In the Governor's Mansion of Chu State, Navy Commander Hu Weiwei and Army Commander Yun Zehai looked at the map with big eyes and small eyes.
From time to time, the two of them glanced at Zhen Yuan, Chief of General Staff.
There was no actual governor-general position in Chu State, and the highest military power was controlled by King Lu Chenyang of Chu.
The status of the Commander-in-Chief of the Navy and Army of the Metropolitan Governor's Office is lower than that of the Chief of General Staff.
But the Chief of General Staff of Chu State was very skilled in craftsmanship.
Zhen Yuan is not good at making plans, but he can implement things arranged by King Lu Chenyang of Chu with extremely efficient means.
Everyone in the Governor's Mansion saw Chief of General Staff Zhen Yuan's behavior.
They did not dare to say it openly, but they all believed that King Lu Chenyang of Chu chose this chief of general staff because he did not want to delegate power.
Chief of General Staff Zhen Yuan saw the gazes of the two men. He spread his hands and said: "To deal with the enemies in the Jinhe area, we only need to send 20,000 Chu troops. We are sure of victory.
The most critical issue is how to safely transport our country's troops to the Jinhe area.
There is no need to worry about logistical supplies, there is really no way to transport the supplies there.
We can also purchase supplies, food, ammunition, medicine and other war-related materials from the empire, and the merchants of the empire can provide them.
We can choose the Ocean Chamber of Commerce under the Imperial Mediterranean Fleet Governor Hyten.
The Song navy would never dare to intercept it.
The empire's Mediterranean fleet, even if it doesn't end directly.
As long as he is a little biased, he helps a certain country train its navy and blocks a certain country's external routes for maritime inspections.
This method of cutting flesh with a soft knife is sometimes more painful than fighting with real swords and guns."
After Chief of General Staff Zhen Yuan finished speaking, he looked at Navy Commander Hu Weiwei with a smile.
His meaning is very obvious. He will solve the problem himself. He is powerless and will not wipe others' butts.
After Army Commander Yun Zehai heard what Zhen Yuan said, he felt itchy and wanted to send troops to Jinhe immediately to make contributions.
But considering such a long route, once the troop transport ship is attacked by the Song Navy, there is no ability to guarantee the quality.
The elite army was on the troop carrier and basically lost its ability to fight.
Army Commander Yun Zehai kept staring at Navy Commander Hu Weiwei with expectant eyes.
Seeing that the naval commander Hu Weiwei had been silent for a long time, he couldn't help but said: "Brother Hu, you were so proud of Haikou in the Chu Palace just now.
Now we are discussing the battle plan, why doesn't Brother Hu say anything?
If there is something unspeakable, Brother Hu, let us know and we can work together to find a solution."
Commander-in-Chief of the Navy Hu Weiwei smiled bitterly and said: "With the situation in the Chu Palace at that time, how could I not agree?"
If he really dared to refuse to send troops at that time, Chu King Lu Chenyang would definitely let him take off his armor and return to his fields. If he didn't change his ideas, he would be replaced.
There are too many generals in Chu who want to be the commander of the navy.
Naval Commander Hu Weiwei was not just talking nonsense at that time. He already had basic operational ideas.
He had first heard about the new tactics that had emerged in the battle between the Fujian Navy and the Yue Navy, and he had his own ideas.
The Fujian navy was originally weaker than the Yue navy, but he used submarine tactics to bring the strength of the Yue navy to a level comparable to that of the Yue navy.
This time the Chu navy was not as powerful as the Song navy.
If Chu wants to achieve its strategic goals this time, the two navies will definitely not be able to engage in an upright gun battle.
Chu's navy had to use tricks to achieve its strategic goals.
The naval commander patted the map with his hand and said: "The strength of our navy is inferior to that of others. This is an irrefutable fact.
Most of our country's navy officers are new recruits, and the Song navy soldiers are new recruits, but almost all the generals are from the imperial navy.
If our country wants to rely on its naval experience to fight the Song Dynasty, it will not work.
We want to resist the attack of the Song Navy and protect the troop transport ships in the vast Atlantic Ocean.
The bottom line to achieve this goal is to make the Song Navy fear us.
I couldn't think of an effective way before, but after learning about Fujian's use of submarines, I have a general idea."
When Chief of General Staff Zhen Yuan heard this, he couldn't help frowning and said: "Captain Hu, don't underestimate the technical content of submarines.
Submarines need to sink and float freely in the sea, and this kind of ship has extremely high requirements for airtightness.
If the technology is not up to standard, it will be an iron coffin.
It was only after a long period of experiments in Fujian that they mastered the construction method of submarines.
Even if our country receives unreserved technical transfer, it will not have time to build ships.
Even if a submarine is purchased from the Empire or Fujian, the navy will not have time to train.
No matter how good the weapon is, if our army does not know how to use it, it will not be able to exert its strength at all.
Not only do we not have time to build new ships, war is about to break out, and we don't even have time to train.
Governor Hu's method is simply not feasible.
Governor Hu is confident that we can postpone this war for half a year. It is not just the use of submarines. I can think of more than five ways.
Time is tight and the task is difficult.
This is the fundamental reason why we are helpless.”
When Navy Commander Hu Weiwei heard Chief of General Staff Zhen Yuan's rebuttal, he said calmly: "Submarines are not a plan I want to implement.
Indeed, as the Chief of General Staff said, building submarines and making soldiers proficient in using submarines are not things that can be solved in a short time.
I just think of submarines, and I think of the primitive submarines used by the British. They used suicide attacks to kill the enemy ships together.
The Empire saw the use of submarines, and they immediately designed a new weapon, the torpedo.
This weapon uses compressed air to move quickly in the sea.
Just one hit can paralyze a battleship.
As we all know, battleships can be equipped with armor below the water surface to enhance their protective performance.
Armor cannot be added to the bottom of the ship below the water surface.
As long as it is hit by a high-explosive ammunition, even a battleship made of steel can be directly penetrated.
There are major breaches below the water surface of the warship, and it is extremely difficult for damage control personnel to repair the warship.
The technical difficulty of torpedoes is very high, but that is the requirement of the Imperial Royal Navy.
This chapter is not over, please click on the next page to continue reading! They want to hit enemy ships several kilometers away, and the range of the torpedoes must be at least equivalent to that of naval guns.
We don't need torpedoes with extremely good performance, we only need torpedoes with a combat range of several hundred meters. Even a combat range of more than 100 meters is acceptable.
A large number of small ships loaded with torpedoes can sink Song warships at close range, which can achieve our goal.
However, this method will cause the navy to suffer heavy casualties.
But compared to the sinking of the transport ship, Chu State can bear this kind of casualties."
After hearing the suggestion from Navy Commander Hu Weiwei, Chief of General Staff Zhen Yuan exclaimed: “I really admire Captain Hu’s suggestion.
This combat plan can be said to be a classic of small and broad.
This reminds me of the days of sailing battleships, when fire ships were used to siege battleships.
This method of combat has been recorded by navies around the world.
Now that fire ships have withdrawn from history, Governor Hu has allowed alternative fire ships to reappear in naval battles.
Our country can afford to lose these small boats, but the Song Dynasty can never afford to lose its battleships.
Even if Song's warships desperately protect the battleship, it doesn't matter.
Many ants kill an elephant. Our country has countless small boats, but the Song Dynasty's warships only sink one less.
We Chu soldiers are not afraid of sacrifice, we are only afraid that our sacrifice will be in vain.
At the beginning of the navy, there will indeed be certain sacrifices.
But after the Song Navy suffered heavy losses, they would inevitably become cautious before they found a way to deal with it.
From an overall perspective, the Navy's sacrifice is well worth it.
With this combat plan, the overall number of casualties will be lower."
When Army Commander Yun Zehai heard that things had turned around, the smile on his face never stopped.
Chief of General Staff Zhen Yuan just finished speaking.
Army Commander Yun Zehai immediately clapped his hands and said happily: "The only question now is whether the military factory can produce such a simple torpedo.
Is this torpedo easy to operate and whether its power can meet the expected requirements?
As long as these points are met, judging from my experience, there is no reason for our country to lose this time when we compete with the Song Dynasty for colonies.
As long as the elite army can be sent to Jinhe, I, Yun Zehai, am willing to issue a military order, and the army will surely win."
The big stone in Chief of General Staff Zhen Yuan's heart seemed to have been lifted directly away.
He said excitedly: "The king has ordered that all military factories have entered a state of war readiness.
We immediately issued a request to the military factory and asked them to set up sample bombs as soon as possible."
As soon as Chief of General Staff Zhen Yuan finished speaking, relaxed laughter sounded in the room.
They have designed a battle plan and passed most of the blame to the military factory.
Military factories are unable to provide qualified weapons in accordance with the reasonable requirements of the Navy.
If this war drags on, the military factories will bear the main responsibility.
Even if this combat plan fails, the Metropolitan Government can easily weather the crisis.
…………………………
The Friendship Port of Chu State is across the Song-Chu Strait, opposite to Song State.
The Chu Navy is secretly testing a secret weapon against the Song Navy.
Chief of General Staff Zhen Yuan, Navy Commander Hu Weiwei, and Army Commander Yun Zehai all came to the weapons testing site.
Navy General Ge Hongliu, Army General Xi Sen, and Chief Engineer of the Military Factory Dou Ligang, who went south to fight this time, accompanied the viewing.
Ge Hongliu saw the small boat on the sea and was ready for the experiment.
He immediately walked to the side of the Navy Commander Hu Weiwei and reported loudly: "The Chu Navy torpedo boats are requesting live-fire training."
Navy Commander Hu Weiwei immediately replied: "The training is allowed, please pay attention to safety."
After Ge Hongliu saluted with a military salute, he immediately gave the order to start training.
Through the telescope, they could see the naval officer inflating a streamlined cylinder.
Dou Ligang, an engineer at the military factory, explained: "The torpedoes produced by our military factory are propelled by compressed gas and can travel at about ten knots, which is slower than ordinary warships.
It uses a high-explosive warhead. As long as it hits the battleship's underwater position, one shot will damage the battleship and three to five shots will sink the battleship.
The combat range of this torpedo is as long as 300 meters.
When torpedo boats operate in close proximity, other warships must cover their actions.
Torpedoes have fins that keep them in a roughly straight line in the sea.
But the situation in the sea is too complicated, and there is a high probability of going wrong, so we can only attack the same target with multiple torpedoes to ensure the hit rate."
Chief of General Staff Zhen Yuan looked a little nervous.
They have been delayed for more than half a month. Fortunately, these more than half a month are war preparation time.
Chu State mobilized domestic industry to produce a large amount of war materials.
If the torpedo project goes smoothly, the army can set off south.
It will still take some time on the road. If it continues to be delayed, Song will gain a firm foothold in the Jinhe area.
The torpedo project was not going well, and they had not thought of a backup plan, so they could only think of ways to delay it for a while.
Let the military factory find the problems and make improvements.
Everyone watched the soldiers' operations as they stuffed the torpedoes into the iron pipes of the torpedo boats leading to the sea.
Engineer Dou Ligang explained: “This is a torpedo launch tube specially designed by us.
This tube can finely adjust the direction. After the torpedo is launched, it basically goes in a straight line, and it must be aimed through the launch tube.
It also protects the soldier from being injured by torpedoes and enhances the torpedo's concealment."
After Dou Li just finished explaining, he said excitedly: "The torpedo has been launched. Everyone, look at the bubbles on the sea surface. These are bubbles produced by compressed air."
Navy Commander Hu Weiwei looked at the bubbles on the sea. The bubbles were so small that they were not conspicuous at all on the sea.
If we hadn't known about it in advance, we wouldn't have known the danger of such bubbles.
He stared at the bubbles, whose trajectory basically showed an arc.
Hu Weiwei knew that this was a problem with the torpedo design and the influence of seafloor currents.
The torpedo directly passed the target ship and slowly sank to the bottom of the sea.
He saw the torpedo boat firing another torpedo.
They loaded the torpedoes very quickly, and it seemed that the torpedoes were very easy to operate.
This torpedo learned from previous experience, slightly adjusted its course, and directly hit the target ship.
This chapter is not finished yet, please click on the next page to continue reading the exciting content! There was a loud bang, and the sea water was blown up several meters high.
The tugboat immediately came forward and towed the target ship to the shore.
Everyone saw a huge hole in the bottom of the boat.
The bottom of this target ship has simulated the strength of the bottom of a battleship.
If a torpedo can penetrate a target ship, it can penetrate a battleship.
Navy Commander Hu Weiwei said excitedly: "It was successful, this test was successful.
Although the torpedo has some flaws, it does not hide its flaws.
We will use torpedo boats to teach the Song Navy a profound lesson."
He turned around and saluted Engineer Dou Ligang with a military salute.
"On behalf of all the officers and men of the Navy, I would like to thank the military factories for their efforts.
I also have a small suggestion. In addition to the collision fuze, the torpedo should also be equipped with a delay fuze.
Even if the torpedo misses its target, it will interfere with the enemy ship's operations."
Dou Ligang was also very excited. Their hard work has yielded gratifying results.
Hearing the request from Navy Commander Hu Weiwei, he immediately promised to improve it as soon as possible.
This simple change will not affect torpedo production.
Everyone left the port with smiles, and Engineer Dou Ligang returned to the military factory.
He wanted to improve the torpedoes and solve the minor problems that occurred this time. At the same time, he notified the military factory to produce a large number of torpedoes immediately.
Zhen Yuan and others returned to the Governor's Mansion. They were full of confidence and were no longer afraid of Song's powerful navy.
The Metropolitan Governor's Office had sufficient confidence and immediately accelerated the progress of preparations for war.
Chief of General Staff Zhenyuan was summoned by the King of Chu, Lu Chenyang, and he felt the anxious attitude of the King of Chu.
He immediately reported the relevant situation and confidently suggested that Chu State send troops. Chu State had prepared everything.
When King Lu Chenyang of Chu heard the news, he was very happy.
He immediately ordered the Chu State's naval and land forces to set off immediately to teach the Song State a lesson and regain the colonies belonging to the Chu State.
