afterglow

Chapter 380: Avoiding the important and taking advantage of the light; submarine hunting ship plan
The total tonnage of merchant ships is the main data to measure a country's ocean transportation capabilities. It is impossible for the navy to maintain a large-scale transportation fleet in peacetime.

Generally speaking, the navy will equip some special landing ships and high-speed troop transport ships to facilitate cooperation with the fleet.

However, the crucial logistics supply lines are all handled by these inconspicuous, easily overlooked, and slow private merchant ships.

Last year, the 38th year of Zhichang, Britain had the largest merchant ship fleet in the world, with 2120 million tons; the United States was second, with 1200 million tons; then the Ming Dynasty, with a total of 970 million tons; and then Deshe, with 390 million tons. Approximately [-] million tons.

In addition, France has 350 million tons, Italy has 385 million tons, Norway has 240 million tons, and Tsarist Russia has 130 million tons.

Historically, Japan has a total of 600 million tons of merchant ships. The navy is expected to lose about 90 tons of merchant ships in the first year after the official war. In the second year, it will decrease and only lose about 70 tons.Therefore, they plan to build additional merchant ships of 45 tons in the first year and 60 tons in the second year to make up for losses and maintain shipping capacity.

However, the ideal is full and the reality is very skinny.

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The fact is that in the first year, 95.4 tons were lost, but only 25.9 tons were added; in the second year, completely unexpectedly, the losses increased instead of falling, soaring to 179 million tons.

By the third year, the U.S. military sank a total of 384 million tons of merchant ships throughout the year, most of which came from the U.S. submarine force.

Anti-submarine was not taken seriously before the war. During the war, anti-submarine efficiency was extremely low due to backward technology. The vast Pacific Ocean almost became a paradise for US submarines.

Quite different from the Japanese who despise logistics, Ming people seem to naturally attach importance to "food roads"?Moreover, the Ming Navy has an absurdly large number of small ships, and corresponding shipyards are everywhere.

"Although you all know something about it, in order to avoid negligence and omission, I will briefly describe it." With that, Cheng Han glanced at the participants in the hall and stated without thinking:

"Over the past 30 years, a large number of British immigrants have migrated to Australia. As of last year, Australia had a total population of more than 720 million, including 49 workers."

"Monopoly capital is prevalent in this country, and the government is accustomed to intervening and directing economic development, investing heavily in establishing government-owned enterprises. 30 years ago, Australia's industrial output value was only [-] million Australian dollars, and now it has reached [-] million Australian dollars."

"The mining, manufacturing, and metallurgical industries have all seen significant growth. In terms of steel production, last year's steel production was 120 million tons, which was similar to the year before and relatively stable..."

Taking into account possible differences in information sources and memory bias, it is necessary to re-narrate the information in a unified manner on the spot.

Ma Mingli, vice president of the Consultative Yuan, turned the page in the booklet in front of him and asked: "How many troops do you plan to send?"

Obviously, as the head of the General Staff Office, Cheng Han was fully prepared. He replied in a very logical manner without thinking: "The General Staff Office estimates that Australia can mobilize up to 60 people. If there is sufficient mobilization time, 80 people can also be mobilized." . However, the number of weapons is bound to be in short supply. The total number of imaginary enemies of our army is tentatively set at 40, and the weapons and equipment are uneven, so we can only send 20 troops."

As soon as he finished speaking, a new question came again. This time it was Li Guangyuan who asked: "What are the specifics? How many infantry, how many artillery, how many transport troops, and how many ships are needed?"

"Sorry, this involves actual deployment. We need the approval of Duke Wei before we can inform you."

Cheng Han refused to answer the question, and the spacious meeting hall fell into a brief silence, making the atmosphere a little tense.

Governor Wu Weihuan was not in good health. He had been worrying about it for several months. He was recuperating at home these days and was naturally not at the meeting.

The cabinet ministers reacted quickly and chose to find a way out for themselves.Li Guangyuan didn't look angry, he still looked like a good old guy who was smiling as if nothing had happened.

He said: "Yes, let's calculate it roughly. Eight infantry divisions, four field artillery brigades, three tank brigades, three motorized infantry brigades, plus some miscellaneous and heavy troops, which is more than 20 A little more."

None of the military personnel present denied it, which was considered to be recognition of this estimate.

The abacus beads made a clanging sound, and Li Guangyuan calculated the approximate data in a few clicks.

"The transportation of this army to Australia will require a total of... 310 million tons of transportation capacity. After all of them are ashore for the attack, [-] tons of supplies will be consumed every day."

"The daily consumption of supplies is ideal. In reality, we need to consider the damage caused by the attack and the deterioration and spoilage, so an additional [-]% will have to be added." Cheng Han said calmly: "But it is not difficult to achieve."

Seeing that the two of them were going back and forth for a while, Lin Xi also expressed his position: "It is indeed easy to look at it this way, but attacking Australia will inevitably lead to enmity with the United States, which will involve many wars."

It is definitely not possible to just focus on Australia. Once the United States gets involved, the entire Pacific will be ignited.

First of all, the Americans still rely on Osaka, Kyoto, Aichi and other places in Japan. The ground forces there are of little use, but the submarine units cannot be ignored.

Secondly, the Philippines must be resolved as soon as possible. The Americans have been operating here for decades and have forts and permanent fortifications.

Submarines and long-range bombers can be deployed in both places, which can pose a serious threat to Ming Dynasty's maritime transportation lines and inland cities.

The B-17B bomber has a range of up to 3000 kilometers. Taking off from the Philippines, it can reach Changsha and Nanchang. Taking off from Japan, it can directly threaten the capital Yingtianfu.

The Metropolitan Governor's Office estimates that only two infantry divisions, coupled with some supporting servant troops, will be needed to solve the American problem in Japan.

The Philippines is more difficult. There are not only 15 US and Philippine troops there, but also strict permanent fortifications.

Although the sub-treaty of the Naval Treaty restricts Americans from deploying tanks and heavy artillery in the Philippines, it has been two years since its expiration, and the federal government has not been idle. It has been receiving a steady stream of allocations in the past two years.

Coupled with the cash capacity and the cheap labor force of countless local indigenous people, the strength of the Bataan Fortress area can be said to change every month.

"The siege of Luzon is crucial. The Americans intend it to become a bloody place that delays our country's dynasty. We must find ways to capture it as soon as possible."

"According to the strategy formulated over the years, the Army needs to invest at least six divisions, as well as four to five field heavy artillery brigades and two siege heavy artillery brigades."

Cheng Han introduced solutions to threats at home.

"Even so, it probably won't be possible to win it in a short time. A fortress is a fortress after all." Ma Mingli said.

Several military personnel were silent and unable to refute, because no one could guarantee that the more than [-] enemy troops relying on solid defense lines could be quickly eliminated.

This is also the source of the contradiction between the two sides. The opposition believes that if Luzon cannot be quickly pacified, Ming Dynasty will be strategically passive.

While being restrained by a large number of elite troops and heavy weapons, they are also threatened by submarines and bombers.

Just to send another army across half the world to Australia?It's simply a joke about the safety of the country.

What if we wait to capture Luzon before attacking Australia?That may have been a year, and Australia had more time to complete mobilization and military expansion; the United States also had time to mobilize the Atlantic Fleet and send reinforcements to Australia.

This is what's disgusting about the Philippines. Obviously, the Americans' approach of losing money but insisting on staying entrenched was effective in the end, and it greatly restricted the pace of Ming Dynasty.

However, Zhou Changfeng was naturally not as uncertain as others. He was roughly aware of the historical situation - as long as he didn't act recklessly, the Bataan Fortress could be captured quickly.

It is true that Britain and the United States did not treat the Ming Dynasty with contempt when facing Japan in history, so they paid more attention to the defense of the Far East. However, the national power of the Ming Dynasty was not comparable to that of Japan.This has been fully proven in the previous series of battles to pacify Nanyang.

"Well...everyone, let me share my personal opinion."

As soon as Zhou Changfeng opened his mouth, more than a dozen eyes gathered at him.

He said: "Leave aside the early field battles and just talk about the final attack on the fortress area. I think if the method is appropriate, it should be solved in a month."

In order to avoid misunderstanding due to his special status, Zhou Changfeng emphasized that this was his personal opinion.

The cabinet ministers subconsciously felt that this boy must have been too prosperous recently and was a little arrogant, but it didn't look like he was bragging.

Moreover, the emperor was also present, so it was really difficult for everyone to question him.

After a while, Lin Xicai pretended to be serious and said: "When Zhou is waiting for an edict, you can't talk nonsense when discussing matters in the temple."

Zhou Changfeng smiled bitterly and said: "I can carry this amount clearly. I just want to remind you not to think of the fortress in Luzon as too scary. It will never take a year and a half as estimated."

After finishing speaking, he added, "Compared to Luzon, Hawaii is the truly troublesome strategic location."

After all, the Philippines is relatively large and has sufficient battlefield width. You can land first, then deploy heavy weapons, and then calmly attack the fortress.

But the Hawaiian island of Oahu is different. The width of the battlefield is limited. The landing troops have to go ashore in the face of firepower and then storm the fortress.

Hey boy, which pot is not open to you, right? Which side are you on?

The military personnel present were quite speechless. Hawaii is easy to defend but difficult to attack. There really is no good way. Everyone often avoids this issue deliberately.

"That's it for today, let's study further."

"Luzon and Hawaii must think more carefully and not fall behind strategically."

"Only by winning Hawaii can we ensure the stability of this big game."

Everyone was about to stand up and salute, waiting for the emperor to leave first, but then they discovered that Zhu Lingjing had disappeared, and she did not know when she left.

After leaving the Wenhua Hall, everyone dispersed. Everyone had their own things to be busy with.

Lin Xi walked up to Zhou Changfeng and said helplessly: "Hey, actually you shouldn't mention Hawaii in front of them."

The latter was also helpless, "There is no way, Mr. Ge, they are not stupid, and there is no point in avoiding it. If the key issues are not solved, they will definitely not let go."

Regardless of selfishness and interest disputes, the difference between the pros and cons lies in this - how to force Americans to give up?
In the final analysis, the Philippines can only be regarded as a bridgehead to contain the Ming Dynasty, and the strategic node of Hawaii is the key.

As long as Hawaii is there, Americans will continue to project military power to the Far East.

Those in the Metropolitan Government and the Ministry of War who advocated conquering Australia have been avoiding the importance of Hawaii, a bit trying to muddle through.

Liang Yuexi, a colleague of the Army Department of the governor's office, also came over. He asked rather dissatisfiedly: "What does Zhou Taizhao think?"

"I am not opposed to attacking Australia, but the essence of this war is against the United States." Zhou Changfeng replied without hesitation: "The fruits of victory came too quickly, so we can't be in a hurry. There is no regret medicine in the world."

The main war faction naturally wants to win the emperor's support, but with Zhou's attitude, it seems unlikely at present.

On the way home, Zhou Changfeng sneezed several times in succession, and he felt that someone must be saying bad things about him behind his back.

The more he thought about it, the angrier he became, and he started complaining as soon as he entered the house, "That's outrageous, a bunch of idiots who are blind after tasting the sweet stuff!"

"Sir, are you... okay?" Xia Xiaoshi was greatly surprised. She had rarely seen Mr. Zhou like this, and she thought he had been wronged in some way today.

After calming down, Zhou Changfeng began to reconsider the macro issues.

Forcing the Americans to give up is easier said than done. If Ming Dynasty's industrial capabilities are strong enough, the importance of Hawaii will be reduced accordingly.

But the problem is that Ming Dynasty's industrial capabilities are not as good as those of the United States, and it must gain a superior position in disguise by occupying the strategic node of Hawaii.

He plans to go to the governor's staff office tomorrow to discuss the attack plan against Hawaii.

As for attacking Australia, it is secondary. If we can stop the US military, we can naturally defeat Australia.

The operational plan formulated by the Governor's Staff Office to attack Australia has been revised recently and is generally divided into two stages.

The first stage is to occupy Papua New Guinea, Fiji, Samoa and other Oceania islands to serve as a springboard and barrier for the offensive and cut off the connection between the United States and Australia.

The second stage is to land in the Cairns area in northeastern Australia. The army moves south along the east coast, drives straight in, sweeps across the essence of the area, and makes Australia lose its ability to resist.

This plan is definitely reasonable, but it is hard to say whether it can be implemented well.

The bored Zhou Changfeng didn't feel like eating at noon. It wasn't until he went to his office in the Forbidden City in the afternoon that he finally felt relieved.

"There's no point getting angry with those people. Calm your mind. Our Ming Dynasty has its own national conditions." Luo Fu patted him on the shoulder and handed over a plate of plum blossom cakes.

Zhou Changfeng picked up a piece casually and continued to flip through the various memorials that needed to be handled.

When he saw that the Navy had submitted a proposal for a submarine hunting ship construction plan, he couldn't help but sigh that only the "little people" were really concerned and serious about it.

In the Atlantic, the German submarine force was killing everyone.Just half a month ago, the U-71 submarine and the U-30 submarine cooperated to successfully ambush the aircraft carrier HMS Ark Royal and send it to a cold and dark underwater grave.

As a result, some sensitive people realized that everyone still underestimated the threat of submarines, so officials of the Navy dug out some previously sealed ship designs and planned to build a first-class professional ocean-going submarine hunting ship based on them.

目前的草图说明这是一级排水量850吨的小型战舰，最大航速为28节，装备3座单装112㎜舰炮、2座深水炸弹抛射器、2个深水炸弹滑轨。

This 800-ton warship actually carries as many as 56 depth bombs, even more than a 1000-ton destroyer.

(End of this chapter)