Almost instantly, the Zhengde Squadron became the focus of the world's attention again. Only eight hours after the Soviet Union declared war, it sank a 10,000-ton Soviet cargo ship, achieving a good start. Although it was just a ship of potatoes,
However, this kind of efficiency of "attacking head-on at the first opportunity" still showed the military might of the Ming Dynasty Navy.
Now, the Zhengde Squadron is accelerating northward, and seaplanes are released along the way to expand the search area. The Chief of the Navy's General Staff sent a commendation telegram to the Commander of the Zhengde Squadron, praising this first sinking, although it was without twists and turns or suspense.
Very efficient, very clean, this is exactly what naval blockades and engagements are looking for. I hope this smooth start will indicate that the following battles will be equally smooth.
But neither the Maritime General Staff nor the commander of the Zhengde fleet have forgotten the reason for the Zhengde's voyage. It is said that this is just a blockade and sea-breaking engagement, mainly targeting cargo ships or oil tankers. Ordinary cruisers are sufficient for the task, but they sent a
A battleship used in the main decisive battle.
Just as the main opponent of a fighter is a fighter, the main opponent of a tank is a tank, and the main opponent of a sniper is a sniper, the main opponent of a battleship is also a battleship.
The Soviet Navy currently has three battleships, all of which were left over from the Tsarist period and have been modernized.
One ship was originally named "Petropavlovsk" and was renamed "Mara". It is now in the Black Sea Fleet.
One ship was originally named "Gangut" and was renamed "October Revolution". It is now in the Baltic Fleet.
One ship was originally named "Sevastopol" and was renamed "Paris Commune". It is now in the Pacific Fleet.
The "Paris Commune" currently anchored in Vladivostok was transferred from the Baltic Sea by the Soviet Union during the Ming Dynasty's Unification War. This battleship "Paris Commune" is a potential opponent of the Zhengde squadron. The ship is equipped with 12 305mm guns
caliber main gun and four triple main gun turrets, all arranged on the longitudinal centerline of the hull.
A main gun turret is arranged at the front and rear of the hull, and two main gun turrets are arranged at the front and rear of the chimney in the middle of the hull. This gun is a new large-caliber naval gun developed and produced in 1907 for the "Sevastopol" and "Queen Maria" class battleships. 305
The total length of the mm gun is 15,900 mm, and the barrel length is 15,419.5 mm (52 times the caliber).
When the "Sevastopol" class was completed, it had a crew of 1,126, including 33 officers, 30 midshipmen, and 1,066 sailors. In 1916, the number increased to 40 officers, 30 midshipmen, and 1,180 sailors.
The primary goal of the Zhengde squadron's cruise is to block the Soviet Union's Far East maritime traffic. The main targets are cargo ships and oil tankers. But the secondary goal is to sink the "Paris Commune" once it leaves the port.
…
The investigation team of the security team has been dispatched to Lanzhou. Xiang Xiaoqiang felt very uncomfortable. On the one hand, he hoped that his judgment was correct, so that he could dig out a big spy lurking in the upper echelons of the Ming army, and maybe even bring out a
Spy network. On the other hand, he hoped that his judgment was wrong. After all, Zhao Cunnian is such a high-level general, and his military talent is obvious to all. After joining, it was really proved that such a person turned out to be a spy, which was definitely the most disappointing
one thing.
In recent days, the busiest departments in the cabinet have been the Department of Foreign Affairs and the Department of War. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has been busy exerting influence on the United States through various channels, trying to persuade the U.S. Congress to amend the Neutrality Act, or at least find a way to bypass the "Neutrality Act."
Neutrality Act. While the War Department was busy preparing
Manage the all-out Ming-Soviet War. Among them, the department closest to the People's Guard is the General Administration of Military Industry of the Ministry of War. That is Wang Hexiang's old unit, and the main responsibility for the weapons upgrade of the Ming army is the General Administration of Military Industry and the People's Liberation Army.
Two units of the Guards Equipment and Training Department.
In the past two days, Wang Hexiang and the people from the Equipment and Training Department have been running around with people from the General Administration of Military Industry all day long, testing the new Lightning-4 tank, and evaluating the mass-produced "Goshawk" fighter jet... But Xiang Xiaoqiang has never forgotten "Qi Shunfa"
"Automatic rifle.
But "automatic rifles" are no better than aircraft and tanks after all. No matter how advanced the "Lightning-4" and "Goshawk" are, they are always improvements on the basis of old models. And the "automatic rifle" itself is a new concept, that is
An epoch-making weapons revolution, its significance is comparable to the birth of the tank in World War I. Therefore, even after such a long time, it is still full of difficulties and problems.
Xiang Xiaoqiang has always regarded this project as a treasure. Not only is he not allowed to make it public, he also controls himself not to pay too much attention. Except for the core researchers in charge of the project, other people either don’t know about this, or they just ignore it.
As a kind of monster, it doesn't look like the same thing. And this state is the best state for Xiaoqiang.
Wang Hexiang was very puzzled and suggested several times to Xiang Xiaoqiang that he should give up such a weirdo. If he really wanted to improve the Ming army's light weapons, it would be better to invest in developing Ming's own semi-automatic rifle, which is similar to the American M1 Garand.
. Or modify the "Woodpecker" universal machine gun to make a simple and cheap version. In short, that is much more realistic, and it is much more cost-effective than investing time and hope in such a "bottomless" pit.
"Mr. He, hehe, you don't know something..." Xiang Xiaoqiang smiled and lowered his voice mysteriously, repeating the reason he had said several times before, "You don't know, once this kind of weapon is successfully developed, a
A version with acceptable performance and suitable for mass production will be able to fully arm our Ming army... By then we
I dare say that with this gun, our Ming Army is the strongest army in the world... Haha, it is not an exaggeration at all. Let me tell you, this small gun can eliminate three weapons in the future:
Bolt-action rifles, light machine guns, and large submachine guns. In the future, soldiers will only need an automatic rifle to do all the work of these three types of guns..."
Wang Hexiang also listened to it several times. He didn't say anything, just smiled, shook his head and said:
"Sir... alas..."
…
The next day, at three o'clock in the morning on July 4, the Zhengde squadron sailed to the sea 50 nautical miles south of Vladivostok.
It can be said that at this point, we have basically entered the "peripheral ambush circle" that blockaded the Vladivostok military port. In the previous era of sailing ships, battleships or cruisers blockaded the enemy's ports and basically stayed close to the opponent's nose. In other words,
It is to directly drive the warship to a distance of only a few nautical miles from the other side's coast, and then anchor, so that both sides can see it with the naked eye. But later, as the range of the shore artillery became farther and farther and the accuracy became higher and higher, the blockade warship
Had to retreat again and again.
After the torpedo boats appeared, the main warships of the blockade fleet were forced back and pushed back by the small coastal boats. Finally, like now, they completely withdrew from the coastal area visible to the naked eye and retreated behind the sea level.
Instead, they just send destroyers that are not afraid of torpedo boats to conduct reconnaissance, and then report the results to the battleships behind them.
Now, the Zhengde squadron is preparing to do the same thing. They plan to cruise nearby at a slow speed first, wait until dawn, and then move the fleet as close as possible to Vladivostok, right to the edge of the threat circle of Soviet torpedo boats, and then send destroyers
Go forward to investigate and provoke. If you can tease out the Paris Commune, that would be the best.