Chapter 205 The Strange Flower of the Japanese Army and Navy
The Japanese Navy, who did not yet know about his opponents, had secretly prepared several feasts for them. In order to support this army landing operation, although the aircraft carriers and all the battleships deployed in the mainland were not dispatched as required by the army, the local destroyers were
-class ships and various landing ships can be said to have done their best to provide support.
The Japanese Navy spent money, and the Japanese Army also mobilized all available resources without reservation, and also used the little ship capital in its hands. Not only did it mobilize all the transport ships and landing ships that could be mobilized in the country,
Come out. Even the Shenzhou Maru and the Akitsu Maru, these two army aircraft carrier transport ships that are neither donkeys nor horses, and are unique in the world, are also sent out.
Yes, although these two warships belonging to the Army are currently called Type C transport ships, the original design intention of these two warships was to be aircraft carriers with transportation capabilities, that is to say, transport ships that can carry combat aircraft.
In particular, the Akitsu Maru is not only equipped with naval guns, landing craft, and a fully accessible deck, but can also carry eight carrier-based aircraft for combat.
This warship does look a bit nondescript now, but in fact, the design theory is still very advanced. If you add helicopters and vertical take-off and landing fighter jets in later generations, it will be an authentic amphibious assault ship. But if you look at it now, it is a bit weird.
Anything other than horses is too advanced. And because ships without professional take-off and landing equipment can only carry eight unarmed aircraft, their effectiveness in actual combat is limited.
If it is assigned to the Navy, after certain improvements, it can still be used as an escort aircraft carrier. But it is designed, manufactured by the Army, and equipped to the Army Ship Engineering Corps. It is used like an eyeball by the Army. If it is handed over to the Navy, then
Don't even think about it.
However, the Army does not have specialized carrier-based fighter jets and can only rely on land-based aircraft. Coupled with the lack of experience and equipment in the use of carrier-based aircraft, this aircraft carrier built by the Army at a huge cost has been more effective in actual combat.
It functions as an amphibious landing ship.
In other countries, no matter what the main purpose of the warship is, as long as it is a warship, it is organized and equipped by the navy. The army also has some ships, but they are all small short-distance transport ships.
The Army is equipped with amphibious assault ships, no, they should be called aircraft carriers. The only one in the world is the Japanese Army.
The navy here is suffering more and more losses. It is eagerly waiting for the shipyard to build new ships, and even does not hesitate to pull out those that have been converted into training ships to replenish the number. However, the two warships of the army, which have certain combat and air combat capabilities, are not used by the navy.
After the completion of these two Army aircraft carriers, the Navy also resolutely refused to provide carrier-based aircraft technology and take-off and landing experience. As a result, after the construction of these two warships was completed, they did not play the role that the Army expected them to play.
The two Akitsu Maru and Shenzhou Maru are the treasures of the Japanese Army. They are used like eyeballs by the Japanese Army. They just took them out at once this time. As for the Akitsu Maru in the shipyard
As for the sister ship, we can't count on it now because construction has just started.
But in any case, this time the Army sent out these two warships together, which can be regarded as giving up its old capital in front of the Navy. And this Qikou landing operation also showed that the Japanese army was at the end of its rope.
It was the last large-scale landing operation during World War II.
In fact, in Yang Zhen's view, although the Japanese Army's approach is a bit too bizarre, it is still very consistent with its own characteristics in terms of the entire military system and the combat characteristics it faces. As an island country with poor resources, it has
If Japan, which has strong expansion ambitions, expands outwards, landing operations will definitely be a conventional combat mode.
Although Japan has a powerful navy, there is still a powerful fleet waiting for them on the other side of the Pacific. When fighting against a weak country like China with no sea defenses, the Japanese navy can provide full support. But once it confronts the United States and Britain,
When a powerful naval power fights, the navy is likely to have too much time to take care of itself.
When the time comes, who will transport and protect the resources needed by the Army? Can the Navy fully meet the ships needed for landing operations? Excessively counting on the Navy, which also has few auxiliary ships, is often prone to mistakes. In addition, Japan
There are almost irreconcilable conflicts between the army and the navy. Who can guarantee that the navy will provide enough ships for every battle?
In any case, Yang Zhen seems that the Japanese Army chose to build such a ship. He has a landing ship that can carry out limited air support, which is in line with the Japanese Army's own combat characteristics. But at this time, this design concept seems somewhat advanced.
Too much.
Moreover, the contradictions and estrangements between the army and the navy have caused the navy to refuse to provide the required equipment, construction, and use experience. In addition, the overly advanced ideas are limited by current technical capabilities and lack of equipment for future generations of real amphibious assault ships.
, which also made these ships ultimately become half-finished projects.
But it cannot be said that these two warships are really useless. Especially the Akitsu Maru, if it is equipped with carrier-based aircraft and equipped with carrier-based aircraft take-off and landing equipment, this kind of warship will still be quite effective when carrying out landing operations.
There is a threat. At least there is no big problem in solving some of the air support for landing operations. Although mosquitoes are small, being bitten is quite uncomfortable.
Of course, when these two World War II-era amphibious assault ships appeared off the coast of Qikou, except for the Japanese army troops, the decks were bare and there was not a single aircraft. But this kind of warship with a huge hangar
, the ability to carry various Japanese landing craft is quite impressive, and far exceeds that of ordinary landing ships, at least not comparable to American landing ships.
However, it is not just the army that dispatched strange warships this time. Among the three battleships dispatched by the navy, there are also two strange and similar warships. Among the three battleships dispatched by the Japanese army this time, except for the battleship Yamashiro dispatched last time,
In addition, there are two aircraft carriers converted from old battleships.
After several naval battles in the South Pacific in 1943, the Japanese Navy's losses were not large overall. But every warship sunk, especially the sinking of large ships, was a huge loss to the Japanese Navy.
An irreparable loss. Especially because the construction time is slow and abnormal, and it is the loss of aircraft carriers in the current main naval battle mode. The replacement for the Japanese Navy is far slower than that of their enemies.
In order to make up for the battle losses of the aircraft carrier, the Japanese Navy not only tried every means to speed up the construction of new ships, but also started thinking about old warships. After several selections, the old warships were selected, but their speed and armor could no longer keep up with the modern fleet. Since they were put into service,
The two Ise-class battleships, which frequently suffered major accidents, were converted into aircraft carriers with additional flight decks and take-off and landing equipment.
Logically speaking, it is not too unusual for a battleship with a huge hull to be converted into an aircraft carrier. The first aircraft carriers of the three navies of the United States, Japan, and Britain that have aircraft carriers in the world were all converted from large ships. And at the moment, the Japanese navy is building ships
In the factory, they are working overtime to renovate aircraft carriers with large civilian ships.
Although there is no such thing as retrofitting old battleships, it is still a means and method to do so. However, in addition to dismantling the two stern turrets and most of the secondary guns, almost all the frontal firepower is retained. Only at the stern turret,
With the addition of flight deck modifications, it becomes very special.
Although after the modification of these two battleships is completed, they can carry twenty-two carrier-based aircraft, while retaining a total of eight 356mm main guns on the front, making the firepower of these two aviation battleships at least appear to be abnormal.
Powerful. With two combat methods at the same time, it also appears to be very comprehensive.
However, these two nondescript aviation battleships are completely different from what the Japanese Navy originally imagined due to their original designs. When taking off and landing aircraft, the artillery cannot fire at all, and once the main guns are fired, the aircraft cannot take off or land.
, which is equivalent to abolishing half of the martial arts skills.
The tall building-like bridge on the front deck of Japanese warships also makes it easy for carrier-based aircraft to kiss the bridge fiercely when taking off and landing. This kiss may not matter to the battleship, but carrier-based aircraft
But it is definitely not a blessing. The most important thing is that these two warships can only take off carrier-based aircraft but cannot recover carrier-based aircraft.
After taking off, the carrier-based aircraft will either land on the water or land in other places. In short, these two aircraft carriers, like the two aircraft carriers of the Army, can only be released and cannot be recovered. Unlike other aircraft carriers, the chimneys are in another place.
On the other hand, the chimneys of these two aviation battleships are right opposite the flight deck. When the warships are moving, the black smoke emitted from the chimneys will make the pilots feel as if they are in black fog.
What's even more terrible is that these two warships currently have no suitable carrier-based combat aircraft except for a few water reconnaissance aircraft that can be hoisted to the water and take off. The Comet carrier-based aircraft scheduled to be carried will take off from a normal aircraft carrier.
There are many accidents during the landing. While on board such a so-called aircraft carrier, it will probably be even more difficult to take off and land.
Therefore, after the two aviation battleships were refitted at the end of 1943, they have been training, retraining, running in, and running in again. No matter how tense the war situation in the south is, they will just spin around at home and are of no use at all. They are scheduled to carry
The aviation team has been training and retraining, but it has never been able to form combat effectiveness.
Such two large warships, which have both aviation support capabilities and powerful firepower, just stay in the mainland and circle around. It makes the following fleet exhausted from running around to support operations. For the navy to add these two strange ships to the fleet,
Several national treasures were left at home and there were many complaints.
It should be said that the Japanese Navy, which has always been based on the British, is more democratic than the army. Under the protests from below, the Navy simply took advantage of this opportunity and sent out these two aviation battleships that were always poorly modified. First, use
Several seaplanes were carried to prepare for the naval gunfire, so as not to waste the navy's precious large-caliber artillery shells and quell the dissatisfaction below.
What's more, although these two aviation battleships do not carry any carrier-based aircraft except for a few seaplanes, the large hangar that was modified can just load more landing materials and troops. The eight-door and three-door aircraft are retained.
The 156mm main gun can also meet the fire support required by the army. Therefore, sending these two warships out can be regarded as killing four birds with one stone for the navy.
After all, they are a family. No matter how much they fight in the nest, they will still break bones and tendons after all. The Japanese Army insists on building warships, which is not their job. The Navy is messing around there, forcibly dividing the two.
A battleship was converted into two aviation battleships that were neither donkeys nor horses. Speaking of weird things, the navy is not much worse than the army.
However, fortunately, the Anti-Japanese Alliance does not have a single warship at the moment, and it is fighting in an environment with many Japanese naval bases in the surrounding area. It does not need naval carrier-based aircraft support, only naval gunfire support is needed. The Japanese navy is responsible for escorting
Logically speaking, it is more suitable to send these two strange ships.