When Earl Nelson sailed into the vast sea aboard the Indomitable battleship HMS Reckless, taking the glory and dreams of the British Empire with him to implement the "cheating to protect his father" plan that he and the Duke of Wellington worked out together. In the distant Beijing city of the Ming Dynasty, Zhuge Weidao had completed all the procedures for taking over as deputy admiral of naval aviation and acting admiral of the military in the Admiralty Building.
After taking over the position of acting admiral of the aviation force, Zhuge Weidao wanted to discuss the "battle cruiser torpedo boat" with his two brothers, Zhuge Weiyi and Zhuge Weiyong. This seemed to be a bit crazy! In World War II, the most the little devils could do was use heavy torpedo cruisers. Why did you go one step further and get battlecruisers and torpedo boats? Isn't this too much?
But before he could speak, Zhuge Weiyi and Zhuge Weyong handed him a letter of appointment.
"Brother 108, this is the appointment letter for the members of the Armaments Commission," Zhuge Weiyi said, "This is not the original Arms Commission of our Navy, but an Arms Commission jointly organized by the Navy and the Army. Because the equipment of the Army and Navy Many of them can be used universally. Working together can not only save time and effort, but also better allocate budget and resources. After all, no one’s money comes from the strong wind, but we still have to fight for it. After all, budget and resources are just that. a little!"
Is this the time when the army and navy are going to start fighting over budget and resources?
Zhuge Weidao took the letter of appointment and was about to stuff it into his briefcase when Zhuge Weiyang handed him another one: "Brother 108, this is the letter of appointment for the Deputy Chief of Staff of the General Staff Department! "
"Deputy Chief of General Staff?" Zhuge Weidao was stunned, and then asked, "Me?"
This General Staff Department is incredible. It is an yamen that can only be established during wartime or when a war is about to break out. It has great power and is somewhat similar to the Military S Committee. Since the death of King Zhuge Wuzhong, the Ming Dynasty has never fought a full-scale war until now. So the last Chief of General Staff of the General Staff was King Zhuge Wuzhong himself!
However, the deputy chief of general staff of the general staff is much worse than the chief of general staff. First of all, there is only one chief of general staff, but there are a large group of deputy chiefs of staff. Things are rare and valuable, and the same is true for chiefs of staff.
Secondly, the Chief of General Staff is the person under the Prime Minister who makes the final decision on military matters. When King Zhuge Wuzhong served as Chief of General Staff, he was also the right Prime Minister who held the political power, so the person who made the final decision on military matters in the Ming Dynasty Just himself.
The Deputy Chief of General Staff may sound like a big deal, but he is actually the senior adviser and agent of the Chief of General Staff. Sometimes the chief of general staff is really too busy, so he will appoint a deputy chief of staff as his representative, or directly grant the title of deputy chief of staff to frontline generals to enhance their authority. But most deputy chiefs of staff are simply advisory people—either on behalf of themselves or their departments.
Zhuge Weidao is now the head of the naval aviation force. Although this naval aviation force is still in its infancy, it is very valued. That's why Zhuge Weidao received the appointment letters as the Armament Commissioner and the Deputy Chief of General Staff.
"Then who is the chief of general staff?" Zhuge Weidao asked again.
Zhuge Weiyang replied: "The chief of general staff will be appointed by the Minister of the Army, the Chief of Army Staff, the Minister of the Navy, and the Chief of Naval Staff in turn. The current chief of general staff is Liu Shangshu of the Army."
The current military structure of the Ming Dynasty is that the army and navy are each in charge. There is no unified Ministry of Defense. The traditional Ministry of War has also evolved into the Ministry of War. Although the official title of the Army Minister is still the Minister of War, the navy is not under the control of the Minister of War.
This system is nothing if it does not involve fighting. It is nothing more than an army and navy. Because the new Ming Dynasty's financial budget and industrial resources are relatively sufficient, the army and navy will not fight too fiercely for funds and military resources.
But now that the world war is getting closer and closer, it will no longer be enough for the navy and the army to take care of each other. Therefore, the proposal to reopen the General Staff Headquarters was put forward, and it was approved by the Cabinet and the Council some time ago.
The first Chief of General Staff after the reopening of the General Staff was decided by four lots: Liu Quanzhong, the Minister of the Army, Li Tieshan, the Chief of Army Staff, Zhuge Weiyi, the Minister of the Navy, and Zhuge Wei, the Chief of the Navy Staff. Liu Quanzhong of the Liu Shu royal family was lucky and "caught" a chief of general staff.
"Daozi," Zhuge Weiyi was acting like a magician at this time. He took out a folder from nowhere and handed it to Zhuge Weidao, "There will be an Arms Committee meeting this afternoon to discuss additional budgets for the urgent construction of aircraft-carrying battlecruisers. Question. This is the information on the aircraft-carrying battlecruiser. Take a look at it and you will submit it on behalf of the navy."
What? Aircraft carrier battlecruiser?
Zhuge Weidao was stunned when he heard the name. Could it be that King Wu Zhong wrote it in the Book of Heaven and passed it down to his descendants?
Seeing Zhuge Weidao in a daze, Zhuge Weiyi smiled and explained: "This aircraft-carrying battlecruiser is amazing! It is an aircraft carrier and a Bazhongwang-class battlecruiser put together. One ship has three functions, and it can You can engage in artillery battles, you can take off and land aircraft, and you can also shoot torpedoes, right?"
"It's awesome," Zhuge Weidao frowned. "Would it be too troublesome to use? And aircraft takeoff and landing require a flight deck. How do you install this on a battlecruiser?"
"Wear it diagonally!"
"It's really passed down from our ancestors!" Zhuge Weidao thought to himself: "It even has a beveled deck!"
Zhuge Weiyi smiled and said: "The hulls of the Bazhongwang-class ships No. 5, 6, 7, and 8 have not yet been completed. They can be modified and a 130-meter-long and 15-meter-wide angled deck can be added. There is no need to install a steel deck, just install a wooden deck. It is very easy. It is just a little troublesome to install the landing gear and the stern hangar. But it won't waste much time.
As for the artillery and some buildings on the stern, we definitely can't get rid of it, but the two main gun turrets on the bow can still be retained, and the underwater torpedo launch tubes on the bow can also be retained.
In this way, this kind of aircraft-carrying battlecruiser can not only fight with its 300mm main gun, but also launch torpedoes to sink enemy ships. It can also use carrier-based aircraft to perform reconnaissance, air strikes and anti-airship missions. It is really too advanced and practical. Daozi, I'm sure that the large surface warships in the future will all be this kind of aircraft-carrying battlecruisers! "
Zhuge Wenyong on the side also thought that this kind of aircraft-carrying battlecruiser was very useful. He smiled and said: "Daozi, when these four ships are in service, we will form an aviation mobile fleet together, and the first admiral will be yours." !”
"Can't we just build an aircraft carrier?" Zhuge Weidao was still a little unwilling. Why did the US emperor's aircraft carrier become the Mao Xiong family's aircraft-carrying cruiser?
"No, no." Zhuge Weiyong waved his hand, "The range of current aircraft is too short, so the aircraft carrier cannot leave the main fleet too far, otherwise it will not be able to drive and shoot down enemy airships for the main fleet. If the aircraft carrier itself does not have enough firepower, Then it would be easy to be attacked by enemy cruisers and destroyers, and armored cruisers would have to be sent to protect them. It would be better to build an aircraft-carrying battlecruiser!"
"Brother Fifty-one," Zhuge Weidao said, "We are not in a hurry now, are we? We can take it slowly for three to five years. It will be too late to build an aircraft carrier after the aircraft technology has improved."
"It's too late!" Zhuge Weiyong shook his head, "We have received reliable information that the British are secretly building airship carriers in large quantities. They have placed orders for dozens of airship carriers, and ten of them have been built!"
"What?" Zhuge Wei was greatly surprised.
Zhuge Weiyi added: "Also, Earl Nelson has just been appointed as the Minister of War of the Indian Empire! In addition, a large number of British warships have left the British mainland and are sailing to the Indian Ocean. The war may break out soon!"
(End of chapter)
