Spark

Chapter 300 We Must Build a Powerful Navy

In the dock of the Jiangnan Shipyard, the 055 destroyer covered with ribbons was quietly moored in the port. The not-so-grand launching ceremony had already ended, but the guests invited to the ceremony were reluctant to leave the scene.

There is no doubt that at this moment, all of them are thinking the same.

That is, to look at the ship for a while longer and remember what it looks like now.

Because it won't be long before the ship's outfitting work will start in full swing.

At that time, after all kinds of weapons and equipment are installed in place, this ship will undergo earth-shaking changes.

From being harmless to humans and animals, it has become full of teeth and claws.

From a non-threatening "large fishing boat" to a "guard with a knife in front of the imperial court" who chooses and devours people.

At that time, it will not be so easy to take a closer look at the ship.

Because, most of its time will be spent at sea.

It will represent China's naval power, go on cruises in the open sea, and carry out missions that are either public or secret

Wen Xingdong stood in the middle of the crowd, absently listening to everyone's flattery.

During the just-concluded ceremony, he had been looking for a figure that had long been engraved in his heart, but unfortunately, that person did not appear in the crowd from the beginning to the end.

Is he here?

According to the previous communication, he will indeed come.

But this time, Xinghuo arranged the itinerary for the whole trip, and the Jiangnan factory did not intervene at all, so it was inconvenient for him to take the initiative to make an appointment.

I originally hoped to meet him after the ceremony and have a good chat with him, but now it seems that I have missed another opportunity.

Just as he was perfunctorily answering the topics of "promotion" and "awarding" by the vulgar guys around him, he suddenly felt someone pat him on the shoulder from behind.

His heart skipped a beat, and he hurriedly turned his head to look. However, with just such a glance, a look of disappointment flashed across his face uncontrollably.

The person who came was Zhou Minghui, the captain of the navy, and the confirmed captain of the future 055 large drive.

Noticing Wen Xingdong's expression, Zhou Minghui couldn't help being a little amused.

He asked:

"Who are you waiting for here? Looking at your expression, you seem a little disappointed?"

Wen Xingdong quickly shook his head and replied with a smile:

"No, I wanted to see one... Well, senior, but he didn't show up, so I can only make an appointment later."

"Senior? There are not many people who can call you senior. It can't be Mr. Liu?"

Zhou Minghui asked curiously.

"It's not Mr. Liu. Mr. Liu is a little unwell these days and is resting. Forget it, don't ask me about this."

Wen Xingdong simply skipped the topic, and then asked:

"How about our ship, are you satisfied?"

"Are you satisfied? See what you said!"

Zhou Minghui asked back pretending to be reproachful, and then continued:

"I can't say I'm satisfied, it's just like a dream!"

"I never thought that in my lifetime, I would still have the opportunity to board such a ship."

"It's awesome. Whether it's anti-submarine, anti-missile, or anti-ship, the upper limit of this ship is frighteningly high."

"I really never dreamed that you would actually put the DF-21 on board, and that you could modify it and complete the test firing in such a short period of time."

Hearing his words, Wen Xingdong pointedly corrected him:

"No, not DF-21, that thing is called Eagle-21."

"Also, it's not us who did it, but CALT, Mr. Zhu Xuejun and Mr. Zhu."

"In addition to the YJ-21, there are also Haihongqi 26, Haihongqi 10E, and YJ-18, all of which were created by them."

"Now there is only one Haihongqi-29 that has not been finished yet, but it is only half a year away."

"When this thing is done, the 055's air defense capability will climb to the limit, and the entire sea will be domineering with you."

"Well, I really don't doubt it at all."

Zhou Minghui let out a long sigh of relief, and then said:

"So how long did it take you to design this ship? How long did it take to prepare the equipment?"

"From my perception, it seems that suddenly, the 052D project was shelved, and then suddenly, 055 popped up."

"052D is not on hold, it's just delayed."

Wen Xingdong first corrected Zhou Minghui's mistake, and then replied:

"These two questions you asked are all confidential, and I can't answer you at all."

"But you can deduce it yourself, it's not like you don't know the device parameters"

Zhou Minghui smiled helplessly and said:

"If I can deduce it, do I still need to ask you?"

"The result of my inference is that there is no such thing as twenty years. What about you? Two years!"

"Forget it, let's not talk about this, let's talk about the matter in front of us-how long do you expect this thing to be outfitted?"

Wen Xingdong gave Zhou Minghui a meaningful look, and asked with a smile:

"What? Can't wait?"

Zhou Minghui shook his head and replied:

"It's not that I can't wait, it's that we can't wait."

"Djibouti is under great pressure. We have been besieged by the Fifth Fleet for more than six months, and now we urgently need deterrent maritime forces to go there to break the deadlock."

"Otherwise, once the Sudanese Revolutionary Front captures Khartoum, the capital, and our troops cannot move outward, the situation in Africa is likely to deteriorate rapidly and fall into chaos."

"At that time, all our layouts will come to naught."

"That's why the other side bet so urgently and firmly on Africa. It's really a winner or loser."

"Understood."

Wen Xingdong frowned slightly, and after a while, he answered:

"Three months."

"Give us three months and we can complete all the outfitting work."

"Three months?"

Zhou Minghui was shocked.

"too slow?"

".It was too fast. I remember that when 054 was outfitted, it took a full 18 months."

"Times have changed. 055 has a higher degree of modularization. The equipment is basically ready and the core components have been installed."

"The rest of the work is actually not much more difficult than stacking blocks."

"Of course, normally speaking, outfitting also takes 6 to 9 months."

"3 months is the goal that we can only achieve by mobilizing all resources and rushing for time at any cost."

"That's up to you - if it can be done in three months, we are confident that we can use this ship to conquer the whole of Africa!"

"That's a bit of an exaggeration"

Wen Xingdong said with a smile.

"It's not an exaggeration at all."

Zhou Minghui looked serious.

"You are a scientific researcher, and you have a good understanding of the performance of ships, but I'm afraid you are not very clear about the concept of 'combat power'."

"But I can tell you that in terms of the current parameters and performance of the 055, it is the strongest destroyer."

"Where is the strongest? The African region is the strongest?"

"No, Blue Star is the strongest."

After chatting with Zhou Minghui, Wen Xingdong left the dock and returned to his office.

And right there, he finally met the person he was thinking of.

Of course it was Chen Nian.

In fact, Chen Nian had been waiting for him in the office for a while.

After all, with his highly confidential status, he didn't have much to do after watching the launching ceremony, and knowing that Wen Xingdong would definitely want to see him, he simply returned early and waited for him to come.

Sitting with Chen Nian was Ma Weiming. When Wen Xingdong entered, the two were chatting enthusiastically.

".So your opinion is that laser weapons must be developed, but they can't invest too much energy, and can only be used as a short-term transition?"

Ma Weiming glanced at Wen Xingdong who came in, and after beckoning him to sit down, he continued to ask Chen Nian.

Chen Nian shook his head slightly, and replied:

"That's not accurate either."

"To be precise, the development of laser weapons should be an upward process."

"At this point in time, if we can quickly produce laser weapons, or even a laser anti-missile system, it will definitely improve the combat effectiveness of our army significantly."

"Because, at this stage, most missiles do not have laser defense capabilities."

"As long as we can create usable laser weapons, the interception efficiency of missiles will be greatly improved, and even close to 100% interception can be achieved."

"However, on the other hand, laser defense technology will develop rapidly, and anti-laser coating technology has achieved certain results, the most typical of which is vanadium metal coating."

"In past experiments, this process of transitioning the metal from a low-temperature semiconductor phase to a high-temperature metal phase has indeed greatly dispersed the laser energy."

"In the future, if there are newer alloy materials, the restraint of laser weapons is only a matter of time."

"At that time, laser weapons will enter a low period."

"It is not until the energy of laser weapons exceeds the defense limit of all metals that laser weapons can develop rapidly again."

"However, that will be a long time later."

After listening to Chen Nian's words, Ma Weiming nodded in agreement.

"At the end of the day, it's still a matter of energy."

"Actually, it is not difficult to create a high-energy pulsed laser launcher, but the problem is that this thing cannot be made into a motorized weapon at all."

"It consumes too much energy, and no mobile power supply system can sustain that consumption—unless the next generation of energy technology is developed."

"That's why we're going to do metal hydrogen, we're going to do nuclear fusion."

Chen Nian said.

"The road is long and difficult. Take your time. If you have any difficulties, you must tell me. I will help you no matter what!"

Hearing Ma Weiming's promise, Chen Nian nodded with a smile.

In fact, he also knew that Ma Weiming could play a very limited role in this respect, but he would not be so low on EQ as to say "You can't do it" on the spot.

Regardless of whether it is possible or not, people always have good intentions and should not refuse.

After the two talked about the topic, Chen Nian turned to Wen Xingdong who was waiting aside, and said:

"Congratulations, President Wen."

"The 055 project went so smoothly, you have done a great job."

"No, no, Chen Gong, the biggest credit is still yours, so don't embarrass me."

Wen Xingdong waved his hands quickly, and then said:

"Chen Gong, I've been looking for you outside for a long time. If I knew you were in the office, I would have come here long ago."

"Well, our work is pretty good, right?"

Wen Xingdong's so-called "job" refers to 055, and his tone contains obvious pride, but also has a slightly "cautious" question.

There is no way, in front of Chen Nian, no matter how old he is or how much he has done, he has no right to be proud, so it is absolutely impossible to put on airs.

"It's really good, it's not a courtesy, your efficiency is simply amazing."

"It's still a good cooperation between various departments --- Xinghuo has a strong leading role. It is really necessary to establish such an organization."

This was purely official politeness, and Chen Nian just heard it, but didn't take it to heart.

After a few casual chats, Wen Xingdong finally turned to the main topic.

He looked at Chen Nian solemnly, and asked:

"Chen Gong, do you have any ideas about the hull number and name of the first ship?"

Hearing this question, Chen Nian was taken aback for a moment.

In fact, Huaxia has a set of fixed rules for the hull numbers and names of ships.

For example, if the hull number starts with 1, it represents a destroyer, and the distribution area is from 100 to 199.

The name is generally the provincial capital or sub-provincial city.

But the specific choice is still decided by the navy itself.

But now, Wen Xingdong asked himself directly, obviously because he had reached an agreement with the navy, and his own suggestion should prevail.

Chen Nian originally wanted to name it directly with the hull number and name of the first 055 destroyer in his previous life, but after thinking about it, he felt a little unsatisfactory.

Although "Nanchang" conforms to the naming rules and has profound historical meaning, Chen Nian has always felt that, as the de facto strongest shield ship, this name is not aggressive enough, and it is also in line with the navy's long-term journey. Not fit enough.

To put it bluntly, it still doesn't quite reflect the significance of this ship.

What is the significance of this 055 ship to Huaxia?

Once at the mouth of the Pearl River, the British warships traveling across the ocean ignored the artillery fire of the Humen Fort, because the inferior projectiles fired by the old artillery could not even penetrate the hull of the British warships.

Once on the banks of the Huangpu River, an old-fashioned armored ship that had been outdated for 20 years could defeat China's tragic sea and air attacks one after another.

In the Jiangyin Fortress, Huaxia's fleet was not even qualified to fight a naval battle in an upright manner. In the end, it could only sink into the bottom of the water heroically and helplessly, trying to block the enemy's way forward with its own remnants.

Once in the Strait, military fans racked their brains to come up with a "strategy for defeating the enemy and winning victory", which was to use all the warships as bait to attract firepower, so as to cover the two "Modern" class ships that were finally bought back. Skeeter anti-ship missile, making a gamble with little chance of winning.

For such a long period of time, our navy has existed in name only, and it has even been a joke in the eyes of others.

But then, how did we develop?

Some people say, "If China doesn't build an aircraft carrier, I will die with peace in my eyes."

Someone said, "If you like playing warships so much, go to the navy."

Someone said, "I want to learn to build our own big ship".

Of course, there is also what that person said.

"In order to oppose imperialist aggression, we must build a powerful navy!"

Tracing back to the source, this sentence may be the root cause of the Huaxia Navy's ability to rise from the abyss.

It doesn't have any fancy rhetoric, just a simple narrative.

But anyone who has read this line knows that we have to.

And now, we've done it -- or, we're about to do it.

He is about to realize his wish of a "powerful navy".