Dewey paused, seeing that Marshal Pershing did not refute, still waiting for his next step, he continued to explain: "This time it was because the army was in a hurry, and the navy's half-monthly escort had just ended, but the army was unwilling to wait for such a long time, so the Wisconsin Star ventured to sail alone. Dewey quietly put the blame on the Army, saying that it was because he was unwilling to wait for the next escort that caused such a tragedy.

For Admiral Dewey, Marshal Pershing was not willing to be too harsh, after all, now the navy not only has to help the allies suppress the Allied navy in the western continent, but also to guard the Chinese empire in the eastern ocean, the responsibility is indeed very heavy, plus in recent years, the empire has focused on large warships such as aircraft carriers and battleships, and has not invested enough in small warships, and after the escort warships of aircraft carriers and battleships are allocated, there are indeed not many destroyers left that can act independently.

Field Marshal Pershing nodded and accepted any of Admiral Dewey's explanations: "I will propose to Congress that the naval appropriations be tilted in the direction of small warships, so that there are enough destroyers for escort on the shipping side." ”

Seeing that Marshal Pershing agreed with his explanation, Admiral Dewey breathed a sigh of relief, and he added: "I hope that the Academy of Sciences can strengthen the study of sonar systems, and now our sonar can barely deal with the submarines of the Allies." But our ultimate goal is NATO, especially the submarines of the Chinese Empire, which have been developed for many years, and although no one has seen their new submarines over the years, I think they should be much more advanced than the submarines of the Allies, and I am very worried about the current sonar system of the Navy. ”

Dewey's words were very far-sighted, and Marshal Pershing nodded again and again, and he agreed: "Yes, we should strengthen the research on sonar, and equip the destroyers with a good enough sonar system, so as to prevent the submarine forces of the Chinese Empire from inflicting excessive losses on our merchant ships." ”

Lieutenant General Chennault of the Air Force, who was subordinate to him on the side, replied: "Our Air Force can also contribute to anti-submarine and shipping. ”

Lieutenant General Chennault's words attracted the eyes of the general in the room, and Marshal Pershing said with interest: "What, General Chennault has any good way to deal with submarines?" ”

Lieutenant General Chennault said: "In fact, this method has been carried out by the Chinese Empire for many years, that is, anti-submarine by water aircraft. After all, submarines have to float to recharge, and even if they don't float, their snorkels and periscopes will be exposed to the sea, which will expose the position of the submarine, and the aircraft can see these exposure points more clearly in the air. As long as you carry depth charges on the plane, you can easily sink the submarine, after all, the speed of the submarine is far worse than that of the aircraft. ”

Seeing Marshal Pershing's thoughtful nod, Vice Admiral Chennault continued: "Actually, there is another way to avoid submarines, last time Admiral Mahan went to participate in the naval exercises of the Chinese Empire and took a new type of airship, which relied on the new shape of airbags, which effectively prevented the airship from rolling when it encountered crosswinds. If we make a large number of such airships, we can deliver supplies from the air. From September to April of the following year, the weather over the northern part of the storm ocean is quite clear, and there are few storm clouds, which is the most suitable period for air transportation. The transport consumption of airships is small, and according to conservative estimates, each airship carries more than five hundred tons, which is enough to carry the transport tasks of the army. ”

Marshal Pershing said: "Yes, this method is very good, it can completely avoid the threat of submarines, and at the same time it can transport supplies in batches, as long as there are enough quantities, we can solve the problem of transoceanic transportation." ”

Lieutenant General Chennault continued: "I still calculate the existing airships in China, if it is the kind of airship of the Chinese Empire with a diameter of 80 meters and a length of 350 meters, it is enough to carry 1,500 tons of materials each time, and each round trip of the airship will take a week, and if the empire builds 1,000 airships, it will be enough to carry 48 million tons of materials in a fine period of eight months a year. ”

"Very well, I'll send a proposal to Congress right away." Marshal Pershing stood up excitedly, if such an effect can be achieved, it is not a good way to build airships, with the capabilities of the Boston Empire, even if it is to build ten thousand such airships, it will not take a few years, and by that time, the submarine forces of the Chinese Empire will be useless.

It will take a long time to manufacture transport airships, even if the airships are easy to manufacture and the technical difficulty is low, but from design to manufacturing, and then to mass production is not a short period of time to complete, and the most important thing now is to build a large number of destroyers to provide effective escort for the merchant fleet.

However, the Boston Empire has a lot of money, and some merchant ships have been sunk, and they don't pay attention to it, not to mention that there are more and more destroyers escorting them, and the life of Allied submarines will be more and more difficult in the future, so in the face of the submarine warfare of the Allied bloc, the Axis bloc is unmoved.

The Boston Empire had its own plan, and Admiral Halsey, commander of the Stormy Ocean Navy, directly issued an order for two-thirds of the main fleet to blockade the entire northern part of the Stormy Ocean and the Strait of Gibraltar to prevent a possible surprise attack by the Allied fleet, and at the same time cut off its homeland from the colonies. And he himself personally took the remaining fleet to protect more than 100,000 Boston Imperial Army across the stormy ocean and march towards the southern subcontinent.

Since the Southern Subcontinent has the only land connection with the Central Continent, the Sinai Peninsula and Cairo are both territories of the Chinese Empire, the Allies have no land connection with their colonies in the Southern Subcontinent, and the Axis Powers have absolute military superiority at sea, so it is difficult for them to provide military and material support to the Southern Subcontinent.

The Axis group first built a large number of field airfields in the territory of the Sero Kingdom, and with the help of these land-based aircraft, the Allies were also struggling to navigate the Mediterranean, and every time they resupplied the colonies in the southern subcontinent, they needed air force cover and naval escort, and the cost was quite high.

Under these circumstances, it was quite difficult for the Axis powers to supply the colonies, and the troops stationed there had always been low-combat colonial troops, mostly semi-militia organizations composed of retired veterans, more than enough to suppress the indigenous population, and it was difficult to cope with a well-trained regular army with many advanced heavy weapons. Therefore, the Allied governments did not have much hope for the colonies, and only wanted them to be able to hold off the Boston Imperial Army as much as possible and buy enough time for their own combat operations.