Chapter 482: Beginning to Build Kunpeng

"As the Changfeng begins to rise, all things resonate together."

Li Mingyuan stood in the temporary command room of Penglai Base, gazing at the massive design blueprints on the wall, a signature smile appearing at the corners of his mouth. The success of "Sky Net" was only the first step; what followed was the real main event.

Department Head Zhang pushed the door open and entered, his face still wearing undisguised excitement: "Lao Li, these foreigners are all scared silly! The Pentagon is practically exploding; intelligence shows they have urgently summoned all their rocket experts and even brought a few over from the Germans."

"As expected." Li Mingyuan took a light sip of tea, his eyes fixed intently on the spread-out blueprints before him. "They are only surprised for now; the day 'Kunpeng' heads out to sea will be the true shock."

"'Kunpeng'? Is this... this big thing?" Department Head Zhang walked closer to the blueprints, frowning. "To be honest, I still don't quite understand: is this thing a ship or an airplane?"

Li Mingyuan reached out and traced his hand lightly over the blueprints, as if caressing an unborn infant: "Neither, and both. This is a Ground Effect Vehicle; simply put, it's a ship that flies skimming the water, or an airplane that floats on the water. The official name is 'Ground Effect Aircraft Carrier'."

Department Head Zhang scratched his head: "I still don't understand, why are we making this? According to the plan, shouldn't we be making nuclear submarines first?"

"Nuclear submarines are too complex, and they have extremely high requirements for materials; our current technical level isn't enough." Li Mingyuan put down his teacup. "But 'Kunpeng' is different. Its construction difficulty is much lower; it only requires ordinary marine steel and aviation aluminum alloy, and the technical threshold is also lower. The key is—"

He pointed to the data table on the blueprints: "High-speed sea-skimming at 350 km/h, a range of 5,000 kilometers, a payload of 3,000 tons, and it can carry 20 fighter jets or 50 Drones. Most importantly, because it flies skimming the water, Radar detection range is limited, and its stealth is extremely high. The naval systems of the two great powers have no way to deal with this new type of threat."

"This... is this true?" Department Head Zhang's eyes widened into circles. "Then wouldn't that be even more powerful than an aircraft carrier?"

Li Mingyuan smiled and shook his head: "Each has its strengths. Traditional aircraft carriers have better stability and are suitable for ocean-going combat; 'Kunpeng' has high speed and strong stealth, making it more suitable for coastal defense and rapid surprise attacks. For a country like ours with a weak naval foundation, this is the most economical and practical choice. The cost is only one-tenth of an aircraft carrier, yet it can exert seven-tenths of the power."

He stretched his back and walked to the window, looking at the distant coastline: "And, the most critical thing is the short construction cycle. A traditional aircraft carrier takes at least seven or eight years from the start of construction to service, while for 'Kunpeng', I am confident in having it launched within two years."

"Two years?!" Department Head Zhang gasped. "This... how is this possible?"

Li Mingyuan turned around, his eyes flashing with a cunning light: "Because we don't play by the conventional rules." He patted another blueprint on the wall. "Look at this, a modular construction plan. We break 'Kunpeng' down into more than twenty independent modules, build them simultaneously in different shipyards, and finally assemble them like building blocks. This not only significantly shortens the construction period but also allows for better secrecy."

Department Head Zhang frowned and said: "But, for a project of this scale, the satellites of the two great powers will definitely discover..."

"They will discover many scattered construction sites, but they won't be able to guess what we are actually building." Li Mingyuan laughed. "Besides, I have also prepared a smoke bomb."

He took another blueprint out of the drawer and spread it on the table: "This is the 'Dragon Heart' nuclear power plant, to be built right next to the 'Kunpeng' final assembly shipyard."

"A nuclear power plant? Are you crazy?" Department Head Zhang's voice rose sharply. "We haven't even fully mastered ordinary nuclear reactors, and you actually want to build a civilian nuclear power plant?"

Li Mingyuan sipped his tea unhurriedly: "Precisely because of that, when the spies of the two great powers see the construction of the nuclear power plant, they will be even more confused. They will think we are working on nuclear submarines or nuclear-powered warships, focusing all their attention on nuclear technology, and they will never think of the true nature of 'Kunpeng'."

His eyes flashed with excited light: "Moreover, 'Dragon Heart' itself is an innovation. It uses a modular small reactor design; although the power of a single unit is not large, it has high safety and a short construction cycle. After the first phase is completed, it will not only provide electricity for the entire Penglai Base but also be able to charge the future 'Kunpeng'."

"Wait, doesn't 'Kunpeng' use an Engine? It needs to be charged?" Department Head Zhang was even more confused.

"Smart." Li Mingyuan gave a thumbs up. "'Kunpeng's' main propulsion is indeed a gas turbine, but the auxiliary systems are all electrified, including the lifting devices, weapon systems, and so on. In the future, we can even develop all-electric Ground Effect Aircraft Carriers; that will be a truly revolutionary breakthrough."

Department Head Zhang stared at Li Mingyuan, dumbfounded, and only came back to his senses after a long while: "Lao Li, sometimes I really wonder if you... come from the future."

Li Mingyuan's hand shook, and the tea almost spilled. He forced himself to remain calm and laughed heartily: "What future or not, these are just extended applications of existing theories. I am just standing on the shoulders of giants, recombining existing knowledge."

He quickly changed the subject: "Notify the heads of all departments; we will have a meeting in the war room in one hour. I want to personally deploy the construction plan for 'Kunpeng' and 'Dragon Heart'."

One week later, the coastline of Penglai Base.

The rumbling sound of excavators echoed through the sky; dozens of bulldozers and cranes were working simultaneously, deep trenches were being plowed into the ground, and concrete pouring machines were working tirelessly. Unlike traditional shipyards, there was no single massive dry dock here, but rather more than a dozen small and medium-sized shipyards and prefabrication yards being excavated at the same time, forming a peculiar construction layout.

Li Mingyuan stood on a temporarily erected observation tower, with the Chief Engineer of the project, Liu Jianguo, by his side.

"Chief Engineer Li, according to your instructions, we have divided 'Kunpeng' into 23 main modules, which are being built in these shipyards respectively." Liu Jianguo pointed at the map. "The floating body section is in docks 1 through 7, the wings in docks 8 through 12, the power compartment in docks 13 through 15, the control cabin in 16, the weapon systems in 17 through 20, and the rest are auxiliary facilities."

Li Mingyuan nodded with satisfaction: "How is the material supply situation?"

"The first batch of steel has been allocated from Angang and Bengang, and aluminum alloy is also arriving successively from the Northwest." Liu Jianguo flipped through the reports. "However, high-strength steel is still in short supply, especially the kind used for carrier-based aircraft flight decks."

Li Mingyuan pondered for a moment: "Use ordinary aviation aluminum alloy as a substitute for now, and lower the requirements for takeoff and landing frequency. We will improve it in the second phase. According to the plan, 'Kunpeng' is first and foremost to prove the concept; perfection is not the primary goal."

He turned and pointed to another construction site in the distance: "How is the situation over at 'Dragon Heart'?"

Liu Jianguo's expression became serious: "To be honest, progress is not going smoothly. There are still many disputes over the design of the nuclear island, and the material for the reactor pressure vessel is also a big problem. Many experts believe that we do not have the ability to independently build a nuclear power plant at all and suggest importing technology from Beijixiong Guo."