Rebirth: I am in Jin-Cha-Ji

"And with such a 'joint navy', it can also deter the US military in Asia."

General Peng analyzed the pros and cons of the "joint navy".

The Chairman asked, "Old Peng, do you think we should accept this invitation?"

"I think so."

General Peng said, "We are not opening all our ports to the Soviet army. We are only designating a few ports for cooperation with the Soviet Navy. I think we can find a port and jointly establish a naval base with the Soviet Union. The Soviet Navy certainly has more experience in this area than we do. Moreover, with Soviet financial support, it would be a good thing for us to establish a naval base."

"And with this kind of cooperation foundation, whether we later purchase Soviet warships or acquire more Soviet warship technology, we will be able to rapidly enhance our naval strength."

General Peng believes that the benefits of cooperation outweigh the disadvantages.

Under this kind of cooperation, China can gain more benefits.

The Prime Minister objected: "Shipbuilding needs to be developed step by step. It cannot be achieved overnight. The shipbuilding industry has a long industrial chain. We cannot succeed by simply buying some shipbuilding technology from the Soviet Union. Once our shipbuilding industry has a foundation and supporting industries are complete, our shipbuilding industry will naturally develop."

"The establishment of a 'joint navy' between China and the Soviet Union will do more harm than good, whether in terms of international or domestic public opinion."

"We cannot violate my country's 'Five Principles of Peaceful Coexistence' for the sake of a little bit of gain. This will have a very negative impact on exchanges between my country and other countries."

China and the Soviet Union had good relations, and the two countries were the big and second largest in the socialist camp, so there was no problem in doing some things together in private.

But if you and the Soviet Union openly develop a "joint navy," you will become a military alliance. This will undoubtedly further exacerbate the current Cold War dynamics. The United States will then have legitimate grounds to form an Asian version of NATO, dragging China into the forefront of the Cold War. This would be extremely detrimental to China's development.

Furthermore, China's diplomatic situation has already opened up. If a military alliance between China and the Soviet Union were to emerge, the biggest stimulus would undoubtedly be to European countries, directly impacting China's already opened diplomatic situation in Europe.

As for what General Peng said about developing the navy with the help of the Soviet Union, the Premier did not agree.

The current backwardness of China's shipbuilding industry is due to the backwardness of the entire shipbuilding industry foundation. New China did not have enough steel, the shipbuilding industry supply chain was incomplete, and research institutions were incomplete, which led to the backwardness of the shipbuilding industry.

If the shipbuilding industry wants to develop rapidly, China needs to have sufficient steel. In addition, the industrial chain involved in the shipbuilding industry needs to be gradually improved.

Once these foundations are laid, China's shipbuilding industry will naturally develop.

"The core of the Soviet strategy remains in Europe. If we cooperate with the Soviet Union to establish a 'joint navy,' even if the Soviet Union deploys a small amount of naval power in Asia, the Cold War in Asia will enter a new phase. And we will have to bear all the pressure of the intensified Cold War in Asia. This will have a huge impact on the development of our coastal areas."

Comrade Xiu Yang spoke.

Nor was he particularly supportive of a "joint navy." The Soviet Navy's strength was inherently limited, and its strategic core was always in Europe. Therefore, even if a "joint navy" were established, it wouldn't have a strong naval presence in Asia.

However, once China and the Soviet Union establish a "joint navy", China will have to bear all the pressure in the Asian region.

China is currently experiencing strong development in all areas. Comrade Xiuyang believes that the issue of a "joint navy" would drag China onto the front lines of the Cold War, a situation that would be more harm than good.

"As for the harassment of our coastal areas and the disruption of normal merchant shipping by Chiang Kai-shek's naval vessels, we still need our own strength."

Deng Guo, Chief of the General Staff of the Military Commission, said, "The Chiang Kai-shek bandits are now acting recklessly, believing that our country has no way to deal with them. Therefore, I believe that we should launch a military operation specifically targeting the Chiang Kai-shek bandit navy to completely crush their arrogance."

"If the navy were to engage in battle, we currently don't have the advantage. However, we can use the air force and our newly developed coastal defense missiles to engage in a small-scale battle. As long as we give them a powerful military strike, they will never dare to make such a fuss again, nor will they dare to appear in our coastal areas at will. This is the only way to solve the problem once and for all, rather than establishing a 'joint navy' to put pressure on Chiang Kai-shek's navy."

Deng Guo did not believe that establishing a "joint navy" would allow him to gain the upper hand in this sea area.

The Soviet Navy was no match for the American Navy. It was impossible for the main Soviet Navy to come to Asia. Only a small number of naval vessels came to Asia, and they must have been focusing on defending targets.

The Soviet Union's main opponent must be the US military stationed in Japan, not the Chiang Kai-shek Navy in Taiwan. Even if a "joint navy" is established, it will still be difficult to solve the harassment of the Chiang Kai-shek Navy on my country's coastal shipping routes.

The Chairman was very interested in what Deng Guo said and asked, "Can we really strike the Chiang Kai-shek navy?"

"can."

Deng Guo affirmed, "The Chiang Kai-shek navy is currently very arrogant. Relying on US military reconnaissance vehicles, they constantly spy on our domestic situation. Their warships frequently come to the vicinity of Kinmen, disrupting the normal navigation of our merchant ships. They even frequently plunder our merchant ships, severely undermining the development of our maritime transport. But it is precisely because they are too arrogant and conceited, and don't believe we can strike them, that they give us the opportunity."

"We have made all preparations, concentrating our air force and the 'Upstream No. 1' coastal defense missiles. By concentrating our forces and striking unexpectedly, we will surely inflict a heavy blow to the Chiang Kai-shek navy. If we can sink a few of their warships, we will surely completely deter them. They will never dare to act so arrogantly again."

Deng Guo has been conducting research on how to attack Chiang Kai-shek's navy since he came to a department of the General Staff.

Not only are simulations conducted within a certain department of the General Staff, but information is also exchanged with the Fuzhou Military Region.

Deng Guo believed that the Chiang Kai-shek navy was too arrogant and that they must be dealt a severe military blow. Moreover, Deng Guo believed that the chances of victory were very high.

Because China has not fought a war for several years, and there has been no real battle with the Chiang Kai-shek Navy, the Chiang Kai-shek Navy is now completely defenseless and very arrogant.

The arrogance of the Chiang Kai-shek navy is an opportunity for China.

In 1960, China successfully launched its own copy of the Soviet coastal defense missile, the "Shangyou No. ." By this point, China had acquired the capability to independently manufacture surface-to-air, air-to-air, surface-to-surface, and coastal defense missiles. A production line for the "Shangyou No. " coastal defense missile was established at the Honghu Machinery Plant.

By concentrating some air force planes and the coastal defense missiles in hand, we can catch the arrogant Chiang Kai-shek navy off guard.

"it is good."

The chairman was very happy.

He said, "Comrade Deng Guo, a certain department of your General Staff and the Fuzhou Military Region should jointly formulate a combat plan. You must severely strike a blow against the arrogance of the Chiang Kai-shek navy."

This is not the 21st century. Whatever China wants to do in Taiwan will have a huge impact and will tie China's hands.

In the 1960s, war was commonplace. Not only was it attacking a few warships of the Chiang Kai-shek naval base, but even launching missiles directly at Taiwan was commonplace.

China's shipping industry is developing rapidly, but the harassment by the Chiang Kai-shek navy has severely impacted its development. If we can force the Chiang Kai-shek navy to retreat in one battle, it will be very good for the development of China's shipping industry and for the development of China's coastal cities.

"Yes."

Deng Guo was very excited.

He had long wanted to use the navy, air force, and missile forces to wage a three-dimensional war.

The Chairman saw everyone's reaction and knew that most people did not agree with a "joint navy" with the Soviet Union. So far, the only one who supported the establishment of a "joint navy" was General Peng.

In fact, the Chairman was not particularly in favor of a "joint navy." As Wei Hongjun said, the Soviet Union's "joint navy" had other ulterior motives. Their focus was not on the weak Chinese and North Korean navies, but on their ports. This was something the Chairman could not accept.

Chen Yun said, "Comrade Khrushchev, you tend to be impulsive. The Soviet Union has repeatedly proposed a 'joint navy' to us. If we keep refusing, our relationship will be in jeopardy."

Khrushchev's personality has advantages in handling things, but his disadvantages are also obvious.

Needless to say, Khrushchev had a strong ability to push things forward. Once he decided to push something forward, he would get to work quickly.

Whether it was the complete negation of Comrade Stalin, the "Corn Revolution," or the grand strategy of communistizing Indochina, once a decision was made, there would be no hesitation and it would be carried out swiftly and on a large scale.

But this is also my downside. I'm impulsive and often rush into things without long-term planning, thinking through the consequences. This often leads to embarrassing situations halfway through, and I don't know what to do next.

Khrushchev experienced many similar incidents throughout his life. He had no long-term plans, and would just jump into action on whatever came to mind. The result was a complete mess.

Therefore, Khrushchev worked vigorously and decisively under Stalin, achieving outstanding results. It was precisely because of his outstanding decisiveness, courage, and work ability that he was able to rise to the leadership of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union. However, once he became the supreme leader of the Soviet Union, his work style led to frequent missteps.

He invested a lot of manpower and material resources in several of his gambles, but ultimately they all failed. Agricultural reform was particularly disastrous, leading to his downfall.

Chen Yun had frequent contact with Khrushchev and understood that he was not a patient leader. If China continued to refuse him a clear answer, it would easily anger him.

The consequences of angering Khrushchev were far more severe than those of angering Stalin. Although Stalin was powerful, he understood the greater good. But when Khrushchev got angry, he had no idea what the greater good meant. He simply followed his own whims.

Everyone agreed with Chen Yun's words. China and the Soviet Union were currently in a honeymoon period, and were about to embark on a grand strategy of communistizing the Indochina Peninsula. This was indeed not the time for a falling out between the two countries.

This was also the Chairman's concern. He was not one to tolerate such things. If it were any other time, he would have simply rejected Khrushchev and would not have been embarrassed at all.

But the communistization of Indochina was a major issue for the international communist movement. Although this was a grand strategy proposed by Khrushchev, the Chairman also supported it in his heart.

To enter communism, the entire world must enter together. It's impossible for only one country to enter communism while others don't. Therefore, defeating the imperialist camp, especially the imperialist leader, the United States, is what the Chairman has always hoped for.

Therefore, the communistization of Southeast Asia is indeed very important in the development of the international communist movement.

The communistization of Indochina is now imminent. If China and the Soviet Union have conflicts or even estrangement at this time, the direct impact will be the communistization of Indochina. China and the Soviet Union can have minor conflicts, but they cannot split. This is the Chairman's bottom line at present.

It was precisely for the sake of the grand strategy of the international communist movement that the Chairman did not directly tell Khrushchev that China did not agree to the "joint navy."

But even if they disagreed, they couldn't directly anger Khrushchev.

"Then we can only ask for a high price and pay it back when it's low."

Deng Xixian said, "We cannot fully agree with the Soviet Union's demands, but we cannot completely reject them either. Let's talk slowly and come up with conditions that are acceptable to both sides."

As long as there is talk, there is hope and there will be no major conflicts between the two sides.

Deng Xixian had had many contacts and negotiations with the Soviet Union in recent years. Therefore, in his view, as long as it did not touch the bottom line, it could be discussed.

Wei Hongjun nodded and said, "I agree with Comrade Deng Xixian's opinion. Our country has just been liberated from a semi-feudal, semi-colonial state. We cannot provide a naval base to the Soviet army and let the situation of the old China return to us. However, we can support Soviet warships to carry out simple supplies and repairs in our military ports."

"When we negotiated the Chinese Eastern Railway with the Soviet Union, we also made some compromises. When necessary, the Soviet Union could use the Chinese Eastern Railway to deploy troops, and we could also use Soviet railways to deploy troops. We can also make such compromises on the port issue."

"In the Sino-Soviet relationship, Soviet warships can use Chinese naval ports for supplies and repairs when needed, and Chinese warships can also use Soviet naval ports for supplies and repairs. As long as such supplies and repairs are time-limited, it is just cooperation between the two countries."

"A 'joint naval force' is too big a move. It could easily become a military alliance between China and the Soviet Union. Even if it's not a true military alliance, others will think it is. So, we could change it to a situation where the Chinese and Soviet navies exchange intelligence with each other, and conduct military exercises every few years to strengthen ties."

"The cooperation between the Chinese and Soviet navies was limited to exchanges and intelligence sharing. It was not tied together as a 'joint navy.'"

"When the war in Indochina becomes intense and other things distract Comrade Khrushchev, he will no longer consider the matter of a 'joint navy'."

1094 War Prelude

After the enlarged Politburo meeting, China responded to Khrushchev, hoping that both sides would sit down and have a detailed discussion on naval cooperation.

China simply did not want to cause a major conflict with the Soviet Union, so it responded so cautiously. In fact, the initiative in the negotiations was in China's hands.

China needed Soviet assistance in developing its navy. However, at this stage, China was still developing its industrial base, and the development of its shipbuilding industry had to be postponed. There was no urgent need for this. A "joint navy," for example, was almost dispensable to China.

On the contrary, this incident was about the Soviet Union "seeking help" from China. It was just that the Soviet Union was used to being strong and acting like the big brother. So while it "seeked help" from China, its approach was still somewhat condescending.

After entering the negotiations, China's bottom line was that it did not want to establish a "joint navy" or a Soviet "naval base" in a Chinese military port. However, China could accept the Soviet Navy's use of Chinese military ports for supplies and repairs.

This was significantly different from the Soviet Union's demands. Consequently, the two sides engaged in several rounds of negotiations, which were always stuck. China has consistently emphasized that it is acceptable to conduct joint military exercises with the Soviet and North Korean navies and participate in certain military operations, but not to establish a "joint navy."

Fortunately, the Soviet Union had already reached an agreement with North Korea to use North Korean ports to build naval bases. Therefore, after seeing China's firm attitude, it chose to back down and did not demand the establishment of a "joint navy" or a naval base.

However, the Soviet Union put forward a new proposal, which was to establish a Sino-Soviet joint shipyard in a Chinese port, with joint investment, construction and management by China and the Soviet Union, mainly responsible for the maintenance of Soviet warships.

After discussing this issue, the Central Committee accepted the Soviet Union's proposal. This was a compromise, and China couldn't simply follow its own ideas. Negotiations also require compromise, and China must back down when necessary.

Besides, this is not a bad thing for China. In the early days of the People's Republic of China, China and the Soviet Union jointly managed the Dalian Shipyard, and the cadres and technicians on the Chinese side learned a lot from the Soviet Union.

For a period of time, Dalian Shipyard even became the most important training base for technicians and workers in Northeast China.

A large number of industrial cadres, technicians, and workers came to Dalian Shipyard to learn how to manage the factory and learn industrial technology. Even Anshan Iron and Steel sent personnel to Dalian Shipyard to learn.

Many of China’s current technical leaders in shipbuilding industry have studied at Dalian Shipyard.

Therefore, the joint establishment of a shipyard by China and the Soviet Union was a good cooperation for China, although its main task was to repair Soviet warships. Although the Soviet shipbuilding industry was slightly inferior to that of the United States, it was much stronger than that of China.

The Soviet Union wanted to establish a Sino-Soviet joint shipyard in Dalian and Lushun, but China rejected the Soviet proposal and proposed Qingdao or ports in Zhejiang and Fujian.

Dalian and Lushun's geographical location is too sensitive, and it is impossible for China to allow warships from other countries to enter here at will.

China allowed Soviet military personnel to visit Zhejiang and Fujian to inspect the ports there, and ultimately selected one port as a military port and to establish a Sino-Soviet joint shipyard. China also made many concessions in this regard.

Then there's the issue of long-wave radio. The Soviet Union had also proposed this idea years earlier, initially wanting joint Sino-Soviet management, but China rejected it. China then requested the Soviet Union's help in establishing a long-wave radio station in China. Ownership, management, and use rights would remain with China, but the Soviet Union could use it. Ultimately, the Soviet Union accepted China's proposal.

Construction began in late 1957, and the long-wave radio station has now been completed. At this meeting, the Soviet Union proposed that China and the Soviet Union should clarify how to use the long-wave radio station.

The Chinese side did not object to this issue and readily agreed to allow the Soviet Union to use it. However, the rules for its use had to be established. This was because the Soviet Union's proposal for long-wave radio was specifically for Soviet submarines, and New China currently had no use for long-wave radio.