Chapter Three Hundred and Twenty-Six Old Chen's Clan Crossed a Bar
Chapter 326: The old Chen family interferes [first update]
Ye Kai was awarded the rank of Major General. Although people outside did not know this, people with good hands and eyes basically got the news.
Although I am a little surprised by the decision of the Military Commission and think that Ye Kai, a 19-year-old young man, received this honor, it really violates the regulations on the appointment of leading cadres and ignores the rules and regulations of the army, but this matter is
What was passed by the Military Commission, read out by Comrade Gu Jianrong, and awarded the title by Comrade Jiang Cheng is indeed not something that can be questioned casually.
The Military Commission conferred a title, and it was a separate secret conferment. There must be something to say in it. Otherwise, how could so many Central Standing Committee members and Central Political Bureau members be persuaded?
It can be said that Ye Kai must have done something earth-shattering, so he was awarded this title.
"What did the Ye family boy do to be awarded the title of major general?" The person who asked this question was the old Ye family's old enemy, Chen Zhaowu of the old Chen family.
The person he was questioning on the opposite side was none other than General Liu Bingzheng, the old Chen family's right-hand general, deputy chief of the Military Commission and head of the Military Discipline Inspection Commission.
"It's because of the nuclear submarine thing." Liu Bingzheng said, "I don't know what kind of bad luck this guy got. He actually bought twelve titanium alloy nuclear submarines from Russia. And I seem to have heard that he also intends to buy them from Russia.
Russia purchased an aircraft carrier and was awarded a military commission rank. It is probably because of this matter. There is a saying that it is to facilitate Ye Kai's military affairs."
After hearing this, Chen Zhaowu nodded and said, "Oh, the Ye family is full of talents. I have to admit that this guy is indeed capable. Who else has the ability to get so many nuclear submarines back from Russia?"
Liu Bingzheng had to nod and admitted, "It is indeed difficult. Some people would rather dismantle and sell them as scrap metal than sell them to others. I heard that Ye Kai traveled to Russia several times for this matter.
, the bribes sent out alone amount to tens of millions of dollars."
"That's worth it." Chen Zhaowu said, "You also know the situation of our country's navy. Although nuclear submarines have been built, there is still a lot of room for technological upgrades. If we can refer to the Soviet Union's technical model
, which is also very beneficial to us.”
"That's true." Liu Bingzheng nodded and said, "This guy has done a good thing."
But anyway, although Chen Zhaowu went down, he was still very concerned about some things in the political situation.
The second generation of the old Chen family is completely hopeless, but the influence of the old Chen family still exists, and it still has a strong influence on the local level, which is enough to influence the political leanings of a large number of mid-level officials.
"What do you think about the purchase of decommissioned aircraft carriers?" Chen Zhaowu suddenly asked Liu Bingzheng.
"This doesn't seem to be a bad thing." Liu Bingzheng hesitated for a moment before answering.
Regarding the problem of dealing with decommissioned aircraft carriers abroad, basically every country is similar. Some are converted into aircraft carrier museums, some are used as target ships to sink, some are sold, some are used as aircraft carrier parks, and some are directly dismantled and sold for scrap.
The U.S. military’s traditional approach to decommissioned warships is to seal them up. Since these ships are in good condition and require regular maintenance, they can be quickly added to the fleet in the event of a war, making them important strategic resources. Although these retired warships are
The warships are not in the regular establishment, but their number is extremely large, so they have been nicknamed "Ghost Fleet", "Shadow Fleet" and so on.
After World War I, various countries reduced their armaments, and the United States also faced the problem that a large number of newly commissioned warships had to be decommissioned and dismantled, which was obviously not in the interests of the military.
To this end, Ernest King, then Assistant Chief of Staff of the Atlantic Fleet, proposed the method of dismantling some key components of decommissioned warships and then centrally storing them in several ports.
These warships are usually managed by reservists and can return to the battlefield at any time if necessary.
The U.S. Congress finally passed a bill in 1925 to establish the National Defense Reserve Fleet to implement this system. Currently, the "Ghost Fleet" is mainly anchored in Port Benisi, California, Fort Eustis in Philadelphia, Virginia, and Texas.
of Beaumont.
When World War II first broke out, German submarines were rampant in the Atlantic and sank a large number of British merchant ships. This was an almost fatal blow to Britain, which relied heavily on external supplies. However, Britain did not have any redundant ships to escort merchant ships at this time.
, Prime Minister Churchill, who had served as Secretary of the Navy, asked US President Roosevelt for help.
Considering that the United States still pursued a policy of neutrality at that time, and the domestic public and Congress were opposed to intervening in the war between Britain and Germany, Roosevelt came up with the idea of mothballing these warships.
In the end, 50 old ships were leased to Britain, providing strong support to the allies.
The United States officially entered the war, and the "Ghost Fleet" also began to escort its own merchant ships.
After World War II, the "ghost fleet" once reached a scale of more than 2,000 ships.
During the Korean War, these warships appeared again, with a total of 540 old ships transporting supplies and providing fire support for the US military. During the Vietnam War, 172 old ships were re-entered service. In the 1991 Gulf War, the United States also
After restarting the two battleships, many military enthusiasts were deeply impressed by the footage of the USS Missouri and the USS Wisconsin launching cruise missiles against Iraq.
The outstanding performance of the "ghost fleet" has made the U.S. Navy attach great importance to it. The United States has given them other functions from time to time, such as serving as "military aid tools." For example, the "Kidd" class destroyers serving in Taiwan were once "ghosts"
"Fleet" member.
However, for Russia, it is obvious that it no longer even has the ability to maintain these warships. In order to prevent these decommissioned warships from becoming targets of leaking military secrets, dismantling them and selling them for scrap metal has become the first choice.
And it is impossible to leave something as big as a retired aircraft carrier to the enemy.
But dismantling an aircraft carrier is not that simple. Generally speaking, the weapons and equipment on the aircraft carrier are first disassembled, and then the hull and power equipment are disassembled.
However, for behemoths like aircraft carriers, dismantling and dismantling is not a profitable business. Since these decommissioned aircraft carriers often contain a large amount of toxic substances, asbestos, expired fuel, and even nuclear reactors, the cost of disassembly has remained high.
According to statistics, the cost of dismantling an aircraft carrier today is approximately US$20 million.
Such high disassembly costs have left navies of various countries feeling helpless. Even the wealthy U.S. Navy often feels stretched and the dismantling process is interrupted from time to time.
"Actually, after the split of the Soviet Union, its strength was greatly reduced." When mentioning this matter, Chen Zhaowu also said with some emotion.
Take aircraft carriers as an example. After the split of the Soviet Union, most of the aircraft carrier resources were left to Russia, but the factories for production and maintenance were all in Ukraine, which led to a very embarrassing situation.
Russia's aircraft carrier is broken and cannot be repaired by itself. It can only be repaired by the Ukrainians. However, the Ukrainians only recognize money and not people. They will not start work without giving dollars, which makes Russia lose its temper. After all, people are poor but have short ambitions, and horses are thin and hairy.
, there is nothing we can do.
"Our country has a large maritime territory. There are external threats in the Nansha, Xisha and East China Sea. Buying a few aircraft carriers should be of some use." Liu Bingzheng said, "Just buying back a shell is not of much use. The above
Weapons and equipment, electronic equipment, and carrier-based aircraft supporting equipment are the highlight, and I don’t believe the Russians will sell all these things to us.”
"Let's wait and see." Chen Zhaowu said, "But if we really need to add a few aircraft carriers, this will also be a big money burner. It will give the old Ye family a headache. After all, it is what they got back. They can't leave it there to rust.
Bar."
"Mr. Chen, what do you think?" Liu Bingzheng felt that when Chen Zhaowu came to him, he wouldn't just ask about Ye Kai's situation, nor would he just ask about nuclear submarines and aircraft carriers. There must be deep meaning.
"I don't mean anything at all. You shouldn't be idle when they get nuclear submarines and aircraft carriers. You can contact Russia to see if the Minsk in the Far East Pacific Fleet is willing to transfer it?" Chen Zhaowu said.
"This matter..." Liu Bingzheng originally wanted to say that it was not suitable, but after thinking about it, he nodded and said, "We can give it a try."
Liu Bingzheng's mind is also very flexible and he can think of many things in an instant.
Chen Zhaowu's sons and grandsons were all killed or injured because of the old Ye family, and those who survived were worse than life or death. This deep hatred can never be resolved. Now that the old man has retired, he has nothing else to do.
I spent the whole day thinking about revenge.
But it's a pity that the power of the old Ye family is at its peak, and Ye Kai can't get any handle on him, so he has no choice but to take the idea outside.
It is actually not difficult to contact Russia and explore the feasibility of purchasing an aircraft carrier, but if they interfere, it will cause a lot of trouble for Ye Kai's follow-up work.
How could Chen Zhaowu let go of such a good thing if he could easily create trouble for the old Ye family?
"Then, if Mr. Chen has nothing else to do, I will go back first." Liu Bingzheng glanced at Chen Zhaowu and said carefully.
"Yes." Chen Zhaowu nodded, but his eyes turned to the portrait of Chen Lifang placed on the table nearby.
Just after the Spring Festival this year, Chen Lifang, a former member of the Standing Committee of the Advisory Committee and former member of the Standing Committee of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, who had been in critical condition in the hospital, died of illness.
Nowadays, Chen Zhaowu is the only one left in the old Chen family. He can't support himself alone. This is Chen Zhaowu's only feeling.
The only thing he can do now is to use his brain on some small things to add some trouble to Lao Ye's family.
Thinking of his brothers, his sons, and his grandchildren, Chen Zhaowu's heart was filled with anger and resentment. For revenge, a retired old man would not have any principles or scruples.
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