After sending Lian Xusheng away, Bai Zhizhan only stayed in the imperial capital for 5 days.

Early in the morning of February 26, he took a plane to Puzhou.

That's right, the first batch of large aircraft carriers of the "Provincial" class will be officially delivered to the Imperial Navy on March 1, and Bai Zhizhan is the chief representative of the Navy.

In Liu Changxun's words, Bai Zhizhan is more qualified to accept a new generation of large aircraft carriers on behalf of the Navy.

I went a few days in advance to find Zhao Yu to learn some information.

Today, Puzhou is the main shipbuilding center of the Imperial Navy, responsible for the construction of nearly half of the capital ships.

In addition, the construction of the second batch of large aircraft carriers, as well as supporting large cruisers, has already begun, and even the construction of the next generation of capital warships has been put on the agenda.

However, none of this is of concern to Bai Zhizhan.

Large aircraft carriers are indeed important, and their combat effectiveness is extremely strong, and they have replaced battleships as the new maritime hegemon, and they have irreplaceable value in the decisive battle of the fleet.

But the problem is that even in wartime, when built according to wartime standards, the construction period of a large aircraft carrier exceeds two years.

According to the production report sent by the shipyard to the command of the Navy, the second batch of "provincial" classes will not be delivered until two years later, in the fourth quarter of the 102nd year of the new calendar.

What Bai Zhizhan will face next is not a decisive battle of the fleet, but a landing operation.

The previous battles against the Volcanic Islands, the Sai Island, and the Lion Springs City have all proved that the combat efficiency of the fleet's aircraft carriers in the operation of supporting the landing operation is not very high.

The main thing is that during the landing operations, the task force was subject to many restrictions.

For example, task forces generally operate in the open sea 200 kilometers away from the landing site, and the air support provided by carrier-based aviation is obviously time-sensitive, and there is no way to be on call. For example, in order to provide cover for aircraft carriers, large warships in the task force are rarely sent to carry out fire support missions.

On the contrary, the role of the support fleet, which was deployed close to the landing site, was even more prominent.

The most representative is that in the early stage of the attack on the island, the two fire support fleets played a role in fixing the sea god's needle.

In the battle against Lion Spring City, the support fleet was also the absolute main force.

However, the actual combat also proved a problem, and the support fleet with only ordinary warships had the problem of insufficient strength when supporting landing operations.

In other words, naval artillery is not a panacea.

Against some special targets, bombs are significantly more useful. The close air support provided by the aviation also has a morale-boosting effect.

Sometimes, a squad of fighters flying over the battlefield is able to scare the enemy away.

Compared with a battleship that is tens of kilometers away and cannot be seen at all, a fighter plane flying overhead with bombs under its wings is more direct.

It would be perfect if several aircraft carriers could be provided for the support fleet and carrier-based aviation could be arranged to participate in the battle.

This is also the main purpose of the Imperial Navy to create small aircraft carriers.

Although at the beginning, Zhao Yu regarded small aircraft carriers as a powerful supplement to fleet aircraft carriers and large aircraft carriers, that is, before the large aircraft carriers were delivered in large quantities, small aircraft carriers were used to carry out fleet decisive battles, but several successive victories weakened the value of small aircraft carriers in these aspects.

As for the reason, it's actually quite simple.

Up to now, the enemy has only 4 fleet aircraft carriers left, namely the "Endeavour" and "Leke" of the Nuland Navy, and then the "Royal Ark" and "Fury" of the Royal Navy of Bran.

In comparison, the Imperial Navy has 3 fleet aircraft carriers and is about to acquire 4 large aircraft carriers.

Compared to the number of capital aircraft carriers, the Imperial Navy had an absolute advantage.

In the event of a fleet showdown, the Imperial Navy has a very good chance of winning.

In the relatively secondary, small aircraft carriers and escort aircraft carriers, the Imperial Navy not only has no advantage, but also has a huge gap.

The key is that in order to deal with the submarines of the Manman Navy, the Nuland Federation and the Kingdom of Bran have converted dozens of fast freighters into escort aircraft carriers.

The Nuland Federation also has two small aircraft carriers, the USS Wasp and the USS Commando, which were built before the outbreak of the Great War.

Also because the construction of fleet aircraft carriers and large aircraft carriers is too long, in order to enhance aviation combat effectiveness, the Nuland Navy began to build new small aircraft carriers before entering the war.

It should be said that the two sides are absolutely on the same path in the development of small aircraft carriers.

To put it simply, the hull of the existing 10,000-ton cruiser was taken and transformed into an aircraft carrier by adding hangars after removing the superstructure.

The biggest advantage of this move is that it saves design time and can start construction quickly.

In fact, it is even possible to build the hull first, and design the superstructure simultaneously, and then build the superstructure in the manner of an aircraft carrier.

What makes small aircraft carriers "popular" is the relatively short construction period.

If the hull is ready-made, or if core equipment such as boilers can be purchased directly, the construction period can be compressed to less than ten months.

That's what the Nuland Navy did.

At several shipyards in the Newland Federation, several small aircraft carriers are now being built at full speed, and all are expected to be delivered this year.

These aircraft carriers were all built with the hull of a cruiser.

According to the information provided by the Sixth Bureau, after the completion of the first batch of small aircraft carriers, with skilled workers, the construction period of the subsequent batches can be greatly shortened.

If anything, it was also stimulated by the Nuland Navy that the small aircraft carriers of the Imperial Navy could be launched.

Zhao Yu has been preparing for this and has done a lot of work in advance, such as persuading the shipyard to slow down the construction of several cruisers, and after completing the hull, he is not in a hurry to build the superstructure, so he can easily transform it into a small aircraft carrier after getting the grant.

Now these warships are being built according to the standards of aircraft carriers.

According to the report obtained by the White Stop-War, the first batch of four ships can be delivered by the end of June, the second batch of four ships will not be until September, and the third batch will be far away.

What Bai Zhizhan wants to get, in fact, is only the first batch of 4 ships.

Before coming to Puzhou, Bai Zhizhan sent a telegram to Zhao Yu, inquiring in detail about the aircraft carrier.

Zhao Yu's answer is that it is expected to be delivered ahead of schedule.

It's just that it is more difficult to enter the list in advance.

If you want to say that, the problem of personnel is more serious than the problem of equipment.

Don't look at the fact that the empire has long been mobilized, but until now, the imperial navy is in a state of shortage, and almost all warships have the problem of insufficient manpower.

It's not that people aren't active in joining the army, it's that the pace of training recruits can't keep up.

The Navy is a typical technical service, and even the most ordinary sailors have their own specialties, and it is not possible to go to the front line after a few months of recruit training.

As a result, it is difficult for the navy to expand rapidly in wartime.

Even by wartime standards, the training cycle for ordinary sailors is half a year, and for technical non-commissioned officers at least one year.

Thankfully, it's not a big deal.

According to the arrangement of the White Stop, the main task of the four small aircraft carriers in the initial stage was to support the landing operation and provide cover for the landing fleet.

As for the fleet decisive battle, that's a task force affair.

The key is that with these four small aircraft carriers, the task force will not be restricted by landing operations.

It is precisely like this, after coming to Puzhou, Bai Zhizhan didn't even go to the hotel, and after getting off the plane, he called Zhao Yu, and then went directly to the shipyard. 8)