In 1923, under the intervention of European and American powers, the Japanese government finally had to succumb. Later, it signed the "Sino-Japanese Treaty on the Settlement of the Shandong Peninsula Issue" with the Republican Government. According to the provisions of the treaty, the German concession areas in Shandong occupied by Japan during the European War

, all public property in Shandong, Germany

, factories and mines, as well as Qingdao customs, ports, Qingyan, and Qinghu submarine wires were handed over to the Chinese side within three months from the date of signing the contract. In addition, the Jiaoji Railway and Qingdao Salt Factory were redeemed by the Chinese side, and the Japanese side in 1923

Withdraw troops from the Shandong Peninsula before the end of March 2018.

Although some places needed to be redeemed with money, after all, the Republic F recovered all the rights and interests in Shandong, and Japan withdrew its troops, allowing the Republic F to fully exercise its sovereignty.

Jiaozhou Bay, located in the southeastern part of the Shandong Peninsula, is also called Jiaozhou Ao. Chinese people generally call closed and semi-closed sea and lakes Ao, such as Sandu Ao, Dongshan Ao, Weitou Ao, etc., all of which are mouths.

It is a natural harbor with a small internal width, a vast water area and sheltered conditions.

The water area of ​​Jiaozhou Bay is about 450 square kilometers, about half of Sanduao, and slightly larger than Luoyuan Bay. The average water depth of the channel is 10-25 meters. It is a rare large-scale natural harbor in northern China.

After Germany forcibly turned Jiaozhou Bay into a concession in 1898, it took 25 years for the Chinese to exercise sovereignty on their own land again.

The newly appointed commander of the Qingdao Coast Guard Region, Major General Wang Chongwen, did not wait for the Japanese troops to completely evacuate, and he couldn't wait to sail into Qingdao with the two frigates "Xuanhua" and "Jinghai" and the gunboat Yongxiang to take over the port facilities and shipyard.

It is also the entire property allocated by the Republic Navy to the Northern Fleet that is under preparation.

The five-star flag of the Republic flutters over Qingdao.

What the Japanese left to Wang Chongwen was devastated. Qingdao's port facilities and Qingdao Shipyard's equipment that could be dismantled were brought back to the country by the Japanese. The 16,000-ton floating dock, the most important facility in Qingdao Shipyard, had long been towed by the Japanese.

When he arrived in Yokosuka, the commander of the Beiyang Fleet, who had not yet given up his post, could only stare blankly at the almost evacuated factory buildings and empty docks in front of him, feeling like crying without tears.

Now, in addition to stomping his feet and cursing the Japanese, he also had to quickly report to the Admiralty, asking for money, equipment, and people.

"Battleship?" Lin Shuo frowned when he saw the naval development outline in front of him.

There is a large area in Xishan, Beijing, that is classified as a "military restricted area". In fact, in addition to an infantry brigade of the Capital Garrison Division stationed here, the most numerous buildings here are "sanatoriums" affiliated with the National Defense Commission, hotels, and senior military officials of the State Administration and Military Commission.

The "private residence" provided by them for free and the ability to live in the "Xishan Villa" are a sign of becoming a member of the privileged class of the Republic.

Although it has been criticized, it has never hindered people's enthusiasm and yearning to move here.

Every summer, Lin Shuo will move here to "office" for two months. Lin Shuo is not the kind of "hard-working person" who does everything. Unless there are major decision-making issues, general documents will not be sent to him.

Desk.

Zhang Zuolin wanted to return to the central government, causing commotion among the Japanese.

In 1925, Japanese Prime Minister Tanaka Giichi came to power and proposed the "Tanaka Secret Report" aimed at annexing Northeast China and Mongolia. The contents of this "Tanaka Secret Report" were somehow obtained by Chinese reporters and published in Shanghai newspapers.

The public was in an uproar for a while, and an anti-Japanese wave was once again launched in the country.

"Tanaka Secret fold" is basically a forgery, but it reflects Japan's ambition to annex China. In order to deal with Japan's growing war threat, the Republic of China Navy proposed the latest expansion bill aimed at accelerating naval construction. New

The Navy Expansion Act proposed that the Republic Navy will build a total of 52 large surface ships including 6 battleships and 12 cruisers in the next five years, in order to reach a level that can compete with the Japanese Navy as soon as possible.

Battleships are the dream of the navy. Since the end of the European War, the Chinese Navy has tried to obtain several unfinished Mackensen-class battlecruisers from the Germans, and later tried to purchase battleships from the Americans under the "Bethlehem Contract"

.

Regarding the battleship construction plan proposed by China, the U.S. shipyards really wanted to take over the construction projects of several of the battleships. However, the U.S. government did not hesitate to reject the Chinese Navy’s request because the Chinese’s approach was likely to make the U.S.

The "Washington Treaty on the Limitation of Naval Arms" that people worked so hard to achieve came to nothing.

The Americans did not really want the Republican Navy to develop.

The Republic Navy could only rely on its own efforts.

Fortunately, there are many German naval technical talents coming to China to "work". The Republican Navy has already obtained a complete set of design drawings for the Mackensen-class and York-class battlecruisers built by the German Navy during World War I.

Lin Shuo closed his eyes, leaned his head on the wicker chair, and lit a cigarette in his hand.

Does China need battleships? The answer is yes. At least for the next fifteen years, battleships will still be the overlord of the sea and a symbol of a country's national power. Just like the aircraft carriers of later generations, this is an era of giant ships and cannons.

The problem is that even the Americans don’t want China to have its own battleships. What will the Japanese, as a hostile neighbor, think? Will China’s start of building battleships make the Japanese jump over the wall and choose war?

He does not hope to fight the Japanese now, but in the future. The gap in population and resources between the two countries determines that the longer the peaceful development lasts, the wider the gap in national power between the two countries will become. He does not think about it now.

This was to stimulate the Japanese and give the young Japanese soldiers who had been clamoring for war all day long a reason to start a war.

Another problem is that battleships are expensive to build, each costing tens of millions of yuan, and the annual maintenance costs are also a large expense. Will this have an impact on the country's economy and industrialization process?

But the benefits of building battleships are also obvious. First of all, it enhances the confidence of the Chinese people, maintains national cohesion and shows the country's strength, which is of great help in safeguarding the interests of the country and the nation. In addition, the construction of battleships is an extremely complex systematic project.

Domestic science and technology, industrial technology, metallurgical technology,

The scientific and technological level and industrial capabilities of large equipment manufacturing, electrical appliance manufacturing and other industries will be greatly improved during the construction process. Battleships of this era actually embody the world's highest industrial level. Being able to build large battleships means the country's industrial level.

and technical capabilities have reached the world's advanced level.

The construction of battleships may also destroy the current naval balance and cause a new naval arms race, which may bring down the fragile Japanese economy. The Japanese, who are extremely sensitive to sea control in East Asia, will not just watch the Chinese build new battleships and remain indifferent.

, bound to follow closely

As China starts building new battleships behind them, this has a fatal impact on the naval aircraft carrier construction plan that is being vigorously developed due to treaty restrictions. The Japanese's limited resources make it impossible to develop battleships and start building new aircraft carriers at the same time. They can only focus on

One.

Lin Shuo had reason to believe that the Japanese would choose to give up aircraft carriers for battleships.

In the ocean of the future, the sky is the real ruler.

No. 84 West Chang'an Street, a newly built seven-story dark blue European-style building is the seat of the Republican Navy Headquarters. The Naval Ship Bureau, which is affiliated to the General Armament Department, also operates in this building. He studied in Germany for 10 years.

Yu Xicheng became the first director of the Naval Ship Bureau after settling in this building.

The Naval Ship Bureau has more than 20 departments including the Warship Design Department, Equipment Procurement Department, Equipment Research and Development Department, and Ship Construction Supervision Department. It is also responsible for the allocation and management of funds for the twelve research institutes affiliated to the Naval Command.

Responsible for the implementation and management of major naval projects.

Such a powerful department is almost on an equal footing with the Commander-in-Chief of the Navy.

The large conference room of the Naval Ship Department located on the fourth floor.

"...The special appropriation construction plan has been approved by the Congress. According to the presidential instruction and the order of the General Armament Department and the Navy Headquarters, the Navy No. 2501 large battleship development project has been officially launched. The project is implemented by the Navy Ship Department." Navy.

Director of the Ship Bureau You Xicheng read the speech in his hand, but he was very excited and his voice was trembling. The head of the naval technology and engineering department in the conference room

Everyone pricked up their ears and held their breath. In fact, everyone had heard the news. The President had approved the Navy Department’s application for building a new class of large battleships. Now they heard with their own ears the order jointly issued by the General Armament Department and the Navy Command.

I still couldn't hold back my excitement. "The General Armament Department and the Naval Command have agreed in principle to our previously proposed 2501 plan, and some details need to be changed."

The Naval Ship Department 2501 construction project is actually based on the unfinished Mackensen-class and York-class battlecruisers of the German Navy during World War I, with the help of German ship engineering and technical personnel, and redesigned according to the latest industrial technology.

The construction plan for a new type of battleship of the Republic Navy. After receiving the tasks assigned by the Navy Command and General Armament, the Navy Ship Design Bureau quickly submitted a design plan that was later called the "Congling-class" battleship by the Republic Navy. This was also the design plan of the Republic Navy.

First class battleship built.

As a military fan, after Lin Shuo approved the battleship construction plan, he naturally paid a lot of attention to the construction of new battleships. In this era, limited by the performance of the aircraft, the overlords at sea are still these rough-skinned and fleshy ones.

, battleships from various countries equipped with large-caliber naval guns, secondary guns and other artillery, looking like hedgehogs.

The president's preference for the navy to use triple-mounted artillery is already well known within the naval design department, and the German Navy's York-class battlecruiser itself is designed according to a twin-mounted four-turret structure. If it is replaced with a triple-mounted turret, it will inevitably

This causes the center of gravity of the ship to shift upward, which has a fatal impact on the stability of the warship.

Drawing on the American design ideas for the "Fujian-class" cruiser, the "Congling-class" battleship finally chose the same artillery arrangement as the "Fujian-class" cruiser, equipped with a triple main turret and a twin main turret at the front and rear.

, triple installation master

The gun is placed on the lower deck, and the main turret carried on the back is double-mounted, so that it will not have a great impact on the overall center of gravity. The use of a relatively compact superstructure can completely offset the impact of adding one gun.

The impact of the ship's center of gravity.

The final design plan almost copied the German drawings of the York-class battlecruiser during World War I, except that the bow was changed to the today's popular clipper bow shape and the mast used the popular triangular mast.

Due to the progress of industrial level, the use of heavy oil high-pressure superheated steam boilers has become the standard configuration of large naval ships, which has greatly reduced the number of boilers, but the overall volume has not been reduced much, but it has to save a lot in terms of weight.

The boiler room has been redesigned so that two large diesel units can be arranged as auxiliary power, and four turbine reduction devices can also be installed.

Due to the widespread use of welding technology and the use of new boilers, the weight of power has been greatly reduced. The saved weight has been used to enhance the protection of horizontal armor. Originally, the York class was called a battleship because of the increased armor thickness.

In this way, the "Congling-class" has added armor defense, making it fully qualified as a standard battleship.

The finalized "Congling-class" battleship is 236 meters long, 32.2 meters wide, and has a draft of 9.2 meters. The design standard displacement is 33,700 tons, with 4-axis 4-blade propulsion and twin rudders in parallel. Due to the addition of armor, its width has increased again, but

Due to the latest power unit, the maximum power of its power system has increased from 85,000 horsepower to 116,000 horsepower, and the speed has increased to 30 knots. The fuel reserve of 6,200 makes its endurance reach 7,300 nautical miles.

Initially, the Naval Equipment Department planned to use the newly developed 380mm/48-caliber main gun, which would inevitably extend the hull, otherwise the front turret would affect the firing of the rear turret when shooting at high elevation angles.

Fortunately, the president did not care much about the caliber of the main gun. In the end, the "Congling-class" battleship was equipped with the same 10 350mm/48-caliber main guns as the Japanese "King Kong-class", and 8 twin 152mm/50-caliber guns.

Double-caliber secondary battery and six twin-mounted 75mm/50-caliber high-level dual-purpose guns.

Slightly different from the current battleships of various countries, the "Congling-class" has canceled the torpedo launch tubes, but installed two flying catapults and four newly developed "Seagull" type biplanes.

The first ship of the "Congling-class" battleship "Congling" began to lay the first keel in the latest No. 5 dock of Fujian Luoyuan Shipyard in September 1927. Because it was the first time that the Republic of China Navy built a ship of such a displacement.

For large warships, one must not be cautious, and its construction period took much longer than expected.

In order to reduce the cost, four "Congling-class" battleships were started at the same time, built by Luoyuan Shipyard, Jiangnan Shipyard, Hudong Shipyard and Chongming Shipyard. According to American evaluation, "the Chinese built the entire ship at once"

form a fleet to achieve the goal of quickly catching up with the world."

Since the "Congling" has been testing the reliability of various equipment and materials, its No. 3 ship Xing'anling was first launched at the Shanghai Jiangnan Shipyard in March 1929. The "Congling" was finally launched in February 1932.

Sea trials were completed in May and officially delivered to the Republic Navy. The entire construction period lasted four years and four months. If the preparation and design began in 1924, its construction time would have been nearly seven years.

The "Congling-class" ships are the first-class battleships built by the Republic of China Navy. Since their commissioning, they have accompanied the Republic of China Navy in its southern and northern wars. They have participated in all the important maritime battles of the Republic of China Navy and have made great achievements. From 1931 to 1931, they joined the Navy.

In 1969, all battleships were withdrawn from active service, becoming the first-class battleship with the longest service life in the Republic Navy.
Chapter completed!