Similar to the Royal Navy, one of the major problems facing the Ming Navy now is the lack of enough high-speed medium and large warships.

However, the British Navy had at least a large number of heavy cruisers, and the Ming Navy had always despised heavy cruisers, with only six heavy cruisers in service so far - because the Ming did not have as many overseas colonies as the British, and the navy also agreed that treaty-type heavy cruisers were very cost-effective.

In the past 20 years, the Ming Navy has built a large number of small and medium-sized warships, and there are as many as 27 light cruisers and 172 destroyers in service, ranking first in the world.

In contrast, the naval sequences of other countries generally contain many old destroyers from the European Wars.

In the original planning and assumption of the Ming Navy, when the naval treaty expired, it should start to build cutting-edge high-speed battleships in batches, but still did not consider building heavy cruisers.

The U.S. Navy on the other side of the Pacific Ocean is equipped with a large number of heavy cruisers, but the Ming Navy believes that it is not cost-effective to use heavy cruises against heavy cruisers - the cost performance of heavy cruisers is very low, and they will be beaten when they encounter battleships, and the production capacity of American shipyards is more than that of its own country, so it is doomed to suffer losses in such a confrontation.

Therefore, the Ming Navy hopes to build a cheap small high-speed battleship of the first class, which can deal with the heavy cruisers of the US Navy with more than one enemy, and the cost of such a battleship will not be greater than two heavy cruisers.

Given the fact that the Americans liked to concentrate on heavy cruisers, there were not many of them for such cheap small battleships, about three were enough.

However, the fiasco of Fleet A made the Ming Navy realize the earth-shaking changes in the future naval war after a short period of revelry.

Almost that night, after a hearty celebration feast, individual generals and technical officials were keenly aware of two points:

First, the decisive significance of the battleship has declined, but its huge tonnage makes it an excellent platform for carrying weapons, and consideration should be given to equipping the battleship with a large number of anti-aircraft weapons to provide a solid and tight umbrella for the aircraft carrier air attack fleet.

Secondly, the Navy needs specialized small and medium-sized air defense warships. Theoretically, a light cruiser with a standard displacement of 4,000 to 5,000 tons is the optimal choice for air defense performance. Air defense destroyers, although cheaper, carry correspondingly fewer weapons.

Interestingly, the two new battleships, both of which are already being outfitted, have just been named, and they were previously called by their code names.

According to the naming law of the Ming Navy, the new ship should choose the strong era after Longshuo.

However, after that, it was the chaotic period of Wu Zetian's usurpation and the Anshi Rebellion, and there was no suitable era name to choose from.

Later, the Song Dynasty basically had nothing to do with the word "strong", and the Ming people always liked to joke about Zhao and Song, so it was not appropriate.

The Yuan Dynasty selectively ignored it for the time being, so the era name that should be adopted now came to this dynasty.

Considering that if there is an accident, the sinking of the Hongwu may have a greater blow to the morale of the military and civilians, so the new battleship was officially finalized as the Yongle class, the first ship Yongle and the second ship Xuande.

The single battleship Longshuo is a complex of technological progress of the Ming Navy in the interwar period, and as a technical verification ship, she inevitably has some congenital problems.

After these problems are solved, Yongle level has become the culmination of many advanced technologies, representing the peak level of Daming industry.

As the most sophisticated and massive weapon in human history, what could be more indicative of a nation's technology than a battleship?

The Yongle class is a flat-deck ship with a bulbous bow and a square stern with a standard displacement of 41,200 tons.

The use of square stern on today's large warships is rare - research by the Naval Ordnance Institute has found that when the speed of a battleship reaches 30 knots, the square stern can reduce the drag of the traditional round stern by about 4%, and at the same time improve the stability of the battleship.

The disadvantage was that it did not perform as well as the round stern at low speeds, but the navy eventually adopted the design of the square stern.

At the same time, the bulbous bow can also significantly reduce the wave resistance, and the effect is about 6%-8%.

As we all know, the French have always been at the forefront of boiler technology, and after the first to develop the booster boiler, it is even more unique.

Akito drew considerable experience from this and created an equally first-class powertrain.

The power configuration of the Yongle class is eight high-temperature and high-pressure boilers, four steam turbines, and four-shaft propulsion.

The steam superheater can heat the steam to an exaggerated temperature of 420°C, and the output steam pressure is up to 35kg/c㎡. It can produce as much as 180,000 horsepower with just eight boilers, and can exceed 200,000 horsepower when overloaded.

With such surging power, the Yongle class can be designed to reach speeds of 33 knots.

However, it stands to reason that her trial speed must have exceeded the design speed, especially since the designers underestimated the drag reduction effect of the world's unique combination of a bulbous bow and a square stern.

The main gun is a 39-type 13-inch (416mm) triple assembly, 46 times the diameter, and the supporting trial production of the 39-type special armor-piercing projectile weighs 1410kg and has a muzzle velocity of 740m/s.

With a weight coefficient of 0.63, this armor-piercing projectile is a thoroughly super-heavy projectile, and the warhead contains a special tungsten alloy steel ball... Or "ball", the armor-piercing ability is extremely exaggerated.

The Navy believes that super-heavy shells with a slightly lower muzzle velocity can do wonders - in long-range shelling, a more curved trajectory can hit the opponent's horizontal armor with a larger drop angle, and the shot will hit the soul.

Its protective performance is not eye-catching, its broadside main armor belt is 304mm thick, inclination 16 °; the frontal turret is 416mm; Horizontal armor was better, up to 240mm.

Thanks to the advanced power system, the power compartment of the Yongle-class battleships was relatively short, saving a lot of tonnage - in other words, they could carry thicker armor for the same tonnage.

As for the secondary artillery and anti-aircraft guns, the planned configuration was urgently stopped.

The fiasco of Fleet A is a wake-up call to the Ming Navy - the anti-aircraft weapons of battleships must be strengthened, and the existing firepower is far from sufficient!

The performance of the Yongle and Xuande was undoubtedly superior, but the high cost of construction also made the navy miserable, and the Advisory Council was also very dissatisfied, because the construction cost of these two new battleships had been overspent by 30%.

As a result, the Advisory Council also vigorously promoted the abolition of the construction of ships No. 3 and No. 4 and the construction of a large first-class aircraft carrier on their basis.

Anyway, aircraft carriers don't need to be equipped with expensive naval guns and armor, they just need to purchase additional carrier-based aircraft, and doesn't the example just now prove that aircraft carriers are the trend of the times?

The next day, in the morning.

In the twilight of winter, Nanjing is still cold, and even though the sun is shining, it can't stop the damp north wind.

Normally, the 10th day of the Lunar New Year in Beijing should have been a little less festive than last year's festival, and it will not be until a few days later that the Lantern Festival will return to enthusiasm.

However, the court could not wait to announce the joyful news early in the morning, and the morning and morning news recounted this glorious victory in detail.

People thought it was incredible—big is strong, and how could a battleship, a steel hill of power, be easily sunk by a buzzing plane?

Some people question this because it's too unreasonable.

Although most of the questioning remarks are not malicious, it cannot be ruled out that they are mixed with some ulterior motives.

The Foreign Investigation Bureau, which closely follows the trend of public opinion, has a different view on this, and some officials believe that these guys who deliberately disturb people's hearts should be found out.

And then... A defamation crime will definitely not be able to escape, killing chickens and setting an example for monkeys.

But there are also those who take a different view, thinking that arresting people in a hurry now will appear to be unconfident in the court—just like the incompetent and furious approach after the lie is exposed.

"It can't be fake, it can't be fake." Shen Yu is one of those who disagrees.

"Uh... You can't just leave it alone, can you? ”

"Wait for a few days before you do it, no, you shouldn't take the initiative to arrest people, you should post a summons and put your posture high."

Forbidden City, Wenhua Palace.

The regular cabinet meeting was held as usual, and the cabinet ministers were all very busy, and from time to time they would encounter urgent matters and delay some time, so there were always people who were a little late.

"There's something I haven't finished cooking, so it's been a little longer, and you've been waiting for a long time." Yu Shenhua was the last to arrive today, looking still thinking about other things.

"Hey, I'm honored that if you don't come, you won't be able to open it today." Li Guangyuan smiled as he flipped through the file in front of him.

"Yes, the attitude of the Siamese side is not clear, and we have done our best in the negotiations. Now, it is impossible to use both hard and soft measures, so I can only wait for him to change his mind. ”

Siam has long been a pro-Ming and often tributary, but with the invasion of Western powers, it began to try to preserve itself in every possible way.

Similar to history, Siamese has a mastery of dancing with three eggs, so it still holds sovereignty.

The Ming army landed on the Malay Peninsula at Pattani, the southernmost point of Siam, and the army of the royal family of Annam also used the northern part of Siam to attack British Burma in the west.

The Siamese side knew that the Ming side was now in a big position, so even if the troops and horses of other countries crossed the border, they still maintained restraint, and only made a small diplomatic question, and did not even protest.

But they are still essentially on the sidelines and don't want to take sides early.

"It's sleek, and it's not worth high hopes." Gao Qingkui bowed slightly, "Diplomatic efforts are temporarily suspended, as long as they are prevented from turning to the West." ”

If you don't join now, you want to wait for the overall situation to come back to get a piece of the pie on a regular basis? Dream!

"Do you really want to stop? I don't think it's good. Lin Xi was very worried about this, "If Siam does not fully cooperate, the deployment and transportation of troops and supplies in Annam will be very problematic." ”

Although the Siamese now acquiesced to the transit of soldiers and horses from other countries, they did not take the initiative to cooperate after all.

This caused a lot of trouble to the army of the royal family of Annam, and it was difficult to ensure that their logistics supply was abundant.

"Does the military department have any ideas?" Gao Qingkui asked.

"First of all, the Siamese matter must be resolved as soon as possible, it is not appropriate to let them go right and left like this, and they can consider deterrence by force, or ......"

As he spoke, Lin Xi glanced at the cabinet ministers present and said calmly: "Someone in the staff office of the Governor's Office has put forward a general idea - to break into Bangkok with lightning speed and force the Siamese people to submit. ”

"It's pretty strong." A thoughtful Lee Guangyuan asked, "How much is the feasibility?" ”

"In the final analysis, the Siamese side is just tactful, but if they really want to oppose our country's DPRK, then they will never dare. The military feasibility is ninety percent, and the paratrooper unit is falling from the sky, which is extremely difficult to defend against. ”

Gao Qingkui, who was at the front, closed his eyes and pondered for a while, and said in a deep voice: "This method is not impossible, but in the end, it is the next policy, and it is not necessary to consider it, and we will discuss it after pacifying Nanyang." ”

The core of Daming's current strategy is the Nanyang region, and the priority on the South Asian subcontinent is relatively low.

At present, the Ming army stationed in Yunnan is mainly on the defensive, supplemented by offensive; On the contrary, Annan was very active and eagerly launched a multi-pronged offensive against British Burma.

This kind of abnormal enthusiasm is not appropriate in the eyes of the Ming monarchs, so let them work harder for the time being, the logistical difficulties will be more difficult, if they really let them sweep Southeast Asia, it will be difficult to divide the fruits of victory for them at that time.

In the following days, the Ming army on the Malayan Peninsula advanced on both the eastern and western fronts, and the progress was rapid.

The embarrassed Anglo-Indian army often had just fled to one place, barely regrouped, and only then finished digging the field fortifications, and was immediately quickly routed by the Ming army that followed.

And so on and so forth.

After defeating the Anglo-Indian 9th Infantry Division defending Kuala Terengganu, the assault group led by Zhou Changfeng took Kuantan, an important town on the east coast, on the second day of March.

Obviously, even the 9th Division, which had suffered defeat, had no morale at all, and fled south as if it had flown south after the slightest resistance.

In such a high-spirited situation, the assault group arrived at Mersing in a furious rush the afternoon of the next day.

This is the last city in the southern part of the Malayan Peninsula, so take it and head to the coast across the strait from Singapore.

“…… Singapore is the most important port city of the United Kingdom in our country, and it has been operating tirelessly in defense for a long time, and many of the fortifications were officially completed only early last year, claiming to be one of the most difficult fortresses in the world to conquer. It is estimated that we may have to face more than 60,000 horses in the future, and there are many permanent fortifications, and there are more than 100 medium and large caliber guns. ”

On the armored command vehicle, Zhao Hanfeng took the latest battle briefing and explained it to Zhou Changfeng.

The latter carefully looked at the aerial photos and smiled disappreciatively: "No matter how strong the fortress is, it needs people to defend it, no matter how complete the facilities are, what is the use of the morale of the defenders at all?" ”

But at this moment, a series of explosions and gunfire suddenly came from ahead, and it sounded like a fierce encounter.

"The Chinese infantry is approaching to the west! Major! ”

"Henderson, bring your men to reinforce Company B!"

"Incoming artillery fire! Mortar!!! ”

A different Commonwealth army encountered a Ming assault group on the Eastern Front, and the latter's leading unit thought it was still a vulnerable defeat.

Frontal pinning, flank detours, and simultaneous assault - this trick has been tried and tested, and the Anglo-Indian army is often crushed at the first touch.

However, this time the opponent is extraordinarily calm? In the sound of the whistle, the Ming soldiers who shouted and launched an attack in a loose formation failed to shake them.

The explosion of the grenade and the dense bullets knocked down many people, and more than a dozen infantry at the front were killed and wounded.

But neither the enemy nor the enemy retreated, and in the blink of an eye, the two sides fell into a rare white-knuckle battle.

(End of chapter)