At the end of 1931, the Southwest People's Army used the Southwest Navy task force for the first time in the campaign to liberate Qiongzhou, and forced back the British three-ship formation with aircraft carriers, and caused a British captain to be humiliated and stoned to death, which is known as the Qiongzhou Incident.

The aircraft carrier of the Southwest Navy was displayed for the first time in front of all Chinese, and for a time the whole country rejoiced, and newspapers of all sizes reported on this war in which the Southwest Navy expelled the British Navy, and they felt unprecedented pride in the fact that the Chinese had such a huge warship for the first time.

Almost all the front pages of the newspapers were occupied by a huge photograph taken from the sky, which clearly presented the entire picture of the Kunming aircraft carrier in front of the Chinese people. In the photo, although the entire surface of the aircraft carrier is camouflaged, there is a carrier-based aircraft on the deck that has just taken off, and the comparison between the aircraft and the aircraft carrier is much smaller.

This large ship with a full load displacement of more than 17,000 tons is the largest ship in China in the true sense, and China has never had such a huge ship in any era.

Perhaps, the Chinese people who read the newspaper do not understand what an aircraft carrier is.

Perhaps, the Chinese people who read the newspaper do not understand what the difference is between an aircraft carrier and a battleship.

Perhaps, the Chinese people who read the newspaper do not understand what strategic significance an aircraft carrier means for a country.

However, they understand that the history of China's lack of large ships is gone forever. In particular, the common people along the coast and along the rivers are accustomed to seeing all kinds of foreigners' warships running rampant in China's territorial waters and inland rivers, and it is false to say that they are not angry, but anger alone is not enough, China has no big ships, and the fleets of the Manchu Qing Dynasty have been defeated by the foreigners.

However, they have to swallow their anger at a few foreign warships. These powers can only be allowed to flex their muscles on China's borders.

In the past 100 years, China has suffered great humiliation, except for the bullying of Tsarist Russia in the north, all of them have come from the sea, and it is precisely because there is no strong navy and a long coastline that the enemy can arbitrarily land from any place and cross the sea and ocean to ravage China, which has a weak navy.

Interestingly, although the Nanjing political axe issued an extremely sternly worded warning about the fact that the Southwest Army occupied Qiongzhou, it was drowned out by the wave of national self-improvement triggered by the Southwest Navy, and there was not even a polemic on this in the newspapers.

At this time, Zhang Shusheng, the supreme leader of the Southwest Alliance, made a rare public speech in Kunming in front of many Chinese and foreign reporters. In his speech, Zhang Shusheng first fully affirmed the tremendous contribution made by the Southwest Navy in the current Sino-British conflict. Subsequently, he mentioned the issue of the First Sino-Japanese Naval Battle, and combined this naval battle with the present War of Resistance in the Northeast, affirming that the determination of the southwest to resist the war will never waver, and whether it is at sea or on land, the southwest will not sit idly by and watch the invasion of the Japanese army.

"Mr. Chief, how do you embody your so-called determination to resist the war? As we all know, the current Northeast War of Resistance was led by the Nanjing National Political Axe, and the Southwest not only sent troops to the Northeast, but also took the opportunity to seize Qiongzhou. May I ask Mr. Zhang, is this a protest or infighting? A well-dressed reporter was the first to grab the right to speak, and his tone was aggressive, which made the reporters present stunned, but he didn't expect this guy to come and shoot on the spot.

Zhang Shusheng smiled, this question, if he had asked him a few years earlier, he might have been mad and kicked this reporter out, but now, after being in a high position for a long time, the scheming and forbearance are much stronger, "The 917 incident, the southwest political axe reacted to the invasion of the Yue army as soon as possible, expelled the people, confiscated the property of the people in the southwest, and declared war on the people at the same time. Subsequently. When the Nanjing Nationalist Axe was still busy with government affairs, the first batch of munitions and materials from the southwest had already been delivered to General Zhang Xueliang in the northeast. Ladies and gentlemen, what these staff members are holding are photos of the scene when the military supplies were handed over, as well as the 1 million yuan of anti-Japanese war funds in southwest China personally signed by General Zhang Xueliang. ”

The staff immediately took out a large number of photos, which were indeed photos of Zhang Xueliang personally receiving this batch of materials in Jinzhou, as well as a copy of the receipt, whether it was signed or sealed, it was Zhang Xueliang's.

"As for what you said about sending troops to war, I personally raise my hands in favor of it. As long as you, on behalf of Mr. Chiang Kai-shek, agree that the army of the Southwest People's Army will take the first line of Shaanxi and Shanxi, or the Jinpu Railway will go north to resist, I will exaggerate and the army will be able to march in a week! ”

The reporter wanted to fight back, but saw that Zhang Shusheng had already pointed his finger at another reporter, his face was flushed, but he couldn't say anything. Zhang Shusheng sent him away with two simple sentences. The reporters present also nodded, the current situation is clear to everyone, no one knows whether the Nanjing political axe is really resistant, but it will definitely not let the southwest army take advantage of the road to go north.

"Hello Mr. Zhang, I'm Wang Yin, a reporter who declares the report. May I ask General Zhang, is the Southwest Navy, especially the Kunming aircraft carrier, simply defending the southwest political axe? Or is it to defend the entire Chinese nation? A beautiful reporter in Shanghai dressed up in a fashionable way asked a tricky but not rude question. The Kunming may not be a big deal in the navy of the traditional Western powers, but in this weak ancient country in the East, it is like a thunderbolt.

Zhang Shusheng, "Whether it is the Southwest Navy or the Kunming aircraft carrier, they will fight to defend the whole of China." Today, I would like to take this opportunity to announce two good news to you on behalf of the Southwest Political Axe, and I hope that you can pass on this good news to more Chinese people. First, by the decision of the Supreme Military Committee of the Southwest Joint Political Axe, the Kunming aircraft carrier was specially named the Zhonghua aircraft carrier, and this order took effect immediately. Second, there is currently a second aircraft carrier under construction at the Southwest Shipyard, the Chengdu, which is expected to be completed in 1936, four years later. After completion, the Chengdu aircraft carrier and the Zhonghua aircraft carrier will form a task force to defend China.

One thing I hope you will write clearly is that no matter how many political factions there are in the country, the Chinese nation will always be a whole, and the highest historical mission of the southwest political axe is to realize the rejuvenation of the entire nation. Everything done in the southwest will be based on the revitalization of China, and all the mantis blocking cars on this road of rejuvenation will be crushed one by one. ”

Zhang Shusheng's public speech in the southwest quickly spread throughout the country, once again made headlines in newspapers everywhere, and became another explosive news.

Before, some people who spoke the opposite tone were still saying, what if the Southwest Navy had a big ship? It is said that there are many large ships like myself, not to mention the British, and an ordinary large battleship is larger than the Kunming.

However, after the news that the second aircraft carrier was being built in the southwest was personally told by Zhang Shusheng, this kind of doubt was gone. The attitude of the southwest is obvious, not to mention the strength of the first, if you want to fight, you will never be afraid to fight, even the British Royal Navy can expel it, let alone yourself. Daring to respond to war is an attitude, but stepping up the speed of building ships and strengthening the strength of the navy is a substantive action, and the southwest is grasping it with both hands, which at least gives hope to quite a few Chinese people.

At the same time, there were also many news items in the newspapers that suddenly attacked Nanjing's political axe.

For example, some newspapers accused the Nanjing political axe of being unfavorable in the War of Resistance, and the war correspondent reported in a conclusive tone that the Nanjing political axe intended to take the opportunity of the War of Resistance to weaken the Northeast Army, and Chen Cheng's 18th Route Army entered Beiping, but was unwilling to go to Jinzhou to cooperate with the Northeast Army to build the Ningjin defense line.

Some newspapers were accusing the Nanjing political axe of not paying attention to the development of the navy at all, and even the famous Jiangnan shipyard was sold to foreigners. After this old and rotten sesame matter was dug up, Nanjing Political Axe suddenly fell into an extremely embarrassing situation and became the target of public criticism.

"A bunch of nonsense, a bunch of nonsense!!"

The Nanjing Nationalist Axe, Chiang Kai-shek's office, there was a bang, and even the secretary of the attendant office outside was startled. Chairman Chiang is furious again. Sure enough, soon, Chen Shaokuan, Minister of the Navy, Song Ziwen, Minister of Finance, and Gu Weijun, Minister of Foreign Affairs, walked into Chiang Kai-shek's office.

"Houfu, how did you become the Minister of the Navy. Well? Take a look and see what is written in these newspapers. The navy has no ships, and the shipyards are sold cheaply. It's really incompetent, and it affects the party-state!! "Since the southwest has become more and more high-profile, Chiang Kai-shek's mood has become worse and worse, and he always wants to maintain the majesty of a superior person, but he is repeatedly struck down by anger. Just now Chiang Kai-shek asked about the attendant officer, and he had the most detailed understanding of the navy.

Before that, Chairman Chiang, who had devoted almost all his energy to the army and air force, did not even know how many ships the navy had, and when he asked, he realized that they were all old gunboats, and there was not even a single 2,000-ton "small ship" that could compete with the destroyers in the southwest.

The three of them all bowed their heads and did not speak, and Chairman Jiang's rule was that you could only listen when you were angry, and you could only explain when he finished getting angry. Even if he is wrong, bow his head absolutely.

After scolding for a while, Chiang Kai-shek eased up a bit, "I know about the Jiangnan Shipyard, Lu Yongxiang was greedy for small profits and sold it to the Americans, and even the US minister to China was a witness. It's almost impossible for us to get it back. ”

For the humiliating allusion of the Jiangnan Shipyard, Chen Shaokuan, as the Minister of the Navy, is not clear, the embarrassment of not having a big ship under his hands, he is more embarrassed than anyone else, "Jiangnan Shipyard is indeed a huge loss to the Republic of China Navy, but our own shipbuilding level is really not enough, it is okay to build cargo ships, if it is to build complex warships, without detailed drawings and skilled workers to build military ships, Jiangnan Shipyard is still in our hands, it is empty talk."

However, a light cruiser that we ordered from me in the middle of last year will be able to return to China by the end of this year at the latest, and then the navy will change the history of no big ships. ”

"It's the light cruiser with a displacement of more than 2,000 tons, or I signed it." After Chiang Kai-shek calmed down, he also felt extremely helpless, the destroyers in the southwest had reached a displacement of more than 2,000 tons, and the navy of the national political axe still had to count on himself, and at this time, he felt deeply powerless. He not only hated Zhang Shusheng for being passive in Nanjing's political axe, but also hated the weakness of the country, backward industry, and it was difficult to show his ambitions.

Although the light cruiser ordered from Yueben was worth more than 4 million legal currency, it was paid in installments at a discounted price of soybeans in the northeast.

"Actually......" Chen Shaokuan is a very upright person, but at this time he seems to be stumbling, he almost said what was in his heart, and wanted to take advantage of the situation to suggest that the chairman of the committee buy new ships, but in an instant, it occurred to the chairman that now in the chairman's heart, the reorganization of the army and the expansion of the air force are the most important, and where is the turn of the navy. Even if they agreed, they would not have the money to pay, Nanking was no better than the southwest, and a destroyer could easily be a million-dollar ship, and it was impossible for the British or other Western countries to accept the payment for crops.

"Houfu, if you have something to say, just say it, there are no outsiders here." Chiang Kai-shek motioned for Chen Shaokuan to continue.

Chen Shaokuan saluted and said, "If a special fund can be raised, I suggest that new ships be purchased." At this time, even if a light cruiser is bought, the domestic accusations will not be so loud. "There is one sentence he didn't say, if Nanjing has a big ship, the navy in the southwest will not be the only big ship, even if there is a gap between the two, but it will not be as huge as it is now. One side has aircraft carriers, the other has only battered gunboats. It is impossible for the people of the country not to stand on the side of the southwest, what a good political war caused by the navy, the Nanjing political axe did not even have the power to fight back, and the people's hearts fell over.

"Mother, Xipi! Buy, we buy. I don't believe that with the strength of our party-state, I will not be able to buy back a big ship. Not only to buy, but also to buy the best. ”

The three of them said that the chairman of the committee fell into anger again without even knowing the cost of a battleship.

After a long time, after Chen Shaokuan and Song Ziwen's explanations, Chiang Kai-shek realized that warships are easy to buy, but money is difficult to make. For the Western powers, it only takes more than a year to build a light cruiser, and there are countless large ships in service waiting to be decommissioned. The only difficulty is the problem of money.

"Ziwen, can we get the money for a cruiser? Even if it's an old ship. ”

"No, I can't. Now the treasury is empty, and the only money we have is borrowed from the three countries, and they have already designated the use of this money. Moreover, once the last bit of money is moved, the next army and air force military spending will not be settled, unless the air force construction program is stopped, there will be money to buy warships. Moreover, according to the principles of the British, even the most dilapidated warship will ask for a sky-high price. Soong Ziwen simply and clearly rejected Chiang Kai-shek's idea of buying ships, and the loans of the three countries were earmarked for use, and even he, the finance minister, could not arrange its use.

Chiang Kai-shek pondered for a long time, in fact, he called the three of them, and he already had a draft, but he didn't throw it out directly, and he didn't get the answer he wanted from Chen Shaokuan and Song Ziwen, only Gu Weijun was left. "Shaochuan, you are ready to make an appointment with the British minister to have a high-level contact on the recent events. I have heard that there is a lot of anger and concern in Britain about the Qiongzhou incident, and you should seize this opportunity to get further support from the British. ”

The British were indeed very angry, and this was known not only to Chiang Kai-shek, but also to Gu Weijun. When the incident in the Qiongzhou Strait was reported back to the British Peninsula, the Minister of the Navy was immediately questioned by Parliament, and then the anger of the public and the media also came to the fore, accusing the British Navy of being incompetent, and the navy, which has always been invincible in the world, was actually frightened by the weak Chinese and retreated to Hong Kong. If this continues, will even Hong Kong be returned to the Chinese and retreat directly to Singapore?

The British political axe was also anxious, and if China were next to Britain, the invincible Imperial Navy would immediately be a blow of destruction to the toddler Chinese navy. However, China was too far away to send a large fleet to declare its majesty.

Therefore, in addition to sending a support fleet consisting of two battleships and three cruisers to the Far East, strict orders were quickly issued to the headquarters of the Far East Fleet in Singapore. In order to save face, the Far East Fleet immediately dispatched its capital ships to form a task force and sail for Hong Kong under the leadership of the 10,000-ton heavy cruiser Kent.

The Imperial Navy will assert its majesty on the naïve Chinese Navy with a larger lineup.

Admiral Kelley, commander of the Far East Fleet of the British Royal Navy, was personally in charge of the heavy cruiser Kent, which was 162 meters long, 21 meters wide, and had a full load displacement of 13,700 tons, which was the pride of the Far East Fleet, and it was the Far East Fleet led by such a heavy cruiser that shocked the Strait of Malacca and safeguarded the rights and interests of the British Empire in the Far East.

As the commander of the Far Eastern Fleet, he was very confident in these big guys, and the entire fleet only needed one salvo to destroy the Chinese's nascent weak fleet.

However, when this powerful task force arrived off the coast of China, it was unexpectedly found that there was no Chinese fleet in the entire sea area, and the entire sea area was extremely busy, with ocean-going cargo ships coming and going, but not a single southwestern warship.

Relying on Nanjing's help, Admiral Gloria learned that the despicable Chinese in the southwest had withdrawn their fleet to the offshore sea, under the layers of protection of the Haiphong airfield.

Although Gloria at this time has not fully realized the huge role of aircraft carriers, it is still very good for the threat of land-based airfields to the navy, just like the relationship between shore defense guns and warships, he does not want to try the power of southwest coastal defense fighters.

Admiral Gloria knew very well that if he encountered the Chinese Navy, he would not hesitate to choose to sink it, but if the price of this sinking was to be exchanged for the Far East Fleet, he would not dare in any case. Doing so would only plunge the Imperial Navy into the siege of domestic public opinion again.

Of course, the aging Admiral Gloria has his own way.

So, for the next half a month, the British task force brutally inspected the passing ships, but the results of the inspection made Admiral Gloria feel even more angry.

Cargo ships bound for the West, loaded with products from the Southwest, but, however, they shamefully carried the flags of other countries, even the flags of Great Britain, and they were indeed domestic sea-going ships.

Of course, there were ships flying the Southwest flag, but when Admiral Gloria tried to stop them and thus lead to a decisive naval battle in the Southwest, it was discovered that this ship was either loaded with cotton or cloth.

However, it was these ordinary ships that were detained that provoked the crazy actions of the Chinese.

"Woo woo woo ......"

In the frenzied sound of air raid sirens, Admiral Gloria received a report that made his scalp tingle.

"Report to the general, the Chinese's fighters, dense, everywhere, please give the order whether to return fire." Without the fleet's operational staff report, Admiral Gloria had already seen the dense flying planes in the distant sky.

Based on his experience, there were about thirty Chinese fighters within visual distance, and at this time he discovered that the original fleet had unwittingly entered the combat range of the Chinese's coastal defense airfield in the process of chasing the southwest merchant ships.

In the face of the huge number of land-based fighters that the Chinese can claim, Admiral Gloria is extremely sober, and the domestic aircraft carrier faction is not advocating the theory of aircraft carrier victory? In the past, he disagreed, believing that there were still many problems in the use of aircraft carriers. Today, however, he found that no matter whether there is a problem with aircraft carrier operations, the fighters carried by aircraft carriers can indeed attack the fleet, because in essence, there is not much difference between the land-based fighters and carrier-based aircraft in front of them, they are both fighters, and they can attack the fleet.

"The encirclement is lifted, the fleet retreats at high speed, and the anti-aircraft artillery units of the ships are ready for battle." In fact, the entire fleet, including one heavy cruiser, two light cruisers, and five fast destroyers, has an unbelievably low air defense combat capability.

The fleet quickly released several Chinese merchant ships in the encirclement, turned around and ran, no different from the previous three-ship formation. In front of the land-based air force, the British Royal Admiral did not stupidly choose to use anti-aircraft guns. Otherwise, perhaps China and Britain will stage a wonderful offensive and defensive battle of air ships in the Far East in advance.

Fortunately for the Royal Admiral, the Chinese Air Force did not launch an active attack in the end, and it was not until the fleet was several hundred nautical miles away from land that Admiral Gloria was completely relieved. At this time, he had already scolded the domestic decision-makers in his heart, thousands of miles away, perhaps those politicians still thought that China still only had a few dozen planes during the border war between the two countries.

"Sail to Shanghai!"

It was an order from Admiral Gloria, and he felt compelled to lead the fleet there, at least, where he might be able to get help from the British minister to China.

Two months later, Nanjing!

"Congratulations to Mr. Chen, Mr. Gu. It is my pleasure to brief you on a major event concerning your country. British Minister Lampson held his big pipe with his surname, swept away the haze brought about by the Qiongzhou Incident before, waved his arms, and exaggerated to Gu Weijun and Chen Shaokuan.

Chen Shaokuan and Gu Weijun glanced at each other, the British Legation and the two of them also ran several times, both of them were actively striving for the support of the British, could it be that the matter had a result, and the British promised to sell the battleship in installments?

"Mr. Ministers, with the approval of the Parliament, we have listed your political axe as a strategic partner. The Imperial Admiralty has received authorization from the Parliament and the Prime Minister to provide the Nanking Political Axe with several very advanced warships, including the heavy cruiser Kent, and in addition, through the joint efforts of the ministers of the three countries, the French Far East Fleet and the Soviet Far East Fleet will also transfer a number of warships to your country at the same time. ”

Lampson was in a better mood than ever, and he had never been more strongly wishing that Chiang Kai-shek would have a navy, so that at least he, as minister to China, would not be so passive. For the Imperial Navy, the battleships, including the Kent and two cruisers, were nothing more than a drop in the bucket, not to mention the tattered battleships of the Soviets and the French, but for the Chinese there would be naval forces that could fight the Southwest.

I have to say that it was Lampus's strong recommendation plan that played a huge role in returning to China. In the plan, he listed in detail the great threat of the rise of the southwest to the Far East and even India, and for the whole of Asia and the Pacific, Britain did not allow the Chinese to be presumptuous, and it was in the interests of the empire to establish a minimum opponent for the southwest and contain them.

The plan was approved by the British political axe at an unimaginable speed, and the British political axe finally made up its mind as never before and began to support the Nanjing political axe in earnest.

When Chiang Kai-shek received the news, he happily walked around in the same place, personally waiting for Chen Shaokuan and the others to come and confirm it again, and then laughed happily.

The anger that had been pent up for a long time seemed to be swept away.

"Well, that's great. That's true international aid. Chiang Kai-shek received a huge surprise, and of course made a huge decision, "Houfu, I thought about it for a long time, and I felt that in addition to big ships, we should also have aircraft carriers. Talk, you talk to the British for me, three years will not work, just five years, no matter what the cost, you have to buy me back an aircraft carrier, no matter how big it is, it can carry aircraft. I can take the lead in donating money, the whole country, as long as the British agree to sell, we will definitely be able to afford it!! ”

"Teacher, Britain, France, and the Soviet Union have reached an agreement to provide the Nanking Nationalist with a number of warships, including the heavy cruiser Kent, and Chiang Kai-shek paid only the wages required to hire British sailors for two years! The latest information is that Chiang Kai-shek has to make inches, and he is a little reckless, and he sent people to negotiate with the British about the purchase of aircraft carriers, even if they want micro aircraft carriers. ”

Zhao Ziyun's face turned a little pale and reported to Zhang Shusheng the information he had just received.

Zhang Shusheng smiled and handed him a piece of paper, only to see the names of several major cities in China written on it, "The soldiers will block the water and cover the earth, not to mention the heavy cruisers, even the battleships are coming, and some of them will suffer." You see, the third aircraft carrier has already decided to lay the keel in the spring, and it will be built in a few years, do you think it is better to call it Guangzhou or Guilin? ”

"This ...... Both, all good! Although he was the Minister of Intelligence, Zhao Ziyun also learned for the first time that Southwest was going to start building a third aircraft carrier during the Spring Festival of 1932. A few years have not passed in a flash, and by that time, there will be a third aircraft carrier in the Southwest. "It's so fast, in the blink of an eye we're going to have a third aircraft carrier, and even if it's built in five years, it's not too late."

Zhang Shusheng smiled and didn't say anything. This time the aircraft carrier is different from the Kunming and Chengdu. The Kunming can only be regarded as an escort aircraft carrier, and the Chengdu is a flat-topped ship. However, this aircraft carrier is a detailed drawing that he redeemed from the Dream Machine, and with the workers who already have rich experience in building ships, he will build an aircraft carrier with more advanced design concepts.

Whether it is displacement or complexity, it is far from being comparable to the Kunming, and of course, the combat capability will also be stronger.

Moreover, the Kunming was actually built by the Jiangnan Shipyard, and the Chengdu was built by the Philadelphia Shipyard in the United States, and only this third ship will be a real self-produced cargo in the southwest.

As for time, is it really fast? It is now the first month of 1932, World War II is imminent, and in just a few years, the southwest will be finished if it does not take action. Thinking about the terrifying armaments of various countries in the future, he was a little numb. Especially the Americans, if nothing else, the speed at which they build ships and planes alone can keep him awake.

Building a battleship is not a rifle, the production line is built as soon as it opens, and the production speed of fighters and tanks can be fast or slow, but the construction of warships, especially large warships, does not have guns sharpened at all, and the construction cycle is too long.

This last decade will be the final sprint period for Zhang Shusheng's preparations for World War II, so compared with the shipbuilding cycle of several years, it is not too early to have a third aircraft carrier around 1936, but too late. If it weren't for the financial constraints, he would have wanted to start construction a few years ago.

"It's just that the people in the north are suffering, and Chiang Kai-shek is crazy, and he has to pluck the hair on the sheep. Alas! ”――

(To be continued)