That night, when the 1st Task Force was sailing at full speed towards the attack area, the 5th Fleet led by Spruance also joined the supply fleet before 3 o'clock in the morning, because all the battleships needed to be refueled, and the aircraft carriers had to be replenished, even if all the supply ships were refueling three warships at the same time (two horizontal, one longitudinal, and longitudinal could only replenish oil and water), the entire replenishment work would take at least four hours to complete, and this was only sixty percent of the fuel for the battleships.

Prior to this, Spruance had received a telegram from Kauai that the planes replenished for the Fifth Fleet would arrive around seven o'clock, that is, before and after the fleet had completed its replenishment operations.

"Let the aircraft carrier replenish fuel and ammunition first." Spruance also made arrangements, "The other ships will be resupplied in important order, and strive to complete all the resupply work before seven o'clock." ”

"We'll do our best!"

Spruance put down the phone, and now he could only wait patiently. He has already contacted the shore-based air force on Nihua Island and asked them to arrange fighter planes to go to the supply yard at dawn to cover the fleet and supply fleet, and at the same time, he has also contacted the Necker Island side, so that all the reconnaissance planes on Necke Island can operate at night to monitor the waters between Nika Island and Necke Island and search for the whereabouts of the enemy fleet as much as possible. Everything that can be done has been done, but Spruance still feels very uneasy, if there are still two aircraft carriers in the first task force, then Tan Renhao is likely to lead the fleet to kill. Attack when the Fifth Fleet is unarmed or even unprepared.

At five o'clock, Spruance received a telegram from Nimitz. Now, he was even more confused and uneasy.

"When will the replenishment of the aircraft carrier be completed?" Spruance's hand holding the telephone was trembling slightly.

"It's going to be six o'clock at the earliest. We are already working as fast as we can to provide aircraft carriers with no time! The commander of the supply fleet answered Spruance's question with great clarity.

"No, can you go faster?"

"It's hard. And there are still a lot of warships that need to be refueled, we ...... ".mobile station ap.. cn

How long can the replenishment of the replenishment of the warships be completed in advance? Spruance interrupted the other man a little roughly.

"This ......," the other party hesitated in the phone, "at most half an hour in advance." Refueling is not a hassle, the main thing is ......"

"By half-past six, the supply must be completed, so be it!" Spruance put down the phone without waiting for a reply, and he read the telegram again.

This is a submarine attack information, a submarine that has completed a diplomatic mission in the waters near the Mariana Islands and is returning to Pearl Harbor encountered a Tang Imperial fleet that was retreating westward, and confirmed that there was at least one aircraft carrier in the fleet. The captain of the submarine, named "Shooting Fish", did not hesitate to fire all four of the last four torpedoes, and then quickly dived to avoid the attack of the opposing destroyer. And. Finally, two explosions of torpedoes were clearly heard when they hit the target, and they were fiercely attacked by the opposing destroyers. But the escort destroyers dropped less than 40 depth charges on the bow of the submarine and hastily withdrew after half an hour.

The submarine "Shooting Fish" suffered only minor injuries. And as soon as it surfaced, this telegram was sent.

From a tactical point of view, this telegram was of little significance, and the submarine commander could not confirm whether the two torpedoes had actually hit the aircraft carrier, nor whether the aircraft carrier had sunk. It can only be judged that the other side must have an aircraft carrier, and it is very likely that it will be torpedoed, and it is even possible that it will be sunk. According to this, even if the aircraft carrier is sunk, this result will not be calculated on the head of the submarine captain, because he has not conclusively confirmed it. But for Spruance, the telegram was really important.

The submarine attack must have been an injured aircraft carrier, but the problem was that if the first task force was nearby at that time, the destroyers escorting the ship would never let go of the submarine easily, but would continue to drop depth charges until the submarine that attacked the aircraft carrier was killed. In addition, if there are aircraft carriers nearby, the submarine commander should first confirm the number of aircraft carriers on the other side before firing torpedoes, instead of firing torpedoes indiscriminately and then diving to avoid them. That is, there is a high probability that there will be only one aircraft carrier in this fleet!

If two aircraft carriers of the Second Task Force were wounded, from the perspective of considering the saving of escort forces and the reasonable arrangement of escorting destroyers, Tan Renhao would have no reason to let both aircraft carriers return alone, but would arrange the two aircraft carriers together, and then arrange six to eight destroyers to cover the return of these aircraft carriers.

Although there is no other evidence to prove that there is only one aircraft carrier in that fleet, Spruance has already affirmed that only one aircraft carrier in the First Task Force has lost its combat effectiveness, and perhaps the other aircraft carrier has sunk, but he will not believe this speculation at all, but believes that the First Task Force now has two aircraft carriers that are combat-effective, and they are operating on the battlefield, looking for the Fifth Fleet!

This is also the reason why Spruance did not hesitate to add a little less fuel and asked the fleet to complete the replenishment before half past six. Even if it is very likely that the fleet will not be able to escape the blows of the other side, it is much better to let the fleet run fast when the enemy's bombers arrive than to be trapped in the supply sea area and next to a large group of "explosive barrels"!

Forty minutes before Spruance received the telegram, Tan Renhao also received a telegram from Liao Hanxiang, and this telegram had two main contents, in addition to the "Gaoyou Lake" aircraft carrier being attacked by a US submarine, there was also a new order.

When Hao Dongjue finished reading the telegram, he was almost unbearable, there were six destroyers to cover, and he was actually attacked by a US submarine, and three of the four torpedoes were hit, but fortunately one of them did not explode, otherwise, the consequences would be unimaginable. The only thing to be thankful for is that there were already quite a few pumping machines on the aircraft carrier at that time, and the officers and men have been rushing to repair the aircraft carrier. Both torpedoes hit the port side of the aircraft carrier, and one hit the head of the aircraft carrier. The other hit the outside of the No. 1 boiler room, which had already been damaged. The captain gave the order to fill the boiler compartment No. 2, which was also damaged, with the order as quickly as possible, and as a result, the aircraft carrier quickly entered the water with a thousand tons, but the danger of sinking was avoided. At that time, many unnecessary parts of the aircraft carrier had already been dismantled. Now there is every reason to push it into the sea to reduce the weight of the aircraft carrier. Then. Two cruisers began to provide direct power to the aircraft carrier. After closing the watertight doors of the adjacent compartments of the midmine site, the aircraft carrier still maintained a speed of 12 knots, which was enough to return to the port of Apra.

Fearing continued attacks by US submarines, the two destroyers that had gone to attack the US submarine gave up the attack after the aircraft carrier had run a few nautical miles. At the same time, the sonars on all the destroyers began to work, and in order to have a deterrent effect, every half hour, a destroyer dropped a depth charge. Liao Hanxiang also informed Wei Dongbei and asked Wei Dongbei to immediately arrange a group of destroyers to meet the "Gaoyouhu" aircraft carrier and strengthen the aircraft carrier's anti-submarine power, and this group of destroyers would probably be able to rendezvous with the aircraft carrier on the afternoon of the 27th.

"The aircraft carrier should not be able to sink, but Liao Hanxiang wants us to intercept the US convoy, and we can't do it now."

"It doesn't matter." Tan Renhao let out a sigh. "As long as we take out the Fifth Fleet, the U.S. convoy will have to flee for its life!"

Hao Dongjue nodded, this is the truth.

Tan Renhao is not worried about the "Gaoyou Lake" aircraft carrier. The anti-sinking performance of the "Lake" class aircraft carrier was well received. Although the submarine was much more powerful than the aerial torpedoes used by bombers, several aircraft carriers had been hit by torpedoes and survived previous battles. And the aircraft carrier "Gaoyou Lake" itself was not fatally damaged. It's just that it has lost its combat effectiveness, and it should still be able to withstand the blows of two torpedoes. Now, Tan Renhao is worried about whether the Fifth Fleet will make a new move if Spruance receives this news.

Tan Renhao didn't know that Spruance didn't know how much combat power the First Task Force had left before this, but he knew one thing, that is, Spruance definitely didn't know the whereabouts of the First Task Force. But this time, the U.S. submarine attacked the "Gaoyouhu" aircraft carrier, so Spruance should be able to judge that the first task force did not follow the injured aircraft carrier back, but stayed on the battlefield.

So, what will Spruance do when he gets the hang of it? Should you lead the fleet to escape for your life while keeping the convoy near Kauai for the time being, or will you continue to stay and fight? Or could Spruance have something else that could threaten Task Force 1's actions? For example, replenishing fighter planes at night, while trying to strengthen the air force on Necke Island and Nihua Island, and laying a wide net to wait for Task Force 1 to throw themselves into the net?

Tan Renhao was not worried about the Fifth Fleet escaping, so at least the First Task Force would not threaten it, and at most he would just give up this opportunity. But the problem is that if Spruance does not want to escape, but is determined to fight the First Task Force to the death, he will definitely do everything possible to strengthen the air force on Necke Island and Nihua Island, and let the Fifth Fleet restore its air strike force as soon as possible, and then he will organize hundreds of bombers to deal with the First Task Force. Even if the pilots of these hundreds of fighters were novices, the sheer number would be enough to overwhelm Task Force 1. What to do?

Seeing Tan Renhao's pensive and worried face, Hao Dongjue didn't bother him. Over the years, Hao Dongjue has been very familiar with his partner's every move. Whenever he saw Tan Renhao's current expression, he knew that Tan Renhao had realized the danger, and it was a powerful danger.

"Dongjue, did you plan the bombing of Necke Island and Nihua Island?"

Hao Dongjue nodded. "The plan is all set, if ......"

"Can we bomb the airfields on both islands at the same time, at least to make sure they are unusable during the day?"

"This ......" Hao Dongjue hesitated, "The problem should not be big, but the loss is definitely not small, if you want to reduce the loss......"

"Let's be straightforward, we have to control the losses, after all, we can't get reinforcements right now."

"It is necessary to let the bombers arrive at dawn, and this has to consider the location of the fleet, after all, it is impossible for us to let two groups of bombers set off at the same time, and there should be a certain gap between the distance between the fleet and the two islands, so that the bombers can arrive at the same time to achieve the accuracy and suddenness of the raid."

Tan Renhao nodded slightly, and said, "No problem, I will arrange the route of the fleet, you give me the specific plan as soon as possible, is half an hour enough?" ”

"If it's just to determine the course of the fleet, then it should be enough."

"Let's go and prepare, and," Tan Renhao hesitated, "Let the pilots prepare as soon as possible, we must first destroy the combat effectiveness of the US shore-based air force, and then we can deal with the Fifth Fleet." ”

Hao Dongjue didn't understand a little, but in the end he didn't ask, but went to hurry up and adjust the bombing plan.

Tan Renhao pondered for five minutes before going to the navigation staff and asking the navigation staff to adjust the fleet course according to the new bomber words proposed by the chief of staff.

Hao Dongjue gave the new bombing plan to the navigation staff officer half an hour later, and at this time, Tan Renhao's expression was very suspicious. When making the plan, Hao Dongjue also thought about it carefully, and probably understood what Tan Renhao was worried about.

"Do you think Spruance is going to fight to the death?"

"We're pushing him too hard, and if it's Halsey, he's going to fight us to the death, but I'm not sure what Spruance will do." Tan Renhao sighed, "However, it is always right to be safe, first destroy the shore-based aviation of the US army, and the fleet will have two less huge threats." Is tomorrow's reconnaissance plan confirmed? ”

"Now we have to use water planes, and to make sure that the airfields on both islands are destroyed, we have to use even reconnaissance planes.

"Then try to search the waters south of Nihua Island, let the seaplanes depart as soon as possible, and arrive at the predetermined sea area at dawn." Tan Renhao hesitated for a moment, "Arrange two reconnaissance batches, with an interval of half an hour, maybe Spruance will take the initiative to catch up." ”

Hao Dongjue smiled bitterly, to this point, they can only be careful!