In the dock of Jiangnan Shipyard, the 055 destroyer covered with ribbons was moored quietly in the port. The not-so-grand launch ceremony had ended long ago, but the guests invited to the ceremony were reluctant to leave the scene.
There was no doubt that at this moment, all of them were thinking the same thing.
That is, look at the ship for a while longer and remember what it looks like now.
Because it won't be long before the outfitting work of this ship will be fully launched.
At that time, after all the weapons and equipment are installed in place, this ship will undergo earth-shaking changes.
From being harmless to humans and animals, he has become arrogant and arrogant.
From a "large fishing boat" that poses no threat, to a "guard with a sword in front of the emperor" who chooses and devours people.
At that time, it will not be so easy to see the ship up close.
Because it spends most of its time at sea.
It will represent China's naval power, patrol the distant seas, and perform missions that are either open or secret.
Wen Xingdong stood in the middle of the crowd and listened absently to the praise.
During the ceremony that just ended, he had been looking for a figure that had already been engraved in his heart, but unfortunately, that person did not appear in the crowd from beginning to end.
Is he here?
According to the previous communication, he will indeed come.
But this time, Xinghuo arranged the entire trip, and Jiangnan Factory had no involvement at all, so it was not convenient for him to take the initiative to make an appointment.
I originally hoped to meet him after the ceremony and have a good chat with him, but now it seems that I have missed another opportunity.
Just as he was giving perfunctory answers to the vulgar guys around him about topics such as "promotion" and "awarding of titles," he suddenly felt someone tapping his shoulder from behind.
His heart skipped a beat and he quickly looked back. However, with just one glance, a look of disappointment flashed across his face uncontrollably.
The person who came was Zhou Minghui, a naval colonel and the confirmed captain of the future 055 cruiser.
Noticing Wen Xingdong's expression, Zhou Minghui couldn't help but feel a little funny.
He asked:
"Who are you waiting for here? Looking at your expression, you seem a little disappointed?"
Wen Xingdong quickly shook his head and replied with a smile:
"No, I originally wanted to meet a... um, senior, but he didn't show up, so I had to make an appointment later."
"Senior? There are not many people who can let you call me senior. Isn't it Mr. Liu?"
Zhou Minghui asked curiously.
"It's not Mr. Liu. Mr. Liu is feeling a little unwell these days and is resting. Forget it, don't ask me about this."
Wen Xingdong simply skipped the topic and then asked:
"So, are you satisfied with our ship?"
"Are you satisfied? It depends on what you said!"
Zhou Minghui asked back in a feigned annoyance, and then continued:
"I can't say I'm satisfied, it's just like a dream!"
"I never thought that I would have the opportunity to board such a ship in my lifetime."
"It's awesome. Whether it's anti-submarine, anti-missile, or anti-ship, the upper limit of this ship is terrifyingly high."
"I never dreamed that you would put DF-21 on the ship, modify it in such a short period of time, and complete the test firing."
After hearing his words, Wen Xingdong corrected him seriously:
"No, it's not DF-21, that thing is called Eagle Strike-21."
"Besides, this was actually not done by us, but by CALT, Mr. Zhu Xuejun and Mr. Zhu."
"In addition to the YJ-21, there are also Haihongqi 26, Haihongqi 10E, and YJ-18, all of which are made by them."
"There is only one Haihongqi-29 left that has not been completed yet, but it only took half a year."
"When this thing is completed, the 055's all-airspace air defense capability will reach its limit, and the entire sea will be yours to dominate."
"Well, I really don't doubt this at all."
Zhou Minghui breathed a long sigh of relief and then said:
"So how long did it take you to design this ship? How long did it take to prepare the equipment?"
"From my perspective, it seems that suddenly, the 052D project was shelved, and then suddenly, the 055 came out."
"052D is not on hold, just delayed."
Wen Xingdong first corrected Zhou Minghui's mistake, and then replied:
"The two questions you asked are all classified, so I can't answer you at all."
"But you can infer it yourself. It's not like you don't know the equipment parameters."
Zhou Minghui smiled helplessly and said:
"If I can deduce it, why should I ask you?"
"My conclusion is that this thing won't come out in twenty years. What about you? Two years!"
"Forget it, let's not talk about this. Let's talk about the matter at hand - how long do you expect it to take to outfit this thing?"
Wen Xingdong glanced at Zhou Minghui meaningfully and asked with a smile:
"What? Can't wait?"
Zhou Minghui shook his head and replied:
"It's not that I can't wait, it's that we can't wait."
"Djibouti is under great pressure. We have been besieged by the Fifth Fleet for more than six months, and now we urgently need deterrent maritime forces to break the deadlock there."
"Otherwise, once the Sudanese Revolutionary Front takes over the capital Khartoum, the situation in Africa as a whole is likely to deteriorate rapidly and fall into chaos if our troops are unable to maneuver outward."
"At that time, all our plans will be in vain."
"This is why the other party is so eager and determined to bet on Africa. This can really be regarded as a winner."
"Understood."
Wen Xingdong frowned slightly, and after a moment, he answered:
"Three months."
"Give us three months and we can complete the entire outfitting work."
"Three months?"
Zhou Minghui was shocked.
"too slow?"
"It was too fast. I remember that when 054 was outfitted, it took a full 18 months."
"Times have changed. The 055 is more modular, the equipment is basically fully prepared, and the core components have been installed."
"The rest of the work is actually no more difficult than stacking blocks."
"Of course, normally, outfitting also takes 6 to 9 months."
"Three months is the goal we can achieve by mobilizing all resources and grabbing time at all costs."
"Then it's up to you - if we can get it done in three months, we are confident that we can use this ship to pacify the entire Africa!"
"That's a bit exaggerated."
Wen Xingdong said with a smile.
"No exaggeration at all."
Zhou Minghui looked serious.
"You are a scientific researcher and know a lot about ship performance, but I'm afraid you are not very clear about the concept of 'combat effectiveness'."
"But I can tell you that based on the current parameters and performance of the 055, it is the strongest destroyer."
"Where is the strongest? The strongest region in Africa?"
"No, Blue Star is the strongest."
After talking to Zhou Minghui, Wen Xingdong left the dock and returned to his office.
And it was there that he finally saw the person he had longed for.
Of course it's Chen Nian.
In fact, Chen Nian has been waiting for him in the office for a while.
After all, with his highly confidential status, he didn't have much to do after watching the launching ceremony, and knowing that Wen Xingdong definitely wanted to see him, he simply returned early and waited for him to come.
Sitting with Chen Nian was Ma Weiming. When Wen Xingdong entered, the two were chatting animatedly.
"So your view is that laser weapons must be developed, but we cannot invest too much energy and can only serve as a short-term transition?"
Ma Weiming glanced at Wen Xingdong who came in, waved him to sit down, and then continued to ask Chen Nian questions.
Chen Nian shook his head slightly and replied:
"That's not accurate either."
"To be precise, the development of laser weapons should be an upward process."
"At this current point in time, if we can quickly develop laser weapons or even laser anti-missile systems, it will definitely improve the combat effectiveness of our military significantly."
"Because, at this stage, most missiles do not have laser defense capabilities."
"As long as we can create usable laser weapons, the interception efficiency of missiles will be greatly improved, and we can even achieve close to 100% interception."
"However, on the other hand, laser defense technology will develop rapidly. Anti-laser coating technology has already achieved certain results, the most typical of which is vanadium metal coating."
"In past experiments, the transition of this metal from a low-temperature semiconductor phase to a high-temperature metallic phase did significantly disperse the laser energy."
"In the future, if there are newer alloy materials, it will only be a matter of time before laser weapons are restrained."
"By then, laser weapons will have entered a trough."
"Until the energy of laser weapons exceeds the defense upper limit of all metals, laser weapons can develop rapidly again."
"But that will happen a long time ago."
After listening to Chen Nian's words, Ma Weiming nodded in agreement.
“Ultimately, it’s still a matter of energy.”
"In fact, it is not difficult to create a high-energy pulse laser transmitter now, but the problem is that there is no way to make this thing into a motorized weapon."
"Its energy consumption is too great. No mobile power supply system can sustain such consumption-unless the next generation of energy technology is developed."
"This is why we want to engage in metallic hydrogen and nuclear fusion."
Chen Nian said.
"There is a long road ahead. Take your time. If you have any difficulties, be sure to tell me. I will help you no matter what!"
Hearing Ma Weiming's promise, Chen Nian smiled and nodded.
In fact, he also knows that in this regard, Ma Weiming's role is really limited, but he will not have such low emotional intelligence that he will say "you can't do it" on the spot.
Regardless of whether it works or not, people always have good intentions and should not refuse.
After the two of them finished chatting, Chen Nian turned to Wen Xingdong who was waiting aside and said:
"Congratulations, Mr. Wen."
"Project 055 went so smoothly, you have made a great contribution."
"No, no, Mr. Chen, the greatest contribution is still yours, so please don't belittle me."
Wen Xingdong waved his hands quickly and then said:
"Mr. Chen, I've been looking for you outside for a long time. If I knew you were in the office, I would have come here long ago."
"Well, we did a pretty good job, didn't we?"
What Wen Xingdong meant by "work" was naturally 055. His tone contained obvious pride, but also a hint of "cautious" questioning.
There is no way, in front of Chen Nian, no matter how senior he is or how successful he is, he has no qualifications to be proud of, so it is absolutely impossible to show off.
"It's really nice. I'm not trying to be polite. Your efficiency is simply amazing."
"It's better that all departments cooperate well - Xinghuo has a strong leading role. It is really necessary to establish such an organization."
These words were purely official courtesy, and Chen Nian just heard them and didn't take them seriously.
After chatting for a few words, Wen Xingdong finally turned to the topic.
He looked at Chen Nian solemnly and asked:
"Mr. Chen, do you have any ideas about the hull number and name of the first ship?"
Chen Nian was stunned for a moment when he heard this question.
In fact, China has a set of fixed rules for the hull numbers and names of ships.
For example, a hull number starting with 1 represents a destroyer, and its distribution area is from 100 to 199.
The name is usually the provincial capital or sub-provincial city.
But the specific choice is still decided by the navy itself.
But now, Wen Xingdong asked himself directly, apparently because he had reached an agreement with the Navy and his own suggestions would prevail.
Chen Nian originally wanted to name it directly after the hull number and name of the first 055 destroyer in the previous life, but after thinking about it, he felt that it was a bit unsatisfactory.
Although "Nanchang" conforms to the naming rules and has profound historical meaning, Chen Nian has always felt that since the last life, as the de facto strongest shield ship, this name is not domineering enough, and it also has nothing to do with the navy's long and troubled journey. Not a good enough fit.
To put it bluntly, it still doesn’t quite reflect the significance of this ship.
What does this 055 mean to China?
Once at the Pearl River Estuary, British warships sailing across the ocean ignored the artillery fire from the Humen Fort, because the inferior projectiles fired by the old artillery could not even penetrate the hull of the British warship.
Once on the banks of the Huangpu River, an old-fashioned armored ship that had been outdated for 20 years could defeat waves of tragic sea and air attacks from China.
Once in the Jiangyin Fortress, the Chinese fleet was not even qualified to fight a serious naval battle. In the end, it could only heroically and helplessly sink itself to the bottom of the water, trying to block the enemy's path with its own body.
Once in the Strait, military fans racked their brains to come up with a "strategy to defeat the enemy", which was to use all the warships as bait to attract firepower, so as to cover the two "modern" class ships that were finally bought and could use the "horse" to rush in. "Skeeter" anti-ship missile range, making a gamble with a slim chance of winning.
For such a long period of time, our navy existed in name only and was even a joke in the eyes of others.
But then, how did we develop?
Some people say, "If China does not build an aircraft carrier, I will not die in peace."
Some people say, "If you like fighting warships, then go to the Navy."
Some people say, "I want to learn to build our own big ship."
Of course, there is what that person said.
"In order to oppose imperialist aggression, we must build a powerful navy!"
Tracing back to the source, this sentence may be the reason why the Chinese navy can soar from the abyss.
It doesn't have any fancy words, just a simple narrative.
But everyone who reads this sentence knows that we must do it.
And now, we have done it - or are about to do it.
His wish for a "powerful navy" is about to come true.
Thinking of this, Chen Nian took a deep breath.
Then, he said:
"If I were to suggest it, the hull number would of course be 101."
"As for the name, let's just say Jiujiang."
"Back then, he inspected the Yangtze River on the Luoyang ship, starting from Jiujiang."
"Now, we are going to the deep blue, starting from Jiujiang!"
(End of chapter)
