Chapter 590 The Navy's Reform Depends on You

In the headquarters meeting room, the conversation between Charles and Darlan continued, but there were some subtle changes in the atmosphere.

Charles turned the topic to the destroyer's tactics of hunting submarines. He did this in order to allow Darlan to rise quickly in the navy and gain influence.

Darlan had a complicated expression.

He would be happy to discuss this with Charles.

But Charles was from the army, and he believed that the navy was different from the army, and naval warfare required a solid theoretical foundation.

If Charles, who was 18 years old and had never been exposed to naval warfare theory, could explain all this and teach himself how to do it, wouldn't all his years of hard work at the Brest Naval Academy and the Toulon Naval Artillery School, where he even graduated with the first place, be in vain?

However, out of respect for Charles, Darlan did not object, but he couldn't help feeling a little frustrated.

Charles took the paper and pen and said as he drew: "Submarine diving takes time. The navy usually attacks intensively during the diving phase."

Darlan nodded in agreement, then looked up at Charles in confusion: "General, are you saying that we shouldn't do this?"

Submarines are more likely to be sunk or damaged in shallow waters. If they dive to a certain depth, they will be separated by a thick layer of sea water, making them difficult to detect and artillery shells will not pose a threat to them.

Darlan was in a dilemma. How should he correct Charles' mistake?

Saying it directly would make Ciel lose face, but pretending to agree with his point of view would cause problems in actual combat...

Charles seemed to see through Darlan's thoughts and said, "I think we should give up bombarding submarines at this stage."

"Give up the bombardment?" Darlan asked. "General, do you mean to rely entirely on the 'echo sounder'?"

"Yes." Charles nodded. "The probability of destroying the submarine with artillery fire is too small. There is also the possibility of accidentally damaging our own ships or even disrupting our deployment. This is a loss-making approach."

This was determined by the low accuracy of naval guns during World War I. Although naval guns had fire control at that time, it was only basic two-way stability.

(Note: The two-way stabilization of naval guns is similar to the dual stabilization of tanks, but the shaking of warships on the sea is much more complicated than that of tanks. The dual stabilization cannot solve the ship's rolling, so a three-axis three-way stabilized fire control system is required)

(The picture above shows the German SKC/31 naval gun, which was developed in 1931 and is a more successful and mature three-way stabilized gun mount. The first three-way stabilized gun mount was the SKC/25 developed in 1925, but Germany got the direction wrong when developing this type, thinking that the third direction that affects the accuracy is the pitch of the warship, so the accuracy of the 25 type was not greatly improved. A few years later, it was changed to target the roll of the warship, and the performance was significantly improved)

(The above picture shows the state of the three-way stabilized gun mount when it is tilted to the right during adaptive stabilization.)

In an era without three-way stabilized gun mounts, naval guns would often deviate from their targets by several kilometers in actual combat, and it was common for submarine hunters to fire indiscriminately and accidentally damage their own ships. This happened during the Battle of the Dardanelles, so more often than not, they did more harm than good.

This was a little hard for Darlan to imagine. He thought that hunting submarines should be mainly based on naval guns and supplemented by "echo sounders".

However, Charles advocated abandoning naval guns completely and relying entirely on "echo sounders".

He frowned, hesitated for a while and finally decided to stick to his point of view: "But General, this is a brand new equipment after all. It may have a series of problems such as errors and long feedback time. We can't place too much hope on it."

Especially the feedback time.

The "echo sounder" measured the depth of the submarine, and by the time the warship set the time to drop the depth charge, the submarine might have been at another depth, so the bomb would never be accurate.

Darlan gave a conclusion: "I think we should not be too radical. Naval guns still play an important role in anti-submarine warfare. We should combine the two and give up naval guns when the 'echo sounder' matures."

Charles hummed and replied, "Lieutenant, have you considered this: the Germans don't know that we are equipped with an 'echo sounder'?"

Darlan's eyes lit up, and after a brief thought he nodded slightly: "That's right, General. Since the Germans don't know about the existence of the 'echo sounder', they will think they are safe after diving, and will certainly stay at a certain depth and go straight. This provides us with an opportunity, a great opportunity."

Ciel nodded, that was what he wanted to say.

Hunting German submarines while they are moving straight ahead at depth, it will not be easy for the submarines to escape as long as the error of the "echo sounder" is not too large.

On the contrary, it is very difficult to blow up a submarine during its diving phase, because the depth and position of the submarine change very quickly during this phase, and it is difficult for the "echo sounder" to grasp its exact position in time.

So the entire hunting-submarine tactic was reversed.

The more Darlan thought about it, the more he felt that it was right. The look in his eyes when he looked at Charles gradually changed from questioning to affirmation, with a hint of shock.

If Charles's tactics can be successful, it will subvert the entire anti-submarine combat mode, transforming the previous primitive hunting methods such as artillery fire, bow ramming, and mine nets into precise hunting using "echo sounders" and deep water bombs.

(Note: A mine net is a large area of ​​barbed wire and mines spread in the sea. The barbed wire may entangle the propeller of a submarine and capture it, but the efficiency is extremely low)

Seeing that Darlan understood, Charles smiled and nodded, and said without thinking: "The reform of future naval tactics depends on you, Lieutenant."

"Tactical reform?" Darlan was stunned.

Isn't this an exaggeration? How can he promote tactical reforms by himself?

Charles did not answer directly. He spoke calmly, as if he was telling his own story:

"As you can see, it's not easy to get recognition for what I do."

"It has been more than a year since I launched the tank. It has proved its value on the battlefield more than once, but there are still people who think it is useless and redundant, and still think that cavalry is more useful than tanks."

"But this won't change anything. No one can stop the popularization of tanks and their tactics on the battlefield."

"Because the troops that do not recognize it, use it, and learn it will be defeated on the battlefield, again and again, and eventually perish completely!"

"This is the survival of the fittest on the battlefield."

Darlan nodded thoughtfully.

He understood that the battlefield was like a touchstone. It would ruthlessly eliminate those people and ideas that did not respect objective laws in its own way.

Therefore, he should do the same in the Navy.

As long as we win and survive again and again with the right equipment and tactical theories, we will naturally be able to complete the reform of the navy.

Even, you may reach the peak of your life like Charles.

Darlan realized this and became more confident. He stood up excitedly and saluted Charles in a proper military salute: "I won't let you down, General!"

I need Charles, Darlan thought, I need his tactics and his inventions, not just the Echo Sounder.

(End of this chapter)