In China in 1919, the political situation changed, and at this time, a person also returned to China:

Chen Shaokuan!

In 1916, Chen Shaokuan was sent to the United States to investigate the navy, part-time submarines, and then to learn naval aircraft, and at the end of that year, he was sent to Western European countries to visit the war; In May 1917, while he was on an expedition, he joined the British Navy to fight in the war; In 1918, he went to France and Italy to investigate the navy, and in the autumn of the same year, he served as the naval attache of the embassy in Britain. In 1919, he served as the naval attaché of the Yanjing political axe in Britain and the superintendent of naval students in Europe, and served as a member of the Chinese delegation to the Paris Peace Conference and a representative of the Chinese navy at the International Seaway Conference.

Over the past four years or so, Chen Shaokuan inspected the United States, China, Britain, France, Italy, and other countries, and wrote a large number of inspection reports: "British Naval Operational Plan," "Report on Visits to Various Places," "Aviation Report," "British Aviation Combat Readiness," "Submarine Report," and "Report of the Military Attache of the British Navy"

In addition to analyzing the fact that Britain and the United States had expanded their navies even more before the end of the war, he pointed out that the Chinese navy had fallen far behind, and hoped that the new navy chief would vigorously build the Chinese navy. In May 1916, the decisive battle of the main fleets of the British and German navies broke out, and in his article "The Battle of the North Sea", he made a detailed and unique analysis of the military strength and the gains and losses of the two world's most powerful navies from the perspective of strategy and tactics, demonstrating his military talent in naval warfare.

In addition, during Chen Shaokuan's tenure as naval attache in Britain, he also had a lengthy "Wartime Lockdown", which was reported to China in the form of a record of the war every half month.

In May 1917, he cooperated with the British Navy to participate in the famous Battle of Grolin in World War I, and participated in the battle against the German Navy in the British Battlefleet and submarine forces. After the war, he was awarded the "Special Meritorious Service Medal" by the British political axe.

In the past four years, Chen Shaokuan has traveled all over Europe and the United States, and has a full understanding of the construction level and development trend of the world's naval powers. He is even more aware of China's defenseless situation at sea.

After he was transferred back to China, Chen Shaokuan did not know much about the situation in China, and as soon as he returned to China, he went directly to Yanjing to report.

At this time, the Yanjing political axe was served by Sa Zhenbing as the chief of the navy. After Chen Shaokuan was called to leave office and return to China, the first thing he did was to visit Sa Zhenbing.

"When I come back this time, whether I want to stay in the ministry or go to the fleet, please tell the commander-in-chief." Chen Shaokuan asked.

Sa Zhenbing raised his eyes to look at Chen Shaokuan, groaned slightly, held the tea cup in his hand, and said slowly:

"Asking you to return to China this time, although the term of office has expired, it is also because you think that it is not beneficial for you to work abroad for a long time. What is there to learn from living away from the sea and land all year round, eating Western food, and learning foreign etiquette? It's better to go to the ship and make some achievements in difficult things, so that you can gain some experience. ”

After pondering for a moment, he continued: "With the length of China's coastline, it is impossible not to have a strong navy. If you want to do something for the country in the future, you have to bring ships. ”

Sa Zhenbing said categorically: "Let's go to the 'Tongji' ship." Take a small ship now, and you can bring a big ship in the future. If they all work in the ministry, they are not productive. ”

As a result, after returning to China, Chen Shaokuan took up the post of captain of the "Tongji" training ship.

The Beiyang Army is the core military and political axe, and they attach even less importance to the navy than the Qing political axe. During his four years abroad, Chen Shaokuan witnessed the rapid development of the world's navy, and felt that the distance between the Chinese navy and the world's navy has become wider and greater in the years of warlord warfare, and this branch of the military has been neglected for a long time. Since the main force of the Beiyang Navy arrived in the south, the Beiyang political axe has not even added a single warship; Normal sea drills have also ceased; The navy has been slow from time to time, and the officers and men are only paid food allowances every month to support themselves

However, this did not affect Chen Shaokuan's enthusiasm for becoming a naval power, and the first thing he thought of as soon as he took office was to restore normal training at sea.

At that time, the "Tongji" ship was stationed under the city of Nanjing.

For thousands of years, the gold-powdered towers, painted boats and drums of the ancient city of Jinling have washed away many ambitions and buried many talented people. It's not good to bring soldiers in this kind of place, let the sea wash the soul of the army!

Chen Shaokuan is usually diligent in practice and good at summing up experience, so his navigation skills are constantly improving.

When he was the captain of the "Tongji" ship, he led the trainees to practice, and encountered a fierce northeast wind on the way, and the ship sailed into the harbor to take shelter, and the wind in the harbor was slightly bad in the middle of the night.

Chen Shaokuan was a little panicked on the bridge, and hurriedly shouted to the sailors around him: "Please teach Lin to come!" ”

Lin Jiaoxi, who is more than 70 years old, is a warrant officer officer who was born as an old helmsman, and when he heard the call, he grabbed the bridge and saw that the wind was too bad, so he shouted: "Turn the rudder quickly and return home!" ”

Chen Shaokuan's voice asked: "How to turn the rudder?" ”

Lin Jiaoxi replied while commanding: "Turn against the wind!" ”

Chen Shaokuan then turned the rudder against the wind according to Lin's advice and returned to Hong Kong safely. During the battle against the vicious waves, the ship's wardrobe on the port side was thrown to starboard, and the coal pile in the furnace compartment also toppled to the right, injuring two people and posing a dangerous situation. Chen Shaokuan was not afraid, and comforted everyone with a smile: "Everyone suffered a false alarm, but they gained an experience. ”

After experiencing this dangerous situation, Chen Shaokuan seemed to be energetic, and in order to train the trainees, he sailed north under the eighth-level northeast wind. To the vicinity of the Niushan Lighthouse, the wind strengthened to level nine, and fought there for 24 hours, without seeing a single advance, but the wind became more and more intense, and it was far away from the coast for more than ten nautical miles.

On this voyage, after three days and three nights, Chen Shaokuan did not leave the bridge for a moment, and after arriving at the port and breaking down, he fell asleep as soon as he returned to the room

Chen Shaokuan led the officers and men of the whole ship to brave the strong winds and the vicious waves, and never left the bridge during the training, starting from the small ship in such a down-to-earth and step-by-step manner, and worked tirelessly. While leading the officers and men in training, he also taught by word and deed, lost no time in publicizing to the officers and men of the navy the relationship between maritime sovereignty and China's destiny, and loudly called for strengthening China's naval strength and regaining sea power.

He often told the officers and men about the importance of building the navy: "The strength of a country is entirely proportional to the right to territorial waters, and the integrity of territorial waters depends entirely on the navy." In the 15th century, the so-called hegemonic policy was maritime competition. If sea power can be expanded, then industry and commerce can develop. Only by asserting sea power can foreign trade have the hope of development, so the navy is not only related to national defense, but also related to resisting the oppression of foreign economic power. The prosperity of the country and the strength of the people cannot be achieved without the backing of the navy. ”

He also talked about the old incident of the First Sino-Japanese Naval Battle: "In the First Sino-Japanese Naval Battle, our ship formation could not give full play to its own firepower, and it was also subjected to enemy artillery fire, so that the fleet's strength was not concentrated, the artillery rate was low, and the firing range was too close. In short, losing the formation is a big reason for not being able to win. ”

Regarding the current adversity of the Chinese Navy, he said impulsively: "Our navy has a history of 50 or 60 years, but now no one advocates the development of the navy, and the people ignore our navy very much. Now, our navy is like a grass hut built on a high mountain, and it is very dangerous to encounter strong winds. We must all work together. He said that he was now in Manchuria, and that the situation in China was the same as it was before the First Sino-Japanese War, and that if the navy did not pick up its strength, it would have to repeat the mistakes of the past. Don't say anything to others in advance, we must do things to revitalize the navy and do things to enrich the country and benefit the people. ”

Regarding the use of warships by some people to engage in the opium business, he admonished: "Keep your eyes clear which is the right way and which is the evil way." The Navy is in a difficult situation, but we are on the right path, and we must continue to walk firmly. Those who are ambitious have to look forward to Shu, and their greed is endless, so they will naturally not die well. ”

"The navy should be loyal to the country, and the navy soldiers should be loyal to the navy." This is Chen Shaokuan's usual proposition since he dedicated himself to the navy. He is never swayed by circumstances and is inspired to do so. Now, he has also supervised his subordinates to follow this right path.

At this time, Fujian, although it was still in the hands of the Beiyang political axe, but with the beginning of the Northern Expedition, the situation in Fujian was already precarious for the Beiyang political axe.

In such a bad situation, Chen Shaokuan led his ships and was ordered to "reinforce" Fujian.

Such reinforcements are pointless. A small ship, surrounded by the Southern Political Axe Protector Fleet, will sink in less than a turn.

But Chen Shaokuan did not argue on the one hand, but set sail silently with his ship, in his opinion, maybe this time he will never come back!

During the First World War, Chen Shaokuan was awarded the "Special Meritorious Service Medal" by the British political axe, and also received a large amount of bonuses. Shaokuan is a very filial son, when he returned to China, he exchanged the British political axe award to him for silver dollars, this time back to Fujian, Chen Shaokuan went to his hometown, and handed over the prize money to his father Zhaoxiong.

Chen Shaokuan let out a long sigh as he faced the ancestral house full of termites, leaking roofs, and serious damage.

I am really ashamed of my father, but there is no way, who makes himself an admiral? I will never do these things to eat empty salaries and reap benefits.

Just as Chen Shaokuan was full of melancholy and was about to leave, two people suddenly appeared in front of him: "Is it Mr. Chen Shaokuan?" ”

"It's me, you are?" Chen Shaokuan asked suspiciously.

The two people looked very polite: "We are the special envoy sent by the President of the National People's Political Axe, and the President wants to invite Mr. Chen to talk!" ”

Chen Shaokuan was taken aback, the president of the Guangzhou National Political Axe, actually found here!

(To be continued)