"General!" Thinking of this, I asked Clapp, "Does the task force have large transport ships, such as helicopters or sea harriers......

Hearing this, Clapp couldn't help but look at me in shock, and after a moment of silence, he nodded slowly and replied, "Yes, we do have such a transport ship!" ”

I was surprised to see Clapp's reaction...... Transport ships are not a military secret, no matter which country enters a state of war, it will need transport ships for transportation, right? Then it's only normal for me to ask.

But I soon found out that I was wrong, that the transport was not only a military secret, but also a very important one.

Of course, this military secret is for this era, and I, a modern person, have known for a long time that there is such a ship in the fleet, and even know that it will soon be sunk by Argentina.

"Why do you ask?" Clapp then asked.

"What's its name?" I asked.

I was a little unhappy with Clapp's reaction, because it was obvious that he didn't want to go into further discussion on the issue, and at this time I felt that this was not a military secret and there was nothing to talk about, so I felt insulted.

Clapp obviously sensed this, and he was silent for a moment before replying, as if he had made up his mind, "It's called the Atlantic Transporter." I beg your pardon, Colonel, because it involves important military secrets......"

"Military secrets?" Clapp's words made me wonder: "It's just a transport ship!" ”

"No, no......," Clapp replied, "it's not just a merchant ship. Originally, I shouldn't have told you about this, but it's clear that you're asking this because of the defense missiles of our fleet carriers. Is it? ”

"Indeed!" I nodded.

I have to admit that Clapp is a smart guy. If he doesn't plan to tell me about this transport. I'm obviously not going to tell him what to do with the Argentine's Exocet missiles.

"Hmm!" Clapp nodded: "On the other hand, I also feel that the Colonel is our trusted friend, so I decided that I should sue you for this plan!" ”

I couldn't help but laugh when I heard this...... Clapp said it nicely, if it was just because I was "trustworthy", then he wouldn't have behaved like that in the first place.

"Here's the thing!" Clapp continued: "This Atlantic Transporter is part of our 'Arabian Ho' program! ”

"The 'Arab Ho' project?" I couldn't help but be stunned when I heard this, I really hadn't heard of this plan before.

"Yes, it's the 'Arab Ho' project!" Clapp nodded and replied: "This plan is proposed to better take advantage of the Harrier, a fighter that can take off and land vertically. Imagine just giving the harrier a 15 by 15 meters large hard area. If it can get away from the runway of one or two kilometers at every turn, take off and fight easily, and land flexibly and freely, then can't we replace the aircraft carrier with a large transport ship? ”

"Oh!" When I heard this, I couldn't help but suddenly realize.

It should be said that this is indeed a good idea and creativity, and it is no wonder that the British fleet will row this transport ship within the scope of military secrets.

"The future of this project is very exciting!" Clapp said with a wry smile: "First of all, this can solve the problem of the British Navy's tight budget, you must know that if this 'Arab Ho' plan can be successful, it means that we don't need aircraft carriers at all, or only a few aircraft carriers as command ships, in the event of a large-scale war, we can temporarily recruit large merchant ships as Harrier-style take-off platforms...... Of course, there are still some necessary modifications to these merchant ships. For example, the take-off deck is installed, and maintenance parts and tools are arranged. As well as loading the fuel and ammunition needed for combat on the plane, etc., but this is not difficult for a large-tonnage transport ship! ”

Of course, I agree with this, because the displacement of transport ships in this era is tens of thousands of tons at every turn, for example, the displacement of the "Atlantic Transporter" mentioned by Clapp is 15,000 tons, and the aircraft carrier Invincible is only 20,000 tons.

"Of course!" Clapp continued: "The combat capability of such a merchant ship is not comparable to that of an aircraft carrier, and its advantage is that it can save a lot of money for the navy. ”

I nodded, and then I understood why the Atlantic Transporter had been sunk in the Falklands War.

You must know that it is a transport ship, if it is purely a transport ship, then its state should be to transport the cargo to the fleet, in order to avoid more dangers and also make better use of its transport capacity, it will transfer the "goods" transported on it in the shortest possible time, and then return to China to transport another batch of "goods".

That is, it should stay in the task force for very little time...... That's all the time it takes for the "cargo" to be transferred to the aircraft carrier, so the Argentine Air Force shouldn't have much chance of sinking it. And yet it happened.

I thought it was a coincidence, but now it seems that it is not...... The reason why it was sunk was that it was used by the British fleet as a quasi-aircraft carrier and remained in the task force.

"Is there something wrong with this 'Arab Ho' plan?" I asked.

The reason why I ask this is because the British Harrier did not increase much take-off at this time, and the other is because until modern times I have not heard of any country implementing this "Arab Ho" plan...... If this plan proves to be feasible in actual combat, it should be used by many countries.

"Something is wrong!" Clapp nodded and said, "In fact, during this time, we have been trying to put the Atlantic Transporter into the aircraft carrier battle group to make up for the lack of aircraft carriers in our army, but the effect is not satisfactory. On the one hand, it does not have the perfect intelligence, command, and control capabilities of aircraft carriers. On the other hand, due to the limitations of the structure of the transport ship, the take-off and landing points that can be modified are insufficient, and generally only one or two take-off and landing points can be modified, for example, the Atlantic Transporter can only be modified with one take-off and landing point. The operation and command of the ten Harrier fighters was nothing short of a nightmare. A simple four-plane formation is very difficult. Because we have to take off one Harrier to get another Harrier into the take-off and landing point...... This directly leads to the fact that when the fourth Harrier takes off, the fuel of the first Harrier is no longer enough to complete the combat mission of 50 kilometers away and return to the sea smoothly! ”

I couldn't help but laugh dumbly when I heard this...... It seems that this "Arab Huo" plan is a thing that "the ideal is very plump, but the reality is very skinny".

In fact, the experts of the British military do not know that the "aircraft carrier that is not an aircraft carrier" transformed into a transport ship will have these shortcomings, but the military expenditure that can be saved here is too considerable, and the temptation for Britain, whose economy is declining, is too great...... You must know that if this plan is feasible, it will not only mean that Britain can build many fewer aircraft carriers, but also does not need to raise aircraft carriers at all, so the merchant ship is equivalent to helping the military maintain aircraft carriers.

All the military needs to do is raise more Harrier fighters. Train relevant commanders, pilots, maintenance personnel, etc., and call them up on an impromptu basis in wartime...... Soon, more than a dozen or even dozens of "quasi-aircraft carriers" will come to the battlefield to seize sea supremacy and even air supremacy.

It is precisely because of this temptation that British military experts still think that it is worth a try despite knowing these many shortcomings, and the Falklands War obviously gave them a chance to experiment.

"That's it!" Clapp said: "If the Colonel is also going to use this kind of transport ship to make up for the lack of aircraft carriers, then I can say that it cannot take on this task!" ”

"No!" I shook my head and said, "I'm sure it can take on this task!" ”

"Colonel!" Clapp smiled bitterly: "Maybe you don't have experience with aircraft carriers, so ......"

"I really have no experience with aircraft carriers!" I said, "But I know that the Atlantic Transporter is not inferior in size to an aircraft carrier, and it can take off and land fighters, and that is enough!" ”

"The colonel means ......," at this time, Clapp also sensed from the meaning of my words that my thoughts would not be so simple.

"Imagine ......," I said, "if there is such a transport." It is protected by our fleet, and it is also large and capable of taking off and landing fighters...... So what will be on the radar of the Argentines? What will they think it is?! ”

"Oh!" Hearing this, Clapp couldn't help but suddenly realize: "What does the colonel mean." Will the Argentines mistake this for an aircraft carrier? ”

"Of course!" I said: "Just as you can't distinguish the super flag in the Argentine fleet in the radar, the Argentines can only judge the position of the aircraft carrier in the radar based on the size of the ship and whether it can take off and land fighters, and we deliberately use warships to protect it, so why not?" ”

"WOO, great idea!" Clapp's eyes lit up, and he nodded again and again: "You must know that Argentina only has five Exocet missiles, and two have already been used against the Sheffield, if you can trick the Argentines into launching two more...... That means they only have one left. Although this will still pose a threat to our aircraft carriers, their chances are undoubtedly greatly reduced, and our losses are just a transport ship, which does not even have much impact on our combat effectiveness! ”

Saying that, Clapp excitedly stood up and shook my hand and said, "Great, Colonel, you may have saved our fleet again, I don't even know how to express my gratitude to you!" ”

"That's what allies should do!"

"Excuse me!" Clapp said, "I'll have to tell General Sù Woodward about this idea right away!" ”

With that, Clapp couldn't wait to walk to the phone.

"How did you come up with this?" When Clapp was talking to Woodward on the phone, Lin Xia said beside him: "At first, I heard it a little inexplicable, I didn't know what you asked about the relationship between this transport ship and the aircraft carrier, but I didn't expect you to still make this plan!" ”

I don't know how to answer this question, I can't say that I was inspired by history knowing that Argentina would sink a transport.

Lin Xia didn't plan to let me go so lightly, but at this time, Ida walked up: "Colonel, your coffee!" ”

I don't know if Ada wants to demonstrate in front of Lin Xia or what she is doing, she smiled very warmly at me before leaving, and Lin Xia was so angry that she forgot everything.

Seeing this, I couldn't help but laugh in my heart, women have no memory like this. But it's a good thing. Otherwise, I'll have to make an excuse again.

My proposal was quickly unanimously endorsed by the top command of the fleet. After all, this approach is very suitable for the current situation.

The first is that the Exocet missile was launched from out of sight, such as the two missiles that Argentina hit the Sheffield...... It was launched from a distance of 20 kilometers, and at this distance the pilots could not judge with the naked eye whether the target was a real aircraft carrier, and they could only rely on the signals received by the radar to judge the size of the ship and whether there were planes taking off and landing, thus providing the conditions for our deception tactics.

The second is that we know exactly that Argentina now has only three Exocet missiles left, and in view of the importance of aircraft carriers to the British fleet, it is entirely possible for Argentina to launch two Exocet attacks on the "fake aircraft carrier" again, that is, to exchange one transport ship for two extremely threatening Exocet missiles. This in itself is not a loss-making business.

Although some British commanders were also a little distressed about the Atlantic Transporter...... You must know that this is a 15,000-ton transport ship, and it is also a tester of the "Arabho" plan, which almost means that this plan will lose a rare opportunity to test in battle.

However, the British commander thought about it again and again, and felt that this was nothing compared to the consequences of the aircraft carrier being sunk by an Argentine missile, after all, once an aircraft carrier was sunk, the result would not only be that the task force would lose the war and lose the Falklands, but that it would also very likely cause the collapse of the British regime and even affect Britain's international position to a certain extent.

These were obviously not something that Britain could afford, and the lesser of two evils was chosen, so they soon launched this "fox plan" after reporting to the British government.

The name "Project Fox" is quite apt...... In other words, Britain and the United States always like to give them a similar name when they have any actions, for example, the previous bombing of Port Stanley Airport was named "Operation Black Stag". However, the results of that operation were clearly not very successful.

This time it will be codenamed "Fox", mainly because the operation was actually an operation to deceive Argentine pilots. But the substitution of the plan should not be too straightforward, such as a "deception plan", so that the Argentines immediately knew that it was likely to be a trap when they heard the codename, so it was appropriate to name it "fox".

The plan actually started that night.

The reason for such a rush was entirely because the British did not dare to guarantee when the Argentine side would launch the next operation...... It is clear that this operation must be ready before the next Argentine operation, otherwise it will not make any sense.

The first thing to do is to strictly block messages.

As mentioned before, the BBC reporters in the army will find out some military secrets from various aspects, and immediately transfer them to the domestic radio station and announce them to the world.

In fact, this plan will not be a secret to anyone, including BBC reporters, because the fleet will put the "Atlantic Transporter" in the middle of the fleet to protect it as an aircraft carrier, as long as anyone who is not stupid will know what kind of tricks it is playing when they look at it.

It did not seem difficult to do so, when Clapp ordered the temporary seizure of all BBC journalists' radio stations...... You must know that this is at sea, and the temperature around is still dozens of degrees below zero, unless a reporter can swim to shore in this situation, no one can bring the information out.

Of course, the BBC reporter would protest on the grounds of press freedom or something, but Clapp was not moved at all, after all, it involved the safety of an aircraft carrier and even directly related to the victory of the entire war.

Of course, this will raise some new questions, and that is that our attack on Pebriel Island and our plans to use BBC journalists could be affected.

But it was not difficult to solve this problem, because before we made these preparations, we had intentionally or unintentionally let the sailors reveal to reporters that some of the British operations on Pebr Island were actually "blowing the east and the west" to reporters...... Brigadier General Clapp then ordered the urgent seizure of the journalist's radio station, as if it were to prevent the news from being leaked.

Several reporters shouted into the microphone before the radio was confiscated: "Fuck, the military has ordered the confiscation of all journalists' radios, which is enough to prove that the information we got is accurate, and the attack on Pebble Island is indeed a false illusion, and the purpose is to empty Port Stanley of troops!" ”

The BBC soon reported on the incident: "It is clear that the task force is trying to replicate the success of the Normandy landings, because they are using the same method to trick the Argentines into transferring their forces to the port of San Carlos, which will give the British an even greater advantage in the landing at Port Stanley." In addition, we have to express strong condemnation of the military's confiscation of journalists' radio stations and interference with press freedom......"

After the show, there will even be a few British soldiers who will shout at the BBC: "Fuck you press freedom, for your so-called freedom, our soldiers on the front line are dying and bleeding, you should be ashamed of what you did!" ”

"To hell with your freedom of the press! There is a good chance that you will make us lose the whole war, and make the whole of Britain suffer the price you don't deserve! ”

……

Of course, a considerable number of people here are still spontaneously accused by civilians of the BBC, because this practice is really inappropriate in times of war, and even ordinary people are a little unbearable, after all, these soldiers fighting on the front line are the children or relatives of ordinary people.

Clap, on the other hand, was in front of the radio listening to their arguments and laughing over coffee.

Obviously, the effect will be even better than previously planned.

This was followed by the necessary transshipment of the cargo aboard the Atlantic Transporter...... As Clapp said, this freighter is not simply used as a freighter, but a quasi-aircraft carrier that hopes to be able to play a role directly on the battlefield, so there are many Harrier fighters, anti-submarine helicopters and their necessary fuel, parts and ammunition.

If these substances were in the UK, it might just be a matter of money. But here, in the waters around the Falklands, which is 13,000 kilometers from Britain, and it is still at war...... These materials are invaluable to the fleet, so needless to say, they must be transferred more or less first.

The reason why I say "almost" is because this transport ship has to take off and land several Harrier fighters or helicopters in the guise of an aircraft carrier, so it still has to leave a few fighters and necessary materials.

In this respect, I was only helping the British fleet save some material things.

Because when the "Atlantic Transporter" was sunk in history, it was carrying a total of 10 Harrier fighters and 14 helicopters of various types, of which only 10 Harrier fighters flew away in time when it sank...... As mentioned earlier, due to structural constraints, the Transporter can only be transformed into a take-off and landing point.

And now, because we are planning to carry out this step, most of the combat material and helicopters on it have been transferred.

After doing this, Clapp and General Woodward made a major adjustment to the formation and position of the aircraft carrier and other ships, that is, the "Atlantic Transporter" was placed in the center of the fleet, and the merchant ships, warships, and outermost warplanes were outward.

Of course, the aircraft carrier was assigned to the ranks of the merchant marine.

Many mid- and lower-ranking British naval officers were surprised by this, and many even went to Clapp's command room to ask for advice.

They believe that such an approach is stupid and is likely to bring disaster to the aircraft carrier, because as soon as the Argentine fighters break through the anti-aircraft fire of our army, then the aircraft carrier is completely exposed to enemy fighters.

Their fears, of course, were correct, but they did not realize that the greatest danger to the aircraft carrier was not from Argentine bombers, but from Exocet missiles.

Of course, Clapp wasn't going to change because of this, and he only said one thing to me: "It made me see clearly who is stupid and who can be promoted!" ”

I understood what he meant...... It is not difficult to guess the purpose of this arrangement, but some British officers will be anxious to oppose it.

This part of the officers is undoubtedly what Clapp calls "stupid". (To be continued......)