On the morning of September 7, six Fury-class all-steel battleships that had been sent to Phongsa Island for repair, and two large armored cruisers, four light cruisers, and four destroyers sent by the Fifth Fleet of the Red Tiger Imperial Navy were escorted to Ganyang Military Port.

The cost of repairing the six Berserk-class all-steel battleships this time was a total of 1.2 million silver coins, and Zhou Rui directly chose to pay with the Red Tiger Empire's golden yuan coupons and handed it over to the logistics minister of the Fifth Fleet, Fraso.

"Young Master Zhou, Gridye and I have already established a relationship with the Admiralty Department.

You only need to pay 16,500,000 silver coins to get five star-class all-steel battleships of our Red Tiger Empire's Royal Navy.

The unit price of each Starry Sky class was lowered to 3.3 million silver coins through the efforts of Gridye and me.

Because these five Star-class ships have been in service, the condition of the ships is very good, and it should not be a problem to use them for more than ten years, which I can assure Young Master Zhou. ”

On his side, he just took out five all-steel battleships to exchange islands with the Jinshui Zhou family, but he didn't expect five more all-steel battleships to be sent to the door.

After Zhou Rui and Zhou Jingtong signed an exchange agreement, the lottery system reminded Zhou Rui to complete the task of "reaching an agreement to exchange Xiangshi Island".

A two-star lottery card given for completing the mission has been used by Zhou Rui, and two more German Moltke-class battlecruisers have been opened.

As a result, the number of battlecruisers in the lottery system increased to eight.

Although there are eight battlecruisers with more powerful combat effectiveness, Zhou Rui is still very interested in the five Star-class all-steel battleships with a full load displacement of 11,000 tons.

Even if the coastal defense fleet can't use it in the future, it can be exchanged for some good things.

Scarcity is precious, and at present, in every country of mankind, all-steel battleships are stronger than gold.

"Thank you General Frasso for your help, don't worry, our Zhou family will not let General Frasso help in vain."

"Hehe, I just like a refreshing and generous friend like Young Master Zhou!"

After Frasso left, Zhou Rui asked people to contact Xiyun Liu's family and Jinshui's Zhou family respectively, and agreed on a specific time to exchange warships for islands.

On the afternoon of September 7, Zhou Rui met his two friends Wang Kui and Xie Dong in the office.

Now Wang Kui and Xie Dong, under the influence of their respective families, have joined the Zhou family's army.

Although Zhou Rui once said that Wang Kui and Xie Dong joined the Zhou family's army, they could only start from the big soldiers, but when Wang Kui and Xie Dong really joined the Zhou family's army, Zhou Rui still took care of them.

Wang Kui was directly awarded the rank of second lieutenant in the navy and became a midshipman officer in the coastal defense fleet.

Xie Dong was directly awarded the rank of second lieutenant in the army and became a trainee staff officer of the 3rd Infantry Regiment of the garrison brigade.

"Wang Shao, Xie Shao, how is it? Still adapting? Zhou Rui asked with a smile.

Wang Kui hurriedly said: "Young General, don't call us that in the future, just call me Da Kui." ”

Xie Dong followed closely and said, "Major General, you can call me Dongzi in the future." ”

Seeing Wang Kui and Xie Dong's restrained appearance, Zhou Rui sighed secretly in his heart, he knew that once Wang Kui and Xie Dong joined the Zhou family's army, they could no longer be the same as before.

"You don't have to be restrained, just sit down.

Da Kui, Dongzi, if there is anything in the future, you can come directly to me.

Although you have joined my Zhou family's coastal defense army and garrison brigade respectively, so that our identities have changed, the 'Southern Batian', 'Western Batian', and 'Northern Batian' remain unchanged. ”

Then the three of them chatted for a while, and Wang Kui took the initiative to ask: "Major General, I was originally arranged on the all-steel battleship Yongjia, but now Yongjia is about to be sent to the Jinshui Zhou family of the Bajin Empire.

Then we, the officers and soldiers on the Brave Armor, don't know what will happen next? ”

Zhou Rui smiled, "Don't worry, I have already bought another batch of new ships, and the officers and men of your Yongjia will soon be arranged on the new warship."

Da Kui, you have to study hard in the crash course of the Naval Academy, and I hope that one day, I can personally award you the position of battleship captain! ”

Wang Kui immediately got up from the sofa and saluted Zhou Rui, "Don't worry, young general, I will definitely study hard and not let the young general down!" ”

No one wants to wait for death for a lifetime, and now Zhou Rui has given Wang Kui a chance to change, and Wang Kui cherishes it very much.

Then Xie Dong asked: "Major General, after graduating from the crash course of the first phase of the Army Academy, I don't know if I can go down to lead the troops?" ”

"No problem, you are now in the rank of second lieutenant, and according to the regulations, after graduating from the crash course in the Army Academy, you will be promoted to the rank of lieutenant.

I'll say hello and let you go to the company below first to be the deputy company commander.

Next, our Zhou family's army units will become larger and larger, and I hope Dongzi can seize this opportunity. ”

Xie Dong also hurriedly stood up and saluted Zhou Rui, "Don't worry, young general, I will work hard!" ”

As soon as Xie Dong's voice fell, Zhou Xiaorong took a few pieces of paper and walked into the office, "Major General, there is an urgent call from the First Steps of the 22nd Independent Brigade. ”

When Wang Kui and Xie Dong heard this, they hurriedly said goodbye to Zhou Rui.

After Wang Kui and Xie Dong left the office, Zhou Xiaorong said in a deep voice: "Li Donghu and Guan Guoren sent a telegram that the 17th Independent Brigade in Longshan City had mutinied, and the brigade commander Lu Yong was shot dead by the rebels.

In order to ensure the supply of living materials in the oil fields of the three towns, Li Donghu and Guan Guoren sent troops to take over Longshan City and controlled the mutinous 17th Independent Brigade. ”

Zhou Rui was stunned and asked, "What's going on?" How could the 17th Independent Brigade mutiny? ”

Zhou Xiaorong said with a wry smile: "This matter actually has something to do with the first corps of our 22nd Independent Brigade......

Longshan City is the closest city to the Three Towns Oilfield in Fengwu Town, with a population of about 180,000.

Because the Three Towns Oilfield is located in the desert, daily necessities, including fresh water, must be purchased from Longshan City.

The 17th Independent Brigade of the Fengwu Army, which was stationed in Longshan City, had been controlled by the Longshan Lu family.

Lu Yong, the current head of the Longshan Lu family, was originally just a side child of the Longshan Lu family, but because he was valued by the previous head of the family, he became an infantry regiment commander of the 17th Independent Brigade of the Fengwu Army.

However, Lu Yong, who was a wolf, had wolf ambitions, and through a mutiny, not only personally shot the previous head of the family, who trusted him, but also used cruel means to purge the sons, nephews, descendants, and cronies of the previous head of the family, and controlled the entire Longshan Lu family.

After Lu Yong took power, he was nepotistic and made Longshan City a miasma, and the people were very resentful.

Longshan City is located inland, the economy is not developed, and it has been fooled by Lu Yong for several years, and there is even a tragedy of selling children and daughters in Longshan City.

You must know that before Lu Yong took the throne, the population of Longshan City exceeded 350,000, and in just a few years, almost half of the people were forced to leave their hometowns by the harsh taxes and miscellaneous taxes formulated by Lu Yong.

As a result, the higher the exorbitant taxes set by Lu Yong, the less taxes he received, and in order to support the thousands of officers and soldiers of the 17th Independent Brigade of the Fengwu Army, Lu Yong had to use the family funds saved by the Lu family in Longshan for hundreds of years.

However, as the family of the Lu family in Longshan was hollowed out, Lu Yong had no choice but to reduce the salaries of the officers and soldiers of the 17th Independent Brigade of the Fengwu Army.

When the first corps of the 22nd Independent Brigade of the Zhou family arrived in Longshan City, the 17th Independent Brigade of the Fengwu Army had not been paid for four months.

The 1st Regiment of the 22nd Independent Brigade only rested for one night in Longshan City before entering the desert to take over the oil fields of the Three Towns.

However, although the First Corps of the 22nd Independent Brigade was gone, the shock left by the First Corps of the 22nd Independent Brigade to the 17th Independent Brigade turned into a resentment.

Why is it that an ordinary soldier has a monthly salary of 25 silver coins, while a soldier of ours only has 6 silver coins a month, and he is often in arrears.

As the arrears of the 17th Independent Brigade increased by another month, the resentment of the officers and men of the 17th Independent Brigade completely exploded.

After a mutiny, the brigade commander Lu Yong and the officers above the battalion level of the 17th Independent Brigade were almost all killed by the rebels.

If it weren't for the fact that the First Advance Corps of the 22nd Independent Brigade received the news and quickly sent troops into Longshan City to control the situation, there would have been even greater chaos if it was not done well.