When Zhang Tinglan arrived at the Huludao Shipyard, there happened to be a huge ship, pulled by a tugboat, slowly sailing into the port. It was dusk at this time, and the huge black shadow of the battleship was like a mountain on the sea.
It is majestic and majestic. Compared with it, the surrounding boats are like toys, small and pitiful.
This huge warship is the German battleship Baden, which is the second Bavarian-class battleship. Construction started in 1913 and was completed in 1915. Unfortunately, this behemoth, with a full load and a displacement of more than 30,000 tons, was destroyed in Japan and Germany.
When the Battle of Lanzhou broke out, it was still being tested at sea and was not able to participate in this battle.
After the Battle of Jutland, Baden became the flagship of the German High Seas Fleet. After Germany's defeat, the warship was impounded by the British in Scapa Flow. During Operation Rainbow in 1919, German naval officers impounded the British
All warships were scuttled, and the Baden was no exception.
However, just when the warship was about to sink, the British rushed back and the warship was towed to shallow water and ran aground. This was the only warship to run aground among all self-sinking warships.
The British even scrapped a large number of their own warships. This giant ship, which represented the pinnacle of the German shipbuilding industry, could only stay quietly on the beach. Originally, the British planned to use this warship as a target ship. At this time, Feng Jun
Eyeing this warship, Britain has promised to provide the military with several German self-sinking warships, of which the Baden is the largest.
Under the tugboat, the warship passed through the English Channel, rounded the Cape of Good Hope, crossed the Indian Ocean, passed the Strait of Malacca, and then headed north. After a long sea voyage, it finally arrived at Huludao Port.
When the Baden entered the port, a large number of people had gathered at the port. Shen Honglie took all the captains of the navy and the main technical personnel of the shipyard, all gathered at the port, looking forward to it.
Huludao Port does not have the ability to berth such a large warship. Shen Honglie personally organized personnel and temporarily built a berth for the Baden. Finally, when night fell, the huge warship stopped safely.
Xia Han and Wu Yulin, who were responsible for bringing this giant ship back, had already arrived at the port and reported the situation to Zhang Tinglan very excitedly.
"Commander, we brought the Baden back!"
Zhang Tinglan said with a smile: "Thank you everyone for your hard work. Please tell me about the situation of this battleship quickly."
Wu Yulin said with a smile: "Commander, the Baden is the last battleship completed by Germany during the war. It represents the pinnacle of German shipbuilding technology, with a standard displacement of more than 28,000 tons and a full load displacement of 32,000 tons.
It has multiple tons and can reach a maximum speed of 22 knots. When the warship scuttled, it did not sink into the water, but just ran aground. Therefore, the equipment on the ship was basically well preserved and no damage was sustained."
When Zhang Tinglan heard this, he immediately became interested. He hurriedly asked: "There is no damage. Does that mean that after repairing it, it can be put into battle?"
Xia Han had a troubled look on his face, and said with a wry smile: "Old sir, it was almost intact before we towed it back, but when we towed it back, it was no longer the case. The Baden is equipped with a 380 mm
The British dismantled all the main guns, and ten of the sixteen 150mm secondary guns. Finally, the British blew up the battleship's power system, and only prepared to give us an empty shell."
Zhang Tinglan heard Xia Han's introduction. A sudden thought flashed through his mind, and he felt as if he was in another world. The Chinese people's road to the ocean has always been so difficult, and the great powers have always obstructed it at all levels. It has never changed.
"The empty shell is just an empty shell. Didn't we get the blueprints from the Germans? All technicians will use this empty shell to explore and figure out the key technologies. No matter how great the difficulties are, they can't stop us from going to the ocean. determination!"
At this time, Shen Honglie and others also gathered around. Listening to Xia Han's introduction, their faces all showed anger. Isn't it just a broken German ship? Are the British so stingy? By blowing up the power system, everything has been accomplished, except that you, the Chinese, are not allowed to have large warships.
The purpose of doing this is also obvious. They just want to dominate the ocean and always benefit from the Chinese. These naval generals clenched their fists tightly. The more humiliated they are, the more they have to work hard. The more difficult it is, the more difficult it is. We need to go down this road.
Just when everyone was feeling a little disappointed and resentful, Xia Han suddenly said with a smile: "Sir, although the British are extremely cunning, we still have loopholes to exploit! I bribed the British officials. When blowing up the boiler, I kept I bought two boilers and a steam turbine, and I also obtained the blueprints for naval gun production from the Germans. As long as we are willing and find help from the Germans, we still have a chance to restore this giant maritime ship."
Hearing Xia Han's words, everyone had the feeling that there was no way out of the mountains and rivers, and there was a bright future in the village. Zhang Tinglan patted Xia Han on the shoulder with relief: "Well done, sooner or later we will let the British pay for today." Pay the price for your carelessness!”
The Baden had a total of eleven Thornycroft coal-fired boilers and three steam turbines. The British originally did not want to leave it to the Feng army. Xia Han bribed the officials responsible for bombing the ship. During the explosion, The water was deliberately released and two boilers and one steam turbine were saved. This was considered a blessing in misfortune.
Wu Yulin also said to the group: "Commander, although we currently do not have the ability to build warships to use boilers, with this finished product, it will be much easier to imitate. And the biggest problem in repairing the warship power system is the transmission system, which needs to be processed. It’s a huge part. Fortunately, we already have a large forging press, so this difficulty can be solved. It’s not impossible to get some technology from the Germans to repair the Baden.”
Wu Yulin introduced it confidently, and Zhang Tinglan also led everyone to the front of this huge ship. Looking at the mottled rust and numerous scars on it, there was a stinging feeling.
"Director Wu, the power system needs to be reinstalled. Do we need to cut the warship open and then put the boiler in? Will this affect the performance of the warship?"
"The commander is indeed an expert. Indeed, although we are expected to repair the Baden, the service life of this battleship will be greatly reduced, and it may even not reach the designed maximum speed."
"Director Wu, have you ever heard of the saying that there is no destruction without establishment? In fact, for the Baden this time, it may be Nirvana and rebirth!"
"Commander, why did you say this?"
Zhang Tinglan said with a smile: "I'm not optimistic about battleships. Technology is always improving. The use of cannons as the main combat weapon has been inherited from the sailing era. But now that airplanes are so popular and they are making rapid progress, aircraft carriers are bound to become An important weapon, even a new maritime overlord."
Not many people present agreed with Zhang Tinglan's conclusion. All the major countries were working hard to develop battleships, with larger and larger tonnages and more powerful main guns. This kind of weapon, which was in the sky, would be mentioned in Zhang Tinglan's mouth. Replacement, no one can believe it.
Especially next to everyone, there is a huge battleship parked. Although the main gun has been removed, from the battleship, everyone can also feel the majesty of the maritime overlord. How could such a powerful weapon be replaced? If it weren't for the reverence for Zhang Tinglan, some people would even come out to refute it directly.
Everyone, including Shen Honglie, had some doubts, but Zhang Tinglan had long been accustomed to this kind of doubt. After all, many things that seemed to be natural in later generations were not foreseeable by many people before they happened. This is the so-called limitation of the times. , few people can jump out of the shackles of time and space like time travelers and point out the country.
"The navy is a high-tech branch. Therefore, we must pay attention to technological progress. As the main weapon, artillery has reached a limit in terms of range and power, and there is not much room for improvement. But aircraft are different. This is an emerging technology. The weapons' range has reached hundreds of kilometers, and the possibility of improvement will be greater in the future. Moreover, the bombs dropped by aircraft are no less powerful than the main guns of battleships, and their accuracy is higher. Aircraft are the main weapon. An aircraft carrier with advanced attack means can launch an attack on a battleship at an extremely long distance. At that time, the battleship's heavy armor will be nothing more than a turtle shell, and it will have no other use than being beaten."
Everyone present listened carefully to Zhang Tinglan's words. Although they were unwilling to accept the view that battleships were obsolete, they really could not find a reason to refute Zhang Tinglan.
Battleships pay attention to three elements: firepower, speed, and protection. Any outstanding battleship seeks a balance between these three. But for aircraft carriers, aircraft can launch attacks hundreds of kilometers away. Battleships No matter how powerful the main gun is, it can't hit this distance. And no matter how abnormal the defense is, if you just take a beating, sooner or later you will be broken through.
Thinking of this, Shen Honglie and others felt a chill on the back of their necks. It turned out that the invincible overlord they had always envied was so vulnerable. This feeling of subversion was even more intense than when they saw the Baden. amazing.
"The commander-in-chief is right, but if you want to use aircraft to attack battleships, there are still many difficulties to be solved. The most important thing is that the performance of the aircraft needs to be greatly improved, and the pilots must also master the ability to attack water targets."
"Chengzhang, what do you think of the development speed of aircraft?"
When Shen Honglie heard this question, he hurriedly said: "It has been less than twenty years since the appearance of the aircraft. During this time, the aircraft has undergone earth-shaking changes. It can only be described as a rapid advancement." "I estimate that in another ten years, fighter jets with a range of more than a thousand kilometers will appear, and the bomb load will be greatly increased. It is definitely possible to use aircraft to attack battleships."
At this point, Shen Honglie had to admit that Zhang Tinglan's judgment was reasonable. War matters cannot be decided based on emotion. As Zhang Tinglan said, one must keep an eye on technological progress so that one can keenly perceive the changes on the battlefield. .
"Commander, do you mean to directly skip the development stage of battleships and develop aircraft carriers?" Wu Yulin asked tentatively.
Zhang Tinglan nodded: "We have a weak foundation and cannot waste energy. The cost of one battleship is enough to support twenty divisions, which we cannot afford. Therefore, we must skip this money-burning stage and build aircraft carriers directly."
"Commander, since aircraft carriers are the future of the navy, we must keep this secret. The great powers are still building battleships, so we might as well let them go further and further down the wrong path. Although they have a strong foundation, they are going in the wrong direction. , the gap with us will also quickly narrow, and there is hope for catching up!" Shen Honglie suggested.
"Yes, we must develop our aircraft carrier first before the great powers disparate the importance of aircraft carriers." Zhang Tinglan smiled and pointed at the Baden: "We must work hard on this battleship. I dare say Feng Jun We have brought this warship back, but countries such as Britain and Japan will pay attention to how we use this warship and whether we need to repair it."
"The old officer is right." Xia Han said hurriedly: "On the way, the Japanese sent many ships to follow. Perhaps they also realized that the Baden was too seriously damaged, so they did not stop it. But with their The Japanese are very cautious, once we have a huge warship, they will definitely stop it."
"We might as well make a plan and change it into an aircraft carrier. The upper deck of the warship and the power system inside all need to be redesigned. Therefore, we will openly dismantle the warship and pretend to completely scrap the warship to dissuade the great powers. Doubts about our repairing warships."
When Xia Han heard Zhang Tinglan's idea, his mind was spinning rapidly. Zhang Tinglan was playing a trick of building a plank road in the open to secretly seduce Chen Cang. He suddenly remembered something, so he said with a smile: "Old sir, I think it's a fake trick." It’s not a bad idea to actually do it. In fact, the Germans still have four more advanced warships. If they can get them, the Baden can be turned into a pile of scrap metal.”
Upon hearing this, Zhang Tinglan hurriedly asked: "Xia Han, please explain carefully, what other warships are worthy of our attack?"
"Sir, the Germans have built a Mackensen-class battlecruiser, with a full load displacement of 35,000 tons and a speed of 28 knots. There are four ships of this class, but they are not completed and are still lying on the slipway in Germany. .If we make the British mistakenly think that we just want scrap steel by dismantling the Baden, we can take the opportunity to drag these warships back. By then, whether they continue to be built or converted into aircraft carriers, they will be better than Baden. It’s better to log in.”
When Zhang Tinglan heard this, his eyes suddenly lit up. Aircraft carriers do not need strong defense capabilities. Since they need to help aircraft take off, the speed requirements are still very high. The Mackensen-class battlecruiser is much faster than the Baden. 6 knots can provide more lift to the aircraft, which has a serious impact on combat effectiveness.
"Xia Han, the idea you proposed is great. We will formulate a perfect plan immediately. We must deceive the British eyes!"
