Before you know it, it's February.

Although the Empire abolished the old calendar and began to use the Western Gregorian calendar after the constitutional reform, February was still a very special month for the people of the Empire.

Most of the time, the Spring Festival comes in February.

After a few days of delay, the Southern Fleet replied on the first day of February about the war games, proposing to wait until after the Spring Festival.

This time, it was Zhu Shijian who expressed his opposition.

The reason is also very simple: after the Spring Festival, an armistice agreement will be signed with the alliance group, so in any case, the decision must be made before the Spring Festival.

In his reply to Liu Changhe, Zhu Shijian clearly mentioned that if the Southern Fleet could not prepare in time, the results of the first phase of the war games would prevail to ensure that the Navy's development plan report could be submitted to the Cabinet and the Privy Council before the Spring Festival.

At this time, Liu Changhe had no way to object.

On 10 February, the personnel of the Southern Fleet arrived in the imperial capital.

After two preliminary consultations, the home fleet also made concessions, agreeing to only conduct one round of exercises, so that everyone could celebrate the New Year with peace of mind.

In addition, the time for the deduction of the assumption is set to be twenty years later.

It's not a pat on the head decision.

After Liu Chengbin made a big fuss at the Navy Headquarters, Liu Changhe personally came to listen to Zhao Yu's report and had a deeper understanding of the scenario setting.

Zhu Shijian can impeach Liu Chengbin, but he has to persuade Liu Changhe.

According to Zhao Yu's explanation, the settings he made, to be precise, the various weapons and ammunition mentioned in the setting book, can definitely come out in 20 years as fast as 20 years and 30 years as slow.

At that time, Zhu Shijian also used his connections to invite a large number of technical experts and engineers.

Having been the president of the Naval Academy for more than 20 years, Zhu Shijian knows many experts and scholars, and his popularity is very good.

In the words of these experts, no one can stop technological progress, so the Imperial Navy must accept and face the new era that is coming. Only by occupying the commanding heights of technology and leading the trend of military power development can the Imperial Navy win a great victory in the next war.

It is precisely in this way that Liu Changhe was successfully convinced.

After that, it took another three days to get the tactical problem done, and the main thing was to determine the referee criteria for the deduction, so as not to cause extraneous complications during the deduction.

On February 14, the day of Valentine's Day in the West, the second phase of the wargame exercise, codenamed "Nine Days of Thunder", was held at the Imperial Navy Command.

It was only at this time that the Southern Fleet showed its cards.

The Southern Fleet, which plays the role of an imaginary enemy, also chooses a task force based on motherships, but it is different from the Imperial Fleet played by the Home Fleet in terms of specific formation.

Obviously, this was both expected and surprising by the White Stop.

Aviation warfare is a completely new and unfamiliar field, and the time has been chosen 20 years later. Bai Zhizhan and they have Zhao Yu, a technical master, but they have many problems that they have not understood, such as the tactical application of new technology and equipment, and in many aspects, they can only give full play to their imagination.

Could it be that the Southern Fleet also has a master of Zhao Yu's level?

After getting the list of personnel, Bai Zhizhan and they understood.

There is one more person in the list of participants in the Southern Fleet.

Liu Xiangzhen.

For Bai Zhizhan and others, this Captain Liu Xiangzhen is not only not unfamiliar, but also very familiar, because he is also a graduate of the Imperial Naval Academy last year.

It's still the first place in the whole year!

Of course, this first place is more or less watery.

Originally, Liu Xiangzhen and Bai Zhizhan did not intersect, because he studied artillery majors, and the three minors were navigation, communication and marine engineering. A typical all-round talent, he is heading for the throne of Commander-in-Chief of the Imperial Navy thirty years later, and he is like a civilian officer like Bai Zhizhan. It's just that this guy took the aviation reconnaissance major in his last year, and it only took one year to complete the three-year professional course. In the graduation assessment, his professional score ranked second, surpassing everyone except Bai Zhizhan.

His professional results actually surpassed Bai Zhizhan because he passed the flying qualification test before graduating. It's just that it was not counted because the closing time of the professional results has passed. If the credits corresponding to the flight qualification are included, he is the first place in the aviation reconnaissance major.

The key is that this Liu Xiangzhen is completely different from other children of the family.

In addition to hard-working, he has many excellent qualities, such as humility and easy-going, and is very optimistic and positive.

It was just perfect!

To put it mildly, if he looks a little more handsome, he is definitely the prince charming in the minds of thousands of young girls.

In addition, he was one of the first outstanding cadets to leave the Naval Academy last year.

Unlike the White Stop, he went to the Southern Fleet after graduation.

Perhaps, it was not his own will to go to the Southern Fleet, but only a family arrangement.

If the Liu family had trained him as the commander-in-chief of the navy thirty years later, then in the middle of last year, they would never have let him go to the home fleet.

In the Battle of the Watchman Strait, in addition to the six dreadnoughts of the 13th Squadron, all the capital ships of the home fleet participated in the battle, the six battlecruisers of the 21st Squadron were even more sunk and wounded, and the other twelve super dreadnoughts also suffered varying degrees of damage in the battle.

The key is that after a series of setbacks, the local fleet is no longer under the control of the Liu family.

Don't forget, Liu Xiangdong was sent to the Puzhou shipyard as the chief supervisor, and I am afraid that he will not be able to return to the position of captain until the end of the war.

What Bai Zhizhan didn't expect was that this guy turned out to be a captain.

What is he capable of?

Could it be that because of his outstanding performance in the academy and graduating with the first grade, he can be promoted two levels in a row in just a few months?

If this is the case, the Imperial Navy may not be saved.

Of course, this does not prevent Liu Xiangzhen from participating in the war game as a key personnel.

Because it is true that not many people understand aviation warfare, Zhu Shijian proposed that the rules and regulations should be simplified as much as possible to give enough room for the personnel participating in the exercise.

To put it simply, it is to select weapons and ammunition within the specified range, form a fleet, and engage in battles on the desired battlefield until one side is completely annihilated or surrenders. In order to ensure fairness and justice, the rules of dark room warfare were adopted, that is, the outcome of the battle was not known until after the two sides had been engaged.

It's cruel, but it's fair.

Except for the referee who determines the battle damage, there is almost no difference from commanding a fleet in other aspects, and the participant plays the role of the fleet commander.

In addition, Zhu Shijian also found ten tactical instructors from the Naval Academy to form a referee panel with him.

These instructors, all of whom have more than 20 years of teaching experience, have taught students all over the Home Fleet and the Southern Fleet, and there is no need to worry about favoritism.

According to the regulations, both sides can send up to 10 people to participate in the performance, and there is no restriction at the least.

There are only six on Bai Zhizhan's side, and Bai Zhizhan feels that six people are enough.

After meeting with the other party's participants, Bai Zhizhan took five friends to the "Imperial Fleet Headquarters", which was actually a room where all the windows were closed, a few telephones were installed, and a large sand table was placed to simulate the battlefield, as well as some necessary tools.

The "Nine Days of Thunder" deduction officially began.