Hersmann kindly reminded that when the radio waves reached Japan, Yamamoto Isoroku and Nagano Shusei were gathering in an office in the Ministry of the Navy to study the drawings and technical data of the "Kesselring"-class aircraft carriers, the "Munich"-class cruisers, and the 1936 D-type destroyers sent by the Japanese Navy mission in Europe. Pen | fun | pavilion www. ｂｉｑｕｇｅ。 ｉｎｆｏ

Orders for these three types of cheap ships have been placed in large numbers to shipyards in European industrial countries such as Germany, Britain, France, the Netherlands, Belgium, Denmark, and Sweden. It will be produced in large quantities according to the principles of standardization, scale and modularity.

As an ally of the European Community, the Imperial Japanese Navy's mission in Europe also received relevant drawings and materials, as well as suggestions for bulk procurement -- because of the entry of Britain, a major shipbuilding country, the shipbuilding capacity of the European Community and its allies and quasi-allies is quite large, far exceeding the needs of the European Combined Fleet (mainly because there is no oil to run so many ships), so most of these "cheap ships" produced can only be stored for the time being, so Japan can also transfer some at a low price if it wants.

However, Yamamoto Isoroku and Nagano Shusei really can't look down on these low-grade bargains of the Germans, and they want high-quality aircraft carriers like the "Zeppelin" class and the "Taiho" class.

"It's stupid to know that the Americans want to fight a fuel consumption war, and they are going to build so many cheap ships."

Nagano handed the copy of the telegram in his hand to Yamamoto Isoroku, who was sitting across from him, "If the Germans really want to sell us a few aircraft carriers, I would rather want their Zeppelin-class." ”

"Then make a request to buy it!" Yamamoto Fifty-six said with a smile, "If they are not willing to shoot the Zeppelin-class, then the three Prussian-class (E aircraft ships with a standard displacement of more than 30,000 tons) are not bad, they are no less than the armored aircraft carriers of the Dafeng-class, and the speed is fast enough, and the anti-aircraft firepower is strong." If there are three Prussian-class, we have six unsinkable aircraft carriers...... The decisive battle with the United States in the future is assured! ”

I don't know if it's because of the lessons learned from the sinking of two weakly armored aircraft carriers, "Canglong" and "Feilong". Now the Japanese Navy is very obsessed with "unsinkable aircraft carriers". In the eyes of the top brass and talented staff officers of the Japanese Navy, the battle between the United States and Japan in the Pacific Ocean will be a battle of quantity and quality. Japan's strength is limited, and it is impossible to compete with the United States for quantity, so it must take the quality line.

Both aircraft carriers and battleships must overwhelm the United States in quality!

Therefore, they revised the original shipbuilding plan, suspended the construction plan of Yunlong-class ships No. 7-15, and at the same time started the urgent construction plan of the No. 2 ship of the Dafeng class (Dafeng reform, tentative ship name 5021 ship) and No. 3 ship (tentative ship name 5022 ship), preparing to concentrate all efforts to complete the two Dafeng-class ships in 1945 and two more "Dafeng" class aircraft carriers in 1946-1947.

As a contingency plan, the "Akagi" and "Kaga" also carried out the modification of the armored flight deck (at the cost of a decrease in speed, of which the Kaga, which was already slow, had a maximum speed of only 25.5 knots after the modification), turning the two large aircraft carriers into so-called "unsinkable aircraft carriers".

After the completion of the refit of the "Akagi" and "Kaga" ships, the "Shozuru" and "Zuizuru" aircraft carriers will also be refitted for the same purpose.

At the same time, the construction of two "super-sized warships" after the launch of the Shinano and Kii, which had been planned for a long time, was also started, and the tentative names were No. 798 and No. 799, respectively. According to the plan, the two super-battleships were to be completed in 1946-1947.

At that time, Japan will have 6 powerful battleships of the "Yamato" and "Yamato" classes, as well as 9 "unsinkable aircraft carriers" with solid armor. Although it is not as good as the United States in terms of quantity, it can achieve an overwhelming advantage in quality.

In addition, the idea of purchasing armored aircraft carriers from Germany was proposed, targeting the Zeppelin and Prussian classes.

"Then give it a try, maybe you'll really sell it." Nagano Shusei smiled and said, "The Germans are now the army commanding the navy (Kesselring is the head of the army aviation in the eyes of the Japanese), how can those armies understand the difference between armored aircraft carriers and ordinary aircraft carriers?" They probably think of aircraft carriers as consumables like tanks and artillery. ”

"That's right! Should give it a try. Yamamoto said, "Japan cannot compete with the United States in numbers, so it can only use a small number of elite aircraft carriers to counter the enemy's huge aircraft carrier group...... An unsinkable aircraft carrier is exactly the weapon we need! ”

Nagano nodded, and then turned the topic to the current war in the Pacific.

"Yamamoto-kun, the Taiho is not yet in service, the Akagi and Kaga are being refitted again, and the Combined Fleet does not have a single unsinkable aircraft carrier available......" Nagano said with some concern, "I really didn't expect the Americans to repair the Panama Canal locks so quickly." ”

According to the original plan of the Japanese Navy, it was prepared to take advantage of the fact that the main force of the US Navy was blocked east of the Panama Canal to carry out the reinforcement and armament of the Hawaiian Islands and the comprehensive upgrading and modification of naval vessels.

In addition to the Akagi and Kaga, seven battleships, including the Yamato, Musashi, Nagato, Ise, Hyuga, Fuso, and Yamashiro, are now being refitted at Kure Gungang for the purpose of strengthening air defenses - although the Japanese did not accept Hersmann's armament proposal, they nevertheless imported several hundred 40mm Bofors anti-aircraft guns from Germany to be installed on important ships. As for the air defense of the rest of the ships, they will first use Japan's self-produced 25mm machine guns and 127mm anti-aircraft guns to deal with it, and wait for the 40mm Bofors anti-aircraft guns to be successfully imitated before all of them are replaced.

After all, in the case of the delay in the passage of the European version of the "Lend-Lease Act" (there are many reasons for not passing, not only Japan's rejection of Hirschman's armament program), it is difficult for Japan to pay for thousands of 40mm Bofors anti-aircraft guns, and Japan now wants to buy too many things from Europe, and the Bofors anti-aircraft guns do not seem to be particularly urgent......

"It doesn't matter," Yamamoto said after thinking about it, "there are currently 4 Kongo-class and 10 aircraft carriers in Pearl Harbor, and the 4 Kongo-class and Xianghe and Zuihe aircraft carriers have been equipped with 40mm anti-aircraft guns, and their combat power has been greatly improved!" ”

At present, Pearl Harbor has become the main anchorage of the Japanese Combined Fleet, and the 1st Mobile Fleet, commanded by Jizaburo Ozawa, is now anchored at Pearl Harbor.

The 4 Kongo battleships and 10 aircraft carriers, including Shozuru, Zuizuru, Xiangfeng, Zuiho, Ryuho, Chitose, Chiyoda, Flying Eagle, Hayabusa, and Ryuchampa, now belong to the First Mobile Fleet, and have more than 400 commonly used aircraft carriers! It was also equipped with Japan's most advanced Zero Type 52A fighter, a Meteor torpedo bomber (which replaced the unsatisfactory Tenzan torpedo bomber) and a Comet dive bomber.

"And Ozawa-kun is also an expert in the use of aircraft carriers," Yamamoto said with confidence, "such a large aircraft carrier force in the hands of Ozawa is definitely a formidable force, whether the Americans go north to attack the Aleutian Islands or south to attack Christmas Island, the First Mobile Fleet can handle it with ease." As for the Hawaiian Islands...... It was an impregnable wall, and it was not at all a place where the US Pacific Fleet could touch at the moment. ”

At present, Japan has deployed heavy troops in the Hawaiian Islands, with more than 200,000 ground troops and more than 1,000 shore-based aircraft, and has also built a large number of coastal defense batteries on Oahu, as well as shore defense artillery positions on other larger islands in the Hawaiian Islands.

If the Americans had attacked the Hawaiian Islands directly, the losses would have been very heavy. Therefore, Yamamoto Isoroku and other top brass of the Japanese Navy believed that the Americans would most likely adopt the tactic of a roundabout advance and first capture the island of Gills, about 2,080 kilometers south of the Hawaiian Islands. Then use Christmas Island as a large stronghold for long-range bombers, aircraft carriers, and submarines -- this island is more than 5,000 kilometers off the west coast of the United States, and once occupied by the United States, it will greatly facilitate the activities of aircraft carriers and submarines!

And the Aleutian Islands, 3,500 kilometers north of the Hawaiian Islands, are also a springboard for the United States to attack Japan in a roundabout way. Although the archipelago is a bit far from Hawaii, it can cover the entry and exit of American submarines and shippers in and out of the North Pacific.

By the way, now the Americans seem to have solved the problem of poor reliability of torpedoes, so the number of Japanese transport ships sunk by American submarines has increased significantly! At the same time, since the Panama Canal has been restored to navigation, the American "dumpling aircraft carriers" will arrive in large numbers in the Pacific Ocean. These carriers can be used both for decisive battles and for breaking engagements.

Once the Aleutian Islands are recaptured by the United States, then the United States will be able to break the aircraft carriers and submarines and submarine carriers very easily into the waters near the Japanese archipelago, and the Japanese Navy will have to devote more forces to escort transportation.

In the face of a large number of "aircraft carrier breakdowns", Japan cannot use destroyers to resist, and even the effect of using escort aircraft carriers is not very good. The best plan is to put the main fleet into a war of annihilation.

However, once the main force of the combined fleet is dispatched, then a fuel consumption of 10,000 to 15,000 tons a day is necessary!

If the Americans can use a few or a dozen or ...... Dozens of broken aircraft carriers have left the main forces of the Japanese Combined Fleet adrift at sea all year round, and the problem of fuel consumption alone can force Japan to death.

Therefore, the Aleutian Islands, like the Hawaiian Islands and Christmas Island, are the strongholds that the Japanese army must defend in the Pacific Ocean.

And the purpose of Ozawa's fleet on Oahu was to reinforce the Aleutian Islands or Christmas Island if necessary. However, Ozawa will not attack blindly, and according to the plan, he will wait until the United States' combat intentions are fully exposed before acting, so as not to waste precious fuel reserves.