Chapter 571 Nanyang Strategy (I)

The sun sinks in the west, and the sunset reflects the sea red. In the distance, the sails are in the distance, and the whistle is sound in the distance, this is Singapore.

As the most important colonial stronghold of the British Empire in the Far East, Singapore's position and corresponding strategic position are quite important, it is not only a key point of trade between the East and the West, but also a military fortress, as long as the British Royal Fleet controls here, it will control the strategic situation in Southeast Asia and even the entire Asian region.

In the sunset, a huge gray 'colored' warship slowly sailed into the port of Singapore, following the pilot ship in front of it, step by step, and the naval flag fluttering at the stern of the ship indicated that this ship was not a British warship.

This is the cruiser "Haiqi", the flagship of the Second Fleet of the Chinese Navy, and also the most combat-effective large warship of the Chinese Navy at present, this warship has a standard displacement of 4,300 tons, the main gun is two 'eight-inch Armstrong rapid 'fire' guns, and the secondary gun is 10 'four-.7-inch 'fire' guns, and the whole ship is 129 meters long, 14 meters wide, and has a draft of 5 meters. Twelve coal-fired boilers drive two steam engines, two-shaft propulsion, a total engine power of 17,000 horsepower can ensure a maximum speed of 24 knots, the hull has armor protection, the thickest part of the armor is five inches, this warship can indeed be called a momentary hero, is a typical representative of the famous "Armstrong-type cruiser" at that time.

However, in the early 20th century, when naval technology was advancing by leaps and bounds, this protective cruiser, which was completed at the end of the 19th century, was somewhat behind the development of the times, although at the beginning of the design, the "Haiqi" emphasized the advanced design concept of high speed, large endurance, high seaworthiness, and fierce firepower, but compared with the latest cruisers equipped by various naval powers, the "Haiqi" is indeed somewhat inadequate.

However, under the national defense policy of "land and sea subordination," it is impossible for China's naval fleet to purchase the warships, battleships, and heavy cruisers it wants according to its own wishes; these heavy warships are currently a distant dream and are out of reach; although German and American shipyards have expressed their willingness to build battleships for the Chinese Navy, for the Chinese Navy, which is strapped for funds, this limited fund must be "used in a suitable place."

"Send the limited naval funds to the appropriate place" These were the original words of Zhao Bei, president of the Republic of China, and the president said that the navy could not dictate anything, so the German battleships had no chance with the Chinese navy, and were replaced by several German submarines. As well as the corresponding technology transfer and personnel training, the central government has made up its mind to build its own submarines.

There are serious differences of opinion within the navy regarding the new type of submarine, and some people believe that this kind of underwater assault weapon is a sword that goes off the rails, and if it is used properly, it may not be ineffective, but others believe that this kind of underwater assault weapon is grandstanding and are not optimistic about the tactical and strategic value of submarines.

Huang Zhongying's view of submarines is in between, although he believes that submarines have a certain tactical value, but at the same time, he also believes that if this kind of weapon is used for strategic deterrence, it is inevitably a bit too much, after all, in such a naval era that emphasizes heavy armor, heavy firepower and high speed, submarines are inevitably a little out of the flow, and the combat method of hiding under the sea surface is difficult to give people that breathless feeling, the so-called "strategic deterrence", What is particular about is a visual impact, and it is clearly the former that is more impressive than a sneaky submarine compared to a huge battleship.

As the commander of the Navy's Second Fleet, Huang Zhongying is not optimistic about the strategic value of submarines in this era. However, he understands the distress of the center, the shortage of funds is of course an important reason, the domestic industrial construction does need a large amount of financial support, and the national defense force can only focus on the construction of the army, but on the other hand, the lack of professional personnel is not necessarily not a secondary reason, battleships are not more stringent than cruisers, the requirements for officers at all levels are more stringent, although the navy has worked hard to win some study places, but that is only a drop in the bucket, the center attaches more importance to the training of personnel with light equipment.

There is no way, the country is too weak, Huang Zhongying deeply understands, although in the past two years, the industry has indeed made some progress, but it is not enough to reverse the national situation, which takes time, but also needs the struggle of all the people, especially the soldiers.

"Commander, our ship has entered the port, and the pilot ship has sent a signal to agree that our ship will anchor."

An adjutant walked into the captain's room and reported to Hwang Jong-young.

Huang Zhongying's thoughts were pulled back, and he didn't say anything, now that the warship is under the command of the captain, he, the commander of the fleet, doesn't have to worry about these trivial matters at all.

Putting on a navy top hat, Wong Jong Ying left the captain's cabin with the lieutenant, boarded the bridge, and raised his binoculars to look out at Singapore Harbor.

This time, he led the "Haiqi" to visit Singapore. Huang Zhongying has a special mission.

Not long ago, the joint military confrontation exercise with the German visiting fleet in Qingdao was completed, and after that, under the order of the commander-in-chief, the "Haiqi" added fuel and fresh water to the port of Qingdao, and then turned the rudder and headed south, all the way south along the coast of China, under the guise of "visiting the South Seas", and successively visited Manila in the Philippines, Saigon in Vietnam, and Bangkok in Siam (Thailand), and finally arrived in Singapore. This was the first time that China's fleet in the republican era had toured all parts of the South Seas, and whether it was the five-color flag on the warship or the sailors with shaved heads, they all gave overseas Chinese a refreshing feeling.

Now, the "Haiqi" has finally arrived in Singapore, which is one of the bases of overseas Chinese in the Nanyang region, and will stay here for a few more days. The communiqué of the central government fǔ specifically pointed out that the "Haiqi" will hold a grand banquet here to entertain the local overseas Chinese representatives, so as to express the center's gratitude to these overseas wanderers, the anti-Qing uprising of the ** party members, without the support of these overseas Chinese in Nanyang is unimaginable, and now, domestic industrial construction and industrial investment are inseparable from the support of these more broad-minded Chinese.

Of course, the reason why the "Haiqi" chose this time to "visit the South Seas" is not only to unite overseas Chinese, but also to have a more important task for this warship. A strategic task.

Now, in the bilge and coal tank of the "Haiqi", there are dozens of large wooden boxes, which are full of pistols and rifles, all of which are all 'colored' Japanese munitions, and these munitions are not prepared for sailors, nor are they prepared for ordinary overseas Chinese in Nanyang, and their use is very mysterious, even Huang Zhongying, who carried out this arms transportation mission, did not know, he only knew that the code name of this operation was "Operation Cuttle Douyu No. 2."

The only person who knows the details of the "Operation Cuttle Fish No. 2" is probably the only Director Tian.

When the "Haiqi" was refueling coal and water in Qingdao, Tian Jinfu boarded the cruiser, and it was he who brought these arms boxes disguised as bristle cargo boxes to the warship, and now, the head of the military intelligence bureau's spies is on the "Haiqi".

"Go, please come over to Mr. Tian and ask him to come up to the bridge."

Huang Zhongying gave an order to the adjutant next to him, and now Tian Jinfu's identity is a newspaper reporter, and he is interviewed with the ship, and the person who knows his true identity is actually Huang Zhongying alone, and even the captain doesn't know what Tian Jinfu does.

Not long after, Tian Jinfu followed the adjutant onto the bridge, wearing a short-sleeved shirt, short-sleeved pants, a straw hat, a briefcase on his left shoulder, and a heavy new-style camera on his right shoulder.

"Commander Wong, this is the port of Singapore? When can I go around town? ”

On the bridge, Tian Jinfu didn't say a word, first raised the camera, and gave a close-up shot of the port, this action made Huang Zhongying smile, although it is not clear whether Tian Jinfu is just making a scene, but he also understands. For Tian Jinfu, a native of Anhui, if he wants to go around the city of Singapore, there is no translator of Fujian or Cantonese dialects, after all, among the overseas Chinese in Nanyang, most of them are Fujian and Cantonese, and these two provinces are areas with more dialects.

Considering this, Huang Zhongying instructed his adjutant to find several Fujian and Cantonese sailors for Tian Jinfu, asked them to change into civilian clothes, and followed Tian Jinfu, a "reporter," to Singapore for a walk.

After the warship broke down and shut down, and the British customs officers and naval officers wandered around the deck of the warship, reporter Tian took the dialect interpreters on the 'handover' boat, followed Huang Zhongying to the customs to go through the relevant procedures, and then, in the name of interviewing overseas Chinese, Huang Youyou left the port with the interpreter and rushed to the city of Singapore.

Now Singapore is an important stronghold of Britain in the Far East, there are quite a few British-style buildings, but after all, it is an important base for overseas Chinese in Nanyang, and Chinese-style buildings can be seen everywhere.

Tian Jinfu and the interpreters walked around the city, and after confirming that they were not being followed, they inquired all the way, and finally 'touched' the place and stopped in front of a Chinese "medicine" shop.

Looking up, the signboard read "New Fuzhou National 'Medicine' Shop" in six golden characters.

Tian Jinfu walked into the Chinese medicine shop, and the guy immediately stepped forward to say hello.

"Excuse me, is your shopkeeper here? You go and tell him that I am a journalist from China, a friend of Mr. Huang Naishang, and he introduced me. Tian Jinfu handed over the business card.

The guy didn't dare to slack off, and hurriedly went to find the shopkeeper, and after a while, the shopkeeper came over and looked at Tian Jinfu a few times.

"Mr. is a friend of Uncle Huang?" The shopkeeper asked.

"This is Mr. Huang's handwritten letter, and the shopkeeper will know it after reading it." Tian Jinfu took out a letter and 'handed it over' to the shopkeeper.

The shopkeeper opened the letter, looked at it carefully, then put it away and pointed inside.

"It turned out to be Mr. Tian, the contemptible Huang Qiuyuan, the nephew of Mr. Huang Naishang, the Fujian Minqing clan. It's not convenient to talk here, let's talk in the house. ”

followed the shopkeeper into the inner room, Tian Jinfu ordered one person to watch the 'door', and then open the 'door' to see the mountain.

"Mr. Huang, you have read the letter just now, I don't know what you mean?"

"Since it is a matter of the 'handover' of the clan uncle, I have no objection as a junior. I just don't know, how many people go to New Fuzhou this time? ”

"Not much, more than 500 people, most of them are from Shandong and Hebei, and a few are North Koreans." Tian Jinfu said.

"North Koreans? Is it Korean? Huang Qiuyuan frowned.

"It's the Koreans. Mr. Huang seems to have something unspeakable? Tian Jinfu was keenly aware of the other party's worries.

"To tell you the truth, some time ago, a large number of Koreans transferred from the north to Nanyang, originally said that they would work in rubber plantations, but these people are idle all day long, far less diligent than the Chinese, many rubber plantation owners have regretted it, and now the Chinese are also somewhat prejudiced against the Koreans, and now you want to 'get' the Koreans to Xinfuzhou, I am afraid that these Koreans will not learn well and cause public anger."