Chapter 141 Salvage

"Wo!"

With the sound of paper spreading out, everyone was attracted to the map, to be precise, in front of a chart. When the generals in the conference room of the Admiralty Department looked at the young lieutenant colonel, most of them were speculating about what he would report next. The generals in this conference room were not unfamiliar with the lieutenant colonel, or even very familiar with him.

As early as before the uprising, Huaxing Shipping Company sank more than a dozen merchant ships in the Yangtze River to be used to block the intervention of other countries and the navy in Wuchang. In the end, those merchant ships that sank were salvage by Shao Lingwu was responsible for the naval salvage team. From last year to two and a half months, it was initially salvaged a route, but in two months. All the previous sinking merchant ships have been salvaged, and the Yangtze River has been fully restored. For this reason, the Admiralty Department has specially awarded him and the salvage team.

Looking at the generals in front of him, Shao Lingwu took a deep breath and slowly calmed himself down.

"Sir, in order to salvage the sunken ships in the Yangtze River Channel, from last year to now, the naval salvage team has imported a series of the most advanced salvage equipment from abroad, including large salvage boats, salvage floats, diving equipment, etc. At present, in addition to the 10,000 tons of salvage boats with the "Xinxing", the naval salvage team has 26 Thousands of tons, 800 tons and 500 tons of steel salvage floats, and during the salvage of the Yangtze River, enough technology has been accumulated to seal the cabin to pump water and lift the barge.

When Shao Lingwu was about to report, Ye Zugui interrupted him instead.

"Well, Lieutenant Colonel Shao, I have no doubt about the technology of the salvage team. The purpose of this meeting is the matter you reported!"

Ye Zugui raised his eyes and looked directly at Shao Lingwu, who was about to report. A report of this young man two weeks ago stirred up the whole navy. It can be said that even His Majesty knew his suggestion.

"Yes, Mr. Minister!"

In response, Shao Lingwu immediately pointed to the chart on the table and said.

"Sir, during the Japanese army's siege of Lushun last year, it was blocked by Lushun. Rear Admiral Sansu Sotaro and the battleships Hats Hatsuse, Shikishima and Yashima, the protective cruiser Kasagi and the light cruiser Longtian were put into the blockade of Lushun Port to lift the blockade of Lushun Port against the Japanese forces. On May 15, Major Sōtarō Sansu will continue to patrol across the port from north to east. This route led the eight islands and other ships into the Amur River - the minefield previously placed by the Russian minelayer. The sinking of "Chuze" and "Eight Islands" was the biggest loss suffered by the Japanese navy during the Russian-Russian War.

When Shao Lingwu was talking, he pointed to the two positions marked "X" on the chart.

The battleship "Eight Islands" struck lightning twice in the South China Sea. It sank about six and a half hours later. The sinking position is here! And the battleship "Hatsuse" also hit the mine twice and sank after six hours and forty-five minutes!"

Looking up to meet the minister's eyes, Shao Lingwu said in an extremely serious tone.

"Sir, two months ago, after completing the salvage task of the Yangtze River, the salvage team was ordered to go to Lushun Port to clean up the remnants of the Russian port. During this period, a diving team was sent to survey the two ships that sank in the East China Sea of the old railway, and accidentally found the battleship Sevastor of the Russian Navy outside the port, which was also touched. The thunder sank!"

pointing to another standard position outside Lushun Port, Shao Lingwu's breathing became a little tense.

"After the investigation of the three ships, the battleship Yajima sank 52.5 meters deep in the Laotieshan Seaway, with about two 2.55 square meters of gaps on the port side. The battleship Chuse sank 56.4 meters deep in the Old Tieshan Seaway, and the two 2.18 square meters gap on the starboard side. The battleship Sevastol sank in the harbor. At a depth of 3.5 kilometers and 71.3 meters, a gap at the bow is 1.58 square meters. After strict calculation, we believe that except for the battleship Sevastol sinking in deep water and it is relatively difficult to salvage, both "Eight Islands" and "Hatsuse" have salvage conditions, and although the battleship Sevastol It's difficult to salvage, but it still has certain salvage conditions.

Shao Lingwu, who was a little nervous, did not know what kind of sensation the report he had caused when he first submitted the report of " salvaging a Russian sunken warship" three months ago when it was first submitted to the Admiralty. After all, it was the salvage of other warships, although it was in China's territorial waters, after a fierce debate in the navy, he finally became the Minister of the Navy. Ye Zugui still made a decision.

Salvage three warships.

No one can ignore the difference between the salvage and repair cost of 2.4 to 3.2 million yuan and the shipbuilding fee of 30 million yuan, and the most important thing that can't be ignored is "repair can be completed in three months!" Time, for the Chinese navy, the most tightest thing now is time, which makes the navy fundamentally There is not enough time to build new ships. Even if old ships are purchased from foreign countries, long-term negotiations are needed. Salvaging these three warships that once belonged to Japan and Russia, although it will cause diplomatic disputes, is the most time-saving and money-saving choice.

"... The battleship Chuse, commissioned in 1901, with a standard displacement of 14,850 tons and a maximum speed of 18 knots. The main gun has two double 12-inch guns, 14 6-inch hull guns, and the battleship Hachijima, entered service in 1897, with a displacement of 12,533 tons and a maximum speed of 18 knots. , main gun double 12-inch two, 10 six-inch side gun, battleship Sevastol, 1895, displacement 11,842 tons, speed 17 knots, main gun double 12-inch two, 10 six-inch side gun..."

When Shao Lingwu reported, everyone in the conference room was muttering the data of these three battleships. Who could ignore such three "big guys"? With millions of dollars, you can own three battleships. What's more cost-effective than this?

"In June, according to the instructions of the Admiralty, in order to strengthen the defense of Lushun, we salvaged "Chuse", "Eight Islands" and Sevastor, and successfully salvaged its main turrets. At present, three warships and six main turrets are being tested and maintained in Lushun. According to the detection, the life of the main guns of the three ships There are still half of them, and there are 1,254 12-inch shells salvaged at the same time... Because three ships need to be salvaged now, please immediately order Lushun to stop the fortification of the six main turrets!"

As soon as Shao Lingwu's words came out, Ye Zugui said directly.

"The telegram has been sent out. Now, there is only one problem left. In two months, can you get the three ships out of the water!"

Within waiting for Shao Lingwu to speak, Ye Zugui turned his eyes to Shi Tiange again.

"How long will it take to transport the three ships to Sandu Australia, and how long will it take to repair the three ships?"

"We have a 20,000-ton floating dock imported from Germany. The three ships can be repaired and shipped to Sandu Australia within three weeks to repair the sunken warships. Considering that the three are all new ships built from 1895 to 1901, the first three ships are in good condition, except that they need to be repaired. Outside the damaged part, the amount of work is not large, and it is expected that the repair can be completed within three months, but!"

After a pause, Shi Tiange asked another question.

"Considering that the three ships are sinking in the deep sea, the boilers may cause serious damage to the boilers caused by the immersion of their boiler tanks, so all three ships need to replace the boilers. It is not an easy project to replace and install 16 boilers for each ship. So the shipyard needs at least 4 months!"

"Three months!"

Ye Zugui coldly spit out an order.

"You only have three months, Lieutenant Colonel Shao, accurately grasp the damaged position map and data of the three ships. I hope that while salvaging, the steel factory will begin to manufacture damaged parts of steel plates. In short, it will take the shortest time to salvage, the shortest time to repair, and the shortest time to enter service training!"

Facing the minister, Shao Lingwu wanted to say that it was impossible. At least two months of salvage time was impossible at all, but he couldn't say that. He knew that the minister would not be satisfied with his answer. His order was two months, and he had to complete it anyway.

"Fortunately, the main gun has been salvaged!"

At this time, Shao Lingwu is glad that the previous salvage has reduced the workload. The rest is to plug the loopholes, remove the mud around the hull, and remove the armor plate and parts. For two months, I hope the repair can be completed in two months.

"Your Sir, will I protest at that time?"

After everyone left, Sa Zhenbing, who had been transferred from the principal of the sea school to the commander of the second team, asked Ye Zugui.

"Let him go!"

While spitting out three words, Ye Zugui walked to the chart and looked at the Yellow Sea between China and Japan on the chart. This will be another battle in the Yellow Sea. Who will lose and who will win? He has no confidence in the future.

"I'm not worried about my protest. If they want to protest, we should have protested when we salvage the main guns of the three ships, and the secret work of the salvage team is also done well. The nearby sea is blocked. In the past, my mind was not on this, but now, their mind is also not here. Above, they used to worry about the Russians, but now they are worried about us buying warships abroad!"

"S sir, did the British refuse our request?"

Ye Zugui nodded. He once hoped to make countries realize the backwardness of the old warships through the exposure of the Zhiyuan class, hoping to buy the old ships. However, the ambassador to the United Kingdom took out the "British Alliance Treaty" to require Britain to fulfill its ally's affairs. It could not export warships to China to strengthen the Chinese navy, and Zhiyuan's exposure. However, the British feel that the Chinese navy is eager to become a leading maritime force in the Far East, and naturally they are not interested in exporting warships to the Chinese navy.

"General Fisher has helped a lot. Although the six light cruisers in service from 1898 to 1900 are old, they are also usable, but don't think about warships or armored cruisers. Therefore, we should focus on Germany and the United States, which are most likely to sell warships to us. It's the former!"

(to be continued)