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Text Chapter 192 The fleet returns home

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    Beihai in June has entered a hot summer.  However, because we are on the beach, the sea breeze is blowing and the weather is not very hot.  When he got up in the morning, Wang Yuze used to sit on the beach. Looking at the shipyard in the distance that was already under construction and working overtime to build the warships in Western Sichuan, Wang Yuze felt a surge in his heart.  The modern navy in western Sichuan and even in China was born here and has gone further.

    "Wang Wei, where is the fleet now?" Wang Yuze asked.  It was already June 5th. The reason why he stayed in Beihai and did not return to Chengdu was to personally greet the returning fleet.  This batch of fleets returning home includes two "Brandenburg-class" battleships that were improved according to Wang Xiao's requirements, four cruisers and 10 small destroyers.

    "Commander, I received a telegram from Commander Deng last night. They have set off from the Lion City and are expected to arrive at Beihai Port in a week!" Wang Wei replied.  The returning fleet departed from Hamburg, Germany, passed through the Strait of Gibraltar, entered the Mediterranean Sea, entered the Indian Ocean from the Suez Canal, and finally crossed the Strait of Malacca into the South China Sea and arrived at the North Sea.  The entire journey was more than 20,000 kilometers and took more than a month.

    "Oh, that's good!" Wang Yuze nodded.  He was very excited when he thought that the huge fleet was about to return home.  Two improved "Brandenburg-class" battleships, which are giant ships of more than 10,000 tons!  The most powerful warships in Asia far surpass the two ironclads "Dingyuan" and "Zhenyuan" of the Manchu and Qing Beiyang Fleet, which are currently the number one in Asia.  At the end of the year, the two "Sovereign Class" battleships ordered from the United Kingdom will also return. By then, the Western Sichuan Navy will become the most powerful navy in Asia.

    Time passed slowly. During the few days of waiting, Wang Yuze went to the shipyard from time to time to check on the progress of the "Leshan" class light cruiser being outfitted.  At the same time, construction of the "Chengdu" class heavy cruiser has also begun.  In the four 10,000-ton shipyards of the Beihai Shipyard, the construction of these four warships started at the same time, which caused an extreme shortage of workers in the Beihai Shipyard.  Although many students have been recruited, the lack of skilled workers still has to be poached at high salaries from the Jiangnan Shipyard in the Qing Dynasty to make up for it.

    June 11th, the weather was sunny and cloudless.  At ten o'clock in the morning, Wang Yuze and the senior officials of the Western Sichuan Navy were all waiting on the pier in the military port.  The merchant ship dispatched yesterday has made contact with the fleet and sent a wireless telegraph machine, enabling communication between the fleet and the port.  The fleet is expected to arrive at the North Naval Port at around 10:30 this morning.

    "Minister Zhang, after the fleet comes back, we must organize training immediately. Intensify the training and hope that the fleet can form combat effectiveness as soon as possible. Western Sichuan has spent a lot of military expenditures and does not want to just buy back a pile of scrap metal!" Wang Yuze told the Minister of the Navy Zhang  Cheng said.

    "Commander, please rest assured! The Navy Ministry will formulate a thorough training plan at that time and will ensure that the fleet has combat effectiveness in the shortest possible time!" Zhang Cheng said.  The navy, unlike the army, often thrives with a century-old navy.  The Army generally trains new recruits for three months, and then after one or two battles, the new recruits have completed their transformation into veterans.  But the navy is not good. Without long-term accumulation and deep foundation, this will not work.  Even if there are powerful battleships, if the soldiers who control these battleships are completely incompetent, they will be nothing more than scrap metal.  The navy in western Sichuan is undoubtedly in such a state now.  Wang Xiao and Wang Yuze, father and son, placed great hopes on the navy and did not hesitate to spend huge sums of money to purchase the most advanced warships in the world.  However, naval talents cannot be bought and require a lot of training and cultivation before they can form combat capabilities.  Moreover, there is still a long way to go to reach the level of the British Royal Navy.

    "In terms of ammunition, there is no need to save at all. The new arsenal will be put into production soon and can provide sufficient ammunition for the fleet!" Wang Yuze said.  The accuracy of naval bombardment is far inferior to that of the army. In order to improve the accuracy of bombardment, it is necessary to strengthen training.  For this reason, the Western Sichuan Navy may have to spend a lot of money on ammunition.  However, fortunately, the equipment imported from Germany has arrived, and the Beihai Naval Arsenal has been built and will start production one after another. The first to be produced will be various ammunition for naval guns.  Slowly, large-caliber naval guns will also begin, and new armor steel will be produced by steel companies in western Sichuan.  At present, this task is mainly assigned to Wuhan Iron and Steel Group.  After the Panzhihua Iron and Steel Group carries out the second phase of expansion, its annual output will reach 400,000 tons of pig iron and 200,000 tons of steel, and will maintain this scale.  Because the iron ore in Panzhihua is all vanadium-ilmenite.  With the current level of science and technology in western Sichuan, it is still not possible to extract vanadium and titanium for good application. Therefore, controlling the amount of mining can be regarded as protecting the vanadium and titanium resources here.

    "Yes, Marshal!" Zhang Cheng nodded. From his conversation with Wang Yuze, he felt that Wang Yuze attached great importance to the navy.  This made him feel that the burden on his shoulders was very heavy.  ?? Yuze has provided so much support to the Navy. If the Navy cannot achieve the expected results, then he will really have no face to see anyone.

    "Coming, coming! The fleet is back!" At this time, the crowd suddenly burst into cheers.  Everyone immediately stopped talking and looked towards the horizon.

    I saw dark smoke pillars appearing on the horizon, which was a sign that the fleet was sailing from a distance.  Soon, two huge battleships that looked like hills appeared in front of everyone.  The crowds on the dock welcoming the warship back home burst into cheers.

    "It's back, it's back! My 10,000-ton giant ship is back!" Wang Yuze was also shouting loudly in his heart.  Behind the two improved "Brandenburg-class" battleships are more than a dozen smaller battleships, including four cruisers and 10 destroyers.

    The improved "Brandenburg-class" battleships were directly named "Sichuan-class" battleships in western Sichuan, namely "Sichuan" and "Xikang".  The "Sichuan" class battleship has a standard displacement of 11,500 tons and a full load displacement of 14,200 tons.  The armaments include three twin 305mm 50-caliber naval guns, six 105mm single-mounted guns, eight 88mm single-mounted guns, 12 37mm machine guns, and six 450mm water-borne torpedo tubes.  The total length is 127.6 meters, the width is 21.3 meters, and the draft is 8.4 meters.  Power is 16 circular boilers, two triple-expansion reciprocating steam engines, the main engine power is 15,000 horsepower, two-shaft propulsion, the maximum speed is 18 knots, and the endurance is 6,000 nautical miles/10 knots.  The armor is 450 mm at the waterline; 60 mm on the deck; 400 mm on the main gun turret; and 400 mm on the command tower.  Crew of 612.

    The four cruisers are light cruisers with a displacement of 3,000 tons. The Western Sichuan Navy named them "Mianyang" class light cruisers, and the four annual battleships were named "Mianyang", "Deyang", "Luzhou" and "Yibin"  "Number.  The standard displacement of the "Mianyang" class light cruiser is 3,000 tons. Its armaments include two twin 155mm naval guns, six 105mm single-mounted guns, six 88mm rapid-fire guns, eight 37mm machine guns, and four giant mines.  Launch tube, maximum speed is 23 knots.  Although the displacement is similar to that of the "Leshan" class light cruiser built by Western Sichuan, its combat power and speed are much different. This is the result of Western Sichuan's key requirements.  Otherwise, a speed of 21 knots would be considered good.  The German Navy's shipbuilding philosophy has always been to sacrifice speed and firepower in exchange for high attack resistance and survivability.

    As for the 10 destroyers, they are little guys of less than 1,000 tons, with two 105mm naval guns, four 88mm rapid-fire guns, four 37mm machine guns and two torpedo tubes.  The maximum speed is level 25.  This destroyer is named Beihai class. However, each ship has no specific name, only code names such as Beihai 1 and Beihai 2.

    Soon, the warship sailed into the military port under the guidance of the guidance ship.  After getting closer, the two "Sichuan" class battleships were even more shocking, as if they were a tall mountain range stretching before everyone's eyes.  On the battleship, soldiers from the Western Sichuan Army in white military uniforms stood neatly in a row and were inspected by Wang Yuze, the Navy Ministry and compatriots.  Due to the shortage of naval cadets in Germany in Western Sichuan, in order to bring these warships back, fleet commander Deng Shichang had to temporarily hire a group of sailors from the German Navy before he sailed the fleet back to China.

    Fleet Commander Deng Shichang and Fleet Chief of Staff Li Dingxin stood on the deck of the flagship "Sichuan" with tears in their eyes.  They have been sent to Europe for several years. On the one hand, they are learning advanced European naval warfare ideas, and on the other hand, they are inspecting the fleets of various countries.  After Western Sichuan ordered warships from Germany, they spent all day in the shipyard, watching their warships take shape day by day, which also made them very excited.

    "We are back. Unfortunately, Marshal Wang Xiao will never see this day again!" Deng Shichang said with red eyes.  He also remembered that before leaving Western Sichuan for Germany, Wang Xiao personally summoned them, told them about the vision of the Western Sichuan Navy, and had great expectations for them.  Now, the fleet has returned to China, but Wang Xiao has passed away.

    "Old Deng, Marshal Wang Xiao is no longer here, but the Young Marshal has become the Marshal. Look at this huge military port and the shipyards. It seems that the Young Marshal also has great expectations for our navy! What's next?  , it¡¯s time for us to serve the country!¡± Chief of Staff Li Dingxin said.

    "Crack, crackle!" When the battleship docked at the dock, the firecrackers sounded, and the welcoming crowd cheered heartily to welcome the fleet back home.

    Deng Shichang and Li Dingxin stepped off the "Sichuan" and came to Wang Yuze. After saluting a military salute, they said: "Report to the commander! Deng Shichang, a humble servant, has led the fleet back to China!"

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