"In just one month, the coalition forces have lost 200,000 men in the reciprocating rush.

Even if there are many of them, they can't last long. Li Xiao looked at Odessa in the morning light.

The arsenal ships are bombarding Odessa frantically, and there are constantly orange flames, steaming up in the port of Odessa.

"That means we don't need to land in the south of France anymore, do we?"

Li Xiu put down the binoculars, and he knew that this was the result.

Perhaps, this is also the result of the eldest brother's plan in his heart.

Otherwise, with such a large-scale conscription of the Ming army, I did not see the eldest brother send more marines to the Mediterranean.

"In the absence of winning the war, the landing still has to be prepared.

Moreover, in the future, the Navy and the Marine Corps will be the services that we will focus on developing.

The Army, in the future, will gradually reduce some troops.

That's why, now there are so many tentative troops on the Russian front.

The tentative prefix is a temporary preparation.

In the future, our field troops will be organized into four group armies, each of which will have a number of divisions under its jurisdiction. ”

"Army group?" It was the first time Li Xiu had heard of this concept.

In the past, the Ming Dynasty did not have a military-level establishment, and all military-level establishments were temporary.

It's like the 1st Expeditionary Army, which was used in the previous attack on Grozny.

At that time, the army commander was still Sun Zhijie, and the establishment was only more than 70,000 people.

After Grozny, the First Army of the Expeditionary Force was abolished, and each unit was reorganized.

After the imperial court decided to participate in the war against Russia, the First Army of the Expeditionary Force was re-formed.

The army commander is Ao Canghai, and the whole army gathers the essence of the Ming Dynasty.

Zu Kuan's 1st Tank Division, Cao Bianjiao's 2nd Tank Division, and Li Dingguo's 3rd Tank Division.

Together with the essence of the original 1st Division and the main forces of the 3rd and 4th Divisions.

The combat power is unprecedentedly powerful!

Entering the Russian battlefield, it was really extraordinary.

Converge with Manye's 1st Cavalry Division and encircle the 600,000 Austro-Hungarian troops.

In World War I, 150,000 enemy troops were annihilated and 450,000 enemy troops were captured.

As a direct result, a huge gap appeared on the central front of the coalition forces, causing the coalition winter offensive to become two disconnected pieces.

Now that Li Xiao suddenly put forward the concept of a group army, Li Xiu was a little confused for a while.

"A group army is a first-level unit that gathers several divisions.

However, at that time, division-level units will be greatly reduced.

There will no longer be a first division under Ao Ye, with an establishment of 100,000 people.

These people are under the command of a unit on weekdays, and they are also together in drills.

The various units are also relatively familiar with each other, which is beneficial to the operation. ”

After listening to Li Xiao's explanation, Li Xiu nodded suddenly.

So it was, and he thought it was like the original.

A field division has an establishment of 40,000 or 50,000 men, and a 100,000-strong establishment like the first division.

There would be three or four hundred thousand people in such an army!

The size of the division has been greatly reduced, and having four or five divisions in that group army is not a big deal.

Combined, it's only about 100,000 people.

Not much different from the current First Division!

"And the future Marine Forces, mechanized units dominated by tanks and armored vehicles."

"What does our Navy say?" Compared with the army, Li Xiu wanted to know more about what the navy would become.

"In the future, the Navy will be dominated by aircraft carriers, and we will occupy major waterways around the world.

In addition, an aircraft carrier battle group consisting of one or two battleships, cruisers, and several destroyers was arranged near the main waterways, led by aircraft carriers.

Globally, there is a need for about ten aircraft carriers.

On each aircraft carrier, forty to fifty aircraft are carried.

However, I think that fewer battleships will be built in the future.

A maximum of two cruisers will be built, and more will be built with a large number of destroyers.

The advantage of this is that if you can build more types of ships, you will reduce the cost of building ships. ”

Li Xiao sat down on the chair, and the telescope was placed directly on the table.

The port of Odessa is finished, the shelling of the arsenal ships directly damaged most of the infrastructure, plus some warships were sunk in the port.

This port is estimated to be inactive for some time.

"Ten aircraft carrier battle groups?" Li Xiu was taken aback, he didn't expect his eldest brother to be so bold.

Ten aircraft carrier battle groups will be built at once!

If there are ten aircraft carrier battle groups, it doesn't seem to matter if you don't build battleships.

As an admiral, Li Xiu already knew through such a long period of combat experience that battleships were actually eliminated ships.

Don't look at the big ships and huge cannons look majestic, but even a 480 mm battleship can send shells out ten kilometers and twenty kilometers.

But at such a distance, you have to aim accurately.

Comparatively speaking, carrier-based aircraft are much more powerful.

Two or three hundred kilometers away, carrier-based aircraft can be released.

The battleship, no matter what, could not attack so far.

At present, the main role of the battleship is actually to use its huge caliber naval guns to bombard targets on the shore.

Even a reinforced concrete pillbox one or two meters thick could not withstand the bombardment of a single main gun shell.

Li Xiu knew that the future naval battle would be a battle between aircraft carriers.

Destroyers are a very good thing, the tonnage is not large, but it can protect aircraft carriers very well.

It's also good as an escort battleship!

The most important thing is that the destroyer is low-cost.

The cost of a battleship can build eight or nine destroyers.

Surrounded by groups of destroyers, the safety of the aircraft carrier will not be in serious question.

"In the future, the main task of the destroyer is air defense.

Because distant targets will be destroyed by carrier-based aircraft on the aircraft carrier. ”

"Air defense, you have other planes that will attack our aircraft carriers?" Li Xiu looked at Li Xiao in surprise.

The plane is considered the top secret of the Ming Dynasty, even if there are downed fighters on the battlefield, and even the pilots of the Ming Dynasty are captured.

But the elite scientific and technological forces of the whole of Europe have been concentrated, and they have not been imitated until now.

Li Xiu felt that there was nothing at sea that could sink his own aircraft carrier.

"Huh! The secrets of the plane, sooner or later, will be revealed.

The secret in this is actually not able to withstand the research of so many elite scientists.

In the future, not only Daming will be able to build airplanes. ”

Li Xiao nodded and said.

Li Xiu looked at the eldest brother and did not speak either.

In his opinion, now the only one who can defeat the Ming fleet at sea is the Ming fleet.

This seems like nonsense!

But ......, the fleet is so big, in case someone has other thoughts......

In Li Xiu's opinion, the eldest brother did this to defend himself.

"Ten aircraft carriers, as expected, is a big deal."

Li Xiu could only say this, in his opinion, this was also the eldest brother guarding against him, the commander of the navy.

"So many aircraft carriers are needed, and three are deployed on combat readiness duty in the main waterways.

Three returned to port for maintenance, and three more for training.

The remaining one is a mobile force, ready to support operations in various places.

In this way, our Ming will have the ability to intervene in disputes far away from the Ming in a short period of time.

If it is a skirmish, an aircraft carrier battle group will suffice.

If the scale of the conflict increases, we will add an aircraft carrier battle group.

If we need to start a war, we will concentrate three or four carrier battle groups at the same time for the attack.

Navy!

It is to take care of the affairs of the sea, and at most provide fire support to the marines who have landed in the coastal areas. ”

"That's right! As you said, the navy is in charge of maritime affairs. Li Xiu said coldly.

He still has a deep resentment against the Marine Corps for stripping off the Navy.

After all, the Marine Corps was born with the Navy and was established by Li Xiu.

It's like a child raised by oneself, and one of them is taken away without paying attention, and those people don't allow that child to call him Daddy.

"Still thinking about the Marines?

The Marine Corps is an army that wants to defend the interests of the Ming Dynasty along the coast.

With the increase in the interests of the Ming Dynasty's overseas territories, the size of the Marine Corps can only be expanded.

In the future, the size of the Marine Corps may be even larger than that of the Navy.

Picking out the Marines separately now will be good for the future. Li Xiao shook his head helplessly.

He understood Li Xiu's feelings for the Marine Corps, but reason told him that if the Marine Corps was placed in Li Xiu's hands, it would probably be abolished.

"Forget it!

I can't take care of too much, and there are ten aircraft carrier battle groups, which is enough for me to keep busy. Li Xiu shook his head helplessly.

If in the past, the generals who held the military power of one side could still rebel.

Now, this kind of thing simply doesn't exist.

Whether it is an aircraft carrier or a marine, his foundation is on the industrial capacity of the Ming Dynasty.

Without the support of the industrial strength of the Ming Dynasty, whether it is an aircraft carrier or a marine, it is a fortress made of sand, and it will collapse as long as the sea water is soaked.

Just like the navy now, ammunition, fuel, and other supplies are chaotic and complicated.

Even Li Xiu is not too busy to come over now!

The supply of so many things is supported by the industrial strength of the Ming Dynasty.

What's more, it is also necessary for Daming's shipyard to continuously produce new warships for him.

A year has passed since the war, and deliveries of battleships have begun to increase.

The fourth domestically produced aircraft carrier is being outfitted and is estimated to be added to the fleet in another half a year.

And every month, from March until the end of the year, new destroyers are launched.

It is estimated that when formulating the shipbuilding plan, the eldest brother has already considered the formation of an aircraft carrier battle group in the future.

"Let me tell you something, the Huangdao Naval Ship Research Institute has recently come up with a new thing."

Seeing that the scene was rather dull, Li Xiao lit a cigar and said to Li Xiu.

"Something new?" Li Xiu blinked his eyes, not knowing what new fame these guys had made.

"They're working on a new type of warship that can dive underwater.

And launch torpedoes under water to attack ships on the surface. ”

Li Xiao exhaled a puff of smoke and looked at Li Xiu with a smile.

"Driving underwater? Also firing torpedoes to attack surface ships? Li Xiu's eyes widened, he never thought that there would be such a thing.

Driving underwater, out of this thing, then the damn surface ships are not all scrapped now.

What aircraft carriers, what aircraft carrier battle groups, are all decorations in front of this thing.

"Hmmm!

They have completed their theoretical studies and are about to conduct further experiments.

I've given them funding and I think we'll be able to get it out in a few years.

When the time comes, your destroyer will have to pay attention to how to counter underwater dive warships in addition to dealing with air targets. ”

"What the hell is going to do about it?" Li Xiu's eyes widened.

Now all weapons are used against warships or shore targets.

What should be used to hit this underwater thing, is it said to be stoned?

"Huh! Weapons are such things, there are spears, there are pauses.

As long as a weapon is developed, there is a way to counterbalance it.

At the Jinzhou Institute of Electronics, methods of dealing with underwater targets are already being studied.

I believe that after the research of that kind of diving battleship, they will also have breakthrough melee combat on their side.

Technology is like this, there is no perfect, there is also the existence of mutual restraint. ”

Li Xiu nodded, deeply impressed by his eldest brother's words.

After all, that kind of underwater warship is too dangerous, and if it is not able to check and balance, it will be in big trouble.

Odessa burns in the morning sun, and the billowing smoke forms a huge black column that shoots into the sky.

"Odessa is finished, oil tankers can easily get in and out of the Black Sea.

No one will sneak up on them!

Next, I want to march into Gibraltar.

After all, it was the gateway to the Mediterranean, and I didn't want it to be occupied by the British for long. ”

Li Xiu told Li Xiao what he had been thinking about for a long time.

He wanted to take Gibraltar back for a long time, and if he recaptured Gibraltar, the aircraft carrier would be able to go directly north along the Atlantic.

Battleships can even attack the coast of France and London directly!

If you go a little further north, the capitals of Norway, Denmark, and Sweden, which are small Nordic countries, are all within the strike range of aircraft carriers.

Even Li Xiu felt that with the strength of the navy, he would be able to bring the coalition forces to their knees.

"Huh!

The Russian front is now fighting like this, and in half a month, the double line of the Central Asian railway will be completed in its entirety.

More Ming troops, more armored units and more aircraft will be transferred to the front line.

According to our estimates, the Ming Dynasty only needs to use 1.5 million troops to win this war.

You see, now the Black Sea is also ours.

The Sochi refinery will be completed in two or three months, and future oil supplies will be guaranteed.

The capacity of the Central Asian Railway will be partially released!

I think that according to the current way of playing, the Ming army will not be able to fight until winter.

One is that their logistics will be eroded by the bombing, and the other is that their domestic economy is already on the verge of collapse.

But not all countries have the industrial capacity and strength of Daming.

To tell you the truth, to fight such a war, Daming also emptied his family to fight.

The country's large-scale infrastructure projects have all stopped, and if it weren't for the wealth plundered from overseas in the past, Daming's economy would have collapsed.

No way, the consumption of war is just too great.

It is also difficult for the fourth child to hold up in China! ”