Iron Cross

After the Great Horn personnel changes, the Fleet Faction completely overwhelmed the Treaty Faction, but times are constantly progressing, and political power can never keep up with the times. The Treaty Faction took the lead in transforming into the Aviation Faction and united under Mitsumasa Yoneuchi and Yamamoto Isoroku. The Fleet Faction still stubbornly adhered to the idea of ​​​​big ships and cannons. This was how Yamato and Musashi came into existence. However, they did not expect that the Aviation Faction used new weapons in the Battle of Pearl Harbor. The tactics showed majesty, and they were defeated in the Battle of Midway. The battleships regarded as national treasures in the two battles were basically useless, and the actual results severely slapped the fleet faction.

In the end, what I never expected was that Horikichi, a guy who had been exiled in the big horn career and only had one foot to stand up, actually rose up again. With the recommendation of Yamamoto Isoroku, he not only jumped from the reserve army He became the Commander-in-Chief of the Combined Fleet, achieved numerous victories, and gained a reputation as the number one general in Japan. Winning was not just a matter of winning, but he also led the Combined Fleet and the Military Headquarters to do the work - only the Combined Fleet and the Navy Ministry had always done the work. I didn't hear that she and her mother's family were working against each other in the military command department, and they won at the same time, which made the military command department disgraced.

What makes Fushimi Miyahiro King even more annoyed is that there have been increasing rumors recently that Horikichi was the commander-in-chief of the Japanese wartime Combined Fleet that Marshal Togo favored. If the Okaku personnel incident had not happened, he would have become the commander of the Combined Fleet long ago. Fleet Commander (Horikoshi and Yamamoto graduated at the same time, but ranked higher than Yamamoto), "If Horikichi had commanded the combined fleet, there might not have been a huge defeat in the Battle of Midway. Japan's situation is much better now, let alone India. , maybe even Australia and New Zealand have eaten it! You see, the military god always shines!"

This is of course a rumor. Marshal Togo himself is from the Fleet faction, so how could he fall in love with Horikichi from the Treaty faction? But the speaker has no intention, but the listener has intention: Horikichi is the Japanese military god. Yamamoto Isoroku recommended Horikichi for his merits and his knowledge of people. It can be seen that the defeat of Horikichi was a mistake. Who should be responsible for this? ——It’s obviously not interesting to fight the dead tiger Okaku Sensheng. Moreover, the real culprit behind the scenes is not Okaku, but Prince Fushimi Miyahiro Kyōge who presided over the exile of the Treaty Faction.

In Fushiminomiya's subconscious mind, the fundamental reason why Horikichi ignored him was not because of specific strategies or opinions, but because he was always waiting for the opportunity, hoping to avenge Okkaku's personnel affairs. This is why he tried every means to do so. Reasons to weaken, denigrate and even remove Horikichi. In addition to this deep-seated political reason, whether it is military orders, the differences between the fleet faction and the aviation faction, or arbitrary command, they are all just appearances - can't the fleet faction build large-scale aircraft carriers? joke!

Now Matsuda Chiaki is talking about the beauty one by one. Both inside and outside her words are ridiculing the short-sightedness and prejudice of the original Kantai faction. The junior officers can't understand it. How can senior officers like Inoue Narumi and Kusuka Renichi not understand? ? Seeing the figures from the aviation group snickering secretly, how could Prince Fushimi Miyahiro not get angry after being exposed?

But at his level, it is no longer possible to refute or scold him in person. Yamamoto and Horikichi have not spoken yet. If he did it himself, he would be at a disadvantage immediately. However, Chiaki Matsuda speaks flawlessly and is equally eloquent. The arguing Fukuguru couldn't find anything to refute within a short period of time, and was rendered speechless. So Fushimi Miya licked his lips at Koga Hoichi, who had been silent, hoping to get him to stand up and speak, so that he could use Koga Hoichi's status as a general to suppress the situation.

Koga Hoichi was really mute and couldn't tell how hard it was to eat Coptis chinensis. He didn't want to express his position on these issues at all, let alone in such a public place. He had experienced the majesty of Yamamoto Isoroku who drove Toyoda's deputy to the reserve. He was also a general. How could he, a general in the office, be compared to generals like Yamamoto and Horikichi who were shot out of the fire? What's more, it was the Lord of the Navy and the Chief of Military Command who were fighting in the arena, and now there is an additional marshal and admiral. For a bureaucrat who just wants to get through his term safely, of course he will never choose to speak out when he has to, and it is best to be wise and protect himself. , neither can be offended. But Fushimi Miya was not an easy master to serve, and he made it so clear that he couldn't help but stand up and say a few words.

So he had no choice but to bite the bullet and retort: ​​"Although the British and American navies currently only have this kind of battleship strength, as far as I know, Germany and Italy currently have no plans to build new battleships. If we don't build any more, what if Britain and the United States will put a large number of new battleships into service in the next two years?" What should we do? Their shipbuilding capabilities are far greater than ours."

This is not a random shooting. Although the Axis has not obtained precise information, the United States has actually arranged a large shipbuilding plan: the follow-up Iowa 2 ships and the first batch of 4 Montana ships are being built one after another. According to the plan By the end of 1944, the entire Montana class (eight ships) would be under construction. He just used common sense to infer that Britain and the United States would take the next step.

"What the deputy chief said makes sense. The British and American shipbuilding capabilities are stronger than ours. There will definitely be new warships in service in the next two years. But because of this, we cannot build battleships." Matsuda Chiaki replied cleverly, "Just think about it. You know, it took us more than 4 years to build Yamato and Musashi. If we want to build a larger and more complex Yamato-class, even at wartime speed and without considering bottlenecks such as materials and personnel, it will take at least 4 years—— In other words, even if the keel is laid tomorrow, it will take four years before it can be put into use.

"Then what do you think we should do?"

"So we need to increase the number of Unryu-class construction and speed up the construction speed. It is very difficult to produce the Yamato Kai in four years, but it is easy to produce the Unryu Kai in two years. If Britain and the United States produce one more battleship in two years, we can simultaneously add one Unryu Kai. , who do you think has the advantage?”

"Will Britain and the United States not build aircraft carriers on a large scale?"

"Of course they will, and they are already doing this. During the Battle of Tarawa, our army fought against the newly commissioned Essex-class aircraft carrier. It is very unfortunate that there are at least 19 aircraft carriers of this class lying on the docks of the United States. "According to German intelligence, the Essex-class aircraft carrier construction cycle only takes 14-16 months, and the United States can add 16-18 ships a year."

"What?" Everyone looked at each other: 16-18 regular aircraft carriers are being built in a year. Is the United States crazy?

Matsuda Chiaki said unceremoniously: "The number of aircraft carriers is not enough now. The enemy is building faster and more than us. They can distract themselves from building battleships. If we distract ourselves from building battleships, we are looking for death. Just like a girl from a poor family. , I tightened my belt and went to buy some beautiful clothes, and bought several pieces. I was usually so happy that I couldn’t bear to wear them, but suddenly I had some extra money and wanted to buy a few more clothes to go back and compete with the rich man’s young lady. I thought about these nonsense all day long. How can I pass the exam?"

This was said so playfully that not only did everyone laugh, but even Koga Mine himself couldn't help but laugh. In the audience, only Prince Fushimi Miyahiro Kyouo did not laugh. Inoue Narumi could see clearly: Fushimi Miya's face turned from green to red, then from red to purple, and finally burst out uncontrollably, shouting: "Bold Matsuda Chiaki" , How dare you make excuses to ridicule me..."

"Hey, Your Highness, it's just a joke, why take it seriously?" Before Horikichi said anything, Yamamoto Isoroku immediately jumped out to smooth things over, "Matsuda, why don't you quickly apologize to Your Highness?"

"Your Highness, I offended you by speaking out against Meng Lang!" Chiaki Matsuda immediately bowed to apologize.

It seemed that Fushimi Palace had the upper hand, but everyone knew that, as a member of the royal family and the commander-in-chief of the military command department, having trouble with a minor general was not only disrespectful to his status, but also immodest. It was completely a bargain. This was inexplicable. Doesn't his anger confirm that he is that "girl from a poor family"?

The atmosphere of the meeting became awkward. Inoue Narumi had no choice but to say a few words first. After all, Horikichi refuted the opinions of the Navy Ministry and asked: "Didn't we destroy all the Pacific Fleet's aircraft carriers?"

"There are countless aircraft carriers waiting to be put into service in the Atlantic Ocean." Chiaki Matsuda explained calmly and patiently, "The United States' steel production is more than 10 times ours, its wealth is 15 times more than ours, and the number of large slipways is three times more than ours. Under the wartime system, Its aircraft carrier construction speed is astonishing... German intelligence also shows that in addition to the new generation of Essex-class aircraft carriers being built on a large scale, the United States can build more than a dozen light aircraft carriers and more than 100 escort aircraft carriers every year..."

In fact, this number still underestimates the potential of the United States: Essex can start construction of 24 ships in a year, and the Casablanca class can produce 15-16 ships in one month.

"This is impossible! Even if they have so many slipways and resources, they don't have enough shipbuilders!" Furu Shige exclaimed.

"Why is it impossible?" Caolu Renyi said with a smile, "Don't you know that most of the British shipbuilding workers have moved to the United States?" The number is nearly 300,000. "

"300,000?" Fukuru Shige shook his head like a rattle, "Didn't it mean that Germany and Italy had blocked the Atlantic Ocean? How could it be possible to transport 300,000 shipbuilding workers to the United States?"

"The sea route is blocked, but the air is not closed... Due to heavy losses, Britain and the United States stopped strategic air attacks on Germany, converted all four heavy bombers into transport aircraft, and at the same time rushed to build new transport aircraft. We are in the Azores When passing by the sea, I saw a fleet of thousands of planes passing by. If one plane transports 10 people at a time, 1,000 planes would be 10,000 people at a time. How long will it take to transport 300,000 people?" Matsuda Chiaki said in a mocking tone, "I didn't go. If you are an industrialized country, don’t make random guesses about the other party’s capabilities. Germany produces 50 million tons of steel a year and can easily build 2,000 tanks and 3,000 aircraft every month. We always say it’s impossible, but the Germans tell us very clearly, The United States may have twice as much steel as Germany, because the United States has about 90 million tons of steel..."

These words made everyone break out in cold sweat: While Japan was still complacent about getting dozens of Ju-52 Junkers and more than a dozen C-47s, British and American transport aircraft began to be counted in thousands. And this number is not scary just reported casually. Ambassador to Germany Hiroshi Oshima wrote it in a report, and everyone has seen it.

Inoue Narumi then asked: "Then why not even the Taiho class? This aircraft carrier has thick armor and strong defense, which can effectively prevent all kinds of damage."