More than a month after the outbreak of the war, warships of various types reinforced by the Atlantic Fleet passed through the Panama Canal, and then sailed halfway across the Pacific Ocean before arriving in Hawaii.

Today, the assembled Pacific Fleet has a total of 12 battleships, 4 aircraft carriers, and 27 cruisers, which is extremely large.

With plenty of troops, the matter in front of Admiral Hasburn is to make strategic decisions.

For more than a month before today, the Pacific Fleet had been guided by the strategic principle of "not attacking for reinforcements in the Papua region."

Because everyone was worried that after the main force of the fleet went to the South Pacific, the Ming army was likely to carry out a rapid offensive in the Central Pacific, directly attacking Midway Island and even Hawaii.

In that case, the main force of the fleet will have to rush back to the defense and respond to the battle in a hurry, and there may be problems of insufficient fuel and tired personnel, and it will inevitably be at a disadvantage.

However, yesterday and today, the report submitted by the Naval Intelligence Department in Hawaii Station H clearly pointed out that it can basically be concluded that the Ming Army does not have a plan of action for the Central Pacific.

The British MI6 station in Colombo also collected a series of valuable intelligence, which also confirmed the conclusions of Station H.

"At present, the enemy's fleet is massed in the western Pacific and shows no signs of attacking eastward."

The change in intelligence finally allowed the cautious Pacific Fleet to act, and now Admiral Hasburn could put aside his concerns and take the initiative.

He and many of the generals present here knew very well that the Ming fleet on standby in the western Pacific was waiting for the opportunity to act, and if the American fleet rushed to the aid of Papua, then the Ming fleet would definitely attack in a big way.

Strategically it must be so, but tactically it is not clear how it will be arranged.

This is the standard conspiracy - Americans are well aware of the calculations of the Ming people, but there are still only two options.

Or, as expected, send the Pacific Fleet south to intercept the Ming army's attack on Papua, and then engage the main fleet of the Ming army in the meantime.

Either stay still in Hawaii, staring at the Ming fleet across half the Pacific Ocean, but the Ming army will definitely attack Moresby and even Australia.

For Americans, there really isn't a good way to have the best of both worlds at this point. In particular, war is, in the final analysis, a continuation of politics, and in some cases it has to be reluctantly reluctant.

Admiral Hasburn has been under external pressure from both the military and political circles for the past few days—this is the helpless situation that a high-ranking general must face.

Darwin was captured by the Ming army, 10,000 people of the 6th Infantry Division of the Australian Army were annihilated, and the division commander, Major General Richard, died in battle, and now it is being hyped by the American, Australian, and British media.

He was posthumously promoted to lieutenant general, awarded the Victoria Cross by King George VI, and was awarded the Cross of Merit for Service by the United States with great fanfare.

But this kind of publicity is not so important in the eyes of Mai Dashuai, and he feels that it is a bit of an eyesore.

After successfully escaping by submarine from Gorigidor Island, he moved to Melbourne to serve as commander of the Southwest Pacific Theater of the US-Australian coalition.

When he stepped off the train with his wife, he was quickly surrounded by dozens of reporters, and he happened to be looking forward to such a scene, and immediately delivered an impromptu speech confidently and calmly.

The speech ended with "I shall return", which immediately sparked enthusiastic cheers. The slogan spread quickly, being painted on walls as a slogan and even printed on cigarette cases and stamps.

However, pretending to be in front of the public, Douglas knew very well that he could not win by shouting slogans, and he could not persuade the Ming army to retreat from the Ming army.

Douglas quickly implemented a series of measures to turn Moresby into a heavily guarded outpost and a strong base against the Ming army's attack on the Australian mainland.

Fighting and enthusiastic bosses can undoubtedly bring a positive atmosphere to their subordinates, and the atmosphere of frustration and panic since the fall of Darwin has gradually dissipated, and the United States and Australia are rapidly regaining confidence.

It is destined to be insufficient on its own, so Douglas has been constantly urging Washington from his first day in office.

Money, people, guns, artillery, ammunition, planes, tanks...... He also proposed that the Pacific Fleet should hurry south to help eliminate the threat of the Ming army.

He was in agreement with some of the dignitaries that the retreat and retreat were over, and that all efforts must be made to hold Moresby.

But without the help of the navy, the Ming army, which had control of the sea, could easily divide Papua and the Australian mainland, and the fall of Moresby was only a matter of time.

Therefore, Douglas strongly hoped that the Pacific Fleet would come to reinforce it, and it would be better to fight with the Ming fleet in the Coral Sea or the Torres Strait to break the strategic ambitions of the Ming army!

Admiral Hasburn was under great pressure from the military and political circles, and the upright and resolute commander was so dissatisfied that he sent a telegram to the president to explain the current strategic situation.

「…… Mr. President, I tell you something sincerely, the enemy's strategic disposition has shown us two paths with traps, and the only way to avoid being stepped on is to open a third path...... We should plan a long-range surprise attack to disrupt the enemy's disposition. - Hasben Kimmel

Whether it is to move the troops or go to reinforcements, these two options will be in the hands of the Ming army, and the only way to break this conspiracy is not to play according to the routine and look for the third option.

Hasborne's plan was to do the opposite, to form a rapid task force, with four aircraft carriers and one North Carolina-class battleship as the core, to detour the North Pacific Ocean to the waters near Guam and carry out surprise air strikes on the Ming fleet anchored there.

The construction of the USS Washington was a little slower, so it would take a few days to be put into service; The North Carolina was completed earlier, but in a hurry, and the sailors manipulated her to Hawaii before they could get acquainted with her.

However, the battleships only played the role of pressing the formation, and the main striking force still relied on the carrier-based aircraft groups of aircraft carriers.

It can be said that this idea of Hasben is bold and deadly, and once it succeeds, then the Ming Navy will suffer a heavy blow!

But as things stand, the fear expressed by Australians has largely translated into expectation and dependence on Americans, and this is the opportune time to expand the influence of the United States.

Politicians generally believe that the Australian mainland should be given firm and continuous assistance to buy people's hearts, and there will undoubtedly be good returns in the long run.

There were also many in military circles who insisted that the Pacific Fleet should be sent to Papua immediately.

As a seasoned and good statesman, President Franklin rarely interfered in professional affairs without permission, but this time it was not the case, and political imperatives were afraid to dominate military operations.

What's more, although Admiral Hasburn's prediction is very rich, correspondingly, the greater the natural risk the greater the benefit, and there is a great possibility of failure in this long-range surprise attack plan.

If the surprise attack fails, it will be a loss of wife and a loss of troops - neither reinforcement of Papua, but also loss of troops.

Over the four days from Nov. 6 to Nov. 10, Honolulu and Washington were unusually well exchanged with telecommunications, and the two sides engaged in heated debates over strategic decisions.

Admiral Hasburn, who is upright by nature, sternly rejected the request for hasty reinforcements to Papua - this kind of practice of "knowing that there are tigers in the mountains and favoring the tigers in the mountains" is simply sending them to death!

So he flew overnight to mainland China, first from Hawaii to San Francisco, and then from San Francisco to Washington.

The commander, who had not slept all night, rushed to the White House and quarreled loudly with the president, the secretary of the Navy, and the chief of staff of the Army, and the scene was very tense for a while.

Everyone took a step back and reluctantly reached a consensus, and the final result was that the plan for a long-range surprise attack on Guam was too risky to be approved, and at the same time, the main force of the Pacific Fleet remained in Hawaii and sent only one task force to reinforce it.

However, the president also reminded that if the situation allows, the main fleet should also attack actively, and everything can be decided by the commander at his own discretion.

"God forbid, at least...... The main forces of the fleet will not carry out this stupid operation. Exhausted Admiral Hasburn muttered to himself.

The situation was urgent, and the Ming army's action could be launched at any time, so he immediately boarded the plane and returned to the Hawaii headquarters without stopping.

He slept on and off on the plane for a while, barely recovering his energy.

As soon as he returned to the headquarters, he immediately began to work on the plan of action.

Hasburn had a large number of troops at his disposal, and he began to carefully select ships and commanders to carry out the almost voluntary operation.

Because it was not essentially a pursuit of overwhelming superiority, Haspen's sequence of task forces was only "capable of confronting and repelling the Ming landing fleet at Darwin."

It is known that the Tianshi Youyuan was severely damaged and could not participate in the battle, so the aircraft carriers deployed by the Ming army in Darwin should be the Tianshi Zuoyuan and the Beiluo Shimen? The battleship only has the Longshuo?

Therefore, he thought that only one aircraft carrier should be sent to cover the fleet, and at the same time two battleships should be used to counter the Longshuo.

It is definitely not possible to bring battleships with them, because it is possible to engage in complex waters such as the Solomon Sea or the Torres Strait, and it is possible to encounter them suddenly if you are not careful.

The final sequence of Task Force 12 (TF-12) was rather streamlined—with fewer capital ships and more escorts, divided into two detachments.

TF-12.1 Fleet: USS Lexington, USS Northampton, USS Honolulu, and 4 destroyers.

TF-12.2 fleet: USS Maryland, USS West Virginia, USS Phoenix light cruiser, and 5 destroyers.

However, information during the war cannot be completely accurate, and in many cases it is lagging and half-truthful.

It is true that the Tenchi Yougaki was heavily damaged, and this information is generally correct.

The Beiluo Shimen and the Longshuo have been transferred to the northern route, leaving Darwin a few days ago, and are now heading for Guam, and this information is completely wrong.

As a substitute, the old Yuan Hunt class two were transferred to Darwin, respectively Yuan Feng and Yuan Ding, and the US military knew nothing about this information.

With such a deployment of the Pacific Fleet, the 180th Fleet is naturally ready to go.

On the first day of mid-November of the 39th year of Zhichang, Zhou Changfeng, who was ordered to return to Beijing to report on his work, did not return to Beijing directly, but stopped in Guangzhou and Nanchang and drove around, and finally arrived at Yingtianfu, the capital division.

Shops were open as always, with most items such as leather, shoes, silk, milk, and lard, with only a few out of stock due to trade disruptions.

Small shops selling rock sugar, white sugar, and brown sugar are still available in unlimited quantities. When I inquired, the wholesalers had never heard of the government's implementation of limited rationing.

The same is true at gas stations, where the staff adjust the pump pressure while reading the newspaper. On the billboards, the price of No. 56, No. 66, and No. 70 gasoline was even lower than before the war.

After that, outside a fireworks willow alley in Xicheng District, Nanchang Prefecture, Zhou Changfeng couldn't help but stumble slightly.

The beginning of winter has passed, and the women in thin clothes and heavy makeup are standing in the house in twos and threes, the charcoal stove is burning red, and you can feel the warmth inside through the glass doors and windows.

Pointed-toe heels, wedges, embroidered heels...... These are okay and can be ignored, just the black nylon stockings that are gentle and close to the skin......

"No, if it's still like this, there won't be any need to fight this battle."

Zhou Changfeng, who was shocked, took a deep breath, shook his head slightly, and then turned to leave.

In the afternoon of the same day, his plane slowly landed on the runway of Takahashi Airport.

About an hour later, the Forbidden City.

“…… As of today, the total number of battles has exceeded 100,000 metric tons, and the Yongyuan and Yuanxing ships have made the British even more worried. ”

“…… The Telecommunications Surveillance Unit of the Governor's Intelligence Service reported that in the past five days, there have been more than twice as many telecommunications exchanges between the United States and Hawaii as usual, which can be regarded as a sign of planning or action. ”

As always, Luo Fu reported the latest military situation to the emperor.

Because the Royal Navy had no time to take care of Indus, the aircraft carriers were urgently transferred to the Atlantic Ocean to encircle and suppress the raging workers' navy to break the fleet, so the Ming Navy tried to deploy two Yongyuan-class battle cruisers to the Indo-Duyang to carry out the task of breaking diplomatic relations.

In general, the results of the battle were okay, which made the British frightened for a while, but because they were always attacked by land-based aviation, it was also dangerous, and the bow deck of the Yongyuan was blown out of a big hole by aerial bombs.

"Zhou has been waiting for a long time, come in."

"Huh? Good. ”

Zhou Changfeng, who was deep in thought, came back to his senses, and then stepped over the threshold and walked in.

I haven't seen her for many days, Zhu Lingjing's complexion is good, the upper and lower skirts are cherry red, and she looks very festive, it is estimated that these days can be called a spring breeze for her.

She glanced at someone Zhou and asked puzzledly, "You don't look like you have returned victorious at all." ”

"Your Majesty, I was quite happy when I set off......" Zhou Changfeng, who was helpless, saluted, "But I was curious halfway, so I landed in Nanchang, Guangzhou, and walked around, and found that Ya didn't look like a general battle at all, it was completely singing and dancing." ”

Zhou Changfeng didn't pay much attention to the matter of civil mobilization before, and a long time ago, the Ming court began to raise taxes on aluminum, an important light metal, that is, aluminum salary.

Therefore, he always thought that the government and the opposition were aware of the importance of mobilizing and implementing rationing to save resources, but now it seems that this is not the case.

(End of chapter)