On the landing ship, Han Shaofeng was briefing those officers at and above the battalion level of the Marine Corps on the details of this combat operation. The problem is obvious, the task is also arduous, and after the loss of thousands of officers and men, whether the landing will be successful, whether the island can be captured will be captured, these have become questions.

Han Shaofeng first solicited the opinions of these middle-level officers (the corresponding rank of battalion commander is major, but some are captains or lieutenant colonels), and finally came to a common conclusion, that is, the landing operation cannot be abandoned, and it is possible to capture Midway Island with the strength of one division. Subsequently, Han Shaofeng arranged the first wave of troops to rush the beach, issued specific tasks, arranged relevant tasks for the engineering troops, and then arranged the tasks of the follow-up troops. By noon, the Marine officers (junior officers) on the landing ship were informed of their mission. Now all they have to wait for is the moment they land on Midway.

At this time, the landing fleet was sailing in a northwesterly direction.

If the routes of the landing fleet and the 51st task force were depicted on the same chart, and the time points were indicated on both routes, then it would be found that there was a point of intersection between the two routes, and the closest distance between the two fleets at night was less than 80 nautical miles, and at dawn the distance between the two fleets was actually only about 200 nautical miles!

At that time, Task Force 51 was turning about 800 nautical miles north of Wake Island at 4 p.m. on the 10th, and the course after turning was 122 degrees and a speed of 24 knots. The landing fleet turned about 25 nautical miles north of Wake Island at 2 p.m. and turned to a 64-degree course. Speed 18 knots. It can be deduced from the speed, course, and position of the two fleets when turning. The two fleets were closest at half past two in the morning of the 11th. About 80 nautical miles, and until dawn. That is, at half past six in the morning, the distance was about 200 nautical miles, and the landing fleet was just a little west to the north of Task Force 51. By eight o'clock, when Spruance had sent its first reconnaissance planes, the distance between the two fleets had expanded to 24 nautical miles. When these reconnaissance planes flew over, the distance between the two fleets was 270 nautical miles, while the reconnaissance range set by Spruance was 250 nautical miles. That is, the reconnaissance aircraft of the 51st task force almost captured the landing fleet again!

Spruance did not expect that the landing fleet was still heading towards Midway, and he judged from the bombing report that the landing fleet must be going to Wake Island, and even if it was still planned to land on Midway, the wounded should be sent to Wake Island first, and the damaged ships should be repaired, so it is impossible to turn directly to Midway.

Similarly, Han Shaofeng didn't know that he had walked back and forth on the ghost gate. Who would have thought that Task Force 51 would pass through the waters less than 500 nautical miles from Wake Island? Maybe Han Shaofeng didn't even think about this question at that time, all he thought about was how to take down Midway.

The two fleets almost passed by, and the result was not good for either side.

If you meet. Then the landing fleet will definitely be finished, and at dawn, Spruance's bombers and the guns on the escort battleships will be enough to deal with those landing ships and transports. But the same. Task Force 1 could arrive during the day, and Task Force 51 would not want to return to Pearl Harbor. It wasn't until after the end of the battle that Spruance and Tan Renhao realized this, and both of them regretted it.

At about 12 o'clock that night, the 1st Task Force arrived about 150 nautical miles northeast of the landing fleet, and Tan Renhao arranged for a seaplane to take Han Shaofeng to the flagship of the fleet.

"Talk about the general." Han Shaofeng saluted first, and then immediately said, "Han Mou is guilty of guilt, whether he can wear guilt and make meritorious service this time depends on General Tan's fulfillment!" ”

"General Han, you're too worried, please take a seat." Tan Renhao is a little unaccustomed, he rarely pretends to be so civil.

"Actually, we also have a certain responsibility." Hao Dongjue also walked over, "The loss of the landing fleet makes us sad too, if we can explain the situation clearly in the first time......

"General Hao, you didn't do anything wrong, it was all my judgment error, too light on the enemy, too careless." Han Shaofeng sighed and took the teacup handed by Tan Renhao. "However, we will not give up our efforts, you have already received a telegram from General Liao Hanxiang, right?"

Tan Renhao sat down on the stool next to Han Shaofeng. "We have received the telegram, how many troops do the Marines have now?"

"In one division, I only kept a guard squad for myself, and the other guard officers and soldiers were sent to the grassroots troops. In addition, there are about 500 engineers and 800 artillerymen. ”

"What about the ammunition?"

"The losses of heavy equipment were more serious, more than thirty tanks were all destroyed, and the two landing ships carrying amphibious armored combat vehicles were sunk. Now we probably have only one battalion of artillery. Han Shaofeng sighed and shook his head, "Light weapons and ammunition are relatively sufficient, and there are a lot of artillery shells. The main shortage now is medical supplies, as well as supplies for the Marine Corps. ”

Tan Renhao pondered for a while, and said: "We can provide some food and medicine, the fleet has two months' material reserves, we can give half to you, anyway, the supply fleet will return soon, and we can't help anything else." ”

"Talking about the general, this is so grateful. In fact, the most important thing is the fire support of the fleet. ”

"You can rest assured of this." Hao Dongjue also dragged a stool over, "The 51st Task Force has probably slipped away, and we can arrange two-thirds of the bombers to provide support for the Marine Corps, and a squadron of fighters to ensure the safety of the Marine Corps." As for the artillery formation, we will try to adjust it as much as possible, so that the artillery warships and escort warships will take turns to go up. ”

"Now the question is, how much time will it take to take Midway?" Tan Renhao asked a crucial question.

Han Shaofeng hesitated. "The original plan was to capture Midway in ten days, but now we have only one division of troops, and we have limited heavy equipment, even if we don't take into account the cost of casualties. It takes at least fifteen days. ”

"Landing on the 14th?"

"Yes, and only on the premise of a successful landing can we capture Midway in fifteen days." Han Shaofeng finished speaking. He looked at the two fleet generals. He did not tell the truth, after consulting with the officers of the Marine Corps. Everyone thought that Midway would not be able to be defeated in fifteen days, perhaps twenty days, or even longer.

"Then we will provide four days of fire preparation, and the fleet will resume bombing Midway from the morning of the 13th." Tan Renhao didn't care about the ground operation, "The combat operation is calculated as fifteen days. Aim to take Midway by the end of the month. In addition......"

"What?" Seeing that Tan Renhao was a little hesitant, Han Shaofeng immediately became nervous.

"We may only be able to provide air cover for ten days. The U.S. Navy will get new warships by the end of the month, and we don't know yet if they've made it into the Pacific. Therefore, before the twenty-fifth day, the fleet, at least the aircraft carrier formations, will withdraw from the battle. ”

Han Shaofeng's expression froze on his face, and then he returned to normal. "I can understand this, ten days is enough time to destroy the US military's ground defense foundation, right?"

Tan Renhao laughed, he wasn't so sure.

"We can only do our best." Hao Dongjue helped Tan Renhao answer this question, "The key now is to arrange the communication channels between the two armies. If the Marines can provide us with as accurate bombing guidance as possible, then our bombing operation will certainly go much smoother.

"That's not a problem, we're following the Solomon Islands. As well as Port Moresby, with a special artillery fire guide to provide a separate communication channel for the fleet. Han Shaofeng immediately agreed, "As long as the fleet's firepower is accurate." In time, then, our offensive will be much smoother. ”

"Then let's make up our minds first, let your liaison officer come over first tomorrow, and we will set up the relevant command center here." Tan Renhao stood up, "General Han, the conditions on the battleship are simple, if you don't mind, then have breakfast and leave." ”

"General Tan, you're polite, I'd better rush back first, there are still a lot of things waiting for me to arrange on the Marine Corps side now."

Tan Renhao didn't stay long, and immediately sent Han Shaofeng out. At this time, it was not yet dawn, and the officers and men in the fleet were preparing for the handover.

"Do you think it's possible for the Marines to take Midway in fifteen days?" After Han Shaofeng's seaplane left, Hao Dongjue asked.

Tan Renhao glanced at the seaplane that flew away. "There is not much hope, with Han Shaofeng's division, and it is an imperfect division, it will be quite difficult to take Midway Island within fifteen days."

"It seems that Han Shaofeng is bragging about us."

"Not necessarily, if the reinforcements can arrive in time, then there is still hope, it depends on how Liao Hanxiang arranges reinforcements." Tan Renhao turned around, "The fleet turns after dawn, don't run too fast, let the landing fleet follow behind, and arrange a small pair of fighters to patrol the sky above the landing fleet." In addition, during the day, let the seaplane carry out search and reconnaissance missions, maybe Spruance was not in a hurry to leave, we have to guard against it. ”

Dragged down by the landing fleet (several of which were loaded with important supplies at speeds of only 18 knots), the fleet kept sailing at 18 knots in the direction of Midway. By the second half of the night, about four hundred nautical miles from Midway, the speed of the First Task Force had increased to 24 knots, and the landing fleet was still moving at 18 knots.

In the early morning of the 13th, the bombers of the 1st Task Force began to carry out supplementary bombing of Midway.

The escort warships sent to replace the artillery bombardment formation also arrived in the waters near Midway at noon that day, while the warships that had previously carried out the shelling mission returned to the fleet to carry out the fleet escort mission.

This is a new arrangement for Tan Renhao, and the warships in the First Task Force have no fixed mission, and their positions will change according to the actual situation. This actually increases the continuous combat capability of the fleet. At that time, the ammunition stored on any one of the battleships was carried out for a maximum of two days of shelling missions.

If the shelling task was carried out only by the artillery formation, then the ammunition would have to be replenished every two days, while the shells on the battleships carrying out the escort mission would hardly be consumed. In the case that the air threat is not very large, if these escort warships are rotated to the front line to carry out artillery bombardment missions, then the fleet's shelling time can be extended to six days, or even eight days, which greatly reduces the burden of logistical supplies, and the fleet's air defense capability will not be weakened a lot. Those anti-aircraft ammunition will not be consumed in the shelling.

Three rounds of bombing were carried out during the day on the 13th, with two squadrons of bombers at each time. In addition, three squadrons of fighters in the fleet also took turns to fight, one squadron of fighters for fleet air defense mission, another squadron of fighters to Midway for air defense and ground suppression mission, and the last squadron of fighters on deck.

That night, preparations for the heaviest fire before the landing began. An artillery flotilla consisting of eight cruisers, twelve destroyers carried out a heavy shelling of Midway for up to eight hours at night. At daybreak, another artillery flotilla consisting of six cruisers and eight destroyers replaced the previous formation, and the bomber group of the fleet air force reached the skies over Midway.

At the climax of the shelling and bombardment, the first batch of marines who had rushed to land on the beach had already mounted their landing craft, and the landing fleet stopped at a distance of about eight nautical miles from Midway. The landing site was chosen near the airfield on the west side of the island. It was the U.S. military's defensive command center, the most heavily defended location, and was previously the focus of artillery bombardment and bombing. According to Han Shaofeng's intention, after the successful landing, the airfield was first laid, and the engineers were responsible for repairing the airfield and setting up a temporary wharf. In this way, the Marines could not only obtain combat supplies on board, but also be able to airlift a group of troops from Wake Island. If the U.S. forces can be inflicted heavy damage here, the capture of Midway will be much faster. But at the same time, it will also be a fierce battle.

At eight o'clock, the second group of bombers reached the sky over the island, and the frequency of shelling of the fleet reached a high point. The first landing craft washed up on the beach at 8:05. The first officers and men of the Imperial Marines landed on Midway.

The U.S. counterattack came very violently, and Midway was just a small island with an area of several square kilometers, and there was no depth of defense on the island, and retreating was a failure. From the beach positions, the warring sides were locked in bloody battles.