Two months and five days after the Battle of Ryukyu Island, the 1st Task Force left the port of Zhoushan and embarked on the journey again. Now there are two large fleet aircraft carriers in Task Force 1, one large air defense cruiser, eight heavy cruisers, and eighteen destroyers. Although there is one less aircraft carrier, the anti-aircraft firepower of the fleet has increased a lot, especially the addition of two new heavy cruisers, which provides the fleet with more powerful anti-aircraft firepower.

This is the second time that Task Force 1 has participated in combat operations. With the victory in the Battle of Ryukyu Island, the officers and men of the fleet are full of hope for the future. In the past two months, the officers and men of the First Task Force have received very good hospitality in Zhoushan, and they can even be said to have become heroes of the Imperial Navy, which has played a great role in raising morale, raising the fighting determination of the officers and men of the fleet, and encouraging the officers and men of the fleet to bravely go to the battlefield.

Tan Renhao also saw it from the expressions of the officers and soldiers. After two months of recuperation, the officers and men of the fleet not only regained their energy, but also had extremely high morale. This is probably what Tan Renhao is most satisfied with. The high morale affected everyone, even the families of the servicemen who came to see off the officers and men of the fleet. Morale may not change the balance of power between the two belligerents, but it can certainly affect the course of the war.

After passing through the exit channel, the fleet headed for the depths of the sea to the east. Tan Renhao also came to the aviation operations center of the "Taizu" at this time. Prior to this, it had already been suggested that the aviation combat command center should be transferred to the "Xuanzong", and that the aircraft carrier also had a complete command system. Of course, there is a simple, but somewhat far-fetched, reason for making these proposals. That is, in the two naval battles, the "Xuanzong" was the luckiest of the three aircraft carriers, and the "Taizu" was attacked no less than the "Taizong" except that it was not sunk. Therefore, many staff officers believed. Go to the "Xuanzong" to be safe. Tan Renhao naturally didn't believe these bullshit and still insisted on setting up the aviation operations center on the "Taizu".

"Chief of Staff ......" The officers who saw Tan Renhao enter the combat center all stood up and saluted.

Tan Renhao nodded and said, "Everyone is casual, I won't say anything else, and this combat operation needs your support and efforts." I'm sure we'll be triumphant again! ”

Everyone laughed and went to their posts.

"Shaoqing contacted General Ji Xiaobin's fleet to sail as planned. Fifteen minutes later the first air defense fighters took off. Tan Renhao also came to the position of chief of staff, "Have you received any new information?" ”

Lei Shaoqing shook his head, and now he is already the intelligence staff officer of the fleet. "I received the news before the morning, and the Japanese First Battlefleet was still patrolling the waters near Ryukyu Island. There was no intention of leaving, and there was no intention of actively looking for fighters, and I don't know what they were thinking. ”

"Who was the commander of the First Battlefleet?" Tan Renhao frowned slightly. A large fleet with nothing to do is really not a good sign.

"It's Goro Takasu, 54 years old, an old vice admiral." Lei Shaoqing is indeed very good at intelligence work, "There are at least six battleships in the First Fleet now, but Takasu Goro doesn't seem to be very interested in aviation operations. All the way"

Tan Renhao nodded slightly, habitually took out a cigarette. He didn't notice the looks of the other staff officers. But here he has the privilege of smoking.

"There have been a lot of storms at sea these days, maybe the First Battlefleet is just on a training mission."

"No, it's unlikely." Tan Renhao shook his head. "The First Battlefleet was Japan's most elite fleet, and it was made up of veterans. Its quality is the highest among the Japanese fleets, and if it is to be trained, the sea conditions in the northern parts of Japan are even worse, is it necessary to go to the front line for training? ”

"And what are their intentions?" Lei Shaoqing frowned, he had to admit that Tan Renhao's words made sense.

Tan Renhao fell silent, and when he finished smoking the first cigarette and then took out the second cigarette, he said: "It seems that the Japanese side must know our plan." If Japan had already mastered the battle plan for us to take the 6th on the Ryukyu Island, then the First Battlefleet would certainly not sit idly by. ”

This is a certain thing, and Lei Shaoqing also firmly believes this. After the end of World War I, Japan launched a large-scale intelligence work against the Tang Empire. For example, half a year before the expiration of the Treaty of Songjiang, Japan was the first to unilaterally withdraw from the treaty and start its own shipbuilding program when it learned that the Tang Empire would no longer renew this treaty to limit naval armaments and secretly display large warships. At least Japan did not lag behind at all in intelligence work on the Tang Empire.

"Looks like we're going to have to think about getting rid of the First Battlefleet first." Tan Renhao said something to himself, and then walked to the chart table and buried himself to look at it.

"But according to the plan I didn't have, it wasn't a mission to strike at the First Battlefleet." Lei Shaoqing also hurriedly walked over.

"Yes, this is not our mission, but to ensure the success of Deng6, then this is a necessary mission." Tan Renhao sighed and propped his hand on the edge of the table, "The question is very simple and clear. The task of the 1st Japanese Battlefleet was to prevent us from boarding 6. As long as this fleet exists, our Operation Deng-6 will be threatened. ”

Lei Shaoqing nodded, the Japanese First Battleship is the biggest threat to the Deng 6 troops, especially those battleships, a main gun shell can be reimbursed, a destroyer destroys a large Deng 6 ship, if the Japanese First Battleship Fleet is killed in the Deng 6 battle, then the Deng 6 force will be finished.

Tan Renhao smashed his fist on the chart table and said firmly: "Then let's pull out this tiger tooth first, and then see how arrogant the Japanese are!" ”

It's easy to say, but it's not so easy to really defeat the First Battlefleet. Takasu Goro was not a fool, he had already served in the Japanese Navy during World War I, and had participated in the Battle of Hachishojima. Although he was just an ordinary lieutenant at the time, he was well versed in naval warfare tactics. This time, he was given the task of resisting the Tang Emperor's ** team to ascend 6 Ryukyu Island and support the defenders on Ryukyu Island, rather than fighting a decisive battle with the first task force of the Tang Empire. So. It won't be easy at all to get him out for a decisive battle.

The fleet circled the sea east of Langgangshan Island for two days, so that the more than 10 warships newly incorporated into the fleet could familiarize themselves with the fleet's combat rules and know their specific position in the fleet, and let the officers and men on the ground of those battleships understand how to cover the fleet. However, the two days were actually waiting for the transport to board the 6th fleet. In the course of two days, the bomber units of the 6th Army Aviation Corps had already begun to carry out large-scale bombing of the Ryukyu Island.

During the Battle of the Ryukyu Island. The fleet was greatly assisted by the 6 Voyage. This time, the 6th Voyage worked even harder, and Marshal Yan Dingyu personally ordered all the bombers that could be mobilized to fly over Ryukyu Island to the coast of Jiangsu, Zhejiang, and the northern part of the island of Taiwan. The scale of more than two thousand bombers is already not small. And the mission of these bombers was only to drop all the bombs stored in the ammunition depot at the airport on the island of Ryukyu!

In the words of the ground crew of the 6th Flight, Marshal Yan Dingyu's order is a dose to the pilot**, and Ryukyu Island is a big beautiful woman after taking the medicine of the 6th Voyage. One by one, they are all selling out and bombing the Ryukyu Island. Every day, thousands of bombers fly over the island of Ryukyu to drop bombs. Maybe. Many pilots don't even know what they're bombing about, all they have to do is drop the bomb and turn back.

The intense bombardment exhausted the Japanese air defense forces on the island of Ryukyu. In order to cooperate with the bombing of the 6th Air Force, the Navy also dispatched a group of long-range fighters to escort the bombers. In addition, Marshal Nie Renfeng arranged for at least 20 submarines to patrol the waters east and northeast of Ryukyu Island, intercept Japanese transport ships, and cut off the supply source of the Japanese garrison on Ryukyu Island. And the operation of the submarine began more than ten days ago. Five submarines intercepted a Japanese convoy of more than two dozen ships in the waters east of Tokunoshima. In one night, the five submarines sank twelve transports and sunk tens of thousands of tons of supplies to the bottom of the sea. This was also the first "wolf pack" operation conducted by the submarine forces of the Tang Empire in the Pacific theater. As a result, the anti-submarine patrol aircraft of the Japanese Navy for more than ten days. The destroyers had been searching the area for submarines of the Tang Empire, and the operation to deliver war materials to the island of Ryukyu was interrupted for more than ten days. Afterward. Each Japanese convoy was equipped with a group of escort destroyers to protect against a surprise attack by the Tang Empire's submarines.

At this time, the signs that the Tang Empire was preparing to attack the island of Ryukyu were already very clear. This is completely different from the Japanese side's sneaky preparations for landing on the Korean Peninsula. From the very beginning, the two armies of the Tang Empire's Sea 6 made it clear that they would launch a large-scale landing operation on Ryukyu Island, as if they were not worried about the reinforcement of Ryukyu Island by the 6 armies of the Sea of Japan. This can be said to be the Tang Empire's confidence in itself, but at the same time, it also made the Japanese 6th Army have to temporarily suspend the battle plan of the 6th Korean Peninsula and shift the focus to Ryukyu Island.

Tan Renhao was not in a hurry to let the First Task Force attack, he had time to consume, and he also needed to get more information before he could decide what to do next. In the past two days, in addition to thinking about specific operational issues, what Tan Renhao did the most was to go to the gangway of the island and look at the group of 6 bombers flying to Ryukyu Island or returning from the sky over Ryukyu Island.

"It seems that the pilots of Flight 6 are about to leak enough." In addition to sleeping and going to the toilet, Lei Shaoqing accompanies Tan Renhao almost all the time, which even makes some people misunderstand that there is an improper relationship between these two big men. "However, the pilots of Air 6 are indeed good, seeing that they are so active, we should not work hard, I am really sorry for them."

Tan Renhao laughed, and when he took out his cigarette, he turned around and lit it with his body against the wind. "However, the 6th Voyage is also too domineering, so that our HNA does not have a single heavy bomber. However, I heard that Marshal Nie Renfeng had already given Shen Fei an order and asked Shen Fei to help me not develop a double bomber. The marshal has a long-term vision, and now he has already considered the future strategic counterattack. As long as we can seize the islands in the Pacific Ocean, we will be able to bomb the Japanese mainland from the south, and it seems that there will be no need to compete with the 6th Air Force for airfields in the Tohoku region. ”

Lei Shaoqing also lit a cigarette, he didn't smoke in the war room in order not to be special, but when he got to the deck, no one could care about him. "The marshal is indeed very discerning and courageous. If it were anyone else, I would not have thought of the battle of 6 Ryukyu Island at this time. ”

Both laughed. The battle to land on Ryukyu Island was opposed by many people in the navy, especially among the young officers, and the vast majority of the officers regarded it as a crazy act to gamble with the Japanese on the last bit of capital in the hands of the navy. However, Nie Renfeng overwhelmed everyone's criticism, and made a decision as the commander of the Imperial Navy to concentrate all the forces of the Navy in the western Pacific Ocean and launch combat operations on the 6 Ryukyu Islands. I am afraid that this courage alone did not have Marshal Satieting at the beginning.

Before the two of them finished their cigarettes, Chang Jianxin hurriedly ran over, still holding a telegram in his hand. "Ren Hao received the news that the 12th Airborne Division of the 6th Army has arrived at the airfield north of Hangzhou, and will officially start operations the day after tomorrow."

Tan Renhao immediately threw away the cigarette butt, took the telegram, and laughed after only one glance. After deliberating on the Navy's plan to ascend to the 6th, Marshal Yan Dingyu proposed that an additional airborne division be sent to participate in the 6th Deng. The mission of the Airborne Division was to seize the commanding heights on the island at the beginning of the Deng-6 operation, and to disrupt the defensive deployment of the Japanese defenders, so as to gain time for the Deng-6 troops. Tan Renhao didn't know much about the Airborne Troops, but he knew that the Airborne Forces of the 6th Army were the best soldiers, and they were the best soldiers. Being able to have more than 10,000 airborne troops to help in the battle will certainly be of great help to the Deng-6 operation.

"Okay, then it's time for us to act!" Tan Renhao handed the telegram to Lei Shaoqing: "Contact General Ji Xiaobin, we should get out." ”

The warships that were still training quickly returned to the fleet, and the fleet began to turn in the direction of Ryukyu Island. The campaign was approved by the marshals of the 6 Seas and the Army, and all the troops participating in the battle were already deployed in place, and now they are waiting for the battle to begin.