The configuration of the First Task Force of the Maritime Resistance Force is relatively scientific. Compared with the last gift-giving operation, although the scale of the entire fleet has not expanded, the equipment situation has been upgraded to a higher level, not only the main aircraft carrier is a regular aircraft carrier, but even the escort ships are all high-speed destroyers.

If you want to talk about the shortcomings, it is also obvious. There was still a lack of escort heavy cruisers, cruisers, destroyers. Once the aircraft carrier fighters could not take off in high sea conditions, the main combat strength was only one Atlantic battleship and one destroyer.

As a matter of fact, the adventure of this operation also lies in the fact that the battleship Atlantic was still repairing on the west coast of the United States at this time, and although it was nearing completion, Li Guang was not sure whether it would be able to reach the designated sea area in time.

Although the Americans have already promised to deliver the other capital ship, the Liberty Dragon light aircraft carrier, the officers and men of the Maritime Resistance Force are also familiar with it. However, it is difficult to say whether the Americans will be able to release the passage smoothly and whether there will be any twists and turns. At present, Dr. Hu Shi, the minister of Haitang to the United States, is still on the move.

If these two capital ships cannot converge in time, then the risk factor of the naval resistance force in this battle will immediately soar.

Li Guang has always been very cautious about naval warfare. For a big country, it may be an exaggeration to overthrow the country in World War I. But for Haitang, it has been difficult and dangerous along the way, and it is not an exaggeration to say that this battle is a war that overthrew the country.

However, the current situation does not allow Li Guang to be cautious. If we want to reverse the overall strategy of the United States, we will not succeed without spending money.

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During this trip of the Maritime Resistance Force, the route design can almost be said to be absolutely hidden. There was no route to the Coral Sea to the east, or to cross the Atlantic Ocean to bypass South America.

Very few ships passed through this route, and not only could the Japanese army not be aware of it, but even the Allies concealed it. The fleet departed from Datang Island and went all the way to the southeast. Across the entire Indian Ocean, it floats across southern Australia and southern New Zealand. Then turn northeast and head straight for the first supply site.

The end of the first leg of the voyage is Paradise Island, an island belonging to the Haitang Kingdom. That is, the French Polynesian Islands in later generations, its main island is Tahiti, and the Hong Kong and Taiwan areas become the location of Tahiti.

The whole journey exceeded 16,000 kilometers, and the Shanghai Anti-Japanese Fleet maintained a constant speed of 21 knots all the way. For such a long Hainan Airlines, such a speed is definitely world-class.

The seventeen-day voyage was a test for all. Even so, the Naval Resistance Force did not give up training, especially the twenty-four reconnaissance planes equipped with radar. It was only in mid-August that the Naval Resistance Force successively acquired these American-made planes. Fly all pilots are not familiar with this fighter. The pilots on the aircraft carrier only fumbled for more than a month from November to December. In addition, the radar operator in the back seat of the fighter is also completely unfamiliar with the operation of the radar, and the type of signal on the oscilloscope is groping for identification.

After all, the day before the departure of the fleet. It took all twenty-four reconnaissance planes to be equipped with radar.

Grinding guns in battle, not fast and light. So as long as the weather allows. These twenty-four reconnaissance planes will take to the skies.

Don't say it. During the flight, which lasted for more than half a month, the weather was good, and the flight training could be carried out smoothly almost every day. In more than half a month, these 24 reconnaissance planes have made great progress, and telecommunications operators have basically mastered the operation of radar.

Many problems were also found during the training, and the accompanying technicians found the problems at any time and repaired them at any time. It really can't be solved on a ship. I can only wait for the return voyage to make improvements.

In the course of this training, the benefits of the Indian Ocean aircraft carrier were revealed. It is known as the three major technological innovations of aircraft carriers after World War II: the inclined deck, the glide take-off deck, and the light landing system. All equipped on this aircraft carrier. Especially the light-assisted lowering system. So that pilots who have just explored this fighter for a month or two can easily land on the ship.

The use of a sliding jump take-off deck makes it possible for the aircraft carrier to take off fighters normally without accelerating even in windless weather.

Of the more than a hundred pilots on board the USS Indian Ocean, only half of them took part in combat. Of these, only twelve squad leaders and vice-captains had participated in naval battles aboard the USS Liberty Dragon.

Among the auxiliary vessels of the fleet, the aircraft carrier PC there were dozens of pilots of the Liberty Dragon. The situation is also similar to that of the aircraft carrier USS Indian Ocean.

This is the case with the main combat strength of the Navy of the Naval Resistance Force.

The pilots are seriously lacking in actual combat experience and the proportion of elites is too low, and these are all factors restricting combat effectiveness.

However, to Li Guang's slight satisfaction, the flight time of these pilots was more than 500 hours.

In order to train these pilots in 42 years, the Naval Resistance Force spent more than 8,000 tons of gasoline, scrapped hundreds of aircraft engines, and destroyed more than 10 planes.

The flight time of 500 hours cannot be compared with the Japanese army's rule of 1,000 hours on board. The eight-month training cannot be compared with the 13-month flight training of the US military.

However, due to the scientific nature of the training method, the selection of people is scientific. Li Guang believed that the quality of the pilots of the Naval Resistance Force should be basically on par with the quality of the current Japanese pilots.

You must know that after the Battle of Midway, the Japanese aircraft carrier pilots suffered heavy losses, and the pilots on several Japanese aircraft carriers were only less than half of the elite old birds, and the other half, although not rookies, were also recruits of carrier-based aircraft. And the Battle of Kuah Island and the Battle of New Guinea were fought so hotly, and the losses of the devil's pilots would definitely not be small. Maybe the quality of the pilots of the Japanese army is not as good as that of the naval resistance army.

But in any case, the quality of these pilots cannot be compared with the overall quality of the pilots on the Liberty Dragon in the Battle of Midway.

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In terms of aircraft carrier equipment, the Naval Resistance Force finally reached the equipment level of the US military at the beginning of the Pacific War by the end of '42.

On the surface, the three types of carrier-based aircraft equipped with the US aircraft carriers are now fully equipped by the Naval Resistance Force. However, in essence, the current fighters of the Naval Resistance Force have undergone many modifications, and their performance has been improved to a higher level.

The F4F Wildcat fighter is equipped with a rocket-booster engine, and the TBD torpedo machine is equipped with a radar. Although there are no major improvements to the SBD dive bomber, there are quite a few minor changes. More importantly, now these three fighters are all modified with luminous instruments, and the flight status control of the fighters is also equipped with gyroscopes.

As in many military technologies of this era. There is nothing difficult, the key is whether the technician thinks of it or not. Haitang did not have the ability to build aircraft, but it was not too difficult for technicians to make some small modifications to the fighters.

These small improvements have greatly contributed to the performance of the fighters, and now these fighters are now all equipped with the functions of night fighters.

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Overall, although the navy has a series of shortcomings, it is in a good situation.

She Jinsong's detachment, as a cadre of army officers and men, was in a relatively poor condition.

The so-called "almost a little" is not that the quality of the officers and men of the troops led by She Jinsong is poor, but that all the elite troops of the Naval Resistance Army can be singled out to participate in this military operation.

But. In addition to two amphibious battalions, they were familiar with landing operations and sea navigation. The rest of the artillery, armor, mountain battalion units were landlubbers.

The Naval Resistance Army is an army relative to the armies of other countries. There is a great feature. The army units of many countries have no experience of sailing on the seas at all. And the officers and men of the Naval Resistance Army have not been less experienced in sailing on the sea. Each of them has the experience of sailing tens of thousands of kilometers by boat. But. This long-distance attack is for the sake of combat.

As a result, the landlubbers suffered greatly, and vomit was everywhere in the cabin, on the deck.

Long sea voyages. It is a serious drain on the physical strength of army soldiers. For the upcoming battle, the current state of the fighters is really not good.

She Jinsong, the youngest army detachment (brigade level) commander of the Naval Resistance Army. Since receiving the task, the run-in troops have been started with all their might. During several exercises to seize the island, the allocation of troops was constantly adjusted according to intelligence, and the tactical level and combat effectiveness were rapidly improved.

During the voyage of more than half a month, She Jinsong still did not relax in the slightest, and every day he and his officers were constantly conducting sand table exercises, striving to make the most perfect preparations.

Zheng Xuechang, commander of the First Task Force, has always commanded battleships in battle. But this is not the first time to cooperate with aircraft carriers.

It is said that the drawback of the Japanese Navy is: it does not pay attention to aircraft carriers. Obviously, aircraft carriers have become the protagonists of naval battles, but the fleet commanders are all soldiers sent by giant ships and artillery.

The Maritime Resistance Army attaches great importance to aircraft carriers, but it has to choose Zheng Xuechang, who is sent by a giant ship and artillery, as the commander of the first task force.

First, Zheng Xuechang's exploits have been outstanding in several battles.

Second, Zheng Xuechang values battleships, but his thinking is soft and not rigid at all.

In several naval battles in the Indian Ocean, he had considerable insights into the use of air power, and when the Naval Resistance Force did not have aircraft carriers, while the Japanese army had aircraft carrier equipment, he was always good at grasping the weak points of aircraft carriers to fight. In addition, Zheng Xuechang is not ignorant of submarine operations, after all, he also has combat experience on Pixiu No. 1.

It can be said that Zheng Xuechang is the commander with the most complete tactical level in the naval resistance army. In the Naval Resistance Army, which lacks talents, if there is a candidate who can serve as the commander of the First Task Force, it can only be Zheng Xuechang.

As for Huang Zhonghua, captain of the aircraft carrier Liberty Dragon, Captain Lie Chong of the aircraft carrier Indian Ocean, and Zhang Qianwen, captain of the seaplane carrier PJP, they do not yet have this capability.

In the submarine fleet, Ji Keliang, Ren Tianyang, and Quan Yonghai did not have bad combat achievements, but their arms were too single, and they did not have the ability to serve as commanders of the task force until they further enriched their combat experience.

Zheng Xuechang took on the big task at the beginning, and he didn't dare to relax for a moment about training during the whole flight. In the war room, the staff officers were busy exercising over and over again every day, perfecting the battle plan little by little. And the pilots did not relax in the slightest every day, and under the leadership of Shao Fuxuan, the captain of the aviation group, they went all out to exercise various tactics.

On New Year's Day of '43, the First Task Force of the Maritime Resistance Army and the She Jinsong Detachment crossed the sea. On January 6, the fleet arrived on Paradise Island.

During the entire seventeen-day voyage, the fleet maintained a high speed of twenty-two knots, except for one refueling and replenishment. This is a fairly high level of fleet navigation, even compared to the American and British forces.

After a short three-day rest, the battleships were all refueled with fuel and fresh water. Replenish the diet with fruits and vegetables. The officers and men of the army also breathed a sigh of relief on land and recovered their physical strength.

On 9 January, the Naval Resistance Army fleet pulled anchor again and set sail. (To be continued......)

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