Reborn in Brazil As a Plutocrat

  Chapter 431 Destroyer Development Direction

  The capital of Brazil, Rio de Janeiro.

  Fang Lang, who had just walked into the office building of the Ministry of the Navy, was smiling, and greeted everyone with a smile, with an easy-going expression.

  This time, in order to promote the Brazilian Ministry of National Defense, Fangyuan Shipyard was entrusted to design and build a new destroyer. Fang Lang can be regarded as a great effort. The office of the Ministry of the Navy, who would not come twice a year for most of the year, must come to report every day in the past week.

  Even many unfamiliar officers of the Admiralty became acquainted with him, and people kept saying hello to him when they met, which made his facial muscles swell and ache when he laughed.

   Fortunately, hard work pays off. After this period of unremitting efforts, the independent shipbuilding plan has finally progressed smoothly. The Ministry of National Defense officially issued an announcement to entrust Fangyuan Shipyard to design and build a new type of 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 shake his head helplessly, because this requirement and the current "Fletcher" class destroyer are simply different. Not much difference.

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

  He kept greeting people all the way, and finally came to the office of the Minister of the Navy. When the secretary saw Fang Lang's arrival, he quickly got up to greet him.

   "General Fang, you are here! Mr. Minister ordered that you don't need to report your arrival, just go in."

  General Crook's secretary was a young major officer. He said he was young, but he was actually two years older than Fang Lang, and Fang Lang could still see a trace of greenness on the other's face.

   Unlike Fang Lang, although he is young, he already feels a bit mature and prudent. Of course, this feeling is mainly reflected in his temperament. After all, the chief officer of the army with a heavy army in his hand naturally feels decisive and decisive in speaking and doing things.

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

  Although Fang Lang looked smiling, the confidence and firmness in his eyes could not be ignored at all.

When he came to a site that didn't belong to him, he didn't feel any restraint at all. Instead, he looked like a leader who came to inspect, with a hint of sharpness in his eyes. When his eyes stayed on the secretary, he would unconsciously straighten his spine .

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

   "Okay, go about your own business! Leave me alone."

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

"Report!"

   A deep voice came from inside:

   "Come in!"

   Fang Lang, who got the reply, turned his head and smiled at the secretary, nodded, and pushed open the door of the office. Before Fang Lang could speak, General Crook's voice came from inside:

   "I can tell it's you by the sound, come in!"

The secretary at the door heard that General Crook, who had always been very serious, would have such an easy-going side, and his expression froze. He looked at Fang Lang's back enviously, and couldn't help sighing secretly, when will I have it? Such a treat!

  Fang Lang didn't bother to pay attention to the secretary's thoughts. After hearing General Crook's words, he walked into the office with a smile and said:

  “It’s hard to find time to stay in Rio de Janeiro for a while, of course I want to get closer to you.

   Don't you welcome? "

  The secretary at the door waited for Fang Lang to enter, and hurried forward to close the office door.

  General Crook in the office had stood up and walked towards the reception area, pointing his finger at the coffee table in the reception area, and beckoned Fang Lang to sit down. Fang Lang was also polite, and sat down on the sofa in the reception area.

  Hands have already reached out to the tea tray on the coffee table very naturally. This is a set of small tea trays made of mahogany. There are various tea utensils on the tea tray.

   This was installed by Fang Lang himself when Fang Lang came to visit two days ago. For more than a week, I have come here to sit and drink Kung Fu tea every day. Under his leadership, General Crook has also gotten used to this novel way of drinking tea.

   Seeing Fang Lang's casual look as if he had returned to his home, General Crook, instead of being angry, smiled and joked:

   "Don't tell me you won't come if I say no welcome?"

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

   "That's impossible, I believe, the general will welcome me at any time."

  General Crook handed Fang Lang a cigar, took out another one for himself, and sat casually 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 won't come today?"

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

   "After going back yesterday, I carefully studied the destroyer performance requirements proposed by the Ministry of the Navy. I personally feel that there is still some room for adjustment, so I want to discuss it with you again."

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

   "Tell me what's on your mind."

  Fang Lang didn't answer right away, but made the tea in his hand, handed a cup to General Crook, took another cup for himself, took a sip, and said slowly:

   "I think the requirements of the Ministry of the Navy are still a bit conservative.

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

   Hearing this, General Crook didn't change much in expression, but continued to smoke the cigar in his hand calmly, and after waiting for a while, he said with a smile on his face:

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

Regarding General Crook's question, Fang Lang already had an answer in his heart, but he did not answer the question directly. Instead, he picked up the cigar on the table, trimmed it while thinking about how to speak, and said slowly after a long while :

   "Your Excellency, I was born in the army and became a monk halfway into the navy. Many people may think that I am not professional.

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

  If what I said is wrong, please let me know. "

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

   "You are the mainstay of our Brazilian Navy, how dare anyone say you are unprofessional?"

   I didn't expect the old guy Crook to be so naughty, Fang Lang could only show a wry smile and said:

   "At my age, I have already become a powerful general in the Brazilian Navy, so how could no one gossip!

  But I don't care about this, after all, I was promoted by relying on solid combat achievements,

  Of course, the promotion of me by Your Excellency General is indispensable behind this.

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

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

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

   "Then do you know why the Admiralty would make such a design request?"

  Hearing the words, Fang Lang smiled wryly, and said helplessly:

   "I understand what you mean. The reason why the Ministry of the Navy proposed such a design request is also to give our shipyard a chance to learn and exercise.

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

   Moreover, the times have changed now, and the communication between countries in the world has become very easy. We don't have to worry about the lack of such strength in the shipyard.

   The big deal is that we hire professional designers and excellent engineers from developed countries to work in our shipyards.

  Besides, based on the relationship between our Fangyuan Shipyard and Universal Shipbuilding, I think these are not difficult.

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

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

  At first, the Ministry of the Navy really moved the performance parameters of the destroyer to the US "Fletcher" class destroyer for the sake of training the team.

  In General Crook's view, this is the protection of the country's shipbuilding enterprises, but after Fang Lang's words just now, his heart loosened a little.

  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 not beneficial to the development of shipyards.

   After thinking about it, General Crook nodded solemnly and said:

   "You are right, but what kind of destroyer do you want? Or how big do you want to go?"

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

  “When I was training in the United States, my teacher said that the first purpose of destroyers was to protect our large warships from small torpedo boats. They mainly use artillery and torpedoes to kill enemy torpedo boats.

  But as time progresses, the role of torpedo boats is becoming more and more diverse. In World War I, with the emergence of submarines, destroyers were given anti-submarine missions.

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

  The tonnage of the ship has also grown from the initial 400 tons to the current 5,000 tons.

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

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

  As an old navy, General Crook was of course very clear about what Fang Lang said, but Fang Lang's conclusion surprised him a bit. After a little thought, he said with uncertainty:

   "You said that the future of destroyers is more diverse functions, which I agree with. But isn't the current function diverse enough?

   You know, he covers almost all directions where the enemy can attack, whether it is land, sky, sea or seabed, they have all been included in the attack range by destroyers.

   In addition to these, can the enemy attack from other places that we don't know? "

  (end of this chapter)