It was not until the morning of 2 August that new information arrived, and this time the military intelligence agency performed very positively, confirming that it was the main US fleet headed south, including at least six aircraft carriers, six large cruisers (instead of the five previously confirmed), and a large number of cruisers and destroyers, and the four "Iowa"-class battleships that had previously separated from the formation did not go to Pearl Harbor, but after replenishing fuel at the Christmas Island anchorage, they sailed directly to the Southwest Pacific Theater. In addition to these carriers, there may be six smaller carriers that have also made their way to the Southwest Pacific theater of operations. In other words, there is a good chance that only three aircraft carriers will remain at Pearl Harbor.

"How reliable is the intelligence?" Tan Renhao was surprised by the performance of the military intelligence agency this time, and before that, the military intelligence agency had not provided any useful information for several months.

"It should be high, that's what the MIA says." Gan Yongxing walked into the office, and after Tan Renhao came in, he closed the door, "This time, the Military Intelligence Bureau used a secret channel to obtain this information, and the German side also provided relevant proof, except for the location of the six small aircraft carriers cannot be determined, other information should be reliable." According to the estimates of the Military Intelligence Agency, the warships should arrive in Port Vila in ten days and enter the Southwest Pacific theater. ”

Tan Renhao is not engaged in intelligence, and he has no way to confirm the correctness of this information.

"Okay, so what is the purpose of the US military in choosing the Southwest Pacific as the key direction of counterattack?"

"It's also mentioned in the intelligence." Gan Yongxing asked Tan Renhao to sit down, "Judging from the information we have received now, the task of the US military's counterattack this time was directly arranged by the president. And not determined by the generals. ”

"Political purpose?" Tan Renhao still feels that this is a bit of a problem.

"Yes, political purposes." Gan Yongxing took out a cigarette, "I discussed it with the principal before. If the direction of the U.S. counterattack is determined to be in the southwest Pacific, then it will definitely be a political goal. ”

Tan Renhao touched his chin and thought about it. But there was no rush to speak.

"You sit down for a while, I'll take care of these things, and then I'll go to the headmaster." Gan Yongxing walked behind the desk, "You think about it carefully, and the principal will definitely make a decision later." ”

Tan Renhao didn't bother Gan Yongxing. Instead, he thought about it seriously. He thought so before, but now the question is, if the US military cannot ensure military superiority, how can it achieve its political goals? Although it is said that war is a continuation of politics and war is for politics, in order to achieve political goals, victory in war is the most crucial thing. The relationship between the two is dialectical, and the US military is currently in the stage of overall defense in the Pacific theater. It is not easy to have the capital to fight back strategically, so the first thing to ensure is a military victory, and then to pursue political goals after victory. That's the most reasonable arrangement, right?

Thinking of this, Tan Renhao also had a bit of a headache, he was unfamiliar with politics, so naturally he couldn't think more broadly.

"Alright. Let's go to the principal. Gan Yongxing looked at his watch, "The principal has probably read the information too, I'm afraid he is waiting for us to pass." ”

The two immediately went to Nie Renfeng's office, and when they arrived, Nie Renfeng was about to ask his adjutant to come over and call Tan Renhao and Gan Yongxing.

"Yongxing, immediately arrange for the Fourth Task Force to return to the waters north of the Solomon Islands, and in addition, the Third Task Force will maneuver to the Solomon Sea. Also, contact the Guam side, and the 1st Task Force should be ready to leave immediately. Nie Renfeng didn't wait for Gan Yongxing and them to speak, and made the first arrangement, "The intelligence has been confirmed, and the six aircraft carriers of the US military have been organized into two task forces and are rushing to the Southwest Pacific Theater. In addition, their seven battleships will also be organized into a powerful battleship fleet, which will accompany the aircraft carrier fleet. ”

"Anything else?" Tan Renhao looked at the principal.

"Yes, the U.S. military is deploying troops in the Southwest Pacific." Nie Renfeng sat down, "The convoys that followed the U.S. fleet into the Pacific Ocean are about to arrive at the port of Brisbane, sending at least 20 divisions of ground troops to MacArthur, as well as a large number of weapons and equipment, ammunition and supplies. And the replenishment of combat aircraft to the Southwest Pacific theater alone exceeded 3000. ”

Tan Renhao's eyes immediately widened in surprise, so many troops were enough to launch a large-scale strategic counterattack, maybe enough for MacArthur to take down the Solomon Islands.

"I have contacted the Marine Corps Command to try to provide Yan Guozhong with at least 10 divisions of ground troops in the middle of the year, and the HNA will also send at least 30 squadrons of combat aircraft to the Southwest Pacific Theater in the near future." Nie Renfeng patted the armrest of the sofa, "This is all the troops we can mobilize in front of us, and the deployment of reinforcements will continue to expand." The U.S. military's counterattack in the southwest Pacific will certainly be very large, and they must first seize sea supremacy and air supremacy, without these two points, the U.S. military's counterattack will not be successful, so the decisive battle of the fleet is still the key to the key. ”

Tan Renhao has been thinking quickly, the counterattack is not only the counterattack of the fleet, if there is no cooperation of ground forces, then the counterattack of the fleet is of little significance, especially in the southwest Pacific theater, because of the dense islands, when the fleet launches a counterattack operation, it must have the cooperation of ground forces. The movement of the US fleet may be concealed, but the problem is that large-scale ground troop movements cannot be completely secret.

"Renhao, Renhao......"

Tan Renhao was stunned for a moment, and then looked at the principal.

"Now we only have the Second Task Force operating in the Pacific Theater, the Battle of Midway is not over yet, and the Fifth Fleet has at least three small aircraft carriers, maybe more than three, so I can't send the Second Task Force to the Southwest Pacific Theater. Only Task Force 1 and Task Force 4 can be the main force. Nie Renfeng paused slightly, "The Third Task Force is under your full command as a supplementary force, are you confident?" ”

Tan Renhao nodded slightly, he couldn't shake his head.

"I will let Han Shaofeng take down Midway as soon as possible, as long as Midway is laid. Immediately let the second task force transfer over, so, without complete certainty. You'd better hold off the American fleet. Nie Renfeng crossed his hands, "Drag it out as long as you can." I know that too.

If you have the chance, you won't give up. But you have to realize that this counterattack by the US military is fierce, and we do not have absolute superiority. I'm going to send two additional small carriers to Task Force 4 to form a new carrier battle group. You have at least six carrier-based aviation groups in your hands, and the American fleet has about the same number of fighters as yours, do you know what I mean? ”

"Headmaster, I know." Tan Renhao let out a sigh. "Try to delay the time, if you don't have a chance, you won't fight, if you have a chance, you will be resolute, if the second task force can arrive in time, then we will have an advantage in strength. Do you want to add two small aircraft carriers to Task Force 2 as well? ”

Nie Renfeng glanced at Gan Yongxing, and Gan Yongxing nodded slightly.

"It's not a big problem. The artillery formation was changed to an escort formation, the number of escort warships was sufficient, and this decisive battle was a naval battle. Rather than ground support operations. We'll send two more small carriers to Task Force 2. ”

"And when am I leaving?" Tan Renhao didn't want to delay any longer.

"You go directly to Lae to join the fleet, you don't have to hurry." Nie Renfeng looked at Gan Yongxing, "Yongxing." You go and deal with the matter of sending more aircraft carriers first. Let me talk to Ren Hao alone. ”

Gan Yongxing immediately got up to say goodbye, and patted Tan Renhao's shoulder before leaving, as if to reassure Tan Renhao.

"Do you have any questions?" Nie Renfeng asked Tan Renhao to sit on the chair next to him.

"Headmaster. Actually......" Tan Renhao smiled and shook his head, "Maybe I'm worrying too much." ”

"Tell me, maybe your opinion is very reasonable."

"Principal, I always feel that there is a big problem with the counterattack of the US military.

Tan Renhao sorted out his thoughts. He said, "Although the chief of staff told me that the US military counterattack was personally determined by the US president, and the most important thing is the political goal, and I did not think of what the political goal is, but I think that the most important task of the US military now is to reverse the situation of geographical disadvantage in the Pacific theater, and this is what they should do the most." If the war is finally defeated, no political goal can be achieved, unless the political goal of the president of the United States is to lose the war.

Only by winning the Pacific War can they obtain the most political benefits, and this is the most critical and important political task of the United States. ”

"You have a point, actually, I've thought about it." Nie Renfeng didn't think Tan Renhao's words were ridiculous, "This time, in addition to confirming that the US fleet has rushed to the Southwest Pacific Theater, I also received an intelligence. I didn't show this information to Gan Yongxing, and in fact there was no need for it. ”

"Another piece of information?"

Nie Renfeng went and took the document with the words "Top Secret" printed in red. "It's a new situation on the other side of the European theater. At the end of last month, at least fifteen divisions of American troops had already arrived in Britain and were now preparing to go to France, while German intelligence estimates that the United States would send at least 50 divisions of ground troops to Britain by the end of October, and possibly even 80 divisions, and these troops would certainly be put into the Western Front of Europe by the end of the year! ”

"Germany has already begun to attack France?"

"Last month, the general offensive of the Germans with our expeditionary force had begun, and now the campaign is progressing basically smoothly and according to the expected plan." Nie Renfeng sat down, "Now you understand the purpose of the U.S. military's counterattack in the Southwest Pacific, right?" ”

Tan Renhao hesitated for a moment, then shook his head, he really didn't connect the two.

"If the U.S. military strikes back in the Central Pacific, we only need to send a fleet to deal with it, and at most we can abandon the Marshall Islands, Gilbert Islands, Wake Island and other islands, and then steadily retreat to the Mariana Islands defense line. After this battle, it is impossible for the US military to advance the front to the Mariana Islands without half a year. And our main force in defense is the fleet, not the ground forces. In half a year, maybe France will be finished. Nie Renfeng crossed his hands again, "And their counterattack in the southwest Pacific will continue for more than half of it, but the problem is that we must send additional ground troops to the southwest Pacific." With a shortage of Marines, we had to bring the Army into the war and send Army units to defend the islands in the Southwest Pacific. ”

"What does this have to do with the fighting in Western Europe?"

"We're only about half of our troops in Western Europe right now, and we haven't reached half of them yet." Nie Renfeng smiled and shook his head, "And think about it, if the U.S. military takes down the Solomon Islands, what will be their next target?" Will it be the Caroline? Definitely not, if I were the commander of the American army, I would definitely march immediately into the South Seas, from the south to the empire itself. What should the empire do in this situation? The only way is to increase the garrison in the South Seas. And what we are now stationed in Nanyang are all army units. At that time, in order to protect the security of the empire itself, the army will definitely increase its troops in the South Seas. Perhaps, we will not transfer the expeditionary force to strengthen the defense of the Nanyang region, but will we transfer troops on the battlefield against Russia? This is certain, and most likely the infantry units deployed on the Eastern Front in Europe. When the time comes, the Russian army will attack Germany in a big way, so will the German army still be able to quickly eliminate France on the Western Front? ”

Tan Renhao followed the principal's words and made several turns, and suddenly understood.

"The U.S. military's choice to launch a strategic counterattack in the Southwest Pacific theater is not only for political purposes, but also for military purposes, and it is also a military value seen from the perspective of the overall situation." Nie Renfeng stood up, "The ultimate goal of the US military is for us to weaken our investment in the mainland battlefield, especially on the Russian battlefield, at least to reduce the additional troops we send to the mainland battlefield, and finally reverse the situation on the mainland battlefield." Once this goal is achieved, we will be passive on both main battlefields. Now, the only way we can solve the problem is to defeat the US Navy at sea, completely thwart its strategic counterattack, and continue to push the battle line to the east and south! ”

"Headmaster, then I'll rush back to the fleet immediately!" Tan Renhao followed and stood up.

"You go and discuss with the chief of staff first, and after figuring out the overall situation, it's not too late to return to the fleet."

Tan Renhao didn't say anything, and immediately said goodbye to the principal.