Before returning to Lae, Tan Renhao first asked the warships that originally belonged to the Fourth Task Force to report to Huang Xiaotian. After arriving in Lae, he arranged for the warships that originally belonged to the Second Task Force to report to the Second Task Force after completing their supplies and resting. In the end, he delegated the command of the Second Task Force to Huang Xiaotian (who was actually in charge of Jiang Zhongmin).

After doing these things, Tan Renhao suddenly discovered that there were only two warships belonging to the First Task Force that belonged to the first task force in Laicheng Harbor: the cruiser "Wei Chigong" and "Duan Zhixuan", and the other warships had returned to the shipyard in China for overhaul one after another. The situation of these two battleships was also very bad, as seven of the nine main guns of the "Wei Chigong" had exceeded their ultimate lifespan, while the barrels of the nine main guns of the "Duan Zhixuan" were all scrapped, and even the barrels of most of the 120-mm antiaircraft guns were about to be scrapped. The two battleships were also scarred, not to mention anything else, the paint on the hull of the battleship fell off more than half, and from a distance, a piece of gray (the basic color of the Imperial battleship), as soon as it was red, was almost like two broken fishing boats.

When summing up the situation of the fleet, Tan Renhao's feelings can be described as shocking. After the "Second Battle of Wake Island", the strength of the 1st Task Force could not be underestimated, except for the loss of an aircraft carrier, but now, the 1st Task Force does not even have a complete warship.

After the "Second Battle of Wake Island", the warships in the establishment of the First Task Force were: the aircraft carrier "Xingkaihu", the "Li Jing", the "Wei Chigong", the "Duan Zhixuan", and the "Chai Shao", four large air defense cruisers; "Jinghe", "Qingcheng River". "Mohe", "Fenhe". four heavy cruisers of the "River" class; "Heavy Snow", "Winter Solstice", "Little Han", "Big Cold", four heavy cruisers of the "Solar Terms" class; As well as sixteen destroyers of the "City" class. In total, the fleet had twenty-nine warships. Although in terms of size, the 1st Task Force is not as good as the 2nd Task Force, but it is stronger than the 4th Task Force, which does not have a separate artillery bombardment formation, and the number of warships is also more than that of the 3rd Task Force (the total tonnage is less). It can be said that the First Task Force was still the number one fleet of the Imperial Navy in the Pacific Theater at this time, and it was a veritable main fleet.

After all this period of fighting, the losses of Task Force 1 are simply indescribable.

Judging from the information received by Tan Renhao, it is already very good that this aircraft carrier can be repaired in time for the second batch of "Lake" class aircraft carriers to enter service in June, that is to say. Prior to this, the largest battleship in Tan Renhao's hands was an air defense cruiser.

Two large air defense cruisers, "Li Jing" and "Chai Shao", were injured one after another. I'm afraid I'll have to fix it for a month or two when I go back. Eight other cruisers and sixteen destroyers were also wounded, and even if one was not sunk, it would not have been possible for these ships to be completely repaired before mid-June.

Because there are not so many shipyards in the Empire that can repair so many ships at the same time (there are also the 2nd Task Force, 3rd Task Force, and 4th Task Force that have injured ships waiting to be repaired).

As the commander of the fleet, when summing up the results of the battle, he had to give a detailed account in the report of each battleship, when, in which battle, and how it was wounded, as well as the loss of officers and men on the battleship, and the damage to the battleship itself. This is part of the battle damage statistics. Tan Renhao usually doesn't let others do this for him, after all, counting battle losses is a very difficult thing, and it's easy to get out of control. In fact, this is not to let Tan Renhao do these things after the end of the battle. After the ship is damaged, the Fleet Staff will first complete an initial report, and all he has to do is summarize all the previous initial reports into a complete battle damage report.

Tan Renhao doesn't remember how many times he wrote such a report, but as before, whenever he writes about the damage to a battleship, he remembers the scene at that time. For example, when he wrote about the bombing of the "Xingkai Lake", the scene at that time, the chaotic scenes on the battleship, the smoke billowing from the ground, and the wounded people being carried out, etc., were as if they were playing a movie, and scenes flashed in front of his eyes one by one. He started writing three times, but he didn't write down three times. The Fleet Commander is the most respected and promising position in the Navy, but who knows that in the position of Fleet Commander, there is more pressure and responsibility than anyone else?

After burying his head in the work for more than two hours, Tan Renhao did not write out the battle damage report of the "Xingkaihu" aircraft carrier, and he had no choice but to directly use the initial report submitted by the General Staff. Then he left the cabin and went outside to breathe a sigh. Writing a battle damage report is a way for the commander to recall the battle scene, and on the plus side, it can help the commander to recognize more clearly the mistakes made in command and the mistakes in battlefield judgment after the battle. On the negative side, this has invisibly increased the psychological burden of the commander, and perhaps those with weaker willpower will be eliminated in front of this level.

"Shut yourself up for a few hours, don't you F4U?"

Tan Renhao turned around when he heard the voice, and Hao Dongjue walked over with two apples. After taking the apple, Tan Renhao climbed on the guardrail next to him. "You're going to send the telegram, aren't you?"

"It's sent, I haven't called back for the time being, I'll come over to see how you're doing." Hao Dongjue glanced at Tan Renhao's cabin, "Writing a report?" ”

Tan Renhao nodded, looking at the half-red and half-green apple in his hand in a daze.

"Do you want me to write it for you?" Hao Dongjue also knew that Tan Renhao had not let him write a war damage report, not because he didn't believe him, but because he didn't want him to bear the pressure and responsibility.

"No, I'll write it in the evening." Tan Renhao weighed the weight of the apple twice, and then took a bite, "Let's go down and walk, how is the situation of the officers and soldiers?" ”

"I gave them a few hours of free time, and Yan Guozhong also arranged for a group of officers and soldiers of the Marine Corps to come and receive them, and now most of them have gone ashore." Hao Dongjue followed, "I've already said hello." Except for getting drunk and making trouble, they can move freely. ”

"It's time to relax the nerves of the officers and soldiers." Tan Renhao walked down the gangway. Arriving on the first deck, he nodded to the two Marines guarding the gangway connecting to the dock. Then they walked towards the rear of the battleship. "Did you receive a reply from Qingliandi?"

"Got it, I'm going to talk to her about marriage when I go back."

Tan Renhao smiled and shook his head. "Do you know what to prepare for getting married? If you don't understand something, you can ask me, how to say, I'm also from here. ”

"You're just an experience." Hao Dongjue also laughed, "But." I really don't know what to prepare. ”

"At the very least, you have to have a pair of wedding rings." Tan Renhao glanced at his partner, "You also saw your sister-in-law's pair of rings, it cost me half a year's allowance, and the pain when I bought it made me almost jump." ”

"So expensive? No, I don't have a lot of savings. ”

"I can't help ...... with this."

"I don't expect it, as far as I know, it seems that your allowance is all in the hands of your sister-in-law, right?"

Tan Renhao was stunned for a moment and immediately stopped. "Qinglian told you?"

Hao Dongjue smiled and did not answer. He didn't want his girlfriend to be scolded.

"This little sister actually betrayed his brother!" Tan Renhao smiled and shook his head, "Secondly." You'll also have to prepare a rose, or something, like some souvenir of your engagement and engagement, or something that the girl will like at first sight. Do you know what Qinglian likes? ”

Hao Dongjue hesitated. "She prefers chocolate."

"Chocolate?" Tan Renhao was also a little surprised, "There are so many of these things in the army, what is there to like?" ”

"I don't know, but when I bought her chocolates, she was very happy. By the way, you're the big brother, you can't even know what your little sister likes, right? ”

"I didn't have much contact with Qinglian after I entered the military academy, you know this. However, when she was young, she liked new clothes, which may be what every woman likes, right?

In addition to this, she also likes ......" Tan Renhao couldn't think of what the little sister liked for a long time, and then he sighed and shook his head. "Anyway, you get these things ready, and then you go and propose."

"I know this, it seems like you did the same thing in the first place, right?"

Tan Renhao smiled bitterly. "Don't talk about me. When are you going to get married? ”

Hao Dongjue was stunned. "Dude, Qinglian hasn't agreed yet."

"You don't have confidence in yourself? Or, do you think my sister is not worthy of you, or are you not able to climb high? Tan Renhao approached his partner, "Boy, you are a commodore now, maybe you will be a rear admiral when you go back this time, and there will even be a fleet waiting for you to command, if you don't even have the confidence to conquer a woman, how can you conquer a fleet and conquer a stronger opponent?" ”

"Dude, how can you compare a woman to a battleship?"

"Didn't you compare women to fighter jets?"

Hao Dongjue was stunned for a moment, and then laughed awkwardly, that was still the wild words he made when he arrived at the Fifth Fleet, but he didn't expect that Tan Renhao still remembered it.

"Don't say so much, just be straightforward, prepare a handful of roses, a wedding ring, and after seeing Qinglian, immediately go to propose, regardless of the time, place and occasion, behave like a gentleman, I guarantee that you will succeed!"

"That's your sister, you're taking a bad medicine!" Hao Dongjue became anxious.

"I'm doing it for your own good, it's up to you whether you want to do it or not, don't blame me for not helping you when the time comes."

"Renhao, do you think this can really be successful?" Hao Dongjue was a little tempted, how to say that Tan Renhao is also Tan Qinglian's brother, and he should know more about Tan Qinglian.

"I've said everything that needs to be said, how to do it, you decide!" After Tan Renhao finished speaking, he walked to the aft deck of the battleship.

Night is slowly falling, and the lights in the harbor are already on. Lae is now a military district, and there is only one commercial street in the city dedicated to military service, where there are many restaurants, military hotels, and even a small movie theater. Anyway, you can find most of the things you can see in other cities on that street. After all, soldiers are also people, and soldiers also have to live.

After dinner, Tan Renhao went back to continue writing the battle damage report. This time, he basically used the initial report submitted by the previous General Staff, and did not rewrite it in its entirety. By the time he was done, it was already half past eleven, and thinking that the officers and men on the battleship should all come back, Tan Renhao was ready to call Du Xing to inspect the situation on the battleship.

Duchenne lived in the general officer's cabin, and he was housed in the same room as three other officers (eight in the non-commissioned officer's cabin and sixteen in the soldier's cabin). When Tan Renhao entered, he found that Du Xing was chatting with the three officers, and the four of them were gathered around an iron cabinet with some braised vegetables and beer on it.

"Hello General!"

"Forget it, don't lie to us!"

"Yes, I heard from the chief of staff that the commander is busy writing a war report."

"Come, come, keep drinking, don't listen to his nonsense!"

As soon as Du Xing shouted, the other three didn't believe it at all, and then they found that the atmosphere was not right, and when they turned around and saw Tan Renhao standing behind, they all jumped up in fright. Duchenne snickered on the sidelines.

"Okay, don't be so restrained, just order whatever." Tan Renhao did not reproach these officers, "Duchen, come out with me to make a round." You keep talking, don't get too high, just remember to rest early in the evening.

Outside the cabin, Duchenne laughed.

"Don't make fun of me in the future." Tan Renhao glared at the adjutant, "How was it today, how many times have you walked around the city?" ”

"I just went to have dinner, and there was nothing to go about, in this poor and remote country, all you could see were uniformed, and there was no place to shop." Duchenne stopped joking, "General, when are we going back?" ”

"If there's an order, I'll go back, but just for a few days." Tan Renhao slowed down and nodded to the soldiers in the aisle, "You also pack your things, maybe we have to go back early, don't be too busy then." ”

"I know, I'll clean up in the evening."

The officers and men on the battleship hurriedly stepped aside after seeing the commander, and then raised their hands to salute, Tan Renhao also returned the salute, and after turning around, he returned to the cabin, at least the spirit of the officers and men of the fleet is not bad.