Nobu and Fukiyuki fired several torpedoes at the Akagi before retreating with the fleet. Pen ~ fun ~ Pavilion www.biquge.info no one thought that the sturdy Akagi had never sunk.

The behemoth, with a full load displacement of more than 40,000 tons, has been languishing at sea for hours. In the end, it was discovered by a Ming submarine cruising near the battlefield, and then the submarine fired four heavy torpedoes in one go before finally sinking the giant ship.

After more than two hours of rescue, the Kaga rolled over on its right side and sank due to too much water. The Canglong was heavily damaged and tried to withdraw from the battlefield at a speed of less than 4 knots. However, the aircraft carrier, which was severely damaged and suffered damage to its speed, was discovered and sunk by a submarine of the Ming Navy when it passed through the Makassar Strait at night and wanted to return to the mainland for emergency repairs.

For the first time in history, the battle in which the aircraft carrier formations of the two sides engaged carrier-based aircraft at a long distance was an aviation battle in the true sense of the word. And this tragic battle finally ended in the victory of the Ming navy.

The 11th Task Force of the Ming Navy did not have an aircraft carrier Poyang Lake, with 105 planes damaged in the battle and about 800 personnel, most of whom were crew members on the Poyang Lake.

The Japanese Navy sank three aircraft carriers, the Akagi, Kaga, and Soryu. Another light cruiser Isuzu was wounded. More than three hundred aircraft were damaged in battle, and more than three thousand people were lost! This included most of the Japanese Navy's carefully trained elite pilots, and the Japanese Navy's superior power declined rapidly after the war.

At the tactical level, it was one to three, and at the strategic level, it directly forced the Japanese to abandon the attack on Bali. Taking advantage of the darkness of the night, a destroyer fleet was sent to pick up all the landing forces, which meant that the Japanese had temporarily abandoned their plans to attack Java and then Sumatra.

The deeper impact was that Admiral Yamamoto, who was far away in Port Moresby, was very worried about the defeat of the First Air Fleet and ordered the temporary suspension of the plan to go south to the Australian mainland. This gave Da Ming time to send a large number of troops and supplies to the Australian mainland!

The significance of this naval battle was very far-reaching. The strategic offensive posture of the Japanese against the Ming was temporarily terminated. Yamamoto believed that it would be difficult to continue to attack the Australian continent south before destroying the mobile fleet of the Ming Navy. And if they want to deal with the Ming Navy, it means that the Japanese need to regroup their troops and adjust the established plans, all of which will take time. The Japanese need time, and the Ming also needs time.

The Ming Dynasty, which had already switched to the wartime production system, began to gradually burst out of its own terrifying production capacity. In the last month, Zhang Cheng's factory alone has shipped more than 300 new tanks and more than 400 warplanes of various types.

With the passage of time, the Daming industry, which has adjusted the supply of materials and production efficiency, will explode with terrifying productivity. And these are the things that the countries that are enemies of the Ming Dynasty are most afraid of.

......

"The oil fields in the Balikban area have fallen into Japanese hands, and the oil fields on the northern island of Sakhalin have also been bombed by Japanese fighters, resulting in a sharp reduction in production." In the imperial capital, in the large conference room of the joint headquarters of the high command, an assistant of state was briefing the leaders of all parties attending the meeting: "On the 22nd of last month, the US Marine Corps landed in Venezuela, the US Navy's Atlantic Fleet completely blocked the Caribbean coast, and our Caribbean Fleet has fully retreated to Cape Town. Our source of oil from Venezuela has also been cut off. ”

"You can just say whether the current oil supply can meet the demand." A manager in charge of production co-ordination. The mansion boss frowned and asked out loud.

"If you include domestic reserves, with domestic production and oil shipped back from Iran, it will be enough for a short time." The state assistant responded.

"In other words, it will not be enough in the future?" Zhang Yue frowned.

He usually has too many things to do, and he only asks about the oil supply. This is also because he holds all the rights firmly in his hands, but how can such a huge empire take care of all the energy? In Zhang Yue's impression, the oil supply had always been very rich before, but he did not expect that there would be a shortage after the war.

"Our factories also consume a lot of civilian production, and the number of domestic cars ranks first in the world. Coupled with the full mechanization of the military, the demand for oil is huge. The State Assistant's words caused a lot of people in the meeting to start a buzz.

"Zhang Cheng, what do you want to say?" After pondering for a moment, Zhang Yue suddenly remembered that Zhang Cheng had mentioned oil supply to him before the war, and Zhang Cheng seemed to have developed several oil fields in the country, so perhaps he could have any useful suggestions for the current situation.

Zhang Cheng, who had been acting as a spectator after the meeting, put down the celadon teacup in his hand, the corners of his mouth were slightly upturned, and he nodded with a chuckle, "I have some suggestions, please correct me." ”

In this conference room, people with powerful influence on the empire are all sitting, and if Zhang Cheng wants to do great things, he must get the support of these bigwigs in the political, military, and financial circles. There is no point in being obscure in front of these people. Zhang Cheng wants to show his talent, and at the same time have his own strength. only has talent but no strength, and at most he can only be a working emperor, which is not what Zhang Cheng wants.

"This global war is a mechanized war. Warships, cannons, planes, chariots, and various vehicles and machinery have replaced the soldiers and horses of yesteryear. They are the winners and losers who will decide the course of the war. If you want to make these machines move, if you want the factories to produce a steady stream of machinery, you have to have enough oil. Zhang Cheng stood up and looked around at the bigwigs with sharp eyes, "Oil is the blood of industry and war, and it is the cornerstone of our victory." Although we have mastered the technology of coal-to-oil, the output and cost do not mean anything to the huge demand. We need to secure our own oil supply in times of war. ”

"How is it guaranteed? What do you suggest? Zhang Yue leaned back in his chair, looked at Zhang Cheng, and asked softly.

"Sakhalin doesn't have to worry about it, the production is very small, and it doesn't have much impact. The Venezuelan side can't take care of it for the time being. Our local production is actually quite sufficient, but we have focused on the oil-producing areas of the overseas colonies that are easy to mine, simple and inexpensive. I have already opened several large oil fields in China two years ago, and I have been operating at low power in order to maintain costs. However, for now, full production is enough to meet the current needs. Zhang Cheng smiled and said his hole cards. He had previously invested heavily in oil enclosures in several well-known oil mines in China, just to be able to come in handy at the moment.

"Good." Zhang Yue nodded with satisfaction, and looked at Zhang Cheng with a hint of inexplicable meaning in his eyes, "You young man, not bad." ”

Zhang Cheng nodded with a chuckle, and then said, "The domestic civilian oil supply should not be restricted at this time, this is related to the morale of the people. This is true not only for oil, but also for all kinds of supplies. We should look outside. ”

"Where?" A high-ranking government officer on the side asked.

Not only in wartime, but also in a state of war, it is also an opportunity to make war money. Going overseas means a robbery of Chiguoguo.

"Baku." Zhang Cheng stared, "Baku's oil production is extremely high, although when I led the troops to capture Baku before, the Russians blew up the oil fields themselves. However, as long as the facilities are repaired as soon as possible and the fire is extinguished, it will not be long before productivity can be restored. It is very close to the Iranian oil fields, and the oil pipelines of the Iranian oil fields can be used, which is convenient for transportation. ”

"Hmm." Hearing this, Zhang Yue nodded, "Yes, it's a good way, the oil production there is very high." ”

"And." Zhang Cheng then said, "The oil exploration team of my company has discovered large, easy-to-exploit shallow oil fields in the Middle East. The experts estimate that the output is sufficient for any demand. ”

"The Middle East? Arab? Zhang Yue immediately frowned.

Although the Middle East was nominally part of Ottoman Turkey, the actual owners were native-born Arabs.

The Arabs were poor except for horses and camels, and all that was left was endless sand. The Ming had never been interested in the huge desert, they just controlled the Suez Canal and put their hands on the rich Euphrates.

However, if, as Zhang Cheng said, there is a large amount of oil buried under that sea of sand, then the attitude of the entire Ming Empire towards it will change.

Wealth and profit are the root of everything. The pursuit of profit in this era is the same as the pursuit of prey in ancient times.

"We'll revisit this later." Zhang Yue glanced at Zhang Cheng, who had a calm expression, and thought to himself, did he want to put his hand into the Middle East and North Africa? Even if there was a large amount of oil, there was no time during the war years to explore and produce, build a large production base and ship it back. This is a manifestation of profit-seeking.

Now Ottoman Turkey is still in a neutral state, but if the Ming reaches into the Middle East. Even if they were afraid of the Ming Dynasty, the Ottomans would declare war on the Ming Dynasty. This is the bottom line of a country, and it has nothing to do with strength. Obviously, such a major matter that has a bearing on the direction of the national strategy cannot be decided by casually talking about it in this kind of conference hall. Even Shousuke is the same.

There are too many entanglements of interests involved behind this kind of thing, especially for the war of large oil fields. All consortiums, families, royal families, and the army have to stretch out their hands. If you rush in recklessly without dividing the interests, you can only be opposed by everyone.

"The priority now is to kick the hands of the Japanese out of the South Seas. It was not only the back garden of the empire, but also an important base for oil, rubber and food. Zhang Yue began to change the topic: "The navy did a very good job this time, dealing a heavy blow to the strength of the Japanese. Restrained the Japanese offensive southward. Zhang Cheng, you did a good job. Fought beautifully on the battlefield in Korea. The three-plate axe after the Japanese started the war is over, and it is our turn to fight back. ”

"Knock knock~~~" A knock on the door interrupted Zhang Yue's speech, and everyone's brows furrowed. It's not because you're angry that someone is interrupting the meeting. In fact, if there is no emergency in this level of meeting, the guards outside the door will never allow anyone to disturb them. It seems that something important has really happened.

"Shousuke-sama." After the door to the conference room was opened, a state secretary walked in with a document: "I have just received a telegram from Cairo that the Germans, the French and the Italians have landed in Tunisia. (To be continued.) )