The Commonwealth is fighting within itself. When facing other countries, the Commonwealth can still be united. Otherwise, the terms proposed by Ramsay Macdonald will not perfectly bypass the ghost submarines in southern Africa.
The strength of Japan's combined fleet is said to be one of the best in the world. It is invincible in East Asia. Even the U.S. Navy has to shy away. There is no need to develop submarines at all. That's why Tanaka Giichi is going to East India.
The submarine force is so sensitive.
It was Rock who was also sensitive. Anyone with a discerning eye could tell at a glance that the submarine force in East India was prepared for the Japanese combined fleet. This made Tanaka Giichi have trouble sleeping and eating.
It's a pity that it's too late for Tanaka Giichi to talk about the East India Submarine Force. The meeting was almost over before he remembered the East India. It was unrealistic to call the East India over for a meeting at the last minute, not to mention that the call might not be possible.
Come.
"Appropriate restrictions on the proliferation of submarines are necessary." Hoover agreed with Tanaka Giichi on this issue.
The development of submarine forces in East India is also a potential threat to the U.S. Navy stationed in East Asia.
"Oh, the East India is not the only country in the world that develops submarines." Rock said expressionlessly. Even if the East India has more submarines, it will not be a threat to its allies. Krupp is also secretly building a submarine dock in the Netherlands.
Both the British and Americans know this, and neither the British nor the United States have ever made an issue out of Germany.
Compared with East India, Germany's development of submarine forces is the real threat to Britain and the United States. Just because Britain and the United States want to support Germany, they can turn a blind eye to Germany's so-called "secrets". Political correctness has reached this point. Luo
Ke also has nothing to say.
"The East India submarines have not exceeded the limited range in terms of displacement or gun caliber, so they are not within the scope of our discussion." McDonald strongly supports Southern Africa on this issue.
Then southern Africa will require more battleships, which will cause even more headaches.
In fact, Tanaka Yiichi and Hoover also knew this problem.
Don't look at the piles of cruisers built in southern Africa. In fact, there are only one country in the world that is qualified to form a navy. Most countries' navies are filled with gunboats or destroyers.
There are not many with a displacement of more than 1,500 tons, and we can't afford new ones. We can only find serviceable warships from retired warships of powerful naval powers. How can the situation be so miserable?
"If this is the case, then these clauses have no meaning. We are still discussing the tonnage of the capital ship. Let's just build submarines." Tanaka Yi was furious. The Japanese have worked hard for decades and are in front of the established European and American colonial powers.
Still have no say.
"You want to create something, as long as it's within the limits." Rock is not afraid of Japanese man-made submarines. For Japan, the great power trap also exists.
As mentioned earlier, all "big countries" are faced with the question of whether to develop armies or navies. For example, the United States and the United Kingdom, which require major disarmament in peacetime, cannot afford it.
The same goes for Japan. Japan's national strength is limited and it does not have the ability to develop both the army and the navy at the same time. Now it mainly relies on the navy.
Also focusing on the navy, there is also a development direction problem. After all, funds are limited. If it is used to build battleships, there will be no money to build aircraft carriers. If aircraft carriers and battleships are built together, cruisers and submarines will definitely not be able to take care of both.
The fierce character of the Japanese people determines that Japan must focus on developing surface warships, not forgetting submarines. Japan has no need and no strength.
There is demand in southern Africa. After all, East India is a country of ten thousand islands, and the Strait of Malacca is a traffic artery. East India's submarines can cooperate with the Indian Ocean Fleet in southern Africa to block Japan out of the Indian Ocean. This is why MacDonald supports southern Africa.
s reason.
In another time and space, Japan only began to pay attention to the role of submarines after the outbreak of World War II, and then Japan began to build submarines frantically.
It is a pity that Japan chose the wrong direction. It also applied the principle of giant ships and cannons to submarines. It blindly pursued displacement and firepower, so it ignored the concealment of submarines. As a result, Japanese submarines entered the battlefield and became a living target for the Americans.
According to Americans' evaluation, Japanese submarines are not practical at all.
And the way Japan uses submarines is wrong.
Germany used submarines to attack the transportation lines of Britain and the United States, using military forces to attack civilians. The effect was indeed very good.
Japan uses submarines to cooperate with the combined fleet in large-scale naval battles. The anti-submarine technology during World War II has been quite mature. Destroyers, cruisers, and even modified battleships have anti-submarine capabilities. The performance of Japanese submarines is not good enough, and the results are very tragic.
"Oh, the Combined Fleet is not interested in submarines with a displacement of less than one thousand tons." After all, Tanaka Yiichi came from the Army and did not know enough about the Navy.
"Then what are you worried about?" Roque laughed loudly. He objected wildly but was not interested at the same time. It was like he had a split personality.
"Then let's discuss the issue of the total tonnage of submarines." Hoover tried to bring the meeting back on track. Since both capital ships and cruisers have tonnage limits, submarines should also have tonnage limits.
"20,000 tons?" Ramsay MacDonald inadvertently leaked the secret again.
It is known that Britain has a total of three submarines, each of 2,800 tons, with a total tonnage of 8,400
As a result, MacDonald now asked for 20,000, which means that Britain still has more submarines.
"No, at least 100,000 tons," Rock said in shock. McDonald, Hoover, and Tanaka were all shocked.
The displacement of the ghost submarine is only 980 tons, and Rock said it was 100,000 tons. Is it possible that 100 ghost submarines are already equipped in southern Africa?
When World War I broke out, Germany had only 20 submarines in total. After the war broke out, Germany frantically built submarines. During the war, a total of 344 submarines were in service. At the end of the war, there were still 226 submarines under construction.
During World War II, there were a total of 1,150 German submarines.
Don’t look at the numbers above, which can easily be hundreds or even thousands. That was during the war, but now we are in peacetime and the Navy’s holiday era. Southern Africa actually has 100 submarines!
Not to mention MacDonald, Hoover and Tanaka, Rock himself didn't believe it.
"Discount, 50,000 tons" Hoover directly gave a 50% discount.
"Ha, it's better not to have one ton." Tanaka sneered, discussing the tonnage of submarines is actually meaningless.
Unlike battleships, which can easily weigh tens of thousands of tons, submarines with a displacement of only a few hundred tons are hiding under the water. No one knows how many there are, and there is no way to check them.
Moreover, Southern Africa has a large group of allies. Even if Southern Africa cannot equip more submarines, it can still deploy submarines in East India, Najd, the Congo, and West Africa. No one can fault it, perfect!
"Okay, then fifty thousand." MacDonald agreed to cut it in half. One hundred thousand tons was a bit scary, but fifty thousand tons was acceptable.
"Okay." Rock had no bottom line and agreed happily.
McDonald and Hoover, Tanaka was completely confused.
Now it's 100,000, and now it's 50,000. How many submarines are there in southern Africa? It's like Schrödinger's cat.
At this time, Rock's face was expressionless and incomprehensible. There were only 18 ghost submarines equipped in southern Africa. There was not much money to equip the equipment in East India, so anything worth 100,000 to 50,000 yuan was just a smoke bomb.
After finishing the submarine, there are still auxiliary ships to discuss. MacDonald wants to solve all the problems of the navy at once.
Southern Africa is also the hardest hit area in this regard.
In Britain, the United States and Japan, auxiliary ships are limited to minelayers, gunboats, destroyer supply ships, training ships, net-laying ships, etc.
Oh, the British also have a sloop used for training, which is placed in the Indian Ocean Fleet to replenish its fleet.
Southern Africa has a rich variety of auxiliary ships. During the World War, supply ships and hospital ships were sent to participate in the war, and the results were very good.
The world war has been over for several years now, and Rock doesn't know why. It's okay if Britain, the United States and Japan don't build large comprehensive supply ships. They don't even build hospital ships. They probably think it's unnecessary.
This is normal. The navy is different from the army. The army troops were scattered and the soldiers were running all over the mountains and fields, making it difficult to catch them.
A naval warship was sunk, and few people could escape smoothly. Even if they did not die on the spot, if they swam slower, they would have been swept into the seabed by the vortex caused when the warship sank. Therefore, the value of the hospital ship was really not great. The southern part of the country during the World War
The African hospital ship also mainly served the ground troops participating in the Battle of the Dardanelles.
There are currently four hospital ships in southern Africa, one each for the three major fleets and the Mediterranean Squadron.
In addition to hospital ships, the Southern African Navy is also equipped with supply ships, training ships, transport ships, landing ships, etc.
From the types of ships, we can see the military building philosophy of the Southern African Navy. Minelayers and inland river patrol gunboats will be eliminated directly. Once a war breaks out, the task of minelaying will be handed over to supply ships. The task of minesweeping will include destroyers and cruisers, which are specially manufactured.
Minesweepers are a waste.
As for the net ship, this kind of ship, like the heavy armored cavalry, has been eliminated by the times.
Macdonald's intention was good, to restrict auxiliary ships, but the ultimate goal was also disarmament.
Rock disagreed. The large comprehensive supply ship in Southern Africa has a tonnage of 25,000 tons. In the name of a comprehensive supply ship, in fact, all aircraft except large bombers can take off and land directly on the deck, not to mention helicopters.
Oh, after a while, maybe large integrated bombers can take off and land directly.
However, this depends on Nikola Tesla’s research progress, and Rock doesn’t have high hopes.
According to Macdonald's character, if there are restrictions on auxiliary ships, then most of the auxiliary ships can only retain one or two. Southern Africa built six supply ships in one go, with a total tonnage of more than 150,000 tons.
What to do?
It is impossible to retire them directly. These are cutting-edge warships that have only been in service for a few years and have not fought a single battle. It would be a pity to retire them directly.
