Tiger fathers have no dogs, and good teachers breed talents. The founding marshal of New China, Rong Ma has made great achievements for the cause of national liberation all his life. His only son, He Pengfei, is also a pillar of the country, served as the deputy commander of the Chinese People's Liberation Army Navy, and actively promoted the construction of a modern navy.
Especially in the process of acquiring the Varyag, He Pengfei made outstanding contributions to China's aircraft carrier industry.
On December 17, 2019, the whole country rejoiced, and China's first self-developed aircraft carrier "Shandong" was grandly put into service in Hainan, a feat that announced that China had officially entered the era of dual aircraft carriers.
And the twin aircraft carriers are not only the Shandong ship, but also the "Liaoning ship". As China's first aircraft carrier, the Liaoning officially entered service on September 25, 2012, and its predecessor was the "Varyag" of the Soviet Navy, which belonged to the Marshal Kuznetsov-class aircraft carrier subship.
After the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, the Varyag became owned by Ukraine, however, its subsequent construction was only 68% complete, requiring at least $200 million, which Ukraine could not afford.
So, Ukraine decided to put it **. Aircraft carriers are the core military strength of a country, representing the country's comprehensive national strength and naval strength, and are an important means of safeguarding national sovereignty and maritime rights and interests.
The entry into service of the Shandong and Liaoning ships is a further enhancement of China's naval strength and an important symbol of China's progress toward becoming a maritime power.
In 1909, the French inventor Créman Ade first put forward the idea of combining aircraft with ** in the book "Military Flight". On November 14 of the following year, American pilot Eugene Elle successfully took off from the light cruiser USS Birmingham in a warplane, and the aircraft carrier was thus on the world stage.
Although as early as the 10 to 20 years of the 20th century, the world has given birth to many aircraft carriers such as the British "Hundred-Eyed Giant", the United States "Langley", and the Japanese "Fengxiang", but due to the excessive technical difficulty and high construction cost, until the 20th century, there are still only a few countries in the world with aircraft carriers.
Because of this, when Ukraine announced that it would ** Varyag, many countries were ready to make a move. It is reported that in the case of extremely fierce competition, Ukraine once raised the price to 2 billion US dollars.
The reason why China was able to break out of the encirclement from many countries and successfully acquired the Varyag with 20 million US dollars is that He Pengfei's achievements are indelible. He Pengfei, in 1946 in a heavy rain in Yan'an, the 52-year-old ** and his wife Xue Ming ushered in their first and only son.
After the news spread, **personally called** to congratulate him on half a hundred wins. The comrades-in-arms came to the door one after another to say hello, scrambling to name the child.
* The general loved his family and friends dearly, and the name of his son He Yusheng was originally chosen based on his preferences and expectations, but later he decided to use the name "Pengfei" in honor of his friend Guan Xiangying.
* The general spent his whole life campaigning for the cause and construction of the Chinese revolution, but he always attached great importance to the education and care of his six children. His daughter He Xiaoming once said that if she lived in the era of the ** general, she would definitely pursue him because he was so attractive.
Under his influence, He Pengfei showed excellent qualities since he was a child, he studied diligently, treated people kindly, and was admitted to the Department of Mechanical Engineering of Tsinghua University with excellent grades at the age of 18.
Although ** and He Pengfei suffered misfortunes in the later years, He Pengfei did not resent, but endured it silently. It wasn't until 1974 that He Pengfei returned to normal life with the help of ***.
He cherishes his job opportunity and pays attention to international developments while learning about mechanical manufacturing. In 1977, he was promoted to staff officer of the Integrated Planning Department of the Armament Department of the General Staff for his outstanding abilities.
Since then, his focus has shifted to China's modern naval construction, especially the construction of aircraft carriers. He is well aware of the truth that "if you want to do a good job, you must first sharpen your tools", so in 1998, when Ukraine's ** Varyag aircraft carrier, he put forward a proposal to ** to buy.
At the time, the Varyag's proposal did not receive widespread support because of the United States, a barrier that was difficult to break through. After the collapse of the Soviet Union, the world pattern changed to "one superpower and many powers", and the United States, as the only superpower, advocated hegemonism and frequently intervened to block Ukraine, so that the Varyag's ** plan was delayed for seven or eight years.
During this period, American businessmen repeatedly tried to acquire the Varyag, but they were all rejected by Ukraine, and the reason behind this is related to the fate of the Ulyanovsk.
The Ulyanovsk was the first nuclear-powered aircraft carrier of the USSR with a full load displacement of 790,000 tons, which can carry 68 fighters. If the Soviet Union had not collapsed, it would have become the only supership in the world that could rival the American Nimitz-class aircraft carriers.
The fates of the Ulyanovsk and the Varyag are strikingly similar, and both were dismantled as broken metal. Among them, the Ulyanovsk was bought by the United States for $ 450 per ton, and it was dismantled.
In the face of the Varyag, Ukraine tried to avoid a similar fate again, but could not escape the control of the United States. In the end, after several years of maneuvering, Ukraine decided to dismantle the core components of the Varyag and bid on the empty ship shelves.
This decision made the Varyag worth a significant amount of money, and the number of competitors was reduced. However, the all-round blockade of the United States and the low level of completion of the aircraft carrier also complicate the purchase of the Varyag.
In the end, under He Pengfei's strong request and persuasion, the decision to acquire the Varyag was passed in time. He Pengfei approached Xu Zengping, a patriotic businessman, and entrusted him to participate in the Varyag bidding on a private basis in order to avoid the US blockade.
After careful consideration, Xu Zengping accepted this important task. As the chairman of Hong Kong's Chuanglu Group, he went to Ukraine to participate in the auction on the grounds of "transforming a luxury cruise ship".
Probably for commercial reasons, he managed to beat 5 other countries and took the Varyag aircraft carrier for $20 million, while also obtaining a full set of design drawings weighing 40 tons.
However, on the way back, the United States and Turkey joined forces to block it. Turkey trapped the Varyag in the waters of the Black Sea on the grounds of "threatening the safety of other ships." While demanding high berthing fees, they made 20 unreasonable demands on China**, including a "risk deposit" of up to $1 billion.
It was not until September 2001 that Turkey released it. Although the Varyag's return to China was difficult, it was finally victorious thanks to the joint efforts of the country, He Pengfei, and patriots such as Xu Zengping, Dai Yue, and Daniel Zhang.
After a four-year journey, the Varyag arrived safely at the port of Dalian in Liaoning Province on March 3, 2002. Subsequently, it was completely renovated and rebuilt at the Dalian shipyard and on September 25, 2012, it ushered China into the era of powerful aircraft carriers as China's first aircraft carrier, the Liaoning.