Rebirth of the 1980s: The Military Industry Empire

These words landed with a resounding thud, like a thunderclap, exploding in everyone's minds.

A sinner of history! This was a heavy label. Moreover, Qin Yang was putting it mildly. What did 'sinner of history' mean? It meant a sinner of the Chinese nation! No one wanted to wear such a hat. Instantly, everyone's faces turned serious, especially those in the opposition.

"President Qin, please explain. How does preventing the Navy's aircraft carrier development make one a sinner of history?"

"Everyone, in 1840, the Opium War marked the beginning of our motherland's modern history of humiliation. How did foreigners come then? They came on warships. They used their powerful ships and cannons to open our country's doors!"

"In the subsequent humiliating historical events, which time did foreigners not come with warships? Back then, our motherland had already been established, yet British warships still dared to sail all the way up the Yangtze River! The humiliating history we endured was because we didn't have a strong navy. Now, wanting to prevent the navy from building aircraft carriers is preventing the navy from becoming strong, making you a sinner of history!"

"President Qin, things are different now than in the past. We already have many warships. The Type 051 destroyers with a displacement of over 3,000 tons are being built one after another. The navy can navigate in coastal waters and, with the cooperation of our land-based aviation, complete the mission of guarding our territorial waters. Is there a need to develop aircraft carriers? We are not hindering the navy from becoming strong. We just feel that aircraft carriers are offensive weapons, which goes against our national defense policy."

"That's layman's talk. Don't pretend to understand if you don't."

"President Qin, I've been studying world naval warfare for over twenty years. How am I a layman?"

"Okay, then tell me, what is the attack radius of an American aircraft carrier battle group? What is the defense radius?"

"We are friendly with the United States. Imagining an American aircraft carrier battle group as a target is unrealistic. We need to defend against the old Soviets."

"There are no eternal friends, nor are there permanent enemies, only eternal interests!" Qin Yang said, "You're so old, and you don't even understand this simple truth? Still fantasizing that the United States is our good friend? Why are the Americans maintaining friendly relations with us? It's just to win us over to fight against the old Soviets! Once we lose our value, will they still be friendly? Don't forget, our ideologies are different!"

Qin Yang looked intently at everyone present, "Back when our country was first founded, who dared to say that we would turn against the Soviet Union? Who would have thought that we would normalize relations with the West? Will our relationship with the West always be like this? If anyone believes that blindly catering to the West will allow us to integrate into the Western world, then such a person is not worthy to sit here!"

The old leader's expression was complicated.

Qin Yang's words were difficult for many to accept. However, from a politician's perspective, Qin Yang was right. Although the relationship with the West was good now, it was not pure friendship, but a mutual exploitation!

We must absorb the advanced ideas of the West, but also prevent ourselves from being brainwashed and fooled by the West. This is an important task. Looking at some people present, I'm afraid their thinking is already problematic.

"As the military, we don't care about politics," Old Liu said. "We have the right to assume that any country is our enemy. Our national defense construction should be planned with all powerful countries as potential enemies. We must have the ability to face the threat of any powerful enemy."

"That's right," the old leader nodded in agreement for the first time. "The navy doesn't ask about politics, it demands the ability to face any enemy."

With just a simple sentence, everyone understood: the old leader was too good to Qin Yang. On this matter, he was actually siding with Qin Yang!

"Alright, let's talk about the strength of the American aircraft carrier battle group. Currently stationed in the Asian region is the US Navy's Seventh Fleet. The Kitty Hawk aircraft carrier is the flagship, a super warship with a full-load displacement of 80,000 tons, carrying over eighty modern carrier-based aircraft. Its combat radius exceeds 1,000 kilometers, meaning it can launch attacks against us from over 1,000 kilometers away. Everyone, can our current land-based aviation fly 1,000 kilometers to intercept the enemy?"

Everyone knew that this was simply impossible. The main force of the land-based aviation was the J-6 and J-7 fighters. The range of these aircraft was barely 1,000 kilometers, and the combat radius was within 500 kilometers. Although there were also large aircraft like the H-6 bombers, attacking without fighter escort would be suicide.

"Let's talk about the Kitty Hawk's air defense interception range. They carry a squadron of Tomcat fighters, which can patrol within a radius of 500 kilometers. In case of an emergency, they can immediately respond. These fighters carry Phoenix missiles with a range of over 100 kilometers, capable of sniping enemies from over 100 kilometers away. Even if their aircraft carrier battle group approaches within 500 kilometers of our coastline, do we have the ability to attack it?"

"President Qin, you're diminishing our own spirit and inflating the enemy's arrogance. If it really comes to that, even if our J-6 and J-7 fighters can't return, they will still launch an attack against the enemy!" Someone finally disagreed.

"Is that so? Then let's do a war game. How many aircraft do we launch? Is one hundred enough?" Qin Yang looked at this person, "Let me calculate for you. The Kitty Hawk only needs to launch twenty Tomcat fighters, and even if each one only carries four Phoenix missiles, they can shoot down eighty aircraft! Sniping from over 100 kilometers away, can the J-6 and J-7 retaliate?"

"Even if the hit rate is only fifty percent, if we break through with sixty aircraft, and they launch two more rounds of Sparrow missiles at a distance of forty kilometers, how many of our aircraft will be left? Twenty? In the final one-on-one confrontation, can our J-6 and J-7 survive the Tomcat fighters' slaughter? Everyone, even if one hundred J-6 and J-7 fighters go, they won't be able to break through their Tomcat fighter interception line. At this time, they are still 500 kilometers away from their aircraft carrier!"

The real battlefield is definitely not a simple comparison of numbers. There will be various tactics. However, even Qin Yang's simple analysis and comparison can draw some conclusions.

"They also have other carrier-based aircraft, Hornets, and A-7s, which can be equipped with air-to-air missiles for air defense in critical moments. Even if we dispatch two hundred or three hundred aircraft, we may not be able to break through. Moreover, this is only the first line of defense. When we are 100 kilometers away from their warships, we will face their air defense missiles. We will suffer hundreds of aircraft casualties, and at most only a single-digit number will break through!"

"The Argentinians didn't fight so badly during the Falklands War."

"That's because they were facing Britain. If they were facing an American aircraft carrier, they would have no room to fight back. Everyone, the only thing that can counter an aircraft carrier is another aircraft carrier!"