On the Beijing-Tianjin National Highway, the tail of the detachment and the tail of the convoy are connected, speeding towards the north and sharp, and there is a big man sitting in the car of Yemen, who is the chief of the navy, Tang Xiangming.

Sitting in the same car as Tang Xiangming was another commodore of the Navy, but it was Liu Guanxiong, deputy director of the Admiralty's Department of Naval Administration, and at this moment, the two were sitting in the back of the German-made sedan and were talking.

Tang Xiangming and Liu Guanxiong came from Dagu Port in Tianjin; the day before yesterday, they went to Lushun and Dalian together to inspect them; as soon as they returned to Tianjin from Port Arthur this morning, they immediately transferred a few cars and led their entourage out of Tianjin and headed straight for Beijing.

The reason why I am in such a hurry to return to Beijing is mainly because of the tense situation in Sumatra.

As a result of the Dutch warship's brazen shelling of a civilian steamer carrying overseas Chinese, the Chinese Navy's Nanyang Detachment has actually been put on alert. The situation was quite tense when he was confronting the Dutch naval detachment swimming there under the command of Fleet Commander Rupin in the Belli Ocean on the island of Gbangka. A naval battle could break out at any moment.

Although theoretically speaking, the matter of coordinated operations can be taken over by the Operations Department of the Admiralty, and it is not necessarily necessary for the Admiralty Chief to sit in the Admiralty, but Tang Xiangming believes that if he cannot meddle in this matter, his authority may be weakened, and it is precisely for this reason that after receiving the news from the Admiralty, Tang Xiangming immediately decided to leave Lushun, return to Tianjin, and then rush back to Beijing.

At present, there is no news about the armed confrontation between the Chinese and Dutch fleets in the waters of the Beli Ocean in Sumatra. This also reflects the sensitivity of this matter from another side, and both the Chinese side and the Dutch side seem to be carefully handling this conflict, which seems to be a sudden incident.

However, Tang Xiangming knew that the "Java incident" was not a sudden incident at all, and that the Dutch East India colonial authorities were prepared for this conflict, and the Chinese fleet was by no means completely unprepared; in fact, before the Nanyang detachment "went south for training," it deliberately transferred a batch of new weapons from the naval warehouse, as well as sufficient ammunition, which can also be seen that the central government had no last resort in this Nanyang operation.

The question, however, is why has the central government been slow to disclose anything about the "Java incident" to the press? Why didn't public opinion be created?

Now, sitting in the car, Tang Xiangming and Liu Guanxiong are discussing the matter, and both of them are speculating about the center's intentions.

"In my opinion, the reason why the center is still silent seems to be that it intends to wait and see before deciding whether to use force to solve the problem, after all, the position of the British government is very important, it seems. The center wants Lu Ping to fight a naval battle with absolute certainty. ”

Liu Guanxiong analyzed, which made Tang Xiangming a little confused.

"Now on the Sumatra side, the strength of our fleet is significantly stronger than that of the Dutch fleet, what does it mean to be absolutely sure.? Lu Ping was born in the Beiyang Naval Academy, and he also carefully studied the British naval strategy, and he also had a set of theories for commanding naval warfare. In any case, it is better to knock out a few Dutch cruisers now than to face a siege by a group of Dutch warships. As for the position of the British government. Now, I am afraid that we are still worried that Russia will withdraw from the war against Germany

Tang Xiangming is indeed a little confused, and now he still has a part of his mind on the docks in Lushun and Dalian, so naturally he has some bad ideas.

Liu Guanxiong said: "Chief Mingjian. Lu Ping has followed the president all the way from Wuhan to the present, and the president trusts this person very much, and deliberately cultivates him, with the purpose of calling him to take on great responsibilities in the future. The reason why he was assigned to the Admiralty as an operations chief in the first place was also for this purpose. The chief can think about it carefully; If such a rising star of the Navy loses the first head-to-head naval battle, how can the president put this person in an important position? I can't convince the public. ”

Hearing this, Tang Xiangming suddenly understood, although Liu Guanxiong did not completely pick out the words, but the meaning was already very clear, he was saying that in the president's mind, this Lu Ping will be the pillar of the Admiralty in the future, and if it is not good, the future chief of the Navy will be Lu Ping's.

Lu Ping became the chief of the navy, what should Tang Xiangming do? Do you want to be a senior advisor of the Admiralty?

Is it?

This stabbed Tang Xiangming's sore spot, he, like Lu Ping, was also a rebel general in the navy back then, but compared to Lu Ping, who was middle-aged. Tang Xiangming is still too "tender" now, and he is only in his early thirties, although he has been sitting in the position of chief of the navy for several years, but in the eyes of the old generals of the Admiralty. The reason why he was able to become the commander-in-chief of the navy. It's all because of his brother Tang Hualong. Tang Hualong is a member of the Political Committee. And he is also a close confidant of President Zhao Da, and it is precisely by relying on this relationship that he Tang Xiangming can borrow the position of chief minister.

In other words, Tang Xiangming, as the chief of the navy, was not convinced, he never commanded any regular naval battle, whether it was in the anti-Qing revolution of that year, or in the war against Japan two years ago, his Xiangming was just sitting in the luxurious office of the Admiralty and pointing to the map. On tactical accomplishment. He is not as good as the submarine commanders of the Young Zhuang faction...

Under such a background, Tang Xiangming can convince the public.

It is precisely because of this that Tang Xiangming is now doing everything possible to find opportunities to serve the public, and there is no battle to fight. So, he hit the idea of naval funding, didn't the generals of the Admiralty complain that compared to the Air Force, the Navy is raised by the mother? So. Tang Xiangming started with this naval fund to cultivate prestige, and the means was to keep crying poverty to the center, asking for funds, warships, and officers. To equipment, to practice the base, in short. All the things that can nourish the growth of the Navy Tang Xiangming want, although not all of them may be satisfied, but at least, some more funds will be needed. The higher his prestige in the Admiralty.

Since the center is unwilling to simply increase naval expenses. Then Tang Xiangming started with warships, and the admirals wanted to equip the Chinese Navy with battleships. And the center refused to buy it, so Tang Xiangming naturally set his sights on the Japanese battleships that sank in Port Arthur in the last war against Japan. He hoped to be able to salvage those Japanese battleships. Carry out repairs, and then remodel, equipping the surface fleet of the Chinese Navy. Tang Xiangming began planning this matter after the end of the war with Japan, convened the staff officers and the technical backbone of the shipyard, formulated a special plan, accurate to every detail, and solemnly presented this plan to the president.

Fortunately for Tang Xiangming, Mr. President happily approved this salvage plan, and as a result, the Admiralty began to implement this salvage plan two years ago, and after a lot of efforts. With the assistance of Chinese and foreign salvage teams, the navy salvaged all the sunken Japanese warships that had sunk in the moorings inside and outside Port Arthur, and selected six large warships with relatively intact hulls and dragged them into the docks in Arthur and Dalian. Ready for repair, of which, two were Japanese battleships.

However, repairing warships is not an easy task, technical strength is one thing, but funding is another, and it is not enough to have funds without technical strength. Technology alone and no money will not work. And Tang Xiangming's plan to repair the enemy's warships for his own use encountered financial interference.

Originally, when the center approved the ship salvage plan, it also approved the corresponding funds for the repair of warships, but who knew that later it changed its mind and embezzled the navy's ship repair funds and handed them over to the air force to develop new bombers and fighters, as well as wireless cylinder tile equipment.

Compared with the Air Force, this navy is really raised by the mother, the admirals are helpless, Tang Xiangming is even more worried, on the one hand, the strength of the navy can not be increased quickly, on the other hand, his position as the chief is dangerous, and he may be replaced by others at any time, either Lu Ping or Cheng Biguang, compared to the two admirals who have made great achievements, in the eyes of many admirals, he Tang is a "gentleman" who has been promoted by relatives

In order to maintain the prestige of living in the Admiralty. Tang Xiangming was not stunned or exhausted, and tried to repair the six shipwrecks that endured the wind and rain in the dockyard with his own funds, while continuing to cry to the center. On the other hand, we tried our best to reduce the unimportant items of funds in the navy, gritted our teeth, and stubbornly saved up the funds for the repair of the two battleships, and immediately organized technical forces to repair the warships and replace weapons and equipment, and strive to enable the Chinese navy to have its own battleships as soon as possible.

The day before yesterday, Tang Xiangming took Liu Guanxiong to inspect Lushun and Dalian, just to see the two battleships that were nearing completion; according to those American shipbuilding experts, in a maximum of more than 10 days, the two battleships will be able to hold a launching ceremony, and at that time, the Chinese Navy will have battleships available, and Tang Xiangming's prestige in the Admiralty will also be further enhanced, and the position of chief of the navy can be more stable.

But Tang Xiangming's hat as the chief of the navy has not withstood the test of war after all, yes. In the last war against Japan, the Chinese Navy performed well, but that was all the credit of the front-line commanders, and it had nothing to do with Tang Xiangming, because during the war, the naval combat units were directly under the command of the General Staff, and the Admiralty only played the role of a liaison department, and Tang Xiangming was the liaison officer of this liaison department, and his name rarely even appeared in the newspapers, on the contrary. The frequent appearances of those submarine forces and the commanders of the raiding fleet in the newspapers were obviously not conducive to Tang Xiangming's cultivation of prestige.

Now, seeing the confrontation between the Chinese and Dutch navies on the Sumatra side, Tang Xiangming is still not able to use it, he knows very well that no matter how the situation in the South Seas unfolds, it is directly related to him, if the Chinese Navy and the Dutch Navy break out in a naval battle, it is better to say, if he loses the battle, then he Tang Xiangming is a ready-made scapegoat. Therefore, Tang Xiangming really has to think about this matter.

"Let's not go to the Presidential Palace, or the Admiralty, let's go to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs first, and let's talk to Tang Shaochuan about the current situation in Nanyang

Tang Xiangming finally made up his mind, so he ordered the driver to speed up the car, and ten hours later entered Beijing, and then went straight to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.