Noobie questions

[Sorakiba]

On the first mission of a new career, you are ordered to patrol a grid section...

The first three times that I played this, I received a radio message to "begin hostilities" against the British...

So I started shooting down everything that was "red" on my plotting course map page... I discovered that neutral merchant ships also show up as red targets, and are marked as "hostile", despite being considered neutral...

That however, is not exactly what my question is about...

So, I have started a new career... I'm out on my first patrol, and there are red targets everywhere... I could have sunk about 10 ships by now... but... I have not received any radio massages - no "orders" - to engage enemies, or begin hostilities... my 24 hours is up... and I'm supposed to return to base... without firing a shot... WTF?!?!?

Is my game bugged?... should I be shooting down everything? should I ignore the fact that my mission is officially complete, and just start blowing **** up?... What gives?