Another reason why Wang Xuexin advocated converting the "Musashi" into an aircraft carrier right from the beginning is that with the speed of the "Musashi", if it is still put into the battlefield in the form of a battleship, it will not only not increase the combat effectiveness of the coastal defense regiment, but will also
will become a burden.
The chief saw this very clearly.
As soon as Wang Xuexin sent the report on converting the "Musashi" into an aircraft carrier to the commander, the commander took the telegram and said to the chief of staff: "You did the right thing, you have courage! We were still having a headache about how to use this battleship, but now it's better.
Xiaodongbei helped us solve this problem!"
What the chief said is not an exaggeration at all. The "Musashi" is indeed a headache.
The reason is that the top speed of the "Musashi" is only 27 knots, which is its biggest shortcoming.
This shortcoming is not obvious if the Japanese are fighting against the Eighth Route Army, because the strength of the Japanese joint fleet is much stronger than that of the Eighth Route Army. This shortcoming can easily be made up for by the number of fleets.
But this shortcoming was fatal to the Eighth Route Army.
For example, in the next naval battle, the Eighth Route Army brought a battleship to battle. Its speed was only 27 knots, while the Eighth Route Army's destroyer had a speed of 37 knots and a cruiser was 34 knots.
How should we cooperate with such a speed difference?
A battleship sailing at a speed of 34 knots would be left alone.
Sailing at a speed of 27 knots, the entire fleet will be dragged down by the battleships and easily surrounded by the Japanese's faster destroyers and cruisers, and then the entire fleet will be annihilated.
As for the "fight backwards" tactic, it is based on the fact that destroyers and light cruisers are faster than enemy warships can catch up with them. This tactic cannot be used with battleships.
Prior to this, the commander and the chief of staff discussed this issue several times, but could not find a way out for the battleship.
Tactically speaking, adding a thick-skinned battleship with so many guns will definitely increase the strength of the coastal defense regiment, but strategically speaking, adding a battleship to the line will force the coastal defense regiment to have a head-on confrontation with the enemy and lose all initiative.
.
So the commander came to the conclusion early on: "You can't have this thing! The strength of the coastal defense regiment is still very small, and it is simply insignificant compared with the Japanese fleet. Now is not the time for head-on confrontation, but for playing tactics with the enemy at sea! But if we add
Capturing battleships is like capturing the enemy's tanks and cannons during guerrilla warfare... These things are good things, but can we run all over the mountains with tanks and cannons to hide and seek with the enemy? We can only blow them up!"
"But chief!" the chief of staff said with some reluctance: "This battleship is not cheap, and it has that firepower..."
"It's useless if it's not cheap!" The chief replied without thinking: "We are fighting a war, not doing business. If you insist on bringing it because it is expensive, it will kill our entire coastal defense regiment! As for the firepower, on the battlefield
What's the name of firepower if something that can't function and kill people is called firepower? It's not called firepower, it's just a burden!"
So the chief actually saw it very clearly.
Even if Wang Xuexin's report had not been reported, the commander would not have repaired the "Musashi" and put it into service, that is, he would not use it as a battleship.
The reason is simple: it has almost no effect in the Eighth Route Army troops.
If it has any use, it can only be said that it may be useful in ground support. The dozens of large-caliber naval guns are really fun to fight the Japanese on land. At the same time, the hundreds of anti-aircraft guns can also be used for air defense.
So that the Japanese fighter planes dare not bomb it... This is almost a walking fortress.
However, there are still problems with ground support. Where do the various caliber shells that battleships need come from?
The Eighth Route Army did not have artillery shells of these calibers, especially 460mm, and there were no reserves at the port, only those stored on battleships.
Hitting one serve and one less is not sustainable.
Is it possible to open an artillery shell production line just to use battleships?
However, although the commander knew this, he didn't know what to do with the "Musashi" ship. He couldn't really sell this battleship worth three aircraft carriers for scrap, right?
As soon as Wang Xuexin made the report, the chief knew what to do!
"That's right!" the commander said, "Let's change it to an aircraft carrier. If we can change it to an aircraft carrier, this thing will no longer be a burden and will double the combat effectiveness of the coastal defense regiment!"
There is nothing wrong with what the chief said.
Because the coastal defense regiment already has the problem of redundant range of anti-ship missiles. Anti-ship missiles can obviously fly 200 kilometers, but they can only hit targets of 30 kilometers due to vision and reconnaissance problems.
If the battleship is converted into an aircraft carrier, then its shortcomings of slow speed can be eliminated to the greatest extent, because anti-ship missiles can hit targets of about 200 kilometers under the guidance of fighter planes, so there is no need to consider whether they will
Being overtaken by an enemy warship?
However, the chief of staff still hesitated. He said to the telegram: "But chief, this aircraft carrier modification... is not easy!"
"Let Xiao Dongbei do the hard work!" The chief laughed: "What can't be created from scratch? Take your time!"
At this time, Wang Xuexin sent a telegram to Sun Erwei and Lemon Lokov as soon as possible after returning to the headquarters, asking them to come, and it was at the same time.
This situation is rare.
Although Yingjiang and Mao Xiong are allies, in Wang Xuexin's case they are competitors.
This is the first time for two competitors to discuss business together.
Before they arrived, Wang Xuexin took some time to check the bank accounts in the system.
He found that there were already more than 70 million US dollars in the account from previous business deposits with Yingjiang and the system's military currency conversion.
Is this money enough?
Wang Xuexin is not sure!
If we were to buy an aircraft carrier, it would definitely be enough. At this time, the Essex-class aircraft carrier of Eagle Sauce only costs US$56.48 million. With more than US$70 million, you can not only buy it but still have some leftover.
But this is the price for modular mass production after the design is completed. It will even out the R&D costs and therefore reduce the total cost.
It's different when a battleship is converted into an aircraft carrier.
Although it has a foundation in battleships, it is the first time and probably only one time from design to construction, so the cost is high!
More importantly, even improved equipment needs to be imported.
Wang Xuexin previously learned from Xu Huandong that at this time, the Dalian Shipyard only had the ability to repair light cruisers and destroyers, and it was difficult to even repair heavy cruisers, let alone convert them into battleships.
If you take into account the cost of equipment, plus the cost of training a team, purchasing carrier-based aircraft, etc., more than 70 million US dollars is definitely not enough.
But Wang Xuexin still insisted on doing it.
Because he had another intention in doing this: he not only wanted an aircraft carrier, but also established the basic industry of the aircraft carrier in China and cultivated related talents.
Compared with the former, Wang Xuexin believes that the latter is more important.
Because that is the future of a country and the only way for China to become a truly powerful country!