Episode 87 Submarine Grand Strategy

Cups, plates and plates were removed from the dining table, and a large map was improvised and Xiang Xiaoqiang had a heated discussion with Dönitz on the map, and not only naval officers, but also many army officers gathered around him, looking at it with great interest.

Xiang Xiaoqiang just said that he advocated building less capital ships and more submarines, which was purely to lead Dönitz to speak. Now that he had "naturally" spoken to Dönitz, his attitude turned 180 degrees, almost turning his face and denying people, and vigorously advocating that the submarine had no future. At least Germany has no future in developing submarines, and the development of surface ships is the king.

…… , Raeder is here. Saying that submarines are good, if you accidentally tell Raeder's point of view, and you are also bent on submarines like Dönitz, then what is the use of the bait of "dealing with capital ships" just thrown.

It's just that Dönitz is depressed, and I don't understand why this Ming general has changed his opinion after a while.

Dönitz arranged a dozen long matches into a flotilla formation, then broke a few more matches and used short matches to form a concave in front of the "flotilla", wrapping the flotilla like a burden.

Xiang Xiaoqiang saw at a glance that this was Dönitz's classic original: wolf pack tactics.

"Look, General," said Dönitz, pointing to the long match and then to the short match, "suppose this is the enemy's convoy of transports, and this one is a reconnaissance curtain of U-boats. Eight to ten U-boats, separated by ten to fifteen nautical miles from each other, depending on the weather, form a large net 150 nautical miles wide. Once the enemy fleet sails into this net, it is likely to be spotted by our U-boats.

"The first U-boats to be found were in contact with the fleet and the other U-boats in the net, so that within ten hours at least four or six U-boats would be close to the fleet. During the day, these U-boats maintained the farthest visual contact with the flotilla and tried their best to keep up with the flotilla, and at night several U-boats could boldly approach the flotilla and even rush into the interior of the flotilla and attack the cargo ship with torpedoes. The low stature of the submarine is difficult to spot in the dark of night.

"It is estimated that three or four U-boats will allow an escort destroyer of a merchant fleet to take care of one or the other. Moreover, once a merchant ship is torpedoed, the enemy's escort ships will give priority to rescuing people, and our U-boats can take the opportunity to expand the results of the battle. In this way, several U-boats attacking a convoy at the same time will definitely have a much higher record than only one U-boat attacking the merchant fleet. ”

After speaking, he observed Raeder from Xiaoqiang. I saw that Redder also shook his head slightly. Xiang Xiaoqiang smiled:

"General Dönitz, the distance between boats and boats in your net is ten to fifteen nautical miles, which is one or two thousand meters. Can the conning tower of the submarine be so low that you can see that far? ”

Dönitz says:

"It's just ten to fifteen nautical miles apart. Each U-boat doesn't need to see that far, just half the distance. If the weather is not particularly bad, there is no problem for the U-boat to observe the situation from 10,000 meters away. ”

Xiang Xiaoqiang asked sharply:

"And what if it's night?"

Dönitz's face did not change, and he said very normally:

"It's just a matter of luck at night. There is no way around this. The earth doesn't revolve around us, and even the best tactics have drawbacks. ”

"Well, yes, no matter how good the tactics are, there will be shortcomings," Xiang Xiaoqiang nodded, and then compared the North Atlantic Ocean on the map, "One of your wolf packs is one hundred and fifty nautical miles wide, but the North Atlantic Ocean is more than a thousand nautical miles wide, and there is nowhere to use it as a route, how many packs do such wolves need?" ”

Xiang Xiaoqiang almost unmistakably regards Britain as an imaginary enemy. The generals present all looked at each other, which seemed quite unnatural. In fact, although Hitler shouted all day long that Britain would not be an enemy, at least the German navy understood that Britain would still be an enemy of Germany if there was another war. The goal of the German Navy was still to break through into the North Atlantic and strike at British lines of communication.

Dönitz looked up from the map, glanced at Xiaoqiang, lit a few matches on the North Atlantic, and said lightly:

"I only need eight to ten of these 'wolf packs' to blockade the North Atlantic and cut off the enemy's lifeline. I'm talking about 100 percent cuts, not like the last war. ”

Although Raeder had already heard Dönitz's lion speak, Raeder still frowned when he said this in front of so many army generals and foreign representatives.

Xiang Xiaoqiang said in surprise:

"Eight to ten? Wouldn't that be nearly a hundred submarines? ”

Dönitz burst out even more shocking:

"No, 100 is not enough. If you want to keep 100 U-boats on the ocean all year round, you need at least 300 U-boats. Of these, 100 are hunting in the oceans, 100 are repairing at the base, and 100 are traveling between the base and the mission area. …… It sounds like a lot, but as long as Germany can guarantee me 300 U-boats, I can guarantee that Germany will win the war. ”

Xiang Xiaoqiang looked shocked:

"General Dönitz! 300 submarines! To your country! …… Do you know how many submarines we have now? Less than 100 of them! …… Belch...... Number of submarines in your country...... It should still be in the single digits, right? ”

Dönitz stared at the map, bowed his head and said after a moment:

"Sir, this is a submarine, not a large warship. Even if we in Germany only need to shift the focus of shipbuilding from large surface ships to U-boats, it is very realistic to have 300 submarines by '46 or '47. ”

Xiang Xiaoqiang smiled and said:

"General, I am not a naval officer, so I don't know whether to talk nonsense...... However, let's not be happy, drinking and chatting, anyway, it's not a military meeting...... Admiral Raeder is here, and so many gentlemen of the Navy are here, and any of you know more than I do. Hehe, I just said what I thought in my heart, and if I said it wrong, I guess everyone won't laugh at me...... Well, I think, Germany is really not suitable for the development of submarines. You still have to go the right way, get a few capital ships in a down-to-earth manner, and you can't always think about winning by skill. ”

Xiang Xiaoqiang's words were uneasy and kind, but they spoke to the hearts of Raeder and several admirals. The surrounding generals nodded frequently, and there was a quiet "ja...... ja ......".

……

"Huh?" Dönitz was depressed, raised his head and frowned and asked, "General, you clearly said just now that you also hope that your navy will build fewer capital ships and more submarines." How can I ...... now?"

"Huh? Ah, this ......" Xiang Xiaoqiang coughed, avoiding Dönitz's questioning gaze, staring at the map, and said seriously, "...... That's right, first of all, the national conditions of each country are different. Our current surface fleet of the Ming Dynasty is already very powerful, and it can basically defend our sea lines of communication, as well as meet the Japanese ...... Ahem, the enemy's fleet...... So, with a solid foundation, we can develop some submarines, which, ah, play a certain auxiliary role.

"As for your navy, it can be said that the basic shelves have not yet been erected, and there is not a single capital ship that can be used. If we want to put aside surface ships and spend 10 years building hundreds of submarines, then such a navy is too ...... It's a little too deformed. And if your country spends these ten years on the right path of building a surface fleet, then by 46 or 47 Germany will have a fleet that even Britain does not dare to underestimate.

"Moreover, the average mass of your ships is above that of the British. As we all know, generally the older naval powers, like Britain and our Ming Dynasty, always have a large proportion of old ships in their fleets. Keep it for it, it's a bit outdated; Scrap it, it's a pity that the life span is not enough. So it stayed. And to Germany, you can make all new ones. With Germany's first-class industrial technology and design capabilities, each one built must be the most advanced in the world. I'm confident in that.

"Another point is that our Ming Dynasty is suitable for submarines, but your country is not suitable. The imaginary enemy of our Ming navy, whether it is the Manchu Qing Dynasty or the ...... It doesn't matter if it's Japan, its sea transport lines will definitely pass through our Ming sphere of influence. We stood in front of them. First of all, their fleet left the port, to the south, all the way to the long coastline of our country.

"The coastal areas are mainly Zhejiang, Fujian, and Guangdong, and there are many good ports on the coastlines of these three places, and we can set up submarine bases in any port. It is only a short three or four hundred nautical miles to go to sea from any port to the main route of the enemy, and it is very convenient to attack. As for the further south, there is the South China Sea, as well as Siam, Sumatra, and the Strait of Malacca, which are all our spheres of influence, and we all have military ports, which are convenient for attacking.

"The submarine is a weapon, strategically speaking, the advantage is that it is very economical. A low-cost submarine with a theoretical possibility of sinking a battleship that costs a lot of money. But the downside is inefficiency. The speed of the submarine is very low, and the ultimate speed on the surface is only a dozen knots, which is only equivalent to the ironclad ship at the end of the last century. Moreover, the body is low, the field of vision is very narrow, and it is not easy to find the target. Also, the seaworthiness is very poor. It's small and light, like an empty can, and as long as the waves are a little bigger, it has to spend all its strength fighting the sea.

"But these shortcomings of submarines are destined not to be used by Germany, but are destined to be suitable for us. As I said earlier, we are in a very good strategic position in front of Japan's shipping line. From the port of Japan to the Indian Ocean, there are naval bases everywhere along the way. Moreover, there are many islands and straits along the way, and there are many places that must be passed. This has decided: First, our submarines do not need to go to the far sea, and they do not have to be like you, and they have to have '100 submarines to travel between the base and the mission area'. Secondly, we can place the submarine in several key places, which will definitely intercept the enemy fleet. In this way, even if we have only 100 submarines, we will be more efficient than your 300 submarines.

"Germany, on the other hand, is strategically disadvantaged by being behind the British shipping lines. If the submarine wants to intercept it, it must first find a way to bypass Britain and protrude from the North Sea. When you reach the North Atlantic, you can be considered to have entered the range of the enemy's sea lines before you can start 'hunting'. For a submarine of several hundred tons, the range is too large, and that bit of fuel is difficult to search for extensively. Moreover, the Atlantic Ocean is a vast expanse, and there is no way to go. The merchant fleet will move a few points north or south at will, and your wolves will not be able to see it. Not to mention the evenings.

"Another important point is that the area of activity of your submarine is the North Atlantic, and the North Atlantic Ocean is one of the worst seas on the planet, and rough seas are the norm. Submarines are such a small thing in a raging storm, and the combat effectiveness is equal to zero. Not to mention the battle, it is almost impossible to find the target. But what about us, our area of activity is in the western Pacific Ocean, the eastern Indian Ocean, and mainly near the equator. These sea conditions are often very good, and the sea is generally calm, which is very suitable for submarine activities.

"So, you need 300 submarines to cut the throat of the enemy, and even if we only use submarines, 100 will do. To sum up, we are naturally suitable for submarines, and you are naturally not suitable. Perhaps this was God's arrangement. ”

……

After Xiang Xiaoqiang finished speaking, there was silence all around. He looked around rather proudly, and found that not only the army officers, but also the naval officers, nodded in agreement.

Xiang Xiaoqiang himself understood in his heart that when he said this big set just now, he played a few small spears in the middle, relying on his own experience in World War II and these people did not, so he concealed all the advantages of the submarine. The most critical one is that the practice of World War II has proved that even with many difficulties, even if Germany uses submarines in the North Atlantic, it can almost break Britain's neck in the end.

The reason why it was not cut off was because in the later stage of the war, the anti-submarine technology of the Allied forces was very high, and a large number of long-range planes equipped with airborne radars and searchlights flew in line on the bow of the U-boat, day and night, and finally the U-boat was so crushed that it did not dare to go out of the water at all, and there was basically no confusion.

But then again, if in the early stage of the war, Germany had the 300 submarines that Dönitz said, Britain would not have been able to wait for the day when anti-submarine technology would have developed. The reality is that by the time the war broke out in '39, Germany had only about fifty ships.

Seeing that Dönitz's face was like a slate, he secretly complained to Xiaoqiang in his heart: This is offending Dönitz. Raeder must have learned from Hitler when he goes back, Hitler was originally obsessed with large surface ships, and this time Dönitz's future may be affected.

- But it doesn't matter, Dönitz is a man who is bent on realizing his submarine ambitions, and if Germany can't eat it, there will be a chance to dig him up to Daming in the future. Of course, this is just a chance to talk about it. Although Xiang Xiaoqiang admires Dönitz very much, Daming is not very urgent in demand for this kind of talent at present. The current number one enemy of the Ming Dynasty is the Manchu Qing Dynasty, mainly land warfare. War with Japan, that's still a shadowless thing.

And even if the Ming blockade Japan, it would not be as dependent on submarines as Germany. Yes, Germany instead relied on submarines. But just now, they were taken into the ditch by themselves.

There is no way, the more Hitler covets those two or three treaty ships now, the more room for bargaining he has. With this big bargain, Guderian must be working for Daming. And not only him, but also a large number of talents.

In addition, it seems that the German Bismarck class was also designed at this time, right? Xiang Xiaoqiang remembers that the construction started in July this year. At this time, the Bismarck-class was called "a masterpiece in the history of shipbuilding". If we can talk about a full set of design drawings and Daming will also come to the next one, then there will be nothing "Nagato-class" in the Western Pacific.