Spruance and Nimitz are in far greater trouble than Tan Renhao thought. In particular, the state of the Fifth Task Force was a headache for even Spruance.

When the United States adjusted its strategic deployment, Spruance always firmly believed that the Tang Imperial Navy would continue to storm the southwest Pacific and complete the operational preparations for landing in Australia as soon as possible, and the Tang Imperial Navy's actions in the Central Pacific were all containment, and even if it was an attack, it could be regarded as a feint at best. Nimitz was also more inclined to Spruance's judgment, but the problem was that under the circumstances, even if the attack launched by Task Force 1 in the Central Pacific was only a feint, the Fifth Fleet could not back down.

Judging from the strategic power of the US military, the Hawaiian Islands are on the Australian mainland. If the Tang Empire wants to win the war, it must defeat the United States, and if it wants to defeat the United States, it must first win in the Pacific Ocean, and the key to victory in the Pacific Ocean is whether it can take down the Hawaiian Islands and force the United States to the mainland. And if you want to capture the Hawaiian Islands, you have to fight from west to east, and the Tang Imperial Navy does not have the ability to directly land on the main islands in the eastern part of the Hawaiian Islands.

In the offensive operation, the Tang Imperial Navy had no way to take advantage of it, and the Hawaiian Islands were a fortress, and to lay this fortress, the Tang Imperial Navy had to pour out of the nest, and it also had to prepare hundreds of thousands of offensive troops, plus hundreds of tons of war materials. How to organize fleet operations, mobilize and deploy troops, and transport and assemble materials all require a lot of time and energy, and a large number of transport ships and landing ships must be mobilized. Even if the Tang Imperial Navy was the most powerful, these preparations alone would have taken several months. Or even more than half a year. This is an objective problem that cannot be easily changed by anyone.

After completing this series of preparations, the Tang Imperial Navy had to attack step by step.

First, use Midway Island as a base and lay down an island in the eastern part of the Hawaiian Islands. Maybe. At this time, it is possible to skip some secondary islands and directly capture the key islands, but the Tang Imperial Navy must take this step, seize the forward base into the Hawaiian Islands, and then advance eastward step by step. Finally conquer the entire Hawaiian Islands.

There is no way to change this offensive route, the geography of the Hawaiian Islands is characterized by an objective existence, and there are no other islands to rely on in the vicinity, which is the difference between the Central Pacific and the Southwest Pacific. In other words, if the Tang Imperial Navy wanted to attack the Hawaiian Islands, it actually had few options. This is just like the attack on the Mariana Islands by the Tang Imperial Navy, which could only come step by step, and could not win quickly.

According to the orthodox offensive tactics, after the Tang Imperial Navy seized a certain island in the western part of the Hawaiian Islands, it would definitely use heavy bombers first. Bomb the other islands one by one, destroy the US airfields as much as possible, and seize air supremacy. The fleet of the Tang Imperial Navy was then able to move eastward to strike at the U.S. military's defensive infrastructure and choose a new landing site. This determined which islands the Tang Imperial Navy must first capture when entering the Hawaiian Islands.

If you choose Lysan Island. Then it is really too far from Oahu for heavy bombers to fly and not yet to get cover from fighters. If the chosen island is too small, it will not be possible to deploy enough bombers and form a strong enough strike force.

In addition, the island will also serve as a forward base for Marine attacks, and it must be able to accommodate enough Marines. It would also be possible to build an improvised dock for transport vessels. There must be a suitable anchorage nearby for warships. Of course, the most important thing is that the island has to be out of range of tactical warplanes on other US islands to ensure that it is not hit by a focused attack.

It was precisely because of these constraints that in the end, the only choice that the Tang Imperial Navy could choose was Gardner Island. When the 1st Task Force left Apra Harbor and headed for Midway, Nimitz and Spruance both believed that if the Tang Imperial Navy really attacked the Hawaiian Islands, then they would first destroy the American airfield on Lysan Island, and then bomb Gardner Island, and after the 1st Task Force seized sea and air supremacy, the landing fleet would transport the Marines to Gardner Island to capture this important island.

It is not difficult to judge the general direction of the opponent's campaign, but the difficult thing is, how to deal with the challenge of the first task force?

It is obviously impossible to hold Lai Sang Island, even if the air force on Lai Sang Island is strengthened to the limit, and the Fifth Fleet also goes to participate in the war, but the First Task Force can bomb Lai Sang Island under the cover of shore-based fighters on Midway Island, and at that time there will be at least 100 air defense fighters over the First Task Force, and with the combat capability of the Tang Empire's fighters, even if more than 200 bombers are dispatched, it will be difficult to threaten the First Task Force, and so many bombers will not be able to effectively command and assign tasks! What's even more troublesome is that when the First Task Force bombed Leysan Island, it is very likely that the Fifth Fleet has not fully recovered its combat effectiveness!

Under these circumstances, Nimitz could only retreat, Leysan Island was doomed to bombing, and it was difficult for the air forces deployed on Leysan Island to threaten Task Force 1. He had to transfer the US air force on the island of Lysan (the shore-based aviation of the US Navy is subordinate to the Marine Corps, not the fleet) to Gardner Island. The only thing Nimitz could count on was to delay the bombing of Gardner Island by Task Force 1 as long as possible, and by then there were 200 bombers on Gardner Island, plus the Fifth Fleet, which would be enough to pose a mortal threat to Task Force 1.

The plan itself was not much of a problem, the question was whether the Fifth Fleet could quickly regain its combat effectiveness, and the situation of the Fifth Fleet was so bad that even Nimitz could not believe it.

Immediately after returning to Pearl Harbor, the three small aircraft carriers underwent major repairs. Unlike fleet aircraft carriers, small aircraft carriers do not have strong sustained combat capabilities, and many key equipment, such as boilers and steam turbines, are actually very old, and these three small aircraft carriers have not undergone major repairs for half a year, and this time they have continued to fight for several months, and the situation of the battleships themselves is so bad that even the engineers have a feeling of helplessness. The most optimistic estimate is that these three small aircraft carriers will only be able to complete the basic repair work when the "Franklin" repair is completed, and whether they can fully restore their combat effectiveness is still a serious problem.

The maintenance work of the aircraft carrier of the "Franklin" fleet is also troublesome. By the 17th, when Task Force 1 appeared near Midway, a third of the aircraft carrier maintenance work had not yet been completed. Although Spruance organized a large number of officers and men of the aircraft carrier to participate in the maintenance work. However, the most optimistic estimate is that the repair work can only be completed on the 19th, and it would be good to be able to leave Pearl Harbor on the 20th.

Outcome. On the morning of the 19th, Nimitz received the news of the bombing of Leysan Island, judging by the size of the Tang Empire's bomber group, which was the carrier-based bomber of the 1st Task Force. At this point, Nimitz couldn't hold his breath anymore. He immediately ordered the 51st Task Force (which was now the Fifth Fleet) to immediately prepare for the place of departure. The repairs of the three small aircraft carriers were quickly completed, and the ammunition and fuel were replenished for the carriers, and the escort ships began to warm up the boilers first, while the "Franklin" had to complete the repairs in the afternoon, replenish the ammunition and fuel in the evening, and prepare for departure.

Another important factor that made Nimitz make this decision was the landing fleet that was rushing to Midway, and the convoy of convoys that followed.

Previously, Nimitz had always judged that the Tang Imperial Navy would attack Wake Island first, and then the landing fleet and transport fleet would be in the eastern part of the Caroline Islands. Or assemble somewhere in the Marshall Islands, wait for Task Force 1 to seize sea supremacy, and finally lay siege to Wake Island. But the problem is. The fleet was heading towards Midway, and the landing fleet should not have been deployed to Midway if it were to attack Wake Island.

Information has been confirmed that the landing force was at least three divisions in force.

And the transport fleet is huge. After Task Force 1 bombed Lysan Island, the Marine Corps must have been tasked with capturing an island in the western part of the Hawaiian Islands. In other words, the Tang Imperial Navy temporarily gave up the idea of retaking Wake Island, and as long as the First Task Force could ensure sea supremacy, then there would be no threat to the U.S. forces on Wake Island. It also makes sense for the Don Imperial Navy to temporarily abandon Wake Island.

Spruance also received an order that Task Force 51 must depart in the early morning of the 20th and rush to the battlefield to prepare for the 1st Task Force.

As always, Nimitz delegated full command of the fleet to Spruance, who took full command of the fleet to fight.

In the afternoon, Spruance sent the officers of the fleet command to the aircraft carrier "Franklin", which was still in the final stage of repairs. The resupply began in the evening, and it took four hours just to refuel and replenish the carrier's ammunition. In order to speed up the preparations, at eight o'clock, Spruance had the aircraft carrier's boiler ignited, and at eleven o'clock, the aircraft carrier did a low-speed navigation test in the harbor. After 12 o'clock, under the leadership of the aircraft carrier "Franklin", the warships of the 51st Task Force left Pearl Harbor one after another and rushed to the front battlefield. It was only outside Pearl Harbor that Spruance ordered the aircraft carrier to speed up and conduct a full-speed sailing test.

It can be seen how hastily the 51st Task Force set off. However, even if the 51st Task Force had already set off, it would be the evening of the 21st to rush to the waters near Gardner Island, and it would encounter the 1st Task Force on the 22nd at the earliest. What is even more troublesome is that the four aircraft carriers in the fleet at that time had all kinds of minor problems, and the aviation replenishment of the fleet could not reach the fleet until the morning of the 21st.

Spruance did not hold out much hope for this combat operation. He knew very well that in the past, he took the initiative to challenge his opponents, and the Tang Imperial Navy was actively defending every time.

But the problem is that this time the other party took the initiative to find the door and changed the active defense to the active attack. Perhaps, in terms of tactics, this change is not obvious, but Spruance clearly feels that the opponent's confidence has increased a lot, and the Tang Imperial Navy has sounded the clarion call for a full-scale strategic offensive, otherwise, the First Task Force will never take the initiative to come to the door, but will stay in the southwest Pacific and cooperate with the Fourth Task Force to support the Marine Corps attack.

This is the key point of the whole campaign. The initiative in this battle is in the hands of the other party, Tan Renhao can thwart Spruance's attack many times in defense, and now that he is given more options, then he will have more room to play, and he will be more able to seize the opportunity. Spruance doesn't doubt Tan Renhao's ability to take the initiative. He will not forget the beautiful surprise attack that Task Force 1 made when the United States had only entered the war, when Task Force 17 under the command of Fletcher annihilated. At that time, the first task force was to take the initiative to attack, and this time, Tan Renhao will definitely be even more powerful, and more than a year of training will improve a commander's ability a lot!

When the battle came to this, Spruance also had a feeling of helplessness. In any way, he doesn't have any advantage, and it can even be said that there is no chance of victory. Task Force 1 had come prepared, and he didn't even know where Task Force 1 was now, and the only thing he could do was guess that Task Force 1 was on its way to bomb Gardner Island, and when Task Force 1 would bomb Gardner Island, no one could tell.

If it were another commander, he would definitely think that Tan Renhao needed time to adjust the situation of the fleet, and at the same time, he would need time to complete the maneuver and obtain information on Gardner Island in order to plan a new bombing operation. These preparations will take at least two days, especially to obtain the deployment of U.S. troops on Gardner Island, which will certainly take time. But Spruance wouldn't think so, and Tan Renhao wouldn't be the kind of person who would let go of opportunities. This time, Task Force 1 clearly came to deal with the Fifth Fleet, and the bombing of Gardner Island was only a catalyst for the battle. In order to force the Fifth Fleet into battle, and to avoid being attacked by U.S. shore-based air forces in a decisive battle with the Fifth Fleet, Task Force 1 will destroy the U.S. airfield on Gardner Island. As for the landing fleet and convoy that were rushing to Midway, Spruance had no belief that this force would be sent to Gardner Island.

Spruance perfected the battle plan he had made during the night, and the only thing he could count on was that the Fifth Fleet would be able to retreat in one piece!