.Over the battlefield, the atmosphere at the coalition command was particularly tense.

To a large extent, this has nothing to do with the entry of volunteer ground troops into North Korea, but was created by the amphibious assault fleet.

After several hours of emergency repairs, five amphibious warships were finally saved.

But the situation is not optimistic at all.

Among the five warships, the most seriously injured was the LHD8 "Makin Island" of the "Hornet" class amphibious assault ship. This warship was put into service six years ago and is the second newer amphibious assault ship in the US Navy. It has a full load displacement of more than 41,000 tons, carries more than 1,000 crew members, and can carry 1,800 Marines, but was seriously injured by a torpedo and lost the ability to return to the port by itself.

If the damage control measures were not effective, the Makin Island would have been likely to follow the footsteps of the Washington.

According to the damage assessment report submitted by the captain, the "Makin Island" must be lying in the dock for at least half a year. As for how long it takes to repair it, it is up to the shipyard to decide.

The situation of the other four warships is not optimistic, and it is a blessing in disgrace that it has not sunk.

In addition, it is quite lucky that there are no Marines on the warship.

After the attack, 237 officers and soldiers of the five warships were killed, 168 were missing, and more than 400 were injured. If the Marines did not go ashore, more casualties would definitely be.

The real loss is not on the sea, but under the sea.

A few hours ago, the anti-submarine helicopter heard several very obvious explosions, and then the anti-submarine officers on the destroyer separated the sound of the submarine's pressure-resistant shell burst from the noise information sent back by the helicopter. Although some people have thought that the "Hampton" was hit by the torpedo, there were many conventional submarines of the Chinese Navy on the battlefield, so the US military officers and soldiers held a glimmer of hope and believed that the Chinese submarine was sunk.

Unfortunately, this hope was soon shattered.

Two hours later, a sh-60, responsible for searching for the "Hampton", fished up several wooden boards of submarine interior marked "u.s.n" on the sea near the submarine's sunk, and determined that the sinking was an American submarine, and the one moving nearby was the "Hampton".

Another hour later, the coalition command received a more accurate report.

The first destroyer that arrived used submarine topography mapping sonar to find the wreckage of the "Hampton" and confirmed that the submarine had sunk.

For the US military, this is the real bad news.

Although the destroyer did not find obvious radioactive pollution near the submarine sinking waters, and sonar images show that the reactor compartment of the "Hampton" was not damaged, it is definitely not a trivial matter to be sunk, and it is even worse than the "Washington" being sunk.

You should know that the US Navy can maintain hegemony, one is by relying on aircraft carriers and the other is by relying on submarines.

In a sense, dozens of advanced attack nuclear submarines are the main force of the US Navy, and their strategic importance is no less than that of the eleven aircraft carrier battle groups.

What made the coalition even more annoyed was that dozens of anti-submarine helicopters and more than a dozen anti-submarine patrol aircraft were dispatched, but the Chinese submarine that sank the Hamptons was not found.

As compensation, in the anti-submarine warfare in the east, relying on the cooperation and support of anti-submarine helicopters, the Springfield caught another Chinese submarine and avenged the Hamptons with an MK48 torpedo. Finally, an emergency take-off anti-submarine helicopter dropped four deep-water bombs above the sinking site of the Chinese submarine, as if it was to blow the submarine to pieces before it was relieved.

Back on the sea, after the amphibious assault fleet was severely damaged, the coalition's military presence on the Japanese sea fell to the bottom.

Although to a large extent, the military value of the amphibious assault fleet is not great, especially in high-intensity combat, the amphibious assault fleet cannot be compared with the aircraft carrier battle group, and can only transport troops and combat materials to places where the transport fleet cannot go, but when the 71st Special Mixed Fleet cannot return to the battlefield for the time being, the amphibious assault fleet is the basic bargaining chip for the coalition to maintain sea control.

Without an amphibious assault fleet, the coalition's maritime transportation will inevitably be affected.

Cia has obtained intelligence and the Chinese Navy will send additional submarines to the Sea of ​​Japan again, and there are likely to be six, so the coalition's advantage at the Sea of ​​Japan will be gone.

The only solution is to get the 71st Special Mixed Fleet back to the Japanese Sea as soon as possible.

Obviously, this is not in the coalition's combat plan.

Although the escort warships of the 71st Fleet can go to sea at any time, the three aircraft carriers are in poor condition and require one month to fully maintain. If you want to mobilize the 71st Fleet, the only way is to form the 71st Fleet of the 71st Fleet of the 71st Fleet of the 71st Fleet of the 71st Fleet of the 71st Fleet of the 71st Fleet of the 71st Fleet of the 72nd Fleet after maintenance.

Even so, the 71st Special Mixed Fleet can only enter the Sea of ​​Japan in five days at the fastest.

To restore the level before the Washington attack, you have to wait at least a month later.

Within five days, the coalition ground forces do not expect to rely on sea support.

Fortunately, the coalition forces have stopped attacking, and in defensive operations, the air force deployed in South Korea is enough to shoulder the great task.

It was just that the defeat in a row deepened the internal contradictions of the coalition forces.

Before this, the South Korean army had always advocated attack rather than staying in a row when they were about to achieve a comprehensive victory. The US military firmly opposed the attack, believing that when the ground forces of the volunteer army were about to enter North Korea, stabilizing the front was more important than fighting the Yalu River.

If the battle goes smoothly, the Han army naturally has nothing to say.

The battle is not going well now, and even the US military cannot protect itself, and the South Korean military's dissatisfaction is even more obvious.

In the eyes of some South Korean generals, the heavy losses suffered by the US military are entirely self-defeating. If the coalition forces continue to attack and maintain high pressure, the volunteers will definitely focus on the ground battlefield. It is even possible that ground troops who are not fully prepared can enter North Korea to fight and prevent the coalition forces from occupying the entire territory of North Korea. They will naturally be unable to launch a naval and air counterattack, and it will be impossible to cause severe damage to the US military one after another.

Regardless of whether this view is correct or not, at least many Korean soldiers no longer admire the US military so much.

In their eyes, the US military is nothing more than that.

Affected by this, the South Korean army began to question the authority of the US military, feeling that the US military could not even protect itself, so why should we command the South Korean army to fight?

This is not only the voice of the South Korean army, but also the voice of the South Korean authorities.

However, the South Korean authorities do not believe that the attack should be launched now. When the US military cannot devote all its efforts, the South Korean army alone will definitely not be able to defeat the volunteer army.

In the view of the South Korean authorities, the first thing to consider is what impact will the volunteer ground forces join the war.

To be precise, can the coalition forces withstand the ground attack of the volunteers on the current front and then force the volunteers to conduct armistice negotiations with the North Korean authorities.

If you can do it, you will naturally be happy.

If you can't do it, it's not the United States but South Korea that is really threatened.

The Korean authorities also had self-knowledge, or confidence in winning began to shake.

If the volunteer army cannot be stopped, the coalition forces will definitely have to retreat. For the US military, it will be the same wherever they retreat. Anyway, the Chinese army has no ability and cannot cross the vast ocean. It is different for South Korea. If they withdraw back to the 38th parallel and return to the situation before the outbreak of the war, South Korea will not only get nothing, but will also lose a lot. For example, after the war, North Korea will definitely increase its military level, posing a greater threat to South Korea's security. More importantly, this volunteer army is likely not to leave North Korea after the end of a large-scale war, like more than 60 years ago, and will follow the example of security guarantees or post-war reconstruction, and be stationed in North Korea for a long time.

Shortly after the naval war, the South Korean president summoned the US ambassador to South Korea and made a request.

If the armistice is in operation, the ceasefire line must be north of the 38th parallel and must be pushed north at least 100 kilometers to ensure that the South Korean capital is no longer directly threatened.

Obviously, this is South Korea's minimum requirement for a truce.

For the United States, this is not good news, because the Chinese authorities have made it clear that the prerequisite for a ceasefire is that the US-South Korea coalition forces retreat south of the 38th parallel and resume pre-war situation.

Although the United States does not need to care too much about South Korea's attitude, there will be no ceasefire without South Korea's participation.

At this time, the US authorities not only have to find ways to stabilize the situation, but also have to find ways to appease South Korea so that South Korea will not come out to make trouble.

However, the means of appeasement in South Korea are very limited.

After the outbreak of the war, the United States had done a lot of comforting work, such as strengthening military aid to South Korea, and even giving a batch of combat equipment from the US military to the South Korean army, improving the status of the South Korean generals in the coalition and allowing the South Korean army to gain more command. In order to stabilize the domestic order of South Korea, the US authorities even requisitioned dozens of large transport ships and transported millions of tons of grain and tens of millions of tons of fuel to South Korea.

Continuing to use these methods is obviously not enough to make South Korea honest.

To put it simply, what South Korea wants is real power, especially the right to speak in the US-South Korea military alliance, and what reflects the right to speak is South Korea's position in the coalition.

The US authorities can only do one thing: appoint a South Korean general as commander-in-chief of the coalition forces.

Is this a solution working?

Although the US and South Korean coalition forces had already begun to implement a rotation system before the outbreak of the war, that is, the US and South Korean generals took turns to serve as commanders in chief of the coalition, during the war, the US military rarely handed over command power to the allied generals, and even rarely let the allied intervene in combat command.

I'm afraid many US officers and soldiers would not agree to let the Korean generals command the coalition forces to fight.

For Allen, this is obviously not a good thing.

Although the US authorities have not made a decision yet, Lindberg was also very hesitant. After all, the election of the Chief Executive Officer is related to the morale and fighting spirit of 100,000 US military officers and soldiers. If you go wrong, the consequences will be unimaginable. However, there have been rumors that under the pressure of South Korea, Lindberg is likely to make concessions, at least he will replace the commander-in-chief and let a general who is more good at fighting against powerful enemies replace Allen.

It is an absolute shame to leave the coalition command at this time, even if it is just a replacement, not a dismissal.

As a professional soldier, this shame is certainly unwilling tolerate.

Aaron had no choice but to ask for help from the one he trusted the most.
Chapter completed!