Tokyo, Ministry of the Navy. Yamamoto Fifty-six, dressed in a navy uniform, walked into the conference room accompanied by his adjutant, and Mitsumasa Minechi, who was sitting in the first place, looked uncertain, and all the admirals also looked stern. Yamamoto Fifty-six faced his colleagues who stood up and bowed slightly: "I'm sorry, because something has been delayed, so I'm late." ”

"Everyone is here, let's have a meeting. The content of today's meeting is top secret, and not a single word is allowed to be leaked. Mitsumasa Minei spoke in surprise, and everyone sat up straight. At the cabinet meeting in the morning, the navy was disgraced, did the intelligence services eat white rice? I actually let the army's horse manure get the latest shipbuilding plan of the China Navy first, and I was sneered at by the damned horse manure at the cabinet meeting. ”

After the attack of the sea phase in Minei, his face looked a little better, and it was not a matter of a day or two for the navy and the army to fight over resources. The navy, which has had the upper hand for a long time, can imagine that it is uncomfortable to eat once in a while.

"Your Excellency, let's talk about the content of the information first." Yamamoto Fifty-six spoke up, this is the issue he is most concerned about, as for the matter of fighting with the army for a long time, there is no need to talk nonsense here.

"At the beginning of 35, the China Navy announced plans for two battleships, everyone remembers? In July this year, the two battleships, named Hubei and Hunan by China, will be officially delivered to the China Navy, with a standard displacement of 40,000 tons, equipped with three 365-caliber triple main turrets, and a maximum speed of 29 knots. It can be seen from this that the Chinese are still inferior to the empire in terms of main artillery technology. However, the latest intelligence realities. The China Navy submitted to the president the latest shipbuilding plan, two standard displacement of 62,000 tons, 410 caliber triple main turrets. The Chinese call such battleships super battleships. The plan has been approved by President Fang Jianxiong of China and will be submitted to the National Assembly for consideration by the end of June at the latest. As you know, Fang Jianxiong's influence in China is unlikely to be thwarted in the National Assembly because of the influence he approves. In two months, the newest battleships of the Shina Navy will be delivered, and the advantage that the Imperial Navy has because of the storage of the two battleships Nagato and Mutsu will no longer be there. Ladies and gentlemen, China has launched a treaty on naval disarmament. A frantic shipbuilding program has begun. If the Imperial Navy can't do anything, we will lose the sea on which we live. ”

Wu Wei, who got off the passenger ship, didn't expect that there was Shi Zhong in the crowd who greeted him, and after a brief explanation with his wife. Giving her the ticket for checking in the luggage, Wu Wei walked up to Shi Zhongwu and said, "Shi Zhongjun, what's wrong?" ”

"The China Navy has submitted another shipbuilding plan, and they want to build a super battleship. Now the fishermen of the Navy have boiled the pot. I guess I'm struggling with this information. I'm now sorry for handing over such important information to those fools, and it's going to be even harder for the Army. Unfortunately, the empire is an island nation after all, and it cannot do without the protection of the sea. Shi Zhong's tone was a little depressing, in the entire Japanese Army, the only one who was cited as a confidant by Shi Zhong was Wu Wei. So, I learned that he was back today. Then I came to the pier to greet him.

"Shi Zhongjun doesn't need to be too uncomfortable, lack of resources is the weakness of the empire. But we are military men. The meaning of our existence is to use iron and blood and sword to expand the territory of the empire. In fact, I am more concerned about the content of the Sino-Soviet negotiations, without the containment of the Soviet Union, even if we defeat China on the sea, we will not be able to take into account the two battlefields of Nanyang and China. Wu Wei said as he took out a pack of cigarettes, handed them to Shizhong, lit the fire and took a puff, spit it out leisurely, and looked at the other end of the sea.

"Yes, the accumulation of China is too deep, and although the government has no money, the total amount of private wealth is amazing. It is precisely because of this that a preliminary and complete industrial system has been built in just over 20 years. From an annual output of 70,000 tons of iron to an annual output of 25 million tons of steel, the pace of China was too fast for the empire to catch up. In this era when steel determines national strength, the shortcomings of the empire are too obvious. Therefore, it is necessary to go south, without the resources of the South Seas, the empire will not be able to escape the doom of defeat due to lack of resources. Today's war is no longer an era in which one or two decisive battles can determine victory or defeat. Within the Japanese Army, he has always believed that Kawada-kun, like himself, has the clearest understanding of the war of this era.

"The pattern of warfare between nations has undergone a heavy change, and Ludendorff's general war is a brilliant illustration of this change. The funny thing is that those guys in the staff headquarters are still talking about the decisive battle, which is completely the thinking mode of the Sun-Dew War. Modern warfare is fought against the overall strength of the country, and if the empire wants to regain the glory of the Meiji Emperor, it must take a strategic view a little further. The alliance with the Soviet Union was precisely to better contain China and buy enough time for the empire to obtain the resources of the South Seas. Otherwise, even if war broke out in Europe, the empire would not be able to go south with confidence. This time I went to China, I saw the strong transportation capacity of China, just one Shanghai, there are dozens of shipping companies, and their transportation capacity has reached 10 million tons. But what about the Empire? The limited slipway is full of naval warships, and even if we sweep across the South Seas in the future, we will not be able to transport the resources back in time. Wu Wei's words sound like they are all for the sake of the country, but the current situation in Japan is like this, and it can't be changed at all. Let the navy give up the dock to build cargo ships, it is estimated that the navy will not agree to kill it.

"Is this why Kawada-kun is gradually alienating those people? Like that idiot named Masanobu Tsuji? Shi Zhong asked with a smile, Wu Wei shook his head and said, "Are there still few fools in the military department?" ”

"Yes, quite a lot, but what to do?" It's really hard for a sober person to be in the middle of a group of unsober guys. There is such a feeling that Shi Zhong has no distinction between them, as an emperor, he has never given up the ambition of the Japanese Empire to dominate the world, but the reality makes people powerless to resist, and he is unwilling to go with the flow.

Wu Wei sneered in his heart, and said secretly: The consequence of Japan not giving up the struggle for world hegemony can only end in a fiasco, and no Japanese will believe this statement. Since the Meiji era, every Japanese has had the ambition to dominate the world in their bones, right?

Beijing, Naval Command of the Ministry of Defense. A week after Liu Guanxiong's unexpected stroke. The appointment of the new commander-in-chief of the Navy is finally coming down. At this moment, the commanders of the four fleets gathered, and the elder of the navy, Sa Zhenbing, was also sitting in the town, constantly looking at his watch.

On the question of the choice of the commander of the Navy. There has always been a zài controversy. The navy itself can't get along, although Sa Zhenbing is very old, he has never opened his mouth on the selection of the commander of the navy, and the others are fighting for it, and the old guy is just watching coldly.

Sa Zhenbing knew very well that after Liu Guanxiong retreated, it marked that a group of people in the navy at the end of the Qing Dynasty basically withdrew from the core of the navy. For so many years. In the process of continuous development of the navy, young juniors are emerging quite quickly. The characters who took the lead in the late Qing Dynasty and the Beiyang period are basically invisible.

When Fang Jianxiong's special car appeared at the gate of the courtyard. Sa Zhenbing led a group of people to come forward, when he visited Liu Guanxiong in the hospital a few days ago, Fang Jianxiong asked Sa Zhenbing's opinion, and the old guy said that there was no suitable candidate. Take a closer look, actually. There are really no more people among the older generation who can take action. Originally, there was also a Cheng Biguang. However, this guy didn't seem to be treated well by President Fangda, and directly went to be the principal of the Hai School in Yantai. Tang Qianming is qualified enough, but he is not too young to work, and he can't work for a few years. It is estimated that Fang Jianxiong will not consider him, and the others can only be found among the junior characters.

"Sa Lao, why should you wait outside." Fang Jianxiong was very polite and full of courtesy. Sa Zhenbing shook his hand and smiled: "I can't talk about it, the position of the commander of the navy is uncertain for a day. I don't have the heart to sit still. Look at the meaning of the president, decided? ”

Fang Jianxiong nodded and said, "It's time to let the younger generation take the lead." Jiang Fangzhen also came over at this time. The group left, and when they arrived at the conference room, Fang Jianxiong officially announced: "After investigation by the Ministry of National Defense, it has been determined that Chen Shaokuan, the current commander of the Third Fleet of the Navy, will be appointed as the commander-in-chief of the Navy...... ”

Chen Shaokuan was stunned on the spot, he never imagined that good luck would land on his head. In terms of seniority, Xie Baozhang of the First Fleet and Tang Qianming of the Second Fleet can throw him far away. In the applause of everyone, under the gaze of various eyes, Chen Shaokuan stood up, walked in front of Fang Jianxiong, and took the seal of the naval commander. There were people there who were disappointed, but it didn't matter.

Next, Jiang Fangzhen announced the adjustment of the positions of the navy's various fleets, Xie Baozhang continued to serve as the commander of the First Fleet, and Tang Qianming, the commander of the Second Fleet, took the initiative to request to serve as the principal of the Yantai Naval Academy due to physical reasons. Cheng Biguang, former president of Yantai Maritime Academy, served as commander of the Fourth Fleet, and Chen Ce, former commander of the Fourth Fleet, served as commander of the Second Fleet. The commander of the Third Fleet was succeeded by Sa Shijun. The post of Commander of the Marine Corps remains unchanged.

Jiang Fangzhen finished announcing, and Fang Jianxiong stood up and said, "Everyone, the super battleship plan has been approved by the Congress. Constructed by the Jiangnan Shipbuilding Group, two super battleships with a standard displacement of 62,000 tons, a caliber of 410 mm main guns, and a maximum speed of 26 knots can officially start construction before the end of July at the earliest. As you all know, I don't advocate the main force of naval warfare with battleships, but we must have this thing. Because it can raise the morale of the whole country by a large margin, and our main adversary, Japan, will be dragged into the quagmire of a naval race. At the same time as the two battleships were planned, Congress also approved the plan for three aircraft carriers with a standard displacement of 42,000 tons. It was built by Qingdao, Zhanjiang and Qinzhou shipyards. After Housuke takes office, he must train the corresponding naval aviation units in advance, and judging from the construction period, the aircraft carrier will be launched in one year, and the main force in the future naval war will still be the aircraft carrier, and this point must not be shaken. ”

The Navy currently has four aircraft carriers, but all of them are small tonnage, only one is 22,000 tons, and the others are 10,000 tons. Let's not talk about how important the aircraft carrier was in World War II, so this time the Fang family has made a bloody investment. For these three aircraft carriers, the Eurasia Group also launched a fundraising activity, even if Gu Heng, who did not appear in front of people, stood in front of the stage and took the lead in donating 500 million in one go, and finally the total amount of donations across the country was 2.2 billion, basically no need for Congress to contribute any money, otherwise the old people in Congress could promise to allocate 2.5 billion yuan at a time to build two battleships and three aircraft carriers? You must know that this time the ship was built, and a lot of new technologies were used. The cost is much higher than that of ordinary battleships, and the most expensive of them is nothing else, but the barrel of the battleship's 410 main gun, which cannot be made in China and is purchased from the United States. The technology of this caliber cannon, the United States refuses to transfer it, Fang Jianxiong is very helpless, the B-17 is in hand, and the technology of the barrel is not so important. However, the navy of this era still trusts battleships a little more. The aircraft carrier has not yet been proven.

This shipbuilding plan is also a comprehensive test of the shipbuilding capability of the Republic of China. The battleship is not as simple as simple shipbuilding, and there is a lot of technology involved. The reason why Fang Jianxiong insisted on building super battleships knowing that there might not be much room for play in future naval battles was more for the accumulation of technology.

As soon as this ship-building plan was announced, the meeting scene was boiling, and the new commander Chen Shaokuan stood up in a gaffe and said loudly: "Fu Shuai, all the fundraising in the society is here." (To be continued......)