What the hell is a private enterprise?

Chapter 150 It is York City
Goose City, Fudong Fishery.

"Uncle, a letter from your company."

Hearing the postman's voice, the old man at the sentry post was about to nod, but then he saw a pile of envelopes blocking his view.

A quick glance showed that there were at least a dozen letters.

"Comrade, little comrade!"

He quickly called over to the postman who had already climbed onto his bicycle, pointed at the pile of letters and asked:

"Have you delivered it? We haven't had a single letter here in eight hundred years. How come there are so many suddenly?"

The postman seemed to have heard this question before and answered without turning his head and waving his hand:

"You'll see, I have a lot of tasks to do today!"

As soon as he finished speaking, the man had already hurried away on his bicycle. The gatekeeper had no choice but to take the letter and turned it over. He perked up after seeing it:
The envelope was printed with an emblem and the name of a unit with the word "military" in it.

There were more than a dozen letters, all with the same format and size, and the senders were all from the same unit, the Goose City Recruiting Unit.

Looking at the recipients again, the first one turned out to be the boss’s younger brother Huang Dongshun.

He quickly delivered the letter directly into the building at the dock and soon found the protagonists of the letter:

More than a dozen people were lying on the ground, leaning against the pallets and the fishy-smelling fishing nets. Wine bottles, bones, and traces of burning charcoal piles were scattered on the ground.

It was obvious that there was a long celebration last night, but the gatekeeper just thought it was just the sailors who had just returned from sea letting themselves go.

Seeing that no one stood up, the old man was about to leave, but he saw Huang Dongshun covering his head and screaming, then staggering to his feet.

The Hornet was afraid of attracting more people, so in order to prevent people from gathering, it set sail at four in the morning. Even then, there were still hundreds of people seeing it off.

Huang Dongshun, who had been excited all night, returned to the warehouse with the retired sailors and seamen, but he still couldn't calm down and drank until dawn before falling asleep.

He was awakened by the urge to urinate and was about to go out to take care of it when he saw the gatekeeper holding a pile of letters.

"A letter for me?"

He took the letter and saw many familiar names. The recipients were basically retired sailors.

When he opened his own copy, the red mark at the beginning sobered him up. He stood up straight and read on as if by reflex, all the way to the seal at the end.

The letter was not long, and the most crucial words were just one sentence:
[…In order to meet the needs of the nation, we call on those under 45 years of age who are in good health and have a good mental and moral character to proceed to the nearest military medical examination site as soon as possible. After passing the medical examination, they can re-enlist and be assigned to a unit…]

It’s not a recall order, but it’s better than a recall order!
The Navy is not short of personnel to the point of forced recall. The purpose of this call letter is to encourage retired sailors under the age of 45 to take physical examinations again and enlist a second time, especially technical non-commissioned officers with more than five years of service.

Although it was not mandatory, Huang Dongshun immediately realized the urgency of the situation:
The disguised conscription of retired soldiers is extremely rare. Unless it is extremely urgent, it is almost always the last resort.

Considering the aircraft carrier we saw yesterday, either a war has broken out or the size of the navy's personnel cannot keep up with the large-scale expansion. In either case, elite non-commissioned officers are urgently needed.

There is a base in Echeng, so the letter arrives the fastest and the priority for boarding the ship may be higher.

Huang Dongshun, who was excited after seeing the aircraft carrier, couldn't wait to go for a physical examination, but he was a little hesitant when he thought that his brother might not be able to handle the business alone.

While he was thinking, other people woke up one after another and took the letters one by one. Their reactions were different, but most of them were excited and felt a sense of responsibility.

Soon, the first person stood up, holding the letter paper and said to Huang Dongshun:

"Boss Huang, I have to go back."

……

[Suspected Chinese aircraft carrier appeared in Goose City]

[Foreign military reconnaissance aircraft took photos of our aircraft carrier in the Strait]

On the afternoon of the second day after the Hornet appeared, two pieces of bombshell news spread at an exaggerated speed.

Taking advantage of its proximity, the Echeng Evening News urgently published the first batch of articles with clear photos of the aircraft carrier, and directly published the text written by Bai Yang at the Echeng Port.

The report tried its best to remain sober and fair, but the frequent mentions of "the flag on the bridge is red", "many suspected senior officials appeared on the bridge", and "operated by our sailors" all prove the ownership of this aircraft carrier.

After the first edition of the Dawn Newspaper was published, it was reprinted by other newspapers at an astonishing speed, and then spread rapidly by fax and word of mouth.

Because this bombshell news was so shocking, many media outlets did not have time to verify it and could only confirm it through telephone channels and other means, and soon found more first-hand information on the Internet.

The report of Echeng Evening News was immediately reprinted by national media. By the afternoon, photos of the Hornet's docked supplies had reached the border outposts, and herdsmen would put a freshly printed newspaper in their instant noodles when delivering them.

If the first instinct of this news was to disbelieve it, strong evidence came before nightfall:
A P3C anti-submarine patrol aircraft broke into the strait and photographed an aircraft carrier escorted by a 051 destroyer off the coast of Fujian Province. The aircraft carrier had obvious catapult and angled deck features and was estimated to belong to the domestic navy.

The plane was quickly driven away by the J-8II of the Naval Aviation Force, but the photo of it appeared in newspapers in Japan and on the other side of the ocean at the fastest speed, and then was exported and sold domestically, and was quickly cited by domestic media.

The two pieces of news came one after the other, heralding an unusual beginning for the world.

... "...Here's international news: Recently, the situation in XX has become tense again. XX experts have stated... Now, let our reporter XX bring you the report."

In front of thousands of televisions, 35-year-old Zhang Hongming, dressed in a suit, read the report meticulously. When the director cut the camera to the front-stage reporter, he lowered his head and quickly read the manuscript.

Nowadays, television is still the main way for people to obtain information. The ratings of any TV program are not low, not to mention that the one he hosts is called the News Broadcast.

Although he has been working for more than ten years, he still feels nervous every time he does a live broadcast.

The main purpose of broadcasting news live is to deal with emergencies so that they can be reported in the shortest possible time.

However, this situation is absolutely a nightmare for the host and will directly disrupt the entire program schedule.

Each segment of each news program has precise time control. Once urgent news needs to be inserted, the host's on-site performance is very strict, and a slight carelessness may lead to a program accident.

Zhang Hongming has never encountered an inserted report and doesn't want to see one.

The front-stage reporter's footage lasted about a minute. At the 1th second mark, the director in the background ran up to the stage, placed a short draft before the reporter's astonished gaze, and quickly said:
"Interrupt the news, watch it once, and insert it after this section is over. Don't mess it up!"

Although it was the first time he encountered this, Zhang Hongming's professional ethics made him immediately lower his head and read as quickly as possible, and then he was stunned for several seconds.

When he looked up, he saw the director behind the camera was about to jump up in anxiety.

Less than five seconds remained before the reporter's footage ended. The experienced host took a second to recover his composure, then said in the calmest voice:
"Thanks for the information sent back by XX at the front. Here is an urgent report:
At 17:40 this afternoon, the Ministry of Navy announced that the hull construction of the first domestically-produced aircraft carrier, the Type 011 flat-bed catapult aircraft carrier, has been completed at the Huangpu Shipyard and will sail under its own power to the Hudong Shipyard for further outfitting.

The Type 011 aircraft carrier is a medium-sized aircraft carrier independently built and designed by my country. It adopts steam catapults and an angled deck layout. It is the first step to achieve the goal of the navy moving from yellow water to blue water, and it marks that the combat effectiveness of our navy is about to reach a new level.

The first domestically-built aircraft carrier is mainly aimed at training and learning. It will be quickly put into service using a combination of training and combat, providing experience for the construction of more aircraft carriers in the future.

Regarding questions about the naming, ownership, and service time of the Type 011 aircraft carrier, the spokesperson said that more answers will be provided in the near future.

This interruption report ends here, next, the next is..."

At the last moment, Zhang Hongming, who had finished reading the script, couldn't help but pause. Although he reacted as quickly as possible to remedy the situation, he knew that countless people had already seen it on TV.

At the same time, the director also inserted a picture of the Hornet. Unlike the picture of the aircraft carrier docking in the port leaked by civilian newspapers, this is an aerial view of the aircraft carrier after it went out to sea, taken by a helicopter from the air, showing the entire picture.

When the filming was taken, the aircraft carrier was cutting through the waves at a speed of 30 knots, piercing into the strait like a sharp blade.

……

"It seems our friends on the other side of the Pacific have a surprise."

At the RAND Corporation, an emergency team with Tom as the core has been formed.

Matt Mulherin, the invited expert from the Newpost Shipyard, looked at the enlarged aerial photo and said lightly:
"Come on, show me those wizard tricks."

Matt Mulherin joined the company as a nuclear engineer in 1981 and participated in the construction of several Nimitz-class ships. He is a senior ship designer.

His greatest contribution was three years later, when he participated in the overall design of the CVN79 Ford aircraft carrier. He is an absolute big shot.

The think tank temporarily named the unknown aircraft carrier discovered in Goose City "CV-W". CV is the abbreviation of aircraft carrier, and W stands for wizard.

Because from various angles, this aircraft carrier that appeared out of thin air is so incredible. Because of the ancient and mysterious stereotype, as well as the wild impression of the scientific research system on the other side of the strait in the past few years, they believed that only witchcraft could create an aircraft carrier, hence the name.

When Matt saw the photo, his first attention was focused on the island.

The development of warships has a heritage. Any design can always see the shadow of the previous type, and each system of warships has its own unique style.

The bridge of the "CVW" looks strangely familiar at first glance.

Matt thought for a moment, lowered his head and told his assistant something, who quickly ran out.

Half an hour later, he posted a faxed photo next to 'CVW'.

Tom and other think tank experts rushed forward. On the left was the "CVW", and on the right was the work of the Newpost Shipyard more than 50 years ago: the Yorktown-class aircraft carrier.

The latter photo was also taken from the air in a forward position, so the angle is almost the same.

They saw the problem without Matt having to remind them.

"Its island looks just like Yorktown."

After Tom finished speaking, all the experts nodded. However, Matt looked at it for a moment and shook his head.
"What I see is that CVW is Yorktown."

"How can this be?"

One is a straight-deck aircraft carrier from World War II, and the other is an angled-deck aircraft carrier with elevators and catapults. There is a world of difference between them.

However, Matt simply said: "The evidence is really lacking, but I have a feeling it is Yorktown."

(End of this chapter)