The Naval Resistance Fleet left Pearl Harbor on 23 September and returned to the Indian Ocean.

In the short period of half a month, the Naval Resistance Army did not have much leisure, and the "self-cadre five" was very dedicated, and Li Guang laughed at himself.

First of all, the Naval Resistance Force stayed in the waters of Saipan for a few days and dispatched several warplanes to provide a little support to the US military in the battle to seize the island.

After the Japanese army lost the naval battle and voluntarily evacuated, the Japanese army on Saipan became a lone army. After more than a month of fighting, the U.S. military finally captured Saipan.

The US military, which lacked experience in seizing the island, had never suffered such heavy casualties, and after investing 60,000 or 70,000 troops, there were more than 40,000 casualties, of which nearly 7,000 were killed. Compared to the historical Battle of Saipan, the number of casualties has almost doubled.

Originally, in history, the U.S. military went through several operations to seize the island before it began the Battle of Saipan. But it is natural to be fueled by Li Guang's pulling out of seedlings and suffering heavy losses.

However, in general, the U.S. military still has an advantage over history, and the total casualties are still much less.

According to US military propaganda, in the final stage of the battle, the Japanese devils, including civilians, were unwilling to be captured and jumped from the cliff into the sea one after another, showing a kind of apocalyptic madness.

Li Guang did not land on the island, but less than 100 Japanese soldiers and Japanese civilians survived on Saipan, and it would be naïve to believe that they all jumped into the sea or committed suicide. As for the civilized behavior of not killing prisoners, it is a product of propaganda, and it is nonsense with the US military, especially the US military, which has suffered heavy casualties and is on the verge of madness.

It is worth mentioning that Vice Admiral Nagumo Nagumo, who supervised the war on Saipan, committed suicide on Saipan. Lieutenant General Nangumo, who used to be infinitely beautiful, also died with his old commander Yamamoto Fifty-six, and they all died on a small island.

The U.S. military occupied Saipan, and the Naval Resistance Fleet completed its previous agreement with U.S. President Roosevelt to take a short break at Pearl Harbor. After visiting the burned-out crude oil depot, Li Guang did not have the slightest nostalgia and waved his hand away from Pearl Harbor.

The US military is not without retention, and Nimitz, commander of the US Pacific Fleet, does not even have a regular aircraft carrier at this time, and of course hopes that Li Guang will stay.

But what to stay? "Self-Done Five" continues to help the U.S. military fight?

You know, the Naval Resistance Army is still preparing for the Burma campaign, and there are many things.

Of course, the Naval Resistance Force is not unable to support the Burmese battlefield without these two aircraft carriers, and the Japanese aircraft carrier Kaga, which was captured more than a year ago, has completed outfitting, and the crew and pilots have been prepared early. It will be possible to reach the Indian Ocean in a few days. Soon it will be able to have combat effectiveness, and the naval strength of the Maritime Resistance Army will be strengthened again.

The key point is that Nimitz or some generals in the US Navy obviously have the intention of resisting the army in the Yin Sea this time, and they did not convey the battle report in time, and their bad behavior has exceeded the bottom line.

Moreover, the Naval Resistance Army lost more than 30 fighters in this battle. The pilot suffered more than thirty casualties, and the US military did not compensate in the slightest. However, Li Guang did not force this. The Naval Resistance Army paid the casualties. However, it made Haitang officially recognized by the United States and Britain, and Haitang obtained post-war benefits and obtained justifiable qualifications. The benefits are still very impressive.

What is more infuriating is that Nimitz hopes to postpone the delivery of the Essex-class aircraft carrier of the Maritime Resistance Army. Originally, when the Maritime Resistance Army handed over the modified Pacific aircraft carrier to the US military, the negotiated condition was that if the war sank, the Maritime Resistance Army would compensate the Maritime Resistance Army for an Essex-class aircraft carrier four or four years ago.

Now, all the US aircraft carriers are injured. I'm ready to pay off.

Li Guang was very dissatisfied. After dragging on for a year and a half, it is difficult to say whether the Naval Resistance Force will be able to catch up with the war if it will install another aircraft carrier, and this is unacceptable to Li Guang.

The US aircraft carrier was wounded. Isn't a large number of carrier-based aircraft useless? Give the Naval Resistance Army some advanced fighters, which can also ease the relationship a little. However, after many negotiations, the US military did not give a single advanced fighter at all.

Li Guang didn't think that Nimitz was the idea, and he estimated that Roosevelt was behind it. Many times, Li Guang felt that Americans, especially Roosevelt, were not far-sighted. Just because of a certain bad opinion of the Haitang Kingdom, he deliberately suppressed and limited the strength of the Maritime Resistance Army.

As for the other conditions proposed by Nimitz, such as the payment of military expenses by the United States, maintenance costs, etc. Li Guang simply did not pick up. Although the current Haitang Kingdom is still in short supply, it is no longer the era when he worked for Britain for hundreds of thousands of pounds. It is a bit underestimating to want to use this advantage to make the main warships of the Naval Resistance Army work for the US military. Li Guang's appetite is much bigger.

In this case, the Naval Resistance Army has also completed the agreed task, why stay here if you don't go home?

Some disputes did not affect the personal friendship of the generals, such as Lieutenant General Halsey, who did not participate in the war this time, but still expressed some kind of apology to Li Guang in private. But for some people, Li Guang is too lazy to accept his cheap friendship.

Although the U.S. military suffered heavy losses this time, the strength of the U.S. military made Li Guangshan look up to him. Not to mention the sheer size of its fleet. In terms of manpower, Li Guang is also beyond his reach.

The manpower of the US fleet is already in three configurations, one for operation, one ready to be replaced at any time, and one for training. Even the commanders are in a double configuration, such as Lieutenant General Halsey and Lieutenant General Spruance, in fact, they are both in the same position. The difference is that when Halsey commanded the fleet, the fleet name was Task Force 38, and Spruance commanded the fleet as Task Force 58, which is actually the same fleet.

On the other hand, in the past four or three years, the Maritime Resistance Force has only expanded the manpower of one aircraft carrier. The gap is so huge that it is not at all at the same level.

Feeling emotional, Li Guang, who was under pressure, couldn't help but think about the future of the Haitang Kingdom and the future of the Maritime Resistance Army.

After seven or eight days of sailing, the Maritime Resistance Army fleet arrived at the Australian port of Darwin. This time, the fleet route, took a long detour. There was really no need to take a shortcut and venture in the central sea area where the Japanese army was entrenched.

Originally, there was actually no need for the Maritime Resistance Fleet, which had sufficient supplies and was not fast, to stay in Australia.

However, the east is not bright and the west is bright, and someone asked Li Guang to talk about it for the purpose of recruiting the Naval Resistance Army to work for him. Li Guang is principled: The naval resistance army must take into account interests and resist Japan in its operations.

The U.S. Navy, especially Admiral Nimitz, who was a close associate of President Roosevelt, now has a certain unfriendly thinking toward the Haitang Kingdom.

The U.S. Army, especially General MacArthur, would not have been so obedient to Roosevelt's words. The Naval Resistance Army stopped in Australia. It was at the request of Admiral MacArthur. Mai Dashuai wanted to talk to Li Guang about cooperation.

MacArthur was arrogant, but his abilities were not to be despised and his mobility and influence were even more formidable. And the ambitious Mak's eyes are sharp - the Battle of Saipan has just ended, and he sees an opportunity.

The US military has occupied Saipan and the airfield has been repaired. With stepping stones, with a forward base, it will take a month or two to clear the surrounding islands. (Historically, the first thing the U.S. military did when it occupied Saipan was to send B29 bombers to bomb the Japanese mainland, but because of the appearance of Li Guang.) The Battle of Saipan was half a year ahead of schedule, and the American B29 bombers are still being trained and have not yet been installed)

After clearing the perimeter of Saipan, the next target of the U.S. military was Iwo Jima.

In order to seize Iwo Jima, the U.S. Navy's Fifth Fleet, which suffered heavy casualties, was seriously underwhelmed. Battle of Saipan. The U.S. land-based air force is strong enough, but the role of aircraft carriers is more obvious.

As for the army that fought to seize the island. MacArthur was confident. The regular army he led should be no far worse than the Marine Corps. (Actually, the combat effectiveness is far inferior.) ）

For Mak Dashuai. His only concern was the navy: Marshal MacArthur's Seventh Fleet had just been formed, and the main warships were all old guys, and although there were several escort carriers, there was not a single regular aircraft carrier.

There was a time when Marshal McKek was arrogant and wanted to bring the navy under the command of Admiral Nimitz under his command. As a result, the US Navy bigwigs were almost furious, and Marshal McT's request was denied. But Mai Dashuai is Mai Dashuai after all. The ability is outstanding, and after many activities, a seventh fleet has been put together.

The fleet is a fleet, but the combat effectiveness is not very good. Originally, the positioning of this fleet was to support the fire support and logistics support fleet of the island seizure operation. Not so positioned. It's about to compete with the U.S. Navy for new warships, and Marshal Mai knows that that thing won't work, and it will cause a collective riot in the U.S. Navy. In retreat, Mak was able to build this fleet, and his skills were clever enough.

However, in any case, the Seventh Fleet is still the establishment of the US Navy, and although it is under the command of MacArthur, there are still many contradictions between the Navy and the Army. So, MacArthur made another detour and found Thomas. Kincaid was the commander of the fleet.

Thomas. Kincaid was made a depraved navy by Nimitz, and was so despised that he mixed with the army's dirt buns. But in reality, Vice Admiral Kincaid is also a legitimate American admiral. It's just that once a son of heaven and a courtier, he was a little unlucky.

In fact, nepotism in the US Navy is also very serious, for example, Vice Admiral Halsey is Vice Admiral Spruance's brother-in-law. And Vice Admiral Kincaid originally had an extremely bullish brother-in-law, that is, Admiral Kimmmel, the commander of the U.S. Pacific Fleet when Pearl Harbor was attacked by the Japanese army. Admiral Kimmel was removed from his post and returned home because of the debacle at Pearl Harbor. As a result, Lieutenant General Kincaid was not so happy.

You must know that although Kimmel is frustrated, there are still a bunch of forces in the US Navy. MacArthur took a fancy to the remnants of Kimmel's forces, and Lieutenant General Kincaid looked forward to a resurgence, so the two hit it off. The Seventh Fleet was thus formed.

But this Seventh Fleet has a serious shortcoming - without regular aircraft carriers, without aircraft carriers there will be no complete combat effectiveness.

The combat effectiveness and brilliant achievements of the aircraft carriers of the Maritime Resistance Army are obvious to all, and Mai Dashuai attaches great importance to them.

MacArthur has merit, quite a bit of a tolerant spirit, anyway, his Seventh Fleet is put together, the battleships have Australian, and the personnel have been co-opted. It would not be unusual at all if the Naval Resistance Army was also drawn into the Seventh Fleet.

If Mai Dashuai wants to win over the Naval Resistance Army, he must be in a hurry to fight. Why did Mai Dashuai fight in a hurry? The answer is interests.

Because the devil blew up the Panama Canal, there is no one year or two years, and the gods can't fix it. In other words, transportation is blocked, and the Pacific Theater will definitely not get much material in the next four or four years.

The more Nimitz gets, the less MacArthur gets. This thing is very powerful, and it directly affects MacArthur's interests and prestige.

However, interests are not fought for by words alone. Both the U.S. Army and Navy have a large number of followers, such as Vice Admiral Kincaid, who pointed to the Seventh Fleet to rebuild the glory of his faction. Of course, there are also a large number of people who point to this to make a fortune.

As the leader of this group, Mai Dashuai of course wants to lead the younger brothers who follow him to make meritorious contributions and make a fortune. To achieve this goal, gaining dominance in the Pacific theater is undoubtedly the best solution.

Gain dominance of the Pacific theater. There are so many benefits that I don't need to list them all, in short, fame and fortune can all be solved.

Mai Dashuai wants military merit and wants to gain dominance in the Pacific theater, but he has his own shortcomings. Therefore, he needs to get support from the Naval Resistance Army, that is, the aircraft carrier support of the Naval Resistance Army.

Li Guang was therefore invited.

Mak Dashuai's style is completely different from Nimitz's. Domineering.

Li Guang liked it very much.

Mai Dashuai's domineering is: he dares and is qualified to negotiate with Roosevelt, and he is qualified to go a little out of line.

Li Guang asked for a loan, and Mai Dashuai patted his chest and assured that the loan would be there.

Li Guang asked for advanced fighters: Mai Dashuai said that the army will soon be able to provide P51 Mustang fighters. As for the carrier-based aircraft of the Navy. He still promised to get it.

Li Guang demanded that after the war, Japan should be occupied, and Mai Dashuai promised to satisfy Li Guang.

Li Guang demanded that the United States deliver the Essex-class aircraft carrier on time, and Mak Dashuai said: The United States of America is trustworthy. Of course, the premise is that the Naval Resistance Army helps him fight.

Mai Dashuai is also very cunning and shameless, for his own interests. Allied interests were no longer on his radar.

Li Guang proposed that the Naval Resistance Army should also fight the Burma campaign, and Mai Dashuai came up with an idea of going out and not admitting it. immediately persuaded Li Guang.

Later, Li Guang raised a question. Marshal Mai has not completely killed the Japanese army on the island of New Guinea until now, and if he opens a new stall, will the troops be enough?

Mai Dashuai's answer made Li Guang impressed. MacArthur had grasped the crux of the New Guinea campaign: just throw the Japanese on the island of New Guinea.

Originally, the U.S. military was trying to hold off the Japanese troops on the island of New Guinea in order to defend Australia. Now the Japanese navy and air force have been crippled, and the army has more on the island of New Guinea. I can't swim in Australia either. What's more, under the repeated blows of the US military, the Japanese Army is now dying.

Mak-shuai boasted: he just didn't want to sacrifice the lives of more American boys, otherwise he would have wiped out the Japanese troops on the island long ago.

Although MacArthur was boasting, Li Guang was also aware of his strategic and tactical rivalry. The tropical environment of the island of New Guinea is indeed not suitable for the strangulation of mechanized armies, and trapping and starving devils is the best means.

As in history, the island of New Guinea became the third battlefield in World War II after Chinese mainland and the Philippines in terms of Japanese losses, in fact, the devils here were not killed by the US army, most of them starved to death. The little devil in Guinea was forced to be helpless, threw down his gun and picked up his hoe, and began to cultivate the land.

What's even more tragic is that the devil can't live in peace when he farms, and Mai Dashuai often uses napalm to blow up the rice fields.

At this stage, due to MacArthur's tactical rivalry, the ratio of American and Japanese casualties had reached a staggering thirty to one. So, although MacArthur has an element of boasting, it is not arrogant. Of course, the ratio of ammunition and material consumption may be 100 to 1, and this Mai Dashuai will not talk about it.

MacArthur's explanation is reasonable. Then Mai Dashuai will definitely be able to draw troops, and it is hundreds of thousands of troops.

There is a more important point in Li Guang's intention to cooperate with MacArthur: MacArthur is very atmospheric.

Mai Dashuai took the initiative to propose that if he cooperated, Li Guang's command would be only below him, mainly to command the navy. Moreover, even the Seventh Fleet of the US Navy was under the command of Li Guang. and summoned Vice Admiral Kincaid, commander of the U.S. Seventh Fleet, who had no objection to this.

Lieutenant General Kincaid has no objection for the simple reason that he has no objection. The chain of command was clear, MacArthur commanded Li Guang, Li Guang commanded Kincaid, Kincaid commanded the fleet, and the aircraft carriers of the Naval Resistance Army belonged to Kincaid's Seventh Fleet. In other words, no matter how the specific combat exploits are distributed, it is the credit of the US warships, the credit of the naval resistance warships, and in short, the credit of Kincaid's Seventh Fleet. This is good business for the Kincaid faction that wants to recreate its glory and rise again.

But this point is very important for the Naval Resistance Army, like Nimitz always uses the Naval Resistance Fleet as a bait, and this kind of thing is enough to do it once. And to gain command of the navy, high-risk actions such as being a decoy can be ruled out.

Wouldn't it be too faceless for the de facto supreme leader of one country to be below the generals of another? Will you lose the face of the Crossing Clan? Li Guang sprayed his face.

History you know well can mislead you. Li Guang once had a very poor impression of MacArthur in his propaganda at that time. But after a few years of getting to know him, he preferred to deal with MacArthur.

MacArthur was a pure man. Purely for the sake of fame and profit, one heart upward. Such a person is easier to deal with than a "loyal minister" who is dedicated to the country.

For example, Admiral Nimitz can hardly find many character shortcomings, but dealing with Nimitz is definitely not very good MacArthur. In fact, Li Guangdu regretted it a little, if he had started to cooperate with MacArthur instead of the US Navy at the beginning of the period, maybe the benefits of Haitang would have been even greater. But there is no place to buy regret medicine.

The pay and remuneration are on the bright side, and Li Guang likes it.

In fact, Li Guang did not really realize the real reason why MacArthur was easy to deal with. As the saying goes, people gather by like, and things by groups.

The serious point of MacArthur's behavior is that military personnel interfere in politics, and the government of any country is extremely taboo about this. In military cooperation with foreign countries, the dominant power should be grasped by politicians no matter what, and he is a soldier who plays these things and obviously oversteps his authority. However, MacArthur was really qualified, and he did not do these things once or twice, and Roosevelt could only angrily aggrieved for this.

As for Li Guang himself, due to the particularity of his development path, he is himself a soldier and the de facto supreme leader of the state, and there is no distinction between military and political affairs. Therefore, there are relatively few barriers to communication between the two.

The difference is that Li Guangwei is the Haitang Kingdom. MacArthur, however, did not necessarily put American interests first. (To be continued......)