Half an hour later, the aircraft carrier "Gaoyouhu" headed in the direction of the empire under the cover of six destroyers and two cruisers, and it was not until the aircraft carrier disappeared under the sea antenna to the west that Tan Renhao's eyes shifted. He had not yet told the staff officer about the new mission of the fleet, but everyone knew what the fleet commander wanted to do now.

Regarding Tan Renhao's decision, the officers and men of the First Task Force followed it a little blindly. Tan Renhao led the First Task Force to numerous victories, and it can be said that he is the soul of the First Task Force and the pillar of the First Task Force, and no one will doubt his decision. Now that the fleet has been hit hard by the enemy, it is a question of whether the "Gaoyouhu" aircraft carrier can return to Guam. For the officers and men in the fleet who are still fighting, their most important task now is to continue to complete the unfinished mission, follow the fleet commander, and annihilate the US Fifth Fleet.

"In the afternoon, normal shifts will be restored, and everyone will be given at least six hours of rest." Tan Renhao gave the last order, "Before twelve o'clock tonight, all staff officers must be at their posts, everyone, whether you can seize the last opportunity depends on your efforts." ”

"Yes, General!"

Tan Renhao nodded at the exhausted staff officers, and then left the command cabin, he also needed to rest, and even more needed time to organize his thoughts and prepare for the next battle.

All afternoon, Tan Renhao was thinking about the next combat operation, and the key to his thinking was where the Fifth Fleet would appear.

If Spruance was to escape, he should sail straight south. Run south of Necker Island, then sail east to Pearl Harbor. Or near other islands in the Hawaiian archipelago to get new fighters. Restoration of aviation strike capability. If Spruance does not want to flee, but wants to engage in a final battle with Task Force 1 as soon as possible, he should sail east, so that he can get additional fighters as soon as possible and restore the air strike force as soon as possible. At the same time, there is a chance to catch up with the retreating 1st Task Force.

In other words, Spruance has two options, and these two routes are not the same. If the 1st Task Force was to pursue, it would have to take a different route, but one thing is for sure, this is why the 1st Task Force had to sail east, not west, which is why Tan Renhao let the fleet continue to sail in the northeast direction. First, try to leave the range of activities of the US shore-based long-range reconnaissance aircraft to avoid the fleet being exposed again, and then go to the attack area at night.

But the problem is. Now Tan Renhao doesn't know where he can catch the Fifth Fleet, that is. He doesn't know where the attack sea is!

This is the difference between making up your mind and implementing your actions, and throughout the afternoon, Tan Renhao did not fall asleep, he only lay in bed for half an hour. Then I went to make a cup of strong coffee, then turned over the chart, calculated on the chart, planned, and constantly thought about the next combat action.

To put it bluntly, Tan Renhao still doesn't have much confidence. In the previous battle, he thought that he had planned quite carefully and had taken all aspects into consideration, but what was the result? was still caught off guard by Spruance, and in the end, he didn't even have a chance to fight back. Even at the end of the day, the reconnaissance plane almost spotted the Fifth Fleet, but he had no way to catch up (the fastest speed of the two fleets was very close, and he couldn't catch up), and he missed the best time to send bombers. All of these made Tan Renhao feel a little frustrated.

The three waves of bombers arranged by Spruance were too dense, and if the interval could have been half an hour longer, Tan Renhao would have let the bombers hit the road. But the problem is that each time, he can only barely organize the air defense, and then the Xindi bomber group arrives, and by the time the American bombing is over, the Fifth Fleet has run 300 nautical miles away.

This was the first time since Tan Renhao began to command the fleet to fight that he was beaten by an opponent on the battlefield and did not even have a chance to fight back. Although in the end, only one aircraft carrier, the "Gaoyou Lake", suffered heavy damage, and the other two aircraft carriers were not damaged or even attacked, but this was a very big blow to Tan Renhao.

In previous battles, no matter how powerful the opponent was, no matter how passive Tan Renhao was, he was able to seize the opportunity to counterattack, and he turned defeat into victory several times, at least equalized the battle at the last moment, and did not let the opponent take too much advantage. But this time, Task Force 1 was completely beaten. If it were someone else in Tan Renhao's position, I am afraid that he would have lost confidence a long time ago, and he would have fled the battle after turning around, and he would not continue to hold on at all. Tan Renhao persevered, and there was only one reason for him to persevere, that is, he would not admit defeat easily, and he was very aware of the current situation. On the surface, the Fifth Fleet had the upper hand, and Spruance threw an extremely beautiful punch, but this punch did not knock the First Task Force down, and Spruance used all of his strength. This is the best opportunity to fight back, but the question is, how to launch a counterattack?

After thinking about it for an afternoon, Tan Renhao didn't have much eyebrows, and the main question was the whereabouts of the Fifth Fleet, and it was difficult for him to judge what Spruance would do next. If Spruance's goal was to annihilate Task Force 1 before, now he has more options, he can even return to Pearl Harbor first, rest there for a few days before returning to the battlefield, and there is no need to rush back to Gardner Island. Moreover, Nimitz will certainly arrange for a convoy to transport troops and supplies to Gardner Island, and the Fifth Fleet has already preliminarily completed its mission.

Well, will the Fifth Fleet return to Pearl Harbor, and will Nimitz arrange for a convoy to go to Gardner Island? Thinking of this, Tan Renhao suddenly felt that he had overlooked a problem. That is, Task Force 1 is not finished, and there is a powerful artillery formation operating near Gardner Island.

Even if the First Task Force leaves Necker Island, it will not immediately return to the Empire, but will continue to operate on the battlefield, then, if Nimitz wants to reinforce Gardner Island, he must let the Fifth Fleet continue to contain the First Task Force on the battlefield, and even let Spruance find a way to destroy the artillery attack formation deployed by the First Task Force near Gardner Island, then. The Fifth Fleet will certainly not return to Pearl Harbor, but will get replenished fighters somewhere nearby and continue to operate on the battlefield!

"Yes. Definitely! Tan Renhao smashed his fist on the table, "Son of a." You won't be able to run away this time! ”

"Who can't run away?"

Tan Renhao was startled, and immediately saw Hao Dongjue standing by the door, smiling at him.

"Isn't it F4U? It's getting dark, I heard you didn't go to the command cabin all afternoon? Hao Dongjue walked over with a smile, "Let's go eat." I've arranged all the affairs of the fleet, have you thought of a way to deal with Spruance? ”

Tan Renhao nodded as he stood up. "Probably a little eyebrows, has the interrogation of the prisoners yielded results?"

"I don't know yet, after eating, let's go and ask."

Tan Renhao felt very F4U at this time, and the two immediately went to the restaurant. In the dining room, more than 20 officers who had been replaced to rest were eating, and the two of them did not delay everyone, and after asking the chef to prepare a box lunch for them, they left the restaurant.

"I think. Spruance couldn't escape, he still had a lot of work to do.

After eating a few bites, Tan Renhao didn't feel very F4U. I lost my appetite. In three days, Han Shaofeng would have the reinforcements he needed to launch the attack, and he was not short of troops. And if Nimitz wants to hold Gardner Island, he will have to provide a batch of reinforcements to Gardner Island within these three days. As well as war materiel. If my guess is correct, then the convoy of transports arranged by Nimitz should have left Pearl Harbor yesterday at the latest. And if this fleet is to reach Gardner Island, then Spruance has one more thing to do. ”

"Take out our artillery formations?"

Tan Renhao smiled and nodded. "Not only to take out our artillery formations, but also to contain us. At least, Spruance now knows that we have carriers, so he has to protect the transport fleet. It is even quite possible that he will use the convoy as a decoy to force us to attack the convoy as he did last time, while he is lying in ambush nearby, ready to give us another surprise blow. ”

"Then he has to get the replenishment of combat aircraft in these two days, or even tomorrow, otherwise, the Fifth Fleet will be just an empty shelf."

"Exactly, so, Spruance won't go far, he will use the radio on Necker Island to contact Nimitz and ask Nimitz to urgently provide him with a batch of combat aircraft." Tan Renhao turned around, "And if the Fifth Fleet wants to maneuver in time, then he must get additional planes somewhere nearby." The U.S. military has a field airfield on Nihua Island, and the replenishment of aircraft can be transferred through Nihua Island. And Nimitz was supposed to send naval aviation on Kauai to replenish the Fifth Fleet. ”

Hao Dongjue pondered for a while and said, "It's entirely possible, then we have a great hope of finding the Fifth Fleet." ”

"Let's go and see if those American prisoners have any useful information."

Tan Renhao patted his partner on the shoulder, "If we are sure enough, then we have to arrange the operation of the reconnaissance plane and bomber tonight, and you have to work hard." ”

"It's okay, I can hold on." Hao Dongjue laughed, "If there is a real chance, then we can't let Spruance slip away again this time." ”

The place where the prisoners of war were interrogated was set up in a hangar, and the 100 US pilots on the ground were divided into two groups and interrogated one by one by the Marine officers on the aircraft carrier. Although Tan Renhao did not give orders directly, these Marine Corps officers knew very well that the information given by the captives would be directly related to the victory or defeat of the battle, so they spared no effort to make these American prisoners speak.

After entering the hangar, Tan Renhao heard the screams of those prisoners, he was originally a little disgusted, but thinking that the lives of tens of thousands of imperial naval officers and soldiers were in his hands, and thinking that hundreds of imperial naval officers and soldiers had already died on the battlefield, he also made up his mind, no matter what, he had to let these prisoners speak.

"Is there a result of the interrogation?" Hao Dongjue directly found the intelligence staff officer in charge of the interrogation.

"More than 20 people have confessed." The intelligence staff officer gave a transcript of the interrogation to the chief of staff, "This is the transcript of the interrogation, we are doing cross-comparisons, but there is no clear result yet." ”

"When will there be results?" Hao Dongjue is not concerned with the process, but with the result.

The intelligence staff officer shrugged his shoulders. "I don't know, we'll do our best, these people ......"

"No matter what method is used, they must be honestly explained." Tan Renhao walked over and said to the intelligence staff officer, "You have to understand one thing, what these US prisoners confess is directly related to the safety of tens of thousands of officers and men of the fleet, and the trend of the situation in the entire theater. Where are the prisoners' records? ”

The intelligence staff officer hesitated for a moment and gave Tan Renhao the list of captured American prisoners.

"I now give you the necessary authority, if these captives are not honest to confess, you can use any means, even to remove them from the list, we will not admit to capturing these American pilots!" Tan Renhao looked at the list, and then returned it to the intelligence staff officer, "I will ask the chief of staff to greet those officers and soldiers who participated in the salvage work, if they refuse to cooperate, then, they have never boarded our warship, do you understand what I mean?" ”

"Yes, General!" The intelligence staff understood what the commander meant, that is, he could use death and torture to extract confessions without fear of being interrogated after the war.

"Alright, you go get busy!" Tan Renhao nodded, "Before ten o'clock in the evening, you must give me a detailed and clear interrogation report. ”

"Yes!" The intelligence staff immediately began to recruit personnel to carry out new tasks.

After the intelligence staff officer walked away, Hao Dongjue pulled Tan Renhao aside and whispered:

"Renhao, isn't this not good? Knowing that there are thousands of these captives, it is impossible for every one of them to keep their mouths shut, and if they are finally discovered, I am afraid that they will ......"

"I have to be responsible for all the officers and men of the fleet, we have already lost one aircraft carrier and cannot afford any more losses." Tan Renhao's attitude was very firm, "Don't worry, if someone needs to take responsibility, I will take all the responsibility, you are all following my orders, and you don't need to bear any responsibility." ”

Hao Dongjue sighed secretly, war will change people, and Tan Renhao has changed a lot more than four years ago.