"I didn't expect that we would have to fight side by side one day," after the end of the welcome ceremony, Ma Jifen saw the same aging Deng Shichang with mixed feelings, since the end of the First Sino-Japanese War, the hostile and redundant cooperation between China and the United States, open and secret battles continued, and even almost really fought. But today, the two sides have not only taken the first steps towards reconciliation, but have even begun to consider the enemies they may face in the future.

"The world is impermanent." Deng Shichang also sighed. "Maybe the enemy we face this time will be the strongest enemy we will ever face. Especially in the current situation. China and the United States are tied hand and foot, your country is facing a serious economic crisis, and we must think about our own oil security. ”

"Does this mean that it is very likely that Huaxia will be a wall-to-wall observation from a certain point of view? Can only provide some logistical help? Magiffen said with a frown.

"Weapons, ammunition, and ship repairs are fine, and even volunteer air forces and technicians are fine, but in the early days of the war we will not be able to completely tear ourselves apart with Germany, unless we can find enough oil supplies." Deng Shichang thought for a while and said.

"I think we are caught in a paradox: China needs to use force against Germany in order to contain Germany's eastward advance, but China's most important oil producer is in Germany's sphere of influence. So where is the starting point to break through this paradox? I don't think Huaxia can store enough fuel for the whole country for several years, and I know better than you how much fuel your country needs. It is obviously unrealistic to want to accumulate so much fuel through guò imports. Magiffen asked.

"There will be a way, but it will take time. Don't you think that China is the largest country in the world in terms of area. Will there be no oil fields? Deng Shichang smiled. This is not my personal opinion, before coming, Lao Xu once assured me of the fuel problem. The root of the problem is time. I choose to believe him, what about you? ”

"Looks like there's nothing else I can do. Anyway, the United States of America can't solve this problem, and his fuel supplies our country and Britain and France at most, and China is too big. Majifen snorted.

"Is there any sentiment in the United States that the United States needs to help Britain hold India?" Deng Shichang asked with a change of words. In fact, he wanted to ask the United States more explicitly how many fleets and land forces the United States could deploy in South Asia in the future. But for a number of reasons, it's not good to ask this question directly now.

"The British have finally paid a price for weakening the opposition at home. But taking into account the security of the North Atlantic, our fleet deployed in South Asia will theoretically not exceed a third of our fleet. The German deployment of shipwrecks and submarine bases in Spain is annoying, and it will contain a lot of our forces. Majifen gave an approximate figure. This figure is definitely watery, because how much exactly to deploy in the Admiralty has not been discussed internally, he just gave a figure that he thinks is close!

"Half of the British fleet and a third of the American fleet, but against almost the entire German Navy and the Austro-Hungarian Navy. That's not a good situation. I would like to ask. If Germany's newly built fleet wanted to enter the Mediterranean, could the military forces of the Entente in the North Atlantic intercept it? A moment later, Deng Shichang asked a second question.

"The difficulties are great, and the Netherlands is already on the verge of falling to Germany. Then it means that Germany can use the bases in the Netherlands to carry out air strikes against Britain. The British Air Force's future defense focus will be on the northern front, the reconnaissance force is limited, and the weather in the North Sea is changeable, if the opponent enters and exits the North Sea under the cover of the weather, it may have already entered the Atlantic Ocean when it is discovered. Moreover, the fleet left by the Entente in the North Atlantic was mainly destroyers and various light cruisers. Their main task was to fight against submarines and attack ships, which were too vulnerable in the face of capital ships, not to mention that the German air force deployed in Spain could give some cover. Magiffen said matter-of-factly.

"Of course, the most important problem is that Germany has been strengthening the shipbuilding capabilities of Austria-Hungary and Greece, and I think that in the future the German fleet can be built in the Mediterranean, and there is no need to use the shipyards on the northern coast of Germany. The ability of the Allies to replenish their fleets is still very strong. Benson added.

"What a tragedy then. But fortunately, there is no problem with the replenishment of the Entente fleet, but it just needs more heavy oil. Deng Shichang said half-jokingly.

"But the good thing is that we can deploy enough air bases in South Asia to make up for the lack of our naval forces, and of course, the Germans will also deploy air bases in the two river basins. But after all, there is a Persia between us. The Germans had a limited range of fighter jets, and I think their fleet would probably not be able to reach the coast of India if they wanted to be covered by land-based aviation. Benson said.

"The situation may not be as good as we think, for example, if Germany can succeed in Italy, then why can't it be replicated in Persia? In the future, the main German High Seas Fleet will be stationed in the Mediterranean Sea and the Persian Gulf, while the British Indian Ocean Fleet will be far inferior to the Allied fleet, and the United States will not enter South Asia until the war begins. So now the question arises, if the Allies suddenly start a war against Persia, will Britain alone be able to stop it? And if Persia is taken and used as a base for advance before Germany officially marches into South Asia. Deng Shichang said as he gestured on a map next to him.

"As for the strategies and tactics that Germany may adopt in the future, our country has conducted special deductions, and I think it is necessary for everyone to take a good look." As he spoke, Deng Shichang took out a dozen pieces of paper and handed them to everyone present. If China wants to seize the opportunity, then it must first consider how it will fight this war if it is an ally from the perspective of the other party.

Judging from the current situation, the first thing Germany and Austria to do after getting out of the financial crisis is to bring Mussolini to power and then take Italy in control. And it seemed that neither China nor the Entente could stop the Germans. The only thing that can be done is to delay as much as possible and make Germany pay a greater price. Once Germany succeeds, it will certainly turn Italy into an important component of Germany's future South Asian strategy, and Italy's port and shipbuilding industries and military will certainly strengthen the military strength of the Allies.

And the second step was to capture Persia, not only because Persia was an important oil producer, but more importantly, it would serve as an important springboard for Germany's march into South Asia! Germany is an army power, and in the South Asian theater, in addition to the British have a certain home advantage in the early stage of development, both from the difficulty of equipment replenishment and from the point of view of logistics, Germany has a great advantage, Germany has built a railway network within the Ottoman Empire has reached Basra, which can easily transport equipment and personnel, and more materials and ammunition are directly transported to the Persian Gulf through the Guò Red Sea and the Indian Ocean. Although India had some basic industries, all kinds of valuable technical equipment and elite troops needed to arrive from the Entente itself. It is more expensive and time-consuming.

If the Germans wanted to be more stable, the Germans would definitely use their superiority in land forces to occupy South Asia. Therefore, Persia must be taken, and then it depends on the army, and whether it can occupy the South Seas depends on the army's appearance, but it does not mean that the navy is not important. The Germans needed a navy to block the supply routes of the South Asian Allies, as well as to secure their own transportation routes. In a way, the German Army gave its lifeline to the German Navy, and for the Entente to compete with their opponents solely by the Army, it was obviously impossible to do so without considering the large-scale involvement of China.

The only way to delay the other side was to stop the advance of the German army by constantly attacking the German sea transport routes through the Guò navy and air force. And then wait for the turnaround. Sadly, at least in the early stages of the war, the Allies had a disadvantage in their naval forces in India, so this may lead the Germans to make another choice, which is to take the initiative and completely destroy the Allied naval forces in South Asia and the coastal airfields through a series of fierce offensives, so as to establish victory in the shortest possible time.

The biggest advantage of such an option is that it can be effective quickly, because the Navy is the only branch of the military that can lose decades of accumulation in a single day, and the replenishment cycle is quite long! And if the Entente South Asian Fleet can be defeated in South Asia, the main fleet of the Central Powers can free up their hands to enter the Atlantic, and then attack the North Atlantic transportation line from the sea.

Of course, if they did so, the Germans would also have to face the consequences of a naval failure. However, given the superiority of the naval forces of the Allied powers in the Indian Ocean, and the fact that the Germans, as a continental country, were not very dependent on sea power, Germany would be more tolerant of naval defeat. Faced with a huge temptation, the Germans could quite well choose the second option.

After figuring out the other side's routine, the question left for Huaxia and the Entente was how to build a defense from the sea that was enough to block the German Navy, and not only to block, but also to take the initiative to attack in a weak situation, destroy the sea lines of communication of the Allied countries, and then hinder the other side's attack. "Actually, I don't think it is a problem for the fleet to defend under the cover of land-based aviation, although the tonnage of our fleet is a little worse, but at least we can get assistance from the air force on the west coast of India, and if the Germans want to come, they will definitely get out of the cover range of land-based aviation." Benson said.

"If you look at it as a whole, I don't think that the advantage that the Entente Navy gained from land-based aviation was really as great as it appeared on paper." Deng Shichang said in his heart.

Thanks to book friends zhouyu1976 and hukaikaka for their tips~~~, as well as book friends bernie1984, offhin, cutton-liu, whitebearded mouse, and kiss-medio for their monthly pass support~~~. (To be continued......)