181: Chapter 91 Industrial Takeoff

The spring of 1907 arrived earlier and more fiercely than in previous years.

Outside Jinling City, the massive industrial zone, privately dubbed the "City of Steel" by the workers, awakened in the morning light.

Dozens of towering chimneys spewed billows of white smoke, dyeing the sky a grayish-blue, with clouds churning within the plumes like boiling water.

The massive blast furnaces stood like steel behemoths; when the furnace doors opened, orange-red flames gushed out, lighting up half the sky, while molten iron flowed along the channels like roaring rivers of fire, pouring into giant ladles and sending sparks flying into the sky.

The air was filled with the mixed scent of coke, rust, and high-temperature steam, while the ears were met with a symphony of mechanical roars, metal collisions, and steam hisses.

Li Ling stood before a newly built giant blast furnace, holding a cup of hot tea, but he did not take a single sip, his eyes fixed intently on the dancing needles of the instrument panel.

He wore dusty work clothes, the strap of his hard hat pulled tight under his chin, his face marked with red patches from the wind and sand, his eyes sharp as an eagle's.

This blast furnace was the flagship project of the steel industry under the Five-Year Plan—the furnace volume exceeded one thousand cubic meters, with a daily pig iron production capacity of over two thousand tons, equipped with a complete set of hot blast stoves and dust removal equipment imported from the German Empire, its technological level unmatched in Asia.

The refractory bricks on the furnace wall glowed dark red under the high heat, and waves of heat rushed toward him, scorching his cheeks, but he did not step back.

"Your Majesty, the first batch of molten iron has been tapped!" the chief engineer of the Production Base, Old Zhao, shouted excitedly, his voice trembling slightly, his grip nearly crushing the clipboard in his hands.

Behind him, several young technicians clenched their fists, holding their breath, their eyes locked on the slowly tilting furnace mouth.

The red molten iron poured out like lava, flowing through the channels into the steel ladle, which was then hoisted up, moving slowly through the air like a small sun.

The moment the molten iron touched the air, a silver-white oxide film formed on the surface, only to be broken through by the scorching heat from within, sending thousands of sparks flying like a meteor shower in reverse.

The surrounding engineers and technicians erupted in cheers; some took off their hard hats and waved them, others hugged each other, and some could not help but applaud.

Among them were experts manifested by the system, technical consultants from the German Empire, and local engineers who had grown through training, all immersed in the joy of success at this moment.

A young local engineer even secretly wiped the corner of his eye—he was from a rural area in Hebei, struggling to make a living in the fields three years ago, and now he was an assistant operator for this blast furnace.

Li Ling put down his teacup, the corners of his mouth lifting slightly: "Good. But this is just the beginning. Tell all workshops not to slack off and to continue optimizing the process. What I want is an annual output of 1.2 million tons, not just the success of one batch of molten iron. For the next batch, strive to shorten the tapping time by five minutes."

He turned to Old Zhao, "How are the thermocouple readings? The erosion rate of the furnace lining must be kept within 0.3 millimeters per hour. If it exceeds that, adjust the air volume ratio immediately."

Just then, a communications soldier ran over quickly and handed him an encrypted telegram: "Your Majesty, urgent report from the northwest border! Hostile armed elements have crossed the border line, attacked one of our border trade towns, burned dozens of houses, looted hundreds of tons of grain and supplies, and killed seventeen innocent civilians."

"According to scouts, there are about three hundred attackers, equipped with standard Imperial Russian rifles and machine guns; they are likely a rogue unit of remnants from the Imperial Russian forces. Scouts discovered a large number of hoof prints and tire tracks on the sand outside the town, pointing toward a valley about forty kilometers to the northwest."

Li Ling took the telegram, scanned it quickly, and his expression darkened. He put the telegram away, his voice as cold as quenched ice: "Perfect, let's use them to test the new equipment."

Half an hour later, Li Ling appeared at the field airport outside Yumen Pass. Three silver-white Qingyun-1 attack aircraft were warming up on the runway; the airflow stirred up by the rotating propellers made it impossible to open one's eyes, and the whipped-up sand stung the face.

These aircraft were the pride of the Air Force, with a twelve-meter wingspan, powered by a three-hundred-horsepower radial air-cooled engine, a maximum speed of 180 kilometers per hour, capable of carrying four 50-kilogram aerial bombs or two 100-kilogram bombs, and equipped with a 7.62-millimeter synchronized machine gun in the nose—the bullets fired through the gap of the rotating propeller, theoretically avoiding the blades, but requiring the pilot to maintain high focus when pulling the trigger; any slight deviation could cause a mechanical failure.

"Your Majesty!" Aviation Squadron Commander Zhao Peng ran over and saluted, his flight suit still stained with machine oil from last night's maintenance. "The fleet is ready and can take off at any time! All three aircraft have completed final checks, engines are in good condition, and bomb racks are secure."

Li Ling nodded, his gaze sweeping over the propellers slowly turning at the end of the runway: "The target is in a valley about forty kilometers northwest of the border trade town; they have established a temporary camp there, with about three hundred people. Their tents are concentrated on the leeward side of the north slope of the valley, with carriages and pack animals on the east side, and newly dug trenches and firing bunkers on the south side. Your mission: first bomb the camp, destroy their supplies and ammunition, then strafe the retreating soldiers, and do not give them a chance to organize a retreat. Remember, do not get close to the ground, keep at an altitude above five hundred meters, their machine guns cannot reach you. But if they are carrying old Imperial Russian Maxim Heavy Machine Guns, although the effective range is less than one thousand meters, stray bullets may still threaten you if you fly at low altitude, so maintain altitude and speed."

"Yes!" Commander Zhao Peng turned and ran toward his aircraft, his long boots leaving deep footprints in the sandy ground.

Five minutes later, the three attack aircraft took off one by one, their silver-white wings reflecting dazzling light in the morning sun, the roar of their engines echoing over the wilderness. They soon became three small dots, disappearing at the skyline, leaving three pale white trails in the blue sky, like sharp blades cutting through silk.

Li Ling stood on the command tower, holding binoculars, watching the planes fly away. The sea breeze blew from the north, bringing the scent of sand, dry and coarse. He lowered the binoculars, his fingers tapping gently on the railing—one, two—the rhythm slow and steady.

The system spoke in his mind, its voice steady: "Host, the fighter planes have entered the target coordinates into the navigation system. Arrival at the target airspace is expected in twenty minutes. Additionally, the final review for the new batch of Longxun-class battlecruisers is complete, and construction can begin at the Production Base shipyard. Its speed will be faster than the first version of the Longxun-class, reaching thirty-six knots—considering the increased hull displacement and optimization of the power system, this speed is astonishing."

"Thirty-six knots?" Li Ling's eyes lit up, his attention shifting slightly from the battlefield, "Doesn't that make it faster than the fastest Destroyer of this era? The fastest Destroyer currently in service with the British Royal Navy is only just over thirty-three knots."

"Yes. It will become the fastest battlecruiser in the history of world naval warfare. But the cost is a slightly thinner armor, with the main armor belt reduced to two hundred and forty millimeters, in exchange for higher speed and range—the range is increased from sixteen thousand nautical miles to eighteen thousand nautical miles, allowing it to travel from Jinling directly to the Cape of Good Hope without resupply. At the same time, its main gun rate of fire has also been optimized and is expected to reach two and a half rounds per minute."

"Worth it," Li Ling said decisively. "Have the shipyard prepare, and construction will begin in three days. This model will be called 'Longxun-II'. The lead Warship Zhuifeng will be named 'Warship Zhuifeng'—chasing the wind and waves, letting no enemy escape its range."

The system responded: "Additionally, the system reminds the host that the new steam turbines of the 'Longxun-II' have extremely high requirements for boiler water quality. A dedicated pure water purification system needs to be installed at the Production Base; otherwise, the rate of scale accumulation will significantly shorten the maintenance cycle."

Li Ling nodded and noted this down in his small notebook. The edges of the notebook were already curled from flipping, and it was densely packed with various memos and parameters.

Just as Li Ling was communicating with the system, a dull explosion came from the distant skyline, like muffled thunder rolling across the ground. Commander Zhao Peng's fleet had arrived at the target area. The first plane dived and dropped bombs, four 50-kilogram bombs whistling down, landing precisely in the center of the camp. When the bombs hit the ground, there was first a flash of white light, followed by orange-red fireballs rising into the air, black smoke shooting straight into the sky, shattered wood, tents, and human remains thrown into the air by the shockwave, dust and flames filling the air, and some burning tent fragments spinning into the sky like torches.

Immediately after, the second and third planes took turns diving, bombs exploding in the camp, the ammunition depot detonated, and chain explosions razed half the valley to the ground. An ammunition pile storing standard Imperial Russian rifles was hit directly, the barrels of hundreds of rifles bending and deforming in the high heat, twisted like twists by an invisible hand. Subsequently, the planes lowered their altitude, the nose machine guns spitting flames, strafing the fleeing armed elements like a rainstorm. Bullets hit the dry ground, kicking up rows of dust, and the runners fell like wheat being harvested, blood seeping into the dust, dyeing the gray-white Gobi desert dark red. Some tried to hide in the tent wreckage, only to be struck down by bullets piercing the canvas; others fleeing on horseback were hit in the horse's legs by the pursuing bullets, tumbling to the ground with their horses.

Commander Zhao Peng's excited voice came over the communication channel, mixed with the sound of wind and the roar of engines: "Your Majesty, the target camp has been destroyed, and the remaining enemy personnel are scattering. We are tracking the small groups of fleeing enemies, and will return after confirming there is no organized resistance! Preliminary estimates indicate at least two hundred and fifty people in the camp were killed, with the rest injured or having fled into the depths of the Gobi, no longer possessing organized combat capability!"

Li Ling lowered the binoculars, the corners of his mouth lifting slightly: "Very good. After returning, record the achievement for the flight crew, reward each person with three months' salary, and confer the Third-Class Azure Dragon Medal on Commander Zhao Peng himself."

He turned and walked down from the command tower, but his mind was calculating another matter. Although the border attack incident was quickly quelled, the activities of the Imperial Russian remnants showed that while the great powers had temporarily retreated, they had never truly given up their attempts to create trouble on the border of the Tang Country. He needed more powerful strength, not just in the production of steel and coal, but a complete industrial system capable of supporting long-term warfare. Although the weapons of those people were old, their organization and supply routes showed that someone was supporting them from behind—either old officers of the Imperial Russian remnants, or someone from further away testing the Tang Country's defense line.

"System," Li Ling asked in his heart, "If I now demand that the Production Base go all out to produce the components for the 'Longxun-II', can the launch time of the lead Warship Zhuifeng be compressed to within one year? The faster, the better. I need more maritime maneuverability to deal with potential threats on the border and coast. Coastal Reconnaissance Balloons have already discovered several suspicious Warship Zhuifeng anchorage points, and we must have the ability to respond quickly."

The system's voice paused for a moment in his mind, as if calculating: "Given the current production capacity of the Production Base, if the production of the 'Longxun-II' is prioritized, and some non-critical civilian product lines are suspended, the launch time can indeed be compressed to ten months. But this also means that other projects, such as the design of the new Destroyer and the development of the new armored vehicle, will be forced to be delayed. Additionally, an extra three hundred tons of special nickel-chromium alloy steel will need to be allocated for the processing of the new Warship Zhuifeng's drive shaft; this type of steel has a long production cycle, so it is recommended to arrange raw material procurement in advance."

Li Ling was silent for a few seconds, the sea breeze blowing into his collar, bringing a chill. Then he made his decision: "Prioritize the 'Longxun-II'. The new Destroyer and armored vehicle projects can be put on hold for now. The Navy is the Tang Country's first line of defense, and also the most important line of defense. Only by firmly grasping command of the sea can we ensure that construction on land is not interrupted. As for the nickel-chromium alloy steel, have the business department urgently purchase a batch from the German Empire, and at the same time accelerate the exploration progress of domestic mines."

That night, Li Ling returned to the Imperial Study and personally signed the "Construction Order for the Lead Warship Zhuifeng 'Warship Zhuifeng' of the Longxun-II High-Speed Battlecruiser". He looked at the detailed design drawings generated by the system—the slender hull, the smooth silhouette, the four giant propellers, the compact and balanced turret layout—and an indescribable excitement surged in his heart. On the drawings, every marking was precise to the millimeter, every parameter had been repeatedly deduced, and the welding process between the steel frame structures even specified the electrode model and preheating temperature.

"Warship Zhuifeng", with a standard displacement of 37,000 tons, a full-load displacement of 42,000 tons, a length of 270 meters, a beam of 34 meters, a draft of 10 meters, a maximum speed of 36 knots, a range of 18,000 nautical miles, main armament consisting of three triple 380mm gun turrets, secondary armament of eighteen 152mm quick-firing guns, and a large number of 40mm and 20mm anti-aircraft guns. It would be the fastest warship on this planet, bar none, two full knots faster than the British Royal Navy's latest "Invincible-class" battlecruiser.

Outside the window, in the night of Yumen Pass, the lights of the steel mill were still flickering, and the firelight of the blast furnace lit up half the sky. The attack on the border trade town had been quelled, all attackers killed or captured, and the supplies recovered. But Li Ling knew this was just a probe. The real storm was still below the distant horizon, silently gathering strength.

He closed the drawings and added a line at the end of the construction order: "Order the Production Base to simultaneously start the production of the supporting shipborne Radar and fire control systems to ensure that 'Warship Zhuifeng' possesses complete combat capability when it enters service."

Putting down his pen, he heard the sound of the night wind howling over the distant Gobi Desert, like the earth breathing deeply. And those eyes lurking in the dark were watching this rising City of Steel coldly, across the dust and moonlight.