If the United States and Europe were in a carnival state, the Min dynasty seemed very stable. ● ●
Ever since the Military Governor Of Vaize returned to Nanjing, the only people who could be called warm in the Min dynasty were the old brothers who tried every possible means to invite the Governor for a drink. However, the Military Governor Of Vaize declined these invitations. His reason was also very good. "Now there is progress in the shipbuilding industry, I am very concerned about it."
The Min dynasty shipbuilding industry was like a god because the most time-consuming "project establishment" and "demonstration" parts were simplified unprecedentedly. The shipbuilding industry had a very ridiculing saying, "If you can understand the Governor's orders, then immediately carry out the Governor's orders. If you can't understand the Governor's orders, then immediately carry out the Governor's orders to deepen your understanding of the Governor's orders. "
After every ship was built, there was a summary meeting, and the content of the meeting was rarely wrangling. There was only one content of discussion. "How to achieve the Governor's requirements."
This kind of high-pressure policy was theoretically bound to lead to a major failure, unless the person who gave the order was an expert who would never make a mistake. This originally impossible condition was unexpectedly met, so under the Governor's orders, under the joint efforts of the Min dynasty shipbuilding industry comrades, the soaring situation could not be stopped.
In 1886, the iconic warship Chongqing, which condensed the essence of China shipbuilding industry, finally completed the final outfitting. 29,000 tons, four triple 38 turrets, pure oil boilers, steam turbines. The warship was mighty and majestic.
Before the formal ceremony of entering the navy, Vézé rushed to the Jiangnan shipyard and expressed his condolences to the shipbuilding staff. Vézé had to admit that he was really starting to get old after shaking hands until his arm was numb.
"Comrades, this warship has a great significance in the history of China shipbuilding. This significance is not because this warship is big enough or strong enough firepower. But in the process of construction, comrades told me for the first time that many designs could not be completed because it could not be done. Everyone not only told me it could not be done, but also told me why it could not be done.
Of course, many comrades will be skeptical. What is there to brag about if it can't be done? I can also tell you clearly that I don't like to hear the words' can't be done. ' I believe the vast majority of comrades don't like to hear these words. In these aspects, everyone is the same. " Vézé was in high spirits. Even though his arms felt uncomfortable, Vézé simply placed his hands on the podium in a relaxed manner. If someone saw the Military Governor Of Vaize's arm trembling, it would be bad.
"There are two situations where you can't do it. The first is that you don't know why. He was confused when he succeeded, and he was confused when he failed. The second is to know why. Building on the foundation of mass completion, we know why we can't complete it now. Based on my experience, this kind of obvious impossibility is the first step that can be done in the future. The fact that they couldn't do it clearly meant that everyone's level had already risen to the threshold of what they could do. As long as he continued to work hard, research, study, and experiment. When you figure out theoretically what you can't do now, your comrades will realize that you can do what you can't do now! "
If these words were said to an incompetent fool, they would probably become more and more confused. But no one from the shipyard's engineers to the technical staff felt confused. On the contrary, after too much accumulation, everyone held heartfelt applause and cheers for Vézé's words.
It didn't mean that the warship didn't meet the parameter standards, but that the tonnage of the warship was too large, and there were too many new technologies that needed to be implemented. Therefore, the existing hardware facilities of the Jiangnan shipyard couldn't be completed using conventional methods. For example, the gantry crane wasn't big enough, and the welding rods used for welding had many defects. For example, the new X-ray flaw detection equipment had been widely used, and many of the original technologies had been found to have major defects. According to the established technology, it was impossible to build the warship that the Military Governor Of Vaize requested. If they wanted to build a new set of technology and standards, they would need to make a comprehensive revision of the existing shipbuilding technology. This was not something that could be done in a day or two. Without a year or two, they wouldn't even see the basic results.
For the shipyard's technical staff and workers, after following the commander-in-chief's orders like headless flies for decades, the window paper in everyone's hearts was finally punctured. e?
?
The accumulation of the shipbuilding industry had finally reached the level of "enlightenment." This progress came from the shipbuilding industry itself, and not from the Military Governor Of Vaize, who had always been correct. This feeling was extremely joyous for the comrades of the Jiangnan shipyard.
Vézé's joy came from the bottom of his heart. Perhaps some people liked subordinates who didn't understand anything and only knew how to obey orders and commands, but Vézé didn't like this situation at all. At the age of fifty, Vézé had to seriously consider his own death. If Vézé's death brought chaos to the entire shipbuilding industry, then Vézé wouldn't feel at ease even if he died. In the past, when he was in vocational training, Vézé had heard a saying: "One of the most important tasks for a qualified leader is to cultivate a successor. If many problems arise at the same time, cultivating a qualified successor is the first task. "
When he was young, Vézé thought that this was nothing more than the blind nonsense of older successful people. Now, he was very clear that this was the words of experience. Since the decision was made to engage in this business, then the leader had the obligation to do their best for the healthy development of this business. Of course, this was Vézé's personal opinion. He also worked hard to make his understanding be accepted by more people. Even if it wasn't accepted, Vézé couldn't make the decision. He could only do his best.
The launching ceremony of the Chongqing was very grand because in the next five years, the Chinese Navy wouldn't consider building a larger warship. The future battleships would temporarily be based on the Chongqing, and a lot of detailed improvements would be made. The era of speed was over, and the era of internal strength training had finally begun.
Before the launching ceremony, two bottles of wine had to be smashed at the bow. An ordinary female naval officer and an ordinary shipyard female worker took on this task. Vézé didn't want to make a celebrity gimmick. The concept of the most glorious worker must be implemented. Because of excitement and nervousness, the two girls took the wine bottles from the hands of the Military Governor Of Vaize. The two exchanged the slogan. "Three … … Two … … One!" The two bottles of wine crossed the air in a decent curve and smashed on the bow of the ship.
In the heaven shaking "Peace and prosperity" of the participants, the red cloth connecting the ship's side to the dock was cut. As the red cloth fell, the sky shaking gongs and drums sounded.
With the help of the tugboat, the Chongqing left the port and soon joined other warships at sea. The destination of the first voyage was Japan. The Min dynasty Navy wasn't prepared to go to war. The purpose of this voyage was just to show their existence.
In a sense, this kind of show was like throwing pearls into darkness. For the Japanese, there was no difference between a 29,000 ton battleship and a 24,000 ton battleship. The result of the Japanese Navy was death. For China, this voyage was the first step to completely expel the presence of Britain and the United States in Northeast Asia. When the balance of power was more and more in favor of China under the effect of the advantage of military power, China had no reason to stop moving forward. Just as the ancestor had said, heaven's gift would only bring about one's own retribution.
The northbound fleet was composed of two battleships and two heavy cruisers. As soon as they approached the Pacific side of Japan, the fleet received a telegram. In the open sea of Tokyo Bay, the Meiji government Navy and the Hokkaido Navy were fighting fiercely. With the opportunity to watch, the China fleet accelerated and went straight to the battlefield.
At this time, the civil war in Japan was in full swing. The war was not only fought on the sea. On land, the Meiji government army's counterattack also began. Because they were caught off guard, many divisions suffered heavy losses, and the Meiji government army had to retreat to Kyoto. The situation seemed to be good for the Hokkaido army. However, the time to turn the tables was always when the balloon was blown to the maximum.
The Hokkaido army made a very normal decision to put a large number of troops on both sides of Lake Biwa to defend. The Hokkaido army firmly believed that its naval power was better than the Meiji government army. As long as the sea transportation was blocked, the Hokkaido army could calmly digest Japan in the east first. After the situation calmed down, the Meiji government army in the west of Japan would be dealt with.
However, two things were beyond the imagination of the Hokkaido army. The first thing was undoubtedly the intervention of Britain and the United States. Britain provided weapons, and the United States provided a fleet. During the Southwest War, the Meiji government army completed the transformation of the army from the gentry armed forces to the national army. After Kyoto, the battle line was shortened, and the density of the central personnel increased. With foreign aid, the Meiji government army quickly formed a force of 20,000 people. The Hokkaido army was unwilling to kill the prisoners, so they released the captured Meiji army. After all, tens of thousands of prisoners had to eat and drink, which was not a small pressure. After releasing them, many of them ran to Kyoto again and re-joined the Meiji government army.
They had weapons, equipment, the organization system did not collapse, and a group of grass-roots soldiers who had experienced the fire of war. To the surprise of the Hokkaido army, the Meiji government army quickly carried out a counterattack. The Meiji Emperor had long forgotten that Togo Heihachiro had once angered him. Now there were only a few officers left who could command the Japanese navy, and he could not deal with the remaining officers.
Togo Heihachiro did not let the Meiji Emperor down. He made a very good plan. The new Japanese navy was divided into two and moved north together. The naval forces in the direction of the Sea of Japan looked weak. The Hokkaido army originally had no plan to take Kyoto, so they could only rely on the commander to adapt to the situation and survive this period of time. In the face of the seemingly weak fleet in the Sea of Japan, the Hokkaido army chose a surprise attack.
The surprise attack seemed to be successful at first. After sinking and capturing several small Japanese ships, the two decent warships fled. The Hokkaido army chased after them. At the entrance of the Seto Inland Sea, they were about to catch up and sink the two warships. However, a violent explosion occurred under the waterline.
Togo Heihachiro was ruthless enough. He arranged a mine array and risked being sunk to carry out the tactic of luring the enemy to the Hokkaido army. Knowing the layout of the mine, coupled with good luck, Togo Heihachiro's ship did not touch the mine. Instead, the warships of the Hokkaido army, which wanted to take a shortcut to stop the Meiji Navy, hit the mine. Dozens of kilograms of high explosives exploded under the waterline and close to the hull, and the retired warships of China could not withstand it. Two pursuing Hokkaido warships sank one after another. The Sea of Japan no longer had the power to resist the Meiji Navy.
Under the escort of warships, the Meiji Army landed on the side of the Sea of Japan and launched a fierce attack on the Hokkaido army. The Hokkaido army had to retreat, and the Meiji Army took advantage of the situation to break through the Lake Biwa area and went straight to Tokyo.
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