After lunch, Tan Renhao walked around the headquarters and chatted with a few staff officers he had known before returning to the office. He glanced at the strategic plan on his desk, went to make a cup of tea, and sat down.

The Navy Command is now mainly responsible for strategic planning, which is also one of Gan Yongxing's most important tasks. After the theater command was in charge of campaign operations, the naval command was less concerned with combat operations in the campaign aspect. As the supreme command organ of the Navy, the Navy Command must be responsible for coordinating the combat operations of various theaters, so that the offensive of each theater can be brought into full play.

Tan Renhao turned the first page of the document and quickly found the point - "offense". This sub-plan was obviously completed by Gan Yongxing himself, and Gan Yongxing emphasized the importance of "offensive" in the outline of the plan, which is exactly the conclusion that Tan Renhao came to after analysis.

At the end of the "Battle of the Coral Sea", Tan Renhao had been thinking about the changes in the situation on the battlefield when he led the fleet back to Lae, and in these three days, he also formed a new point of view.

The period from the United States' entry into the war to the "Battle of the Coral Sea" can be regarded as the stalemate between the Tang Empire and the United States in the Pacific Theater, both sides are trying their best to seize the strategic initiative in the Pacific Theater, and as a result, several large-scale battles have broken out. And before the "Battle of the Coral Sea", the strategic advantage that the Tang Empire had was not obvious, and it could even be said that there were not many advantages. And after that, the strategic advantage of the Tang Empire was extremely obvious. Comparison of the strength of the fleets of the two sides in the Pacific Ocean, comparison of ground forces. Even on the entire battlefield, the Tang Empire has gained the strategic initiative and gradually established superiority. In the end, the opportunity and foundation for launching a full-scale strategic offensive were obtained. At this point, the stalemate ended. The next stage of the Tang Empire's navy was naturally to transform the superiority in strength into superiority in the battle situation, so as to achieve the final victory in the war.

The only way to turn a strength advantage into a situational advantage is to attack, not defend. From an overall strategic point of view, before that, the Tang Imperial Navy had been the main offensive in the southwest Pacific Ocean. And in the direction of the Central Pacific, it is the main defense. There was a distinction between the two directions, and now, with a single further step, the Imperial Navy would be able to gain superiority in both directions and attack at the same time. And this final step is whether it can defeat the U.S. counterattack in the Central Pacific, and finally annihilate the Fifth Fleet, laying the foundation for the Navy's offensive in the Central Pacific.

The Gan Yongxing Plan was formulated in response to this. The war situation in the southwest Pacific has basically been decided, as long as we continue to increase troops in the southwest Pacific and let the Fourth Task Force cooperate with the Marine Corps, then Yan Guozhong will be able to complete the strategic outflanking sooner or later. Get ready for the final foray into the Australian continent. The only thing that is not certain is the situation in the Central Pacific, whether the US military will continue to attack, or whether it will switch from offensive to defensive. Or simply withdraw to the Hawaiian Islands defense line, this is unknown. Moreover, in the Central Pacific, the inferiority of the US military is not obvious. Nimitz and Spruance will not give up easily, if the Imperial Navy is still in the Central Pacific direction, then it will only give the US military more opportunities, so that Nimitz and Spruance have more room to play, which is equivalent to giving the initiative to the enemy. This is obviously the worst result, even if we do not launch a large-scale strategic offensive in the Central Pacific, in order to be able to cooperate with offensive operations in the Southwest Pacific, it is necessary to contain the US forces in the Central Pacific, so that the US Navy cannot divide its forces in the Southwest Pacific, and the only way is to take the initiative to attack.

In this plan, there is a lot of introduction to the offensive part. Gan Yongxing put a lot of effort into this, and he set up two offensive directions, one for Wake Island and the other for the Hawaiian Islands. In addition, he also summarized the defensive forces of the US military in these two directions, the possible response of the US military, the number of troops that need to be invested, and the problems that may arise during the implementation of the campaign.

If this is just a plan for the general strategic direction, it is a bit too detailed. This also reflects Gan Yongxing's rigorous attitude, maybe he has not completely changed and has not been able to fully adapt to his new role. Tan Renhao couldn't help but laugh when he saw this, the principal advocated reform and the establishment of the theater command, and Gan Yongxing was the one who was most affected. It is precisely because Gan Yongxing is the proud disciple of the principal that Gan Yongxing will not oppose the principal's reform plan, and he will firmly support the principal's reform plan, otherwise, it will be difficult to establish a new command mechanism with the efforts of the principal alone.

Tan Renhao paused for a moment, and then continued to watch.

In terms of the two offensives, Gan Yongxing was more in favor of taking Wake Island first and then advancing into the Hawaiian Islands. He gave two important reasons. One is that Wake Island is isolated overseas, far enough away from the Hawaiian Islands, and there is no defense depth on the island, so it is relatively easy to attack. Second, attacking Wake Island is enough to contain the U.S. military, while attacking the Hawaiian Islands if it is not well prepared will only increase the operational burden and weaken investment in the Southwest Pacific, which will eventually lead to a bitter battle with the U.S. military.

Tan Renhao stopped at this time, and Gan Yongxing's point of view has a certain amount of truth. Geographically, the Hawaiian Islands are similar to the Solomon Islands, with a high density of islands but also a high density of defensive forces. On top of that, the difficulty of attacking the Hawaiian Islands is enormous.

Midway was a springboard for an attack on the Hawaiian Islands and an advance base for attacking forces. But the problem is that if Wake Island is not taken, then the route to Midway Island will not be too safe, and the U.S. fleet can use Wake Island as a stronghold to freely enter and exit the waters west of Midway, and even send a fast fleet to intercept the Imperial Navy's convoy. Even if this is unlikely to cause much damage, it will be able to disperse the Navy's fleet forces and at the same time delay the delivery of troops and supplies to Midway, which will have a huge impact on the entire combat operation against the Hawaiian Islands.

Second, the attack on the Hawaiian Islands cannot be accomplished overnight. Even if all the fleets of the current Imperial Navy were concentrated, it would be difficult to directly attack Oahu (where Pearl Harbor is located. The core island of the Hawaiian archipelago), the U.S. military has more than a dozen airfields on Oahu, as well as other nearby islands. Thousands of warplanes were deployed, enough bombers to overwhelm the entire fleet of the Imperial Navy. Therefore. The attack on the Hawaiian Islands will certainly be carried out in stages, just as it was in the opening of the Southwest Pacific Theater and the capture of the Mariana Islands, step by step. And that means you have to put a lot of effort into it. It was only with a huge amount of troops and preparation for a long war that it would be possible to capture the Hawaiian Islands. But with the battle in the southwest Pacific not over yet, and the Australian continent still being defeated, how many troops can the Imperial Navy concentrate and invest in the Central Pacific direction?

These are also the two most important points in Gan Yongxing's argument, and Tan Renhao is also very aware of the impact of these two factors, but he is not completely in favor of giving up the attack on the Hawaiian Islands, but going all out to attack Wake Island, and he has only one reason. But this reason is sufficient and sufficient, that is, can the attack on Wake Island attract the attention of the US military?

Tan Renhao's doubts are not without reason. Return to Naha with Task Force 1.

The U.S. military must have also obtained relevant information, so Nimitz would be able to judge the general plan of the adversary. He will certainly do his best to restore the strength of the Fifth Fleet before Task Force 1 operates, and seize this precious time to strengthen the defense of Wake Island. Stockpile large quantities of war materiel on Wake Island and deploy the most elite troops. At that time, even if the U.S. Navy loses sea supremacy, the Imperial Marines will have to pay a huge price if they want to take Wake Island, and it will take a lot of time.

Here's the crux of the matter, all Nimitz needs is time. If the battle on Wake Island dragged on for a month, or even two months, Nimitz would have every reason to send his fleet to the southwest Pacific. The primary goal of the Imperial Navy's offensive in the Central Pacific was to prevent the US military from sending a fleet to the Southwest Pacific, and it was necessary to contain the US Navy in the Central Pacific theater.

If the US military sends the Fifth Fleet to the southwest Pacific theater, even if the Fourth Task Force does not fall behind, this will definitely affect Yan Guozhong's combat operations in attacking the New Hebrides and even Port Moresby. At that time, it is very likely that the Southwest Pacific Theater will not be able to complete the strategic encirclement operation at the beginning of next year, resulting in a delay in the operational plan for attacking Australia.

This price is unbearable.

That's what Tan Renhao is worried about. An attack on Wake Island may not keep the Fifth Fleet in the Central Pacific. Then, the best way to keep Spruance was to attack the Hawaiian Islands directly, even if it was just a feint, it would have to make Nimitz feel a huge threat, so that he had to keep the Fifth Fleet in his own hands, instead of helping MacArthur. But the problem is, if you really send troops to attack the Hawaiian Islands, then the cost is too great, what should you do?

Thinking of this, Tan Renhao also had a little headache. Nimitz will definitely realize this, knowing that the Tang Imperial Navy does not have enough strength to attack the Hawaiian Islands immediately, then he will definitely take relevant measures, so that the Tang Imperial Navy has to send the First Task Force to the Central Pacific Theater, and it will have to stay here, and he can also let Spruance lead the Fifth Fleet south. So, what tactical arrangement will Nimitz adopt?

Tan Renhao went to turn over the map of the Pacific region, and then found a map with a slightly larger scale, and then looked at the map and thought about it.

Compared with the situation in the Southwest Pacific theater, the situation in the Central Pacific theater is more chaotic. Now that the Tang Imperial Marines are in control of Midway, and Liao Hanxiang has sent a large amount of ammunition and materials to Han Shaofeng, tens of thousands of people are guarding Midway, and the US army will not be able to defeat it for a while and a half. The U.S. military controlled Wake Island, and Nimitz also hoarded tens of thousands of soldiers and horses here, and it was impossible for the Tang Imperial Marines to quickly take Wake Island. Both sides have salients, and both are pinching each other's vital points, whether it is offensive or defensive, there is plenty of space.

Wake Island is just a small island with an area of only a few square kilometers, but this island is directly related to the balance between the two sides in the Central Pacific Ocean and the combat operations in the next few months. So, what method would Nimitz use to drag down the main fleet of the Tang Imperial Navy?

Tan Renhao's eyes fell on Midway. There are pros and cons to protrusions. Just as the Tang Imperial Navy would first consider taking Wake Island, the U.S. Navy would certainly be considering taking Midway. As long as the U.S. forces captured Midway, the Tang Imperial Navy would not be able to threaten the Hawaiian Islands, and could assist in the defense of Wake Island, pushing the Tang Imperial Navy's battle line westward for thousands of nautical miles, and returning to the situation after the "Battle of the Mariana Islands". In this case, the only choice for the Tang Imperial Navy was to attack Wake Island first, and then march to Midway, and in order to ensure a smooth attack, it was necessary to have a fleet operating in the Central Pacific, and Nimitz could safely let the Fifth Fleet go south and use these two islands to drag down a main fleet of the Tang Imperial Navy!

"yes, it must be here!" Tan Renhao smashed his fist on the map on Midway.

"Where?"

Hearing this familiar voice, Tan Renhao was startled and immediately raised his head, the principal happened to walk in, Du Xing shrugged his shoulders innocently outside the door, obviously the principal asked Du Xing not to inform Tan Renhao.

"It's getting dark, why don't you go back to dinner?"

"Principal, I'm ......" Tan Renhao scratched his scalp and laughed.

"No one asked you out at night, right?" Nie Renfeng walked over, "Then come to my house for dinner, how about it?" ”

"This ......"

"I've asked Yongxing to wait outside, haven't you been beating me up for those bottles of wine?" Nie Renfeng also laughed, "Hurry up and pack your things, it's time to get off work." ”

Tan Renhao didn't refuse, he immediately packed up the documents on the desk, and then asked Du Xing to help him bring a message to his family, and then followed Nie Renfeng out of the naval headquarters. Gan Yongxing was waiting outside, and the car stopped next to him.

"Renhao, it's rare for the principal to take the initiative to invite us today, it seems that we have to seize this opportunity."

Tan Renhao smiled and nodded, the bottles of wine in the principal's house were all good wines.

"Don't think about it, haven't I treated you badly?" Nie Renfeng glanced at the two students, and then got into the car.

Tan Renhao and Gan Yongxing also immediately followed, thinking of the dinner in the evening, both of them were about to drool.