The captain of the heavy cruiser "Genhe" was Lieutenant Colonel Jiang Hailong, who was originally a destroyer captain in the Fourth Task Force, but on the day Yan Yulong was transferred to the post of chief of staff of the Fourth Task Force, he was transferred to this cruiser and served as the captain of the cruiser.

In terms of the speed of his rank promotion and the way he was promoted, Jiang Hailong was more like a traditional Imperial Navy officer, rather than an officer like the "nouveau riche" aviation unit and the staff officer of the fleet headquarters. Because Jiang Hailong was 32 years old when he became the captain of the destroyer, and he only became the captain of the cruiser when he just passed his 34th birthday, this promotion speed was like a turtle crawling compared to many other officers in the Fourth Task Force at that time. And this also proves that the Fourth Task Force is still the Imperial Navy fleet, and Huang Xiaotian, the fleet commander from the air force, has not been able to completely change the rules in the navy.

Jiang Hailong is an alumnus of Tan Renhao, 5 levels higher than Tan Renhao, and is the 188th graduating student. This is a very orthodox background, it can be said that most of the captains in the Imperial Navy at that time were alumni of Tan Renhao and Jiang Hailong, and the title of the Imperial Navy Officers Academy as the "cradle of generals" of the Imperial Navy is not something that can be worn casually. １６Ｋ…

When he was in school, Jiang Hailong studied the most promising navigation major, and the students who graduated from the two majors of navigation and gunnery were the most likely to be promoted, and the marine engineering major that appeared before and after World War I was also a new popular major. After leaving the school, Jiang Hailong was fortunate to enter the first fleet at that time, which was the "golden fleet" that every student wanted to get into after squeezing his head, and it was the foundation for his future career. But the fact is far from this, just like the current First Task Force, because there are too many talented people, on the contrary, many officers have no opportunity to be reused, and there is no room for development. Yuwen Cui Lei can be regarded as a typical example. Jiang Hailong's encounter in the First Fleet was somewhat similar to that of Yuwen Cui Lei. But they can't be compared with each other, because Jiang Hailong didn't meet competitors with excellent abilities, but those wealthy children of the Imperial Navy, a group of bastards with prominent backgrounds but no learning skills.

This situation is completely understandable, before the outbreak of the war, everyone knew that the First Fleet was the "imperial fleet" of the empire, the most powerful fleet in the world. And the Imperial Navy has a history of hundreds of years. There are dozens of large and small families, although most of the wealthy families have declined, but in peacetime, if you want to have a good future in the Imperial Navy, origin, relationships, and sometimes even surnames will become important factors. Jiang Hailong was only a commoner, his father was an ordinary surgeon, and his mother worked as a primary school teacher for several years before becoming a housewife. And among the generations of the Jiang family. The only one who can be ranked is Jiang Hailongdi, a distant cousin, who used to be a captain in the navy. And it was only when he retired from the military that he became a captain officer. From this point of view, Jiang Hailong's background is the same as Tan Renhao, just a flat-headed commoner.

Mixed in the First Fleet for five years. Jiang Hailong became the first mate of the destroyer. He worked his way up in the position of chief navigator, then returned to the military academy, where he studied two specialized courses in marine engineering and gunnery, and then returned to the fleet, where he worked for a year in the position of second officer before becoming first officer. Obviously, Jiang Hailong was just an extremely ordinary member of the thousands of officers of the same kind in the Imperial Navy, and he was probably the most inconspicuous member.

Half a year before the outbreak of the war, he was given a new promotion, if he could overcome two other rivals. He was able to become a glorious Imperial Navy destroyer captain and be promoted to captain, which was the highest-ranking naval officer in the Jiang family for dozens of generations, equaling the "record" that his distant cousin had set in a lifetime. But the problem is that two of his competitors have a certain background, and one of them has just graduated from the military academy for less than two years, and just because he has a family background, he skipped the second mate and interned on the battleship for a year. became the first mate, and then stared at the captain's position.

The result of the competition can be imagined, when Jiang Hailong received the notice from the courteous officer, he saw everything through, and the First Fleet also saw through it. To put it bluntly, he didn't have any chance to become a captain, he just put on a show and told others that the Imperial Navy hires talents according to ability, and there is fierce competition within the navy, but he can never become the winner of the competition!

The next day, Jiang Hailong submitted an application for transfer, and his superiors signed his application for transfer after saying a hypocritical remark. Soon, Jiang Hailong knew that his decision was stupid. After he left the First Fleet, he went to the Second Fleet, the Third Fleet, the Fourth Fleet, and even the Independent Fleet at that time, but the result was rejected by others, for the simple reason that those who left the First Fleet were definitely not much better, and the other fleets were not garbage dumps. It can be said that in the next two months, Jiang Hailong is almost about to lose his faith and is about to be forced to a dead end. It was also at this time that he overheard that the Fifth Fleet, which had just been established, was recruiting, and the commander of the Fifth Fleet, General Liao Hanxiang, was not a traditional admiral.

The flame of hope was lit again, Jiang Hailong packed his simple luggage, got on the ferry to Ryukyu Island, and after two sleepless nights in the fourth class, Jiang Hailong boarded the dock of Naha Port, and then took a free Navy bus to the headquarters of the Fifth Fleet. After a night's stay in the guest house, early the next morning, when the officers of the headquarters were on duty, he sent his resume, this time without adding the not-so-good letter of introduction from his superior, which he felt was of little use.

Because the Imperial Navy has always encouraged internal competition and encouraged officers to choose their careers freely, so as to give full play to the subjective initiative of officers, Jiang Hailong went to the Fifth Fleet to "apply" as if he was applying for a job in the workplace. After submitting his resume, he stayed at the guest house of the Fifth Fleet and waited for an answer from the Fifth Fleet. And it was during this time that he met Tan Renhao, Chang Jianxin, Hao Dongjue and others for the first time. Later, I also met Huang Xiaotian, who had just been "baked", at that time, Jiang Hailong would not have thought that these officers who were several years younger than him were his future commanders, otherwise, Jiang Hailong would definitely be close to Tan Renhao, anyway, while waiting for a reply, he had nothing else to do.

This wait was half a month, and it almost made Jiang Hailong desperate. He went almost every day to ask for results. And every time he got a reply, Liao Hanxiang went out on business, and Wu Xianyu did not reply in Naha. As a result, the civilian soldiers in the personnel department of the Fifth Fleet became a little impatient. Fortunately, Liao Hanxiang rushed back quickly, otherwise Jiang Hailong would definitely have to find a way to make living expenses, and the money he brought would be spent!

The day after Liao Hanxiang returned, Jiang Hailong received a letter of appointment signed by Liao Hanxiang himself, and he was hired by the Fifth Fleet. Although he still went to a destroyer to be the first mate, Jiang Hailong saw hope. Moreover, at that time, Liao Hanxiang also promised the newly recruited officers that as long as they did their best, when the Fifth Fleet was expanded. Priority will be given to appointing them as new captains. It's kind of like a blank check. It did turn out to be a blank check, but it was much better than not even getting a blank check in the First Fleet!

In Jiang Hailong's view, this training made him miss the opportunity to become a destroyer captain again, and the main subjects of the training were aviation combat theory and air defense combat tactics, which were very unfamiliar to Jiang Hailong, and as a result, when he graduated, his grades were the third to last among the training officers! This achievement almost ruined Jiang Hailong's future, because the purpose of this training course was to train staff officers for the 1st Task Force and the 2nd Task Force. As a result, the First Task Force under the command of Jiang Zhongmin did not ask for Jiang Hailong. If it weren't for the recruitment letter from Liao Hanxiang in Jiang Hailong's hand, I am afraid that Chang Zhixin, who was in charge of selecting personnel at that time, would not have let Jiang Hailong be assigned to the Second Task Force, because more than a dozen officers in that training course were assigned to the reserve force, that is, they had no chance with the combat unit.

To put it bluntly, Jiang Hailong is not a staff officer of the fleet, and he has not become a staff officer, he is just an officer in the navigation department, and he does not even have the title of staff officer. Jiang Hailong himself knew that he was not the kind of person who could command a battle on a drawing paper, and he had always dreamed of becoming a "glorious" destroyer captain of the Imperial Navy. As a result, fate placed him in the position of a staff officer, which can really be said to be fate. But fate did not abandon Jiang Hailong, because Jiang Hailong never gave up his "dream". The opportunity to change his fate has finally arrived.

When the Fourth Task Force was established, a number of officers were transferred from the First Task Force, the Second Task Force, and even the Third Task Force to form the backbone of the fleet. It was clear that no fleet would send its best officers to Task Force 4, and that those who were sent were mediocre, or rather not very good-performing officers. Jiang Hailong was naturally also among the personnel of the Second Task Force.

When he arrived in Guangzhou, he saw Huang Xiaotian again, and in just a few years, the changes between the two can be said to be worlds apart. Of course, Huang Xiaotian didn't know that Jiang Hailong was the officer who went to the personnel department of the Fifth Fleet every day to find trouble with others. At that time, Huang Xiaotian was personally in charge of the formation of the Fourth Task Force, and the reasonable arrangement of the positions of the officers was the most important, so Huang Xiaotian inquired in detail about the specialties of each officer who came to the Fourth Task Force to report and the position he most hoped to hold. This time, Jiang Hailong did not miss the opportunity, and he gave the most correct answer. Specialties are not important, what matters is that he made it clear that he wanted to be the captain of a destroyer, and not a staff officer of the fleet.

Maybe there are really few people like Jiang Hailong, who directly said that they want to be the captain of the destroyer, not that Jiang Hailong's requirements are high, but his requirements are too low, so low that Huang Xiaotian was deeply impressed, because at that time, most of the officers wanted to stay in the fleet headquarters, even if they wanted to be the captain, it was the captain of the aircraft carrier first, followed by the captain of the cruiser, and Jiang Hailong was really the only one who took the initiative to ask to become the captain of the destroyer!

Jiang Hailong's most basic request was met by Huang Xiaotian, and he finally became the "glorious" destroyer captain of the Imperial Navy in his dreams, but he was still a captain officer. At that time, the captains of destroyers in other fleets were almost all majors, and most of them were promoted by merit. The Fourth Task Force was only established, and no one had to merit in battle, so they could only obtain the basic rank of equivalent.

Jiang Hailong does not attach much importance to the issue of military rank, although the monthly allowance of a major officer is 30% more than that of a captain, which means that he can earn more than 10,000 yuan a year. But Jiang Hailong is not short of money, he has no living burden, his parents can take care of themselves, money is not the most important thing for him, the most important thing is that he became the captain of the ship, and became the captain of the destroyer that he has been working hard to become in the past few years!

Obviously, Jiang Hailong is not an "upstart", he is a very ordinary officer, an ordinary officer, this war is also composed of thousands of ordinary imperial soldiers, they are the greatest people in the war, without them, there will be no victory of the imperial navy!