Huang Xiaotian initially objected to the implementation of campaign deception, and in his view, there was neither the condition nor the need to carry out campaign deception at that time.

Wake Island had been under the control of the U.S. military for several months, although in the beginning, it was difficult for the U.S. military to send supplies to Wake Island, which led to a sharp decline in the combat effectiveness of the U.S. officers and soldiers on the island. At that time, the U.S. troops stationed on Wake Island even sent a telegram in clear code, asking Nimitz to provide food, fresh water and other necessary survival materials as soon as possible, otherwise all the U.S. troops would starve to death or die of thirst on the island. However, immediately after the annihilation of Task Force 2, Nimitz sent a convoy of convoys to Wake Island, delivering a large amount of necessary supplies, including several large watermakers, and a large amount of fuel to keep them running. When the First Task Force withdrew from the battlefield, the Imperial Navy then transferred the main fleet to the Southwest Pacific Theater, and the fleets operating in the Central Pacific Theater were mainly concentrated in the western waters of the Hawaiian Islands.

Judging from the information obtained by Liao Hanxiang at that time, the US troops on Wake Island did not lack food, fresh water and other necessary daily necessities, and there were also sufficient medicines, and the tropical diseases that had been raging on the island before were effectively controlled. In addition, Wake Island has not been under major threat for several months, and the U.S. military is not short of ammunition and other combat materials. Although the U.S. military did not send additional combat aircraft to Wake Island, and most of the combat aircraft previously deployed on Wake Island were grounded due to a lack of spare parts, the island's defenses are still very strong. Statistics obtained from some inaccurate sources indicate that there are at least 40,000 U.S. troops on Wake Island. And a large number of fortifications were built, and the American army almost turned the island into a strong fortress again. Even according to the most optimistic estimates, with the support of Task Force 4, it would take at least half a month to take Wake Island with the support of the Fourth Task Force, and this is still the most optimistic estimate, it may take a month, and it will have to bear heavy losses, and at least three transport fleets will have to be mobilized to provide war materials for the attacking forces. Task Force 4 also had to give full support to the Marine offensive during this period.

Herein lies the problem. Attacking Wake Island is almost impossible. Even if it only takes half a month, within half a month, the Fifth Fleet will be enough to rush to the battlefield and expel the Fourth Task Force. With no hope of victory, Task Force 4's only option was to leave the waters off Wake Island. And the marines who landed on Wake Island after losing the support of the fleet. It is also impossible to obtain war materiel, then the result will be very tragic.

From this point of view. There was little point in attacking Wake Island, and there were no troops to waste on Wake Island at the time. If they don't land on Wake Island, just let the fleet bomb the island and let the Marines put on a show, then the U.S. military will not be fooled at all. Nimitz and Spruance are not stupid, and now that the main forces of the Imperial Marines are concentrated in the Southwest Pacific Theater, how can they have the strength to attack an island with a solid defensive foundation and tens of thousands of American troops to defend it? What's more, Nimitz and Spruance didn't need to do anything at all. There is a 100% certainty that Wake Island will be held. When the time comes, it will only be necessary to let the Fifth Fleet leave Pearl Harbor. Then Task Force 4 will have to flee in the desert, and landing on Wake Island will become a dead talk.

Later, Han Shaofeng put forward a compromise opinion, that is, instead of landing on Wake Island, the Fourth Task Force would bomb Wake Island, and the convoy that was supposed to go to Midway Island would be rerouted south to reach the waters off Wake Island, and stay near Wake Island for two days at most.

Liao Hanxiang revised Han Shaofeng's opinion again, adding a clause to it, that is, the Fourth Task Force bombed Wake Island two days in advance, and if the Fifth Fleet did not leave Pearl Harbor during this period, then it would act according to Han Shaofeng's plan, and if the Fifth Fleet left Pearl Harbor during this period, then the transport fleet would go directly to Midway Island, and the Fourth Task Force would also take the next step depending on the specific situation.

By this time, Huang Xiaocai basically agreed to the bombing of Wake Island, and after this round of revisions, the battle plan was actually no longer required to complete the campaign deception operation, and the purpose of the bombing of Wake Island had also changed. According to the worst estimates, even if the U.S. military is not fooled, then the Fifth Fleet may leave Pearl Harbor and go to war without adequate preparation. Even if he took a step back, the Fifth Fleet would not go to war in advance because of this, then Nimitz would then reconsider the distribution and mobilization of troops and war materials, and before counterattacking, he would definitely have to find a way to stabilize the American forces on Wake Island and strengthen the defense force on Wake Island. As long as this can be achieved, then it still makes sense to "consume" hundreds, if not thousands, of bombs on Wake Island.

As the commander of the fleet, Huang Xiaotian's primary consideration was not how to bomb Wake Island, this issue hardly needed him to consider, the US military could fly less than 10 combat planes on Wake Island, and it could not pose a threat to the Fourth Task Force at all, what he had to consider was the possible reaction of the Fifth Fleet after Wake Island was bombed.

Huang Xiaotian would never underestimate Spruance, the commander of the US Navy's fleet, who had caused Tan Renhao to suffer heavy losses several times, let alone underestimate the powerful combat effectiveness of the six fleet aircraft carriers of the Fifth Fleet. Therefore, from the very beginning, Huang Xiaotian had an idea, that is, no matter what, he could not confront the Fifth Fleet head-on, even if there was a chance to sneak attack the Fifth Fleet, then he would have to think about it several times, and never engage the Fifth Fleet without absolute necessity, his task was only to drag the Fifth Fleet. But if you want to hold back the Fifth Fleet, there are different methods, and you have to be careful not to be plotted by Spruance at any time.

In the previous confrontation with the Fifth Fleet, Huang Xiaotian had a very direct feeling, that is, the Fifth Fleet was not ready for battle. Spruance led the fleet out of Pearl Harbor several times, but did not show up in the waters west of the Hawaiian Islands, where the Fifth Fleet was most needed. Instead, they have been training south of Pearl Harbor and in the waters east of the Hawaiian Islands. Initially, Huang Xiaotian thought that Spruance was deliberately showing weakness so that the Fourth Task Force would be fooled and take the initiative to attack the Fifth Fleet. But the question is, if this is just a deliberate show of weakness, then is Spruance too contrived? Perhaps the first two times were still weak, but for several months in a row, the Fifth Fleet was training in the waters near Pearl Harbor. Could this be a sign of weakness? Apparently. Spruance will not be stupid enough to wait for the rabbit, let alone stupid enough to expect the Fourth Task Force to take the initiative to be fooled, then this is not Spruance deliberately showing weakness, but the problem of the Fifth Fleet itself, that is, the training work of the Fifth Fleet is not in place at all. Spruance was dissatisfied with the quality of the officers and men of the fleet. Otherwise, the Fifth Fleet would not have been allowed to train frequently out of the port!

It was based on this judgment that Huang Xiaotian made a bold decision. That is, to disrupt the training arrangements of the Fifth Fleet as much as possible, so that the Fifth Fleet had to leave Pearl Harbor and take the initiative to fight. The way to realize this plan is to bomb Wake Island, which may not achieve the goal at all, but under the circumstances, unless Liao Hanxiang has enough troops to attack Kauai Island, there is no other choice. But the problem is that if Liao Hanxiang has enough troops and enough time to attack Kauai Island. It would be better to clean up the American troops on Wake Island first and connect the defense lines. This makes it easier to achieve the purpose of the campaign. Therefore, Huang Xiaotian can only gamble at this time, if the Fifth Fleet arrives, then it will definitely be good news for him!

It was also a rather risky decision, as it was the most dangerous thing if the submarines lying in ambush outside Pearl Harbor did not find the Fifth Fleet, which had been almost completely wiped out by the Fifth Fleet, and no one could guarantee that the submarines would be able to detect the Fifth Fleet leaving the port. The consequence of this situation is that the Fourth Task Force is very likely to be attacked by the Fifth Fleet suddenly, so Huang Xiaotian has to be more cautious when considering combat operations, and his deployment is to leave a way out for himself, in Huang Xiaotian's view, the bombing of Wake Island is just the first stone thrown into the pond.

Huang Xiaotian first chose the fleet to operate in the waters southwest of Wake Island, about 200 nautical miles away from Wake Island, so that the fleet could maneuver at least 350 nautical miles south at night to enter the cover range of shore-based fighters and bombers in Kwajalein Atoll, and the long-range water patrol aircraft deployed on the surrounding islands could support the fleet's first defensive barrier. If Spruance really chases after him at that time, then Huang Xiaotian can use the support of shore-based bombers to fight a decisive battle with the Fifth Fleet, even if the Fourth Task Force is wiped out in the end, then the situation of the Fifth Fleet is not much better, and this result is also within an acceptable range.

In terms of the time to bomb Wake Island, Huang Xiaotian did not choose to surprise in the early morning, after all, he did not need to consider the threat of US bombers, Wake Island was like a courtyard with an open gate, but only the bombers of the Fourth Task Force were allowed to enter and exit. Therefore, he decided to carry out the first round of bombing in the morning, so that before the bombers departed, he could arrange for reconnaissance planes to search the waters around the fleet and prevent the Fifth Fleet from approaching covertly.

In arranging bombing operations, Huang Xiaotian divided the bombers of the Fourth Task Force into three groups and carefully arranged the movements of these three groups of bombers. That is, the first batch of bombers will send a telegram to the fleet immediately after they have finished dropping bombs, and at this time the second batch of bombers will depart. When the first group of bombers returns, the second group of bombers will also send back a bombing report, and then it will be determined whether the third group of bombers needs to be launched at a high explosion. If he suddenly encounters the Fifth Fleet during this period, then Huang Xiaotian will not be passively beaten, he can at least organize a group of bombers to attack the Fifth Fleet, and even organize two groups of bombers to attack the Fifth Fleet in a short period of time.

In terms of the arrangement of the bombing route, Huang Xiaotian ordered all the bombers to enter from the west of Wake Island, and when they retreated, they left from the east side of Wake Island, and flew at least 40 nautical miles, that is, they were probably out of the radar detection range of the US military, and then turned back to the fleet. Of course, in the first batch of bombing, the US radar was the key target, and if the three radars deployed by the US military on Wake Island could be successfully destroyed, then the return route of the carrier-based aircraft could be shortened a little.

Finally, and most importantly, Huang Xiaotian only decided to bomb Wake Island for three days, which was the shortest time required for the Fifth Fleet to arrive at Wake Island after receiving the bombing of Wake Island, immediately departing from Pearl Harbor and arriving at full speed. In this way, as long as the Fifth Fleet did not leave Pearl Harbor before the Fourth Task Force bombed Wake Island, then Huang Xiaotian did not need to worry about being suddenly attacked by the Fifth Fleet when he bombed Wake Island. Of course, as for whether to bomb for three days, or for two days, or to extend the bombing time, it will have to be decided on a case-by-case basis, and perhaps the Fifth Fleet will not be in a hurry to leave Pearl Harbor, or that the Fifth Fleet will secretly leave Pearl Harbor before the Fourth Task Force bombs Wake Island.

This series of combat operations was planned by Huang Xiaotian himself, and the core of the entire plan was to avoid a sudden attack by the Fifth Fleet, and this also reflected the characteristics of Huang Xiaotian, that is, in terms of commanding fleet operations, he must belong to the kind of commander who is very cautious, but does not lose his adventurous spirit.

On the night of 15 July, about 50 nautical miles northwest of Bikini Atoll and about 350 nautical miles from Wake Island, Huang Xiaotian received a telegram from Liao Hanxiang that the submarines operating outside Pearl Harbor had not found any signs of US warships leaving the port, and that the probability that the Fifth Fleet was inside Pearl Harbor exceeded 90 percent. It was only at this time that Huang Xiaotian made a decision to bomb Wake Island for the first time the next day, kicking off the battle!