Seeing that everyone's faces changed greatly, Roosevelt smiled confidently: "Gentlemen, don't worry about me, I have experienced this kind of thing many times, I believe that I will be able to pass the test safely, you can do whatever you have to do, I am not good at war, but you are not good at talking to politicians." Pen Fun Pavilion www.biquge.info"

Everyone finally showed a rare smile.

"There is also the question, who will take over the post of commander of the aircraft carrier formation of the Atlantic Fleet after the martyrdom of General Fletcher?"

There is a general belief within the Navy that, judging from the realities of the two battles, Spruance is at a higher level than Fletcher for three reasons:

First, Spruance's aircraft carrier formation was in a weak position because it was jointly attacked by the German aircraft carrier force and the Azores land-based attack aircraft, and the aircraft carrier group commanded by Fletcher not only had a numerical advantage, but also had land-based cooperation and was in a strong position, but the results and course of the battle were not as good as the former;

Second, the last time Spruance lost 4 aircraft carriers, but sank at least one enemy aircraft carrier, and created another, this time Fletcher lost a total of 5 aircraft carriers, but failed to sink any enemy aircraft carriers - the results of the sunken Falcon Eagle were finally counted on the head of the army aviation;

Third, although Spruance had exhausted the aircraft carriers, at least he had basically retained all the officers and men of the Navy, but it was this group of officers and men who were retained that were basically wiped out by Fletcher this time -- of course, it was impossible for the entire army to be wiped out, but there were certainly very few people who could escape through lifeboats.

Therefore, if Fletcher comes back alive, it is estimated that the opinions that await him will be serious, but now that everyone is dead, everyone will naturally not hold on to it. Of course, what everyone overlooks, consciously or unconsciously, is that Spruance fought against the German Navy, while Fletcher fought against the Japanese Navy (the German aircraft carriers were also commanded by the Japanese), and it was actually clear which was higher or lower.

Spruance had just been questioned by both houses and held an idle position, and there was too much resistance to reactivating it immediately, and it would be considered too child's play by the congressmen, and in desperation, Lehi and Admiral King each mentioned two names, Lehi mentioned Mark Mitchell, and Admiral King mentioned Turner, the problem is that both Mitchell and Turner have many shortcomings: on the one hand, they are both major generals, and their ranks are not enough - of course, the number of aircraft carriers is small now, and it is not too much of a problem to use a major general to command the troops; On the other hand, there are flaws in the resumes of the two, although Turner is good as chief of staff, but has no practical experience in commanding aircraft carriers, while Mitchell is a veteran aircraft carrier commander, but his performance in commanding the Hornet in the Battle of Midway is very average, and after the battle, he was transferred from the Hornet to command land-based naval aviation forces in the South Pacific.

Lehi knew Admiral King's thoughts: nominating Turner was just a trick, he actually wanted to transfer Halsey to the Atlantic Fleet, but he couldn't speak directly, and as for the Pacific Fleet, he wanted Nimitz to take care of it personally, because Nimitz knew aircraft carrier operations, but Admiral Ingersoll didn't.

Roosevelt set his sights on Nimitz, hoping that he would also mention a name, and if he had said Halsey, he would have agreed at once - he and Admiral King had a tacit understanding of the matter. But Nimitz, who had never spoken, mentioned an unfamiliar name: "I would like to mention a candidate, Admiral Andrew Brown Cunningham." ”

"Admiral Cunningham of the Royal Navy?" Roosevelt recalled the name, "Wasn't he dismissed by Churchill for his defeat in the Indian Ocean naval battle?" ”

"In fact, this decision was not fair to him, the battle in the Indian Ocean was a surprise attack by the Japanese side, no one expected the main force of the Combined Fleet to suddenly appear in the Indian Ocean, and the balance of forces between the two sides was obviously unbalanced, and he could not be blamed for the defeat." Nimitz argued, "But the general was innovative in the tactics and command of the aircraft carrier, he presided over the Taranto raid -- he was later learned by Yamamoto Isoroku to deal a fatal blow to Pearl Harbor, and he repeatedly defeated the Italian navy in the Mediterranean, and he was not present when the Mediterranean fleet was defeated." His rank speaks for itself. ”

"He should be a good general, but doesn't Winston understand his worth?"

"The problem is that damn politics." Nimitz sighed, "Cunningham refuses to admit his mistake, he refuses to take responsibility for the defeat in the Indian Ocean, he thinks it is ......"

"Well, this is a Geng until a somewhat unusual general." Roosevelt sighed, "Even if he were as good as you say, given the present relations with Great Britain, we should not undermine Winston's prestige - and I would be very embarrassed if I were in the position of Prime Minister of England." ”

"If you agree, I may write a letter to the general to persuade him that I believe there is no deep-seated contradiction between him and Prime Minister Churchill, and that there is no personal grievance in order to defend the free world." What Nimitz said earlier made Admiral Kim frown a little, but he thought about it in the second half of the sentence: Now there are generals everywhere who have lost battles, and if they lose a battle, they can't be used again, I'm afraid that there will be no generals who can lead troops - after all, no one is a general who always wins.

Roosevelt thought about it and understood Nimitz's underlying intentions: Britain handed over all its aircraft carriers to the command of the United States, and all of them were sunk, which is difficult to explain to Britain in any case, so the next commander of the aircraft carrier fleet chose the British to relieve the pressure on Churchill - using Cunningham would better unite the Royal Navy and reflect the intention of the Atlantic Combined Fleet.

"Do you two have an opinion on this candidate?"

Lehi shook his head, Cunningham must have been much more advantageous than the Mitchell he nominated, but still asked with some concern: "I heard that he broke his leg during the last retreat, will it affect the command?" ”

"The commander of the Japanese mobile fleet, Tsukahara 243, lost a left hand, and it was Hori Yoshiri who asked him to take this position."

Listening to this addition, everyone nodded, this sentence is more powerful than any defense, what's wrong with the broken leg? The man still commanded the fleet with a broken hand, and played a majestic role.

"I have an additional comment." Admiral King spoke, "Let Spruance be Admiral Cunningham's chief of staff, he can't sit idle." ”

"Yes."

Although it is expected that the Japanese Combined Fleet will soon return to the Far East, Germany and Italy will soon have three fleet aircraft carriers, and Britain and the United States will only have two fleet aircraft carriers and two light aircraft carriers in the Atlantic, and their strength is far from sufficient.

"The fleet carriers that can be commissioned this year include the Hornet and the Wasp (Essex class), but they will not be able to enter service after October, and then there will be the Franklin (Essex class) at the end of December, and we still hope to get three fleet carriers this year, and the rest will not be commissioned until next year." Admiral Kim reluctantly said the truth, "Originally, we thought that our aircraft carriers were enough, even after the losses of the South Pacific naval battle, but now it seems that it is far from enough." ”

Beginning in October 1942, the United States began construction of an average of more than one new Essex-class aircraft carrier per month, including:

the Franklin in October, to be completed by the end of 1943;

the Ticonderoga in November, to be completed in March 1944;

The USS Hancock and Bennington, December 1942 and January 1943, respectively, were expected to be completed in May 1944;

February and March were the Good Guy Richard and Randolph, which were completed about June '44;

After the defeat at Spruance in April, the reorganized General Committee of the Navy began construction of the three aircraft carriers Shangri-La, Lake Champlain, and Antietam in one fell swoop, requiring completion by September 1944.

Admiral King gave the shipyard a death order: it was required to send additional personnel to carry out three shifts, and in any case an Essex class must be completed in 17 months, and even the Franklin was required to be expelled, within 15 months.

After describing these, he added: "With the addition of another batch of Cleveland-class cruisers for the construction of the Independence-class aircraft carriers, it is expected that as the Essex ships are commissioned, there will be accompanying light aircraft carriers in service." However, there are some things that we can only give up, for example, we have completed the design of the Midway-class heavy armored aircraft carrier (more than 40,000 tons), but due to the long time, it is expected to take more than 30 months, so we decided to seal the drawings and not build it again, and concentrate on the construction of the Essex class with a period of only 15-18 months. ”

The participants still didn't feel fast enough about this, they didn't expect that the construction of the Yunlong class in Japan and Germany would take 18-22 months, and the displacement and carrier capacity after completion were only 60% of that of the Essex class.

"In addition......," Admiral Kim said after hesitating for a moment, "due to the large losses of aircraft carriers, the General Committee of the Navy, after discussion, decided to cancel the budget plan for the Kiritak-class hydro-aircraft carriers under construction, and prepare to imitate the Independence-class and transform it into a light aircraft carrier to strengthen and replenish it." ”

The Koritak-class water engine carrier is scheduled to have a displacement of 14,000 tons, due to the relatively weak defense force, its actual volume and space are more than the independent class, and the Korytak-class will be a separate class after the reconstruction, and it is expected that the carrier-based aircraft can reach 38-40, and the displacement is still maintained at more than 14,000 tons, a total of 3, which can be basically completed before the end of 1943. In addition, Admiral Kim also suggested that several large Alaska-class cruisers (equivalent to the battle cruisers in the definition of other countries) be given priority, and Japan initially escorted the mobile ships by the Kongo-class, and after the U.S. Navy sank all the heavy cruisers, no decent escort warships could be produced, and Admiral Kim decided to use the fast-paced Alaska-class as a mobile fleet bodyguard.

"I completely agree with these suggestions." Roosevelt gritted his teeth and said, "Starting next month, if the slipway is okay, Essex is going to build 2 ships a month and 24 ships a year, and I will find a way to find a way in Congress for funding." The United States is at a critical juncture, and everyone should show courage and responsibility. (To be continued.) )