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It is the economic strength and industrial capacity that have been greatly improved, and it has become one of the top industrial countries in the world in one fell swoop. www.biquge.info In addition, Mexico joined the co-prosperity circle under the leadership of the Chinese Empire and obtained a large amount of advanced science and technology from the Chinese Empire, which made its army, navy and air force develop rapidly in the post-war ten years, and its military strength also ranked among the top ten in the world.

Before 1918, the Mexican army had less than 50,000 men, and its armament was still stuck in the old weapons of the 19th century, and rifles and even breech guns were in service, and the overall was even inferior to the Qing army at the end of the 19th century. After the Sino-American War, Mexico, as the right-hand man of the Chinese Empire, began to obtain advanced weapons and equipment from the Chinese Empire.

In terms of army combat vehicles, by 1931, the Mexican Army had acquired a total of 500 M16 main battle tanks, 11 Chapter 533 00 M10 main battle tanks of the Mexican-American War, 420 W16 wheeled infantry tanks, and 250 Z16 anti-tank tanks. In addition, about 1,400 Renault-17, Mark and other series of main battle tanks captured from the U.S. Army during the Sino-American War were also transferred to the Mexican Army, which enabled the Mexican Army to quickly realize mechanization and form a mechanized, semi-mechanized, and motorized force of about 400,000 people. On the size of the mechanized forces of the world alone. The Mexican Army ranks second in the world. Even more than the mechanization standards of the German Army.

In addition, the Mexican Army also imported 200,000 M11 Browning automatic/semi-automatic rifles, 20,000 M12 Browning light machine guns, 1,000 M2 Browning heavy machine guns, 75 mm infantry guns, 105 mm mountain guns and 155 mm heavy howitzers from the Chinese Empire, a total of 6,000 pieces, all of which were equipped with the most elite First Army and the Second Army of the Mexican Army. In addition, the Mexican Army also accepted 700,000 Sheffield rifles, more than 10,000 Maxim heavy machine guns, more than 1 million tons of related weapons and ammunition, and U.S. military equipment at that time from the U.S. Army transferred by the U.S. Army in Chapter 533 of the U.S.-Mexico War. These weapons and equipment made the Mexican Army extremely powerful during the treaty era, and the Mexican Army claimed to be the second largest in the world. Except for the Imperial Army of China, no country is in sight.

The same is true of the Mexican Air Force. Before 1918, the Mexican Air Force had only a dozen reconnaissance aircraft, which were not called air forces at all. After the Sino-American War, the Chinese Empire supported Mexico as a watchdog to spy on and contain the United States. Vigorously support the Mexican Air Force. First, more than 3,000 F2B, Newport 17 and other fighters captured from the US Air Force, and more than 600 O-100 bombers were transferred to the Mexican Air Force, and then more than 1,000 Cat Demon fighters of the Chinese Empire were exported to Mexico, and 500 H1N1 bombers were donated to the Mexican Air Force free of charge, in exchange for Mexico's cooperation with the oil giants of the Chinese Empire in the Texas oil region.

By 1924, the Chinese Imperial Air Force transferred another 200 O-400 bombers to the Mexican Air Force, helping the Mexican Air Force to form a strategic bomber force, and at the same time making the Mexican Air Force of the Chinese Empire one of the six major air powers in the world. After the South African War, a large number of retired fighters and bombers were exported in the hands of the Chinese Empire, and the Mexican Air Force accepted 400 Thunderbolt fighters and 200 Hellfire fighters. and 300 H2N1 long-range bombers, making the Mexican Air Force extremely powerful, surpassing Britain, France and Italy to become the world's third-largest air force. The Mexican Air Force has also expanded from less than 50 to more than 37,000.

Mexico's army and air force are among the world's great powers, and no country on the American continent can compete with Mexico, which has contributed to the rise of the Mexican military's hawks, and with the take-off of Mexico's economy, the rapid development of industrialization after the second industrial revolution, Mexico, which was once poor and white, has now entered the level of a primary developed country. The expansion of economic power has greatly improved Mexico's political status. Naturally, the military narrative will be further raised. ╔╗

For the Mexican military in the treaty era, Mexico was not a party to the five-nation pact, and the world's five major powers, Britain, France, Germany, and Italy were all reducing the resources and armaments of the army, navy, and air force, while the Mexican military was not restricted by the treaty, and would not directly engage in military conflict with the five major powers on the American continent. Although the US Maritime Self-Defense Force retains only a dozen old warships. But also much more powerful than the Mexican Navy. The navies of Chile, Argentina and Brazil in South America are much stronger, and the Mexican Navy has seen the leapfrog development of the Mexican Army and Air Force. Naturally, not to be left behind. Thus, with the financial support of the Mexican government, the Mexican Navy entered a period of explosive development from 1924.

In the summer of 1923, the Mexican Navy submitted the "Mexican Naval Development Report for the Next Five Years" to the Mexican Congress, requiring the Mexican Navy to become the first naval power in the Americas in the next five years, and asking Congress to allocate 4 billion Mexican pesos to build four superbow-type battleships equipped with 16-inch main guns for the Mexican Navy, four superbow-type battlecruisers equipped with more than 15-inch guns, and four air defense heavy cruisers with a single-ship displacement of 15,000 tons. Four light cruisers with a single ship displacement of about 5,000 tons, as well as 24 destroyers and 20 submarines with matching ships. In addition, the Mexican Navy's aircraft carrier plan is also on the agenda, requiring the construction of four light aircraft carriers with a single displacement of about 12,000 tons to form a composite aircraft carrier battle group.

The Mexican parliament was stunned by the huge naval plan proposed by the Mexican Navy, which calculated that it would need at least 12 billion pesos to meet the requirements of the Mexican Navy, and that money alone was useless, and Mexico's naval industry was basically none, and the largest shipyard in the country could only build warships under 2,000 tons. And Mexico used to run a perennial fiscal deficit. The naval industry has long been abandoned, and even the Mexican Navy is currently in service with a dozen sail warships built at the beginning of the last century. It is impossible to build the most advanced destroyer in the world at present, let alone build a super god bow battleship equipped with a 16-inch main gun, which is simply a fantasy.

The Mexican Navy then asked the Mexican government to negotiate with the Chinese Empire, asking the Chinese Empire to provide Mexico with the technology to build ships, guns, and engines, or to start construction of the warships needed by the Mexican Navy directly in the shipyards of the Chinese Empire. However, at that time, the Chinese Empire had no plans to rebuild its navy because the U.S. Maritime Self-Defense Force was still relatively non-existent, so it did not pose a threat to the Chinese Empire. In order to balance the balance of power between the United States and Mexico, the Chinese Empire did not want Mexico to be too strong, because the strength of the Mexican army and air force had already caused a collective panic in Canada and the countries of Central and South America. The Chinese Empire wants to build a Pacific Rim Belt. The inclusion of the Pacific Ocean in the inner lakes of the Chinese Empire requires a holistic consideration of the feelings of these countries. So, at first, the Chinese Empire opposed Mexico's naval expansion plan.

But. Soon an incident changed the attitude of the Chinese Empire. With the signing of the Five-Power Pact, the five permanent members, including the Chinese Empire, have carried out large-scale disarmament as agreed, and the international environment tends to be peaceful, and the Cabinet and Congress of the Chinese Empire believe that the annual maintenance cost of the huge fleet of the Chinese Imperial Navy is as high as 1 billion dragon coins, and after the mothballing of 27 super warships, the maintenance cost is reduced to 400 million dragon coins, but compared with the average maintenance cost of the navies of other powers is less than 60 million dragon coins, the Chinese Imperial Navy is still too powerful. Disproportionate to the current international environment and the Empire's maritime security. After more than a dozen rounds of discussions, the Imperial Chinese Congress decided that the Imperial Navy needed to be further reduced. At the end of 1923, the Chinese Empire once again entered a new round of unilateral naval dismantling in order to meet the political goals of the Chinese Empire and establish the image of a global peaceful superpower.

The Imperial Chinese Navy has mothballed 27 super warships, and the remaining capital ships are still huge, and many of them have been captured by the U.S. Navy. ╔╗ These capital ships are actually not of retirement age, and if they are sent back to the shipyard for dismantling, the Navy will have to pay a lot of expenses. In particular, the super battleships such as the USS South Carolina, the USS Michigan, the USS Delaware, the USS Nebraska, the USS Georgia, and the USS New Jersey cost up to 30 million dragon dollars for a single ship. The price of selling scrap iron is only 20 million dragon coins. It can be said that whether it is dismantling or selling scrap iron, it is not worth it.

Soon, politicians in the Imperial Congress planned to resell half of the capital ships that had been in service for more than 10 years to foreign countries, as the Mexican navy desperately needed to build up its naval capabilities. The offer submitted to the Chinese Empire for the purchase of second-hand capital ships has reached 50 million dragon coins. Comparatively, it is better to sell it to the Mexican Navy.

But. The Chinese Empire also had to balance the military power of the entire Americas. As a result, the Chinese Empire negotiated with the countries of the Americas one after another, revealing that Mexico was going to buy the second-hand capital ships decommissioned by the Chinese Empire.

Canada in North America, Colombia, Chile, Argentina, Brazil and other countries in Central and South America have expressed their opposition, declaring that if the Chinese Empire resells its decommissioned capital ships to the Mexican Navy, it will upset the existing balance of maritime power in the Americas, and that a bigger Mexico will seriously threaten the security of other countries in the Americas, and demand that the Chinese Empire not sell its decommissioned capital ships to Mexico.

As a result, the Chinese emperor sat on the ground and raised the price, saying that these retired warships would definitely be sold. If it is not sold to Mexico, then the Chinese Empire will lose more than a billion dragon coins.

After a series of meetings and consultations, the countries of the Americas knew that they could not influence the decision of the Chinese Empire, and if they wanted to prevent the Chinese Empire from selling its capital ships to Mexico, they could only find a way to buy these decommissioned capital ships.

Obviously, the Chinese emperor is buying and selling by force, and sees the "helplessness" of these countries.

During the Sino-American War, the Chinese Empire captured 21 battleships, 8 battle cruisers, 33 cruisers, 47 destroyers, 12 submarines, and nearly 70 U.S. logistics supply ships of the U.S. Ocean Fleet.

Among the captured battleships, the Imperial Chinese Navy sealed four Iowa-class battleships, three North Carolina-class battleships, four Olympia-class battlecruisers, and two Denver-class battlecruisers.

The remaining twelve capital battleships, the USS South Dakota, the USS Montana, the USS Indiana, the USS Massachusetts, the USS Chilshaji, the USS Mississippi, the USS Idaho, the USS Tennessee, the USS California, the USS Colorado, the USS Maryland, and the USS West Virginia, and the two battlecruisers USS Birmingham and USS Tallahassee, were included in the first batch of used capital ships for sale.

The USS South Dakota, USS Montana, USS Indiana, USS Massachusetts, and USS Chilshach, five battleships armed with 16-inch guns. For the world's navies. They were both formidable battleships, and although they had been in service for ten years, they were still among the most powerful capital ships in the Treaty Navy era. For the countries of the Americas, being able to get such a powerful battleship is undoubtedly a guarantee of regional naval power.

The countries of the Americas wanted to prevent the Mexican Navy from acquiring such powerful warships on the one hand, and on the other hand, they wanted to get them themselves. As a result, the Chinese Empire opened the bidding, and each warship was priced at 50 million dragon coins to start the auction.

As a result, Mexico, Brazil, Chile, Argentina, Colombia and other countries began to compete, so that these five super battleships were sold at a very decent price.

The South Dakota and Montana were bought by the Mexican Navy for 79 million dragon dollars. ╔╗The Indiana was bought by the Colombian Navy for a high price of 77 million dragon dollars. The Massachusetts and Chilchajs were bought by the Chilean Navy and the Argentine Navy for 75 million and 73 million dragon dollars, respectively. Brazil missed the opportunity to get a super-battleship with 16-inch guns because of the government's hesitation.

However, in the subsequent auctions. Brazil no longer hesitated and bought the South Carolina and Michigan for 76 million dragon dollars. The Delaware and Nebraska were bought by the Mexican Navy for 65 million dragon dollars. The Georgia and New Jersey were bought by Chile and Argentina for 23 million and 22.5 million dragon dollars each, respectively.

The age of these six battleships of the Divine Bow type is more than fourteen years old. Originally, all countries did not want to buy it, but the Chinese empire promised that the two battle cruisers, the Birmingham and the Tallahassee, were finally auctioned by the Mexican Navy for a total price of 110 million dragon coins.

Subsequently, 33 cruisers, 47 destroyers, 12 submarines, and nearly 70 U.S. logistics supply ships captured by the Chinese Empire from the U.S. Navy were auctioned.

Because of the participation of American countries, the Mexican Navy only got six capital ships, so on the remaining cruisers, destroyers, submarines and supply ships, the Mexican Navy invested 830 million dragon coins in one go, and obtained 12 cruisers, 24 destroyers, 12 submarines and 34 supply ships. The other 11 cruisers, 23 destroyers and 36 supply ships were bought by Chile, Colombia, Brazil, Argentina, Paraguay and Peru.

Just by auctioning off these old warships captured from the U.S. Navy, the Chinese Empire earned more than 1.3 billion dragon coins, which can be said to be a lot of money.

For the American countries that purchased these warships, although the Mexican Navy spent a lot of money out of political needs, the purchase of these warships made the Mexican Navy the first naval power in the Americas overnight and entered the top eight naval forces in the world, and the money was well spent in terms of Mexico's national influence. Again, for Chile. On the one hand, the Chilean Navy bought second-hand warships to replace its existing old warships, and on the other hand, the Chilean Navy was also a second-hand warship dealer.

Brazil, Argentina and other countries buy these second-hand warships only to improve their naval strength. Although it is a second-hand warship, it was in the treaty era. The five major naval powers are in a state of naval holiday, so these second- and third-rate naval countries naturally take the opportunity to develop their navies, and take advantage of the absence of the "tigers" to have a good time as "kings."

However, to their sorrow, the Chinese Empire promised to modernize the warships they purchased, such as adding anti-aircraft guns, improving the fire control command system and electronic communication system, etc., which were not free. The Chinese Empire alone demanded the cost of refitting from various countries, and the refit time was generally deliberately delayed for more than a year, and the capital ship of the Mexican Navy, the longest, was not completed until 1929, and it dragged on for five years. Of course, the technical support provided by the Chinese Empire was better than that of other American countries for the modification of the Mexican Navy's warships, but more importantly, the Chinese Empire reached secret agreements with other American countries such as Chile and Argentina. That is, to delay the delivery of these capital ships as much as possible. In order to delay the Mexican Navy's domination of the Americas, it will allow enough time for countries to respond. It is precisely because the Chinese Empire promised this condition that these American countries are willing to spend money to buy second-hand decommissioned warships of the Chinese Empire. It can be said that behind this is full of ulterior political deals.

Of course, the Mexican military is also very dissatisfied with the Chinese Empire's resale of some of its capital ships to other American countries. ╔╗In order to reassure the Mexican military, the Chinese Empire also made a secret deal with the Mexican Navy.

The Mexican Navy did not reach its wish on the purchase of second-hand decommissioned warships of the Chinese Empire, so the Mexican government and navy asked the Chinese Empire to help Mexico build a local naval industry, and the Mexican Navy hoped that in five years it could achieve the ability to build capital ships of a certain displacement on the mainland. In addition, the Mexican Navy is going to build aircraft carriers and create aircraft carrier battle groups. In this regard, the Chinese Empire agreed.

Beginning in 1924, the Chinese Empire successively exported to Mexico a complete set of industrial production equipment necessary for the naval industrial system with a total value of 2 billion dragon coins, and helped the Mexican Navy build the Vallarta Naval Base shipyard. The Houston Naval Shipyard, which originally belonged to the U.S. Navy, was renovated and upgraded, so that Mexico has a relatively sound naval industrial system. However, the Chinese Empire still controlled the key engine construction technology and the manufacturing technology of the main gun above the 17-inch caliber, and in 1929 the Mexican Navy could only build warships of less than 30,000 tons and 15-inch naval guns on its own, and the manufacturing process of 16-inch naval guns was still immature.

However, the Mexican navy is ambitious, and with the strong growth of the Mexican economy, the country's finances have never been richer, so politicians, including the Mexican government, want to create a strong Mexican republic. Imitate the United States to become a world power and power. Thus, in this large atmosphere, the Mexican Navy adopted a plan to build a Mexican-class super-battleship in 1929.

According to the requirements of the Mexican Admiralty, the Mexican-class battleships should be equipped with 18-inch guns, with a standard displacement of 80,000 tons and a speed of 30 knots and 12,000 nautical miles.

But this plan is so fantastical that even the Mexican Navy itself seems to be unconfident when expressing it.

However, Mexican politicians, who do not understand the navy, went so far as to approve the proposal of the Mexican navy. The Mexican Navy was asked to begin construction of the Mexican-class super-battleships as soon as possible. Clearly, Mexican politicians are interested in using Mexican-class superbattleships to increase Mexico's international influence, and the Mexican navy's top brass also wants to do something big during their tenure to improve their performance.

So, with the unanimous consent of both the military and the government. The Mexican Navy officially launched a program to build Mexican-class battleships in March 1929.

It's a pity, though. Although the Mexican Navy itself has basically perfected the naval industrial system with the help of the Chinese Empire, it is simply unable to build an 80,000-ton super battleship, and the local manufacturing capacity cannot be done at all, and even the designers of the Mexican Navy are half-baked and have designed many schemes, but when they took it out, even the master of the shipyard said unabashedly: "In addition to not being able to float, this is a very good design." ”

The designers of the Mexican Navy were devastated, so the Mexican Navy had to turn to the advice of some designers of warships of the Chinese Empire.

After much help, the Mexican Navy finally adopted the design of Pang Wennan, the chief designer of the Imperial Chinese Shipyard, and the design of the ship finally began in 1930. Because the Chinese Empire was worried about the Mexican Navy's construction of super battleships equipped with 18-inch guns, believing that the Mexican Navy's shipbuilding plan was not conducive to regional stability and would intensify the regional arms race, the Mexican Navy was required to lower its standards, and the super battleships equipped with 16-inch guns were enough to confront the navies of Colombia, Chile, Argentina and other countries, and there was no need to directly install 18-inch guns. ╔╗

Of course, the Chinese Empire is also out of consideration for its own hegemony, after all, the super battleships equipped with 17-inch cannons and 18-inch cannons of the Chinese Empire have been secretly sealed, and the main ships of the Imperial Navy are only four Tang-class battleships equipped with 15-inch guns and eight Song-class battleships equipped with 16-inch cannons, so this plan of the Mexican Navy actually made the Chinese Imperial Navy dissatisfied.

But. The Mexican Navy stuck to its plans. Moreover, he secretly contacted Britain and Germany in Europe, and planned to turn to Germany and Britain if the Chinese Empire did not help Mexico build super battleships, after all, Germany and Britain were also secretly building super battleships.

Seeing that it could not stop the Mexican Navy's decision, the Chinese Empire believed that instead of opposing Mexico to import from the West from Britain and Germany, it would be better for the Chinese Empire to give strong support, because in this way the Chinese Empire could master the performance parameters of the Mexican-class super warships and be prepared. At the same time, the theoretical construction cost of the Mexican-class battleships was more than 150 million dragon coins, and the Chinese Empire participated in the construction. There is also a considerable amount of additional income.

As a result, the Chinese Empire agreed to the Mexican Navy's construction of Mexican-class battleships, but asked the Mexican to be built in the Chinese Empire. Since Mexico's shipbuilding capabilities were not yet capable of building such a super-battleship, the Mexican Navy agreed.

The Mexican-class battleships designed by the Chinese Empire for Mexico were only smaller versions of the Ming-class battleships. In order to make it insufficient to challenge the Ming-class battleships, the performance parameters in all aspects were significantly reduced.

However, the Chinese empire said that the Mexican-class battleships would be able to take on the French Dunkirk-class battleships, the British Queen Elizabeth-class battleships and the German Bismarck-class battleships as a way to appease the Mexican navy.

The battleship Mexico was built by the Shanghai Shipbuilding Industry of the Chinese Empire, and the keel was laid at the No. 13 dock, which was officially started on June 3, 1930, and was expected to be launched on February 14, 1932, and officially delivered to the Mexican Navy on August 24, 1933.

The reason for so long. The main reason is that the Mexican government has begun to tilt military spending towards the army and air force in the face of the rise of the U.S. Self-Defense Forces, resulting in insufficient budget for the navy to build ships. At the same time, the Mexican Navy purchased dozens of warships from the Chinese Empire, and funds were needed to comprehensively modernize and upgrade them, but the Mexican government had never maintained a huge navy before, and did not know that it would cost a lot to raise a navy, so it was not until it bought a large number of warships that it found that the funds needed to raise a strong navy were much higher than the price of purchasing warship equipment, and Mexico's finances were a little tight. The Navy's shipbuilding budget is insufficient. As a result, the Mexican Navy had to extend the official service time of the Mexican, so the pace of construction naturally slowed down.

The actual displacement of the battleship Mexico was only 60,000 tons, which was simply not enough of the 80,000 tons required by the Mexican Navy. Of course, this is also because of Mexican politics, and the top of the navy has secretly reached a secret deal with the Chinese empire Shanghai Shipbuilding Heavy Industry. The battleship Mexico shrank significantly, while the Mexican Navy reported it truthfully. The huge profit difference in the middle was divided by the Mexican Navy top brass and Shanghai Shipbuilding Industry Co., Ltd. according to 7:3.

In addition to the shrinking displacement, the main gun was originally planned to install four triple 18-inch 52 times the diameter of the MK26 naval guns, but when it was finally completed, the main gun was only a double installation of eight 45 times the caliber MK21 naval guns, not only the number of the two was greatly reduced, but the price difference was also tens of millions of dragon coins. The main turret adopts a symmetrical front and rear knapsack layout, two on the front and rear of the bridge, and the firing range is not lower than that of the British Queen Elizabeth class main gun, and the performance is still in an advanced position when it is built, but it is outdated when it comes to service.

The armor protection has also been greatly reduced, and it was originally planned to install 5,000 tons of CK934 Zhonghua Special Steel, but the total tonnage shrank caused the armor to drop to 3,000 tons, and it was changed to the cheaper AG35 Zhonghua Special Steel. The original preparation of comprehensive heavy armor protection method is actually the use of key protection, cutting corners in unimportant places, and greatly reducing the thickness and coverage of armor. In the end, the thickness of the armor of the battleship Mexico was much lower than that of the Ming-class battleships, and even less than that of the German Bismarck, but it was about the same thickness as the British Queen Elizabeth-class battleships, and slightly lower than that of the French Dunkirk-class. Its main armor fort sidewalls covered only 54% of the waterline length and 26% of the broadside height.

In terms of speed, the Mexican designed a speed of 30 knots, and finally because the Mexican Navy top brass abandoned the most advanced steam turbine system and adopted the early low-cost steam turbine system, the early steam turbine system was bulky, and the displacement and armor of the Mexican were reduced, in order to ensure the safety of the steam turbine, the number of boilers and the length of the turbine structure could only be reduced, and the maximum speed of the Mexican when it was finally put into service was actually only 27 knots.

And the Mexican Navy requires a range of 12,000 nautical miles. As a result, it has been greatly discounted. In the end, there is only a maximum cruising range of 8000 nautical miles.

On the whole, the Mexican Navy was thundering and raining, and the Mexican Navy's top brass extracted tens of millions of dragon coins in kickbacks, with the result that the comprehensive performance and combat effectiveness of the battleship Mexico were far below the world's most advanced level as advertised. Of course, this also has to do with the surrounding environment of the Mexican Navy, in the Americas and the Gulf of Mexico, the Mexican Navy is in the position of a snake, and no national navy can threaten the Mexican Navy, including the U.S. Maritime Self-Defense Force. Thus, the Mexican Navy is under no external pressure. The leadership also does not have to worry about a naval battle one day, perhaps they all think that the Mexican will not fight a battle when it is decommissioned, so cutting corners is inevitable.

In addition, the Mexican Navy asked the Chinese Empire to assist it in the construction of aircraft carriers. Although the Mexican Navy also adheres to the theory of victory of the giant ship cannon doctrine. But during the Sino-American war, the Mexican military also took note of the might of the Chinese Empire's aircraft carrier battle groups. For the Mexican Navy, they firmly believe that after the Chinese Empire upgrades its naval capital ships, the air defense of the warships will be sufficient to deal with the air threat from the American countries. But the Mexican Navy, on the other hand, wants to create its own aircraft carrier battle group, so that Mexican aircraft can break through the anti-aircraft fire network of enemy warships and reach the goal of attacking enemy ships.

It can be said that this is a contradiction that reverses each other. Although the Mexican Navy does not know the future combat effectiveness of the aircraft carrier battle group, they have been in many RIMPAC exercises as followers of the Chinese Empire. They found that the strength of the Chinese Empire's aircraft carrier battle group was not only not weakening, but increasing, so they used the Chinese Imperial Navy as a benchmark, and also mistakenly developed the mother.

However, the Chinese Empire has been severely restricting the export and transfer of aircraft carrier technology, and even Mexico's allies with the Chinese Empire have been unable to obtain the technology.

As a result, the Mexican Navy built its own aircraft carriers by studying aircraft carriers in Europe and the United States.

Originally, the Mexican Navy aspired to build a polygonal deck aircraft carrier similar to the Wudangshan class of the Chinese Empire, but they soon found that this style of aircraft carrier was very expensive to build and technically difficult. For the Mexican naval industry, this is an impossible task.

As a result, the Mexican Navy purchased a converted aircraft carrier from the Chinese Empire that was being prepared to be dismantled on the slipway and brought it back home for research.

Since the merchant ships converted aircraft carriers are the simplest through decks, to the strength of the Mexican naval industry. This can still be imitated and built.

In April 1926, the Morana shipyard in Mexico began construction of the first aircraft carrier in the history of the Mexican Navy. And it was built on its own from the beginning, which is unprecedented in the history of the Mexican naval industry. It wasn't until many years later that carrier battle groups dominated the seas, and the Mexican Navy was proud to be one of the first countries to develop aircraft carriers.

The USS Merida is designed to be 168 meters long, 18 meters wide and 6.2 meters draft. It has a standard displacement of 10,470 tons, a power plant output of 40,000 horsepower, a speed of 25 knots, a cruising range of 8,000 nautical miles / 15 knots, and 21 aircraft. The ship has a downward slope of about 5 degrees at the front of the deck, with two hangars in the front and rear, and two lifts arranged along the flight deck centerline. However, the Mexican Navy was constrained by the times, and four 140-mm naval guns were installed on it for surface combat. For air defense needs, 30 25 mm caliber guns were installed on the ship.

The USS Merida was not completed until 1930, but for the Mexican Navy, with their naval industrial capabilities, this was already a good result.

On April 5, 1930, the aircraft carrier USS Merida entered service with the Mexican Navy. However, the Mexican naval aviation has been unable to board the ship for a long time, because the requirements for aircraft carrier-based pilots are much higher than those on the ground. Especially when the aircraft carrier is sailing on the sea, the platform is moving, and under the influence of sea waves, the aircraft carrier is swaying back and forth from side to side, and it is not easy for the aircraft to want to land on the deck in this situation.

However, the two aircraft carrier training ships of the Coast Guard Center of the Imperial Chinese Navy are not open to the public, and only train the pilots of the Chinese Empire's own carrier-based aircraft. The Mexican Navy repeatedly asked the Imperial Chinese Navy to open up training for Mexican naval aviation, but was refused.

The Imperial Air Force of China was able to transfer from land airfields to aircraft carrier platforms, which took a considerable amount of time and cost to finally master the safe take-off and landing technology of aircraft carrier platforms, and aircraft carriers are crucial for future naval warfare, and the Chinese Empire can teach tigers all kinds of skills, but it will not pass on the ability of cats to climb trees.

After the Sino-Japanese War, the Sino-American War, the South African War, the Gulf War, and the Egyptian War, the naval aviation of the Chinese Empire had already formed a systematic and scientific training and combat method, and the average flight time of the pilots of the Chinese Empire's naval carrier-based aircraft exceeded 1,000 hours, not including the flight time of the pilots during their training at the Coast Guard Center. This makes the naval aviation of the Chinese Empire have a wealth of aircraft carrier platform take-off and landing technology, and after the war, the Chinese Imperial Navy aircraft carrier battle group continued to study the night take-off and landing technology, the new J-10 fighter has been installed with night indicators, and after the aircraft carrier platform has been modernized, take-off and landing indicators are installed around the runway to guide pilots to land on aircraft carriers at night. Once the Imperial Chinese Navy had the ability to take off and land fighters on aircraft carrier platforms at night, the impact on the war at sea was self-evident.

And for Western countries, only the British Navy has relatively better aircraft carrier flight technology. Its carrier-based pilots fly an average of about 100 hours. However, Germany, France, and Italy started the development of aircraft carriers late, and the navy did not attach importance to them, so until now they have not formed a systematic aircraft carrier combat strength, and the aircraft carriers of several countries are basically furnishings, the number of training is small, and the average flight time of aircraft carrier pilots is less than 20 hours.

During the Sino-American war, several aircraft carriers of the US military continued to participate in the war, and the average flight time of carrier-based aircraft pilots exceeded 400 hours. But unfortunately, after the defeat of the United States, the Chinese Empire banned the development of aircraft carriers by the U.S. Maritime Self-Defense Force, which led to the regression of U.S. aircraft carrier technology in the treaty era.

The United Kingdom and the United States will also not inform the Mexican Navy of the take-off and landing technology of aircraft carrier platforms, so the Mexican Navy can only figure it out on its own. However, the Mexican Navy's funds for aircraft carriers are less, resulting in the Mexican Navy receiving the first aircraft carrier, but its combat readiness is insufficient, and there is still a long way to go to form combat effectiveness.

On July 18, 1931, with the outbreak of an even larger anti-Mexican movement in the United States, a large number of Mexican merchants and Mexican-Americans were attacked. As a result, the Mexican government officially sent troops to the United States on the pretext of protecting its expatriates.

At noon on the 19th, the 3rd Armored Division of the Mexican Army entered Mississippi from New Orleans, Louisiana, and encountered the 11th Infantry Brigade of the United States Ground Self-Defense Force in the Biloxi area. (To be continued)!!