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Declaring victory does not mean that the problems exposed in this battle are over. In particular, the mistakes made by Yang Guochang and other veteran officers in dealing with aviation operations and their uncalmness in the face of several times the Japanese aircraft at the last moment triggered a strong earthquake within the navy. On the night when the fleet returned to Keelung, Yang Guochang, commander of the 23rd fleet, and Lin Ruosheng, chief of staff, were both dismissed and subsequently transferred to the Naval University. At the same time, more than a dozen senior officers, including the commander of the garrison and staff officers of the Taiwan Navy, were also dismissed. The Sichuan received the most severe punishment since the beginning of the war, because after eating four torpedoes and five bombs, the Sichuan still had hope of saving, but there was a serious negligence in the damage management, and no reinforcement measures were taken after the wind and waves increased at night, resulting in the capsizing of the aircraft carrier, so 25 people, including the captain and the officer in charge of loss management, were arrested and sent to the military court.

Like the navies of other countries in the world, the navy of the Republic of China also has a battleship faction and an aircraft carrier faction, and even because of the Qingdao naval battle that year, there are more submarine factions. However, after the Battle of the Ryukyus, both the battleship faction and the submarine faction realized that the aircraft carrier had become the main force and became unstoppable, so a group of young and powerful new generation of aviation officers began to emerge. In response to the pilot's report, the lightning is obviously superior in technology, but everyone is very uncomfortable, and the navy also actively responds to it. After statistics, it was found that the vast majority of the losses were due to the fact that they were not familiar with the Japanese army's combat methods and the Zero fighter's super small-radius hovering ability, and many pilots used the method of dealing with the Soviet Air Force on the Western Front to fight a very flexible Zero Battle, and the Fierce Wind, which had been used to simulate the Zero Battle, was inferior to the lighter Zero War in terms of circling and vertical capabilities, so the next day the Admiralty issued an order to transfer several outstanding pilots such as Zhang Peng, Lei Shaobao, and Liu Yu back to the Naval Aviation Academy to teach everyone how to deal with the Zero War and Japanese warships.

"The Battle of Guam cannot be postponed!"

Faced with the idea that the navy wanted to postpone the time of the sneak attack on Guam, Yang Qiu slapped the table fiercely: "Isn't it just the loss of an aircraft carrier?" Just scared you Chen Shaokuan to death? How many aircraft carriers are there in the mountain fifty-six? What is there to worry about. You don't have to worry about the safety of the soil and the southeast coast. I just want Guam. Mariana and the Southwest Pacific! Even if it's all gone, take it down! ”

In the presidential palace, Yang Qiu's face was not good, and this anger was not so much a lesson to the navy, but more than to say that he was talking about himself. Because now that I think about it, in fact, the 23rd Fleet should not be sent to carry out the mission of the Ryukyu Naval Battle, and even if the Fengxiang and Ruifeng are left, the two light aircraft carriers will not pose much of a threat. Chen Shaokuan and the navy actually received it on his behalf. Because it was his decision to send the 23 fleet, the navy was only dutifully carrying out the president's battle plan. As a result, the two aircraft carriers of the 23rd Fleet were killed and wounded, and the plan for a sneak attack on Guam was also missing. This is also a typical battle in which a layman commands an insider, because in addition to knowing that the aircraft carrier is the future hegemon, he does not even understand how to arrange the take-off and landing of the aircraft carrier, let alone the professional problems such as the weakness of the Zero fighter.

Chen Shaokuan's face turned blue after being scolded. He sat on the side with his head down and did not speak. Wang Zhengting has been by Yang Qiu's side for the longest time, and he can see that he is actually blaming himself, but he still has to take care of the president's face on this occasion, so he took the initiative to intervene to ease the atmosphere: "Houfu, don't be angry, if the president didn't support your navy, he wouldn't have squeezed out his teeth to build so many warships in the early years." Seeing Chen Shaokuan's face softened slightly. He continued to ask: "By the way, I remember that when the navy planned in '36, four Liaoning-class ships were started, six ships were added in '38, and six more ships were added after the declaration of war on the Soviet Union last year. Why is there no room for manoeuvre? ”

"In 36 years, we built four ships in the shipyard according to the regular construction speed, which is slow but can be saved. Of the first four, the Liaoning is in the Indian Ocean Fleet, and the second ship, the Anton, has been delivered to the Second Fleet to begin sea trials. The outfitting of No. 3 Guangdong and No. 4 Guangxi is nearing completion. Chen Shaokuan introduced: "The construction speed of the six ships in 38 years is relatively fast, but most of them have only been launched and outfitted. Half of the six ships after the start of the war have not yet laid their keels, so I now have only five capable fleet carriers and four escort carriers in my hands. The three ships of the Indian fleet could not be moved, which was intended to attack the Andaman Islands and Burma, and also to deal with the Persian Gulf and prevent the German-Italian advance into the Suez Canal. The two ships of the First Fleet have already gone to Keelung, and the Andong of the Second Fleet has not yet formed combat effectiveness. In addition to these, more than half of the second batch of six escort aircraft carriers have been renovated, and one will be delivered by the end of the month at the earliest. However, the escort aircraft carrier is slow, and even if it leaves now, it will take ten days to reach Guam. ”

After listening to the briefing, the senior officials realized that the navy was not short of aircraft carriers, but happened to be in a gap period. After all, from 1936 to the present, more than a dozen fleet aircraft carriers have been started one after another, so Chen Shaokuan wanted to postpone the Battle of Guam until October. Air Force Commander He Ning thought about it and said, "Houfu, I have an idea. The Liaoning has not heard of any design flaws or malfunctions since it was put into service, so you might as well immediately end the sea trials and transfer the Guizhou to the Sixth Air Brigade. In this way, the Anton can be pulled out immediately, and the combat effectiveness can also be ensured. Then the Fifth Air Group of the Sichuan was strengthened to two escort aircraft carriers, and three of them were brought together to support Guam first. As long as the airport is taken down, I will immediately send two Tianquan brigades to support you. The voyage of Tianquan should be able to stabilize the situation of the entire archipelago, and the sea attack can also be coordinated by bombers and dive planes. As long as you hold it until the end of the year, you will have seven or eight aircraft carriers to use. ”

He Ning's words reminded everyone, and Gu Weijun also offered suggestions: "He Ning's method is good, I think Guangdong and Guangxi can also shorten the sea trial, if it is not enough, simply stop some unimportant outfitting tasks to ensure that they are put into service first, and then slowly installed when there is time." ”

"Yes, Houfu. Don't buckle so tightly in wartime. You look at us, the delivered tanks smell of butter, and they haven't even done engine tests, and they haven't done it right. ”

Among the suggestions of everyone, Yue Peng also coughed lightly twice and interrupted: "I agree with the president's opinion, Guam cannot be postponed!" According to the latest intelligence, the Lend-Lease bill proposed by Roosevelt has entered the congressional review process, and from the feedback, it can be seen that the US Congress and the people are skeptical about entering the war, but they have considerable sympathy for Britain and France, so it is very likely to be passed by the Senate plenary session in three weeks! Once this bill is passed, the road for the United States to enter the war will be paved, and Roosevelt will definitely officially enter the war after his re-election in October! So this is our last chance to control the Southwest Pacific, and we have to take Guam and the Mariana Islands in our hands by October, so that we can get the trusteeship after the war and cut off the route from Wake Island to the Philippines. Only in this way can we ensure that the United States fulfills the US-Philippine protection agreement after entering the war, and uses the Philippines as a springboard to intervene in the Southwest Pacific for a long time! ”

Who here does not know that war is only a façade, and the competition between the major powers behind it is the key. The European war established Britain and France as superpowers for 20 years, and with the rise of China, the United States, the Soviet Union and Germany, the world has reached a moment of redivision. Even if it's an ally, who doesn't have a few eyes and hate to pull each other's backs. Now Guam and Mariana are not US territory, so taking advantage of the US control before entering the war is equivalent to cutting off the route from Hawaii to the Philippines, if Rabaul, Solomon and New Guinea can be snatched from Japan, it can declare that all the southwest Pacific except Australia has become the internal sea of the Republic of China, and even if the United States returns to the Philippines, it will not play a deterrent role, because the Republic of China can cut off the maritime connection between the United States and the Philippines at any time.

Therefore, after returning to the Admiralty, Chen Shaokuan still accepted Yang Qiu's idea, held a meeting overnight, and decided to immediately put the aircraft carrier Anton in sea trials into active service, and at the same time transfer the Fifth Air Brigade to the shipyard in order to quickly form combat effectiveness, and also send military representatives to the shipyard, and it is necessary to complete the two aircraft carriers of Guangdong and Guangxi before the end of the year. The second batch of six Liaoning-class ships built at the beginning of 38 years was also ranked as the highest priority, and all the required resources were given the green light to ensure that they would be put into service at the earliest early next year, and finally the refit of the third batch of six escort aircraft carriers was launched.

Although the aftermath of the Ryukyu naval battle is still spreading, the war clouds in the southwest Pacific have not dispersed, on the contrary, the war drums are becoming more and more dense. The Navy has realized that there must be another naval Armageddon. Therefore, on the night of the end of the Ryukyu Naval Battle, two general-class escort aircraft carriers of the Second Fleet left Zhanjiang to replace the 23rd Fleet to rush to Guam, and at the same time, the Andong of Sanduao also rushed after it early the next morning. Two Beihai-class aircraft carriers of the First Fleet were stationed in Keelung, while the battleships Beijing and Nanjing were transferred to the Second Fleet to replace the two Anhai, and three shore-based naval aviation groups were stationed in Taiwan, Borneo, and Natuna. In the case of one death and one wound of the two aircraft carriers, in just one day and one night, the Republic of China Navy gathered seven aircraft carriers and more than 1,000 naval fighters in the southwest Pacific. Together with the Air Force, the total number of deployed fighters in the southwest Pacific from Natuna to Taiwan exceeds 2,000, not counting the naval and air forces along the coast north of Shanghai.

In the face of the aggressive posture of the Chinese Navy, the commander-in-chief of the Japanese Combined Fleet, Yama 56, had a headache. Although Minoru Genda's plan worked, it was escaped by three capital ships, and the loss of the pilots was considerable! From the end of the Hachi Inland Sea, the Japanese Navy lost about 130 experienced elite pilots in a single day. Everyone knows that airplanes are easy to build, but pilots are difficult to maintain. In particular, the Japanese Navy's policy of elite troops has led to a shortage of pilots in the navy, so that he has an empty aircraft carrier but cannot attack. However, he, like the Republic of China, immediately called Tokyo and demanded the immediate construction of more aircraft carriers and aircraft.

Just as he was trying to find ways to raise planes and aircraft carriers, he did not know that the night raid and the Ryukyu naval battle were only part of the entire Chinese naval raid plan, and that even greater disasters awaited him and Japan