In the next few days, accompanied by Li Yunxiang, Bai Zhizhan went around the nearby military bases, including the Trincomalee military port.

The Navy picked and chosen, and finally chose Trincomalee, not because the port of Colombo was not big enough, but because they didn't want to mess with the army that was the first to go.

Trincomalee used to be a military port, but it was no more than a military port for the Royal Navy of Bran.

Prior to the Imperial Navy's dominance of the Van Yan Ocean, Trincomalee was a transit port between Bombay and Lion Springs, mainly supplying passing ships. In the era of ironclad ships, there was also the largest coal bunker in the Northern Fanyan Ocean, which could provide boiler coal for the entire fleet.

Because the Imperial Navy did not seek military occupation, Trincomalee was abolished during the era when the Empire dominated the Fanyan Ocean.

After the end of the last war, the Royal Navy focused on Colombo and did not return to Trincomalee.

It is only now that Trincomalee is being taken seriously again.

Like Li Yunxiang's side, construction work in Trincomalee is in full swing.

According to the understanding of the White Stop, the navy has received an appropriation to build Trincomalee into the number one military port in the North Fanyan Ocean region in more than a year.

In the beginning, the Imperial Navy did not intend to build in Sri Lanka, at least not to build a large naval base at the level of a home port here.

It is not far from Lion Springs to Sri Lanka, and the naval base in Lion Springs is enough to support the fleet's activities in the North Van Yan Ocean.

Even to Gwadar, it is only a few thousand kilometers, which is not far for the fleet.

The key is that there are too many places that need to be built, and relatively speaking, the threat from Beifanyanyang's side is not serious.

The fall of the Combined Fleet changed all that.

Whatever the reason for the defeat in the naval battle, after the crushing defeat of the Combined Fleet, the Imperial Navy had to face up to the defense needs of the Northern Fanyan Ocean.

Between Lion Springs and Gwadar, there was a real need for a large naval base capable of supporting the fleet.

It was for this reason that the Imperial Navy chose Trincomalee.

According to the plan, the expansion project of the military port is divided into three phases. The first phase, focusing on the expansion of the outer harbor, has been completed and put into use.

Now, stationed in the outer harbor is an escort brigade in the Fanyanyang theater.

Because it will be adjusted according to the actual situation, the size of the escort group is not constant, but the change is not large.

Most of the time, there are nearly 100 escort ships, but they are mainly small ships in the near sea, and most of them are out on duty.

Permanently stationed in Trincomalee is an inshore patrol detachment whose main task is to protect the military port and prevent enemy submarines from laying mines outside the military port.

In addition, there is the fourteenth patrol aircraft detachment, which is based in Trincomalee.

If anything, long-range patrol aircraft are more effective than small ships.

Because it had to cover the fleet from Lion Springs and keep an eye on the route to the Maldives and Gwadar, which happened to be in the middle of the North Van Yan Ocean route, Trincomalee was the central base of patrol aircraft in the North Van Yan Ocean region, with almost 200 patrol planes deployed at the peak.

There is no doubt that anti-submarine patrol aircraft are the number one nemesis of submarines.

Because it is mainly used for anti-submarine patrols, most of the patrol planes deployed in Beifanyanyang are second-hand goods that have been eliminated from the main force, and there are hundreds of "White Swans" alone, but in anti-submarine warfare, what is important is not the flight speed and the maximum ceiling.

If you want to say, in fact, the "White Swan" is particularly suitable for performing anti-submarine patrol tasks.

This huge patrol aircraft can not only carry 3 tons of weapons and ammunition, but can also fly in the open sea for a whole day and even fly to a distance of 2,000 kilometers for four hours after being filled with fuel.

When carrying out long-range patrol missions, several additional crew members can also be carried to reduce the workload.

Some of the "White Swans" also have modified toilets and beds.

To put it simply, a huge body that can hold more things naturally has many benefits.

Let a few "white swans" take turns, that is, use relay tactics, and even rely on strong self-sustaining force to consume the oxygen in the submarine.

This is definitely not bragging.

There have been three such cases, all of which have been confirmed by the Navy.

To put it simply, after discovering the submarine, it immediately used the radio to call nearby patrol planes to rush to support, and took turns to drop depth charges in the sea area where the submarine was active, so that the submarine did not dare to float rashly, and at the same time, it did not dare to sail fast because it was afraid of running out of power in the battery.

In some cases, grenades with large charges, or mortar shells can be used to pass off as depth charges.

If you are lucky, you may be able to force the enemy submarine to surrender in 2 to 3 days.

Even if you're unlucky, it only takes 5 to 7 days.

In many cases, enemy submarines will surface to launch a counterattack before they can consume photovoltaic energy or oxygen, and most likely will be sunk by patrol aircraft with rockets or bombs.

In the three existing cases, two Nuland submarines were sunk and the other surrendered after ascending.

At present, the second phase of the project is underway, mainly to build a deep-water wharf in the outer harbor to serve large warships and freighters.

In addition, infrastructure such as oil depots, ammunition depots, and barracks was built along the link between the outer and inner harbours.

If anything, what Trincomalee lacks is infrastructure.

In terms of the size of the harbour and the average depth of the main waterways, Trincomalee surpasses Colombo and is the best port in the North Fanyan Ocean.

This was also the key to the Imperial Navy's choice of Trincomalee.

Of course, it also has to do with the remoteness of Trincomalee.

In fact, the biggest advantage is that secrecy is easier, and it can more effectively block information, thus enhancing the secrecy of fleet and fleet activities.

When the port expansion is fully completed, that is, the inner harbor is put into operation, Trincomalee will become the home port of the Imperial Navy's Fanyan Ocean fleet. At that time, it can support hundreds of ships at the same time, and even accommodate all the warships of the Fanyan Ocean fleet.

Only now, large ships that need to enter the port and dock still have to go to Colombo.

The Chancellor of the Navy's "Chancellor" is in the port of Colombo.

Although according to the original arrangement, the "Prime Minister" was supposed to return to the Imperial Mainland Port through Lion Springs City and try to repair it, after the engineers conducted a comprehensive survey, the Huiman Navy listened to the advice of the Imperial Navy and only carried out limited repairs to the "Prime Minister", and then managed to return to the Homeland Port of Huiman after the sea route was opened, and the Huiman Shipyard that built the ship repaired it.

For this reason, the Prime Minister remained in Colombo.

The Imperial Navy sent a self-propelled floating dock to Colombo, and the Prime Minister was lying in the floating dock.

If anything, the self-propelled floating dock is the magic weapon of the Imperial Navy.

Before the outbreak of the Great War, the Imperial Navy had only 2 large floating docks. So far, more than 20 floating docks have been put into use, of which 8 are 50,000 tons, another 12 have reached 30,000 tons, and more than 10 floating docks are under construction.

The key is that these floating docks all have a modular design, which can be easily disassembled and combined.

In a sense, these floating docks, designed and built after the outbreak of the Great War, were the key to maintaining the strength of the Imperial Navy.

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