Said Ben, Yokosuka Wharf.

There were many more workers on the docks than there had been two years earlier, especially in 1935, when the docks, which had been deserted by the country's defeat and the entire economy was on the verge of bankruptcy, began to prosper again after 1934.

Many bankrupt merchants and craftsmen began to leave their homes to work, especially the residents of the Yokosuka Pier, and even more so as to become porters. The rest are the cottage workshops that maintain the family, and they are now finally able to get some work, albeit only for the most basic processing of Chinese goods, although only for some cheap basic processing, or harmful work, such as scrap televisions shipped from China. The work of these cottage workshops is to recycle metal from used televisions and ship them back to China.

Some of the sailors who came to shore were drunk on the shore with what little they had before they fell to the ground and returned to the ship.

"Baga, this time I was half a day late. I could have had a good time with a woman, but now I'm going to get on the boat in half a day. A sailor held up the wine bottle in his hand, held it high and couldn't pour out the wine, the economy was sluggish, and the seafarer's profession, which used to be very profitable, has now shrunk a lot, waved his hand and threw it hard, and the wine bottle swirled and fell into the sea.

"Who let the Chinese catch our evidence, they now occupy the Ryukyus, and the navy is stronger than us, saying that the ship is loaded with smuggling. If you don't stop the ship for inspection, you will have to open fire and sink it. Damn bosses, deserve to be fined by the Chinese for deducting wages. ”

Another sailor spat fiercely, looked at the other ships parked at the dock, and said enviously, "If only the boss had a Chinese source of goods, instead of relying on smuggling like this, we can make a little more ......"

The boat where the two sailors were supposed to smuggle a batch of rice from China back to Japan this time ended up being busy secretly for half a month, and was stopped shortly after leaving the sea.

"Yes, that guy Yoshida, their boss has a relationship in China, and every time he ships a shipment of goods back from the Philippines, he can always sell it smoothly."

"Yes, the newspaper said that we would import iron ore from the Americans, then smelt it into steel at home, and sell it to them at a cheaper price than the Chinese themselves." God knows, they just need too much steel. ”

"It's said that this empire is not as good today as yesterday, but damn it, I can finally see some hope."

"yes...... I've heard some tavern people say that the Chinese economy may drive the economy of the Ben, damn it, who knows. However, in just two years, their port town alone has changed every time they go, and it has indeed developed very quickly......"

These crew members are not highly educated, but they are all educated, and the more places they go, the more they can see and understand. The evaluation of current affairs and politics often has a perspective unique to the grassroots class.

…… Two of the young naval officers even angrily wanted to step forward to teach these drunkards a lesson, but one of the leading officers stopped them quite majestically, "What they say is the truth." Let's go, it's time to go to Tokyo. ”

No one knew that the man in front of him in front of him was the current chief of the Navy, the former commander of the Yokosuka Navy, who was about to return to Tokyo and become the newly promoted Admiral Nagano Shofu, who was appointed as a naval military counselor.

Standing on the destroyer heading for Tokyo, Nagano looked into the distance at the Yokosuka shipyard, where two old battleships were parked, covered with brackets, the last major military port event he was involved in as naval commander in Yokosuka: renovating battleships and turning them into converted aircraft carriers like the Chinese.

Glancing at the dismantled battleship again, Nagano turned around and got into the destroyer and gave the order to set sail for Tokyo.

Empire, aircraft carriers are needed. If there is no money to build, then these battleships, which were once regarded as imperial artifacts, can only be destroyed, and replaced by aircraft carriers that are not even equipped with a single main gun.

The era of artillery warships is becoming a thing of the past.

In the Emperor's Palace, Yamamoto Isoroku had been waiting in the side hall for a long time, but he had not been summoned by the Emperor for a long time.

"I've seen Chief Nagano!"

Yamamoto Fifty-six saw that Yongye Xiu actually came to the palace, he was slightly stunned, and then got up and gave a military salute, whether it was a military rank or a military position, Nagano Xiu was higher than him.

The commander of the Yokosuka Navy had just been promoted, and now he was summoned by the Emperor, and Yamamoto had a hunch that he would become one of the most powerful figures in the Imperial Navy in the future. Not to mention, he had just been urgently promoted to the rank of Imperial Admiral, and all indications indicated that the position of Minister of the Navy was not far from him.

Think about yourself, in the Sino-Chinese war, in order to preserve the last major strength of the navy, after the complete defeat of the air force, he urgently ordered to escape, and narrowly escaped the catastrophe of annihilation. If it weren't for the fact that the Chinese's carrier-based aircraft ran out of fuel after the battle, it is estimated that neither they nor the detachment would have been able to return to their original books.

But no matter what, I will be defeated in the end. Within the empire, the own is not very popular.

Nagano Xiushen walked to the mountain itself, patted him on the shoulder, and said heavily: "Yamamoto-kun, don't have too much pressure, that battle, you are right." ”

Yamamoto was slightly moved, he knew very well that the naval upstart in front of him, like himself, advocated the development of aviation. Although the empire is now defeated, it is not the battlefleet that lost to the Chinese, but the aircraft carrier fleet that they lost, although it is very sad, but it also shows from the side that the theory that the two of them have adhered to over the years are correct.

"Chief Nagano, when I meet the Emperor this time, I will insist on my own opinion and propose to vigorously develop naval aviation, and I hope to get your support. Hello!! Yamamoto said with a bow.

Soon, an official of the imperial palace came out to summon him, and the two of them went in, only to find that in addition to the two of them, there were also the political elder Saionji Gongwang and the important member of the staff headquarters, Koiso Kuniaki, as well as a deputy official of the economic department.

"I've summoned a few of you today to ask about the next direction of the Imperial Navy." What the Emperor held in his hand was the Navy Development Plan for the next five years, a thick stack that he had read before the Saionji Gong Wang, "This plan is to completely abandon the manufacture of battleships and turn to learning from the Chinese, building large aircraft carriers, and at the same time building fast cruisers for air defense and mine clearance, anti-submarine and other purposes." According to the intelligence of the Imperial agents, the Chinese are building tens of thousands of tons of large aircraft carriers in the shipyards in the south, and the Empire needs to make some kind of decision. ”

In the plan, anti-submarine is the most secondary, because the Chinese have never shown much submarine force, and according to the development of Europe, the Admiralty believes that the focus of air defense is more important than anti-submarine. The new ships of the Reich should give priority to aviation and air defense, ensuring that they will be able to cope with quite difficult air defense tasks in the future. After all, the Chinese have an advantage in naval carrier-based aircraft, they have spears, the empire should develop thick shields, as for anti-submarine, naturally it is not so urgent.

"Your Majesty, the results of the naval battle in China have proved that the Chinese have gone to the front of the empire in terms of naval aviation. We must hurry up and concentrate our efforts to catch up with them. Yamamoto said urgently, in his opinion, what the empire needs to do is to build aircraft carriers like the crazy construction of battleships in the past, at a speed that dazzles the Chinese.

"Nagano, what is your opinion?"

Both of them are in the naval system, and even both of them are involved in this naval development plan, but Nagano's view of self-cultivation is slightly different from the plan, "Your Majesty." I also agree with and actively support the development of the Navy in the direction of naval aviation. However, if he is just an ordinary soldier without considering the lowly military rank, I think that the viewpoint held by some other people in the military department at present is also very reasonable. ”

"You mean the opinion of Matsui Ishone's group?" The emperor was slightly displeased, but still asked what he meant.

However, Nagano Shusei knew that the truce was said to be a truce, in which Matsui Ishine and the military and political leaders behind him played a great role, and the emperor should also have a certain tendency towards that development line. And boldly said:

"The Empire's economic crisis has just improved, and the army, navy, and air force are all in dire need of development. National strength is limited, and I believe that how to develop and focus on it should be based on actual needs.

If the empire insists on fighting the Chinese to the death at sea after 10 years, then it should go all out to build a navy, and as a result, we may eventually defeat the Chinese navy, but we will also lose a lot of ourselves, and the land we need most will not be available. Because the weakening of the army and air force will have unusually serious consequences. Even if we defeat them, we still need to face their millions of elite armies, and the navy will not be able to reach them.

If the empire insists on acquiring more territory and resources as its strategic goal, the minister believes that it should adopt a defensive naval strategy, focusing on building advanced large aircraft carriers and refitting more aircraft carriers, and develop a defensive navy.

Although he did not participate in the land war between China and the Japanese, he knew that the Imperial Army had completely lagged behind in terms of army construction, whether it was the preparation of individual weapons, the training of soldiers, or the strength of armor. Even compared to the military power of Soviet Russia in the Far East, we are much weaker.

His Majesty the Emperor will be asked to atone for what the minister will say next.

In a series of previous wars, the empire defeated the strong with the weak, and achieved good results, thus masking a series of problems caused by military backwardness. The reality today is that not only the navy, but also the whole of East Asia, the empire's navy is inferior to the Far East Fleet of the Russians, and even less than the aircraft carrier fleet of the Chinese, and the army and air force are also in a weak ......."

"However, we have loyal warriors, and we have a supreme offensive spirit!" The Emperor interrupted Nagano Shu's words with an almost roar, but in an instant, he waved his hand for him to continue.

Nagano cultivated himself and said, "This is exactly what the minister wants to say, it is precisely because of the spirit of fighting to the death that the empire can remain undefeated." In terms of weapons alone, the empire is already inferior to Soviet Russia and China. ”

He knew, and without saying it, the emperor would remember Chinese the individual rifles that could fire continuously, the terrifying heavy machine guns with a high rate of fire, the shoulder-fired artillery that could be fired individually, the mysterious small mushroom cloud bombs (cloud burst shells) that had only appeared two or three times but had attracted the great attention of the Empire, the highly efficient individual flamethrowers that could be equipped with battalion and company units, the advanced tanks and airplanes that could not penetrate even 30mm anti-aircraft guns, the terrifyingly dense heavy artillery groups, and the amazing explosive power of shells...... Although he was not an army general, he also knew that although many of the advanced weapons of the Chinese did not play much of a role on the battlefield, the emperor [***] team had obviously become a whetstone for the Chinese. He firmly believes that once the Chinese are encountered again in the future, the emperor [***] team will definitely encounter the advanced equipment of the Chinese who have already hunted on a large scale.

As an admiral, he was supposed to indiscriminately fight for the share of the Navy, for military spending, for the construction of more aircraft carriers, as before.

However, as a sane emperor, the soldier's loyal and martial instinct told him that once the empire went all out to develop the navy, it would inevitably fall into the hands of the Chinese. The empire does not have decades to accumulate strength, the Chinese are growing stronger day by day, and conversely, if a minimum of peace can be maintained, and the empire can occupy other countries and regions with its free hands, with the military capabilities of the empire, it will only take five years to completely slow down. According to the summing up and reflection of the Sino-Chinese war, more advanced weapons have been developed.

And to build a navy, ten years is just a cycle.

After a long time, after several people repeatedly arguing and recounting, the emperor seemed to be a little tired, waved his hand, and motioned for them to stand down.

"You all go down, and come back tomorrow to see you."

Seeing a few people leaving, the emperor sighed: "Why don't you want to defeat the Chinese at sea, but the empire no longer has the strength and time to build a large navy." What the empire needs is abundant resources and vast land, and if the navy wins, the army loses, and at most it can only maintain the status of an island nation undefeated. And how to defeat the enemy. ”

In the war, the army was losing and retreating, but the huge battleship formation of the navy had nothing to do at sea, and once the war began, it was quickly defeated by the Chinese naval aviation. This had to make Hirohito see clearly the fact that the army could no longer defeat the enemy by relying solely on the bushido ideology of the loyal king.

Standing up and looking at the moon outside the Imperial Palace, the Emperor suddenly decided, "The empire must have a more powerful army and air force, at least, to ensure its superiority over Soviet Russia in the Far East in the future." They are not Chinese, they are far away in Europe, and their Far East should be the natural farms of the empire!! ”

"Minister Cai, Commander Deng, this large aircraft carrier has mobilized nearly one-third of our skilled shipbuilders in New China, and used one-half of the large and super-large take-off and landing and transportation equipment, and there are as many as a dozen special construction plants for it alone."

Guangxi, Horseshoe Bay Naval Base near Fangchenggang.

The navy is definitely a gold hole, Zhang Shusheng spent a lot of money in the southwest period, from the very beginning of the purchase of equipment, external training of workers, to self-development, self-made equipment, self-training workers, the military expenditure spent is already an astronomical amount.

Today, it has the most advanced shipbuilding equipment, the most modern shipyard, the most skilled shipbuilders, and two of the largest military ships in New China -- a large aircraft carrier with a displacement of 40,000 tons.

Among them, the first ship to lay the keel, the first to lay the keel, began to lay the keel at the end of 31, and it has now been almost four years since construction.

It can be said that the Horseshoe Bay Naval Shipyard as a whole is not the most advanced in the world, but it must be trying to develop to the most advanced, and many advanced machinery and shipbuilding technologies are not even available to foreigners. This is the consistent practice of the southwest, which is relatively excellent on the whole and particularly advanced in some parts.

On the basis of the existing three aircraft carriers, New China's aircraft carrier plan within five years also includes two large aircraft carriers of 40,000 tons and two medium-sized aircraft carriers of 20,000 tons, so that New China will be able to maintain a medium-strong and large-scale naval force composed of seven aircraft carriers around 1940. Although the number of aircraft carriers built by the madmen in World War II is far less, on the whole it is enough for the needs of the war in Asia.

After all, in the entire early stage of the war, all new China needed was to be able to win a war in the Pacific Ocean and at best in the Strait of Malacca in the face of any naval power, instead of provoking a world war and waging an arms race with the whole world from the beginning.

As long as the naval plan is implemented, the workers are trained enough, the civilian shipyards can quickly switch to the manufacture of warships in wartime, and the frenzied shipbuilding program that will begin in 1940, New China will not be afraid of any enemy in the future World War II, even if it encounters the earth's madmen - the Americans, they can fight alone.

However, after all, the foundation of New China is weak, especially the lack of experience in building large warships, although there is a full set of drawings and a considerable number of senior scientific personnel stationed in the factory for a long time, but the progress is still slow, four years, while groping and improving.

"Four years is not a short time, but your worker training program is doing a very good job." Cai Yi nodded, these national defense plans were formulated in the southwest period, and he, the defense minister, visited after the founding of the People's Republic of China, not to mention guidance, but more on behalf of the attention and supervision of the high-level.

Compared with Vice Admiral Deng Haoqian, the naval commander next to him, and Rear Admiral Xu Jinguang, the commander of the base, Cai Ye still knows very well that he is a layman, listens more and talks less, responds to the spirit of the chairman, and cannot fire anti-aircraft artillery out of thin air and command blindly.

This is also a key point of the inspection of the grassroots units by senior military and political officials of the central government; if you do not understand, you should not blindly command, ask more questions, look more, pay more attention, praise what should be praised, and be vigilant and vigilant.

Rear Admiral Xu Jinguang, commander of the Horseshoe Bay base, just wanted to explain, but Deng Haoqian, the naval commander on the side, said, "Yes, Minister Cai." Because of the chairman's instructions, we adopted the construction mode with the highest labor cost from the very beginning, the three-shift work system. The shipyard implements a three-shift system, and the trained workers are also full three sets of workers. Although at the beginning, we encountered a lot of difficulties, such as skilled workers being overworked, needing to lead shifts to ensure the quality of warship construction, and in addition, the labor cost was also very high, but we persevered. The advantage of this is that once the time of war comes, we will be able to start building more warships.

At present, in our shipyard, in addition to skilled old workers, there are many technical school students who have entered the factory to study, and their learning enthusiasm is very high, and many of them can enter the shipyard to work in advance. ”

Accompanied by several base guards and central guards, Xu Jinguang accompanied Cai Ye to board the ship, which was already undergoing deck welding. The entire aircraft carrier can already be seen in general shape, with a huge hull, a high bow, and an upper ship island.

"At present, the main thing is that the interior and deck work of the warship has not been completed, and the rest of the lines are laid, and the installation of weapons will have to wait until next year." Xu Jinguang, as the commander of the base, is almost in the shipyard, and for him, the most important thing now, in addition to managing and commanding the base, is the two aircraft carriers.

Standing on the No. 1 aircraft carrier, the ships shuttling back and forth to transport materials next to it have become very small, and the height of several floors above the water is very spectacular.

"Minister Cai, Commander Deng, you see, next to it is the No. 2 ship, which has just completed the keel laying, but because we have accumulated enough experience and skilled workers in the production of the No. 1 ship, the No. 2 ship will definitely be completed 40 years ago."

The busy shipyard is full of workers wearing hard hats, both men and women, most of them are relatively young, Cai Yi listened to Xu Jinguang's introduction, and there are still a considerable number of returned overseas Chinese.

After the founding of New China, they responded to the recruitment of Shusheng Company in various places and returned to China to participate in shipyard work. I have to say that perhaps there is a gap between their technology and the most advanced shipbuilding technology reserved in the southwest period, but they are extremely skilled and have a strong learning ability.

As far as the eye can see, the No. 2 ship in the distance can only see some small figures.

After receiving the telescope from the guard, Cai Ye saw that there were more various types of brackets in the dock of the No. 2 ship, and many steel brackets were lined with workers like spider webs, and on the basis of the keel, the frame structure of the warship was built.

"Can the problem of the resettlement of the families of these overseas Chinese be solved? Attention should also be paid to safety work. Cai Ye saw from the report that the shipyard's resettlement plan for workers is very comprehensive, whether it is commercial, medical, educational and other social institutions are complete.

Minister Cai is relieved that whether it is a shipwright or a state owner, there are staff from the security department to conduct inspections. Although the shipyard cannot guarantee absolute confidentiality, it will not lose the core technology, and the confidentiality work has also been carried out very fruitfully, although some problems have been found, but they have been dealt with in a timely manner, some crisis handling plans, and the security department has also carried out actual exercises. We have done a good job of keeping things confidential, after all, Horseshoe Bend is a big base. ”

Xu Jinguang is right, Horseshoe Bay is a large naval base on the scale of a small city, and the militarized management and secrecy work are very good.

"Woo......"

At this time, the whistle of a large ship came from the direction of the military port in the distance, and Cai Ye could clearly see without a telescope that an aircraft carrier was returning to the port.

"That is our Zhonghua aircraft carrier, after the Hanjing was put into service, it formed a task force with the Chengdu, stationed in Wusong and Ningbo military ports in Jiangsu, Zhejiang and Shanghai, and this Zhonghua stayed in the southeast and was the main force of the South China Sea Fleet."

As he spoke, a number of warships behind the aircraft carrier also came into view, all of which were cruisers of several thousand tons or smaller destroyers, and the main fleet of the South China Sea Fleet usually patrolled back and forth between Fangchenggang and Zhanjiang Military Port in Guangdong, and did not stay in one place permanently; after all, there were large secret radars in both places, and China's radars were much more advanced than the radars of the British, which were still in the initial equipment.

Cai Ye smiled at Deng Haoqian next to him, "Commander Deng, I'm really looking forward to the launch of these two aircraft carriers and the two medium-sized guys from Jiangnan Shipyard, at that time, your navy had seven aircraft carriers." ”

"Minister Cai is assured that the People's Army and Navy will definitely use their strength and courage to defend the motherland's maritime frontiers."

Deng Haoqian looked at the aircraft carrier fleet that was entering the port in the distance, and couldn't help but think, as if he saw a larger aircraft carrier fleet that would be officially formed in a few years.

In the future, China will reproduce the kind of invincible armada that belonged to the descendants of the Oriental Dragon that Zheng He showed to the world when he went to the West. China's fleet must be world-class. For this, both the Navy and these workers are willing to spend ten, twenty, or thirty years working hard. And now, they have been working hard for more than ten years, and what they need to do is to burst out in the next ten years the absolute power that belongs to the Chinese Navy and the Chinese shipbuilders.

(To be continued)