Volume 1: The Empire Awakens Chapter 29: Exceptional Promotion (Part 2)
Because he needed to submit work reports to the fleet headquarters every day, Tan Renhao did not spend the night in the city and returned to the factory hotel in the evening.
Three days later, the last round of tests before finalization was a complete success. A temporarily modified twin-engine shore-based bomber of the Naval Aviation Force dropped two types of bombs and Swordfish torpedoes in the experimental waters of Jiaozhou Bay, all of which accurately hit the target fixed on the sea surface.
After obtaining the last set of test data, Tan Renhao received a message in the afternoon asking him to return to the fleet headquarters immediately.
The Equipment Procurement Office of the Imperial Navy Logistics Command quickly placed an order for these three types of ammunition to the arsenal.
The arsenal will deliver twenty Swordfish torpedoes, fifty 250 kg armor-piercing shells, and twenty-five 500 kg armor-piercing shells to the Imperial Navy within a month.
The ammunition will be delivered directly to the Fifth Fleet by the logistics department's dedicated ammunition transport ship.
It was already midnight when the plane landed at Kadena Airport. Tan Renhao did not ask his adjutant Du Xing to pick him up. He went to the airport to find a "taxi" and returned to the dormitory in the middle of the night.
As a result, he was woken up by Du Xing after sleeping for less than four hours.
"The commander knew you were back, so he asked me to come find you immediately!"
Du Xing was standing by the door with his car parked outside. He also put a box of breakfast on the desk by the door.
"Okay, wait for me five minutes!"
Tan Renhao sighed secretly, then took a shower as quickly as possible and changed into a clean military uniform.
Just after finishing breakfast, the jeep arrived outside the headquarters building. Du Xing probably estimated Tan Renhao's eating speed and drove not very fast.
When Tan Renhao arrived at the office of Commander General Liao Hanxiang, Chief of Staff Wu Xianyu was there.
"Second Lieutenant, it seems that you are a person who saves time very much. We all thought that you would go to Qingdao and stay for a few days before coming back!"
Liao Hanxiang joked, "However, saving time is a good habit. Have you had breakfast?"
“I just ate it on the way.”
Tan Renhao smiled awkwardly, then at Liao Hanxiang's gesture, sat down on the sofa opposite Brigadier General Wu Xianyu.
"We have reviewed the technical data you sent us. Chief of Staff Wu Xianyu also had someone do some special calculations, and they completely meet our requirements."
Liao Hanxiang also sat down. "However, we think it would be safer if you tell us in person, right?"
Tan Renhao nodded, quickly organized his thoughts, and then said: "The performance of both aerial bombs is good. If we look at the armor-piercing ability, it is nearly twice as good as the aerial bombs we are using now, which is enough to deal with any battleship.
The main defect is the unstable throwing trajectory. Engineers have come up with a suitable solution. Before carrying out small-scale production of the first batch, they will conduct two rounds of experiments and then send all the data over.
The performance of the Swordfish torpedo is also excellent. Not only is its speed increased by ten knots and its range increased by three kilometers, but its power is at least twice that of the Tigerfish, and it can easily penetrate the anti-torpedo armor belt on any battleship."
"So, we can fully believe that these three new types of ammunition can destroy the Dongting Lake?"
Liao Hanxiang is obviously still concerned about the final result.
"Unless they miss, we can fully believe in the great power of these three types of ammunition."
Tan Renhao answered the general's question very affirmatively, but he immediately said: "The problem is that we don't have the right aircraft to use these three types of ammunition."
"Lieutenant, we are trying to solve this problem!"
Liao Hanxiang laughed and glanced at Wu Xianyu.
"After receiving the detailed data, we have already arranged personnel to make improvements to the three existing bombers."
Wu Xianyu's words were calm. "If we just want to verify whether bombers can destroy battleships, then we can still cope with it."
"You did an excellent job, Lieutenant."
Liao Hanxiang did not let Wu Xianyu continue. After all, those things had nothing to do with Tan Renhao, and there was no need to tell him. "The Chief of Staff has submitted the list of exceptionally promoted personnel of the Fifth Fleet this year to the Navy Command, and your name is ranked first. Here, we would like to congratulate you in advance!"
Tan Renhao was startled and immediately stood up: "Thank you, Commander and Chief of Staff, for your recognition and promotion."
"Exceptional promotion" is a convenient promotion channel provided by the Imperial Navy for officers and soldiers with outstanding performance.
That year, Marshal Yuan Haoyi was promoted five times in a row within three years, and as a result, he became a general of the Imperial Navy when he was in his twenties.
This is also a very effective means of motivation.
More importantly, any young officer who has received an exceptional promotion will be trained as a key talent and is very likely to become an outstanding general in the Imperial Navy in the future.
Liao Hanxiang laughed.
"You don't need to thank us. You deserve it. Well, take a good rest these few days, and then hand in your work report on the trip to Qingdao Naval Arsenal to Colonel Ji Xiaobin. He will have a new task for you."
"yes!"
Tan Renhao immediately said goodbye to the two generals.
That afternoon, Tan Renhao handed the report to Colonel Ji Xiaobin.
The colonel was still so busy. What surprised Tan Renhao was that this time the colonel did not assign him a new task. He just asked him to have a good rest for two days and then come to find him again.
This was the first time that Tan Renhao felt idle since he came to the Fifth Fleet. When he returned to the office, he found that Hao Dongjue and Chang Jianxin were just like him and had nothing to do.
"Renhao, have you heard the news?"
Hao Dongjue seemed very enthusiastic. He made a cup of tea for Tan Renhao and said, "I heard that the list of exceptional promotions this year has been released. We were all sure that you would be on the list, but we didn't expect that you would be ranked first!"
"Renhao, congratulations!"
Chang Jianxin also came over.
Tan Renhao greeted the two of them with a shy smile.
Receiving a nomination for "exceptional promotion" does not necessarily mean that one will be promoted. However, as long as one appears at the top of the list provided by each fleet, one will almost certainly not be eliminated.
"Renhao, this is great news, you have to treat us to a meal!"
Tan Renhao would certainly not refuse. If he could successfully get the promotion, he would take the first successful step on the road to becoming a professional soldier, which is also the most important step.
