Chapter 1491: Gearing Up
So now the question is, do Americans have what it takes to break this vicious circle? The answer is not very absolute, but in Xu Jie's opinion, if there is no Huaxia, the US Navy will not be able to break through this dilemma with more than 8% of the generalizations! It's not that the Americans don't have a plan to build twin-engine planes on large aircraft carriers, but this plan has to give way to tactical needs, although this so-called tactical need is also a way to quench their thirst. Pen @ fun @ pavilion wWw. ļ½ļ½ļ½Uļ½Eć The quality of the info fleet has never been improved, the battle damage rate has always been high, and the construction period of the additional warships is relatively short!
And what about the Germans? The fleet survived long enough for the German Navy to calmly build more and better fleet aircraft carriers, and always maintained a qualitative advantage. In addition, the gap between the national strength of Germany and the United States in this plane is not large, so Xu Jie is not optimistic about the result of such a drag.
Although there was a strong intervention of the Huaxia Navy, in Xu Jie's opinion, if the Germans planned properly, Huaxia and the Entente would probably have to work hard to overwhelm their opponents at sea. The Germans still have the strategic initiative in the Atlantic, and after the Chinese navy leaves, they can still cut off the opponent's logistical supply at any time, and once the logistics fails, the US and British fleets must be dispatched, and if the two sides meet, if it is not for the special luck of the Americans and the bad luck of the Germans, the US and British fleets will most likely suffer. According to Xu Jie's idea, even if the Germans slowly cut the flesh with a blunt knife, the blood vessels of the United States and Britain would bleed intermittently. It will take quite a while to regain strength.
In the Indian Ocean, the Chinese Navy does have an advantage, but the fleet that goes deep into the Indian Ocean has to face not only the German Navy, but also the German land-based aviation. In the vast majority of the time, the use of sea-based and land-based aviation forces will suffer losses just on the front, so if the Allied fleet is single-mindedly shrunk in the coastal waters and is always supported by land-based air forces, it will still be very difficult for the Huaxia Navy to make a difference in the short term.
"Let's lay the groundwork first. Rice must be eaten in one bite, and battles must be fought again and again! Let's first strengthen the land-based aviation and long-range reconnaissance capabilities in southern India, and then the air force has already selected several areas that are easy to defend and difficult to attack as support points. Your navy can't just use the communist base, many aircraft engines are not compatible. Xu Jie's original plan was to take his time. First, several aviation bases will be built on the east and west coasts of India at the same time to carry out anti-submarine, air defense, and escort missions. Then use this as a fulcrum to advance little by little towards the Arabian Gulf and the Persian Gulf. The approach is still based on stability, which is not to say that Xu Jie is timid, but he believes that the German Navy should not directly find trouble with China at this stage!
But sometimes the truth is always unexpected! Xu Jie just instructed the navy yesterday not to be in a hurry, but to prepare slowly, because the Germans who are fierce and inward-looking will not trouble the Chinese navy in a short period of time. As a result, the next day, the personnel of the intelligence branch of the General Staff slapped their faces with a copy of the information that had just been deciphered! Several air forces belonging to the German Navy, which were originally deployed in western France and the Mediterranean, began to have a tendency to move eastward! In just a few days, the number of aircraft at airfields along the coast of the Arabian Peninsula has risen by about 3 percent!
If this intelligence can be questioned whether it is right or wrong, then the subsequent appearance of a large number of German submarine tracks in the Bay of Bengal and even at the western mouth of the Strait of Malacca speaks for itself. It has to be said that the belligerent environment in this era is more ferocious than in history! In the middle of World War II, the submarine battle that can be played in the middle of the 2nd World War is not impossible in this plane! Whether it is the submarines of the Entente or the Central Powers, without strong backing, the battle behind enemy lines can only be described as exchanging blood for blood!
At the beginning of World War II, the Entente used escort aircraft carriers for anti-submarine and escort operations, and if it weren't for the outstanding performance of the German Navy aviation cruisers in the early stage, the effect of relying on submarines alone on the transport line was actually very small! In the same way, the submarines of the Entente countries are not very useful, and if they want to use a submarine against a system composed of escort carriers, destroyers, and patrol aircraft, it can only be said that those who have this idea are too young.
The appearance of German submarines in large numbers on the doorstep of China is definitely not just for the sake of breaking diplomatic relations. Because it is a matter of obvious disadvantage to do so. "They wouldn't want to make a big move in the Bay of Bengal, would they?" Summer was taken aback by his own thoughts, because deep down, he also thought that the best thing for the German Navy to do was to deal with the United States and Britain first. Then come to Huaxia for trouble. But the situation is obviously not right!
"The Germans are not going to do anything to the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, or even the west entrance of the Strait of Malacca, are they? How bold they are! Xu Jie didn't know whether to praise the Germans for being bold at this time, or if he was underestimating Huaxia too much!
However, no matter what, China still needs to prepare as soon as possible, and its springboard for entering the Indian Ocean cannot be boiled by the 2,000 carrier-based aircraft of the Allied fleet! Therefore, under Xu Jie's instructions, on the one hand, the Huaxia Navy continued to strengthen its surveillance and strength in the Bay of Bengal and the waters west of Malacca, and on the other hand, the entire fleet entered the Gulf of Thailand, ready to meet the possible German fleet at any time!
And Xu Jie was puzzled. I don't know why the German Navy wants to let the weak chickens not fight, and when they come up to kick the iron plate of Huaxia. The commander of the German navy, Count Spee, eventually gave in, but as compensation. He received a larger share of equipment and funds. This has greatly increased the speed of the rearmament of the naval fleet. The entire fleet returned to peak condition a month earlier than expected!
Moreover, Count Spee also won a large autonomy, that is, the navy could arrange most of the combat missions on its own while ensuring the safety of the sea lines of communication between the land and air forces! And now the army's offensive has not extended to the coastal areas, and there are not many battles that require the cooperation of the navy, so the navy has a lot of autonomy and can do what it wants. Well, now the question arises, what is the German Navy going to do?
"Now that the Chinese Navy has just returned to East Asia from the Atlantic, they need to resupply and rest, their new aircraft carrier has really entered the final outfitting stage, and it has not yet been completed, this is the weakest time for the Chinese Navy, if we can seize this opportunity to force them to have a large-scale battle with us, we have the opportunity to delay the arrival of the heyday of the Chinese Navy. At the same time, by the way, attack the Allied air forces on the east coast of India. Count Spee said at an internal meeting of the Navy. In short, the earl means that if he can fight a decisive battle, he will fight a decisive battle, and if he can't fight a decisive battle, he will pick up the grass and beat the rabbit, sweep it and leave.
If Xu Jie knew that Count Spee had played this idea. He will already sigh that intelligence mistakes kill people! It is said that Germany's intelligence work has not been good in history, except for the seizure of the code book by the Russians during World War I. Since then, while the Allied Navy has achieved unilateral mapping, the intelligence work of the German Army is also very average. Often deciphered by opponents, although there was a dumb puzzle machine during World War II to save a little face, the Germans had a lot of problems in terms of intelligence collection during the British air war and the evaluation of the strength of the Soviet Union before the war, and this plane is still the same!
In addition, the newly commissioned aircraft carriers in China are distributed in a vast area from Dalian in the north to the equator in the south, and the Germans naturally do not have the ability to find out the situation of all the fleets of the Huaxia Navy. Count Spee miscalculated the time of the formation of China's combat power, which is one of the reasons why he finally agreed with the German top brass and decided to launch an offensive deep into the Bay of Bengal!
Another reason is also based on the error of judging the strength of China and the Entente. The army is about to launch a large-scale offensive plan. Count Spey believed that the American and British military forces in India would definitely be contained. The Huaxia Air Force has been persevering in attacking the Baku oil fields. While bombing the largest oil field of the Central Powers, the Huaxia Air Force also paid a staggering price. In addition, the troops of both sides are still fighting in Iran, and in his opinion, even with Germany's national strength, if such an offensive is to be maintained, then more than 30% of the country's air force must be mobilized!
But in fact, this estimate was wrong, China's national strength was stronger than that of Germany, and the actual losses were much smaller than the number reported by the Luftwaffe. On the premise of maintaining air strikes on the Baku oil fields and ensuring the balance of air power in the Iranian region. It is also possible to strengthen the military in the Indian Ocean! In fact, the final result is that Count Spee's estimate of the strength of the Chinese air force is about 4% lower than the actual number! And this series of miscalculations finally made Count Spee confidently implement his battle plan!
On the surface, this plan was very aggressive and very bold, but in reality the Count did not want to collide head-on with the Chinese Navy. Although he assumed in the plan that Huaxia's new aircraft carrier had not formed combat effectiveness, he was not sure whether this information was accurate! Therefore, the core of the battle is to take a handful and leave, it is best to hit the opponent hard, and the opponent will sweep things up if he doesn't come out.
"How do we act? Although the route from the Mediterranean Sea to the Red Sea to the Indian Ocean is under our control, such a large-scale fleet movement cannot hide from our opponents at all, and perhaps our fleet has not yet passed through the Suez Canal, and the Chinese side has already noticed our actions. And even if their fleet does not come out. Their air forces deployed in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands and in South Asia are also enough to cause us a great deal of trouble, and perhaps they will not be able to sink our aircraft carriers. But the consumption of pilots alone is too much for us to bear. Raeder asked.
Although after the start of the war, the German navy won more than lost. The size of the fleet increased even slightly, but in fact the fleet paid a huge price! Especially the pilots in the aircraft carrier formations! On average, 2 stubbles have been replaced! This time, Count Spee wasted a lot of effort to barely piece it together, and if he lost it again, it would be too difficult to replenish it. The loss of a large number of pilots made the German fleet a bit of a strong man. The seemingly formidable fleet may have suffered a major defeat and may never recover!
Strategically speaking, the attack is about taking the attack by surprise and attacking the unprepared. However, it is a pity that the Germans have only one way to enter the Indian Ocean, and the opponent's submarine does not need to change places, once they enter the Indian Ocean, it is very likely to be under the surveillance of the Chinese fleet, if this is the case, some sneak attack may eventually turn into a strong attack, and it is obvious that the exchange of valuable carrier-based aircraft pilots for the opponent's land-based pilots will obviously suffer!
"So this time our offensive will be a limited attack, the only thing we can do is to quickly enter the battlefield, attack the selected node with lightning speed, withdraw from the battlefield before the opponent reacts, and then make the next battle plan depending on the situation, it is possible to continue to fight in the Indian Ocean, and it is possible to return to the Atlantic." By this time, the Count had no idea what he had planned in the first place.
According to the earl's estimate, the United States and Britain will certainly use this time to strengthen sea transportation after learning that the fleet of the Central Powers is advancing eastward, and it is even possible to organize fleets and submarines to attack the west coast of Europe. In essence, the Count's plan was speculative and prevaricated.
The Count had imagined the possible situation, even the scenario of the Huaxia Fleet taking risks, but he thought that with the huge numerical superiority and the improved performance of the new aircraft, even if the Huaxia Fleet came, it would be fine. Moreover, although the strategy and tactics of the Huaxia Navy are quite proactive, they are definitely not indistinguishable from the situation. In the case of a huge gap in numbers, the probability of the Huaxia fleet being dispatched is really not large!
But what the count didn't expect was that the Huaxia Navy took the lead in completing the reorganization before the German Navy completed preparations for the eastward expansion! At this point, the strength of the Huaxia Navy reached the first peak in World War 2! Whether it is the total tonnage of the battleship or the tonnage that can be used, the Huaxia Navy has an absolute advantage in the face of the approaching enemy! To paraphrase a common saying, if you are not afraid, you are afraid that you will not come! Don't leave if you come!
Of course, Huaxia also did not know what the ultimate purpose of the German Navy's entry into the Indian Ocean would be. Not to mention setting up a yin opponent in one place. However, Xu Jie, who has already experienced too many battles, still arranged a large number of reconnaissance forces in front of the Middle East.
The main Chinese fleet was also ready for battle, and not only the Chinese fleet, but also Tycho, who had been dormant since leaving Italy, also expressed his willingness to cooperate with the actions of the Chinese fleet. The huge Huaxia fleet is scattered in the coastal ports of Indochina, including the Gulf of Thailand, and it seems loose, but with the support of a huge base group from Hainan Island to the equator and a large number of auxiliary ships, the Huaxia fleet and the Italian fleet can quickly assemble and go to the warring seas! As a result, a naval battle that surprised both sides gradually kicked off! No one could have imagined that a great war beyond the scale and level of previous engagements would break out again a few months after the end of the Battle for the North Atlantic!
Thanks to the book friends 1976, No Bullets, and the 1st Guards Tank Brigade for their reward ~~~~~~, as well as the monthly ticket support ~~~~~ of the book friends Nanyue Manlong, Lonely Medusa, Chase-Foot, Orphein, and Immutable Star. (To be continued.) )