Australian Storm 1876

   Chapter 563

  A confidential dock at Hongshan Shipyard

On the two huge berths side by side, two "Brave" class cruisers are being built. These are the No. 7 and No. 9 cruisers of this class. The towering hull of more than 100 meters is full of the power of the steam age. Soul shocked.

  The shipyard worker ants attached to it, welding sparks flew, and from time to time there was the heavy impact of a high-pressure riveter, like a war drum moving forward.

Four officers in white navy uniforms walked all the way. In front was Lieutenant Colonel Li Sixian. He was the captain of the Cuckoo originally stationed in Moresby. He was promoted in the case of spy infiltration and participated in many naval battles. He is a highly experienced naval officer and is currently the deputy director of the naval representative office.

   Walking beside him is Captain He Jiaben, a tall and slender officer. He is a graduate of the Royal Manchester Naval Academy. He performed well in the bombardment of Nagasaki and is a promising young naval officer.

  A few steps behind were Lieutenant Chen Mantun and Lieutenant Tiexiong, with leather briefcases in their hands. They were all members of the Navy Representative Office.

"Brother Jiaben, I recently received an autograph letter from Brother Shuanzhu. In the letter, let me ask hello. Do you have any correspondence in the near future?" Li Sixian is Li Shuanzhu’s elder brother. Li Shuanzhu is the second and third. It was Duan Qirui. When they were in Moresby, the three had a close relationship, and they were very good brothers.

  He Jiaben was the captain of the student squadron in the young eagle school era. At that time, Li Shuanzhu was still his little brother. Six or seven years have passed since graduation.

Now Li Shuanzhu has been promoted to deputy commander of the African Expeditionary Corps. He is one of the high-ranking military officers. As long as he follows the rules and works for a few years to make up for the shortcomings of his qualifications, a brigadier general cannot escape his rank. A veteran deputy division-level officer. It could have been promoted to brigadier general.

  He Jiaben is still a navy captain, missed the rapid promotion of the war era, and want to catch up with the footsteps of the little brother is almost a delusion.

   "I wrote a letter last month, but I haven't received a reply yet." He Jiaben replied as he walked, with no expression on his face.

"The African colonies are too far away. I guess it will take at least two or three months for you to receive a reply. Brother Chuanzhu has caught up and left my eldest brother far away. It's incomparable...It's incomparable. Now he is a member of the military power in the African Expeditionary Army. If a few years later, if he attacked the Kingdom of Madagascar, the Chuanzhu brothers might have the opportunity to enter the general industry first and be the first to enter the general industry, which is so enviable!"

"Sir, I think everyone has their own opportunities. The future development of the navy will have a broader prospect. After all, the vast seas and territories still need the navy to guard. The fleet has been growing steadily and its strength is gradually improving, so I have confidence in the navy. "Captain He Jiaben replied firmly.

   "Hehe... That's good."

  Li Sixian laughed twice, and looked back at the young officer behind him. Lieutenant Chen Mantun and Lieutenant Tiexiong immediately slowed down subconsciously, opened the distance, and left room for the officer to talk alone.

Li Sixian lowered his voice somewhat mysteriously and said, "My family, thanks to the relationship between Brother Chuanzhu, you and I are not outsiders. Let me give you a message. Our representative office is in the annual military officer's year-end review. , I gave you an excellent + rating. The director and I are very optimistic about you. After you submitted it, you have been included in the major rank promotion assessment list. Our fleet has expanded rapidly in the past two years. It is estimated that at least 70% of the approval is guaranteed. Congratulations what!"

  The good news came too suddenly. Captain He Jiaben’s heart beat fiercely, and in a blink of an eye he felt that he was walking lightly, his inner ecstasy was uncontrollable, and he asked with a trembling voice; "Sir, is it true?"

   "Of course this kind of big thing can't be faked, do you think I am joking?"

   "Thank you for the promotion, I can't thank you enough."

"You don’t need to be so polite. You still need to be **** your own. There is a set of strict standards for officer evaluation. Serving as navigator or other important positions on a cruiser is a good opportunity for development and must be grasped properly."

   "Understand the humble position, and must live up to the high expectations of the chief."

He Jiaben’s own positioning is still very accurate. Don’t look at Deputy Director Li Sixian’s "Family Brother". That means the officer lowered his body to show kindness, but it doesn’t mean he can call out "Brother Sixian". It's a big joke.

  The ranks in the army are strict, and there is no superiority and inferiority at all. What does that mean?

Lieutenant Colonel Li Sixian nodded with a smile. He was still very satisfied with Captain He Jiaben’s performance. This is a careful and detailed young officer with a gold-plated diploma for studying abroad. He is very popular in the British navy. Favored by faction bosses, the future is promising.

   "Looking at these majestic warships, it is really exciting. I hope that in the future, I can drive a heavy cruiser to sail across the sea. I will have no regrets in this life!" Li Siyuan looked at the majestic ship on the berth with a fiery light in his eyes.

  He Jiaben said in a deep voice; "Sir, I think there is a chance for the humble job."

   "Oh... why do you see it?"

"That's it. The humble job can see a pattern from the recent appointment of the captain. The new cruiser captain is all the captain who performed well in the first East Indies War. The focus is all on the captain of the seagull frigate at that time. There are none of the positions of deputy captain and navigator, and there are not even the subordinate officers of Commander Geng and Chief of General Staff He. This shows that Shangfeng attaches great importance to the independent command ability of the captain's chief officer. This is precisely the advantage of the chief officer. "

  Li Sixian raised his brows. It makes sense to think about it. It is true.

The officers of Commander Geng and Chief of Staff He are all senior officers. There are not a few who have achieved the positions of colonel and lieutenant colonel, and none of them are indeed candidates for cruiser captain.

  "Family brother, you look at the problem very carefully!" Li Sixian became cheerful, and this situation shows that he has a good chance.

  The requirements of "Brave"-class cruisers are different from those of "Blue Dragon"-class heavy cruisers. "Qinglong"-class heavy cruisers need the rank of colonel to be able to serve as captain.

  If you are selected among the former captain chief officers, then you are not inferior to your competitors.

  This makes Li Sixian’s eyebrows filled with joy. The 12 Brave-class cruisers developed by the Navy seem to be quite large, but there are also many competitors. There are no less than 40 people on the list. He is not sure about it.

   Listening to Captain He Jiaben’s words, the top competitors must at least cross out four to five places, then he has a lot of hope.

Thinking of this, he couldn't help feeling agitated. He felt full of enthusiasm. He waved his hand and said; "Go, let's go through the welding of the No. 9 ship compartment today, and give me every inch of solder joints. Check it well. Anything that does not meet the quality requirements must be reworked. It must be of high standards, strict requirements, and not sloppy at all."

   "Yes, sir." The three naval officers in the representative office replied in unison.

   Approaching noon

  Associate Luo Yangyi came to the naval slipway under construction, looked around, there were busy figures everywhere, and did not see the officers of the navy representative office, so he waved to the shipyard foreman and asked; “Where are the people from the representative office?”

"Return to Lord Luo, the chiefs of the representative office are all inspecting the welding process inch by inch with flashlights. They almost touched them with a magnifying glass. Hundreds of rectification points have been found in the morning. If that's the case, the work really won't work."

   "Oh...what's the matter?"

"I don’t know. Welding is a new technology. The best welders in our shipyard can’t say that the straight line is full of fish-scale welding patterns. It’s normal to manually pile more and less piles, which fully meets the requirements of military ship construction. Yes, we built the British Majesty-class battleships in this way. How can they have such demanding requirements?"

  The chief foreman was full of complaints, and the assistant Luo Yangyi who heard it was too big. It was his business to deal with the navy representative office. Of course, the military's requirements are high and of course a lot of trouble.

The warship compartment steel plate itself is not armored steel. It is required to be welded firmly and without water leakage, no welding off, no trachoma, no false welding, and a little more welding seam pile only affects the beauty, does not affect the practicality, and does not affect quality.

  Think about it and you will know

  The heavy artillery shell that can break through the cruiser's armored steel plate. Where can ordinary compartment steel plate be able to stop it?

  The welding requirements of the steel plate of the compartment are anti-sinking, watertight, and not beautiful.

  Of course, if we can make a full and firm fish-scale welding wire like a small flower snake, of course, it is best, but most welders can't meet this requirement, unless there are a handful of senior welders with senior qualifications.

  What a trouble!

Assistant Luo Yangyi was a little impatient, but still made a serious expression on his face and said; “The shipyard is for naval construction. Since the representative office has put forward high standards, then we must do everything possible to complete it and let the navy officers. Riding high-quality warships across the sea is the natural glorious mission of each of our shipyard workers. As a foreman, you can’t have a low level of awareness. Don’t be okay to listen to the chirping farts of those workers. You have time to organize post training to improve your skills. Come up."

   "Master Luo, I will try my best."

"We cannot try our best, but we must do it. The high-quality ships produced by our Hongshan Shipyard should not only focus on the second-rate level of Germany and France, but should learn from the first-class British shipyards and strive to catch up and surpass. They, that is the ultimate goal."

  The foreman raised his head and looked at Associate Luo Yangyi with some confusion. It was obvious that you were teasing me on his face. How many years have the British built ships?

  Those high-level welders have at least 20 years of qualifications. How many years are we now?

Those veteran riveting workers in the UK have been around for more than 30 years. They have already spent time playing riveters. They have been in the shipyard since they were fifteen or sixteen. Many people are still in front-line production positions. That warship is really beautiful. Foundation.

  It only takes 4 months and 3 days to build a 13,500-ton iron-clad battleship at the Manchester Shipyard of the Royal Navy, and it will take more than 11 months for us to exhaust all our efforts. This is the gap!

  What the oil seller said; without him, only hands are familiar.

  Heavy industry production especially tests the background. It’s not just talking about it. It depends on the accumulation of bit by bit. Who can brag about it? Can you eat with slogans?

  (End of this chapter)