Reddell's office is located at the end of the hallway on the second floor, a relatively secluded location that allows him to conduct business in peace and quiet. When Fang Yan came to www.biquge.info the door, he saw that Reddell was wearing thin-rimmed glasses reviewing a blueprint, and his focused expression did not even know that someone was present. Fang Yan stared at this familiar face, quietly hiding all his emotions, he immediately took a deep breath and knocked on the purple wood door at hand.

"Jonas? You've come just in time, the Armament Bureau has just submitted the latest revised drawings of the H-40 battleship. Raeder's expression was first surprised, and then very naturally transformed into a smile, and he greeted Fang Yan at the door. With a relaxed and friendly expression, he continued: "The 40 in the code name refers to the year 1940, which is a new scheme based on the design of last year's H-39. You, an expert in warship design, should evaluate it in advance. ”

Fang Yan nodded, walked over to Reddell's side and looked at it, the design of a handsome and majestic giant ship was drawn on the blueprint in a semi-transparent way, and the intricate lines like a nebula were enough to make any layman dizzy, and he was no longer willing to stare at it for a second. Fang Yan examined the layout of the main body of the battleship in the drawings, and then looked at the scale bar and the data sheet in the corner, the blue tendons on his forehead jumped slightly, and then put the document he was carrying in his hand in front of Raeder's desk.

"Your Excellency Marshal, I have come to you to discuss this year's shipbuilding plan. In my opinion, neither the previously planned H-39, nor today's H-40, should be put into practice. Fang Yan said.

"It's true that they're all technically great designs. However, in the current era, these two levels of warships no longer have the cost-effectiveness ratio we imagined. The cost of a single 70,000-ton H-39 is expected to reach 280 million marks, and the 80,000-ton H-40 will exceed 320 million. And with last month's Battle of Norway, the 10-year-old battle for battleships and aircraft carriers has come to an end, and I don't think it's the most cost-effective option if we start construction of such a large battleship again. Fang Yan said calmly.

Raeder's expression was different, and after a moment, he suddenly realized that the young man in front of him was no longer the hot front-line commander, but had been assigned to the Repair Bureau by himself. In this way, it became his job to raise objections to the ship-building plan, and it was a matter of course. Raeder secretly lamented his old age and sluggishness, and asked softly, "Then what kind of warship should we build according to your opinion?" ”

Fang Yan did not directly answer Raeder's question, but analyzed it from the perspective of macro formation: "In the future, the German Navy should be an ocean-going strike force with regular armored aircraft carriers as the core, and the potential imaginary enemy is the expanding US Navy. Therefore, our entire shipbuilding program should be carried out around this premise. ”

"As the core and main force of the ocean-going fleet, the 32,000-ton Zeppelin improved aircraft carrier, which started construction last year, is the most ideal choice. The armored aircraft carrier of this type of hull has become technically mature, and the price of a single ship after mass production is expected to be controlled below 100 million marks, even if the procurement and maintenance of aircraft and the daily training expenses of pilots are added, the comprehensive expenditure will not be higher than that of a new 40,000-ton battleship. As long as production capacity and resources allow, the number of aircraft carriers built is as large as possible. Fang Yan replied quickly and clearly, obviously planning this question for a long time.

"The Z-type armored destroyer is capable of a variety of tasks such as air defense, ship-to-ship, and anti-submarine, and has ocean-going capabilities, making it an ideal escort for armored aircraft carriers. Considering that destroyers are maintained much more frequently than aircraft carriers, the minimum number of aircraft carriers built should not be less than 8 to 1. In contrast, although the submarine is also an indispensable force, it needs to rely on the strength of surface ships to maximize its effectiveness, so we only need to expand its scale in small steps, and focus on breakthroughs in performance technology. ”

"As for the battleships, there is absolutely no need to continue their construction. In the past, it assumed the main anti-ship function, but now the aircraft carrier aircraft can do better than it; The battleship that has lost this most important function will have its cost performance in the fleet sharply reduced, and it is difficult to reflect this value when it has heavy artillery and thick armor. ”

Speaking of this, Fang Yan glanced at Raeder with a little regret and said, "As early as 5 years ago, I put forward this idea. Even taking into account the need to engage in battles in the waters of the North Sea, where visibility is poor, the standard displacement of the new battleship should be limited to 35,000 tons. However, you still chose the 45,600-ton plan, and asked Krupp to develop a more technically difficult 450 mm gun and supporting servo equipment. If this were not the case, today we would not be able to use not 2 but 3 Zeppelin-class aircraft carriers. ”

Raeder was depressed, and he knew that Fang Yan, who was an aviation party, would definitely come up with this theory of the omnipotence of airplanes. It's just that five years ago, Fang Yan was still a small major staff officer, and his light words were not enough to influence the decision-making of the Navy Headquarters, but today, he is already the rear admiral in charge of the Shipbuilding and Maintenance Bureau, and his clear attitude is no longer easy to ignore. Although Raeder can still forcibly subdue the other party as a marshal, the other party is the key person in charge of shipbuilding after all; If he does not approve of this decision of the Navy Headquarters in his heart, then the construction of these giant ships will definitely be treated negatively in the future.

In addition to being depressed, Raeder couldn't help but sigh. Although he can't judge whether the young man in front of him has seen through his Mingsheng and derogatory treatment of him, judging from his performance today, he is undoubtedly still concerned about the navy, and sincerely hopes that this group can become more prosperous and powerful.

"Jonas, now no one questions the status of carrier-based aviation as the main force in naval warfare. The reason why we want to develop more powerful battleships is based on the following three reasons. ”

Raeder's voice was serene and calm, unhurried: "The Norwegian naval battle has proven that battleships can still play the role of a mainstay in certain circumstances. Whether it's to deter an enemy fleet or maintain a usable core in bad weather, a battleship can find its battlefield niche and function steadily. And you should understand that the value of a warship is not fully reflected in battle. As long as our military uses it properly, the deterrent power of super battleships against the enemy will run through the entire campaign, forcing the enemy to respond at the expense of the overall situation. ”

"In addition, the battleship was an important anti-aircraft fire platform around the aircraft carrier. The Z-type destroyer can only be equipped with 24 small-caliber anti-aircraft guns, while the battleship can easily install more than 100 guns, and the platform stability of the latter is by no means comparable to the former, and this efficiency is significantly higher than that of the destroyer. This is clearly shown by the statistics of our record of shooting down British planes. If only Z-type destroyers are used to escort aircraft carriers, there will be obvious shortcomings in the fleet's surface air defense capability. ”

"Finally, we must think about dealing with a battleship race with the United States. At present, the caliber of the main guns of the Bismarck class is no secret, and it is very likely that the Americans with strong technical force will equip their new battleships with 18 or even 20-inch guns. Only if we build ships with 530 mm guns can we hold the existing advantage. Feeling Fang Yan's original intention of caring about the development of the navy, Raeder also explained patiently.

Fang Yan shook his head slightly, but there was an unmoved firmness in his flat words: "Our army has already built 4 battleships. If they are allowed to serve as flagships, they can support ample naval defense firepower for the four aircraft carrier fleets. Together with the existing 9 cruisers and numerous destroyers, this escort lineup is more than enough to deal with any possible contingencies. Even if it encounters continuous bad weather, our military can rely on radar warning, warship speed, artificial smoke, and oxygen torpedoes to protect itself, and then use carrier-based aircraft to carry out counterattacks. ”

"If you have a convenient plane, why use artillery to fight the enemy? In the future Atlantic naval warfare, which is dominated by mobility, our army will no longer need to use a fleet to defend an important port like in the Norwegian campaign. Surface artillery battles cannot be fought, and they can be turned at high speed, and the enemy will not be able to retain our warships without relying on air power. ”

Fang Yan paused and concluded: "Therefore, it is meaningless for our army to compete with the Americans in battleships. Even if they really build a giant ship equipped with 20-inch cannons in the future, they will not be able to catch up with and destroy our aircraft carrier formation, and will eventually become the best target for our carrier-based aircraft when the sea conditions are good. As for the problem of surface air defense of the fleet, we can build a full-time cruiser to solve it. ”

"In long-range naval warfare with aircraft carriers at its core, the battleship's powerful main guns and unrivaled vertical armor are useless. We can consider stripping these two attributes from it and building an air defense cruiser equipped with 16~20 128 mm anti-aircraft guns and more than 80 small-caliber rapid-fire guns. If there is such an anti-aircraft fortress on both sides of the front of every aircraft carrier, it will be difficult for enemy fighters to have the opportunity to drop torpedoes on our aircraft carriers. And their construction cost is obviously much lower than that of battleships. Fang Yan said his plan.

Raeder chewed Fang Yan's words carefully, and there was a light in his eyes that flickered. On the issue of building ships, Raeder considered more from a strategic point of view, in order to form a balance of power deterrence against the imaginary enemy, but the young man in front of him was based on the naval battle itself and directly abandoned the role of super battleships from the tactical level. If what the other party said is true, his shipbuilding plan based on "checks and balances" is indeed a bit of a waste of money. After all, defeating the enemy in battle is the core pursuit of a fleet!