The first round of air battles between the two sides lasted until half past seven, and more than half of the more than 30 SBDs participating in the battle were shot down, but two destroyers were also blown up, and the cruiser "Chai Shao" was also seriously injured and had to withdraw from the battle ahead of schedule. When the remnants of the SBD fled, the Tang Empire bomber group that took off from Bougainville Island arrived at the battlefield, and those F4U who originally wanted to retreat immediately returned to the battle, but most of the F4U had little ammunition left at this time, and there were not many fighters left on Rennell Island and Marquila Island.

In the first round of air battles, the bombers of the Tang Empire also lost a lot because the number of fighters sent was insufficient, and most of the fighters first provided air defense cover for the fleet. Many of the downed bombers had to make a forced landing on the sea, and Tan Renhao immediately arranged lifeboats to salvage the pilots who fell into the water, while the warships under his command were still chasing down the US transport ships with all their might.

As early as 7:15, two American transport ships were badly damaged and raised the white flag, and by 7:8, five transport ships had already raised the white flag, extinguished the boilers, turned off the steam turbines, stopped, and waited for the warships of the Tang Empire to come and take over. At this time, in addition to the two sunken transports, five other transports were still on the run. Of the destroyers escorting this batch of transport ships, three were destroyed before 7:20, and the other three fled south at a speed of more than 35 knots, while the destroyers of the Tang Empire were only 34 knots at the fastest, and they could not catch up at all.

At 7:50 a.m., the US bomber groups that had taken off from Rennell Island and Makila Island arrived again, and at this time, two squadrons of fighters that had taken off urgently from Kuah Island also rushed over.

The second round of air battles reached a climax. This time the positions of the two sides were reversed, and the Tang Empire had an advantage in the number of fighters, while the American army had an advantage in the number of bombers.

"Get those American ships to surrender as soon as possible, or sink them!" Tan Renhao persevered for more than an hour in a state of high tension, "Let the other warships come over as soon as possible, and we will also be ready to flee for our lives." Also, don't forget to bring the few U.S. ships that surrendered. If you can't take the ground, blow them all up and settle the prisoners on the deck of the battleship! ”

"Deck?" The staff officer glanced at the commander in surprise.

"Yes, it's on the deck, so that the pilots of the U.S. military can see it." Tan Renhao sneered, "Originally, I didn't want to do this, but now I can't manage so much, it's important for us to escape!" ”

Tan Renhao's arrangement violates the international laws of war. Using prisoners as hostages is absolutely forbidden, but under the circumstances, it was already good that he could contain the prisoners, and if he held these prisoners inside the battleship, he still needed to arrange officers and soldiers to guard them, where would he find those people?

The sky was almost covered in smoke, and the anti-aircraft shells exploded in the air like black flowers in full bloom. There was an atmosphere of tension and danger in the air, and in order to retreat as quickly as possible, the transport ships had been pursued before. The battleships that wanted to force the other side to stop and surrender all aimed their guns at the fleeing American ships after receiving the order. After the last warning, the ships did not stop, or did not turn. Then it will be sunk immediately.

By eight o'clock, three more U.S. transport ships had fled eastward, and the Marines on the ships pursuing them immediately boarded the U.S. transport ships and gained control. The other two U.S. transport ships that fled south were also sunk before 8:05 a.m., and they quickly disappeared from the sea, carrying ammunition on both ships, and after thousands of tons of ammunition were detonated, the flames from the explosions were hundreds of meters high, and many hull fragments fell on the pursuing warships.

The battle was also coming to an end at this time, and most of the US fighters had little fuel left. Moreover, the ammunition was almost used up, and the American bombers had no intention of risking their lives to attack the Tang Empire warships that were preparing to return after losing the protection of their fighters. The fighters of the Tang Empire continued to hover over the battlefield, driving away the American bombers who wanted to sneak up on the battleship, and assisting the boats lowered on the battleship to find the overboard pilot.

Tan Renhao returned to the command cabin at 8:15, and there was still a wave inside, and then he came to the outside of the command cabin.

"Go tell the chief of staff and ask him to arrange escort missions for those fighters." Seeing the group of US military planes that were moving away, Tan Renhao breathed a sigh of relief, "Contact General Yan Guozhong." We need more escort fighters. Also, there is no need to arrange bombers, we will return immediately, the American transport fleet has been annihilated, let him be ready to receive the loot! ”

The fleet turned around at 8:20 a.m. at 18 knots, and the eight captured American transports followed the rear of the fleet. All the American sailors on the battleships sent by Tan Renhao, who operated the transports, were escorted to the battleship and temporarily settled on the open deck of the battleship, under the supervision of the officers and men of the Marine Corps accompanying the ship.

Five minutes later, Tan Renhao figured out the losses of the fleet. Four destroyers were sunk, two of which sank on their way back from heavy damage. Three cruisers were badly damaged, the most seriously wounded of which was the "Winter Solstice", and the "Chai Shao" was also seriously damaged and would definitely have to be overhauled. Five more destroyers were injured and had to return home for repairs. The other warships were all slightly damaged, but most of them were only strafed by US fighters, and the "Wei Chigong" was hit by several hundred machine-gun bullets, more than a dozen gunners operating antiaircraft guns were killed, and dozens more were wounded. This battle caused the First Task Force to lose more than half of its warships, but they also annihilated the last "Washington Express" of the US army, and more importantly, the last twelve MacArthur fast transport ships were all annihilated, and it will be very difficult for the US military to continue to deliver supplies and troops to Kuah Island.

On the way back, the fleet was attacked by the American bomber group for the third time at about 10 o'clock, but the American bombers were not able to break through the interception of the fighters escorting the fleet. At that time, there were three squadrons of fighters flying over the fleet on air defense patrol missions, and they were guided by the air defense of the "Wei Chigong," and it was almost impossible for the US bombers, who lacked enough escort fighters, to break through the interception of the air defense fighters and the air defense fire network on the surface warships.

At four o'clock in the afternoon, Tan Renhao relieved the fleet of the fighting state, and at the same time had the wounded and prisoners sent to two cruisers, so that the two cruisers and the wounded destroyer returned to Rabaul first, while he continued to lead the fleet to escort the eight American transport ships home. Tan Renhao did not forget an important thing. That is to send someone to count the loot on the ships of the American army. Unlike land warfare, it is a very rare thing to get loot on the battlefield of the sea.

"Most of them are loaded with guns, ammunition, and small artillery such as mortars." Hao Dongjue rushed back at four o'clock, "Damn, there are about 10,000 tons of ammunition, hundreds of machine guns, and more than 100 mortars." If these weapons and ammunition fall into the hands of the US military, I am afraid that Yan Guozhong will not only scold his mother. ”

"Now, Yan Guozhong can't say that we don't do our best." Tan Renhao also laughed, "However, these ammunition and weapons are not of much use to us, after returning to Rabaul, hand over these materials to Yan Guozhong, let him deal with them, and maybe let him send them back to China to show off." ”

Hao Dongjue turned to the second page of the loot list. "There was also a ship loaded with supplies and medicines, and there were about 1,000 cases of Coke in it. Damn. Why didn't the U.S. military send thousands of copies of Playboy to the officers and soldiers of the front-line troops? ”

Tan Renhao glanced at his partner. "I'm afraid that's what you want, right?"

"Don't talk nonsense, I'm just talking casually, these Yankees really know how to enjoy. Asked the rear to send Coke over, could it be that the Coke bottle could be used as a cannonball? ”

"First go and distribute two bottles of Coke to each officer and soldier, and hand over the excess to Yan Guozhong for safekeeping." Tan Renhao leaned against the fence, "The taste of Coke is not bad, everyone has worked hard for a day, and it is time to enjoy it." ”

When the glass bottles containing dark brown Coke with the logos "Made in America" and "Coca-Cola" were distributed, the officers and men, who had been tormented in blood and fire for ten hours, relaxed. It was the custom of the navy of the Tang Empire to offer officers and men light beers with an alcohol content of less than 3 degrees, and in many cases these beers were even more important than fresh water. Of course. Coke is not a strange thing, there were two cola factories in the Tang Empire before the war, and this drink from the Indian medicine recipe has been promoted to the people. Perhaps, these cokes are the favorite trophies of the officers and men of the fleet, for whom those ammunition and weapons are of no use.

At that time, the military standards of the Tang Empire were completely different from those of the United States. For example, the muzzle tightness of the rifle used by the Tang Imperial Army and Marine Corps was 8 mm, while that of the U.S. Army was 762 mm. The caliber of the machine guns used by the Don Army was 8 mm, 12 mm. The U.S. military is 7.62 mm and 12.7 mm. The ballistic properties of the bullets, as well as the length of the cartridge casing, are also different between the two countries. Therefore, the firearms and ammunition of the two countries are not universal. In addition, the caliber of the artillery is not exactly the same, so the shells cannot be used universally. Therefore, the ammunition materials captured at that time could not be provided to the Tang Imperial Marines at all. In the later stages of the war, because of the captured US military equipment and the amount of ammunition increased dramatically, the Tang Empire provided these materials to the armies of some small countries in the alliance free of charge, which was much better than sending them back to the factory for destruction.

The fleet arrived at Rabaul in the early hours of the next day, and Yan Guozhong rushed over from Lae and personally greeted Tan Renhao and Hao Dongjue. Before leaving the flagship, Tan Renhao arranged the task of returning the battleship to China for maintenance and on-site maintenance, and then took the dinghy to the dock.

"General Tan, it seems that the Yankees will not dare to send a fleet to Kuah Island easily in the future, and it will be completely different as soon as you come, how should I say it?"

"General Yan, you are too polite, in fact, without your help, I'm afraid we will have to send a plane to fish us up from the sea." Tan Renhao looked very polite, "This battle has broken the morale of the American army, and I'm afraid they won't dare to send the battleship over for a long time." ”

"Yes, we have received the news that MacArthur has sent the last batch of fast transport ships, unless he thinks that those ships with a speed of less than 14 knots can transport troops and supplies to Kuah Island, otherwise he will not be able to reinforce Kuah Island, and, more importantly", Yan Guozhong took Tan Renhao and them towards the outside of the dock, "The number of warships of the US military in the southwest Pacific is no longer enough to form a 'Washington Express', without escort warships, MacArthur will not be able to let his transport fleet go north." ”

"What about the aviation of the American army?"

"Judging from the information I have received now, at least more than 100 US fighters were shot down in the air battle this morning, and most of the pilots who parachuted were caught by you, right?" Yan Guozhong glanced at Tan Renhao, "In addition, I also arranged a patrol plane yesterday afternoon to search for those fish that slipped through the net, without pilots, it would be useless for them to have planes." At least, MacArthur simply can't immediately reinforce the islands of Makira and Rennell. ”

Tan Renhao nodded slightly. "When will Task Force 4 and Task Force 2 arrive?"

"This afternoon, they already sent a telegram yesterday." Yan Guozhong stopped beside the jeep, "You'd better contact them directly, Lei Shaoqing has extra escort warships on his side." Judging by the current situation, you should send a few ships over to strengthen Task Force 1.

If Task Force 1 is unable to regain combat effectiveness, then our bombing of Rennell and Makila should be delayed by two days. ”

"There's no need, I'll contact Lei Shaoqing." Tan Renhao did not want to postpone the idea of plan 1, "Still acting according to the plan, the air force will start bombing Rennell Island and Makila Island tomorrow, and we will shell the US military airfields on these two islands tomorrow night." At that time, the Second and Fourth Task Forces will enter the Solomon Sea and bomb those US airfields in the southwest in the early morning of the day after tomorrow. General Yan, when will the arrangements for the Marine Corps be in place? ”

"After three days, though, it is best to have more than three days of artillery preparation before landing in Port Moresby."

"Rest assured, this is not a problem, the marines are still proceeding according to a few halts, and the landing time will be delayed by a maximum of two days."

After the two discussed, Tan Renhao sent Yan Guozhong away, and then he called Hao Dongjue to contact the other two fleets, and a new battle was about to begin.