The Rise of the Empire

This is really a huge fleet. You are equivalent to transferring the entire elite of the combined fleet away! "Seeing the long list of warships participating in the battle, Shimamura Hayao was really shocked, because in this list, there were 5 aircraft carriers in the fleet alone. In fact, there are only 4 aircraft carriers in the entire combined fleet. , if the speed is not accelerated, Betty’s aircraft carrier will have to wait at least another three months to get it together.

"Yes, I have mobilized almost all the available aircraft carriers, because the main method of attack this time is aircraft carrier attack. The carrier-based aircraft above are even more deadly than the Nagato's 16-inch naval gun, so we must Ensure the number of aircraft carriers and sufficient carrier-based aircraft on them," Betty said.

"Are there more than 450 carrier-based aircraft? I think many of these aircraft may have to be stored as parts. Our aircraft carrier cannot accommodate these aircraft." At Betty's reminder, Shimamura Hayao saw the aircraft carrier entry. After describing the number of carrier-based aircraft, he said.

"We can tie some planes on the deck." Betty said nonchalantly.

"This is not good. Aircraft are valuable assets. Are we going to let them go through wind and rain like this? This will increase the difficulty of maintenance and greatly reduce the life of the aircraft." Shimamura Hayao said.

"These are necessary losses. In order to gain advantage on the battlefield, we must tolerate some normal losses. Our number of aircraft carriers is not as good as that of the Americans, and if we do not fill it with aircraft, we will not be able to fight at all." Although Betty's tone was calm , but the meaning is already very clear. This is the bottom line, the bottom line that must be met. To be honest, Betty has always had a problem with the stingy behavior of the Japanese.

"Okay, let me convince the fleet commander to expand the establishment." Shimamura Hayao chose to give in, and then he pointed to the battleship entries and said: "Your Excellency has also cleared the battleship establishment of the combined fleet. Six battleships, including 2 It is the Nagato-class battleship, and the other four are all Fuso-class battleships. The most combat-effective battleship in the combined fleet has been emptied. And when you acted, the Fury-class battleship your country sold to us and the Italian Caraccio The Nobel-class battleships should not be in place yet.”

"If it feels like there are too many battleships, we can cut some," Betty said.

"Let's take a look at the situation. If we really need such a large fleet, we should still retain it. After all, the American South Dakota-class battleships are said to have been in service for 2 to 3 ships, and the rapid ones purchased from Germany and the Austro-Hungarian Empire There are also three battleships. If we reduce the number, we will have no advantage in fast battleships." Shimamura Hayao said.

Although the Japanese already knew that relations between the United States and Germany were at loggerheads, they did not know that the Germans had temporarily withheld the fast warships that were originally to be delivered. Therefore, based on the principle of leniency when predicting the enemy, Shimamura Hayao believes that the U.S. fleet has about 6 fast battleships. If we consider again the large cruisers owned by the Americans,

The Japanese Navy does not have corresponding battleships. The six fast battleships Betty requested are almost guaranteed to lead to a night battle or a large-scale fleet artillery battle when encountering the American fast fleet.

According to Betty's thinking, this fast fleet cannot defeat the main force of the U.S. Navy, but it must at least be able to defeat or force back the warships in the U.S. fleet that can catch up with itself! Five aircraft carriers are the largest assets the Japanese fleet can muster now, and six battleships are the bottom line for the Japanese fleet to win. The entire fleet can maintain a high speed of 25 knots for maneuvers. On the vast ocean, this fleet's The strategic advantages brought by mobility are considerable.

Compared with the huge main fleet, the number of Japanese destroyers is still miserable. However, compared with the previous naval battles, the quality of the Japanese fleet's destroyer force has begun to improve. The reason is very simple. From the British, The destroyers purchased from Italy are gradually in place. These high-end destroyers or destroyer leaders designed during the war are naturally better than the destroyers that Japan is currently under construction in a hurry.

However, taking into account the needs of the current Pacific War, the Japanese Navy also made appropriate modifications when ordering these destroyers, reducing torpedo weapons, adding hydrophones, depth bombs and primitive sonar systems to improve anti-submarine capabilities, while also adding A large number of machine guns and machine cannons were used for anti-aircraft fire.

"There are only 21 destroyers in total? Is this number a bit small? If the battle requires it, we can increase it appropriately." Shimamura Hayao said to Betty.

"This number is indeed small, but we cannot add more destroyers. Even if the destroyers sail at the most economical speed, their combat range is only about 2,000 nautical miles. This time we will conduct long-term mobile operations on the ocean. , the range of the destroyer is very problematic, and the number of our high-speed supply ships is too small." Betty said with some helplessness.

Taking the Japanese Navy battleships as an example, each battleship has a total heavy oil and coal reserve of about 6,000 tons. You can also overload equipment when necessary. Although you can walk back and forth across the Pacific Ocean, long-term operations do not rely heavily on supplies. The same goes for aircraft carriers.

But destroyers are different. Subject to current conditions, generally a 1,500-ton destroyer can guarantee a range of 2,200 nautical miles at a speed of about 12 knots. In fact, this distance will definitely shrink greatly in combat, so If destroyers are added, the pressure on supplies will be very high, and additional high-speed supply ships will need to be equipped. Such dedicated high-speed supply ships are also scarce for the Japanese Navy. Taking specialized food supply ships as an example, the entire Japanese fleet only has 1 ship…. And if a slow-speed supply ship is used to replenish through preset supply points, once caught by the opponent, the consequences will be disastrous. This can be seen in the anti-diplomatic operations a few months ago.

Therefore, taking into account the supply pressure and the number of destroyers in the Japanese fleet, Betty only requires 21 destroyers. Even so, considering the supplies required by large warships, the Japanese Navy still needs to bring four large high-speed fuel supply ships to barely be enough.

"Are you still bringing the seaplane carrier?" Hayao Shimamura asked, looking at the empty column of seaplane carriers in the list. After all, in previous battles, the seaplane carrier was an important reconnaissance force of the fleet.

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