The [Archangel] assault landing ship can be said to be the first landing ship in the true sense of the word built by the West so far, why not say it is worldwide, it is because as early as seven years ago, Japan built a special transport ship [Shenshu Maru] specially used for landing operations.

The Shenzhou Maru is a special transport ship developed by the Japanese Army to bypass the Navy, and its design goal is an amphibious assault ship used to transport and support the landing of army troops on enemy coasts.

Because it is a new ship type developed by Japan alone, there is no precedent in the world field to learn from, and the Japanese can only explore and develop all the technical equipment and means of use. Due to the technical limitations of the Japanese army, the [Shenzhou Maru] is not a truly modern landing ship, and there are many defects in the performance and combat use of the ship.

When the Battle of Dunkirk ended and Xu Jun ascended the throne, the German Navy immediately launched the research and development program of new amphibious ships. During this period, the top brass of the Navy constantly felt tremendous pressure from the Führer's office, and it was obvious that the Führer had been keeping an eye on the progress of the construction of these landing ships, and although the specific reasons were not known, the Navy Command did not dare to slack off in the slightest.

The new landing ships of the German army already have a complete family system, and the Führer has come up with a bunch of drawings of various types of ships, and the objects currently being built are mainly tank landing ships and infantry transport and landing ships.

The Germans have launched five large tank landing ships alone (the drawings are from the US Navy's LST), and at least 20 more of the same type are being built on slipways in European countries.

The Nazi high-level knew that the new Führer was more willful, and sometimes he would come up with something extra-specious, and the [Archangel] was the product of the Führer on a certain whim. The blueprint for the construction of this large landing ship is also based on the drawings of the United States Navy, the famous Asland-class Large Dock Landing Ship (LSD).

Historically, the U.S. Navy was asked by the British side to develop these special landing ships, because for the U.S. government, the United States has no need to develop and equip such ships. The geographical location of the United States has kept it away from Eurasia, and since the Great Depression, the entire government has lost interest in overseas territories, and there have been rising calls for isolationism, both in politics and among the people, and only idiots would want to build a special ship to carry soldiers across the ocean and launch expeditions to other continents.

The U.S. Navy was inspired by the Japanese Army's special landing ships to develop a personnel landing craft for the Marine Corps, but it was limited to small-tonnage barge landing craft and did not need to have ocean-going capabilities.

In order to achieve Churchill's goal of "going back to Europe", the British Navy specially modified three shallow sea tankers and installed them with bow-open hatches.

The British Royal Navy provided the United States with the technology they mastered, and promoted the development of landing ships of the United States Navy, and finally when the Pacific War broke out, the need for counterattacks on the Japanese-occupied islands led to the United States began to develop a large number of landing ships of various types, and in just two years, it developed a huge family of amphibious assault ships with 25 types of ships and dozens of derivative improvements, and thus laid the foundation for the US Navy to dominate the two oceans after the war. The U.S. armed forces, which have a huge landing fleet, can launch transcontinental ocean-going landings in any corner of the world, against any coastal island country or mainland country.

Xu Jun's goal is that even if Germany does not have territorial claims on other continental countries after the war, such a large-scale intercontinental military projection capability is still necessary, not only for international strategic deterrence, but also as an important guarantee of European regional security.

At the same time, in the upcoming war on the Eastern Front, the German army's landing tactics are also very brave, the northern part of the Soviet Union has a large and complex coastline, and a large-scale landing operation behind enemy lines may be able to reverse the victory or defeat of a major battle. In addition, the German army's control of North Africa and the Mediterranean region, and the projection of troops to the Asian colonies, all of which required efficient and professional landing ships, according to the calculations of the high command, the German army also needed to be equipped with at least 80 main landing ships of 5,000 tons to barely meet the needs of these tasks.

As mentioned earlier, the [Archangel] is an out-of-specification product, she is the first dock landing ship converted for the purpose of ocean-going landing operations, and even the German Führer personally participated in the design of some details, and invested a lot of manpower and material resources for this warship, whether it is technical equipment and ship performance, this ship has left the Japanese [Shenzhou Maru] far behind.

This dock landing ship was originally a large ro-ro transport ship customized by the German Hamburg shipping company, which was two laps larger than the historical American blueprint Aslander class, with a waterline length of 172 meters, a deck width of 23.9 meters, a standard displacement of 7,500 tons, and a full load displacement of up to 12,000 tons. After the modification, the power of the ship was replaced by 16 British Navy oil-fired boilers and four steam turbine units, which could provide 45,000 horsepower for the ship, so that this behemoth of more than 10,000 tons could sail continuously for 2,000 nautical miles at a high speed of 22 knots, and if it was cruising at a cruising speed of 10 knots per hour, the landing ship could have a cruising capacity of 10,000 nautical miles, and could sail directly from the European mainland to any Asian colony without stopping at any port on the way.

The sheer tonnage of the ship made it quite self-sufficient, and after a single replenishment, the ship's stockpiles were enough to sustain 2,000 soldiers and 600 crew members for a month. At the same time, the ship's special fuel and weapons storage can also carry enough fuel and ammunition reserves for a standard German armored battalion to fight continuously for a week.

The most striking thing is the firepower of this landing ship, and don't forget that Randolph used the name "Assault Landing Ship" when introducing this warship.

[Archangel] This is not one of those poor and unresponsive sea matchboxes in the history of World War II, she is the legendary archangel Michael who holds a holy sword to defeat the enemy.

The battleship had a tall British-style square bridge with a triple 150-mm gun mounted on the forward deck. This main gun directly uses the same CrhLC/25 turret design as the Nuremberg light cruiser, and the rotating part plus various servo machinery under the deck adds up to a total of 140 tons, but for this 10,000-ton assault landing ship, this weight is only a drop in the barrel.

At the same time, two "Fafnier" six-barreled rapid-fire guns were installed on each side of the bridge, and in twelve anti-aircraft gun nests extending out of the sea on both sides of the cargo deck, a Flak40/E twin-mounted water-cooled 40-mm machine gun produced by Rheinland Steel was installed in each of the twelve anti-aircraft gun nests extending out of the sea.

The British Royal Navy and the German Navy have conducted hundreds of experiments on the German modified version of the British MKI twin-mounted water-cooled 40 cannon, and the results have satisfied all the naval experts involved, including the British Royal Navy, almost all European navies have placed orders with Rheinland Steel, or asked for a license to produce it in their own countries, this high-performance machine gun will become the first universal medium and short-range air defense weapon in the navies of European countries.

The Archangel has the firepower to fight with regular warships, and at the same time, it also has the ability to suppress the enemy's beachhead defense on its own, and can cover the landing craft to force the landing landing in the enemy's attack, which is the source of the ship's confidence in adding that attack (attack) to its name.

The Red Sea, one of the first inland seas to be seafared by man, has been shrouded in magical legends since the Middle Ages, and it is unknown how many voyagers have sailed merchant ships on this not-so-red sea to transport goods from the mysterious Orient to Europe via Egypt.

Therefore, it is also the most active area of Arab pirates, they even cut off the connection between Asia and Europe for a time, these Arab bandits who sail the local dhow pirate ships, have always been known for their cruelty, and until the 19th century, there are still many Western merchant ships sailing in the Red Sea and the Indian Ocean, attacked by Arab pirate gangs.

The British Empire must maintain the maritime connection between the homeland and India, the jewel in the crown of the empire, especially after the Suez Canal was opened, the Arab pirates became the biggest threat to the empire's new Eurasian trade routes, so under the fierce blows of the Royal Navy of the British Empire, the Arab pirates had to retreat from the stage of history, and those wielding Arab scimitars have since disappeared in the Red Sea and the Indian Ocean.

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"Why is this area called the Red Sea?" Randolph stood on the bridge of the Archangel and asked Captain Rudolph beside him.

"It is said to have been given the name by the ancient Greeks who first came here, and they may have seen a red seaweed bloom." Thomas. Admiral Rudolph is the first captain of the Archangel, and if nothing else, he will be promoted to rear admiral during his tenure.

"How much more time do you need to sail? Mr. Captain. Randolph then asked.

"It's 6:20 a.m., and we'll be on the target coast in an hour, and it's sunrise time, and we'll be on the Arabian coast with the rising sun." Colonel Rudolph replied.

"What an exciting sight it will be, and I will record the entire landing process with a camera and put it in a report to the Führer." Randolph said excitedly.

"It's still early, Lieutenant Colonel Randolph, why don't you go to the lounge below, our chef has prepared a sumptuous breakfast for all the officers participating in the battle." Colonel Rudolph said with a smile.

"Really? Then I'm going to have to try it. Randolph swallowed.

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The Archangel was designed as the flagship of the landing operation, and a complete command system was set up in the huge bridge, in addition to a large number of radio communication equipment, there were also rest rooms for officers at all levels and a well-equipped combat command center.

"The six heavy armored vehicles of the third company and the second platoon will set off first as the first wave of landing echelons." Major Wycombe held a baton and pointed at an elaborate sand table.

"This is the only beach found by our military intelligence that is suitable for heavy landing craft to land, and it must be noted that the seabed in the vicinity is full of hard coral reef rocks." Feng. Major Wycombe pointed out the coastline near the landing zone.

"This is the only 150-metre-long stretch of beach that has a relatively flat seabed and a gravel path behind the beach that connects to the coastal road to Yanbu Port." The battalion commander pointed out the location of that trail.

"From here all the way south, the coast is full of cliffs, and the next suitable place for landing is near the port of Jeddah." Battalion Operations Staff Captain Gruma added with a document.

"According to the information we have so far, the enemy forces do not know anything about our landing operations, and they do not have any arrangements for coastal defense." Wycombe explained.

At that time, Saudi Arabia did not have any concept of coastal defense, and the special topography of the seabed along the Red Sea coast made it unsuitable for ships to land, which has been repeatedly confirmed in the history of thousands of years. So the Arabs never feared an enemy attacking them from the sea, and their defense was focused on those thousand-year-old trade routes and oases.

These are actually hundreds of years old, with the support of modern navigation technology, those naval powers have enough ability to survey a safe shipping lane. The British Royal Navy's submarine survey ships have long figured out the hydrographic information of this coast, and the seemingly safe Arabian coast has long lost its mystery.

The Germans were given a precise chart from the Royal Navy, which showed all the places where ships could land, those that could dock 10,000 tons of ships, those that could only pass 20 sampans, and the British even had a good grasp of the local tides, and marked the speed and direction of the undercurrents on the seabed on the charts. This is the foundation of the world's old naval powers, which makes these Germans have to feel convinced.

In front of the British Royal Fleet, the nascent German Navy was just a recent graduate, full of muscles, but lacking connotation and heritage. The British have now insisted that the Royal Navy was actually defeated by themselves, and that the repeated tactical and command mistakes finally buried the glory and glory of the Royal Navy accumulated over hundreds of years. However, an unnamed Royal Navy admiral once said that if the Royal Navy was given a chance to do it again, it would be... I will no longer provoke the apostle of God, His Excellency the Führer of Germany.

"This blonde boy is so wicked, it's like he's an illegitimate child of God." According to the reporter's recollection, the Royal Admiral was quite emotional when he said this, constantly waving the potato paring knife in his hand.

"Sir, the bridge called, and the loading of the second platoon has been completed." An ensign reported.

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In addition to carrying a batch of mechanized landing craft inside, the "Archangel" also towed four heavy tank landing craft on the rear side, and these 220-ton steel motor barges are equipped with springboard hatches that can be lowered at the front and rear, which can transport six 30-ton armored vehicles or two 50-ton heavy tanks at a time to directly land on the beach.

At that time, during the landing operation, the transfer of armored vehicles was generally divided into two types, one was to use a crane on the deck to lift the tank vehicle into the cabin of the landing craft, and the other was unique to the dock landing ship, that is, the mechanized landing craft (LCM) carried directly from the dock deck into the ship. When the landing operation begins, the dock landing ship only needs to open the ballast water tank at the bottom of the hull, reduce the draft at the tail, and let seawater pour into the tank, and then the mechanized landing craft in the dock cabin floats on its own and drives out of the cabin through the tail hatch. However, this method can only be carried out after the ship has stopped, otherwise the wake stirred up by the propellers of the landing ship can easily overturn these small boats.

The second row of armored vehicles had entered the mechanized landing craft in the bilge, facing the two LCMs at the front of the stern, loaded with the two saber-toothed tigers, and under the bright lights of the cabin, the two sand-yellow wheeled combat vehicles were majestic, and the muzzle brakes with black paint flashed with a cold cold light.

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"Attention! Note! The last twenty minutes are ready! All units go to combat duty! Repeat, all units go to combat positions! The dock deck personnel check their respective life jackets, and the officers and men on the combat post must wear their own steel helmets! After two shrill whistles, a clear female voice sounded in the microphones around the cabin.

"Hurry, hurry! Everyone move, don't stand stupidly, where are you going? Idiot! The stairs on the transfer deck are over there! Footsteps began to ring in the hallway, and the non-commissioned officers roared loudly to command their soldiers.

"One last check of their respective weapons, the machine gunner stepped forward."

"Class 3, walk on the right, look at my hand, this side is the right."

"Don't buckle the steel helmet strap too tightly, and don't inflate the life jacket in advance."

"Follow your squad leader closely when you go ashore, and if anyone falls behind, join the unit closest to you."

"Although you have already experienced two landing battles, I still want to remind you not to stand stupidly in place after you go ashore, but to attack in the direction of depth as quickly as possible." On the transfer deck, the squad leaders of the motorized infantry company began to give their men a final reminder.

"Guys, let's go slaughter those guys who drink camel urine!" Suddenly, a non-commissioned officer shouted loudly.

"Victory!" An SS assault soldier beside him raised his submachine gun in his hand.

"Hooray!" The surrounding soldiers responded excitedly.

"Victory!" The soldier raised his arms again and shouted.

"Hooray!" On the transfer deck, a neat and loud cheer rang out.

PS: The author wishes all book friends a safe and auspicious Dragon Boat Festival.

Thank you for your support, today's competition is still fierce, I remember that around noon I was overtaken by the opponent by a few votes,

I would like to ask you to continue to support the commuter pass, and there is only one day left until the end of the month.

In this month, I have received support and encouragement from countless book friends, and their words of support have given me the reason and motivation to keep writing.

I also saw the unity and enthusiasm of the book friends, and everyone voted for the monthly vote again and again, so that the book has achieved unprecedented good results since the restoration.

In the next month, I will continue to work hard and do my best to come up with a wonderful plot and repay everyone's support for me.

Thank you.