12dz Chapter 413 The Pilot's Ambition
Chapter 413 The Pilot's Ambition
Zhang Chi stood in front of the glass window on the third floor of the Yangon Admiralty Building, looking through the glass at the port that was seized from the Japanese nearly a year ago and is now the busiest port in Southeast Asia.
The sunlight shone between the rails and steam cranes in the port area, creating a bright metallic luster; at the far end of the dock, several newly painted merchant ships were slowly berthing, with steam whistling and cables swung out, and were tied to the mooring bollards with the skillful movements of the port staff, causing the port base to tremble slightly.
Cargo ships coming in from the south were waiting for berths one after another. A "Liberty Ship" with a mottled hull was flying the American flag. As the whistle sounded, huge steam cranes were lifting rows of wooden boxes off the ship and placing them in the cargo area.
In the cargo area, countless huge wooden boxes are piled up like mountains. On one side are auto parts printed with "PACKARD" and "FORD" and a large number of gasoline barrels, and on the other side are ammunition boxes and canned rations with military seals. A large number of dock workers are working shirtless in the hot sun. The sounds of whistles, shouts and the roar of diesel engines are mixed together, like a never-ending symphony of iron and fire.
In the dry dock of the Navy's Third Repair Shipyard, a submarine chaser was having its rudder dismantled. Nearby, a White Eagle imported crane was hoisting a brand-new turbine engine, while a dozen technicians in blue overalls were welding.
On the newly built slipway not far away, the keels of two 1,000-ton fast supply ships built by Nanhua were being welded. White steam was rising from the shipbuilding shed, and the flames from the welding guns made people's faces red.
The water outside the harbor is even more spectacular.
Three tugboats and a pilot boat were leading a transport fleet loaded with supplies, leaving the port and preparing to head towards the Malay Peninsula.
This supply fleet will sail to the Port of Kuala Lumpur under the escort of several destroyers, unload the supplies, and then transport them to the front line in Singapore by truck.
The bows of the two largest 10,000-ton cargo ships were splashing with waves. Zhang Chi knew that these huge cargo ships were the guarantee for the Anmin Army's artillery to fire unscrupulously on the Lion City front and suppress the Japanese in the Lion City fortress with 132mm rockets and 155mm heavy artillery.
In the air, a PBY seaplane with a new paint job circled high in the sky outside the harbor, occasionally dropping a yellow-orange signal buoy, then turning towards the airport, leaving behind a faint spiral of smoke.
Zhang Chi exhaled softly. He remained silent, watching the port bustling with activity like clockwork.
Countless Chinese and a small number of indigenous dock workers were sweating profusely under his gaze. Although the work was hard, Zhang Chi could vaguely see the yearning for a better life on their faces.
With work comes wages, and with wages, one can support their families. Generation after generation, the Chinese people have naturally been able to thrive and multiply on this land.
Of course, education and development cannot be left behind. In Zhang Chi's plan, the job of carrying heavy bags at the dock will sooner or later be eliminated, and the descendants of these dock workers must receive education and are destined to become industrial workers.
Zhang Chi felt that this was the biggest change that he, a time traveler, had brought to the Nanyang region of this world.
He put down the telescope and noticed a noise beside him. He turned around and saw Zhang Guangjun, the naval commander of the Anmin Army, coming over.
Zhang Guangjun spoke in a tone that sounded like a casual chat, but also like a complaint. "The port facilities left by the Johns have been restored quite well, and the shipyard and repair yard are both operational. It's a pity that the slipway is only capable of handling a thousand tons, so it can't handle anything major."
"Besides, the Johns never intended to properly develop Pegu. The remaining Yangon Port also has no distinction between military and civilian areas. The navy's berth is right next to the civilian port. If the Japanese really infiltrated, it would be too easy for them to conduct reconnaissance or sabotage. With so many people and so many eyes, it would be difficult for our people to distinguish them."
Zhang Chi nodded. "You're right. We should find a place to rebuild a large naval port. Especially when aircraft carriers are commissioned, this new port must be independent and have 10,000-ton berths and a dry dock."
Currently in Southeast Asia, the only ports capable of handling tens of thousands of tons of cargo ships and warships are Singapore and the Port of Mumbai in Sindhu.
The Mumbai Port houses the Mazgaon Dockyard and the Royal Naval Dockyard, which are capable of building and maintaining 10,000-ton warships and are the main bases of the United Kingdom's Eastern Fleet.
Although its industrial supporting facilities such as armored steel plates and naval gun manufacturing still needed to rely on the United Kingdom, this also meant that once Sindhu became independent, it would immediately possess the strongest shipbuilding capabilities in Asia except for the Japanese.
In addition, there is the Sembawang Naval Base built by John at a cost of 6000 million pounds in Singapore. It has one of the largest dry docks in the world (300 meters long and 10 meters deep) and can maintain 4-ton battleships (such as the "Prince of Wales").
Later, John's garrison surrendered, and the dry dock naturally fell into the hands of the Japanese.
Zhang Guangjun's face immediately showed an expression of extreme surprise: "We are going to have an aircraft carrier?"
He didn't expect that the aircraft carrier issue had just been mentioned last month, and there would be a hint of it so soon. "I was wondering why my left eyelid kept twitching today. Commander-in-Chief, this good news came too suddenly, hahahaha."
"Can I still brag to you?" Zhang Chi jokingly said, "I gave Harold $10 and reserved a board seat for his second son in the joint venture.
Even in the future, when Harold hands over the job to his eldest son and retires, he can come to us to receive a special consultant allowance. Our "sincerity" is so strong, how can he not be concerned?
Harold is a senior senator from the Democratic Party, after all. He can't be incapable of doing such a thing, right? I think this thing is 90% successful. Guangjun, you should prepare the pilots now."
Zhang Guangjun did some mental calculations and concluded that with three escort aircraft carriers and replacement pilots, there would need to be at least 120 carrier-based aircraft pilots.
Currently, the People's Army Air Force has 4 aviation divisions, plus many independent aviation squadrons and transport aircraft regiments. If you add the students of the Air Force School in Myitkyina, the number of air force pilots alone is close to thousands.
If you include the navigators, bombardiers, machine gunners, and radio operators of reconnaissance planes, who weren't actually flying the planes, the number would exceed 3,000. (Large four-engine aircraft like the PBY-4 and B-17 typically had crews of more than 10 people.)
As for the Naval Aviation, although a group of pilots were transferred from the Air Force to fly seaplanes and perform search and rescue, reconnaissance, and anti-submarine missions, its main source of pilots is still the newly established Naval Aviation Schools.
All in all, the number of pilots under the Anmin Army has reached 5000. Although money is spent like water, Zhang Chi is really "painful and happy".
When this batch of aviation school students graduate, the scale of the Anmin Army's air force will be unmatched by anyone except a few major powers.
As a time traveler, Zhang Chi knows only too well the importance of the Air Force to national defense.
Of course, this was still the era of propeller planes, and the cost of training pilots wasn't that high. With the jet era, the high costs would have forced Zhang Chi to reduce the number of military pilots.
However, so many pilots now will not be wasted. After the war is over, the civil aviation industry will usher in great development. At that time, they can retire and contribute to economic development.
"Well, you draw up a budget and submit an application. I'll grant the Navy special funding specifically for the support of these three aircraft carriers!"
"That's great, hahaha." Zhang Guangjun smiled happily. Now is still the propeller era, and the difficulty of take-off and landing of carrier-based aircraft is much lower than that in the jet era. He is fully confident that he can train a team of carrier-based aircraft pilots before the ship is delivered.