novelAbuy Chapter 48 Are you sure it's 10,000 tons?
Chapter 48 Are you sure it's 10,000 tons?
The Persian Gulf was shrouded in a golden mist at dawn. At the newly built deep-water pier in Dubai Port, a delegation of seven from France stood in the morning breeze, their eyes focused on the gray outline that slowly emerged on the horizon.
"My God..."
Louis Moreau muttered to himself, his binoculars trembling slightly. As a senior engineer at the French Naval Shipyard, he had seen all the shipyards in Europe and witnessed the launch of the "Intrepid," but what he was seeing before him was still beyond his comprehension.
That's not an outline.
It is a mountain.
A moving, steel-clad, heavily armed metal mountain.
“General,” Morrow turned to Dubois, his voice dry, “I take back what I said last night. This isn’t ‘potentially’ stronger than the Westvalen-class; this is… this is something from another dimension.”
Dubois did not answer. The veteran stood at the forefront of the dock, the sea breeze ruffling the hem of his uniform, but he remained motionless, like a statue. Only his clenched fists betrayed the shock he felt.
The colossal gray ship slowly entered the harbor, its bow cleaving the calm sea, leaving a broad white trail. Sunlight shone on the sloping armor plating, reflecting a cold metallic sheen. Three tall funnels billowed wisps of smoke, and the barrels of four twin-mounted turrets pointed diagonally towards the sky, each one thick enough to fit a person inside.
"Over 260 meters in length," Pierre Durand quickly estimated, his notebook already filled with data. "Height... at least 15 meters. Main gun caliber is definitely over 380 mm, possibly 400 mm. Look at the size of that turret!"
Henry Lefebvre's focus was on the details: "The hull welding process, not riveting. See those seams? They're as smooth as a single piece of steel. And the layout of the superstructure, so simple, with almost no unnecessary protrusions—they've achieved the ultimate in drag reduction and ballistic protection."
The giant ship slowly turned about 500 meters from the dock, its massive body drawing a graceful arc on the sea. This distance was enough for the French to see the details clearly, while maintaining just the right amount of intimidation.
A small boat was lowered from the side of the giant ship and sailed toward the dock.
Fifteen minutes later, Li Te stood on the dock and gave Dubois a crisp military salute. The young captain, dressed in a dark blue Lanfang naval uniform with a yellow dragon insignia embroidered on his shoulder straps, stood as straight as a javelin. (What uniform should we use? Comrades, please give your opinions.)
"General Dubois, on behalf of the Lanfang Navy, I welcome you all to board the ship for a tour."
His French had a slight accent, but it was surprisingly fluent.
Dubois returned the greeting, his gaze lingering on Litt's face for a moment: "Captain, could you first tell us the name and basic specifications of this warship?"
Li Te smiled slightly: "'Restoration' has a standard displacement of 38,000 tons and a full load displacement of 41,000 tons. It is equipped with eight 381mm 45-caliber main guns, mounted in four twin-mounted turrets. The propulsion system consists of four steam turbines and twenty-four oil-fired boilers, with a design speed of 31 knots."
With each number he mentioned, the French experts' breathing quickened.
"Thirty...thirty-eight thousand tons?" Moro's voice trembled. "Are you sure it's ten thousand tons, not a thousand tons?"
"Confirmed." Li Te's answer was calm and confident. "You will be able to verify this for yourselves once you board the ship."
The process of boarding the ship is awe-inspiring in itself.
The gangway is wide enough for four people to walk side by side, the steps are made of non-slip steel plates, and the handrails are made of polished stainless steel. After stepping onto the deck, the first thing that strikes the eye is the spaciousness—unlike the decks of European warships, which are piled with clutter and crowded with people, the deck of the "Kuang-Fu" is as clean as a parade ground, all equipment has a fixed storage location, and pipelines are neatly laid along the edge of the hull.
"How many deck crew are there?" Dubois asked.
"The standard combat strength is 1,200 personnel, but through automated design, 800 personnel are sufficient to maintain full combat capability," Li Te replied. "That's one-third to one-half fewer than European warships of similar tonnage."
"How did you do that?"
Please come with me.
Li Te led the group toward the bridge. Each watertight door they passed was so heavy that it took two people to push it open, and the doorframes were fitted with rubber sealing strips. On the bulkheads on both sides of the passageway, a complex network of pipes and cables was neatly bundled together, with clear signs at intervals.
"This is the damage control system," Li Te said, pointing to a row of red valves. "The entire ship is divided into twenty-eight independent watertight zones. If any zone is hit and floods in, it can be isolated within thirty seconds."
Durand examined the valves closely: "Electric control? Not manual?"
"Primarily electric, with manual backup. Our power generation capacity is sufficient to support the simultaneous operation of all systems on the ship."
Upon arriving at the bridge, the enormous observation windows offered a 270-degree view. On the control panel, various instruments, dials, and handles were arranged in an orderly fashion, and several young operators were on duty. Upon seeing the visiting group, they stood up and saluted in perfect unison.
"The fire control room is on the next floor." Li Te pushed open an armored door.
Then, the French witnessed a sight they would never forget.
It didn't resemble a warship's cabin; it looked more like a scientific laboratory. Rows of mechanical computers emitted the soft whirring of gears, and enormous optical rangefinders were connected to the computing units via transmission mechanisms. The walls were covered with nautical charts and calculation tables.
"This is the central fire control system." Li Te stood in front of a complex machine. "Target distance, heading, speed, wind speed, wind direction, shell type... After all these parameters are input, the computer will automatically calculate the firing data and transmit it synchronously to each turret through the circuit."
He gestured for an operator to demonstrate.
The young operator cranked the handle, and the pointer on the dial began to move. Another person turned a knob, and a third person pulled a lever. Three minutes later, a row of indicator lights illuminated.
"Calculation complete. Elevation 12.7 degrees, azimuth 034, fuse delay set to 8.5 seconds," the operator reported. "Data has been transmitted synchronously. Now each turret only needs to adjust its angle according to the indicator lights and wait for the firing command."
Moro leaned closer to the machine, his eyes wide: "Error rate?"
"The system itself has an error of less than three per thousand. The actual hit rate depends on the ranging accuracy and sea conditions—but at a distance of 20,000 yards, we can achieve a hit rate of more than 20 percent on targets weighing tens of thousands of tons."
"Twenty thousand yards..." Durand gasped. "Our active warships have a maximum effective range of only twelve thousand yards, and at that distance, the hit rate is less than five percent."
"Times are progressing," Li Te said calmly.
The awe reached its peak when we visited the engine room next.
Four enormous steam turbines hummed softly, their blades spinning rapidly through the observation windows. There was none of the violent vibrations and noise of a reciprocating steam engine, only a steady, powerful hum, like the breathing of a sleeping behemoth.
"Output power?" Durand asked.
"It reached 140,000 shaft horsepower during sea trials." Litt's answer left all the French experts speechless.
"140,000... God, our latest design only costs 60,000!"
"So the speed can reach 31 knots." Li Te walked to the other side. "This is the oil-fired boiler system. Heavy oil injection combustion has a thermal efficiency that is 40 percent higher than that of coal-fired boilers, and it also saves two-thirds of the stokers. The 5,000 tons of fuel we carry is enough to travel 10,000 nautical miles at an economical speed of 18 knots."
Lefebvre lingered by the observation window of a boiler, reluctant to leave: "We're still in the laboratory stage with oil-fired boiler technology, while you've already implemented it on your warships..."
"Technology is always improved through application." Li Te glanced at his pocket watch. "Ladies and gentlemen, if we've finished our tour, we're ready for a sea demonstration. Please proceed to the upper viewing platform."