In the Pacific Ocean, north of Wake Island, a steely and multi-force fleet hurried toward the hazy blue-gray sea antenna to the southwest.

South-West ...... Where is the destination?

Guam in the Southern Marianas? Caroline's Truk? Or is it some remote harbor in the Philippines or Borneo?

At this moment, even Admiral Liu Guanxiong, who was sitting in the bridge commander's chair of the flagship of the East China Sea Fleet, the "Yangbo", could not answer the above questions.

Six days earlier, Liu Guanxiong boarded the "Yangbo" at Pearl Harbor and led the Third Mobile Force, which was composed of the backbone forces of the East China Sea Fleet, to Wake Island -- yes, the order from the base camp was to "sail to XX degrees XX minutes east longitude and XX degrees XX minutes north latitude, that is, 50 nautical miles north of Wake Island......

"Commander, arrive at the first standby point in 1 hour."

Major General Ye Fei, the chief of staff behind him, reported in his ear.

"Haven't received a telegram yet?" Liu Guanxiong frowned slightly impatiently.

"Nope. Do you want to generate electricity? ”

Liu Guanxiong shook his head slightly: "No need, let's wait." ”

"Yes......" Ye Fei hesitated for a moment, and then said in a low voice, "Commander, there are some things that I don't know whether to say or not." ”

"If you're not sure, don't talk about it," Liu Guanxiong said with his eyes closed. "Half-heartedly, you will only mess with yourself."

"Yes—"

For the next half hour, the bridge was eerily quiet, until the communications staff officer rushed in with an exaggerated look on his face.

"Report, Headquarters Admiralty Order!"

Liu Guanxiong half-squinted his eyes like a dead man coming back to life: "Nian." ”

"Direct flight to XL to make up for it."

Ye Fei took the message and looked at it carefully: "XL...... Balikpapan! Commander, it's Borneo. ”

Liu Guanxiong's hand in front of his lower abdomen was raised: "Give the order to go down." ”

"But, Commander, Balikpapan can't accommodate the entire Combined Fleet, right?"

"Enough for us."

Ye Fei suddenly said: "What does the commander mean...... Balikpapan is also a standby point? Where else is the last meeting point? ”

"Balikpapan is just a façade," Liu Guanxiong confident. "For more than half a year, we have been fighting far away from the bases, the support conditions are poor, and the combat intensity is high; after the end of the Alaska operation, most of the ships and ground parts must be thoroughly overhauled, and the personnel must be reorganized and rested, otherwise it will not be enough to maintain the combat effectiveness above the level. Staying in a hellish place like Balikpapan where birds don't poop can't do anything, so it's just a façade. ”

"I see......"

"Temporary hard training is inevitable, and we must be mentally prepared." Liu Guanxiong added, "This time. It is the cannon giant ship that will decide the outcome of the battle, and the flies who can only play sneak attacks and kill targets can go while cooling. ”

Ye Fei nodded again and again like a chicken: "Yes, Commander, this Yangbo under our feet is here to fight a dignified and decisive battle with the enemy's main battleship!" ”

Liu Guanxiong suddenly reached out and pressed his temple: "...... No, you can't let them just be idle, it seems that they are going to be thrown in front of the main force and used as an avant-garde alert force, and the above-ground planes are not only an important reconnaissance force, but also have a counter-reconnaissance role...... It's like the cavalry of the Army. It's called a 'cavalry curtain' or something. ”

Ye Fei continued to nod: "That's right...... In any case, Liang Shuming's self-righteousness. The grandstanding guy can't let him be arrogant anymore. ”

"The surname Liang is just a chess piece, you have to see the strength behind him......" Speaking of this, Liu Guanxiong suddenly lowered his voice, "The army has the army's intentions, we have our insistence, if we can't insist on the people, let him go, the lone wolf who is isolated will either become a dog or go crazy...... These words. Just keep it in your heart. ”

"Understand ......"

……

In a jungle on the southwest coast of Myanmar, the sound of people and the roar of machines can be seen from the air. The outline of an airport is almost taking shape.

On the high ground south of the construction site, a vice admiral in the prime of life, with an imposing demeanor and a third-class Blue Dragon medal on his chest, was pointing back and forth between the map and the construction site with a group of engineers in light-colored work jackets. The lieutenant general raised his voice and shouted: "What? Two more months? No, no, it's too slow, the daylilies are cold...... It must be completed within a month! If you can't finish it in a month, I'll fill the runway with you! ”

After saying that, he threw down the map and strode down the slope.

One of the accompanying staff officers hurriedly rushed up, leaned close to the side and whispered: "Commander, isn't it a bit too much to say that just now, several people in it are quite hard in the background......

His Excellency the Lieutenant General suddenly became angry: "Hard? When the time comes, the airfield will not be completed on time, and our three ships will not be able to catch up with the battle. ”

It turned out that this lieutenant general was the current commander of the Third Air Fleet, Ling Yi, who had tried his skills in the Battle of Lingayen, and was promoted to the rank of major general for his merits in the Battle of Lingayan a few months ago, and was awarded the third-class Blue Dragon Medal that now hangs on his chest.

"But, isn't there a breeze down there, and the decisive battle is near Ceylon, so it's not our turn to play?" The staff officer does not open the pot.

"You know the! Even you know that the road is going to be decisive in Ceylon, can the enemy still not know the way? This is called to hit the east and west, and smoke bombs are released. ”

The staff officer blinked vigorously: "No...... That...... Does the Commander know the real decisive battle? ”

Ling Yi suddenly stopped, raised his hand and looked at the sky: "Until the last moment, no one knows the road, but the preparation work can't stop at any time, think about it with your brain, if you can't use our three ships, why do you add so many troops to us?" The number of airplanes alone has more than doubled, and the new land-based fighters that have just left the factory, as well as the new land attack with a longer range and a larger load, are not given to other theaters, but only to us. ”

It turned out that the role played by the Third Air Fleet in the Battle of Lingayen was not as great as expected, and the losses were not light, and nearly one-third of the planes of the two land attack wings that attacked were damaged, and one-fourth of the crew members were killed and missing. Ling Yi was struggling with this, but unexpectedly received good news: the base camp not only agreed to quickly replenish the losses of the three air tanks, but also planned to integrate the newly formed 11th Air Force into the three air ships. The 11 th Air Force is under the jurisdiction of two land attack wings and one land fighter wing, the land attack unit is equipped with the latest "Haixianglei" four-engine heavy bomber (with a combat radius of nearly 900 miles when carrying one ton of bombs), and the fighter team is equipped with the army's new "Yundian" fighters. In addition, the Eighth Air Force, with shore-based seaplanes as the main force, will also add 3 squadrons equipped with "Sea Hawk" water fighters. As a result, the three ships will have land-based attack aircraft, 32 water reconnaissance aircraft, 30 water warfare, 18 land reconnaissance aircraft, and 36 land fighters, for a total of 314 aircraft, plus 24 airships.

The staff officer touched the back of his head: "Yes, this is indeed ...... Is it really a sound to the west? ”

"Anything is possible until a definite order is received, and before that, the base complex along the coast of Myanmar must be completed on schedule! You're all keeping an eye on me! ”

Throwing off this sentence, Ling Yi lowered his head, took a big stride, and continued his stormy journey...