As soon as the fleet returned to the port of Naha, Tan Renhao received a call from the naval headquarters, and after handing over the fleet to Hao Dongjue, he took a transport plane back to Zhoushan. Although Gan Yongxing did not explain the reason for letting him return to Zhoushan on the phone, Tan Renhao also guessed that letting him return to Zhoushan this time must have something to do with the next stage of the navy's offensive operations.

"I am very satisfied with this combat operation, and I specially called the principal."

Gan Yongxing came to the airport to greet Tan Renhao, "The principal took the opportunity to put forward a new theater reform plan, and the minister also verbally agreed. At present, Liao Hanxiang has been designated as the commander of the Pacific Theater of Operations, and he will be fully responsible for combat operations in the Pacific direction. In addition, a new theater of operations will be created. ”

"New theater of operations?"; Tan Renhao declined the cigarette handed by Gan Yongxing, "So now is it General Wu Xianyu who replaces General Liao Hanxiang in the position of the Strategic Strike Force?" ”

"For the time being, this is arranged, and at the same time, Luo Yunchong will be promoted and let him be the chief of staff of the strategic strike force."

Gan Yongxing lit his own cigarette, "Originally, we were going to let the Pacific Theater Command be responsible for combat operations in the entire Pacific direction, but now it seems that the prime minister will definitely not agree." The newly formed theater of operations, perhaps, is the Southwest Pacific Theater Command, which has a lot to do with the next phase of our operations. ”

Tan Renhao was slightly startled, and immediately asked, "Are we going south?" ”

Gan Yongxing smiled and shook his head, and did not speak again. Tan Renhao didn't continue to ask, if Gan Yongxing wanted to tell him, then sooner or later he would have to tell him.

After the two returned to the Navy Headquarters, they did not go to Gan Yongxing's office, but went directly to Nie Renfeng's office. What surprised Tan Renhao was that this time Nie Renfeng prepared a generous gift for him, that is, a new set of lieutenant general ranks! As before, Nie Renfeng personally put on the epaulettes of a vice admiral to Tan Renhao (the whole set of military ranks also has a cockade, armbands, etc., under normal circumstances, you only need to wear epaulettes when awarding titles) "Renhao, now you are officially a vice admiral of the Imperial Navy." ”

Nie Renfeng patted this proud disciple on the shoulder, "Your performance this time is very good, and the prime minister personally called to inquire and asked me to reward you heavily." Of course, we just have to know what is going on. ”

"Thank you, Headmaster, it's actually mainly the credit of Task Force 2."

Tan Renhao's words are very accurate. Although he knew that the principal had been protecting Lei Shaoqing, if he said it a little more thoroughly, this would show his attitude even more.

"Lei Shaoqing and Chang Jianxin's matter has passed."

Nie Renfeng nodded at Tan Renhao and invited him to sit down. "There was a lot of pressure from the outside and to be honest, their performance in the 'Second Battle of the Marianas' was not so satisfactory, with several serious mistakes almost leading to the final defeat. Of course, there are also positive points, at least the second task force attacked and destroyed the enemy's main fleet at a critical moment, ensuring that the sea supremacy is still in our hands. I discussed it with Yongxing. If Lei Shaoqing and them are removed now. The impact on the fleet is great, and for the time being there is no one to take their place. We will give Lei Shaoqing and Chang Jian another chance to prove their ability with their actions. That's right. How much do you know about Huang Xiaotian, chief of staff of aviation operations? ”

"Huang Xiaotian?"

Tan Renhao touched his forehead, "He used to be an ordinary staff officer of the First Task Force, and he has been working under Hao Dongjue, and then he was transferred to the Second Task Force and served as an aviation combat staff officer for a period of time, and then he was promoted because the former chief of aviation operations staff was sick, right?" ”

Nie Renfeng and Gan Yongxing both nodded, waiting for Tan Renhao to continue.

"The ability should be good, he has been working with Hao Dongjue for a long time, and he should know a lot about aviation operations."

"I looked carefully at the battle logs. Lieutenant Colonel Huang Xiaotian made important suggestions several times, and all of them proved to be correct. I'm going to promote him out of the ordinary. ”

Nie Renfeng handed Tan Renhao a document, which was the combat record of the 2nd Task Force in the "Second Battle of the Marianas". "I'd like to ask for your opinion first, and if I can, I'll promote him to Brigadier General Chief of Staff this time—"

"Preparing to form a new task force?"

Tan Renhao glanced at the principal and quickly flipped through the documents.

"We are going to use the 'Huaihe' and 'Xuanzong' to set up the Fourth Task Force first, and immediately start training work."

Gan Yongxing took over the topic, "In this way, after the second batch of 'Lake'-class aircraft carriers enter service next year." Task Force 4 can be formed immediately, and until then, it can take on the task of training new soldiers. At present, the choice of the commander of the fleet has not yet been decided, and the principal and I mean that there will be no commander for the time being, only a chief of staff, and the chief of staff will be in charge of the affairs of the fleet first. And we have all carefully looked at Huang Xiaotian's service record, he is an ideal candidate. ”

Tan Renhao nodded slightly. "I have no opinion, but there is only a chief of staff, not a commander, and this arrangement will be agreed to above?"

"The prime minister has decided to delegate all the powers of naval operations, that is, in the future, the Navy Command will directly decide on personnel arrangements within the navy."

Nie Renfeng smiled and patted the handrail of Xiasha, "In the same way, all the responsibilities of the navy will be borne by me, as you said, power and responsibility are tied together, and when power increases, responsibility is also more important." ”

Tan Renhao sighed secretly, it seems that Xiang is also operating on the cabinet government agencies, and delegating combat power is one of the keys to improving the combat capability of the army. If the personnel power of the Navy were to fall into the hands of the Naval Commander, then the Naval Commander would assume responsibility for all operations.

"Then, let's let Huang Xiaotian go to the Fourth Task Force to try his skills first, which can be regarded as a test and training for him."

Gan Yongxing said and looked at Nie Renfeng.

Tan Renhao did not object, after all, this was the decision of the naval commander, although he was not very familiar with Huang Xiaotian, a young staff officer, but he was able to put forward extremely important opinions at a critical moment, which was enough to prove his ability.

"We'll discuss this later, at least for half a year, the Fourth Task Force will only belong to the reserve establishment."

Nie Renfeng changed the subject, "Ren Hao, you already know about the establishment of a new war zone, right?" ”

Tan Renhao nodded slightly, and Gan Yongxing told him at the beginning.

"The establishment of the Pacific Theater has been decided, but it is not quite the same as we imagined."

Nie Renfeng crossed his hands, "Liao Hanxiang is the new commander of the theater, and Wu Xianyu takes over his current position." As commander of the Strategic Strike Force, Luo Yunchong was transferred to the post of Chief of Staff of the Strategic Strike Force. These personnel arrangements have not changed, the difference is that the area under the jurisdiction of the Pacific Theater has been greatly reduced. ”

Tan Renhao glanced at Gan Yongxing, and Gan Yongxing's words stopped here.

"According to our previous thinking, the Pacific theater of operations includes the entire Pacific theater of operations, and it is an extremely extensive theater of operations."

Nie Renfeng also glanced at Gan Yongxing, "But the problem is." It is impossible for the Navy to undertake all combat missions, at least in the southwest Pacific, in combat operations in the Australian region, it is impossible for the Navy to keep the 6th Army out of the matter, our 6th Combat Squadron has a total strength of 30 divisions, and it lacks heavy equipment and large-scale ground combat capabilities, so it is impossible to keep the 6th Army out. It is precisely because of this that the Prime Minister suggested that we set up two theaters, one being the Pacific theater. The second is the Southwest Pacific Theater. Of these, the Pacific Theater of Operations is responsible only for the Caroline Islands. The Marshall Islands, Gilbert Islands to Samoa Islands east up combat operations, while the Southwest Pacific Theater was responsible for Australia. Combat operations on the line from the Bismarck Islands to New Zealand. ”

Tan Renhao smiled reluctantly, although the Xiang only put forward a "suggestion", but this "suggestion" is not much different from an "order". To a large extent, in order to take care of the prestige and face of the naval commander, the prime minister will not directly issue orders, but make arrangements in the form of "suggestions", and Nie Renfeng will generally not violate the "suggestions" of the prime minister, "That is, we will establish two theaters of operations at the same time." ”

Gan Yongxing leaned on the sand, "Now, for the time being, consider letting Admiral Yan Guozhong serve as the commander of the Southwest Pacific Theater." Of course, there will be a joint command in the Southwestern Theater of Operations, with one general each of the six seas and two armies to serve as commander. It will be up to the prime minister who will be the commander and who will be the chief of staff. ”

"Headmaster, the next phase of our combat operations will be mainly south?"

Tan Renhao bypassed these two topics. The decision to arrange for Yan Guozhong to go to the Southwest Pacific Theater was very delicate. From the Ryukyu Islands to Iwo Jima, Ogasawara Islands, Hachijojima Island, and then to the Mariana Islands. Yan Guozhong has proven his abilities in countless battles. If you talk about military merits, he is not only the number one general of the 6th team, but also the number one general of the navy. It is much more advantageous for him to compete with the 6th Army than for Liao Hanxiang to compete.

"It's not sure yet."

Gan Yongxing answered this question, "Our initial proposal was to capture Wake Island and Midway Island first, and then decide whether to attack the Hawaiian Islands or go south to sweep Australia. Because this is related to the overall strategy of the empire in the Pacific theater, it will ultimately be up to the prime minister to decide which set of strategic options to adopt. ”

"It was the 6th Army that proposed the strategy of going south?"

Tan Renhao immediately guessed this. If the Navy wants to avoid the Sixth Army from interfering in the Pacific theater as much as possible, then it will vigorously advocate eastward expansion and cut off the sea route from the United States to Australia by capturing islands in the South Pacific; at that time, as long as Australia is isolated, the US military will lose sooner or later, and there is no need to even use the large forces of the Sixth Army to attack Australia. In the same way, if the 6th Army wants to get a share of the Pacific theater, it must attack Australia.

"Ren Hao, it's not a question of whose opinion it is, it's a question of how to fight the most beneficial thing for the empire."

Nie Renfeng first corrected Tan Renhao's attitude, "The war has been fought for almost three years, although we have great differences with the 6th Army, but we are all fighting for the Empire, and the Empire needs the 6th Army of the Navy, not just the Navy or the 6th Army to win the final victory." Internal divisions will weaken the Empire's fighting power, which we don't want to see. I've also been thinking about these two options, which option do you think would be more beneficial to us? ”

Tan Renhao smiled and shrugged his shoulders. "Headmaster, this question is too sudden, I don't want to rush into an answer."

Nie Renfeng also laughed. "Then you should think about it, learn more about the situation in the next few days, and discuss it more with the chief of staff. In a few days, an important military meeting will be held, after which the next stage of combat operations will be decided. You don't have to rush back to the fleet, with Hao Dongjue watching over there, it should be fine. You do this first, and when the time comes, we will go to the capital together. ”

"This ......"

"This is the importance that the headmaster attaches to you, and this should have been done by me, but the Imperial Navy Command must have someone to stay behind, so the headmaster decided to let you go."

Gan Yongxing smiled and patted Tan Renhao's shoulder, "There are not a few days left, there are still many things you need to know." We had to come up with the naval point of view at the conference, which, of course, was a view that was in the interests of the empire, not in the interests of the navy. ”

Tan Renhao had to take over this task, and in fact, he could see that Gan Yongxing did not regard him as a threat, but regarded him as a producible talent. It can be said that whether Tan Renhao can go further and climb up from the position of fleet commander depends on his performance in these affairs that have nothing to do with fleet operations.

"You two should hurry up, in addition to the main views of our navy, we also need to know the views of the 6th Army, of course, Marshal Yan Dingyu will not tell us clearly, so we can only rely on your analysis."

Nie Renfeng stood up, this was a signal to send off the guest, "If you need anything, you can come to me directly, of course, you all have the highest authorization and have access to all confidential documents." Hurry up, it won't give us extra time. ”

The two immediately got up to say goodbye, and after walking out of Nie Renfeng's office, Tan Renhao breathed a sigh of relief, this is not a simple task, it seems that he doesn't want to have a moment of ease these days.

"Do you want me to make a phone call to Xiaoyu, maybe you have to stay in the headquarters for the next few days."

Gan Yongxing joked, "Well, after you're done, you should have a few days of free time, of course, it depends on whether you can hurry." ”

Tan Renhao smiled bitterly, he didn't know how to explain to his wife.