Raeder smiled and said, "Jonas, you don't have to be so nervous. Pen × fun × Pavilion www. ｂｉｑｕｇｅ。 info This time the fleet returns to base, all warships need to be docked for a full equipment overhaul, and considering that the battleship Tirpitz is still in the personnel run-in period, the Navy will not have any major operations this year. As is customary, you now have ten days of vacation and don't need to return to the Navy until the end of the month. I'm sure you're not going to give it up, right? ”

Fang Yan took a deep breath and nodded in response. As Raeder said, he became a little bit of a loser after being promoted. Raeder tapped his marshal's scepter with his finger and said, "However, what you said is also very important. It's a little early to make you Admiral: I have two assignments to choose from right now, and you can spend a few days thinking about them and then get back to me at the end of the month. ”

"After the return of the battleship Bismarck, the Naval Operations Department received a detailed combat report of the surprise attack on Scapa Bay. After careful demonstration, the General Staff and the War Department unanimously agreed that the aircraft carrier has extraordinary combat effectiveness and needs to be vigorously developed and built in the future. However, although we have allocated sufficient start-up funds for the new fleet aircraft carriers, even if the shipyard further steps up construction, it cannot be expected that the new aircraft carriers will be ready for combat effectiveness before 1943. In order to get a usable aircraft carrier as soon as possible, retrofitting with a suitable merchant ship became our only option. ”

Rydell paused, and there was a bit of expectation in his eyes: "Jonas, you are the expert in the German Navy who knows the most about aircraft carriers, and at the same time you are a first-class ship designer; If it were up to you to assess which merchant ships were suitable for refit and determine the exact degree of refit, then the German Navy would be able to get the most out of it with the least investment. This task will not last long, and it is estimated that it will be completed by the end of the year. So the next time the fleet goes on a voyage, you'll still have a chance to go with the ship. ”

"What about the second mission?" Fang Yan's thoughts spun rapidly in his heart, and he asked at the same time.

"Just the day before yesterday, the Italian Navy sent a telegram to the German Navy: their first aircraft carrier, the Aquila, had been completed and the carrier-based aircraft unit had been aboard. However, since they have never had experience in using aircraft carriers before, and the cooperation between aircraft carriers and conventional fleets is also in the initial blank period, I would like to ask our navy to send someone to guide their training. The Führer gave instructions on this, asking the Navy to comply with the requests of the Italian allies. I thought about all the people in the Navy who could do the job, and I found that Jonas was the perfect fit. ”

Raeder stared at the young man in front of him and said unhurriedly: "In addition to your professional skills, you are extremely familiar with those Italians: now the entire Italian government and navy are directly or indirectly connected with you. If you go to Italy, you will be able to handle the relationship with them better than anyone else. Originally, I was worried that you did not have enough ranks, and that the Italians who love face might feel despised for sending only one lieutenant colonel to Rome; But now that the Führer has promoted you to brigadier general, to the top of the ranks of the professional military, there will be no more emotions on the part of the Italians. ”

Seeing the obviously changed expression and tone before and after Raeder, how could Fang Yan not know what the commander-in-chief was. Sending advisers to Italy is to help allies free of charge, and transforming merchant ships into aircraft carriers is a real way to strengthen itself, and the interests in this are clear at a glance.

What's more, this refit of merchant ships is an out-and-out fine technical work: which ships are suitable for modification and to what extent it is appropriate to change all require decision-makers to consider many aspects such as shipbuilding technology, resource consumption, length of construction period, and fleet operational needs, and give an optimal solution after weighing. Fang Yan dared to pack a ticket, if he said that he wanted to go to free and loose Italy to enjoy a comfortable consultant life, then Raeder would definitely eat himself on the spot: in the consciousness of this veteran soldier, all soldiers should unconditionally uphold the responsibility and dedication of "benefiting the life and death of the country, and avoiding it because of misfortune and fortune"!

"Honorable Marshal, I am willing to accept the examination and approval of the transformation of merchant ships." Fang Yan didn't let Raider wait too long, and said in a firm tone after a few minutes. With a satisfied look in his eyes, Raeder nodded, "Jonas, you made the right choice. Now in the time of war, our generation of soldiers should take the interests of the motherland as the highest criterion, and put personal enjoyment last! When the holiday is over, you can report to the Naval Shipbuilding and Repair Bureau. Major General Simon and you are old friends, and you can get all the information you want from him. ”

Fang Yan should claim to be. Although this work was a bit troublesome, it was also a naval combat enhancement project that he had originally intended to focus on - as early as 1934, when Germany had just completed the national socialist transformation, Fang Yan wrote to the leader of the Labor Front, Robert? Ley: Hopefully he'll be able to prepare for war and build a worker's tourist liner with the compartment division and structural strength standards of a warship. It's time for these ships to turn into military ones. In addition, the Hamburg-America Shipping Company has several clippers, including the Bremen and Europa, which are giant cruise ships with a total length of more than 300 meters and a speed of 33 knots. If you consider it only from the perspective of fighter take-off and landing, it is perfectly suitable for these two ships to be converted into aircraft carriers!

Suddenly, Fang Yan seemed to think of something, and his Qingyi eyebrows frowned slightly; Raeder, who had been watching Fang Yan, keenly caught this change, and immediately spoke out to ask the reason. Fang Yan's expression gradually turned solemn, and he said slowly: "Your Excellency, the Zeppelin-class aircraft carriers No. 3 and No. 4 'Richthofen' and 'Prinz Eugen', which we started construction in 1936, should be completed in another half a year, right?" ”

Raeder's gaze froze suddenly, and a fierce and compelling momentum rose up and down his body; Rao is Fang Yan was already ready, and at this moment, he couldn't help but feel a little weak under Raider's sharp gaze. After a few breaths, the fierceness in Raeder's eyes subsided, but his expression was still extremely serious, and he said stiffly: "Jonas, although the large warships of the German Navy were built by your father's shipyard, as a member of the War Navy (the official name of the German Navy after 1933), you must strictly abide by its secrecy regulations. If you do not give a reasonable explanation for what you just said, then not only will I have no comment, but I will also impose an internal demerit on the charge of violating discipline. ”

Listening to the merciless warning words of the person in front of him, Fang Yan, who had recovered from his weakness of heart, couldn't help but roll his eyes secretly: After all, Raeder was still a traditional military officer, and he put disciplinary provisions first in everything he encountered, which was really too rigid. If he could leak the secrets, then the German Navy would have died for a long time, and there would not be even bones left. However, in the face of Raeder, the county official who is currently in charge, Fang Yan could only put on a posture of self-reproach and guilt, and explained: "Your Excellency, the reason why I wanted to confirm to you just now about the construction of the Zeppelin-class aircraft carrier is because it is directly related to the upcoming refit of merchant ships. ”

It should be pointed out that although the aircraft carrier proved to be a more effective naval weapon than the battleship, the key to her realization was the aircraft on board: the carrier-based aircraft were different from the shells fired by the battleship. In addition to the hardware performance of the aircraft itself, the quality of the pilots who fly the fighters is also a crucial factor in determining the strength of the aircraft carrier's combat effectiveness. I think the Navy is already facing this problem. ”

Fang Yan's speech slowed down, but his words were like morning bells and twilight drums in Raeder's ears: "As long as the last two sister ships of the Zeppelin-class can be commissioned as scheduled tomorrow spring, then with the rated capacity of 120 aircraft carriers of this type, the Navy needs to prepare 320 flight crews for them: 240 of them are on combat duty, and 80 are on rotation. And if the work of transforming the aircraft carrier of the merchant ship is also completed in the first half of next year, the number of units will rise to at least 30%, and the total number will steadily exceed 400. Note that this is still a figure that does not take into account combat losses at all! Combined with the necessary number of backup units, 500 is not enough. ”

"As far as I know, the total number of carrier-based units in our aircraft carrier fleet is about 750. These personnel have been accumulated little by little since 1933, when the first aircraft carrier, the Hipper, was completed; They can only cope with the normal operation of 5 aircraft carriers in service, and it will be difficult to squeeze out another 100. Seeing Raeder's gradually pale face, Fang Yan finally expressed his core concern, "If the navy can't train 500 new crews in the next half a year, then even if I transform the new aircraft carrier, they will not be able to achieve the expected combat effectiveness at all because of the lack of well-trained pilots." ”

Raeder fell silent. After a while, he whispered, "500 new units is too difficult to achieve." Carrier-based pilots are no more difficult to train than conventional land-based pilots: they not only need to adapt to taking off and landing fighters on a rocking aircraft carrier, but also recognize various signal commands issued on the bridge; At the same time, it is necessary to accurately determine one's position on the sea without any references, and launch an attack on the moving enemy ships with dense anti-aircraft fire......" Saying this, Raeder suddenly turned his gaze to Fang Yan, his eyes full of hope and anticipation. Isn't this young man in front of him the number one aviation combat expert in the navy? Since he raised this question, he must be able to come up with a solution, right? (To be continued.) )