Bai Shujie knew that the information revealed by the Americans was a posture to prepare for a fight.

Not long ago, the Americans had taught Yamamoto Isoroku a good lesson in the North Pacific, and avenged the aircraft carrier Akagi, which had already been sunk.

Now Yamamoto Isoroku's combined fleet is already moving closer to the South Pacific. The Americans will certainly want to teach themselves a lesson before the little devils adjust their steps.

Because of this, after the experts of the Munn team and the rocket research laboratory came, Bai Shujie hurriedly sent them to Papua Yapeng Island by plane, which is the current home port of his Third Fleet.

Bai Shujie has already received a detailed report that the last time Zhang Xiang and the deputy commander of the fleet, Jin Bikuan, took the risk of attacking and completely annihilated the little devil's "Pacific Southern Fleet", and captured 1 battleship, 4 cruisers and 3 destroyers.

This battleship is the Nagato-class battleship that has undergone the second modernization refit, and the specific parameters are:

The standard displacement is 32,720 tons, the normal is 39,130 tons, and the full load is 46,200 tons; It is 224.9 meters long, 34.6 meters wide, 9.45 meters draft, 4 steam turbines, 82,000 horsepower, 25 knots, and 10,600 nautical miles/16 knots.

8 x 4 twin 410mm/45x main guns, 18 x 140mm secondary guns, 8 x 4 twin 127mm/40x 89 anti-aircraft guns; 8 twin 127mm anti-aircraft guns, 20 twin 25mm anti-aircraft guns;

The side armor belt (maximum) is 305mm, the turret front is 457mm, the turret top is 250mm, the armored deck is 75~127mm, and the command tower is 336mm. Armor weight 13023 tons. There are 3 carrier-based aircraft with a crew of 1,368 people.

Bai Shujie's request is very clear: it is too late now, and it is impossible to carry out a comprehensive overhaul. The only thing that can be done is to make the following adjustments to the deck equipment:

Removed 4 410mm main guns, removed 8 140mm secondary guns, removed 8 4-seat twin 127mm/40x diameter Type 89 anti-aircraft guns, removed 20 twin 25mm anti-aircraft guns, and removed 3 seaplanes.

Then it took a month to complete the transformation: 4 groups of 16 missile launchers, 2 36-tube rocket launchers, 24 30mm 6-tube phalanxes, and 3 Crazy Dragon helicopters.

As for the other 4 cruisers, it was later found out that they were the four heavy cruisers Mogami, Mikuma, Suzuya, and Kumano.

The design displacement is 8,500 tons, the standard displacement is 12,400 tons, and the full load displacement is 14,500 tons; It is 200.6m long, 18.22m wide, 5.5m draft, 42,000 horsepower, 36.5 knots, and 8,000 nautical miles/14 knots.

5 triple 207mm main guns, 4 twin 127mm anti-aircraft guns, 4 twin 25mm anti-aircraft guns, 2 13mm parallel machine guns, 4 triple 610mm torpedo tubes, 3 carrier-based aircraft; The crew is 850 people.

Bai Shujie still attaches great importance to these four cruisers, so he also refitted them together:

Removed 3 triple 207mm guns, 4 twin 25mm anti-aircraft guns, and 2 13mm parallel machine guns. Replace with 2 36-tube rocket launchers and 12 6-tube 30mm phalanx. Remove the three water reconnaissance planes and replace them with three Crazy Dragon helicopters.

As for the two destroyers, Bai Shujie is not in the mood to continue to change, just deal with them, anyway, they are just reconnaissance.

In Bai Shujie's concept of naval warfare, in peacetime, destroyers can be used to swear sovereignty and manage the sea because of their small tonnage and high speed.

In a real naval battle, the destroyer is the cannon fodder of the navy, a disposable weapon specially designed to consume the enemy's strategic materiel.

Because of the unlimited pursuit of speed, it is impossible for the destroyer to have any armor, it is a thin-skinned coffin specially designed to increase the enemy's battle results, so Bai Shujie has never considered the destroyer in any very high position.

After Bai Shujie completed the refit of these five large warships, he officially named them the "First Fleet of the Navy of the Jewish Republic of Papua", and asked Zhang Xiang to officially hand over to the direct command of the Jewish Legion to undertake coastal fire support and air defense tasks.

This generous gesture won the favor of all Jews such as Horst and Munn, and laid a good foundation for the next bilateral cooperation.

In fact, Bai Shujie thought that the speed of the Nagato-class battleship was too low, and it did not match his Shihuang 918 founder-class battleship. When it comes to operations in the far seas, the Nagato-class battleships will definitely be holding back. Anyway, the coastal waters need firepower reinforcements, and it is not an exaggeration to send the Jews a favor.

During this period, four Nulong high-altitude and high-speed long-range strategic reconnaissance planes were divided into two groups to conduct day and night surveillance of Australia and the North Pacific.

On the one hand, it is necessary to grasp the movements of the little devils, especially the combined fleet of Yamamoto 56, which must not be taken lightly. On the other hand, it is necessary to find out what MacArthur really wants to do and what specific actions he will take.

On May 16, 1942, the information finally reached Bai Shujie.

The strength of the Palau Islands, the strategic base in the South Pacific, has increased dramatically, with more than 500 land-based aircraft and nearly 500 carrier-based aircraft combined.

From the photos taken, Bai Shujie quickly distinguished the Zuizuru aircraft carrier, the Xianghe aircraft carrier, the Hayabusa aircraft carrier, the Zuiho aircraft carrier, the Hiei battleship, the Kirishima battleship, the heavy cruiser Chokai, the Kumano heavy cruiser, the Suzuya heavy cruiser, the Tone heavy cruiser, the Chikuma heavy cruiser, the Nobun destroyer, the Yukikaze destroyer, and dozens of ships that could not be seen clearly.

In other words, a total of 3 battleships, 4 aircraft carriers, and 5 heavy cruisers were brought together, representing the third air fleet of the little devils.

After interrogating Masaharu Honma, Bai Shujie already knew that after he killed Nagumo Tadaichi, the current commander of the Third Air Fleet was already Vice Admiral Jizaburo Ozawa. The heavy cruiser Torikai is the flagship of Vice Admiral Jizaburo Ozawa.

At the same time, Yamamoto's combined fleet was already aggressively operating the Marshall Islands.

In this way, the Third Fleet of Vice Admiral Jizaburo Ozawa in the Palau Islands formed a situation of attacking Papuguinea and Australia from the east and the north, and at the same time limited Bai Shujie's space for maneuver.

For Bai Shujie, because the west and north are the world of little devils, Guawa Island, Sumatra, and Thailand are all eyeing him around.

MacArthur is even worse, if the little devil hits the door and attacks from both sides, if he can't resist it, the remnants of the US-Australian coalition and the US-Philippine coalition will have to retreat to Antarctica!

Now, Yamamoto's combined fleet is 1,800 nautical miles from Brisbane, the headquarters of MacArthur's allied forces. Coupled with the fact that Yamamoto Isoroku is not quite ready, this is a small gap.

Nimitz, commander of the Pacific Fleet, commanded 17 warships, pulled anchor and set sail to move north, and Bai Shujie received a report from the Air Force that afternoon.

"Order: The First Fleet of the Jewish Republic under Zhang Xiang's command shall immediately set off, detour from the northern tip of Papua Island to the Arafura Sea on the west side, and wait for concealment in the Beibu Gulf of Sudaso Island. If the U.S. fleet enters Sudazo Island from the south of Daru, as long as it does not attack you, pretend not to find it, and ignore him. ”

"Your rocket artillery regiment and missile regiment immediately enter the Moresby Peninsula to prevent the imps from launching a sneak attack from the Marshall Islands in the east. The Nulong bombers and Jian-9 fighters are ready to attack at any time, and there must be no mistakes. ”

"Order: The Second Fleet will transfer 1 battleship, 1 cruiser, and 1 destroyer to cover the transport ship to send Liu Zhiliang's 3rd Division Tank Regiment to Timor Island, and occupy it with the fastest action, and then set up an airfield to stand by."

"Order: The 2nd Airborne Regiment of the Marine Corps is immediately transferred to the Sulawesi airfield and then ready for sortie."

"Order: The long-range transport group of the Sabah Air Force Command, 48 Nulong transport planes are immediately ready to transport the missile regiment directly under the command to departure at any time. The J-9 attack aircraft brigade immediately entered a combat state and immediately attacked when it heard the order. Strategic reconnaissance planes have stepped up their tactical reconnaissance in the waters to the south and east to keep abreast of the enemy's movements at any time. ”

On May 28, 1942, Air Force Commander Zhang Nianzu sent a reconnaissance report: "Commander-in-Chief, 17 warships of the Australian U.S. fleet have arrived at Darwin Port today. Another fleet of about 30 ships has arrived in Port Douglas, just 1,000 kilometres from the Moresby Peninsula. ”

"You continue to monitor the waters off Yandena Island, north of Darwin, and ignore him for the time being as long as they do not cross the island." Bai Shujie sneered: "MacArthur treats Lao Tzu as a little devil?" The island-hopping tactic is used on Lao Tzu, and he has no way to see the king, and he doesn't know whether he is alive or dead! ”

"What's going on, is there any movement in the Third Pacific Fleet, the little devil in the Palau Islands? It is only 1,300 kilometers away from Liu Zhiliang's Davao, so you must keep an eye on it. Little devils like to steal chickens and touch dogs the most, and they must not be planted on little devils. ”

Zhang Nianzu said with a smile on the phone: "Commander-in-chief, seeing that you are as stable as Mount Tai, are you going to engage in any conspiracy?" ”

"What the fuck are you talking about? Lao Tzu doesn't engage in conspiracy, if he wants to engage in conspiracy, he will engage in yang conspiracy! Bai Shujie smiled: "As long as Nimitz dares to come in, Lao Tzu will dare to close the door and beat the dog." Order your Air Force Bomber Group and J-9 Strike Group to get ready and see what tricks Nimitz and MacArthur can play. ”

Regarding the actions taken by Nimitz and MacArthur, Bai Shujie was actually mentally prepared for a long time.

Because the emergence of the "South China United Front" not only contained the Pacific strategy of the little devils, but also was a huge challenge to MacArthur.

First of all, the Philippine Islands are not in the hands of the little devils, and MacArthur cannot always put himself on the moral high ground of the "savior of the Southwest Pacific" and then do whatever he wants here.

Second, Yamamoto's Combined Fleet retreated to the west and formed a corner with Ozawa's Third Fleet, and Australia was already facing a flank attack from the east, north, and west. To the south is Oceania and Antarctica, where there is so much ice and snow that it is impossible to survive.

Now, MacArthur and Nimitz can't defeat Yamamoto 56's combined fleet, plus Ozawa Jizaburo's Third Fleet in the north, if the little devils fight to the death, with MacArthur's remnants defeated, Australia will not be able to hold it at all.

In order to compete for more living space, to gain delay, and to allow the huge fleet and land forces of the United States mainland to rush over, the only way out is to develop northward and recapture the Philippine Islands.

Empathize with each other, so Bai Shujie is very sympathetic to MacArthur's current embarrassing situation. Because MacArthur's forces combined were less than 20,000. They are:

There is a remnant of Parker's "Second Army of the United States and the Philippines", and there are probably less than 8,000 people left; the "First Army of the US-Australia Alliance", there are probably more than 3,000 people; There are probably more than 5,000 people in the "Second Army of the United States and Australia".

Bai Shujie believes that even if MacArthur urgently recruited troops in Australia, although the number of troops has increased, the weapons and equipment have not yet been shipped from the United States. As for the soldiers, it was simply vulnerable.

MacArthur's biggest reliance now is the new strategy determined by the US Joint Chiefs of Staff: the Nimitz Pacific Fleet, which was urgently formed.

After all, what happens next, let's see how it will be broken down next time.