"What kind of destroyers are these!" Zhang Chi asked casually.

"Clemson-class!" White replied.

"'Clemson' class?" Zhang Chi said: "A destroyer that has a serious reef incident? ”

"Yes!" White looked at Zhang Chi with some surprise, he originally thought that Zhang Chi did not know about the "Clemson"-class destroyer, but now it seems that there is much more Chinese officer in front of him than he thought.

In fact, Zhang Chi really didn't know about these destroyers, and he didn't even recognize what destroyers they were, so he had to ask White.

However, he had heard of the name "Clemson"-class destroyer, and the reason for this was that this class of destroyers had a world-famous major landing...... Fourteen newly-built Clemson-class destroyers were on sea trials, but they ran aground in fog and collided with each other, resulting in the complete scrapping of seven of them.

The accident has been called the worst peacetime accident in the world.

Of course, this was not because of the problem of the "Clemson"-class destroyers, but because of the commander of the fleet, Colonel Watson, who made the fleet sail at a high speed of 20 knots in a long snake formation in foggy weather, and when the navigation station informed him of the serious yaw, he thought it was a direction finding error of the navigation station and ignored it, with the result that the flagship at the front of the line crashed headlong into the reef, and then the ships behind could not stop and crashed into it one after another......

"Colonel!" After smiling bitterly, Zhang Chi asked White: "Does the U.S. Navy still have this class of destroyers equipped?" ”

"Of course!" White replied.

But after a pause, he added a little helplessly: "It's just ...... Most of them are used as frigates and escorts for merchant ships! ”

Escort for merchant ships...... That's all there is to it.

Because most merchant ships and transports operate behind the battle line, it is almost impossible for them to touch enemy fighters or destroyers...... It would be difficult for these visible objects to cross the line of fire to bomb or attack transports in their rear, and even if they did, they would be quickly annihilated by opposing fighters.

But there is one equipment that makes an exception, and that is submarines.

In other words, another meaning of escorting merchant ships is that at this time, the role of such warships in the hands of the United States is basically only anti-submarine.

"And what about air defense and anti-ship?" Zhang Chi asked White: "If the 'Xianghe' is bombed by Japanese fighters or attacked by the Japanese fleet, how can these destroyers protect the safety of the 'Xianghe'?" ”

White couldn't help but glance at Zhang Chi with some surprise when he heard this, although he knew Zhang Chi, and also knew that Zhang Chi had made a proud record in the previous battles, but he didn't think that Zhang Chi or even anyone in China would understand the combat mode of the aircraft carrier.

In fact, White is right when he said that during this period, even aircraft carrier powers such as the United States and Japan did not have a deep understanding of the combat mode of aircraft carriers, and they even thought that they would be a good target in naval warfare before the war...... Even aircraft carrier powers are a state of affairs, let alone Chinese who have never even seen an aircraft carrier.

What White doesn't know is that Zhang Chi, as a modern person and a quasi-military fan, may not be as good as White in practice, but in theory he is much more than White.

"That's right!" White thought for a moment and replied, "But Brigadier General William meant...... The task of the Chinese Navy should be to be familiar with the use of these equipment, even if it goes to the battlefield one day in the future, it will be placed on the second line, because the Chinese Navy still needs a process of learning and adaptation, so the Chinese Navy will be placed on the second line more often. Therefore, the use of destroyers of the "Clemson" class is enough at this stage! ”

"Brigadier General William?!" Zhang Chi thought for a while before he remembered Brigadier General William, the deputy commander of the 1st Marine Division.

I remember that when I first met Brigadier General Wilhelm, he yelled at the Chinese army with disdain: "You must unconditionally obey my command, this is the Pacific Ocean, and what you have to face will be an all-round battle of sea, land and air." So believe me, for the sake of your own lives, you'd better put your cleverness aside! ”

At this time, Zhang Chi really wanted to see this Brigadier General William again, because all the way down, Zhang Chi did not "obey unconditionally", but it was the US Marine Corps that obeyed Zhang Chi's orders and won victory after victory.

"Brigadier General William is still in the 1st Marine Division?" Zhang Chi asked.

"No!" White replied: "He is now in charge of the formation and training of Rabaul's fleet!" ”

"Oh!" Zhang Chi was a little helpless when he heard this, maybe this is the so-called narrow road to the enemy.

"Colonel!" At this time, I saw Liu Guangzhong walking up quickly with a few subordinates, and asked, "I heard that our warship is coming?" ”

"Yes, sir!" Zhang Chi introduced to Liu Guangzhong: "This is Colonel White, the head of the teaching regiment!" ”

"Hello!" White greeted Liu Guangzhong and took the initiative to stretch out his hand and said in Chinese: "You are Vice Adgadier Liu Guangzhong, my name is White, the head of the teaching regiment!" ”

This made Zhang Chi a little surprised, but then he felt that it was not surprising, perhaps because White could speak Chinese, so the US Navy sent him to be the head of the teaching group, after all, it is very important for the teaching group to communicate with the Chinese.

Liu Guangzhong dealt with White, then looked at the destroyers anchored in front of the harbor and asked, "Colonel White, what are those ...... Is it a warship given to us by the United States? ”

"Yes!" White glanced at Zhang Chi with some embarrassment, and replied, "Although their performance is not very good, I want to ......"

Unexpectedly, before White finished speaking, there was a cheer from the Chinese seafarers.

Liu Guangzhong asked with some excitement: "Can we go up and have a look?" ”

"Of course!" White nodded.

Before White could finish speaking, the crew let out another cheer and rushed to the warships, swearing that even if one day they returned home or even walked to the doorstep, they would not be so impatient.

White was a little confused about this.

Listening to Zhang Chi's words and questions just now, it was obvious that he was dissatisfied with these destroyers, and the fact was indeed as Zhang Chi said, and White knew in his heart that these destroyers were not enough to take on the task of escorting aircraft carriers.

But now, the performance of those Chinese crews tells him another answer, that is, the Chinese are satisfied with this group of destroyers.

Zhang Chi didn't know what to say about White's doubts.

But Zhang Chi could understand the feelings of the crew, this is because they don't know what level these "Clemson" destroyers are at now, or whether they are superior or inferior compared with the Japanese destroyers at this time, they only know that these destroyers are much more advanced than the warships they used at the beginning.

On the other hand, it is because they have not driven a warship for a long time, and now it is a leap from existence to nothing, where will they pick this and that like Zhang Chi.

(To be continued.) )