Chapter 14: To Draw Out and Then Strike (4)

  Article 4

  Beijing's streets in December were already bitterly cold, and Kirti, a student from New Delhi, India, had just emerged from the school library. Despite wearing thick down jacket, she couldn't shake off the biting chill.

  Although he has been studying Chinese at the International Exchange Academy of China Foreign Language University in Beijing for 3 years, Gudakhtar deliberately shows his clumsiness in using Chinese. Even during training at the Research and Analysis Wing, India's external intelligence agency, he was one of the top Chinese experts.

  He walked into the dumpling restaurant he often went to, Gu Pu chose a seat directly in front of the TV. While greedily drinking the hot water on the table, he intently watched the live broadcast of "News Network". Although there were also considerable reports on the Indo-Pakistani War, China did not have too many biased comments except for the collective protest of ASEAN countries at the UN Security Council.

  What really caught Gudkov's attention was a news report introducing the advanced Communist Party members of Jiangnan Shipyard. The news itself wasn't particularly valuable, but what made Gudkov's eyes widen were the giant warships in the background on the dock undergoing major repairs - that was China's only aircraft carrier capable of being dispatched to Malacca at present - the People's Liberation Army Jiangsu-class medium-sized nuclear-powered aircraft carrier "Jiangsu".

  Jiangsu-class medium-sized nuclear-powered aircraft carriers are designed based on France's "De Gaulle"-class medium-sized nuclear-powered aircraft carriers. Originally planned to build 6, namely 015

  Jiangsu No. 016 Zhejiang No. 017 Fujian No. 018 Shandong No. 019 Hebei No. 020 Liaoning

  However, due to the impact of the Vietnam War, the Strait Exchange and the Cuban Revolution. In 2005, the Chinese government suspended the construction of the remaining five ships except for the "Jiangsu" which had already completed its hull, and decided to launch the "9840" plan - starting the construction of a giant nuclear-powered aircraft carrier with a full load displacement of 98,000 tons, codenamed "Municipality". The overall plan was to build four ships. In 2005, two ships were launched first, namely 019 "Beijing" and 020 "Shanghai". The Jiangsu-class ships that had already laid the keel, 016 "Zhejiang" and 017 "Fujian", were retained by the Navy as amphibious assault landing ships.

  Since the outbreak of war between India and ASEAN, New Delhi has been unusually concerned about the movements of the Chinese Navy.

  The Chinese Navy's most combat-effective sea and sky attack fleet - the "Shanghai" aircraft carrier formation has just ended its combat deployment along the coast of Indonesia. After a brief stopover in Hong Kong, it is now on its way back to Shanghai base. Although it completed its mission with excellence, the fleet itself also suffered quite serious losses during this expedition.

  In convoy fleet:

  "Modern"-class missile destroyer "Wenzhou", "Jiangkai II"-class destroyer "Quanzhou"

  "Xiamen", "Jiangwei" class frigate "Jinhuai" was sunk.

  "Modern 2"-class multi-purpose destroyer "Changzhou", "Modern"-class missile destroyer "Ningbo" were heavily damaged.

  Almost accounted for 3 of the original escort fleet surface ships

  The "Shanghai" itself was also nearly hit by a missile in the battle, with its left elevator severely damaged and the damage to the carrier-based aircraft even greater.

  So Gu Pu Da even judged that within 9 months, the "Shanghai" aircraft carrier fleet had no combat capability at all.

  The "Jiangsu" returned to the Shanghai Wusong naval base after participating in the Sino-Vietnamese joint military exercise codenamed "2007-South China Sea Dawn" from August to September. According to convention, all aspects of the fleet should be in their best state and very suitable for overseas deployment.

  The "Shanghai" and "Jiangsu" aircraft carrier fleets are deployed in the East China Sea, which is the most powerful mobile force of the Chinese Navy. Its combat area covers a vast ocean from the Japan Sea in the north to the Ogasawara Islands in the east, the Java Sea in the south, and the Malacca Strait in the west. However, unfortunately (but fortunately for India), the "Shanghai" is still recovering from its injuries, while the "Jiangsu" is plagued by hidden diseases.

  Although the Chinese Navy had been tight-lipped about the news, Gu Pu Da still managed to get wind of some information. After the China-Vietnam joint military exercise codenamed "2007-South Sea Dawn", a serious fuel leak accident occurred in the pressurized water nuclear reactor equipped on Jiangsu No. 1. It had to return to Jiangnan Shipyard for comprehensive overhaul and maintenance.

  After years of hard work, the Chinese navy has indeed ushered in a new situation, but facing the long coastline and threats from multiple directions, the current strength of the Chinese navy still seems to be barely sufficient.

  China has five aircraft carrier strike groups:

  Two Type 075 amphibious assault ships are deployed in the South China Sea, designed to work with land-based aviation forces to complete near-sea combat zone defense and anti-submarine escort missions from the Nansha Islands in the south to the Taiwan Strait and the Bashi Channel in the north, basically unable to meet the needs of ocean-going operations.

  In addition, the Chinese Navy also has the "Beijing" aircraft carrier fleet deployed in the North Sea. As the general reserve of the Chinese Navy, the "Beijing" aircraft carrier fleet directly guards the coastline of mainland China. When both the "Shanghai" and "Jiangsu" are unable to be deployed far out at sea, the "Beijing" needs to independently defend China's maritime borders, and in theory cannot go as far as the Malacca Strait or the Indian Ocean.

  Although the "Sino-Japanese Java quasi-war" had reignited a naval arms race between China and Japan, the Chinese Navy's two follow-up Type 021 missile boats, Tianjin (hull number 021) and Chongqing (hull number 022), were still under accelerated construction and only the main hulls of the warships had been completed. However, in the face of the Malacca crisis, the Chinese Navy had almost no usable troops.

  He hastily finished his dumplings and Gu Po Da walked towards his bedroom, facing the strong north wind. He thought he could have a good sleep tonight. Because he couldn't see that in the distant South China Sea, the "Shanghai" aircraft carrier fleet hadn't returned to Wusong but sailed towards the Chinese Navy's "Pearl Harbor" - Penghu Islands. There they would join forces with the fully manned and well-conditioned "Jiangsu". Forming the first "dual aircraft carrier" fleet in the history of the Chinese Navy, preparing for an expedition to the Malacca Strait.