Sword of Light: Humanoid Self-Propelled Artillery

Chapter 196 Impressive Victory

However, Wang Gensheng understood that in this era, almost everything was being copied from Xifang, so even if Wang Gensheng tried to explain, it wouldn't make much of a difference.

Therefore, Wang Gensheng simply said calmly:

"What's the use of being so good? It'll still get blown up and sunk!"

After saying that, Wang Gensheng suddenly thought of something and quickly said to Duan Peng:
"Duan Peng, mark the locations of those silent warships. We need to salvage them as quickly as possible! Even if we can't salvage them, we must salvage the torpedoes inside them."

There was no other way. After experiencing the benefits of the Huitian torpedo, or rather, the cruise torpedo, Wang Gensheng now felt that warships were unnecessary, but torpedoes were absolutely indispensable.

After all, these torpedoes are an excellent means of dealing with the US two years from now!

That's right, it's already the end of 1948. The first of the three major battles has already begun, and the second and third battles will begin immediately afterward.

These three battles were fought one after another, leaving the old pheasant unable to recover. It was these three wars, launched within three to four months, that completely annihilated the old pheasant's main force, laying an absolute foundation for the complete liberation of the country.

Misu was completely bewildered, since from the beginning she did not want the country to be unified, but rather hoped to divide it into two separate kingdoms.

Because none of them wanted a strong, unified nation that could rival them.

At this very moment, Mi Guo and Su Guo's focus was not on Hua Guo, but rather on De Guo!

Because this was during the Berlin crisis, both Misu and the others were focused on the Deguo and couldn't pay attention to the Huaguo at all.

Therefore, this is naturally the perfect moment for unification, or rather, this very moment and this period is the opportune time for the Huaguo Kingdom.

The Berlin Crisis occurred between June 1948 and May 1949, a period of eleven months that coincided with the Liberation Army's counter-offensive.

After instructing Duan Peng, Wang Gensheng thought for a moment and then said to Du Yiman:
"Send a telegram to contact our warships and have them sail along the coast to Tashan before dark. That Congqing is ours!"

Indeed, when Wang Gensheng saw the Congqing ship sitting quietly on the sea, with even its turrets unable to turn, he knew that the boiler room must have been flooded, which was why it was stuck and unable to escape.

That's why Wang Gensheng planned to capture the warship at night, drag it to a hidden place, and see if he could repair it.

Since only the boiler room was flooded, not the entire ship, the warship could still be used as long as the water was drained and the damaged area was repaired.

This is much better than salvaging it from the water, since warships can't be left to soak at sea for long periods of time.

It is known that unprotected iron will rust after being soaked in seawater for three or four days, and over time it will become deeply corroded. Iron soaked in seawater will rust by 0.5 millimeters every year.

This thickness is fine for a ship's hull that's a few centimeters thick. Since it's thick, even if it corrodes by one millimeter a year, it can still corrode for decades!
Moreover, while the exterior of a ship can be painted for protection, the interior is a different story.

The ship's internal mechanical transmission and other structures are not painted, so they will rust and become unusable after being exposed to seawater for a period of time.

So the exterior of a ship is relatively okay, but once the interior of the ship is flooded, especially after being submerged in seawater for a long time, there is simply no possibility of repair.

The Congqing was a prime example. After being submerged in seawater for an extended period, the cost of repairing it after it was salvaged was enough to buy a new ship.

Therefore, if Wang Gensheng still wanted the Congqing, he needed to acquire it as soon as possible, drain the seawater from the hull, and repair the damaged parts. Just as Wang Gensheng was pondering how to repair the Congqing, fighting had already broken out in Tashan.

Although the warships could no longer provide fire support, the soldiers who had been transported still launched an attack under the old man's orders.

However, compared to the scenes in the TV series "The Great Battle," where the entire Tashan position was bombarded by warships and cannons, and even the trenches and foxholes of the Tashan position were destroyed, this was a far cry from the actual battle.

The small-caliber cannons carried by the old medaka soldiers were not worth mentioning.

Small-caliber artillery has a propellant charge of only a few hundred grams, and its main killing power comes from shrapnel.

Therefore, it was impossible to blow up the trenches and foxholes.

In this way, the defensive pressure faced by Tashan will naturally be much less.

Just as Wang Gensheng was pondering how to repair the Congqing, the telegraph operator Du Yiman ran over to him and said that the Fourth Field Army Command had sent a message thanking the Navy for its secret weapon.

Indeed, Wang Gensheng's achievement of crippling one warship and sinking four naturally shocked the Fourth Field Army commander.

I never imagined that the secret weapon Wang Gensheng mentioned would be so powerful.

So naturally, they should express their gratitude, since this battle was entirely the responsibility of the Fourth Field Army, and Wang Gensheng's navy was there to help.

Therefore, it was natural to send a message of thanks. After thinking about it, Wang Gensheng asked Du Yiman to send a telegram back to the commander of the Fourth Field Army, explaining that the purpose of the anti-freezing operation was for the benefit of the people in the frozen area, and that it was something the navy should do, so there was no need for thanks.

After having Du Yiman call back, Wang Gensheng thought for a moment. It had been almost three hours since the warship had fallen silent, so he asked Duan Peng:
"Duan Peng, have all the frogman soldiers who piloted the cruise torpedoes returned?"

Duan Peng shook his head when he heard Wang Gensheng's question and said:
"Not all of them have returned. Two returned more than an hour ago, and then the remaining three disappeared without a trace!"

Upon hearing this, Wang Gensheng naturally understood that the remaining three were likely in grave danger, given that the seawater temperature was only a few degrees Celsius, essentially winter swimming.

Being able to stay in the seawater for more than an hour and swim back is already a miracle for ordinary people.

If they haven't reached the shore after three hours, there's basically no hope of them surviving.

It might be better in summer, or in weather with water temperatures above 10 degrees Celsius. After all, you can soak for most of the day in water temperatures of 10 or 20 degrees Celsius, but how can you do that in water temperatures of just a few degrees Celsius?
However, after thinking about it, Wang Gensheng still said to Duan Peng:
"Have Li Xiu and his men use binoculars to search the shore. If they spot any suspected targets, send out patrol torpedoes to search and rescue them."

Of course, at the same time, Wang Gensheng also felt that the pilots of the cruise torpedoes should be equipped with warm diving suits.

Wang Gensheng remembered that when he used to watch those swimming and diving videos, the swimmers were all wearing diving suits.

This type of wetsuit has excellent insulation properties, separating the skin from the cold seawater, thus increasing the time a person can stay in the cold water.

If his cruise torpedo pilots had worn these diving suits this time, the number of people who could swim back would certainly not be just two.

(End of this chapter)