Seven Seas Beacon Fire

In previous wartime combat and post-war training, the Navy discovered that cruisers built before the outbreak of war, with a maximum speed of only 27-29 knots, were already struggling to complete this task. Considering that the speed of future destroyers may further increase, the minimum maximum speed for future light and heavy cruisers should not be lower than 31 knots.

Of course, many front-line officers said that they also hoped the cruiser would be as fast as possible, but most of them disliked the plans that sacrificed almost all protection for speed and firepower. After all, who would want to command a cruiser that is a glass cannon when they think about the fact that they might be commanding such a warship in the future?

The ability to effectively defend against shells from destroyers and light cruisers can basically be seen as the "ideal requirement" for these officers and soldiers.

After satisfying both of these aspects, there are actually not many options left. However, neither of the two options from Institute 229 was eliminated, and they can be said to be the two options that received the most support from front-line commanders among the many options.

The 25mm turret, previously criticized by those sitting in offices, was actually a stroke of genius favored by frontline commanders, especially the captain of the Yangtze River light cruiser. This ship, now downgraded from a high school heavy cruiser to a middle school light cruiser by replacing its original 180mm guns with 150mm guns, remains the largest and most advanced cruiser in the Tang Dynasty Royal Navy (excluding older armored cruisers).

The captain of the light cruiser Yangtze stated that during the final stages of the last war, when his Yangtze was engaged in commerce raiding operations with Colombian naval escort vessels, the 150mm turret frontal vertical armor was already struggling to withstand eight-inch shells with soft caps.

By the later stages of the war, most countries had solved the problem of premature detonation in their armor-piercing shells. Even soft-capped armor-piercing shells, with reliable fuses and less sensitive explosive charges, were no longer as effective as the 12-inch shells that could not even penetrate 6 inches of armor. He bluntly stated that many of the so-called heavily protected turrets in the plan could not withstand the new 8-inch armor-piercing shells from various countries in the future.

If it's certain that it can't stop the enemy, then it's better not to have armor at all!

Because of the experience gained in the same world war, many areas on warships without heavy armor protection were often penetrated without damage by armor-piercing shells.

A more extreme example is a destroyer that once took two 14-inch shells during wartime. If either of these 14-inch shells had detonated normally, the destroyer would have been almost certainly killed. However, in reality, both shells passed through the destroyer's hull above the waterline. Apart from leaving two holes and taking the lives of several officers and men, the destroyer maintained its speed and maneuvered freely.

Of course, from Li Che's perspective, the solutions favored by these commanders did not compromise much on the protection of the command tower. Humans are indeed more likely to consider things from their own perspective, since they are commanding operations from inside the command tower, not from inside the gun turret.

As the classic saying goes, if you're a tank driver, you'll probably prefer tanks like the Tiger and the Panther, but if you're a general, you'll definitely prefer tanks like the T-34 or the Sherman.

Both proposals from Institute 229 have entered the second stage of bidding. Next, each design bureau will provide more detailed design drawings and scaled-down models. They will test the naval coefficients of the warship and demonstrate more detailed compartments, armor layout, and firepower structure. Even if everything goes smoothly, it will be next year before the design for the first heavy cruiser of the Tang Dynasty Royal Navy is finally decided.

However, at this time, since Institute 229 was the only one among the design institutes that submitted a proposal, all of which were selected for the next round of selection, and it was rumored that the Crown Prince had pushed through the initial screening to enter the first stage of evaluation, some rumors inevitably spread.

Because both plans received widespread approval and praise from frontline commanders during the first phase of the selection process, few people accused the Crown Prince of favoritism or corruption in the process. After all, China has always been very pragmatic in its approach to things.

As long as you have the ability to get things done and gain everyone's approval, people are often able to accept that you have some shortcomings in your private morality.

However, since someone discovered that both designs were created by a female designer, and reportedly a young and beautiful one at that, some gossip naturally spread.

How so? Because the Ming Dynasty previously had a high degree of freedom in controlling these public opinions and news, the common people liked to discuss these matters. In the eyes of the general public, the current emperor, in addition to being a monarch, may also have some characteristics of a "national idol".

Li Che was extremely troubled by these baseless and nonsensical rumors at home.

"I swear, there's really nothing between me and that woman! I just happened to be at the Navy Headquarters that day, and I only intervened a little because those two designs were really good. How did that get involved in workplace unspoken rules?"

"Heh, that's hard to say. Aren't you men all big pigs who fall in love with every girl you see? When you were playing that girly warship game on my phone, who was it that was chuckling and saying, 'My wife is mine, and my sister-in-law won't escape either!'"

"She's not even my sister-in-law!"

"Well, it's only because I don't have a younger sister that you're really thinking about your sister-in-law, right?"

"Oh, I'm not..."

Chapter 352 Colombian Navy: My Turn!

On the other hand, although the arms race of capital ships among nations has ceased, in the cruiser class, with the Gallic Kingdom embarking on the construction of the first newly designed heavy cruiser under the treaty period, and the Tang Dynasty Royal Navy launching an open tender for a new generation of heavy cruisers, for all nations, whether they like it or not, and regardless of the speed of their response, a competition has begun in a new era and a new field.

The Colombian Navy, currently one of the world's top three navies and which prides itself on being on par with the Royal Navy of Victoria as the world's number one navy, has found itself in an embarrassing situation: its cruiser fleet, which has been worn down and developed through war, is still somewhat unsatisfactory.

In fact, the Colombian Navy was much healthier in terms of its cruiser fleet structure compared to the Beacon Navy in another world. This was mainly due to the fact that the Omaha-class cruisers of the Victoria Navy were started before the outbreak of World War II and a considerable number were produced throughout the war.

Even taking into account the losses during the war, by the end of the war, the Colombian Navy still had 16 surviving Omaha-class cruisers on hand and on the slipway. These Omaha-class cruisers had a displacement of 12 tons, which means that the Colombian Navy's total light cruiser displacement of 15 tons had been reduced to only 3 tons.

Even though the Colombian Navy decided to abandon the construction of four of the Omaha-class cruisers, which were not yet fully completed on the slipway, they still had more modern light cruisers than the Lighthouse in the other world. It should be noted that after the Lighthouse in the other world completed its ten large armored cruisers, which were originally known as the Big 10, it did not start construction on any modern cruisers for almost 10 years. When the Omaha in the other world started construction, the world war had already ended.

In this world, the Lighthouse built more than 24 Omaha cruisers. A considerable number were lost in the meat grinder of war, but 12 were still preserved. In addition, with some older and smaller second-class cruisers, the Colombian Navy was relatively more comfortable in terms of the number of cruisers compared to the Lighthouse Navy at the same time in history.

However, this does not mean that the Colombian Navy does not have an urgent need for assistance.

The Omaha-class cruisers were designed a bit too early, and their design style was more conservative. Only four six-inch main guns were mounted in two twin-mounted turrets. The other six-inch main guns still adopted a fairly traditional case design. It was already proven during the war that the 8000-ton Omaha was absolutely no match for the original heavy cruisers like the Yangtze River-class or Hawkins-class, which were only 1000 tons larger, in artillery battles.

Even now that the Yangtze-class has been degraded into a light cruiser, it still seems to perform better with 150mm naval guns than the Omaha-class.

In other words, while the Omaha-class cruisers, as a prime example of modern light cruisers during the World War II era, could indeed effectively suppress the traditional light cruisers of the previous generation, it seems that any new light cruiser from any country in the future will be able to overwhelm these Omaha-class cruisers in terms of combat power.

This reflects the real anxieties surrounding the future of the Colombian Navy.

The fact that the majority of the light cruiser tonnage will be occupied by the Omaha-class cruisers is irreversible. Although the treaty stipulates that replacement ships can be built 15 years after construction begins, and the Colombian Navy could build new light cruisers as early as the early 30s, the most effective and direct method for the Colombian Navy is to build heavy cruisers to improve both the quality and the quantity.

In fact, a year before the war ended, the Colombian Navy had already begun discussing alternatives to the Omaha-class cruisers, and within a year, it had put forward more than a dozen different proposals in terms of tonnage, size, and firepower. The smallest of these proposals was only 5000 tons, while the largest exceeded 1 tons.

Among these designs, some continued to use six-inch main guns, but the B3, C1, F2 and H3 designs were planned to be equipped with eight-inch main guns. The largest design, the C1, weighed over 10,000 tons, had a top speed of 36 knots, and was armed with seven eight-inch main guns, four five-inch secondary guns and four three-inch anti-aircraft guns, as well as six 21-inch torpedo tubes.

Only the C-series design successfully satisfied the Colombian Navy's appetite. However, with the end of the war, as there was no longer an urgent need to quickly replenish the fleet with these warships, the Colombian Navy quickly became dissatisfied with the existing specifications. They began to raise the minimum firepower requirement to eight eight-inch main guns, and on this basis, demanded an increase in the armor protection level of the cruisers.

Since then, the Colombian Navy has developed several programs that combine strong firepower, good protection, and excellent maneuverability.

It can be said that even without the treaty, warships similar to the heavy cruisers stipulated in the treaty would inevitably appear in the equipment of the navies of various countries. However, the signing of the treaty has indeed made this clearer, while also restricting the technical specifications of cruisers of various countries' navies.

Because the treaty restricts the standard displacement of cruisers to no more than 1 tons, but the Colombian Navy's previous iterations of the technology had already expanded to 12,000 tons.

In fact, after the treaty was signed, the design of the Colombian Navy's heavy cruisers kept oscillating between sacrificing protection, speed, and firepower. Due to the Colombian Navy's relentless pursuit of firepower and the requirement that the new heavy cruisers must have strong endurance to meet the practical needs of operations in the Pacific region, protection quickly became the target of the Colombian Navy's design department.

However, the Colombian Navy's cruiser development quickly fell into a spiral, because the higher-ups decided to cut into the protection, so a bunch of fast but unprotected designs quickly emerged.

Then the Colombian Navy's ordnance department said that our approach was too extreme, and suggested that we reduce the power and increase the armor.

Then a bunch of heavy armor designs emerged that couldn't even reach speeds of 30 knots.

In another world, the design of the first generation of heavy cruisers for the Lighthouse Navy went through almost four or five cycles in a loop, before finally being presented as a crunchy mess.

However, in this world, the Colombian Navy's stagnant dilemma was artificially interrupted by McGiffin before he stepped down.

McGiffin directly interfered with the design of the heavy cruiser, stating that speed and firepower were the most critical factors. After all, the 8000-nautical-mile range standard in the Pacific Ocean was an inviolable bottom line. The Colombian Navy was to cross the Pacific Ocean and fight against the Royal Navy of China in the future, and a lack of range was absolutely unacceptable. Maneuverability was the lifeblood of a cruiser, so the power could not be cut. It had to have at least a speed of 33 knots to accompany the Lexington-class battlecruisers and Constellation-class aircraft carriers in combat.

Secondly, regarding the trade-off between firepower and protection, Magifin proposed a completely new concept, which he called "precision fire control plus super-critical protection".

His theory actually stemmed from real experience during the World Wars—at the beginning of the war, even the distance between gunnery battles between dreadnoughts was usually just over 1 meters. In fact, before the outbreak of the World Wars, even the Royal Navy of Victoria still believed that the main battles would take place within 1 meters.

However, in the clashes between the Colombian Navy and the Royal Navy of China at the end of the war, shells with a range of 15,000 meters or more were already relatively common. It is foreseeable that in the future, the ever-increasing range of shells will become the benchmark pursued by surface ships of various navies. As long as the Colombian Navy's heavy cruisers can keep their fire control systems updated and ensure that they always have excellent fire control systems, they can easily suppress light cruisers and destroyers with insufficient range at relatively long distances.

It could even...asymmetrically defeat old battleships that haven't undergone large-scale modernization through this method. Keep in mind that there are still many dreadnought and super-dreadnought guns in the world with a maximum range of less than 15,000 meters.

In long-range combat, distance itself becomes a form of protection, and the so-called super-key protection actually refers to protecting the basic firepower units of this warship as much as possible—excluding the turrets and ammunition magazines, there is no heavy armor.

Finally, in late 2020 and early 2021, in the final selection process after the criteria were clarified under McGiffin's intervention, the winning design was awarded the title of Pensacola. This first heavy cruiser of the Colombian Navy replaced the name of the Pensacola-class battlecruisers that had been sunk during the war.

Although the ship's designation has been downgraded from a capital ship to a secondary capital ship, in the current Colombian Navy's system, even if the Pensacola-class battlecruisers had survived to this day, their importance would probably be no different from that of this heavy cruiser.

Once the design was frozen, the overall design style of the ship clearly reflected the tactical thinking that McGiffin had intervened in.

The entire cruiser's side armor was only 38 millimeters thick. This 38-millimeter armor was not meant to stop any shells. In fact, the purpose of this 38-millimeter armor was simply to prevent the shells from tearing the hull over a large area when the enemy light cruiser attacked with six-inch conventional or high-explosive shells.

This is also an experience that the Colombian Navy has discovered in actual combat: even if a place has the most basic and thinnest armor protection, when it is hit and exploded by a shell, the area with thin armor protection will have a smaller hole, while the unprotected part will often be easily caused by the shock wave of the explosion to have a large and terrifying gap.

The effect on the waterline is that less water gets in, making it easier for the damage control team to control the damage. This is something that War Thunder players may not be unfamiliar with – when the vehicle hull fracture mechanism was implemented on Anton, the performance of those fragile vehicles against high-explosive or HEAT rounds can be seen as a relatively good recreation.

All four main gun turrets—including two twin-mounted eight-inch turrets and two triple-mounted eight-inch turrets—were equipped with 6-inch thick frontal armor. In addition, the ammunition magazines, located below the waterline, were considered by the Colombian Navy to be difficult to hit directly by shells, and were still equipped with small 4-inch armor boxes to enclose the ammunition magazines.

Therefore, the Pensacola-class's strategy is to ensure that its firepower system is not easily lost in combat against ships of the same class, to reduce the probability of being hit by long-range shells by relying on its fire control advantages, and at the same time, to ensure that it is not easily destroyed when it is hit. The almost exposed engine room can also be protected by fine compartments to ensure that it will not lose all its power due to a few shells.

In any case, after Li Che obtained the relevant technical specifications of the Colombian Navy's Pensacola-class heavy cruiser through the intelligence personnel of the Military Intelligence Bureau, he had to admit that this first-generation heavy cruiser of the Colombian Navy was indeed superior to the Pensacola of the Lighthouse in another world in terms of design.

At least with this Pensacola, it's clear that some members of the Colombian Navy understand what they want this heavy cruiser to do. Although there seem to be some assumptions on the part of the Colombian Navy, at least the Pensacola's turret protection is reliable enough against targets of light cruiser class.

Keep in mind that the so-called heavily protected turret of the Pensacola in the other world only has a frontal thickness of 63 mm. What can 63 mm stop? The current 6-inch turret is at least not something that a 6-inch shell can shake. If it really follows the long-range combat environment envisioned by the Colombian Navy, it can also stop an 8-inch shell falling at a steep angle.

However, at this point, the probability of enemy shells hitting the top of the turret is much higher than the probability of hitting the front of the turret.

After all, the Colombian Navy did hone a group of designers with some skill during this world war.

In 2022, shortly after the Tang Dynasty began construction of its first "Songjiangfu"-class heavy cruiser at the Changxing Shipyard in Songjiang Prefecture after the Spring Festival, the Colombian Navy also announced on Easter Sunday that it had laid the first keel of its "Pensacola"-class heavy cruiser.

"This pace is a bit too fast," Li Che said with a hint of helplessness, looking at the newspaper reports about the heavy cruisers that the navies of the Tang Dynasty and Colombia had started construction. "Is this a naval holiday... or the Cold War?"

Chapter 353 Twins

It is likely because although the Ming Dynasty collapsed, the Tang Dynasty forcibly revived, resulting in the fact that not only were the remnants of the "Allied Powers" not completely wiped out, but one of them has survived to this day.

With the Tang Dynasty acting as a super catfish, the terrifying catfish effect prevented other countries that could have simply given up during the treaty period from doing so completely.

Although the treaty in this world was signed two years earlier than the one Yunyun lived in, if we consider the signing date, apart from the original heavy cruisers (Hawkins, Aoba) that started construction before the treaty was signed, the vast majority of the first-generation heavy cruisers in the other world didn't begin construction until the fourth year after the treaty was signed, and their service life was generally around 30 years.

Now, two years after the signing of the treaty, the first batch of truly treaty-built heavy cruisers has already started construction. Even though the construction speed is still at the unhurried pace of the treaty period, it is estimated that the first batch of treaty-built heavy cruisers will be able to form combat capability around 25-26 years ago.

This kind of competition, which is constrained by rules and feels somewhat urgent, does indeed have a bit of the flavor of the Cold War era.

However, after the war ended, these peaceful days certainly seemed to pass much faster than during the war.

It has been almost two years since the end of the war and more than a year since the formal signing of the naval treaty. This past year has felt like life has been fast-forwarded.

Unbeknownst to many, the entire country had indeed gradually emerged from the shadow of war. The first five-year plan implemented by the old man and the fifth prime minister was in full swing. In the history books of another world, he had never seen the crown prince and the prime minister working together on a five-year plan. Such things felt somewhat magical, but that's how the world is sometimes.

This ambitious five-year plan was met with opposition from many interest groups when it was first announced. The oligarchs and bureaucratic capitalists who had benefited from the so-called absolutely free economic market during the late Ming Dynasty naturally resisted this planned economy.

As it was the first time that his father and Fifth Master had implemented such a large-scale planned economy policy across the entire country, it was indeed impossible for them to be all-encompassing in every aspect. Li Che had repeatedly raised the potential adverse effects of certain policies with his father, and although his father had listened carefully to his advice, he still did not make any changes to some of the policies.

Li Che understood that his father often placed himself on a scale of indifference, making him as ruthless as possible in these matters. He even felt that his father was somewhat similar to Emperor Qianlong in this respect. Why was Emperor Qianlong considered a ruthless political machine? Because if you put in achievements and military exploits, he would give you rewards and honors; if you put in crimes and mistakes, he would serve up exile and execution.

His father is now essentially throwing in policy resources, and his son is giving back employment and infrastructure.

The Tang Dynasty of today, if placed in ancient times, would definitely be considered to be engaged in large-scale construction. According to the traditional political lessons of the East, a country should recuperate and rebuild in its early stages. However, the experience of traditional agrarian empires cannot be applied to industrialized countries. An industrialized country is like a shark. A shark's gills must constantly collide with the seawater to breathe. For a shark, it must swim continuously throughout its life, otherwise it will suffocate. The same is true for industrialized countries.

In terms of basic industrial production, what would happen to the steel mills that had expanded their production capacity several times during the years of war after the war ended? Those steel furnaces could not be shut down, otherwise they would be useless. But where would all this massive steel production capacity go after the war?

The major steel companies in China were in a state of panic because of this. On the one hand, the entrepreneurs were anxiously looking for sales channels, and on the other hand, they dared not stop the factories, because once the factories stopped, the cost of resuming production would be hundreds or thousands of times more expensive than the current investment in continuous production.

At this time, his father asked the government to inject state-owned assets into these steel companies, and then began the massive "eight vertical and eight horizontal" railway plan. This "eight vertical and eight horizontal" plan was not to repair the railways, but to start from scratch and rebuild a completely new national first-class railway system.

During the Ming Dynasty, some railways used standard gauge, while others, such as those in the mountainous areas of Yunnan and Guizhou, used meter gauge, and still others used narrow gauge. These differences in railway standards did cause some problems for domestic railway transportation. Moreover, some railways were built seventy or eighty years ago and have not been properly repaired over the years. This is a good opportunity to unify the national first-class railway standard.

As for the remaining meter-gauge and narrow-gauge railways used in the future, they can either be used simply as internal railway systems within the mining area, or they can be converted into local towns or regional light rail lines.

Undoubtedly, such large-scale projects require substantial investment and can naturally provide a huge number of jobs, playing an irreplaceable role in maintaining the production of many heavy industries in the country and in maintaining social stability.

However, such large-scale civil engineering construction will naturally involve many local issues. The land acquisition alone will cause countless troubles. Can everyone along the railway line be satisfied? Even with corresponding demolition compensation, it is obviously impossible. In some places, it will inevitably be labeled as a waste of manpower and resources by some local intellectuals.

Similar to this, large-scale projects that can only be carried out by national power and collective will are not limited to the eight vertical and eight horizontal railways. Whether it is the large-scale land reclamation and production carried out at the same time, the canals along the river and the coast, or the large-scale dredging projects of ports, these are in fact many large-scale projects that the Ming Dynasty wanted to carry out but was unable to promote in the late Ming Dynasty.

Although each of these projects, taken individually, would undoubtedly be beneficial to the country and its people as a whole, Li Che was indeed somewhat worried that his father and the Fifth Gentleman might be pushing so many large-scale projects to be carried out simultaneously, just like a computer running multiple processes at the same time, causing excessive CPU load and placing an undue burden on the entire national machine.

However, judging from the situation in the country over the past year or so, everything seems to be going well. Well, the old man has been particularly happy to be a hands-off manager over the past year or so. The military reform of the Tang army has also entered a critical stage. Li Che's two uncles have been transferred back and forth between military regions in various places by the old man. There is no one more suitable to be an imperial envoy than these two brothers who are like enemies. When it comes to problems within the army, these two really dare to investigate to the end and fight both flies and tigers.

Li Che has also achieved remarkable results in the past year or so, and these visible results have won the unanimous recognition and high satisfaction of his grandfather, father, and mother.

"Ah Zhi! I want to eat lychees!"

Li Che heard someone's voice asking to be fed.

"That's all." Li Che coldly rejected the person's deliberately strained tone.

"How could there be none?! Lychees have just come into season!"

“That’s available in the south, and the doctor said you need to watch your blood sugar and not eat so many sweets.” Li Che glanced at the pregnant woman lying on the sofa next to him: “Besides, our royal family should set an example. How can we play the role of Emperor Xuanzong of Tang in his relationship with Yang Guifei, where he would elope with a concubine and have her smile?”

"Bullshit! I ate lychees. They were clearly flown in by plane. Where did this 'a concubine's smile amidst the dust of a galloping horse' come from?" Zhu Miaoyun propped herself up in dissatisfaction. Her already ample bosom, already quite large due to her pregnancy, appeared even more impressive. Her languid demeanor had shed her girlish naiveté and was filled with the maturity of a young woman. "I just want to eat a little more. Look at me, I haven't been eating well all day, and you won't even let me have some lychees?"

Li Che got up with a sigh and sat down on the sofa, allowing Zhu Miaoyun to comfortably rest her head on his lap: "My dear, just bear with it for two more months. After the baby is born, I won't stop you even if you want to eat like a pig."

"You're the one who'll eat yourself into a pig! If I were a pig, you womanizing bastard would be out there seeing countless women. After I give birth to these two little devils, you'll see me become as thin as lightning!" Zhu Miaoyun shook her fist defiantly, then looked down at her belly and gently placed her hand on it: "Sons, you must remember how your dad is abusing your mom right now. He won't even let me eat lychees. When you grow up, you must help your mom deal with your dad!"

"I think you should have someone build a Frostmourne, and then hand the baby over to them after it's born." Li Che flicked Zhu Miaoyun's forehead in annoyance.

Zhu Miaoyun simply smiled and placed Li Che's hand on her stomach, her deep eyes filled with his face: "Azhi, I'm truly happy now. In the past, my greatest pain was that our love could only ever be Platonic. But now we can be together like this, and I can feel my blood and yours mingling within me..."

"We've been married for a long time, why are you suddenly bringing this up?" Li Che gently rubbed Zhu Miaoyun's belly with one hand, feeling the baby's movements inside, while his other hand gently stroked Zhu Miaoyun's cheek, brushing away a few stray strands of hair.

"You just mentioned the Cold War... I don't know why it suddenly occurred to me. The Cold War never actually broke out between the two superpowers, but surely there will be another world war in the future?" Zhu Miaoyun said softly. "We're only living through 20 years of peace now. In 20 years, our children will just be coming of age. Maria and Anna came to visit a few days ago, and I'm afraid our children will become like them..."

“We won’t lose.” Li Che smiled and shook his head. “With me here, how could we possibly lose? The United States of Colombia is at most equivalent to the United States of America in your world. For us, it’s not an opponent that is too powerful to be defeated.”

"Perhaps it's because I lack a sense of security... I'm afraid our children will end up like the children of Gaza. Your opponent isn't just the United States of Colombia, especially since our relationship with the Ursus Federation isn't very good right now. Looking at the world, it seems like we don't have a single ally that's strong enough."

“A truly strong China does not need allies.” Li Che leaned down and gently kissed Zhu Miaoyun’s forehead. “I consider your current worries as prenatal anxiety. If you are really uneasy about the future, then we should work together to build a safe world for our child. We will be responsible for building the Great Wall of Steel, and after you give birth, it will be up to you to build the Great Wall of Spirit.”

Zhu Miaoyun realized something and widened her eyes in surprise: "You agree to let me film... You didn't agree last year!"

“Times have changed.” Li Che grinned. “Besides, I never said I would support you making ‘Iron Burns’ like you did with the Russian version of War and Peace.”

Last year, Zhu Miaoyun planned to make an extremely grand film, which was intended to be based on the Battle of Dongdu, the most prominent battle in the later stages of the war.

This film aims to depict the dynastic change from the Ming Dynasty to the Tang Dynasty, showcasing the indomitable will of the Tang army and people in resisting foreign aggression and the bloodshed they shed for it. It also aims to condemn the series of war crimes committed by the hypocritical nation of Colombia during the war, and to educate all citizens and future generations about the national and familial hatred they experienced in the past.

However, this film required a huge investment in both scriptwriting and set preparation. It was not comparable to the Russian version of War and Peace, but it was at least equivalent to a film of the scale of "Liberation" or "The Great Battle". It could not be prepared in a short period of time. Moreover, Zhu Miaoyun discovered that she was pregnant shortly after having this idea. So, the later diagnosis that she was carrying twins made the Tang Dynasty royal family even more surprised.

Although some tabloids are discussing whether the dual nature of the imperial system might cause some trouble for future succession, it is clear that neither the old man nor the crown prince seems to care much about it, and they do not seem worried about the future succession laws of Xuanwu Gate or Jingnan.

After that, Zhu Miaoyun had to focus her main energy on protecting her pregnancy. Although her health had always been good, giving birth to two children at once was still quite challenging even with the current medical conditions. Therefore, the filming plan for the "Iron Burns" series of movies was forced to be put on hold.

"It's not the right time to start filming a movie about the Battle of Dongdu right now, but the Navy will be holding its first Rim of the Pacific Exercise this year. You could film a naval version first. The scenes and stages are almost ready. Even in your world, it would be hard for the military to mobilize an entire fleet to cooperate with your filming, right?"