afterglow

Chapter 406 Chapter [-] Red War Plan; Boat Scout Team and Beach Front Selection Camp

Although it has only been half a year since the outbreak of the war, the submarine force of the Workers' Navy has sunk 139 British and French merchant ships, with a total tonnage of 52 tons.

Today, the German submarine tactics are still based on dispersed hunting. However, 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.

When the war broke out, the war navy had only 57 submarines, while the workers' navy had 91 submarines of various types; now half a year later, the number has increased to 163.

As losses surged, Britain urgently established and implemented a merchant ship escort system in April to protect the route, but the effect was not obvious. Telegrams for help were still sent every day that ships were attacked by submarines.

The once glorious Royal Navy of the British Empire is now unable to send out enough destroyers to perform escort missions. Large fleets can be escorted, but those scattered and lone merchant ships can only sail alone in the murderous Atlantic Ocean.

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

Because a large number of escort ships were needed to protect lifelines at sea, the British began to look for domestic civilian ships suitable for conversion into escort ships. A Smith Dock Company's Southern Pride whaler with a displacement of 700 tons and a speed of 16 knots was chosen by the Royal Navy.

This is how the Flower-class frigate was born. It was born out of civilian ships, so it is easy to build. It only uses general merchant ship technology and can be built by many small shipyards.

At the same time, Canada was also ordered to solve the problems of the mother country. From Quebec to Halifax, shipyards of all sizes on the east coast were working at full capacity and working overtime.

The Royal Canadian Navy, which has only 6 destroyers and 3500 officers and men, has issued an expansion plan, intending to triple the number within one year, double it again within two years, and double it again within three years.

However, all this takes time. For regular warships, it takes more than half a year at the fastest from laying the keel to launching and outfitting, while relatively informal escort ships built based on civilian ship blueprints also take three to four months.

Later arguments such as "The myth of American aircraft carrier construction, 20 ships were built in 50 months, and one was completed in an average of 12 days" are just eye-catching word games.

As a result, the British are now desperate to fill these few months.

And this is also one of the purposes of Sir Edward's trip. Although it is very unlikely to persuade the Americans to directly join the battle, it seems very promising to just win a batch of ready aid?

"We only have about 150 destroyers in total, and they are scattered around the world. The (newer) J-class and K-class destroyers need to follow the main fleet, so we have no way to completely protect the entire Atlantic route."

On a suburban boulevard, Sir Edward and Admiral Harold Stark, the U.S. Secretary of the Navy who came specially to greet him, were walking by the road, followed by many entourages far behind.

The latter replied: "I am aware of your predicament, but Congress does not yet have a unified opinion 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 maybe it's too late." Andrew looked calm on the surface, but he was still a little anxious in his heart.

He looked at the indifferent Navy Minister Harold beside him and said seriously: "In the next two months, there will be twenty new German submarines joining the battle, and the fragile escort system is likely to collapse. Then There will be a time when Britain will struggle to its death like a man whose arteries have been severed, and will have to seek peace."

Harold just replied calmly: "Sir, we are very aware of the consequences, but the United States will not engage in a meaningless war. I think you British people must know that."

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

Harold smiled: "But most politicians can only see things within two years."

"Mr. Minister, we are not asking for free assistance. If conditions permit, we can pay with precious metals."

"A good choice. This may be in line with some people's ideas, but not all."

Andrew was confused by this answer - what is not everything?Do Americans have other demands?

"You know, from a naval perspective, the West Indu Islands will be an important node." Admiral Harold stated calmly: "If the Germans attempt to invade America, they will give priority to occupying the West Indu Islands and establish Forward base is used for transit.”

There are many British naval bases in the Western Indus Islands, namely Cuba, Haiti, Jamaica and other places.

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

The rapid collapse of France has exceeded the world's expectations. Washington's original plan to reap the benefits has failed. Now it has a very pessimistic attitude towards Britain's ability to resist the German Society. They tend to concentrate their resources on the United States.

The U.S. Navy Department was worried that once Britain surrendered, the German Society would be able to use some of the Royal Navy's warships, which could assemble a sizable fleet that would pose a threat to the east coast of the United States.

So they don't actually want to provide any substantial assistance, they are just thinking about holding the West Indu Islands in their hands.

"I don't understand why you Americans are afraid of the Germans, you are perfectly capable of breaking the current situation. I know you are not ready for war, but if you give a positive answer, Britain will insist with all its strength (until you are ready). Is it because of public opinion? This is just my personal question and does not represent the UK."

Facing Andrew's question, Harold didn't take it seriously and just replied, "That's not a problem."

In fact, the most important thing is that the upper management can reach a consensus. Public opinion is often overestimated. It is not something that is difficult to shake. If you really want to stir up public opinion, there are actually many ways.

The British Empire, which was facing many difficulties, was not only threatened by external threats, but also internally unstable.

The strategy led by Nivelle to suppress the German Society together with France had completely failed, and he had to leave the opposition in anger. Winston, who had been in opposition before, finally had a chance to come to power.

By the king's order, a new war cabinet was quickly formed, but what they faced was an extremely severe situation and the tasks were arduous.

"I will contact London as soon as possible and submit a memorandum to your State Department."

After finishing speaking, Andrew hesitated and said meaningfully: "I think you should really abandon your worries. It will be impossible for us and the Chinese to stand together for a long time."

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

Due to historical reasons, the United States has long-standing suspicion of Britain; and because of geographical factors, Canada is also worried that the United States will covet and annex itself.

Among the many color war plans, the red war plan was one of the main parts. The first draft of this plan took three years to draft, and was approved in [-] after being approved by the U.S. Secretary of War and Secretary of the Navy.The Red War Plan assumes that a war breaks out between Britain and the United States, and that the United States needs to take a series of defensive and offensive actions.This plan indicated that Britain would initially have an advantage in the early stages of the war with the strength of the Royal Navy, and possibly use Canada as an advance base to invade the United States.

Accordingly, the United States needs to mobilize and expand its army as soon as possible and attack Halifax, Canada, thereby cutting off the route link between Britain and Canada; then capture the Niagara Falls Hydropower Station, and then attack in three directions to force Canada to give up resistance.

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In addition, another scenario assumed in the plan is slightly magical - Ming Dynasty and Britain join forces to attack from the east and west.

Considering this situation alone, it may be due to what happened after the European War. At that time, the Ming Dynasty and the United Kingdom had a short honeymoon period, which lasted less than three years, triggered by the arms and mineral transactions during the European War.

From a national level, this is just a trivial matter at the blink of an eye. It is normal for countries to temporarily put aside their conflicts because of their own interests, but Americans seem to take it very seriously.

Thanks to the unremitting efforts of the British envoys, the matter of obtaining assistance finally took shape.

Britain needs about 40 to 50 destroyers to meet its immediate needs, and 500 to 600 fighter jets to increase its air force.

In addition to the naval base in the West Indu Islands as compensation, London was determined to plan an operation with both political and military significance.

Firstly, it would boost the morale of its own military and civilians, and secondly, it would prove to the world that Britain would never fall so easily.

On the European continent, the Renault government, which moved to Bordeaux, held a meeting after stabilizing and finally decided to persist and refuse to give in.

So they officially declared that the so-called French Democratic Commune was an illegal rebel regime, and its organizers were also traitors.

The call of the French Democratic Commune is bearing fruit day by day. As of June 6, more than 17 battalion and regiment-level units of the French army have surrendered.

There are even more sporadic desertions. For example, the French 67th Reserve Infantry Division has a total of 1427 deserters, and 209 of them were arrested by the military police. Among those deserters who successfully evaded tracing, in addition to absconding home, a considerable number of deserters defected. the armed forces of the democratic communes.

By reorganizing surrender troops, reorganizing deserters, recruiting volunteers, and collecting weapons and equipment scattered in various strategic reserve warehouses, the Democratic Commune has established 1 motorized infantry brigade, 3 infantry divisions, and 6 infantry brigades. This number is still there Rising quickly.

The next day, at noon.

"Hey! Now that I have returned to my country, standing here in the Ming Dynasty feels completely different."

After stepping off the freighter and standing on the dock, Xie Wancheng couldn't help but sigh. At this moment, he understood the idiom "home is like an arrow" more and more.

Rows of soldiers carrying bags and packages walked off the bridge. The joy and relaxation of the soldiers were beyond words.

As the local government supported by the Ming Dynasty in Nanyang got on the right track, the armies that had previously conquered Nanyang began to return home in rotation.

The [-]st Marine Brigade ended its station in Java and returned to China by boat. After landing in Guangzhou, it took a train back to the capital.

For Zhou Changfeng, as the Ming Dynasty's No. 1 person with both theoretical level and practical experience in amphibious warfare, his views and opinions can influence the Ming army's strategy and weapon development to a certain extent.

Even if some people in the DPRK do not think highly of such a rising star who seems to have been lucky all of a sudden, they still have to listen carefully to their opinions on the surface.

There is no way, who knows that people really have two brushes.

By holding soldier summary meetings and officer summary meetings respectively, the [-]st Marine Brigade reviewed and analyzed the landing operations in the Nanyang Campaign and pointed out many problems and flaws.

As the first advance team to land, the reconnaissance and search battalion's capabilities are still insufficient. It lacks sufficient attack and obstacle clearance capabilities, and the efficiency of opening landing points is not high enough. The coordination of smoke screen cover during landing is not precise enough, and many landing craft yaw due to confusing reference objects. ; There are many such omissions.

Based on these experiences and lessons, Zhou Changfeng believes that the establishment of the Marine Corps needs to be adjusted or even expanded.

However, the Navy is not very happy. It feels that the transportation capacity required by the Marine Division is too large and cumbersome. A streamlined establishment like the current Marine Brigade is obviously just right.

Therefore, after careful consideration, Zhou Changfeng no longer considered the Marine Division. He downsized the original reconnaissance and search battalion in the Marine Brigade into a boat search team, and added a beach grabbing combat engineer battalion.

The boat search team mainly performs in-depth penetration reconnaissance missions before launching the beach grabbing operation to find out the hydrology and terrain of the landing site, as well as the enemy's defensive firepower distribution.

The beach fighting engineer battalion is the first landing team, responsible for carrying out the combat tasks of blasting and clearing obstacles and conquering bunkers - obstacles such as barbed wire fences, deer villages, and horse blocking placed by the enemy on the beach will seriously affect the landing and fighting of large forces. formation.

Both are performing high-risk missions, and these officers and soldiers are naturally the best among the best. The success of their missions can even determine the outcome of the landing operation.

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

In addition to the existing Marine Corps combat units, the Ming Navy will also form a Marine Brigade and a directly affiliated special forces.

However, Zhu Lingjing was not satisfied with the support unit added by Zhou - the beach-grabbing combat engineer battalion?This name is too long and unpleasant to listen to.

"Whenever you want to use an army, you must select a vanguard." Since you are the vanguard of the entire army, listen to me and call it the beachfront selection camp!
In this way, in the final version of the organization book issued, the beach fighting engineer battalion was changed to the beach front selection battalion, and the boat search team was also changed to the boat scout team.

In addition to organizational adjustments, technical equipment must also keep pace with the times and be updated.

After all, the Type [-] amphibious tanks were developed during the inter-war period and are now about to become obsolete. The development of the next generation of amphibious tanks also needs to be put on the agenda.

The width must be controlled within 3 meters to adapt to the landing ships of the Ming Dynasty. The total combat weight is about 10 tons, equipped with a 48mm tank gun or a 20mm machine gun, and two 7.36mm machine guns;
The protection capability does not require too much, it only needs to be able to withstand 12.7mm large-caliber machine gun bullets and ordinary anti-infantry mines with a charge of less than 120g.

(End of this chapter)