Chapter 210: Choice! The will of the Empire! (5)

(5)

In the southwest Pacific, in Port Vila, the capital of the British New Hebrides, the battleship USS California, the U.S. Navy's battleship "California", under the thick and huge triple 14-inch (356 mm) caliber main gun in the bow, the commander of the British-American-Australian Combined Fleet, Schiston? Vice Admiral Schroeder sent a message to the Commander-in-Chief of the Allied Southwest Pacific Theater Army, Will Brown, who had just boarded the ship. Admiral Robinson politely extended his hand.

After the Battle of San Cristobal on June 9 (known as the "First Battle of the Solo" by the East Asian Coalition Forces), Admiral Robinson ordered the suspension of Operation Fusiliers, which had been scheduled to land on Tulagi and Guadalcanal. The 52nd Special Fleet returned to Port Vila.

On June 15, Admiral Robinson received an order from the Anglo-American Joint Command to carry out the "Flintlock Pistol" operation reserve plan by June 25 -- "Operation Revolver," that is, to land on Malaita Island east of Kuah Island and build an advance airfield in Ulu Bay in the east of the island.

On this day, Robinson led his theater command staff officers aboard the 32,000-ton ship precisely to consult with Schroeder's fleet command to coordinate the specifics of the operation.

In the Battle of San Cristobal, Vice Admiral Schroeder's flagship - and also the sister ship of the "California" - "Tennessee" was hit by an aerial torpedo dropped by the Chinese army, entering the water for 1,000 tons, the speed dropped to 17 knots, and after returning to Port Vila for emergency repairs, it was escorted by 1 light cruiser and 4 destroyers to Sydney Harbor for docking.

In addition, under the attack of the Chinese carrier-based air force, which is believed to be experienced in battle and highly skilled in combat, of the 52 Special Fleet that was used as bait by Vice Admiral Schroeder during the day, only the US medium-modified aircraft carrier "Pearl Harbor," which served as a mobile take-off platform for aircraft carriers and land-based fighters, was sunk on the spot, and although its sister ship "Manila" lost power after being hit by a mine, it was still able to float, but it was ambushed by a Chinese submarine and sank in the early morning of the next day on the way back from being towed back by the light cruiser "Birmingham."

In the day's fighting, both the fleet and shore-based aviation paid a considerable price, including: the 51st Special Fleet, as a mobile strike force, lost a net of 44 aircraft; The 52nd Special Ship, which carried only land-based fighters for air defense and reconnaissance water aircraft, also lost a net of 37 aircraft; The "Tucano" air force, which is the main force of the air strike, is based on San Cristobal Island, with a total net loss of as many as 127 aircraft of various types.

-- The total net losses of the three (downed, blown up, non-combat crashes, scrapped after landing, and declared missing) were 208, not counting the other 48 ship-based and shore-based aircraft that were wounded and awaiting repair, and the total number of usable aircraft held by the three forces before the outbreak of the fighting that day was only 408. Including the damaged aircraft, the total loss rate was as high as 63 per cent.

At the end of the day's fighting, the two main aircraft carriers of the 51st Special Fleet still carried 73 carrier-based aircraft (14 of which were to be repaired), the 52nd Special Fleet had seven battleships equipped with 14-inch guns that could continue to carry out their missions (a total of 15 maritime reconnaissance planes), and the "Tucano" air force had only 100 aircraft of various types (of which 34 were to be repaired). Schroeder was worried about this—it was reluctant to use the remaining forces to ensure the continuation of Operation Fusiliers, and the risk was unbearable not only for the US Navy, but also for the entire Allied camp.

In view of this, Schroeder ordered Major Fletcher, a young staff officer who had taken the lead in this naval battle, to land at the airport on the island of Efate by carrier-based aircraft as early as possible before he led his troops back to Port Vila, and asked him to request additional troops to the theater command.

After Admiral Robinson's repeated efforts, on the day that the "California", which was flying the lieutenant general's flag on the top of the mast, sailed into Port Vila, Schroeder heard the news he wanted from Fletcher, who had returned to the ship.

By 25 June, the Combined Fleet will be replenished with the following forces: three dreadnought battleships equipped with 12-inch guns, the USS Florida, the USS Rivadavia, and the USS Morno, the latter of which was the lucky ship that had experienced the Battle of Pearl Harbor, and the USS Levadavia and the USS Morno, both of which belonged to two British-built Minas that Argentina used to counter the Brazilian Navy. The "Djilas" class of dreadnoughts and the "Rivadavia" class ordered from the Fore River Camp shipyard in the United States.

"Rivadavia" was scheduled to be completed in December 1914, and "Morno" was scheduled to be completed in March 1915. After the Pearl Harbor incident, the U.S. Navy forcibly requisitioned the second ship in the form of "Lend-Lease", and carried out the refitting of fortifications, replaced with the fire control system and radio equipment of the U.S. military standard, and added millimeter anti-aircraft guns, which were used as training ships and shore defense ships until March 1916, and then reassigned to the Pacific Fleet as a combat ship, mainly responsible for escorting transport ships on the South Pacific route between the United States and Australia.

In addition to the three early dreadnoughts, which are already clearly obsolete, Schroeder will also receive a new Pearl Harbor-class medium-converted aircraft carrier, the USS Dutchport.

Named after the most important port in the Aleutian Islands in the North Pacific, the warship, like the two sister ships she lost in the Battle of San Cristobal, was converted from an 18,000-ton Atlantic fast cruise ship with a standard combat load of 33 — 24 fighters and nine torpedo attack aircraft, and a total of 48 aircraft — 36 fighters and 12 torpedo attack aircraft — when used as an air transport ship.

This time, the "Holland Port" will still play the role of an aircraft transport ship, and when it departs from the port of Pago Pago in East Samoa, it will carry 48 carrier-based aircraft, 24 carrier-based fighter pilots, nine carrier-based torpedo aircraft crews, and hundreds of ground crews, which will be used to supplement the carrier-based air wings on the two main aircraft carriers of the 51st Special Fleet, the "Glory" and the "Panama."

Finally, the other five aircraft carriers accompanying the "Holland Port" will carry 200 aircraft of various types in the state of parts, three troop carriers will carry the corresponding crews, ground crews, and airfield construction and defense units, and five ordinary transport ships will carry aircraft spare parts, fuel, ammunition construction machinery, and heavy weapons of the airport defense forces, which will be used to supplement and strengthen the "Tucano" air force stationed on San Cristal Island, and some of them will also be used as a reserve force for the "Magpie" air force scheduled to be deployed to Malaita Island.

"I'm looking forward to the good news in a week."

At this moment, in the face of Admiral Robinson's ardent expectations, Schroeder still did not dare to pack tickets casually.

"I and my fleet will do our best."

…… A！ ~！