On July 22, 1916, 5,000 kilometers southeast of Běijīng, in the Truk Atoll in the central Caroline Islands, dozens of warships flying the Golden Dragon Flag, the Xu Rì Flag, and the Taiji Flag were quietly moored in the huge lagoon, crisscrossed and looming among the emerald green tropical islands. /

On the battleship "Gwanggaetu-daewang" of the Korean Imperial Navy, which is more than 27,000 tons, the flag of the admiral of the Chinese Empire at the top of the mainmast is lazily unfurled under the tropical sea breeze.

On the side of the general's command, in the commander bridge with a wide field of vision, Admiral Yuan Feng, the new commander of the Southeast Theater Fleet, was stroking his big bald head with one hand and holding Zhang Xin's telegram with the other, and his mood was quite stable.

The Southeast Theater Fleet, the full name of which is the Southeast Theater Joint Fleet, was formed by the merger and reorganization of the original Southeast Front Fleet and the First Mobile Fleet, and the current backbone strength is: three high-speed battleships, two battle cruisers, four old battleships, and six old armored cruisers.

The fleet is under the jurisdiction of: avant-garde forces, main forces, support forces, guerrilla forces, escort troops, transport troops, Truk base forces, Rabaul base forces, etc.

In addition to the Truk base team, which specializes in guarding the anchorage and providing logistical support, the combat ships currently anchored at the Truk anchorage are mainly from the avant-garde forces and the main forces that constitute the main striking force of the fleet: the former includes two battle cruisers, four light cruisers, and eight destroyers equipped with 350 mm main guns; The latter included three high-speed battleships, four light cruisers, and twelve destroyers with 350-mm guns.

Through the square porthole of the bridge, he glanced at the lineup of warships in the lagoon, and Yuan Feng's eyes turned back to the telegram in his hand: This coded telegram that has just been translated is sent from the Admiralty of Běijīng's base camp, and its main content is to approve the combat plan proposed by the fleet command two days ago: organize a rapid task force of Jīng to break into the coastal waters of Malaita Island at night and carry out artillery bombardment on the landing ground and airport construction site of the US and Australian troops. **

As Yuan Feng had predicted, apart from a small number of seaplanes on board the capital ships and cruisers, there was no additional air support for this operation, and the base camp only promised to provide them with "the most timely" intelligence support.

According to the "most reliable at the moment" intelligence. The main force of the US-British joint fleet on the Australian side left the waters around Malaita Island a week ago, and it is likely that it has sailed to the east coast of Australia to rest or receive the follow-up landing force.

From this, the main threat of shelling troops. It should still be from the joint U.S.-British air force on the island of San Cristobal, south of Malaita - nicknamed the "Tucano Air Force".

According to the reference data provided by the base camp earlier, the distance between the Holy Island airfield and the Falklands landing site is only 200 kilometers in a straight line, which is exactly within the normal combat radius of the enemy's single-engine fighters and torpedo planes; as for the enemy's twin-engine medium bombers, the combat radius can cover as far as 150 kilometers north of the landing site, and the few four-engine heavy bombers are capable of conducting reconnaissance patrols 300 to 400 kilometers north of the landing site.

Accordingly. Yuan Feng's general staff drew up the following operational plan: First, 18 submarines from the guerrilla forces were transferred and three submarine lines were deployed in the waters south of Malaita Island in an attempt to provide a pre-warning in the event of a sudden northward movement of the US-British combined fleet. Two more submarines were sent to carry special operations detachments to infiltrate the waters off the Malaita Island landing site in advance in order to indicate targets for the shelling units.

Second, the battle cruisers "Thunder" and "Haruna" were transferred from the avant-garde units, with two light cruisers and four destroyers. A rapid task force, or an artillery unit, was formed to break into the waters off the eastern coast of Malaita Island during the night. Under the instructions of the special operations detachment that infiltrated the shore, it carried out a brief artillery bombardment of the targets on the shore, and then returned north at night.

Third, the main force should accompany the artillery bombardment unit to the south with all its strength, and stand by in the open sea 150 kilometers north of the target to receive the artillery force to return home, and in case of emergency, it can rush to the target offshore to carry out rescue according to the situation.

Fourth, before and after the start of operations, the theater air force should concentrate all long-range heavy bombers to carry out continuous reconnaissance and bombing of targets. And keep the fleet informed of relevant intelligence.

Yuan Feng went through the entire plan in his mind, and suddenly thought of a key question that had not yet been determined: Who would lead the artillery troops?

It stands to reason that the artillery unit is drawn from the avant-garde unit and commanded by the commander of the avant-garde unit, but Yuan Feng is not at ease about this.

The current commander of the avant-garde force is the former commander of the 1st Mobile Fleet, Vice Admiral Yamaya. With the disbandment of the First Mobile Fleet after the Battle of the Solomons, Vice Admiral Yamaya was transferred to Yuan Feng's command, and the main force in the theater of operations, which previously commanded four high-speed warships, two battle cruisers, and two fleet aircraft carriers, has become a theater avant-garde force that now only commands two battle cruisers.

Given Lieutenant General Yamaya's mediocre performance in the last Battle of the Solomons, Yuan Feng was deeply skeptical of his abilities - especially when performing such an unconventional night combat mission, which required a high degree of improvisation, and even more so, a very decisive decision.

As for the other generals in the fleet who are qualified to lead the team, after judging them one by one in his heart, Yuan Feng concluded that if he wants to do a good job in this trip, he still has to go out in person, and he can't help but put the cannon on his lips: "Lao Tzu's battle patrol is used to fight fleet warfare, when have you ever done low-level chores such as shore bombardment?" If you want to fight, you can fight a big battle like the Bay of Bengal, and it's shameful to say that it's a shameful thing to say that you can sneak around and run away with a few shots like this......."

……

4,000 kilometers southeast of Truk, in Port Vila, the capital of the British New Hebrides, the 32,000-ton US Navy battleship "California" is slowly sailing out of the heavily fortified harbor.

As the commander-in-chief of the US-British and Australian Combined Fleet, Admiral Schroeder, who was standing on the bridge of the USS California with his back to his back, silently prayed in his heart that this mission had better have nothing to do with the decisive battle of the fleet or something.

Although the information from the British side is conclusive, it is 100 percent sure that the main force of the East Asian Combined Fleet is still in the Indian Ocean, and it is assisting the two Chinese expeditionary forces in attacking the British Aden and French Somali colonies on the coast of the Gulf of Aden respectively, and there is no intention of returning to the Pacific Ocean at present.

Even so, in order to safely escort the second landing force of the US 10th Army and the second batch of reinforcements of the garrison of San Cristobal Island, totaling more than 32,000 people, to the destination and complete the unloading, Schroeder still did his best to collect all available naval and air forces in the entire theater of operations to escort the huge transport ship regiment.

This time, the 51st Task Force as the avant-garde force, the 52nd Task Force as the main force, the 53rd Task Force as the Jǐng Jiepo Force, and the 54th Task Force as the escort and support force - the four task forces under Schroeder poured out, totaling 12 dreadnought battleships (including 7 super-dreadnoughts equipped with 356 mm guns);

1 aircraft carrier of the fleet, 1 large and 1 medium modified aircraft carrier, carrying a total of 140 carrier-based combat aircraft;

4 old pre-dreadnought battleships;

9 old armored cruisers and large protective cruisers, 24 light cruisers and old protective cruisers;

42 submarines and old mini-submarines;

84 destroyers and old small destroyers.

In addition, after more than a month of rest and replenishment, the strength of the "Tucano" shore-based air force has gradually recovered, although it has not yet reached the level before the naval battle of San Cristobal Island (the Chinese side called the First Battle of the Solomon), and the total number of combat aircraft available does not exceed 160 -- however, because the air force is stationed at the Kirakira Air Base, it is only 200 kilometers away from the landing site of the US military on Malaita Island, while the closest Munda air base of the Chinese army to the landing site is more than 400 kilometers away. This Anglo-American joint air force, which has been tested by fierce battles, should be superior to the other side in its ability to control the area around the landing site.

"Now that you've done your best to prepare, wouldn't it be nice to leave the rest to God? So, what am I still worried about? ”

Looking at the overlapping shadows of the ships outside the harbor, Schroeder on the bridge asked himself, but he couldn't find the answer for a while......