Sukhoi felt that he was about to become moldy, and since the outbreak of the war, the navy has belonged to the existence of soy sauce, except for a few mine-laying operations carried out by the Baltic Fleet and the Black Sea Fleet, the daily routine of the navy is patrolling the coastal waters or training day after day.

At times, Sukhoi doubted whether he was in the navy or the air force, and a considerable number of his boys were sent to fight the Luftwaffe on land, and many of them forgot how to take off and land on aircraft carriers for months.

The only thing that comforted Sukhoi a little was that the naval aviation was not forgotten by the Military Commission, although a very large part of the elite pilots were transferred, but it was also supplemented by quite a lot of young men with excellent conditions to him. Compared with the pre-war batch of HNA pilots, the young man who was supplemented to him was in better physical condition and had a higher level of education. Let's put it this way, Sukhoi believes that the average quality of his pilots is a cut above that of the Air Force.

Not only is the quality of personnel better, but the Central Military Commission has not forgotten to replenish HNA with new equipment, even when the situation is quite tense. The more advanced Yak-3K, Il-2K and Ro-3 multi-role attack aircraft all stepped off the drawing board. The only thing that is a little regret is that the production rate of these projects is not high, and they cannot completely replace the old equipment.

Of course, Sukhoi felt that for the time being, the Yak-2K and Ro-2 were enough, although it was a bit difficult to meet the most advanced fighters of the German army, but it was not completely without the strength to fight. Of course, Sukhoi was most pleased that the aircraft carrier development plan drawn up in 1939 was faithfully implemented, and the Type 39 fleet aircraft carriers had been outfitted at the Leningrad Northern Shipyard, and the project as a whole was 90% complete. The remaining work will be completed in about two to three months. The advanced Type 39 aircraft carrier will be ready for service within the year.

For the Type 39 aircraft carrier Sukhoi is very satisfied. Unlike those four Leningrad-class aircraft carriers based on the pre-war Izmail modification. The Type 39 aircraft carrier is one hundred percent aircraft carrier blood, and from the very beginning it was not comparable to a halfway monk freak.

There are two aircraft carriers of this type, the first ship is named Vladivostok, and the second ship is named Simferopol, with a standard displacement of 52,000 tons and a full load displacement of 65,000 tons. The maximum carrier capacity is one hundred. The maximum speed is 32 knots, and the maximum cruising range is 8,000 nautical miles at 25 knots.

Compared with the fleet aircraft carriers of the United States and Japan at this time, the style of the Type 39 aircraft carrier is completely different. It had a fully enclosed bow and an armored flight deck (100 mm armor), making it ideal for operations in the Arctic Ocean region of the Soviet Union. And this is also the performance that was emphasized at the beginning of the design. After all, both the Baltic Sea and the Black Sea are closed bathtubs, which are really not suitable for the activities of large fleets, especially aircraft carriers.

In particular, it is worth mentioning that the Soviet Union not only insisted on continuing to build the Type 39 aircraft carrier during the war, but also carried out a series of supporting projects. For example, the construction of air defense cruisers and air defense destroyers. Even while the Type 39 aircraft carrier was being outfitted, the more advanced Type 42 aircraft carrier had also begun preliminary demonstrations, and several major design bureaus of the Navy had already come up with a series of plans, and in accordance with the requirements of the Military Commission, the Type 42 aircraft carrier would inevitably start construction in 1943.

In this regard, Sukhoi is particularly satisfied with Li Xiaofeng's attitude, because in order to preserve and develop HNNA. Someone directly ordered to cut down the already started project on the Type 39 battleship. You know, this project was a very high priority before. Several of the main bigwigs of the Politburo, such as Trotsky and Sverdlov, were also forced to look forward to the project. But a certain immortal said that he would cut it, and he didn't hesitate at all.

What does this mean? It fully shows that a certain immortal believes that there is only one core of the navy in the future -- that is, aircraft carriers and naval aviation!

"The Red Navy of the future does not need large and inappropriate waste, and battleships, battle cruisers and heavy cruisers are among the eliminated. There is no need to waste precious resources on these useless wastes! ”

The above is Li Xiaofeng's speech at the annual budget meeting of the Central Military Commission, and his remarks naturally made the big ships and giant artillery factions in the navy very unhappy, and directly called a certain immortal: "The enemy of the navy!" ”

However, it was useless for them to be unhappy, because in the context of the Great Patriotic War, the Navy was supposed to give way to the Air Force and the Army, and funds and resources could only be tilted towards those two sides. What's more, the big toys that the big ships and giant artillery faction like are too expensive, such as the Soviet-class battleship that was ruthlessly cut down by a certain immortal just after the start of laying the keel, its standard displacement is as high as 61,700 tons, the full load displacement is 67,600 tons, equipped with 12 406 mm guns, and the maximum speed is thirty knots. Such a monster cost up to $12.52 million, and the Navy wants to build four more in one go. Aren't you dizzy?

What is even more exaggerated is that this gang is also preparing to build another cruiser killer with a displacement of more than 30,000 tons, a maximum speed of 32 knots, 330 mm thick armor and 9 305 mm guns. In fact, it was another type of battlecruiser that was expected to cost $6.5 million, and they wanted to build four.

If you calculate, the cost of these eight warships alone is close to 80 million US dollars, and the US dollars in this year are still very strong and valuable, and these 80 million US dollars are only the cost, and in the future, it will cost a lot of money in repairs, spare parts, personnel training, and maintenance. Let's put it this way, the Soviet Union really couldn't afford to raise these monsters.

What's more, how many planes and tanks can be built with hundreds of millions of dollars? What the Red Army needed most of all in the Great Patriotic War was not warships, but a massive number of aircraft and tanks. Therefore, the old stubborn proposition of the navy, even if Li Xiaofeng does not use the knife, the air force and the army will not agree, and they will be let out of the way in minutes.

Of course, what made the navy old stubborn unhappy the most was not that Li Xiaofeng slashed wildly, but that they thought someone had cut too hard. In their words: "You can't cut down all eight battleships and battlecruisers in one go, you have to leave some thoughts for the navy, such as one or two battleships!" ”

In fact, before this budget meeting, the Navy knew that the situation was not good, and they thought that they would keep two Soviet-class battleships. As long as the construction works can maintain the minimum speed of the two ships, it will be enough. But what caught them off guard was that Li Xiaofeng cut them all in one go. And after chopping down the battleship. Turning around, the allocation of funds for the Type 42 fleet aircraft carrier is also too annoying!

Yes, the old navy thinks that the cost of those two aircraft carriers is not cheap, it is also close to the cost of tens of millions, plus the supporting aircraft are not as cheap as the Soviet-class battleships. Since you can give the Navy so much money, why not continue the construction of the Soviet class, even if you keep a Soviet-class battleship!

In the eyes of the old navy, a certain immortal is too much. So they protested and demanded justice. However, in Li Xiaofeng's opinion, this Nima is bullshit, in the past, the Soviet-class battleship and battle cruiser projects were carried out because the bastard of steel was there, and he had to be given face, but now that steel has become ancient, these things naturally don't need to exist!

Moreover, Li Xiaofeng has long looked at those old navy unpleasantly, always contradicting his plan, and he can't understand his painstaking efforts for the future development of the navy. It's better to let it out of the way as soon as possible.

But after letting these old antiques get out, it's a big question who will replace them. If it's still straw bales and waste that come up, it's better to keep the old antiques so as not to waste your energy. Fortunately, Li Xiaofeng has already had a favorite candidate, and he is still one big and one small.

The first one is familiar to everyone - Kuznetsov, the naval marshal born in 1904 is very unusual. In 1919, at the age of 15, he joined the Red Navy's North Dvina River Fleet, and after graduating from the Frunze Military Academy in 1926, he became the most prominent representative of the Red Navy. At the age of 30 he became the captain of a cruiser, at the age of 33 he became the commander of the Pacific Fleet, and at the age of 35 he became the People's Commissar of the Navy.

Let's put it this way, Kuznetsov's promotion in his early years was by helicopter, which was simply rising from the ground. Of course, in that particular year, there were many officers of this category. Many of the guys who took advantage of the purge to shoot Stalin's sycophants and recklessly rectify people were rocket cadres. But Kuznetsov is different, in the Great Purge, he did not rectify the person, but did everything possible to protect his comrades, for example, the second person Li Xiaofeng fancied, Gorshkov, the latter was under the focus of Kuznetsov's attention, not only did the Great Purge have no effect on him, but reused it all the way.

The 30-year-old Kuznetsov became the captain of the cruiser, and the 30-year-old Gorshkov became the captain of the cruiser detachment. And the latter is even more awesome, he is better at dealing with his superiors, and he is very good at beating around the bush to achieve his goals. On the contrary, Kuznetsov was still a little too direct, so after the war, Kuznetsov ran headlong into Stalin, who was completely out of step with his philosophy, was hit, and his rank was demoted from marshal to lieutenant general. It was easy to survive Stalin, and he met another rocket and atomic bomb maniac Khrushchev, who was once again stripped of his marshal hat and forced to retire.

On the contrary, whether Stalin, Khrushchev or Brezhnev were in power, Gorshkov was able to advance and retreat, constantly confronting these top leaders who did not pay much attention to the difficulties of the navy, and tenaciously fought for more interests for the Red Navy. It must be said that Gorshkov's political level was higher.

Of course, now Li Xiaofeng can only use Kuznetsov, compared to "old fritters" like Gorshkov, a certain immortal is still more willing to deal with a straight-tempered purely technical officer like Kuznetsov.

Soon, at the behest of Li Xiaofeng, Kuznetsov was appointed commander of the Northern Fleet, please note that the Northern Fleet in this time and space has a completely different meaning from the Northern Fleet in history.

The current Northern Fleet actually has two fleets: the Baltic Fleet and the Barents Fleet. In fact, this is also the same thing, because because in this time and space, because of Li Xiaofeng's insistence, the navigable capacity of the Beihai-Baltic Canal far exceeds history. The canal is fully capable of accommodating large ships with a displacement of no more than 50,000 tons, a width of no more than 40 meters, and a draft of no more than 12 meters.

That is, all the warships of the Baltic Fleet have access to the Arctic Ocean through this canal, and the two fleets become one. And according to the ambitious plan of a certain immortal, the canal will need to be expanded in the future to reach the capacity of 100,000-ton ships. It is clear that this is what is intended for the giant aircraft carrier of the future.

Of course, these are all afterthoughts, and it is too early to mention them for the time being. Because there are still many obstacles for an immortal to realize the above attempt. For example, the Politburo did not fully agree with his plans for the navy, and Sverdlov believed that big ships and big guns were still fundamental.

"Britain built five battleships of the George V class. More powerful and advanced avant-garde-class battleships are being built. Before the war, the United States built two North Carolina-class ships and four South Dakota-class ships. Four Iowa-class battleships are under construction. It was also planned to build five Montana-class battleships. Germany has also built large ships such as the Bismarck-class, and even island nations such as Japan have built two unprecedented Yamato-class battleships, and a third is being built. Doesn't the choice of these naval powers tell the story? Battleships will continue to dominate naval warfare in the future! ”

Sverdlov gave a series of examples to illustrate the importance of battleships, but his reasons were not worth refuting in Li's opinion.

I saw a certain immortal reply very calmly: "Is the George V-class battleship you are talking about the one that was easily sent to the bottom of the sea by a fleet of Japanese shore-based bombers not long ago?" By the way, I remember that the counterattack was also dealt with by the air force like chopping melons and vegetables, right? ”

Sverdlov blushed and was about to defend the Prince of Wales and the Counter-Attack. But Li Xiaofeng once again ridiculed: "By the way, there is also the Bismarck, which can't even stop the old swordfish, and was actually disabled by an aviation torpedo." One can imagine how unworthy of mention the so-called giant ships are in front of the aviation. If you replace the Swordfish with our Ro-2 or Ro-3, what will be the result? As for the Prince of Wales and the Counterattack, if the aircraft carrier Invincible had not run aground and could provide them with air cover, would it have been sunk so easily? These examples just show that in the face of the air force, the big ships and huge guns have become completely outdated. In future naval battles, there will no longer be a decisive battle in which the capital ships lined up in battle, as in Jutland. The naval battles of the future will be carried out by aviation at a distance of several hundred kilometers, and only with powerful aviation will be able to control the oceans! ”

A little bit. Li Xiaofeng continued: "Our resources are limited, unlike the United States and Great Britain that can be wasted on battleships, the development of the Navy must highlight the key points, and there is only one focus, and that is aviation!" ”

Sverdlov was choked with anger and retorted indignantly: "These two examples are isolated cases, and they don't mean anything. The value of aircraft carriers is preferential and debatable! For example, now, the Tirpitz seriously threatens our northern lines of communication, and if we have a battleship that can match it, do we need to be afraid of him? ”

Li Xiaofeng shook his head and said: "Comrade Yakov, please pay attention to one point, the Tirpitz is not impossible to solve, in fact, it is very simple to solve it. With the current power of the Red Navy, destroying it in a naval battle is a piece of cake. This threat has always existed, not because we don't have a comparable battleship, but because it has been cowering in the Norwegian fjords. Neither aviation nor battleships could have rushed into the fjords of Norway and destroyed them. That is, even if we have similar battleships, there is no way to take them! If, on the contrary, Tirpitz set sail and entered the ocean, then our naval aviation could detect and destroy it hundreds of kilometers away, and what about battleships? I'm afraid that before our battleships catch up, the Tirpitz will slip away! ”

Sverdlov became more and more unconvinced: "This is just your guess! ”

Li Xiaofeng interrupted him again: "This is not my speculation, but there are real examples. By the way, I would like to remind you, Comrade Yakov, that in all the exercises, your favorite battleships were beaten all over the ground by aircraft carriers, and they did not win a single time! ”

Sverdlov's face turned red, and he said angrily: "The exercises of the Red Navy do not tell everything, other naval powers ......"

Li Xiaofeng interjected with a smile: "Do you want to ask about the results of the previous naval exercises of other naval powers?" I have a report from the US Navy here, and they have come to the exact same conclusion as we do, that in the future, aircraft carriers will be more important than battleships! ”

Sverdlov held his breath in his chest, he couldn't swallow or spit it out, he was really uncomfortable, and he had nothing to say in the face of the various examples and facts that Li Xiaofeng cited. In the end, I had to mutter: "In the end, it must be tested by actual combat, in actual combat, battleships are stronger than aircraft carriers!" ”

Li Xiaofeng also said sarcastically: "Then when the actual combat results come out, you will brag like this, and now you ......" said a certain immortal shrugged his shoulders with a smile, and his disdain was beyond words.

Of course, disdain is disdain, in fact, Li Xiaofeng is ready to speak in actual combat. Because Sverdlov and these people will not give up, if they can't come up with proof that aircraft carriers are stronger than battleships, there will be constant tug-of-war around this issue in the future. And this is undoubtedly a great obstacle to the construction of the navy, and Li Xiaofeng does not have so much time and patience to accompany a group of fools to fight.

What's more, with the improvement of the weather, the Northern Fleet nested in Arkhangelsk and Murmansk can indeed be active, and it is really necessary to prove its value to those old antiques with actual combat.

Of course, Li Xiaofeng was not particularly anxious, because this sortie was very important, and a worthy target had to be selected, and it had to be ensured that it was destroyed in one fell swoop. Otherwise, Sverdlov would have seen it as a joke...... (To be continued......)

PS: Bow and thank you to the drunken Kaede and Comrade Juventus!