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Chapter 1101: Ships Gathering 2
Why did the Navy design such a ship that cannot accompany the fleet to participate in the war and is so expensive? This is not the product of a lack of investigation or bureaucratic imagination, but a well-thought-out choice.

As the empire's overseas territories and naval bases became more and more numerous and farther away, transporting goods and supplies between them became a big problem. The Guangzhou-class armed cargo ships with a displacement of more than 600 tons were becoming increasingly difficult, and a ship type with stronger carrying capacity was urgently needed.

The Huangshan class was born to meet the transportation mission, and there were two ideas at the beginning of the design. Some naval officers and shipyard technicians preferred an enlarged version of the Guangzhou class armed cargo ship, which had a relatively strong hull structure and seaworthiness, as well as good firepower, but at the expense of some carrying capacity.

Another group of naval officers and technicians hope that the functions will be simpler, and they do not want dual-use equipment. They just want to have enough equipment and make every trip count.

It doesn't matter if there is a lack of onboard weapons and confrontation capabilities. Navy warships can be sent for escort. As long as the cargo is large enough, it is not a loss to send two warships to escort one cargo ship.

In the end, no one convinced the other, and the case was brought to the emperor, who then made the final decision. The emperor was even more extreme, and even the only self-defense deck guns were considered redundant, and he directly built a pure cargo ship that could do nothing but carry a lot of cargo.

What kind of mission was it that alarmed the two top leaders of the Navy and caused the General Staff to mobilize all of the only Huangshan-class ocean-going cargo ships? The answer is just three words: Hawaii!

That’s right, Hong Tao is going to take action on the west coast of America. The first step is to occupy the Hawaiian Islands and establish a permanent naval base on one of the islands.

Due to the distance of nearly 10,000 miles, the carrying capacity of the Guangzhou-class armed cargo ship is obviously insufficient. At this time, the advantages of the Huangshan-class ocean-going cargo ship are revealed. One trip can match the carrying capacity of three or four Guangzhou-class ships.

Moreover, its big belly can carry 800 people at a time, and the food and water it carries allow it to sail continuously for 4 weeks under normal weather conditions without stopping for resupply.

Based on an average speed of 10 kilometers per hour, it can travel 240 kilometers per day, which is 28 kilometers in 6720 days, which can basically meet the needs of direct flights from the Ryukyu Islands to the Hawaiian Islands.

In fact, direct flights from the Ryukyu Islands to the Hawaiian Islands are not the best choice, but a detour is faster. This is the magic of nature. There is a sea current called the Japan Current to the south of the Ryukyu Islands, which flows northeast along the Japanese archipelago day and night, with an average daily flow rate of nearly 100 kilometers.

That is to say, as long as the boat is sailed into this hundreds of kilometers wide warm current, even if the sails are fully lowered, as long as there is no strong head wind, it can drift nearly 100 kilometers to the northeast every day. If it is sailing with full sails, it is equivalent to adding nearly 100 kilometers to the average speed, which is like taking a ride.

When it reaches the waters of the Kuril Islands, the Japan Warm Current will collide with the southward-moving Kuril Cold Current, and then, with the help of the westerly wind belt, it will become the North Pacific Warm Current, heading straight eastward to the west coast of North America.

At this time, the flow rate of the sea water has slowed down, only about one-tenth of the Japan Warm Current, but the westerly wind has replaced it, so sailing eastward is still smooth sailing and the speed will not decrease much.

The fleet departing from the Ryukyu Islands can first sail eastward to the west coast of North America with the help of the Japan Current, the North Pacific Current and the westerly belt, and then turn south at about 150 degrees east longitude. Although it takes nearly 2000 kilometers more than a direct route, it can reach the Hawaiian Islands in a shorter time.

This is not Hong Tao's invention. The Spanish Manila galleon once set out from southern Mexico loaded with silver and sailed westward to the Philippines with the help of the North Equatorial Current.

After being loaded with raw silk, tea and spices, they returned to the west coast of North America along the Japan Current and the North Pacific Current, and then returned to southern Mexico with the help of the California Current flowing from north to south. The reason why the Spanish did not discover the obvious Hawaiian Islands after sailing in the east and west ends of the North Pacific for decades was also due to this way of sailing with the help of warm currents. The Hawaiian Islands are not on the path of the North Pacific Current and the Japan Current, and they still cannot be discovered even if they sail like this for another hundred years.

"Governor, those ships are stacked with lifeboats? Why are there so many of them?" In addition to the entire East China Sea Fleet, the South China Sea Fleet also dispatched most of its main forces to come to the rescue.

Commander-in-chief Wang Yuanjing soon discovered the abnormality. The Huangshan-class ocean-going cargo ship was built under his nose, so he must be very familiar with it, and any slight change in appearance would not be concealed.

"You have to ask him. I have only heard of his name but never seen him in detail, so I dare not say anything." Huang Nanping was quite honest. If he didn't know, he would just say he didn't know without hiding anything.

"You Dusi, tell me, you didn't prepare it specially because you were afraid of problems at sea? This is a bit unkind of you. Do you not trust Tao Dusi or me?"

Wang Yuanjing looked in the direction of Huang Nanping's finger and found that it was You Bukuai, the commander of the Marine Division. This was easy to handle. The two of them graduated from the Marine Division in the same year and entered the Navy together. They were also promoted to commanders in the same batch. They were childhood friends and had a good personal relationship.

He didn't hesitate to go over and put his arm around her to control her so she wouldn't find an excuse to get away. At the same time, he had to raise his voice so that Tao Daxiang, the commander of the East China Sea Fleet not far away, could hear him. This way, he could fight two against one, which was safer.

"Don't be so handsy in formal occasions... Hey, Tao Dusi, long time no see, you look good."

Fortunately, Wang Yuanjing was prepared, otherwise he would not be able to catch the tall man swimming fast. Just as he was about to cheat and dodge, he almost bumped into Tao Daxiang's arms. Seeing that he was outnumbered, he immediately put on a smile and greeted him enthusiastically.

"Stop talking nonsense. I would have wanted to find out even if Wang Dusi hadn't asked me. Tell me now. Even if it's top secret, it can be decrypted after the operation begins."

Tao Daxiang graduated a year later than Wang Yuanjing and You Bukuai, so he was considered a junior, but only a year later and at the same level, so he had no extra respect for his senior. He grabbed You Bukuai's wrist, pushed him against the side of the boat and began to force a confession.

"What's so top secret? It's not that mysterious. The Huangshan class ships have ordinary lifeboats, but there are more of them, thirty on each ship, for a total of five.

"Can you two open your hands first and give me a few cigars? You are seeking knowledge after all, so you should have some attitude!"

Seeing that he couldn't get away, You Bukuai had to reveal the truth. But he didn't want to tell the whole story yet, so he told half of it and kept the other half to get some benefits.

(End of this chapter)