Chapter 5: Chapter 1: The Wheels of History

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May 4th, 2016. In the Pacific waters 500 kilometers south of Yizhou Island, a massive fleet—one that could be counted among the most significant in the entire Pacific—lay moored in an orderly fashion. From the red national flags fluttering from the vessels, it was clear that this was the military might of the People's Republic of China. Its presence here had to be traced back to a month ago.

With the economic takeoff of the People's Republic of China, by 2016, its economic scale had reached 22 trillion USD, steadily surpassing Japan and standing neck-and-neck with the number one ranked United States. Everyone knew it wasn't that China was unwilling to be the leader, but rather that once you become the leader, you become a target; thus, they were content to occupy the second place.

However, beautiful thoughts do not bring a beautiful future. With the leap in economic strength, China naturally invested in its military power. New military equipment emerged incessantly. By 2016, China had not only launched two conventional-powered aircraft carriers but had also simultaneously commissioned four nuclear-powered aircraft carriers exceeding the 100,000-ton class. Not to mention the 052CD and 054A vessels that were being produced like dumplings on a plate.

In the years following 2012, taking advantage of the downturn in the global shipping industry and the underutilization of shipyards, China's major shipyards ramped up production of various military vessels. At that time, it was almost routine for a single shipyard to work on nearly ten military vessels simultaneously. Relying on this opportunity, while shipbuilding enterprises around the world were going bankrupt, China's shipbuilding industry survived—and thrived.

In early 2016, as traditional Chinese festivals became increasingly popular among the domestic population, the J-20 and J-31 of the Chinese Air Force arrived to join the festivities. They had passed military reviews to join the ranks of the Chinese Air Force and had already completed the equipment replacement for several main air force divisions. Their majestic appearance officially debuted on national news programs. According to the long-standing habit of the Chinese military, this signaled that the next generation of fighter jets had officially entered the research and development phase. Once again, a wave of military enthusiasm swept across the entire land of China.

At this moment, the various countries of the world, mired in the quagmire of economic recession, could no longer sit still. Led by the United States and Japan, the former world powers once again stirred up the rhetoric of the "China Threat" in global public opinion. Those hopeless Southeast Asian monkeys, influenced by US dollars and behind-the-scenes manipulators, began to stir around China's periphery, repeatedly touching China's bottom lines of interest. For a time, the shadow of war loomed over China's maritime waters.

To resolve these troublesome incidents, and more importantly, to express China's determination and bottom line, during the period of the global shipping downturn, a joint civil-military live-fire exercise was launched. This exercise spanned all branches of the military, including the land, sea, air, and the Second Artillery Corps. The exercise area formed a ring spanning over a thousand kilometers from the Beibu Gulf to the Bohai Gulf, involving various regions of the East China Sea and South China Sea where incidents were frequently occurring. It both deterred the restless hands of surrounding countries and tested the rapid force projection capabilities of the Chinese military, allowing the Chinese military to truly transition from a passive defense strategy focused on territorial defense to an active defense strategy of decisive battle beyond the borders. It was because of this that the massive fleet mentioned at the beginning of this text appeared.

On the "Beiping" at this moment, Xia Hai'an, gazing out from the bridge at the endless expanse of surrounding ships, couldn't help but feel a surge of heroic pride. He had never imagined he would have the chance to command such a massive fleet; this was the first time in the history of the Republic that such a feat of hundreds of vessels sailing in a single formation had occurred. It would likely never happen again.

"Old Xia."

With the sound of a voice, Vice Commander Wang Chongwu walked out from the cabin.

"You, as the Fleet Commander, are already idle enough to be out here looking at the scenery? It's a total mess inside."

"With this scale, do you think any of those monkeys around us would dare move against us now? Being busy is fine; it'll give the youngsters a good workout. In this exercise, the surrounding countries won't even dare to approach for observation. Our Navy has purely acted as a transport captain this time, with almost no room to use our strength. It's almost a wasted trip."

"Heh. You can't put it that way. Just now, the Third Detachment officially joined the fleet. In total, there are two 052D, four 052C, and eight 054A. Counting the six Type 022 missile boats and the Lop Nur replenishment ship from the second batch, almost half of the Chinese Navy is in your hands. Furthermore, according to the information I've received, the Central Military Commission does not intend to disband the current formation; they intend to maintain the current scale for a long-term presence in the South China Sea. So, keep smiling."

"Really?"

"Of course. However, in the end, the CMC will see if you can actually command these brothers. So, you'd better think carefully about how to train them."

As they spoke, the two walked into the command hall, and the bustling personnel immediately fell silent. "Salute!" Following a loud sound of salutes, Chief of Staff Li Hao hurried over to report.

"Commander Comrade, our side has just established a data link with the Third Detachment that joined the fleet, and we have unified the friend-or-foe identification and communication channels. Additionally, just five minutes ago, a merchant convoy of nearly 30 vessels, escorted by the frigates 'Dongguan' and 'Shantou' performing reconnaissance in the South China Sea and the submarine 'Expedition 60', also joined the formation."

"A merchant convoy? Since when did we become merchant ship nannies?"

"That convoy was prepared in advance for the strategic material maritime transport security training conducted during the third stage of the exercise. It mainly consists of fuel, metal materials, minerals, and machine tools brought back from abroad. The sailing time was specially adjusted for this exercise to conduct maritime grouping training all the way back. Since they are no longer needed, they are returning to the assembly point with our formation to make further arrangements."

"Oh, then let them form a group with the logistics fleet."

"Yes, sir."

"Also, ask the forward command if there are any other units that will follow the ships."

"The forward command just reported that the replacement equipment of the Air Force 2nd, 8th, and 35th Divisions, originally stationed in Guangzhou, Zhanjiang, and Foshan, will follow us back to the base."

"Air Force fighters are returning with us? Can't they just fly back directly?"

"Our exercise itself includes a component of equipment delivery. Therefore, at the beginning of the year, the first echelon of the Guangzhou Military Region Air Force was specially tasked with the replacement of new aircraft. A total of three corps are cooperating with us for this exercise. The equipment and personnel are traveling separately. To coordinate with our force projection exercise, the Air Force even sent trainees from major military academies to reside on the ships."

"Then why is the replacement equipment also being transported by us?"

"Heh, one of the contents of our exercise includes the task of constructing field airfields on islands. Equipment transport is also a part of it."

"Good. Ask if the loading progress can keep up with the departure schedule."

"It should be no problem. In addition to the equipment of each exercise unit, the Guangzhou Air Force will transport a total of over 320 aircraft of various replacement types. Among them are 117 J-10Bs, 80 J-11Bs, approximately 120 various J-7s, and 2 J-20s, 1 J-2000..."

"Alright, no need to read the list. Most of the Guangzhou Air Force's assets are right here. What about their pilots?"

"Heh, they are quite excited. I haven't even read the list of reserve equipment accompanying the Army yet; it's even more shocking. Their pilots and other combat personnel are taking three Ro-Ro ships to follow the fleet, including the air defense brigades and equipment of various divisions. Only the ground crew and equipment maintenance technicians are traveling with the aircraft."

"Good. How many ships in total?"

"The Air Force equipment consists of five 100,000-ton container ships. The fighters, logistics equipment, and ammunition are all transported in container form. The ground crew and equipment assembly/disassembly personnel sent by the Equipment Department are on the same Ro-Ro ship as the Air Force 35th Division."

"The Air Force is something else, insisting on joining the fun. Wouldn't it be better to fly back themselves? They even have to tie the transport planes to the decks of container ships to go back."

"Isn't it because the Central Government wants to test the coordinated transport capability of a large-scale fleet that they are having all units follow the ships back? I think because the Central Government deployed too many merchant ships to cooperate with the island landing exercise this time, it would be a waste of rental fees if they weren't used, so the transport capacity must be fully utilized."

"Forget it, let's not talk about them. How many people from the Army are following the ships?"

"In addition to the 400,000 personnel and equipment from the three major Army Groups, there are 22 1.5-ton Ro-Ro ships and 4 container ships for equipment transport. Additionally, there are coordination personnel and experts from the Equipment Department in the VIP lounge."

"The Equipment Department? What are they doing here?"

"They were sent by the General Armaments Department to conduct combat readiness inspections of the equipment. They are a group of experts. It is said that a large amount of experimental equipment is being used in this exercise, some of which is highly classified, to the point that even the Command Headquarters cannot know the details."

"Is that so? Go say hello later. Also, notify them that the formation will officially set sail at 8:00 PM; all units must arrive at the designated assembly sea area before 7:30 PM."

"Yes, sir."

"Alright, let's go. Let's go say hello to the experts from the Equipment Department."

Time passed quickly. At 7:00 PM, the formation's vessels arrived one after another at the assembly sea area.

"Report Commander, the sixth transport fleet has completed grouping and established a data link. All scheduled vessels have joined the formation. We can set sail on the hour."

"Very well."

"I order the formation to take the Beiping as the core and move in a southeasterly direction. All ships are to maintain their current formation and maintain communications."

"Old Xia, isn't the formation too loose right now? This makes the defensive strength seem too dispersed." Wang Chongwu, who was reviewing the nautical charts, looked up and said, "Should we take this opportunity to practice a dense formation and compress the formation at the same time?"

"Fine. I order the entire fleet to form a dense formation. The logistics fleet and the Army transport fleet will form the forward squadron. Ship distance 50 meters, operate via data link, speed 10 knots, duration 14 hours."

"Yes, sir."

"Order the submarine detachment to perform submerged escort. 'Long March 5' to advance 20 nautical miles, 'Long March 7' to lag 5 nautical miles as a precaution."

"Yes, sir."

"Alright, Old Wang, let's go to the deck to welcome Old Deng. Their helicopters should be arriving soon. Leave the mess here to the youngsters." As they spoke, the two walked out of the command cabin toward the flight deck to welcome the arrival of the commander of the Shanghai vessel.