Yes, Prime Minister of Japan

Have you decided on a name yet?

Li Xinghe pondered for a moment:

"Let's stick to the original plan: three battleships, one for China, one for the Korean Peninsula, and one for the Japanese archipelago."

Chapter 791: Li Xinghe Shoots Out Eight Islands, Zhenhai Ship Heads Towards War (4900 words)

Ulsan Hyundai Shipyard.

A large group of South Korean officials surrounded Lee Sung-ha and escorted him to the scenic Dongdaesan Mountain, overlooking the giant ships taking shape in the three dry docks, numbered 1, 4, and 5.

Lee Sung-ha, wearing sunglasses and a straw hat, dressed in a suit, and holding a baton, walked with a leisurely gait reminiscent of Park Chung-hee. This was also the intention behind Cho Yeol-sook's deliberate attire before her departure. Politically, she aimed to inherit the banner of the Joseon Dynasty, but in practical economic matters, she evoked Park Chung-hee's gangster-like thuggishness.

However, Li Xinghe only talked about history:

"When people talk about Ulsan, they think of the time when Toyotomi Hideyoshi invaded Korea, and Konishi Yukinaga and Kato Kiyomasa landed in Busan and Ulsan. Konishi Yukinaga performed exceptionally well, while Kato Kiyomasa, nicknamed 'Tiger Kato,' was so frightened by Li Rusong that he fled all the way back to Seoul. Afterwards, he fled south, and Kato Kiyomasa hid in the Dosan Fortresses outside Ulsan Castle. For the first time... The place we are standing here now is the ancient Ulsan County's Opungtae, where legend has it that..."

Li Xinghe was gesturing wildly at the mouth of the Ulsan River when he turned around and found everyone completely silent.

"You don't understand what I'm saying, do you?"

Let's all answer honestly:

"Uh...yes..."

Li Xinghe's anger level began to rise.

Before setting off, he didn't stay up late to prepare; instead, he focused on his research, specifically studying the history of the Imjin War and maps of Daedongyo, and delving into historical sites near Ulsan, hoping to demonstrate his understanding of Korean history and enhance national identity.

He was overthinking it.

These South Koreans don't even understand their own history.

Therefore, he angrily rebuked:

"Who is the Minister of Education? Arrest him! I want him to immediately, right now, put Kim Jong-ho's 1861 'Map of the Eastern Region' into my textbooks!"

Kim Jong-ho was a follower of the Daewongun. Over the course of 30 years, he traveled throughout Korea and in 1861 drew the "Daedongyo Map," which can be considered the pinnacle of Korean national maps in the Eastern style. It was remarkably accurate and advanced for East Asia at the time. For that era, this map, at a scale of 1:16, was already quite reliable. It took the Japanese decades to catch up with it.

However, what makes Kim Jung-ho even more remarkable is that, because Lee Sung-ha's ancestor, the Daewongun, was placed under house arrest, he burned maps and atlases out of grief and indignation. He was convicted of "leaking state secrets" and died in confinement in grief and indignation.

It's hard to imagine how this crime was judged. Burning maps and leaking maps—does it mean that they will be seen by ghosts and gods?

The Minister of Education was not present, but there were indeed people at the Ministry of Education who rushed over to explain:

"Well, actually, there are excerpts from the Great Eastern Map included in geography textbooks. It's just that it's all in classical Chinese characters, and the students' Chinese character proficiency is a bit..."

Lee Sung-ha did revive the Korean tradition of using Chinese characters again, but it's clear that getting Koreans to read history books filled with traditional Chinese characters is still too difficult.

He clenched his fist, then released it:

"Japan has all the kanji... Forget it, let's make kanji a compulsory subject. Junior high school students should be able to read at least 500 commonly used kanji, high school students 1500, and college students should be able to read at least a few simple classical Chinese texts."

Li Xinghe originally wanted to praise Japan, but now the Japanese people's level of Chinese character proficiency is also very poor. The Japanese government's requirement for students to master Chinese characters has long been met by only 10% of students.

Throughout East Asia, Vietnam has the most Chinese language elements, with over 60% of its words being Chinese loanwords. However, Vietnamese people's proficiency in Chinese characters is quite poor, while Japan is the best example of this.

Thinking about this, one can see that the employment opportunities for Taiwanese immigrants, particularly the Chinese language teaching profession, are definitely promising in Japan and South Korea.

Lee Sung-ha, exasperated by the Koreans' poor Chinese character skills, still wanted to discuss policy, but the astute Mrs. Cho Yeol-sook quickly intervened to distract everyone:

"Let's look at the ship first."

The basic shape of these three massive battleships is essentially complete. From the armored decks being laid to the outfitting work inside the towers where welders are seen, everything is taking shape. The entire battleship is 273 meters long and 35.6 meters wide. Due to the increased weight of the full-body protective steel structure, its tonnage has increased from 64000 tons for the Yamato to 80,000 tons standard displacement and over 90,000 tons full load displacement. The propulsion system relies on eight general-purpose LM-2500 gas turbines, generating 340,000 horsepower and pushing its top speed to 30 knots, enough to match the speed of modern naval fleets.

The hull was probably inspired by the Yamato, but the superstructure was quite modern.

The Yamato's classic pagoda-style bridge is gone, leaving only a stealthy bridge that resembles a trapezoidal box, topped with a pointed, winged stealth mast equipped with an active phased array radar, like a child's toy block.

It's not pretty, but there's nothing I can do about it.

Because South Korea does not have the technology to develop fully stealth radar.

The person in charge introduced:

"Ahead are two triple-gun turrets. Although they borrowed from the Yamato's gun turrets, we actually have a lot of independently developed technology. Whether it's the shipborne fire control radar or the ammunition supply machine, it represents the culmination of the wisdom of many countries..."

Battleships have missile launch silos installed starting from the waist.

"...The Americans stopped supplying the missile launch silos in the middle, and they couldn't use them all themselves. So they used the K-VLS type vertical launch silos produced by South Korea, which have a total of 120 units."

It's basically just a complete copy of the American MK41 vertical launch system.

"The flight deck at the stern occupies 45% of the hull, and with the flared section, it is 135 meters long. It has four small drone catapults and four helicopter launch points. The deck and hangar can store 24 helicopters and more than 200 drones. The amphibious dock below is also a highlight. We have expanded the amphibious dock to the greatest extent possible, and it can carry more than 1000 marines and assault boats."

As for the most critical ammunition depot, due to its compact location, it was placed next to the missile silos.

The steel armor there is also the strongest, so if it is unfortunately penetrated by a ballistic missile, there is nothing that can be done.

Upon arriving at the high platform of the Ulsan Hyundai Shipyard, everyone watched as water was poured into the dry dock of three giant warships, which gradually rose and then slowly entered the sea with huge waves.

"They've gone into the water!"

Confetti was sprayed on the scene, and everyone cheered.

Although it's a game about raising metal lumps, these three battleships are the heaviest, largest, and largest-caliber super battleships in history.

These three behemoths were built by combining the best naval intelligence resources from the three Northeast Asian countries.

"Let's come up with a name."

Zhao Lieshu was good at creating a lively atmosphere. She clapped her hands in celebration and also steered the conversation toward the name of the ship.

Li Xinghe coughed and picked up the microphone:

"These three ships are not our own. They are temporary products temporarily lent to us by the White House. Therefore, I will also temporarily assign them three special code names to reflect our position on the Taiwan Strait situation. I want to trace back from history to modern times, from the individual cultures of various countries to the common and interconnected cultures, and take one code name from the cultures of China, the Korean Peninsula, and the Japanese archipelago. This will demonstrate our determination for peace."

Actually, the first battleship was originally intended to be named Zhonghua (中华) or Qin Dynasty (秦朝).

However, given the current delicate situation, Li Xinghe had to make a choice and make political insinuations.

Therefore, he pointed to the No. 1 ship and announced:

"The first one was named Zhenhai. After the fall of the Qing Dynasty, the Fengtian warlords in Northeast China formed their own faction outside of the Communist Party and the Kuomintang, and there was a saying that they were the Northeast Navy. Zhenhai was China's first seaplane carrier and the starting point of China's Northeast Navy and maritime aviation power, which is of great commemorative significance."

Li Xinghe's move was to inherit the name.

The Zhenhai was China's first seaplane carrier, marking the beginning of its naval air power. Li Xinghe then named a modern replica of it. To outsiders, this seemed like a gross attempt at absurdity.

What's even more intriguing is the political metaphor behind it all.

The Zhenhai was a training ship for the Northeast Navy, while at that time the Kuomintang and the Communist Party were fighting each other, and the Fengtian warlords were watching from outside the Great Wall.

While the KMT and the CCP are still locked in a power struggle between mainland China and Taiwan, Li Xinghe has named his first battleship the first jellyfish ship of the Northeast Navy and is sitting back in Northeast Asia watching the show.

The profound meaning behind it doesn't require much contemplation; one can easily grasp this kind of ambiguity that only East Asians understand.

Even Americans can understand a little bit of it.

Of course, the South Koreans don't need to think so much. They can simply cut out Lee Sung-ha's praise of the Northeast Navy and just show the name Jinhae. There is a city called Jinhae in Gyeongsang Province, South Korea, which is also a South Korean naval port. South Koreans will assume it's that city when they see the name.

You know everything.

After seeing that everyone had figured it out, Li Xinghe continued:

"I've decided to name the second battleship 'Korea.' North and South Korea are now two separate nations, and if we were to find a name that would satisfy both sides and represent themselves, I'm afraid only 'Korea' would suffice. After the fall of Goguryeo, the Wang family established the kingdom, which essentially laid the foundation for the Korean Peninsula's格局 (geju, a term referring to the overall situation or structure of the Korean Peninsula). Since then, there have been virtually no major changes."

The name of the second ship was one that Li Xinghe disliked, but had to come up with.

Only the name "Goryeo" can unite the consensus between North and South Korea. Any other name seems insufficient.

It can be called Baitou Mountain, but Changbai Mountain belongs to China.

Although it could also be called "Da Dong Hao", Da Dong was originally a name for Shandong Province.

For the sake of his fellow countrymen in Shandong Province, Li Xinghe removed Da Dong's name.

So after much deliberation, I still chose Korea.

First is China, second is South Korea, so third must be Japan.

The South Koreans were overjoyed to have beaten Japan in the rankings.

Regarding the naming of the third battleship, Li Xinghe pondered:

“I was hesitant between Shikishima and Yashima. But considering that Shikishima had been used before, I decided to name this warship Yashima.”

Shikijima and Yashima are both alternative names for Japan, but they have different meanings. Shikijima refers to an area under the jurisdiction of Isojo, the capital of the Yamato period, similar to the Chinese concept of "at the foot of the imperial city," and thus became a general term for the whole of Japan.

The term "Yashima" is much simpler, referring to eight islands including Tsushima, Oki, Sado, Shikoku, and Awaji. In mythology, these islands are said to have been formed from the fluids expelled by Izanagi and Izanami during their sexual intercourse, which is the origin of the Japanese archipelago.

In other words, the Japanese archipelago was created during the siblings' constant orgies. That perfectly suits Li Xinghe's character.

The temporary codenames will be engraved on the fleet numbers of the three ships.

However, its political undertones have already spread throughout Northeast Asia.

Netizens from various countries cheered at the appearance of the giant warships and cannons. Whether in China, Japan, or South Korea, netizens' first reaction was to express their gratitude to Li Xinghe.

This is the first time that countries other than Japan have been given the name of a battleship.

For Japan, this marked the first time since the war that it had acquired a weapon for decisive battle.

At least this time it really is a battleship.

Vietnam: "And me?"

I don't care.

Let's talk about it after the battleships are pushed into Vietnam.

But a political storm is already brewing. Mei is free, Lin is free...

Of the three battleships, only the second and third used the country's alternative or official name as their provisional designation. The first one should have used "China," but due to political factors, it was renamed as a historical warship of the Northeast Navy.

This occurred after the Busan peace talks broke down on the third day.

Even a fool could read the political undertones in it.

In order to win over this huge public opinion, Li Xinghe naturally had to attend a press conference and boast about himself.

Is this an offensive weapon?

When asked by reporters, Li Xinghe answered "no".

Even a fool could see that this warship was designed for offense.

Another reporter asked:

"However, some analysts say that since modern nations no longer pursue armor-piercing missile countermeasures on their ships, these three battleships are actually more threatening."

Li Xinghe resorted to sophistry again:

"Please rest assured. These iron contraptions have no modern combat capabilities; they exist merely as historical symbols for people to remember the past. If any country attempts to develop missiles targeting battleships, I will have them decommissioned and dismantled to prevent an arms race."

This is a difficult problem that Li Xinghe posed to the opposing countries and regions.

They spend huge sums researching missile warheads to target these armored targets, investing heavily just to penetrate their armor. Li Xinghe will dismantle them, rendering their research useless. Since this direction is basically clear, Li Xinghe will go back and build amphibious landing ships with enhanced defenses, equipped with 203mm naval guns, anti-aircraft missiles, and flight decks.

If Li Xinghe doesn't spend a lot of money researching heavy missile warheads, then he'll have to use these iron-hulled ships to fulfill their actual function as 'near-shore firepower delivery and amphibious landing ships'.

This is called following the American path (referring to the specific route of the sea-to-land strategy).

Military commentators from various countries have made the following suggestions:

"Are torpedo boats and mines about to be revived?"

Near the coast, it seems that only torpedoes can withstand these iron lumps, although no one can say for sure whether current torpedo boats can withstand attacks from the 203 naval gun fire control guidance and countless suicide drones.

In the current economic downturn, military investment must be approached with caution. Military authorities around the world are facing headaches, especially in the more specific area of ​​armor-piercing missile countermeasures on ships.

They're adding armor-piercing missile countermeasures, but they don't have the money to develop missiles. Even if they did, they might not be effective; Li Xinghe would dismantle the ships.

Attempting to torpedo bombardment without air superiority would be futile, as it would fail to protect torpedo boats and submarines. The air superiority capability of the Ryuzakura fighter jet ensures air safety, and the anti-submarine and anti-torpedo boat capabilities of carrier-based anti-submarine aircraft and drones are far superior to those of the past.

If you simply spread your hands, Li Xinghe will be at your doorstep in no time.

How to control the three iron turtles newly built by Li Xinghe with a limited budget has become a hilarious problem.

Large countries are only worried, but small countries are filled with fear.

Online self-media joked:

"This is the new era of armor-on-missile combat. My armor is cheap, your missiles are expensive..."

"Modify the armor-piercing warhead of the Dongfeng ballistic missile, and sink those three iron lumps of his will be a piece of cake."