While the fleet, the 6th Sentai Squadron, the shore-based forces of the Navy, and the Strategic Strike Force (the strategic bombing of Japan has resumed, but the intensity is not great), the Navy Command is also making new deployments and adjustments. By 4 February, the first phase of deployment adjustments made by the Navy Command was largely complete.

All three field airfields on Agrihan Island were completed, as were two field airfields on Aramagan Island. The Navy has deployed a total of eighteen squadrons of fighters on the two islands, including six fighter squadrons (a total of 192 fighters, with an additional 12 reserve fighters), twelve tactical bomber squadrons (a total of 432 bombers, and an additional 2o reserve bombers), in addition, two squadrons of transport aircraft, nearly 1oo transport aircraft. The 6 Sentai added eight additional anti-aircraft positions on the two islands and deployed more than 5oo anti-aircraft guns. In addition, a large number of fortifications were built to strengthen the defenses of the two islands, and the total strength of the 6 Sentai deployed on the two islands was 12ooo (75ooo on Agrihan and 45oo on Aramagan Island) During this period, a large number of supplies were delivered to the islands in preparation for the next stage of the offensive.

The strength of the 6th Sentai is also being assembled in Xun. On the 4th, the two 6 divisions on Iwo Jima resumed combat training. The third reinforced division had already left Ryukyu Island and was advancing towards Asunción Island. The five 6th Divisions that had previously participated in the reconquest of the South Seas, as well as the two 6th Divisions in the direction of the Korean Peninsula and Jeju Island, were massing towards Ryukyu Island and Taiwan Island. These forces were in place by 10 days at the latest, and they were in a state of combat readiness. When the time comes, the Tang Empire can use at least twelve 6 divisions and more than 2o thousand troops (in fact, the 6 teams delivered at one time will not exceed three divisions, which is limited by the strength and transportation power of Deng 6) to launch a new attack.

A large number of transport vessels (mostly requisitioned civilian vessels) were requisitioned and repurposed in the harbor. Some will install artillery guns to be used as artillery support ships, while others will become transport ships) are thinking about the Ryukyu Island. All of these ships will be in place by 10 days.

The strategic strike forces deployed on Iwo Jima and Ogasawara Islands also resumed the size of six main regiments on the 4th, and each regiment was at full strength. Although the main task of these bombers was to bomb Japan. But they are all ready to be drawn to combat operations in the south. What's more, in the past few days, a large number of bombs (including a batch of aviation armor-piercing shells) have been delivered to Iwo Jima and the Ogasawara Islands.

The 3rd Task Force left the anchorage at Iwo Jima on 3 days and nights, and an American submarine was killed by a destroyer just after the telegram had just finished the 3rd Task Force after it had set sail. As for Tan Renhao, they only received the order on the fourth day.

"The fleet can go to sea before evening."

The chief of staff is responsible for the departure of the fleet, Hao Dongjue wiped the sweat from his forehead, "The officers and soldiers are back, I went around." The brothers are in good spirits, and now they are gearing up one by one, ready to do a big job! ”

Tan Renhao's expression was very calm, and he had been looking at the sea outside the exit of the strait.

"Renhao, do you have any other orders?"

Hao Dongjue followed Tan Renhao's gaze and looked forward, but he didn't see anything famous, he didn't know what his partner was looking at.

"No, nothing ......"

Tan Renhao glanced back at his friend, "Set sail at six o'clock, come and call me then." ”

Hao Dongjue nodded. I saw my partner walk out of the command cabin.

"There was something wrong with the commander's look. What happened to him? ”

"Don't ask so much, can we ask about the commander?"

Hao Dongjue glanced at the two staff officers in a low voice, and then sighed secretly. He also felt that Tan Renhao's expression was a little wrong in the past few days, as if he had something on his mind.

At 5:50 p.m., the trumpet sounded on the battleship, which was the order from the fleet. Hao Dongjue was just about to send someone to call the commander of the fleet, and Tan Renhao walked into the command cabin.

"The fleet will be out in ten minutes."

Tan Renhao's expression was very serious, "Have you decided on the long, degree, and course?" ”

"Report to the commander, it's all confirmed."

Tan Renhao nodded slightly. "Chief Engineer. What about the fleet? ”

"Completely normal, the ships are in the best condition."

"Gunslinger, are all the ammunition ready?"

"It's all replenished, enough to kill a few Yankee fleets!"

The staff officers all laughed, and they all looked at the staff officer in charge of the ordnance.

"Okay, the chief of staff will arrange the rest!"

Tan Renhao didn't smile, "The fleet is ready to go out and give the anchor order." Get ready to go to war! ”

After Tan Renhao sat in the position of commander, Hao Dongjue immediately issued a series of orders to set sail. This was the essential job of the chief of staff, and the first job of the first chief of staff of the Imperial Navy was to give orders to the fleet commander for the fleet. Therefore, the chief of staff gave orders to the fleet, which became a tradition in the Imperial Navy.

At 6:30 a.m., all the warships left the anchorage, and under the leadership of the large air defense cruiser "Li Jing," the fleet slowly sailed to the open sea, and after passing through the sister island (south of the mother island, the southernmost island in the Ogasawara archipelago), the fleet had already entered the deep water area, and then began to sail again, and the battleships behind quickly caught up and sailed south in anti-submarine formation.

"Report, the fleet turns in five minutes, and reaches the maximum cruising degree of twenty-four knots in fifteen minutes."

"Okay, let's get busy, don't bother us if it's okay."

Hao Dongjue patted the navigation staff officer on the shoulder, and then walked next to Tan Renhao. He took out his cigarette first and handed it to Tan Renhao. "What, what's on your mind?"

Tan Renhao shook his head, looking like he wanted to speak and stopped.

"If you don't want to say it, don't say it, but I don't think it's good to hold things in your heart."

Hao Dongjue sat next to his partner, "I'm different from you, I can say anything, and it's much easier to say it." ”

"Don't worry, I'm fine."

Tan Renhao took a few puffs of cigarette fiercely, "When will the command give the order?" ”

"It should be soon."

Hao Dongjue glanced at his partner again, "Are you really okay?" ”

"Of course it's fine, why do you think I'm in trouble?"

Tan Renhao laughed, a little reluctantly. He threw away most of the cigarettes that were left, "I'll go to the correspondence room and take a look, maybe the telegram has arrived." ”

"Okay, then I'll stay here. Come and call me at dinner. ”

Tan Renhao nodded, and then left the command cabin. Looking at his partner's back, Hao Dongjue sighed. Tan Renhao must have something on his mind, and it is a very serious matter. After working together for so many years, fighting together for so many years, and living together for so many years, Hao Dongjue knows this friend's temper very well. Back then, when General Ji Xiaobin was killed. Tan Renhao exploded once, and then walked to the position of fleet commander. Perhaps, he should have exploded once by now.

Half an hour later, Tan Renhao hurriedly returned to the command cabin, still holding a thick telegram in his hand.

"News so soon?"

Hao Dongjue was also very surprised, looking at the thickness of the message, it took about half an hour just to receive and decode.

Tan Renhao glanced at his partner, then glanced at the staff officers who were all looking at him. "Navigator, you are in charge of the voyage of the fleet, come to us in the officer's quarters if you have something!"

"Yes. Sir! ”

Hao Dongjue didn't say much. Immediately, he followed Tan Renhao out of the command cabin and walked towards the officer's cafeteria below. In the officer's cafeteria, several officers of the aviation unit were eating and chatting, and they saw the two generals come in. They all immediately stood up and saluted, and then left in amusement.

"I just received it, it seems that the trouble between Shaoqing and Lao Chang has passed."

Tan Renhao put the telegram on the table, and then beckoned to the sergeant in charge of the officer's cafeteria, and asked for two bottles of beer.

"Returning to the fleet? What about Old Ray? ”

Hao Dongjue only read the content of the first page and shouted.

"Shaoqing is in charge of the restoration of the second task force in the rear. Now the 'Pearl River' has gone to Kaohsiung for overhaul, and several other shipyards can't line up, so they went to Kaohsiung. The Huaihe was overhauled at the Jiangnan Shipyard, and only the Yellow River was repaired at the Port of Naha. Someone needs to do these things, when Shaoqing partners with me. He was well versed in these matters, so he stayed. ”

Tan Renhao opened the beer bottle as he spoke, "Right now, the second task force can only fight five large air defense cruisers, six heavy cruisers, and eight destroyers. These ships have already been repaired and overhauled in Naha. Although the scale is a little smaller, there are no aircraft carriers, there are no battleships. But it is also a force to be reckoned with, and if they can go to war, then we have a commando! ”

"Commando?"

Hao Dongjue glanced at his partner, and his eyes fell on the telegram again.

"Can't let us, or Task Force 3, charge into battle, can you?"

Tan Renhao took a sip of beer and continued, "Didn't you ask me a few days ago, what is the combat mission now?" Look at the back. This time, our mission is to take out the last fleet of the Yankees. Task Force 3 is still the main force, and we are the Assassins, while we also have to take care of supporting the 6th Sentai Fleet. Well, now that both of our fleets have important tasks on their hands, it is impossible to fight to the front line. And in the days when we came back to rest, there were only the destroyers escorting the convoy ahead. In the past ten days or so, the small American fleet has repeatedly reached our ship assembly points at night, and several transport ships have been blown up. Now the escort warships of the Second Task Force are organized to deal with those 'sea hooligans.' Of course, they have one more important task. ”

"What task?"

Hao Dongjue looked at it very carefully.

"You read it first."

Tan Renhao smiled and took out his cigarette, "After reading it, let's discuss it slowly!" ”

Half an hour later, Hao Dongjue finished reading the more than 20-page message. The front of the telegram is the transfer and arrangement of the relevant troops, then the initial combat mission of the first task force, and the last is the arrangement of the cooperation troops (mainly the supply time, place, reconnaissance range, and relevant intelligence) After reading the telegram, Hao Dongjue also understood the meaning of Tan Renhao's words.

The second task force (temporary, not to be patched later) has two tasks, one is to confront the US Navy's "Night Fast Fleet" (a temporary title given by the Tang Imperial Navy, because these fleets composed of destroyers, light cruisers and warships are active at night, enter the battlefield at a degree of more than 3o knots, and then withdraw before dawn to avoid being attacked by the bombers of the Tang Empire) to ensure the safety of anchorages, landing 6 fields, temporary docks and other key locations. The second is to provide artillery support for the next attack of the 6th Sentai team. Originally, this task was supposed to be undertaken by the 3rd Task Force, but now the 3rd Task Force has to concentrate on dealing with the American "Z Fleet" (the Tang Imperial Intelligence Department only received the code name of the American fleet) and the actual combat has proved that in the low-intensity Deng-6 operation, the main guns of the battleships actually do not have much effect, and the supporting firepower of heavy cruisers and large air defense cruisers is sufficient, and this is more economical (the price of shells is lower, and the life of the 2oo mm main gun barrel is 1ooo, The life of the 24o mm gun barrel is 8oo, while the life of the 4oo mm gun barrel is only 5oo) The duration of the fire is also longer.

"So, Fleet Z is getting ready for battle?"

Tan Renhao nodded slightly. "Our task is to cooperate with the Third Task Force to annihilate the 'Z Fleet', and only after the 'Z Fleet' is eliminated can we implement the next step of the Deng 6 battle plan."

"What are these plans of the 6th team for?"

Hao Dongjue turned to the page where he gave a brief introduction to Team 6's next move.

"Bait, or rather, a move to block the Yankees' retreat."

Tan Renhao handed a cigarette to his partner, "We have been preparing for more than ten days, and in the same way, the Yankees have also prepared for more than ten days." According to recent intelligence, the 'Z Fleet' has largely recovered its combat effectiveness and has been operating around Saipan. The situation is already clear, and our next step is either to go south or sweep the Caroline. Regardless of which route is chosen, the seizure of sea supremacy is the most crucial. Therefore, it is necessary to drive out the 'Z Fleet' and force them into battle! ”

In fact, there is no need to talk about Ren Hao's introduction, judging from the current battle deployment of the Imperial Navy, the US Navy has no choice. The Tang Empire had already deployed at least five 6 divisions (not counting engineering troops) on the battlefield of the Mariana Islands, concentrating thousands of combat aircraft, hundreds of large and small ships. Pose as if you continue to move south, and it is very likely to attack Anatahan Island, in preparation for the final landing on Saipan Island and Guam. In addition, the deployment on the western battlefield is basically in place, and if the American fleet does nothing, then it can only wait for defeat!