The Imperial Navy Headquarters is located on the east side of the city of Zhoushan on Zhoushan Island, bordering the rugged ocean. It was the third command base in the history of the Imperial Navy. The other two are Dagu and Guangzhou. More than 50 years ago, in order to cope with the threat of Japan and the United States of America to the east, the Imperial Navy moved its naval headquarters to the Zhoushan Islands, which has since become the heart of the Imperial Navy.

The only force stationed in Zhoushan was the Navy's East China Sea Garrison, a small local patrol fleet, somewhat similar to the later coastal patrol fleet, whose main mission was to protect fisheries, combat piracy, and capture smuggling vessels. However, the port of Zhoushan was a large port, and after decades of construction, it became one of the most well-equipped military ports of the Imperial Navy.

Every spring, the major fleets of the Imperial Navy hold a military exercise in the East China Sea or the Yellow Sea, nominally to review the combat effectiveness of each fleet, but in fact to show off the strength of the Imperial Navy to other countries, as a prayer for deterrence and threat. At this time, most of the main warships of the four major fleets of the empire (now the five major fleets) and the six regional fleets will gather in Zhoushan Port and complete military exercises here for ten days to half a month. Zhoushan Island was designed and built in accordance with the requirements of being able to accommodate eighty percent of the main warships of the Imperial Navy.

Tan Renhao is not the first time to come to Zhoushan Island. During their internship before graduation, the "Zheng He" training ship they boarded was based in Zhoushan Port and was mainly active in the Qitou Ocean. However, this was the first time that Tan Renhao had carefully observed the base of the Imperial Navy Command. The base covers an area of at least 2,000 acres and is divided into several areas, the most conspicuous of which is the office building of the Imperial Navy Command, which is where Marshal Sajetin usually works and is the most central place in the heart of the Imperial Navy.

The Naval Armament Technology Office, where Tan Renhao now works, is located in a three-story building east of the headquarters building. Nominally, this department is an office-level body directly subordinate to the commander of the Navy, but in reality, it is a huge military administrative department. The entire office is headed by Brigadier General Yu Gengnian, and consists of eight specialized departments, including capital warships, cruisers, destroyers, speedboats, submarines, combat aircraft, ammunition, electronic equipment, and newly established aircraft carriers, and each department is responsible for the equipment and ammunition of its own part. There were more than three hundred staff members in the entire department, and all the regular military personnel, except for the civilian staff, as well as the adjutants, were at least captains. Obviously, Tan Renhao was promoted to captain officer by skipping the ranks, and it was precisely for this reason.

General Yu Gengnian's office is at least more than 100 square meters, but almost every corner is filled with bundles of books and all kinds of technical literature. At the beginning, Tan Renhao had already noticed that General Yu Gengnian had nine secretaries and assistants, and it was obvious that General Yu Gengnian's usual work was very intense and busy.

"Captain, you first have to familiarize yourself with the situation in our department." Yu Gengnian picked up a card, "How much do you know about the army's secrecy regulations now?" ”

"Very clear." Tan Renhao's answer was very refreshing, and he could also see that General Yu Gengnian was by no means the kind of person who acted righteously, even if he was wearing a military uniform, he still maintained his true colors as a technical worker.

"Very well, now I'll give you Class C authorization." Yu Gengnian gave the card to Tan Renhao, he didn't invite Tan Renhao to sit, nor did he make tea for Tan Renhao. "This is a pass for the basement data room on the first floor, and the management there will tell you the scope of information that can be accessed by Class C authorization. I'm going to give you ten days, and in those ten days, you have to familiarize yourself with the necessary knowledge as soon as possible, so that you can start the rest of the work, understand? ”

Tan Renhao immediately nodded, that's for sure, if he wasn't even familiar with the equipment of the Imperial Navy, then how could he still work?

"Very well, then, now you can get over." Yu Gengnian nodded, and when Tan Renhao walked to the door, he stopped Tan Renhao again. "By the way, Captain, your luggage will be delivered in the afternoon, by your adjutant, what is his name?"

"Sergeant Duchenne."

"Yes, it was sent by Sergeant Duchenne, and he is still your lieutenant, so you have to make him understand the rules here." Yu Gengnian smiled slightly embarrassedly, "Okay, you go and get busy, if you don't understand anything, you can directly ask Lieutenant Colonel He Changfeng of the Aviation Technology Department, or come to ask me, of course, you have to choose the right time." ”

Tan Renhao smiled and nodded, but he didn't think about asking anyone, it seems that the people here are quite busy, and I'm afraid no one has time to entertain him.

Throughout the morning, Tan Renhao was familiar with the situation in this new department. What surprised him a little was that more than eighty percent of the officers in the Imperial Navy's Equipment Technology Office were from technical backgrounds, and many of them were even transferred here from major arsenals and equipment research institutes, and just like him, there were more than a dozen officers seconded from other units, and all of them were specially responsible for the research and development of important equipment for various units. Obviously, the scope of authority of this equipment technology office is very wide, and it is no wonder that Brigadier General Yu Gengnian's status is so high in the eyes of Marshal Sajiting.

On the basement of the building is a huge repository of documents and documents with four managers. Tan Renhao was received by a middle-aged woman. Tan Renhao was a little strange, but when he noticed the rank of captain pinned to the middle-aged woman's shoulder, he no longer felt strange. This underground warehouse is full of materials on various equipment of the Imperial Navy, almost all of which are secret documents, many of which are even top secret. Therefore, it is most appropriate to arrange for officers to manage. It's just that Tan Renhao didn't find the guards, and it seems that not many people dare to come here to steal information.

"You may be able to use all of this." The middle-aged female captain led Tan Renhao to a row of shelves full of materials, "There is a reading room on the other side of the corridor, you can climb over there, but you can only bring two sets of materials at a time, and you must register first." In addition, all the materials here are not allowed to be borrowed, and only with our pen and paper, and no paper can be taken out, understand? ”

Tan Renhao nodded, he still understood these rules. He didn't know if anyone was watching in the reading room, but he was sure the caretaker would go through the materials when he returned them.

Tan Renhao was quickly attracted by the abundance of information here, and he even forgot to eat lunch. If in his previous understanding, the Imperial Navy was a powerful army, now he is completely sure that the Imperial Navy is the largest war machine in the world.

The Imperial Navy relied far more on equipment than on the Imperial Army (the same was true in terms of talent). With just a little epidermal understanding, Tan Renhao was surprised. The Imperial Navy has a complete management system for equipment research and manufacturing, which is the most reliable management system that has been summarized and developed through countless practices and countless lessons learned over hundreds of years. At the same time, Tan Renhao also realized how huge this war machine of the empire was.

There are five naval design institutes in the Imperial Navy, namely Dalian Naval Design Institute, Qingdao Naval Research and Design Institute, Songjiang Naval Design Institute, Kaohsiung Naval Design Institute, and Guangzhou Naval Design Institute. Among the five design institutes, the three design institutes in Dalian, Songjiang and Guangzhou are the largest, mainly responsible for the design of cruisers and warships of the above class, and they all have their own related institutions, such as materials, ammunition, chemical and other related laboratories.

The Imperial Navy had a total of twenty-four shipyards, of which eight shipyards could undertake the construction of heavy warships of more than 10,000 tons, and four of which could undertake the construction of capital warships of more than 30,000 tons. The largest shipyard is the Jiangnan Shipyard, the old site of the factory is in the Wuzhen River, and the new site is on Chongming Island, the factory area has reached more than 20,000 acres, nearly 30,000 workers and employees, and has three large docks that can undertake the construction of 50,000-ton ships. These four shipyards have a total of nine large docks that can undertake the construction of 50,000-ton warships. The total number of workers and employees exceeded 100,000.

There is no doubt that the strength of the Imperial Navy was not without any foundation. After the end of the last war, the Imperial Navy only let these shipyards operate at less than one-third of their construction capacity, which was enough to ensure the normal replacement of the Imperial Navy's warships, and if war broke out, then the Imperial Navy could keep these shipyards running at full capacity in a very short time, providing the Navy with a steady stream of warships. Of course, such a huge shipbuilding capacity is built on the huge industrial base of the empire, and without the world's most powerful industrial base of steel, chemicals, electricity, etc., then the empire would not be able to maintain such a huge military manufacturing industry.

There were too many things that surprised Tan Renhao, in addition to the huge shipbuilding industry, the other equipment manufacturing industrial systems of the Imperial Navy were not inferior at all. Especially in the last war, the empire experienced the most painful "defeat" in history and lost the throne of global domination, which made all the military and civilians of the empire reflect on why the powerful Tang Empire was not able to achieve complete victory in the war and was forced to sign a series of armistice treaties with the Eastern and Western powers. While saving face, he also lost his rightful position. In the year after the end of the war, the empire began a comprehensive industrial system reform, thus laying the foundation for the rapid development of the empire in the past ten years.

The power of the Imperial Navy is by no means only derived from a certain emotion, but more often than not, it has to develop at a super-fast speed under a huge threat. When Tan Renhao saw the series of ships being developed by the Imperial Navy and about to be equipped in the near future, he deeply felt this. These ships have a very distinctive feature, that is, they directly target the new ships that the three main opponents are equipping and developing, and the-for-tat development is enough to overwhelm, or at least restrain the opponent's warships.

Last year, for example, Japan secretly began developing the "Yamato"-class battleship, with a displacement of more than 60,000 tons, a record caliber of 460 mm main guns, and armor thicker than any other country's navy in service and under development. The United States of America also put forward a request for the development of battleships of the "Iowa" class almost simultaneously. The British Empire also came up with a similar design for battleships. Even the Kingdom of France, which was not a first-class naval power, came up with its own plan for a new battleship. At the beginning of the year, the Imperial Navy put forward a-for-tat plan for the development of a new battleship, calling for the construction of a new type of battleship that could completely overwhelm all other powers. The three main design institutes were quick to come up with their own designs, and all four shipyards made improvements to their dockyards to meet the new construction requirements in order to be able to secure orders from the Navy.

This is the brutal and huge naval arms race. The naval arms race is to burn money, and unlike the army's arms race, the navy cannot overwhelm its opponents through expansion, and the importance of equipment is vividly reflected in the navy's arms race; without the best warships, there will be no best fleet, and there will be no most powerful navy. Originally, the world's great powers wanted to avoid this kind of arms race, which was almost a pile of gold, so nine influential maritime powers signed the Treaty of Songjiang. However, the treaty is only valid for 20 years, and in two more years, the treaty will expire, and if one side does not agree to continue to extend the treaty, then a new round of naval arms race will begin again, and a new global war will soon break out. Obviously, there must be some countries that do not want to continue to extend the Matsue Treaty, so the various maritime powers have begun to develop new warships, warships that are completely free from the restrictions of the treaty.

Tan Renhao also saw the signs of a new arms race and even a new global war from a series of recent changes in the Imperial Navy. The war machine of the Imperial Navy has begun to accelerate, and more and more new warships, combat aircraft, and ammunition have been put on the development and equipment schedule. It's like a marathon with no end in sight, whoever can make it to the end will win the final victory.

Tan Renhao, who was immersed in great shock, almost forgot the time, he was like a pauper in a treasure house. As a result, when a captain officer who changed shifts in the afternoon came to remind him, it was already eight o'clock in the evening, and the database was closed at eight o'clock, so Tan Renhao was a little reluctant to leave this treasure.