When the fleet entered the port of Naha, the gunfire on the island did not stop. The formed Japanese forces had surrendered, but there were still some stragglers fighting against the Tang army in the mountains in the middle of the island. The battle was not very fierce, but these diehards were not willing to surrender, vainly hoping that reinforcements would arrive and preparing to counterattack the Tang army.

Except for the three aircraft carriers and the flagship "Li Jing", the other warships could only dock in rotation to receive supplies of materials and oil, and then they could only anchor in the port. Most of the port's facilities were not repaired, and at least thousands of engineers mobilized by the Imperial Navy were busy repairing those that had been destroyed in the war. In addition, new port equipment is being brought in by transport vessels.

"What are those people doing over there?" Lei Shaoqing pointed towards the bay east of the port.

Next to the dock, hundreds of workers are assembling a crane, and there are many other machines and equipment next to it.

"It seems to be the place where the Dignity has capsized." Hao Dongjue frowned slightly, "When we bombed, the Japanese were salvaging the 'Dignity', and the 'Dignity' had already floated at that time. ”

Tan Renhao frowned slightly, and said, "Let's go over and take a look, perhaps, the navy is also preparing to salvage the 'Dignity'." ”

Sure enough, Chang Zhixin went to find a foreman and asked, and he knew that these people were making preparations for salvaging the "Dignity". The navy had already sent divers down to find out the situation. The Dignity capsized here, even though the water depth here is about 15 meters. However, the mud on the seabed was too thick, and when the "Dignity" sank, half of the hull was buried in the silt. The salvage work was troublesome, but the Navy had already made a decision to salvage the Dignity and let it float on the surface of the sea, if not if it could not repair the battleship. In order to educate the emperor and the people, always be vigilant against the sudden attack of the enemy.

"I'm afraid. It's going to take a year and a half, right? Chang Jianxin took out a cigarette and was very polite to the foreman.

The worker thought that Chang Jianxin was the adjutant of the general behind, so he also gushed out: "At most three months, in a few days, the sand discharge boat will arrive, and our people will go down to plug a few holes in the hull with steel plates, and weld them." Not pumped. Pump the water out and the battleship will be able to float up on its own. It will take about three to four months to carry out the salvage. However, according to divers, the bridge of the battleship has been blown away, and several of the main guns seem to have been dismantled by the Japanese in advance. Therefore, the value of repair should not be very large, and if there is that effort, it is better to build a new warship. ”

Chang Jianxin nodded again and again. Then he asked, "Then do you know if the navy will repair this battleship?" ”

"Sir, I don't know about this, our job is to be in charge of salvage, to make sure that the battleship can float and not sink again, and other things. Naturally, there are other people in charge, and we can't ask more, can we? ”

Chang Jianxin laughed, and after seeing that he couldn't ask what was famous, he walked over to Tan Renhao.

"It seems that the Navy is ready to salvage all those warships of the First Fleet." Tan Renhao glanced into the harbor, and there were workers busy on several docks in other places. "Well, at least some of the ships of the First Fleet are not lagging behind, if they can be repaired. Then the Navy will save money on building new ships. ”

"But the cost of repairs is definitely not low." Lei Shaoqing followed Tan Renhao towards the outside of the dock. "These ships were bombed twice, especially the one we did. Almost devastating. And many warships were built more than 10 years ago, and a lot of the equipment on them will have to be remanufactured, and the cost will not be very low. ”

"When repairing the site, by the way, the effect should be much better." Chang Jianxin added a sentence next to him.

Tan Renhao nodded. "Actually, it's about the face of the Imperial Navy. I'll bet you 20 bucks that the Navy will definitely repair the Dignity, which is the flagship of the Imperial Navy, and if the Dignity can return to the battlefield, it will not only be a battleship, but also an extremely exciting thing for the entire Imperial Navy and the people of the Empire. ”

Lei Shaoqing still shook his head. However, the gamble was quickly determined, and Chang Jianxin stood on Tan Renhao's side, while Hao Dongjue and Lei Shaoqing, who did not know much about naval warships.

"We've definitely won this time." Tan Renhao laughed, "Okay, Shaoqing, you go and contact the port logistics department and ask them to hurry up and replenish the fuel and ammunition for the battleship." Often, you go and arrange the activities of the officers and men of the fleet, try not to go ashore, even if you want to go ashore, you can't leave the port, who knows if there are any Japanese devils in the vicinity. Dongjue, you go to contact the airport, if you can, let the pilots seize the time to train in the next few days, especially the training work of those 'vultures', you must pay attention. ”

After assigning the task, the four of them immediately went to their own work.

Lei Shaoqing first came to the port material management office, which is in charge of logistics.

"Colonel, you can see that we haven't gotten anything right here." The major officer who was in charge of receiving Lei Shaoqing seemed very busy, and he didn't take Lei Shaoqing seriously at all.

"Major, we must refill the fuel and ammunition within three days." Lei Shaoqing's words were not polite at all, "This time it was Marshal Nie Renfeng who ordered the expedition, didn't you receive the order from the headquarters?" ”

"Sir, even if we receive the order, we don't have anything to give you land right now." The major put the papers in his hand into the file box, "What's more, we really didn't receive orders. Previously, our mission was to get the port back to normal as soon as possible. Now, what you want, we don't have! ”

Lei Shaoqing gritted his teeth and held back his anger. "Major, you can help us find it again, the materials must have been sent, maybe you haven't filed yet......"

"Sir. If that's right, then why don't you check it out on the pier? The major officer was also annoyed, "If the transport ship you said has arrived, it must be leaning on the dock!" ”

Lei Shaoqing was stunned for a moment, and didn't say anything anymore. The county official is not as good as the current management, although this major officer is not of high rank, but the materials are managed by him. Lei Shaoqing really can't do anything about him.

Tan Renhao was received by the commander of the Naha Port garrison, 45-year-old Commodore Qian Shouxin. He also came out of the Imperial Naval Academy. However, he did not receive a maritime medal. Judging from his current rank, he can only be regarded as a very average person in the navy. Gan Yongxing is four levels lower than him, and he is now the chief of staff of the admiral, while Qian Shouxin is only a brigadier general base commander, and he is also a direct subordinate of Admiral Wu Xianyu.

"Talking about the general, I've heard of the name early!" Qian Shouxin was very enthusiastic about Tan Renhao, he must know. Tan Renhao is an old subordinate of General Wu Xianyu, and he is deeply used by Principal Nie Renfeng. "However, we really don't know what you said. As you should have seen when you entered the port, the convoy had not arrived, and besides, the supplies in the port were now very limited, and there was no way to meet the needs of the fleet. ”

Tan Renhao frowned slightly. "General Qian. Then can you contact the command and ask about the situation of the transport fleet, perhaps, they are in trouble on the way. ”

Qian Shouxin nodded, and as soon as he picked up the phone, his secretary ran in.

"General. The convoy arrived, but in big trouble. ”

Tan Renhao and Qian Shouxin were both shocked, and the two immediately got up and walked towards the door. By the time they reached the outside of the Port Command building, the transport ships were slowly entering the port. At this time, Tan Renhao was even more shocked. According to Gan Yongxing's account, there were at least 14 ships in this transport fleet that provided supplies for the 1st Task Force and came directly from Qingdao, but only 8 ships had arrived now. In addition, there are two transport ships that are emitting smoke.

The two immediately ran towards the dock of the transport ship. On the surface of the harbor ground, several small speedboats belonging to the port command were already surrounding the two transports that were on fire. Seawater is being sprayed on the ship. Help put out the fire. The other six transport ships are docking one after another. At this time, Tan Renhao also saw it clearly. In addition to the two transports that were on fire, there were three torpedoes, and the fire on board had been extinguished, but there were holes in the hull, as if they had been bitten by some monster in the sea.

"Go ask what's going on, damn it!" Qian Shouxin gritted his teeth.

In fact, you don't have to ask, you know what's going on. This fleet operated within the control of the Tang Imperial Navy, so it could not have been attacked by Japanese warships or bombers. It must have been attacked by a Japanese submarine on the way, and the few ships that did not arrive must have sunk. Later, Tan Renhao learned that after leaving Qingdao, this fleet had been coming in the direction of Naha Port, but in the eastern part of the East China Sea, about 350 nautical miles from Naha (it was night), it was besieged by several Japanese submarines, four of which sank, and the last two struggled to return to Matsue Port, while these eight continued to move forward and finally came to Naha Port.

At this time, Lei Shaoqing and Chang Jianxin also rushed over. When they saw those transport ships, they were also surprised.

"Boss, go and organize the officers and men of the fleet, and wait to help rush the ship's supplies to minimize losses." Tan Renhao was more calm and calm than Qian Shouxin, "Shaoqing, go contact the Navy Command and ask when the next fleet will arrive." ”

The two went their separate ways, and this accident was sure to affect the operations of Task Force 1.

Tan Renhao walked to Qian Shouxindi's side at this time and said, "General Qian, it seems that we are wrong to blame you." However, we need to report the damage as soon as possible, and if there is anything missing, then immediately contact the Navy Command to see if we can send new supplies as soon as possible. ”

"It's easy, there's a list of goods on every ship, and we can compare the lists."

"It's best to arrange personnel to go up and count, at least, the goods on the ships that were attacked must be counted, and they can't come according to the list!"

Seeing that Tan Renhao was so serious, Qian Shouxin nodded. It seems that he has been in the navy for more than 20 years, and he has only been mixed up as a commodore general, and he was promoted after the war, which must have a lot to do with his attitude towards things.

At four o'clock in the afternoon, the damage report came out, and the result surprised Tan Renhao. Of the eight tankers in the fleet, four of the eight tankers carrying oil were lost, one returned to Songjiang, and the other lost more than half of the oil on board. In other words, the amount of oil that Tan Renhao can get now is less than 30% of what the fleet needs. The cargo ship carrying ammunition lost one, and this one carried the main gun shells of the battleship, which was quite acceptable.

In a short time, the command of the Navy also replied that the new fleet would not reach Naha until at least five days, this time there would be a destroyer escort, and the Navy's anti-submarine patrol aircraft had intensified their search for the main shipping lanes. Of course, five days may not have been a big deal in the past, but for Tan Renhao, it was a big problem.

"It has to be as high as possible enough fuel." Tan Renhao knew that the fighters did not wait for anyone, as long as they received the news of the departure of the Japanese fleet, the fleet would set off immediately, and could not stay in Naha. "Now we have about 30% of the fuel left in the fleet, and we have about 30%, so we have to find a way to get the other 40% of the fuel. The problem with ammunition is not so big, at least the ammunition of the aviation forces is sufficient. ”

"I've checked the situation in the port, and now the heavy oil in the port is not enough to replenish the fleet, and it won't play much role at all."

Tan Renhao glanced at Lei Shaoqing, and then frowned.

"Renhao, our main loss is aviation fuel, in fact, we have at least eighty percent of the heavy fuel used by warships." Hao Dongjue spoke at this time, "Why did we go to those airports to find a way?" ”

Tan Renhao was stunned for a moment, and immediately nodded. "Then we'll split up, I'll go to Kadena Airport, and you guys will go to a few field airfields. Tell the army to keep the fuel for five days, and when our tankers arrive, return the fuel to them, and send the excess to the fleet. No, wait a minute, we should contact General Gan first, and it's best to have the principal come forward to communicate directly with the army, so that the people below them won't embarrass us. ”

Tan Renhao thought a little too simply, although Nie Renfeng cheekily called Yan Dingyu, who had just quarreled, and Yan Dingyu also said that he would fully support the combat operations of the naval fleet. However, Tan Renhao and the others still ran into trouble in the grassroots troops, and as a result, it took two days to increase the fleet's aviation fuel reserve rate to about 70 percent.