The big war is imminent, and the US military is in a very tight time. By the time the sun rises tomorrow, Spruance's Task Force 16 will depart early, so this will actually be the last pre-war meeting.

When Li Guang and Nimitz arrived at the headquarters set up dozens of meters underground, the US army was already full of generals.

At the meeting, Li Guang met with the 17th Task Force: Rear Admiral Fletcher, don't look at the two of them running together on the ocean for half a month, but the two did not meet. This is the first time the two have met.

Task Force 16: Raymond. Rear Admiral Spruance, when Li Guang was on a bombing mission in Tokyo, General Halsey once introduced his proud subordinate, who was also his brother-in-law. Li Guang was deeply impressed by this taciturn but sharp-eyed US general.

The other was the commander of the submarine force at Pearl Harbor: Robert Brown. Rear Admiral Inglich. This Rear Admiral Ingrid, Li Guang also had dealings with in the past, and his submarine force was actually the most closely connected with the Naval Resistance Force.

Tian Muyi, a staff officer of the submarine force of the Maritime Resistance Army, is currently working with Major General Ingrid to coordinate submarine operations with the two armies.

The US military's operational plan and pre-war preparations were all formulated by Nimitz and other generals and then with the use of hundreds of staff officers of the Pacific Fleet.

After a colonel and staff officer of the U.S. Army once again explained in detail the purpose, plan, preparation, and response plan of the operation to the chart. Several US generals also expressed their opinions.

When it was Li Guang's turn to speak. Li Guang stood up and said, "Ladies and gentlemen, judging from the battle plan, the work of the Pacific Naval Staff is very meticulous. Here, I would like to make a few additional comments. ”

Li Guang's position in this coalition army was not high. But that is because the military strength of the Naval Resistance Force and the US Army is not at the same level, and which of these US generals dares to say that they are more clever than Li Guang?

Take a look at Li Guang's development route. It is enough to make all the American generals admire.

Li Guang's right to speak comes from the combat effectiveness of the Naval Resistance Army and his achievements.

Not to mention how much the submarine forces of the Maritime Resistance Army have achieved in the past few years. In the Battle of the Arabian Sea, the generals of the American army asked themselves that under the conditions at that time, an old battleship could survive under the siege of the powerful surface ships of the Japanese army, which was not something that every general could do.

Attack the Marshall Islands and take out the Japanese Wake Island Attack Fleet. Perhaps the US generals can do it, but if they can do it without losing a single soldier, I am afraid that the training level of the US military will not be up to it.

In the Battle of Ceylon, the Allied fleet did not perform well. However, the air force of the Naval Resistance Army has an outstanding record.

In the Battle of the Coral Sea, the Maritime Resistance Army was caught off guard, and its performance was even more amazing, not only killing a Japanese light aircraft carrier, but also saving the Yorktown. Such a level of combat. The generals of the US army admired it even more.

The military is a group that admires honor, and this group is more vain in a sense. Everyone is chasing the ranks. Chase the merits of the war, hoping to one day become a general who stands at the top.

The only way to make such a crowd admired is to have outstanding military exploits.

Therefore, as soon as Li Guang opened his mouth, it attracted everyone's attention, especially several US military staff officers, whose eyes were full of challenges. The elite of these military school graduates. After years or even decades of military training, all of them are full of strategy. They may not have enough experience in battle, but they absolutely do not believe that there is anything wrong with the combat plan they have painstakingly worked out. Even loopholes. None of them think there is.

Li Guang raised his hand, stretched out a finger and said: "I believe everyone understands that the first echelon of the Japanese army must be headed by aircraft carriers." I will now tell you about my understanding of aircraft carrier operations. ”

The generals and officers of the US army were still waiting for Li Guang to find fault, and Li Guang turned out to be a professor at the Military Academy. Li Guang had actually been thinking about how to establish his voice in the US military for a long time, so he decided to come up with a little bit of dry goods.

"Aircraft carrier operations, the first criterion (principle): discovery is destruction."

One word came out, and the words were shocked. Among the American generals, many people are vaguely aware of the importance of discovering the opponent's aircraft carrier, and many are groping, and even in battle, they do it, but no one has yet theorized about him.

A simple sentence made the US generals present fall into deep thought. Simple, isn't it? No, it's definitely not simple.

In the middle of the war, the Americans had no choice but to choose a combat mode with aircraft carriers as the core. The Americans have also realized that aircraft carriers are the king of naval warfare, but most of the officers who have been nurtured by the cannons of giant ships for decades still have doubts in their hearts.

Even if it is accepted that aircraft carriers are the royal road to future naval warfare, in actual combat, there is no complete theoretical system, and it is still being explored.

In the current state of the US military, the thinking is at the moment before dawn, and Li Guang's speech happened to be at this moment, and just one sentence made the thinking of all US military officers suddenly clear. It's just a guiding light, a firefly in the dark night. All of a sudden, it pointed out the direction for the US generals who were in the fog.

Discovery is both annihilation. How simple, how clear.

What is the principle of warfare? According to Napoleon, the principle of warfare was "the principle that guided the great generals whose exploits have gone down in history." They were: Alexander, Hannibal, Caesar, Gustaph. Adolf, Tirene and Frederick the Great. The battles they commanded, if well documented, are a complete treatise on the art of war; The principles that should be followed in offensive and defensive warfare will naturally arise from them".

Regrettably, these early strategists, while respecting those principles, did not document them in an orderly manner. If there is no generalization, there is no principle, or a guideline.

It began with Clausewitz who came up with clear principles of warfare. In his memorandum to the Crown Prince of Prussia in 1812, he laid out five principles. Anyone who can summarize the principles or norms of war is a military strategist.

The discovery proposed by Li Guang is not only to destroy, but also to destroy the essence of aircraft carrier operations. This is a tactical principle. Unlike the strategic principles proposed by Clausewitz in Germany and Mahan in the United States.

But its importance cannot be overstated. The generals present immediately realized that this would be a tactical principle that could enter the naval textbooks of various countries. How many soldiers, painstakingly and bloodlessly. But it is difficult to leave a sentence of one's own in military textbooks.

A family (military strategist) in one word.

Glory. It's glory.

After a moment of silence, Admiral Nimitz led the applause, followed by applause in the room. This is the recognition of this criterion by the generals of the US military, and it is also the recognition of Li Guang and the Naval Resistance Army.

In the admiration of the US staff officers and generals, Li Guang pointed out several shortcomings in the reconnaissance.

After several years of exploration, several years of study, and some knowledge ahead of this era, Li Guang has slowly formed his own view of war, and he also has his own unique tactics. As for this discovery is both annihilation. Sooner or later, the US military will find out, but there is no need to keep it secret. Therefore, it is perfect to compare it with a comparison.

Pretending to be forced for a long time, Li Guang just wanted to add a little bit of bargaining chips to the chances of victory for the US-Tang coalition. It also strives for more benefits for the naval resistance forces. However, if the suggestion is lightly made, it is a big question whether those US generals and US military staff officers will listen to it.

The US military's reconnaissance arrangements have been meticulous enough. But no matter how much attention is paid to reconnaissance, it is not too much to pay attention to it. Discovery, both annihilation, has put reconnaissance in the first place. But the U.S. military still hasn't reached the point where reconnaissance is the first priority.

Therefore, Li Guang put forward several additions on reconnaissance.

More than 20 water reconnaissance planes on seven heavy cruisers of the US military were not specially assigned tasks. Li Guang's suggestion for this was to wait until the Japanese aircraft carrier was discovered. Not only did the originally arranged reconnaissance planes continue to keep an eye on the opposing warships. These water reconnaissance planes also had to take off immediately. Keep an eye on it and keep track of your opponent's movements. The pilots were reminded that the Japanese fleet should be kept under their own surveillance no matter what, even at the cost. This is a trick that the Maritime Resistance Force has explored, and it is very dangerous, but it is very effective. It was possible to reduce the search time of bomber pilots. In the Battle of the Coral Sea, Liu Kejin and Shao Fuxuan did just that. It guided the fleet led by Liu Gensheng very well.

Other than that. In view of the defect that the US military reconnaissance plane does not have airborne radar, it is easy to miss the target due to weather conditions, so that unpredictable hazards occur. Li Guang suggested that the US military immediately seconded radar-equipped reconnaissance planes from the British.

The air force units of the Naval Resistance Army in the port of Don suffered heavy losses in the Battle of Ceylon in April. At that time, because the British aircraft carrier was sunk or injured, many British pilots flew to Tang Port, and three torpedo planes equipped with radar were caught by the naval resistance forces by a little means.

Of course, the radar reconnaissance planes that mobilized Tanggang were not in a hurry, and the number was insufficient. So getting it from the British is the only option. As for the method used by the Americans to transfer fighter planes from the Atlantic Ocean to Pearl Harbor and to Midway Island in just a few days, Li Guang did not need to think about it.

This kind of organizational activity is probably something that only Americans can do. Nimitz acted so quickly that he drew up a telegram on the spot, asking President Roosevelt to coordinate the matter.

Another question raised by Li Guang was rather embarrassing to the US generals.

Li Guang believes that the naval resistance forces and the US military have insufficient fighters at Midway. Li Guang did not mention the shortage of battleships at all, and it was useless to mention it, and now the American battleships are either under the water of Pearl Harbor or on the slipway for repair. The so-called shortage of fighters actually means that the combat effectiveness of US pilots is insufficient.

According to the forecast of the US military, the Japanese army will dispatch all four large aircraft carriers, and the number of small aircraft carriers is unknown.

According to the dispatch of four large aircraft carriers by the Japanese army alone, there were about 250 fighters, one-third of which were escort Zero fighters.

The Naval Resistance Force plus the four US aircraft carriers are only 250 aircraft. Even with the addition of the various fighters at Midway, there are only three hundred and fifty or sixty aircraft.

It seems to have a numerical advantage, but it is not an exaggeration to say that the Japanese Zero fighters are not a big problem with one top American and two Wildcats.

Therefore, Li Guang demanded that the US military mobilize as many fighters as possible for the aircraft carrier and Midway. At least the number reached four hundred.

Nimitz was also a little powerless about this, he could find a way to transfer a few reconnaissance planes, but he couldn't mobilize a large number of fighters.

Although intelligence indicated that the Japanese were attacking Midway, Pearl Harbor had to be defended. Not to mention that Nimitz did not dare to transfer the 100 warplanes guarding Pearl Harbor to Midway, I am afraid that no one would dare to do so. If the intelligence was wrong and Pearl Harbor was a target for the Japanese army, then Admiral Nimitz would definitely not have ended up any better than his predecessor.

Concentration of forces is a strategic principle, but it is not synonymous with all-or-nothing means.

Nimitz thought about it for a while, and finally agreed to add another twelve fighters to Midway, bringing the total number of fighters on Midway to more than one hundred and thirty. Its combat effectiveness will surpass that of an aircraft carrier.

The last combat meeting lasted three hours. The battle plan has been quite complete after the final addition, and the next thing is to depend on the commanders' command of the battle, as well as luck.

Regarding several weapons supplements for the Naval Resistance Army, Nimitz also readily agreed to Li Guang. Li Guang was very satisfied, the Liberty Dragon was being repaired, and the air force pilots of the Naval Resistance Force and the three air defense destroyers began the final grinding of knives. (To be continued......)