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Chapter 216 Belated Awakening

The advantages of the Chinese Navy are not only reflected in the combat effectiveness of warships, but also in the scale of the fleet.

On January 10, 2055, Mu Haoyang went to Yokohama to preside over the handover ceremony of the new Pacific Fleet warships, and officially appointed General Tong Shaoyun as the commander of the Pacific Fleet.

On the same day, the third batch of eight "Tarzan"-class aircraft carriers were officially delivered to the Navy in Yokohama.

When the war broke out, the Chinese Navy's Pacific Fleet was almost wiped out here, and only the "Tarzan" aircraft carrier transferred to Subic Bay escaped by chance. Most of the warships of the six aircraft carrier battle groups sank in Yokohama Port, and more than a dozen warships are still lying on the seabed of the harbor. After two years of hard work, the Chinese Navy not only salvaged more than 30 warships, but also repaired Yokohama Port.

Here, it once again became the home port of the Chinese Pacific Fleet and the location of the Fleet Command.

Letting eight "Taishan" class aircraft carriers, sixteen "Heilongjiang" class large comprehensive warships, thirty-two "Weihai" class anti-submarine warships, and sixteen "Taihu" class rapid combat support ships officially enter service here, just symbolizing that after two years of bloody battles, the Chinese Navy's Pacific Fleet was not only reborn from the ashes, but also once again became the overlord of the Western Pacific and was moving towards controlling the Pacific.

At this point, the Chinese Navy has already owned fifteen super aircraft carriers and formed fifteen aircraft carrier battle groups.

In fact, this has completely surpassed the level of the Chinese Navy before the outbreak of the war, and it took only two years to prove how great China's war potential is.

Although a month later, the US Navy received the fourth batch of six American-class super aircraft carriers, and all nine aircraft carriers that suffered heavy damage in the Battle of the Solomon Islands were restored, and the size of the aircraft carrier battle group reached fifteen, it only returned to the level before the outbreak of the war. More importantly, in terms of the overall size of the fleet, the US Navy has been left behind by the Chinese Navy.

By the end of February 2055, the total tonnage of Chinese naval warships exceeded 15 million tons, while the total tonnage of US Navy warships was less than 13 million tons. Even if the submarine force with the Chinese Navy had huge advantages and the warships dedicated to escort missions were excluded, the total tonnage of the Chinese Navy's main fleet was more than 8 million tons, while the total tonnage of the US Navy's main fleet was only 7 million tons.

If you want to talk about combat effectiveness, the gap between the two sides is even more obvious.

As for the quality of officers and soldiers that determine the combat effectiveness of the fleet, the Chinese Navy still has a relatively obvious advantage.

Before the outbreak of the war, the scale of the Chinese navy's forces was not much different from that of the US Navy, but in terms of fleet strength, it was only equivalent to 80% of the US Navy's Navy. In the past two years, about 80,000 officers and soldiers of the Chinese navy's fleet had casualties, including the casualties during the war. The US Navy's fleet had suffered 140,000 casualties, and only killed in battle, and the missing and captured more than 80,000 were lost. The proportion of personnel reduction was almost twice that of the Chinese navy. The result was that the proportion of new recruits in the US fleet was more than twice that of the Chinese navy.

Obviously, the excessive proportion of recruits has reduced the combat effectiveness of the US Navy fleet.

In terms of carrier-based aviation pilots, the gap between the US Navy is even more obvious. After more than two years of fighting, more than half of the US Navy pilots served before the war had suffered casualties, and the proportion of deaths was as high as 27%, while the Chinese Navy lost only one-third of the pilots, with a proportion of fourteen%. In fact, before the Battle of the Solomon Islands, the proportion of deaths of the Chinese Navy was less than 10%. This naval battle alone caused the Chinese Navy to lose hundreds of outstanding pilots.

It is undeniable that the US Navy still has strong combat effectiveness and the capital to turn defeat into victory.

The key is that in the next battle, the US Navy could not contribute at all.

After the surrender of the US military on Guadalcanal, the Chinese Marine Corps occupied the Solomon Islands and expanded the front line to the New Hebrides before the end of 2054, and captured most of the large islands, including Efate. Only Tanna Island and Anetium Island in the southern section of the archipelago were still under the control of the US military. Because the west of these two islands belong to New Caledonia in France, their strategic value is not great, and the Chinese Navy did not intend to let the fleet move south from the west side of the New Hebrides.

In other words, except for New Caledonia, all the strategic barriers in Australia's northeast are in the hands of the Chinese army.

In this way, it is almost impossible for the US Navy to defend Australia.

Not to mention anything else, the US fleet no longer dares to venture into the Coral Sea, so it cannot stop the Chinese Marines from attacking Australia from New Guinea Island. Even if the US fleet retreats into the Tasman Sea, it cannot support the ground forces in northeastern Australia. When the Chinese Marines gain a foothold in northeastern Australia and begin to advance southward, the US fleet will still have to leave the Tasman Sea.

It can be seen from this that as long as the Chinese Marine Corps does not land in southeastern Australia, the US fleet will be useless.

By the end of 2054, the Chinese army attacked Australia by air inflow, which was not only not a suspense, but also a foregone conclusion.

For example, China has built a large number of field airports in New Guinea.

Obviously, French could not see it.

For him, there were only two choices, one was to give up Australia, and the other was to divert the attention of the Chinese Navy.

Unfortunately, the first option is not valid, because the United States will never give up on Australia and Lucas will not let French do so.

Then, we can only try to divert the attention of the Chinese Navy.

The question is, how can we divert the attention of the Chinese Navy?

There is definitely no chance in the Atlantic Ocean. The Chinese navy is not strong enough to expedition the Atlantic Ocean. There are not many opportunities to make a fuss in the Indian Ocean, because the US Navy has no base here, and the ports in western Australia do not have enough infrastructure to support the battle of fifteen aircraft carrier battle groups, and the possibility of winning in the Indian Ocean is very slim. Obviously, we can only find a way in the Pacific Ocean.

French had two choices, one was the Solomon Islands and the other was the Mariana Islands.

At that time, someone proposed a very crazy idea, that is, to log in to Fusang and directly attack China's mainland.

It is not wrong to regard Fusang as its homeland in China, because Fusang is a special administrative region in China, and one-third of the residents of Fusang are pure Chinese. There are also the home port and headquarters of the China Pacific Fleet, as well as a large number of factories, and the outer barrier of the East Asian continent.

However, French immediately rejected the proposal.

The reason is very simple. Landing in Fusang is not only a huge risk, but also requires a large amount of ground troops. He does not have many ground troops available at all, so Admiral Marshall cannot help because the US Army faces the problem of shortage of troops on both the mainland and the Middle East battlefields.

As for counterattacking the Solomon Islands, the risk is not small.

You should know that the main forces of the Chinese Marine Corps are all in the Solomon Islands, and the Chinese Air Force has deployed thousands of combat aircraft here. In addition, the Chinese Navy has already controlled the sea control of the Coral Sea. Even if the US fleet can be covered by the air force deployed in Australia, there is no great hope of victory. Don’t forget that the background of the sea battle in the Solomon Islands is the US counterattack of the Solomon Islands, and the result is a crushing defeat.

On the battlefield, you should not stand up wherever you fall.

The problem is, how easy is to counterattack the Mariana Islands.

Although there were not many garrisons on the Mariana Islands, by the end of 2054, there were only four Marine divisions, and they were all troops that had not been on the battlefield, but they were close enough to China's mainland, that the Chinese Navy and Marine Corps could enhance the defensive deployment of the Mariana Islands in a very short time. More importantly, in the Western Pacific, the US Navy no longer had strongholds to rely on, so the counterattack mission had to be undertaken by the navy, especially in the early stages, the US fleet could not receive cover and support from the shore-based aviation force.

It can be said that it is more difficult to counterattack the Mariana Islands than to counterattack the Solomon Islands.

In this way, French was almost helpless.

According to some staff recollections of the U.S. Navy Pacific Fleet Command, at the end of 2054, especially after the Chinese army invaded Moscow, French felt desperate and became very depressed because of this. Many times he did not go to the headquarters for several days.

It cannot be blamed for French. Anyone in his position will be desperate about the prospect of war.

It was not until mid-January that France seemed to have found a way out, became active again, and worked in the headquarters almost at any time.

At that time, the way out French thought was that the Chinese Navy attacked the Hawaiian Islands.

In his opinion, if the Chinese Navy attacks the Hawaiian Islands, the US Navy will have a chance to turn defeat into victory, because the US Navy can fight on the inside. More importantly, the inevitable problems on the Southwest Pacific battlefield do not exist on the Hawaiian Islands. For example, the maritime route is shortened by more than 10,000 kilometers at once, and the entire journey is within the cover range of the shore-based anti-submarine patrol aircraft.

The question is, how can we get the Chinese navy to attack the Hawaiian Islands?

French's approach was simple: send the defenders of the Hawaiian Islands to Australia, so that the opponent could think that the defense of the Hawaiian Islands was empty.

Of course, French detained the troops that were supposed to be sent to Australia and kept them on the West Coast area so that they could reinforce the Hawaiian Islands at any time.

If this plan succeeds, the direction of the Pacific War is likely to change.

Unfortunately, French woke up too late.

By mid-January, the combat operation to attack Australia had been started, a large number of combat troops began to be mobilized, and the transportation of combat materials had already begun. Even if Mu Haoyang believes that he has the opportunity to occupy the Hawaiian Islands, it is impossible to modify the combat plan at this time.

You must know that such a large-scale combat operation is definitely not something that anyone can change if they want to.

As long as the combat operation is started, there is no way to stop the car.

Chapter 216 Belated Awakening
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