.Kobayashi Koichi and Kida Taichiro are civil servants, so they have to choose a military commander.

According to Kobayashi Mitsuichi's meaning, a major general is enough. In any case, this is not a full-scale war, it is just a local conflict with a limited scale. Japan will not mobilize wars, there is no need to raise the conflict to the national height, and there is no reason to spend too much energy on personnel appointments.

However, in fact, Kobayashi Mitsuichi had to spend some energy.

The reason is that this is the first war that Japan was involved in after World War II.

Although there is a pessimistic atmosphere in the Ministry of Defense, and even the three military commanders are not optimistic, any professional soldier knows that this is a rare opportunity. Regardless of winning or losing, the generals who command the Self-Defense Forces to fight will definitely gain benefits, and it is an indescribable benefit.

Now, personnel appointments have become a major event.

The popular candidates are the three commanders, namely Saito Shi, Arakawa Taro and Kimura Kojiro.

The two of them first ruled out Saito Mi because the East China Sea conflict has nothing to do with the Ground Self-Defense Force. Even if they compete around the Diaoyu Islands, it is difficult for the Ground Self-Defense Force to act as the main force.

In Arakawa Taro and Kimura Koji's doctor, Kobayashi Koichi has a hard time making a choice.

Fundamentally speaking, the East China Sea conflict is mainly air battlefields, and once Kobayashi insists on controlling the scale of the conflict, he must try to limit the scope of the war. Without absolute necessity, sea wars should be avoided as much as possible. After all, the losses and costs of naval battles far exceed those of air combat.

In this way, Taro Arakawa, commander of the Air Self-Defense Force, is the number one candidate.

The question is, will China control the scope of the war?

Regardless of Kobayashi Mitsuichi's attitude towards China, the Chinese Navy's East China Sea Fleet has already left the port, the South China Sea Fleet and the North China Sea Fleet are gathering, and even the army is actively preparing for war. Not only will China regain the Diaoyu Islands, it is also very likely to take this opportunity to complete the great cause of unification.

After the fight started, the scale of the war was not decided by Japan.

If naval battles are the main focus, Kojiro Kimura is the ideal candidate.

Kobayashi Mitsuichi had to choose between the two, and he knew that this choice would determine Japan's basic military policy in this conflict.

This is exactly what makes Kobayashi Koichi feel embarrassed.

If you just choose a military commander, there is no problem. After all, you have been studying with the United States for decades, and both the generals of Kongzi and Haizi know how to fight together.

What is the key is what matters.

In the end, Kida Taichiro helped Kobayashi Mitsuru make up his mind.

China is coming in a fierce manner and will definitely not give up. In the long run, Kojiro Kimura should be the military commander. However, in the early stages of the conflict, the two sides will concentrate their efforts to compete for air supremacy, so Taro Arakawa must coordinate the air forces of the Air Self-Defense Force and the Maritime Self-Defense Force.

In terms of personnel appointments, Kojiro Kimura was the commander of the fleet, and after the fleet joined the war, Taro Arakawa was the commander of the aviation, and was responsible for air operations.

After making this arrangement, Kobayashi Koichikkan asked Taichiro Kida to call the others in.

At this time, there were less than forty hours before Mu Haoyang determined the war time.

Determining a military commander is only the first step for Japan to prepare for war. After that, it will have to mobilize troops, formulate combat plans and coordinate support forces.

Fortunately, some preparations have already begun.

When Kojiro Kimura and Taro Arakawa took office, two escort groups of the Maritime Self-Defense Force had arrived in Okinawa, and the third escort group had also been mobilized. The Air Self-Defense Force deployed 120 combat aircraft in Okinawa and began to expand field airports on adjacent islands.

If everything goes well, Japan will be able to invest three guard groups and nearly two hundred combat aircraft on the last day of May.

The one who acts the fastest is not fighter jets, but submarines lurking under the sea.

When the situation worsened, two submarine groups of the Maritime Self-Defense Forces entered combat readiness. Subsequently, except for four submarines that were undergoing routine maintenance, the remaining fourteen submarines left the port within 24 hours. By May 28, six submarines had entered the East China Sea, and eight submarines were active in the Philippine Sea east of Okinawa, and the four submarines maintained could also leave the port before June 1.

In other words, six submarines have entered the combat waters at this time.

Although these six submarines did not cross the East China Sea mid-line, or even entered the disputed sea area, they only carried out forward alert tasks according to the deployment of the Maritime Self-Defense Force, it does not mean that they will not encounter any trouble, because the Chinese Navy's submarines have already entered the East China Sea and are also carrying out similar tasks.

There is no visible front under the sea.

In the direct confrontation of submarines, there is a possibility of accidental fire at any time.

Don’t forget that what caused this conflict was the attack on the submarines of both sides in the East China Sea. With the lessons of the past, whether it is a Japanese captain or a Chinese captain, they will actively and decisively take the initiative when encountering suspicious targets, rather than repeating the same mistakes.

At that time, among the submarines operating in the East China Sea, there were six Type 041, one of which was the restored "Sea Dragon".

The one who commanded the "Sea Dragon" was still Safimo, but he was now a colonel.

This military rank is obviously not very commensurate with his position.

According to tradition, the captain of a conventional submarine is generally a captain, and even the captain of a new submarine is at most a major. The captain of a nuclear submarine is a major or a lieutenant colonel, and only the captain of a strategic nuclear submarine is a colonel. If the captain of a conventional submarine force is interspersed with the colonel, it is probably the commander of a submarine team.

However, after the Second Korean War, it was not uncommon for military ranks to be incompatible with their posts.

After the war, Safimo had the opportunity to "get ashore" or serve in the nuclear submarine force. For example, Wang Yuhan, who was promoted to colonel at the same time as him, went ashore and served as the chief of staff of the submarine corps in the South China Sea Fleet. Two captains who were promoted a little later boarded a nuclear submarine for two years in further study. Safimo did not have a high school or changed careers, but stayed in the submarine force, responsible for the improvement of the Type 041.

This decision changed his life trajectory.

But judging from the situation at that time, if he didn't go, another captain who had participated in the war and had achieved great results would be responsible for this matter.

The reason is very simple. The improvement work of the Type 041 is directly related to the future of China's conventional submarines.

After the Second Korean War, the Chinese Navy made major adjustments to the development direction of the submarine force, and the status of conventional submarines was greatly reduced. According to the development plan formulated by Xu Fantao, in the next twenty years, the Chinese Navy will build at least 30 attack nuclear submarines, at the cost of no longer developing conventional submarines.

According to this plan, conventional submarines in the navy will be retired one after another within the next twenty years.

The problem is that plans can never keep up with changes.

From a long-term perspective, nuclear submarines are indeed ideal choices, especially after the navy entered the ocean-going era, only nuclear submarines could accompany the fleet to fight. Conventional submarines with unsatisfactory performance were difficult to operate in the ocean-going ocean, and even unable to reach combat waters thousands of nautical miles away.

However, in the short term, conventional submarines still have irreplaceable effects.

Several naval battles in the Second Korean War also proved that conventional submarines have irreplaceable and important value in shallow water nearshore areas.

For at least the next twenty years, the Chinese Navy will remain a near-shore navy that needs to rely on shore-based aviation.

More importantly, the construction of submarines requires not only consideration of the needs of the navy, but also the international market, especially the needs of allies who want to purchase submarines from China.

You should know that the Second Korean War has proved the advanced performance of Chinese submarines.

In the second year of the war, Pakistan proposed a procurement plan, hoping to purchase multiple Type 041 conventional submarines through procurement and introduction.

Selling submarines is not a problem, but submarines sold to Pakistan must definitely be improved.

For example, in terms of power systems, Pakistani military ports lack infrastructure, so the first two Type 041 are not equipped with AIP systems, and the AIP system is installed since the third one. It is planned to install AIP systems for the first two during the mid-term overhaul. In addition, the air conditioning system must be improved to adapt to combat in low-latitude tropical waters; and the communication and command system of the Pakistan Navy is added for better use.

These external needs directly promoted the improvement of Type 041.

In a sense, it was Pakistan and the foreign demands of Iran, Venezuela, Egypt and the UAE that subsequently ordered the Type 041, which provided the Chinese Navy with the funds needed to improve the Type 041 and made the Chinese Navy decide to develop more advanced conventional submarines.

The exported submarines are definitely different from those of the Navy.

For example, all exported Type 041 submarines were not equipped with electromagnetic warfare weapons. It was not until ten years later that China sold the submarine electromagnetic weapons to Pakistan through arms trade, and modified the fire control system for eight Type 041s equipped by Pakistan.

At that time, the biggest improvement the Chinese Navy made on the Type 041 was equipped with electromagnetic weapons.

As the captain of the submarine with the most practical experience, Safimo served as a tactical consultant for the Type 041 improvement work, responsible for providing tactical advice to engineers at the shipyard and submarine design institute.

Safimo spent two years on this matter.

Although he was already a submarine colonel when the first improved Type 041 was re-instated, that is, the "Sea Dragon" under his command, there were very few good positions left in the army. Safimo refused Zhou Yusheng's invitation and did not serve as the chief of the submarine staff of the East China Sea Fleet, but returned to the submarine and became the captain of the "Sea Dragon" again, and continued to serve in the East China Sea Fleet.

Returning to the grassroots troops was Safemo's own choice, and Zhou Yusheng did not force him.

At that time, a captain with rich practical experience was also needed to discover how strong the improved Type 041 had and what kind of combat missions it could perform.

According to Zhou Yusheng's deployment, the "Hailong" is responsible for the forward anti-submarine mission.

In other words, the "Hailong" did not stay in the scheduled fleet combat waters, but instead went forward to the vicinity of the Okinawa Islands to monitor passing ships, especially the submarines of the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force.

This task is both extremely dangerous and full of opportunities.
Chapter completed!