The Fifth Fleet sailed southeast at full speed at night, and Spruance and Tan Renhao did not know that they almost passed by, and at about twelve o'clock, the shortest distance between the two fleets was only about 80 nautical miles! By daybreak, the distance between the Fifth Fleet and the First Task Force was about 180 nautical miles.

Neither side was aware of it, and as a result, they missed the opportunity to play a game in the night. But Spruance also probably figured out at this time, if Tan Renhao was still taking risks this time, and it was very likely that he was using adventurous tactics, and believed that the Fifth Fleet would return from the northern route, then the First Task Force would definitely try to maneuver to a sea area that Spruance could not think of, and that the tactical bombers on Necker Island could not threaten, and then send bombers to deal with the Fifth Fleet at dawn.

If it is a reconnaissance plane, the First Task Force has nearly 250 bombers, and its pilots are of very good quality, and even with the cover of shore-based fighters, the Fifth Fleet may not be able to escape the blow of the First Task Force. In addition, he did not dare to underestimate the air defense capability of the First Task Force, because in the southwest Pacific, Halsey's two rounds of strikes were not able to take out the Fourth Task Force, which was weaker than the First Task Force, and the Fifth Fleet had much fewer bombers than the 31st Task Force at that time, so it would be even more difficult to break through the air defense network of the First Task Force. What to do?

These are two very real problems that must be solved. The Fifth Fleet could hardly hold off the heavy blows of the First Task Force, and the fists of the Fifth Fleet could hardly defeat the First Task Force. In other words, Spruance was inferior to Task Force 1 in both offense and defense.

If you only rely on the strength of the Fifth Fleet, and even add those dozens of fighters on Necker Island, he is not necessarily Tan Renhao's opponent.

Spruance's first thought was to escape. If you can't beat it, it's not a shame to run away. But the problem is. The Fifth Fleet may not be able to escape the range of Task Force 1. And what annoyed Spruance even more was that he couldn't accurately judge Tan Renhao's location, and if Task Force 1 was still north of Necker Island, he wouldn't be able to escape, and if he did. The Fifth Fleet can only be allowed to leave the cover range of shore-based fighters, and when the time comes, it will be caught by the First Task Force, and I am afraid that there will be no chance to fight back.

He also quickly gave up on this idea, and since there was little hope of escaping, he would fight. But how to fight, how to win?

Spruance spent the entire first half of the night thinking about this, two issues to be exact, one was offense. That is, we have to find a way to defeat the first task force, and the second is to defend, that is, to dodge.

Or to block the blow of Task Force 1. Although these are two very different issues, they have a lot of relevance, and one thing in common is that they must rely on ground-based air forces on Necke Island. Otherwise, the Fifth Fleet will only lose, and it will not be possible to win.

On the offensive side, Spruance had nearly 200 bombers on four aircraft carriers, and in addition to some of the bombers on reconnaissance missions, he could use at least 180 bombers to organize two bomber groups. In addition, there are about 120 tactical bombers on Necke Island, and more than 30 medium bombers (which are basically used for long-range reconnaissance missions), which should be able to organize a batch of bombers, that is, Spruance can mobilize about 300 bombers to organize three bomber groups. And one important thing is that the tactical bombers deployed on Necke Island are navy, not army aviation, and these bombers can land on aircraft carriers. Maybe three batches of bombing are not enough to completely destroy Task Force 1, but as long as half of the bombers can be recovered and two more bombings can be organized, then it is very likely that Task Force 1 will be eliminated. But there is also the question, what if Task Force 1 is out of range of tactical bombers on Necke Island. Moreover, this is very possible, even if Tan Renhao takes risks, he will not fight enemies in two directions at the same time, right?

Also, even if the First Task Force is within the strike range of shore-based bombers, it will take several hours for these bombers to run back and forth, and during this period, the First Task Force has long run away, and the shore-based bombers will not be able to catch up at all, and what is the survival rate of the carrier-based bombers that can return to the fleet, and can they organize two groups of bombers?

The problems in defense are not small. The most effective defense is to attack, but when there is no way to ensure that the attack is effective enough, then the most effective defense is not detected by the enemy. However, the problem is that when the time comes, it is very likely that the First Task Force will be in the ultimate strike radius of the bombers of the Fifth Fleet, and it will be difficult for the bomber group to make tactical detours, and Tan Renhao will definitely roughly judge the position of the Fifth Fleet according to the direction of the arrival of the US bombers, and then send bombers, and then the Fifth Fleet will be completely finished. In addition, if two batches of bomber groups are to be arranged at the same time, how to arrange escort fighters? Even if the more than 50 fighters on Necker Island are counted, it is not enough to ensure the safety of the fleet itself, and how to arrange the escort fighters of the bombers taking off from the island?

Unlike land warfare, in naval warfare, the general's first consideration is definitely his own safety, not how to defeat the enemy, if even his own safety cannot be guaranteed, then how to defeat the enemy? This time was no exception, and the preservation of the Fifth Fleet was the first thing Spruance had to consider, so the first thing he thought of was defense.

In any case, if the Fifth Fleet is exposed, then it will be attacked by the first task force with all its might, and the Fifth Fleet will be completely finished, and the only way to ensure the safety of the fleet is to avoid detection.

After simplifying these two issues, it is how to concentrate all the tactical bombers against the First Task Force and how to avoid the detection of the Fifth Fleet. In the eyes of others, these may be two problems that cannot be solved at the same time, even using the methods that Spruance had previously used against Task Force 2. But Spruance isn't the kind of person who will shy away from problems, and.

He did think of a solution, risky, but hopefully one that would achieve his campaign intentions.

In the early morning of the 26th. Spruance sent a seaplane to Necke Island and gave his orders directly to the commander of naval aviation on Necke Island. All water patrol planes on Necke Island, as well as those medium bombers, were required to take off before dawn to search for Task Force 1, and the focus of these reconnaissance planes was to the northwest of Necker Island and the waters to the north.

And all reconnaissance aircraft are capable of flying up to 500 nautical miles.

And repeatedly searched the predetermined sea area for more than an hour.

At the same time, another order was to arrange for tactical bombers to take off immediately if Task Force 1 was discovered, even if Task Force 1 was outside the strike range of tactical bombers. After completing the bombing mission, these bombers did not return to the airfield on the island, but went directly to the Fifth Fleet to land, and when the time came, the Fifth Fleet would guide these bombers. In addition, the airfields on the island should be prepared to meet carrier-based bombers. If necessary, carrier-based bombers of the Fifth Fleet will land at the island's airfield to replenish fuel and ammunition. Conduct a second round of bombing missions.

Next, Spruance arranged the actions of carrier-based reconnaissance aircraft. At that time, he said that there were actually only 12 special carrier-based reconnaissance planes in China, but the problem was. There is still a large area of sea in the north of the fleet that cannot be covered by shore-based reconnaissance planes, so Spruance can only add 12 SBDs, and a total of 24 SBDs can be arranged to carry out reconnaissance missions, and the key search direction of carrier-based reconnaissance planes is the north of the fleet, and the seaplanes in his hands are responsible for searching in the west and northwest directions of the fleet.

Of course, Spruance did not forget to do the most important work, which was to convey the details of Task Force 1 to the commander of the attacking force, and to organize the bombers on the four aircraft carriers into two bomber groups. The ground aviation crews of the fleet also began to prepare before the early hours of the morning, while Spruance gave the order at about four o'clock, and the aviation crews could only prepare the reconnaissance planes first, and to get the bombers ready to take off, it was at least about eight o'clock. Especially on three small aircraft carriers, the preparation of bombers for departure takes more time because of the limited conditions.

By this time, Spruance had already roughly finalized the battle plan. If Task Force 1 were to be within 150 nautical miles to the north, 220 nautical miles to the northwest, and 25 nautical miles to the west of the Fifth Fleet, he would be able to organize 300 bombers to strike Task Force 1. If Task Force 1 were outside this range, he would have to use the Fifth Fleet's carrier-based bombers. At the same time, however, he was able to run away at full speed to avoid the blows of Task Force 1.

However, there is only one loophole in the entire deployment, that is, if the First Task Force appears within 150 nautical miles to 25 nautical miles north of the Fifth Fleet, not only will it be able to use the bombers of the Fifth Fleet to deal with the First Task Force, but it will not be able to escape the strike range of the First Task Force bombers at all. In other words, Spruance could only pray that Task Force 1 was out of the area.

After the task was arranged, Spruance could only wait, like Tan Renhao, as the commander of the fleet, his most important task was to plan the campaign, in terms of command, the commander of the fleet could only play a role at a decisive moment, and before the battle began, there was nothing to command.

Between 5:40 and 6:20 a.m., the fleet's reconnaissance planes departed one after another, and Spruance received a message from the Air Force Command on Necker Island that the long-range reconnaissance planes had departed before five o'clock as he requested, and he also asked Spruance if there had been any change in his decision to prepare the tactical bombers for takeoff.

Spruance did not reply to the telegram, which means that there was no change. Perhaps, in the eyes of many people, this is incomprehensible, but Spruance knows very well that maybe the 120 bombers on the island will determine the outcome of the entire battle, and he cannot do without the support of these bombers, even if he will lose a group of pilots because of this, and even these bombers are likely to not be able to land in the Fifth Fleet, but the strike power of those 120 bombers is not something that anyone can ignore.

As the minutes ticked by, Spruance used the waiting time to rethink the campaign plan. In fact, the core of the main campaign plan was to shuttle carrier-based bombers and shore-based bombers to bomb the First Task Force. Because the two groups of bombers arrived from different directions, it was unlikely that Tan Renhao would immediately judge the position of the Fifth Fleet from the direction in which the bombers arrived, and by the time he understood it, the Fifth Fleet would have already run away, or the First Task Force would have been completely finished. This is the most critical point of the entire combat operation, which is to confuse the adversary and make it impossible for the adversary to know where the Fifth Fleet is.

Whether or not the 1st Task Force can be completely annihilated is not the main thing. In Spruance's view, even if he could not achieve the goal of annihilating the First Task Force, as long as he could sink one or two aircraft carriers, then the Fifth Fleet would gain an advantage in strength, and the next time he fought a decisive battle with the First Task Force, he would be sure of victory. Of course, it is best to completely annihilate the first task force, even if it cannot be completely annihilated, if it can make all three aircraft carriers lose their combat effectiveness, this can also prevent the Tang Imperial Marines from capturing Gardner Island.

In other words, Spruance's aim was to gain time to change the balance of forces on the battlefield in the short term. As long as Task Force 1 was unable to fight for one to two months, he would have enough time to head south to the Southwest Pacific to engage Task Force 4 in a decisive battle. And the certainty of taking out the 4th Task Force is definitely much greater than the 1st Task Force. As long as he can take out Task Force 4. At that time, even if the First Task Force regains its combat effectiveness and the Second Task Force becomes an army again, the US military will no longer be at an absolute disadvantage, and the situation in the entire Pacific Theater will change dramatically.

As a fleet commander, being able to take into account the entire battle situation is the most commendable, and this is also a significant sign of an excellent fleet commander, Tan Renhao and Spruance both belong to this kind of fleet commander, they want not only a tactical victory, but a whole strategic victory!