Chapter 91

Thick smoke obscured the sky and the sun on the sea surface of the East China Sea, and the flagship of the Second Fleet of the Republic of China Navy was the aircraft carrier "Liaoning" with a displacement of 32,000 tons. The name came from Fang someone, and when the Navy handed over the report, Fang Jianxiong had another bad taste.

The navy of the Republic of China is now divided into three factions, the first faction is the battleship faction, and its main representatives are Liu Guanxiong, commander-in-chief of the navy, and Chen Shaokuan, commander of the third fleet. If it weren't for the constraints of the Washington Naval Treaty and the London Treaty, Liu Guanxiong and Chen Shaokuan would have liked that the Republic of China Navy could be equipped with battleships with a total tonnage of millions of tons, and the bigger the better. The bigger the battleship, the happier these two are!

The second group is the aircraft carrier faction, and the representative figure is Tang Qianming, deputy commander-in-chief of the Navy and commander of the Second Fleet. Fang Jianxiong was keen on the development of aircraft carriers, so Tang Qianming jumped out and waved his flag and shouted, it is definitely right to be a loyal lackey of Fu Shuai.

The third faction is the centrists, and the representative figure is Chen Ce, commander of the Fourth Fleet. Because he is a native of Hainan, Chen Ce has always belonged to the child and no mother in the navy, and his predecessor of the Fourth Fleet, which was the Nanyang Fleet during the Qing Dynasty, has always been a marginal figure. Chen Ce's ability to become the commander of the Fourth Fleet was the result of Fang Jianxiong's forcible appointment. thought that he was not the main force, so Chen Ce was low-key, and no one in the navy should be offended, and he should not be a leader. The bigwigs in the navy will not take the initiative to offend, and the meaning of supporting the commander is even more resolute.

In fact, in the naval theory of this era, the battleship faction still had the absolute upper hand. If it weren't for Fang Jianxiong's insistence, things like aircraft carriers would be dispensable in everyone's eyes, and a few more large battleships would be the king.

Even Tang Qianming, the representative of the aircraft carrier faction, still agrees with the theory of the battleship faction deep down. However, Tang Qianming, who has always hugged the commander and lifted his legs, has always been an unswerving aircraft carrier faction on the surface. For this time the joint exercises of the Second and Third Fleets. I really don't have any confidence in my heart.

A 22,000-ton aircraft carrier, a 12,000-ton light aircraft carrier, plus two old battleships of less than 30,000 tons, Wuhu and Wuchang, which were bought from Britain, and two 32,000-ton Beijing-class battleships Beijing and Tianjin, with the main force and four heavy cruisers of the Third Fleet, Tang Qianming was really weak-minded.

In the past, Tang Qianming found a lot of theories for himself that aircraft carriers must win, but when he really wanted to use aircraft carriers as the main force for exercises, it was completely different. But no matter how uncertain you are, you have to stick to it. You can't be embarrassed by Fu Shuai.

Thinking of this, Tang Qianming glanced up at the Wuhu battle patrol. This is a 25,000-ton battle patrol bought from the United Kingdom, which was originally named Wuhu in order to send sycophants. At this meeting, Fang Jianxiong was on the Wuhu battle patrol and observed the progress of the exercise.

Accompanying Fang Jianxiong was the navy veteran Sa Zhenbing, who was now a five-star admiral. Chief Adviser of the Navy and Dean of Qingdao Naval Advanced Training College. I haven't been to sea for many years, and this time I saw a clear idea of the dispute between the aircraft carrier faction and the battleship faction, and I went to sea with him. Sa Zhenbing actually supported the battleship faction in the dispute with the navy, but he pretended to be fair on his face and did not favor both sides. But if you look at the four major fleets of the Navy, the first and third fleets have only one 12,000-ton light aircraft carrier. Sa Zhenbing still has a strong bias in his heart.

Fang Jianxiong understands many things in his heart, and he just doesn't say it. However, in recent years, the navy has not been the same as before, ninety percent of it is the territory of Fujianese, but there are still many Fujianese. It accounts for almost fifty percent of the Navy. The Jiangnan faction and the Nanhai faction that emerged later were not enough to compete with the Fujian faction, but in principle, some factions in the navy are now.

Four Seagull reconnaissance planes were released, according to the exercise plan. These reconnaissance aircraft were supposed to find the Third Fleet in an hour. A group of young naval staff officers, the oldest of whom was no more than thirty-one or twelve years old, were arguing around a huge table. It's all about studying in the United Kingdom and the United States.

Syllable! Tong Yun, who studied in the United States, threw the red pencil in his hand on the table and said with a smile: "Don't look at it, the Third Fleet will lose this battle." "Tong Yun is a hardcore aircraft carrier faction in the Second Fleet, and he has the most research on aircraft carrier operations. It has only been two years since the first aircraft carrier was put into service, and Tong Yun gave up the transfer to the naval headquarters and stayed in the second fleet to study this.

"Brother Tong said it too early, right? Even if a reconnaissance plane could spot the Third Fleet from 80 nautical miles away, the radio would send back a message that it would take half an hour for the fighter plane to take off and put into battle, right? With half an hour of preparation, the anti-aircraft fire of the two new battleships of the Third Fleet should be able to defend against it. Once the aircraft could not pose a threat to the two main battleships, it would be difficult for the aircraft carrier to escape the pursuit of the new battlecruiser with a speed of up to 31 knots with the speed of 19 knots. "If there is an aircraft carrier faction, there will be an opposition, and the voice is Guan Shengjie, who studied in the UK. Compared with Taiping Rock, the Atlantic Ocean is really stormy, and today's aircraft carriers are much more restricted in their operations in the Atlantic. The mainstream of European countries is still inclined to solve the problem of battleship decisive battles.

The two do not deal with each other, and it is nothing new in the Second Fleet. Today's mid-level navy is basically two major factions in confrontation, one is the British faction, which was formed earlier, but because of the general relationship between Britain and China, the number of students studying in Britain has not been able to rise. The other is naturally the American faction, and there are more than 500 students in the entire navy between the ages of 28 and 35. Among them, there are more than 200 students in the United States in the Second Fleet, and it is definitely the American students who have the absolute upper hand here.

"Since Brother Guan has a different opinion, let's wait and see." Tong Yun had a disdainful expression of quarrel, choked Guan Shengjie enough, snorted and was just about to bow his head to continue to examine the battle situation, when he saw the person who appeared at the door, he immediately snapped upright: "Salute!" ”

More than a dozen navy young Zhuang factions were like installing electric doors, standing up in a uniform manner, and there was no doubt that Fang Jianxiong and Sa Zhenbing appeared at the door, and others would definitely not have this momentum when they came.

"Take a break, I'm a navy layman, and I hope you navy young and strong handsome people will not hesitate to give advice!" Fang Jianxiong smiled, for these young officers and future naval backbones, Fang Dashuai's consistent affinity was full of enthusiasm. These Western-educated naval officers are the cornerstone of the nationalization of the military. Of course, there are also some negative reports about Fang Jianxiong in Western newspapers, such as the that Fang was elected the leader of the Republican Party after the cancellation of the Military Commission, alluding to Fang Someone's continued use of military dictatorship.

These arguments have absolutely no market in the navy of the Republic of China, and whoever dares to talk about this will be drowned in saliva in the navy. What was the strength of the navy in the early years of the Republic of China? The largest warship, the Haiqi, is only 4,000 tons, and it can be regarded as a light cruiser when it stands up to the sky. How much tonnage does the entire Navy tank add up? What is the strength of the Navy today? The big guy is 210,000 tons, and the battle cruiser of more than 30,000 tons is four, and if it were not limited by the two major naval treaties, it may not be impossible to build larger warships.

Let's not mention aircraft carriers, in short, without the birth of Fu Commander, there would be no Navy today. This is the consensus of the entire navy and the entire Wehrmacht system. Whoever dares to question the commander within the army is the public enemy of all soldiers!

"Fu Shuai, from a technical point of view, there is no suspense in this exercise, and according to the reports sent by both sides of the exercise, carrier-based aircraft can launch an attack on the warships of the Third Fleet from a distance of 80 nautical miles." Tong Yun pointed to the situation map of the exercise and introduced it as a matter of course. Guan Shengjie added with a sneer on the side: "There is a problem that cannot be ignored, the warships of the Third Fleet have basically achieved domestic production, and there is a huge innovation in the design of domestic warships, that is, the anti-aircraft firepower is more than three times stronger than that of warships of other countries." The ability of battleships to resist strikes is simply not something that a few bombs can solve. The key is to see whether the torpedo planes can break the air defense smoothly, and if they can't break the air defense, then it will be very difficult for the fighters to attack to achieve the desired goal. There is one more thing I would like to remind you that the two Peking-class ships of the Third Fleet are equipped with radars. ”

Fang Jianxiong looked at the controversy between the two with a smile, it is a good thing to have controversy within the navy, and only when there is controversy can there be motivation. After staring at the huge chart on the table for a while, Fang Jianxiong still didn't say anything, just listened to the staff officers of the two opposing factions holding their own opinions, in short, this exercise was inconclusive, and no one could convince the other party.

"Report, Commander Tang sent a report that a seagull found the main force of the Third Fleet a hundred nautical miles to the southeast."

"Report, Commander Chen of the Third Fleet sent a report that the Beijing radar had discovered a reconnaissance plane and predicted the position of the Second Fleet."

"Report, Commander Tang reported, the first wave of carrier-based aircraft attack echelons took off, twenty dive bombers, twenty torpedo attack planes. Twenty fighter escorts! ”

In the continuous announcements, someone muttered: "The Third Fleet does not have an aircraft carrier, what fighters will be sent to escort it?" ”

Even if the Third Fleet does not have aircraft carriers, the Second Fleet should cherish the opportunity of this exercise and assume that the opponent has aircraft carriers. Fu Commander once said that details determine success or failure, and naval warfare is ever-changing, and it is often because of a single detail that can determine the victory or defeat of a battle. So, you must not let go of any detail. Sa Zhenbing made a timely statement, although he was not optimistic that the planes of the Second Fleet would be able to sink the two target ships under the heavy protection of the Third Fleet, but he must affirm the Second Fleet's approach. After many years of service, it is natural to know that the fighter plane is fleeting, and it is necessary to pay attention to details and do every detail well, this habit must be cultivated.

At this moment, on the Beijing, the flagship of the Third Fleet in the southeast, Chen Shaokuan looked at the reconnaissance plane in the distance with a look of chagrin. The distance was too far for the anti-aircraft fire to reach at all, and the people had already flown away. "Order, all warships pay attention to air defense and protect target ships!"