The 16 "Hellcat" fighters arrived at Iwo Jima in a formation formed by the US escort aircraft carrier "Solomon" and six "Fletcher"-class destroyers that had just completed their initial training. Pen, fun, and www.biquge.info

Originally, Zhang Chi thought that the "Solomon" escort aircraft carrier would return after transporting the "Hellcat" fighters, but he did not expect that at this time, Halsey handed the telescope to Zhang Chi and asked Zhang Chi to look at the "Solomon" sailing into the port.

"Is it pretty?" Halsey asked.

"Beautiful!" Zhang Chi nodded, although the escort aircraft carrier is converted from a merchant ship, and its performance in all aspects cannot be compared with that of a conventional aircraft carrier, but in this era when air combat can almost decide everything, it is still enough to make Zhang Chi envious.

"Its captain is called, Robert, with the rank of rear admiral!" Halsey said, "I hope you have a good time working together!" ”

"Hmm!" Zhang Chi nodded, but then turned his head to look at Halsey, and asked with a puzzled face: "Happy cooperation, what do you mean?" ”

"Still don't understand?" Halsey laughed, "It's under your command!" ”

"What? What you say is true?! Zhang Chi couldn't help but be overjoyed.

"Of course!" Halsey replied, "It's a surprise for you, I hope you'll like it!" ”

"Of course!" Zhang Chi replied: "Thank you, General!" ”

"You deserve it!" Halsey replied: "Because considering that your fleet is likely to play a very important role in the near future, the American side is considering equipping you with this escort carrier!" In addition to this, there will be three tank landing ships and five supply transport ships! ”

Zhang Chi nodded.

He understood the meaning of Halsey's words, which was to prepare for the Chinese army to fight back to the northeast...... At that time, it was very likely that the Chinese army would have to independently face the Japanese army's army, navy, and air force, and in particular, the Chinese army would have to fight into the encirclement and defend it for a period of time, which required the Chinese army's army, navy, and air force to have a certain strength.

Of course, the navy and air force can rely on the US military in combat, but due to cultural and tactical factors and other factors, there will always be some estrangement and coordination problems between the Chinese and US militaries in combat, and their combat effectiveness cannot be compared with that of the Chinese themselves.

To put it simply, the United States is actually giving generously for the sake of the United States...... If the combat effectiveness of the Chinese troops is strengthened, then there is a greater hope of success in the plan to insert into northeast China, so that the American army will have to face fewer Japanese troops, and thus the casualties of the American army will be reduced by a certain number of years.

On the other hand, the escort aircraft carrier thing is not a precious thing for the United States...... As far as Zhang Chi knows, the United States built as many as 50 escort aircraft carriers in this year, and they gave more than 30 escort aircraft carriers to Britain after the end of World War II.

So why not use this to win over the Chinese army and at the same time have its own interests?

Then Zhang Chi quickly asked Zhang Junhua and Liu Guangzhong to draw up a plan to train the navy...... The addition of 16 "Hellcats", six "Fletcher" class ships, and escort aircraft carriers has greatly increased the strength of the Chinese Navy, especially the "Hellcat" and escort aircraft carriers.

The addition of the "Hellcat" allowed the Chinese Navy to maintain absolute superiority over the Japanese in the air.

This advantage was not obvious before, because the Chinese Air Force still used the "Wildcat" fighter, the performance of this fighter did not have an advantage over the Japanese army, and it could even be said that it was at a disadvantage, the reason why the Chinese army could still have an advantage in air combat was entirely because the Japanese army lost the vast majority of experienced pilots in the battle, and most of the people on the battlefield at this time were rookie pilots who had not fully mastered the flying skills.

But this phenomenon is also dangerous for the Chinese fleet...... There are always one or two experienced veteran pilots in the Japanese fleet, and these veteran pilots are likely to be the commanders of the Japanese fleet.

So at this time, the Chinese pilots will be faced with a very embarrassing problem: do they want to kill the enemy aircraft group as a rookie? Or do you want to be cautious as a strong opponent?

The former may be able to achieve great results, and after a fierce attack without scruples, there is no doubt that the number of enemy planes that will be shot down will be as large as possible, but the few Japanese planes piloted by the old pilots hidden among them will also cause losses to the Chinese planes.

The latter is cautious, although it will reduce its own casualties, but the results are not ideal.

Now that we have the "Hellcat" fighters, there is basically no need to think about this problem, and the Chinese army can completely use the "Hellcat" fighters to encircle and annihilate the Japanese fighters, and then use the "Wildcat" fighters to deal with the Japanese bombers and transport planes.

This will not only enable the Chinese Air Force to occupy the commanding heights strategically and tactically, but will also provide a very high degree of protection for the psychological and life safety of the pilots.

The addition of escort aircraft carriers is also of great significance...... Although the escort aircraft carrier is not as good as the conventional aircraft carrier, its addition instantly increased the space of the Chinese fleet's air power by 21 fighters (note: the "Solomon" escort aircraft carrier has a capacity of 21 aircraft), and the Chinese army originally had to withdraw 16 "Wildcat" fighters in order to load 16 "Hellcat" fighters, but now not only do not have to retreat, but can also stuff a few more into it.

More importantly, with the addition of this escort aircraft carrier, it can be a good supplement to the "Pinghai" aircraft carrier, which will bring many conveniences and benefits to the Chinese Navy in battle.

For example, two aircraft carriers can be assigned the tasks of using the "Pinghai" aircraft carrier to carry out tasks such as seizing air supremacy, patrolling, and bombing important targets, and the "Solomon" is specially used for bombing or ground reinforcements.

Another example is when one of the aircraft carriers is damaged or even sunk, and the fighters on board are temporarily parked.

So the next training is all about the synergy of these aspects.

The only thing that's a bit of a pity...... Because the Chinese Navy added six destroyers and one escort aircraft carrier at once, the result was that there were not enough sailors, so that the escort aircraft carrier could only be piloted by American sailors headed by Robert, and the subsequent tank landing ships and transport and supply ships could only be temporarily operated by American personnel.

However, these ships are not too difficult to operate and train, and the escort aircraft carriers are converted from merchant ships, and the operation is similar to that of merchant ships, except that the maintenance, maintenance and dispatch of fighters are added. And these are not much of a problem for the Chinese Navy, which already has an aircraft carrier.

Therefore, the most fundamental problem for the Chinese Navy is the shortage of troops.

(To be continued.) )