After being left by Yan Guozhong, Tan Renhao was a little surprised. After entering his role, Tan Renhao has calmed down a lot, at least he didn't think about Lei Shaoqing's matter anymore, and now all his energy is put into the upcoming battle, and the strength of the two sides is equal, so the performance of the battlefield commander determines the outcome of the battle.

"Looks like you're confident?" Yan Guozhong went to make two cups of tea.

"At least I have fought with Halsey, and I still know the American general well." Tan Renhao took the teacup, "General Yan, is there anything else that hasn't been introduced?" ”

Yan Guozhong sat down. "Just wanted to talk to you, nothing else, you're not in a hurry to return to the fleet, right?"

"It's not too late to go back tomorrow, now I let Wei Dongbei, and a few main staff officers be in charge of the fleet's affairs. It's just a matter of battle planning......"

"I've already put a few staff officers in charge of this." Yan Guozhong took out a cigarette, "You don't have to worry about this, the most important thing to worry about now is the movement of the US military, will they act according to your analysis?" ”

Tan Renhao nodded slightly, in fact, the analysis he made was also judged based on the situation on the battlefield. There was no information about the combat operations of the US fleet in all the previous intelligence, which was almost impossible to obtain, and this was within the scope of the task of the battlefield commander. Yan Guozhong's question also has his reason, if the US military does not act according to this routine, then there will be a problem with Tan Renhao's deployment.

Yan Guozhong was also patiently waiting for Tan Renhao's answer, and he only raised this question from the perspective of a commander, and did not doubt Tan Renhao's meaning. At the time of combat. Making judgments on the situation on the battlefield is a commander's basic ability and basic job. Yan Guozhong is very clear. It would be almost impossible to get more intelligence from the U.S. military, and perhaps they would know when the U.S. fleet left port. However, it is difficult to know the specific actions of the US fleet.

"Let's put it this way, we can analyze the battle at Midway first." Tan Renhao thought for a while, and then sorted out his thoughts, "The Battle of Midway is divided into two phases, the first stage is our landing operation. At that time, Task Force 1 was responsible for supporting the Marine Corps, and in the latter stage, the entire Midway Island was captured, and Task Force 2 was responsible for supporting the Marine Corps, and the Battle of the Surface during this period was actually part of the Battle of Midway. ”

Yan Guozhong smiled and nodded, he agreed with this point of view, at least this proves that the Marine Corps is the core force.

"The whole campaign revolved around Midway, and the purpose of the naval battle was Midway.

Whether it is the initiative of the US military or the defensive counterattack of the second task force, the ultimate goal. Still for the control of Midway. In fact, this is a common feature of naval warfare, and it is also a fundamental characteristic of the place where the US military launches a strategic counterattack. Naval battles revolve around islands, or land. The ultimate goal of naval warfare is not to control the sea, but to control the land, and to control the sea is to control the land. Since the outbreak of the war, all combat operations in the Pacific Ocean by the fleets of the three countries of the warring parties have been aimed at taking control of a certain island. Or a certain piece of land, either directly or indirectly, which will definitely be implemented on the ground in the end! ”

"You mean, it's the same with U.S. counterattacks in the Southwest Pacific?"

"That's for sure, there's no doubt about it. Whether the U.S. military chooses Port Moresby or the Solomon Islands, the ultimate goal of the counterattack is to take control of land or islands. ”

Yan Guozhong pondered for a while and said, "Then, their purpose is most likely the Solomon Islands. ”

"Yes, the Solomon Islands are the key of the key, and their value in the Southwest Pacific is the same as the Mariana Islands are in the Western Pacific and Midway is in the Mid-Pacific." Tan Renhao put down the teacup in his hand, "We control the Solomon Islands, we can quickly move south, and the fleet has gained access to the Coral Sea, which can threaten the Australian continent, and even force the US military to move the eastern course of the Australian continent hundreds of nautical miles south." And as long as we control the Coral Sea, the landing on the Australian continent will be very smooth. There's no way MacArthur and Halsey don't know this, and to keep us out of the Coral Sea, they'll have to fight back to the Solomon Islands. ”

"What about Port Moresby?" Yan Guozhong was knowingly asking.

"If we can't get into the Coral Sea, how can we capture Port Moresby?" Tan Renhao asked rhetorically, "Therefore, I have always believed that the focus of the US military's counterattack will not be Port Moresby, and it will be difficult for our Marines to quickly capture Port Moresby, especially after MacArthur increased his troops to Port Moresby again, and with the combat effectiveness of the Marine Corps alone, without the support of the fleet, it is simply impossible to defeat Port Moresby." On the contrary, the Solomon Islands are just a group of islands, and the islands are certainly not as well defended as a fortress with great depth like Port Moresby. This is determined by the characteristics of the islands, as long as the US military seizes sea supremacy, then to recapture the Solomon Islands, all they need is ground forces and time. ”

Yan Guozhong is a general of the Marine Corps, and he naturally knows the key to the battle for the island.

Even if Yan Guozhong will not admit that the fleet is the decisive force in the battle for the island, in his opinion, only the Marine Corps is the real main force, but Yan Guozhong has to admit one point, that is, the ownership of sea supremacy determines the ownership of the island.

"Therefore, Halsey will definitely set off early, and even attack first." Tan Renhao has been taking time to study the landing operation, "In order to ensure the smooth progress of the counterattack against the Solomon Islands, the first thing the US military must ensure is to annihilate our fleet. So, let's leave aside the movements of the U.S. fleet for the time being, and now that all three of our fleets have entered the Coral Sea, will Halsey escape? ”

"The question is, wouldn't he have chosen any other direction? For example, from the northern waters of the Solomon Islands, wide. ”

"If Spruance were in command, I'd be worried, but Halsey, I'm not worried." Tan Renhao laughed, "This time it must be Halsey commanding the fleet to fight, and with his character, he will never avoid difficulties. Instead, they will take the initiative to meet and overcome difficulties.

Also, go around to the northern waters of the Solomon Islands. There is a premise, that is, the US military must first take the Gilbert Islands. Marshall Islands. Prior to this, we had already fought Halsey in the waters north of the Solomon Islands, and Halsey did not take advantage. If there was another fight in this area, Halsey would lose even more. ”

That is, now we take the initiative. Can force the US fleet to also attack head-on? ”

"General Yan, which island is the core of your Shangdi defense in the Solomon Islands?"

Yan Guozhong was stunned for a moment. "Of course it's Kuah Island, do you still need to ask?"

"That's right, if you were to command the Marines to attack from south to north, which island would you capture first?"

Yan Guozhong frowned and thought for a moment. "It is not easy to land directly on Kuah Island, unless the US fleet has absolute superiority, otherwise they cannot jump directly from the New Hebrides to Kuah Island, then, first capture Rennell Island or Makira Island, and then set off from here to attack Kuah Island."

"So. MacArthur thought the same way. And they now have two options. Tan Renhao raised the index and middle fingers of his right hand. First, if they can win a big victory in the naval battle, then they can directly attack Kuah Island. To bypass the other islands, it is enough to blow up the airfields on these islands by the fleet and heavy bombers. Second, if the U.S. fleet is only a crushing victory. Then they will attack Rennell Island first, or Makila Island, and then Kuah Island. Of course, if the U.S. fleet is defeated, then their ground forces will remain in the New Hebrides or the Australian mainland, and there is no possibility of attack. There's nothing wrong with this analysis, right? ”

Yan Guozhong nodded, this is the simplest and most basic analysis.

"Now, let's look at our deployment. Task Force 1 maneuvered near Rennell Island, Task Force 4 moved in the waters south of Tagura Island, and Task Force 3 moved south of the Solomon Sea. The three fleets are not very far away to support each other, and there is no possibility for the American forces to bypass us and land on Kuah Island except for a detour to the northern waters of the Solomon Islands. In other words, before the departure of the US ground forces, Halsey must seize sea supremacy. ”

"What if they do go through the waters north of the Solomon Islands?"

"Task Force 1 can maneuver in two days, Task Force 4 will take up to three days, and Task Force 3 can return to the waters near Kuah Island on the same day. Together with our air forces on Kuah Island, Bougainville, the American military will not be able to come from this direction unless they are confident that their landing fleet will pass through those narrow straits in the Solomon Islands and not be detected by us and attacked by us. There are also problems such as the time required for fleet maneuvering, concealment, and so on, which the US military cannot solve, and if the offensive route in the northern Solomon Islands is taken, the logistical supply line alone will increase by hundreds to thousands of nautical miles. No matter what they choose, a decisive battle of the fleet is inevitable, and whether the US military can successfully counterattack and set foot on the land of the Solomon Islands depends on whether their fleet can win at sea. If they win, the straight-line attack is the fastest, and if they lose, then they will lose the sea control of the entire southwest Pacific, and even finally lose the Australian continent! ”

"It seems that your thinking is still quite clear, then I'm a little worried." Yan Guozhong laughed.

"General Yan, I'm not afraid of your jokes, when I was in school, although my landing operations course was not the best, I also worked hard." Tan Renhao also laughed, "Moreover, I have also been paying attention to the issue of landing operations, future naval battles will revolve around landing operations, the purpose of naval battles is landing operations, and the premise of landing operations is to win at sea, the two are indispensable, and they are very related to each other, if you only understand naval battles, but not landing operations, it is impossible to become a good fleet commander." ”

"So, do you think there are any variables?"

"Variables!?" Tan Renhao glanced at Yan Guozhong in surprise, and then his expression sank, "I'm not very worried about this side of the Southwest Pacific, after all, we are equal in strength to the US military, and the war situation is actually slightly more favorable to us." I'm most worried about changes in the Central Pacific. ”

"The Central Pacific?" Yan Guozhong was also a little surprised.

"Nimitz's counterattack has actually just begun, although the first battle encountered a setback, but now the US army still has three small aircraft carriers to use, maybe, the damaged fleet aircraft carrier can be repaired soon, the US army's large number of escort warships are not much loss, Nimitz also has a fleet that is not weak.

On the contrary, now that the Second Task Force has left the battlefield and is under the command of Zheng Guanhua, I have no right to doubt whether he can command the fleet well, but the problem is that the Second Task Force only has one aircraft carrier. Tan Renhao sighed secretly, "Maybe the chief of staff will strengthen the last two small aircraft carriers, but the problem is, Nimitz must still have a big move." ”

"Why?" Yan Guozhong immediately focused.

"It is analyzed from the U.S. military's hold on Midway, as well as the actions of the fleet." Tan Renhao pondered for a while, "Nimitz's counterattack should be a series, if in the last naval battle, Spruance defeated the Second Task Force in one fell swoop, and he didn't have any losses, then now the Midway Marines are probably in a desperate situation, and it is impossible for the transport fleet sent by General Liao Hanxiang to reach Midway." Next, Nimitz would send troops to capture Wake Island, the Marshall Islands, the Gilbert Islands, and even the Mariana Islands. The whole counterattack will be carried out in one go, giving us almost no time to react and prepare. When the time comes, it will be difficult for us to look at each other, and the results can be imagined. ”

Yan Guozhong took a long breath, talking about Renhao's analysis is very reasonable, when the time comes, the Tang Empire will be defeated in the southwest Pacific without a fight.

'Now, Nimitz has some troubles, but those problems are not enough to stop him, and his counter-attack will be a little harder, but it will definitely continue. Tan Renhao shook his head, "Perhaps, these things are not what I should care about, the most important thing now is to win a battle in the Southwest Pacific, which will be more helpful." ”

"Okay, then tomorrow you return to the fleet." Yan Guozhong didn't keep Tan Renhao anymore.

After Tan Renhao left, Yan Guozhong immediately sent the news to Gan Yongxing and Liao Hanxiang at the same time, and he did not want to affect the battle in the southwest Pacific because of the defeat in the Central Pacific.