Whether it is a land war or a naval war, the dependence on logistics is particularly huge. The famous saying that "before the soldiers and horses move, the grain and grass go first" was summed up by ancient military strategists thousands of years ago, which is enough to prove the importance of logistics support in warfare. At the stage of modern warfare, the consumption of ammunition, fuel, food, water, spare parts, clothing, medicines, and other war materials is even more alarming, and these materials belong to the scope of logistics support.

Looking at the battles throughout the war, it is clear that in each battle, the logistics investment of the belligerents is far greater than that on the front line. The same is true in the Pacific theater, from 25 onwards, the total number of combat troops put into the front line by the Tang Imperial Navy rarely exceeded 500,000, while the number of troops performing logistics support tasks in the rear has always exceeded 2 million. Before and after the attack on the Australian mainland, the Imperial Navy's logistical support forces in the Pacific theater even exceeded 3 million!

Relatively speaking, the Pacific theater was relatively advantageous for the Imperial Navy, with vast seas, convenient, basically covered transportation routes, a well-developed base network, and suitable weather, all of which were favorable conditions for logistical support. Under normal circumstances, it only takes half a month to twenty days for a fleet to send supplies to the frontline battlefield from the Empire's home port, and a round trip for the fleet, including the time for loading and unloading goods, is only two months at most. And throughout the year, excluding normal maintenance time, a transport ship can run at least five times from the front line to the rear. In addition, the use of segmented transportation method can also effectively improve the utilization efficiency of ships. However, it was precisely under this relatively favorable situation that the Imperial Navy still had to concentrate more than 2,000 transport ships in the Pacific Ocean to be able to provide sufficient combat materials for the front-line combat troops!

Logistical conditions in the South Atlantic are much worse.

In terms of range, even from the port of Canton at the southern tip of the empire, it would ideally take a transport ship with an average speed of 12 knots to reach the port of Cape Town without encountering any rough sea conditions. This does not take into account the refueling of port calls along the way, as well as the impact of weather factors. In the vast majority of cases, it takes an average of forty days for a fleet to reach Cape Town from Guangzhou. If the port of departure is in the eastern part of the empire, then you have to add two or three days. In other words, it takes three months for a transport ship to make a round trip, and excluding the normal maintenance time, a transport ship can sail more than three times a year on the route from Guangzhou to Cape Town. This is equivalent to a reduction in transportation efficiency by nearly 40%! In order to ensure that one main fleet, as well as three marine divisions, are to operate at the front, at least in the South Seas, is to be carried out in a segmented manner. A total of 1,200 1,000-ton ships have been deployed in the Indian Ocean and the South Atlantic, and this number will continue to grow as the expeditionary force moves north.

This was the biggest problem faced by Jiang Zhongmin and Weng Yiming at that time. Unlike on the Pacific side, the Imperial Expeditionary Force was limited in its operations in the South Atlantic.

The coast of the Indian Ocean, as well as the African continent, have always been the most backward and underdeveloped regions in the world. Especially after the opening of the Suez Canal, merchant ships no longer need to go around the Cape of Good Hope, which makes the southern Indian Ocean and southern Africa a corner of the world. There are not enough large ports. It will not be able to support enough transport fleets. The most troublesome thing was that almost all the war materiel had to be transported from the empire mainland to the South Atlantic. And this long supply line by sea is a big headache for any army. And these problems almost do not exist in the Pacific Ocean, so Tan Renhao does not need to think about this problem, but Jiang Zhongmin and Weng Yiming have to put logistics support in the first place.

The first northward descent of the Second Fleet was a failure. The fundamental reason is that logistics cannot keep up. In the new operational plan submitted by Jiang Zhongmin and Weng Yiming, the focus was on solving the problem of troublesome logistical support. To solve this problem, we must proceed from two aspects: First, we must increase input in logistical support, and second, we must reduce the consumption in battle as much as possible and reduce the pressure on logistical support.

Strengthening logistical support is a matter for the Navy Command, and this point is relatively easy to satisfy. Judging from a document attached to Gan Yongxing, as the fighting on the Australian mainland came to an end, the Imperial Navy's transport fleet in the Pacific Ocean had surplus capacity, so it could send a fleet of transport ships to the Indian Ocean and the South Atlantic. Strengthen the delivery capacity over there. In addition, the empire could also cooperate with Persia, and the Persian empire would provide fuel for the expeditionary force, so that there would be no need to send fuel from the empire mainland to the South Atlantic, and the fleet would depart directly from the Persian Gulf, which would shorten the voyage of about 4,000 nautical miles and save at least nearly a month of sailing time for the ships transporting fuel. Of course, there are other ways to help, such as in the Indian subcontinent. Or the establishment of food processing plants, textile factories in Ceylon. The construction of more infrastructure in major ports along the route, such as the Lion City, Colombo, Cape Town, etc., especially the dockyards that can be used for the overhaul of transport ships, so that there is no need to return ships to the mainland of the empire for repairs, which can also save a lot of time, increase the on-sail rate of ships, and thus improve transportation efficiency. The specific measures are arranged by the Navy Command, and these are not matters for which the Theater Command is responsible.

And saving combat consumption is Weng Yiming and Jiang Zhongmin's business. The most effective way to do this is to avoid the enemy's network of strongholds, reducing the number of battles and the intensity of each battle. There is only one way to achieve this effect, and that is to change the route to the north and abandon the plan to march north along the African coastline.

This is the focus of this new battle plan, but it is also a difficult point. Whether it is the fleet, or the Marine Corps, they need the support of the base. According to the general situation of the Imperial Navy, the distance of each advance must be controlled within the range of 2,000 nautical miles, and preferably within 1,500 nautical miles, which is the limit of the offensive capability of the Imperial Navy. If this distance exceeds 2,000 nautical miles, then the fleet will have to spend more time on the round-trip voyage, reducing the combat efficiency of the fleet. At the same time, it will also increase the difficulty of front-line logistics support and reduce the combat effectiveness of the Marine Corps. More troublesomely, it would make offensive operations more difficult.

In the Pacific Theater, the Imperial Navy was attacking according to this invisible law, from the mainland to the Ryukyu Islands and then to the Mariana Islands. Then came the Solomon Islands and the Marshall Islands, followed by New Caledonia and the Hawaiian Islands, each within 2,000 nautical miles.

Although the situation in the South Atlantic is relatively special, the defensive strength of the strongholds established by the British Expeditionary Force cannot be compared with that of the US military bases in the Pacific, and the British forces in the South Atlantic are quite limited, which are all advantageous conditions. However, if the advance is too far, it will still cause unnecessary trouble for the expeditionary operation. Therefore. When planning a new expedition, the first thing Jiang Zhongmin and Weng Yiming had to determine was the distance to advance and the locations that must be captured along the way.

In this new plan, the fleet and marines will no longer move north along the African continent, but will directly capture islands in the South Atlantic. By seizing the islands and building the captured islands into rear bases for the next attack, and then moving north step by step, the combat operation of sweeping the South Atlantic will be finally completed.

The first island to capture was St. Helena, about 1,800 nautical miles from Cape Town. It's a very small island, an island that hardly has anything to do as a military base, and at the same time. It is also an island that is not guarded by an army. Therefore. It was not to capture St. Helena, but to send an engineer to St. Helena to build some of the necessary infrastructure and send some important equipment. Here will be the fleet. As well as a temporary docking place for the convoy to replenish, where the landing fleet can also be assembled.

The first one that really needed to be attacked was Ascension Island, which was garrisoned by British troops. The island is about 700 nautical miles northwest of St. Helena. The island is not large, but it is large enough to build a kilometer-long runway, and there is enough space for military barracks, warehouses, and even a temporary dock. It's an ideal base for moving forward. More critically, the British, who have been operating here for decades, have "helped" the expeditionary force to build a lot of infrastructure. There were not many British troops stationed on the island, including a small fleet with two old destroyers, a dozen speedboats. None of this is a problem. As long as the Second Fleet was killed, it would be impossible for the British to hold Ascension Island.

The capture of Ascension Island resulted in a small half of the northward operation. The next step was to seize a stronghold in the West African salient, cut off the retreat of the British Expeditionary Force, and lay the groundwork for further northward advances. It may be in Monrovia, or somewhere near Freetown, but it doesn't matter where it is, as long as a base is established here for the fleet and marines. Then the British Expeditionary Force in the Gold Coast will be cut off from the logistical supply line, and in the end it will either surrender, or wait until the British is defeated, and surrender to the Imperial Expeditionary Force after announcing the surrender, and the result will be the same anyway.

Once this was done, the expedition was almost half the battle, followed by the Cape Verde Islands, the Canary Islands, the Madeira Islands, and finally the North Atlantic, the Strait of Gibraltar, or the north into the Bay of Biscay, threatening the British mainland from the south.

These are all Tan Renhao's own analysis, if he is allowed to command, he will take this offensive line. This is almost the same route that the Imperial Expeditionary Fleet used to enter Europe. In any respect, this is the most effective, and the most effective way to save time and troops, while at the same time severely damaging the enemy's route of advance. And there was only one difficulty in the entire combat operation, and that was the counterattack of the British Navy.

With the annihilation of the British Expeditionary Fleet, the British Navy was greatly damaged, but not to the point of being completely defeated. By now, the British still have more than a dozen battleships, and the newly built battleships of the "Avantgarde" class, as well as the aircraft carriers of the "Eagle" class, have been commissioned one after another, and the British Navy is recovering. Compared with the German Army on the other side of the English Channel, the Imperial Navy Expeditionary Force under the command of Jiang Zhongmin was a greater threat, especially the Second Fleet, and the "Far Eastern Fleet" of the German Navy. As long as these two fleets were allowed to enter the North Atlantic, Britain could declare defeat. As long as this country that lives on the sea loses its sea dominance and sea superiority, it will only perish. Under these circumstances, Britain will not sit idly by, and the British Navy will not remain inactive.

The advantage of the British Navy was the size of its fleet of battleships, and the weather conditions in the North Atlantic were more suitable for battleship operations than aircraft carrier operations. Jiang Zhongmin should be very aware of this problem, and likewise, the generals of the British Navy are also very aware of this problem. Then, Jiang Zhongmin will choose the season when the weather is good to go north, while the British will try to choose the time when the weather is bad to deal with the Second Fleet.

The timing of the decisive battle chosen is the key to winning or losing, even if this is just speculation, Tan Renhao knows very well that Jiang Zhongmin must not make a mistake on this issue, and would rather enter the North Atlantic later than fight a decisive battle with the British Navy without adequate preparation. And the real key role should be played by Task Force 3 on this side of the Pacific. If the Third Task Force was able to go to the Atlantic theater of operations, then the Imperial Navy and the German Navy would have 12 battleships, which was close to the battleships possessed by the British Navy in terms of quantity, and was in an absolutely superior position in terms of quality. The problem is that as long as the fighting in the Pacific is not over, Task Force 3 is unlikely to be sent to the Atlantic theater.

Thinking of this, Tan Renhao suddenly laughed, he was a little worried. Jiang Zhongmin is still in Cape Town, and it may take months, or even 28 years, to enter the North Atlantic. And the battle on this side of the Pacific will take months, if not a year, to complete, and who can predict what the battle will look like in a year's time? Perhaps by that time the tank units of the Germans were already galloping across the plains on both sides of the Thames. In addition, it was also Jiang Zhongmin's battle, not Renhao's own battle, is it necessary for him to worry about Jiang Zhongmin?

When Tan Renhao closed the document in his hand, it was already the middle of the night. The affairs of the South Atlantic have nothing to do with him, and Gan Yongxing is at most just letting Tan Renhao familiarize himself with the situation of the entire war. As for what level Jiang Zhongmin can show, Tan Renhao really doesn't care too much, as long as he wins the final victory in the Pacific Ocean, let alone one Jiang Zhongmin, ten Jiang Zhongmin together can't surpass one Tan Renhao!