afterglow

Chapter 553: The wolves are on the way, the storm is coming; the enemy is in the Consultative Council

"With such an exaggerated storm, the Yinghuo was fine? What a blessing." Zhou Changfeng was still surprised.

"Yeah, it's a blessing out of misfortune." Ouyang Zhanghua took a sip from his small wine cup, "I don't feel bad if those submarine hunting ships are broken down."

The practice fleet suffered heavy losses due to the typhoon. Raging sea waves caused serious damage to the destroyers and submarine hunters in the fleet. Many submarine hunters capsized or were scrapped. More than 300 people were injured or missing.

Since August 8th is Gengzi Day in the lunar calendar, this shipwreck caused by the typhoon is called the "Gengzi Disaster".

The wooden flight deck of the Yinghuo was torn to pieces, and the large roll caused a series of collisions among the carrier-based aircraft in the hangar, causing a fire. Fortunately, the main structure was not damaged, and it can be put back into use with a little repair.

At the end of the original plane war, the fleet led by William Halsey encountered a typhoon, resulting in about 800 casualties, the sinking of three destroyers, and the damage of more than 100 aircraft. William Halsey was suspended for investigation. For four months, people at the time also called it Typhoon Halsey.

As the captain of the Yinghuo and the training fleet, Guan Zeming was inevitably implicated in the Gengzi shipwreck.

The Military Justice Department of the Ministry of War subsequently organized personnel to conduct an investigation. The result of the investigation was naturally that it had little to do with it, because it was the weather forecast report that affected the commander's misjudgment, and the naval service units refused to bear the blame. They confidently stated that weather forecasts have great limitations. , is inherently inaccurate and can only be used as a rough reference. This is known to everyone.

The level of science and technology is like this, no one made any mistakes, so we can't blame God, right?

"Yes, judging from the prisoners' confessions and some intercepted telegrams, the enemy's submarine force will be dispatched in large numbers after reorganization. In the future, they will intensify their attacks on our logistics routes. Rain is about to come."

Therefore, the investigation of the Military Justice Department came to an end not long after, and you can only consider yourself unlucky when encountering such a thing.

"Didn't the report last month say 450? Why is there another 150?" Ouyang Zhanghua was also a little surprised.

"Who says it's not true, Senior Ouyang, I really didn't expect it to be so difficult before, but now the Ministry of War is scolding us every day for being unreliable..."

"We don't underestimate the escorts, right?" Zhou Changfeng asked very vigilantly: "The current anti-submarine situation... what is the situation?"

Zou Yongxia stopped talking, waved his hands, and sighed: "It's not easy, there is nothing easy. We still underestimate the difficulty of anti-submarine and escort. It is estimated that the US military will have another big one soon."

"Yes."

"Have you knocked down the enemy's submarine arrogance last month?" Zhou Changfeng asked: "Is the anti-submarine pressure still very high now?"

Before the war broke out, the British Admiralty assessed that 308 escort ships were initially needed, then 518, and finally 638. With France's defeat, the British Admiralty's assessment concluded that it needed 720 escort ships, 1100 armed fishing boats, and 708 minesweepers.

The raging wolves sank a total of 660 merchant ships during this period, with a total tonnage of more than 330 million tons. The price paid by the German army was 22 submarines.

Zou Yongxia, who looked helpless, replied: "At that time, it was still very general. Recently, further estimates have found that it is more troublesome, and this number is not conclusive. There may be more."

The successful establishment of low-cost frigates and ocean-going submarine hunting ships was also due to his efforts. It is undeniable that Zou Yongxia was forward-looking and correct, but even he underestimated the huge resources required for anti-submarine warfare.

The British are the only people in the world who have a clear understanding of anti-submarine warfare and have the energy to devote resources to anti-submarine warfare.

"A big one?"

"This is much more than the two hundred ships estimated before the war."

"Sixty...no, six hundred ships?"

"Senior, you don't feel sorry for me, but I do." Zou Yongxia, who was beside her, clapped her fingers in confusion, "One submarine hunting ship was sunk, four were damaged, and one was scrapped. The major anti-submarine warfare events in the past few months have been shocking. It’s nerve-wracking!”

"To be honest, Zhou Daizhao is quite serious. In my opinion, our country needs at least this number of escort ships." Zou Yongxia raised his right hand and made a "six" sign.

Even the Americans did not realize the difficulty of the anti-submarine escort system until they entered the war. They were so full of unrealistic confidence that it triggered the "second happy time of German submarines."

As the most avant-garde anti-submarine expert in the Ming Dynasty's navy, Zou Yongxia was one of the outstanding military students sent to Europe by the Hangzhou Armed Forces Academy for observation. He was also the only one who focused on the game of submarines and anti-submarine ships - other companions focused their energy on On battleships and destroyers.

【Picture】

Hearing what Zou Yongxia said, Zhou Changfeng couldn't help but become nervous.

Although the momentum of US submarines has been suppressed now, it must be temporary, and I am afraid they will make a comeback before long.

He realized that he was still a little naive before, thinking that everything would be fine with the hedgehog bomb, but the fact is that the hedgehog cat is just the same weapon in the final analysis, a weapon that improves the anti-submarine efficiency of a single ship, and anti-submarine escort is also the same as the devil. The competition relies on an entire system!

In the later stages of the war, the emergence of a series of equipment such as shipborne centimeter-wave sea search radar, airborne search radar, magnetic anomaly detectors, air-dropped sonobuoys and other equipment jointly killed the raging wolves.

More important than these technical equipment is the number of escort ships, which is the basis of everything. Otherwise, building a dragnet to contain enemy submarines is just a pipe dream.

In the Pacific Ocean on the original plane, U.S. submarines had brilliant results, sinking a total of 1113 merchant ships with a total tonnage of 532 million tons, and hundreds of large and small warships. It can be said that they were completely paralyzed with only a small amount of resources and cost. Logistics support for the Japanese army.

The Japanese army's anti-submarine escort efficiency was extremely poor. Not only was the pre-war construction biased, but there was also a lack of effective remedial measures during the war.

There was neither an effective anti-submarine escort force nor sufficient merchant ship reserves. The merchant ships built during the war could not be sunk. Therefore, after a large number of merchant ships were sunk by US submarines, the maritime supply line completely collapsed.

"When I went to Europe this time, Zhou Taizhao remembered to learn from this aspect. Germany and Britain have been competing in this aspect, and the experience gained is extremely valuable." Ouyang Zhanghua said with a smile.

Zhou Changfeng nodded and said relaxedly: "Okay, take this as the first priority. I think there is really nothing to learn in other aspects. As long as the logistics can be guaranteed, this war cannot be lost."

After finishing speaking, he pondered again: "I feel that the funds invested in this area are not enough now. I will go and talk to His Majesty, and the Consultative Yuan should also remind them to scare those people who are not doing their jobs. Member of Parliament.”

"It couldn't be better!" Zou Yongxia couldn't help but clapped her hands.

This is exactly what he hopes to see - to use Zhou's words to make the upper management of Ming Dynasty realize the urgency and seriousness, invest more resources as soon as possible, and get twice the result with half the effort!
"It is a good idea to arm civilian fishing boats, which is most commonly used by the British. In addition, merchant ships should also be equipped with some self-defense weapons." Ouyang Zhanghua said nonchalantly: "The most important thing is to wake up some people. Next year's military expenditure should increase significantly. , those suggestions to cut military spending are really annoying.”

Zhou Changfeng shrugged, clenched his fists and said, "It makes me want to go to the Consultative Yuan to punch him twice in public."

Everyone laughed.

The three of them chatted for so long, and the four women or singers in the private room also finished playing.

They put down their flutes and lutes, and came together with a clear goal in mind. The lotus steps move lightly, and the fragrant wind blows.

Ouyang Zhanghua and Zou Yongxia each got one person, and the other two naturally went straight to Zhou, looking like they were about to hug each other.

Zhou Changfeng didn't like this situation very much. He felt that the two beautiful singers beside him were too artificial.

"Hey, don't get so close." He used his eyes to force away the two people who were trying to make moves, and said casually: "Have a drink and chat, that's enough."

With a woman as a companion, the small private room became more lively for a while.

It is undeniable that wine and beautiful women are excellent media for communicating with men.

During this period, Zhou Changfeng was still busy, supervising military training during the day and thinking about writing articles at night. At this moment, enjoying fine wine and delicious food could be regarded as a reasonable relaxation for the Ming Dynasty model worker.

The reasons why the Ming Navy was able to temporarily curb the momentum of US submarines were actually mutual. On the one hand, the number of US submarines was limited and their performance was mediocre. On the other hand, the Ming army did have some foresight - at least much better than the Japanese in history.

The ocean-going submarine hunting ships that are now widely equipped were designed by the Ministry of War and the Naval Administration, which can be regarded as the official work of Genzheng Miaohong. This type of submarine hunting ship was named Zhiqing class, which is said to mean "no fish in Zhiqing".

The Zhiqing-class submarine hunting ship has a standard displacement of 850 tons. It is an out-and-out small warship, but it has a certain degree of ocean navigation capability. It can move with the fleet and is equipped with a hydrophone and an active sonar.

其动力配置为四座2000匹马力柴油机，最大航速可达26.8节，续航里程8500海里，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，总计携带多达56颗的深水炸弹。

This kind of submarine hunting ship has good performance. Its high speed and long cruising range allow it to follow the fleet, and it also has strong suppression capabilities after discovering enemy submarines.

In the "Wartime Expansion Measures for Naval Ships", the construction plan of the Zhiqing-class submarine hunting ships was put on the agenda. It was initially planned to build 30 ships, and then gradually increased to 57 ships.

In addition to professional submarine hunting ships, the Ming Dynasty Navy also needs cheap frigates to accompany and protect merchant ships.

After all, the four-seat submarine diesel engine used by the Zhiqing-class submarine hunting ship is not cheap, and the production capacity is not abundant. It must be used for both newly built submarines and newly built submarine hunting ships, which is quite tight.

The project of cheap low-speed frigates was launched the year before last. Jiangzhe Shipbuilding Group organized a design team to design a trial-production Type A light frigate based on the mature Guangning-class cargo ship.

This kind of civilian ship that appeared in the early 1930s had an unloaded displacement of more than 900 tons. Due to the huge demand among the people, more than 100 ships were built one after another in just a few years.

Private boat dealers have also modified them in various ways to use them for fishing, transporting cargo, salvage, etc.

Such a mature cargo ship fully meets the Navy's requirements for a low-cost low-speed escort. Not only can it save resources, but various small and medium-sized shipyards can also skillfully switch production, which is quite convenient.

The finalized "Trial Type A Frigate" has a standard displacement of 1030 tons, a full load displacement of 1250 tons, a length of about 68 meters, a width of about 9.5 meters, and a crew of 114 people.

The power configuration was initially planned to install two 2000-horsepower diesel engines. However, in order to reduce costs, in the end, the extremely cheap coal-fired water tube boiler and triple-expansion steam engine, which were in stock, were used. They can output 2500 horsepower and have a maximum speed of only 15 knots and a long endurance. The mileage is only 3200 nautical miles.

The ship's weapon configuration is two 2mm naval guns - an ancestral magic weapon of the Ming Dynasty Navy, which was used thirty years ago. Both adopt a layout of one at the front and one at the front, with a semi-open gun mount and no turret.

除此之外还2门单装20.8㎜高射炮和2座双联装12.8㎜高射机枪（第三批次开始改为双联装20.8㎜高射炮），舰艉共有2条深水炸弹投放轨道，以及2具深水炸弹抛射器，全舰深水炸弹备弹量为50颗，不容小觑。

This type of frigates are all named after medicinal materials in the "Compendium of Materia Medica". They have been ordered four times, and the total number of orders so far has reached 306 ships.

After the small banquet, Zhou Changfeng did not stay in Qiongzhou for too long - not to mention there was nothing worth remembering there.

He originally wanted to return to Sanya directly, but considering that there were still some things that needed to be resolved back to Beijing, he took a plane and set off.

The first thing Zhou Changfeng did when he arrived in the capital was to scare people, or to explain the current poor situation of the current mobilization level and recruitment organization model mostly objectively and partly subjectively.

After leaving the airport, he ordered a long document to be sent directly to the General Affairs Department, warning politicians not to get carried away and indulge in the dream of being invincible in the world, otherwise it will be too late to regret it.

"parking."

"Jinzuo, I'm afraid there's danger."

"It's okay, I called them here specifically."

"Yes!"

The off-road vehicle Zhou Changfeng was riding stopped at the gate of Gaoqiao Airport, where reporters from six or seven newspapers had already gathered.

Of course, this was the result of deliberately leaking the news in advance, otherwise it would not be easy to grasp Zhou's itinerary.

Journalists who had been unable to get rid of and avoided in the past became the best "tools" this time. The reporters were overjoyed - they had no hope of being able to talk to him, but this time someone Zhou was actually willing to talk about it. ?
More than a dozen newspaper reporters squeezed each other and refused to give in.

"General Zhou, what do you think of the current situation? Is it still the same as last time?"

"It is said that the Ministry of War's negligent behavior caused several troops to fail to train as scheduled. Is this serious?"

"General! General! If you don't care about such important military matters, will those officials be punished?"

"Some insiders say that the soldiers and horses of the second division were originally supposed to be deployed to important places to participate in the battle, but now they are delayed. Will there be any impact?"

Seeing this, the corners of Zhou Changfeng's mouth raised slightly, but he quickly stopped smiling.

He pushed open the door and stepped out of the car, pressing his hands to indicate silence.

After the scene became a little calmer, Zhou Changfeng, who had sharp eyes, said: "I understand your urgent mood. What I want to say is that it is easy to treat the symptoms, but how can it be done without treating the root cause? Although I went to Qiongzhou this time to discover this matter unintentionally, I can The problems exposed are huge and difficult to deal with.”

"Is it difficult to solve? Why did General Zhou say this?"

"Because the enemy is not outside, but over there... Well, in the Consultative Council over there."

(End of this chapter)