The outcome of the "Battle of North Honu" exceeded many people's expectations.

In this naval battle, the Liangxia Navy lost three aircraft carriers, of which the "Liu Xiangzhen" of the 61st Task Force and the "Zhou Kuande" of the 41st Task Force were sunk, and the "Tang Shengxian" of the 61st Task Force was heavily damaged, and it never participated in combat operations again.

The Nuland Navy lost only two aircraft carriers, the USS Nuland and the USS Kitty Hawk of Task Force 52.

After this battle, the Nuland Navy still had 3 supercarriers available in the Guia Ocean, while the Liangxia Navy only had 2 large aircraft carriers left.

From this point of view, the Nuland Navy took advantage of the big advantage.

The losses of the other main warships, the Liangxia Navy were also much greater. For example, the air defense cruiser, the Liangxia Navy lost 4 ships, and all of them were of the "Qingzhou" class, and the Nuland Navy lost only 2 ships. In terms of general-purpose destroyers, the Liangxia Navy lost 11 ships, while the Nuland Navy lost only 9 ships. The Liangxia Navy also lost 7 ocean-going frigates, compared to 3 for the Nuland. There are only large attack submarines, and the losses of the Liangxia Navy are smaller, that is, the Newland Navy lost 4 ships, while the Liangxia Navy is 0, even according to the battle report published by the Newland Navy, the Liangxia Navy only lost 2 large attack submarines. In terms of tonnage, the exchange ratio of the main warships of the two sides is about 1.7.

There is no doubt that it is still the Nuland Navy that has the advantage.

Of course, in the case of landing ships, the situation of losses is exactly the opposite.

It can be confirmed that the landing ships lost by the Liangxia Navy in this naval battle were only more than 30 in total, almost all of which were small and medium-sized landing craft with a displacement of less than 1,000 tons.

The total tonnage of such landing ships is about 20,000 tons.

Comparatively speaking, the losses of the Nuland Navy were very heavy.

The entire landing fleet, including 6 amphibious assault ships, 9 integrated landing ships, 10 dock landing ships and 7 tank landing ships, was sunk.

Here, not counting the more than 20 small and medium-sized landing craft lost during the combat operation to land on the transit island.

In addition, there is a whole fleet of transport vessels.

When all is counted, the Nuland Navy lost nearly 100 landing ships and transport vessels, with a total tonnage of more than 1.2 million tons!

In this naval battle, the total tonnage of ships lost by the Liangxia Navy was not 1.2 million tons!

It's just that the landing ships are Class B warships, while the transport ships are not warships, and they are not recorded in the battle damage list.

In addition to ships, the losses of combat aircraft were also huge, but the statistics were not very accurate, and the gap between the two sides in publishing battle reports was more obvious.

According to the battle report released by the Nuland Navy, about 3,000 combat planes of the Liang Xia Empire were shot down and destroyed.

Obviously, this was the result of the entire campaign phase, including the bombing of the Khowaii Islands during the attack on the transit islands.

Don't forget, just on the day of the war, more than 1,000 combat planes of the Liangxia Navy and Liangxia Air Force were destroyed on the ground because they did not have time to take off. After that, the fierce battle around the transit island resulted in the loss of thousands of combat aircraft by the Liangxia Navy and the Liangxia Air Force.

After deducting these, it is only in the "Battle of North Honu Island" that the Liangxia Navy and the Liangxia Air Force lost so many combat aircraft.

It is precisely because of this, according to the battle report released by the Liang Xia Navy, only more than 400 combat aircraft were lost, and one-third belonged to shore-based aviation. The point is that of the nearly 300 carrier-based aircraft lost, more than 200 were collateral losses, that is, they were sunk with the aircraft carrier.

In other words, less than 100 carrier-based aircraft were lost in the battle, including carrier-based aircraft that crashed due to malfunction during the take-off and return phases.

The losses of the Nuland Navy were much greater.

Even according to the battle report released by the Nuland Navy, more than 200 carrier-based aircraft were lost.

According to the battle report released by the Liang Xia Navy, the Nuland army lost about 400 combat aircraft in this battle, including 40 bombers of the Nuland Air Force.

In fact, this battle report is also watery.

The reason is also very simple, in the naval battle stage, there is no operational record of successfully intercepting and shooting down Newland Air Force bombers. Even if the bombers of the Nuland Air Force were indeed shot down during this period, they were the results of the air defense forces of the base, and had nothing to do with the naval battle, and should not be included in the results of the naval battle.

If you do not count the losses of the landing fleet and the transport fleet, the Nuland Navy achieved a big victory at the tactical level.

Whether it is large warships, including aircraft carriers, or combat aircraft mainly based on carrier-based aircraft, and even the number of officers and men killed and injured in battle, the Nuland Navy is lower than the Liangxia Navy. Speaking of which, this can be regarded as a battle in which the Nuland Navy turned over after the Second Global War.

On a strategic level, it's a different story.

Although the 51st Task Force was retained, especially the three supercarriers, after the loss of the 52nd Task Force and the landing fleet, the Nuland Navy had lost the capital to continue the offensive, otherwise it would not have withdrawn the ground forces attacking the transit island in the later part of the campaign.

This unit, the 1st Marine Division, was deployed at Diego Military Port on the west coast of Newland after the withdrawal and was responsible for the defense of the southern border area. Later, he was sent to the Wangxi Canal and was the main force in the Canal Zone. Until the end of the war, the unit never left the isolated continent.

After the withdrawal of the 51st Task Force, it was completely reorganized, and was later split into three task forces, which became the main force defending Nuland.

It can be seen that after this naval battle, the Nuland army has shifted from strategic offensive to strategic defense.

It's just that the Liangxia Navy didn't take much advantage, or did not immediately launch a strategic counterattack.

Although in late October, the Liang Xia Navy already knew that the Nuland Navy had given up the combat operation of attacking the transit island, but the battle on the transit island lasted until the end of October.

On 29 October, after running out of ammunition, the last 100 or so Nuland officers on the transit island surrendered to the defenders after destroying all their heavy weapons.

However, the battle around the Khowaii Islands did not end there.

After more than two months, the number one task of the Liang Xia Navy was actually an anti-submarine escort to provide cover for the convoy heading to Zhenbao Harbor.

In fact, after the "Battle of North Honu Island", the submarine became the only Newland ship that could go to the waters near the Howaii Islands, and the submarine as the main force to break the engagement, it was indeed a great threat, so that the Liangxia Navy had to arrange a large number of ships and aircraft to carry out escort missions.

The more resources are consumed in the escort operation, the fewer resources are available for the offensive.

Among other things, more than 200 anti-submarine patrol aircraft deployed on the Khowaii Islands occupy several airfields. If it is the same number of bombers, then at the end of the year 150 of the new calendar, the Liangxia Air Force will be able to rely on the Khowaii Islands to launch a strategic bombing of the Nuland mainland.

In addition, the ships used for escort operations are enough to form several task forces!

The key point is that in today's escort operations, we have to deal with not only threats from below the sea surface, but also threats from the air.

In some cases, even air threats!

Do not forget that the bomber itself has strong anti-ship combat capabilities.

Relatively speaking, the number one problem in getting bombers to carry out anti-ship combat missions is actually preliminary reconnaissance.

It is precisely because of this that in the current operation of breaking diplomatic relations, submarines are not only a sneak attack force, but also an ideal reconnaissance tool.

Rational application, to be precise, allows submarines to cooperate with bombers to fight, which can pose a deadly threat to sea routes, and even cut off sea routes.

The battle on the night of November 8 is enough to illustrate the problem.

At that time, in the early hours of November 8 to be exact, a large attack submarine of the Newland Navy spotted a convoy of transport ships sailing southeast and east of the transit island. After determining that the flotilla would go to Jotun Island, the submarine maneuvered to the front of the flotilla for more than 10 hours, and during the maneuver, sent a message to contact the rear and made arrangements for the ambush. Using the information provided by the submarine, the Nuland Air Force dispatched dozens of bombers to annihilate the convoy more than 1,000 kilometers northwest of Yoton Island that night.

It was just a battle, and more than 30 ships, large and small, including six escort warships, were sunk, and only six slow-moving bulk carriers at the back of the fleet escaped. To be precise, it was actually the Nuland bombers who did not find these 6 freighters when they dropped the bombs.

This combat efficiency can be said to be frighteningly high!

If it is replaced by a submarine, even a cruise missile submarine, it may not be able to guarantee the sinking of almost all transport ships in a single attack.

And the point is that the Nuland bombers that launched the attack did not suffer losses!

As for the submarine, it did not participate in the battle at all, but after the bombardment, the results of the attack were confirmed.

This battle fully proved that as long as there is accurate intelligence, bombers are the first choice to break the engagement.

In addition, the battle also opened up a new way of warfare, that is, submarines searched, monitored and tracked the convoy of convoys, determined the ambush location according to the actual situation, and then guided the bombers to attack, and if necessary, were responsible for the results of the battle.

Simply put, the submarine turned into the eyes of the bomber.

It was also after this war that the Imperial Navy made adjustments to the escort operations, not only arranging more long-range anti-submarine patrol aircraft to provide cover for the fleet, to be precise, expanding the scope of anti-submarine search, but also integrating air defense cruisers into the escort fleet to enhance the air defense of the fleet.

It's just that this set of anti-submarine tactics did not turn the situation around.

In the initial stages, the results were not bad.

However, the main reason is that the Nuland submarine did not adapt to the new tactics of the Imperial Navy, so it behaved more impatiently when carrying out the task of breaking diplomatic relations, such as contacting the rear as soon as the transport fleet was discovered, so as to expose its whereabouts, and then being attacked by anti-submarine patrol aircraft.

As a result, in November alone, the Imperial Navy sank 17 Nuland submarines, of which 11 were achieved by anti-submarine patrol aircraft alone, 3 by anti-submarine patrol aircraft guiding nearby warships, and only 3 by anti-submarine warfare ships alone.

In addition, thanks to strong anti-submarine measures, only one convoy was bombed after November 8.

However, in December, the situation took a turn for the worse.

The reason is also very simple, the Nuland Navy adjusted the tactics of breaking diplomatic relations.

In other words, the submarine commander is required to report to the rear under the premise of ensuring safety, so as to reduce the risk of exposing his whereabouts due to communication and communication.

In addition, the Air Force also arranged for bombers to undertake some reconnaissance missions.

To put it simply, submarines are only responsible for providing data on the sea area and navigation of the fleet, especially the course, and no longer undertake the task of tracking and surveillance.

Although this will greatly reduce the combat effectiveness of the bomber, it will improve the safety of the submarine.

Crucially, there are no escort carriers in the escort fleet, and the transport fleet is not always covered by shore-based aviation.

Even if it was incorporated into the air defense cruiser, it was only passive defense.

In actual combat, the main value of an air defense cruiser is actually to detect incoming missiles in advance and gain more than 10 minutes of preparation time for air defense operations.

Obviously, it is impossible to intercept bombers, and such passive defense does not make much sense.

As a result, in the first half of December, three transport convoys were bombed, and more than 20 escort warships were lost.

Among them are 3 cruisers of the "Qingzhou" class!

In order to reduce losses, the Imperial Navy was forced to stop deliveries to the Khowaii Islands in the second half of December.

The most effective way to improve the efficiency of escort ships is to provide aircraft carriers for the escort fleet, and they are aircraft carriers capable of carrying AWACS aircraft and heavy fighters.

The reason is also very simple, as long as there are AWACS aircraft and heavy fighters, they can intercept incoming bombers.

In theory, one aircraft carrier is enough.

The main thing is that the main force covering the transport fleet is actually shore-based aviation, and the value of aircraft carriers is mainly to fill the loopholes of shore-based aviation, and to use carrier-based fighters to support the peripheral air defense network in the sea areas that shore-based aviation cannot reach, and at the time when they cannot be reached.

It is a pity that the Imperial Navy did not have a surplus aircraft carrier available.

Of course, the Imperial Navy was not without action.

After the outbreak of the Great War, the Imperial Navy launched the "Alternative Aircraft Carrier" project, issuing proposals to three shipyards for the construction of medium-sized aircraft carriers.

These medium-sized aircraft carriers, that is, escort aircraft carriers in the traditional sense.

Like the escort aircraft carriers in World War II, the replacement aircraft carrier has significantly reduced the basic performance standards, such as the service life of only 15 years, the anti-sinking performance is equivalent to that of civilian ships, and it only needs to fight in class 4 sea conditions, so as to reduce the difficulty of construction.

The difference is that the alternative aircraft carrier not only needs to have anti-submarine warfare capabilities, that is, to carry and operate anti-submarine patrol aircraft, but also must have air defense combat capabilities. According to the requirements of the Imperial Navy, at least two squadrons, that is, 16 heavy carrier-based fighters, must be carried to ensure that four fighters can be kept on patrol in the air at all times, and eight fighters must be assigned to carry out interception missions. In order to give full play to the effectiveness of the fighter, it must also carry carrier-based AWACS aircraft, and be able to provide support services for AWACS aircraft during the mission.

Undoubtedly, these tactical requirements are not low.

Except that it is not required to carry heavy attack aircraft, there is no essential difference between an alternative aircraft carrier and a large aircraft carrier.

In fact, as long as it can carry heavy fighters, it will definitely be able to carry heavy attack aircraft, the difference is only whether to load ammunition in the ammunition depot to hit ground and sea targets.

It is precisely in this way that the replacement aircraft carrier, no matter how ideal it is, will take time to build.

This is also the most prominent problem of the Imperial Navy at the moment, if anything, that is, a lot of resources will be spent on escorting ships before the replacement aircraft carriers are put into service in batches.