Reborn Brazil as a Plutocrat

Chapter 431 The development direction of destroyers

The capital of Brazil, Rio de Janeiro.

Fang Lang, who had just entered the Admiralty Office Building, was smiling and greeted everyone he saw with a smile and an easy-going expression.

This time, in order to promote the Brazilian Ministry of National Defense, Fang Lang entrusted Fangyuan Shipyard to design and build a new destroyer. Fang Lang also made great efforts. The Office of the Ministry of the Navy, which had not visited twice in most of the year, has inevitably come to report every day in the past week.

Even many officers in the Navy Department who were unfamiliar with him became familiar with him. When they met, some people kept taking the initiative to say hello to him, which made his facial muscles swell a little from laughing.

Fortunately, hard work pays off. After this period of unremitting efforts, the independent shipbuilding plan has finally advanced smoothly. The Ministry of National Defense officially issued an announcement and commissioned Fangyuan Shipyard to design and build a new destroyer.

And made specific requirements for the specific performance of the destroyer. But looking at the requirements put forward by the Ministry of the Navy, Fang Lang could only helplessly shake his head, because this requirement and the current "Fletcher" class destroyers are simply not the same.

Not much difference.

However, Fang Lang quickly understood the meaning of the Ministry of National Defense. He was also worried about the technical strength of Fangyuan Shipyard, and was afraid that the requirements were too high and Fangyuan Shipyard would not be able to complete them, but this was obviously not what Fang Lang wanted.

I kept saying hello to people all the way, and finally arrived in front of the Navy Minister's office. When the secretary saw Fang Lang arriving, he quickly stood up to greet him.

"General Fang, you are here! Mr. Minister has ordered that you do not need to announce your arrival, just go in directly."

General Crook did not let Fang Lang express his thoughts directly, but continued to look at Fang Lang with a smile and said:

"Then do you know why the Navy Department would put forward such a design requirement?"

Seeing Fang Lang looking as casual as returning to his own home, General Crook instead of being angry, instead smiled and joked:

"Will you stop coming if I say you're not welcome?"

This was installed by Fang Lang himself when he came to visit two days ago. For more than a week, he came here every day to sit and drink Kung Fu tea. Under his guidance, General Crook became somewhat accustomed to this novel way of drinking tea.

.

"Report!"

Moreover, times have changed and communication between countries around the world has become very easy. We don’t have to worry about the shipyards not having such strength.

Fang Lang, who casually took the cigar and put it on the coffee table, and continued to make tea in his hand, put away his joking expression when he heard this, and said to General Crook slightly formally:

"After I returned home yesterday, I carefully studied the performance requirements for destroyers proposed by the Navy Department. I personally feel that there is still some room for adjustment, so I would like to discuss it with you again."

As he spoke, he walked forward without stopping, knocked on the office door, and said loudly:

After thinking this through, General Crook had to nod his head solemnly and said:

Unlike Fang Lang, although he is young, he already has a somewhat mature and prudent feeling. Of course, this feeling is mainly reflected in his temperament. After all, an army commander with a heavy army will naturally be decisive in his words and actions.

The feeling of being vigorous and vigorous.

Hearing this, Fang Lang smiled bitterly and said helplessly:

At this moment, the major's secretary, standing opposite Fang Lang, felt it very clearly.

Now that we have decided to produce our own destroyers, we should not just imitate them, but should have our own innovations and develop a brand new destroyer that meets the actual needs of our Brazilian Navy."

When the secretary at the door heard that General Crook, who had always been very serious, could have such an easy-going side, his expression froze, and he looked at Fang Lang's back with envy, and couldn't help but sigh to himself, when will I have it too?

Such treatment!

Fang Lang had no intention of paying attention to the secretary's thoughts. After hearing General Crook's words, he walked into the office with a smile and said:

When he came to a place that didn't belong to him, he didn't feel any restraint at all. Instead, he was like a leader who came to inspect, with a sharp look in his eyes. When his eyes fell on the secretary, he would straighten his spine unconsciously.

.

After receiving the reply, Fang Lang turned to his secretary, smiled and nodded, and directly opened the office door. Before Fang Lang could speak, General Crook's voice came from inside:

"You can tell it's you by the voice, come in quickly!"

Fang Lang already had an answer to General Crook's question. However, he did not answer the question directly. Instead, he picked up the cigar on the table and trimmed it while thinking about how to speak. After a while, he slowly said

:

"Your Majesty General, I was born in the Army and became a Navy man halfway through my life. Many people may think that I am not professional.

Hearing this, Fang Lang looked up at the other party in surprise and said with a smile:

"That's not possible. I believe that the general will welcome me at any time."

"At my age, I have become a powerful general of the Brazilian Navy, how can it be possible that no one is gossiping!

But when I was receiving training in the United States, I studied the history of the development of destroyers. Combining my own naval combat experience and my actual feelings on the Pacific battlefield, I also had a rough judgment on the future direction of destroyers.

Now, I consider myself to be a very professional naval officer."

Although Fang Lang looked smiling, the confidence and determination in his eyes were impossible to ignore.

"Then what kind of destroyer do you think our Brazilian Navy needs?"

"I finally have time to spend some time in Rio de Janeiro, and of course I want to get closer to you.

Unexpectedly, the old guy Crook would be so naughty. Fang Lang could only show a wry smile and said:

And, based on the relationship between our Fangyuan Shipyard and American Global Shipbuilding, I think this is not difficult.

But I don’t really care about this. After all, I rose through the ranks based on my actual military exploits.

Of course, this was also followed by your vigorous promotion of me by Your Excellency the General.

But I think this is wrong. Our shipyard cannot always live under the protection of the government and must accept the baptism of reality.

General Crook's secretary was a young major officer. He was said to be young, but in fact he was two years older than Fang Lang. Fang Lang could still see a trace of youthfulness on his face.

"I understand what you mean. The reason why the Navy Department puts forward such design requirements is to give our shipyard an opportunity to learn and practice.

Looking at Fang Lang with a serious face, General Crook also understood that the other party's attitude was serious.

In addition, I never forget to improve myself and have been learning naval-related knowledge from US military consultants.

"You make sense, but what kind of destroyer do you want? Or how far do you want to go?"

Hearing this, General Crook did not change his expression too much. Instead, he continued to smoke the cigar in his hand calmly. After waiting for a while, he said with a smile:

His hand has naturally reached towards the tea tray on the coffee table. This is a set of small tea trays made of mahogany. There are a dazzling array of tea utensils on the tea tray.

However, as time progresses, the roles of today's torpedo boats have become more and more diverse. During World War I, with the emergence of submarines, destroyers were assigned the task of anti-submarine warfare.

In this world war, destroyers were not only used for anti-submarine warfare, but were also responsible for protecting aircraft carriers from enemy aircraft. Therefore, destroyers were given the mission of air defense.

General Crook handed a cigar to Fang Lang, took out another one for himself, then casually sat on the other side of the coffee table, waved his hand and said:

"Okay, let's not talk about this. Didn't you say yesterday that you wouldn't come today?"

If what I said is wrong, please feel free to enlighten me."

Hearing the secretary's words, Fang Lang smiled nonchalantly, waved his hand to the other party and said:

"Okay, you can go about your own business! Don't worry about me."

Its role has also changed from its original role of killing enemy torpedo boats and protecting our large warships to its current anti-submarine, air defense, ground attack, support for landing operations, etc.

Fang Lang did not answer immediately, but brewed the tea in his hand, handed a cup to General Crook, brought another cup to himself, took a sip and then said slowly:

"I think the Navy Department's request is a bit conservative.

With technical support from the United States and the world, I think we are fully capable of taking greater steps."

Knowing that Fang Lang has always been a very humble person, Crook didn't say much, but smiled slightly at the other party and said:

When General Crook heard this, he glanced at Fang Lang with an unchanged expression, lit the cigar in his hand, took a deep breath, and then said slowly:

"Tell me what you think."

General Crook in the office had already stood up and walked to the reception area. He pointed to the coffee table in the reception area and motioned for Fang Lang to sit down. Fang Lang was not polite and sat down on the sofa in the reception area.

"When I was receiving training in the United States, my teacher said that the first purpose of destroyers was to protect our large warships from attacks by small torpedo boats. They mainly killed enemy torpedo boats through artillery and torpedoes.

At worst, we hire professional designers and excellent engineers from developed countries to work in our shipyard.

At first, the Navy Department did consider training the team, so the performance parameters of the destroyer were completely closer to those of the American "Fletcher" class destroyers.

The tonnage of the ship has also grown from more than 400 tons at the beginning to more than 5,000 tons now.

Seeing that the topic returned to the development direction of destroyers, Fang Lang picked up the tea cup and took a sip of tea, moistened his throat, and then said slowly:

A deep voice came from inside:

"Please come in!"

In General Crook's view, this was to protect the country's shipbuilding enterprises, but after what Fang Lang said just now, he felt a little relieved.

As Fang Lang said, they really should not lower performance requirements in order to protect their own shipyards. This is not only irresponsible to the navy, but also does not benefit the development of the shipyards.

Don’t you welcome it?”

"You are the mainstay of our Brazilian Navy. Who dares to say that you are unprofessional?"

The secretary at the door waited for Fang Lang to enter, then quickly stepped forward and closed the office door.

As for the future of destroyers, I think the functions will be more diversified and the tonnage will be further expanded. And our construction direction must be to continue in this direction."

As an old navy man, General Crook was certainly very clear about what Fang Lang said, but the conclusion Fang Lang came to surprised him. After thinking for a while, he said with uncertainty:

"You said that the future of destroyers will have more diversified functions. I agree with this. But aren't the current functions diversified enough?

You know, it covers almost all directions where the enemy can launch an attack. Whether it is land, sky, sea surface or seabed, the destroyer has been included in the attack range.

Could it be that besides these, can the enemy launch attacks from other places that we don’t know about?”

(End of chapter)