Section 26 Leaving in Disgrace (II)
On the whole, the Fifth Fleet won the naval battle. From the most crucial strategic point of view, the Fifth Fleet's sortie was very successful, and all the strategic tasks that needed to be accomplished have been accomplished, and the strategic objectives have been achieved. Japan's indefinite postponement of the plan to land on Jeju Island has already bought the empire valuable time to strengthen the defense of Jeju Island and the Korean Peninsula, complete the mobilization for the war, and prevent the empire itself from being attacked by Japan.
When Tan Renhao planned this operation, he had already determined that the purpose of the campaign was to disintegrate or delay Japan's landing operation on Jeju Island, and the strategic purpose was to cover the northeastern region of the empire and avoid the empire from breaking out a ground war with Japan prematurely, so as to gain time for the empire to mobilize and prepare for war. From the perspective of the setting of this strategic purpose, Tan Renhao grasped the key point of the battle very well, and this was also the most important point of the empire at that time. If the empire were to be prematurely involved in a ground war with Japan, the consequences would have been unimaginable.
In the combat operations of the Fifth Fleet, Tan Renhao has always insisted on advancing toward this strategic goal. Judging from the blow to Japan's Southwest Combined Fleet, Tan Renhao wanted to disintegrate the combat strength of the Southwest Fleet and make the Japanese troops landing on Jeju Island lose air cover. Subsequently, the empire strengthened its defenses on Jeju Island and deployed more bombers and fighters to Jeju Island, which was enough to force the rest of Japan's fleet not to easily approach Jeju Island without the cover of aircraft carriers, and dismantled Japan's landing operation plan on Jeju Island. Although it was not able to sink the Japanese aircraft carrier in the end, its campaign and strategic objectives were achieved.
Of course, in terms of losses, the losses of the Fifth Fleet were no less than those of the Japanese Southwestern Fleet, but the strategic purpose was the most important when determining the success of a campaign. Although Japan's Southwest Combined Fleet "retreated," all three aircraft carriers were severely damaged, lost the ability to continue operations, and needed to be repaired at the shipyard for several months. And it will take nearly half of the time for Japan's newly built aircraft carriers to be able to form combat effectiveness. In other words, within half a year, Japan will not be able to restore its sea supremacy over the seas. And half a year later, the first batch of newly built aircraft carriers of the Tang Empire will be put into service, and the strength of the Tang Empire's navy will also be restored at that time, so it is difficult to predict whether Japan can rely on its own aircraft carrier fleet to maintain air supremacy. And for the Tang Empire, the first half year after the outbreak of the war was the most important, and it was a critical period for the empire to mobilize its war potential.
The criticism of Sajitin did not mention this, and the "conservatives" led by Admiral Jiang Bangguo directly made a fuss about the tactical results, arguing that the failure of the Fifth Fleet to annihilate the Japanese Southwest Combined Fleet was already a major defeat. Moreover, in the operation, the Fifth Fleet lost one-third of its pilots, resulting in the Fifth Air Wing being unable to continue to participate in the war, so the Fifth Fleet also lost the ability to continue operations. Of course, what these people criticized the most was the combat effectiveness of the aircraft carrier, and in the eyes of Admiral Jiang Bangguo, it was still the battleship, not the aircraft carrier, that decided the victory or defeat at sea.
Although Xue Xiyue did not directly admit the views of these people, the "anti-Sa" forces within the navy were already very arrogant, and Chief of Staff Liao Hanxiang was also implicated. Before the war, Sajeting was guaranteed to be able to "annihilate" Japan's Southwest Combined Fleet and allow the Fifth Fleet to seize sea supremacy in the East China Sea and the Yellow Sea. As a result, neither of these objectives was actually achieved, especially as the Japanese Continental Fleet moved into the port of Naha, and the Imperial Navy lost, at least superficially, its supremacy in the East and Yellow Seas, and the coastal towns in the eastern part of the Empire were exposed to the guns of the Japanese Continental Fleet. Of course, the Japanese home fleet did not have the courage to operate within 500 kilometers of the Imperial coastline, because the shore-based aviation of the Imperial Navy, as well as the Imperial Army aviation, did not lose its combat effectiveness.
As a result, neither of the campaign objectives guaranteed by Sajetin was accomplished. Now, there is actually only one choice in front of Sajiting, that is, to leave the Imperial Navy with dignity and have Admiral Jiang Bangguo as the commander of the Imperial Navy. Similarly, Admiral Liao Hanxiang, the chief of staff of the Navy promoted by Sajiting, faced the same situation, either leaving voluntarily or waiting for Jiang Bangguo to be dismissed after taking office.
Just a month after the end of the naval battle, Marshal Saditin resigned from the post of commander of the Imperial Navy on the grounds of ill health and officially retired from the Imperial Navy. At the same time, Liao Hanxiang also took the initiative to apply for resignation from the post of chief of staff of the Imperial Navy and return to the Fifth Fleet. His first application was approved by Prime Minister Xue Xiyue, but the latter application was denied, and he was transferred to the Imperial Navy Reserve Command, where he was responsible for training pilots of the Imperial Naval Aviation while retaining the rank of admiral. Then, Jiang Bangguo was awarded the title of Marshal of the Imperial Navy by Xue Xiyue, and then officially became the commander of the Imperial Navy. Within a few days, he nominated former Second Fleet Chief of Staff Wei Yihan to be Chief of Staff of the Navy, and Wei Yihan was immediately promoted to admiral.
This series of personnel changes in the Navy did not attract much attention, and the only thing that attracted attention was the dismal departure of Marshal Saditin. Although he still enjoys the treatment of a marshal, in fact, he has become a "sinner" of the Imperial Navy. At least, in the eyes of those imperial soldiers and civilians who were confused by propaganda, this image of Sajetin was not at all glorious.
The dismal departure of General Liao Hanxiang caused a great commotion in the Fifth Fleet, and Wu Xianyu and Ji Xiaobin were even ready to directly "write" to the imperial prime minister, while dozens of officers in the Fifth Fleet who came to the navy with Liao Hanxiang were even ready to resign en masse. However, in the end, it was Liao Hanxiang who stepped in to calm the emotions of these subordinates and let them stay in the navy and continue to fight for the empire. At this critical time, the empire could no longer stand the toss.
The biggest changes brought about by the dismal departure of Sajiting and Liao Hanxiang, as well as the coming to power of Jiang Bangguo and Wei Yihan, were in the navy's battle plan. The Fifth Fleet had completely stepped aside, and Jiang Bangguo even ordered the construction of several aircraft carriers to be slowed down, arranging the construction of several battleships that had been stopped by Sajting in the first place, and at the same time asking the Guangzhou Shipyard to repair the battleships of the Second Fleet as soon as possible. Obviously, Jiang Bangguo did not believe in aircraft carriers, he believed that the battleships that were commanded by him to defeat the Western Combined Fleet back then, and the Imperial Navy went to the side of the abyss at this time!
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