Entering the stage of the campaign implementation. Both sides face severe practical problems."

For the US military, there are three main problems.

The first is a very unfavorable strategic situation.

As early as the day of the Moon, the strategic bombers of the Republic's Sky Army carried out the first strategic bombing of Brisbane. Although affected by the capacity of the airport in New Loridogna, the bombers that bombed Brisbane took off from Okinawa and completed the bombing mission and returned to Okinawa. The total range exceeded nearly 20,000 kilometers mainly to avoid the air defense positions located in New Guinea and the Solomon Islands, and they had to pass through the Mariana Islands. Then they headed south from eastern Micronesia, and then launched long-range cruise missiles over the Coral Sea waters to the west of New Loridogna, thus flying thousands of kilometers, resulting in the bomber's exit.

The efficiency of diligence is greatly reduced, and it will take two days to perform the bombing mission on average. However, the bombing operation on the Knife Day became the opening ceremony of the strategic bombing of Australia by the Republic's Sky Army. More importantly, with the gradual completion of the aviation base and comprehensive camp in Xinkoridonia, and the successful service of the fifth-generation maritime base specially developed for the Sky Army, the strategic bombing against Australia will be launched in the end of March or early April. At that time, it will not be once every two days, nor will it only use a hundred bombers at a time, but several times a day. Hundreds, or even thousands of bombers, dropping thousands of missiles and bombs!

It can be said that the most noteworthy thing is the fifth-generation maritime base.

If the fourth-generation maritime base is a "mass giant", then when the fifth-generation maritime base is 100% assembled, it is considered a real "artificial floating island". In addition to the difference in magnitude, the biggest difference between the fifth-generation maritime base and the previous generations of maritime base is in its basic design concept, that is, its basic purpose. As we all know, the main purpose of the third-generation maritime base is to support aviation operations and serve the Marines in landing operations in the form of aviation support.

Compared with the third-generation maritime base, the design concept of the fourth-generation maritime base has not changed much. It is mainly to increase the specific use capabilities, especially independent combat capabilities by increasing the scale. In other words, these two types of maritime bases played a major role in the early stage of the war and were proven to be effective combat platforms. The most fundamental purpose of the maritime base is to provide support points for the Marine Corps. In comparison, the fifth-generation maritime base has expanded the support scope on the basis of retaining the support capabilities to assist the Marine Corps in combat, that is, it can support the Sky Army's operations.

There is no doubt that this is a very high tactical requirement.

Although theoretically speaking, supporting the Sky Army will not be much more difficult than supporting the Navy’s aviation operations. For example, the strategic bombers of the Sky Army have limited vertical landing capabilities and no load, and even if they need to taxi and take off, the "persuading the rice-long runway can be enough. However, the advancement of military technology is very fast, especially during the war, new equipment emerged one after another, and the Sky Army’s bombers are no exception. It can be said that in order to support the new bombers, especially the aerospace bombers, the Navy had to redesign and build a maritime base. Influenced by this, the Sky Army also participated in the design and development of the fifth-generation maritime base.

At that time, according to the tactical performance indicators of the aerospace bomber being developed by the Sky Army, the new generation of sea bases must not only increase the runway length to the scoop meters and expand the width to the rig meters, but also have more complete maritime support and logistics support. To put it bluntly, it must have all the support and support capabilities for the aerospace bomber to perform combat missions, such as dust-free workshops that need to meet the Tianjun standards, stationary platforms that use magnetic levitation technology, fully automatic spraying systems, etc. Not to mention these facilities and equipment that specifically serve aerospace bombers, just the size and carrying capacity of the lift can eliminate all previous sea bases.

Thanks to the highly developed modular design technology, the fifth-generation offshore base has entered the detailed design stage from the establishment of the year 2019 to the beginning of the year 2019, and then started the assembly at the end of the year 2019. If everything goes well, the first fifth-generation offshore base will be put into use at the end of the first quarter of the year 2019.

In terms of architecture, compared with the previous maritime bases, the biggest feature of the fifth-generation maritime base is that it adopts an open architecture, that is, the scale of maritime bases can be expanded and reduced at any time as needed, so as to control the combat capabilities and combat efficiency of maritime bases.

Of course. Like other maritime bases, the fifth-generation maritime base also has core components.

The core components of the fifth-generation marine base are three functional module ships. Among them, the view is a fast transport ship with a length of 10,000 meters and a standard displacement of up to 10,000 tons for the construction of the flight runway. The otter is equipped with the main power system and the central control system, which has a power control module of 34 meters long and 10,000 tons for the standard displacement of 10,000 tons. The view is a five-way multifunctional connection module with a length of 10,000 meters and a standard displacement of 10,000 tons.

The key is to move the five-way multi-function connection module. To put it bluntly, this is the module ship that is used to connect to other platforms. In addition to connecting to the power control module or platform module in three directions of the horizontal plane, it can also connect to the submarine on a dedicated berth below the center of the platform, and provide take-off and landing platforms with vertical take-off and landing transport aircraft on the open-air platform. More importantly, the module ship has a complete transportation and transportation system, which can use the highest efficiency to transfer materials on other platforms or

Equipment is sent to the platform module or power control module. To put it simply, the connecting module ship is actually a universal joint used by the marine base to expand its purpose. More importantly, theoretically, each fifth-generation marine base can support up to 6 connecting module ships, and the connecting module ships can also connect with each other, thereby expanding the scale of the offshore base several times. According to the theoretical calculations made by the Republic Navy, without affecting the efficiency of combat use, a force module ship can be composed of a behemoth with a displacement of more than 10,000 tons!

There is no doubt that such a maritime base is definitely a strategic platform, not a tactical platform.

That is why, in addition to its strong adaptability, other tactical indicators of the fifth-generation maritime base, such as the navigation speed, are much worse than the previous maritime base. In the case of 100% assembly, that is, assembled by a module ship, the maximum navigation speed of the fifth-generation maritime Mudi is only Bianjie, and its vehicles are much slower than many Beiyeting.

Obviously, no naval commander is willing to carry such a striking "warship" to perform tactical missions.

This just shows the main purpose of the fifth-generation maritime base, that is, in waters lacking strategic bases with complete facilities, it serves as the strategic base of the Republic's army.

Imagine that if the Republic Navy placed such a maritime base on the southwestern Pacific, which lacked large strategic bases, it did not need to enter the Coral Sea, but only deployed in New Loridognia or Vanuatu, with dense islands and reefs, and set up a tight anti-submarine network near its navigation area. Not to mention that the Republic's Sky Army could use the military base of New Loridognia, even if France did not lend New Loridognia to the Republic, the Sky Army could use bombers to bomb Australia back to its original era.

In fact, the US Navy in the Southwest Pacific needs to consider tactical threats, not strategic threats. In any case, when the Republican Tianjun uses up all the long-range cruise missiles in the ammunition depot, it will not allow the bomber to carry long-range missiles and bombs with a range of only a few hundred kilometers to carry bombing missions, it will have to pay a heavy price for bombing, and this level of bombing can only deal with non-military

Standard.

Before the Republic's Sky Army carried out strategic bombing, the Republic's Navy Air Force launched operations in the southwest Pacific.

By the last day of the month, more than 20,000 fighter jets deployed in New Caledonia and several maritime bases were dispatched. In addition to competing with the US military for air supremacy, they also attacked US warships operating on the Tasman Sea and even bombed US military bases on Lord Howe Island.

Although the Republic's Navy's tactical bombing operation against Lord Howe Island did not achieve any results. Not only were the missiles and bombs dropped by the fighter jets shot down by the island's defense systems, but dozens of fighter jets were also lost in air combat, these tactical bombing operations were enough to make the US Navy thrill. To put it bluntly, the Republic's Navy could dispatch a small number of fighter jets to bomb Lord Howe Island, and could dispatch hundreds, or even thousands of fighter jets to attack nearby US fleets, and even support the Marines to attack Lord Howe Island if necessary.

The problem is that it is not just the fighter jets of the Republic's Naval Air Force that pose a threat to Lord Howe Island.

The day before the Republic's Navy fleet entered the Tasman Sea, that is, on the lunar month, the US intelligence department warned the US Navy to closely monitor the Republic's Navy's activities in New Korridonia and to strike important areas including Noumea after discovering an abnormal situation. The US intelligence department issued a warning at this time and suggested that the US Navy's attack on Noumea was related to a piece of intelligence.

As we all know, the strike power of the Republic's Navy has never been limited to one.

In terms of firepower delivery capabilities, the most powerful strike force is not the main ship, not the aviation force. But the firepower. This ship, which is simply for the projection of artillery fire, has firepower far exceeds the main ship, and the continuous combat capability that can dwarf any kind of warship. Although on the marine battlefield, firepower ships never charge and have no capital to charge. But behind the front line, this powerful ship is the most reliable member of the Marine Corps.

The companion, or even the most important partner of the Marine Corps, was a very critical role in the battle competition between the Mariana Islands, and not only supported the Marines to board Saipan, but also acted as a quasi-strategic weapon in the subsequent battle. That is, a few months of shelling of Guam were carried out before the New Year. It was this battle that made the Republic Navy discover that if the combat distance of the firepower could be increased, it would be a very ideal strategic weapon.

Of course, the method is very simple, that is, to provide firepower modules that use large-caliber electromagnetic guns for firepower ships.

Replacing the firepower module is not difficult, because firepower ships are built according to the standards of civilian ships, so it is not difficult to rebuild several firepower ships. The problem is that the construction of yo kilogram-class electromagnetic guns is very expensive and must be given priority to the main ships. Affected by this, it was not until the second half of the year that the Navy approved the construction of new firepower modules and let the firepower ships with the largest displacement return to the shipyard to replace them with new firepower modules.

You should know that even if ordinary shells are used, that is, high-explosive bombs of kilograms, the maximum range of the new electric collision can reach an astonishing kilometer. If the electromagnetic gun is improved or extended range bombs are used, the maximum range will be increased to fierce. Kilometers is definitely not a problem. In fact, the maximum range of kilometers is enough, because the straight-line distance from Noumea to Lord Hao Island is only kilometers, and firepower ships anchored in the port can bombard Lord Hao Island. The US military can use an interception system to deal with incoming missiles and bombs, but no defense system can intercept thousands of shells. What's more, when dealing with fixed targets exposed to the ground, especially relatively fragile fixed targets, cluster sub-complexes that are basically impossible to intercept can be used.

It can be seen from this that the Republic's Navy did not have the ability to attack Lord Howe Island, but did not take action.

Of course, compared with an unfavorable strategic situation, the U.S. Navy's strength is more problematic.

From the perspective of warship tonnage alone, the total tonnage of warships placed in the Southwest Pacific is no worse than the fleet sent by the Republic Navy, and even higher. The problem is that the US Navy only has 8 main battleships. What’s more, the Dihong Fleet with these 8 main battleships as the core is still in New Zealand. It did not risk going to Australia. In other words, when its combat effectiveness is seriously inferior to that of the opponent, the US Navy still has the fatal problem of dispersed forces.

In fact, before Key Day, the Fleet had enough time to rush to Australia.

In other words, the U.S. Third Fleet was divided into two groups. Either it was tactical deployment or it was human negligence caused by internal discrimination.

Obviously, the latter is much more likely.

Judging from the situation at that time, there is reason to believe it. Before the end of the month, to be precise, after the moon flew, that is, after South Africa allowed the Republic's fleet to enter Port Elizabeth, the US Navy had a disagreement on whether to fight the Republic's Navy in the Southwest Pacific, and it was a very serious disagreement.

From a strategic perspective, although the Republic has gained an advantage on several battlefields, it is still in the forefront to win. However, in this regard, the United States still has the advantage of Utah in the southern hemisphere. More importantly, through Australia, South Africa, and South America, the United States still maintains a strategic siege of the Republic. To put it bluntly, before occupying Australia, controlling South Africa, or entering South American states, everything the Republic does is an extremely unfavorable pattern before the outbreak of the coup, eliminating the impact of the United States dominating the world for hundreds of years.

In these strategic links, South Africa is basically the same as Australia.

In other words, if the Republic controls South Africa, in addition to obtaining a passage to the Southern Atlantic and the basic conditions for launching the Argentina time bomb, the biggest impact will be to disintegrate the United States' strategic encirclement in the southern hemisphere. And the significance of the United States' continued control of Australia will be less important.

Without starting from strategy or tactics, the US military's actions in Australia are meaningless.

As mentioned earlier, the Republic's Navy is likely to give up Australia and march into New Zealand. Because the United States has no decent large strategic bases in the South Pacific, except New Zealand, and even does not have decent large strategic naval bases. Therefore, when the Republic is determined to seize New Zealand, the United States should completely take New Zealand as the core and strive to consume the combat effectiveness of the Republic's Navy in the battle to defend New Zealand. Tactically speaking, it is to give up Australia, retreat to New Zealand completely, and use New Zealand as the base to fight the Republic's Navy to a decisive battle nearby. In this way, the United States Navy should take the initiative to evacuate Australia and gather in the eastern waters of the Tasman Sea, rather than staying in the western waters with Lord Howe Island as the core, waiting for the Republic's fleet to come to the door.

Obviously, for the United States, giving up Australia is definitely a very difficult and painful thing.

Affection.

Emotionally speaking, from the president to the civilians, almost all Americans regard Australia as the fifty-first state of the United States, and Canada, which has the same honor, is not familiar to the American people because of its weakness, while Mexico has many Americans disgusted by poverty and turmoil, and Britain is affected by history. It is also difficult to be recognized by Americans. To abandon Australia when it is necessary to work together to overcome difficulties, in the eyes of Americans, this is definitely a treacherous act that even God will not forgive.

The problem is that if you don’t give up on Australia, you will have to let the Third Fleet be buried.

Regardless of whether the US authorities and the US Navy recognize it, with the battlefield situation at the beginning of the following year, even if the Third Fleet is backed by Australia, it can get the support and protection of four four fighter jets. When the Republic Navy moved south in a large scale and also invested in the fighter jets, the Third Fleet's chance of defeating the Republic Navy's Western Pacific Theater fleet group was almost zero, and there was no chance of winning.

Affected by this, the US Navy had obvious differences on how to fight this naval battle.

The key is the operation of the Dibi Fleet, that is, whether the Dibi Fleet needs to go to Australia, meet with the other Magnesium Fleet, and fight the Republic Navy with the support of the other three fleets.

If it were in the past, there would definitely be debates about this and even adjustments to the combat plan would be made.

With the help of advanced technology, especially computer simulation technology, the US military quickly concluded that the probability of the Third Fleet winning would not increase much if it was sent to Australia. Instead, it would put the only main fleet of the US Navy to a fatal threat. It is precisely because of this that the Third Fleet stayed in New Zealand.

The problem is that this deployment did not bring much benefit to the US Navy.

This involves the third problem faced by the US Navy, that is, there is no tactically initiative.

Although the US Navy has deployed aircraft carriers in the Tasman Sea, seven of which belong to the Third Fleet. It was sent by the Fifth Fleet, and launched cruisers, 3 multi-purpose destroyers, and anti-submarine destroyers and multiple attack submarines. At least half of them are large attack submarines, rather than small attack submarines specifically used to perform missions for breaking the mission. It has also invested four large maritime bases, including three super giants composed of module ships, and four combat aircraft equivalent to the total number of aviation units that the United States had before the outbreak of the war, compared with the surging Republic Navy, the US military has no obvious advantage, and even no advantage.

Take the crucial air-controlling force as an example. In the sub-power combat aircraft, the United States, which can confront the blade, renamed the combat aircraft after the outbreak of the war. All fighters served during the war adopted a new naming system, and among the cowardly combat aircraft sent by the Republic's Navy, there were no less than the troop. Among them, the troop was deployed on the aircraft carrier of the Third Fleet. In fact, the air-controlling combat capability was only slightly stronger than the troop of the Republic's Navy. At the end of the fourth year, when the publication was in batches, the Republic's Navy began to eliminate the small force, and some were handed over to the Army Air Force to perform ground support tasks, the other part was handed over to the Allies, and the other part was handed over to the second-line troops, which was much worse than the Blade. However, compared with the fighter jets before the US Navy, at least it could fight in air combat, rather than the troop.

It can be seen from this that the US Navy has not had a very impressive number of troops and weapons, but its actual combat effectiveness is not very good.

In modern warfare, it is not the force that determines the power of the concubine to move, but the combat power.

It can be seen from the combat actions of both sides that the US Navy not only does not have the ability to take the initiative, but does not even have the confidence to seize the initiative. Not to mention, if the US Navy is confident of taking the initiative, it should not wait until the key day, that is, let the Republic's Navy take action first. Instead, in the late month, when the Republic's Navy is still busy mobilizing troops, it will launch a counterattack. Even if the Marines cannot capture Xinkoridonia, it can still destroy Port Noumea before the Republic's Navy launches an attack. Delay the Republic's Navy's offensive action.

If you don’t have the initiative, you can only be beaten passively.

The problem is that the Republic's navy, which has the initiative, is not without worries.

Strictly speaking, the problems faced by the Republic's Navy are no more than those of the United States. The most prominent of them is the choice of the offensive direction 6. Although at the high-level meeting, Pei Chengyi basically rejected Yuan Chenhao's proposal and did not intend to let the army occupy Australia, Pei Chengyi did not make a clear statement on whether to directly attack New Zealand, that is, whether to first eliminate the threat from Australia. The order he issued to the Navy was also to seize the sea control power in the Southwest Pacific, rather than to prepare for the march to New Zealand. In this way, there are also differences within the Republic's Navy on how to fight this naval battle.

As a military adviser who replaced Pei Chengyi to command naval operations, Hua Jianfeng did not advocate direct entry into New Zealand, but insisted on first annihilation of the Third Fleet entrenched in the Tasman Sea and destroying the military facilities on Lord Hao Island, and then marching into New Zealand after eliminating the flanking threat. Hua Jianfeng's idea obviously took into account Pei Chengyi's strategic deployment, that is, to try to create the best environment to enter New Zealand after the end of this naval battle, so that Pei Chengyi would make the decision to attack New Zealand, rather than let hundreds of thousands of Marine officers and soldiers continue to bask in the sun on the beaches of tropical islands. From this, it can be seen that Hua Jianfeng also believed that the intensity of the strategic offensive should be appropriately increased, rather than fighting entirely at sea. In any case, after seizing the sea control power, if you want to maintain the sea control power, you must establish a base network.

Unlike Hua Jianfeng, Zhang Xuefeng advocated focusing on the Dibi Fleet, and after the naval war, he marched into the Fiji Islands, not New Zealand. His view is also easy to understand. As the front-line commander of the Republic's Navy in the Yap Navy, Zhang Xuefeng had deeply realized the powerful combat capabilities of the main battleship, and was very clear that before annihilation of the First Fleet, the Republic's Navy did not really control the sea power day. It is said directly that with just one chance, the Dihong Fleet can annihilate any fleet of the Republic's Navy in the southwest Pacific. Such a huge threat, let alone the battlefield commander on the front line,

Even the commander's staff far away from the rear would not ignore it. Zhang Xuefeng was obviously more open-minded when it came to attack New Zealand. In his opinion, the strategic bomber of the Sky Army could blow Australia back to the Stone Age, so why couldn't New Zealand become an uninhabited deserted island? Since strategic bombing could make New Zealand lose its military value, the Republic's Navy did not need to attack an archipelago with an area of ​​nearly 300,000 square kilometers and a population of more than 40,000. It should completely target the islands that are smaller in area but enough to accommodate several fleets, such as the Fiji Islands, or Samoa farther away.

If we talk about power, especially command, Hua Jianfeng will definitely have the advantage.

Fortunately, Hua Jianfeng is not the kind of leader who doesn't listen to his opinions. After meeting Zhang Xuefeng, Hua Jianfeng basically adopted the lieutenant general's suggestion and made three requests, that is, with the main purpose of annihilation of the first fleet, he still had to attack other combat fleets of the Third Fleet and attack Lord Howe Island as the mission goal to ensure the navy's absolute sea control in the southwest Pacific.

Of course, Zhang Xuefeng is not the kind of person who doesn't listen to advice.

The absolute sea control that Hua Jianfeng emphasized can be said to be the most critical part. At the meeting on Yueli Ri, the Tianjun raised a very sharp question, that is, how to ensure that the pilots of strategic bombers can receive timely and effective rescue after parachuting and escaping?

Although there are wars and casualties, at this time, the total number of casualties in the Republic on various battlefields had exceeded 10,000, including nearly 10,000 pilots. On the battlefield, the Republic's soldiers also showed enough, and even the courage to take death as if they were ready to die. However, in terms of military morale, if the bomber pilots realized that if they were shot down in the Southwest Pacific, they would either die on the spot or feed sharks after parachuting. Or they were captured by the US military, it would definitely have an impact on the psychology of the pilots and would also have an impact on combat operations. From the perspective of an army and a government, it would not only be a dereliction of duty, but also a great shame.

Regarding this question, the Navy gave three answers. First, let submarines operating in the war zone perform rescue missions, second, deploy long-range patrol aircraft to the front line that specializes in maritime search and rescue missions, and third, seize the absolute sea control power of the battlefield as soon as possible after the strategic bombing begins. It can be said that as long as these three points are achieved, the safety of the parachuting pilots will be guaranteed. The key is whether they can seize absolute sea control power as soon as possible. You must know that the Tianjun carried out the first strategic bombing mission on the moon knife day, although there was no loss of bombers, and by February and on several bombing operations, there were no loss of bombers. The main thing is that the Tianjun carried out the first strategic bombing mission on the day of Yue Dao. Although the bombers were not lost, and by February and on the day, there were no loss of bombers in several bombing operations.

All bombers launch missiles over the sea more than 0 kilometers away from Australia, and have not entered the interception range of the US and Royal Australian Air Force fighters. However, as the scale of bombing expands, especially after long-range ammunition is exhausted, the loss rate of bombers will definitely not be much low. From an economic point of view, when the bombing scale reaches a certain level, even if the loss rate of bombers will increase a lot, it is much more cost-effective than consuming a large number of expensive long-range missiles. It will become particularly important to search and rescue parachuting pilots at that time.

Of course, in Zhang Xuefeng's view, this is also very critical. To put it bluntly, if you want to not attack New Zealand, you must ensure that the strategic bombing takes effect quickly. You must let the Sky Army fight, instead of taking care of this and that, you must meet the requirements of the Sky Army and seize absolute control of the sea before the bombing is launched on a large scale.

Taking these factors into consideration, it is not difficult to understand that the Republic's Navy has pointed its finger at New Zealand.

Of course, from a tactical perspective, this is also the best choice.

The main force of the U.S. Navy's Third Fleet has always been entrenched in the western waters of the Tasman Sea centered on Lord Howe Island, and only the Dibi Fleet stays in New Zealand. Even if the US military bases in Australia, especially the various combat aircraft deployed in Australia, the Republic Navy has no reason to go to the battlefield chosen by the U.S. Navy. You should know that the Republic Navy is the Republic Navy, not the U.S. Navy. To put it simply, as long as the U.S. Navy does not go north to attack Xinkoridonia, no matter what it does in the Tasman Sea, the Republic Navy can ignore it.

Even if the Republic's Navy does not attack New Zealand, for example, in the main fleet, you have an amphibious fleet, and the Marines stay in the rear. As long as you enter the Tasman regrets the sky, you cannot take it lightly.

It must be admitted that in the marine battlefield, initiative is both a direct manifestation of strength and a source of victory.

It can be said that even if the side with a disadvantage can win in a naval battle, for example, in the Midway Navy battle more than four years ago, the US Navy was able to annihilate the main force of the joint fleet in one fell swoop, and achieve a great victory in changing the situation on the battlefield because the US Navy adopted very proactive tactics rather than waiting for death near Midway.

The problem is that the US Navy has no intelligence advantage at this time.

Although the U.S. Navy received news after the Republic Navy set out from New Caledonia that the Republic Navy was dying towards New Zealand, the U.S. Navy's Third Fleet and the Thunder Fleet who remained in New Zealand were also under the control of the Republic Navy. In other words, the battlefield is basically two-way transparent, and no one has an absolute information advantage.

In this situation where the power of information control is equal, what determines the victory or defeat of the sea is strength.

In a sense, in the two-way transparent sound conditions on the battlefield, strength determines the situation, and the situation determines the purpose of the battle between the two sides. It is not that the US military has no hope of victory, but that the US military cannot set its goal too high, that is, when the goal is limited, the US military still has a chance of victory. In other words, if the US military set its goal too high and exceeds the maximum level that its strength can achieve, there will be no chance of victory.

It can be said that this is the cruelest part of naval battles.
To be continued...