1627 Rise of the South China Sea

Chapter 209 Some Discussions on Military Industry

The last thing Sun Changmi introduced was his colleague You Yihan, a representative sent by the Ministry of Shipping to Guangzhou Office.You Yihan, a 29-year-old single man, his hometown is Qingdao, Shandong Province. He is a typical Shandong man with a stocky appearance. Before crossing, he worked in the cargo storage area of ​​Qingdao Port Authority. After entering the crossing group, he was naturally assigned to the shipping department. our bank.You Yihan has participated in the planning and design of the Shengli Port and Heitu Port, and is familiar with sea freight. After coming to the Guangzhou Office, he will be responsible for the freight management in the Guangzhou area.

The Ministry of Shipping sent You Yihan to Guangzhou. Firstly, it responded to the Executive Committee’s call for all departments to recommend as many elite troops as possible to make the Guangzhou Office a bridgehead in the mainland. Secondly, it also took a fancy to Guangzhou Bay’s transportation in the South China Sea region in the future. Because of its important position in the system, competent personnel are directly dispatched to lay the groundwork for the subsequent development plan.

In terms of geographical location, Guangzhou is the largest foreign trade port in southern China, and it is also the nearest large-scale trading port to Victory Port, the headquarters of Crossing Group. It will be the most important place for Crossing Group to conduct business with the mainland The window has very important strategic value.The significance of the existence of the Guangzhou Office is not only to maintain commercial activities between the two places, but also to purchase raw materials, organize immigration, collect intelligence, and military early warning. The staff sent by the Executive Committee to Guangzhou this time, It can be said that the degree of leanness is no less than that of the Yabu Office and Heitu Port, and the policy support received by the Guangzhou Office even surpasses the first two overseas units. In the mainland, the Guangzhou Office is the spokesperson of the Crossing Group. The words and actions of the Guangzhou Office can represent the attitude of Time Travel Group towards Daming.

That is to say, the Executive Committee has given a high degree of trust to the words and deeds of the Guangzhou Office. For things like that, you still have to talk to the base camp first.Although the Time Travel Group has the most advanced high-tech contact methods of this era, the Executive Committee believes that the working method of "requesting instructions early and reporting late" is not suitable for an organization like the Guangzhou Office. Only by giving appropriate degrees of freedom can these people give full play my ability.

Before the time travel, several high-level people had several discussions on how to control the vast territory under the rule of the time travel regime in the future.The time-traveling group started to build a new world when it settled on the island, so the way to expand outward must be to use the ocean as a springboard to continuously build colonization points to control a wider area. Aspiring to build an independent kingdom has become a topic for high-level officials.In addition to traditional political and economic leadership, high-level people believe that it is more important to firmly control various strategic resources in the hands of the Executive Committee.

Energy and steel are the most important among them. Steel production can almost be regarded as a symbol of a country's national strength, and energy is the most important guarantee for steel production.As long as the executive committee can firmly control these two resources or even just one of them, the development of the colonization point will inevitably be attached to the base camp for a long time.Looking at the entire South China Sea region, Hainan Island is probably the only place that has the conditions to build a large-scale coal-iron composite industrial base. Therefore, this policy will continue to be implemented for a long period of time in the future, until one day the crossing regime can be more perfect. Political system to maintain and manage settlements and colonies all over the place.

The Executive Committee does not expect the Guangzhou Office to turn Guangzhou into a new settlement point for the Crossing Group in the mainland within a few years. Although the Ming Empire has begun to decline, after all, its lifespan has not yet come to an end. The Inner Travel Group still doesn't have enough power to shake this country, and entering into a state of hostility with Daming prematurely will also be very detrimental to the Travel Group's plan to use the mainland market for economic expansion.

Sun Changmi and You Yihan took this opportunity to explain to the people present some of the executive committee's long-term plans for the Guangdong region.The export of commodities and culture to the mainland will naturally take Guangzhou as the core area, which will also be the main task of the Guangzhou Office in the coming period.However, the territorial expansion across the regime, or the pace of military expansion, will not involve Guangzhou in the short term, and it is likely to have a direct conflict with the Ming Empire.Both the Ministry of Shipping and the Ministry of Military and Police believe that the more valuable expansion targets are actually still at sea, such as the Wanshan Islands that can control the waterway in the Pearl River Estuary or the adjacent Hong Kong area of ​​​​Xin'an County.

Sun Changmi said: "In terms of our development model, controlling air routes should be the first choice, and its significance is even greater than occupying a state and a county in the mainland, and the Pearl River Estuary is undoubtedly the most important area south of the Taiwan Strait. One waterway, as long as we can gain a firm foothold at the mouth of the Pearl River, then it can really be said that the revolution has won a phased victory."

You Yihan said: "If we only consider the terrain, then we will undoubtedly choose the coast along Tsuen Wan, Stonecutters Island, West Kowloon, and Tsim Sha Tsui, or directly occupy Hong Kong Island, and build around the Victoria Harbor in the future. It can control the future naval base at the Pearl River Estuary. But the problem is that Ming has garrisons in these places, and if we want to seize these places, we will inevitably have an armed conflict with Ming.”

Xiao Liang interjected and added: "According to the preliminary investigation results when we came here, I think that the navy stationed in Xin'an County is far superior to the Yazhou Navy in terms of equipment scale and training level. Navy, before we have heavy artillery ships, we probably won’t be able to take advantage of this kind of well-trained regular army at sea.”

"Speaking of heavy artillery ships, I really want to ask my colleagues in the shipping department. It has been more than two months since the shipyard laid the keel, and I see that there is no ship model yet. When will you design this new ship? Can you go into the water?" Yu Yao couldn't help asking: "At this speed, people of our generation should not expect to see iron-clad ships sailing across the seven seas, right?"

Sun Changmi sighed and said: "Design is easy but construction is difficult. There are hundreds of ready-made shipbuilding drawings in the database, and there are quite a few that can be used. It can’t meet the requirements, and now the shipbuilders in the shipyard have only built Fuchuan or Guangzhou Ship, but completely copying these two types of ships, probably can only be used for running cargo, and can’t meet the requirements of the Navy. You know Yan Do you have any requirements for our design department? A ship with a displacement of two to three hundred tons must be equipped with at least ten 12-pound guns, and at least two 18-pound heavy guns. The number of sailors should not exceed 30. Normally The speed is not less than ten knots... The main warship of the Ming army has a displacement larger than this, and it is only one red cannon and six Flang machines. It is difficult to pack so many cannons into a small ship. ?”

Now the executive committee's thinking on developing sea power has changed a little bit compared to before time travel, because the reality is too cruel, and the speed of shipbuilding can't keep up with the actual demand. If you wait for the shipyard to slowly accumulate experience, then the head It is estimated that in two or three years, it can only circle around the offshore area of ​​​​Hainan Island.Fortunately, the development of Heitu Port led the Executive Committee to discover a new way of thinking, that is, the cargo ships can use bought or even rented Chinese-style sailboats first, and the shipyards focus on solving some problems in improving the performance of ships, especially for military use. Mainly.Of course, as of now, the shipyard that has been established for several months has not made any breakthroughs, and even the progress of the first test ship seems to be very slow. Yu Yao is far from alone.

"If you want to install so many cannons on board, you must have a cannon recoil device." Xiao Liang has some knowledge about this, and explained for Sun Changmi: "But because the steel production was very limited before, and the processing equipment was not in place. , the military industry unit can’t make a hydraulic braking device, so it’s impossible to equip a large number of large-caliber artillery on a wooden sailboat of this tonnage.”

"Then can it be done now?" Yu Yao asked.

"It can be done, but the production capacity is very limited. The hydraulic device has relatively high requirements for processing accuracy, and the processing technology is relatively complicated. The production efficiency of this thing will not be higher than that of the steam engine at this stage. In addition, the self-made The progress of the test ship is very slow, and the military industry department thinks that it cannot be loaded and tested in a hurry, so the artillery hydraulic braking device has not been included in the list of priority production." Xiao Liang has several in the military industry department. A friend who does things, so he has more inside information than others.

Sun Changmi complained: "The problem is that the military industry department has not finalized the mass production. The specifications of the hydraulic recoil gun mounts are uncertain. How can we calculate the ship's counterweight balance? When the ship is built and there is a problem with the gun mounts, can it be done?" Dismantle the boat and start over?"

"This is a matter of coordination and communication between your two departments." Schneider said a fair word: "It is absolutely possible to communicate the design requirements in advance! How about this, after you go back, contact the military industry department and the military police department, The three parties hold a joint meeting to clarify their respective requirements, and then discuss how to coordinate the relationship between production and design. If the test ship is not launched by the end of the year, I don’t think Mr. Tao and Mr. Yan will make it easier for you of!"

Sun Changmi shook his head and said: "It's not that simple. The shipyard is in Shengli Port, and the military industry department is all in Tiandu. Many technical changes can't be explained clearly by phone and radio. They must be discussed face to face with the drawings. Okay. These two places are separated by more than ten miles. If there is a small problem, you have to go back and forth for twenty or thirty miles to solve it. Who do you think has so much free time?"

"Looks like it's time to form our own lolicon company!" He Xi suddenly interjected in a very deep tone.

"What loli?" Chen Tianqi, who had been dazed by everyone just now, heard this key word somehow, and woke up immediately.

"It's not Lolicon, it's Norinco." Schneider said, seeing that except for the people from the military and police department, the faces of the others were almost blank, and Ma Yu's face turned red, and he didn't know it was because of drinking. The drinker was still excited to hear this topic, and quickly explained: "Sister Ma, we are not talking about the kind of lolicon you think, we are all gentlemen, absolute gentlemen!"

Chen Tianqi coughed dryly and said, "Gentleman is actually not a good word... In otaku culture, gentleman is sometimes synonymous with pervert."

Schneider glared at Chen Tianqi, and quickly brought the topic back to normal: "The Lolicon company that He Xi mentioned is actually China North Inustires Corporation, and the abbreviation is Norinco. It sounds like Lolicon."

"I said Mr. Shi, you've been going around for a long time talking about what the hell is Lolicon?" Sha Xi has no culture, and everyone else has almost understood it, but he is the only one who is still asking endlessly.

"It's North Industries Corporation." He Xi replied for Schneider: "The number one arms dealer under the China Ordnance Industry Group. Our great motherland can rank among the top five arms exporting countries in the world. This company has contributed a lot."

Sha Xi blinked his eyes in confusion and said, "It's an arms dealer who sells guns and cannons. What does it have to do with our building gunboats?"

"Northern Industrial Corporation is actually a military-industrial complex." Schneider resumed the conversation: "As it is now, a military project is in charge of each department, and it is easy for us to encounter the current situation in the construction of test ships. It is a kind of separate problem. If we have a comprehensive unit that includes a series of military services such as research, trial production, manufacturing, sales, maintenance, etc., we can deploy various units to cooperate effectively in the process of weapon development. Even from the weapon’s At the beginning of the research and development, the follow-up trial production, mass production, equipment, maintenance, etc. should be planned, instead of what we are doing now, all military projects are crossing the river by feeling the stones and lacking a unified arrangement plan.”

"In fact, the responsibilities of such a unit are currently assumed by the executive committee, but the executive committee has too much work, and the executive committee members don't all understand the ins and outs of military manufacturing. It can last for a while, but the scale of the industry is slightly larger, such as expanding the number of arms or increasing the export of arms to the outside world, and the executive committee alone may not be able to manage it." He Xi also has a relatively deep understanding of this issue and understanding.

Sun Changmi nodded and said: "That's right, the current situation is like this, the military and police departments only know how to make requests, and they don't know the difficulties in realizing these requests, and the military industry department wholeheartedly follows them. Upgrade according to your own technology tree plan, and it doesn't matter whether our shipping department can keep up. The executive committee has coordinated many times in the middle, but it didn't play much role. Mr. Yan was on the executive committee There was once a proposal to set up a higher-level military industry authority, but I heard it was rejected.”

"I also listened to Mr. Yan's suggestion. The matter is indeed not as simple as what you say." Xiao Liang took over the conversation and said: "The Ministry of Military Industry is currently under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Industry, and the shipyard belongs to the Ministry of Shipping. If another competent unit is established to manage the development of military projects, it is equivalent to assigning part of the Ministry of Industry and the Ministry of Shipping to the Ministry of Military and Police. Now there are many people who are complaining about the excessive power of the Ministry of Military and Police in private. It would be hell if this kind of proposal can be passed by the executive committee."

"Military projects must be jointly developed by multiple departments, but there will always be disputes over the division of power among the three units. According to this, the time to solve this problem is far away?" He was very angry about the problem, but limited by his vision and knowledge, he couldn't think of any solution to the problem for a while.

"That's not necessarily true." You Yihan, who had been listening for a long time, suddenly said: "The key is to have interests. The reason for the emergence of military-industrial complexes is the drive of interests. After you have money, you can see if these units will still be like this." There's just such a lack of motivation right now."

Speaking of this, You Yihan laughed self-deprecatingly and said: "Although I am also a member of the Ministry of Shipping, it is reasonable to say that I should not expose my shortcomings on this occasion, but the Ministry of Shipping does have its own little calculations in the development of military projects. Now the research and construction costs of the test ship are arranged by the executive committee. After that, the military and police department will place an order, and the money must be allocated by the executive committee. Why should you listen to the command of the Military and Police Department? I am not saying this to provoke the relationship between the two families, you guys, don’t take it to heart.”

He Xi waved his hand to indicate that it was okay, Xiao Liang and Yu Yao also expressed that it had nothing to do with it, and Morgan strained his ears to understand You Yihan's Shandong-style pronunciation more, and was in no hurry to wonder if there was any other meaning in the words.

You Yihan continued: "But if there are enough benefits, enough for the units involved in the design, development and production of weapons to obtain huge profits, then the pressure to establish a competent department will be much reduced, and the profitability of this development model Ability will make all those who disagree obediently shut up. Of course, we all have to make achievements before that."

"Are there any successful cases of the model you mentioned?" Sha Xi asked with great interest.

"The United States was the largest arms dealer in the world before crossing over. Don't you deny that?" You Yihan looked around the crowd, and then continued: "In 2011, the total value of arms and equipment exported by the United States exceeded 4000 billion U.S. dollars. Among them, the largest Several military-industrial complexes accounted for half of the transaction volume. In the same year, my country’s military expenditure was only more than 1400 billion US dollars. Think about how much money these military-industrial complexes made from it? Yankees are instigating wars all over the world, and there is no one When fighting, they roll up their sleeves, not because they are too full to eat, but because of the huge interests behind it—even the foreign policy of the United States has to succumb to this interest.”

(End of this chapter)