You are ordered to support the War of Resistance against Japan; China enters Level 1 combat readines

A destroyer weighing just over 6,000 tons?

The excitement in the meeting room instantly subsided by more than half.

The smiles on the faces of the executives slowly faded, replaced by an undisguised sense of disappointment.

"Destroyers..." a manager murmured to himself, his tone full of regret.

"I thought that if Mr. Shen were to make a move, it would be at least a 10,000-ton heavy cruiser, if not a battleship or an aircraft carrier."

"Yeah, only two destroyers."

Another boss shook his head: "The Japanese have more than a dozen aircraft carriers, more than a dozen battleships, and dozens of heavy cruisers and light cruisers."

"These two destroyers wouldn't even make a splash if you threw them into the sea."

"It's good to have something, it's better than nothing," someone comforted, but there was little confidence in their voice.

Just then, the deputy commander-in-chief's face hardened, and he slammed his hand on the table: "Enough! What are you all thinking?"

Everyone quieted down and looked at the deputy commander.

"I know what you're thinking. You think destroyers are too small in tonnage and too few in number, so they're not impressive enough."

"But have you ever considered where these two destroyers came from? Mr. Shen gave them to us for free!"

The deputy commander's voice rang out firmly: "We can't rely on Mr. Shen for everything! He's already helped us so much! Giving us two destroyers is an immense favor!"

"Everything is difficult at the beginning. With these two ships, we can dismantle them for research, imitate their construction, and gradually accumulate experience!"

"One day, we will have our own cruisers, our own battleships, and our own aircraft carriers!"

"One day, our navy will surpass the Japanese!"

Upon hearing this, the CEOs all lowered their heads in shame.

"The vice president is right, we were too greedy."

"Yes, everything is difficult at the beginning!"

"Mr. Shen has already solved our biggest problem!"

Seeing everyone's guilty expressions, the chief of staff suddenly smiled and said, "Gentlemen, I don't think there's any need for you to be so discouraged."

"Have you forgotten when Mr. Shen ever gave us junk?"

Upon hearing this, everyone looked up abruptly, their eyes lighting up instantly.

"Oh yeah! How could I have forgotten about that!"

"Anything Mr. Shen designs is bound to be a masterpiece!"

The chief of staff chuckled and continued, "Putting everything else aside, take those 107mm rocket launchers for example. When we first got them, who even considered them?"

"It's about the size of an ordinary mountain gun, unremarkable in appearance, but what's the result? A single salvo from this gun can match the firepower of an entire Japanese artillery regiment!"

"Yeah, yeah!" A CEO slapped his thigh excitedly.

"Mr. Shen's stuff can never be judged by common sense! What looks like ordinary items are actually all top-quality goods!"

"I think these two destroyers are definitely not ordinary!"

"I think so too!" another boss chimed in. "Maybe this 6,000-ton destroyer could take down one of the Japanese aircraft carriers!"

"Isn't it a bit of an exaggeration to say it can take on an aircraft carrier?" someone nearby said with a laugh. "But it should at least be equivalent to a battleship!"

Someone else added, "Even if it can't compare to a battleship, it's at least as good as a heavy cruiser!"

The atmosphere in the conference room became lively again, the disappointment from before vanished, replaced by a sense of anticipation.

"Alright, alright, stop guessing."

The deputy commander smiled and waved his hand, signaling everyone to be quiet: "You'll find out just how capable they are when you see them."

He looked at the deputy director, his expression turning serious: "What else did Mr. Shen say? Did he say what he needed our cooperation with?"

The deputy director immediately put away his smile and said seriously, "Mr. Shen said that the navy is not like the army or the air force. Its operations are more complex and require a large number of professionals. We can train these people gradually."

"The most urgent task is to take over a deep-water port along the coast."

"He has a complete set of large-scale dock construction materials. As long as there is a port, he can start building the dock immediately."

"With a dry dock, we can berth, repair, and maintain warships, and in the future, we may even be able to build gunboats and landing ships ourselves."

"Dockyard?"

boom--!

These two words were like a thunderclap, exploding loudly in the conference room.

The excitement that had been gradually subsiding was instantly pushed to its peak.

The CEOs all stood up abruptly, their eyes wide open, their faces filled with unbelievable ecstasy.

"Mr. Shen also owns a shipyard?"

"Deputy Director, why didn't you say so sooner! This is a million times more important than those two destroyers!"

"With a shipyard, we can build our own warships!"

"This isn't just giving away a ship, it's giving away the entire naval assets!"

A logistics manager was so excited his hands were trembling. He pointed to the coastline on the map, his voice shaking:

"Giving us ten destroyers is not as valuable as giving us a shipyard capable of building our own ships!"

"It's like giving one egg-laying hen instead of ten eggs!"

"With the old hen, the eggs will be plentiful from now on!"

"That's absolutely right!"

The chief of staff nodded vigorously: "Every destroyer that's destroyed is one less to go, but a shipyard is different! As long as the shipyard exists, we can build gunboats, landing ships, frigates, and even cruisers and aircraft carriers in the future!"

"This is truly a project of lasting importance!"

"I knew Mr. Shen would never let us down!"

"That's great! The navy's roots have finally been planted!"

The conference room erupted in cheers; any previous regrets about the destroyer's tonnage had long been forgotten.

Everyone understood what a complete shipyard meant to a navy starting from scratch.

It means hope, it means the future, it means that one day we will have a powerful navy capable of protecting our vast seas.

"Alright, alright, quiet down!"

The vice president smiled and waved his hand, suppressing the cheers of the crowd.

"While we're happy, business can't be neglected. Even the best dock needs a place to be built!"

"The most important thing now is to choose a suitable port and take it over as soon as possible."

He turned to his staff officer and said, "Bring me a detailed map of the eastern coast!"

"yes!"

The staff officer immediately brought over a stack of military maps and spread them out on the long mahogany table.

The flame of the kerosene lamp flickered, illuminating the winding coastline and the densely packed place names on the map.

Several CEOs immediately gathered around, huddled together, and began to examine the exhibit closely.

"Tell me first, which port do you think is suitable?" the deputy commander-in-chief asked.

One of the bosses pointed to the location of Tianjin and said first, "How about Tianjin Port? The water depth is sufficient, and the dock facilities are relatively complete. If we can take it over, we can use it immediately."

No, no.

Another manager immediately shook his head: "Tianjin is the core stronghold of the Japanese in North China. Attacking there is like stirring up a hornet's nest!"

"It's not that we can't fight, but it's not suitable to build a shipyard there. Otherwise, if things go wrong, all our efforts will be in vain!"

The chief of staff nodded: "Old Huang is right. Our goal this time is to build a shipyard, not to liberate county towns. We can't target those big cities."

The bigwigs nodded.

"What about Qingcheng?"

"Qingcheng is even worse! The Japanese naval base is located in Qingcheng."

"What about Lian Gang?"

"The waters of Liangang are not deep enough, and the terrain is flat with no natural defenses."

Everyone chimed in with their opinions, analyzing all the major ports along the eastern coast, but none of them turned out to be suitable.

The atmosphere in the meeting room gradually became heavy.

Just then, the chief of staff suddenly pointed to a small dot in the eastern part of the Shandong Peninsula and said, "Look... what do you think of this place?"