What would happen if he put a new tire on a broken car, and Li Kongrong didn't know until later. Du Luming left Germany the next day and went to the Czech Republic and France to see equipment and negotiate contracts. In this way, his life was a lot cleaner all of a sudden, only the arrival of the six naval cadet officers transferred from Italy: Gong Dongli, Chen Qingjia, Xue Kuiguang, Liu Yongren, Chen Zhaodi, and Gao Ju made the naval dormitory a little lively - these people are all Fujianese, and on the day these people arrived, Lin Zhun said that he would give them a clean sweep, and at this time it was already Major Li who was dispatched during the day, and Li Kongrong only came out in the middle of the night.

The large box of the Nanjing Hotel on Kangde Road was once again full, and with the addition of Second Lieutenant Zhong Qiangong, who had been helping the navy, a total of nineteen people set up two tables. Knowing that Li Kongrong would be promoted to lieutenant colonel and appointed as military attache of the navy in Germany, Lin Jungxian asked Major Li Kongrong to give a welcome speech, and only after he finished speaking did he speak Hokkien dialect. It can be seen that he seems to have changed his perception of Major Li Kongrong. It was a long, long time later that he explained to Li Kongrong the reason why he hated him before: he looks dignified, but his temperament is soft and not like a soldier, which really makes people hate him in his heart and don't step on his feet.

Major Lee drank half a glass, so he only drank Riesling white wine. Among the six naval trainee officers who had just arrived in Germany, according to Major Li's guess, Chen Zhaoqi and Chen Qingjia should be from the Chen family on Fahai Road in Fuzhou, the first generation of the Chen family navy Chen Zhaoqiang was the second graduate of the Mawei Shipbuilding Administration of the former Qing Dynasty, and was appointed as the chief steward of the Dingyuan during the First Sino-Japanese Naval War, and was one of the few naval officers who were not dismissed after the war.

In addition to the Chen family on Fahai Road, the Gao family is likely to be the person of the Gao family in Longmen, the first navy of the Gao family should be one of the founders of the Commercial Press, Gao Mengdan's second brother Gao Erqian, the third session of the Mawei Ship Administration of the former Qing Dynasty, and later studied in France, and served as the Italian minister during the Republic of China, and later served as the vice minister of foreign affairs. This is a diplomatic move, and within the navy there are Gao Datong, captain of the Chucai ship, Gao Jiao, a shipbuilding engineer, and Gao Minoru, secretary general of the Navy Command.

In addition to the Chen family and the Gao family, Xue Kuiguang, who has a good temper at first glance, is also from a background, he is the brother-in-law of Lieutenant Colonel Zeng Guosheng, the superintendent of the Jiangnan Shipyard. Zeng Guosheng has more than a dozen younger sisters, and this Xue Kuiguang took the fifth. The Zeng family is naturally a big navy, the first generation Zeng Guangshi and Zeng Guangshi were figures in the former Qing Dynasty, and then there were Zeng Zonggong, Zeng Guangheng, Zeng Wanli, Zeng Wanqing and others. The Zeng family has many daughters, and Li Kongrong also wanted to marry a woman from the Zeng family before, and she was a distant relative, so that she could have a good future in the navy. But the father operated this matter for a while, and was only deceived by the matchmaker of a lot of money, and finally it was over.

In addition to the naval family, Liu Yongren also has a background, and his future father-in-law Chen Peikun is the director of the Fujian Department of Finance. As for the remaining Gong Dongli, although I don't know what the origin is for the time being, since the name can be ranked in front of other students, there must be a reason, maybe it is whose daughter he married, or some relative who works in Fujian Province or Nanjing.

The six naval cadet officers, six of whom have unusual backgrounds, are already full of confidence, and they are even more noisy after drinking. Major Li Kongrong was a little melancholy in his heart - he didn't feel anything about Qiu Zhongming and these people before (these ten people went abroad according to their graduation results, from the first place to the tenth place), but now looking at Gong Dongli, these overseas trainee officers, he suddenly knew how he was brushed off back then. Thinking of the past, thinking of the present, he was really emotional when he sat on the main seat of the banquet.

After three rounds of wine and five flavors of food, the topic of a cadre fell to the submarine again, and Chen Zhaodi, who was toasting everywhere just now, invited the other five people to toast to the major: "Brother Shaosheng, I heard that the German refused to buy a current ship for me, and we can only build it in the shipyard?" ”

Major Li Kongrong did not confide in anyone the details of the negotiations with Germany, Chen Zhaoqi knew that he could only hear it from Zhou Yingcong and Lin Xianxi, but Lin Xianxin and Lin Zhun were relatives, maybe Lin Zhun also knew the situation. Chen Zhaotong said that everyone looked at him, including the naval cadets at the other table. Major Li Kongrong pondered for a moment before saying, "There is such a thing, but I am still trying to figure out a way. ”

"Figured out?" Chen Zhaoqi and others were immediately overjoyed, and they found a way to explain that there was a play in buying a current boat, and they would be able to get on the boat soon.

"Yes. No matter how well it was built, it was not as good as the Germans used it themselves. "Now the Germans have two old boats, which are only used as training ships, and although they are somewhat lacking in performance, they are of great benefit to us. Now we are negotiating with the Germans, and although the chances are slim, we have to think of a way. ”

Chen Zhaoqi wanted to toast again, but Lin Zhun beside him said, "What kind of ships are they?" ”

"The boat of more than 800 tons is an experimental specimen of the Germans' previous ocean-going submarines, and it is estimated that it is not good to use it for training." The major didn't say much, holding up his glass and drinking with the group.

"And what about the ship we're going to order?" Gong Dongli asked with a wink. He studied seamanship, and it seems that he wanted to be a captain.

"One is an offshore boat of more than 200 tons, and the other is an offshore boat of more than 700 tons, with the former having a range of 1,600 nautical miles and the latter having a range of more than 6,000 nautical miles." Major Li Kongrong said that he saw that everyone was full of expectations for the submarine, and said: "This is the closest we have to a submarine, and the last time was more than ten years ago after the European War, when Yuan Shikai was in power, went to the American Electric Ship Company, and in the end it was not ...... Although the Germans agreed to sell submarines this time, it is only that Germany and Japan have close relations, so you must not say what I said today. ”

As soon as Major Li Kongrong reminded him, the room full of people echoed him. Later, he said, "In order to shorten the time, we will have classes in the dormitory in the future." I also speak German on a daily basis, so it's faster to learn German in this context. After the contract was signed, we also went to the naval training camp for training as soon as possible, and strived to get on the boat for internship and sail back to China as soon as possible to prepare. ”

After Major Li Kongrong finished speaking, everyone was in response. They are all here for submarines, and getting on the boat and returning to China as soon as possible is naturally everyone's dream. Driving a boat that can dive back home, so I want to laugh when I think about it.

The others were elated, but Lin Zhun, who was familiar with the inside story, was secretly worried, and when everyone began to eat and drink again, he asked in a low voice: "Brother Shaosheng, do you think we can really ...... Is it really possible to buy a submarine? The Japanese don't get in the way. ”

Lin Zhun's voice was low, but Gong Dongli, Lang Jiancheng and others at the same table still heard it, only the students' table was still giggling and drinking. Lin Zhun asked what Major Li Kongrong was worried about, he put down his chopsticks and frowned: "So we have to find a way to buy those two old training boats, so that we have at least two ocean-going submarines," he looked at Gong Dongli and the others who were staring at him, and said: "Buy it back to Jiangnan Shipyard to find a way to build it yourself according to the gourd painting scoop, but this is no way, it is best to be made by the Germans, they build it quickly, as soon as those submarines enter service, we will be a submarine fleet." ”

The words of the submarine fleet made the eyes of everyone at the same table shine, Lin Zhun was about to raise a glass to wish the establishment of the submarine fleet, but the major stopped him again, "Everything should be done carefully, Germany is now in power by the pro-Japanese faction, maybe things will not work out if you are not careful." We still learned German steadily, and later on there were fewer obstacles to training, and when the minister returned to Berlin, I tried to sign the contract. ”

Major Li Kongrong's caution made the joy of the banquet dissipate a lot, but at least he still gave everyone a clue. Without saying much, the people at the table all took a sip of wine, and then their eyes flashed, and they thought about how to learn German in the future and how to study hard.

The large private room of the Nanjing Hotel on Conde Road was bustling, but the office of Admiral Raeder, Commander-in-Chief of the Navy in the German Navy Headquarters Building on William Street, was somewhat quiet. Colonel Karl Dönitz, commander of the submarine fleet, who had just returned to Berlin from Kiel, was briefing Admiral Raeder on the upcoming exercises of the Ship Force—the first run-in of wolf pack tactics, and while the prospects were bright, there were still many practical problems to be solved.

As a surface warship in World War I, Raeder did not believe that submarines were the direction of German naval construction, but because of the achievements of the submarine forces in the last war, he had to support Colonel Dönitz's work, at least openly. In Colonel Dönitz's style, the report was lengthy and dry, and it took Raeder several times to get his report done. "I fully support this exercise, and as long as it can solve those practical problems, I think he will definitely be able to inflict heavy losses on the enemy."

The commander-in-chief of the navy nodded to express his attitude, and then he took out a document that had been opened, and said: "The Chinese want to buy those two training boats, do you really think that they should not be sold to them?" Know that they paid for two Type VII submarines. ”

Considering that only one submarine had been built this year, Raeder hoped to add two submarines to Colonel Dönitz's submarine fleet by selling the old boats. As for the protests of the Japanese, Raeder did not care about aircraft carriers, and the future of the Navy was the big ship and giant artillery.

"No, General. Type I submarines have a depth of two hundred meters, and once this is discovered by the British, the depth of the submersible bombs will increase from the current one hundred and twenty meters to two hundred meters, and I would rather not lack two submarines than lose this secret. ”

"Can't you change the depth to a hundred meters?" General Raeder made a seemingly good suggestion, which was Lieutenant General Bastian's idea, but the general did not know that the lieutenant general had already laughed at the Chinese for two thousand dollars.

"Experienced naval engineers can definitely see a lot of problems in those new modifications, and if they find the problem and change it back, once tested they can find out the true depth of the submarine." Major Dönitz shook his head.

"Can the Chinese do this?" Although Raeder felt that what Dönitz said was reasonable, he also felt that it was unfounded.

"The British can certainly do this, the Russians ......" said the Colonel, with contempt and hatred in his eyes, "the Russians may be able to do it, and what they like most is to copy the weapons of other countries everywhere in disregard of the norms of the civilized world, and the communists are spreading like a virus, and if they penetrate the human body, they will kill people......"

"Alright." Raeder interrupted the impassioned speech of the 'Hitler's Youth League'. This is actually one of the reasons why he doesn't like Dönitz very much: military personnel should not get involved in politics, and fortunately Dönitz did not use politics to improve his position. "After all, Germany has many economic interests in China, we need their minerals and soybeans, and it is not in our interest to deal with the Chinese, even though they are only an agricultural country." Carl, I think you should meet the Chinese, and if the contract is signed, you should find a way to provide them with relevant internships and training. ”

"General, I can only arrange them in Wrangersburg." Dönitz replied, "I will arrange for a Type II submarine to train them, but VII can't, I don't want to know more about the Chinese than the details of the VII submarine, according to the Japanese, they are parasites of the communists, and anything they know the Russians will know." ”

"No, no." Admiral Raeder, who listened to Vice Admiral Bastian's words, shook his head, "They are not a navy subordinate to the Nanjing government of China, China's current situation is like Germany before reunification, they are only the navy of the Hanseatic League, and those who ordered torpedo boats before are the navy directly under the Chinese government." Now, their leader, Admiral Chen, the Minister of the Navy, has sworn never to divulge our secrets, and Vice Admiral Bastian believes they can be trusted. ”

"There are also not enough Type VII submarines." Dönitz was still against it. "And even if they don't leak the news to the Russians, what about the British? You must know that the relationship between the Chinese Navy and the Royal Navy has always been close. ”

"The Chinese also explained this." Raedel Dow. "The Chinese no longer send trainee officers to Britain, and will transfer interns to Germany in the future. Karl, you must know that it is beneficial for Germany to sell them submarines. ”

"But the orders were all taken by the capitalists and most of the profits!" Dönitz once again showed the excellent consciousness of the Hitler Youth, "General, I still think that Chinese should not be allowed to know too much......"

"But they already know a lot!" Raeder reluctantly handed the thing in his hand to Dönitz, "I regret to find that the Chinese are actually ahead of you, and they are also studying submarine joint tactics - group fighting tactics." This is a report written by the head of their submarine unit, Major Lee, who, according to Vice Admiral Bastian, would very much like to meet with you and have an in-depth conversation to discuss the principles and techniques of joint submarine operations. ”

Raeder handed over a thick stack of documents, with both Chinese and German on them. Without looking closely, Dönitz said: "General, I don't believe that the Chinese without submarines can come up with reliable submarine tactics, all they can come up with is a pile of garbage." ”

"No, Colonel, I think you should take a look." Raeder insisted, "The Chinese are doing exercises with gunboats, and they have a dozen small gunboats." As you think, they also chose to approach the convoy at night and then launch torpedoes at a distance of five or six hundred meters. ”