with these problems, he found that it was indeed not easy to be an excellent chief of staff of the fleet, and this was also the place to train the chief of staff of the fleet, and it was the test that the chief of staff of the fleet had to go through to become the commander of the fleet.

In the midst of all kinds of troubles, the strength of the First Task Force is also rapidly recovering. The maintenance work of the "Hongzehu" aircraft carrier was completed on 6 June, and the maintenance work of the "Gaoyouhu" aircraft carrier was also completed the next day. The repair of the last cruiser ended on June 9. On the same day, Tan Renhao transferred the fleet headquarters to the newly commissioned aircraft carrier "Longganhu".

Originally, Tan Renhao wanted to set up the "Hongze Lake" as the flagship, but during the maintenance period, in order to speed up the maintenance. Part of the communication and command facilities on the "Hongzehu" were not replenished. The "Longganhu" aircraft carrier is newly commissioned, and the above-ground command facilities are more perfect. Therefore, Tan Renhao replaced the flagship. The captain of the flagship was Li Wenlong, who was recruited back by Tan Renhao, and Tan Renhao did not think of asking Li Wenlong to come back and continue to serve as the captain of the ship (in fact, the commander of the aircraft carrier battle group, with the rank of brigadier general, not the rank of colonel), but after Li Wenlong learned that the First Task Force had returned to the Pacific theater and that a new aircraft carrier battle group would be put into service, he immediately rushed to Guangzhou and came to Tan Renhao to report.

"When will the officers and men of the fleet, as well as the orderly officers of the aviation units, return to the fleet?"

"Half an hour ago, all the officers and men had already returned to the fleet." Zheng Guanhua immediately answered Tan Renhao's question.

"All came back half an hour ago?" Tan Renhao glanced at his partner, "Very good, so when will the supply work be ready?" ”

Zheng Guanhua glanced at his watch. "It's going to take two hours at most, so I'm sure I'll be ready by 10 o'clock."

"The fleet lifted anchor at half past ten." Tan Renhao looked in the direction of the exit of the port, "The fleet should return to the war zone as soon as possible, and it is beneficial to us to gain time." ”

Zheng Guanhua also looked in the direction of the exit of the port, it was already the end of the first half of the month, if the fleet moved at cruising speed, and directly entered the Sulu Sea and the Arafu Sea from the South China Sea, taking the shortest route, it would take at least six days to reach the Coral Sea, and it would be quite good to reach the Tasman Sea on the night of the 15th.

"General, the telegram I just received, from the command of the Navy." At this time, the correspondent came over with a newly received telegram.

"It's sure to get us on the road right away." Tan Renhao took the telegram, read it quickly, and then gave it to Zheng Guanhua. "I'm going to contact the port command, the fleet has to leave the port before twelve o'clock. You organize all the staff officers as quickly as possible, and gather in the conference room in ten minutes. ”

As Tan Renhao guessed, this was the telegram from the Navy Command urging the First Task Force to rush to the theater of operations as soon as possible. When Tan Renhao went to contact the port command to arrange the departure of the fleet, Zheng Guanhua called the main staff officers of the fleet headquarters to the conference room. Ten minutes later, Tan Renhao came to the conference room.

"I won't dwell on it. I'm sure you're already aware of the new order of the Navy Division. "Tan Renhao didn't delay a little time." The newly received order was very clear: we must reach the operational sea area by the 15th, and when we arrived, we must be ready for battle, and we can only meet up with the supply fleet on the night of the 15th at the earliest to obtain fuel supplies. Navigation staff, come up with the relevant route as soon as possible, and before ten o'clock, I will come to confirm the place. ”

The nautical staff officer immediately nodded, this was his essential job.

"Now. There is still a group of warships that have not been tested, and I have already contacted the port side, and they will arrange for a group of personnel to go with the fleet, and when they pass through the Sulu Sea, these personnel will leave the fleet by plane, so the test work of those warships can only be carried out in the middle of the voyage. Tan Renhao glanced at everyone, and finally looked at Zheng Guanhua, "Chief of Staff." You have to arrange the relevant things as soon as possible, and this group of personnel will be in the fleet before eleven o'clock. ”

"No problem, I'll arrange it later."

"The aviation unit should also contact immediately, let Yang Qinkai and them move to Jakarta first, and then transfer to the aircraft carrier after the fleet reaches the nearby waters, so that we can free up a batch of cabins for the workers in the port to live in." Tan Renhao walked to the middle of the staff officers. "There are still four hours left, let's go and get ready!"

At half past eight, the boilers on all the battleships were working, and according to the old rules, the boilers had to be preheated for at least six hours before leaving the port, but now there were only three hours for the boilers to be reheated, so that after the fleet had departed, it would first sail at a slow pace. After it is determined that the boilers on each ship are working properly, this will be increased to cruising speed.

Before ten o'clock. Tan Renhao determined the specific route of the fleet to the theater of operations. According to the requirements of the Navy Command, if the fleet was to reach the theater of operations on the afternoon of 15 July, it would have to increase its speed, even if it adopted the closest route, and could not move forward at the standard cruising speed of 18 knots. Because the time margin is relatively small, and considering that the voyage must be affected by other factors, the cruising speed set by the navigation staff officer is 21 knots, so that if you encounter some unexpected troubles on the voyage in time, you can also rush to the war zone on time, and if the road is smooth, you can still strive to reach the war zone on the morning of 15 July.

At half past eleven, the destroyers in the "Longganhu" aircraft carrier battle group first left the dock and headed for the waterway leaving the port, and then the other warships in the battle group followed one by one, followed by the other two aircraft carrier battle groups and the artillery group. It took about an hour and a half for the entire fleet to leave the port of Guangzhou, and when they arrived at Lingdingyang, several warships that had been testing here during the day followed the fleet and headed south together.

When the fleet left Lingdingyang and entered the South China Sea, it was almost dawn. It was only at this time that Tan Renhao arranged the detailed work in the fleet. Zheng Guanhua was also busy all night, the fleet set off in a bit of a hurry, and a lot of work was not prepared in place, not to mention anything else, now there are more than 1,000 letters in the fleet that have not been sent. As a result, much of the preparation had to be carried out during the voyage, and some transport ships had to be arranged to bring the necessary equipment and supplies.

"You go and rest first, and come and change me in the afternoon." Tan Renhao called Zheng Guanhua outside the command cabin.

"I'm not tired, talk about the general, you should go and rest."

"It's okay, you still have to be on duty at night, if you have a break in the afternoon, when can you come in the evening?" Tan Renhao patted Zheng Guanhua on the shoulder, "Let's go eat first, then go sleep for a few hours, and I'll send someone to call you in the afternoon." ”

"Okay, let's go eat first."

There were quite a few officers in the cafeteria, and because they had just returned to the team, many of them took advantage of the meal time to talk about some family matters. Judging from what Tan Renhao learned during this time, taking the opportunity of this vacation, at least more than 100 officers in the fleet went back to get married. In addition, a large number of officers have been promoted this time, especially for those officers from poor backgrounds, being promoted in the army is simply a matter of glory to their ancestors!

When Hao Dongjue was the chief of staff of the fleet, Tan Renhao heard Hao Dongjue talk about the story of a newly promoted major officer in the fleet. When the major officer returned to his hometown in Shanxi, he almost alarmed the entire town, he was the first senior naval officer from the local area, not to mention the big banquet to celebrate, the old man in the family also presided over a special sacrifice event, and his family status in the whole family has been greatly improved.

This kind of thing is not uncommon in the navy, relatively speaking, in the interior, naval officers are more popular than army officers, probably this has something to do with the historical traditions of the navy. The number of officers who have come out of the First Task Force is now the largest among the new generation of officers in the Navy, and almost half of the newly promoted officers have something to do with the First Task Force. And this is also Tan Renhao's biggest capital in addition to his brothers who are generals.

The two of them asked for breakfast, and then went to the flight deck outside, not "getting in the way" of the other officers in the dining room. The officers and men of the battleship are preparing to sweep the flight deck. At the bow of the ship, several recruits were being reprimanded by the veterans, probably doing something wrong. Zheng Guanhua wanted to go over and teach those veterans a lesson, but Tan Renhao stopped and didn't let him deal with these trivial things.

By the time Zheng Guanhua went back to rest, the sky had already brightened, and the sun had soon risen above the sea antenna. At this time, the fleet made one last turn to circumvent the submarine. The South China Sea is basically the "inner lake" of the Imperial Navy, and since the beginning of last year, no enemy submarines have been found here, but in accordance with the fleet's navigation regulations, in order to avoid being attacked by enemy submarines, the fleet still has to make evasive maneuvers from time to time.

When Tan Renhao returned to the command cabin, a group of staff officers had already been replaced, and the newly appointed staff officers were still busy, and there were still a large number of details that had not been taken care of, so the staff officers' shift change work took nearly half an hour longer than before. Tan Renhao didn't bother the staff officers, but came to the stool next to the chart table and sat down. From now on, he reinstated himself as commander of the fleet, and he had to concentrate on the next combat operations.