Episode 118 The Four Wolf Packs

In the war room of Office Zero, .

"Qiu Yu," he ordered first, "give a brief introduction to the current force configuration of the Daming submarine force." ”

"Yes!"

Qiu Yu agreed, stepped forward, stood beside the chart table, took out one from a pile of small submarine models the size of a matchbox, clamped it with a long pole, and put it in the position of the Zhoushan Islands on the chart, and said as he waved:

"My lord, please see, at present, the total number of submarines owned by our Ming Navy is 96. Among them, 21 belong to the Yangtze River Fleet, which is a pocket submarine suitable for inland river and offshore activities only, with tonnages ranging from a few dozen tons to 200 tons. The remaining 75 are all large and medium-sized submarines suitable for going to the open sea. Of these, 45 are medium-sized submarines ranging from 500 to 800 tons, and the remaining 30 are large ocean-going submarines of more than 1,000 tons.

"At present, 50 of these submarines belong to the East China Sea Fleet, which are deployed in several bases in the Zhoushan Islands, as well as in several small bases in Zhejiang and Fujian. 15 ships belong to the Dongjiang Fleet and are deployed at the submarine base on Dachangshan Island. The remaining 10 ships belonged to the Nanyang Fleet and were deployed at the Zhanjiang Military Port in Guangdong. Among them, ocean-going submarines of more than 1,000 tons are mainly concentrated in the East China Sea Fleet and the South Sea Fleet.

"At present, in addition to the 20 that are resting in the harbor and cannot go to sea in the short term, 30 of the remaining 55 large and medium-sized submarines are deployed in the East China Sea and the Sea of Japan and are carrying out patrol duties. There are also 25 mobile ships in the harbor, ready to sail at any time. ”

Xiang Xiaoqiang nodded with satisfaction, and looked at the chart, which was now full of models of small submarines. Which ship is where, at a glance.

He said:

"This means that we can currently have up to 55 submarines on both sides of Japan. Of course, the number is not large, and it is impossible to stick to 55 ships at all. Soon, more than a dozen ships will need to return to rest and replenish. How long can we keep this number at a maximum of 55? ”

Qiu Yun estimated for a moment, frowned and replied:

"The Moxie, Qingshuang, and Gongbu have already reported a shortage of torpedoes and fuel. They must return within a few days. There are four more ships, which have been out to sea for almost two months. At most, they will hold on for another week, and then they will probably have to return. In this way, there are 23 ships that can hold out for a longer time. Even if we send out all the mobile forces in the port now, it will take more than 10 days for them to leave the port and arrive at the patrol area. That is, we may only be able to maintain more than twenty ships for at least ten days from now, and thirty ships at most. ”

Xiang Xiaoqiang summed it up in his heart, and said secretly, this is already good, it has exceeded his expectations. Originally, according to Dönitz's theory, one-third of the submarine forces of the Ming army rested in the harbor, one-third were on cruise, and one-third were traveling between the base and the combat area. At present, 30 of the 75 offshore submarines can maintain cruising at sea, and the total number of base rests and round-trips is less than half. This means that the girls of the Daming submarine force, their time to rest on land has been greatly compressed. From this point of view, they are much more hard-working than the German submariners in World War II.

Xiang Xiaoqiang nodded with satisfaction again:

"Good. What we're going to do now is to connect these submarines at sea. Through radio contact, let them form a group of submarines, instead of a single mass of scattered sand. Now I mean, let's take these submarines and organize them into groups of submarines according to the areas where they are cruising, and you can see what you think.

"The first group, the Western Pacific Group. The group's range of activities from Tokyo Bay to Kyushu Island was to sink cargo ships coming out of Tokyo Bay and the Seto Inland Sea, as well as cargo ships that wanted to enter these places. This sea area is the most important blockade of Japan, because Japan's major industrial cities and ports, such as Tokyo, Yokohama, Nagoya, and Osaka, are concentrated within this line. As long as this line can be sealed, Japan will be defeated by more than half of the war.

"The second group, the Sea of Japan. The area of activity of this group is the Sea of Japan, especially to enclose Vladivostok. The mission was to block sea traffic between Japan and the Soviet Union. Although it is difficult to say where the relations between Japan and the Soviet Union will go in the future, it is certain that as long as the Soviet Union does not cut off ties with Japan for a day, the Soviet Union will one day be the largest contributor to Japan.

"The third group, the East China Sea group. The area of activity of this group is the northern part of the East China Sea, and it mainly looks after the cargo ships entering and leaving the Tsushima Strait. Although Japan's major ports are on the southeast coast, once the first blockade is effective, Japan will definitely switch to a series of inferior ports on the northwest coast. The Sea of Japan is a closed sea, so there are no more than two outlets: the Tsugaru Strait and the Soya Strait in the north, and the Tsushima Strait in the south. Blocking the exit in these two directions, the ports on the northwest coast of Japan will still not be able to get out.

"The fourth group, the northern group. As mentioned earlier, there are two exits to the Sea of Japan: the Tsushima Strait in the south, and the Tsugaru Strait and Soya Strait in the north. The range of activities of the northern group is this area, from the Tsugaru Strait to the line of the Kuril Islands. This area is relatively large, and it is more difficult, and the round trip time is long. The northern Pacific Ocean is cold, the sea conditions are harsh, and foggy for most of the year makes it difficult to spot targets. Therefore, we need to deploy more large submarines to this group. Large submarines have a high endurance, better seaworthiness and faster speed, making them more suitable for patrolling in such rough seas and poor visibility.

"To sum up, this is the four major submarine clusters that I intend to deploy. If these four clusters can really play their respective roles, then Japan will be trapped to death and bend its knees and beg for mercy just around the corner. You must be optimistic, and remember that Japan today is not the same as Britain during the European war. Although Britain was also blockaded by submarines during the European War, there was a huge Allied power behind it, especially the United States as its arsenal, and the United States worked at full speed to build ships and produce materials for it. The so-called tonnage war, as you all know, is that my sinking volume must overwhelm your construction volume, so as to force you to bend your knees and sue for peace. In this 'tonnage war' in the European War, no matter how heroic and efficient the German submarine force was, because its opponents were the two major industrial powers of Britain and the United States, it fell short in the end and lost the tonnage war.

"The situation is very different now. Japan has no allies other than the Soviet Union, which looks like a detached man. And what about Japan's own industrial capacity, shipbuilding capacity, and resource reserves, everyone also knows - it is not at the same level as our Ming Dynasty. Besides, most countries in the world are now on our side. The United States, the largest arsenal in Europe during the war, is now impossible, if not able to support us, at least not to Japan. Therefore, as long as we do not make mistakes and perform at our normal level, it is only a matter of time before Japan is crushed. ”

……

After finishing speaking, Xiang Xiaoqiang looked around, and saw that the young officers in the war room were all excited, and even the female officers of the submarine force were all bright, their faces were flushed, and they were quite gearing up.