"In short, with the current situation of Task Force 52, it is obviously impossible to transfer troops to other tasks."

Rear Admiral Erwin said without question, then turned to Rear Admiral Carl Robisson, commander of Task Force 53

"Nowadays, the operation of breaking diplomatic relations at sea is mainly carried out by submarines, and the Eastern Indian Ocean Detachment Fleet sent to the west coast of Australia should be formed by drawing troops from the 53rd Task Force - Rear Admiral Robison, what do you want to say?"

The red-nosed Rear Admiral Robison tilted his head helplessly: "As you know, long before the Battle of Malaita Island, my fleet establishment included 48 submarines, plus 2 light cruiser converted minelayers, 8 small destroyers for minelaying, 3 submarine carriers and 5 fast oil tankers. ”

"It should be noted that there are only 20 large submarines in the fleet that can carry out ocean-going cruises, and the rest are small submarines of less than 500 tons, which cannot operate far from the base."

"It is these 20 large ocean-going submarines that have undertaken the task of cruising the entire Central Pacific, from the Ogasawara Islands in the north, to the coast of the Philippines in the west, and to the Hawaiian Islands in the east. As of yesterday, the fleet actually had only 17 large submarines. ”

"The base on the west coast of Australia is too far from the main route of the Chinese in the Indian Ocean, small submarines cannot play a role, and the existing large submarines go back and forth between the base and the patrol area, which requires a lot of time and replenishment, and the time for real combat cruises will be very limited."

"In my experience. If you want to rely on bases on the west coast of Australia to carry out effective submarine operations, you need to deploy at least 12 large submarines, of which 4 are ready to carry out combat cruises on the enemy's main routes in the Indian Ocean, 4 are to travel between the base and the patrol area, and the other 4 are anchored at the base for rest and maintenance. ”

"As a result, the fleet is left with only 5 large submarines available, so few troops. There will be no threat to enemy shipping in the Central Pacific. ”

Before Rear Admiral Robison could speak, Major Chester Nimitz, the young escort staff officer of the South Pacific Combined Fleet, couldn't help but retort: "I don't think it posed much of a threat in the first six months of this year, and the total tonnage of the various ships you reported sinking was less than 100,000. During the same period, we lost more than 300,000 tons of transport ships on the South Pacific route, and countless aircraft, artillery, vehicles, ammunition, and even entire battalions of army soldiers sank to the bottom of the sea in vain - this is also because of what the superiors will ask us to share the escort mission. ”

"In recent months, the Chinese have tried to meet the Germans in Turkey. The successive invasions of the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Aden meant that a large number of troops and materials had to be transported through the Indian Ocean route. Now that you are concentrating your forces on attacking shipping in the Indian Ocean, it is of greater strategic significance. There is another chance to achieve greater results. When the Chinese shift the focus of operations to the Pacific, it is the right time for you to concentrate on attacking shipping in the Central Pacific. ”

Major General Erwin gave Nimitz an approving look, "I agree with Major Nimitz. ”

Then his eyes rolled: "For Major General Robison's professional opinion." I am also deeply impressed, and my idea is to form the Eastern Indian Ocean Detachment on the basis of the 12 large ocean-going submarines drawn from Task Force 53, with the necessary support forces — and if you have no objection, the General Staff will draw up a plan accordingly. ”

Rear Admiral Robisson, who had been mercilessly killed, looked around the venue and quickly realized that he was alone. had to silently accept the reality.

Rear Admiral Erwin turned to the last task force commander with satisfaction: "Next is the 54th Task Force as a landing support force, Vice Admiral Brian, do you have anything to say?" ”

Before the US Fifth Fleet led by Schroeder sailed for the South Pacific, British Vice Admiral George Bryan once commanded the naval operations of the Allied powers in the southwest Pacific in the capacity of commander of the Anglo-Australian Combined Fleet.

I saw Vice Admiral Brian's face sank, and he replied in a tough tone: "I know what you want to say, in the past month, the 51st Task Force has given us 2 newer light cruisers, plus 6 replaced Sampus-class destroyers; Task Force 52 gave us six more older 10,000-ton armored cruisers and large protective cruisers, plus eight replacement Cassin-class destroyers. ”

"After we transferred four old British small destroyers to Task Force 53, the strength of the fleet has been expanded to four former dreadnought battleships, eight armored cruisers and large protective cruisers, five light cruisers, and 28 destroyers and small destroyers."

"One might think that it doesn't take as many troops to just support the landing. However, I would like to draw your attention to the fact that, compared to the other fleets, most of the warships of Task Force 54 are outdated and in poor condition, and they are already very reluctant to cope with the last few 'beach walk' landings, and the fleet may not be able to provide sustained and effective support if there is to be a real landing in front of the enemy in the future. ”

Vice Admiral Brian's uncooperative attitude, combined with his peculiar status, immediately made the atmosphere in the meeting awkward - Rear Admiral Erwin could neither refute him head-on, nor draw troops from his fleet to form an escort detachment.

"I don't think Lieutenant General Brian's worries are unreasonable, and the 'watchtower' operation is about to take place, and it is not appropriate to transfer the strength of the landing support force at this time."

This time, it was Major Nimitz who came to relieve the siege.

"Moreover, according to the actual combat experience of the Royal Navy, simply increasing the number of escort forces cannot significantly reduce the losses of escort convoys, and old warships that lack anti-submarine equipment themselves can easily become prey to the opponent's submarines."

"In the face of the rampant German U-boats, the Royal Navy's solution was to equip all merchant ships with artillery. In order to enable lone merchant ships to suppress submarines in the surface state, forcing the submarines to remain submersible, so that they cannot track and hunt merchant ships at high surface speeds. ”

"The second is to strengthen aviation anti-submarine capabilities, including the use of airships and large seaplanes, and to incorporate escort aircraft carriers that are simply converted from ordinary merchant ships into the escort convoy."

"The third is to carry out offensive minelaying, not only in the vicinity of the main submarine base of the German Navy, but also in the English Channel. and the North Sea exit between the northern tip of Scotland and Norway, with a huge anti-diving minefield. ”

"The first and second ones, the navy is already working on them, and the key is the third, the Royal Navy is backed by the continental fleet. It is possible to lay a large minefield in the North Sea nearby to block the passage of U-boats into the Atlantic, and it is simply impossible for us to blockade Pearl Harbor, which is thousands of nautical miles away, with mines. The only way to mitigate the submarine threat from Hawaii is to send an aircraft carrier task force to carry out an airstrike on the submarine base at Pearl Harbor......"

Hearing this, Major Frank Jack Fletcher, Admiral Schroeder's aviation staff, couldn't help but exclaim: "Air attack on Pearl Harbor? My God. It's too risky. ”

Brigadier General Reeves, who was sitting diagonally opposite Major Fletcher, smiled slightly, and took over the conversation calmly: "The main thing is that the troops are insufficient, before attacking the military port." The opposing airfields must be suppressed first, and the aircraft carrier forces themselves also need aircraft protection, and my staff officers have made estimates to effectively attack ports. To ensure the maximum safety of the aircraft carrier fleet, at least 300 carrier-based aircraft are needed. ”

"Even if my air operations improvement plan is successfully implemented, the Panama and Glory will only be able to carry a maximum of 156 combat aircraft, and even if the Manila of Task Force 52 is included, the total number of carrier-based aircraft that can be used will not exceed 200."

"To meet the bottom line of the air force needed to attack Pearl Harbor, we need two large converted aircraft carriers equivalent to the USS Panama, or one fleet carrier equivalent to the USS Glory — plus one medium-converted aircraft carrier equivalent to the USS Manila."

After listening to Reeves' analysis. Admiral Schroeder, who had not spoken since the beginning of the meeting, suddenly stared at Reeves with burning eyes: "What if you add a regular fleet aircraft carrier that is more powerful than the Glory, plus a Panama-class modified aircraft carrier?" ”

……

Oval Office, White House, Washington, D.C., USA.

U.S. President Woolold Wilson took off his earless snappless glasses and turned his broad face to Secretary of State Robert Lansing.

"If something like this happens, Britain and France can continue to fulfill their commitments, and it seems that we, Mr. Winston Churchill, still have the means."

Lansing's towering cheekbones trembled slightly: "Not only Mr. Churchill, but also the British and French leaders with normal intelligence will understand that that small fleet cannot save Egypt or East Africa." If the Chinese really want to occupy all of Africa, no one can stop them in the short term – unless we can make a big wave in the Pacific Ocean that will pour the militarists in the palace of Běijīng into shame. ”

Wilson put down the newspaper in his hand, picked up a document from his desk, and handed it to Lansing.

"Since you mentioned the Běijīng Imperial Palace, I have a reliable piece of information here: I have heard that Her Majesty the Empress of the Chinese Empire, who read the edict of war on the radio, has recently taken a sick leave, and that all the edicts are now issued by the former crown prince in the name of the regent—what do you think this means?"

Lan Xin skimmed through it hastily and shrugged his shoulders: "There are many possibilities for this. ”

Wilson folded his hands in front of his chest, half-leaned against the heavy oak desk, and squinted his eyes seemingly relaxedly: "Which one best fits the Chinese history you know?" ”

Lan Xin tilted his head: "I'm not sure, maybe their empress is really sick, maybe ......"

"Maybe?"

Wilson seems intrigued.

Lan Sing put the document back on the table and took a long breath: "Maybe we were wrong in our previous judgment, the real leader of the militarist clique that led China into the war was not their Empress. It is even very possible that Her Majesty the titular Empress was subjected to some unknown coercion and had to read it out before the broadcast according to the manuscript written by someone else......"

……