Chapter 21: Mobilizing the Cruiser
A cruiser is a type of warship that is strong in firepower and versatile, mainly used for ocean-going activities. Although it came with the battleship, it has stronger attacking power and protection, higher speed, longer endurance and stronger adaptability, making it a vessel capable of long-term combat in oceanic regions.
For the great powers with battleships, cruisers are just the main warships that escort them. However, powerful naval combat formations centered on cruisers were also formed to defend the unobstructed sea transportation lines and deal with enemy surface ships and shore targets. The cruiser of the People's Army Navy is the largest and strongest combat ship in the naval fleet, which exists not only for routine war preparedness patrols but also as a main warship.
During the European war, the development of cruisers accelerated and their quality improved significantly. Cruisers with full-load displacements between 3,000 to 4,000 tons emerged, with main power plants being steam turbines, replacing coal-fired boilers with oil-fired ones, increasing speeds from 25 knots to 30 knots, increasing endurance, and armaments mainly consisting of 127-152mm caliber guns, with some reaching up to 190mm, already possessing the capability to suppress enemy destroyers, guide and support friendly naval forces in combat.
On November 5, 1922, the Five-Power Naval Limitation Treaty with a ten-year effective period was reached among the United States, Britain, France, Italy and Japan, imposing strict restrictions on battleships. After the treaty came into effect, major naval powers naturally shifted their focus to building cruisers with standard displacements below 10,000 tons and gun calibers below 203mm. As a result, cruisers began to develop in both heavy and light directions.
It has been nearly six years since the treaty was signed. Although countries have signed a treaty limiting naval armaments, this treaty has not hindered countries from pursuing more advanced warships, but only slowed down the construction of warships in various countries during the effective period of the treaty, and there are no small creations of various countries in new warships.
Heavy cruisers had main armament with a calibre of 203mm or below, light cruisers had main armament with a calibre of 152mm or below. In order to circumvent the treaty restrictions while rapidly expanding their forces, each signatory country made various moves. The British treaty cruisers were designed for 190mm guns but were initially armed with 152mm guns to make them light cruisers, pending the expiration of the treaty when they could be quickly rearmed with larger calibre guns. Japanese light cruisers were also built in this way, with five twin 203mm turrets designed but fitted with five triple 155mm main armament turrets to avoid treaty restrictions; as soon as hostilities commenced, these could be quickly replaced by the 203mm guns.
However, within the ten-year effective period of the Washington Treaty, also known as the "Navy Holiday", there were no naval battles in the world during this period. Due to the existence of disarmament treaties, the update of warships was very slow, giving people a misconception that the world had already moved away from war. But in just six short years, the equipment of cruisers of various powers has shown two levels: heavy and light.
Although the Washington Conference resulted in restrictions on aircraft carriers, the traditional position of the big gun battleship was not to be shaken for some time; cruisers became like battleships, being looked upon as floating fortresses, especially heavy cruisers.
Heavy cruiser, with 8 to 9 main guns, caliber above 203mm, divided into 3 to 4 turrets, range about 20 nautical miles, mainly used to destroy enemy cruisers and attack shore targets. Also equipped with more than 10 secondary guns, caliber below 130mm, mostly dual-purpose. At the same time, there are dozens of automatic cannons, used to counter small ships and aircraft attacks. Equipped with 3 to 4 seaplanes, used for correcting naval gunfire and reconnaissance. Vertical armor thickness ranges from 76mm to 200mm, horizontal armor thickness between 50mm to 127mm. This type of cruiser has a displacement of over 20,000 tons, speed above 30 knots, endurance over 10,000 nautical miles, is the main combat vessel for long-range joint operations with battleships or aircraft carriers.
Light cruisers have a displacement of around 10,000 tons, with a slightly faster speed than heavy cruisers. The armor protection is also inferior to that of heavy cruisers, but the endurance is still around 10,000 nautical miles, with the ability to cooperate with large warships in distant oceans. The main gun caliber is below 152mm, with 6-12 main guns, used to attack enemy light ships and land targets. Some are equipped with 127-133mm caliber naval guns for air defense and attacking enemy small boats. More than eight secondary gun calibers range from 88-127mm, paired with dozens of small-caliber guns, torpedoes, mines, depth charges, etc., carrying 2 or 3 seaplanes for reconnaissance. The armor thickness of light cruisers is approximately 51-127mm.
The People's Liberation Army Navy required the China State Shipbuilding Corporation to launch its first naval cruiser, which is a cruiser between light and heavy cruisers of major powers. The navy demanded a cruiser with certain naval combat capabilities and good anti-aircraft performance. Before the naval aviation issued related aircraft development requirements to the First and Second Groups of China Aviation in October 1925, the Naval Logistics Equipment Command and the Naval Equipment Technology Office had already jointly issued shipbuilding requirements to the China State Shipbuilding Corporation. The corporation quickly came up with three design plans, and after careful selection and debate, the navy chose the more reasonable second plan.
After the plan was finalized, the Navy quickly organized relevant personnel to work with Zhongzhong Shipyard to refine the second design plan. After completing all theoretical and model experiments in March 1926, the Navy was very satisfied and directly placed an order for two ships with Zhongzhong Shipyard, and even prepaid 30% of the cost. As Commander-in-Chief Chen Shaokuan said, "it's not a matter of money", the Navy had the strength to build two warships just for fun after saving for many years.
On April 2, 1926, the Qinzhou and Beihai shipyards simultaneously cut the first steel plates of two cruisers named after industrial cities, "Nanning" and "Wuzhou". Both ships were launched on May 17, 1927, with "Nanning" in the morning and "Wuzhou" in the afternoon. After mooring experiments and navigation experiments, the two ships underwent detailed tests of their power supply, communication, propulsion, and other systems.
On September 1, 1927, Nanning and Wuzhou began their endless sea trials. As the first batch of large warships in the autonomous region, the two ships were closely linked to the Taishan plan from the beginning of construction, entangled with a major scientific research project, resulting in nearly thirty percent of the entire ship being innovative in the autonomous region, especially its combat system is equipped with a large number of high-tech equipment, fully reflecting the concept of the navy as a high-tech integrated service.
Taking Nanning as an example, the combat system of this ship belongs to electronic information systems and shipborne weapon systems. Because many high-tech products such as air conditioners, radars, and electronic computers are equipped with the essence of autonomous region's science and technology industry, this ship has a big difference from the cruisers of powerful countries.
The ship is equipped with many different wireless devices for various purposes. There are ultra-long wave devices for sending standard signals and submarine reports, long-wave low-frequency devices for shore-to-ship communication within a range of 30 to 250 nautical miles, medium-wave medium-frequency devices for tactical and rescue communications within a distance of less than 30 nautical miles, short-wave high-frequency devices for long-distance communication and tactical communication, and ultra-short wave very-high frequency devices for tactical command (air-to-air, air-to-ship, air-to-shore, etc.) communication.
The navigation system is designed to ensure safe navigation of the vessel, providing accurate information on the vessel's heading, speed, latitude and longitude, as well as water depth, wind speed, wind direction, temperature, and humidity. It includes platform gyrocompasses, wireless telegraphy and astronomical navigation equipment, especially since the vessel was equipped with an electronic computer, which enabled the construction of a combined navigation system. Through a series of sensors collecting information on heading, speed, position, etc., it is transmitted to the computer for centralized management and display, making it convenient for the vessel's staff to reduce parameter calculations and quickly formulate navigation plans. Of course, this function is not very strong, whether in terms of hardware or software capabilities, it cannot be compared with high-speed computers of later generations, but at that time, it was already considered super high-tech.
Radar developed from wireless telegraphy, there are two types of radar according to different working methods: continuous wave and pulse. Pulse radar refers to the intermittent transmission of high-power pulse signals, receiving the reflected echo signal in the interval time of the pulse, and calculating the more accurate distance of the target after calculation.
Of course, continuous wave radar refers to the continuous transmission of radio signals, but its frequency or phase will change according to a certain rule. The frequency and phase received at each instant are different from those transmitted, and after comparison, the distance of the target is known. Therefore, compared with the former, continuous wave radar has an advantage, that is, using the Doppler effect of moving targets, unmodulated continuous wave radar can measure the speed of targets with any speed within a considerable range.
The electronic industry level of the autonomous region with limited strength is still far from that in the second half of the 20th century, so there are no phased array radar, over-the-horizon radar and other radar equipment with too high technical difficulty. There are only two types of radars equipped on Nanning. The first one is used for detecting air threats at a certain distance, but does not require high accuracy and resolution. This radar is installed at the rear of the ship, with the antenna placed on the rear mast, which cannot provide radar video but can provide relatively good target point tracks and flight paths.
The second is a fire control radar used for continuous and accurate measurement of target coordinate position information, mainly for low-altitude and sea targets. Due to the high requirements for accuracy and resolution, its effective range is relatively short. This radar also cannot provide radar video, after all, the level of electronic industry in autonomous regions is still very limited. However, the antenna is installed on the front mast, and there are no obstructions around it, the bow and stern lines coincide with the ship's bow and stern lines, and it is located at a relatively high position on the ship, which is roughly the same as the layout of later naval radar systems.
The Nanning has a passive sonar system installed, with its transducer array mounted in the bow of the submarine. The bow is made of stainless steel, which provides good durability and resistance to corrosion. Other materials such as composite glass fiber, titanium alloy, and towed array sonar are still in the experimental stage. The mature metallurgical industry in Guangxi can provide stainless steel bows that match the size and shape of the submarine, ensuring its rapidity and wave resistance. Of course, with the advancement of technology and materials, future sonars will gradually possess better detection, tracking, positioning, identification, real-time signal transmission, and other performance capabilities, seamlessly integrating with combat systems to achieve data acquisition, information processing, analysis decision-making, and weapon attacks. However, for now, the Nanning is equipped with a very good passive sonar system that is already among the world's best.
In summary, the Nanning and Wuzhou as the first batch of large surface warships in the Navy, their electronic systems are still very primitive, and there is a big gap between the Navy and even the entire People's Army in terms of electronic countermeasures, acoustic countermeasures, and photoelectric countermeasures. However, having electronic equipment with certain detection capabilities against sea, air, and submarines is already sufficient for the weak naval forces. Although the number of ships cannot compete with the powerful nations, having better single-ship performance, gaining an advantage in grasping battlefield information before the enemy, and having good overall combat capability due to a relatively complete communication command system, all make the seemingly weak People's Army Navy narrow the gap in combat strength with the powerful nations.
"I can see you, but you don't know I'm here. Beyond visual range, I can already open fire on you, but you still don't know where I am; I know that your flight in the air poses a threat to me, but you still don't know that I've already grasped your trajectory, and anti-aircraft guns are waiting for your arrival; thinking you're hiding sneakily in the ocean, preparing to launch a fatal attack, but not knowing that I've long known of your existence."
Captain Shang Donghai of the Nanning praised his "new wife" for its advantages, saying that with its information advantage, the radar is the sharpest eye and the sonar is the best ear. Combining these with the weapon system, after a series of calculations, he found that the navy actually has no significant gap with the powerful countries, let alone being afraid.
Nanning and Wuzhou, both belong to the People's Liberation Army Navy City-class cruisers. Length 155m, width 18m, draft 5m, standard displacement 9000 tons, full load displacement over 12000 tons, maximum output power 85000 horsepower, sea trial test maximum speed reached 33 knots, 18 knots is its economic cruising speed, maximum range 10000 nautical miles. The weapon configuration is three twin-mounted 203mm main guns, six twin-mounted 120mm secondary guns, eight quadruple-mounted 40mm anti-aircraft guns, and twelve 25mm machine guns.
Overall, the ship is a heavy cruiser that can't match the firepower of the strong powers, but is significantly stronger than their light cruisers, so it's more like an intermediate cruiser. The largest weapon on this ship is only three twin 203mm guns, but considering they have radar targeting and computer-assisted fire control, they can detect and accurately open fire before the enemy, even if facing off against a strong power's heavy cruiser, they won't be at a complete disadvantage. After all, the 203mm large-caliber guns on this ship, including their various ammunition and armor protection, are the crystallization of the autonomous region's industrial strength, forged with every bill, every drop of sweat from workers, and every day of research by scientists.
On January 17, 1928, the two cruisers were officially incorporated into the naval combat fleet, along with two newly arrived destroyers. The combat fleet now had two cruisers and six destroyers. In the words of Navy Commander Chen Shaokuan, this meant that the combat fleet finally had some capital to call its own in confrontational training exercises against the aviation department.
Two cruisers with good air defense capabilities have joined, and although they are still a small dish for the naval aviation, this dish is now somewhat difficult to swallow. For novice pilots who are not proficient in tactics and coordination, the enhancement of the combat fleet's strength is undoubtedly beneficial to them, and they will not grow up if they are not "shot down" several times. As for the old birds, the combat fleet is also more difficult to deal with, after all, the two cruisers are both large surface ships equipped with air defense radar, and when the aircraft is still dozens of nautical miles away from the fleet, others already know that they are coming, and have enough time to enter a defensive state.
Thus, within the northern part of Hainan Island's defensive perimeter, the Beibu Gulf, the Xisha Islands, the Dongsha Islands, and other areas in the South China Sea, based on the patterns of foreign warships and merchant ships entering these waters as provided by the submarine force, combat fleets often engaged in competitions with the naval aviation department in larger empty spaces and longer periods without outsiders.
In short, through frequent exercises and continuous reflection, the officers and soldiers made great progress, and the combat effectiveness of the two fleets was greatly enhanced. However, the expenses for heavy oil, aviation gasoline, exercise ammunition, and scrapped gun barrels were making Chen Shaokuan feel a sharp pain. The navy's accumulated funds over the years were decreasing day by day. Nevertheless, as long as the navy's combat effectiveness continued to grow, and the navy continued to develop and expand, even higher expenses would be worthwhile. Chen Shaokuan remembered that Zhang Yu had said that if there was no money, he should ask him for it, so he gave the naval aviation and fleets a free rein. The navy, which was in its golden growth period, could not afford to be delayed by petty financial matters. However, all good things must come to an end, and the navy's good days finally had to take a pause.
"Immediately plot a course for Guangzhou Port, and also mobilize the officers on leave to camouflage all exposed equipment above Level 2 secrecy!"
After receiving the latest directive telegram from the Navy Command, the combat fleet that had just prepared to engage in a game of cat and mouse with the submarine force was instructed to enter Guangzhou Port as soon as possible. The main anchorage of the navy has always been Beihai Port, Sanya Port, and Zhanjiang Port, sometimes going to Fangchenggang for maintenance, but never entering Hong Kong or passing by it to enter Guangzhou Port, even though Guangdong had already merged into the autonomous region. Due to the unresolved issue of Hong Kong and Macau, the navy has not yet set foot in the Wanshan Archipelago. Suddenly receiving such an order is obviously a politically significant special action, even if it's just a routine military port call.
After the order was issued, the necessary warships that need to continue training and be on standby in the combat fleet will remain. The Nanning cruiser, Wuzhou cruiser, Haikou destroyer, and Sanya destroyer will enter Guangzhou Port for anchorage. These two destroyers, including the other two destroyers of the combat fleet, were not equipped with confidential equipment due to limited ship carrying capacity and naval strategic needs when they were built, as radar and other electronic technologies were not yet mature at that time. After the necessary disguise of Nanning cruiser is completed, the three warships will head straight to Guangzhou. Not only them, but also the navy has something to show off, and all this will be for the Hong Kong issue.
"Since words are not working, let's use force. The truth exists within the range of naval gunfire, and now we must add another sentence - justice is only within the range of combat aircraft, this makes sense!"
Upon receiving the news that the naval fleet had set sail and the construction of the air force's forward airfield was completed, Zhang Yu also made preparations to meet Jin Wentai in Guangzhou. In his view, Britain must return Hong Kong no matter what, which not only concerns whether Macau can return but also the mission and responsibility of the People's Army and the People's Autonomous Government, as well as the sovereignty and interests of the 400 million Chinese nation.
