Chapter 242 Jinghai Delivery

In the four docks connected together, four huge warships lay quietly in the dock. The clear water poured into the dock along the half-open gate, and the water line continued to rise along the bottom of the ship.

On the cold steel hull, for the first time, the dark style painting style used by the fleet was abandoned, and the light gray painting just developed by the Ministry of Science and Technology was selected, which is closer to the ocean color.

Under the light of a light bulb, the warship is like a superstar stepping on the stage. The high bridge is divided into several layers, which makes the division of command more detailed. The angular turrets of the four square boxes give people a unique sense of coldness and majesty.

Li Mo stood on the deck, stroked the cold and thick barrel, and suddenly hooked the corners of his mouth.

Although the Jinghai plan has not been initially completed until now due to problems such as naval guns and power, the suffering and expectations have finally turned into immediate fruits.

Fty-two-fold body tube, four triple 152mm naval guns, although due to material technology and other reasons, it is not as powerful as 47 times that of the same-caliber naval gun of the United States in later generations, because Li Mo put forward the requirement of high elevation to increase the range at the beginning of the design, it still made its range reach 18,000 kilometers, which is enough to At this time, you should know that the range of the new 203mm gun improved by the equipment department from the Italian naval gun is only 15,000 meters.

In addition, the armor-piercing shell has been improved again, which is enough to penetrate the armor of the same caliber at a distance of eight kilometers, which indicates that whether it is a battleship or a heavy patrol, as long as it does not encounter the front of the turret and the main armor belt, it will almost be penetrated by a gun!

Looking up, on the towering front and rear bridges, there is a 15-meter-long optical rangefinder. Under the rangefinder is a brand-new artillery command center, which is connected to the fire control calculation module protected by thick armor under the conning tower through the telephone line running through the bridge.

There, the fire control calculation system composed of five hand-cranked mechanical computers will provide accurate shooting elements in less than half a minute according to data such as ocean current, wind speed and distance, and then be transmitted to each gun position by the telephone line to carry out accurate shelling.

Although it is still very simple, it represents the disappearance of the fleet by ordinary observation means. Most of them rely on gunners' experience and luck to attack the enemy. The Pacific Fleet will enter the era of long-range accurate attack because of their appearance!

Under the two huge chimneys that are slightly tilted backwards, there are twelve second-generation oil-fired boilers with increased power, and four steam turbines that are also arranged in the separation compartment. They are also much larger than the previous design requirements put forward by Li Mo. The strong power group allows this warship with a full load displacement of nearly 10,000 tons. To a record 25 knots, and the maximum voyage has also reached 10,000 nautical miles under 12 knots from 8,000 nautical miles at the beginning of the design.

If there is anything else that makes Master Li not very proud, it is that these four ships are light patrols after all. The artillery caliber is doomed that he can only show his power for a short time when his opponent is not prepared. When the war is over, countries will come up with corresponding measures to compete, and the original new 550mm large. The torpedo, because it is still being tested, has to continue to be replaced with the old 433mm torpedo.

However, with the completion and delivery of the four ships, Honolulu's industrial capacity has been greatly improved. Even if Li Mo wants to get on the battleship at this moment, it is not impossible.

The sound of water injection disrupted Li Mo's thoughts. Tens of thousands of tons of seawater were injected into the dock. As more and more seawater, the four warships finally floated slowly with their own buoyancy!

There was a warm applause all around!

Around the warship, there was a crowd of people. In addition to the staff responsible for the final commissioning before the water was launched, every boatman who had worked hard for more than two years came. All the efforts and waiting gathered in these four docks. The first quasi-10,000-ton warship built by the Honolulu Shipyard was finally about to be launched!

The boatmen took turns to go nearby, stroking the cold hull, with tears in his eyes, as if it was not the inanimate steel in front of them, but their favorite children. Many of the workers who made supporting the warship saw the warship for the first time and boarded the deck one after another to see where the accessories they made were installed there.

This is a proud moment!

Although the team that designed it was still a foreigner led by McKinson, the people who built it were all Chinese. Some of them stayed in the United States in the early years, some were from Europe, and some were even the clay legs of the Qing Dynasty a few years ago. They gathered together and went to various countries to learn shipbuilding skills under the arrangement of the young master. I built these four giant ships with my own hands today.

Its cannon is not the largest, and its armor is not the thickest. It still has many parts from abroad, but these still can't erase their credit. Today, they have provided four new strands of blood to protect their bloody Pacific Fleet!

Li Mo stepped down to work overtime and came to the high viewing platform. He stared at the body of the first ship Jinghai. After taking a deep breath, he turned his body. The stage was already full of dark crowds. At this moment, he felt extremely proud. After eight years of accumulation and two years of waiting, he finally built the first place of the Chinese people next to him. A 10,000-ton warship!

"I know."

Li Mo's arm was still banded, but the low and slow voice lingered in the dock with the loudspeaker.

"At this moment, everyone is waiting, preparing the loudest cheers!"

"Before, I had prepared fireworks and firecrackers. Like you, I have been looking forward to this moment in my dreams countless times, hoping to send them to join the fleet!"

"But the reality tells me that I can't do that, because our enemies are waiting in the dark. They stared their eyes wide, waiting for us to pull the opening cloth, waiting for our warship to be exposed under Lie, waiting to find the weakness of our warship."

Li Mo breathed hard, and his chest fluctuated sharply: "But they made a mistake. I won't give them this opportunity, and our fleet won't give them a chance!"

He pointed to the warship fiercely with his right hand: "Maybe one day, I will regret not letting them leave with colorful flags today, and I will regret not shouting for today's launch! But I will never regret it, because I know when they are! When these big guys, who have worked hard for two years, suddenly appear in front of the enemy under the driving of our soldiers and attack those who are not prepared at all, the whole world will witness the miracles you have created!"

Lang Lang's echoed in the closed dock. With his words, many people clenched their fists. Yes, they have created a miracle, a miracle that can be recorded in Chinese history!

"I promise you, next time! When we build a new ship, I will make up for everyone's regret!" Li Mo's tone suddenly rose: "Now, let's send them away. When they make contributions, I will hold a celebration party for everyone here!"

Li Mo put his legs together, and his body was as straight as a javelin. He turned his body solemnly and looked at the new ship. He slowly put his right hand together and raised his eyebrows diagonally.

Around him, Chen Pingren also cooperated one after another, and the soldiers who came to receive the warship also responded and saluted the new ship. Slowly, everyone straightened up, raised their right hands, and sent off the four beloved warships with military salute.

Although many people's postures are not standard and their movements are not neat, everyone tries to straighten their waists as if facing the cold wind.

The canvas hanging outside the four huge arched doors slowly fell, and the doors of the four closed docks opened for the first time in two years, and there was even a piece of dust when the curtain fell.

It's late at night outside. Except for the shipyard, the whole Honolulu has entered the dream, but everyone in the dock knows that in the darkness in the distance, the soldiers have already laid a trap, blocking all the roads and commanding heights that can be seen from the dock, and all the street lights have been extinguished at the same time. The whole Honolulu The shipyard has fallen into darkness.

The steel slid over the sleepers at the bottom of the dock, making a squeaky and dull sound. As the water in the dock was filled, it formed a plane with the sea outside. With the help of the tugboats, the four Jinghai ships began to sail to the sea little by little.

The steel cable was straightened little by little, and the huge hull began to be dragged out of the dock little by little. During this time, the continuous sound of the crash and friction between the hull and the equipment around the dock made McKinson and others clenched their fists, and their foreheads and backs were covered with sweat. In the eyes of the layman, there seemed to be nothing but confidentiality. Special, but they know that this is an unusual trip!

In order to conceal and keep secrets to the greatest extent, the Honolulu Shipyard has innovatively adopted the full construction mode of the dock, completing all the equipment before the dock is launched, instead of putting the equipment for the equipment after being launched in Europe at this moment.

That is to say, these four 10,000-ton-class light patrols have a certain combat capability at this time. Although the key parts of the hull have been reinforced and reinforced, friction and impact are inevitable when two tugboats are towed out of the dock. This kind of impact and friction seem to be slight, but no one can guarantee whether it will affect the hull and equipment. It causes damage, and the four ships are all brand-new designs. No one can guarantee whether the tall and heavy superstructure will tilt the warships.

So for this reason, they also specially designed a new tug and found the oldest sea wolf to drive, in order to control the entry speed at the slowest and ensure the smoothness of leaving the dock.

Everyone's heart hung up to their throats. As the steel cables straightened little by little, and as the bows of the four ships slowly poked out of the dock, people's hands were already full of sweat.

Fortunately, the old sea wolves at the helm of the eight tugboats lived up to everyone's wishes. With the sterns of the four ships exploring the dock at the same time, everyone used them all to the dock.

Soon, the four ships crossed the hull of the ship, and the tugboat also untied the steel cable. Little by little, the warship that had not yet activated its own power was to the dock. At this moment, everyone hopes to board the ship as soon as possible to check the damage.

Probably found the different anxiety of the engineers. The air suddenly froze. No one left, and no one was noisy. Everyone was waiting for the result. After the four warships landed on the shore, the engineers boarded first, and the soldiers who received them also rushed to the suspension ladder. These soldiers followed the construction. The sailors in less than half a year are undoubtedly the best helpers for engineers.

As time went by, an anxious atmosphere gradually emerged in the dock. When everyone's patience was almost exhausted, Le Fei, the captain of the first ship, with Jiang Dao, the captain of the Swordfish, who sank in the last naval battle to save his comrades, ordered Ning Xiaochuan, the captain of the Flying Fish, who took the initiative to attack and rescued Beiyang Zhenyuan, and Yan Feng, the captain of the USS Mermaid, walked to Li Mo at the same time.

"Report, the Jinghai (Dinghai, Pinghai, Ninghai) ships are ready and can leave at any time." The four young captains raised their right arms in unison and saluted and reported. They raised their heads high and raised their voices as if others could not hear them.

Hearing such a loud voice, everyone was relieved, and finally the loudest and warmest applause burst out in the dock.

"Go and prepare." Chen Ping looked at his watch and swept the four people with a smile: "Let's go in two hours!"

As the morning light rose from the horizon and radiated ten thousand golden rays, four Jinghai-class light cruisers, two destroyers and two oil-water supply ships, and two large cargo ship fleets loaded with test equipment set off. They will complete the last few months of testing in Guam and set sail from there to the battlefield.

A month later, the four Russian ships modified by the Ryukyu Shipyard, named the Vladivostok class, will also go to Guam to play with them.

Watching the warship disappear at the end of the waterway little by little, the shipmen who followed the night gradually dispersed, but everyone knew that this night would be permanently engraved in their hearts.

For Chen Ping's generals of the Pacific Army, the smooth launch of the Jinghai level indicates that the technical preparations of the Pacific Army have been basically completed, and the rest depends on whether the several operations carried out at the same time are coordinated! ——

"Jack, you damn it, where's my coffee!"

Leckel, wearing a nightgown, stood on the balcony and yelling downstairs. He has been too upset recently. Let alone the situation in the Far East where Li Mo was stabbed and the dispute arises again, just a special domestic call asked him to figure out what the task was to build in the four docks of the Honolulu ship. It has made him sleepless at night.

The damn Li Mo defeated the Russians and won the three northeastern provinces. Isn't it just a little bit of skin? As for sending a warship to block the door? He was so scared that even the four capital ships did not dare to return to China. Couldn't he stop for a moment?

On April 30th, it has become a day when everyone is counting silently with their fingers. It is said that I have been forced to a dead end because of this failed assassination.

Yesterday, another domestic telegram asked him to make efforts to persuade Li Mo to temporarily release the Puga waterway and let the four capital ships that are being modified at the San Diego base in the United States return home. Is it possible?

You should know that if you come forward, it is equivalent to tearing your face with Li Mo and publicly supporting Japan!

Lecker cursed, but he couldn't do it. The country has made a decision to ensure that all the warships were delivered back to China before April 30, so that they could have a big fight with the Pacific Fleet, so as to weaken the Pacific Army, which has grown to a very dangerous, and continue to let Britain's long-standing continental balance. Ce!

In order to weaken the Pacific Army, Britain has almost gone all out this time, and it is almost equivalent to getting on two of the latest and strongest battleships for free, even rare in China!

But I heard that this move and the decision to support Japan have been fully opposed by the House of Lords, which shows that the Prime Minister Salisbury's attempt to change the empire's decades-long policy of continental isolation is facing a huge challenge from the old-fashioned forces.

Leckel has no say in whether to change the empire's policy of continental isolationism, which has been implemented for decades. He can only watch the game between the parliament and the prime minister, but from the bottom of his heart, he is a firm reformer, because with the rise of Honolulu and the United States, if the British Empire is no longer active If you participate in mainland affairs, there will be more things like what happens in the Far East!

As a diplomat in one of the centers of this whirlpool of change, he can understand the unpredictable situation more than the nobles in the domestic parliament. Just like four years ago, no one would have thought that Honolulu would suddenly rise to a powerful young master, and no one would have thought that the competition between Qing and Japan would be inserted into a third party. The same.

The latest information is that the Americans are building new battleships again. Although their technology is not as good as that of the United Kingdom, their strong economic strength is frightening. Everyone knows that the situation of not being able to participate in this feast due to lack of strength is slowly changing. With the introduction of new warships, the ambitions of the Americans began to increase. Recently, some people in their country have even begun to shout that they want to occupy the troubled Cuba.

In line with this shouting, the U.S. Congress has passed the Army Expansion Act!

And Honolulu, which you are responsible for?!

Well, everyone must admit that this place has become a pot of porridge, Honolulu, Japan, Russia and the Qing Dynasty, which are almost the favorite table of Chinese mahjong!

As soon as he thought of this, Laker was dry. If it is extremely difficult to persuade Li Mo to open the Puhe waterway, it has become the biggest problem to figure out what type of warship is building at the Honolulu Shipyard!

What kind of medicine did these damn yellow monkeys take? What kind of warship is it? Is it worth adopting such strict blockade regulations? The secrecy of the British Empire's construction of new battleships is not so strict!

Looking into the direction of the shipyard, Leckel frowned. Over the years, he spent countless money and thought of many ways, but he never got a positive answer. For this, he also took in two British businessmen and several other informants!

Now Leckel only knows that there is a kind of cruiser built in it, but he doesn't know whether it is a first-class cruiser or a second-class cruiser similar to the previous 4,000-ton but almost invisible experimental cruiser! Even the information of tonnage size is chaotic. The smallest is 3,000 tons, and the largest is 30,000 tons!

30,000 tons! Will it sink immediately when it reaches the sea? You know, the British Empire can't build such a huge warship now, right?

Leckel licked his tongue. Just as he was about to shout twice more to urge his clumsy entourage, he saw that the door of the balcony was suddenly knocked open, and Jack stood in front of him in a panic.

"Damn Jack, don't you know what etiquette is!" Leckel wrapped his nightgown tightly and gritted his teeth.

"For God's sake, Lord Leckel, go and have a look, the shipyard..." Jack danced breathlessly. But before he finished speaking, Leckel, who was thinking about how to listen to the shipyard again, had caught him: "What's wrong with the shipyard?"

"They have lifted the closure of the dock, but..." Jack shouted excitedly, "There's nothing in there!"

"What!" Leckel's eyes widened, closed for two years, the machine roared for two years, and the result was nothing? How is this possible?!

Half an hour later, when Lecle rushed to the dock on the other side of the shipyard with eye shit, he was stunned. As Jack said, the four huge docks had removed the curtain, and inside... was empty!

Unfortunately, he didn't know that a few seemingly ordinary dockers not far behind him were looking at his back with a smile on their faces!

(to be continued)