Chapter 64: Book Readers Gather

"430 horsepower? Not 43?"

"That's right, three models: 265, 360, and 430 horsepower; the lowest is 260!"

Inside the shipyard, Wu Lao Er lay half-reclined on a sofa, holding a phone and boasting endlessly.

He automatically ignored everything about large displacement and high fuel consumption; what truck has low fuel consumption, and even if it did, could it be higher than a tank's?

For working conditions like mountainous low-speed heavy loads, fuel consumption is inherently extremely unfriendly; no one has ever heard of a fuel-efficient engine for such use.

Moreover, since he was boasting, he naturally focused on the 430-horsepower V12 engine; the specifications alone were enough to intimidate.

Regardless of whether the other party could afford it, he at least needed to prove his strength.

Furthermore, thanks to the foundation of tank engines, the Low-Speed Heavy torque of the GJ series large-displacement diesel engines was extremely powerful, directly manifesting as very easy starting.

430 horsepower was already enough to reach the threshold of the Hundred-Ton King; using it on a "Four-Not-Like" was like a lion riding a mouse.

Chen Xiaojie on the other end of the phone was even more stunned; let alone 430 horsepower, even the smallest 265 horsepower far exceeded their needs.

In these days, even the high-horsepower trucks from FAW and Dongfeng were only around 200 horsepower.

But if the agricultural machinery factory could build a "Four-Not-Like," assembling a truck was no difficult task.

With such a powerful engine, wouldn't they be able to compete with truck manufacturers for business?

"Comrades, villagers, let us welcome Boss Huang!"

Chen Yonggui led the applause, and the other villagers joined in clapping.

Huang Dongfu in the crowd stood up and bowed to return the greeting in all directions.

He did not disappoint the village head's enthusiasm and shouted loudly:

"After discussions between myself, Village Head Chen, and Manager Tang, Fudong Fisheries and Dawan Fisheries have officially reached a strategic cooperation!

Whether it is crew or equipment, the two companies will help each other from now on and grow stronger together!"

Immediately, cheers erupted among the villagers; these were all future crew members of Dawan Fisheries.

Just like the road construction in the village, Dawan Fisheries was a collective industry, and everyone had contributed their share of funds.

The villagers had considerable enthusiasm for the fishing company, with almost no obstacles.

However, although they were all experienced sailors who had gone to sea, Dawan Fisheries' target was the open ocean, so the villagers' past experience was somewhat insufficient.

Tang Wen then suggested trying to promote cooperation between Dawan Village and Fudong Fisheries.

Although the two appeared to be competitors, neither had made any achievements in the open ocean field; it was completely a blue ocean market.

Moreover, Fudong Fisheries had been operating for several years at least, with many sailors experienced in the open ocean who could also guide Dawan Village.

Furthermore, venturing into the open ocean was even more perilous, more dangerous than natural disasters or human-made calamities.

Two large ships supporting each other meant no fear of foreign fishing boats or patrol vessels; two thousand-ton ships were quite deterrent.

The catch brought back could have its price raised jointly by both parties, avoiding mutual undercutting and vicious competition.

Huang Dongfu was very willing to do this favor; this time he came to the village first, sending his younger brother to the shipyard to check the ship's progress.

The latter had just recruited a batch of sailors who had maintained steam turbines, so they came to the shipyard to see what kind of steam engine was used and get familiar with it in advance.

"Young friend Tang!"

Looking at the white-bearded grandfather in front of him who kept saying "young friend"... no, the sailor-shirt grandfather, Tang Wen almost thought he had traveled to the fantasy section.

Tang Yi, look at what you've done!

The old man before him was Yan Hai, Tang Wen's virtual age-gap friend and a senior book reader.

It's a long story; Huang Dongshun went to the military dependents' residential area to recruit sailors, and the first person he met was Yan Hai's son, Yan Jian.

The latter heard that steam fishing boats still existed in these days, became interested, pulled Huang Dongshun to chat for a while, and finally fulfilled his promise by recommending several retired comrades-in-arms.

He told this to Yan Hai; the old man immediately wanted to go see for himself, and also to meet a book reader he had been spiritually connected with for a long time.

The result was that Tang Wen slept soundly, and upon waking up, he bumped into an "old friend" who could be his grandfather.

Yan Hai's first impression of Tang Wen was very good; at a glance, he looked like a scholar, with a sparkle in his eyes that only someone who had received higher education would have.

Considering Tang Wen's incomplete secondary vocational school education, one could imagine how hard he had to study on his own.

"Yan... Grandpa Yan, hello."

After greeting, Tang Wen also noticed two people with dark, weathered skin following Huang Dongshun, carrying an obvious sailor's aura.

"President Tang, your shipbuilding progress is too fast!"

As soon as Huang Dongshun arrived, he looked toward the shipyard; although there were partitions, he could still see the superstructure that had already taken shape.

For camouflage, the bridge of the Hashiramaru in the shipyard was surrounded by a large amount of scaffolding and dust nets, blocking most of the details.

After all, everything else was negotiable, but the 120mm dual-purpose guns at the bow and stern still had to be hidden.

Before these weapons were removed and the ship officially delivered, anyone could only look from afar and was not allowed to approach.

Fortunately, Huang Dongshun didn't mind; seeing the gratifying progress, he was very happy and took his people outside to admire their own large ship.

Yan Hai, however, stayed behind, insisting on exchanging insights with Tang Wen.

The latter immediately panicked; where would he know anything about naval warfare? World War II history? Things heard from marketing accounts would be jokes if spoken out.

But since he had freely borrowed the old man's books and the man still treated him as a friend, Tang Wen couldn't fail to entertain him.

To buy time, Tang Wen immediately brought out all the pastries he usually ate and went to brew coffee himself.

The desserts produced by Dawan Hotel were truly a killer weapon; even Grandpa Yan was no exception, eating one and unable to resist reaching for another.

"Where did you buy these pastries? I haven't heard of them in Echeng."

"They are all homemade; eat freely, they're not worth much."

Tang Wen hoped Yan Hai would eat more and be easier to talk to, but old people all tend to have the "three highs," and Yan Hai, after a light taste, stubbornly held back.

He hadn't forgotten the purpose of his visit; a kindred spirit to chat and debate with was far better than mere appetite.

Yan Hai was thinking about the content of the books he had borrowed earlier, preparing to start, when Tang Wen saw through it and spoke up first:

"Recently I read some magazines and realized we are still very far from a modern navy."

Please, sir, don't bring up the paste-like history of decades ago; let's talk about modern times.

Marketing accounts and Admiral Liu only spun the last thirty years; I can still talk a bit about those, but I truly don't understand the earlier stuff.

Hearing Tang Wen voluntarily bring up the modern navy, Yan Hai, while somewhat surprised, smoothly continued the conversation:

"Yes, if only this year we had a destroyer with an Aegis system, an advanced amphibious assault ship, or even just one specialized fire support ship for land operations?

The Type 051 modifications up to now mean we are still at least thirty years behind mainstream navies."

It has only been a few months since the Strait exercises failed; the old man thinks about it constantly.

During the exercises from '95 to '96, the backward state of the domestic navy was exposed without any reserve.

The main warships were the Type 051 series, incapable of bearing heavy responsibility; there were only a few of them, and dragging them out would make them live targets.

Other auxiliary vessels were even more pitifully scarce, with single varieties and poor quality.

To even strengthen land support firepower, they went so far as to mount army artillery on cargo ships, a scene full of unspeakable bitterness.

If one asks when the Rabbit's obsession with the navy began, there is no doubt it is right now.