Although China's navy in the late Qing Dynasty experienced numerous twists and turns in the course of development and construction, it also laid a good foundation for the modern Chinese navy. Pen & Fun & Pavilion www.biquge.info

After the defeat of the First Sino-Japanese War, the essence of the Chinese Navy was lost, all the former Beiyang officers and soldiers were dismissed, and the Prime Minister's Navy Yamen and the Inner and Outer Naval Academies were all discontinued. Overnight, China returned to the embarrassing situation of having no sea and no defense. The First Sino-Japanese Naval Battle was not only a pain in the navy, but also a scar in the heart of every patriot that is difficult to heal.

After that, it was not until 1896 that the Qing court ordered the rebuilding of the Beiyang Fleet, and was ready to hire the former Beiyang Naval Division Chief Cha Lang Weili to return to China as a coach, until 1899, the rebuilt Beiyang Fleet began to take shape, in April of the same year, the Qing court appointed Ye Zugui as the commander of the Beiyang Naval Division, and Sa Zhenbing as the assistant commander. In 1900, when the Eight-Nation Coalition invaded China, several warships of the Beiyang Fleet were plundered, and naval construction once again experienced twists and turns.

In 1905, the Qing government, at the suggestion of Zhou Fu, the minister of Nanyang, ordered the unification of the Nanyang Navy, with Ye Zugui as the admiral, and Ye died in the army in the same year, and was succeeded by Sa Zhenbing. In 1908, Emperor Puyi ascended the throne, and the following year appointed Zai Sui and Sa Zhenbing as the Minister of Preparation, and the five fleets of the country were unified and reorganized, divided into two fleets, the cruiser and the Yangtze River, with Cheng Biguang as the commander of the cruiser fleet, Shen Shoukun as the commander of the Yangtze River fleet, and Sa Zhenbing as the commander-in-chief of the navy.

As for the current situation of the domestic navy, Qu Tongfeng also has a general understanding. Although he slapped his chest loudly in Xiao Mubai's office, as a newly established navy, the difficulty of starting from scratch can be imagined. At present, there is no one in the navy except for him, the commander of the light pole.

However, although he knew that this process was destined to be difficult, Qu Tongfeng was still full of energy. For the trust that Xiao Mubai gave him, and he did not mean that he was born in Beiyang, Qu Tongfeng was grateful in his heart.

Early in the morning, Qu Tongfeng went to his office in the General Staff Headquarters to start working. Walking in the green crowd of the General Staff, wearing a navy tie, a white shirt, and navy blue suit pants, Qu Tongfeng felt like he stood out from the crowd. Although surprised, the good professional quality still prompted the officers to salute the sudden arrival of the rear admiral. Apparently, the news of the newly formed naval department, they have already heard.

All the way to the office, Qu Tongfeng began to read the information he brought back from Xiao Mubai seriously. It has been more than ten years since I left the Navy, not to mention that I have almost forgotten what I learned back then, but to say that I can remember it, it is already an old antique more than ten years ago, and it is really impossible to say whether it can be used or not, compared with the development of the Army, the changes in the Navy are changing with each passing day.

After reading the pile of information on the table, Qu Tongfeng realized how important it was for him to return to his old business for these materials. These materials taken out by Xiao Mubai not only include the development status and technology of the navies of various powers, but also enrich the information of most of the naval ships and the operational tactics of the relevant navies. As a newly appointed admiral, although he is currently in a state of poverty and whiteness, it is better to understand what he should know as soon as possible, so as not to make a foreign appearance in front of his subordinates in the future.

Qu Tongfeng, who had devoted all his attention to the development of the navy, was suddenly interrupted by a knock on the door. It was the same soldier wearing a rear admiral's uniform who came in, and just when Qu Tongfeng was puzzled, this soldier spoke.

"Comrade Deputy Chief of Staff, Ma Xiang was ordered to report to you."

Hearing Ma Xiang's self-introduction, Qu Tongfeng suddenly realized. Regarding Ma Xiang's coming to serve as the political commissar of the navy, Xiao Mubai greeted him. It's just that Ma Xiang served as a political commissar in the Second Division in Guizhou before, and he didn't expect him to come so quickly.

"Welcome, Comrade Ma Xiang, I didn't expect you to come so soon." Qu Tongfeng stood up and walked to Ma Xiang's side and greeted him warmly.

"I came with Yang Xincheng, the new commander of the Eighth Division, and it was only after I arrived at the headquarters that I suddenly received such an appointment." Ma Xiang said with a wry smile. Originally, after the newly formed Eighth Division, because of its lack of equipment, he took the opportunity to be familiar with the ground, and volunteered to accompany Yang Xincheng to Kunming to receive equipment and materials.

"Haha, this is called early rather than lucky." Listening to Ma Xiang's bitter remarks, Qu Tongfeng said with a rare smile.

"But it's okay, the rank has been promoted by one level, and I have finally stepped into the ranks of generals." Speaking of this, Ma Xiang was excited again.

"Well, that's right, the general of our revolutionary army is not so easy to be. But now, it's okay, our navy is finally no longer a bare-bones commander like me. Compared with the strict officer promotion system of the Communist Progressive Party, other revolutionary forces in the country are different.

"Commander, you are joking, although there are only two of us in the navy at present, I believe that the difficulties are only temporary, and our navy will always develop and grow one day."

"Well, you're right, the difficulties are only temporary." Qu Tongfeng agrees with Ma Xiang's words, and he can be said to be full of energy at this moment.

"By the way, Commander, when I go to see Chief of General Staff Xiao again, he asked me to hand over these materials to you." As he spoke, Ma Xiang handed the document bag in his hand to Qu Tongfeng.

After taking the document bag, Qu Tongfeng glanced up, and saw two big red words "top secret" printed on it, so he knew that this information was not ordinary. After beckoning Ma Xiang to do a good job, he couldn't wait to open it and take a look.

When he finished reading the information for half an hour, Qu Tongfeng was irrepressible joy and shock in his heart. I am glad that I am not the commander of the light pole after all, and I am shocked by the hidden power of the Communist Party. In ecstasy, I saw Ma Xiang who had been waiting next to him for a long time.

"I'm sorry, commissar, I'm glad for a while, but I neglected you."

"Commander, you are too polite, now we are all a family, if you can make you happy, it must be a great joy for our navy." Ma Xiang didn't care.

"Yes, yes, it's a happy event, and soon, the two of us will no longer be the commanders of the light pole. You can also take a look at these materials. Qu Tongfeng smiled and handed the information to Ma Xiang next to him, as the political commissar of the navy, Qu Tongfeng did not leak secrets.

Looking at the information, Ma Xiang finally knew why Qu Tongfeng was overjoyed. It turned out that this document recorded the naval forces that the Communist Party had secretly developed and mastered over the years, including several submarines named Xia-class that were secretly built in the shipyards of the Huamei Group in the United States, and were based on the U-boats of the original German World War I period, with a displacement of 622 tons, diesel generators, and four 450-mm torpedo tubes, and five of them would be shipped back in two months. There is also a list of some secret members of the Communist Party in the Manchu Navy, including Tang Qianming, chief of staff of the Navy Commander Sa Zhenbing, and Huang Zhongying, the commander of the "Haichou" ship. Finally, there is information about the Fangcheng Military Port, which is under construction.

After reading this, Ma Xiang was also overjoyed, after all, as a general, it is the most practical to have soldiers and generals under him.

"Commander, this is really a send-off!"

"What the commissar said is, in particular, that submarine, arguably the most advantageous equipment for a weak navy of ours at the moment." Obviously, Qu Tongfeng has a deep memory of the kind of submarine killer submarine mentioned in the information.

Ma Xiang has just taken office, he is an officer transferred from the army, coupled with China's weakness, he does not know anything about the development of the world's navy, so he is not very clear about the role of submarines in naval warfare, and Qu Tongfeng is different, he has carefully read the relevant materials, and the "wolf pack tactics" of submarines mentioned in it can be said to be fresh in his memory.

"By the way, Commander, I think that the Fangcheng Military Port will be officially completed in two months, and the submarines transported from the United States will also arrive in China later, so we should go to Fangcheng now to make some preparations."

Qu Tongfeng nodded in agreement, he also agreed with Ma Xiang's suggestion. He had already made up his mind to send his headquarters to the city to defend the city and recruit troops to build a navy.