Tan Renhao was also very simple, and while handing over the list of selected warships to Gan Yongxing, he also gave Gan Yongxing the new establishment list of the First Task Force.

"I told the principal that if you pick first, all that will be left for others will be leftovers." Gan Yongxing laughed as soon as he saw the list of battleships selected by Tan Renhao, "Your kid's appetite is not small, it seems that even the size of the aircraft carrier battle group has expanded." ”

"Two destroyers have been added, which is very necessary." Tan Renhao also laughed, he didn't feel that he was thick-skinned. "I had this idea before, there are a little fewer destroyers in the battle group, which can easily expose the fleet to a sneak attack by submarines. Although this has never happened, as the front advances eastward, we are getting closer and closer to the continental United States, and in the Central Pacific theater, the shore-based anti-submarine patrol aircraft that can be used are very limited, so it is necessary to have two more destroyers. ”

Gan Yongxing thought for a moment, then nodded. "No problem, at least I won't object. Now the speed of destroyer construction has been raised, and the Persian Empire has also funded us to improve a number of old destroyers and give them to their navy to use. ”

"The Persian Empire buys destroyers from us?" Tan Renhao was very surprised, as far as he knew, the Persian Empire could not build good aircraft carriers and the best battleships, but the ability to build destroyers was still there.

"Yes, and in large quantities. It was originally intended to buy our newest destroyers, and we agreed in principle, but the problem is. Now the new destroyers launched must first replenish the navy, the South Atlantic Fleet has been making trouble for a long time, if we sell new destroyers to the Persian Empire. I'm afraid Weng Yiming is going to jump back and find me desperately! ”

Tan Renhao immediately laughed, he also knew Weng Yiming. And he also got the help of Weng Yiming, and he had a good impression of this general.

"It's not that the Persian Empire can't be built, it's just that now they can't build it, and you know, the war has been fought until now. The Persian Empire was the weakest of our three major belligerents.

Ay! Gan Yongxing sighed, then shook his head, "When you went to the southwest Pacific, the naval commanders of the Persian Empire came to Zhoushan, and their emperor's envoys came, just to talk about aid. Actually, not to mention selling, even if it is a gift, we will not be stingy, after all, the Persian Empire is very important to us. But now we can't come up with any more new destroyers. Among the more than 100 old destroyers that were sealed, there was still a batch that had not been unsealed, so we sold these destroyers to the Persian Empire for emergencies. The battleship itself was gifted. And the Persian Empire used oil to cover the cost of the modification. In addition to some of the main components, these old destroyers will be modified to the specifications of the latest destroyers, mainly artillery, torpedoes, etc. Another part will be equipped with radar. ”

"Radar?" Tan Renhao was shocked again, now only cruisers in the Imperial Navy have radars installed. This is that the radar production is limited, so it can only be equipped with the most valuable warships, and the other is that the size of the radar system is not small, and the warships with a small displacement cannot be installed at all.

"Yes, the miniaturization of the radar has progressed, and the batch installed on the destroyers has simplified its functions, otherwise it will not be installed at all, which is a special requirement of the Persian Imperial Navy." Gan Yongxing explained simply, "We also plan to install radars on some destroyers from next year, mainly to reduce the size of the radar system without reducing performance."

We won't talk about this for the time being, we will discuss the fleet establishment arrangement you submitted as soon as possible, and the problem will not be very big. ”

"Chief of Staff, then please please, I can count on the arrival of these warships to get rid of the hat of the Commander of the Light Pole."

"You kid is flattering or selling, do you know how big this establishment is?" Gan Yongxing finally couldn't help it, "Before the war, how many warships did the empire's largest First Fleet have?" It's just more than thirty ships, and if you count them, according to your formation, how many warships are there in the First Task Force? ”

Tan Renhao immediately laughed, he was holding Jin Shan and crying poor.

"Three aircraft carrier battle groups, one independent artillery strike formation, combined, a total of 51 warships!" Gan Yongxing's mental arithmetic speed is still quite fast, "51 warships, how many countries' navies now have so many warships?" Not to mention anything else, if the First Task Force enters the Mediterranean, the combined fleets of Britain, France, Italy and Spain will have to flee for their lives, and if they rush to the North Atlantic, I am afraid that the German Navy will come out to meet them! ”

"Chief of Staff, you're not kidding, I don't want to go to the Atlantic!" Tan Renhao immediately opened the topic.

"I'm just making an analogy, even in the Pacific, on this scale, there are opponents?" Gan Yongxing took out a cigarette, "However, don't be careless, the first task force is the only three-aircraft carrier fleet in this plan, you should know the meaning of the principal's arrangement." ”

Tan Renhao let out a sigh. "Even with only two aircraft carriers, our task is not light."

"Two days ago we received an unofficial piece of information."

Tan Renhao was secretly startled and immediately concentrated his attention.

Gan Yongxing hesitated for a while and said: "The second batch of 'Essex' class aircraft carriers in service on the US side may not be just four, but most likely six.

"Six?" Tan Renhao immediately looked at the chief of staff in surprise, "Is the intelligence reliable?" ”

"We are still trying to confirm that we have contacted the German side and that German intelligence will cooperate with us." Gan Yongxing lit a cigarette, "If it is six, then in July, the US Navy will have six fleet aircraft carriers and nine small aircraft carriers, while we will only have eight fleet aircraft carriers and six small aircraft carriers in the Pacific theater, that is, we will not have any advantage in strength." ”

"Do you have to send forces to the South Pacific Fleet?" Tan Renhao had already calculated, "In addition, do you want to leave the 'Xuanzong' aircraft carrier in the Fourth Task Force for the time being, in this case......"

"I have made this proposal to the principal, who has not yet made a decision. Depending on what the principal means, I'm afraid our preparation plan will not change. Gan Yongxing shook his head, "The most critical thing now is when the 'Hulun Lake' aircraft carrier can be repaired." The previous exact news was that it would be fixed in October, and our request was in August. It was even fixed in July. Now they are in contact with the Jiangnan Shipyard, hoping that they can speed up the repair of the aircraft carrier, but there is little hope. That is, by that time, there is a high probability that we will have only seven fleet aircraft carriers.

You should be more aware of the status of the 'Xuanzong'. Many of the wounds on this aircraft carrier have not been treated, and now there are still dozens of engineers on the battleship, otherwise the aircraft carrier would have climbed down a long time ago. And aircraft carriers are perhaps more needed in the South Atlantic than in the Pacific theater. ”

"Why?" Tan Renhao picked up the teacup.

"It is very likely that the British Navy will send a fleet with aircraft carriers as the core to the South Atlantic in the near future, and it is very likely that three aircraft carriers will be sent over at once!"

"When is this information and how credible is it?" Tan Renhao almost jumped.

"Eighty percent credible, and it was sent a few days ago, along with that intelligence from the United States." Gan Yongxing was more calm, "However, the aviation combat capability of British aircraft carriers is relatively poor. An aircraft carrier has only about 60 aircraft, which is not much stronger than our small aircraft carriers, if the commander can effectively avoid the negative impact of the weather. It should be enough for us to send one fleet carrier and two smaller carriers to the South Atlantic theater of operations. ”

"Jiang Zhongmin is going to command this fleet?" Tan Renhao immediately thought of the previous personnel arrangement.

Gan Yongxing did not rush to speak, but thought for a while. "The specific arrangements have not come down, but the cooperation between you and Lei Shaoqing is more tacit, and the first task force still has to serve as the main force in the Pacific Ocean. There's no reason for you to pass, and then Task Force 2 won't either. The US Navy will also have four battleships in service, so Task Force 3 will also remain. If we continue to push for an offensive in the southwestern Pacific at the end of May, Task Force 4 will certainly remain. In other words, a new task force will be formed this time, and it will definitely be sent to the South Atlantic theater of operations. ”

"So, by July, we'll have only seven fleet carriers, four small carriers, and six battleships?"

Gan Yongxing nodded slightly. "The U.S. Navy, on the other hand, will most likely have six fleet carriers, nine small carriers, and seven battleships. Our capital ships are actually on the small side, and the only advantage is that we have more cruisers and destroyers, and the American fleet has serious problems in terms of configuration, and their new cruisers have just begun to enter service and cannot form a scale in the short term, so we still have a certain advantage in strength. ”

"It's not obvious, and escorting battleships is not a decisive force."

"Not necessarily, and it depends on who is in charge." Gan Yongxing laughed, "The First Task Force is the ironclad number one fleet. In fact, the principal wanted to give you a higher position at the beginning of the year, and it was precisely because of the fact that the strength of the US Navy would be restored quickly, so the principal did not promote you, but could only give you a first-class vice admiral. ”

"It's not a problem, in fact, I also want to stay in the fleet." Tan Renhao expressed his thoughts, "Of course, we still have a little advantage, and the quality of our officers and men, especially the quality of the pilots, is better.

In addition, our radar, and even anti-aircraft shells, are better, which can play a very key role on this battlefield. ”

"The lead on the radar is certain, and the United States will not want to catch up before 26 years. However, the US Navy's VT bomb must have completed testing, and will be handed over to the Navy for further testing in June, after which it will be equipped with troops. ”

"So fast?" Tan Renhao had to sigh at the speed at which the Americans were catching up.

"This is already slow, but we also have good news, the 80mm caliber VT shell completed the first round of testing last month, except for a few small problems, everything else has been met, or exceeded our requirements, and the second round of testing will be carried out at the beginning of next month, and then handed over to the Navy for the last test work before equipping."

"When will the troops be equipped?" This is indeed good news, and Tan Renhao's expression is also much more cheerful. Now in the fleet, 80-mm anti-aircraft guns are the main force, and if these anti-aircraft guns can be equipped with VT shells, then the air defense capability of the fleet will definitely be improved a lot.

"We have arranged for the second round of tests to be conducted at the same time as the military tests, and if it goes well, it will be delivered to the fleet at the end of June."

"It seems that this is indeed good news."

"There's a lot of good news, the Type 25 armor-piercing round has been tested, and now I've arranged for Chang Zhixin to be in charge of the military test, and if it meets our requirements, the Type 23 armor-piercing bullet will be replaced immediately. In addition, our new aviation torpedoes are also about to complete tests, and the fourth batch of new fighters of the HNA is also undergoing test flights, which are expected to start mass production before the end of the year, and our new warships are also being produced. Gan Yongxing also said vigorously, "There is a piece of news that you will definitely want to know." ”

"What?" Tan Renhao was also intrigued.

"The preliminary design of the new aircraft carrier has been completed, and a large number of new technologies have been adopted, all of which are designed in response to the problems exposed in the actual combat and the improvement plans reflected by the grassroots troops, among which there are several major improvements, I am afraid you have not thought of them."

"What new technology?" Tan Renhao immediately became happy, this was the best news he had heard.

"Well, I don't know, it's the Naval Equipment Technology Office that is in charge." Gan Yongxing shrugged his shoulders, not like he was fishing for Ren Hao's appetite, "However, there will definitely be news before the end of the year, before the construction starts, I will get the specific design book, and when the time comes, you can just come and see it." ”

"At the end of the year? Well, maybe that's what we really need! ”

"Maybe, but now our aircraft carriers are better than all our opponents, don't you say?"

Tan Renhao immediately laughed, the combat effectiveness, survivability, and excellent performance of the "Lake" class aircraft carriers have been confirmed in the battle, relatively speaking, the American "Essex" class aircraft carriers are a little worse than the "Lake" class aircraft carriers, and the British aircraft carriers are even worse.

"Alright, it's time for me to do my job." Gan Yongxing stood up, "The First Task Force has become the number one fleet, and you are also the commander of the number one fleet, don't let the principal down." ”

Tan Renhao also immediately resigned, for the title of the number one fleet commander, he felt that it was a high hat!