Stalin had always been interested in battleships, and this was no secret in the Politburo and the Military Commission. In 1936, when the Americans had just agreed to produce Type 35 heavy cruisers for the Soviet Union, Stalin instructed Ordzhonikidze to see if they could buy battleships from the United States, but the Americans firmly refused.

However, Stalin did not give up, and at the end of October 1937, when the construction of the North Carolina-class battleships officially began, he once again tried to persuade the Americans to sell the drawings and related technology of the North Carolina-class directly.

This time, however, it ended in failure, and the Americans refused to continue arms sales on the grounds that the Soviet Union interfered in Spain's internal affairs. Not only did it not play with the purchase of the North Carolina class, but it was not even possible to continue the production of Type 35 heavy cruisers and Type 36 light cruisers for the Soviet Union.

After the failure of the direct purchase of finished products and drawings, Stalin also tried to save the country, preparing to buy from the United States some technologies that the Soviet Union had not broken through for the time being, and produce battleships at home. At that time, Stalin had his eye on the American MK6 406-mm gun.

However, even if they purchased some technology, the Americans still chose to refuse, so Stalin's ambitious battleship plan was declared bankrupt, because even the United States, which had a decent relationship with the Soviet Union, had no play, and Britain, France, Italy, Germany, and Japan, which had tense relations with the Soviet Union, were naturally unlikely to sell technology.

In desperation, Stalin's favorite battleship program was discontinued as soon as pre-research began, and instead it was replaced by an all-out production of Type 35 heavy cruisers and Type 36 light cruisers.

There is not much nonsense about the Type 35 heavy cruisers, here is a little talk about the Type 36 light cruisers. In fact, the ship basically used the hull of the Type 35 heavy cruiser, but replaced the main armament with 12 155mm guns. It is almost identical to the Type 35 in terms of maximum speed and armor defense. However, the important difference between the Type 36 light cruiser and the Type 35 heavy cruiser is. From the day of service. All fire control equipment is complete. Including MP100 anti-aircraft alert radar. MR10 fire control radar.

Among them, the MP100 anti-air warning radar is very distinctive, it is installed at the highest point of the main mast, using the Yagi radar antenna, and its maximum air search range is 200 km, and the maximum search distance to the sea is 50 km. The advantage is that it is lightweight, and the disadvantage is that it is a two-coordinate radar (only bearing and distance information is provided, altimetry is not possible).

For a heavy cruiser, of course. The two-coordinate radar is also sufficient, anyway, this is an early warning radar, as long as you know the approximate distance and azimuth of the enemy, it is enough. As for providing accurate target information and guiding the ship's weapons to attack the enemy, this is the job of the MR10 fire control radar, which uses a cone scanning system and is mainly used to provide detailed target information for the ship's weapon system to guide the weapon system to launch an attack. Its maximum range of action is 30 km, and the effective range of action is 25 km. For an artillery cruiser, it was enough to be able to effectively attack targets at a distance of about 25 km.

In addition to radar. The ship also had a traditional optical sighting system as a backup, but it was found to be rarely used in World War II. Because the reliability of the MP100 and MR10 radars is still very high. Moreover, each Soviet cruiser was equipped with two MR10s as backups, and the probability of two fire control radars being destroyed or malfunctioning at the same time in actual combat is too low.

However, later in actual combat, it was found that the combination of MP100 and MR10 still has certain problems, especially because MP100 is a meter-wave radar, there are certain problems with the recognition rate of low-altitude targets, when the Luftwaffe used low-altitude penetration tactics to damage the aircraft carrier Moskva, the Red Navy immediately added a set of low-altitude blind/sea search radar (MR15) to large warships. This is basically the solution to the problem. Later, these three sets of radars became the troika on the large warships of the Red Navy, and as for the destroyers, the MR10 was canceled, and the MR15, which was slightly less accurate, acted as a fire control radar.

These three sets of radars also contributed greatly to the Red Navy in World War II, especially the Pacific Fleet, which took advantage of radars and frequently made the Japanese, who claimed to be the best at night battles, suffer great losses in night battles.

Continuing to return to the previous topic, Stalin was bent on developing battleships, and he was trying to procure technology by all means, but he was always hitting a wall. And this time, the conditions proposed by the Germans made him very excited, and in the eyes of steel, the only obstacle to the development of super-battleships in the Red Navy was the general design and giant artillery. After all, the Red Navy had not touched a battleship for more than twenty years, and in tsarist times, Russia relied on foreign countries for battleship design work.

And this time the Germans helped the Red Navy break through these two barriers in one fell swoop, and if the Germans provided a full set of designs and artillery, the Soviet steel giant ships would soon be in service!

Stalin was excited at that time, and did not think at all that the general level of design of the Germans, to be honest, was really like that. After all, the Germans had not touched a battleship for more than 20 years, and the 20-year hiatus had made the Germans' design thinking completely lagging behind the world. Judging from the design of Bismarck, this is still a battleship in the style of World War I, and it still takes the road of comprehensive protection.

As a result, the ship's displacement was greatly wasted, and its defense power was really not as awesome as advertised. In fact, not only the Bismarck, but also the surface ships of the German Navy in World War II had the same problem - waste of displacement. For example, the Admiral-Hipper-class heavy cruiser, with a standard platoon of 14,000 tons, a maximum speed of more than 32 knots, and an armor thickness of only 80 mm, is even inferior to the US imperialists, which are 4,000 tons smaller than it and the same level of heavy cruisers that started five years earlier (the Germans have weak firepower).

The Germans' naval ship design ideas were problematic, at least Li Xiaofeng did not like the Germans' design schemes. Whether it's a Hipper-class heavy patrol or a Bismarck that blows the sky and the earth, it's really a black-hearted bun. Getting someone to pay for two black-hearted buns, that's absolutely impossible!

Therefore, from the very beginning, Li Xiaofeng clearly opposed Stalin's opinion and resolutely demanded the annihilation of all the German devils in Spain!

"According to the investigation of the intelligence department, the design of German warships, except for submarines, is all problematic. There is a strict asymmetry between its cost, displacement and actual combat effectiveness. It is a typical representative of high price and high quality! The introduction of these backward technologies did not make any sense for the Red Navy! ”

"Who knows if your information is reliable!" Ordzhoniqi sneered and glanced at Li Xiaofeng.

The latter was not polite: "Oh. You have more reliable sources of intelligence. Then lay out the evidence and tell the facts...... No evidence? What are you talking nonsense about without proof! ”

Li Xiaofeng first got involved with Ordzhonikidze, in fact, these two people have always been in competition, both of them are Stalin and Sverdlov's side after Kalinin and Ruzutak, the last time it wasn't for Stalin and Sverdlov decisively giving up the vacated position vacated by Kamenev and Zinoviev, these two would have to fight for a head.

Especially as the competition between Stalin and Sverdlov began to become fierce, who will have the upper hand in the Politburo in the future will depend more on the victory or defeat between Li Xiaofeng and Ordzhonikidze. Anyway, from March 1938 onwards, these two men had to break their wrists at every opportunity.

"The world's major naval powers are vigorously developing battleships. We in the Red Navy cannot lag behind, and I think that even if the German battleship design is inferior to the world's most advanced level, it is still advanced enough compared to us...... We can't be ambitious, we should work in a down-to-earth manner! ”

Stalin's remarks made it clear that Li Xiaofeng was so ambitious and far from down-to-earth, and Li Xiaofeng was not polite to this, and directly sarcastically said: "When people build battleships, we will follow the construction of battleships, so do people eat, do we also have to eat?" Beginning in 1934, the four consecutive years of major fleet exercises proved one result in each case - the era of battleships dominating the sea and defeating is gone, and who will control the sky in the future. Who can control the ocean. The focus of our naval development should be adjusted according to the exercises. It's time for aircraft carriers to take the place of battleships! I think that in the future, the core of the Red Navy will only be aircraft carriers, to hell with the battleships! ”

This was the first time Li Xiaofeng said what he was thinking, and it was also the first time he had a head-on showdown with Stalin, which surprised Stalin!

"Nonsense, what can a few exercises say......"

Before Stalin finished speaking, Li Xiaofeng pushed him back: "The exercise is not representative? Is there a representation of the maritime conflict that took place in Spain, where we could have suppressed the German and Italian navies without aircraft carriers, and could have effectively blocked Franco's maritime lifeline? What's more, the battleship can't even handle the exercises, so what is the real combat to talk about? ”

"It's deviant......"

Li Xiaofeng blocked Stalin again: "Whose scripture is it from?" Whose way is it traitor? When did the classics of imperialism become the principles that the Red Navy had to follow? I believe that if we want to catch up with the gap with imperialism, we must be ahead of our thinking, and the Air Force has already shown tremendous combat effectiveness and potential, so we should give full play to it! ”

"I firmly disagree with you being so nonsense!" Stalin finally got on fire, he threw off his pipe and roared loudly.

"Nonsense?!" Li Xiaofeng glared at him without showing weakness, "It's you who is really making trouble, my arguments have facts and evidence, and what do you have?" You are nothing but the echo worm and the follower of imperialism! I'll put the words here today, resolutely oppose the battleship project that costs the people and money, and it's useless for anyone to mention it! ”

Stalin was so angry that his lips trembled, and he gasped for breath for a long time before he said to Sverdlov: "Comrade Yakov, you just watch him fool around? ”

Sverdlov, however, replied very calmly: "In terms of military technology and theory, I fully trust Comrade Andrei, he is an expert in this area. Moreover, as the head of the KGB, he has a full understanding of the direction of military technology development in the world, and we, the laymen, should fully trust and listen to his opinion. I unreservedly agree with and support Comrade Andrei's opinion! ”

Good fellow, Stalin almost had a cerebral congestion, he never thought that Sverdlov would give him so faceless, and these words almost pointed at his nose and said: "Don't pretend to understand!" What's more, I'm completely on the side of Lao Tzu's little brother, go cool on your side! ”

So what happened in the end? Stalin was very reluctant to bring the issue of battleships to the Military Commission, and he was ready to use his great influence in the Military Commission to forcefully approve the battleship project.

However, the results were more disastrous. Not only was it once again resolutely opposed by Sverdlov and Li Xiaofeng. Even Trotsky, who was half-dead, disagreed: "Super battleship project? How much does it cost? The huge expenditures of the Red Navy in recent years have been quite staggering. From aircraft carriers to cruisers and destroyers, a lot of money has been swallowed up, and the launch of the battleship project at this time will bring us a huge financial burden...... Even if we have achieved gratifying results in economic construction, we cannot just toss, let alone lose! ”

Trotsky was a staunch opponent of the battleship project from an economic point of view, while Frunze, another influential figure in the Military Commission, endorsed Li Xiaofeng's theory: "From the previous fleet exercises and the Spanish maritime operations, the value of aircraft carriers is indeed better than that of battleships. And our Navy also has a large number of modernized battleships preserved in the next five years. There was no shortage of battleships...... On the contrary, in the Pacific direction, as our conflict with Japan intensifies, the Pacific Fleet is under great pressure to speed up the renewal of the Taiping Fleet and replace it with more new cruisers, destroyers, frigates, and submarines. ”

Frunze didn't talk much, but because of Lenin's trust in him and his high personal prestige, he said something that even Stalin had to concede three points. When Frunze was also against the battleships, Stalin could only retreat.

It can well be imagined. Stalin would definitely not be happy about this defeat. He summed up only one truth: "The so-called friends and allies are unreliable, I can only believe in my own strength, and in the future, in order to consolidate and safeguard the interests of the Soviet proletariat, I must do everything possible to increase it!" ”

Stalin was ready to increase his strength, but this was inevitably limited by two aspects, and neither Sverdlov nor Trotsky could watch steel seize power. The new power struggle has been waged in an all-round way between the three factions, and the struggle has shown a white-hot tendency, both at the central and local levels.

In this tense atmosphere, Li Xiaofeng called Wufeng Jevic to his office: "Comrade Wufeng Jevic, how long have you been my confidential secretary?" ”

Misty Wind Jevich was inexplicably called in, and was asked another inexplicable question, and the whole person was inexplicable, and could only answer in a daze: "Comrade Andrei, it should be almost 20 years." ”

Li Xiaofeng nodded: "Yes, it's been 19 years." Even a child should be an adult. Comrade Kirikazejevich, I think it's time for you to take on more important work! ”

Kirikaze Jevic was taken aback, no matter who it is, he will have ambitions, especially people like him who serve the top leadership of the central government, and his ambitions are a little stronger than ordinary people. For a long time, he had thought about making a career, preferably on his own. And he didn't expect the opportunity to come so suddenly.

At the same time, Li Xiaofeng also said to himself: "You are already familiar with the work of the Central Committee, and there is no point in continuing to let you stay in the Central Committee." I mean let you go to the local area to accumulate experience and fully experience the situation at the grassroots level...... Of course, I will fully respect your personal opinion, and there is no problem if you don't want to go. ”

Misty Wind Yevich pondered for a moment and replied very solemnly: "Comrade Andrei, I am willing to go to the place to get exercise!" ”

Li Xiaofeng nodded with satisfaction, among the group of people that the Great Patriarch gave him, except for this Misty Wind Jevic, he was more satisfied, and the others were all middle-aged people, and that group of people had already been released out, and the success rate was not high. Even if the Patriarch kept stuffing people later, they were still too young and naïve, and they needed time to temper. The only thing that satisfied him now was Misty Wind Jevic, and if this kid could do something locally, he wouldn't mind focusing on cultivating this kid.

To be honest, when he proposed to let Kirifujevic go to work in the place, he was still very worried that this kid would not be happy, after all, the confidential secretary of the Politburo is equivalent to the chief butler of the prime minister's family, and he is not a seven-rank official, he is completely a ruthless character who can achieve things in one sentence and do bad things in one sentence. However, when delegating to local work, the advantage of relying on the head is gone, but not everyone is willing to accept this gap.

Fortunately, Wufeng Jevic did not disappoint Li Xiaofeng, this kid is really the material of mixed officialdom, and he agreed to it in one bite, and this decision satisfied Li Xiaofeng.

Li Xiaofeng instructed lightly: "Very good, in the recent past, you will straighten out the work in your hands and prepare for the handover." ”

Kirikazeevich left without asking anything, there may be comrades to say, and more or less you have to ask where you are placed in the place, right? But Wufeng Jevic felt that this was redundant, he knew that Li Xiaofeng would not cheat him, and would definitely plan a good place for him. In that case, why bother talking too much and looking like a chicken thief? When it's time to sue him, the chief will naturally sue him. is too talkative, but it makes the chief think that you are an important official in disguise.

However, Wufeng Jevic didn't know that Li Xiaofeng didn't tell him, but he hadn't chosen a good place yet, or that the position he chose for Wufeng Jevic would face a certain amount of competition. Stalin, for example, was ready to move his henchmen to that position. Based on this, Li Xiaofeng still has a lot of work to do.

So what kind of position is this, which even interested Stalin? Quite simply, this position is the secretary of the Leningrad City Party Committee...... (To be continued......)

PS: Bow and thank you to the plane wanted criminals, hzwangdd, Xu Jump 1999, Kill Potato and Juventus comrades!