In the afternoon of the same day, Tan Renhao sent the battle timetable to the theater headquarters, and then the liaison officer sent by Liao Hanxiang explained the contact information between the fleet and the theater headquarters and other matters, and the fleet left Apra Harbor when it was dark.

Tan Renhao did not interfere with Hao Dongjue's command and arrangement, but was paying attention to Hao Dongjue's performance, and what surprised him a little was that Hao Dongjue did not seem too excited, but arranged the affairs of the fleet in an orderly manner. Maybe this was deliberately shown by Hao Dongjue after noticing that Tan Renhao was observing him, but in any case, Hao Dongjue was much more mature than he was more than a year ago. This also made Tan Renhao feel extraordinarily emotional, this war has changed too many people, whether it is him or Hao Dongjue, they are growing rapidly in the war, maybe these changes that happened to Hao Dongjue are all good changes.

"The work is all arranged, and we'll be at Midway in about four days." Hao Dongjue rubbed his hands and walked over, "What's the matter, I miss my wife?" ”

"I don't know who's thinking about my wife." Tan Renhao turned around, "The mood of the officers and soldiers is not bad, right?" ”

"Don't worry, there's no problem." Hao Dongjue took out a cigarette, "With me as the chief of staff, there will be no problem, but in the future, you will have to deal with these things yourself." By the way, if I go to Task Force 2, who will be the chief of staff of Task Force 1? ”１６Ｋ…

"You haven't left here yet, what are you thinking about so much?" Tan Renhao laughed, "Is it difficult, you still have to help me arrange it?" ”

"It's not. I just want to ask, after all, this position is not easy to do, is it not possible for one person to do it. ”

"Mind your own business first." Tan Renhao patted his partner on the shoulder. "I'll change you tomorrow morning, be careful at night. After the fall of Wake Island, U.S. submarines were rampant a lot, so don't be fooled. ”

"I'll keep an eye on it, remember to come over early tomorrow, and we'll have breakfast together."

"Okay. Keep your eyes open at night. ”

Looking at Tan Renhao's back as he left the ground, Hao Dongjue shook his head and laughed. In fact, he was not ready to leave Task Force 1 at all, and he did not think about leaving Task Force 1 so soon.

At the beginning, Jiang Zhongmin was sent to the Fifth Task Force as the commander, and when Tan Renhao did not recommend him, Hao Dongjue was still a little annoyed, after all, he thought that he was more capable of commanding the Fifth Task Force than Jiang Zhongmin. But later, Hao Dongjue also understood the reason why Tan Renhao didn't recommend him to the Fifth Task Force, after all, he didn't have the qualities of an excellent fleet commander. Especially after Lei Shaoqing was injured, Hao Dongjue knew better why Tan Renhao kept him. Tan Renhao did not want to delay his future, nor did he want Hao Dongjue to stay in the First Task Force because Hao Dongjue was an excellent commander of aviation operations. In fact, Tan Renhao was worried that Hao Dongjue would not be able to command the fleet well, and he was worried about Hao Dongjue's ability.

After Hao Dongjue figured out these problems, he also knew his flaws. And I understood why Tan Renhao asked him to attend the study class. Tan Renhao has been providing opportunities for Hao Dongjue, and at the same time, he is also exercising Hao Dongjue's ability.

As long as he has the opportunity, Hao Dongjue will definitely be able to become an excellent fleet commander, but the problem is that Hao Dongjue does not want to become the commander of the second task force, he wants to become the commander of the first task force.

This is not to say that Hao Dongjue wants to take Tan Renhao's position, but he knows that sooner or later, Tan Renhao will leave the First Task Force and rise to a higher position. This is also an inevitable step for Tan Renhao. The position of the commander of the fleet, especially the commander of the task force now, is limited, and judging from the arrangements of the previous battles, whether it is the commander of the navy, the chief of the general staff of the navy, or even the commander of the theater, they are all cultivating Tan Renhao's ability, and Tan Renhao is also the most potential of the several fleet commanders of the Imperial Navy. Then, Tan Renhao will definitely be promoted and become a more senior commander. When the time comes, the First Task Force will definitely need a fleet commander, and as the chief of staff of the fleet, Hao Dongjue will naturally be the number one candidate.

It can be said that Hao Dongjue's idea is very ambitious, and the first task force is the number one task force of the Imperial Navy, and its position is very important, and the military exploits it has made are also the most among the fleets. If nothing else, the commander of Task Force 1 must be the most outstanding fleet commander of the Imperial Navy. No matter who it is, even if he comes to the First Task Force to be an ordinary staff officer, it can be regarded as a layer of gold, let alone a commander? Moreover, Nie Renfeng must have taken this into account when he asked Jiang Zhongmin to be the commander of the First Task Force. Therefore, it is understandable that Hao Dongjue aimed at the position of commander of the first task force.

It is precisely because of this that Hao Dongjue actually does not want to go to the Second Task Force. After talking to Tan Renhao in the morning, he wanted to tell Tan Renhao about this idea, but then he also figured it out. If Tan Renhao leaves the First Task Force, then the Navy will definitely consider choosing the best Task Force Commander to command the First Task Force. In other words, if Hao Dongjue performs well in the Second Task Force, then he still has a chance to return to the First Task Force. Moreover, when the time comes, there is a relationship with Tan Renhao, and with the help of Liao Hanxiang, as long as he can perform better than other fleet commanders, then it is entirely possible to return to the First Task Force!

After figuring out this relationship, Hao Dongjue no longer thinks nonsense. He knew that sooner or later he would have to separate from Tan Renhao, and when he set up his own door, it would be when his abilities would be recognized.

The fleet continued to sail westward, and during the night the destroyers sounded two false alarms, and the lookouts mistook the jets of water from the whales and the rolling waves for submarines. At dawn, Tan Renhao returned to the command cabin, and the fleet also entered the sea where American submarines were active.

"The speed is maintained at 18 knots, reducing the interval between turns to an hour." Tan Renhao first gave the order, "You all go to change shifts, if you have news, come and tell me immediately." ”

When the staff officers of the fleet changed shifts, Tan Renhao and Hao Dongjue went to the officers' cafeteria.

"Nothing happened last night, right?"

"Nothing, just scared." Hao Dongjue looked very tired. "It's time for me to go to bed, so don't bother me if there's nothing to do during the day."

Tan Renhao laughed, it seems. Hao Dongjue has indeed changed a lot.

In the morning, the fleet was not affected much.

Tan Renhao is not worried that the whereabouts of the fleet will be discovered by US submarines, anyway, this time he is going to the decisive battle with the Fifth Fleet, if the US military finds that the First Task Force is heading to the battlefield, then the Fifth Fleet is very likely to take the initiative to attack, which is equivalent to issuing a war letter to the opponent. Moreover, it is very difficult for such a large fleet to completely evade the enemy's submarines. The only thing that worries Tan Renhao a little is that if any of the US submarine captains can't figure out how to find a short-term view, they will definitely fire a few torpedoes at the three aircraft carriers before they are sunk by the destroyers, which is a very real threat.

After lunch, Tan Renhao returned to the command cabin. When the fleet left the port of Apra, he had only drawn up a simple battle plan, and some important parts had not been completed, and he had to seize the time of the few days to perfect the battle plan. In particular, the bombing of the islands of Lysan and Gardner must be determined as soon as possible.

"General, the telegram I just received."

Tan Renhao raised his head. At the same time, he put down the scale and pencil in his hand.

"Sent by the Theater Command.

"Put it down, you haven't gone to lunch yet?" Tan Renhao glanced at the navigation clock, it was almost twelve o'clock.

"Somebody went to buy it, and we took turns going to eat. Would you like to bring you a boxed lunch? ”

"Go to Duchenne, he knows what I'm eating." Tan Renhao smiled and nodded at the officer, and then picked up the message.

This is an information on the U.S. Task Force 51, which is still sailing towards Pearl Harbor and is expected to arrive at Pearl Harbor tomorrow, the 13th. According to what Tan Renhao and Liao Hanxiang agreed, Liao Hanxiang would provide the First Task Force with more than five battle briefings every day, so that Tan Renhao could grasp the situation on the battlefield and make accurate judgments.

The fleet sailed eastward for three days, and within three days, Liao Hanxiang would send several telegrams every day introducing the situation on the battlefield, but other than that, there was no major gain. It was not until the 15th, the day before the fleet arrived at Midway, that an important telegram arrived, and it was a military intelligence agency information forwarded by Liao Hanxiang.

"If this information is to be believed, we have five days." Tan Renhao called Hao Dongjue outside, "This is not counting the US military crossing, and the time when we arrived at the attack position, it was very hasty. ”

"Maybe Spruance won't lead the fleet out of Pearl Harbor on the 20th."

"Definitely, I'm sure of that." Tan Renhao leaned against the guardrail, "We can bomb Lysan Island on the 18th, or even the 17th, that is, the day after tomorrow, and then spend a day shifting and preparing, and then bomb Gardner Island." That is, we bombed Gardner Island before all four of Spruance's aircraft carriers were ready for battle, and at this time, if Spruance did not come out to accept our challenge, then what choice did he have? ”

"He could go south, or he could just stay in Pearl Harbor." Hao Dongjue shrugged his shoulders, "Moreover, we can't accurately judge the time when he left Pearl Harbor, and it is even more difficult to grasp the movements of the Fifth Fleet." ”

"Then we can only believe this information for the time being." Tan Renhao sighed, "I hope this is correct, if the maintenance work of the 'Franklin' really lasts until the nineteenth, then we have many options." ”

"What if there's a problem with the intelligence?"

Tan Renhao didn't speak, and he didn't fully believe this information, after all, there were enough lessons before.

"Otherwise, we will delay the bombing of Lysan Island by one day."

"What do you mean?" Tan Renhao looked at his partner.

"If the USS Franklin had regained its combat effectiveness before the 19th, then we bombed Lysan Island on the 17th, and Spruance would have probably led the fleet out at this time, and we thought he would not have left Pearl Harbor until the 20th, and as a result, we did not know when Spruance appeared behind me."

Tan Renhao nodded slightly, this may definitely exist.

"On the other hand, if the 'Franklin' still can't be repaired on the 19th, then even if we bomb Lysan Island on the 19th, Spruance won't be able to do anything about us, right?" Hao Dongjue paused, "If the intelligence is correct, then Spruance will lead the fleet out of Pearl Harbor on the 20th, and he will be able to maneuver in place on the 22nd at the earliest, and we can bombard Gardner Island on the 20th, and then prepare artillery fire according to the scale of the landing operation." In this way, when Spruance arrives, we can withdraw from the battle, and he will surely think that we will land immediately, and three days is the standard time for the Marines to prepare for artillery fire before landing, and Spruance is unlikely to suspect our motives. ”

Tan Renhao looked at Hao Dongjue. In previous landing operations, the artillery preparation time was three to five days, and as long as there were no special circumstances, three days of artillery preparation was the bare minimum. But the problem is, Spruance won't be so easily fooled.

"In fact, the main purpose is to prevent us from falling into the trap of the US military."

"I understand, it looks like I'm going to have to adjust my battle plan." Tan Renhao turned around, "The landing fleet will arrive at least five days later than us, that is, it will arrive on about the 20th, and it will take two days to go to Gardner Island, we will complete the artillery preparations on the 22nd, and the landing force will go ashore on the 23rd, this arrangement is very reasonable." ”

"Then we'll have to get in touch with the Midway side, and when the fleet goes to Lysan Island, it's best to let the landing force make some preparations when it gets to Midway, and don't stay on the battleship."

Tan Renhao laughed. "You go and arrange it, just send a seaplane over, and bring a message directly to Han Shaofeng, he knows how to arrange it."

"Then I'll arrange it now, and let the plane leave first."

Tan Renhao nodded, and let Hao Dongjue get busy. At this time, Tan Renhao was not worried about whether the Fifth Fleet would come to a decisive battle, but how Spruance would deal with the battle, and when the Fifth Fleet would leave Pearl Harbor. And he also believes that Spruance will also have the first goal of destroying Task Force 1!