Around 20 December, as more information arrived, the opponent's campaign deployment became more and more obvious, and the campaign intention became more and more obvious. This transparency is two-way, not one-way.

At that time, most of the American intelligence obtained by the Tang Empire was provided by Germany, which was part of the alliance agreement established at the Tehran Conference, and the Allies shared intelligence resources among them, and Germany was obliged to provide the Tang Empire with the enemy intelligence it had in a timely manner (Germany has been doing this, and this has also been a huge help to Germany, after all, victory is everyone's, not a country's). At the same time, the intelligence services of the Tang Empire also rapidly expanded their intelligence network in the United States with the help of Germany. The main basis for the Tang Empire's intelligence network in the United States was the spies who mingled with the Japanese diaspora and the Mexican immigrants.

Before the outbreak of the war, Japan had about 5 million expatriates in the United States, making it the largest Asian ethnic group in the United States. Because the relations between the United States and Japan have always been very friendly, the status of Japanese expatriates in the United States is not low. After the outbreak of the war, some Japanese expatriates also joined the American army and served the United States, and these were mixed with the spy personnel of the Tang Empire, including many officers. The Mexican diaspora was the largest race in the United States at that time, except for whites and blacks, although the relationship between the United States and Mexico was not good for a long time, but the group was large, and mainly distributed in the western part of the United States, which was also an important place for the Tang Empire to cultivate spy talents.

Relatively speaking, the Tang Empire's spy network in the United States was not perfect, on the one hand, it was limited by race, and on the other hand, the United States attached great importance to the destruction of the Tang Empire's spy network (in fact, the Tang Empire also attached great importance to the monitoring and attack of the American spy network). After the outbreak of the war, the Tang Empire had to turn to Germany for help, using Germany's spy network in the United States to obtain important information. Before the Tehran meeting, there was no formal intelligence-sharing agreement between the two sides, so the exchange of intelligence between the two sides was cumbersome, and almost all of them were equivalent exchanges. If the Tang Empire wanted to get intelligence from Germany, it had to pay a certain price, and sometimes, Germany even used intelligence in exchange for strategic assistance from the Tang Empire. And since the Tehran Conference, this problem did not exist, and the Tang Empire received a convenient source of intelligence.

And through the many pieces of intelligence provided by Germany, as well as a large amount of information collected by the Tang Empire's intelligence agencies themselves, the Tang Empire's navy quickly became clear. The strategic counterattack direction chosen by the U.S. military is on Wake Island, and it is to concentrate two task forces, four aircraft carriers, two battleships, and a large number of escort warships to attack Wake Island, and the Marine Corps will have at least two divisions for launching a landing campaign, and there will definitely be a division in reserve!

Tan Renhao also received a telegram from the Navy Command on 20 July. After analyzing with Hao Dongjue, he also believed that the intelligence department's judgment was not wrong, and that Spruance was in command of the 51st Task Force, although Spruance did not directly command the 52nd Task Force. But he could give orders to the commander of Task Force 52 in his capacity as commander of the Fifth Fleet. Let Task Force 52 do what he wants, that is, Spruance will command two task forces to fight. Use two task forces to attack.

At the same time as the intelligence was delivered, there was also an order, that is, before the First Task Force arrived in the theater, Lei Shaoqing would be specifically responsible for the combat operations of the Second Task Force, and after the arrival of the First Task Force, the two task forces would be temporarily organized into the First and Second Task Forces, with Tan Renhao as the commander-in-chief, and Lei Shaoqing must obey Tan Renhao's command. In fact, this is precisely the result of adopting the establishment of the US task force, although it did not set up a regional fleet on top of the task force as the US Navy did, so as to unify the command of the task force in operations. This mode of command is only temporary. It is effective during combat and automatically dismisses after the battle, but it effectively improves the coordination between fleets and makes it clear who the supreme command belongs to. This solves a big problem, and this temporary command system will also be preserved.

"The time of the fleet transfer is twenty-four." Hao Dongjue sent the telegram to Tan Renhao, "The intelligence department predicts that the time when the US fleet will leave Hong Kong tomorrow, and the time to arrive in the waters of Wake Island will also be 24 days, and the lawest will be 25 days. It will take us about two days to get there, and Lao Lei and the others will have to hold on alone for at least one day. Or even two days! ”

"It shouldn't be a big problem, Shaoqing and they should have received relevant news." Tan Renhao lay on the chart and didn't look at his partner, "If we maneuver too early, it will be easy to startle the snake." Spruance is very cautious, he will not be easily fooled, but as long as he seizes the opportunity, he will never hesitate, this opponent is very troublesome. Now the big question is, what if it's a trap, or if it's just a smoke bomb from the Yankees? ”

"You're saying that the U.S. military isn't targeting Wake Island?"

"No, I'm just guessing, there is a lot of intelligence that proves that the U.S. military chose Wake Island, but we can't completely rule out other possibilities." Tan Renhao marked the island of Tarawa on the chart. "The U.S. fleet can reach Wake Island in a maximum of two days from Pearl Harbor, and only one day longer to reach Tarawa Island. If the U.S. forces just set off a smoke bomb and make us think they were going to attack Wake Island, we would immediately head north to support Task Force 2. When the time comes, the US military suddenly attacks the island of Tarawa. At present, we have only about a dozen night reconnaissance planes deployed on Tarawa Island, and these dozen or so reconnaissance planes are going to search the sea area within a 180-degree sector, and even if they search within a radius of 250 nautical miles, it is impossible to achieve absolute safety. Spruance had enough capital to destroy the shore-based air force on Tarawa Island in one fell swoop, and then sent two battleships to support the landing of the marines. It will take at least two days from the time we receive the news to the time we kill us, and by then, the air force on Tarawa Island will be finished, and perhaps the American Marines will have come ashore, and what awaits us is a head-on attack. ”

Hao Dongjue nodded slightly. "Then you mean that we stayed north on the 24th to make sure that the U.S. military would not cheat?"

"That's right, if we go north too soon, then the American side will definitely be aware of it." Tan Renhao pondered for a while, and then laughed, "The fleet left this sea area tonight and entered the radio silence device, if you need to hug it, send a seaplane to the seaplane base here to send a message, we will create a little hypothesis for the Yankees." Then see how they take the next step. ”

Hao Dongjue frowned slightly. "You're saying we're going into hiding, so that the Yankees don't know where we're going, so they can't make a move?"

"Yes, a few days is a few days, and it's definitely going to cause a little bit of trouble for Spruance, a problem for the opponent, it's just accumulating wins for yourself." Tan Renhao straightened up.

"Spruance definitely saw us as their number one opponent, he once defeated Lei Shaoqing, but lost the opportunity to defeat me completely, and that fight itself was not fair. Spruance would care a lot about our whereabouts, and if we suddenly got news, it would not be good news for him. ”

"Good way, let him go to the headache, we'll watch the excitement on the side!"

"Then go and give orders. That's right", Tan Renhao called his partner, "Contact the base of the patrol plane before leaving." Figure out the sea areas where American submarines are frequented. Let the navigation staff carefully plan the course and try to avoid the sea areas where American submarines are active, and we will wander around the northeastern waters for a few days. Then wait for the news from the new place. ”

Hao Dongjue nodded, and immediately went to the staff to arrange a new task.

At this time, Lei Shaoqing and Chang Jianxin were also discussing the fleet's plan of action.

"If the U.S. attack point is Wake Island, then the most likely U.S. task force is northeast." "In this way, the U.S. fleet can rely on the help of long-range patrol aircraft on Midway, and in an unfavorable situation, can quickly retreat to the cover range of Midway's shore-based tactical fighters." The marines who landed on Wake Island must have assembled at Midway Island first, and then they could use the cover of the fleet to make their way south. Spruance was very resolute in commanding the fleet in battle, though. But he is also a cautious commander who will never take risks blindly, and this time he has enough troops in his hands that there is no need to take risks! ”

Lei Shaoqing patiently listened to the chief of staff's explanation, and then nodded. "That's for sure, then, we should deploy our fleet to the northwest of Wake Island. As far as possible from the area where the U.S. fleet operates, we can choose to flank the U.S. task force with it after the arrival of the first task force. There is also the option of attacking the landing fleet behind the U.S. task force, forcing Spruance to divide his forces and lay the groundwork for the defense of Wake Island. ”

"But......" Chang Jianxin hesitated slightly, "Killing the American task force is the key, if we deploy the fleet in the northwest of the island, this distance is too close, as long as Spruance finds out, he will definitely attack immediately." However, we must hold out until the 1st Task Force arrives, and if we are the first to be attacked, I am afraid that the 1st Task Force will be the only one to face the four American aircraft carriers. ”

Lei Shaoqing was silent, after he defeated Fletcher, he tasted the sweetness of adventure, and he couldn't hold it for a while, and this mission obviously asked him not to take risks.

"In my opinion, it is better to keep the fleet to the west of Wake Island." "Try to keep it as far away as possible, so that Spruance can't find it, and even if it does, we can't be hit." The fleet operates in this area, and it is in our best interest to retreat west to Guam and south to the Marshall Islands, covered by shore-based aircraft on Kwajalein Atoll, and to quickly cooperate with Task Force 1 against Spruance once it has arrived. ”

"The problem is, we're going to have to leave the defenders on Wake Island alone."

"Old Lei, the key is that we can't reach the First Task Force!" Chang Jianxin immediately reiterated his opinion, "General Han Shaofeng has said that they can hold on to Wake Island for at least ten days, and the First Task Force will only need two days at most to arrive. As long as we annihilate the U.S. task force, the U.S. troops landing on Wake Island will have no other choice. The key is whether we can hold out for the first two days and then fight back hand in hand with Task Force 1. ”

Lei Shaoqing nodded, pondered for a while, and said, "Then, the key is the actions of the First Task Force." ”

"We don't have to worry about this, Task Force 1's mission is to act as a mobile fleet, ready to reinforce us at any time. Ren Hao was well aware of their task, so naturally he would not be careless. ”

"Okay, we'll do it, but again, if Spruance expects us to avoid the fight, will he use risky tactics?" Lei Shaoqing glanced at his partner.

"You're saying that Spruance took the tactics we did last time, took the initiative to go around to the northwest of Wake Island, and then looked for an opportunity to annihilate us?"

Lei Shaoqing nodded, and then quickly traced a few arcs on the chart. "This is the range of our long-range reconnaissance aircraft over the Mariana Islands, as well as long-range reconnaissance and patrol aircraft on Wake Island. Because of the limited number of reconnaissance aircraft on Wake Island, there is a blank area in the northwest of the island. Spruance must have information on our long-range reconnaissance planes in his hands, and he can clearly know the range of activities of our reconnaissance planes, and he can completely deploy his fleet in this sea area, and when the time comes, if we operate in the waters west of Wake Island, the distance between us and them will not exceed 250 nautical miles, which is equivalent to letting Spruance kill us. ”

At this time, Chang Jianxin was also silent, the main problem is that Wake Island is too small, and the long-range reconnaissance force that can be deployed is very limited, and it is simply not enough to cover all the surrounding sea areas.

"We can only move our fleet south into the waters of the Marshall Islands, use long-range reconnaissance aircraft on Kwajalein Atoll to provide intelligence support, and use the island's fighter jets to cover us."

Lei Shaoqing marked two sea areas, "Either move the fleet to the west and try to avoid the Spruance strike range, but in this way, it will cause us to be too far away from the war zone, and whether we can cooperate with the first task force in time is a problem." ”

"It seems that we have no choice!"

Both of them sighed, thinking that the sea and the sky were wide when they were planning, but after they really went to the battlefield, it was not like that.