Although it has only been half a year since the outbreak of the war, the submarine force of the Workers' Navy has sunk 139 merchant ships of Britain and France, with a total tonnage of 520,000 tons.

Nowadays, the German submarine tactics are still dominated by scattered hunting, but because there is more time for naval construction, the number of submarines in the workers' navy is much higher than that of the war navy in the same period in history.

At the outbreak of the war, the war navy had only 57 submarines, while the workers' navy had 91 submarines of various types; Now, half a year later, it has increased to 163 ships.

As the losses soared, Britain urgently established and implemented a merchant escort system in April to protect the shipping routes, but the effect was not obvious, and daily calls for help from submarine attacks were still coming.

The Royal Navy of the British Empire, once glorious, was now unable to send enough destroyers to escort the large fleets, while the scattered, lone merchant ships could only sail alone in the murderous Atlantic.

Not only merchant ships, but even warships like the Ark Royal could not escape the clutches.

Because of the need for a large number of escort ships to protect the lifeline at sea, the British began to look for civilian ships suitable for conversion into escort ships in the country, and the Smith Dock Company's 700-tonne, 16-knots Southern Pride whaling ship was selected by the Royal Navy.

The Hua-class frigate was born, which was born out of civilian ships so it was easy to build, and could be built by many small shipyards using only general merchant marine technology.

At the same time, Canada was also tasked with solving problems for its overlords, and shipyards on the East Coast, from Quebec to Halifax, were working at full capacity.

With only six destroyers and 3,500 officers and men, the Royal Canadian Navy has announced an expansion plan to triple its size within a year, double it again in two years, and double it again in three years.

However, all this takes time, and it takes more than half a year for a regular warship to be launched and outfitting at the earliest, while it takes three to four months for a relatively irregular escort ship built on the basis of a civilian ship.

Later arguments such as "the myth of American aircraft carrier construction, 50 ships are built in 20 months, and one is completed in an average of 12 days" is just a wordplay that attracts attention.

As a result, the British now urgently need to fill the gap of these months.

And this was one of the purposes of Sir Edward's trip, although it was very unlikely that the Americans would be able to join the battle directly, but it seemed promising to simply enlist a batch of ready-made aid?

"We only have about 150 destroyers in total, and they are scattered all over the world, and the [newer] J and K classes need to follow the main fleet, so we can't fully protect the entire Atlantic route."

On a boulevard in the suburbs, Sir Edward and Admiral Harold Starck, the US Secretary of the Navy, who had come to meet him, walked by the side of the road, followed by a large entourage of men in the distance.

The latter replied: "I am well aware of your predicament, but the Reichstag has not yet agreed on European affairs, but it is foreseeable that as the Germans become more threatening, more and more people will be inclined to contain them." ”

"But it may be too late." Andrew was not shocked on the surface, but he was still a little anxious in his heart.

He looked at the indifferent Admiral Harold beside him, and said seriously: "In the next two months, twenty new German submarines will join the battle, and the fragile escort system is likely to collapse, and Britain will struggle to the brink of death like a man with a severed artery, and have to seek peace." ”

Harold just replied nonchalantly: "Mr. Sir, we are well aware of the consequences, but the United States will not engage in a senseless war, and I think you British must know it." ”

"I don't think isolationism is correct." Not to be outdone, Andrew said with a slight threat: "If the United States remains neutral and stays in the Americas, maybe the Germans will take the initiative to come to you in the future." ”

Harold smiled, "But most politicians can only see what is less than two years old. ”

"Mr. Minister, we do not ask for gratuitous assistance, we can pay with precious metals if conditions allow."

"It's a good choice, it may fit some people's minds, but it's not all."

Andrew was puzzled by this answer – what does it mean not all? Do the Americans have anything else to ask?

"As you know, from a naval point of view, the West Indos will be an important node." Admiral Harold calmly stated: "If the Germans attempt to invade the Americas, they will give priority to occupying the Western Indous Islands and establishing forward bases for transit." ”

The Western Indos Islands, namely Cuba, Haiti, Jamaica and other places, are home to many British naval bases.

At this point, Sir Andrew basically understood the concerns and considerations of the Americans.

The rapid collapse of France has exceeded the expectations of the world, and Washington, which had been trying to sit back on the fisherman's profit, is now quite pessimistic about whether Britain can defend itself against the German Society, and they tend to concentrate their resources on the American mainland.

The U.S. Admiralty feared that if Britain succumbed, the German Society would be able to use a portion of the Royal Navy's warships, which would allow it to assemble a sizable fleet large enough to pose a threat to the east coast of the United States.

So they don't really want to provide any substantive assistance, they are just thinking about holding the West Indouse Islands in their hands.

"I don't understand why you Americans are afraid of the Germans, you are quite capable of breaking the current situation. I know you are not ready for war, but if you give a positive answer, Britain will hold out with all its might (until you are ready). Is it because of public opinion? This is just my personal doubt, not on behalf of the UK. ”

Faced with Andrew's question, Harold didn't care, and just replied "That's not a problem".

In fact, the most important thing is that the upper echelons can reach an agreement, public opinion is often overestimated, it is not something difficult to shake, and there are actually many ways to stir up public opinion if you really want to stir up public opinion.

The British Empire, which was facing many difficulties, was not only threatened from the outside, but also from within.

Neville's strategy of suppressing the German Society with France has completely failed, and he has to leave the field with hatred, and Winston, who had been in the opposition, finally has a chance to come to power.

By order of the king, a new wartime cabinet was quickly formed, but they were faced with an extremely difficult task.

"I'll get in touch with London as soon as I can, and then submit a memorandum to your State Department."

After saying that, Andrew hesitated for a moment and said meaningfully: "I think you should really put aside your concerns, for a long time, it is impossible for us and the Chinese to stand together." ”

Although the stereotype often assumes that Britain and the United States wear a pair of pants, this was not the case before the war, at least the United States was wary of Britain to a certain extent.

For historical reasons, the United States has long been suspicious of Great Britain; And because of geopolitical factors, Canada is also worried that the United States will covet and annex itself.

The Red War Plan, one of the main parts of the many color war plans, took three years to draft and was approved by both the U.S. Secretaries of War and the Navy in 30.

The Red War Plan assumed the outbreak of war between Britain and the United States, a series of defensive and offensive actions that the United States would need to take. The plan indicated that Britain would initially have an advantage in the early stages of the war with the strength of the Royal Navy, and that it would be possible to use Canada as an advance base to invade the United States.

Correspondingly, the United States needs to mobilize and expand its army as soon as possible and attack Halifax in Canada, so as to cut off the air link between Britain and Canada; Then the Niagara Falls hydroelectric power station was captured, followed by a three-pronged offensive that forced Canada to abandon resistance.

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In addition, another scenario hypothesized in the plan is a little more magical - the Ming and Britain join forces to fight between the east and the west.

Considering this situation alone may have originated after the European War, when the Ming Dynasty and Britain had a very short honeymoon period, which lasted less than three years, using the arms and mineral transactions during the European War as an introduction.

At the national level, this is just a small matter at the snap of a finger, and it is normal for countries to temporarily put aside conflicts for the sake of profit, but Americans seem to take it seriously.

Thanks to the tireless efforts of the British envoys, the matter of seeking assistance was finally brought to fruition.

Britain needs about 40~50 destroyers to solve the urgent need, and another 500~600 fighters are needed to increase the air force.

In addition to the naval base in the West Indous Islands as a reciprocate, London was determined to plan an operation of both political and military significance.

The first is to boost the morale of its own military and civilians, and the second is to prove to the world that Britain will never fall so easily.

On the European continent, the Reynaud government, which had moved to Bordeaux, held a meeting after it had stabilized and finally decided to stay the course and refuse to give in.

So they officially declared the so-called French Democratic Commune to be an illegal rebel regime, and its organizers were also treasonous.

As of June 17, more than 20 battalion and regimental units of the French army had surrendered to the French army.

For example, the French 67th Reserve Infantry Division had a total of 1,427 deserters, and 209 were arrested by the gendarmerie, and a considerable number of those deserters who managed to evade the pursuit defected to the armed forces of the Democratic Commune, in addition to absconding home.

Through the reorganization of the surrender troops, the reorganization of deserters, the recruitment of volunteers, and the collection of weapons and equipment scattered in various strategic reserve warehouses, the Democratic Commune has formed 1 motorized infantry brigade, 3 infantry divisions, and 6 infantry brigades, and this number is still rising rapidly.

The next day, at noon.

"Whew! can be regarded as returning to China, standing on the land of Daming, it feels different. ”

Walking off the freighter and standing on the dock, Xie Wancheng couldn't help but sigh with emotion, and at this moment he understood the idiom "returning to the heart like an arrow".

Rows of soldiers carrying bags and packages stepped down from the board, and the joy and relief of the soldiers were overflowing.

As the local regime supported by the Ming Dynasty in Nanyang was on the right track, the army that had previously attacked Nanyang began to rotate back to China.

The 1st Marine Brigade ended its garrison in Java, returned home by boat, and after disembarking in Guangzhou, transferred to a train back to the capital.

As far as Zhou Changfeng is concerned, as the first person in the Ming Dynasty to have both theoretical level and actual combat experience in amphibious operations, his views and opinions can influence the strategy and weapons research and development of the Ming army to a certain extent.

Even if some people in the DPRK and China do not look down on such a rising star, who seems to have been fortunate for a while, they must listen carefully to their opinions on the surface.

No way, who told people to have two brushes?

The 1st Marine Brigade reviewed and analyzed the landing operations in the Nanyang Campaign and pointed out many problems and shortcomings by holding a summary meeting of soldiers and officers.

As the first advance detachment to go ashore, the reconnaissance battalion's capability was still insufficient, lacking sufficient ability to attack fortifications and clearing obstacles, and the efficiency of opening up landing sites was not high enough. The coordination of smoke screen cover during landing was not precise enough, and many landing craft deviated due to confusion with the references; There are many omissions like these.

Based on these lessons learned, Zhou Changfeng believes that it is necessary to adjust the establishment and even expand the establishment of the Marine Corps.

However, the navy was not very happy, feeling that the transportation capacity required by the Marine Division was too large and cumbersome, and that such a streamlined establishment as the current Marine Brigade was obviously just right.

Therefore, Zhou Changfeng did not consider the Marine Division anymore after deliberation, and he reduced the original reconnaissance battalion in the establishment of the Marine Brigade to a boat-boat search team, and added a beach-rushing combat engineer battalion.

The boat-boat search team mainly carried out in-depth infiltration and reconnaissance missions before the launch of the beach-rushing operation, to find out the hydrology and topography of the landing site, as well as the enemy's defensive firepower system.

The beach-rushing combat engineer battalion was the first landing detachment, which was responsible for carrying out the combat mission of blasting and clearing obstacles and conquering pillboxes -- the barbed wire, deer barricades, horse rejection and other obstacles placed by the enemy troops on the beach would seriously affect the landing of large forces and the formation of the battle.

Both of them are carrying out high-risk tasks among high-risk ones, and these officers and men are naturally the elite of the elite, and the success of their missions can even be said to determine the victory or failure of the landing operation.

The Navy was very pleased with his well-founded analysis and proposal, which was quickly approved.

In addition to the existing combat units of the Marine Corps, the Daming Navy will also form a marine brigade and a special forces directly under it.

However, Zhu Lingjing was not very satisfied with the support units added by Zhou - the beach-rushing combat engineer battalion? The name is too verbose to be nice.

"Where the use of troops is necessary, there must be a selection of fronts", since it is the vanguard of the whole army, listen to me, it is called the beach selection battalion!

In this way, in the final version of the compilation booklet, the beach-rushing combat engineer battalion was changed into the beach-rushing battalion, and the boat-boat search team was also changed to the boat-boat scout team.

In addition to the adjustment of the establishment, the technical equipment must also keep pace with the times and be updated.

After all, the Type 35 amphibious tank was developed in the interwar period, and it is about to become obsolete today, and the research and development task of the next generation of amphibious tanks also needs to be put on the agenda.

The width must be controlled within 3 meters to fit the landing ships of the Ming Navy, with a total combat weight of about 10 tons, equipped with a 48mm tank gun or a 20mm cannon, and two 7.36mm machine guns;

The protection capability is not too demanding, and it can resist 12.7mm large-caliber machine gun cartridges and ordinary anti-infantry mines with a charge of less than 120g.

(End of chapter)