In order to free up the slipway, 4 small aircraft carriers were parked next to the outfitting dock.

According to the arrangement, after the completion of the first batch of four ships, the construction of small aircraft carriers will be handed over to smaller shipyards, and the second batch of four ships will still be built by Puzhou Shipyard. If the third batch is built, or if it is a new signal that has been redesigned, it will be built by other shipyards.

The docks were in full swing, hundreds of workers were busy, and there were also a group of officers and men of the navy.

When Zhao Yu arrived, Bai Zhizhan got out of the car, and the accompanying shipyard public relations manager went to find several main foremen and supervisors in advance.

Unlike in peacetime, the wartime supervisor is a full-time officer, not the first captain of a warship.

The main purpose of this arrangement is to improve the efficiency of construction.

Usually, the first captain of a new warship is often from the same rank, or the first mate of another warship of the same type, or it may also be a major departmental officer.

According to the normal arrangement, the first captain will arrive about half a month before the completion of the battleship.

Seeing Zhao Yu, Bai Zhizhan immediately found that he had more gray hair.

"You're in a hurry, too."

"Come and see it early, so as not to worry about it."

Zhao Yu sighed, nodded to the chief supervisor and several foremen who came over, and said hello.

Because he has been actively promoting the construction of small aircraft carriers, Zhao Yu knows almost all the people in charge, and these people also know him.

Subsequently, Bai Zhizhan asked some more concerned questions, such as the progress of construction.

As Zhao Yu mentioned in the telegram, the construction work is going relatively smoothly, everything is in plan, and it will definitely be delivered on time.

Because the Navy has increased investment and offered high bonuses, the workers are very motivated, and most of them will take the initiative to work overtime.

As for performance, there's no need to worry about it either.

At the time of design, Zhao Yu decided to use a catapult against public opinion, even if it had to make some sacrifices, such as the precious space in the front of the hull.

It is precisely in this way that this small aircraft carrier, with a standard displacement of less than 15,000 tons, is capable of carrying all the carrier-based aircraft in service with the application of the Imperial Navy.

To say, the disadvantages are equally prominent.

First of all, the number of carrier aircraft is relatively small, and only more than 30 can be placed in the hangar, and not more than 50 are tethered to the flight deck.

Because the width of the flight deck is insufficient, it is not possible to tie carrier-based aircraft on both sides of the deck like fleet aircraft carriers and large aircraft carriers, without affecting normal take-off and landing operations. As a direct result of this, it is necessary to avoid mooring carrier-based aircraft on the flight deck as much as possible in actual combat.

In fact, by the end of the war, the Imperial Navy also clearly stipulated that small aircraft carriers were not allowed to moored carrier-based aircraft on the flight deck before entering the battlefield.

The reason is that the tethered carrier-based opportunity greatly reduces the efficiency of aviation operations, and it is very likely that they will be caught off guard when encountering unexpected situations.

In practice, the captains of small aircraft carriers also rarely moored carrier-based aircraft on the flight deck.

This has a lot to do with the combat use of small aircraft carriers.

In addition to escort ships, for the most part, small aircraft carriers provide support to ground forces, so they need to take off and land carrier-based aircraft frequently, and each sortie is not numerous. This determines that small aircraft carriers pay more attention to the ability to continue to sortie, rather than sending a large number of carrier-based aircraft in an explosive manner.

Another disadvantage is that the height of the hangar is limited, which limits the ability to expand, and it is not possible to operate the large carrier-based aircraft that appeared in the later stages of the war.

This is a problem that cannot be solved.

Due to tonnage limitations, it is necessary to improve the survivability of the battlefield, and it is necessary to have a fast enough speed, and the carrier-based aircraft cannot be less, and even the number of anti-aircraft guns has been required, and the designers can only save weight and space as much as possible elsewhere, such as setting up hangars according to the height of the existing carrier-based aircraft.

As a result, in the later stages of the war, many small aircraft carriers could only carry fighter jets, and could not operate larger bombers and torpedo planes.

Of course, the problem has not yet manifested itself.

The last disadvantage is that the self-sustaining power is weak.

Although at the time of design, Zhao Yu gave up endurance and increased the loading capacity of aviation gasoline and ammunition to enhance the continuous combat capability, but due to tonnage limitations, the continuous combat capability of small aircraft carriers is still very poor, and the aviation fuel and ammunition carried are less than half of those of large aircraft carriers.

According to the intensity of the attack on the island, I am afraid that it will need to be replenished once in three days.

If you are operating near the landing site, and you are with the landing fleet, then it is not very difficult to carry out supply operations on the front line.

If anything, the Imperial Navy has been building up its offshore replenishment capabilities.

As early as after the outbreak of the Great War, the Imperial Navy clearly recognized the importance of supply ships, and immediately began to develop rapid supply ships that could accompany the fleet's operations on the basis of fleet oil tankers, which were often referred to as integrated supply ships or combat support ships later, and the first batch was delivered to the Navy at the beginning of the year.

Because he didn't have time to complete the training, he didn't catch up with the 11th Task Force to expedition to the southwest Fanyan Ocean.

In the future, with rapid supply ships and a large number of fleet tankers, there will be no need to worry about security during expeditionary operations.

Subsequently, Bai Zhizhan and Zhao Yu boarded a small aircraft carrier.

In fact, the intuitive feeling is clearer.

Simply put, it's like a scaled down fleet aircraft carrier.

Because it is smaller, there are many irreparable defects, which also limits the actual combat value of small aircraft carriers.

In Zhao Yu's words, don't expect to win the decisive battle of the fleet with a small aircraft carrier, in the state of full-deck attack, the sortie capability is only equivalent to 60 percent of the fleet aircraft carrier, less than 40 percent of the large aircraft carrier. If other factors are taken into account, the combat effectiveness is only one-third that of a large aircraft carrier.

In the eyes of Bai Zhizhan, these four small aircraft carriers are extremely important.

As for what is important, only Bai Zhizhan knows.

Although the factory was very enthusiastic, after learning that Bai Zhizhan had arrived in advance, the factory director Yang Hanlin personally arranged a reception banquet, but Zhao Yu obviously did not give the factory director much face.

Actually, Bai Zhizhan didn't want to go to any reception banquet.

He came to Puzhou a few days in advance, first, to find out the construction of four small aircraft carriers, and secondly, to find Zhao Yu and talk about recent events.

If you want to say anything, Bai Zhizhan's most trusted person is Zhao Yu.

This kind of trust, unlike being born and dying together on the battlefield, is based on a common aspiration.

It is precisely like this, every time he returns from an expedition, Bai Zhizhan's first thought is to find Zhao Yu, because only Zhao Yu can get the latest information.

The key is that Zhao Yu is the hereditary earl of the empire after the Eight Great Pillars, and he is also the chief engineer of the navy.

In other words, Zhao Yu was able to obtain a lot of inside information that other people, including Li Yunxiang and Lian Xusheng, could not get from the military.

Just the identity of the chief engineer can give Zhao Yu access to many top-secret information that generals do not have the right to know.

In addition, Zhao Yu's eyes on things are also different from those of soldiers.

After all, he is not a soldier and has not received military training, so he is naturally not limited by rules and regulations.

In Bai Zhizhan's words, every time I meet Zhao Yu, there are some unexpected gains, all of which are of great value.

This time too.

Thinking of the imminent launch of a large-scale strategic offensive over the Guia Ocean, Bai Zhizhan was not sure in his heart, and he wanted to find out Zhao Yu's views even more.