In fact, it is not only Zhang Chi who is worried, but also the escort aircraft carrier "Gambia", who is also the commander of the seventh detachment, Major General John. Pen × fun × Pavilion www. ｂｉｑｕｇｅ。 ｉｎｆｏ

Rear Admiral John was not so much worried about escort aircraft carriers, but about the Chinese army...... At this time, the U.S. Navy still generally did not trust the Chinese military, to be precise, the Chinese Navy and Air Force.

So John had protested to Halsey before that.

"General!" John said to Halsey: "There are already very few destroyers escorting the seventh detachment, is it really reasonable to arrange for the Chinese Navy to escort us?" ”

"Why do you think that?" Halsey asked rhetorically: "Hasn't the Chinese army been performing very well?" ”

"I know, but that's the Army!" John replied, "But this is the Chinese Navy!" Oh my God, they haven't even seen aircraft carriers before, and now they're using them to protect us! ”

"Listen to me, Major General!" "They were trained, and I asked the instructors who trained them, and they were all very good, both the pilots and the crew," Halsey explained. Moreover, they also participated in actual combat, and last time they fought well near Kwajalein! ”

"But......" John was still a little uneasy, "I don't know if they can work with us, I mean, Chinese are more of a lone to go it alone, aren't they?" ”

"You can ask Brigadier General Nelson about this!" Halsey replied: "He once cooperated with the Chinese Navy in battle, and I believe he will give you a satisfactory answer!" ”

John did make a phone call to Brigadier General Narlin.

"General!" Brigadier General Nelson replied: "I believe that this distrust of yours is motivated by prejudice against the Chinese military. Because they are not even inferior to our Navy! ”

Brigadier General Nelson is not exaggerating at all.

The reason is that aircraft carriers in this era are not like modern aircraft carriers, which require several years of training at every turn before they have combat effectiveness...... Due to the urgency of the war and the attrition of personnel, many aircraft carriers or warships of the US military also joined the war after leaving the factory with inexperienced soldiers for emergency training.

The most representative of these is the much-joked destroyer USS Williamport, in which most of the 125 sailors climbed aboard the ship from their high school campuses or farms, and they had never even seen a navy uniform.

As a result, during an exercise watched by President Roosevelt, the sailors on the "William Porter" accidentally forgot to push the torpedo ****** take it out, so that the torpedo was actually launched and went straight to the warship on which the president was riding.

Since then, the destroyer "William Porter" has become famous, and all ships that meet it at sea will make a joke with it...... They always radioed at the Williamport: "Don't fire, don't fire!" I'm not the president! Then burst into laughter.

The quality of the US Navy can also be seen from this, and the Chinese military has undergone at least half a year of rigorous training.

In fact, the reason why the Chinese military can get the opportunity of "rigorous training" is also because the US military does not trust the Chinese navy...... If this was the British Navy, I am afraid that it would have been sent to the battlefield a long time ago.

However, even with such an answer, John was still not reassured.

In the end, Halsey could only say this to John......

"Actually, you don't have to worry too much, do you? Air supremacy is basically in our hands, and there is also radar surveillance. In addition, the possibility that the Japanese Combined Fleet will attack is basically zero...... What do you think is at risk? You just have to do a good job of anti-submarine work, and that's about it! ”

John thought about it and felt that what Halsey said was right, and that there was still time for some synergy training, so he didn't argue anymore.

But things have changed.

The next day, the U.S. military received news that another division of the Japanese army was preparing to board ships in Korea and sail to the Mariana Islands.

This news is actually from the North Korean side...... After the Japanese occupation of Korea, there have always been guerrillas and resistance to the Japanese occupation in Korea, and the leader of this guerrilla force is Kim Il Sung, and at this time Kim Il Sung was still a battalion commander of the anti-Japanese coalition army in Changbai Mountain, Jilin, and they had close ties with the Chinese Communist Party, so they transferred the news to the CCP, and the CCP transferred the news to **** and then transferred it to the US military.

At this time, the US Navy had a headache, and if it waited for more than half a month to attack as planned, the Japanese army that would have to deal with it at that time would only have one more division, and this would obviously cause great trouble to the landing force.

Let's talk about logistics...... All parts said that it was not a big problem to take Guam, and Saipan and Tinian could take their time, and after the bombing, they could be completely blocked, and the reinforcements of the Japanese division would naturally not be able to enter the Mariana Islands and become a defensive force.

So Nimitz immediately ordered an attack in advance, and the time was three days later.

The Marshall Islands immediately became lively, and the aircraft carriers, warships, and warplanes of various detachments assembled in their respective positions, and after further clarifying their tasks, they headed for the Mariana Islands.

Zhang Chi and other Chinese navies are among them.

At this time, Zhang Chi really felt the oppression of forming a formation with the escort aircraft carrier...... The maximum speed of the escort aircraft carrier is only 18 knots, which is still the maximum speed, and under normal circumstances, the escort aircraft carrier can only sail at a speed of 15 knots, which is not even half of the speed of the 34 knots of the "Pinghai" aircraft carrier.

And the task of the Chinese Navy is to protect the escort aircraft carriers, and it is impossible to break away from the ranks. As a result, it could only slow down and keep pace with the escort aircraft carrier at a speed of 15 knots.

On the other hand, such a slow speed was very dangerous, because the Japanese submarine reached a speed of 20 knots on the water, which made it possible for the Japanese submarine to follow the seventh detachment far behind the seventh detachment after discovering it, looking for an opportunity to launch torpedoes.

As a result, Zhang Chi had to frequently mobilize destroyer reconnaissance planes to reconnoiter around the fleet.

Zhang Chi roughly calculated the next ...... The Marshall Islands are more than 1,100 nautical miles away from the target Tinian Island, and at a speed of 15 knots, it takes three days and three nights to sail, which makes Zhang Chi feel a sense of madness.

Fortunately, the seventh detachment was a bombing detachment, that is, it would bomb the island after the main aircraft carrier seized air supremacy, so it was not in a hurry to rush to the destination.

However, at such a speed as escorting aircraft carriers...... If there really is any war that needs urgent support, it is really impossible to count on escort carriers.

It is no wonder that the U.S. military sold or dismantled all these escort aircraft carriers after the results of World War II. (To be continued.) )