Rasputin of the East

＜ Episode 203 >

“It’s wonderful.”

Kuznetsov mumbled so on the bridge.

It was as he said.

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Most of the U.S. Navy’s forces gathered except for the few forces that were left in the Pacific to rake in the White Fleet’s power and to contain Japan—even though it overwhelms the Russian Far East Fleet.

The opposing party is a force that has gathered all of the British Empire’s main ship classes, and according to contacts from the Mediterranean, it is said that all British ships of a heavy cruiser class or higher have evacuated the Mediterranean. He probably joined the Grand Fleet.

Of course, that is not to say that friendly forces took control of the Mediterranean Sea. Near the British mainland, battleships and battlecruisers of the Dutch navy are sitting there, while the Italian navy is deploying battleships in the Mediterranean.

And it is said that the German navy, which had retreated to France, all escaped and joined the Grand Fleet, so it must be as powerful as the troops gathered here.

“Is the US military going to depend entirely on us for air force?”

“The loss of two aircraft carriers at the beginning of the war is unavoidable.”

A ranger caught on a Japanese naval submarine shortly after the start of the war in the Philippines waters and Langley was sunk by a Japanese naval air force in a recent engagement by the Pacific Fleet.

No main battleship has been sunk since then, but it is true that the US Navy’s activities have dwindled.

“Is it Yorktown? How do you think our carrier will perform compared to that?”

“We do have a little more aircraft payload, but I don’t think it’s that significant. But in terms of ship stability, wouldn’t it be better for the United States to build a lot of ships? I haven’t driven a US Navy carrier, so I can’t make an exact comparison. It’s practical experience, there’s no difference.”

Of course, it is true that several advanced new weapons were mounted on the Russian Navy’s Stolipin-class aircraft carriers. One such example is an inclined deck.

It was only in the mid-1950s that the US Navy adopted a sloped deck for Forrestal-class aircraft carriers.

The Stolipin class also had advanced design ideas, such as installing all aircraft elevators on the side, which were applied only in the Essex class, but they did not know how effective it would be.

In fact, naval battles in which these flagship ships face-to-face have rarely occurred in Europe, so this is unavoidable.

“And if you want to make a comparison, shouldn’t you be comparing yourself to the British, not the Americans?”

“How many aircraft carriers are in the Royal Navy?”

“The 3rd Courageous-class ship, the Furious, was converted into a carrier, and there were seven ships: Argus, Hermiz, Illustrious, Victorious, Four-Middle, and Unicorn. Five ships, the Furious, Hermiz, and Unicorn are inferior in performance as an aircraft carrier, and the only opponents to watch out for are the Illustrated-class Victorious and the Fourmidable.”

“What is the source?”

“Each of them has about 50 or so carry-on planes, but it seems that it will not be easy to sink them with a dive bombing because they are wearing heavy armor all over the deck. There are about 30 Unicorns, 20 Hermes, and 40 Furious.”

“If it’s 50 or two, it must be said that the number of payloads is almost the same as that of one of our aircraft carriers.”

“Even if we add up to five ships, the total number of payloads is about two of our aircraft carriers. Our aircraft will have twice the number of them.”

“Besides, our pilots are also quite veteran. Hopefully we won’t be pushed back by half the enemy aircraft, and we won’t lose air superiority.”

The Stolipin-class aircraft carrier was modeled after the Essex-class, but it was quite an overkill for the first aircraft carrier built. As a result, it was an example of the saying that you have to draw a tiger to even draw a cat, and about 90 aircraft were able to be operated fairly stably.

Well, technical support from the US and ‘cooperation’ from the UK were also of great help. As a result, the Minister of Finance had a reason to be rude. Excluding the price of the aircraft, the cost of building one battleship per ship was included.

“The only problem is that Stolipin keeps getting in trouble.”

“Because it’s a test bed…”

In fact, the design of the first ship and the three ships after it is quite different. While building Stolipin, they tried out various new technologies and pulled out enough to extract them, then changed the design and started to build other ships, so it is safe to say that they are low-class ships.

As a result, all I could say was that it was… varied.

“Even if Stolipin is inoperable, our aircraft are one and a half times more numerous. Conversely, the crew of Stolipin has a lot of experience in dealing with all kinds of breakdowns and emergencies, and it is no exaggeration to say that they are the most experienced crew members of our aircraft carrier.”

“Even so, there are so many mechanical failures… I should have done a major renovation.”

“Okay, it’s better to think about what has already happened and how to help the victory and get the fleet back home safely.”

Their top priority is to win. How well you sink enemies and how well you protect your allies.

It was clear, at least, that the US Navy didn’t expect much of the Russian Navy when it comes to the former. In fact, they did the same for themselves.

The largest caliber main gun was 16 inches, and some battleships belonging to the Far East Fleet were equipped with 12 inches.

Although not participating in this decisive battle, the US Navy has just launched a ship equipped with a 20-inch gun. I don’t know if it was the United States, but according to the information I got from Russia, Japan is also officially building a small number of 18.9-inch and actually 20-inch class battleships – I heard that their performance is less than half that of the U.S. Navy – and they are not equipped with countermeasures and defenses. Except for some vital parts, the armor is like a heavy cruiser, but there are also battlecruisers of the Royal Navy that have a high probability of participating in this naval battle with 20 inches.

What they had in common was that no battleship had the defensive power to block its own main gun, even if it was equipped with a 20-inch class, and there were only a few.

Each country knows that the 20-inch gun is too excessive and inefficient to install on a battleship.

Still, the British have it, so it has to be made in a way to show that other guys can respond… In the end, the arms race was just a vicious cycle.

In the beginning, the Russian military, which had given up its expectations for the navy, ended up building a few 16-inch class battleships and large aircraft carriers, but it was a completely different story for other countries.

In the first place, the navy had no room to intervene, as the operational plan was to achieve victory by pushing the enemy mainland away with tanks, no matter what chaos the navy had in the first place. There was also the problem that the power of the land itself was dispersed for the navy to actively work.

Anyway, what expectations can we have for the navy that does not have a single scale of 18 inches, the first-class power of each country’s naval forces?

“It’s a good idea to break that thinking.”

One of the captains smiled.

“They underestimate the capabilities of naval aviation. At best, I know that they sink destroyers or reconnaissance. Or do you shoot torpedoes and tie your feet?”

It doesn’t matter if it’s UK or US. It was only after a firestorm at Pearl Harbor began research on the attack on the main ship using an aircraft.

Russia is a different story.

“They said that the disaster at Pearl Harbor was uncommon, as many aircraft carriers abruptly bombarded a fleet that was not prepared at all. Similarly, the loss of the main ships in Southeast Asia was caused by large aircraft attacking a small number of ships at the ground airfield. I heard that there is nothing I can do.”

Well, it is true that there is no case of a battleship in the middle of the sea being sunk by an aircraft sortie from an aircraft carrier in a regular naval battle, not a one-sided surprise.

Not yet.

***

“The British Navy is approaching the East Coast of the United States. They are accompanied by a number of transports, and their goal appears to be the assault of reinforcements in Canada.”

“The White Fleet has also completed sortie.”

The place where both fleets can clash is also…

“It is speculated that there will be a naval battle in the Labrador Sea near Greenland, in the North Atlantic.”

“Yeah, our navy has established a cooperative system with the US Navy. Then there is nothing we can do for you.”

Although it is not an exaggeration to say that it is actually under command, it was nominally a joint operation, but in the form of the Russian Navy cooperating with the US Navy as much as possible.

Of course, the Russian Navy unilaterally shoots bullets… No, bullets won’t be fired in this kind of battle very often, so if we try to drive them to the cannonball, then our admirals may voluntarily leave the US military. If US Navy admirals had common sense, they wouldn’t.

“I wish I could cross the North Sea and show the British one more hot taste this time.”

“If we can break through the Dutch Navy’s three battlecruisers and four battleships, as well as many cruisers and destroyers, it would be possible.”

De Jeben Provinceien-class battleships and four worn-out dreadnought-class battleships retired from France were purchased, but they are the strongest in the Netherlands.

The Holland-class battlecruiser and three 11-inch-class battlecruisers were built.

It is a battle worth mobilizing the old-fashioned battleships, the Gangut-class and the Impétrica Maria-class, but all of the main battleships are sunk or relocated to the United States.

If it hadn’t been for squeezing out so much power and sending it to the Atlantic in the first place, the British Navy wouldn’t have left the strait so empty. One or two new battleships must have been left behind.

“Can’t we just launch a manned operation and sink the air force?”

In Hamburg, Denmark and Norway, aircraft can be launched at will. Our aircraft have a fairly long range, so if you are prepared for a loss, you can send one or two battleships that have fallen into a trap to Yonggung.

However, the Black Sea Fleet is still fighting the Italian Navy, which has many battleships, and the Far East Fleet, along with many of the Baltic Fleet’s main ships, were sent to annihilate the British Navy.

There are no ships available.

“It’s a bunch. They do not sortie, they are using them as a strategic deterrent, and even if we land on the British mainland, if the British navy wins in the North Atlantic, the supply lines will be cut off and we will be like the Germans of the last war. Conversely, if the British navy is defeated, it doesn’t matter whether there is a Dutch navy or not. The U.S. Navy will rush in like crazy and kill the remaining enemy ships. Three 11-inch battlecruisers and four older 12-inch battlecruisers will do nothing.”

“Then all we can do is pray for the US Navy to work hard.”