Spy Wars: Return of the Red Luan

Chapter 190 Aircraft Carrier or Giant Ship?

In March 1932, on the other side of the world, Italian Prime Minister Benito Mussolini proposed the goal of "restoring the glory of the ancient Roman Empire" in a public speech, and clearly stated that Italy needed "Mediterranean hegemony" and overseas colonies.

In March 1932, Hitler, the Nazi Party leader of the Weimar Republic, narrowly lost the presidential election to Hindenburg. However, the Nazi Party became the largest party in the Reichstag through the election.
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In March 1932, the Japanese Naval General Staff held an extremely ordinary internal discussion meeting.

After Prince Bogong raised the issue of Yamamoto Isoroku, Chen Jiehua requested to first review the recent information the navy had received from various parties, including secret messages.

“I haven’t been paying much attention to recent global naval news. I’d like to take a look at some recent news to analyze the situation. Why don’t you guys discuss it first, and I’ll listen while I read it?”

Chen Jiehua's purpose was not to find out any secrets. He really had no interest in these so-called secrets. He just wanted to see if the message "arranged" by Lao Zhou had reached the United States, so as not to let something slip and ruin things.

Isoroku Yamamoto explained this issue by saying that after research, he believed that the long-range strike capability of future aircraft carriers and carrier-based aircraft would be the key and important factor in dominating the seas, and that Japan should stop building giant battleships and instead build aircraft carriers.

Chen Jiehua knew the future trends; from God's perspective, this guy's strategic vision was truly remarkable.

But now I'm in a dilemma.

If the restrictions are too harsh, the butterfly effect won't be strong enough to take off. Japan won't have the strength to confront the United States, and it will be troublesome if it turns around and intensifies its attacks on China.

However, without guidance, if the people in the Naval General Staff were to persuade him to use the funds he had raised to build an aircraft carrier and carrier-based aircraft ahead of schedule, the Japanese navy would eventually become too powerful, and China would be the first to feel the pressure.

However, at this time, it is necessary to guide and suppress the development of Japanese naval aircraft carriers.

After a while of discussion, when the atmosphere fell into an awkward silence, Chen Jiehua looked away from the various intelligence reports in front of him and raised his head.

"Nobody's saying anything? Then let me offer some suggestions. I know that the coordination between aircraft carriers and carrier-based aircraft is an advanced naval tactic, and I agree with that."

"But I've heard that the Imperial Navy's three aircraft carriers, with all their carrier-based aircraft, suffered a setback in the battle of Shanghai. Was this a flaw in tactics or poor command?"

"Of course, there may be other unknown reasons, but your claim that the other side has a 'god of artillery' is utter nonsense and an attempt by the commander to shirk responsibility."

"The Army and the remaining carrier-based pilots also confirmed this statement."

"Let's set aside whether it's been confirmed or not. Right now, can we still trust the army? With all this news flying around, our losses are an undeniable fact, aren't they?"

"As for the so-called 'God of Artillery,' I have already reminded the army's negotiators to try to win over this 'God of Artillery' and bring him to headquarters. I want to see who is so amazing that he can destroy forty army tanks and shoot down more than twenty aircraft all by himself!"

"I'm certain this is just a petty trick by those failed commanders to shirk responsibility!"

Everyone at the meeting knew the news, but almost no one believed it. However, no one spoke up, because revealing the truth would offend people.

But things changed when someone started to lift the lid. It wasn't me who suggested it, but the first person who did made a very good point, so we figured it wouldn't hurt to agree. As a result, the meeting room erupted in chaos.

Ultimately, everyone agreed with Aoki Takashi's statement that the Navy and Army's explanations were too mythical and unbelievable, and that Rear Admiral Kato Takayoshi, the Navy's aircraft carrier commander, should be summoned back to headquarters for a report.

Kato Takayoshi is the adopted son of Kato Tomosaburo. Within the navy, he is an opponent of Kato Kanji. Although both are from the Kato faction, they are not on the same page. Chen Jiehua's little trick to help the elder Kato Kanji get back at Kato Takayoshi was seen by Bo Gongwang as an act of sympathy. In addition, although Kato Takayoshi is a member of the aircraft carrier faction within the fleet faction, he also has disagreements and conflicts with Yamamoto Isoroku within the aircraft carrier faction. This time, Yamamoto Isoroku also remained silent.

Aoki Takashi led the discussion astray.

Yamamoto Isoroku steered the discussion back to Aoki Takashi, reminding him that the current focus was on halting the construction of giant battleships and converting them into aircraft carriers and carrier-based aircraft.

"Okay, I'd like to ask Yamamoto-kun, are there any classic examples of successful cooperation between aircraft carriers and carrier-based aircraft? Even a small example with instructive significance would be helpful."

"..."

"No, right? There's no case of victory, but there is one case of defeat. Three aircraft carriers, dozens of carrier-based aircraft, against Shanghai. The other side doesn't even have a navy. According to the intelligence analysis here, their army only has a few cannons. You lost more than half of your carrier-based aircraft in just two days..."

You keep bringing up Shanghai in everything you say; the topic we just steered back on track, and now you're swaying it back to Shanghai again...

"Battleships are the key to victory in naval battles. The larger and more stable they are, the more powerful their main guns are, and the more decisive the advantage they have. The Battle of Tsushima and the Battle of Jutland are the most classic examples, and I don't need to elaborate on them."

"Oh! Aoki-kun mentioned the Battle of Tsushima! That's truly one of the most classic victories of this century!"

Chen Jiehua scratched the itch for many people, especially Bo Gongwang, these old guys were almost all veterans of the Russo-Japanese War.

In this battle, the Japanese fleet achieved a great victory, almost a knockout. The fleet faction analyzes it every year, and the Naval Academy even has a semester-long course dedicated to studying and analyzing this battle.

Large battleships, powerful firepower, and high maneuverability were key factors in the victory at the Battle of Tsushima. The scales of everyone's thinking had unconsciously tipped in favor of Aoki Joe.

"Also, look at this intelligence, passed back by our partners in the United States: U.S. Navy Chief of Staff General Stanley has led training exercises for giant battleship formations on multiple occasions."

"Look at this one: the United States Atlantic Fleet and the Caribbean reconnaissance fleet have gone missing."

What can you think of?

"To save time, I'll tell you, it's highly likely that General Stanley has secretly moved the reconnaissance fleets from these two locations to the Pacific, merging them with the existing Pacific Fleet to practice large-scale battle group operations and blockade coordination!"

"They couldn't possibly have ignored our Battle of Tsushima and the Battle of Jutland in World War I. You could say they were also targeting the Empire as their enemy and anticipating our movements!"

"Songka! Sode sne!"

“Aoki-kun’s analysis makes a lot of sense. I understand. The Second Division’s manpower needs to be strengthened, and more people should be sent to continue to gather intelligence on the U.S. Pacific Fleet.”

"Therefore, our Yamato must be built, and the pace must be accelerated. I have reason to suspect that American spies have obtained intelligence that we are secretly building the giant battleship Yamato."

(End of this chapter)