The officers and men of the "Yorktown" did not fail Spruance, and more than four hours after the storm passed, the flight deck of the aircraft carrier, which had been damaged by strong winds, was repaired. It's just a repair, in order for the fighter to take off, the US military just barely installed the damaged deck back, and not reinforced it in the standard way!

At half past eight, just after the storm had passed and the maintenance work on the "Yorktown" had not yet been completed, Spruance impatiently let the reconnaissance planes on the "Hornet" and "Saratoga" take off. According to Spruance's previous deployment, three aircraft carriers should be dispatched, a total of 36 reconnaissance planes (each of the three aircraft carriers has a squadron of 12 reconnaissance bombers) to carry out reconnaissance missions, but there was a problem with the flight deck of the "Yorktown," and the planes could not take off at all, so the 24 reconnaissance planes on the other two aircraft carriers could only take off first, and the 12 reconnaissance planes of the "Yorktown" waited for the flight deck of the aircraft carrier to be repaired before going out.

Spruance personally drew up a reconnaissance plan and had been considering this combat operation since he boarded the USS Hornet. In his opinion, the most useful information was the large stack of personnel reports on the commander of the First Task Force of the Tang Imperial Navy. How did this information come about, Spruance didn't care, he only cared about this opponent.

For Tan Renhao, the youngest rear admiral in the history of the Tang Imperial Navy (referring to the age when he was promoted to rear admiral), Spruance could only sigh that he was only a captain destroyer captain when he was Tan Renhao's age. But he didn't dare to underestimate this young opponent at all, only to look at the extremely beautiful naval battles that this man had commanded before, and Spruance put him in the position of the number one enemy.

Spruance had some knowledge of the Japanese Navy, and he came into contact with many Japanese Navy generals when he was serving in the Far East Fleet, the U.S. fleet sent to the western Pacific. Nagumo and Yamaguchi were the two generals in the Japanese Navy who knew the most about aircraft carrier tactics, and as a result, both of them were defeated by a young man who had just risen to the top of the Tang Imperial Navy and had only a few years of service experience, and they were defeated very badly!

Spruance also knew Fletcher well, serving in the Pacific Fleet. Although Spruance thinks Fletcher is a bit of a "sissy", Fletcher is also an excellent admiral, and he also knows a lot about aircraft carrier tactics, and he also has a good performance in the "Battle of the Philippines". As a result, as soon as he met this major general of the Tang Empire named Tan Renhao, he fell into a heel, and it was a big heel, and he almost lost his life.

For such an opponent, Spruance did not dare to have any careless thoughts about underestimating the enemy. He carefully studied the information of Tan Renhao's command of those battles, and then it became clear that this rear admiral of the Tang Empire was particularly adventurous, and at every critical moment, he could always come up with some methods that others could not think of. For example, when fighting the 17th Task Force, who would have thought that he would dare to drive the aircraft carrier fleet under the nose of the US military base, and then attack by surprise, and then turn around and leave the battlefield, without giving the opponent any chance to fight back?

That's the problem. Spruance felt that this young Don Imperial rear admiral had a bit of a resemblance to Halsey. Halsey was also bold as soon as he started the battle. Danger is not considered danger at all. That's a good thing, but if you're too reckless, it's a bad thing. The First Battle of the Marianas was supposed to achieve greater results. But Halsey was too risky, and as a result, the fleet suffered heavy losses.

At this time, the Tang Empire's First Task Force was still operating in the waters near the Mariana Islands, and there were indications that the Tang Empire's Second Task Force had recovered its combat effectiveness, and the maintenance of the three aircraft carriers had been completed by the end of March, so it was very likely that the Second Task Force would go to the battlefield. Spruance also had a copy of the information of Lei Shaoqing, the commander of the second task force, and he knew that the commanders of the two task forces were partners in the past, and Lei was Tan's deputy and the chief of staff of the fleet. Later, after Tan went to the theater staff to serve as chief of staff (the US intelligence department did not know that Tan Renhao had directed the strategic bombing of Japan), Lei was promoted to the post of fleet commander.

Based on the relationship between these two men, Spruance judged very directly that Tan was the commander-in-chief of the campaign, while Ray had to obey Tan's command. That is, both fleets of the Tang Empire were actually commanded by one person. Perhaps, the two fleets will act separately (if there are too many aircraft carriers, it is easy to cause confusion in command), but talk about the commander-in-chief. And according to Tan's personality and command characteristics, it is very likely that he will put the first task force in front and use it as a shield, while the more powerful second task force will be ambushed somewhere nearby and undertake the main strike mission!

As the reconnaissance plane began to take off, Spruance was still standing in front of the chart, marked with a few dots, which were telegrams from long-range water reconnaissance planes deployed on Saipan before the storm. The water reconnaissance plane, which had slipped out of the air defense interception range of the Tang Empire's fighters, appeared half an hour before the storm appeared in a fleet of the Tang Empire. Although the telegram was vague, it must have been a huge fleet, because it mentioned aircraft carriers! The position of the fleet is about 25o nautical miles northeast of Saipan. And this is the epicenter of the storm!

What are they doing in the Storm Zone? This is Spruance's first question, as far as he knows, the two aircraft carriers in service in the Tang Empire are all open hangars, open bows (in fact, both aircraft carriers were overhauled in response to the problems exposed when fighting in the western Pacific, changed to a closed bow, but still use open hangars) The seaworthiness of the aircraft carrier is not strong, and it is easy to be damaged by storms. Leaving the aircraft carrier in the storm zone is clearly not a good idea! Then they will definitely transfer the patrol area, where will it be?

Outside, reconnaissance planes were taking off one after another, and the flight deck of the aircraft carrier was already lively, and the staff officers were also busy. Spruance was still standing in front of the chart, his chin propped up with his right hand, his eyes squinting, and thinking. It's like a master playing chess, if you make a wrong move, you will lose the whole game!

"Report to the Admiral, just received a telegram from the 17th Task Force!"

"Task Force 17?"

Spruance was taken aback, "Who sent them out the telegram?" ”

The staff officer looked innocent, he received the telegram, and he didn't receive the telegram!

Spruance quickly calmed down, and he glanced at his watch. At 10:50 a.m., the weather had improved considerably, and the storm was farther away. When he read the contents of the telegram, he had to "admire" the commander of the 17th Task Force, Rear Admiral Kincaid. It is normal that there is no fleet of the Tang Empire, but there is no need to send a telegram either!

"General, do you want to call back?"

The staff officer was still waiting for orders.

"No, don't call back just yet!"

Spruance asked, turning to the chart. "Where is Task Force 17 now?"

The staff officer immediately marked the exact location of Task Force 17 on the chart.

"Damn it!"

Spruance cursed softly.

The 17th Task Force has already killed the area where the current Tang Imperial Navy fleet was before, that is to say, it is about 25o nautical miles away from Saipan Island and 2oo nautical miles away from Agrihan Island, and the Tang Empire has deployed thousands of combat aircraft on Agrihan Island, which is enough to submerge the 17th Task Force!

"General......

Spruance pressed his hand, he hated it most when someone came to disturb him while he was thinking, this is very similar to Tan Renhao, maybe every fleet commander is a little arbitrary.

Task Force 17 has been operating according to plan, but the problem is. Kincaid should never have sent out this telegram of inquiry. The Tang Empire installed more than a dozen radio listening stations on the islands already occupied. Before. The Japanese Navy suffered several crushing defeats, all because the location of its fleet was exposed. In terms of electronic technology, the Don Empire was ahead of all countries. Radio signals from Task Force 17 must have been intercepted. By triangulation, it is possible to at least roughly determine the area where the radio waves are coming out, and the reconnaissance planes will definitely arrive soon, as long as the bombers of Task Force 1 will be enough to kill them.

"Where has the center of the storm shifted now, and how big is the impact?"

"Here, the area of influence has been narrowed to 2oo nautical miles."

Spruance watched as the staff officer marked the center of the storm and the range of effects on the normal use of the carrier. His brow furrowed again, if Task Force 1 hadn't sailed east or west, it would still be within the storm's reach. Other than that. The bombers of the Don Empire on Agrihan Island, as well as on several other islands, should not have taken off yet.

"General, are we going to call back?"

The communications staff is still asking this question.

"No,"

Spruance shook his hand, "Can we still send a reconnaissance plane?" ”

"If a reconnaissance plane is dispatched again, it will inevitably affect the strike force of the fleet, and the 'Yorktown' will be repaired soon."

"When will the plane take off?"

Spruance turned and looked over to the aviation operations staff.

"Before half past twelve, the aircraft carrier can send planes."

The Major General nodded, pondering for a while. said: "Then, after the 'Yorktown' is repaired, immediately let the reconnaissance plane prepare for takeoff." Perhaps, our adversary is in ambush somewhere nearby! ”

On the aircraft carrier "Yangtze River," the flagship of the First Task Force, Tan Renhao watched one bomber after another leave the flight deck. The powerful storm has damaged dozens of warplanes, and although aviation service personnel have rushed to repair more than a dozen of them, there are still more than 20 warplanes that cannot take off. As always, dive bombers took off first, then torpedo bombers, and finally escort fighters. Because the report of the reconnaissance plane has not yet returned, the distance between the two fleets is about 15o nautical miles, and the bombers do not need to worry about fuel at all. After completing the takeoff, the group first formed over the fleet.

"Commander, the report of the reconnaissance plane, there is currently one enemy aircraft carrier, several capital ships, and more than a dozen other warships of various types, which are advancing rapidly in the northwest direction."

Tan Renhao immediately took the telegram, a complete telegram, he handed the telegram to Hao Dongjue, and then said: "Immediately tell the reconnaissance plane pilots that it's time for them to go hunting!" ”

Hao Dongjue did not hesitate and immediately asked the aviation combat staff officer to deliver the news to several captains of the aviation unit.

"Contact General Liao Hanxiang and the Second Task Force."

Tan Renhao took out his cigarette and lit the match with a quick movement, "Another shark must be nearby, now let's draw it out." Let the air defense fighters take off as soon as possible, they will all hang up the auxiliary fuel tanks, whether they can survive or not, it will depend on their performance! ”

The aircraft carrier was busy again, and the aviation crews who had just sent off the bomber group were busy refueling the fighters, ammunition, and hanging up the auxiliary fuel tanks. These are all heavy physical work, and these aviation service personnel are also strong men, even if they were not before, they have long been trained. It was not an easy task to prepare for the take-off of more than thirty fighters. At that time, there were still many problems on the aircraft carrier, which were not repaired in time. After reluctantly releasing the bombers, the aircraft carrier should have been repaired first, but now the fighters are being released, which is really enough for those aviation service personnel and the officers and men of the fleet.

The first air defense fighter took off at 11:50, and the bomber came out at 11:35, with an interval of 20 minutes. These anti-aircraft fighters are hung with large auxiliary fuel tanks, and in addition to retaining half an hour's combat fuel and fifteen minutes of return fuel, these fighters can patrol the skies over the fleet at cruising level for at least three hours, and after three hours, the bomber group should be back, and then there will be new fighters. This can be regarded as a little benefit of the fighter's long range.

The last fighter took off at 3 o'clock after 12 o'clock, and a total of 33 fighters took off into the air, 18 of which took off from the "Yangtze River". It took a few minutes longer for fighters to take off than before, but it was not because of the reduced efficiency of the service personnel, but because of the problems of the aircraft carrier itself that limited the sortie.

Tan Renhao glanced at his watch. "The bombers should be almost in the sky over the American fleet, right?"

"It's almost there."

Hao Dongjue is also estimating the time, "I hope this surprise can surprise the Yankees!" ”

Tan Renhao shook his head and laughed, and then let out a sigh. He has already bet all the gambling books of the First Task Force, and next, it will depend on Lei Shaoqing's actions!