Cross the Songhu battlefield and rise to become the most powerful warlord

627 Fleet Base

When Ye Qingshan saw Wang Chuying’s somewhat embarrassed expression, he knew that he had guessed right.

But Ye Qingshan was not angry either.

He understood the thoughts of his fleet officers and soldiers, especially those who stayed at the Lanai Island base and were unable to participate in the Battle of the Coral Sea.

They also wanted to prove in front of Ye Qingshan that they had not slacked off in their training over the past two years.

It's the same principle as when students were in school, they always wanted to be recognized by their teachers.

So, at this moment, an idea popped into Ye Qingshan's mind.

"Commander, I..."

Wang Chuying was just about to speak and admit her mistake.

But he was interrupted by Ye Qingshan just as he opened his mouth: "Since the soldiers at the base want to prove themselves so much.

Then give them a chance.

How about having a live-fire attack exercise on an aircraft carrier at your base before I leave in the next two days?

This is closer to actual combat.

Let me see if our carrier-based pilots are as good as you say."

After saying that, Ye Qingshan looked at Wang Chuying behind him.

"This……"

"Our soldiers are fine."

Faced with Ye Qingshan's sudden request for an exercise, Wang Chuying of course agreed first.

Even a little happy.

At this time, you can't be cowardly.

But then he looked embarrassed again and said, "Commander, our fleet is going to conduct a live-fire simulation exercise.

It requires permission from the Allied Pacific Command.

We've tried this before.

From the time we submit our application for live-fire drills to the time they agree, it will take at least a week..."

Ye Qingshan thought it was something else.

He just waved his hand and said, “You don’t have to worry about this matter.

I'll do it.

Let’s schedule the exercise for the day after tomorrow.”

Ye Qingshan directly set the time for the exercise. He believed that with his identity and friendship with Frank.

The requirement is simple: to have one's own fleet conduct a live-fire exercise.

"Tell our pilots to stop flying.

Metropolitan base, I have dinner with them in the evening."

"Yes!"

In the distance, the pilots on the two escort aircraft carriers who were still taking off and landing were a little disappointed when they saw Ye Qingshan's ship leave.

I thought they performed poorly.

Just when they were feeling a little depressed, Wang Chuying sent someone to deliver a message.

“Commander, are you going to have us conduct a live-fire exercise the day after tomorrow?

The commander will personally review it?"

"Ow!"

When they learned the news, dozens of carrier-based aircraft pilots all cheered.

It turned out that Ye Qingshan was not dissatisfied with their performance just now.

On the contrary, it’s not satisfying to watch it this way.

Give them a chance to conduct live-fire exercises and prove their abilities.

After Ye Qingshan arrived at the Lanai Island base by boat, he found that his base was too small compared to the Americans' Pearl Harbor base.

The base did not occupy the entire island of Lanai, but was built at a location in the south.

"Commander, our base is mainly composed of military ports, headquarters, airports, ammunition depots, air defense radars, etc..."

After arriving at the base, Ye Qingshan inspected the entire base. Wang Chuying brought a group of officers to personally introduce the situation of the base to Ye Qingshan.

Ye Qingshan spent the entire afternoon riding in a jeep and traveled around most of the base.

I have also gained a basic understanding of the general situation of the base.

“Sure enough, it really is a pocket-sized fleet base.

It’s a pity that the base does not have the ability to repair warships.

Otherwise, Tianshu and the others could be here, and we could repair it ourselves."

Of course, Ye Qingshan also knew that building a naval base like the US Navy’s Pearl Harbor would not be accomplished in more than a year.

Ye Qingshan's base now has the most basic capabilities of a naval fleet base.

It can already meet the needs of their expeditionary fleet.

Other needs, such as warship repairs, can be met by using the US military's Pearl Harbor base.

After dark, Ye Qingshan met with all the officers and soldiers of the base in the cafeteria of the base.

In particular, the more than 200 carrier-based aircraft pilots were personally received by Ye Qingshan.

"Chu Ying, how many pilots do we have at our base now?"

“Commander, there are two hundred and sixty-three people in total.

Among them, there are 105 regular pilots and the other more than 100 are reserve pilots.

Now, we no longer rely on the US military to train pilots for us.

We use the airfield at the base, our two escort carriers, and our own instructors to train new pilots."

“Well, that’s right.

It is better to rely on yourself than on others, and self-reliance is the hard truth. "

Ye Qingshan nodded. This was also the second step in the pilot training plan that Ye Qingshan had formulated.

“However, two hundred people are still too few.

We will continue to train more pilots.”

"Yes!"

At this moment, Wang Chuying really wanted to say, we need so many carrier-based aircraft pilots, but there are not so many aircraft carriers for us to use.

Ye Qingshan glanced at him, as if he had guessed his little thoughts.

Then he said: "Don't worry, there will be an aircraft carrier.

As for large main aircraft carriers, I cannot guarantee that we can get them for our fleet.

However, the two escort aircraft carriers our fleet is using for training now.

I will use my ability to get a few more ships for our fleet later.

Also, don't underestimate those escort aircraft carriers, they may not be as good as the large main aircraft carriers.

However, if their numbers increase, they can also exert strong combat effectiveness."

Ye Qingshan was telling the truth.

Ye Qingshan was really not sure if he could get a large main aircraft carrier for the fleet later.

The main reason is that it takes too long to build a large capital aircraft carrier.

Even so, Ye Qingshan’s shipyard has obtained permission from the Americans and has started building an aircraft carrier of its own.

It will take at least two years before it can be used.

As for getting a main aircraft carrier from the Americans, that is simply impossible.

Now, the US Pacific Fleet’s own main aircraft carriers are not enough.

How could it be allowed to allocate a main aircraft carrier to Ye Qingshan’s expeditionary fleet?

Even now, even the American Pacific Fleet is vigorously building escort aircraft carriers,

This is because escort aircraft carriers have lower construction costs and are quicker to build than large main aircraft carriers.

Ye Qingshan remembered that during the entire World War II, the US military had only about twenty large main aircraft carriers and a dozen light aircraft carriers.

However, there are a huge number of escort aircraft carriers, as many as hundreds of them.

Since the US fleet has chosen to build so many escort aircraft carriers, it has already demonstrated the value of these escort aircraft carriers in war.

Ultimately, it is because the manufacturing cycle of large main aircraft carriers is too long and the cost is too high.

This made Ye Qingshan temporarily give up the idea of ​​getting a large main aircraft carrier.

On the contrary, these escort aircraft carriers are more in line with Ye Qingshan’s actual situation.