＜ Episode 199 >
Normandy. france.
“No, why are those damn things crawling here?”
“I heard that the ports of Calais or the low-lying ports do not support the cargo volume, so we should put down some military supplies here as well?”
“Hey, eat the shit, Jerry guys and Raimi guys are getting busier, doesn’t it look like the war is not going well?”
But the old man coughed and signaled to silence his voice.
“Hey, you still have to lower your voice, in order for something to happen.”
“Hey, Jerry guys and Raimi guys can’t even talk because they’re scared? If we don’t have it, who’s going to entrust this crane to us? If those tanks fell off, I think it would be nice if they were cut off.”
In the meantime, not only the Matilda tanks used frequently by the British Army, but also new tanks they were unaware of.
“What is that name?”
“I heard it was a Moseley tank.”
“Hey, it’s a tank with the name of the pirate boss.”
“It’s called Cromwell.”
The transport, loaded with new tanks, vomited out all the goods and refueled, fearfully leaving the port.
“Americans and Russians are coming. “I don’t know what the Germans can do when most of the country has already been trampled down by the Russians, but the pirates will probably struggle to the end.”
Even Napoleon had to leave for St. Helena, unable to defeat Britain alone.
But Britain, apparently, continues to be pushed closer to the cliff.
And they, the French, were so happy about it.
***
British Empire, Navy.
“The main ships of the Russian Navy have breached the blockade of the Baltic Sea and crossed the North Atlantic. You can pursue it, but it doesn’t mean much.”
“The Far East Fleet of the Russian Navy is moving. It is facing the United States and the Japanese Empire has not done anything against it.”
The Navy simply gave up on Japan.
People who don’t know the extent of it, face confiscation also drove Britain into a war with another enemy called the United States, and they were arrogant in declaring war on Russia, rather, they were showing an attitude of acquiescing to American goods going to Russia.
“It is clear that the Russian Navy is also willing to participate in a battle with the US Navy.”
“The new battleship of the US Navy, the Ohio-class battleship has been confirmed.”
Ohio class.
The United States was built to make it the strongest battleship in the world, no, the world’s strongest battleship in terms of specifications.
Of the eight ships built, only two were commissioned so far, according to British information, and only three were launched. The specman shocked the British intelligence service.
The latest battleship equipped with a large number of dual-purpose guns and anti-aircraft guns, with 12 main guns of 20 inches, exceeding the 18-inch guns that had previously been the largest caliber among U.S. Navy battleships.
The ambitious work of the US Navy, which began to be built to replace the Kansas class, which has been in service for 10 years since the last ship was commissioned, and the essence of New World ship building technology.
“The Ohio class will not sail. Under various circumstances, the US Navy will leave about eight main battleships undefeated in a face-to-face battle.”
If it’s natural, it’s natural. Because Japan remains.
“Can you specify which ships are not sailing?”
“Once you consider the ships that have not yet been built, the Ohio-class Ohio and Honolulu have only been in service for a few weeks, so their crew skills are too low, and the design work has not been completed yet. They will most likely remain as Atlantic reserve battleships, dedicated to rigging and crew training.”
“and?”
“Since all Russian Stolipin-class aircraft carriers have been sortieing, four of them are Yorktown, Enterprise, Hornet and Wasp, except for the Ranger we lost last time. We have to defend the Pacific Ocean. Last but not least are South Dakota and North Carolina, which were devastated by the last attack on Pearl Harbor.”
In the Pearl Harbor attack, four U.S. Navy battleships were hit by aerial torpedo torpedoes, and four were damaged in one way or another, but not all of them were decommissioned.
In addition, cruisers and destroyers were also attacked, but when counting battleships, no warships were sunk and only a handful of ships were damaged.
Three of these ships have already returned to the battlefield due to minor damage, and North Carolina, just mentioned, is in psoriasis.
South Dakota was built, but the US Navy salvaged it and was in a repair facility, and the remaining three ships are in the process of salvage, so it will take one to two years to return.
Of course, it is true that this blow left the US Pacific Fleet paralyzed, but what the Japanese Empire did not expect was that the US ability to recover from damage was more than that.
“Once the salvage work is complete, Saratoga, Constellation and Vermont are added. However, this seems to take about a year. Literally all the power the U.S. Navy can mobilize.”
“Instead, we can project all our power effortlessly.”
The only concern is the Yugoslav Navy, and the Russian submarine fleet and the lower-class coastal navy, but as long as all of the Russian Navy’s main ships have been evacuated, they can go all-in to the decisive battle without burden, leaving only the coastal fleet.
Fleet decisive battles are by no means unique to Japan. The concept of one decisive battle that projected all naval power on most countries is evident.
“Still, the transport fleet’s escort…”
“The escort of the merchant fleet is left to the frigates and corvettes for a while. They can do anti-submarine warfare too, and there are anti-submarine fishing boats and most cruisers.”
The anti-submarine fishing boats operated by the British Navy were not strange even if they were regular warships equipped with depth charges and guns.
As a bonus, there are armed merchant ships. Some of the dogs could even be equipped with catapults to take off torpedo bombers.
Of course, many of these armed merchant ships, fishing boats and submarines will also be deployed for the purpose of raids, trade destruction, and reconnaissance, but since they are not the main force, they will move on a small scale, and the rest will be devoted to coastal defense or the protection of friendly transport ships.
“If the U.S. Navy faces a head-to-head confrontation, we must respond. The entire fleet.”
The White Fleet, the Grand Fleet, and the two fleets that were engaged in an arms race, who was the true strength was a topic that many luxuries talked about.
And finally, it was time to look at the long and short ones.
***
“Admiral Kuznetsov, this is Admiral Halsey.”
“nice to see you.”
“This is it.”
Admiral Kuznetsov, who had steered his fleet to a decisive battle against the British by order in Moscow, was welcomed by the US Navy.
Of course, it was also said that Russia’s naval power was almost on the same level as that of Italy or France, and in any case, it was not a huge force by itself, but it was not able to mobilize its forces freely, and even the latest battleship launched at best had various political problems and unrest in the Pacific. Situation where you have to separate and participate due to other reasons.
Even a single battleship and an aircraft carrier could not help but disappoint.
Of course, the man in front of him didn’t look happy at all.
“This is Admiral Ernest King, Chief of Naval Staff.”
“Nice to meet you, Admiral.”
Huey Long knew Ernest King’s personality very well, so he personally summoned him to the White House the day before the Russian Navy’s arrival to the White House to discuss the alliance with Russia and other matters that require cooperation. Don’t quarrel, no, don’t just say hello, don’t just open your mouth, leave it to your subordinates, leave and quietly return to work, and even threaten to blow your head off if you commit diplomatic disrespect this time.
The pleas and threats had somehow worked, King had a very twisted expression on his face, but there was no harsh sound. As King retreated silently to the end, the two common senses, Spruance and Fletcher, sighed in relief.
“It would have been much better if Admiral Nimitz was here.”
“If even Admiral Nimitsu comes here, who will stop the Japanese forces?”
Currently, the U.S. Navy has deployed all its submarine fleets into the Pacific Ocean to block the advance of the Japanese Navy as much as possible.
In addition, he was ordered to take the power he had and relocate it to the Atlantic Ocean, even if he couldn’t maintain the status quo, and he was ordered to just take the time, but his shoulders were heavy.
“That’s right, it was a lie.”
“It’s true, but it’s true that the Pacific is a concern. The only major ships are aircraft carriers.”
The practical value of aircraft carriers has not yet been proven.
There are two largest battleships in history, but the crew had too much of the latest technology in their chicks, so, to be honest, the reliability of the equipment wasn’t that great.
Crucially, the design work hasn’t been finished yet. If you want to force it in, you have to put it in, but…
“What are the two of you talking about, if it’s not rude, can we talk together?”
At Kuznetsov’s words, Spruance quickly realized that they were only talking among themselves in front of the guests.
“We made our customers feel alienated, sorry for that.”
“it’s okay. It sounds like the Pacific Japs are running rampant.”
“Southeast Asia is collapsing helplessly. The Philippines is being attacked, and we are unable to send a single battleship.”
“I heard that the French are gathering their fleet and fighting to drive the Japanese out of Indochina. Since we have a fleet of three battleships, wouldn’t they be helpful?”
All French naval forces that are not in Southeast Asia are entering New York Port to participate in the battle. Of course, there are a small number of army troops, including the Foreign Legion, in addition to the navy, but they decided that Guiana could not be protected, and were relocated to Panama and continued to fight.
“I wish I could.”
It’s a difficult story to tell in public, but MacArthur, a political soldier who once served as the Chief of the Army, has had an intact public influence even though he was evicted to the Philippines. And public influence is also political influence.
And if MacArthur died fighting, as he declared, it would be a significant political burden on the White House.
The problem is that now, far from forcing MacArthur to Australia by sending a PT boat to Australia as in the original history, Britain cannot send a cruiser to the Philippines to bring MacArthur to the country as long as it is an enemy country.
Even the White House was in an atmosphere of resignation. It is impossible to escape from the Philippines, which has lost many of its bases in the Pacific Ocean, such as the passing of Guam, and MacArthur is a human being who will fight to the end rather than surrender.
At that moment, a man dressed as a Russian naval officer and a US naval officer appeared.
“Lieutenant, something?”
“It is said that the French and Japanese forces were engaged in a battle in the waters near the Paracel Islands, and the French army was almost annihilated…”
“What?”
“It is said that the French army’s battleship strength was annihilated, most of the destroyers and cruisers were sunk, and only some of the non-combat ships barely survived.”
“What was the Japanese casualty?”
“There is no damage to the main ship… It is said that a few auxiliary ships were sunk.”
“Does it make sense?”
Astonishment echoed through the banquet hall.
“About 70 ships! Among them, only 3 battleships and 7 cruisers were sunk? What nonsense!”
“Besides, the two battleships are Joan of Arc-class, and they have almost the same performance as our South Dakota-class.
“Isn’t the naval power of the Japs stronger than expected?”
“What tactics did the Japs use?”
Those present have not forgotten the memories of the Battle of Tsushima.
Battle of Tsushima.
A great defeat that sank the world’s highest-ranking Russian navy into the deep sea and brought about defeat in the Russo-Japanese War, making the Russian Empire temporarily feel the crisis of communism and national destruction.
Of course, it was Britain, Germany, and Italy that became communist–the United States regards Nazism as a branch of non-Marxist communism–it is clear that the Russian Empire was also very dangerous.
Did another great master like Dogo Heihachiro come out at that time? Or was Japan’s naval power more than they had imagined?
Of course, they had no way of knowing if they had to talk here. Moreover, even if they discuss countermeasures, they cannot divert the fleet converging on the east coast of the United States to the Pacific Ocean.
However, the situation that both Russia and the United States confirmed in their own way was enough to shock all the admirals present.