Chapter 910: Still Defeat 2

"Want to buy Zeppelin and Prussian classes?"

Hersman looked at the Japanese naval admiral in front of him - Hasegawa Kiyoshi, the head of the Japanese naval military delegation to Germany with very slender eyes and a long face. He felt a little helpless in his heart.

Because as soon as he heard the request made by the other party, he knew that the Japanese continued to go on the wrong path. The Japanese are too focused on "ship preservation" and regard aircraft carriers as treasures, and they are not willing to throw away one.

In Hersman's view, in addition to the "European Community" class (the E aircraft carrier modified from the H41 hull) aircraft carrier that can take off and land jets, other aircraft carriers include the "Zeppelin" class and " The value of the "Prussia" class (modified from the hull of the Dutch battlecruiser "Esse" class) is not too high.

Of course, both the "Zeppelin" class and the "Prussia" class have the possibility of installing an angled flight deck, but the modification project is very extensive and will take at least 6-8 months, and will also add several thousand tons of weight to the aircraft carrier. The weight is also increased in the upper part, which will affect the seaworthiness of the ship.

Historically, the United States' Essex-class aircraft carriers reduced the weight of the ship by reducing the number of artillery guns on the aircraft carrier. However, under the current fierce fighting situation, it is definitely impossible to remove the anti-aircraft guns on the aircraft carrier. Therefore, it is not easy to install an angled flight deck on the "Zeppelin" class and the "Prussia" class.

However, Hessmann still cannot sell the ready-made "Zeppelin" class and "Prussia" class aircraft carriers to Japan, otherwise he will become a public enemy of the German navy.

"This is impossible," Hersman shook his head. "The Zeppelin class and Prussia class cannot be transferred, but I can arrange for European shipyards to produce armored aircraft carriers for you."

"Is there any free slipway that can be used to build a large armored aircraft carrier?" Admiral Kiyoshi Hasegawa immediately asked with interest.

Slipways that can build giant ships of tens of thousands of tons are now a scarce resource. All large slipways in Japan now have ships rebuilt. As far as Kiyoshi Hasegawa knows, large slipways in Europe are also occupied by projects, leaving almost no free space for Japan.

"Petrograd has two large slipways, with a length of 300 meters and a width of 42 meters, which is enough to build a large aircraft carrier."

Hersman was talking about the Leningrad Baltic Shipyards and the Royal Russian Navy Shipyards, which built two Soviet-class battleships.

Because the Soviet Union retreated from Leningrad in a very hasty manner, neither of the two large shipyards was sufficiently damaged, and most of the shipyard workers and technicians did not retreat (the Soviet Union no longer needs to develop its shipbuilding industry for the time being).

Now the two shipyards are entrusted to Germany's Germania Shipyard and France's Penholt Shipyard, preparing to start construction of "Kesselring" class aircraft carriers.

Seeing Hasegawa Kiyoshi's hesitation, Hersman added: "Orders can be sent to the Germania Factory in Germany and the Penholt Factory in France."

Germania Shipyard and Penholt Shipyard are both major European factories, and their technology is absolutely guaranteed. Moreover, two Russian shipyards in Petrograd have also built large ships such as the "Soviet" class, and their technical accumulation is sufficient.

"Okay then," Kiyoshi Hasegawa laughed, "We hope to order a Zeppelin class and a Prussian class... both are improved models. We need to make improvements based on the original design. Moreover, we also Engineering and technical personnel should be dispatched to the factory for supervision.”

The request made by Kiyoshi Hasegawa was planned long ago... The Japanese not only want the Germans to help build aircraft carriers, but also master Germany's most advanced aircraft carrier construction technology and shipboard system technology through these two orders - now Germany Although Japan and Japan are allies, it is really hard to say whether Japan and Germany can live in peace for a long time after defeating the United States!

"It's feasible in principle. You can discuss the specific situation with the people at the shipyard and the European Community Arms Export Committee." Hersman shrugged and said, "Although you haven't recognized the Russian Empire yet, this does not affect the Germania Shipyard and the Pentagon. Hult Shipyard takes orders.”

Currently, the EC's arms exports (sales within the EC are not counted as exports) are subject to unified control, but Hersman has already nodded, so it will be easy to pass the Export Committee's hurdles.

"By the way," Hessman asked about the war situation in the Pacific before accepting the meeting with General Kiyoshi Hasegawa. "The Americans are dispatching on a large scale this time. Our spies lurking in San Diego recently discovered in the port 2 Wyoming class battleships, 2 New York class battleships, 2 Mexico class battleships, 1 Florida class battleship, 1 South Dakota class (USS Washington), 2 Iowa class, 4 Essex class aircraft carriers, 4 Independence-class aircraft carriers, and another two to three hundred ships of various types!”

The Eyes of the U.S. Pacific Fleet San Diego has been the target of surveillance by German intelligence agencies as early as the 1930s. The Stasi organization set up a spy network there. Although it was unable to penetrate the top brass of the U.S. Pacific Fleet, it could still monitor the military port.

So after Hessman learned that the U.S. Pacific Fleet was dispatched, he immediately ordered the Military Intelligence Agency to further investigate the situation, and soon obtained some extremely valuable information - all the old American battleships had arrived in the Pacific, and all of them had gone to sea. Fighting.

"What? There are 2 Wyoming-class battleships, 2 New York-class battleships, 2 Mexico-class battleships, and 1 Florida-class battleship in San Diego Harbor?" Hasegawa Kiyoshi was stunned. "These seven battleships are now..."

Hersman said: "They have all gone out to sea, along with two or three hundred other ships! Now the port of San Diego is empty. The people at the Naval Liaison Office will soon send you a report... This is absolutely reliable information!"

Hasegawa Kiyoshi took a breath!

In Hasegawa Kiyoshi's view, these seven old battleships of the Americans are no longer worth fighting fleet artillery battles. So the purpose of the Americans transferring them from the Atlantic to the Pacific is definitely not to fight against Japanese battleships like the Yamato.

And if this kind of battleship does not fight a fleet decisive battle, it has only two uses, one is air defense; the other is to bombard the opposite shore.

If it is for air defense, it is not meaningful to transfer them all the way from the Atlantic. Because the US Atlantic Fleet also has the need for air defense operations, it is better to transfer a few more cruisers with strong anti-aircraft firepower.

Therefore, Hasegawa Kiyoshi immediately made a judgment: the purpose of the Americans mobilizing seven old battleships to the Pacific is to attack islands!

The American counterattack in the Pacific will soon begin!

…

"Marshal, the Combined Fleet and the General Staff have determined that the target of the US Pacific Fleet's counterattack may be Dutch Harbor in the Aleutian Islands or Christmas Island, 2,080 kilometers south of the Hawaiian Islands."

In the Navy Ministry building in Tokyo, Japan, Navy Minister Isoroku Yamamoto, Chief of the General Staff Osami Nagano, Vice Minister of the General Staff Seiichi Ito, and Chief of the Yokosuka Garrison Chuichi Nagumo all gathered in a conference room.

The speaker now is Rear Admiral Seiichi Ito, Vice Minister of the General Staff. He is the soul of the Japanese Navy General Staff and of course a pro-American. He once studied at Yale (the elites of the Japanese Navy are all academic masters, and they have all studied at famous American universities, either Harvard, Yale or Columbia University). When he served as a naval attaché in the United States, he was very familiar with Spruance, the top commander of the Pacific Fleet.

"Mr. Ito, tell me your judgment," Yamamoto Isoroku interrupted Ito Seiichi who was reading from the script, "Is it Dutch Harbor or Christmas Island?"

Unlike in history, when Japan only captured Attu Island and Kiska Island, the westernmost islands of the Aleutian Islands, the Japanese Navy in this time and space once had a greater advantage in the Pacific Ocean, so it captured the most valuable Dutch Harbor in the Aleutian Islands.

However, it is precisely because too many strategically valuable territories have been captured that the Japanese army in the Pacific Ocean is now a little short of manpower.

It is impossible for the Japanese to put hundreds or thousands of shore-based aircraft at every strategic point, because the total number of commonly used aircraft owned by the Japanese Navy and Army is only about 9,000-although the annual production of aircraft in Japan can reach more than 10,000, but training pilots is a particularly fuel-consuming business. Relying on Japan's effective oil supply of more than 6 million tons a year, it is already a miracle to increase the number of regular aircraft from more than 4,000 to 9,000 in more than a year after the war (many of these pilots are "miracles" with only dozens of hours of flight time).

However, 9,000 regular aircraft were still not enough for the vast battlefield that Japan had to defend.

Especially after the United States adopted the abominable aircraft carrier-breaking tactic, Japan had to deploy aircraft in some islands in the Western Pacific, coastal areas of the mainland, Taiwan Island, the Philippine Islands, etc., wasting a lot of manpower.

Moreover, the Japanese Army also deployed more than 1,000 fighters in Manchuria and Korea to deter or prepare to attack the Soviet Union. According to the plan of the Japanese Army, once the German army occupied Moscow, Japan would advance to the Far East, Mongolia and Siberia... So the planes and tanks of the Kwantung Army could not be removed!

In addition, although Japan gave up the plan to attack Australia and New Zealand, it did not cease fire with the Australian and New Zealand authorities, and the US troops stationed in Australia and New Zealand did not withdraw. Therefore, air battles in the South Pacific are carried out every day, and the Japanese have also deployed thousands of fighters in this direction!

Therefore, the Japanese Navy and Army now have only more than 4,000 aircraft that can be used in the Pacific front battlefield, of which more than 1,000 are carrier-based aircraft. There are only about 3,000 aircraft that can be used to defend the first-line islands (including the Aleutian Islands, the Hawaiian Islands, the Line Islands where Christmas Island is located, Midway Island behind Hawaii, and Wake Island are all considered the first line).

The troops are not sufficient at all, so it is very important to determine the US military's attack targets in advance.