afterglow

Chapter 396 Luxurious configuration; Ace escape route

In fact, the pioneers in this regard were the British. Even before the war, the Royal Navy clearly believed that amphibious operations should be commanded by a large warship.

However, they also realized that such a part-time job was not appropriate. First of all, the status of large battleships was important. If an enemy situation appeared on the sea, then she would be in a dilemma. Should she stay where she was and continue to command, or should she follow the fleet to meet the enemy?
In addition, the warship's situation room has limited space and cannot accommodate too many people and equipment. If a group of army staff officers are also crammed in, it will be too crowded and chaotic.

Therefore, the British envisaged building a first-class "command ship". However, due to the severe war situation, they were unable to start construction. It was not until [-] that they requisitioned merchant ships for reconstruction.

Later, a US Navy rear admiral was deeply impressed by the British command ship during the inspection, and after returning to China, he promoted the design and construction of his own amphibious command ship.

The final result is the Appalachian-class amphibious command ship based on the C2 standard cargo ship.

However, because this type of ship is too low-key and attracts far less attention than tall and powerful battleships and aircraft carriers, its presence is not high, and even military history enthusiasts may not have heard of it.

Zhou Changfeng naturally didn't know anything about it, so he listed the needs purely based on his own ideas combined with the Yimeng Mountain cruise he had been on before crossing.

To this end, he made a special trip to find Yang Zhen, the person in charge of the training class at that time.

As the founder of the Ming Dynasty's naval landing operations, Yang Zhen was promoted to major general last year. In addition to years of hard work, he also contributed to strategizing - he also participated in several aspects of the Ming army's offensive plan against Java Island.

"Is it because the battle room on the battleship is not enough?"

"Yes, an area of ​​tens of square meters is indeed not enough. People from the navy and army are crowded together, making the scene very messy." Zhou Changfeng nodded and replied.

"This really cannot be ignored. In wartime, every second counts, and a short delay in decision-making may lead to catastrophe." Yang Zhen, who was thoughtful, then said: "It will be too late to rebuild. I don't know if there are any ships that can be modified at the moment. "

The two talked for a long time, discussing the allocation of personnel functions bit by bit.

Afterwards, Zhou Changfeng also contacted the Navy Department of the Ministry of War and asked them to check what suitable ship types were currently suitable for conversion into command ships.

The standard displacement is between 6000 tons and 8000 tons, and the maximum speed is at least 20 knots. It is best to be a dual-purpose ship, both military and civilian - so that the hull strength and sinking resistance will be better.

His and Yang Zhen's suggestions were still very weighty, and the Ministry of War quickly responded.

Currently available options include Type B[-] freighters, Type B[-] freighters, Taiyuan-class ocean liners, and Jizhou-class high-speed transport ships.

The Ming Dynasty has a rule for the numbering of civilian ships. B represents a cargo ship, six represents a standard displacement of [-] tons, and four represents the fourth type.

The Navy will also order a small number of cargo ships. After all, it cannot fully expect to requisition civilian ships after war.Although the freighters ordered by the Navy are consistent in appearance with civilian freighters, they have been strengthened as required.

Take the Type B[-] freighter as an example. It has added multiple additional watertight compartments, and the original three-expansion coal-fired boiler has been replaced by an oil-coal mixed-fired boiler. The sinking resistance and speed have been significantly improved.

In the Kota Bharu landing battle, the first ship Changlin lost by the Ming army was a B[-] cargo ship.

Zhou Changfeng felt that it would be most appropriate to rebuild the Jizhou-class high-speed transport ships. However, the Ming Navy's demand for high-speed transport ships was too great. Each ship was precious and important, so it might not be cost-effective.

The tentative plan was to rebuild the ship based on the B[-] type freighter, add horizontal deck armor, and add armor to the upper, left and right sides of the main operating compartment to protect important command personnel.

In terms of design, such an amphibious command ship will have three main compartments and a series of auxiliary compartments:

A combat command room, where the staff and commanders of the army, navy and air force related to the landing operation will gather to direct operations around a huge sand table, map, and chart board;

A combat intelligence room is used to receive, summarize, and analyze information from all parties, process it as quickly as possible, and provide it to staff and commanders for judgment and decision-making;

A combat control room is responsible for continuously following up on the land, sea and air situation in real time, urging, supervising, and evaluating the status of various battlefields and battles, and has the ability to guide our own aviation forces;
In addition, there are also some auxiliary cabins, such as the radio monitoring room, which is responsible for searching, capturing, and locating enemy radio communications using technical means such as radio direction finding and triangulation positioning.

There is also an aviation reconnaissance and judgment room, responsible for analyzing aerial photos taken by aircraft; a drafting room, responsible for drawing and modifying battlefield maps; and a printing room, responsible for printing temporary pamphlets such as war briefings and combat guides.

Of course, the navy officers do not want to waste any extra space on such an expensive ship because it carries a lot of electronic equipment, and the officers want to live a prosperous life even if they are fighting a war.

Therefore, this command ship can also carry approximately 350 Army and Marine Corps officers and soldiers, and there are several strange features.

There is a cinema with two screening rooms that can accommodate a total of 60 people at the same time; a sanatorium that provides massage, cupping, acupuncture and other services; and a large cold storage that stores a large amount of fresh fruits, vegetables and wine.

"It is easy to go from frugality to luxury, but it is difficult to go from luxury to frugality. After all, you have never lived a hard life."

Zhou Changfeng couldn't help but sigh like this. It can only be said that the thinking of today's Ming people is different from that of time-travelers like him. In the final analysis, the subconscious mind is still the mentality of the great powers, and they are used to arrogance.

If the US military is a young soldier, then the Ming army should probably be regarded as a big soldier.

The several months of Nanyang Campaign were generally successful, but many problems were still exposed in actual combat.

There are organizational aspects, personnel aspects, and weapons aspects.

A key organizational issue is that mid-level officers are generally of average quality, while regiment and brigade-level generals perform poorly due to various factors, with slow responses and hesitant decision-making.

Relatively speaking, the performance of the infantry detachment of the Ming Army is much better. The non-commissioned officers and lower-level officers are very good. They can often be in an advantageous position in battle situations at the squad, platoon, company, and battalion levels.

The senior officers were okay, at least Zhou couldn't fault him too much.

To describe it in one sentence, it would be a first-rate lieutenant, a second-rate lieutenant general, and a third-rate lieutenant colonel.

The reason for this phenomenon is that there are certain gaps in the Ming army's officer training model.

There are two main sources of junior officers. One is to enroll in the Armed Forces Academy after high school and graduate and become a second lieutenant or lieutenant after completing professional studies; the other is non-commissioned officers who have served for many years and have the opportunity to enroll in the officer training course and become a lieutenant after completing their studies. A candidate officer, usually a warrant officer, is then officially awarded the rank of second lieutenant after a period of assessment.

Therefore, the military qualities of non-commissioned officers and junior officers are basically good and solid.

And it's a little unreasonable to go up further. After an officer is promoted to lieutenant colonel or colonel step by step, there is no need, or it is not mandatory, to complete the training and study of command studies of brigade and regiment level troops.

The vast majority of people only go to the training class to study briefly for a few months. It is even conceivable that some of them must only clock in and sign in!

But after passing the intermediate officer level, brigadier generals and major generals have to go to the Staff College for further studies, which is generally more rigorous, so after studying, senior officers will at least have qualified command skills.

Zhou Changfeng had served as a staff officer of the synthetic battalion for a period of time before crossing over. He already had sufficient skills. Afterwards, he slipped away to Spain to hone a whole battle in actual combat.

This kind of experience is unique in the world, and can only be matched by genius tacticians, and how many geniuses can be discovered among the millions of Ming soldiers?On the other hand, the ranks of lieutenant colonel and colonel are the highest military ranks that those noble sons of the Ming Dynasty who have no ability and rely purely on connections can achieve.

Further up, if you don't have two brushes, you will never be a general. Probably no one today dares to vouch for such a playboy.

On the western front of the previous Malayan campaign, the logistics force lieutenant colonel who abandoned the baggage train and fled in panic after being attacked by an air raid is a typical example.

He was also lucky. Qiu Peisheng had already ordered him to be arrested and awaiting punishment. Whether he should be shot or not was just a matter of words.Thanks to the smooth offensive of the Ming army, there was no disadvantage, otherwise he would definitely not be able to escape the fate of being beheaded.

In response to a series of problems that were exposed, the Ministry of War initially determined remedial measures after many discussions.

At present, the war has not started, and the overall situation is stable. Regardless of 21, let those lieutenant colonels and colonels seize the time to make up for their lessons!

At 5:26 in the morning on May 6, Arras.

The heavy rain that lasted for most of the day finally stopped, and the air was filled with fresh breath.

The smell of blood and burnt smell from the corpses of soldiers and the remains of tanks in the fields were also washed away by the rain.

A dozen British soldiers were walking in search formation through a wreckage area, where the remains of nine Panzer II and Panzer III tanks were scattered, and various debris and parts were scattered on the mud.

"Are those Germans still coming?"

"They have failed and I don't think they will come back."

"I don't think so, and they might try again."

The German 21st Motorized Infantry Division rushed to block the attack but failed. Heavy rain hampered air support, so most of the British troops who launched the counterattack were able to participate in the battle intact.

Now, Arras has fallen under the control of the British army. The German 4th Armored Division and the 21st Motorized Infantry Division, which are the vanguard, have been separated from the large forces of the Koblenz Army Group.

The British 1st Armored Division, 6th Infantry Division, and 15th Scottish Infantry Division were ordered to do their best to delay the movement of the German army.

Now, 40 British and French troops and the remaining Dutch and Belgian troops are retreating westward. The huge team stretches for dozens of kilometers.

Due to the changes in the Battle of Arras, the leading German troops trapped in the enemy's position had to stop and stand still. This also prevented the British and French forces from retreating through Calais or Dunkirk.

In the wreckage of the Type III C tank numbered 410, Staff Sergeant Johannes Bolt felt as if he had had a nonsensical dream, and now his consciousness finally returned.

Then he felt the pain and cold sensation coming over him, and he quickly realized what was happening.

At that time, they rushed to launch a counterattack, but those French tanks were too strong, and the 37 mm armor-piercing bullets bounced off like arrows hitting the armor.

Later, his car was also hit by a Soma S35 tank. The 47mm armor-piercing bullet penetrated the armor of Type III C without any suspense, killing the driver and radio operator.

He, the gunner, and the loader were all seriously injured and fell into coma on the spot, but the latter two failed to survive.

Johannes felt wet all over, whether it was rain or blood, and he felt cold due to blood loss.After rummaging for a long time, he finally found the first aid kit and bandaged the most conspicuous wounds. He had no time to care for the other minor injuries.

He could hear the voices of the British soldiers outside, and he could also see their figures through the observation windows around the commander's command tower.

Surrender or flee?

Johannes hesitated for a while, and suddenly saw a soldier riding a motorcycle heading this way a hundred meters away. He looked like a messenger?

He immediately decided to take the opportunity to escape. After taking off the MP38 submachine gun hanging behind him, he gently pushed open the hatch cover.

By this time, the dozen or so patrolling British soldiers had already gone away.

When the unfortunate messenger passed nearby, Johannes suddenly took action, leaned out of the command tower and fired at him.

Amidst the gunfire of "ta-ta-ta-ta-ta", the orderly soldier and the motorcycle overturned in the mud, and the colorful oil splashes in the puddles were splashed up.

Johannes felt that his heart was in his throat. He jumped from the turret and fell into the mud because he couldn't stand firmly.

But there was no time to hesitate at this time, so he rushed over and helped up the motorcycle, turned over and sat on it, twisted it to the end, and rushed out on the two-wheeled motorcycle manufactured by the Birmingham Company.

The nearby British soldiers were stunned and began to fire continuously, and rounds of bullets whizzed past Johannes.

He stared straight ahead, wanting nothing more than to leave this hellish place and join his friendly forces.

After a while, due to the excessive blood loss and the short-term burst that overdrawn the remaining physical strength, he only felt that his eyes were black, his field of vision was narrowed, and what little strength he had was about to be lost.

Just then, the familiar low sound of an engine cheered him up.

A few seconds later, a Sdkfz221 four-wheel armored reconnaissance vehicle drove out of the woods next to it.

Unable to hold on any longer, Johannes let go and stopped the car. After getting out of the car, he fell directly on the dirt.

The corporal on the armored vehicle jumped down from above and helped the exhausted commander.

"We... our counterattack failed... what should we do next?"

The corporal carried Johannes to the car and gave him a piece of chocolate to eat.

"Of course we must repel them, Comrade Commander." "The main force of the army is ready to attack. We must also cooperate from behind and drive away these British guys one after another!"

As he spoke, the corporal of the reconnaissance company pointed to the sky.

When the rain stopped and dawn broke, a formation of hundreds of German fighter planes slowly passed by, creating a spectacular scene.

Further to the southeast, three infantry divisions of the Koblenz Army Group have completed the battle and are attacking the British troops guarding here from two directions. The small Arras is destined to be destroyed by both sides. There was a fierce offensive and defensive battle.

(End of this chapter)