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On March 4, 2002, a "distinguished guest" came at the port of Dalian Port in our country. In order to invite this "distinguished guest", he spent hundreds of millions of yuan on him. Since then, this "distinguished guest" has become an important part of my country's national defense.
This "distinguished guest" is the predecessor of my country's first aircraft carrier Liaoning ship, "Varyag" . After buying the "Varyag", our naval power has increased year by year, from the previous aircraft carriers of the Liaoning ship to the Fujian ship, which was mainly developed and manufactured.
has achieved a leap in military power in just 10 years, and all this is inseparable from the experience gained from the "Varyag".
Nowadays, in our opinion, buying the "Varyag" is a very worthwhile deal, but I encountered many twists and turns on the way to buying the "Varyag" that year.
was able to successfully invite this "distinguished guest" back to China, which was the strong support of He Pengfei, the only son of He Long, the then deputy commander of the Navy.
If He Pengfei had not been on the insistence on purchasing the "Varyag" at that time, we would probably not be able to see the Liaoning ship of the country now.
The Soviet Union collapsed . China is interested in the "Varyag"
"Varyag" is the third-generation aircraft carrier built by the Soviet Union for the Soviet Navy during the Cold War. That year, the Soviet government dispatched 800 experts from different industries to build two third-generation aircraft carriers, and more than 7,000 factories and research institutes participated in the production.
Until the collapse of the Soviet Union on December 25, 1991, the construction of the "Varyag" was only 68%. Although more than half of it had been completed, it was still to be shelved on the dock.
The Varyag has been shelved for two years. During these two years, the Varyag has been docked in Ukraine, which was split from the Soviet Union.
Although Ukraine had thought of completing the construction of the "Varyag", after calculations by the Ministry of Finance, it was found that Ukraine's finances could not complete the remaining 32% of the work, and the construction task of the "Varyag" cannot be completed by a major country.
As the "big brother" who split from the Soviet Union, Russia can be said to be the strongest in China in many countries, and only he can undertake the task of building the "Varyag". The number required for
to build the "Varyag" is not a small number. There are many places where Russian state management requires money, and it is impossible to invest too much money in an aircraft carrier that has not yet been built.
So the Russian side found Ukraine and expressed its willingness to acquire the "Varyag", but it needs to be completed by Ukraine before it can be acquired by Russia.
At first, Ukraine thought that Russia would issue funds for the entire aircraft carrier, but after negotiations between the two sides found that Russia was only willing to leave the remaining 32% of the construction, which is very different from Ukraine's idea.
The two sides negotiated many times on this issue, but they broke up because of their respective persistence. In the end, Russia also decided not to "Varyag" and gave the "Varyag" that had been built more than half to Ukraine on the grounds of offsetting Ukraine's debts.
At this point, the ownership of the "Varyag" fell to Ukraine, but the "Varyag" had no money to complete the remaining construction, so the "Varyag" could only lie quietly in the port of Ukraine as a semi-finished product, waiting for the arrival of those with destiny.
The connection between China and the Varyag was in 1995. When the Ukrainian President visited China, the first negotiation confrontation between the two sides on the issue of the Varyag.
Ukraine knew that it was not able to complete the construction of the Varyag, so it wanted to hand over the Varyag to other countries. However, the Varyag is not a small commodity, it is a military aircraft carrier, which makes Ukraine not many countries that can be sold, and China is the most suitable buyer.
At that time, China was gradually completing the reform and construction of the army. After experiencing a million-dollar disarmament, our country had begun to transform into a modern force. Having an aircraft carrier would be a great improvement for our naval power.
Therefore, the issue of the "Varyag" caused heated discussions in our army at that time, and all the leaders gave different views on this. He Pengfei, who was then deputy commander of the navy, was naturally very concerned about this issue.
He Long's only son, and when he grew up, he became the deputy commander of the navy
He Pengfei, as the only son of Marshal He Long, his special identity has attracted many people's attention since childhood. However, on the road of He Pengfei's growth, he did not rely on his father's reputation to improve his status, but learned the spirit of Marshal He Long and gained his later status in the army step by step.
He Pengfei has been influenced by his father Marshal He Long's patriotic thought since he was a child. He Pengfei successfully joined China Youth League in middle school. Later, he successfully joined China Communist Youth League during his study at Tsinghua University .
In addition, on He Pengfei's growth path, he also learned the hard-working spirit of Marshal He Long. During his study, he worked hard and diligently. Even when he entered the army, he often learned theories of military and political affairs, and did not forget to improve his business knowledge so as to do his best in his work.
He Pengfei became the deputy director of the General Staff Equipment Department seven years after entering the army, and served as the minister in July of the following year. It was during this period that He Pengfei learned the importance of weapons and equipment to the country.
Later, the troops launched the introduction of new weapons and equipment technology, which also allowed He Pengfei to know the gap between my country's military strength and foreign countries at that time. Therefore, He Pengfei also repeatedly put forward suggestions on strengthening and improving military trade work based on the international environment.
served as the Minister of the General Staff Equipment Department for 8 years, the opinions and suggestions put forward by He Pengfei greatly improved our country's military combat capabilities. This result also allowed He Pengfei to be successfully promoted to deputy commander of the Navy in November 1992, where he carried out naval equipment construction.
Not long after He Pengfei took over the equipment construction of our country's navy, he discovered the gap between my country's maritime power and other countries at that time, especially in the aircraft carrier area.
In order to maintain national security, He Pengfei clearly knew that the Chinese Navy must have its own aircraft carrier . Obviously, He Pengfei knew the importance of aircraft carriers.
However, at that time, all industries in my country were in a period of development. What was needed for the construction of aircraft carriers was high-tech technology, and many projects in the national defense industry needed high-tech technology for development. The scarcity of talents made it difficult for China at that time to independently design and manufacture an aircraft carrier of its own.
Although this road is difficult to walk, He Pengfei knows that no matter how difficult it is, he must continue to walk. Therefore, during his time as deputy commander of the Navy, He Pengfei has been paying attention to news about aircraft carriers at home and abroad.
In a different way, he bought the "Varyag"
and was naturally very concerned about the "Varyag". Before 1995, Ukraine had not yet finalized the final answer with Russia. Although my country sent out the signal of wanting to buy, no one contacted Ukraine did not reply.
It was not until 1995 that Russia gave the "Varyag" to Ukraine as a debt repayment, and Ukraine had contact with our country from the surface.
In May 1995, He Pengfei sent the message to Huang Pingtao, deputy manager of China Shipbuilding Industry Corporation, who works in Ukraine. On behalf of the Central Military Commission, He Pengfei issued a task to Huang Pingtao to go to Black Sea Shipyard to to inspect the "Varyag".
As the shipbuilder, Huang Pingtao was naturally extremely happy to do this mission. Could anyone ask if there is any ship industry worker who can refuse to investigate the aircraft carrier?
So after receiving the task, Huang Pingtao immediately organized personnel to conduct detailed division of labor and made inspection arrangements, and made extremely detailed arrangements for the inspection of the "Varyag" at the Black Sea Shipyard.
After Huang Pingtao and others boarded the "Varyag", they conducted a detailed investigation of the entire ship, and the investigation results were made into a detailed report and sent back to the country.
He Pengfei excitedly said after seeing the report of the "Varyag": "What our navy lacks is such an aircraft carrier!"
Although He Pengfei and other leaders such as the Navy were very satisfied with the "Varyag", there were still problems in purchasing. The reason for
is that Ukraine asks for a price of US$250 million. If the "Varyag" is bought back and the subsequent construction expenses are included, it will cost nearly 70 billion yuan to build the aircraft carrier.
You should know that in 1995, the military expenditure of the entire army was less than 64 billion yuan. The cost of an aircraft carrier could consume the military expenditure of the entire army for one year, which was extremely difficult for our country where the entire army was developing.
On the other hand, it was because Ukraine was under pressure from the United States at that time. At that time, everything was booming since reform and opening up , which made the United States on the other side of the ocean also regard our country as a strong enemy.
At that time, if the United States had called second in military capabilities, no other country would dare to claim first. The United States, who was used to being strong in military affairs, naturally could not tolerate that a country would actually threaten its position. The United States was not good at directly attacking my country with a strong national strength, so it put its target on Ukraine.
Under pressure from the United States, if Ukraine wants to sell the "Varyag" to our country, it will remove all the electronic equipment and weapons on the "Varyag", and in the end, only a "big mage" is left.
So during the negotiations, China felt even more worthy of buying the Varyag. Although He Pengfei insisted on buying the Varyag, after discussion at that time, he finally gave up the opportunity to buy the Varyag according to the choice of most people.
When He Pengfei learned that my country gave up purchasing the Varyag, he felt heartbroken for a long time. He knew very well how important an aircraft carrier is to our country. Therefore, although the country gave up purchasing the Varyag, he himself did not give up the idea of purchasing the Varyag.
Two years after China gave up on purchasing the Varyag, Ukraine released the news that it would sell the Varyag to the world.
He Pengfei got the news immediately and then informed Hu Jizheng of this matter. Hu Jizheng also supported the purchase of the "Varyag", but when the incident reached the ears of Cao Gangchuan, the deputy chief of staff of the People's Liberation Army, everyone encountered the first difficulty in purchasing.
Cao Gangchuan told everyone: "Before , the country had given up purchasing the "Varyag". With the United States eyeing it, people from the country will definitely not be able to buy it anymore. "
Hu Jizheng also realized the problem after hearing this. This matter has now escalated to international issues and must be taken seriously. Their Chinese shipbuilding company is a state-owned enterprise, and if they purchase it, it is equivalent to the state purchasing it. At this point, it blocked China's road to purchasing the "Varyag".
In fact, this matter is just as Cao Gangchuan thought. Ukraine specially added a requirement during the auction, that is, those participating in the auction cannot have national background.
But when this incident was spread to He Pengfei, he cleared everyone's worries with just one sentence: "If we can't buy it, can't we find others to buy it? This is the only opportunity for China to buy the "Varyag". If we miss it, there will be no chance!"
After He Pengfei's words, everyone also reacted, but who should we find to buy it? This has become a problem for everyone.
Chinese people purchased the "Varyag" and transported it back to China after twists and turns
On March 19, 1998, the "Varyag" auctioned by Ukraine to the world was sold by a merchant in Hong Kong, China for US$20 million. The merchant's name is Xu Zengping .
According to Xu Zengping, he wanted to buy the aircraft carrier and build it into a maritime casino, but in fact, behind Xu Zengping was He Pengfei's support.
When He Pengfei proposed to buy it with someone else, he started looking for a suitable buyer. In the end, He Pengfei fell in love with Xu Zengping, a Hong Kong businessman who had been in the army.
Xu Zengping did not disappoint He Pengfei's expectations and successfully won the "Varyag" at the auction. Although he took the "Varyag" to the auction, he also encountered many difficulties on his subsequent journey back to China.
In order to transport the "Varyag" back to China, my country also negotiated with Turkey , which allowed the "Varyag" to pass through the straits in Turkey.
Due to various difficulties, it took four years for the "Varyag" to be purchased by Xu Zengping and docked at the Dalian port in my country. During these four years, He Pengfei has paid much attention to the situation of the "Varyag". What is regrettable is that when the "Varyag" was transported to the Dalian port, He Pengfei had passed away for more than a year.
The purchase of the "Varyag" cannot be separated from the support behind He Pengfei. If He Pengfei saw the day when the Liaoning ship built by the "Varyag" was launched, I believe he would be very pleased.
The security of the country is inseparable from the dedication of these ancestors. Let us remember the contributions He Pengfei has made to the country and pay our highest respect to the ancestors.
