Just as mentioning the French government brings the Élysée Palace to mind, and the British government is synonymous with 10 Downing Street, mentioning China now habitually evokes "No. 7 People's Road."

As a Japanese man, Yamamoto had a fondness for the number seven. There was no particular reason; Japanese people were just inexplicably enthusiastic about the number seven.

Therefore, Yamamoto quite liked No. 7 People's Road. However, the Chinese side actually preferred the designation "No. 1." The reason it wasn't used was that the building at No. 1 People's Road, located at the intersection with Yellow River Road, was suitable neither in terms of security nor habitability.

This was Yamamoto's first visit to No. 7 People's Road. As the car passed along the ten-lane People's Road, the first thing he saw was the massive People's Square. The square, spanning tens of thousands of square meters, shocked Yamamoto; this was indeed a square befitting the capital of a China with such vast territory. Compared to the Chinese capital, Tokyo, Japan, seemed extremely pocket-sized. Or perhaps one should say, extremely exquisite.

The compound at No. 7 People's Road was very quiet. Looking in through the front iron gates, one could see a four-story building. This was not He Rui's residence, but the location of the Chairman's General Office. He Rui's residence was in the courtyard behind the General Office.

Guided by staff into a conference room inside, Yamamoto saw Ishiwara Kanji, Nagumo Chūichi, and Yamaguchi Tamon sitting to He Rui's left. Zhong Yifu, Cheng Ruofan, and Hu Xiushan sat to his right.

Yamamoto saluted He Rui, and He Rui pointed to the empty seat on the Japanese side. "Yamamoto-kun, we were just waiting for you."

"Apologies," Yamamoto said, quickly taking his seat.

He Rui spoke, "I invited everyone here today to discuss two matters. First, we wish to introduce China's naval development plan to the Japanese side. Second, regarding this plan, we wish to form a liaison group with the Japanese side. I will ask Minister Hu Xiushan to introduce China's naval development plan."

By the time He Rui finished speaking, Chinese secretaries had already placed a book of materials in front of each Japanese officer. As Hu Xiushan stood up, Yamamoto noticed Ishiwara's posture shift slightly. Seeing that Ishiwara still had some reaction to his former opponent, Hu Xiushan, Yamamoto found it amusing. During the Sino-Japanese War, Hu Xiushan had commanded a motorized corps of the Northeast Army in a fierce assault. It was only Ishiwara's desperate resistance that barely slowed Hu Xiushan's offensive, giving Nagata Tetsuzan time to organize the Seoul defense line. That experience was certainly not a fond memory for Ishiwara.

No change in expression could be seen on Hu Xiushan's face as he began to introduce the Chinese naval development plan at a measured pace. Yamamoto's attention was instantly captured, and he was soon shocked by the plan.

Yamaguchi Tamon had previously mentioned that Chinese naval personnel had discussed with him an aircraft carrier capable of carrying a wing of 90 to 100 fighters of various types. Yamaguchi had calculated based on parameters that a displacement of about 40,000 tons would be needed. The Chinese design had now emerged: it was a 35,000-ton aircraft carrier. What shocked Yamamoto most was that this aircraft carrier not only had a straight flight deck but also an angled flight deck to the rear of the straight one.

Yamaguchi Tamon immediately asked about the purpose of this design. Hu Xiushan explained with the attitude of an expert that this was an angled deck used for aircraft landings. Both Yamamoto and Yamaguchi slapped the table in praise. Even Nagumo Chūichi nodded continuously, and appreciation for the design could be seen on his usually impassive face.

Although he admired it greatly, Yamaguchi Tamon still raised a question. "Such a design greatly improves the efficiency of aircraft takeoff and landing. So why not enlarge the hull slightly and design it as an aircraft carrier capable of carrying 120 fighter planes?"

Hu Xiushan asked Yamaguchi Tamon to turn to page 15. When Yamamoto opened it, he saw a large number of tables. Glancing at the numerous formulas in the introduction, Yamamoto understood that these were parameter settings made after extensive practical testing.

"Based on massive calculations and tests conducted, we believe that 120 fighter planes of various types would only lower combat efficiency. The optimal number of fighter planes is 90. As for insufficient fighter numbers within a combat zone, we can solve that by increasing the number of aircraft carriers."

Yamamoto was stunned for a moment, then felt a surge of confidence. Fighting with superior numbers was the way war ought to be waged, but Japan lacked the national power, so it could only dig for potential in performance. Now that China had decided to win through superior numbers, it was indeed the most correct choice.

Yamaguchi Tamon quickly browsed the parameters and asked another question. "Is there only this one type of carrier?"

"We have also designed an 18,000-ton escort carrier, intended to target enemy submarines, but we are currently still discussing whether this is necessary," Hu Xiushan explained.

Yamaguchi said no more. He personally felt that 35,000-ton carriers were enough. At least in the Pacific theater, once the East Asian Coalition Forces took the various islands of the Pacific, it would be impossible for the enemy to build submarines capable of crossing the Pacific to attack East Asia. As for the Indian Ocean, as long as the British lost India, they wouldn't necessarily really need escort carriers.

Nagumo Chūichi looked calm, but he was already excited inwardly. He had just quickly browsed the Chinese naval designs and confirmed that China's naval gunnery equipment consisted only of battleships, cruisers, and destroyers. The battleships included two types: 35,000 tons and 45,000 tons. There were also two types each of cruisers and destroyers.

As an expert in gunnery equipment, just a quick browse made Nagumo Chūichi feel spirited. A total of six types of warships, three of which had tonnage conforming to the provisions of global naval treaties, could be considered for production immediately. Moreover, in the design, the 35,000-ton battleship was originally designed for 410mm naval guns. The Japanese Navy had been using 410mm guns for ten years; they were incredibly familiar with them.

The same applied to the first types of cruisers and destroyers. There was ample redundancy from the start. More importantly, the Chinese Navy placed great emphasis on radar. As early as World War I, the British had developed a type of radar used to search for German planes and airships. By 1922, research in this area was continuing to develop in countries around the world. According to the data before them, the Chinese Navy was developing both search radar and fire-control radar. It was evident that China's research was also ongoing.

During Hu Xiushan's introduction, Nagumo Chūichi asked several questions, all of which received detailed explanations. This made Nagumo feel increasingly that although the Chinese Navy appeared not to be building ships, they were actually very serious about their preliminary preparations.

After these discussions concluded, He Rui made a gesture. The secretaries drew the curtains, and the conference room instantly darkened. The old smokers took the opportunity to light up cigarettes to satisfy their cravings. Meanwhile, the film projector at the other end of the conference table began to run.

The film had a voiceover; it was an introduction to China's block construction method for shipbuilding. Currently, the global shipbuilding industry used a method where only one ship was built inside a dry dock at a time. The block construction method involved dividing the ship into several, or even over a dozen, sections during the design phase. After the various sections were built, huge gantry cranes were used to hoist the completed hull sections into the dry dock, where they were welded together to complete the ship.

Although the Japanese naval experts could all understand that this construction mode could greatly improve dry dock utilization rates—and time was money, so the higher the efficiency in the same amount of time, the lower the shipbuilding cost—they did not feel unconditionally optimistic. A great many technical difficulties immediately popped up in their minds.

The film was shot very professionally. The latter half introduced China's progress in electric welding technology, including inert gas welding and solder technologies developed for different welding targets. Of particular note was the development of welding technology for thick steel plates and ultra-thick steel plates. What surprised the Japanese naval experts even more was the use of Chinese laser measuring instruments.

Current Japanese shipbuilding still used the traditional European and American shipbuilding models; it was too late to change now. Yamamoto Isoroku lamented that the Chinese shipbuilding industry could adopt such a radical technical route because it had no historical burden, yet he also suspected the weakness of China's shipbuilding industry—could they really complete such a design?

In the final segment of the film, the introduction of the Chinese vacuum tube computer left Yamamoto dumbfounded. Vacuum tube computers capable of over 50,000 operations per second helped Chinese engineers complete massive calculations. Every aspect of ship design underwent calculations ten to dozens of times greater than those done by Japanese engineers before being put into practice. The subsequent collection of tracking data also provided a vast amount of basic data for the analysis of various ship problems.

Yamamoto felt that either he was a fool, or the Chinese ship engineers were fools. Taking paper-based work to this extent exceeded the limits of imagination.

It was Ishiwara Kanji who asked, "May I ask, how does China provide so much electricity?"

Yamamoto Isoroku sobered up immediately; indeed, this was a major issue. Hu Xiushan answered calmly, "We have built computing centers in areas rich in hydropower, utilizing the electricity there for continuous operation."

After the film ended and the curtains were drawn open again, a layer of smoke already lingered over the conference table. He Rui asked Hu Xiushan to sit down, then turned to the Japanese officers. "We have introduced the overall situation of China's future naval development to you all. I wonder if you have any other questions?"

Nagumo Chūichi pointed to the thick stack of materials in front of him. "He-kun, may I ask if I can take this with me?"

"Of course," He Rui answered, his tone seemingly relaxed.

Yamamoto Isoroku felt a wave of relief in his heart. Although these materials were important, it was absolutely impossible to truly understand the true face of Chinese naval equipment relying solely on them. So-called technology blockades didn't mean preventing the other side from seeing the produced product, or even caring much if they knew the design philosophy. The devil is in the details; the massive amount of details in actual work is the key that determines technological development. If China did not transfer technology to Japan, Japan would have no way to figure out China's shipbuilding route in a short time, even if they tried to copy it.

More importantly, the shipbuilding industry required huge investment and was heavily reliant on skilled engineers and technical workers. Different trades are like different mountains; Japan groping its way forward sounded inspiring, but in reality, it would mean throwing countless amounts of money into the water.

Therefore, Yamamoto Isoroku's feeling of relief came from the candor of the Chinese side. With such candor, there was a foundation for continuing true cooperation. Thinking of the painful blow the Anglo-American brutes were about to suffer, Yamamoto Isoroku felt great joy in his heart.