Chapter 697: No Large Ships in the Strait

This evaluation is of extraordinary importance.

Most of those who were able to do this in history are still hanging on the wall, written in books, or standing in scenic spots.

Not to mention the heads of the departments, several other ministries and commissions that participated in the report were all very surprised, envious and jealous about this matter, but not hateful.

This kind of thing is really rare.

"We are going to give Comrade Gao Zhendong a big trophy weighing one ton." The leader said the word "weighing one ton" sincerely, which was different from when he was teasing the Russians.

The leader of the 17th Ministry of Machinery grinned and said nothing. He has a lot of this kind of stuff. You might as well write the eight words you just said to him.

However, he could only think about this in his mind.

Everyone laughed.

"It seems that we can be more optimistic about the steel production starting next year. So, should we produce something extra besides the original plan?"

A leader said with a smile, and this sentence immediately aroused everyone's interest.

Those who understand the “Five-Year Plan” will understand it, but five years is a relatively long period. The general direction may not change much within five years, but the details need to be constantly adjusted.

Especially for unexpected good news like this, it is necessary to make some targeted adjustments. If there is no additional increase in steel production, it is still the same plan. If there is additional increase in steel production, it is still the same plan. Then wouldn’t the Seventeenth Ministry of Machinery have worked in vain?

With our current situation, let alone increasing production by that much, even if it is doubled, you will only be able to digest as much as you can. However, we cannot rush into this matter without a plan. Precisely because there is not much steel, we have to use it where it counts.

"The Third Front has already begun. The demand for steel is very strong. We will consume as much as they increase production."

Although international relations and geopolitical situations have changed, the general direction remains unchanged. Slight differences in details and operations have not affected the emergence of the original Third Front construction policy.

"The Third Front has a plan. It is not just about steel and building materials, but also about construction progress, personnel transfer, talent training, equipment transfer, re-commissioning, and so on. One move affects the whole body. I think it is better to stay calm than to make any changes on the Third Front. We cannot make any hasty adjustments."

"Well, I agree with this suggestion. The Third Front is too expensive. Just solving the steel problem won't solve all the problems."

According to incomplete statistics, the original Third Front construction cost a total of more than 2000 billion yuan, and that was 60 billion yuan from the 80s to the 2000s.

This construction has greatly boosted the technology, economy, education and transportation levels of the central and western regions. Its significance is not as simple as building a few arsenals in the caves.

It can be said that if there were problems in the first and second lines at that time, there would be a chance to push back by relying on the production capacity of the third line. Strategic depth is not something that can be said for fun. The Japanese and South Koreans next door are all crying with envy.

As for Hans the Cat, the Gallic rooster who was repeatedly deceived by the Russians, he has a deep understanding of this issue.

The chief thought for a moment and said with a smile, "You guys, if you don't have steel, you're worried, and if you have steel, you're still worried! You won't be rich. In my opinion, you can either work on agriculture, water conservancy, and machinery, or build ships."

Everyone's eyes lit up at this. Agriculture, water, and machinery are not to be mentioned. Even for water outlets, steel is not too important, or it does not have a very direct relationship. What they want is construction machinery.

Let's solve the food problem first. There are three main things: sunlight, water, and fertilizer. If sunlight cannot be controlled, then at least water and fertilizer can be controlled to a certain extent. As for water, we have to rely on water conservancy projects. Without water conservancy projects, even the richest places still rely on the weather for food, not to mention those areas where conditions are not so good.

For example, one thing that goes against common sense is that the southwestern mountainous province, which is famous for "no three-day clear sky", once lacked agricultural water. It was not that there was no water, but that there was no water when it was needed, and when there was plenty of water, it all flowed away. By definition, this is called "structural water shortage" and "engineering water shortage."

These days, we cannot afford to repair concrete gravity dams and concrete arch dams. There is not enough cement, and we still need construction machinery. It would be better to build more earth-rock gravity dams, grouted stone arch dams, etc.

As for machinery, needless to say, industry, agriculture, mining and construction are all inseparable from this thing.

As for shipbuilding, it is interesting.

"Commander, do you mean the south?"

"That's right! That's what I mean. We don't have to build a warship. We can also build something to transport people. At least it should be big enough, hold enough, and travel far enough."

The issue in the south has always been on everyone's mind. We won't feel at ease until it's resolved.

"The Navy Equipment Bureau will probably be so happy about this."

"Well, the commander has a point. If we don't make guns with the steel, are we going to keep it for compensation?"

"We still need to figure out how to do it specifically."

"It's a pity that the comrades from the Defense Work Committee are not here today, otherwise we could have a good discussion now." "It's no use being here, there will be no results in a short time."

"But the general direction is set, and I think we should keep a portion of the additional steel production quota and give it to the Defense Work Committee, and let them decide what to make."

It is naturally impossible to melt the already produced wire rods, steel plates and various profiles and re-roll them for shipbuilding, but the extra indicators can replace some of the steel types to be produced next year. This means that the production plan for specific types of steel products next year can be adjusted, which is equivalent to using current products to replace future production capacity. Part of the future production capacity can be adjusted to shipbuilding materials.

The word "indicator" is generally used as data or standards in the following decades, but nowadays it refers to another thing, that is, money, materials, or resources.

"I got some XX quota..." These days, if you can tell your boss or colleagues this, they will praise you. This XX may be money, steel, wood, cement... or even staffing.

"I think this matter should be settled like this. For the specific matters, you can divide the targets, and the comrades in agriculture, water conservancy, and machinery should do their own work well. As for the troops, just hand it over to the Defense Work Committee and the Marine Equipment Bureau to implement it. We should not only keep our eyes on the island, but also on the sea."

This good news was quickly passed back to the Defense Work Committee.

The leaders of the Defense Work Committee never expected that they could receive gifts from the sky while they were sitting at home.

Looking at that slightly large number, the leaders of the Defense Work Committee were a little troubled.

I can’t finish it, I can’t finish it at all!
Although the proportion of this additional increase in production may not seem large, it is an increase in production for the entire country, and the absolute number is not small. At least for the Defense Work Committee and the Maritime Equipment Bureau, what they should be worried about now are the engines, shipyards, skilled workers, and ship operators.

In fact, no one knows that the total steel production in 61 was originally 60 million tons less than that in 400, only 800 million tons, and even less in 1962. It is a miracle that they see this figure of over million now.

Whether they know it or not, anyway, at the order of 1000 million tons, even if the additional production increases by 1%, that is 10 tons. To be honest, these numbers are really huge for the current navy's "air-submarine fast" force.

We can build a lot of small boats weighing dozens or hundreds of tons, but we don’t have enough experience in building large ships, and we don’t know how to build them.
Of course, each company gets a share, and considering the actual situation of the shipbuilding industry, the allocated steel quota is not 10 tons, but it is still a large number.

What should we do? The Defense Work Committee, which was in a state of happiness and worry, had to resort to the magic weapon again. Let's hold a meeting to discuss it.

On the surface, this matter seemed to have nothing to do with Gao Zhendong, and the Defense Work Committee did not want to involve Gao Zhendong in everything, which would not be a good thing for Gao Zhendong, so they did not notify Gao Zhendong.

However, before the meeting, the leader of the Defense Work Committee still called Gao Zhendong. He always felt that even if Gao Zhendong did not attend the meeting, he must have his own ideas on this issue, and his opinions should be very inspiring and even practical.

After all, there are many cases where people seem to have nothing to do with Gao Zhendong at first, but in the end they are led by him.

"Shipbuilding?" Gao Zhendong was confused when he received this confidential call.

"Yes, shipbuilding. I would like to hear your opinion in private."

After listening to the leader of the Defense Work Committee give a general account of the whole story, Gao Zhendong became excited.

Good news! Great news!
Gao Zhendong didn't expect that his little butterfly wings would flap like this.

If you talk about taking a boat, I probably have no interest in it because I get seasick!

When it comes to shipbuilding, I don’t know how to do it and I haven’t learned it!

But when it comes to what kind of ship to build, he has a lot of ideas.

Of course, building an aircraft carrier is unrealistic and too big a step. It's not a question of whether it can be built or not, but at this stage, it's impossible to even design it.

"Leader, I think we need to build some large ships and some small boats, but there are some things that we must build more of as well."

The large ships here refer to large main battle ships of more than 1,000 tons, not to mention small boats.

"Build a few large ships? Not more?"

Gao Zhendong smiled and said, "Leader, our focus is mainly on Danggui Island, right?"

The leader laughed and said, "What do you think?"

Gao Zhendong said: "Well, then I will assume that our target is in the direction of Angelica. Based on this assumption, we don't need too many large ships, or even necessarily need large ships. I said to build some large ships mainly for further considerations."

He was stunned by Gao Zhendong's unorthodox statement: "Zhendong, are you sure your judgment is correct? Without large ships, small boats are clustered together to die?"

Gao Zhendong did not give in: "Leader, think about it, with the current weapons and equipment technology and future development, what is the probability of a large ship surviving in a 200-kilometer-wide strait?"

There are no large ships in the Strait!
(End of this chapter)