Huang Zhe continued: "The second problem is that the capacity of our shipyards is limited, and now we have two shipyards, namely Tianjin Shipyard, Qingdao Shipyard, but only Qingdao Shipyard has the ability to build 10,000-ton warships, but now Qingdao Shipyard only has 3 docks for building 10,000-ton warships, one of which is a special maintenance dock for our warships, so we can only build two 10,000-ton warships at the same time, and the construction cycle of a 10,000-ton warship is generally about 2 years, of which the launching outfitting is about half a year, and about 16-20 months are in the dock, theoretically speaking, in this 5-year cycle, we can only build 8 10,000-ton warships at most, but considering that we still have a large number of captured warships to repair, and warships to maintain and overhaulIn fact, with our current production capacity, we can only build 4 10,000-ton warships. ”

Wang Hailong was startled and said, "Is it so little?"

Huang Zhedao: "In the second five-year plan, two docks capable of building 20,000-ton warships will be expanded at the Qingdao shipyard, but this project will take about three years to complete; As well as the transformation of the Jiangnan Manufacturing Bureau in Shanghai, the establishment of the Jiangnan Shipyard, are included in the 141 plan, if these plans are completed, our ship-building capacity will have a qualitative leap, theoretically can reach the ability to build 6-8 large warships at the same time, but Dalian Shipyard is still in the selection, to be put into production to build large warships, it will take at least 3-4 years, and the transformation of the Jiangnan Shipyard will take 1-2 years, so from the perspective of production capacity, we build large warships in large quantities, should be in the next five-year cycle。 ”

Wang Hailong opened his mouth, as if he wanted to say something, but he still didn't say anything.

Huang Zhe said: "The last problem is the lack of supporting capacity for shipbuilding, the shipbuilding industry is a huge system industry, there are hundreds, still thousands of supporting industrial systems, not a shipyard can be solved, in the first 5-year plan, we have solved most of the supporting system, by which in 1906, the steel plant developed the 2103 type of special steel, successfully solved the problem of steel for the keel of warships, is a big breakthrough, but there are currently three most important supporting systems for warships, power system, Armored steel, main guns, we do not have the ability to produce them independently. Now it seems that we have an agreement with Germany to jointly develop steam turbines, and now it has reached the stage of formal shipment, and according to the agreement, Germany should help us set up a steam engine factory, which can not only produce steam turbines, but also boilers and reciprocating steam engines, this project has been included in the 141 plan, so the power system is expected to be solved in this 5-year cycle, but armored steel, as well as large-caliber main guns, at present we can only rely on imports. ”

Wang Hailong said: "It turns out that we still have so many things that we can't do, and the newspapers boast every day that this breakthrough is a foreign monopoly and that achievement has reached the international advanced level, which is all a lie." ”

Shang Jinfeng said: "Of course it's not a lie, it's just that we need to make up too many lessons." ”

Zhang Wei said: "With a steam turbine, why do you need a reciprocating steam engine?"

Huang Zhedao: "The technology of the duplex steam engine is mature, the cost is low, and it can still be used on civilian ships. ”

"What about diesel engines? Don't we already have a diesel engine factory?"

Huang Zhe said: "At present, the power of diesel engines is not large, and it is mainly used in vehicles and small warships, and it takes at least 15 years of research and development time to use it in large warships." ”

Wang Hailong said: "Let's just say it, what kind of warships can we build now, and do you have a design plan?"

Huang Zhe nodded, and immediately ordered someone to take out a few picture boards from the preparation room next to the conference room and hang them on the display wall. When everyone looked at it, they drew the plane, side façade, and renderings of a type of warship.

Huang Zhe came to the drawing board, held an indicator stick, and said: " This is the drawing of the next type of battleship we designed, of course, it can be regarded as the modification of the cadre class, the main parameters are, the total length is 139 meters, the width is 19.2 meters, the draft is 8 meters, and the estimated displacement is 13,500-14,000 tons; the main gun is still 8 280 mm guns, divided into 4 twin batteries, arranged along the central axis knapsack structure; the armor is, the main armor is 300 mm, the headquarters and main gun turret are 350 mm, the secondary armor belt and dome armor are 150 mm, the deck armor is 80 mm, the power is the same as that of the cadre class, the maximum speed is 20 knots, which is 0.5 knots less than the cadre class. ”

Wang Hailong said: "Since it is an improved type, it must have some changes with the cadre level, right?

Huang Zhe said: "The main change is in two places, the first is the range, because the cadre-class battleship in order to meet the arrangement of 8 main guns, and in this era, the 12,000-ton battleship is only equipped with 4 main guns, so it can only be compromised in the range, the cadre-class coal carrying capacity is only 900 tons, and the maximum range is 12 knots speed 3600 nautical miles, in this era, this voyage can only be regarded as the level of the port defender." However, when we designed this type of warship, we did not have the requirement of ocean-going operations, and we mainly fought in the coastal area, so the impact of this range disadvantage was not great; however, considering that we have now occupied Borneo, and the scope of the navy's activities in the future will include the entire South China Sea and the Java Sea region, then the weak point of the range of the cadre-class will be expanded and become the biggest shortcoming, so the coal storage capacity of the new battleship has increased to 1,300 tons, and the range can also be increased to 4,500 nautical miles, which can basically meet the current operational requirements of our navy。 ”

Wang Hailong nodded again and again, and said: "This improvement is good, and the other performances of the cadre level are good, but the range is indeed a little less." Wang Hailong commanded two Admiral-class battleships to participate in the Battle of the Natuna Islands, a long-distance attack of more than 5,000 kilometers, because the fleet was at a speed of 15 knots, as a result, the two Admiral-class battleships were replenished twice on the way, although at that time there were Yueyang ships in the naval array, and the surrounding situation could be scanned with the ship's radar, so there were no accidents, but after the end of the Far East War, the five modern warships will gradually withdraw from the first line and retreat to the second line, so the weakness of the insufficient range of the Admiral-class will become a major shortcoming of the fleet。

In fact, the improved battleship will expand the range to 4500 nautical miles, which can only be regarded as a passing pass, to really achieve ocean-going operations, the range must be increased to at least 5000 nautical miles, but at present, the main scope of activities of the East China ** Navy is still in the South China Sea, although it is not considered to be a near-sea operation, but it is not up to the standard of ocean-going operations, so this range is also enough.

Huang Zhe continued: "The second big change is the firepower, of course, mainly the firepower of the secondary artillery, the secondary guns of the cadre class are 8 twin 155 mm guns, and 8 twin 100 mm rapid-fire guns, and then 6 twin 50 mm rapid-fire guns. However, according to the reaction of the soldiers on the ship, such a level of firepower is too large, between the 155 mm guns and the 100 mm guns, the lack of intermediate firepower of the 120 mm caliber level, and between the 100 mm guns and the 50 mm machine guns, there is also a lack of 75 mm rapid-fire guns, these shortcomings lead to the dry general-class battleships in dealing with targets at close range, it seems that the firepower is somewhat insufficient, our previous consideration is to simplify the caliber of the gun, in order to reduce the pressure of logistics and the dispatch of warships, but the simplification of logistics, is based on the premise of not damaging the firepower of the warship, so this time the improvement, the main gun and the 155 mm caliber secondary gun remain unchangedThe other guns were 4 twin 125 mm guns, 4 twin 100 mm guns, 6 75 mm rapid-fire guns, and 6 twin 50 mm rapid-fire guns. In this way, six levels of firepower are formed, of course, the effect of the whole body depends on the results of the actual battle, and the actual combat is the only criterion for testing the quality of the weapon. ”

Wang Hailong also nodded again and again, the level of firepower of the cadre general level is too different, it is indeed a problem, although this does simplify the pressure of logistics, but it also causes a senseless waste in the war, such as the enemy's warships below 3000 tons, the power of 100 mm artillery is somewhat insufficient, and the power of 155 mm artillery is too much, 125 mm of this level of artillery is just right; and against 500 tons of warships, the power of 100 mm guns is excessive, 50 mm caliber rapid-fire machine guns are a little worse, and 75 mm of this level of artillery is needed。

Of course, in this way, the original level 4 artillery has become level 6, the pressure on logistics has increased, and the internal scheduling of warships has become more complicated, so this is actually a matter of trade-offs, and the pros and cons of the body can only be found in the war. Although the traverser is clear about the direction of the development of warships in this era, this kind of detail is not clear, and it is necessary to accumulate corresponding experience, and the KPA Navy is still a little naïve in these aspects.

At this time, Wang Hailong said again: "The Ganjiang-class battleship and the Chitu-class armored cruiser are of the same ship type, that is, the idea of one type and two ships, that is, if the Ganjiang-class battleship has an improved version, then there is an improved version of the Chitu-class armored cruiser." ”

Huang Zhe nodded and said, "Of course there is." As he spoke, he ordered someone to change a set of drawings and said: " This is an improved version of the Chitu-class armored cruiser, which is the same type as the new battleship, but the width is a little less, only 18.3 meters, the draft is 7.5 meters, the estimated displacement is between 11,000-12,000 tons, the main gun is still 8 200 mm guns, divided into 4 twin batteries, arranged along the central axis knapsack structure, the armor is 180 mm for the main armor, 220 mm for the headquarters and main gun turret, 100 mm for the secondary armor belt and dome, 50 mm for deck armor, 22 knots for maximum speed, and 12 knots for 5,400 nautical miles. ”

Wang Hailong said: "From the overall point of view, that is, the Chitu class has been slightly enlarged, and there is not much change, and the combat effectiveness has not been significantly enhanced, only the range has increased by 400 nautical miles, but the actual significance of increasing such a small range is not big." ”

Due to the different positioning of armored cruisers and battleships, the range of activity is much larger than that of battleships, so the requirements for range are higher than those of battleships, and the displacement of the Chitu-class armored cruisers exceeds 10,000 tons, which is a large armored cruiser, and there is enough tonnage to hold coal, and the designed range reaches 12 knots and 5000 nautical miles, although the cruiser can only swing its tail, but it is also unsatisfactory.