Chapter 815: New Equipment for the Army
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After returning from Nanyuan Air Base, Wang Yuze was in a very good mood. The research of the aircraft design institute on fighters is already on the right track. Whether it is the Air Force's F5 'Haidongqing' fighter and H5 'Hongyan' bomber, or the Navy's F5B 'Puffin' fighter, H5B 'Sea Harrier' bomber and H5C 'Osprey' torpedo attack plane, Wang Yuze is very satisfied. Although, in his eyes, the performance of these fighters is too rubbish. But in this era, it is undoubtedly the most advanced in the world. At a time when all countries have not yet begun to pay attention to the development of aviation forces, China is already at the forefront of the world.
Just like when the Chinese Navy took the lead in equipping the 'Zhonghua-class' battleships, it opened the prelude to the giant artillery ships, which made great changes in the development of the navy. And once the fighters of the Air Force appear on the battlefield, the impact will be far greater than that of the 'Zhonghua-class' battleships! Although Wang Yuze does not expect China's research on the air force to be kept secret for a long time, once the air force is equipped on a large scale, it will inevitably attract the attention of other countries. However, China's technological superiority is enough to enable China to achieve a huge advantage on the battlefield!
The defense of Nanyuan Air Base is very tight. Within a few kilometers of the surrounding area, there are military restricted areas. In addition to the Air Force's own guards, agents from the Department of Homeland Security, as well as the military police from the General Staff, have deployed significant troops. However, the take-off and landing of fighter planes is still easy to be discovered. For this reason, Wang Yuze has already planned to establish a secret military base in the sparsely populated area outside the mouth, so that the air force can keep it secret to the greatest extent!
After returning to the palace. Wang Yuze summoned Commodore Chen Yuankun, the first captain of the Chinese Navy's first aircraft carrier, the Kunlun, who had been the captain of the heavy cruiser Chengdu. It's just that with the passage of time, the 'Chengdu-class' heavy cruisers, which have been in service for more than ten years, have become a little old in the current navy. Especially after a large number of 'Jianghe-class' heavy cruisers were put into service, the 'Chengdu-class' heavy cruisers were already in a state of semi-retirement. Now the main task is to defend the coastal waters, and unless the navy encounters a heavy defeat, these old heavy cruisers will no longer have the opportunity to participate in a fierce naval battle.
When the construction of the "Kunlun" aircraft carrier began, the captains of the ships were recruited from the senior generals of the navy. Some unambitious generals. Applications have been made. Of course, many of them hope to be favored by the emperor through this, so that they can soar in the future. It's just that the captain of the 'Kunlun' is not so easy to be a captain. The Admiralty evaluated the generals who applied for these applications. The content of the assessment is mainly the development direction and changes of the future navy, as well as the changes in future naval warfare. Most of them answered unsatisfactorily. Among the rest, Brigadier General Chen Yuankun's answer was barely touched. Wang Yuze finally appointed Chen Yuankun as the first captain of the 'Kunlun' aircraft carrier.
After that, Wang Yuze summoned Chen Yuankun several times and talked to him about the transformation of future naval warfare. Wang Yuze's theory of naval aviation and air supremacy. Brigadier General Chen Yuankun was greatly shocked. In the past two years, almost all of his energy has been devoted to the construction of naval aviation and the study of tactics. It's just that this is not something that can be completed overnight, even with Wang Yuze's allocation. It will also take a lot of time for the Chinese naval aviation to really grow!
"See Your Majesty!" In the afternoon of the same day, Brigadier General Chen Yuankun entered the palace to meet Wang Yuze.
"General Chen, please be seated!" Wang Yuze said. Then ask the guards to bring you tea. Subsequently, he inquired about the training of some of the 'Kunlun' aircraft carriers.
"Your Majesty, the sea trials of the aircraft carrier Kunlun have ended. All indicators have met the requirements. Now, all we need are fighter jets. After the fighters are on board, they will be able to carry out targeted training! Brigadier General Chen Yuankun said with some excitement. He is convinced of the direction of the development of the navy proposed by Wang Yuze, and hopes that this qiē can be realized in his hands. If nothing else, if it is proved that the power of naval aviation surpasses that of battleships, then there will be a smooth road ahead of him!
"Hmmm! The fighter planes will be there soon, and I just came back from Nanyuan Air Base in the morning. The Navy's fighter jets, bombers and torpedo attack aircraft are all in shape and are expected to be delivered to the factory next week. I have asked the Air Force to give priority to the production of fighter planes for the Navy, and it is expected that by the end of next month, the 48 fighters needed by the 'Kunlun' aircraft carrier will be in place! However, after the delivery of the fighters, they must organize training as much as possible. I have already asked the Minister of the Navy Zhang Cheng, and in half a year, the aircraft carrier 'Kunlun' will have an exercise with the battleships of the Navy. I hope that during that exercise, you and all the officers and men of the 'Kunlun' aircraft carrier will be able to prove to everyone that we are right! Wang Yuze said.
"Yes, Your Majesty, please rest assured, when the fighter plane arrives, I will organize and start training immediately, and I will not disappoint you!" Brigadier General Chen Yuankun immediately assured. He knew that it would be a chance for him and everyone on the Kunlun to prove himself!
"In addition, when training, you should pay attention to confidentiality and not let foreigners find out. When the fighters arrive, you can train in Qingdao first, and when Vladivostok thaws in the north, you can go to the Whale Sea for training! There are relatively few foreign ships there, and it is easy to keep secrets! Wang Yuze said. The aircraft carrier is a killer carefully prepared by Wang Yuze for future naval battles, and if it is exposed early, the power of this killer feature will be greatly reduced!
"Yes, Your Majesty!" Brigadier General Chen Yuankun nodded, of course he understood this truth. In the future, the aircraft carrier fleet will be a strange force, which is undoubtedly Wang Yuze's value for them!
The Spring Festival of 1907 came a little later. On the night of Chinese New Year's Eve on February 12, Wang Yuze held a grand Spring Festival reception at Xinhua Palace as usual! More than 300 people attended the reception, including governors and vice-governors of various provinces, commanders of military groups, envoys of various countries in China, and representatives from all walks of life.
The past year has been a huge harvest for China. The annexation of Indonesia gave China another 1.9 million square kilometers of land. Indonesia's abundant resources have enabled China's national strength to grow again. The most important thing is the supply of grain, which makes China's grain supply more sufficient. In addition, 30 million immigrants are about to begin, which will further reduce the population density of the soil and restore the fragile ecology.
At the meeting, Wang Yuze chatted a lot with the governors and vice governors of various provinces. Prime Minister Yang Hua's term of office is coming to an end this year, and Yang Hua, who is nearly 70 years old, is not as energetic as before, and it is time to think about Qingfu. In June this year, Yang Hua will step down as prime minister and be replaced by Foreign Minister Ng Dinh Fong. The post of foreign minister will be taken over by the current vice minister, Tang Shaoyi. Because China is an imperial state, and it is more than the imperial states of the West. The appointment and dismissal of officials was completely decided by Emperor Wang Yuze alone. Therefore, he decides who will succeed him as prime minister, and no one dares to raise objections. However, Wang Yuze still needs to communicate with other senior officials to ensure a smooth transition of the cabinet!
The generals of the military, after attending the Chinese New Year's Eve reception, were ordered by Wang Yuze to stay in Beijing. This made everyone very surprised, and secretly speculated whether there was a change in the top of the military. After all, the current Chief of the General Staff, Xiong Wu, is also a little old!
However, their speculation did not come true. Wang Yuze didn't mean anything else when he stayed with the generals of the generals, but he just wanted to let these generals see the new equipment of the army. While the Navy continued to build new battleships, the Army's equipment had not changed for almost a decade. Although the equipment used by the army is still among the leading in the world, Wang Yuze has asked the General Staff and the War Department to make a plan to complete the refitting of the whole army before the outbreak of the next big war!
On February 20, just after the Spring Festival holiday, Wang Yuze also began to deal with political affairs. It's just that before he dealt with political affairs, he first opened the information on the new equipment of the army sent by the General Staff and the War Department!
The first is the rifle, and the rifle now used by the army is the Type 96 rifle, which was finalized and mass-produced 11 years ago. The new Type 07 rifle, compared to the Type 96 rifle, has not changed much, but the accuracy has been improved, and the capacity of the magazine has been increased to 10 rounds.
In terms of machine guns, the Type 96 light machine gun has a small magazine capacity, which has always been criticized. The new Type 07 machine gun, weighing 121 kg, caliber 762 mm, theoretical rate of fire of 750 rounds per minute, can be fed with drums and chains, of which, the capacity of the drum is 75 rounds! Compared with the Type 96 light machine gun, the caliber of 762 mm is more powerful. In addition, the problem of too small magazine capacity has also been satisfactorily solved!
Heavy machine guns, large-caliber heavy machine guns with a caliber of 127 mm were also selected. This heavy machine gun, also Type 07, is codenamed 'Ripper'. Because, when firing at high speed, the rate of fire can reach 800 rounds per minute, and it will make a sound similar to tearing a tarpaulin, which makes people's scalp tingle when you listen to it!
In terms of artillery, the changes are minor. The mortars are still in the previous 60 mm, 80 mm and 120 mm calibers! The Type 82 infantry gun has also been retained, and even though it has been in service for more than 20 years, this artillery is still a very good infantry support firepower!
In terms of heavy artillery, the 105mm light howitzer and the 155mm heavy howitzer have increased the range and rate of fire, making them more powerful!