Later, Hao Dongjue gave his tactic a not-so-nice name - hornet-style attack.

As the commander of the theater, Yan Guozhong was only responsible for the overall planning and coordination of the actions of the various units in the theater, and the specific combat operations were decided by the commander of the fleet. In other words, Tan Renhao decided for himself whether to adopt the battle plan proposed by the chief of staff of the fleet, and similarly, Tan Renhao also had to bear all the responsibility, and it was impossible for him to shift the responsibility to his chief of staff. This answer is actually an affirmative answer.

The reply from the 3rd Task Force was also delivered quickly. At this time, Task Force 3 was operating near the Isabel Channel and could be reached within 24 hours. Yan Shiqi was very interested in participating in the plan to shell American airfields, but he put forward a requirement that was difficult for Tan Renhao to meet, that is, if the operation failed, the 1st Task Force must fully cover the retreat of the 3rd Task Force and not lose the 3rd Task Force to the American bombers. Yan Shiqi is not stupid, he knows very well that the Third Task Force has no survivability in front of American bombers, otherwise he would have led the fleet to participate in the battle of Rabaul a long time ago, and he would not hide behind to watch the excitement. Tan Renhao could only reluctantly agree to this request, he couldn't afford to lose anyway, and if he won the bet, there would be no problem of providing air defense cover for the third task force.

The news of the supply came quickly, and the replenishment time was tentatively set for the night of the 18th, and the supply fleet was to rendezvous with the First Task Force near the Kaping Amarangi Atoll to provide the fleet with ammunition and oil and water supplies. And now it is the seventeenth, which means that Tan Renhao and they have a day to rush back to meet the supply fleet.

"Let Task Force 3 maneuver in place on the afternoon of the 19th." Tan Renhao also quickly adjusted his deployment, "We will return to this sea area on the afternoon of the 19th, and then the 3rd Task Force will go out and attack at dawn on the 20th. ”

"Time is a bit tight, we only have twelve hours to resupply."

"Mobilize all the officers and soldiers, and there will be time for everyone to rest after the supply is completed."

Tan Renhao glanced at his partner, "Also." Seize the time to let the pilots practice the new tactics, and strive to make them all understand the importance of this tactic, every link is very important, and it is these pilots that we can count on and rely on. When will the specific battle plan come out? ”

"Tonight, I'll get it done as soon as I can."

"Then you will send me to the cabin!" Tan Renhao picked up the military hat placed next to him, "I'll go down and take a look now, the fleet has been out to fight for more than a month, and the officers and men have been in a tense state." If you have the chance, you should let them relax. ”

Hao Dongjue is also very aware of the current situation of the officers and men of the fleet. Since the fleet's departure from the port at the end of July, apart from the relatively easy sailing in the first few days, the officers and men have never had a chance to rest, and they have been in a state of high tension for more than a month. Ordinary people can't stand it, even naval officers and soldiers who have been trained rigorously and have rich combat experience are about to be unbearable.

The fleet soon began to turn, and Tan Renhao made a half-circle around the aircraft carrier and went to several main cabins to take a look. Along the way, the officers and men looked at the commander in amazement, who usually did not come down often. Those who respond quickly will take the initiative to salute. Those who react more slowly will only jump up when Tan Renhao walks by. Tan Renhao also quickly noticed that the morale of the officers and men of the fleet was not bad, which should have been affected by several successive victories. The mental state is also not bad, probably due to their experience. In addition, it can still be clearly seen that the officers and men are quite tired, and some of them have completely turned gray and black on their vests. Although Tan Renhao would not be too strict with the dress code of the officers and men of the fleet, he knew very well that if there was a condition, most of the officers and men would let themselves dress cleanly, at least their underwear should be clean, and only in the case of extreme fatigue. These officers and soldiers did not bother to wash their clothes.

The problems brought about by high-intensity and sustained combat have plagued the Navy for hundreds of years, and the situation is much better now than before. As early as the era of sails, after the battleship left its home port, it often took more than half a year, or even two or three years later, to return. At that time, the navy would pay the officers and men only after the warships returned to their home ports, and when they were at sea, they would not pay sailors allowances at all. Coupled with the long-term combat operations abroad, the Imperial Navy had several serious incidents of sailor mutiny. In the era of steam power, the combat patrol time of warships was also about half a year. And the best officers and soldiers can only maintain three months of vigorous energy at most, ordinary sailors will be unbearable to live at sea for two months, whenever the battleship docks, the sailors will spend all day drinking after going ashore, before the First World War, the proportion of officers and men of the Tang Imperial Navy suffering from venereal diseases is more than 20%! After World War I, the Imperial Navy strengthened discipline and imposed strict requirements on the personal behavior of sailors, while at the same time trying to improve the quality of life of sailors on warships. For example, the standard of food was raised, the private space of sailors was increased (as a result, the displacement of many warships increased), some recreation rooms were set up, and even a library was set up on the battleship, and when performing non-combat missions, several academy instructors were arranged on some large warships, and some basic courses were arranged for sailors who were interested in learning (later, the Imperial Navy first opened university courses on battleships, so that the officers and men of the fleet could use their personal time to complete some studies and obtain a university diploma when they were in the place of service). These measures have effectively improved the morale, morale, and spiritual quality of the officers and men of the navy, as well as the quality of officers and men, but they still cannot fundamentally solve the negative impact of long-term operations.

After more than three years of fighting, Tan Renhao also has a deep understanding of this issue. As a matter of fact, the officers and men of the fleet are the foundation of the entire fleet, and what kind of officers and men there are will be what kind of fleet, and if the physical fitness of the officers and men decreases, the combat capability of the fleet will be directly reduced. But he didn't have a good way to solve this problem, maybe relaxing the dress code for officers and soldiers could be regarded as thinking about the officers and soldiers.

That night, Hao Dongjue sent over the battle plan that had been drawn up, and the training of the pilots was also arranged, and a group of top pilots began their training work at night.

"Task Force 3 is to suppress at least five airfields?" Tan Renhao soon had a question, "Can they do it?" ”

"These five airfields are all within three nautical miles of the coastline, and they are completely within the suppression range of the artillery of Task Force 3." Hao Dongjue did not forget this detail, "I have calculated the size of the third task force, if they open fire in full, its firepower will be enough to cover at least eight airfields, arrange these five airfields for them, and the third task force will also have some mobile forces." It shouldn't be too much of a problem. ”

Tan Renhao nodded, and continued to look down.

"However, maybe Yan Shiqi is a problem."

Tan Renhao glanced up at his partner and understood what Hao Dongjue meant. "I'll send a telegram to Yan Shiqi, although he is a commander who doesn't care much about others, he cares about himself, and knows very well that this battle is not just the task of our First Task Force. At present, the relationship between the two fleets is one with glory and the other with loss. If the mission fails, he won't end well. ”

"It's best if he realizes that." Hao Dongjue took out a cigarette, "This is the only problem, I have tried my best to make arrangements for other aspects, you can take a closer look." ”

The other details are all aviation tactics, which is Hao Dongjue's strong point, and Tan Renhao did not find any problems. After signing the plan, Tan Renhao asked Hao Dongjue to give the plan to the Third Task Force, and then he also sent a telegram to Yan Shiqi, emphasizing the importance and criticality of the Third Task Force in this combat mission. He also did not hesitate to praise Yan Shiqi and the Third Task Force. If this can inspire Yan Shiqi's sense of honor and responsibility as a naval general, then a few words of compliment are not a big price.

On the afternoon of the 18th, the fleet came to the rendezvous with the supply fleet. Nearly five hours ahead of schedule. The training of aviation continues. According to Hao Dongjue's requirements, bomber pilots are familiar with the technique of strafing with machine guns, while fighter pilots must familiarize themselves with the process of dropping bombs at low altitude as soon as possible. In the past, bomber pilots used machine guns to strafe the anti-aircraft gun positions on battleships, while fighter pilots wanted to drop bombs, and at most they blindly dropped bombs at an altitude of several hundred meters.

"The supply fleet arrived around six o'clock, three hours earlier than expected.

It seems that we are in luck. Hao Dongjue has always been very excited.

"Then arrange the supply work as soon as possible." Tan Renhao glanced in the direction where the supply fleet was coming from, "Complete the supply as soon as possible, and when we go back, we can appropriately reduce the degree, so that the officers and men can rest for a few more hours." ”

"Then I'll arrange it immediately!"

"Dongjue, I'll do this!" Tan Renhao patted his partner's shoulder, "You go and take a rest, if you can't sleep, ask the doctor to prescribe two sleeping pills for you." I'll send someone to wake you up when you're done. ”

Hao Dongjue laughed awkwardly, he hadn't closed his eyes for a day and a night, and he felt tired when Tan Renhao said this.

As soon as the supply fleet arrived, the replenishment work began. Because the Kaping Amarangi Atoll was not the anchorage chosen by the Tang Army, the replenishment work was a little more difficult. In order to prevent a sneak attack by US submarines, destroyers and seaplanes (seaplanes can be used as long-range anti-submarine patrol aircraft, but the effect is not as good as that of shore-based anti-submarine patrol planes) has been operating on the periphery of the fleet, and the destroyers have been divided into two groups to receive supplies, so as to ensure that there are destroyers patrolling the periphery of the fleet, prevent US submarines from penetrating, and "send" the aircraft carrier and a few torpedoes from those large warships.

It wasn't until about half past five in the morning of the next day that the replenishment work was completely over. In order to complete the bombing operation, the ammunition compartment of the aircraft carrier was specially loaded with some incendiary bombs that were originally supplied to the strategic strike force, and for this purpose the number of anti-aircraft ammunition reserves was reduced (in actual combat, the anti-aircraft ammunition on the aircraft carrier was never used up), as well as the reserves of torpedoes and other anti-sea combat ammunition.

Before dawn, the fleet left the supply area, and after watching the supply fleet disappear from the horizon, Tan Renhao walked into the command cabin and called a staff officer to call Hao Dongjue. Without waiting for the staff officer to leave, Hao Dongjue walked in while buttoning up his military uniform.

"Now it's your turn to take over, I'll go sleep for a few hours." Tan Renhao was about to hold on, in order to successfully complete the supply work, he was busy all night, "We will probably meet with the third task force in the afternoon, you have to send a seaplane to find the third task force as soon as possible, remember, don't use radio contact, there is news, come and wake me up!" ”

"Yes, you go and rest!"

Tan Renhao glanced at his partner again, and then left the command cabin. According to the plan, the fleet will go into radio silence when it returns to the operational area, and Task Force 3 will also turn off all radio terminals. Contact between the two sides was carried out only by seaplane. This is a little more troublesome than using a radio station to contact you, but it is not very difficult to find the other party after determining the rendezvous area.

When Tan Renhao went to sleep, the fleet also entered a state of combat readiness. The pilots' training was cancelled and they were ordered to rest and recuperate. The officers and men of the fleet also carried out two shifts, so that each officer and soldier had enough time to regain their energy before the battle. The tense atmosphere quickly spread, and as in every previous combat mission, the officers and men of the fleet and the air force consciously made preparations. More than ninety percent of the officers and men of the First Task Force are veterans, and they don't need to be reminded by anyone, they all know what to do before the battle, so that they can play the best role and do the best during the battle.

When Tan Renhao was woken up, came out of the cabin, and went to the command cabin, he saw the battleship of the Third Task Force approaching from the northwest. At this time, the sun had already set on the sea antenna in the west, and Tan Renhao himself couldn't believe it, he slept for a full twelve hours in one sleep, and before, he had never slept on a battleship for such a long time.

"That's Yan Shiqi's flagship, do you see the commander's flag?" Hao Dongjue also came to the outside of the command cabin, "The arrival time was about an hour late, but in the plan, they will now immediately go south, enter the patrol range of the US reconnaissance plane after dark, and we will be on the road three hours late." ”

Tan Renhao glanced at the huge battleship, and then let out a sigh, it was finally about to start.