Empire Conquest-Chapter 930 - 134: Ups and Downs (Part 2)

The solution is simple.

If one carrier is not enough, then group several carriers together, incorporating different types of carriers into a single fleet based on different combat requirements.

Obviously, this is a very significant change.

Previously, to maintain consistency in the battle group, two or three carriers of the same class were often placed in a battle group.

According to the new organizational system, a carrier battle group would typically include 1 to 3 attack carriers and 1 or 2 anti-submarine carriers, based on the combat intensity, such as potential threats encountered. If tasked with ground strike missions or supporting the Marine Corps in launching amphibious landing operations, and ground forces need support, 1 to 3 amphibious assault ships could also be included.

In this way, a battle group could have a maximum of 8 "Flat-Top Ships," capable of carrying about 400 fixed-wing ship-borne aircraft.

A carrier battle group like this could crush almost any opponent at that time!

Even when facing the West Continent Group and Beigu Group, assembling just 3 carrier battle groups would be enough to gain absolute sea control.

Of course, issues are also very prominent.

A "full complement" carrier battle group needs about 30 escort battleships and auxiliary vessels, operated by nearly 30,000 Navy personnel. Including personnel from rear bases, maintaining a full-complement carrier battle group requires about 100,000 personnel.

In peacetime after the war, this is an unbearable heavy burden.

According to this organizational system, if the Imperial Navy reduces its forces to 1.2 million as per the first round of military reform, after excluding non-combat personnel, it could only maintain a maximum of 7 carrier battle groups. At that time, the Imperial Navy needed 18 carrier battle groups for global deployment.

Actually, this was the key reason why the Imperial Navy always sought "bigger" when building carriers.

Although the larger the carrier, the more personnel it requires, overall, a single large and complete carrier requires fewer personnel than two smaller carriers, and fewer escort battleships are needed for one large carrier, thus greatly reducing the personnel requirements for a large carrier.

Importantly, making carriers larger was also the demand of the times.

This was the second post-war organizational and tactical change of the Imperial Navy.

This change also started with ship-borne aircraft. The improvement in the performance of ship-borne aircraft required the Navy to build better-performing platforms.

Before New Calendar 120, the supersonic era had already arrived.

Unfortunately, the Navy lagged behind once more.

Until New Calendar 121, when the "Chen Bingxun" was delivered, did the Imperial Navy Air Force enter the supersonic era. At that time, only the "Chen Bingxun" class could carry the supersonic ship-borne fighters equipped by the Imperial Navy. Other carriers couldn’t due to their flight decks being too small, or insufficient catapult power, or hangar height being too low.

Subsequently, with technological advancements, smaller ship-borne aircraft gained supersonic flight capability, allowing other Navy carriers to carry supersonic ship-borne fighters.

Still, the "Chen Bingxun" class pioneered a new era.

The Imperial Navy then changed "carrier battle group" to "carrier strike group," emphasizing the offensive nature of the shipborne air force.

The powerful "Chen Bingxun" class large carrier was the material foundation of this reform.

Because of its larger size, and fully drawing on the lessons and experiences of the previous large carriers, especially the "Imperial Capital" class, the "Chen Bingxun" class, with its 80,000-ton full load displacement, achieved unparalleled performance for its time, such as powerful comprehensive combat capability.

Simply put, the "Chen Bingxun" class simplified everything, bringing the Imperial Navy back to the old path.

One "Chen Bingxun" class with over 90 ship-borne aircraft could handle a low-intensity war, without the need to incorporate other "Flat-Top Ships."

If tasked with high-intensity combat missions, 2 or 3 "Chen Bingxun" classes would form a Special Mixed Fleet.

Of course, this is also related to the advanced performance of the ship-borne fighters.

This is the famous "War-6."

The "War-6" was the Imperial Navy’s first twin-engine heavy fighter, first multi-role carrier aircraft, first Mach 2 carrier aircraft, first two-seater carrier fighter, and first multipurpose fighter. It was also the first ship-borne aircraft to completely surpass its contemporary Air Force fighters in performance!

The "War-6" greatly simplified the organizational system of the shipborne air force.

Previously, a Shipborne Air Force Wing needed at least 5 types of combat aircraft. After the "War-6," this was reduced to 3 types.

If not for the Navy’s emphasis on long-range strike capability, and the fact that the "War-6" had a shorter combat radius compared to heavy shipborne attack aircraft during strike missions, it could even have replaced the "Attack-5," reducing the Imperial Navy’s shipborne combat aircraft to 2 types 30 years ago.

To put it simply, the Imperial Navy consistently sought to reduce the types of shipborne aircraft, as this was the only choice to improve shipborne air force combat efficiency and reduce logistical burdens.

Unfortunately, even after 30 years, carriers still needed to carry 3 types of combat aircraft.

Because of its excellent performance, the "War-6" not only dominated the Imperial Navy’s carrier decks but also took over the export market traditionally belonging to the Air Force.

Before production ceased, over 5,000 "War-6" units were produced, with about 3,000 units exported.

Additionally, many retired "War-6" units from the Imperial Navy were considered surplus and, after necessary modifications, were aided to friendly countries.

The contemporary "War-8" of the Air Force had a total output of less than 3,000 units, almost all for domestic use.

The shift from carrier battle group to carrier strike group, emphasizing the offensiveness of the shipborne air force, was also significantly related to the environment at the time.

Shortly after the "Chen Bingxun" class entered service, the Empire suffered its first post-war defeat, losing the Boi War.

Although this war nearly drained the Empire’s resources and squandered wartime gains, forcing the Empire to begin a strategic retreat, before New Calendar 130, the Imperial Navy, charged with safeguarding global interests, needed to maintain an expansionary momentum.

This wasn’t about showing off but necessary to maintain appearances.

Simply put, if the Liangxia Empire had undertaken a complete retreat after the Boi War, the international order established post-war would have inevitably collapsed, damaging the Empire’s reputation severely, potentially sparking a third global conflict.

Comparing the global confrontation of superpowers to combat, during a major retreat, some forces must stay behind to cover the retreat.

Clearly, the Imperial Navy was responsible for acting as the rearguard.

Importantly, the Imperial Navy’s expansion was strictly limited and generally more like a bluff to deceive enemies.

Adjusting the Navy’s strong suit, the carrier battle group, was undoubtedly the ideal choice.

At that time, the Imperial Navy vehemently promoted aggressiveness, exaggerating the "Chen Bingxun" class’s combat capabilities, claiming to guide the development trend of the Navy, while actually engaging in strategic deception.

The logic is simple, the Imperial Navy’s expansion momentum only lasted for a few years.

In New Calendar 137, the Imperial Authority officially recognized the Newland Republic and established ambassador-level diplomatic relations, officially ending the Imperial Navy’s "expansion."

Strictly speaking, as early as New Calendar 127, the Imperial Navy’s strength had hit rock bottom.

In fact, this was the second post-war low point for the Imperial Navy.

No matter how much the Imperial Navy hyped the "carrier strike group," retaining only 15 carriers speaks volumes.

Fortunately, the Imperial Navy’s efforts were not in vain.

In a sense, the second wave of post-war reforms in the Imperial Navy was actually preparation for the third wave, more of a setup for the upcoming climax.

Simply put, the main goal of the second round of reforms was not to enhance combat effectiveness but to emerge from the confusion of post-war global dominance and face the new international landscape, as with the rise of the Newland Republic, the era of the Imperial Navy’s global dominance ended.

Regardless of what the Imperial Navy’s top brass thought, they had to take this capable opponent seriously.

It was against this backdrop that, under Zhou Yongtao’s leadership, starting in New Calendar 144, the Imperial Navy embarked on its third wave of reforms to restore its former glory.

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