afterglow

Chapter 570 The enemy’s response; another one!
It’s a mid-November day in San Diego, California.

There is no concept of winter here. The gentle sea breeze blows the palm trees on the golden beach slightly, and wisps of white waves come towards you.

For a long time, the San Diego Naval Base has been the home port of the Pacific Fleet, with hundreds of large and small warships parked. However, after the fierce "first half of the game", there were far fewer warships visible to the naked eye.

But this is only a temporary appearance, because hundreds of ships of various types are being built day and night.

Recently, two giant ships have arrived one after another. They immediately filled the vacancy deep in people's hearts. The behemoths made of steel turned into a shot in the arm, boosting the morale of the military and civilians.

The North Carolina and Washington were hurriedly delivered after sea trials, and then came directly to San Diego.

Both of them could reach a top speed of 27 knots. This was the first time the U.S. Navy had high-speed battleships that could finally keep up with aircraft carriers.

Each of the triple-mounted 406mm, 45-caliber giant artillery weighs more than tons, almost equivalent to a destroyer.

Under the sunlight at noon, the rifling in the muzzle reflected the bright glow of metal.

At this time, the soldiers with the highest position and the best eyesight in the naval base could already see the faint black smoke and masts rising from the sea level to the west.

The keel laying of the Hornet officially started in February 1939. Due to the Ming Dynasty's invasion of Nanyang and the subsequent outbreak of the war, the construction progress was continuously accelerated. The final delivery time was 20 months and one week. It was the shortest construction time of the battleship to date. .

Although it still has many minor problems, it can be expected that they will be solved in less than a year and a half.

On the whole, the Hornet has typical American aircraft carrier characteristics - open hangar, wooden flight deck, emphasis on attack, and poor protection.

"Indeed, they have enough power to conduct operations in both directions at the same time. We do not have strong ground forces in the Aleutians." Army Chief of Staff George Marshall nodded in affirmation.

On this day in Washington, a small but important meeting was held at the White House.

"But in order to strengthen the defense of Hawaii, the Army has redirected four infantry divisions (that were supposed to go to Europe)." Chief of Staff George stated his point of view in a calm tone, "If you don't want to make Italy's situation worse, you can only send another one The division went to the Aleutians.”

Admiral Ernest, who was known for his bad temper, said bluntly: "So we should send more troops. Fewer divisions going to Europe will not have any impact."

After high-level negotiations between the United Kingdom and the United States, the lease of the Glory was extended for one year.

That was the USS Hornet that had just finished training.

There were only a few attendees, including Chester Nimitz, Ernest King, Harold Stark, George Marshall, etc., as well as the president himself.

The Glory has been repaired as before. The British armored aircraft carrier's sturdiness makes American officers and soldiers quite envious, but they also dislike that it carries too few aircraft.

Admiral Harold first clarified the focus of the meeting.

From now on, the balance of comprehensive air defense efficiency begins to shift towards the US military.

"There is no doubt that the Chinese will attack Maui and Molokai next, but we also need to focus north, and the Aleutian Islands - Dutch Harbor are likely to be their target."

Those ridiculous biplanes, the Sea Fighter and the Big Mackerel, were eliminated, and the 880th Squadron and the 827th Squadron were replaced with US F4F Wildcat fighters, SBD Dauntless dive bombers, and TBD Devastator torpedo planes.

She is also the first battleship to be shipped from the factory with CXAM warning radar, Mk37 air-to-air fire control system, and 20mm and 40mm anti-aircraft guns.

From a technical perspective of sub-components, the Hornet has the most advanced air defense system, of which the Mk37 fire control system is the most important. It has a very high degree of automation and unparalleled efficiency, and can track 400 knots of horizontal speed and 200 knots of vertical speed. Target, this is the only one.

Among them, the most junior was Chester Nimitz, but he held the important position of commander of the Pacific Fleet.

As the third ship of the Yorktown class, she was too late to solve the congenital flaw of the power cabin because of the rush to work - there was no staggered layout of boilers and turbines, and she might lose all power once damaged and flooded.

"This may not be effective against the Chinese. Dutch Harbor is very important, and they will not be stingy about sending more troops." Chester Nimitz spoke.

As a result, the US military will soon have three aircraft carriers and two high-speed battleships put into battle, with a force that cannot be underestimated-even if it is still weak compared to the Ming Dynasty Navy.

"If we lose Dutch Harbor, they can pose a threat to North America from three directions." President Franklin looked at the Army Chief of Staff, "George, if the Army cannot deploy new divisions, the Marine Corps should be able to meet the requirements. , and maybe even more efficient.”

Looking at the overall situation, the Army's performance is really poor. The poor combat effectiveness is completely inconsistent with the priority supply of sophisticated weapons.

Compared with them, the Marines using old weapons performed better. The sense of contrast and fragmentation was too strong.

The situation is urgent, and the United States has suffered repeated defeats. It has reached the point where it can no longer tolerate all kinds of weird things, and the president has to personally intervene in some phenomena.

For Marine Corps officers and soldiers who still use Tommy helmets, Springfield bolt-action rifles, and Browning water-cooled heavy machine guns, this is a great blessing.

In terms of strategy, even if the inertia of putting Europe first and Asia still exists, because the Ming Dynasty's military front has penetrated the bottom line-that is, Hawaii, more war resources have begun to pour into the Pacific battlefield.

Four newly formed infantry divisions were deployed to Lanai, Maui, and Big Island, with sophisticated weapons and full personnel.

Five independent tank battalions also followed. The ridiculous M2 medium tanks disappeared and were replaced by M3 medium tanks and M3 light tanks.

Multiple wings of the Army Air Force have arrived one after another. Together with the original strength, the US military in Hawaii has approximately 360 fighter jets of various types and 290 bombers of various types.

Aircraft and artillery are not enough, as much as 54 tons of military supplies are equally important.

Cargo ships unloaded countless amounts of food, medicine, bullets, artillery shells, gasoline, steel bars, and cement to ensure that the U.S. military could build strong fortifications and waste ammunition unscrupulously.

The local soldiers, civilians and bureaucrats of the Ming Dynasty who were thousands of miles away were still intoxicated by the pride of the King's invincibility, but the Ming Dynasty officers and soldiers on Oahu were already feeling the pressure.

In September, the Ming Army aviation was still bombing U.S. targets on other islands at intervals, attacking U.S. defenses.

In the following October, the two sides began to attack and defend each other, and several air battles broke out over the sea.

Now in November, the air battle is still going on. The battle for air supremacy has the characteristics of "long time and low intensity", with losses and deaths almost every day.

When did the war of attrition begin? The pilots each had their own version of events.

If the enemy and enemy loss data are plotted into a visual chart, then it can be seen at a glance that October was the turning point-the Ming army stopped air strikes and began to devote itself to suppressing the US aviation.

Three months of continuous war of attrition gave the Ming Dynasty a total of five ace pilots, but most of the government and the public only saw the glory of these five.

During this period, the Ming army also continued to increase its troops to Hawaii.

However, the limited transportation capacity needs to be divided into transporting troops, transporting supplies, and transporting dock facilities to repair Pearl Harbor, so so far only the 14th Infantry Division has been sent there.

The 17th Division, which suffered heavy losses in the Battle of Oahu, returned to Kauai to rest and recuperate. The Ming Army's ground forces on Oahu now include the 1st Marine Brigade, the 38th Division, and the 14th Division, totaling about 40,000 people. Naval service units, air force aviation units, and anti-aircraft artillery units are not included in this list.

The upper echelons of the Ming army believed that the US military did not have the ability to counterattack for the time being, so they were still committed to allocating various equipment to repair Pearl Harbor instead of blindly increasing troops.

In the No. 2 meeting room of the General Staff Office of the Metropolitan Government, the follow-up meeting on the Italian war situation came to an end, and it was almost time for lunch.

"Don't tell me, this is much better than expected."

"The Napo River Corps was actually able to withdraw into the mountainous area with most of its weapons. It's interesting."

"It's quite different from the optimistic results deduced at the time."

"Next, the Florentine Legion relying on the Apennine Mountains for defense has 300,000 troops, and there are 50,000 French troops and 80,000 American troops, which is enough to hold out for a while."

A group of high-ranking officials were talking with gusto, and Zhou Changfeng was also distracted staring at the exquisite sand table.

Because of the barrier of the Alps, the German army was unable to invest armored units and motorized units. Even the combat effectiveness of the infantry units was considerable - even powerful, but in the end they failed to annihilate the heavy Italian army group.

After the infantry crossed the Alps, with the support of aviation, they stormed the fortress and fortified areas, and successfully shredded the Po River defense line. This is certainly worthy of boasting.

It's just that the advancement speed of the foot infantry is really limited, but the Italian army's retreat speed is very fast.

The Italian army lost air supremacy at the beginning, but later gradually regained control. British and American aviation came to help, forcing the German air force to be unable to bomb indiscriminately, effectively covering the retreat.

Therefore, the final result is less than ideal.

共31万人的波河集团军损失约10万人和40%技术装备，顺利退回佛罗伦萨防线；共20万人的威尼斯集团军损失约6万人和70%技术装备，大部分走陆路后撤，小部分走海路逃脱。

Among them, only four infantry divisions were completely annihilated.

Clearly, this was a defeat.

"It's not a big deal. Although we didn't eat everything, the most important area was completely lost. (Italy) is no longer a threat on its own. From now on, it can only rely on fawning over Britain and the United States." A senior colonel said nonchalantly. explain.

Zhou Changfeng said: "There is a high probability that there will not be a hard fight in the future. The military aspect is more of a confrontation, and the political aspect..."

"Support the local government. It's enough to have factories and people." The door opened and Cheng Han's voice came from the side.

Heading into Florence's well-arranged defense line in the Apennine Mountains? This is less likely.

Turin, Milan, and Venice in the Milan Plain gather most of Italy's industry and economy. Italy without the Milan Plain is only an agricultural country at best.

The German Society only needs to support a political power step by step, and it will not take long to establish effective rule and make full use of local factories and population.

"How do you feel about Zhou Qianshi's two days of service?" Cheng Han asked formally.

"It's good. I have more things to do." Zhou Changfeng smiled and saluted.

Zhu Lingjing intended to bring Mr. Zhou closer to the core of the military department - the military aircraft waiting for the imperial edict may be noble, but it has no real power. At best, he is the emperor's military adviser, at worst, he is just a mouthpiece.

Zhou had been going smoothly before, and everyone gave him face and respect. This was not due to his identity, but to a large extent to respect for his merits.

It's also a military aircraft waiting for an edict, but Luo Fu doesn't have such a big weight.

Recently, Zhu Lingjing ordered Zhou Changfeng to recommend two candidates to replace him for the job he was supposed to do, and then transferred him to the Metropolitan Governor's Mansion as a staff officer - that is, deputy chief of staff.

However, his position as a military aircraft waiting to be ordered is still retained in name, and he still serves as the brigade commander of the 1st Marine Brigade.

Cheng Han knew very well the principle of one emperor and one minister. He had been in office for five years, and it was time to think about changing to a more leisurely position. Moreover, since the war started, he had been working day and night and working hard with paperwork. The middle-aged man really couldn't bear this. work intensity.

He plans to start preparing for the handover in the near future and find an opportunity to resign voluntarily after a while.

Zhou Changfeng, who has a new job, does not feel that the burden on his shoulders has changed. The biggest advantage is that the commute to work has become shorter - he used to have to go to the palace, but now he does not.

As the sun set, away from the dazzling countless newspapers and complicated maps, Zhou Changfeng returned to his mansion.

Tease my daughter, have dinner, listen to the radio, take a walk, take a bath, the evening just flies by.

Wearing a silk robe, he walked into the study, pulled off the lamp cord, and sat down on the chair.

After resting for a few hours and feeling refreshed, it was time to think about some other things, such as the general machine gun.

Just when he was taking paper and pen, Xia Xiaoshi seemed to float over silently, carrying a plate of cut oranges and placed it on the desk.

After standing behind Zhou for a while, she suddenly asked: "Zhou Kexing, I still can't understand."

"Huh? What can't you understand?"

"You used to flirt with women, but you stopped all of a sudden after you met me. It's very strange."

Zhou Changfeng didn't take it seriously and replied in the same pretentious manner as before: "I'm just tired of it. It's boring if you play too much."

This is exactly the problem that troubles Xia Xiaoshi - it's unreasonable, and it's easy to change the situation, but it's hard to change the nature, so how could you suddenly get tired of it?

"This is normal. Many dandy boys just have fun like this when they are young. When they get tired of it, they settle down to get married and start a family."

"Okay... then, you really haven't fallen in love with other girls?"

"How can I have the free time to bother with this..." Zhou Changfeng was a little annoyed by the question, and said casually: "Concubines have to pay taxes, and I can't afford it!"

The law of the Ming Dynasty allowed concubinage, and the payment of taxes on concubines was regarded by the court as one of the important means to extract the assets of the rich, and the effect was significant - after all, everyone has seven emotions and six desires.

Although it is a bit embarrassing to put things out in the open, many corresponding policies can be implemented in a reasonable and reasonable manner, with pros and cons.

Today's concubine is a serious contract worker, a lover protected by express laws. Unless you are over 12.5 years old, have no children, and take concubines, you will have to pay a huge sum of money, with a tax rate as high as % ​​of your personal assets.

"Nonsense again!" Xia Xiaoshi snorted, then said seriously: "It's better to have another child sooner rather than later."

(End of this chapter)