Chapter 1019 Axis Attack (8, Additional Chapter for the Leader "Dongfang Dafa Is Good")
Ps1: Congratulations to the reader "Eastern Dafa is Good" for becoming the leader of this book, thank you for your support.
Ps2: I won’t write an information chapter next time. I feel tired when I write it, and you look tired when you look at it. After reading it, I feel even more tired when I hear you complain about it. From now on, the article will only give conclusions and will not deduce the details...
After listening to Matsuda Chiaki's introduction, combined with the German war situation report and Tsukahara's telegram from the front line, everyone smiled:
First, the Americans finally couldn’t hold on any longer and started to take crash courses in flying (Bingfei);
Second, although the US aviation force is large in scale, its quality is very poor, and there is an atmosphere of pessimism everywhere - "Everyone is required to write a suicide note before going on a mission, and there are piles of emails to say goodbye to family members and friends... The postman comes to pick them up every evening. , but no one knows when it will be released.”
Third, the United States is locked in a two-front war of attrition, losing more than 5,000 aircraft and at least half of its crews in half a month.
"From the perspective of practice in Germany and the United States, it is necessary to set up crash courses. Our army is at the forefront of Bingfei training in the world, but the training time for Bingfeng subjects is too short. It is recommended to extend it from the current 5 months to more than 8 months in order to allow The pilots have 200-250 hours of flight time, and it is planned to establish a three-level training system of primary-advanced-actual trainer aircraft. The actual trainer aircraft will be used by some old models: bombers will be trained with German Stukas, and transport aircraft and torpedo aircraft will be trained with Ju-52 In the simulation, the fighter jets are used as hurricanes..." Lieutenant General Kiichi Hasegawa, director of the Aviation Headquarters, said, "The commander has agreed to allocate more outstanding pilots to become instructors, and at the same time ensure relevant training fuel."
Since kamikaze attacks are not currently mainstream in Japan, there are many young people who can serve as pilots, and the number of aircraft has also increased greatly. Hasegawa Kiichi's proposal has been highly recognized by everyone.
"Judging from the first phase of the war, our army achieved some of its planned goals: occupying and consolidating Midway Island, Christmas Island and deterring Hawaii; it failed to achieve the goal of annihilating and severely damaging the remaining forces of the enemy's Pacific Fleet because the fleet has been hiding in Hawaii Harbor. Reluctant to show up; achieved an unexpected goal - depleting the enemy's aviation crew reserve, but of course also paid a heavy price, losing 400,000 tons of ships," said Lieutenant General Nishi Takijiro, deputy director of the Military Command, "Sir. It is very clear that on the one hand, it continues to consume more fuel with the Americans, using more fuel to rotate US military aircrews, and undermines the morale of its opponents; on the other hand, it improves its own aviation combat effectiveness, hoping to reduce the comparison of Japanese and American naval aviation forces to 1 on the basis of improving the level of civilian aviation: 2 or so.”
"The key now is whether ship manufacturing and procurement can be supported." Horikichi turned his attention to Admiral Narumi Inoue, the vice-minister of the Navy and chief of the Naval Administration Headquarters.
"To be honest, we can't afford ships by self-construction alone." Narumi Inoue smiled bitterly. "The existing shipbuilding capacity, without considering material constraints, has an annual production capacity of about 500,000 tons of warships. If we only build 10,000 tons of warships, The following medium-sized warships (that is, not building battleships, aircraft carriers, and heavy cruisers) can be barely increased to 650,000 tons. If one ton of warship tonnage is converted into 4 tons of civilian ship tonnage, it can be converted into 2 to 2.5 million tons of merchant ship tonnage, plus the tonnage of merchant ships. The tonnage of the private shipyards that do not manufacture warships in Japan is at most 4 million tons. In fact, due to steel production constraints, I think it is ideal to complete 75%. I am worried that even the Marushin Plan will not be completed. "
The peak period of the "Marushin Plan" requires more than 8 Axis-class ships (200,000 tons), 16 escort aircraft carriers (160,000 tons), 12 Type B destroyers (Akizuki modified anti-aircraft cruisers) (42,000 tons), and Type D destroyers (42,000 tons) per year. There are 48 destroyers (low-cost escort destroyers) (96,000 tons). The tonnage of these warships alone is nearly 500,000 tons. Considering the construction of spy ships, supply ships, etc., it is indeed very difficult, so the plan requires no delay in damage within 5 years. Under the premise of warship repair and routine maintenance, 1.89 million tons of new warships were completed.
Even so, Inoue Narumi is much more confident now than when the "Marushin Plan" was formulated last year: First, Hori Toshiyoshi has sole control and can ensure the allocation of resources; second, with the end of the Indian campaign and the gradual withdrawal from the Chinese battlefield, Japan can focus on the Pacific The problem was solved; thirdly, with the technical output and equipment assistance from Germany, Japan has improved a lot in many aspects. For example, its steel production has increased from more than 7 million tons to nearly 9 million tons (the comparison with the United States has finally changed from 1:10 to 1:10). : 9); Shilai Horikichi has been able to gain a lot of benefits from Europe at the expense of Pakistan and New Guinea, which can effectively enrich the naval strength.
"I believe that the consumption of 400,000 tons for 2,000 units depends on the structure. If they are all warships, the empire will never be able to bear it - only 500,000 tons of warships are added every year, and the combined fleet stock is only more than 2 million tons. 1 More than 10,000 units can consume us all; if they are all merchant ships (cargo ships), there will be no difficulty in sustaining it. The empire builds more than 2.4 million tons of ships every year to replace 12,000 units, and there are also 8 million tons of stock merchants. The entire fleet can be replaced with 40,000 units - I don't believe that the US military will have 40,000 units left after consuming 12,000 units." Inoue Narumi looked at the data, "If warships account for 40%, freighters will account for 40%. Measured as a proportion of 60%, the additional tonnage each year can consume approximately 8,000 U.S. military units, which is barely feasible.”
Everyone couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief: Horikichi has prepared an additional 140/1 million-ton oil tankers. This batch alone is enough to consume the Americans for a while.
Yamamoto Isoroku, who had been frowning, asked: "So, if there is no major change in the situation, changing the tonnage of the unit is temporarily feasible?"
"feasible!"
Hori Teikichi nodded with satisfaction: "Although it is feasible for the time being, we still need to think about ways to reduce our own consumption and increase the losses of the enemy. Do you have any good ideas?"
"I have a suggestion that can reduce the losses of some tankers." Lieutenant General Kurita Takeo, who has been coordinating transportation affairs, stood up and spoke.
"Mr. Kurita, please speak."
"Some freighters can be used to transport fuel." Kurita Takeo explained, "Light fuels, such as gasoline, diesel, and aviation fuel, can be stacked in large barrels in the cargo ship's cabin. Tankers are only used to transport the most viscous and heavy fuels with the highest consumption. Even if the freighter loses space, it expands the scope of transportation. Before coming here, I used the captured American Liberty Ship to conduct experiments, and there was basically no problem loading 4,000 tons of fuel. And when unloading, the oil barrels are delivered directly, eliminating the filling time, which is very convenient for the island defense troops. It will be more troublesome for the fleet to use, but it is not insurmountable. The only waste is that a large number of oil barrels need to be made in a hurry."
Everyone's eyes lit up. According to this method, the tonnage of tankers can be freed up to concentrate on carrying heavy oil.
"The suggestion is very good. Thank you for your hard work." Hori Teikichi nodded and said, "The support fleet formation will be promoted according to this method. Matsuda, tell everyone about the support fleet formation and combat situation."
"Since the US Pacific Fleet has been reluctant to reveal itself and uses a war of attrition, the commander has decided to dispatch the support fleet and the Combined Fleet from early October to further enhance the strength of the Combined Fleet. The main force of the support fleet is as follows:
Battle Group: 3 Carriers (Chitose, Chiyoda), 5 Carriers (Katsuragi, Kasagi), 2 cruisers, 4 anti-aircraft destroyer formations (16 Akizuki, Akizuki modified anti-aircraft destroyers), to perform offensive missions;
Auxiliary Group: Asama Maru, Tatsuta Maru, Kamakura Maru, three auxiliary aircraft carriers (all converted from 17,000-ton cruise ships with reference to German auxiliary aircraft carriers, with a maximum speed of 21 knots), Yamato (the auxiliary aircraft carrier of the Brazilian Maru cruise ship), and other auxiliary ships, performing direct cover missions;
Escort Group: 6 TL-type escort aircraft carriers, 40 cargo and oil tankers, 24 D-type destroyers, performing transportation, escort, anti-submarine and other missions;
Submarine Group: 24 German IX and XIV-class submarines, 24 Japanese-made I-type submarines (after the Maru New Plan, Japan has cut all subsequent submarine construction support resources because it has ready-made German submarines available), Perform reconnaissance and interception missions.
The first ship of the Giant class obtained from the UK is expected to be delivered in the middle of this month. It is planned to conduct sea trials and training in the Indian Ocean and perform alert missions; the Eighth Fleet will continue to be responsible for patrolling the South China Sea. ”
Hori Teikichi stood up and said generously: "The support fleet will be led by me personally, and the time is tentatively set for October 10. In addition, after I communicated with the army, the other party agreed to send a main army division and 400 aircraft to occupy the island and subsequent operations. I plan to transfer 200 land-based aircraft from the Navy to the Central Pacific to form a long-term support combat situation. This campaign is expected to last until the beginning of next year, and domestic affairs will be handled by the I'll leave it to you all."
"Sir, are you ready to attack Hawaii?"
Hori Teikichi shook his head: "Don't be in a hurry. First, the US presidential election is imminent, so we can wait and see how the situation in the United States develops. Second, the US Air Force has not been exhausted yet, and a rash attack will result in heavy losses. We would rather attack the West Coast than Hawaii. Third, the German army has already established victory in South America. I expect the Führer will definitely march to Central America and the Caribbean next to see if there is any opportunity for both sides to fight together and seek benefits for the empire."
Many people wanted to persuade Hori Teikichi not to take risks in person, but the main force of the Combined Fleet was all in the Pacific Ocean, and there was no room for negligence. It was necessary for Hori Teikichi to take charge in person.
"While the main force of the Combined Fleet is away, if the situation on other fronts changes, we must pay attention to coordination with the Axis and not provoke easily. The Navy is deeply pleased with the Chongqing authorities' action to hand over the tanker as scheduled. As the first step to make up for Sino-Japanese relations, we agree to return Wuhan to the Chongqing authorities. The remaining conditions will be discussed in detail by the Army. Regarding the "Ninghan Merger" negotiations, the Navy also maintains an open attitude and is happy to see China's political reforms. Please continue the negotiations on the southern part of French Indochina in exchange for French aid, and do not make any substantive commitments." Hori Teikichi bowed deeply to Yamamoto, "Various affairs are intertwined inside and outside, please take care of it, Mr. Yamamoto."