On 21 April, as soon as it was dawn, the seaplanes on the cruisers near the aircraft carrier took off one after another. The 1st Task Force had gone north to the South Atlantic about 150 nautical miles northwest of Cape Town, and the search had been going on for two and a half days, and the fleet had already circled most of the time, if Cunningham's fleet had not gone north at this time, it would have been to the south of the 1st Task Force, and it must not be far from the 1st Task Force, otherwise, Cunningham would have returned to the Gold Coast.

Over the course of two and a half days, the reconnaissance planes flew more than 500 sorties and carried out 10 rounds of reconnaissance missions during the day. The fleet also sailed more than 1,100 nautical miles at a cruising speed of 18 knots, circumnavigating a large bay in the South Atlantic. Almost all of the most likely areas of the Anglo-French expeditionary fleet have been searched, but nothing has been found.

Tan Renhao's patience was tested again and again, and his confidence in himself was severely challenged, and later, he even secretly told himself that his judgment was not wrong, that Cunningham must not have fled back to the Gold Coast, and must have been hiding in some sea near Cape Town. But the question is, almost all the sea areas that should be searched have been searched, is there anything that has not been taken into account?

Looking at the sea areas marked on the charts that had already been searched, Tan Renhao even thought about whether he should give up the search for the Anglo-French joint expeditionary fleet and prepare for the attack on Cape Town. Yesterday, Jiang Zhongmin had already sent the news that Weng Yiming had arrived in Moroni and that the marines sent to capture Cape Town would arrive by 25 April at the latest, and according to the requirements of the landing operation, before the marines landed in Cape Town. The fleet had to prepare for several days, even considering the small size of the Anglo-French expeditionary force in Cape Town, and the fact that Cape Town was an open port that was easy to attack and difficult to defend. It would have to take three days for the Marines to clear the way of attack, so that the Marines could successfully capture Cape Town. And in accordance with this requirement. Then the fleet will have to bomb Cape Town tomorrow at the latest, and before that it will definitely have to prepare for the bombing of Cape Town, and the fleet will also need to maneuver to attack the waters of Cape Town, and now the fleet continues to "waste" time on the search for the joint Anglo-French expeditionary fleet!

Just like the last time he faced off against Spruance, Tan Renhao hesitated. But it immediately occurred to him that if he wavered at this time, the impending victory would slip away again, and that might be the purpose of Cunningham's hiding. Moreover, if the First Task Force wants to return to the Pacific theater as soon as possible, and Tan Renhao wants to keep the foundation he has worked so hard to build on the Pacific side, he has to persevere, find the Anglo-French joint expeditionary fleet, and kill Cunningham! Even if tomorrow it was to bomb Cape Town, the fleet would be able to maneuver in place at night. He still has one day, and this will be his last chance to decide if he can win and return to the Pacific theater.

At this time. Tan Renhao suddenly noticed a corner on the chart, that is, St. Helena Bay, north of Cape Town. It is a shallow bay with an average depth of about 20 meters, making it an ideal anchorage. In the age of sails. It used to be a pirate lair, but with the desertion of the shipping routes and the outbreak of war, all the pirates who had gathered in the Gulf of St. Helena had fled. Tan Renhao immediately pulled out a nautical chart of the deployment routes of the first batch of reconnaissance planes, and two reconnaissance planes were flying toward St. Helena. Previously, the fleet was too far from the Bay of St. Helena, so there was no way to send reconnaissance planes there. But now the fleet is more than 400 nautical miles from the Gulf of St. Helena, and the reconnaissance radius of the reconnaissance aircraft is 300 nautical miles, that is, it is still impossible to fly there.

"Xiao Zheng, prepare a few fighters immediately." Tan Renhao screamed, and then remembered that Zheng Guanhua went to sleep. He called the staff officer who temporarily replaced Zheng Guanhua and was in charge of reconnaissance work.

"Immediately send out four fighter jets to fly around the Bay of St. Helena, which we haven't thought about."

"Now?"

"Yes, let the fighter take off as soon as possible." Tan Renhao nodded at the aviation staff officer, and then called the navigation staff officer over, "The fleet is ready to turn around and sail eastward, increasing the speed to 24 knots." ”

"Where does the route end?" The seafaring staff officer frowned slightly, in order to avoid being attacked by British and French shore-based aircraft, the fleet has been operating in the open sea.

"It's 300 nautical miles from land, and maybe the enemy fleet is going north along the coastline of the African continent." Tan Renhao called the communications staff officer over again, "Immediately send a seaplane over and let the Third Task Force maneuver to 50 nautical miles south of us, and at the same time keep up with our speed." ”

The order was quickly issued, and Tan Renhao quickly calmed down. Before Zheng Guanhua returned to the command cabin, Tan Renhao ordered the fleet to enter a combat state, and the radar on the battleship also began to warm up, ready to turn on at any time. And the aviation crew was busy preparing the bomber for takeoff.

"Found the enemy fleet?" Zheng Guanhua was a little surprised to see that the command cabin was so busy.

"Not yet, there should be news soon." Tan Renhao glanced at Zheng Guanhua and told Zheng Guanhua about the arrangements he had started. "As long as Cunningham is not gone, then we have a great chance of finding him in the waters near the Bay of St. Helena!"

Zheng Guanhua pondered for a while and said: "The possibility is indeed very large, I will arrange a mission for the bomber pilot." ”

Tan Renhao nodded, it is also necessary to make bombing arrangements in advance, as long as the British and French joint expeditionary fleet is found, then the bombers can take off immediately and annihilate the enemy in the shortest possible time.

The four fighters that took off urgently left the aircraft carrier at 8:40 a.m. and flew directly in the direction of St. Helena Bay in accordance with the reconnaissance route set by Tan Renhao. At this time, the fleet was about 420 nautical miles from the Bay of St. Helena, and the four fighters did not need to patrol there for long, so after completing the reconnaissance mission, there was enough fuel to return to the fleet. At the speed of these four fighters, the Bay of St. Helena could be reached at about half past ten, and if anything, the telegram could be sent back at about eleven o'clock.

At half past nine, the seaplane of the Third Task Force sent the news that Chang Jianxin had received Tan Renhao's "order". Task Force 3 also turned immediately, because Task Force 3 turned and accelerated a little later, so Task Force 3 was now moving at full speed. It will be possible to reach the position requested by Tan Renhao at about half past eleven, and then slow down to 24 knots. Maintain a parallel voyage to the east with Task Force 1.

At this time, the new Chang Zhixin on the "Nanning" was also a headache. This combat operation was relatively smooth at the beginning, and he also talked about Renhao attacking in a steady and steady way, rather than risking a raid on Cape Town, and Chang Jianxin was a very steady person.

Tan Renhao's change in command initially surprised Chang Jianxin. From the day he met Tan Renhao. I know that Tan Renhao is a rather radical person. At that time, the two were still serving in the Fifth Fleet, a period when naval aviation tactics were still being explored and developed, and many people did not believe that bombers could deal with battleships, let alone that aircraft carriers would become the masters of the seas. But Tan Renhao believes it, and he firmly believes it, and it has affected Chang Jianxin, affected Lei Shaoqing, and also drove Hao Dongjue's enthusiasm. It can be said that Tan Renhao showed his radical side at that time. And in the more than four years of fighting that followed. Tan Renhao gambled with the enemy almost every time, and although most of the time he gambled with more certainty, he was wounded twice in battle. And many victories can only be described as miserable victories, which are inseparable from Tan Renhao's radical and adventurous tactics.

Chang Jianxin wanted to persuade Tan Renhao to be more stable several times, but at that time, Tan Renhao was in full swing, and there was almost no one to fight him on the battlefield. Especially after the "Battle of the Coral Sea", even Halsey was killed by him and Huang Xiaotian. It is not easy for Chang Jianxin to say it directly, after all, under the current situation, Tan Renhao is unlikely to listen to his advice. Then, in the "Battle of Necke Island", Tan Renhao's radicalization suffered a big loss, and even if he won in the end, he paid a heavy price in the end. At that time, Chang Jianxin wanted to give Tan Renhao advice again, and when Chang Jianxin met Tan Renhao in the Lion City, he found that Tan Renhao had changed.

Tan Renhao's steadiness in this combat operation and in the previous operation against Cunningham gave Chang Zhixin a new understanding of this friend. In Chang Jianxin's view, this is definitely a good thing. Tan Renhao has accumulated a lot of experience in surprise attacks and sneak attacks in his previous active offensive operations, and he does not lack the ability to do so, but what Tan Renhao lacks is the ability to attack steadily. Now, having Cunningham as an opponent for Tan Renhao to exercise his new abilities is certainly a good thing. If this combat operation is successful, then when Tan Renhao returns to the Pacific Theater again, I'm afraid Spruance will not be his opponent!

But the problem is that in the second half of the battle, that is, after the bombing of Port Elizabeth, Tan Renhao suddenly changed his previous routine and advanced all the way to the northwest of Cape Town. Chang Jianxin did not object to Tan Renhao, but he was worried for more than two days, and he was ready to go up at any time to block shells for the First Task Force. Fortunately, the two and a half days were finally passed safely, and nothing unexpected happened.

When he received the news from Tan Renhao and knew that the First Task Force was heading in the direction of the African continent, Chang Jianxin almost jumped up, and even almost scolded him, Tan Renhao, a bastard boy, began to play wild again! In desperation, Chang Jiexin could only immediately order the fleet to turn around, and increase the speed to the fastest speed, and strive to rush to the southeast direction of the first task force as soon as possible. If the Anglo-French Combined Expeditionary Fleet was indeed near the African continent, then he would have to stand in front of the First Task Force, and while the First Task Force arranged for the bombers to take off, he would not allow the First Task Force to be suddenly attacked by the enemy fleet!

It can be said that cooperating with Tan Renhao always makes Chang Jianxin a little worried.

The battle in the Coral Sea was a good one, when the 1st Task Force left behind the 3rd and 4th Task Forces, and rushed behind the enemy's ass. Fortunately, Halsey is not Spruance, otherwise Tan Renhao would definitely be the first to be bombed. In Chang Jianxin's opinion, Tan Renhao's "old problem" is committed, maybe it is water in his head!

Complaining is complaining, Chang Jiexin still does not dare to relax in the slightest, at this critical juncture, if the third task force makes another mistake, it will be hopeless.

Tan Renhao didn't know that Chang Jianxin was worried, after the fleet left Moroni, he could only contact Chang Jianxin through telegrams and seaplanes, the two did not meet directly, and Chang Jianxin was not good at raising suspicions in the telegram, after all, there were other officers who would see the contents of the telegram, and if there was discord between the commanders of the two fleets, it would have a very bad impact. And when Chang Jianxin was about to jump to his feet, Tan Renhao was anxiously waiting for the news of the reconnaissance plane.

By eleven o'clock, all the bombers were filled with fuel and ammunition were ready, and after receiving the news, the bombs and torpedoes were hung on the bombers. The pilots had already listened to the pre-war briefings, and had even put on flight suits, checked their carry-on equipment, and waited for the commander to give the order to set off.

As the minutes passed, Tan Renhao also began to be anxious, after eleven o'clock, he couldn't sit still, could it be that this time he pounced again? But......

"General, the reconnaissance plane sent a telegram that discovered the British expeditionary fleet, confirmed that there were five capital ships, and in addition, it was intercepted by enemy fighters, and it was judged that it was the carrier aircraft of the British aircraft carrier, not the British shore-based fighters!"

Tan Ren Haoteng jumped up, and Zheng Guanhua, who was leaning against the porthole, also immediately walked over.

The two of them quickly read the telegram, which had been sent from a fighter plane, the contents of which had been dictated by the fighter pilot and recorded by the communications officer.

"Let the bomber take off immediately." Tan Renhao did not hesitate, "When will the second batch of reconnaissance planes come back?" ”

"We will be back in half an hour."

"Let Yang Qinkai lead the team this time, and wait until the reconnaissance plane comes back, and let Qiu Gengbo lead the second batch of bombers!" Tan Renhao then issued the relevant orders, and Cunningham was finally caught!

Because a large number of bombers were sent to carry out reconnaissance missions before, the fleet could only send Yang Qinkai's group at this time, and Qiu Gengbo's group had to wait until the reconnaissance plane came back before it could leave, and it would take time for Yang Qinkai's group to set off!