On July 14, 1944, in the Recife Sea in northeastern Brazil, a huge steel dragon was moving forward in an orderly manner on the sea.

The entire Atlantic Fleet is divided into two echelons: in front is the combat echelon led by Nimitz, code-named TF48; behind is a huge transportation echelon, which not only contains army equipment transport ships, but also the supply ships of the naval formation itself.

On the tf48 fleet formation, Nimitz made another innovation:

The first is that the aircraft carrier formation and the artillery formation are no longer organized separately, but are completely combined. Tactics and equipment are always changing. He has three powerful Iowa-class battleships, the USS New Jersey, the Wisconsin, and the Missouri. Each of them can run at a speed of more than 30 knots, and can move at the same speed as the Essex-class aircraft carrier to achieve accompanying combat.

The strong industrial power of the United States shows the progress of the construction of the USS Missouri. This warship started construction in January 1941 and was completed in less than three and a half years. In contrast, the British Lion battleship, which was not as tall as the Iowa-class, started construction in 1939 and has not been completed so far. It is said that it will be until August as soon as possible. However, judging from the current situation, it would be good to complete it before October.

Hoffman felt a headache for these British battleships. There are three British battleships lying on the platform now, namely the Lion, the Man Yong (all of which are of the Lion class) and the Avant-garde (Avant-garde). According to the construction progress estimated by Britain, the Lion was completed in August 1944, the Avant-garde was completed in March 1945, and the Man Yong was completed before December 1945.

At present, the main structure and equipment installation of the Lion have been basically completed. Hoffman believes that the ship is not a big problem, so at most a group of engineers can be sent to inspect and accept it. However, the Avant-garde and the Man Yong still need to be built in the hands of the British. There will be various faults, and passive slacking will be light. If the quality is not up to standard, the boiler is problematic, and the artillery fire deviation is very large, I am afraid that it will cause big trouble in the naval battle.

The Ministry of Military Affairs initially suggested that according to the handling methods of the first few warships, the latter two battleships were modified into oblique aircraft carriers. The problem was that after they completed the modification, the Yunlong class that started construction in early 1943 would be put into service in large quantities, and there was no urgency to rebuild the aircraft carrier. Moreover, the British contract had not been signed in the end, and the British did not hand over these warships and technical drawing parameters, so it was even more difficult to design a complete reconstruction plan.

After listening to the opinions of experts, Sperer believed that if the UK can ensure quality and progress, it is recommended to continue to build in Britain. If not, it is simply towed back to the German shipyard for outfitting. The main gun can continue to be made with three triple-mounted 406mm (16-inch) 45-diameter main guns designed by the UK, and other facilities (such as radar, anti-aircraft guns) and other facilities (such as radar, anti-aircraft guns) are equipped with German standard equipment to form a unified system.

Even though battleships will not become the mainstream of naval warfare in the foreseeable future, Germany and Italy are still very envious of the 406mm naval guns in the hands of Britain. The 380mm artillery on the Bismarck class is insufficient in power. The Venetto class considered using 406mm naval guns at the beginning of construction, but the technical content is too high to be used. The final 381mm naval guns are powerful, but the spreading accuracy and the corrosion resistance of the gun barrels are very poor. Now with the participation of the UK, these technical difficulties do not exist. If you have any ideas, you can replace all the naval guns with 406mm at the appropriate time.

After arguments, experts believe that the overall strength of the Bismarck and Venetto classes can reach 90% of the Iowa class after replacing the 406mm naval gun, slightly inferior to the Lion class. Italy has expressed its enthusiasm and is ready to replace the main gun at the right time.

However, the Americans don’t have so much trouble. They just need to build it quickly. Now the USS Iliano and Kentucky are still lying on the ship platform. Since the US Navy suffered much greater losses than history, these two warships started construction earlier than history. The USS Illinois is expected to enter service in June 1946, and the USS Kentucky is expected to enter service by the end of the same year. In 1947, the more powerful Montana-class ships will begin to enter service. In September 1947, the first Montana-class ship, the USS Montana, will be in service (the construction period is 48-54 months, an average of 51 months).

In order to fight against Japan's super battleships and axial battleship groups, the United States spent a huge amount of money to launch a huge 88 Fleet construction plan, namely, build 8 new Montana-class ships, complete 6 Iowa-class ships, and add 2 more ships, and by 1950, the 88 Fleet was destined to be a waste, because the first Iowa-class ship, the Iowa-class, has sunk on the seabed about 2,000 kilometers away from Western Australia. The Navy submitted an application to urgently supplement the budget of two Iowa-class ships, but the large ships have been used all of them and cannot be used to build them at all. Even if the cost is willing to bear, it cannot be afforded.

At that time, the super battleship brought by the Yamato's appearance was too shocked, and the United States could not wait to restart the Montana-class construction plan, but as time went by, doubts about the construction plan began to become stronger. One voice believed that the Montana-class time was too long and the Navy could not survive the short-term lack of power; the other voice believed that the Montana-class cost was huge, and this part of the cost was not as good as transferring to more aviation and armored combat readiness.

The Navy has another voice. Some experts believe that the large oblique aircraft carrier built by Germany has certain advantages and plans to extract an Iowa-class hull for transformation. Some even believe that the Iowa hull is not satisfied and suggest that the Montana-class hull be used to build a super aircraft carrier.

Although these complex arguments have their own reasons, they have not formed an overwhelming consensus. The construction progress of the Iowa-class and Montana-class is still progressing steadily. Nimitz originally believed that the emergence and rapid growth of the aircraft brought about the destruction of the era of giant ships and cannons, but after Hori Teji creatively used the Yamato to charge, he was shocked to discover the important value of battleships, especially super battleships, and powerful defense capabilities.

It is obvious that the battleship unit and the enemy aircraft carrier formation have no chance of winning against the enemy. However, if the battleship is mixed with the aircraft carrier and the battleship acts as regional defense centers for unified coordination, its rough and thick-skinned skills can be fully utilized. That is, when the wheeled defense formation is used, one battleship is used as a bodyguard, and two air defense cruisers, and four destroyers form an aircraft carrier team. The innovatively formed aircraft carrier team is much more survivable than the aircraft carrier team that used heavy cruisers to protect.

After studying Spruenz's battle example, Nimitz found that although the fleet was eventually destroyed, it had experienced the impact of three rounds of attack waves of the main aircraft carrier formation of the joint fleet before it was destroyed. The Iowa, which acted as the backbone of defense, performed remarkable. This further strengthened his concept that battleships, especially super battleships, still have value, but whether so many need to be built can be discussed.

Even Nimitz has a more radical view: using Montana hull to build a super air defense battleship, that is, only the cruiser-level 203mm naval guns can be installed, and the number can be compressed to 3 triple units (9 doors). All the empty tonnage and space are installed with defensive firepower to strengthen the air defense firepower network for the fleet.

There is currently only one supporter of this view at the top: Turner!

The latter even went further, believing that even the 203mm naval gun does not need to be installed, and can be cut off and only air defense firepower is deployed, including 127mm high-level dual-purpose artillery (newly developed 54 times the caliber 127mm dual-unit), 40mm Bofos anti-aircraft guns and 20mm Erickon machine guns. According to Turner's idea, if the 70,000-ton hull does not have a main turret, at least 48 127mm, 64-80 40mm anti-aircraft guns, and 20mm near-proof firepower of more than 100.

Then the saved tonnage is provided to the turbine, so that the engine's horsepower is increased to the same level as the Iowa class Montana-class eight-seat boilers and turbines all use independent neighboring compartments, and their anti-water immersion capacity is greatly improved. In order to reduce the weight of the power plant, the Montana-class main engine has a power of only 172,000 horsepower, which is 40,000 horsepower less than Iowa, and the speed drops to 28 knots. Turner believes that after being lifted, this super air defense battleship can reach more than 30 knots (Iowa can reach 33 knots at full speed), which is more valuable to accompany the combat.

Turner's madness Nimitz has experienced it, but it obviously exceeded his imagination. The Navy Committee did not accept Nimitz's compromise suggestions, and it was even more impossible to accept Turner's idea. Ingram and Halsey of the Pacific Fleet did not agree with this idea.

But Rentner himself didn't know that his idea was actually a soulmate.

At the seminar on naval equipment development held recently in Germany, Hoffman proposed the idea of ​​"mobile air defense tower": he believed that since the construction quality and progress of the Manyon were not guaranteed, it was impossible to convert it into an oblique aircraft carrier, so he simply allocated the 406mm naval gun group originally planned to be used to it to the Tilpitz to increase the firepower of the latter. The Manyon hull was used as an innovative platform to build a new warship, and do not have naval guns!

The idea of ​​"no naval gun" scared everyone, but Hoffmann made a buzz with remarks: "Our electric dual-mounted 128mm high-level dual-purpose artillery proved its value on the air defense tower. Why can't it be installed on the warship? In addition, the dense array has also been recognized in actual combat, and it is recommended to put it in. The air defense rockets at the Penemide Base are becoming more and more practical, and a area can be left for installation of rockets, giving them a chance to show."

"Rockets occupy too much land and it's difficult to get on board."

"Change your mind, launch it vertically, and bury it under the main deck." Hoffman smiled slightly, "Can those huge and well-defended ship gun ammunition depots be used to accommodate rockets?"

The US Navy Committee has to discuss and discuss. In Germany, Hoffmann's words determine the fate of the remaining three British battleships: The Man Yong is destined to appear with a mobile air defense tower, and the name Man Yong is really worthy of Hoffman's willfulness...
Chapter completed!