"How long do you think it will take for the Navy to threaten the West Coast of America?" In the garden of Zhang Cheng's official residence, Zhang Cheng, who had changed into casual clothes, walked leisurely on the gravel-paved path with his hands behind his back, and asked Li Han beside him with his head slightly sideways. Pen, fun, pavilion www. biquge。 info

"I can't give an exact time for this." Li Han frowned slightly, and after a moment of silence, he responded, "At least it will be a few months." The losses of the Pacific Fleet are not light, and it will take some time to replenish them. The combat missions on other battlefields are also heavy, and it is difficult to mobilize reinforcements to the Pacific. ”

After a pause, looking at Zhang Cheng who had no waves on his face, Li Han continued, "They first have to clean up those American Marines on the big island. The Americans were stubborn in their will to resist, and although they did not have the support of the fleet, they still refused to surrender. There are quite a few of them, and there are also many kinds of supplies. ”

"Without the support of the fleet, those Americans won't be able to hold out for long, right?" Zhang Cheng glanced at Li Han and said loudly, "Even if they still have tens of thousands of people, how long can they hold out under the combined attack of the navy, land, and air?" ”

"The Admiralty estimates that it will take a month at most to be able to purge the Americans of the Big Island." Li Han thought for a moment and then said, "If it's fast, it may only take two or three weeks. ”

When Halsey was defeated, Spruance fled. The U.S. Marine Corps, which launched a landing operation on the Big Island, was caught in an awkward dilemma.

Most of their men and supplies had been ashore, and they could still sail away after the defeat of the navy, but they had nowhere to go. To try to get back on board the ship and escape is wishful thinking. It is simply impossible for so many people to board a ship in a short period of time in a place where there are no large ports in the midst of war and the loss of sea dominance.

For the U.S. Marines at this time, the only thing they can do is to continue the fight on the Big Island and wait for naval support that will come back at an unknown time.

As for voluntary surrender, it is basically impossible for a highly trained Marine Corps to do so. U.S. Politics. The government will not allow them to surrender. Because as long as they are still fighting on the big island for one day, they will be able to contain the power of the Ming Navy for one day.

In other words, these Marines have been abandoned as cannon fodder. Their only role now is to stall for time and give the US Navy, which has been battered hard, time to recover. Even if it's a day, it's good.

The Marines will have to deal with a massive number of warplanes that have been repaired from other places and replenished from other places. More than 100,000 troops stationed on the Hawaiian Islands and hundreds of naval warships were under intense artillery fire. It's hell there.

The U.S. Navy, which was in a hurry, even took out the kamikaze tactics that only the poor Japanese would use, and it became a natural thing for the marines to be abandoned.

"What about the rest of the world? Johnston? Kiribati? Zhang Cheng tightened his clothes, looked up at the somewhat gloomy sky, and asked aloud.

In November, the imperial capital has entered the early winter, and the winter here is still very cold in an era when the greenhouse effect is far less serious than that of later generations.

"The Americans there are probably going to run away." Li Han smiled and said, "The Americans simply can't hold these places without sea supremacy, and when we completely wipe out the U.S. Marines on the big island, we only need to send a fleet to recover there." ”

"That's what you think?" Zhang Cheng raised his eyebrows and said in a deep voice, "Since the Americans can fight to the death on the big island, why can't they resist desperately in Johnston and Kiribati?" All they need is time, time to consolidate the defenses of the West Coast and restore naval strength. Why don't you desperately hold on to the island? ”

"This ......" Li Han was a little speechless for a while. He said that the Americans would not hold out, mainly because the strength of the two sides was not proportional, and reluctant resistance would only end up in the annihilation of the army. Normally, retreat is the only option. But as soon as Zhang Cheng said that Americans can sacrifice in order to buy time, Li Han immediately understood that this was indeed the case.

"I read the intelligence sent by the Pacific Fleet and the Intelligence Agency." Zhang Cheng continued, "If nothing else, the tens of thousands of well-trained marines on the big island alone will not be wiped out so easily. Add to that the desperate resistance of U.S. troops elsewhere. Oh, by the way, the Navy also needs to replenish the fleet to repair ships and prepare attack reserves or something. Are you really sure you'll be able to start attacking the west coast of the Americas in a few months? ”

"This ......," Li Han gradually oozed beads of sweat on his forehead, and said after letting out a sigh of relief, "maybe it will take longer." ”

"Hmm." Zhang Cheng nodded noncommittally and didn't say anything more.

Soon, the two walked through the garden to the sunroom. Zhang Cheng's wives had already prepared tea, tables and chairs here.

"Good work." Zhang Cheng stepped forward and greeted his celebrities with a smile.

Because there were guests, Zhang Cheng's wife left the sun room soon after a simple greeting, leaving Zhang Cheng and Li Han to drink tea here and continue to discuss military affairs.

"Originally, I had intended to launch a direct attack on the American mainland to force them out of the war." After sitting down in the chair, Zhang Cheng picked up the teapot and filled the teacup with tea, "But then I have been thinking about whether it is appropriate to cross the entire vast Pacific Ocean and go to the Americas thousands of miles away to conduct large-scale naval operations. After all, such a long sea supply line is too exaggerated. Although the Hawaiian Islands are used as a logistics base, compared to the huge Americas and the United States, which has a strong military force, Hawaii cannot support a million-dollar army. ”

"Yes." Li Han took the teacup and took a sip of mellow tea, and then nodded in response.

As the general backstage of the anti-Ming alliance, there is no doubt about the strength of the Americans. They have tens of millions of troops and a large number of various heavy weapons in their homeland. If the Ming army wants to launch an attack across thousands of miles, it is basically impossible to win without a huge logistics base.

A campaign of this caliber would cost at least millions of troops, and so many military logistical supplies across the Pacific would have cost the Navy its life. Even for the powerful Ming Navy, it is an extremely difficult thing.

In the history of modern time and space, the main reason why the Americans have been able to hold out on to large-scale wars in many parts of Asia for so long is because they have a large number of bases and allies in Asia, and they can effectively provide logistical support for the US military.

In particular, Japan, which is huge in size, large in population, and most importantly geographically very close to the Asian continent, is in the hands of the Americans. This is the confidence that they can carry out large-scale operations.

And now, when the Ming Dynasty's troops pointed to the American continent, they could not find a huge and geographically located forward base like Japan. Hawaii is too small, and more than 2,000 nautical miles from the West Coast, to be a large forward base.

"In addition, although the navy has won the war, its own losses are also very large. This situation also means that the battle plan for landing directly in the Americas can be put away. Zhang Cheng put down the teacup, leaned back in the chair and squinted his eyes slightly, "Originally, I wanted to use this side of the Pacific Ocean as the direction of strategic counterattack, but with the current situation, it is estimated that it will be impossible in a short period of time." The risk is too great. ”

Li Han was silent and did not explain anything out loud. The Pacific Fleet of the Ming Navy has lost the ability to directly attack the west coast after being severely damaged. Not to mention anything else, the fighters deployed on the west coast alone are at least calculated in tens of thousands, so how can the navy seize sea and air supremacy? Unable to control the sea and the sky, how can a huge landing force go ashore to fight?

"The decisive battlefield is still in Eurasia." After a while, Zhang Cheng shook his head slightly and said, "The navy will clean up the trouble at hand for the time being." After regaining strength, go and destroy the Panama Canal, and the rest will be talked about later. ”

"Yes." Although he was unwilling, Li Han could only be helpless at this time.

......

"Captain Mondo, this is not the right amount." On the island of Hawaiʻi, at the logistics office of the 1st Regiment of the 11th Marine Division of the United States Marine Corps, the smoky Sergeant Smith shouted at the G4 at the regimental headquarters, "Why do you only have a little supply?" It's not enough for our company. ”

The fierce fighting on the island of Hawaii has severely reduced the strength of the American army, and Smith, who was originally just an ordinary non-commissioned officer commanding an infantry squad, has now been promoted to a platoon commander who leads a platoon in battle.

This time, he was ordered to go to the regiment headquarters to receive his company's supplies, but he did not expect that the things he received were far less than expected, and he immediately quarreled with the supply officer of the regiment headquarters.

"Look over there." The supply officer of the regimental headquarters with an impatient face raised his finger and pointed to the American officers and soldiers and jeeps not far away, "Those are all coming to me for supplies, if you think you don't want it, you can put it down and leave, some people want it!" ”

Since the fleet's hasty escape, the U.S. Marines who landed on the island of Hawaii to fight are considered to be motherless children. All support and logistical supplies were cut off, and most importantly, the flight of the fleet was a heavy blow to morale. If these soldiers weren't for the elite and well-trained Marines, they might have collapsed long ago.

Although a large number of various materials were rushed to be transported at the time of landing, tens of thousands of soldiers were under the high-intensity battle, and the demand for the consumption of various materials was simply a huge bottomless pit.

In this case, the commanders of the landing force had no choice but to economize on supplies as much as possible. With the defeat of the naval fleet, it is unlikely that they will be able to obtain any replenishment for the time that can be expected. Both materiel and military personnel.

In such a situation, any little material becomes extremely precious and important. (To be continued.) )