Shaoqing was urgently transferred to the Central American Theater this time, and his main task was to cooperate with the fleet and the joint combat operations between the Marine Corps. According to Gan Yongxing's original arrangement, Lei Shaoqing should have worked in the fortress of Gibraltar for half a year, but the situation in Europe changed much faster than expected, and the Germans did not continue to oppose the Tang Empire on the British and Mediterranean issues, leaving Jiang Zhongmin's Second Fleet stationed in Europe, plus more than 200,000 expeditionary troops and marines, the situation in Europe has nothing to worry about. Under such circumstances, it is also reasonable to let Lei Shaoqing come over to assist Tan Renhao and others in completing the combat operation of attacking the Greater Andres Islands.

Before leaving the Gibraltar Fortress, Lei Shaoqing did not receive a clear personnel appointment, and according to the past situation, Lei Shaoqing will be the commander of the theater fleet, mainly responsible for the logistics of the fleet, and play a coordinating role between the fleet and the marines. In addition, the Navy Command gave him a clear order, and Gan Yongxing also sent him a telegram directly, asking Lei Shaoqing to cooperate with the combat operations of Tan Renhao, Huang Xiaotian, and Han Shaofeng as much as possible, and to assist the fleet and the Marine Corps in opening up the situation as soon as possible and obtaining an advance base for attacking the east coast of the US mainland.

At the dinner table, before the meal was served, Lei Shaoqing first told him about his general task, and also told Tan Renhao and them some other news he received. The most important of these is the Imperial Navy's latest batch of warships, including several cutting-edge "Island" class aircraft carriers. In addition, the command of the Navy has revised the plan for building ships in the second half of the 28 year. In the absence of any need to build more main large warships, the Navy will concentrate on the construction of auxiliary and landing ships, among which the construction of escort carriers, large landing ships, and transport ships has been put to the front. From this information, Tan Renhao also judged that the navy was actively preparing for combat operations to attack the US mainland, otherwise why would it build such landing ships and transport ships? Of course. This topic was not discussed for long. After several generals welcomed Lei Shaoqing to the Central American theater of operations, the topic was quickly pulled to several major issues at hand.

Tan Renhao probably talked about the current situation, on the surface, he was explaining the current situation to Lei Shaoqing, but in fact, he also used this opportunity to let Huang Xiaotian. Yan Yulong and Zheng Guanhua probably understood what he meant.

"There is nothing inherently wrong with this arrangement." Before Tan Renhao's words were finished, Lei Shaoqing understood what Tan Renhao meant. "The U.S. Atlantic Fleet is a big problem for us, especially when it is under the direct command of Spruance, and its threat is quite enormous. Up to now, the US Atlantic Fleet has been training for half a year, during which time it has rarely carried out combat missions, and it stands to reason that the basic training work should also be in place, in Spruance's way of employing troops. After completing the basic training, he will definitely look for opportunities for the company. Let the officers and men of the fleet gain experience and improve their capabilities through actual combat. Therefore. I think Spruance is now waiting for his chance to strike and not stay in the harbor all the time. ”

"The question is, what opportunity is Spruance waiting for?" As soon as Lei Shaoqing's words fell, Yan Yulong said, "We also judge in this way, the US Atlantic Fleet is based in Norfolk Military Port, and it only takes two days to reach the waters near Cuba. It is also very convenient to get out of the Atlantic. If Spruance is waiting for an opportunity, then the US Atlantic Fleet can be very flexible in its offensive actions. The big question is, what kind of opportunities does Spruance need, and how can we avoid the opponent's blows, and how can we use the opponent's actions? ”

"That's what we're trying to solve now." Tan Renhao put down his chopsticks, in fact, he didn't have any appetite at all. "First of all, the possibility of Spruance going against the Second Fleet can be ruled out. The Atlantic Fleet was the size of the First Fleet, and it was difficult to cross the Atlantic without being detected. In addition, we have established ourselves in the UK, and the Second Fleet can be transferred to the fortress of Gibraltar, and it will be difficult for Spruance to seize the opportunity to sneak up on the Second Fleet, but will be threatened by our shore-based aviation during the operation. ”

"So, will he choose our landing fleet, or a military base on the island? For example, the islands in the Little Andres archipelago that we control? Zheng Guanhua proposed another possibility.

"It's possible, but it's unlikely." This time, it was Chang Recommended New to deny Zheng Guanhua's speculation. "First of all, if the U.S. military wants to turn the tide of the war, it must regain sea supremacy, relatively speaking, those bases on the Little Andres Islands do not contribute much to sea supremacy, and our other military bases in Central America are in the rear, unless Spruance is absolutely sure that he can cross our reconnaissance cordon, otherwise, he will not dare to rashly enter the Caribbean Sea, let alone approach our military bases. In addition, if the purpose of the U.S. military is to prevent us from attacking the Greater Andrés Islands, then Spruance can choose to strike at our landing fleet and convoy, but this is only an active defense, not a strategic counterattack. And more importantly, according to our offensive operations, both the landing fleet and the transport fleet will operate in the rear of the main fleet, as well as under the cover of shore-based aviation, and without ensuring sea supremacy, will Spruance risk hitting our landing fleet with the Atlantic fleet? In several battles in the Pacific in the past, the US military has suffered such losses, and this time Spruance will definitely not be fooled! ”

"In other words, Spruance will choose one of our two main fleets to strike?" Huang Xiaotian said as he lit a cigarette.

Tan Renhao nodded slightly and did not speak. This is what he wants to say, but the problem is that everyone knows that if Tan Renhao says it, then the Third Fleet will act as a bait, so Tan Renhao wants to listen to Huang Xiaotian's opinion first, and then say what he thinks.

"I've been thinking about this question all day." Huang Xiaotian said bluntly, "Yesterday I have been thinking, if Spruance's goal is to defeat our two main fleets in stages and regain sea supremacy in the Atlantic, then who will he attack first?" In addition, where is the best place for the Atlantic Fleet to operate? Actually, the answers to these two questions are not complicated. First of all, Spruance

If the situation is not in his favor, he will even lead his fleet to New Orleans in the Gulf of Mexico to avoid our active attack, and at the same time appear on our flank and launch a surprise attack on us. But the problem is that if our two main fleets act together, they will far surpass the Atlantic Fleet in terms of aviation strike capabilities, and we can afford tactical losses, but the US military cannot afford tactical losses, and Spruance cannot fail to understand this truth. In this case, will he still divide the victory and defeat with us through an aviation duel? I don't think it's very likely, if it's just a bomber sortie, then Spruance can completely put the fleet out of the battlefield and use shore-based bombers against us, why send the fleet? ”

"You're saying that Spruance will use strikes other than aircraft carriers against us?" Lei Shaoqing frowned slightly.

"That's what we should be worried about." Huang Xiaotian sighed, "Whether it is in the Greater Andres Islands or in the Bahamas, their geographical environment is quite complex, and the distribution density of islands is even larger than that in the southwest Pacific Ocean. In addition, it is close to the continental United States, and the U.S. military has dozens of military airfields in Florida, enough to deploy thousands of combat aircraft. At that time, Spruance basically did not have to worry about the air defense of the fleet, as well as aviation operations, and the aviation in the fleet could only play an auxiliary role here. On the contrary, the battleships in the Atlantic Fleet were more threatening. If Spruance applied battleship capabilities the same way he commanded carriers. Then we're in trouble. ”

"There is no need to doubt this, Spruance was the commander of the cruiser formation when he was in task force 16, and he served on battleships for several years, so he must have been familiar with fleet artillery warfare." Chang Jianxin added Huang Xiaotian's words.

"That's what I'm worried about. The First Fleet also had at least one battleship task force, with six battleships, which was not below the Atlantic Fleet in terms of fleet artillery capabilities. On the contrary, in addition to several aircraft carriers in the Third Fleet, the largest is the cruiser. If the Third Fleet and the Atlantic Fleet were to come up in close proximity, the consequences would be unimaginable. Huang Xiaotian threw away the cigarette butt, and then took out another cigarette. Spruance would not fail to understand this, therefore, in my opinion, Spruance would have chosen the Third Fleet as the target of the strike first. And will not easily fight a decisive battle with the First Fleet. Only if the Third Fleet is crushed, our morale has been severely damaged, and the deployment of the campaign has already lost control, will he look for opportunities for a decisive battle with the First Fleet. ”

Tan Renhao has been listening patiently, and when Huang Xiaotian said this, he already understood what Huang Xiaotian meant.

"If that's the case, then we'll have to be more careful about arranging this campaign." Lei Shaoqing also heard the signs, "Xiaotian, according to your analysis, then how do you think we can defeat the Atlantic Fleet?" ”

"First of all, we have to let Spruance take the initiative to fight us. If the Atlantic Fleet had been cowering in the rear ports, we would have no chance of taking out the Atlantic Fleet. Huang Xiaotian took two puffs of his cigarette. He threw most of the remaining cigarettes into the ashtray. "To achieve this, the only way to do this is to let the Third Fleet come forward. The Atlantic Fleet was led out by the Third Fleet, while the First Fleet entered the battlefield covertly, reached the ambush position, and took advantage of Spruance to find an opportunity to sneak attack the Third Fleet, counter-attack the Atlantic Fleet, and defeat the Atlantic Fleet in one fell swoop! ”

"But in this way, the Third Fleet will be in a dangerous situation!" Yan Yulong immediately looked at Huang Xiaotian, it was obvious. Huang Xiaotian had not told the other two commanders of the Third Fleet about his thoughts before.

"We had no other choice. If it is out of the ground by the First Fleet. Spruance will not come out to fight us at all. "Huang Xiaotian didn't pay attention to Yan Yulong." Of course, the security problems of the Third Fleet are not serious in reality, and the First Fleet should first enter the hidden and standby zone, and then the Third Fleet will take the initiative to appear. According to our current reconnaissance and search capabilities, the First Fleet will definitely be able to find the Atlantic Fleet in time and launch an attack, so that the Atlantic Fleet will be killed before the Third Fleet is attacked. ”

"But......" Yan Yulong was about to say something, but Zheng Guanhua, who was sitting next to him, kicked him and made him shut up.

"There's nothing wrong with that, we really need someone to lure Spruance out." Tan Renhao only spoke at this time, "But in the same way, in order for Spruance to fall into the trap, there is another necessary condition, that is, it is necessary to create a false impression that Spruance thinks that the First Fleet is fighting elsewhere and is not operating with the Third Fleet, and if this problem is not solved well, the combat operation will not be successful." ”

"It's hard to do, but there's another way, and that's for the Marines to attack the Bahamas early, at least symbolically, and then Spruance will be forced to attack." Huang Xiaotian said what he thought, "The scale doesn't need to be very large, just let the Americans know that we are approaching their homeland, then the president of the United States will not let Spruance get enough freedom of movement, and then Spruance will be forced to go to war, which will be more beneficial to us." ”

"Then, we have to find a way to convince Han Shaofeng." Tan Renhao said as he looked at Lei Shaoqing, since Lei Shaoqing had already come, he should be responsible for this kind of contact with the Marine Corps, and Lei Shaoqing had a very good relationship with Han Shaofeng when he was in the Pacific Theater.

"If it's just a feint, there shouldn't be much of a problem on Han Shaofeng's side, right?" Lei Shaoqing knew that trouble was coming, "I will try my best to convince him, of course, I don't dare to guarantee anything else." ”

Tan Renhao looked at the others, and no one came up with any new opinions. The relationship between the two main fleets was thus determined. Next, no one discussed the matter of combat operations again, and the reception banquet officially began.