Chapter 820: 820 A huge fleet at sea
Chapter 820 820 A huge fleet at sea
In the southern sea more than 700 kilometers away from Long Island, a huge fleet is sailing on the sea. On the destroyers cruising in the distance, the radar is scanning the nearby sea to ensure that no ship can get close to the real core of the fleet.
The core part of the entire fleet is the four huge aircraft carriers sailing in the middle. On both sides of the four aircraft carriers, two bloated battleships were sailing through the waves.
The flat decks of the four aircraft carriers were filled with naval Stuka multi-purpose bombers and brand-new Corsair fighter jets.
Interestingly, while the Tang Air Force was phasing out Stuka dive bombers bit by bit, the Navy was increasing the number of Stuka bombers.
Judging from the two types of aircraft equipped by the navy, Marshal Bernard seems to have a special liking for the reverse gull wing. Both the Stuka and the Corsair adopt the reverse gull wing design.
This airfoil can shorten the landing gear, allowing the aircraft to use shorter landing gear while having the ability to carry larger bombs.
The reason why the Stuka can carry 500 kilograms of aerial bombs and can optionally carry an aerial torpedo is also due to its anti-gull wing design.
Of course, the fixed nose gear of the Stuka dive bomber was obsolete from any perspective.
However, naval aviation, especially carrier-based aviation, started late, so there is no reason to think that the equipment in hand is outdated.
Furthermore, in addition to affecting the speed, the non-retractable nose landing gear also plays a role in increasing resistance and improving dive bombing performance. It is not as useless as imagined.
Anyway, Tang’s competitors, not to mention the naval aviation, even had very few fighters that could catch up with the Stuka bombers, so the backward technology did not hinder actual combat use at all.
The Tang aircraft carrier, which is almost copied from the American Essex-class aircraft carrier, has a full load displacement of more than 34,000 tons and is definitely a maritime giant.
Even though the displacement of aircraft carriers cannot keep up with the battleships of the same period, because the aircraft carrier itself has a high side and less armor, its appearance is much larger than that of a battleship.
The entire aircraft carrier is equipped with three elevators, with a deck length of nearly 266 meters and a width of more than 44 meters, ensuring the take-off and landing of carrier-based aircraft.
Sailing aside, the Tang version of the new Bismarck-class battleship with a full load displacement of more than 50,000 tons looks a bit slender.
After all, the two battleships built by the Tang State and used as sword escorts for aircraft carriers are only less than 242 meters in length and only 36 meters in width. They look smaller than the Tang version of the Essex-class aircraft carrier.
The number of high -firing guns has been added, and the new type of battleship of Tang Guo, which has completely canceled the 37mm handle machine, is the same as the American duck skid.
After all, if you encounter a complex battle situation, the absolute safety of the aircraft carrier cannot be guaranteed by relying solely on the small size of the destroyer. It is completely necessary to build two such human shields.
It's just completely different from Bismarck who went out alone to break up the war in history. The main role of the Tang battleship was to serve as an anti-aircraft gun platform next to the aircraft carrier.
So compared to the Bismarck battleship in history, which had backward anti-aircraft weapons, this battleship of the Tang Dynasty had all the anti-aircraft guns that could be piled on it.
This resulted in the side of this battleship not being as smooth and neat as the real Bismarck battleship in history. It was just rows of gun barrels of uneven thickness, looking no different from a hedgehog.
In order to improve the combat capability of this battleship, Tang Mo also installed a new type of radar and a radio proximity fuze on the battleship - these things are too sophisticated and the technology is too sophisticated, so Tang's land-based anti-aircraft artillery units are not equipped with them.
Anyway, the shells fired by the navy will fall into the sea without exploding, so this kind of anti-aircraft killer is a priority.
The 128mm high-level and flat dual-purpose guns on the Bismarck battleship are all equipped with this kind of shells, which greatly improves its air defense combat capabilities.
Of course, there are countless 88mm guns and 40mm guns densely packed on the battleships.
In fact, Tang State, which had maritime air supremacy, did not need to equip a warship with so many anti-aircraft guns. However, Tang Mo still felt that Bismarck, who was killed by a hand-pulled 37mm anti-aircraft gun in his last life, had better be careful in this life.
In order to ensure that the aircraft carrier is foolproof, the anti-aircraft guns on the Essex-class aircraft carrier have not been omitted.
The entire Tang naval fleet is like an anti-aircraft gun position, full of various anti-aircraft weapons.
If you simply look at the Tang Dynasty's destroyer design, in order to maintain the ferocious firepower in the air, even the ability to conduct artillery battles at sea has been weakened.
If it weren't for the desperate weapon of torpedoes, Tang's destroyers would even suffer heavy losses in combat against enemy destroyers.
The spacious deck somewhat makes up for the shortcomings of the Tang pirate fighter's poor vision when landing. Anyway, the deck of the aircraft carrier is large enough, and landing the aircraft does not require much precision. In order to ensure that the pilot can park the aircraft on the deck of the aircraft carrier more safely, Tang Mo also took out the Fresnel optical landing assist system.
This system was originally invented by the British in 1952 after the end of World War II. It should not have appeared on early aircraft carriers.
However, Tang Mo was a later comer and had relevant data and drawings. This system was not a particularly sophisticated and advanced technology, so it was directly equipped to Tang's first-generation aircraft carrier.
Because there are very detailed drawings and actual combat data, the starting point of Tang's aircraft carrier is very high, almost no different from modern aircraft carriers.
The reason why he did not directly use the inclined deck design was because Tang Mo was not ready to put the jet aircraft into actual combat immediately. In addition, he was also prepared to sell some aircraft carriers to make some extra money when necessary.
He was originally an arms dealer, wasn't he? It has become his professional habit to instantly change the price of any weapon he looks at in his mind.
For him, the aircraft carrier is definitely not something that cannot be sold, and selling the aircraft carrier will not pose any threat to the country's navy: If you don't see it, Russia sold the Gorshkov to the third brother, and the third brother's navy is not strong. Not to a certain extent.
Anyway, when I sell you the Essex class, wouldn't it be better if I use the Fujian class... Well, we are all brothers!
“The second batch of strike groups has completed their formation!” An officer walked up behind Bernard who was standing on the bridge waiting for news, stood at attention and saluted to report.
Bernard picked up the telescope and saw the Stuka bombers already forming a formation in the distant sky. He nodded with satisfaction.
In order to train a team of carrier-based aircraft pilots capable of combat as soon as possible, they have been drifting at sea recently.
The outer destroyer fleet is responsible for driving away fishing boats and other naval warships to ensure that this large aircraft carrier fleet will not be discovered at close range.
Fleet supply relies entirely on supply ships, which is also a feat: while experimenting with the aircraft carrier's carrier-based aircraft strike capabilities, it is also experimenting with various new supply technologies for the supply fleet.
Including horizontal non-stop ship supply, vertical supply and other projects, they are all necessary support technologies to ensure the fleet's long-term maritime operations in the future. Without these technologies, there is no guarantee that our fleet can continue to conduct high-intensity operations at sea.
"This is a telegram from Sea Wolf 411. A fishing boat was spotted behind the fleet, heading in the same direction as our fleet." Another officer came over and reported to Bernard at attention the latest telegram received.
In order to ensure the absolute concealment of the fleet, Tang State not only deployed destroyers equipped with radars on the periphery, but also dispersed many submarines. It can be said that the outer cordon of the fleet was operated airtight.
This is a submarine that discovered a suspicious fishing boat, so it sent a telegram to remind the fleet to be prepared and be careful to hide.
“Chasing us?” Bernard was stunned for a moment, with a sarcastic smile on his face. His fleet can reach speeds of over 55 kilometers per hour at its fastest, and it is not easy for fishing boats to pursue them.
"It may be, or it may be a coincidence. But it appeared too close, which is a bit dangerous." The adjutant next to him expressed his opinion.
“Let the destroyer squadron at the rear of the fleet send a destroyer over and stop it!” Bernard made a decision almost at the same time.
“Understood!” The officer who came to deliver the message stood at attention and saluted again, then turned around and went to deliver the message.
Soon, a destroyer that had been following the fleet started to turn rapidly after flashing its searchlight twice.
Because of its high speed, its bow crashed into the waves, leaving two white waves on the sea. Its hull tilted during high-speed turns, which looked very thrilling.
"Woo!" When rushing towards the fishing boat, all the artillery on the destroyer aimed their barrels at the fishing boat of unknown nationality, and sounded the whistle, making a deafening sound.
"Hang the flag! Send out the international light signal! Warn the other party that they are interfering with our ship's navigation! Order them to turn immediately!" The captain of the Tang destroyer put down his telescope and ordered his adjutant.
“The other party sent a signal, emphasizing on the international channel that this is a public sea area...” shouted the sergeant who had been monitoring the radio channel.
"Send the signal as I said! Then remind them on the radio that if they continue to interfere with our ship, our ship will fire and sink them!" The captain said coldly: "I hope they will not provoke the Tang Navy!"
Picking up the telescope again, the captain saw that the other fishing boat was still maintaining its original route. Time passed minute by minute. Thirty seconds later, the captain put down the telescope: "Load the main gun! Hang the battle flag!" Ready to fight!"
"Load the main gun! Hang the battle flag! Prepare to fight!" The adjutant put his hands behind his back and shouted the battle order with his head held high.
A few seconds later, the fishing boat flying the flag of the Lions Empire began to turn and flew away as fast as it could escape.
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The update will be very late, please watch it tomorrow morning...
(End of this chapter)