Chapter 141 Salvage (Ask for a monthly pass!) Read! ）

"Wow!"

With the sound of paper spreading, everyone was drawn to the map, a nautical chart to be exact. When the generals in the Admiralty conference room turned their eyes to the young lieutenant colonel, most of them were speculating in their hearts about what he would report next, and the generals in this conference room were no strangers to the lieutenant colonel, and even very familiar with him.

As early as before the uprising, the Huaxing Shipping Company had sunk more than a dozen merchant ships in the Yangtze River to block the intervention of other countries, because the navy was in Wuchang, and finally those self-sinking merchant ships were carried out by Shao Lingwu in charge of the naval salvage team, from last year to two and a half months, at first only salvaged a route, and by two months ago all the self-sinking merchant ships were salvaged, the Yangtze River water transport has been completely restored, for which the Admiralty has specially awarded him and the salvage team a medal.

Looking at the generals in front of him, Shao Lingwu took a deep breath and slowly calmed himself down.

"Sir, in order to salvage the wrecked ships in the Yangtze River channel, from last year to now, the navy salvage team has imported from abroad a series of the most advanced salvage equipment, including large salvage ships, salvage buoys, diving equipment, etc., at present, the navy salvage team has 26 1,000-ton, 800-ton, and 500-ton steel salvage buoys in addition to the 10,000-ton salvage ship with the "Xinxing", and during the salvage of the Yangtze River, it has accumulated enough technology to seal the chōu water and lift the barge. ”

When Shao Ling Wuzheng reported downward, Ye Zugui interrupted him instead.

"Okay, Lieutenant Colonel Shao, I and everyone present have no doubts about the technology of the salvage team, the reason why this meeting is held is because of the incident you reported!"

Ye Zugui raised his eyes and looked directly at Shao Lingwu, who was reporting downwards in front of him, this young man's report two weeks ago stirred up the entire Admiralty, and it can be said that even His Majesty knew about his suggestion.

"Yes, Your Excellency!"

Standing upright, Shao Lingwu immediately pointed to the chart on the table and said.

"Sir, during the siege of Arthur by the Japanese army last year, Lushun was blocked, and Rear Admiral Sotaro Misu joined the battleships Hatsuse, Shikishima and Yashima, the protective cruiser Kasashiki and the light cruiser Tatsuda into the blockade of Port Arthur in order to lift the blockade of Port Arthur against Japanese forces. On 15 May, Rear Admiral Sotaro Misu patrolled from north to east across the port, a route that led Yashima and other ships into the Amur River, where Russian minelayers had previously been placed, and the sinking of Hatsuse and Yashima was the greatest loss suffered by the Japanese Navy during the Russo-Japanese War. ”

As Shao Lingwu spoke, he pointed to the two positions marked with "x" on the chart.

"The battleship "Yashima" Lao Tieshan hit a mine twice in the South China Sea, and sank about six and a half hours later, and the sinking location is here! The battleship "Hatsuse" also struck mines twice and sank six hours and forty-five minutes later! ”

Raising his head to meet the minister's gaze, Shao Lingwu said in an unusually serious tone.

"Sir, two months ago, after completing the salvage mission of the Yangtze River, the salvage team was ordered to go to Port Arthur to clean up the wreckage of the Japanese-Russian closed port.

Pointing to another standard location outside Port Arthur, Shao Lingwu's breathing became a little nervous.

"After the survey of the three ships, the battleship Yashima sank at a depth of 52.5 meters in the old Tetsuzan Kaido, and there were about two gaps of 2.55 square meters on the port side. The battleship sank at a depth of 56.4 meters on the old Tieshan Kaido, with a gap of 2.18 square meters on the starboard side, and the battleship Sevastol sank at a depth of 71.3 meters 3.5 kilometers outside the port, with a gap of 1.58 square meters in the bow. ”

Shao Lingwu, who was a little nervous, didn't know what kind of sensation he had caused when he handed over the report on "salvaging sunken Japanese and Russian warships" three months ago when he first handed it to the Admiralty, after all, it was a salvage of warships of other countries, although it was in China's territorial waters, and after a fierce debate in the navy, Ye Zugui, as the Minister of the Navy, finally made a decision.

Salvage of three battleships.

No one can ignore the difference between the salvage and repair costs of 2.4 million to 3.2 million and the 30 million ship construction costs, but the most important thing that cannot be ignored is that "the repair can be completed in three months!" Time, for the Chinese Navy, the most tight thing now is time, the tight time, so that the Navy simply does not have enough time to build new ships, even if it is to purchase old ships from foreign countries, it also needs to have long-term negotiations. Salvaging these three warships, which once belonged to Japan and Russia, is the most time-saving and cost-saving option, although it will cause disputes with foreign countries. ,

...... battleship "Hatsuse", commissioned in 1901, standard displacement 14,850 tons, maximum speed 18 knots, two twin 12-inch naval guns with main guns, 6-inch gunwales of 14mén, battleship "Yashima", commissioned in 1897, displacement 12,533 tons, maximum speed eighteen knots, two twin 12-inch main guns, 10 mén six-inch guns, battleship Sevastol, 1895, displacement 11,842 tons, speed 17 knots, twin 12-inch two main guns, 10mén six-inch gunwalwales ......"

When Shao Lingwu reported, everyone in the conference room was muttering about the data of these three battleships in their hearts, who could ignore these three "big guys"? For a few millions, you have three battleships, what could be more cost-effective.

"In June, according to the instructions of the Admiralty, out of the requirements of strengthening the defense of Arthur, we had salvaged the" Hatsuse " and "Yashima" and the Sevastor, and successfully salvaged their main turrets...... Because it is now necessary to salvage three ships, please order Lushun to stop the transformation of the six main turrets immediately! ”

As soon as Shao Lingwu's words came out, Ye Zugui spoke directly.

"The telegram has been sent, and now, there is only one question left, two months, two months, can you straighten the three ships out of the water!"

Without waiting for Shao Lingwu to speak, Ye Zugui cast his eyes on Shi Tiange again.

"How long will it take to transport the three ships to Sanduao, and how long will it take to repair the three ships?"

"We have a 20,000-ton floating dock imported from Germany, and the three ships can be repaired and transported to Sanduao within three weeks to repair the sunken warship, considering that the three ships are all new ships built between 1895 and 1901, and the three ships are in good condition before the sinking, except for the damaged part that needs to be repaired, the amount of work is not large, and it is expected that the repair can be completed within three months, but!"

After a pause, Shi Tiange asked another question.

"Considering that the boiler compartment of the three ships is sunk in the deep sea, and the boiler compartment may be seriously damaged by flooding, so the boilers of the three ships need to be replaced, and the replacement and installation of 16 boilers on each ship is not an easy project. So the shipyard needs at least 4 months! ”

"Three months!"

Ye Zugui coldly spat out an order.

"You only have three months, Lieutenant Colonel Shao, to find out the damage location map and data of the three ships accurately, I hope that at the same time as the salvage, the steel plant will start to manufacture the damaged parts of the steel plate, in short, to use the shortest time to salvage, the shortest time to repair, the shortest time to enter the service training!"

Facing the minister, Shao Lingwu wanted to say that it was impossible, at least two months of salvage time was impossible, but he couldn't say that, he knew that his answer would definitely not be satisfied with the minister, his order was two months, and he had to complete it no matter what.

"Fortunately, fortunately, the main gun has been salvaged!"

On the contrary, Shao Lingwu was glad that the previous salvage had reduced the workload, and all that remained was to plug the leakage, remove the silt around the hull, remove the armor plates and outfits, and repair it in two months, hoping that the repair could be completed within two months.

"Sir, will the Japanese protest then?"

After everyone left, Sa Zhenbing, who had been transferred from the principal of the sea school to the commander of the second team, asked Ye Zugui.

"Let it be!"

While spitting out three words, Ye Zugui walked to the chart again, looking at the Yellow Sea between China and Japan on the chart, this will be another sea battle in the Yellow Sea, who loses and who wins? He didn't have any confidence in the future.

"I'm not worried about the protests of the Japanese, if they want to protest, we should have already protested when we salvaged the main guns of the three ships, and the secrecy of the salvage team is also doing a good job, the nearby sea is blocked, in the past, the Japanese were not on this, now, their minds are not on this either, in the past they were worried about the Russians, and now they are worried about us buying warships abroad!"

"Sir, did the British refuse our request?"

Ye Zugui nodded, he once hoped that through the exposure of the Zhiyuan-class, he would make all countries aware of the backwardness of the old warships, in order to be able to purchase the old ships, but the Japanese ambassador to Britain took out the "Anglo-Japanese Alliance Treaty" required Britain to fulfill its obligations as an ally, and could not export warships to China to strengthen the Chinese Navy, and the exposure of Zhiyuan made the British feel that now the Chinese Navy is trying to become the dominant maritime power in the Far East, so naturally they have no interest in exporting warships to the Chinese Navy.

"General Fisher has been a great help, six light cruisers in service from 1898 to 1900, although old, but they are also usable, but don't think about battleships or armored cruisers, so let's focus on Germany and the United States, these two countries are most likely to sell warships to us, especially the former!"