On the same day, Zhu Lingjing received a report jointly signed by the Navy Department and the General Staff Office of the Metropolitan Governor's Office.

「…… The outcome of a war depends on the field forces, and the core of the field forces on the ocean today is the aircraft carrier. The most direct and effective way to achieve the present strategy is to try to lure the US fleet."

「…… We are convinced that the capture of the Gilbert Islands will exert tremendous pressure on the United States, thereby inducing the American fleet to inflict heavy losses with superior forces, and that sinking three or four ships will be a victory, and the prospects are bright."

「…… If the enemy refuses to fight, Gilbert's Tarawa Islands and reefs will be under the control of our Korea, and the local sand will be conducive to the construction of airfields, thus shielding the United States and Australia from the combined forces, and serving as a fulcrum for the northward attack on Hawaii."

Zhu Lingjing quite agrees with this enterprising strategy in her opinion, and is more favored than the Emperor Zhu Shiyan.

Although the strategic decisive battle is equivalent to a big gamble, she thinks that she can afford to lose, and at the moment the Ming Navy has a great advantage, even if the decisive battle is generally played, it will not be lost.

So... It's worth the bet!

Zhou Changfeng once again felt the wonderful mentality of the land power country for naval power, looking at a series of measures of the Ming Navy so far, on the whole, they are defensive postures, even offensive operations are offensive defensive strategies.

Moreover, it seems that the decision-makers of the Ming Dynasty have never regarded the navy as the foundation of the country, and do not hesitate to treat the fleet as a consumable - even the most cutting-edge battleships.

They seem to think that as long as the navy can buy enough time for the land power to take root in the South Seas, then it doesn't matter if the fleet is exhausted.

Don't look at the Ming Navy, which occupies the largest military expenditure, but on a macro scale, it still serves the army; It's the same with the Air Force.

Especially after the strength of the air force was confirmed, the steel seal of this mode of thinking was strengthened - there are no unsinkable aircraft carriers, but land airfields are always there, and the army and air force are enough to repel all incoming enemies.

Of course, this is the mentality of the decision-making level other than the upper echelons of the navy, and the Ming Navy itself is definitely reluctant to be treated as a consumable.

If it hadn't been shirked for too long, and now that they were urged by all sides to fight, the Ming Navy would not be willing to take the initiative to attack, and they would prefer to wait for the US fleet to come to the door.

This time, the Gilbert Islands strategy plan was formulated under the personal auspices of Naval Governor Song Zhongkai.

There are two people in charge of the outline of the main framework of the plan, namely Rear Admiral Ouyang Zhanghua, who has studied aircraft carrier tactics the most deeply in the Ming Navy, and Colonel Dong Jian, a staff officer of the Operations Section of the Navy Department.

The rest of the details were filled in and perfected by a large number of staff officers according to the professional division of labor.

The purpose of the strategy plan is twofold: first, to occupy the main islands and reefs on the Gilbert Islands and establish an air base; The second is to lure the US Pacific Fleet and strive for a decisive battle with it.

If the basic campaign objective is achieved - to sink two or three aircraft carriers and occupy Tarawa Atoll and Makin Atoll - then it will greatly weaken the US counterattack force and deal a heavy blow to its fighting spirit.

According to conservative estimates, this can postpone the time for the US military to launch a strategic counterattack in the Pacific Ocean to two and a half years later, and the Ming Dynasty will have ample time to consolidate its defense in the South Seas.

The Ming Navy will devote all its resources to the 180th Special Fleet.

The battle sequence is:

The first was the first formation, which was personally commanded by Song Zhongkai and had battleships as the core.

The 31st artillery fleet of the A-word 31, 4 high-speed battleships, 2 heavy cruisers, 3 light cruisers, 9 destroyers.

A 32 artillery fleet, 5 low-speed battleships, 3 light cruisers, 9 destroyers.

A 38 artillery fleet, 2 battle cruisers, 4 heavy cruisers, 4 light cruisers, 12 destroyers.

In addition, two seaplane carriers, Donghu and Taihu, and five tankers were strengthened.

The second formation was the second formation, under the full command of Ouyang Zhanghua, with aircraft carriers as the core.

The C-20 Air Attack Fleet, 2 aircraft carriers Taiwei Zuoyuan and Taiwei Youyuan, as well as 1 light cruiser and 5 destroyers.

The 22nd Air Raid Fleet, 2 armored aircraft carriers Ziwei Zuoyuan and Ziwei Youyuan, as well as 1 light cruiser and 5 destroyers.

The 24th Air Raid Fleet, 3 light aircraft carriers, the Beiluoshimen, Ligong, and Tiangang, as well as 2 light cruisers and 6 destroyers.

In addition, there are 2 supply ships and 5 tankers.

Finally, there is the third formation, which consists of three lightning fleets and a submarine warfare fleet, with a total of 8 light cruisers, 5 super destroyers, 42 destroyers, 2 submarine carriers, 8 ocean-going submarines, 4 heavy artillery cruisers, and 4 tankers.

The transport ship unit was not included in the combat sequence, and the 2nd Marine Brigade followed the third formation with 6 landing ships, 21 cargo ships, and 1 hospital ship.

The Ming army invested a huge fleet of 7 aircraft carriers, 2 seaplane carriers, 9 battleships, 2 battle cruisers, 6 heavy cruisers, 22 light cruisers, 93 destroyers, 12 submarines, 2 supply ships, 14 oil supply ships, and 1 hospital ship.

The operation number is "A/600/No. 1/Change 1", and the code name is "Fengji".

The perfect plan of action day and night exhausted many staff officers, but it was finally completed.

On the morning of 1 February, a major from the Army Department of the Metropolitan Governor's Office was suddenly called to the Gaoqiao Airport, where the guards were heavily guarded, and the heavily armed officers and men of the forbidden army could be described as three steps and one post, five steps and one sentry.

Just as he was wondering, a leather suitcase was handed to him.

The Major underestimated the weight of the suitcase, and almost missed it, and he asked inexplicably, "What is this for?" ”

"Top secret documents, go to Guam, I want you to hand it over to Xia Jinbo, before that, you can't leave this box for half a step, if there is an accident, unscrew the cover next to it, and screw it after pulling the fuse."

A naval colonel replied lightly, then clasped his fists and saluted solemnly.

Inside the suitcase was a top-secret document with the words "Supreme Military Order of the Grand Governor's Office" on the cover, and a block filled with thermite was placed in each corner of the suitcase, which could burn the contents to ashes with the flick of a finger.

"Yes!"

A Type 36 light bomber was already on standby by the runway, and the propellers were slowly spinning.

Soon, the plane was aiming at the runway and gradually accelerating, and finally jumped lightly off the ground and climbed into the sky......

Although the order was issued on this day, and the units were supposed to assemble in the Mariana Islands as planned, the Ming army used inefficient manpower to piggyback on written documents for the sake of secrecy, and it was not completed until February 3.

After that, the specific orders for each ship had to be radioed.

However, these telegrams are chaotic and complex, full of various codes and codes, and the number of words sent is strictly controlled, and even if intercepted, there is little value to decipher.

Zhou Changfeng, who had nothing to do during this time, was relatively leisurely, although he didn't know how to plan a naval battle, how could he forget that the code of the naval battle of Midway was deciphered in history?

So he also flew to Guam to try to urge the fleet to be vigilant in radio exchanges.

When the large and small ships of the Ming Navy were gathering in the Mariana Islands, the Americans in the command of the Pacific Fleet in Hawaii were deliberately making countermeasures.

Joseph Rocherford, the current head of the Pearl Harbor Intelligence Station, is proficient in cryptography, studied mathematics at the University of California, and is now leading a group of his subordinates in an all-out effort to "tackle the fortifications".

Admiral Hasburn personally came to the basement of the A14 building of the base today, and he wanted to find out what the "ears" of the fleet were doing.

The basement is no match for the upstairs, isolated, and the soft daylight on the sands of Honolulu is not the same.

"I know why you're here, sir." Joseph was disheveled and looked like he hadn't taken care of himself for days, but he still showed great energy.

Hasborne looked around and said, "As you think, I have to know what the Chinese want to do. ”

"We intercepted 90% of the enemy's naval communications, but unfortunately we have not yet found a pattern, only a small part of them can be deciphered, and they also contain code names."

"I don't want to hear that, you can ask me for it, and I'll do my best to meet it, but I need answers."

Joseph's gaze jumped up and down, left and right, "Admiral... Sir, we know for sure that they will go to the South Pacific, but we don't know which island they are targeting. ”

"That at least narrows the scope." Haspen nodded and said solemnly, "I look forward to the results of your work in the future." ”

It is logical that the Ming army will march next into the South Pacific, and this information is worth believing.

In other words, the target of the Ming army must have been one or more of the islands and reefs in the Marshall Islands or the Gilbert Islands?

It's still huge, but at least it's much better than just two eyes.

The most valuable of the Marshall Islands is the Kwajalein Atoll; The more important of the Gilbert Islands are the Tarawa Atoll and the Makin Atoll.

The Pacific Fleet command immediately began to draw up a battle plan for the grand offensive that would soon follow—God knows how many warships those Wise men would send over!

At the same time, the Army Air Force and Navy began to do everything they could to increase the supply and troops to the three islands.

Because it was difficult for the C-47 transport aircraft to fly such a long distance with a full load, the Americans even temporarily made a cameo appearance by the B-17 bomber on a transport mission.

In the space of 10 days, the defense of all three reefs has increased significantly.

Among them, the U.S. garrison in Tarawa Atoll has reached 1,738 people, the runway of the airport has also been widened by 20% under continuous construction day and night, and the air force includes 23 PBY Katerina seaplanes, 12 F2A Buffalo fighters, 9 P-40 fighters, 24 SB2U Defender dive bombers, and 19 TBD torpedo bombers.

The TF-30 and TF-31 task forces have also been formed, and they are the protagonists of the upcoming naval and air battles.

The TF-30 fleet was commanded by Rear Admiral Raymond Spruance and consisted of 8 battleships including the USS Vespa and 31 ships of various types.

It's a huge decoy, and Admiral Hasburn thinks it's enough to stir the mind of his opponent.

The TF-31 fleet was commanded by Vice Admiral William Halsey and consisted of the aircraft carriers USS Assault, USS Saratoga, USS Yorktown, USS Enterprise and 22 ships of various types.

This is the real fist power, and the aircraft carriers are expected to win the next decisive battle only by relying on them.

On the morning and afternoon of 12 February, the main forces of the two task forces set off from Midway and Wake Island, respectively, with a number of individual ships arriving from other bases.

Finally, we will meet at a coordinate 160km north of the Gilbert Islands, known as the "Victory Point".

The next day, Guam.

On the eve of dawn, more than 100 large and small warships of the 180th Special Fleet were quietly moored at anchorage.

The blue-black sea is so calm at night, like a deep glass mirror, with the light of the stars reflected on it.

Most of the sailors have woken up at this moment, and on the middle deck inside the Ziwei Zuoyuan armored aircraft carrier, the sailors are busy carrying out anchor lifting operations; The sailors in charge of the engine room got up earlier, two hours before they had already started igniting and preheating the boilers.

Dressed in a commodore suit, Zhou Changfeng came to the flight deck with binoculars, and his boots were stepping on a layer of teak, 48mm thick, but under the teak flight deck was actually a 64mm thick strong deck made of B-shaped structural steel.

Looking north from the Ziwei Zuoyuan, at the other end of the anchorage is a battleship formation that symbolizes no sea power, the tallest and most conspicuous of which is the flagship of the 180th Fleet, the Yongle battleship.

The huge triple main cannon was lying flat at the moment, but Zhou Changfeng couldn't help but think of the scene where it erupted monstrous flames and caused ripples.

He put down the binoculars, and then looked south, those were many aircraft carriers, Ziwei Right Wall, Taiwei Left Wall, Taiwei Right Wall, and Beiluo Shimen......

Zhou Changfeng was very entangled in whether to join in the fun, after all, this battle has nothing to do with him.

But after thinking about it, he finally came, just to witness the grand sea and air battle, otherwise he would have regrets in this life.

Anyway, the fleet is not short of food for him.

For safety reasons, he did not choose the Taiweiyuan class, but came to the more survivable armored aircraft carrier Ziweiyuan class - even if the fleet was attacked by air raids, it must be able to survive without danger.

He had a hunch that a decisive battle would inevitably break out next, and this naval battle would directly determine the future strategy.

There is no doubt about our own strength, but luck is also an indispensable part, and I hope that this time the goddess of victory will continue to favor us.

At the same time, in the hangar of the Taiwei Youyuan, Song Xinyuan, the leader of the dive bomber "Western Vice General" team, was also looking at the place where the sky and the sea met in the east.

The white of the fish's belly was already exposed, and the fiery red sun was about to emerge from the sea level.

This time it will be able to compete with the Americans, which ship's fleet will get off to a good start?

All along, the training performance of the "Western Vice General" team has been at the top of the list, and it once set an astonishing record of "11 planes dropping bombs in turn and finally hitting nine."

Song Xinyuan was full of confidence, and it was natural that his subordinates should be able to achieve the first victory.

But at this moment, he felt a pain sprout in his stomach, and it was extremely obvious in a moment.

Got a bad stomach?

After a short while, the strange pain intensified again, beyond the limits of what ordinary people could bear.

A pilot who came to greet him was shocked when he saw his pale face, and hurriedly shouted: "Someone! Come! Hurry up to the medical pod! ”

(End of chapter)