Republic of China: German-equipped divisions massacred as warlords guarded the nation's borders

March 17th, 9:00 AM.

Longhua Road Garrison Command Headquarters. Underground Operations Room.

Chen Zijun sat behind the sand table and closed his eyes.

The system panel slowly unfolded in his mind.

[Unlimited Pay-to-Win System]

Current funds: £2,334,716 (+£1.5 per second)

Unlocked: All Army units, Naval Fortress, Submarine Wolfpack, Air Defense System

Unlockable: Heavy Aircraft Carrier Module (requires £1800 million)

Achievement Bonus: Industrial Self-Sufficiency (+50% Fund Acquisition Rate)

Twenty-one million.

Chen Zijun opened his eyes, a slight smile playing on his lips.

Yesterday I was worried about seven million, but when I woke up I found it had tripled.

Mo Huixin stood opposite him, holding a palm-sized ledger in her hands.

She wore a dark blue cheongsam today, and her hair was neatly combed, but the dark circles under her eyes betrayed the fact that she hadn't slept all night.

"Young Master, the final inventory results are in."

She opened the ledger, her voice steady and clear.

"The underground vault of Sassoon Warehouse No. 3 contains 3,200 standard gold bars, equivalent to £1.28 million. Seventy-six boxes of US dollar cash, equivalent to £1.6 million. The deeds, equity and bonds, after preliminary valuation by the legal department, involve real estate and shipping shares in Shanghai, Hong Kong and Singapore, with a conservative valuation of no less than £6 million."

Chen Zijun nodded.

"continue."

"In addition, the total amount of opium seized throughout the five southeastern provinces, as of this morning, is 97,000 chests. I have contacted Lily Kurrag, whose European network can handle it all within three months. Based on current European black market rates, after deducting transportation and distribution costs, the net profit will be no less than 12 million pounds."

"The first batch of 30,000 containers has already been loaded onto the ship. Lily has promised to pay a deposit of three million pounds within ten days."

Chen Zijun leaned back in his chair, his fingers tapping lightly on the table.

Twelve million.

In addition, there are nearly nine million in the vault.

In addition, there's the more than seven million base funds from the system's AFK operation.

The total is approximately £28 million.

Is that enough?

No, that's not enough.

More than enough.

"Huixin" (慧心).

"exist."

"All of the Sassoon family's real estate and dock berths in the five southeastern provinces were appraised and liquidated. Everything that could be sold was sold off. Everything that could be used was allocated to the military."

"Yes. We expect to recover between three and five million pounds in cash flow."

"it is good."

Chen Zijun stood up.

He walked to a large map next to the sand table.

The map shows the military deployment across the five southeastern provinces, with red flags stretching from Shanghai all the way to Fuzhou.

His gaze lingered on Wusongkou and Mawei for a long time.

Then, he turned to look at Mo Huixin.

"Huixin, I have a question for you."

"Please speak, young master."

"Do you think 20 million pounds is enough to build an aircraft carrier?"

Mo Huixin was taken aback.

aircraft carrier?

That kind of thing that's still in the experimental stage in the British and American navies?

But she quickly regained her composure.

Having been by the young master's side for so long, what unbelievable things hasn't she seen?

She had seen 280mm coastal defense guns sprout from the ground overnight.

She had also seen twelve submarine production lines suddenly appear out of nowhere.

Aircraft carrier?

Since he said so, the young master can naturally conjure it up.

"If the young master wants to... build an aircraft carrier, that's not something that can be done just with money. He also needs a navy, a fleet, and a lot more?"

Chen Zijun smiled.

"certainly."

He closed his eyes and opened the system store in his mind.

[Navy - Large Warships Section]

A category page he had never opened before unfolded on the panel.

The list inside made his pupils suddenly contract.

[Complete Set of Heavy Aircraft Carrier Industrial Blueprints]

Price: £1800 million

Includes: Hull assembly drawings (32000-ton displacement class)

Flight deck and hangar structure

Carrier-based aircraft takeoff and landing system arresting system

Propulsion system (four steam turbines, maximum speed 30 knots)

Note: Special steel forging capability is required (Ma'anshan can meet this requirement).

Initial Module for Carrier-Based Fighter Jets

Price: £120 million

Includes: Design blueprints for a single-wing piston fighter (model 3)

Carrier-based dive bomber design drawings ×2

Two design drawings of carrier-based torpedo bombers

Aero engine manufacturing process package

Note: Requires cooperation with an aircraft manufacturer.

Chen Zijun took a deep breath.

Eighteen million pounds to buy a complete set of industrial blueprints and technology for an aircraft carrier.

£1.2 million to buy the matching carrier-based aircraft modules.

The total is less than 20 million.

He currently has 21 million in his account.

enough.

He did not hesitate at all.

"exchange."

A confirmation box pops up on the system panel.

"Confirm payment of £19,200,000?"

"confirm."

Ding.

The numbers on the panel jumped rapidly.

21,347,892→2,147,892

£19.2 million vanished in an instant.

Instead, a whole cabinet of blue industrial blueprints appeared densely packed in the system's warehouse.

Chen Zijun opened his eyes.

A slight smile slowly curved the corners of his lips.

That smile held both an air of unwavering determination and the desolation unique to a time traveler.

In its previous life, China's first aircraft carrier was converted from a semi-finished vessel.

This lifetime.

He wants to start from scratch and use the hands of Chinese workers to build his own steel behemoth.

……

That afternoon.

Jiangnan Shipyard.

Liu Zhenliang is 62 years old this year.

He has built gunboats, transport ships, and destroyers in his lifetime.

But when Chen Zijun laid out the roll of blue blueprints in front of him, the old shipwright, who had seen many storms, was still stunned.

He put on his reading glasses, bent down, and examined the lines on the drawing inch by inch.

As he looked at it, his hands began to tremble.

"This is……"

"An aircraft carrier." Chen Zijun stood behind him, his voice calm. "Displacement of 32,000 tons. Flight deck length of 242 meters. Capable of carrying 72 carrier-based aircraft. Four steam turbines, maximum speed of 30 knots."

Liu Zhenliang's reading glasses almost slipped off his nose.

"Three... thirty-two thousand tons?"

He looked up, his eyes filled with disbelief.

"Young Marshal, are you mistaken? The world's largest aircraft carrier right now is the British HMS Furious, which is only a little over 20,000 tons. Yours... is more than 10,000 tons larger than the British one?"

"No mistake."

Chen Zijun patted the blueprints.

"Grandpa Liu, tell me, can the Jiangnan Shipyard, combined with Ma'anshan's special steel production capacity, manufacture it?"

Liu Zhenliang fell silent.

He lowered his head again and looked at the blueprints from beginning to end once more.

Power system.

Flight deck.

Barrier device.

The design of each component was extremely precise, far exceeding any shipbuilding blueprint he had ever seen.

But these designs are not just wishful thinking.

The open-hearth furnaces in Ma'anshan are already capable of producing special steel.

The 10,000-ton dry dock at Jiangnan Shipyard has just been completed.

There are more than 300 skilled craftsmen from Germany.

Two of his Class A destroyers have been launched, and the third is currently being outfitted.

In other words...

The technical foundation is there.

Steel production capacity is now available.

Skilled workers, we have them.

The shipyard... needs to be expanded. But it's not unsolvable.

Liu Zhenliang took off his reading glasses and wiped the corner of his eye.

His voice was hoarse.

"Young Marshal."

"Um?"

"I started shipbuilding during the Guangxu era. I've spent my whole life building ships, watching the Beiyang Fleet go from ninth in the world to a pile of scrap metal. Later, I watched Japanese warships run rampant on the Yangtze River, and we couldn't even lift a finger."

He sniffed hard.

"My life is dedicated to shipbuilding."

"Give me the blueprints, give me the steel, give me the workers."

"Even if I die in the shipyard, I will build this ship for you!"

Chen Zijun looked at the elderly man's red eyes and patted him on the shoulder.

"Old Master Liu, don't talk about life or death."

"I'll give you two years."

"Two years from now, I want to see China's own aircraft carrier in the waters off Wusongkou."

Liu Zhenliang was startled.

Two years?

He initially wanted to say it was too short, but then he thought, when has the young marshal ever disappointed anyone?

He said it would take two months to build a destroyer, and it really did take two months to launch it.

He said a fortress could be built overnight, and it truly rose from the ground overnight.

Aircraft carrier?

Two years?

Just do it!

"yes!"

Liu Zhenliang snapped to attention and saluted.

His posture was even more perfect than that of a young officer.

……

Six o'clock in the evening.

Shanghai North Railway Station.

A special train bearing the flag of the Republic of China slowly pulled into the platform.

The car body was painted dark green, and thick white steam was spewing from the front.

The platform had already been cleared out.

Twenty secret agents dressed in gray Zhongshan suits stood in two rows on either side of the platform, each holding a Mauser pistol.

After the train came to a complete stop, the door of the last carriage slowly opened.

A thin, stern-faced middle-aged man stepped down.

He was wearing a black woolen overcoat and a felt hat with the brim pulled low, obscuring his features.

But his walking posture is extremely peculiar.

Every step felt like it had been measured with a ruler.

Not too fast, not too slow, neither too biased nor too impartial.

The spies on the platform all stood tall and proud.

A short, stout man at the head of the group quickly stepped forward to meet them.

"Director Dai! You must be tired from your journey! Mr. Sassoon is already waiting for you in the French Concession."

Beneath the brim of the hat, a pair of extremely cold eyes were visible.

"No rush."

Dai Zhijian's voice was very soft, like a dagger wrapped in silk.

"Let's go check out Chen Zijun's territory first."

"I want to see just how many lives this King of the Southeast has."