Empire Conquest-Chapter 857 - 98: A Stranger in a New Place

Although the President gave him the position of Combat Staff Advisor of the Special Mixed Fleet, according to the Chief of Naval Staff, he was granted the authority of the Fleet Chief of Staff.

Waiting for him on the flagship "Nizi" of the East Ocean Fleet was not only the appointment letter for Combat Staff Advisor but also the brand-new Brigadier General rank.

Stark indeed needed a "knowledgeable" deputy.

In the Newland Republic, the East Ocean Fleet could be considered somewhat of an anomaly, at least it could be said to be unique.

After flying for less than an hour, the helicopter arrived over the "Nizi".

This ship is the lead ship of the "Nizi"-class super carriers, and it’s the second super carrier in the world with a full-load displacement over 90,000 tons after the "Xue Yuanzheng"-class.

Of course, this is the standard set by the Newland Navy.

According to the Liangxia Navy standard, a full-load displacement over 100,000 tons is needed to be considered a super carrier.

As for why full-load displacement is used instead of standard displacement, it’s because standard displacement has several different calculation methods, leading to significant differences. Moreover, a carrier needs to carry dozens, even hundreds of combat planes, several thousand tons of ammunition and aviation fuel, and must constantly maintain high readiness, such as fuel levels not dropping below 60% of maximum capacity, so for carriers, full-load displacement holds more reference value, while standard displacement is not very reliable.

No matter the standard, the "Nizi"-class is the strongest carrier worldwide after the "Xue Yuanzheng"-class.

Under standard conditions, the "Nizi"-class can carry over 90 aircraft: 2 to 3 squadrons of 24 or 36 F-14A/B/C/D, 2 to 3 squadrons of 24 or 36 F/A-18A/B/C/D, 2 to 3 squadrons of 24 or 36 A-6E/G, 1 squadron of 8 EA-6B, 1 squadron of 4 E-2C, 1 squadron of 6 S-3B, 1 squadron of 4 C-2B, and 1 squadron of 4 to 8 SH-60F. The number of fighter jets, multi-purpose fighters, and attack aircraft is determined by actual conditions, that is the combat mission, and the total does not exceed 72 aircraft, usually consisting of 3 squadrons of multi-purpose fighters.

If we’re to speak frankly, only the "Nizi"-class can rival the Liangxia Empire’s "Xue Yuanzheng"-class.

As for the previously built 3 "Little Eagle"-class, they are similar to the Liangxia Empire’s "Chen Bingxun"-class, being large carriers but not super carriers.

That’s precisely why the Newland Navy has placed all 3 active "Nizi"-class in the East Ocean Fleet.

Actually, this can be seen from the naming of the carriers.

In the currently active Liangxia Navy, aside from the lead ship "Xue Yuanzheng", and the fourth ship "Lian Xusheng", the other four are named after famous naval generals from the last war, namely the second ship "Bai Zhizhan", the third ship "Li Mingbo", the fifth ship "Liu Xiangzhen", and the sixth ship "Wei Jun". 𝙛𝓻𝒆𝓮𝒘𝙚𝙗𝒏𝙤𝙫𝓮𝒍.𝓬𝒐𝙢

In addition, the seventh ship under construction has been named "Liu Xiangdong", while the eighth has been named "Li Jie", and the approved ninth ship is likely to be named "Jin Hong", with the tenth named "Guan Zhenping", meaning the next four ships are also named after naval generals.

Certainly, naming carriers after historical figures, especially commanders and generals, has long been an unspoken rule.

In this regard, the Newland Navy has taken a tit-for-tat approach.

The three built "Nizi"-class, CV-68 "Nizi", CV-69 "Spur", CV-70 "Hal", with the next three being CV-71 "Frey", CV-72 "Washington", and CV-73 "Lincoln", meaning the first four are all named after naval generals.

Interestingly, probably due to dissatisfaction with this, the Pentagon specifically formulated a rule mandating that carriers can only be named after former Presidents.

This is why the fifth was named "Washington".

In fact, from this naming issue, it can be seen that the East Ocean Fleet is a very unique entity.

The root cause is closely tied to the history of the East-West conflict.

Don’t forget, Nizi and Spur were Navy Generals of the former Newland Federation, and even the fallen martyrs Hal and Frey were subordinates of Nizi.

During the East-West conflict, the Newland Republic, essentially the Huacheng Authority, not only refused to recognize these Navy Generals, but also regarded them as traitors. Even after the conflict ended, Generals like Nizi were still seen as outsiders. Otherwise, the first large carrier of the Newland Republic would not have been named after "Little Eagle", "Constellation", and "Newland". It was only after reconciliation was achieved that the Huacheng Authority recognized Navy Generals such as Nizi and Spur.

From a different perspective, the Huacheng Authority’s compromise was similarly related to the Navy, needing the loyalty of the former Newland Federation’s naval officers and soldiers to rebuild the Navy.

The key is that when the Newland Republic was established, it didn’t even have a decent fleet.

Otherwise, it still wouldn’t have reclaimed the Howay Islands to date.

However, no one can deny that without the foundation laid by the Newland Federation, there would be no current Newland Navy.

After the East-West conflict ended, the Newland Republic was in a state where everything needed revival, and what needed revitalization most was the Navy, which had been exhausted in the conflict.

It was in this context that a group of Federal Navy officers and soldiers, who had been captured or surrendered during the conflict, made great contributions to the reconstruction of the Newland Navy.

Among them, the group of navy engineers repatriated after the war held unparalleled value.

According to a never officially acknowledged claim, an engineer of the Newland Navy who voluntarily accepted repatriation left the Liangxia Empire with a complete set of blueprints for a large carrier. More astonishingly, this engineer memorized all the blueprints in his mind. Upon returning to the Newland Republic, with help from other engineers, he completed the design of the first large carrier within three years.

Unfortunately, when the design of this large carrier, modeled on the "Chen Bingxun" class, was completed, the Newland Republic didn’t have the industrial capability to build it, or severely lacked engineering experience in this regard, even unable to smelt the high-strength special steel needed for the hull.

However, this was not a bad thing.

After years of delay and several modifications, solving some obvious small problems, and making appropriate enlargements, the "Little Eagle" class emerged.

Strictly speaking, the "Little Eagle" class was considered the best large carrier of its time.

For instance, with a tonnage about 10% less than the "Chen Bingxun" class, it possessed equivalent aerial combat capability.

Because the flight deck layout was more reasonable, for instance, two of the three arresting gears on the starboard side were in front of the island, which greatly improved aviation operation efficiency, therefore, under certain special conditions, the sortie capability of the "Little Eagle" class was slightly higher than that of the "Chen Bingxun" class.

For the Newland Republic building a large carrier for the first time, this was truly an amazing achievement.

However, the "Little Eagle" class was born at the wrong time.

When the Newland Navy was preparing to aggressively build the "Little Eagle" class, the Liangxia Navy entered the era of super carriers, directly abandoning large carriers.

At the time, the Newland Navy had already secured funding for six "Little Eagle" class ships!

As a result, only three "Little Eagle" class ships were built.

The funds for the other three, accurately stated as the funding approved by Congress, were all used to build the "Nizi" class. Otherwise, even the first three ships wouldn’t have been completed and commissioned within a short three years.

Regardless, within the Newland Navy, and even the Newland Republic, the East Ocean Fleet was a very unique entity, even regarded as an independent kingdom.

This is also why the Huacheng Authority dispatched Stark to serve as the Fleet Combat Staff Advisor.

From top to bottom, the Fifth Fleet was almost entirely made up of people from the East Ocean Fleet, and the vast majority of officers still had various intricate ties with the Newland Federation Puppet Regime, so the Huacheng Authority fundamentally did not trust this fleet, which is why they sent a reliable person to act as a monitor.

Stark was a genuine East Coast native with no connection to the Newland Federation Puppet Regime.

Clearly, in the eyes of the Huacheng Authority, he was someone they could trust.

However, Stark was also well aware that even with the "Imperial Sword" given by the president, he might not have an easy time in the Fifth Fleet.

If not, Stark wouldn’t have directly pointed to Di Maria, asking this old acquaintance to be his deputy.

Of course, at this point, Stark no longer indulged in random thoughts.

The immediate task was to win the first battle, not only striving for an initial victory but also achieving a decisive victory, ideally securing control of the sea in one stroke.

If they could recapture the Howay Islands in one fell swoop, then whether to quit while ahead or be compelled to fight a protracted war, there would be considerable chances of success.

The current task was to quickly gain command of the Fifth Fleet.