Chapter 191: Light Cruisers

(Thank you for the monthly pass of my brother and sister in Juneday!) ）

The rebellion that broke out in September did not have much impact on western Sichuan. After the war subsided, western Sichuan once again entered a rapid development. After a year of intense construction, the railway from Guangyuan in Sichuan to Baoji in Shaanxi has been completed and opened to traffic, and now the Ministry of Communications is stepping up the construction of the railway in Shaanxi. Although the construction of a large number of railways has made the financial revenue of western Sichuan like flowing water, this has also stimulated the rapid development of the economy of western Sichuan.

The smelting of various building materials, especially steel and sè metals, has been greatly developed. Guizhou's iron ore and manganese ore have begun to build smelting plants with the investment of Sichuan Hènfu and Xihua Group. In Liupanshui, Guizhou, a large-scale iron and steel enterprise with an annual output of 200,000 tons of iron and 100,000 tons of steel is under intense construction, and is expected to be officially completed and put into operation in the middle of next year.

Guangxi and the same, aluminum, manganese ore and other sè metal mining, are in the accelerated development, with the completion of the railway from Guiyang to Yongning, Guangxi's development speed will be more and more.

The thriving development of western Sichuan made Wang Yuze very satisfied, which represents the vigorous development of national strength. When all the affairs were on the right track, Wang Yuze began to change his governing style. Wang Xiao is no matter how big or small, he will personally ask questions, although this makes the development of western Sichuan rarely have problems, but at the same time, he also makes himself very tired. Wang Yuze began to hand over major administrative affairs to the internal department, while military affairs were handled by the General Staff Headquarters and the Ministry of National Defense, and he only listened to reports on important affairs every day. The rest of the time, he spent time with his family and inspecting various places.

Wang Yuze's son Wang Zirui, a little guy of more than a month, has now become the darling of the entire patrol embassy, and several of his wives revolve around this little guy every day, and even have a lot less time to care about him, which makes Wang Yuze very depressed, and even a little jealous.

Regarding Wang Yuze's 'lazy' behavior, Prime Minister Liang Xingrong has put forward his opinions more than once, but Wang Yuze has repeatedly refused. However, when it was discovered that the government affairs in western Sichuan had not been affected by this, Liang Xingrong had to turn a blind eye.

Time flies, and in a blink of an eye, it's December '92. Last month, the Russian envoy to China was changed from Ko Lei Ming to Cassini. After his arrival, the first thing Cassini did was to pay a visit to Prince Gong Yixin, and on behalf of Russia, he proposed to the Qing Dynasty the question of negotiating the demarcation of the Pamirs, and demanded that all the lands west of the Pamirs be transferred to Russia. For these wild places where birds don't, the rulers of the Manchu Qing Dynasty certainly won't take it to heart. Since Russia's friends want it, then just give it to them. When Wang Yuze learned of this, he immediately ordered Xinjān's troops to prepare for battle, and a garrison brigade stationed in Kashgar was stationed in these areas before the Manchus signed a treaty with Russia. This led to a stern protest against Western Sichuan in Russia. However, the western Sichuan side was unmoved. At one point, low-intensity clashes broke out between the two sides. If it weren't for the strong forces in Xinjān, perhaps there would have been a possibility of a major war between the two sides. However, this also made Kawanishi and Russia completely feuded.

On February 0ri, Wang Yuze left Chengdu and went to Wuhan to participate in the completion and commissioning ceremony of Wuhan Iron and Steel Group. After the occupation of Wuhan in western Sichuan, the Hanyang Iron Works built by Zhang Zhidong, the governor of Liangguang, was expanded and the current Wuhan Iron and Steel Group was established. One of the two sets of steel smelting equipment that Kawanishi obtained from Britain was placed here. Coupled with the original equipment of Hanyang Iron Works and the subsequent equipment purchased in western Sichuan, Wuhan Iron and Steel Group's annual pig iron output has reached 300,000 tons and steel output has reached 200,000 tons, which has surpassed Panzhihua and become a large steel base in western Sichuan. Of course, after the expansion of Panzhihua Iron and Steel Group is completed, the glory of the large steel base still belongs to Panzhihua.

inspected all the way until February 20, Wang Yuze rushed to Wuhan. Wang Yuze met with Ren Feiyu, governor of Hubei Province, and Chen Ye, mayor of Wuhan City, and expressed his affirmation of the development made by Hubei and Wuhan over the past year or so, and hoped that they would make persistent efforts. The next day, Wang Yuze met with the garrison, and he asked the garrison to be ready for battle and ready to deal with the outbreak of war. Now it is about to enter the ninth year, and there is still more than a year to go, and the First Sino-Japanese War will break out, and at that time, it will be the time for the army of the western Sichuan army to sweep the whole of China.

The commissioning ceremony of Wuhan Iron and Steel Group was held on the 22nd, although the weather was not very good on this day, and it was raining lightly, which seemed a little cold. But the atmosphere was very warm. After Wuhan Iron and Steel Group is put into operation, it will change the situation that the steel in western Sichuan is not enough in one fell swoop, and it can meet the needs of infrastructure construction such as railways and the needs of the military industry. The Ministry of National Defense is already planning to build another arsenal in Wuhan to replenish ammunition for various units in Wuhan nearby. At the same time, once a war breaks out, it will be easier to supply from Wuhan to the front line.

After the ceremony, Wang Yuze, under the leadership of the general manager of Wuhan Iron and Steel Group, visited the smelting workshop and forging workshop of the iron and steel plant. With the red molten steel flowing and turning into pieces of steel or rails, Wang Yuze was also very excited. In this era, it is this steel that will support the backbone of a country. With the completion and operation of one iron and steel plant after another, the industrial strength of western Sichuan will become stronger and stronger, and it will no longer be out of reach to catch up with the old powers.

After attending the commissioning ceremony of the Wuhan Iron and Steel Group, Wang Yuze did not return to Chengdu, but traveled to Guizhou via Honqin to inspect the construction of the Liupanshui Iron and Steel Plant and other Sè metal smelting plants. Then inspected the reduction of the Guiyong Railway. After several months of intensified construction, the Guiyong Railway has now completed more than half of the process, and it is expected to be completed and opened to traffic next month. At the same time, after the completion of the Beihai port, the construction of the railway from Beihai to Yongning has also begun. In this way, it can be guaranteed that before the fleet returns home, the passage to the sea in western Sichuan will be basically unblocked.

After that, Wang Yuze rushed to Beihai again at the beginning of 9 years. The shipyard has been preliminarily completed, and the large dock requested by Wang Yuze is still under construction. Now several thousand-ton docks have been built, and the shipyard has begun to build the first warship in western Sichuan. Wang Yuze rushed to the shipyard in order to see the placement of the first keel of the battleship with his own eyes.

"Dashuai, this is the first battleship we designed, the 'Leshan' class light cruiser." The Leshan' class light cruisers had a displacement of 00 tons, a length of 5 meters, and were armed with two twin 55-mm guns, which were placed in the bow and stern. In addition, there were 6 05 mm speed shè guns as secondary guns. In addition, there were 7-mm speed shè guns mounted on the sides of the battleship. The power will be 2 vertical 4-cylinder reciprocating steam engines, with 2 high-rise coal-fired boilers, can get 5,000 horsepower surging power, and it is expected that the high speed after completion will be between 25 and 27 knots, which will far exceed the Yoshino ship purchased by RIMOTO, and become a battleship! Wei Han, the director of the shipyard, explained to Wang Yuze with a smile on his face. Building a warship on their own has always been the hope of Wei Han and the old men of the Fujian Ship Administration, and after entering western Sichuan, this idea has not been dispelled. Although there was no access to the sea in western Sichuan at that time, their designs could only stay on the drawings. However, Wang Xiao, the handsome man at that time, still gave them great support. After Wang Yuze came to power, he instructed the shipyard to step up the design and construction of its own warships in western Sichuan. For the design of the 'Leshan' class light cruiser, Wang Yuze also put forward his own requirements, that is, high speed. The target was none other than the battleship Yoshino, which was now being built in the UK.

Although the "Yoshino" had two more main guns than the "Leshan" class light cruisers, because the "Yoshino" was equipped with a single main gun, in one direction, only four main guns could fire at the same time. Therefore, in terms of firepower, the light cruisers of the "Leshan" class did not suffer. Moreover, in terms of speed, the "Leshan" class light cruiser will also be significantly ahead of the "Yoshino". When the Kawanishi Navy and the Kawamoto Navy went to war, the Kawanishi Navy could achieve a huge advantage. As for why it was named "Leshan"-class light cruiser, because Wang Xiao's birthplace was in Leshan. The cruisers of the Kawanishi Navy are also named after the cities of the Kawanishi Navy.

"When will I be able to launch and serve?" Wang Yuze asked.

"It is expected to be launched in June this year, and it will be able to enter the fleet in September!" Wei Han replied.

"Go into service as early as possible. After entering service, let's make improvements according to the problems that arise! This is the first warship we have stopped, and it is not terrible to have problems, the important thing is that we should improve and design advanced warships according to these problems! Wang Yuze said.

"Yes, young marshal!" Wei Han nodded. For the first time, the construction of two light cruisers of the "Leshan" class will start at the same time, namely the "Leshan" and the "Qijiang". After it is completed and put into service, it will involve another level of improvement, and how much to build will be determined depending on the situation.

On September 9, the keel laying ceremony of the "Leshan" class light cruiser was held. The gantry crane above the dock slowly lifted a keel weighing several hundred tons and then placed it in the dock. This is the keel produced by Beihai Shipyard, which is forged by a heavy-duty steam hammer and hydraulic press of hundreds of tons installed by Panzhihua Iron and Steel Group after casting crude steel by Panzhihua Iron and Steel Group. The steel plates needed for the battleship will also be confidently forged by the North Sea shipyard. Two 100-ton heavy-duty steam hammers and two 7,000-ton hydraulic presses imported from Germany are housed here.

PS: First arrival, today three! (To be continued.)

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