afterglow

Chapter 684: Symbolic Negotiations; Symbolic Support

Since last month, the Ming army on Maui Island has been enduring the difficult times of poor supply of materials and frugality.

Those days when air superiority was basically lost left an indelible memory for the officers and soldiers - the food standard dropped significantly, and except for the front-line fighters, the rest of the people could only barely fill their stomachs. The worst thing was that cigarettes were extremely scarce, which was unbearable.

Sergeant Mu Hong, a recipient of the Silver Eagle Medal and a winner of both the Outstanding Contribution and the First Contribution Award, was addicted to smoking. He risked his life by leading two soldiers to quietly infiltrate the front line and kill lone enemy soldiers to get cigarettes. As a result, he was killed in battle on the third try.

As the situation improved, material supplies gradually became more abundant, morale also improved, and energy and spirit returned all of a sudden.

After dozens of Ming army gendarmes swaggered into the negotiation venue carrying sticks embedded with nails to supervise, the US military also hurriedly made a batch of longer maces.

It is obvious that the armistice negotiations between Ming and the United States are destined to be tit-for-tat.

Upon hearing the news that formal negotiations were about to begin, a large number of reporters traveled thousands of miles from their home country to the remote heart of the Pacific.

The camera film recorded a hilarious scene - the order-maintaining personnel on both sides of the negotiation venue were all selected strong men, holding long maces, and neither of them gave in to the other in momentum.

The first negotiation between the two sides began soon, and the specific agenda was determined first, which was:
① Regarding how to deal with the many islands and reefs in the Pacific Ocean.

② Regarding the Philippines’ approach.

③About the handling methods of Australia and New Zealand.

④ Regarding the handling of the Aleutian Islands.

⑤ Arrangements for the exchange of prisoners of war between the two sides.

⑥ Establish a joint agency to supervise both parties in fulfilling the armistice terms.

The initial negotiations went particularly smoothly and seemed to be a good start, so The Washington Post immediately reported the event with the headline "The Dawn of Peace."

However, this is just a superficial description, merely listing what is to be discussed.

The chief representative sent by the United States was Admiral William Pratt, who had been rehired from retirement. He had participated in the signing of the London Naval Treaty and had served as Secretary of the Navy.

At the beginning of the first formal negotiation, William Pratt explained the US proposal on the Pacific islands and reefs:

>The United States retains the Hawaiian Islands and Johnston Atoll, which is 3800 km away from the west coast at its closest point.

>China retains Truk Atoll and the Mariana Islands, which are an average of 3700 km away from the mainland.

>The remaining islands in the middle will become independent countries, and the armed forces of both sides are not allowed to station there, serving as a neutral buffer zone.

This proposal is actually very different from the highest and lowest demands given by the State Council. It is almost equivalent to a useless piece of paper and is only used to facilitate future bargaining.

In exchange, Chi Xianze also elaborated on the opposite proposal according to the instructions of the court.

>China wants to bring all occupied islands and reefs under its control, including Kauai, Niihau and Oahu in the Hawaiian Islands.

>The United States retains Molokai, Maui, the Big Island, as well as Johnston Atoll and Christmas Island.

Such a proposal was obviously unacceptable. Both sides first refuted it point by point, but it soon evolved into mutual accusations.

"How ridiculous! Since the independence of the thirteen North American states, no one has ever made such excessive demands on the United States. I can't imagine that you would be so greedy and short-sighted."

"We just don't want to continue this war with you. There are more significant threats in Europe that need to be stopped. If necessary, we can build another thirty large aircraft carriers in the next three years, while you can only build twenty."

"If we want, you will be driven back to the Marianas by force sooner or later. It will be a long and grand war, perhaps five years or even ten years."

"Finally, you can prepare to welcome the Germans. I don't think... what's that idiom called? Oh, I don't think you can stay out of it. Geographical conditions determine that only the United States is qualified to stay out of it."

Admiral William Pratt sneered.

There was chaos in the tent, and the negotiation venue was filled with cursing in two languages. The gendarmes on both sides who were there to maintain order also confronted each other with hostile eyes.

The chief representatives of both sides are well aware that progress here basically depends on the confrontation on the battlefield and the will of the local people, and the current negotiations are more like a formality.

At the end of March, the Longsho, carrying the second atomic bomb, received an order to turn to Midway Island halfway to Australia.

Soon, the third atomic bomb successfully completed a simple strengthening modification, and was then loaded onto the Gou Chen-class aircraft carrier Yu-Nu and headed for Majuro Atoll.

The 350th Meteorological Monitoring Team also completed atomic bomb delivery and avoidance training and was deployed to Majuro Atoll.

In early April, the Ming fleet set out from multiple anchorages including Guam, Truk, and Midway Island, and completed assembly at Tarawa Atoll.

Since the 18rd Heavy Division reinforced Oahu, Oahu had sufficient garrison strength, Zhou Changfeng drew the 144nd Marine Regiment, the 8000st Ocean-going Mixed Regiment, the st Battalion of the th Field Heavy Artillery Brigade ( mm howitzers), the brigade's beach landing elite battalion, the brigade's floating tank battalion, and the army's assault tank battalion from the First Landing Army, totaling more than people and more than medium and amphibious tanks, as the island-taking force.

In addition, the Army's 143rd Infantry Division stationed in Majuro Atoll was also ordered to prepare a reinforced regiment as a combat reserve.

Before the battle was launched, in order to lure the US fleet to the south for rescue, the Ming army increased the frequency of reconnaissance - large Type 40 seaplanes were dispatched from Tarawa Atoll and Majuro Atoll to frequently visit Christmas Island, and the US Air Force stationed there could only take off and intercept every time.

At the same time, more Ming submarines appeared to the east of Christmas Island.

There were signs that the Ming army was about to attack, and the US garrison troops stationed on Christmas Island kept reporting at the frequency of one telegram each morning, noon and evening, fearing that they would not attract the attention of the headquarters. Having suffered several losses over the years, the US Navy immediately concluded that there must be a trick - whether the Ming army was coming for real or not, they would definitely use the usual trick of "attacking the island and attacking the reinforcements".

Therefore, after careful consideration, Chester Nimitz suggested not to rescue, because under the current circumstances, mobile forces such as aircraft carrier task forces are the most important bargaining chips and are not worth the risk.

The president basically agreed with his view, but for political reasons, he still requested the dispatch of a small fleet for symbolic support.

It is said to be small in scale, but it is only small in scale relative to the 58th Task Force. In fact, the supporting fleet also has three fleet aircraft carriers, including the British HMS Illuminati and HMS Indomitable, as well as the Essex-class fifth ship HMS Franklin (CV-3) which is in the initial stage of training.

Slightly different from what the U.S. military had guessed, this time the Ming Navy did not contemplate strategies or tricks. Instead, the entire fleet was ready to approach, determined to engage in a fair sea and air confrontation.

After the naval battle west of the Mori Fault Zone, Ouyang Zhanghua was exhausted from years of dedication to the construction, training, and command of aircraft carrier forces. He was in urgent need of rest and was no longer suitable to lead the fleet on the front line.

Therefore, the command of the main fleet fell to Cheng Jian, the person he trusted the most.

Not long ago, Cheng Jian led the 190th Squadron of the Type 1 Type 2 Fleet to complete the Gold Coast landing and the Sydney raid. The modified aircraft carrier HMS Flag maneuvered to the appropriate position overnight, launched carrier-based aircraft to raid Sydney Harbor, and sank and damaged several US-Australian coalition warships.

Although they are all small fry such as destroyers, minesweepers and gunboats, there is nothing we can do about it, because the US-Australia coalition surface ship forces are only left with these after several years of attrition wars.

According to Ouyang Zhanghua's description, Cheng Jian was extremely intelligent, meticulous, and subjectively inclined to fight an honest war - although Cheng Jian's most famous battle was the raid on the Ceylon base of the Royal Navy's Far East Fleet.

After spending a few days together, Zhou Changfeng also gave a consistent evaluation.

Although as the fleet commander he should have remained calm, Cheng Jian could not hide his joy. He expressed to Zhou Changfeng that his biggest regret before was that he had never had the chance to command a spectacular naval battle in his lifetime, but it seemed that after this time he would have no regrets.

However, this time his expectations were completely dashed.

After discovering the three aircraft carriers of the US support fleet, the Ming fleet immediately organized two waves of air strikes, while the US aircraft carrier task force only attacked once before turning around and fleeing.

The Ming navy, who were on high alert, thought it was just a bait and did not dare to act rashly, but they were just scaring themselves.

The naval battle north of Christmas Island ended in a whimper. The US support fleet made a symbolic visit and then retreated.

Two holes were blown in the armored flight deck of the Indomitable, and a destroyer was slightly damaged; the Ming fleet also only had a few warships damaged.

The only victory the US military achieved was not achieved by the fleet. On the evening after the naval battle, the Northern Bonefish (SS-223) fired a salvo of six Mk18 electric torpedoes from the bow of the boat, sinking the light cruiser Songhuajiang.

The Mk18 is a copy of the German G7e electric torpedo copied by the American Westinghouse Electric Company. Compared with conventional steam-gas thermal-powered torpedoes, electric torpedoes have a slower speed, with a maximum speed of 30 knots, but the noise and wake during navigation are much smaller, making them suitable for submarines to carry out stealth surprise attacks.

This type of torpedo was hated by American sailors. Due to Prohibition, the luxurious American military did not supply any alcohol except low-alcohol beer, so some people came up with the idea of ​​using torpedoes.

The fuel for thermal torpedoes is high-concentration ethanol, which is the grain alcohol supplied by the Ministry of Agriculture. Sailors mixed it with fruit juice to make cocktails, which became popular. The Navy Department then ordered a change in fuel distribution, adding dyes and methanol to prevent this. The devil is always higher than the saint, and the sailors used bread as a filter material to filter out the dye, but the residual methanol accumulated in the body for a long time and produced toxic side effects, causing a large number of cases of methanol poisoning leading to blindness.

Now, with electric torpedoes being mass-equipped with submarine forces, the once popular torpedo wine specialty drink has gradually become a thing of the past, and many alcoholics are complaining about it.

从4月18日到4月20日，明军连续三天空袭圣诞岛上的三座美军机场，起初几次还会遭到数十架P-51野马和F4U海盗的拦截，空战甚是激烈。

The Type 1900C carrier-based fighter entered service in large numbers. It was equipped with a 20.8-horsepower Crane 633-type 4-cylinder star engine and four powerful 1mm machine guns. Its top speed could reach km/h. The performance of the new Saker Falcon was already % comparable to that of the FU- Corsair.

After crushing the resistance of the US shore-based aviation force, the Ming army's incessant bombing almost destroyed all the fuel depots and ground buildings on the island. The area near the airport was littered with aircraft wreckage, and soon there were no more US aircraft taking off to intercept.

The only thing that could stop the Ming army's wanton bombing was the air defense force. The high and low combination of Bofors anti-aircraft guns and Browning anti-aircraft machine guns effectively hindered the attacks of Ming army aircraft.

However, the Ming fleet was unwilling to accept its failure to defeat the main U.S. fleet, so it took out all its anger on the U.S. troops on Christmas Island.

Almost any valuable target would be bombed; even a jeep could be hit by several bombs, so that the ammunition depots of more than a dozen aircraft carriers were completely emptied except for the expensive heavy armor-piercing bombs.

The main fleet of the US military was unwilling to fight, and Zhou Changfeng and Cheng Jian were greatly disappointed. The former regretted that he could not decide the outcome in one battle, and the latter regretted that the long-awaited decisive battle failed.

Things have come to this, now that we are here, we have to take Christmas Island.

Christmas Island is the largest coral island in the world, with an area of ​​380km1.18, which is equivalent to one-third of Chongming Island. Betio Island in Tarawa Atoll, where a brutal and heroic battle took place, is only km.

"Too cowardly. Missing out on a big show is such a waste of fun." Zhou Changfeng wrote in his diary with regret and disdain.

He felt particularly unhappy when he thought that the gift he had carefully prepared had not been given away.

After cheering himself up, he concentrated on dealing with the upcoming landing battle. Personally speaking, this island-taking operation could be regarded as Zhou's farewell performance, so he naturally attached great importance to it.

The USS Lexington, or the USS Mars, which was converted into an amphibious assault ship, appeared in the vast blue Pacific Ocean with a brand new look. It used a cyan fragment paint scheme and added a bow wave deception paint scheme to the bow.

The slender flight deck is divided into six helicopter landing and take-off areas, namely the front two, the middle three, and the rear one; the two elevators have also been modified to accommodate helicopters; the hangar openings on both sides of the ship have also been widened to accommodate infantry landing craft.

荧惑号一共可搭载8架重型直升机（12人）、22架轻型直升机（2人）、4艘登陆艇（60人），由于当今直升机性能孱弱，大大限制了她的垂直投送能力。

The modified Yinghuo is more like a comprehensive warship that can do everything - several twin-mounted heavy dual-purpose anti-aircraft and flat-surface guns are powerful in providing artillery support to the opposite shore, and the helicopters on board can provide emergency reinforcements, calibration and surveillance, and transportation of seriously wounded soldiers, etc. It even has excellent anti-submarine capabilities.

On April 4, a Type 22 light helicopter belonging to the Yinghuo discovered the SS-218, which was quietly approaching the fleet with ill intentions. The SS-50 immediately dived to avoid it, but was hit by two kg light depth charges dropped by the helicopter and was forced to surface. Then it had to abandon the boat and sink itself...

[The previously drawn Lexington and Mars. ]

(End of this chapter)