At the operational meeting the next morning, the State Secretary and the senior generals of the General Staff almost unanimously approved of the impending offensive of the White Army in the South against Soviet Russia. The German military and political leadership had a strong hatred for the Red Reich, whose ideology was sharply opposed to itself, and which was flogging, tortured, and slaughtered more than at any time in human history, and the General Staff even formulated a "Barbarossa" plan aimed at its complete annihilation. Now that the Russians are fighting the war in their place, the members of the German decision-making hierarchy are naturally happy to agree. Schubert, the German ambassador to South Russia, who received Berlin's reply, immediately informed Alexei of Germany's attitude; The first shipments were loaded onto the train and whistling across the Silesian and Ukrainian plains, heading east to the Volga River.

However, in early December, Russia was in the middle of winter with raging winds and snowfalls, and there were many constraints on the operation of the large corps, and according to the plan of Denikin, the "Supreme Commander of the Russian Imperial Armed Forces", the date of the war would not be until at least February of the following year, when the temperature rose slightly. Before the start of this fairytale "Prince's Revenge", Qingying only focused on the ongoing war in the Americas.

After a beating by the Berlin government, the attitude of Italy, Austria-Hungary, and the Ottomans suddenly subdued: in the southern German city of Munich, the representatives of the four countries reaffirmed the agreements between the Central Powers and declared that they would never make peace with the United States alone without consulting the Allies. Both Austria-Hungary and Italy pledged to cut the index of consumer goods production below 90 in the coming year and to double the total amount of arms production before the war. Italy was not required to send land forces to the war against the United States for the time being, but all fleets, air forces, and merchant ships registered were to be brought under the command of the German navy. Austria-Hungary and the Ottoman Empire were fully armed. Fighting the American army as part of the German warplanes. Because the size of Italian merchant ships was much larger than that of Austria-Hungary. This condition, which seemed to be extraordinarily favourable to Italy, was not opposed by the latter. The commander of the Austro-Hungarian Army, Cenkel, even privately stated that the Italian Army should be kept on the mainland and in the colonies forever, because these men who could not fight at all went to the American front, and there was no use for anything but wasting precious supplies.

"With the addition of Italian and Austro-Hungarian merchant ships, the total size of merchant ships controlled by Germany reached 28 million tons; And as our cooperation with the new British government deepens, a large part of their remaining 15 million tons of merchant ships will also be available to Germany. The San Juan base on the island of Puerto Rico has also been repaired and expanded thanks to the efforts of German engineers, and has now become a key port with a cargo throughput of 800,000 tons per month. The one-way journey of a ship from Brest to the Americas has been shortened from the original 4,300 nautical miles to less than 3,500 nautical miles, and we have taken another big step forward in our power projection to the Americas. ”

In front of a giant world map made up of dozens of large, low-scale maps. Dressed in a general's uniform, Raeder held a slender wooden pole and constantly pointed to Qingying on it, saying, "However, because the entire route has moved more than 700 nautical miles to the north, the attacks on merchant ships by American submarines have suddenly become more frequent. In the past three weeks, 11 merchant ships have been sunk by American submarines on their way to and from the ocean, with a total tonnage of 60,000 tons, compared to less than 50% of the losses in the same period a month ago! As the port of San Juan continues to expand, our Atlantic shipping lanes are bound to become busier, which will inevitably give American submarines more opportunities to attack, and even attract attacks from the opposing surface fleet. Therefore. We must prepare in advance to ensure the smooth flow of the Atlantic shipping route; That's the only way. Only then will there be a possibility of victory in this war against the United States. ”

Hearing Rydel's words, Qingying's eyes couldn't help but have a look of praise. After nearly ten years of working together, Qingying has long admired Raeder's knowledge and vision; The person in front of him is not only a shrewd and capable organizational bureaucrat, but also a commander-in-chief with a deep sense of the overall situation. No matter what form of war, logistics is always the most important; Even if the tip of the dragoon spear is hard and sharp, it is impossible to penetrate the layers of earth and stone protection of the opponent in the case of weak follow-up!

"After the Battle of Bermuda, the devastated American Atlantic Fleet was no longer able to drive us out of the Caribbean in frontal combat; Therefore, they have no choice but to weaken our power in the Americas by attacking the Imperial transports. Qingying opened her mouth unhurriedly, but an indescribable grotesque feeling emerged in her heart. In another time and space, the German navy, which lacked confidence in challenging Britain's sea power head-on, chose the strategy of breaking diplomatic relations as a strategy to force Britain to submit; More than 1,100 sea wolves struck out from the blue water, composing a majestic and passionate music. At present, the situation is completely reversed: the German army in the Caribbean can be regarded as an overseas island where all supplies need to be transported thousands of miles away, while the United States has played the role of Germany in history, cutting off the logistics and shipping of the other side has become the top priority in determining the victory or defeat of the war!

"According to our current plan, the Navy should build more anti-submarine frigates to strengthen resistance to submarine sneak attacks. More submarines should also be produced to bolster reconnaissance on the East Coast of the United States, allowing the U.S. Navy's larger ships to sail less frequently as the underwater threat intensifies. In this way, the threat of US submarines to the transport fleet can be reduced, and the activities of its large warships will also be restricted, so that the danger factor of the transport fleet will be greatly reduced. After all, as long as the large warships of the US Navy do not participate in the breakdown, then we only need heavy cruisers to ensure the surface safety of the fleet. Raeder said succinctly.

"These two strategies are indeed an effective response to consolidate our Atlantic routes. But general, maybe there is another weapon that we should not ignore. Qingying turned his head and smiled at Raeder's elegant and upright face, "Since aircraft carriers can replace battleships as the core of naval warfare with ultra-long-range vision and strike radius, then why can't we use these advantages of it for fleet escort?" ”

Raeder was shocked when he heard this. Although the huge combat power of aircraft carriers has been perfectly proved in previous naval battles, it is precisely because of this that these core forces must be concentrated and used at any time, otherwise it will be a huge waste of combat power. Although the German Navy's 35,000-ton Hindenburg-class heavy aircraft carriers have been built in batches, they are still far from being able to take time out to escort merchant ships compared with the number of aircraft carriers of the same type in the United States. Moreover, how can an aircraft carrier attack a submarine? Putting these country's heavy weapons into the escort is not only cost-effective, but also increases the possibility of being severely damaged by the enemy's submarine sneak attack, which is a very cost-effective deal from any point of view!

However, after a few moments, the shock and confusion in Raeder's heart dissipated, and the previous calm was restored. The Emperor's attainment in naval strategy was so profound that it was unmatched even in the whole of Germany; Since he has raised this point, he will inevitably have his own unique considerations and opinions.

"We can build a low-end aircraft carrier dedicated to escort convoys. Its mission is only to accompany the convoy, so it can be built directly to the standards of a merchant ship: the entire ship does not need any armor, the firepower can only be used for simple air self-defense, and the speed is higher than that of a merchant ship! With 30 aircraft on board, the standard displacement of such an aircraft carrier is expected to be within 8,200 tons, and the construction period will not exceed 10 months. ”

Qingying sorted out her thoughts and simply said to Raeder based on her experience in later generations: "As long as our transport fleet is equipped with this kind of ship, then any surface assault ship will be invisible hundreds of kilometers away; The fleet can not only change course to avoid enemy attacks, but also send bombers and torpedo planes to attack when conditions permit. As for anti-submarine, the modified aircraft is also fully competent. They can use airborne radar or sonar buoys to detect the location of surface and submerged submarines, and then attack them with mounted small bombs and depth charges. Due to the extremely wide range of aircraft reconnaissance, this will force American submarines to dive at a great distance from the convoy, and their threat to merchant ships will be reduced geometrically. This is a huge advantage that traditional anti-submarine destroyers cannot match in any case. ”

"An armed merchant ship capable of taking off and landing aircraft?" Raeder's thoughts were racing, and the chaotic elements of battle in his mind gradually became orderly and clear. Airborne radar had been in active service for months, with the initial goal of making some twin-engine fighters capable of night combat; Now, with a few modifications, the radar can be used as a tool for searching for submarines cruising at sea. As long as a submarine can be forced into the water with a bomb, the meaning of the aircraft is revealed: even today, submarines spend most of their time on the surface, and their maneuverability and range achieved by electric motors underwater are not at all the same as those achieved by diesel engines on the surface. The tactic of dropping passive sonar and then depth charges on the surface of the sea is also entirely feasible.

"The Navy will carefully consider this construction of your majesty. It is believed that it will become the core of the consolidation of the German Atlantic route. Raeder said politely. (To be continued......)

ps: Thank you for the book friend Xiaoxiang Night Rain Stranger, the big drunk cat, the happy fattening cat, the Longcheng General every day, the monthly ticket support of the breath in the depths of the soul, and the reward of Golden Crab and zhouyu1976~~~