Chapter 1509 The Development of China's Merchant Marine
For Japan, after occupying Juno, the entire Alaska operation has basically ended, the original goal is the entire territory of Alaska, Juno is the last target, and the next thing is to hold the territory and do a good job of defense to prevent the attack of the US army. Pen × fun × Pavilion www. biquge。 info In China's plan, China will not intervene in matters on land, at most it will be on the seaside, supporting with naval artillery, and the rest is to intercept the forces of the US military coming from the sea.
This task is not difficult, at this time the US navy, there is really nothing, except for sending reconnaissance planes and a small number of small ships to escort the fleet to prevent the Americans from making a desperate bet, and taking out a large number of torpedo boats or destroyers to come and risk attacking, the other capital ships, after being contained by Europe and several attacks by China, can not be taken out.
According to the estimates of Chinese and German intelligence, at most 2 months, at least 5 battleships will be launched, and in the next year, at least 11 battleships will be launched.
After all, China first got Hawaii, and Hawaii also has a certain foundation for construction, the first phase of construction, that is, mainly ports and military bases, when the time comes, there will be at least two runways of 1,800 meters and six runways of 1,200 meters, which are enough to take off all the bombers below the heavy planes.
Within a year, the United States may interfere in Alaska, more on land, between Canada and Alaska, is the Rocky Mountains that cross the entire North America, even from Vancouver, it is not easy, the United States has also built a large railroad across the Midwest, this side of the Rocky Mountains is built under the hard work of the Chinese people and countless souls, Canada is not as strong as the United States, it is impossible to connect the east and west railroads, therefore, in the western part of the Rocky Mountains, there is no more development, This has also become the key to blocking the advance of the US army, in this sense, it is relatively easy from the sea, after all, more than two or three thousand meters above sea level, there are more than 3,000 meters of peaks, for any troops, it is a nightmare, especially under the conditions of modernization, logistics is more important, guns without ammunition, is a burning stick, artillery without shells, that is, a decoration.
Logistics is very important, when crossing some high mountains and plateaus, not only people have to go up, but also the convoy of logistics materials needs to go up, there is not enough passage, or railway, road, or even sea transportation, otherwise it is useless to go up. Because of China's support, Japan landed directly on the sea, so it crossed Canada's Logan Peak, the first peak in Canada from the Rocky Mountains, and directly attacked Juno by sea, but with its back to the mountains, it established a defensive line on the island of Juno and the dense plains, which was stable, and basically did not need to consider hitting from behind, which was quite advantageous for Japan, and he could concentrate on the front layout, and he could arrange as many layers of defense as he could, and as many layers of defense as he could, Even digging up the mountain.
After occupying Alaska and carefully studying the topography of Alaska, Japan found that it was inevitable to use the Juno area as the first line of defense, but it was not very reliable to operate it as a core industrial area. On the U.S. side, Juno was chosen as the regional capital, because Juno is closer to the U.S. mainland and has a better environment, but for Japan, close to southwest Alaska, the Alaska region affected by the ocean climate, and the Alaska Peninsula are the best places for them. With the help of the island chain, it is impossible for the US military to cross the Aleutian and enter the Bering Sea, which is a safe place.
From the very beginning, Japan did not intend to hold Alaska alone, not to mention China's direct support, just say more than 20 million personnel, as well as all kinds of basic materials, construction materials, and even machinery and equipment, these are the key points, almost relocated a country's maritime transportation, even if it is only more than 3000 kilometers of voyage, it is not a small country like Japan can complete, in the current state, it must rely on China, only China can provide such a huge capacity, which from before, The Chinese fleet escorted 600,000 troops, as well as follow-up supplies and construction materials, crossing more than 3,000 kilometers of ocean, all the way to Alaska, which can be seen.
The deeper you go into Alaska, the more certain Japan is that Alaska will be a turning point in Japan's fate, whether it is area, resources, or conditions in all aspects, Alaska, which was thought to be very cruel, at least in the southwest, the Juno region, and even the Alaska Peninsula, the climatic conditions are similar to those of Japan, or even better, which is unimaginable for Japan, this is not a bitter cold place, this will become a paradise for Japan.
The four islands of Japan are also quite distinct, Honshu Shikoku Kyushu Island, this is actually a traditional area, Hokkaido was added later, to a certain extent, the conditions of Hokkaido are not very suitable for the Japanese, more than a hundred years ago, there are all Ezo land, is a snow-covered kingdom, the climate is very different. Alaska can also be seen like this, close to the Arctic Ocean, Alaskan Mountain, Brooks Mountain, and the northernmost part of the Rocky Mountains, around the Yukon Plateau, this piece is an absolute highland, plus close to the Arctic Ocean, affected by the base, the climate here is cold, a lot of time is below zero all year round, it is a worse place than Siberia, in addition to a small range of development of valuable precious metals, more will be used as forest plots to reserve, the real essence, is close to this part of the Pacific Ocean, This part of the territory is larger than Japan's original territory, and this does not make Japan tempted.
The Japanese side has been sending requests to increase the capacity of the Chinese side and transport Japanese immigrants to Alaska as soon as possible, and even this year can not wait, if it is about the same, there is no need to build so many buildings to protect against the cold, and concentrate on the southwest coast, even if it is some mobile homes or wooden houses, you can also spend the winter.
The requirements of the Japanese are relatively simple, for China, it is relatively simple, but it is the relationship of increasing capacity, but the huge China, any little adjustment needs to be carefully weighed, not to mention, to relocate half of the Japanese people, for them to build enough houses and places to work in Alaska, which requires a lot of construction places, even if the transportation of some infrastructure machinery and equipment and production lines up, this amount is also quite huge, under the requirements of Japan, the increase in capacity is not a little bit.
From the beginning of China's support for Germany, or rather, from the beginning of China becoming the world's factory, China's merchant ship tonnage is constantly expanding, initially, only spontaneously, by a few people who understand ocean trade, began China's first ocean transport fleet, at that time, Yang Yuanzhao, has not yet set his sights on the ocean, most of China's material exports, are carried out through foreign banks, or Yang Yuanzhao's own network channels.
With the start of the Jiangnan shipyard, coupled with the construction of a large naval base in Qingdao, China began the construction of merchant ships, excellent steel production, plus the excellent play of some machine tools, China completed the first batch of orders from the United Kingdom, and since then out of control, if you want to dominate the world, you must go to the ocean, not only to have a strong navy, but also to have ocean-going ships, since then China's merchant fleet began a difficult start, in the early days of the acquisition of Jiangnan shipyards, only less than 120,000 tons of tonnage, However, from the Jiangnan shipyard can produce merchant ships, China's ocean-going fleet began to take shape, the first significant increase was in 1913, after the outbreak of World War I, with China's efforts, Germany handed over most of his merchant fleet in the form of purchase, to China, of which the discount ratio is higher, but contributed to the first outbreak of China's merchant fleet, the second is in Qingdao and a series of shipyards completed the construction, China has the world's highest dock tonnage after the completion of the construction, The tonnage of merchant ships began to increase significantly.
However, this time in 1916, that is, the third time, China is also considering, under the three-line operation, Australia and the Pacific region, a large number of construction, occupy a large amount of capacity, but fortunately, China for the war, and even in order to deal with the United States, made some arrangements in advance, and began to build a number of large-tonnage merchant ships, the starting point of these merchant ships is 30,000 tons, The largest even reached 54,000 tons, so that one ship is equivalent to 5 and 10 ships in the past, and once the ship is launched, the tonnage increases amazingly.
China's merchant tonnage, as early as 1914, after the complete acceptance of German merchant ships, coupled with their own construction, increased to 10 million tons, and then the annual launch of merchant ships, will not be less than 4 million tons, to 1916, it is even more astonishing to reach 8.5 million tons, which is the concentrated performance of China's dockyard increase, but also more than 30,000 tons of merchant ships produced by the concentrated effect, in this year, China's total tonnage of merchant ships, quietly surpassed 25 million tons, approaching 30 million tons, From scratch, the tonnage of merchant ships in 1916 was more than 300 times that of 1908, and in just eight years, this increase is absolutely amazing. (To be continued.) )