As one of only a few vice admirals in the Navy, Bai Nam dedicates a considerable part of his business time to his "own job". According to the outline of the reform of the Tang army, in order to adapt to the continuous expansion of Datang's interests and meet the needs www.biquge.info of the actual situation, Datang has also officially divided the theater of operations.

The main territories of the Tang Dynasty are concentrated on the west coast of North America, the southeast coast of North America, and the Far East, so it is logical that the Ministry of Defense of the Tang Dynasty divided the Tang Army's naval and land armies into three major theaters, and the theater set up a joint combat command.

For example, Baeknam has always been a naval officer, but in actual warfare, he is required to command the ground forces of the army, which is somewhat unjustifiable. Therefore, the Ministry of National Defense has decided to set up a theater joint operations command to unify all military resources in the theater under the command.

The commander-in-chief of the Far Eastern Theater was naturally assigned to Bainan, and at the same time, the Far Eastern Theater is also the area with the largest number of troops stationed at present, even surpassing the West Coast Theater. The areas under the responsibility of the Far Eastern Theater include the United Special Zone of China, the Guwei Territory, the Borneo Territory, and even the surrounding areas, such as the Qing Dynasty and Japan, which are also specifically responsible.

The specific permanent strength will be set up as one infantry brigade, two infantry brigades, one cavalry brigade, one marine regiment, plus the Navy's Western Pacific Fleet, with a total strength of more than 20,000. However, the forces under the jurisdiction of the theater need to be spread over a very wide area, and troops should be stationed on Nanguwei Island, North China, Jiangnan, Guangdong, and Borneo. The original Borneo garrison has been cancelled and officially incorporated into the sequence of the Tang Army.

In addition to the regular army of the Tang Army, the Far Eastern Theater is also responsible for commanding the Wuwei Army and the Wuyi Army, which were funded and trained by the Tang Army, so the Far Eastern Military Region can actually mobilize more than 80,000 troops.

It's all planned. After Bai Nan went to Shanghai, he had to start doing it, including the Wu Yi Army, these troops were all eight words, and even the reorganization and reorganization of the Borneo Army and the locally recruited troops would take a while to do.

The West Coast Continental Theater is the second largest theater of operations, and in addition to the three states on the West Coast, it also includes the defense of the Hawaiian Islands. The Kingdom of Hawaii no longer had a regular army at all, so its defense was taken over by the Tang Army. The force under the jurisdiction of this theater is an army infantry brigade. A regiment of marines, and in addition, the home fleet.

The East Coast Theater had the smallest number of troops, with only one Army Infantry Regiment, one Marine Corps Regiment, one Cavalry Regiment, and the Atlantic Fleet.

The commander-in-chief of the theater is all with the rank of lieutenant general, not to mention the navy and army.

Bai Nan and Naval Commander Deng Xiyi, who was already an admiral, set sail together to participate in the sea trials of the new Pinghai-class cruiser Tonghai. This is the fifth Pinghai-class cruiser, and its man-hours and costs have been reduced considerably.

"It feels like the noise of the ship engine is not as loud as that of Pinghai and Ninghai." Bai Nan had boarded the first two cruisers and had some impressions.

Deng Xiyi said: "Yes, starting from the Jinghai (No. 3 ship), a new three-expansion steam engine has been replaced. There hasn't been a noticeable increase in horsepower, but reliability has been greatly improved, the time between overhauls has increased, and the noise is much less, as you can see. ”

Bai Nan sighed: "Our technology is really changing with each passing day, I heard that the Navy has even invested in the Boeing Company in Seattle to develop seaplanes." ”

Deng Xiyi said with a smile: "That's right, our current technical level is enough to develop some aircraft with some technical difficulties, and many people engaged in industry at the beginning were half-baked." Although there is some technology, it is more of a half-understood. Our army has become their guinea pig, and after a few years of doing it, slowly many things will be understood, and they will be able to do it better. Our navy has a greater thirst for aircraft than the army, and if the seaplane is really developed, it will be for our navy to engage in the vast oceans. Increased odds of winning. Moreover, we are asking for a seaplane capable of carrying at least 500 kilograms of bombs, which makes our seaplane have a certain bomber capability, which is of great significance for bombing surface enemy ships and attacking deep land targets. Seaplanes will be a key focus for the future development of our navy's equipment in the short term. ”

"That's okay, when the seaplane comes out, we have to give priority to equipping our Far Eastern theater." Bai Nan said jokingly.

"I can't forget you." Deng Xiyi said with a smile.

"So the Navy will not make new ships on a large scale in the next few years?" Bai Nan asked again.

Deng Xiyi was unfazed: "After two battles, the navy has eaten a little belly." The Navy has ordered a total of six Pinghai-class cruisers and 20 Libertywind-class frigates, and by the middle of this year, these ships have basically been delivered. The three major fleets are still the largest in the Western Pacific Fleet, with 2 cruisers and 10 frigates, the Home Fleet with 2 cruisers and 6 frigates, and the Atlantic Fleet with 2 cruisers and 4 frigates. We disposed of all the old ships, and sold them to the Spaniards after refitting. In terms of scale, it is difficult for the navy to continue to expand in the short term, and our population and military spending are limited after all. As soon as the National Assembly convened, some congressmen who had just thought that they had the right to speak suggested that the development of the navy at the present stage is unscientific, that our technological innovation is very fast, and that the number of warships of the same class is too large, which is not conducive to our renewal and progress. In the short term, I am afraid that the Navy will not update the new warships. ”

Bai Nan also smiled: "What people say can't be wrong, if there is no war, our normal development trend should be to build one or two ships of one class first, thoroughly understand the technology and then upgrade to the next ship class, so that the rotation of new equipment of the navy will be faster." However, this is an afterthought, because we have a war, and it is impossible to come slowly, so we can only make up the scale in one go. ”

Deng Xiyi also showed a slightly treacherous smile at this time, and said: "There is no problem with the service life of our warships reaching 20 years, but our navy does not want to see a ship pack for 20 years, so in the rotation plan, we set the life of the ship at 10 years." We will start building the next class of the Liberty class in five or six years at most, and it is still in the demonstration stage, but it will depend on our specific needs in five or six years' time. In the next seven or eight years, the replacement plan of the Pinghai class will also be launched, and if we continue like this, it will be acceptable that the ship class will be updated once every ten years. ”

The one Deng Xiyi used was not a trick. Technological change is so rapid that the Navy cannot continue to use outdated ships even if the ship's lifespan is not reached. Ten years from now, I am afraid that Britain, France, and Spain will still use steam warships with wooden hulls and sails, equipped with long-barreled rifled guns imitating the Tang people. They will first try to make their own weapons, and only after they have fully understood how to build them can they think of technological innovations. But it is not surprising that the naval warships built by Datang in the next shipbuilding cycle will completely abolish the form of ironclad ships and become real all-steel warships.

I am afraid that until the end of this century, the best that the Western powers can do, that is, a ship like the Pinghai class, and this must be that Datang is not so restrained in terms of technology transfer, and Bai Nan is also not optimistic that Westerners can complete Datang's 203 mm naval guns in 20 years.

Bai Nan firmly believes that by the end of this century, the ships of the Datang Navy will fully reach the level of ships of the naval powers of World War II. However, the Tang people should not build large battleships of 30,000 or 40,000 tons at every turn, because if the opponent is only at the level of ironclad ships, it is obviously a stupid thing to make these money-burning battleships, and the target ships of the Tang Dynasty should be heavy cruisers of more than 10,000 tons and less than 20,000 tons.

As far as Pak Nam knows, not only does the Navy have a comprehensive view of future equipment evolution, but the Army is also the same. The pragmatism of the Tang people profoundly affected all aspects of the country, including the military. The Navy will not consider building battleships, and the Army will not consider building tanks for the time being, of course, this is not permanent. The Army's primary development goals were infantry fighting vehicles that were superior to the Type 77 half-tracks, as well as self-propelled guns capable of following mechanized units.

The reliability of the Type 77 half-track vehicle is not good, and it can be said that it has all the disadvantages of both wheeled and tracked vehicles, but the advantages are not clear. Therefore, the army hopes that the new generation of infantry fighting vehicles will be dominated by all-tracked infantry fighting vehicles. Their goal was so clear that they even threw out a photo of the BMP-1 of the Soviets, with the exact words "do as it is".

But no one can deny that the BMP-1, which can adapt to most harsh terrains, has excellent protection, and can be remodeled into a number of different models of combat vehicles, is indeed very suitable for the Don Army. But this is a infantry combat vehicle designed in the mid-sixties of the twentieth century, which makes the military industrial system still a little frightened, and I don't know if it can be completed.

As for self-propelled artillery, you can directly borrow the chassis of a tracked infantry combat vehicle, and then add the turret of the howitzer, so the problem is to develop an excellent tracked chassis with versatility. Both car companies are working hard to get this new tank, because it is clear that it will definitely be ordered in larger quantities than the Seven-Seven Style.

When Bai Nan and Deng Xiyi returned from the sea, they heard another news - the British envoy arrived in Los Angeles, hoping to purchase various machines and equipment from Datang.

Obviously, the British, who were more aware of the power of industrialization, were also a little anxious when they saw the industrialization efforts of the French and Spaniards. (To be continued.) )