When the door was pushed open, Tan Renhao didn't look at who came in, but first looked up at the clock, it was already half past twelve, and it should be half past five in the afternoon on September 11 on the Hawaiian Islands. Due to the date change, the time of the empire is actually September 12th.

"Let's eat something first!"

Tan Renhao came back to his senses, only to find that it was Gan Yongxing's adjutant who sent the boxed lunch.

"It's getting dark over there now, if the Second Task Force doesn't take action during the day, then it will retreat at night, and Hao Dongjue will send a telegram back." Gan Yongxing put a boxed lunch in front of Tan Renhao, "No matter what, fill your stomach first, and then you can do other things, isn't it?" ”

Tan Renhao did not refuse the kindness of the chief of staff, after all, the chief of staff was also very anxious, but he really didn't have any appetite, just took a few bites indiscriminately, and didn't move his chopsticks anymore. Time passed minute by minute, seeing Gan Yongxing eating with relish, Tan Renhao really had to admire the appetite of the chief of staff and his calm and calm mentality, because it was impossible for Tan Renhao to do it himself. Maybe Gan Yongxing wanted to relax the atmosphere, he didn't gobble up the not delicious box lunch as before, but took more than half an hour to put down the chopsticks.

That is, Gan Yongxing's adjutant came to take away the lunch box, and before he could bring in the freshly brewed tea, a major officer from the communications office ran over quickly, holding this telegram that had just been printed.

When Gan Yongxing received the telegram, Tan Renhao stood up, he looked at the clock on the wall again, it was already 1:15 o'clock, and the Hawaiian Islands should be between 6 and 6:30 in the evening, and the sky was almost dark.

"Report from Task Force 2."

Tan Renhao immediately took the telegram, and without Gan Yongxing saying it, he knew that this was the battle report of the Second Task Force. And when he finished reading the content of the telegram, he really didn't know what words to use to describe his feelings, and he didn't know whether to scold Hao Dongjue or praise Hao Dongjue.

Just as Tan Renhao was worried, Hao Dongjue, a stunned young man, immediately led the Second Task Force out of the mobile sea area after learning the news of the westbound US fleet, and killed the US fleet at the fastest speed that night. From the beginning. Hao Dongjue didn't care about the Fifth Fleet that was lurking and didn't appear, his purpose was very simple, whether it was the Fifth Fleet or not, he had to destroy it, because there was an aircraft carrier in that fleet, and it was very likely not an aircraft carrier! In other words, Hao Dongjue did not consider the danger. He only considered that the ground was just attacking, which was completely Hao Dongjue's characteristic!

This is indeed a fleet with aircraft carriers, but there is only one aircraft carrier, and it is a newly repaired one that has not yet completed inspection and testing. Preparing the aircraft carrier to return to Pearl Harbor. Obviously, this is a trap deliberately placed by Spruance, a trap that fools the Second Task Force, but Spruance wants to deal with not the Second Task Force, at least, Spruance did not think of using the Fifth Fleet to deal with the Second Task Force, and at the same time, he did not expect that Hao Dongjue would be so persistent.

After learning about the second task force, the fourth task force. And after the Ground Theater Fleet, which had six small aircraft carriers, would attack together, Spruance knew that he did not have any chance to confront the Tang Imperial Navy head-on, even if the 1st Task Force, which he feared the most, stayed in Apra Harbor and did not participate in combat operations, he could not even beat the Fourth Task Force with the strength of the Fifth Fleet. How can you fight against three fleets that are not very different in strength? Therefore, from the very beginning, Spruance knew that he would only have to look for opportunities to break down his opponents individually, and he would have to avoid engaging two task forces at the same time. Therefore, after leaving Pearl Harbor, the Fifth Fleet has been wandering around the periphery of the battlefield to avoid exposure and premature contact with the adversary. Other than that. He also arranged shore-based reconnaissance planes to try to find out the movements of the Tang Imperial fleet. Look for opportunities to strike at the enemy.

Spruance didn't identify who to strike first at the time, but basically, he put Task Force 4 first. First of all, Huang Xiaotian is an opponent that is difficult to deal with, secondly, the number of escort warships of the Fourth Task Force is relatively small, and finally, the three aircraft carriers of the Fourth Task Force have only been repaired and may not be able to reach the best state. Therefore, it is easier to take out Task Force 4 in the first place, and it will also be able to eliminate the henchmen. But the problem is that for several days, the second task force and the fourth task force were not separated, maintaining a state of mutual cover and support, so Spruance did not dare to act rashly.

By 8 September, Spruance had received the news that the aircraft carrier "Boxer" had been repaired, and he immediately thought of a way to use the "Boxer" to divert the Second Task Force away, so that the Fourth Task Force would be alone, as long as the Fifth Fleet remained outside the strike range of the Theater Fleet, and took advantage of the opportunity of the Theater Fleet's bombers to bomb Nihua Island, and dispatched bombers to kill the Fourth Task Force. And in order to avoid being attacked by Task Force 4, they could even withdraw from the battle immediately after the bomber group departed, and let those bombers go to Nihua Island to make a forced landing!

The ploy worked, but Spruance made the mistake that he should have taken out Task Force 2 first, as it would have been easier. However, Spruance was not sure at the time whether Task Force 2 would pursue the Boxer, nor when Task Force 2 would intercept the Boxer. More importantly, the Fifth Fleet has been operating in the waters south of the Hawaiian Islands, and if you want to maneuver to attack the sea area of the Second Task Force, you have to pass through the sea area where the Tang Empire's submarines often hang out, so the whereabouts of the Fifth Fleet will be easily exposed, and the result will be that the bombers of the Second Task Force will kill the Fifth Fleet!

Perhaps in the eyes of many, Spruance wants to turn things around, which is almost a dream. But for Spruance at the time, he had no choice at all. Even if he takes out the Fourth Task Force without any damage, he will lose a large number of excellent pilots, and the Fifth Fleet will be greatly damaged. And the Tang Imperial Navy will definitely send the First Task Force to the battlefield, and when the time comes, the Fifth Fleet, which has lost its main pilots, will not be the opponent of the First Task Force at all. But there is always a silver lining to this, and it is better than sitting back and watching the Tang Empire's marines take Nihua Island and then land on Kauai Island. And finally conquer the Hawaiian Islands and control the entire Pacific Ocean 10,000 times stronger.

It can be said that Spruance is working towards an almost impossible goal, which is very similar to the Jedi counterattack launched by Tan Renhao a few years ago, but the actual situation is different. At least at that time, the gap between the quality of ground pilots in the Tang Imperial Navy and the Japanese Navy was not large, and the Japanese Navy did not pay much attention to aircraft carriers. Neither side had a well-developed doctrine of naval aviation operations, and the Japanese fleet commander was not very clever. And now, the superiority of the pilots of the Tang Empire is very obvious, and the theory of aviation operations has been perfected, and both sides have excellent fleet commanders, and there is almost no hope for turning things around in the face of a huge disparity in strength.

And the facts do prove it. Some of Spruance's unexpected factors eventually turned his counterattack into a blind fight for attrition, which was the most taboo result for the American army at this time, and it was almost indistinguishable from complete defeat. And the fate of the aircraft carrier that served as a decoy can be imagined.

At dawn, Hao Dongjue dispatched a reconnaissance plane to repeatedly search the shipping lanes of the US fleet. But when the first reconnaissance planes returned, nothing was found. At this time, Hao Dongjue was not impulsive, but realized the danger. The U.S. fleet did not appear on the expected route, and there were only two possibilities, either to return to San Francisco halfway, or to turn south ahead of schedule and be heading for Pearl Harbor. Whatever the possibility, it's a trap.

Just when Hao Dongjue decided to retreat, he received telegrams from the Theater Fleet and the Fourth Task Force. The bombers of the Fifth Fleet bombed the theater fleet, and it was to the south of the battlefield! Now, Hao Dongjue has no worries, the Fifth Fleet is still more than 2,000 nautical miles away, what is there to worry about? It is precisely because of this that Hao Dongjue is determined to take a gamble. If the U.S. fleet hadn't returned to San Francisco, but had turned south in advance and was continuing toward Pearl Harbor, then he would still have a chance to catch up with the U.S. fleet and dispatch bombers before it got dark to kill the U.S. fleet!

The Second Task Force also turned to the southeast at this time, and Hao Dongjue adjusted the flight route of the reconnaissance planes, leaving only one batch of bombers behind. According to Hao Dongjue's judgment, there are only two aircraft carriers in the US fleet at most. And a batch of bombers will definitely be able to take out these two aircraft carriers as long as they have enough fighter cover. Wait until the reconnaissance planes return, and then organize a second group of bombers, take out the escort warships, and then return victoriously.

The pursuit operation lasted from morning to afternoon, until about four o'clock, when the fourth batch of reconnaissance planes at the departure point of the day was about to reach the extreme patrol radius, that is, when Hao Dongjue was about to think that his judgment had been wrong, and the US fleet had already returned to San Francisco halfway, the reconnaissance planes finally sent a message that the US fleet was southeast of the second task force, a distance of about 30 nautical miles, but there was only one aircraft carrier, not two aircraft carriers!

Hao Dongjue did not hesitate, and immediately let the bomber take off, he no longer cared whether it was one aircraft carrier or two aircraft carriers. At the same time, however, he overlooked the fact that Task Force 2 was less than 400 nautical miles from Oahu and 450 nautical miles from Hawaii Island. Although this is outside the strike radius of the US shore-based tactical bombers, the US military also has a B-25 with a longer range, and if the US pilots dare to do a one-way attack, then the second task force will be dangerous!

Just as the bombers of the Second Task Force were taking off, a long-range U.S. water patrol plane spotted the Second Task Force and sent a telegram before it was shot down. The location of the 2nd Task Force was revealed. Hao Dongjue was unable to make the fleet retreat at that time, because the returning bombers did not necessarily have enough fuel to fly back to the fleet, and it was too late to retreat at this time, and if the US troops wanted to fight to the death, the battleships would not be able to outrun the bombers. Therefore, Hao Dongjue did not let the fleet retreat, but let the fleet sail east at full speed, at the same time, Hao Dongjue only sent two squads to escort fighters, and the other 7 squads of escort fighters were all patrolling over the fleet, but Hao Dongjue did not expect that the number of American bombers he would face would be more than 300, and the escort P-51D exceeded 100!

When the bomber group that sank the "Boxer" and most of the escort warships returned victoriously, the US military also began to frantically retaliate against the second task force, and the first batch of arrivals were more than 50 P-51Ds and more than 120 -B25 medium bombers.

From 5:40 to 6:10 a.m., in this short half-hour, the US bomber group flew over the Second Task Force almost without interruption. These bombers took off from more than a dozen airfields on Oahu and Hawaii Island, and although the air defense fighters of Task Force 2 put up stubborn resistance, although most of the medium bombers such as B-25s arrived, and even many B-17s and B-24s, the air defense fighters of Task Force 2 still faced a formidable threat from more than 100 P-51Ds. And the performance superiority of the P-51D, as well as the numerical superiority, is enough to offset the quality superiority of the pilots of the second task force.

When Hao Dongjue sent back the news, two of the three aircraft carriers of the Second Task Force had already been bombed and seriously injured, and only the aircraft carrier that was located in the northernmost part of the fleet and was the first to retreat was not bombed, but it was also threatened a lot, and this was the "Xingkai Lake", the flagship of the Second Task Force!

The only thing to be thankful for is that most of the bombers of the US military are 250-kilogram bombs, and there are quite a few high-explosive bombs among them. The two aircraft carriers that were intensively bombed were not in danger of sinking, but the surface of the ship was blown to shreds, and it was definitely impossible to continue the operation.

Seeing such a battle report, Tan Renhao really didn't know what to say about Hao Dongjue. Only one aircraft carrier of the Second Task Force can continue to fight, and perhaps the most glad thing is that in this battle, except for the three small aircraft carriers that have already sunk, none of the fleet aircraft carriers have been sunk! Of course, from the point of view of the US military, with only one aircraft carrier left that has not been completely repaired, and two aircraft carriers that will definitely need immediate overhaul, they have lost their sea supremacy in the Pacific Ocean!