Giant Waves

Giant Waves is a long alternate-history military novel by Qidian author Shanshuo, roughly 2.3 million characters across more than 700 chapters, now complete. The story posits a world in which aircraft and aircraft carriers were never invented, history still reaches 1936, and command of the sea is dominated by big-gun, heavily armored battleships. In this world, naval officers and sailors roam the seas in battleships, with the story built around fleet construction, strategic maneuvering, fleet engagements, and transoceanic expeditions, depicting a new generation of servicemen who inherit their forebears' seafaring spirit and fight for national revival and the rise of their people. The work advances through multiple volumes—titles such as "The Storm Gathers," "Backbone of the Nation," "Four Dragons Roil the Sea," and "Transoceanic Expedition"—up to the final chapter, "The Last General Offensive." The book leans heavily on technical detail and tactical deduction, with meticulous description of ship classes, guns, formations, and naval battle sequences, and many readers regard it as an entry-level read for devotees of "big ships and big guns"; at the same time, its setting deductions and characterization are disputed, and reader opinion is divided. Note that this is an early web novel, and no reliable record of a print edition has been found.