Expedition to Europe

Generally speaking, there are two fates for warships after retirement, either being sunk as a target ship or being dismantled.

Relatively speaking, "sealing" is the best result.

Strictly speaking, "sealing" is not retirement. When needed, "sealed" warships can still get the opportunity to be reactivated, but generally they will not be on the front line. Most of them are used to escort merchant ships or serve as training ships.

Compared with the "Surabhai Class", the "Taishan" is indeed old and dilapidated, but this is only relative to the "Surabhai Class". Compared with the current aircraft carriers of Britain and the United States, the "Taishan" is not backward. In fact, because the performance of carrier-based aircraft is relatively excellent, the overall combat effectiveness of the "Taishan" is much stronger than that of the aircraft carriers of Britain and the United States.

In this way, it would be a pity if the "Taishan" was dismantled or sunk.

The Lan Fang military did promise to demolish two aircraft carriers at the Coconut City Naval Conference, but the two aircraft carriers to be demolished were the other two aircraft carriers converted from merchant ships. The "Taishan" and "Huangshan" still have a certain vitality, but this "vitality" is also extremely limited. After all, the "Taishan" and "Huangshan" are not real aircraft carriers, but aircraft carriers converted from merchant ships. Such aircraft carriers will be eliminated sooner or later.

Although he knew the fate of the "Taishan", Qin Zhiyuan still had to be stern in front of Xie Rundong, otherwise one day, Xie Rundong would dislike the "Sishui" as much as he disliked the "Taishan" now, and that would be a bottomless pit that could never be satisfied.

Qin Zhiyuan had a long-term plan for the Lanfang Navy. Foch knew a little about this plan, but Hindenburg knew nothing about it. When he heard Qin Zhiyuan say that the "Taishan" was going to be retired, Hindenburg was a little shocked: "Retire? Why? Taishan seems to have been in service for less than five years, and it's retired now. It's such a waste."

Before the World War, the competition between the German Army and the German Navy was still very fierce. Compared with Lanfang, Hindenburg was more accustomed to careful calculation. Now that he heard that the "Taishan", which had just been in service for less than five years, was going to be retired, Hindenburg's reaction was not surprising.

The "Taishan" was an aircraft carrier converted from a merchant ship during the World War. In Hindenburg's view, the "Taishan" was far from being retired, and it would be fine to serve for at least another five years.

Although Hindenburg lived in Lanfang, his social circle was still a bit narrow. In addition, because of the hostility during the World War and the attack on Qin Zhiyuan in Germany, the Lanfang military did a good job of keeping Hindenburg secret. The Lanfang military could hide many things from Foch, but there was always a gap with Hindenburg.

There was no way, because Hindenburg didn't have a daughter to marry Qin Zhiyuan-

"Lanfang's new generation of aircraft carriers will be put into service soon, and the current aircraft carriers will be retired in the next two years." Qin Zhiyuan thought about it, and for the sake of William III, he was ready to be honest with Hindenburg.

"New generation of aircraft carriers-what is that?" Hindenburg was confused.

If Foch is the representative of old-fashioned officers, then Hindenburg's thoughts are even more old-fashioned than Foch, and he is still stuck in the Middle Ages. It is not easy for Hindenburg to accept new things, which is also an inherent problem of German officers.

"Aircraft carriers - that is, the upgraded version of the current aircraft carriers, with a larger displacement, faster speed, and more aircraft -" Qin Zhiyuan did not want to explain in detail, just a brief introduction.

"Haha - in other words, it is a bigger thin skin with big fillings -" Hindenburg has been in Lan Fang for so long, and his Chinese has improved.

"Thin skin with big fillings" - it is really not a compliment here, after all, warships are not meat buns.

"So what? You have to have enough appetite to swallow it! You may not know what the concept of 'more planes' is. Let me give you a hint. That is more than 90 planes, and one-third of them are torpedo planes. If it is you, how many battleships do you need to prepare to satisfy the appetite of so many torpedo planes?" Qin Zhiyuan does not allow others to slander Lan Fang's "Sishui Class", even Hindenburg.

Respecting the old and loving the young also has principles. Some "little guys" are really too naughty, and some "old guys" are even more hateful!

"Ninety? Do you mean three?" Hindenburg didn't quite understand the performance of the "Surabiya class". Ninety carrier-based aircraft were beyond Hindenburg's understanding.

"One!" Qin Zhiyuan said simply.

"——God!" Hindenburg took a long time to sigh.

"Qin, don't you plan to share the technology of the "Surabiya class" with France?" Foch also had his own requirements.

From the first day of its establishment, Lanfang has maintained close cooperation with the French military technical department. The "Legion Class" battleship is a classic work of the Lanfang military industry department and the French military industry department. Foch knew the existence of the "Surabiya class". Although Foch was quite disappointed with France, he couldn't help but speak for France when he saw good things.

Perhaps this sentence has been buried in Foch's heart for a long time, and now he finally found an opportunity to say it.

"Marshal, even if we share these technologies with France, will France invest in construction? You know the answer." Qin Zhiyuan did not call Foch "Dad", with a businesslike tone.

Qin Zhiyuan is right. Today's France really does not have Lanfang's ambitions in shipbuilding. After France and Lanfang cooperated to develop "Legion-class" battleships, Lanfang built four in one go, but France continued to build them. Not one has been built. In name, France has indeed increased its technical reserves, but this kind of technical reserves requires people to realize it. Without building physical objects, the technical reserves will be useless even at the "Zenith Star" stage!

Foch also knew that what Qin Zhiyuan said was true, so after Qin Zhiyuan finished speaking, Foch could only shake his head and sigh.

As long as it comes to problems in France, Foch has been sighing more and more recently.

"Then, can you share it with us?" Hindenburg was also very happy to see him, and simply forgot about his situation.

Facing Hindenburg, Qin Zhiyuan was even more unkind: "Why do you need these technologies? You simply can't build large-tonnage warships, and your research on carrier-based aircraft is even blank. If you build a 'Sishui-class', will it be used as a cargo ship?" ”

Compared with France, Germany's current international environment is even worse. The Treaty of Versailles has put a damper on Germany in all aspects. Although it is now loosened to contain France, Britain will certainly not repeat the same mistakes in terms of military affairs. If Germany wanted to develop armaments, but the British would not agree at first.

"It's not bad to use it as a cargo ship, at least it's fast enough." On this issue, Hindenburg was even more frustrated, and he just wanted to break the pot.

Read the original article in Liu#9@书/吧!

If we look at speed alone, warships are indeed going to completely destroy civilian ships. Of course, this also means that warships have a shorter lifespan. Generally speaking, civilian ships can last for 20 to 30 years without a problem, while warships can last for up to ten years. , the advancement of science and technology has forced the military to upgrade.

As for using the aircraft carrier as a cargo ship, it was just Hindenburg's needless venting. The old man's words were inaccurate. This has been the case since Ludendorff took power in the middle of the world war.

In fact, even if the French and Germans could build a "Sishui-class" aircraft carrier, Qin Zhiyuan would not share the information. The "Sishui-class" aircraft carrier is the pinnacle of Lanfang's industry and brings together the most advanced technologies in Lanfang. technologies, from marine steel plates to boiler engines , basically all of them are the most advanced in the world at present. Of course, the French are also responsible for this, but the core technologies are all in the hands of Lanfang people. Unless Lanfang's next-generation aircraft carrier starts to be built, Qin Zhiyuan will definitely put "Sishui -class aircraft carrier is considered top secret.

It was a full 7,000 kilometers from Surabaya to the Marshall Islands, where the exercise was held. The fleet moved at an economic speed of 20 knots and took a full week to reach the Marshall Islands.

There are thirty-four main islands in the Marshall Islands, including twenty-nine coral atolls and five islands. If those coral reefs are counted as islands, the Marshall Islands has 1,225 islands. Among the five largest There are currently four islands with permanent residents on them.

These people are not the aborigines of the Marshall Islands, but the pure Lanfang people who migrated from Lanfang after the war between Lanfang and Japan. Those aborigines have been moved to the Solomon Islands. This is Qin Zhiyuan's order to ensure that the Marshall Islands will never be The strategy of staying in Lanfang.

For now, everyone in the world believes that the Marshall Islands belong to Lanfang, but that may not be the case in the future. If Qin Zhiyuan does nothing, maybe one day, the Marshall Islands will launch a national movement, and then it will be difficult to return, and Lanfang will have to pay a greater price to stabilize the situation.

But now, with just one official document, all the population of the Marshall Islands will be replaced by pure Chinese, which ensures the centripetal force of the Marshall Islands.

Not only the Marshall Islands, but also the Ogasawara Islands, the Micronesian Islands, and even the Solomon Islands, Qin Zhiyuan arranged this. He moved the indigenous people away and then moved the Chinese there. While completing the population replacement, it also brought long-term peace and stability.

Majuro is the most suitable atoll for human habitation in the Marshall Islands. It is also the center of Lanfang's rule in the Marshall Islands. Majuro has an excellent military port and airport. Currently, there are about a thousand Lanfang people living on the entire atoll. Most of them are military personnel, and a few are military family members.

The Cam Ranh Bay Fleet and Task Force are docked at Majuro Military Port. Majuro Military Port has good natural conditions and can dock battleships and aircraft carriers. Of course, the space of the entire military port is limited and cannot dock all warships. Fortunately, there are many atolls in the Marshall Islands. , these atolls are almost all natural military ports.

The exercise officially began on the second day after arriving in the Marshall Islands. At the same time, Qin Zhiyuan did not stay at the command post. Instead, he transferred to a "Brave-class" destroyer and continued eastward to the vicinity of Midway Island.

Nikola Tesla is finally arriving.