Republic of China: I am a great warlord, many children, many blessings

"no"

"no"

Terauchi Masayoshi said: "In that case, we will organize two fleets this time, the First Fleet and the Second Fleet, with Kato Tomotaro as the commander-in-chief."

Kato Tomotaro saluted and said: "Hayi, we will win this battle. If we fail, I will commit seppuku to apologize to the Emperor."

Hearing this, everyone nodded with a relaxed expression.

Not many people thought that Kato Tomotaro would fail.

The First Fleet consisted of three battleships, four cruisers, and several destroyers.

The Second Fleet consisted of three old battleships, six cruisers, a seaplane carrier, and several destroyers.

It is almost half the strength of the Japanese Navy.

To be on the safe side, Kato Tomodarou said: "I also want two fast battlecruisers."

Terauchi Masaki also felt that this was safer and that there must be no mistakes, so he said, "Okay, then I will assign Kongo and Kirishima to you."

Today, Japan has only four top-tier battlecruisers: Kongo, Kirishima, Haruna, and Hiei;

The first ship of the Kongo class was built in Britain, and the next three were built in Japan. Construction began in 1911 and 1912 respectively. They were launched this year and can be said to be the newest battlecruisers.

This also made Japan the country equipped with battlecruisers after Britain and Germany.

The Kongo-class battlecruiser had the highest caliber main guns among all battlecruisers of its time.

The 14-inch naval guns (about 356 mm) it was equipped with were claimed by Japan to be 12-inch guns in order to conceal the news. One of the important reasons for this was that Japanese military intelligence showed that the main guns of the next generation of US battleships would be 14 inches (about 305 mm).

It can be said that with such an advantage, Kato Tomodarou immediately gained confidence and said: "I guarantee to complete the task."

Terauchi Masaki said, “In that case, get up where you fell.

We will fight a sniper war in the Wanwan Strait."

"Hai!"

“At the same time, the Third Fleet and the Fourth Fleet were commanded by Vice Admiral Kudo Sadakichi.

Your mission is to blockade the waters off the eastern coast of Guangdong and prohibit Shen Hao's warships stationed in Guangdong from providing support."

"Hai"

There have always been Shen Hao submarines lurking near Japanese ports, and the intelligence personnel in the submarines are always keeping an eye on the Japanese navy.

After all, in this era, without radar, submarines are truly invincible.

Therefore, when Japan's actions were discovered, the news was told to Shen Hao immediately.

After Shen Hao learned the news, he immediately gave it to Forrest Gump and asked him to make full preparations.

At the same time, Shen Hao's submarine was also secretly monitoring.

Although Japan also had submarines during World War I, there were only three or four of them, and they were not developed vigorously.

Even during World War II, submarines were not developed.

Of course, it's not just Japan. Before World War II, no country's navy had vigorously developed submarines.

Officers cannot foresee the future. Before World War II, almost all countries believed that traditional gunboats and battlecruisers would be the mainstream of future naval battles, and submarines were just auxiliary ships.

There are only a handful of naval generals like German Admiral Dönitz who can see the potential of submarines, and even if there are, they are not in a position to change the development of the navy.

Because current submarines have slow speed, short attack range, and low torpedo hit rate.

Moreover, the strategic arrangements of the navies of all countries are to place too much emphasis on the tasks of the submarine force in the "fleet decisive battle", while neglecting other tasks of submarines such as intelligence acquisition, destroying merchant ships, and sea control.

Shen Hao naturally knew the potential of submarines, so he had been secretly monitoring the Japanese Navy.

Shen Hao also didn't expect that the Japanese would dispatch four fleets at once, two for sniping and two for blocking. It was really a huge investment.

Shen Hao called Chu Yunfei and others to discuss countermeasures.

Yu Qingfeng asked in confusion: "General Shen, we know a little about battleships, but what kind of warships are the Kongo and Kirishima battlecruisers dispatched by Japan?"

The others also nodded, and Ma Feng and Zhang Mazi shut up.

This involves their blind spots in knowledge.

Shen Hao smiled and explained: "What is a battlecruiser? It has an ultra-fast speed, battleship-level heavy artillery firepower, and a slender cruiser body. Therefore, it is currently one of the directions of development of the navies of various countries.

Battleships and battlecruisers are roughly equal in firepower, both equipped with large-caliber guns;"

"But battleships have stronger armor protection, while battlecruisers sacrifice some armor protection in exchange for a higher speed, and their maneuverability is higher than that of battleships.

In the design of warships, battleships pursue a balance between firepower, protection and maneuverability.

The battlecruiser, on the other hand, prioritizes speed and firepower, and only considers protection capabilities last.

Differences in warship performance will inevitably lead to differences in their combat uses.

Battleships with large-caliber artillery and heavy armor protection are naturally used for fleet decisive battles, that is, they are battleships.

Because it can carry out head-on confrontation with the enemy's battleships' large-caliber artillery when fighting with the enemy, it can withstand dozens of shells without sinking and is still very powerful.

Generally speaking, if two submarines fire four or five torpedoes, they can hit the battleship. As long as they don't hit the vital parts, the battleship will be fine because of its thick armor.

But the battlecruisers can’t handle it and will be sunk.”

"The high speed of a battlecruiser is more useful in pursuit and retreat, and in fleet decisive battles because it is necessary to maintain a certain formation.

But battlecruisers do not travel at their maximum speed because they cannot compete head-on with battleships.

The main combat targets of battlecruisers are enemy cruisers and destroyers, rather than direct confrontations with battleships. "

“Generally speaking, battleships are assigned to the main fleet, while battlecruisers are assigned to the mobile fleet or the vanguard fleet.

A group of cruisers and destroyers, led by highly maneuverable battlecruisers, carried out reconnaissance and surveillance operations in front of the main fleet.

If we encounter the enemy's light destroyers and cruisers, we will use the large-caliber guns of the battlecruisers to repel them and force the enemy's main fleet to fight."

"When the enemy battleships fired back, the vanguard fleet of the battlecruisers immediately retreated, hid behind their own battleships, and provided fire support."

After hearing Shen Hao's explanation, everyone suddenly understood.

Zhang Mazi and others also looked admiring, as they really had no knowledge of the navy.

Chu Yunfei said: "General, what should we do now?"

Shen Hao said: "I have already notified A-Gump and asked him to stop in the Philippines first."

The four battleships that Agan brought back from the United States didn't have much shells, so they could only sustain the battle for an hour at most. Shen Hao had to send them some things.

433. Reversal, Japan shuts up

Chu Yunfei worriedly said: "General, the Japanese army dispatched four fleets to deal with us, will there be any trouble?"

Shen Hao smiled and said, "Don't worry, the battleships I bought from the United States are all the latest dreadnoughts. Japan has two fleets, a total of six battleships, three of which are pre-dreadnoughts.

Moreover, Japan's super-dreadnought battleships have not yet been built, but we are not afraid.

Absolutely, we have the strength to fight."

Upon hearing this, everyone was confused. They were all confused about what pre-dreadnought-class battleships, dreadnought-class battleships, and super dreadnought battleships were.

But I didn't dare to ask, because it would make me look uneducated.

Zhang Mazi, Yu Qingfeng and Ma Feng were all confused. You looked at me, and I looked at you.

There is only one thought in my mind, I just will do it even if I don’t ask.

Shen Hao currently has two battleships stationed in eastern Guangdong, the Yuedong and the Qingyuan. Fortunately, both are dreadnought-class battleships.

There are four more dreadnought-class battleships on the way back.

However, Shen Hao knew that Japan's navy was still very powerful.

Also investigated carefully.

Japan not only had battleships, but also dreadnoughts and even super-dreadnoughts that were almost built.

4 semi-battlecruisers: Tsukuba, Ikoma, Kurama, Ibuki

4 top battlecruisers: Kongo, Haruna, Kirishima, Hiei

There are 8 pre-dreadnought battleships: Fuji, Shikishima, Asahi, Mikasa, Katori, Kashima, Satsuma, and Aki;

There are 2 quasi-dreadnought battleships: Hanoi and Settsu

There are two super-dreadnought battleships still under construction: Fuso (construction started in 1912 and is now almost completed) and Yamashiro (construction started in 1913 and is now halfway completed);

With this scale, it would definitely be a hegemon even in Europe.

The speed of the Japanese navy's rise was quite astonishing.

During the Sino-Japanese War of 1894-1895, they were still not well-known, but after World War I, they became powerful countries.

When the Beiyang Fleet visited Nagasaki, the Japanese Navy was still not mainstream; from 1894 to 1914, it took only 20 years for it to evolve into a great power.

It was because of these two wars that Japan became powerful.

Seeing that the atmosphere was not right, Shen Hao thought that everyone was worried, so he smiled and said, "Don't worry, even if we can't beat them, we have to make the little Japanese uncomfortable."

Chu Yunfei said: "General, don't worry, it's not possible at sea at the moment, but the Japanese can't even think of setting foot on land."

At this time, Yu Qingfeng couldn't help but ask: "General Shen, what is a pre-dreadnought battleship and what is a dreadnought and super-dreadnought battleship? I am a little confused."

Hearing this, Ma Feng, Zhang Mazi and others quickly pricked up their ears and began to take notes frantically in their little notebooks.

Shen Hao glanced at everyone and found that they all looked eager for knowledge, which showed the scarcity of information in this era.

So Shen Hao explained: “The difference between the so-called pre-dreadnought battleship, the dreadnought battleship and the super-dreadnought battleship is that the dreadnought battleship;

Because the HMS Dreadnought battleship and HMS Invincible battlecruiser built by Britain became the new benchmark for naval construction in various countries.

The ones before the Dreadnought are called Pre-Dreadnought, the ones after are called Dreadnought, and the enhanced version is called Super Dreadnought."

Ma Feng's mind was full of question marks, and he couldn't help but ask: "General, can you explain it in more detail?"

Shen Hao smiled and said, "It's very simple. I'll explain it from the timeline and you'll understand.

All old battleships designed and produced before 1906 were called pre-dreadnoughts.

The difference is that battleships before 1906 were equipped with naval guns of various calibers, so that different types of ships could engage in battle and fire naval shells of various calibers, which was very cumbersome.

In terms of speed, pre-dreadnought battleships also mostly used coal-fired boilers and triple-expansion steam engines for propulsion, with a speed of less than 20 knots.

"In 1906, the British Navy's battleship HMS Dreadnought was launched.

Because the Dreadnought was designed with a new type of battleship, the main difference is that the caliber of the main guns are all unified, and the heavy artillery is of the same model and caliber.

Because the main guns are of a unified model and have the same ballistic performance, centralized fire control can be achieved, and each turret can share firing and implement unified command, which greatly improves shooting efficiency and hit rate.

In terms of power, the Dreadnought was the first to use steam turbines to replace steam engines, which increased power and reached a speed of 21 knots, exceeding the speed of pre-dreadnought battleships before 1906.

“After the advent of the Dreadnought, it was equivalent to providing a standard answer.

All countries began to produce battleships based on the design of the HMS Dreadnought.

Therefore, battleships after 1906 were called dreadnoughts, and battleships before the advent of the Dreadnought in 1906 were called pre-dreadnoughts.

As for the difference between a super dreadnought and a dreadnought, the super dreadnought is a battleship equipped with larger caliber main guns, thicker protective armor, and greater maneuverability.

It is equivalent to an enhanced version of the dreadnought battleship."

Hearing this, everyone suddenly realized.

Yu Qingfeng said: "General Shen, I finally understand"

Shen Hao smiled and said: "It's normal that you don't understand."

At the same time, the Yuedong Daily published a photo of the severed head of the First Fleet's captain, Kato Tomosaburo.

At the same time, it was also noted: It is our disappointment, it was a mistake to write Lieutenant General Kato Tomosaburo instead of Lieutenant General Shiba Goro.

·· ······Request flowers· ··

For a moment, everyone's emotions became excited again.

Anyone with a little common sense knows that a vice admiral is worth more.

In other words, Taiwan really won the battle and did not lie.

Everyone thinks the Japanese are shameful.

"Damn, the Japanese are so shameless. They refused to admit defeat and switched concepts, insisting that Shiba Goro was fine, but not mentioning that two divisions were destroyed."