Back in 1978, I was admitted to Northwestern Polytechnical University.

Chapter 304 The Last Dignity of the British Empire
Portsmouth, England.

This is the oldest and largest military base of the British Royal Navy. It has been a naval port since 1540. The natural barrier of the Solent Strait and the advantages of a deep-water port have made it the most dazzling presence of the Royal Navy.

Centuries ago, the fleet of the British Empire set sail from here, donned the skull and crossbones flag, and plundered the seas. Later, it carried the governors of various colonies to exercise the power of enslavement.

During World War II, ships evacuated from Dunkirk docked here, and ships that landed in Normandy departed from here.

Now, a new journey has begun here once again.

The military band played war songs at the port, and countless family members saw off their loved ones on the dock. Although they knew that this farewell might bring back cold corpses, they did not feel much reluctance. They knew that this was a battle that had to be fought, a battle that concerned their reputation.

The Iron Lady stood on the dock, watching the fleet about to set sail, her heart filled with complex emotions. The dignity of the British Empire rested on this fleet; if it failed to return victorious, then…

Pah! How could I have such thoughts!

The Iron Lady put on a smile and looked at the person in front of her.

At the very front was Admiral John Federhouse, the supreme commander of the entire task force.

The task force is divided into three parts. The carrier strike group is the core force of Task Force 317.8, commanded by Rear Admiral Sandy Woodward. This group is led by two aircraft carriers, HMS Hermes and HMS Invincible. The two carriers can carry more than 20 Sea Harrier vertical takeoff and landing fighters, which are their main air force.

Compared to the United States' supercarrier fleet, this force seems somewhat meager. However, if they were only dealing with the Crying Nation's army, they believed their strength would be sufficient. The Crying Nation's most advanced Super-7 is only a second-generation aircraft, and their Sea Harriers are no worse! Their mission is to seize the initiative on the battlefield.

Commodore Mike Crap led Task Force 317.0, an amphibious force primarily responsible for deploying troops to the Falklands. In short, they were the main force landing on the Falklands after the previous task force gained the initiative on the battlefield.

The third task force is the submarine force. They will be the first to enter the waters around the Falklands and blockade the area. In other words, they will be the first to fire the first shot.

"Federhaus, you're about to embark on your journey. Is there anything else you'd like to say?"

“Power, I need power, the real power to command this formation. Downing Street, don’t interfere with any of my command operations!” John Federhouse didn’t mince words and immediately put forward his most valued condition.

The saying goes, "A general in the field may disobey orders." The West understands this principle. How could a group of people sitting in offices know the actual situation on the battlefield? Britain hasn't fought a naval war in decades. There might be a group of guys in Parliament who are eager to interfere.

We can't let them succeed!
“Fine, I’ll give you that power!” The Iron Lady looked at the other woman: “And you, you’re responsible for bringing me victory.”

"Yes!"

After another salute, amidst the majestic military music, the generals boarded their warships, and the sailors began to board theirs as well.

Among the crowd, the royal family members looked at the handsome young man with complicated expressions, and Her Majesty the Queen's eyes were a little moist.

Prince Andrew is currently serving on Squadron 820 of the HMS Invincible aircraft carrier. He is a helicopter pilot. Although some have suggested that the prince be transferred away from the carrier group, Prince Andrew insists on going on duty with the military.

He is a prince and a member of the Royal Navy!
The young and handsome Prince Andrew boarded the Invincible, stood on the ship's railing, and waved to the crowd below.

Others were waving, and at the port, many people had begun to shed tears; the scene was somewhat tragic.

Woohoo!

With the ship's horn sounding, the Invincible was the first to leave the dock, billowing black smoke—a scene just like when the British Empire's invincible fleet set sail hundreds of years ago.

Next is HMS Hermes, the second aircraft carrier in the British Navy to use this name. The first Hermes was laid down in 1917 and was severely damaged in 1942. This one entered the construction plan in 1942. At that time, Britain planned a large number of Colossus-class aircraft carriers, and at the same time, it also planned eight modified versions of the 8-ton Colossus-class. In 1943, it was officially named the Hermes-class, and construction began in 1944.

Judging from the timeline, this aircraft carrier was destined to miss World War II. In fact, because the main tasks at the time were ship repair and the priority of building landing ships, the Hermes-class carriers were hardly ever started.

After much effort, the lead ship, HMS Hermes, was launched in 1953 and completed in the same year. After joining the Royal Navy, this aircraft carrier underwent numerous modifications, including the installation of catapults, angled flight decks, and other features. It can be said that it played a significant role in the modernization of the British Navy and even the world's navies.

However, by the 1970s, catapults and similar devices had been removed. Last year, the aircraft carrier went back to the shipyard for modifications, with the addition of a ski-jump deck with a 7.5-degree inclination to launch Sea Harrier carrier-based aircraft. Now, the refit was almost completed just as the war began.

It seems a bit rushed, but the brand-new Invincible-class aircraft carriers only have one ship that has been in service for just over a year, the remaining HMS Illustrious is still undergoing sea trials, and HMS Ark Royal is still on the slipway, destined not to make it into this war.

The two aircraft carriers form the core of the entire fleet, while the newly commissioned Type 42 destroyers surround the carriers.

In the 1960s, Britain successfully developed the Sea Dart shipborne anti-aircraft missile. Originally, it was designed to be paired with the Type 82 destroyer with a displacement of 8,000 tons. However, this warship had a huge displacement and was very expensive. Only one ship was built before the Labour government, which was determined to kill off the army, cancelled the project. The British Navy had no choice but to settle for the Type 42 destroyer with a displacement of 4,000 tons.

With a small displacement, the Type 42 destroyer still had to be equipped with all the necessary components. As a result, the hull was very thin, and the superstructure also made extensive use of aluminum alloy to reduce weight.

The lead ship, HMS Sheffield, was laid down in 1970 and commissioned in 1975.

So far, a total of three ships have been built. The remaining two, HMS Coventry and HMS Glasgow, now join the Type 82 destroyer as the main air defense force of the fleet.

What they need to guard against, of course, is the Super-7. They are full of confidence that they can shoot down all of these planes—just ten! Once they are shot down, the Crying Nation's air force will be crippled!

Behind the destroyer followed a frigate. These warships were inconspicuous, but the Seawolf anti-aircraft missiles they carried were the only anti-aircraft weapons capable of dealing with sea-skimming anti-ship missiles.

The entire fleet was so large that transporting supplies was a major problem. Therefore, the government requisitioned 43 merchant ships to provide supplies to the entire task force. These cargo ships sailed from Britain to the South Atlantic, forming an 8,000-nautical-mile logistical supply line.

Meanwhile, some merchant ships are undergoing conversions, such as container ships, which are equipped with containers for maintaining and repairing fighter jets, freeing up the deck for Harriers to take off and land. When needed, even just one or two Harriers taking off can contribute to air and sea battles. This is where the advantages of vertical takeoff and landing fighter jets become apparent.

There are also cruise ships; by welding together the swimming pools on the deck, they can be transformed into helicopter landing platforms.

At the Faslane Naval Base, several nuclear submarines had already left their berths and submerged into the sea on the very day the Falklands flag was raised, disappearing into the cold Atlantic Ocean.

Britain's war machine is now running at full speed!

Eastward, Princess Tomb, Yellow Tower.

"These vertical takeoff and landing fighter jets have a real advantage!" Navy leader Zhang exclaimed. "In critical moments, even civilian ships can be converted into aircraft carriers."

"Yes, in this way, a large number of ships have the potential to become aircraft carriers. This is called hiding troops among the people, which meets our needs very well."

"Liangzi, tell me, could we..."

"No." Qin Liang's answer was crisp and decisive, startling the leaders. We haven't even finished talking, and you're already saying no?

With war imminent, even if Qin Liang wanted to return to Northwestern Polytechnical University, he wouldn't be allowed to leave from Gongzhufen. The navy and air force took turns inviting him over for tea. Since he had to avoid the British blocking the entrance to Northwestern Polytechnical University, Qin Liang stayed here. Moreover, the intelligence he obtained here was absolutely firsthand.

"why?"

"Once you get to the battlefield, you'll see that the Sea Harrier is utterly useless."

In the 1950s and 60s, vertical takeoff and landing (VTOL) fighter jets were popular. Even the East joined in the fun, installing four large fans on the J-6 to enable it to also achieve VTOL functionality.

After a gust of wind blew by, many vertical takeoff and landing projects were cancelled. The only one that was successfully developed was the Harrier from the United Kingdom. This aircraft has a Pegasus engine installed in the middle of the fuselage, with rotating nozzles at the front and rear. It can take off vertically by blowing air downwards and fly horizontally by rotating it to the rear.

At the same time, there was also the Russian Yak-38, which took a different approach: the main engine was located at the rear, behind the pilot, and two lift engines were installed to spray air directly downwards, so that the lift was symmetrical from front to back, thus achieving the goal of vertical take-off and landing.

However, the lift engine nozzles point directly downwards, causing severe deck ablation. No matter how the Kiev-class aircraft carrier is modified, it cannot withstand this heat. After a year or two of operation, the aircraft will have to leave the carrier and be deployed only on land.

The Harrier has always been deployed on aircraft carriers, but it doesn't usually perform vertical takeoffs. Instead, it uses a ski-jump ramp for short takeoffs. The advantage of doing this is, of course, to reduce fuel consumption and increase takeoff weight.

Pulling scallions out of dry land isn't so fun.

The Harrier has made many sacrifices to achieve vertical takeoff and landing. Its maximum speed is just over Mach 1. When it is armed with missiles, it can't expect to fly supersonic. Moreover, the fuselage is severely overweight. In order to reduce weight, it can't even afford to install a modern radar and can only use Sidewinder short-range missiles.

With the Harrier II, a large amount of composite materials were used to reduce weight before radar was installed. The ultimate GR9 was equipped with the modern APG-65 radar, which can guide medium-range missiles. However, the aging of the airframe remains a major problem.

In short, vertical takeoff and landing fighter jets are the most useless of all!
Even in later years, when the United States developed the F-35, with three variants and replacing the lift engine with a lift fan, which was supposedly quite mature, the F-35B's performance was not only inferior to the Air Force's F-35A, but also far behind the Navy's carrier-based F-35C.

Even with its larger size, the first variant only carries 6.4 tons of internal fuel, while the C variant carries 9 tons. Therefore, its combat radius is only 450 nautical miles, and its maximum payload is only 6.8 tons, compared to 8.2 tons for the C variant. The Marine Corps has no choice but to use it, otherwise…

Back then, when the East had the J-20, countless military enthusiasts still fantasized and made all sorts of imaginary drawings, modifying them into something like a vertical takeoff and landing version of the J-20C, with all sorts of data presented with certainty, such as a maximum range of 2200 kilometers. These were pure fantasies that did not consider the actual situation.

Later, when Shenyang was developing the J-35, they started fantasizing about vertical takeoff and landing, as if only vertical takeoff and landing was considered high-end. In reality, this technology was just a useless technology!
Later generations proved that we never developed any vertical takeoff and landing version. Even our Type 076 only had an electromagnetic catapult installed on it. With such advanced technology, why would we need vertical takeoff and landing?
In the 1980s, the military still harbored fantasies about vertical takeoff and landing. If I remember correctly, they even managed to acquire Harrier fighter jets through some channel.

If you want to do it yourselves, then do it yourselves. Northwestern Polytechnical University never gets involved in useless projects!
The phrase "a chicken rib" (meaning something of little value or importance) left the naval leaders somewhat embarrassed.

"Comrade Qin Liang, what about our navy..."

“Twin-engine Q-6,” Qin Liang said. “These are readily available carrier-based aircraft, ready to be used at any time!”

The twin-engine Q-6, which incorporates Tomcat technology, naturally possesses the potential to become a carrier-based aircraft!

"This plane is too big. If our navy wanted to operate such a plane, it would take at least..."

"The displacement is over 60,000 tons," Qin Liang said. "As for how many tons to leave, that depends on the timing and needs. According to our preliminary research at Northwestern Polytechnical University, it would be best to leave another 20,000 tons to make it an aircraft carrier with a displacement of 80,000 tons. That would be the most suitable."

Everyone's eyes widened.

"Liangzi, our country's economy isn't doing very well right now..."

In recent years, under the leadership of Northwestern Polytechnical University, the national economy has developed rapidly, and related industries such as chips and televisions have also developed rapidly, with overall strength improving rapidly. However, this is still not enough to meet the demand for building aircraft carriers.

"If the budget is insufficient, then we'll wait. We'd rather have less than to have something of poor quality. We shouldn't think about building a small 20,000-ton aircraft carrier to make do. Let's wait and see if this kind of small aircraft carrier fleet from Britain can dominate the oceans."

Are you kidding me? If it weren't for the government blocking it, which navy wouldn't want a big aircraft carrier? Speaking of this, the Americans are the worst. They keep saying aircraft carriers are useless, but they're building them, and each one is bigger than the last!

The larger the aircraft carrier, the larger the deck area, the more convenient the dispatching, and the stronger the launch capability. An 80,000-ton aircraft carrier has more than twice the combat power of a 40,000-ton aircraft carrier!
As for 20,000 tons... what kind of aircraft carrier is that? Our amphibious assault ships in later generations are all in the 50,000 to 60,000 ton range!

The British, having learned from the Falklands War that small aircraft carriers were of little use, developed the next class of carriers, the 65,000-ton Queen Elizabeth-class. Unfortunately, after tightening their belts to build them, they found that they couldn't even muster enough carrier-based aircraft, let alone escort warships. Moreover, these carriers were prone to malfunctions, with leaks and broken shafts being common problems.

Even so, they still fantasize that they have become a world military power, and they often think about taking their aircraft carriers out for a freedom of navigation tour, without any fear of them breaking down halfway.

After a long silence, everyone was pondering Qin Liang's words. Finally, a naval leader spoke up: "Let's continue the war game simulation. How will the British fight this battle?"

"They will definitely set up a no-navigation zone around the Falklands to show their power. The main force for this task will be nuclear submarines. The Crying Country's anti-submarine capabilities are almost zero. They can do whatever they want in that area."

Qin Liang looked at everyone present: "At the beginning of a war, sinking an enemy capital ship would be a heavy blow to the enemy's morale and public spirit. The British felt this most keenly. During World War II, when their battleship HMS Hood was sunk, it made the surrender faction jump up. Later, when Germany's Bismarck was sunk, Germany actually abandoned the idea of ​​fighting on the water and focused on developing submarines."

The crowd seemed to be deep in thought. Indeed, sinking a capital ship was a devastating blow, but...

"You mean, May 25th?"

"No, no, it's the cruiser General Belgrano."

The waves in the South Atlantic are quite large, but this has nothing to do with the seabed. Under normal circumstances, there are no waves at a depth of 20 meters, which is a tranquil world.

Even during typhoon weather, the impact is only a couple hundred meters. For a submarine that can dive to a depth of 300 meters, there is no need to worry about seasickness.

In a conventional diesel-electric submarine, the stench of countless men's sweat, diesel fuel, air freshener, and damp seawater would mix together, easily making one nauseous. But now, on this nuclear submarine, there is no smell of diesel fuel, and because excess electricity can be used to electrolyze water to produce oxygen, it feels more comfortable.

HMS Conqueror was a Warrior-class nuclear submarine of the Royal Navy of the United Kingdom. It was the first generation of attack nuclear submarines built in batches after HMS Dreadnought. It was equipped with a nuclear reactor developed by the United Kingdom and its overall level was in line with British technology in the 1960s.

HMS Conqueror is the fourth ship of the Warrior class. Construction began in 1966, it was launched in 1969, and it entered service at the end of 1971. So far, it has only been at sea for a little over a decade, making it a relatively new ship.

At this time, the submarine was loitering near the Falklands. The no-navigation zone had been announced, and any ships that entered this area would be shot down!

"Report! We've detected several unusual sounds! They're located... at the edge of our no-fly zone!"

"Sail over there!" Lieutenant Commander River Brown, the submarine's captain, was overjoyed. He hoped they would run right into the May 25th!

　PS: The Sixth Master, a vertical takeoff and landing machine.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)