Chapter 270: Magical Modification Ship
Xian Han year 2105. After the beginning of spring, the River Daily had full-page and front-page coverage, reporting at length on the “Dongzhu Great Tribulation Case” and following up.
Xuan Chong was unclear about what the higher-ups were thinking and was wholeheartedly tinkering with the No. 023 Light Cruiser he had obtained.
Xuan Chong had measured the inside and outside of this warship thoroughly and compared it with the latest generation of warships, figuring out the design differences between this Old Warship and the new warships.
Xuan Chong approached it with a “Magical Modification” mindset. The essence of Magical Modification is cos!
In his previous life, there were a ton of old equipment modifications: 59 mod, 59 explosive mod, 59 Magical Modification, 59 super Magical Modification. These Magical Modification designers who took over old equipment actually had a “Future War Chariot” configuration in mind each time, making the old equipment cos that envisioned equipment.
The PLA used these cos-series equipment for decades with very clear purposes: knowing the functions of the original versions that their equipment was cosing. This resulted in a group of military commanders who understood new equipment better than the army across the ocean that “jumps straight into new equipment.”
This led to such jokes: What does the US military know about US-style equipment? The US military is just a bunch of college students desperate to pay off loans, money-grabbers, and rednecks with MAGA brainwash.
After these months, Xuan Chong figured out the characteristics of “stealth performance.” It turns the electric field into a thin and dense film that envelops the entire Hull.
Xuan Chong: “The exhaust ducts and observation mast on the Old Warship are too prominent; these Illegal Structures disrupt the balanced distribution of the electric field around the Hull, making the Ionized Shield responsible for stealth unable to efficiently cover the entire Ship.”
The decks of new-style warships are all clean, with rhomboid Turrets and streamlined Hulls. An Ionized Shield layer of the same power, when attached to the rhomboid shield, forms an isolation layer half a meter thick but with extremely high electromagnetic density.
Old Warships, with poles here and there disrupting the electric field distribution, result in the electric field layer for signal shielding being sparse, tens of meters thick, with high Energy consumption and easy interference.
After determining the elements of “stealth,” Xuan Chong, with mathematical thinking in mind, led his subordinates wearing shielding suits to measure shield parameters. He also included the Magnetization parameters of the steel Materials on the Hull in the calculations, Summarizing relevant correlation formulas.
…Flagpole was sawed off, Flag directly painted on the boat side…
Waves on both sides of the metal Hull were split apart, and the Boat Head did not bob up and down with the waves; due to the raised nose at the bottom of the ship, it sailed steadily through the waves.
Xuan Chong: “This No. 023 Warship is not without merits; its high-speed performance is very good. This Cruiser was designed twenty years ago, when electromagnetic stealth technology had not yet shone brightly in actual combat. So this might be another Ship design school of thought at the time.
Over at the Lin Group, since the resume Xuan Chong reported to the Imperial Ancestral Temple was “skilled in Kinetic Energy Control”; obviously, the higher-ups tossed this wrongly designed Warship to Liu Haoxing as a toy.
In the warship’s control room, Xuan Chong found a box of initial design Materials for this Ship. The Blueprint described the Ship’s speed at around thirty knots, and the situation when wave-making resistance surged.
Xuan Chong looked at the binding thread on the materials. If it was bound long ago, the thread should be yellow after oxidation, but now it was white.
Xuan Chong thus determined this was the “homework” assigned to him by the higher-up “adults.” — Seeing the dragon in the field, beneficial to the adults. That is, he currently needed to find a piece of Land to Cultivate, to let the upper adults see his value.
But, Xuan Chong did not want to go down a dead-end horn following the adults’ ideas. No matter how much this Warship’s speed was modified, in the current combat environment, it was a dead end, with innate defects “unsuitable for Future Warfare.”
Narration: Perhaps the Navy higher-ups hoped Xuan Chong would “water” out some Achievement, then continue climbing up. However, Xuan Chong still had some professional ethics!
Xuan Chong: War must be considered based on battlefield conditions.
Xuan Chong tapped the exposed Hull ladder; this needed modification, adding an enclosure to cover it.
…Red paint circles covered the Warship…
That evening, Xuan Chong began bustling up and down the Warship; the Sailors nearby carried boxes, following Xuan Chong’s needs at any time, marking the Ship with marker pens.
A month later, Xuan Chong organized the full-ship pasting work; that is, using aluminum foil paper to wrap some protruding structures on the Hull more smoothly, especially the depressions between the Chimney and Chimney, with special casing treatment to make them look smoother. (Similar to how Submarine enclosures are shaped to conform to fluid dynamics)
Xuan Chong used Lin Group connections to invite welding craftsmen from the big shipyard, encapsulating the overly protruding observation platform structure on the Bridge.
It had quite the vibe of the previous life’s two-hair war, where tanks on the black soil of Eastern Europe were welded with all sorts of grilles.
Speaking of which, this kind of modification definitely had issues, such as the outer shells resonating due to wind and waves during navigation, risking detachment of these decorative structures.
Currently in trial period, Xuan Chong would use Torque lines to secure these structures firmly. Then Record it, and after the trial period ends, add patch designs based on the Summary.
Note: Torque can be absolutely rigid, so the Ability Xuan Chong reported was Kinetic Energy Control. The people at Lin Group naturally assumed Xuan Chong could double the engine power of the Warship. But Xuan Chong twisted it crookedly in another direction.
While Xuan Chong was working, the old Sailors cooperated all the way. Speaking of which, on other Old Warships, the situation of “old Sailors resisting new technology modifications” that lower-assigned Officers often faced did not occur on Xuan Chong’s Ship.
For the new project’s signing and start of work responsibility, Xuan Chong took it on. Merit was credited to the names of those old employees who gave suggestions. Bonuses and overtime pay, Xuan Chong left a share for every participant.
Compared to some mid-level managers who “flatter superiors,” when leading, Xuan Chong emphasized “understanding the lower sentiments”: He acknowledged “hard labor,” did not brush it off with a light sentence, and would not shirk responsibility after Failure. And upon success, “glory not monopolized.”
Xuan Chong and the newly boarded Crew Members held measuring tools, meticulously (boring to death) measuring every detail of each ship compartment.
This made some Elders on the ship involuntarily fall into reminiscence.
First Mate: “We were also this high-spirited back then, right?”
Second Mate: “Yeah, when we first boarded, we even fought over which coal to load.”
First Mate: “I hope this youthful spirit lasts. We’re not from the same path as him, but let’s not drag our feet as much as possible. It’s good for everyone once he rises up.”
…Three months later…
In the new round of Military Exercise, Xuan Chong’s Corps, as the blue defending side, was intercepting an imaginary invading Fleet.
Before the exercise began, Xuan Chong’s “beggar version” stealth Warship was very eye-catching. In the Navy’s conservative traditional environment, this Old Warship cos new warship was like a rural kill-matt walking the runway in a big city.
At the start of the exercise, the Ship where Xuan Chong was located was specially targeted. However, on the Battlefield, after the electromagnetic layer of No. 023 Ship was activated, it was exceptionally slippery.
At the thirtieth minute of the exercise, Xuan Chong, as the forward Ship, was indeed not detected by the opposing observation and aiming group in the judgment; thus, the Commander-in-Chief began ordering No. 023 Ship to flank from the side, seize Position after, and activate the “Magnetic Storm Device” to expose the enemy Ships.
Xuan Chong’s current direct superior was a Second Rank Town-Sea General. Sitting in the Battleship, his Fleet on the sea Map was in a “big” character, with Xuan Chong on the left side of this “big.” After he issued the order, the “big” became a “dog.”
In the total command room on the Battleship, Town-Sea General Zhou Xu, that is, Xuan Chong’s direct superior, praised quite a bit: “If you have the ability, let you show it.”
…Single Ship flanking out a big line…
Buzz buzz, Propeller airplanes in the sky dragged a target drone in flight. These target drones carried electric spark detection equipment. This was gear specifically to determine the position of the forward Warship.
In the fire control room, Xuan Chong was coordinating the full-ship firepower. The Soldiers in the combat room under the ship’s optical observation system were busy with mapping calculations. On the other side, Xuan Chong was cheating.
In the sky, in Xuan Chong’s view, solid and dashed line bundles kept converging; the Protractor simultaneously supported thirty degrees (most dense and precise), ninety degrees (medium density), one hundred twenty degrees (wide-area scan) three search beam lock-ons for multiple targets in Airspace.
Xuan Chong’s usage already had the flair of phased array. Only phased array emits Electromagnetic Waves, while Xuan Chong emitted Torque.
Due to the Ship’s electromagnetic stealth capability, the observer dragging the target drone could only see the wake trail left by Xuan Chong’s Ship on the sea surface; but because the electromagnetic stealth effect was very good, when reporting approximate position, the opposing Fleet in the exercise could not lock on. Thus, they could only have the Airplane descend in altitude, using low-altitude circling to mark the position of No. 023 Ship.
This also meant the target drone followed down to eight hundred meters, a height easy to shoot down.
On No. 023 Warship, after Xuan Chong confirmed the target drone touched the Torque, he quickly calculated the angles to which the full-ship anti-air Cannons should be adjusted, reported out the parameters one by one, and began salvo fire on the target drone.
Pure steel Projectiles from the four Cannon positions drifted out at one thousand meters per second, then precisely formed a “)” distributed barrage in front of the Airplane.
From afar, the “+” shaped Airplane plunged headfirst into the “)” barrage, then shattered into pieces, disappearing like a Mosquito exploding on a Power Grid.
Since the target drone’s circling was not complete, the enemy Ship still could not determine Xuan Chong’s Ship position.
Finally, at forty-five minutes into the exercise, the attacking side had to detach three Destroyers to block Xuan Chong’s Ship.
Then came the live-fire exercise between both sides; based on the scores of hitting moving targets, Xuan Chong’s side had good war results. So in the engagement, three Destroyers were damaged, and Xuan Chong’s Cruiser flexibly circled around the opponent, completing the task at the sixtieth minute.
The Magnetic Storm launcher deployed, creating auroras above the enemy three main Ships.
Although the result of this Xian Han naval exercise was predetermined by the Director department.
The defending side won, but Xuan Chong’s Ship still could not hide its excellence.
After the Ship returned to Port, maintenance began, and the Sailors at the Boat Head started painting.
As Xian Han Navy Ships, they had fixed names in the official Naval Headquarters System; but this did not prevent the Captain from painting his beloved Ship for a nickname within the circle.
Under persuasion from the Crew Members, Xuan Chong accepted the advice and agreed to give his Ship a Martial World nickname.
Xuan Chong: People, once they have their own trump card but don’t want particularly obvious showboating, will embroider something on their beloved possessions.
Xuan Chong had the Sailors carry green, blue, and red paint buckets, completing an image painting on the Boat Head within two hours: this was a Mantis Shrimp.
…Second pair of jaw legs well-developed, like an Iron Fist…
While the Sailors were painting, Xuan Chong was also sizing up his Warship.
The cannon firing system inside No. 023 Light Cruiser had been additionally marked with a “Ruler” by Xuan Chong; the original ten-kilometer effective range of the main Cannon was engraved more than four times over on the Ruler.
This “extra scales” on the Cannon position puzzled the warship Gunners, because even stray shots could not reach that far; even compressing the range-increase Charge Bag, the Cannon Barrel could not withstand such Gunpowder blast volume.
However, only Xuan Chong knew. This Destroyer was already filled with Torque; the Cannon Barrel Torque connected to the engine compartment, borrowing force from the engine room; even after the Cannonball exited the barrel for a thousand kilometers, there were still Torque lines behind, these Torque formed by dashed lines, which could propel the Cannonball with acceleration in Density Wave form.
The main Cannon of this Warship could penetrate a Cruiser and heavily damage a Battleship.
Xuan Chong: Mantis Shrimp!
…Turret rollers turning, so wonderful…
Due to excessive focus on his Warship, he was somewhat neglecting sleep and food; Xuan Chong declined colleagues’ wine party, missing some “grapevine news.”
Three days later, at a Navy internal meeting, Xuan Chong was “suddenly” called to attend.
The meeting lasted half an hour, with the core content being that each Ship must maintain good Combat Readiness.
Xuan Chong’s Warship was an Old Warship, belonging to the reserve group; tasks mainly existing sea border patrols, protecting cargo ships. About one-third into the meeting, Xuan Chong and these Light Cruiser Captains were dismissed.
Xuan Chong used Torque to eavesdrop on the subsequent meeting content inside, hearing the Marshal emphasize a series of precautions for long-distance ocean voyages. Obviously, this was about long-distance combat matters.
And those remaining to continue attending were the Persons in Charge of Heavy Cruisers and Battleships.
This kind of pre-war preparation meeting would not reveal specific task assignments for the large Ships. The maneuver routes of those warships were decided in meetings of fewer than a dozen high-level Officers.
Combat is after all a major matter; during preparation, various departments must be notified to carry out routine inspections.
Xuan Chong, with strong Curiosity, looked at the “Southeast sea Map” in the hall, associating with recent news: serious conflict friction between Xian Han and Eastern Shu over island ownership near the equator, seeming like war might break out.
Could it be that the War to face in this Transmigration was naval hegemony?
In the hall, while Xuan Chong was pondering, he was found by his direct superior Zhou Xu.
Facing the superior, Xuan Chong immediately stood up to salute, then began with “this subordinate.”
However, just as he opened his mouth, he was pressed back into his seat: “Haoxing, sit first.”
Zhou Xu, Second Rank Town-Sea General, commander of Xuan 4 Sub-Fleet. The entire Xuan 4 Sub-Fleet had a total of ten warships: five Destroyers, one Aviation Cruiser (15,000-ton class). And four multi-functional Frigates (800-ton class).
The Battleship in the exercise was not Zhou Xu’s. His flagship was the Aviation Cruiser; but this type of Ship was not a light carrier carrying Propeller airplanes. Currently, some big shots in Xian Han decided to take Aviation Technology down the “Airship” path.
In naval combat, stealth Airships disguised as white clouds could detect Airplanes from fifteen kilometers away; while Airplanes had to be within three kilometers to accurately spot Airships. And the long-barreled 88mm Cannon (Black Technology version) carried by Airships could already fire dozens of rounds at Airplanes from ten kilometers away.
Aviation Cruiser was a place to provide Ammunition Supplies for Airships and for Aviation Personnel to rest.
Compared to the twenty-first century, where carrier features were the asymmetric angled deck and biased island; this Plane’s Aviation Cruiser feature was an oval Hull like a squat pumpkin, with an Eiffel Tower-like structure in the center of the Hull; inside the iron tower were lifts for inputting combat Supplies and ferrying personnel.
Not knowing what path this Plane’s aviation revolution was on, Xuan Chong at this time, regarding the prospects of this new Ship type Aviation Cruiser that had appeared for fifteen years, was like military Experts in the early twentieth century of his previous life, making cautious predictions.
Zhou Xu: “Young people working hard is good, but don’t be too reclusive.”
This superior specially brought Xuan Chong an invitation to a banquet; obviously, after entering the East Ocean Navy, Xuan Chong had always been busy with combat calculations.
Zhou Xu hinted: “You will rise very quickly in the future.” (Subtext: the “process” is now with me)
Xuan Chong: “Thank you for the adult’s concern.” He received the invitation with both hands.
