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The entire dining room of the Princess Mary cruise ship is now under the auspices of the "National Axe Expedition", and it is already full of seats. High-ranking officials from the Military Commission, the War Department, the General Staff, the Armaments Department, the Navy Department, and the Executive Yuan were among them. The table was full of exquisite dishes. Waiters dressed in white came and went, some of them carrying ice buckets with all kinds of foreign wine, and when they saw that someone's cup was empty, they went over to fill it with courtesy.

At the main table sat Chiang Kai-shek, the head of the delegation, Luo Yaoguo, Sa Zhenbing, the deputy head of the delegation, and the members of the delegation An Sihua, Lu Ming, Song Meiling, Chen Lifu, Yang Yongtai, Chen Bui and others. This time the delegation was actually a military delegation, and the main members were almost all soldiers, and most of the items to be inspected were military-related, including a large number of naval projects.

Old Man Sa was wearing a crisp blue navy dress with a large ribbon draped diagonally, and stars twinkled on his shoulders. Coupled with gray and white hair, he has a kind and majestic appearance. And he also sat between Chiang Kai-shek and Luo Yaoguo, at first glance I thought that his old man was the protagonist of this delegation, what a great big man in the [***] world!

Although he received unprecedented courtesy, there was still a trace of dissatisfaction between the old man's eyebrows, and he lowered his head and drank a glass of stuffy wine. Because today's dinner was probably specially held by Lao Jiang and Luo Yaoguo in order to heal the psychological shadow caused by the rejection of the navy's shipbuilding plan to the old man Sa. This means, presumably; The navy still wants it, you Sa Dingming is still a very respected elder in the military circles, and our juniors respect you very much.

After three rounds of drinking, everyone was slightly drunk. The atmosphere of the banquet is also a lot more lively, and if there are any things that are usually not easy to wipe off face and difficult to say, now I can say it with drunkenness.

Sa Zhenbing, who was drinking with reddish skin, also picked up a glass of champagne at this time: "Kai-shek, Fuwen, everyone." I, Sa Zhenbing, know the good intentions of the ranks, and I also know that you respect me. But I just don't understand, why can't you develop our navy as well? Your army can be on par with the book, why is the navy ...... Can't you be on par with the book? We also do not require that one third of our families be enough to ensure that our Haikou is not lost, so that your army can rest assured that it can boldly go north to unify the whole of China? ”

It's to make sure Haikou is not lost! It's still a set of Beiyang. To ensure that Haikou is not lost, what does the naval fleet do? Wouldn't it be nice to have a turret? Now the four major fortresses of Songhu, Hangzhou Bay, Ningbo Zhenhai and Guangdong Humen are under intense construction. Back in Europe, there were plans to purchase large-caliber shore guns and armored battery equipment.

Luo Yaoguo shook his head, took a sip of wine from his glass, and then said with a smile: "Ding Gong's words are serious, it is not that we do not develop the navy, but we must formulate a reasonable naval development plan that is in line with China's national conditions, and avoid following the old path of the Qing court." During this trip to Europe, there were many naval projects, such as shore defense forts, shipyards, training of naval officers, the revitalization of naval academies, and the formation of naval submarine forces and naval aviation...... Even surface ships are not impossible to invest, but they are ......"

"It's just that you can't trust us Fujianese!" Sa Zhenbing took advantage of the drunkenness to interrupt Luo Yaoguo's words, and launched another scratch: "It's not that our Fujian gang monopolizes the navy, but that there are people in China who really understand the navy besides us now?" ”

Luo Yaoguo smiled and shook his head. The heart said that this old man has said a little, and the current [***] high-level is sure that the Fujian Navy. Over the years, the Fujian Gang has taken refuge in and out, and it is not credible no matter how you look at it. Now, the Military Commission is pondering the idea of controlling the Naval Officer Academy, and then cultivating its own talents, and slowly eliminating these unreliable old navies! This is also for the purpose of hiring naval instructors in Europe.

"Ding Gong is too careful, our military committee has never trusted the navy, and we completely trust your old man, but I ......" Lao Jiang frowned, and he didn't know how to say it, so he quickly gave Luo Yaoguo a look.

Luo Yaoguo took over Lao Jiang's words and smiled slightly: "It's just that the Admiralty's current operational thinking is still a bit outdated and conservative, and it can't keep up with the situation at all, so our Military Commission is unwilling to invest too much resources." ”

"What? Are we old-fashioned and conservative? Sa Zhenbing glared at Luo Yaoguo, gritted his teeth, his face turned red, and said angrily: "Luo Fuwen, you make it clear, we can't keep up with the situation there?" ”

Sure enough, he is an old man in the military world! It's also a headache to rely on the old and sell the old. Now that the Chinese Navy is outdated, it is clear that it cannot keep up with the situation. In other words, the Chinese navy has not kept up with the situation since the Ming Dynasty's naval ban and has always been outdated. But to convince this old stubborn, it is still ...... It's a bit difficult.

Luo Yaoguo's mind turned, but there was an incomparably sincere smile on his face: "Ding Gong is angry, and listen to the younger generation slowly." If we want to develop the navy, do we first have to find out who the imaginary enemy of the navy is? I don't know if Ding Gong has figured it out? ”

"Ben!" Sa Zhenbing gritted his teeth and spat out two words from his mouth.

He is an old navy who has a grudge against him. At the age of 11, he was admitted to the Fujian Shipbuilding School, and he has served in the Navy since the eleventh year of Tongzhi. At that time, he was only 13 years old, and he was an innocent little Zhengtai! So small is actually a civil servant in the Qing Dynasty, the second lieutenant of the trainee. At the age of 17, he studied at the Emperor's Naval Academy in Greenwich, England, to learn to drive. and Liu Buyun and Yan Fu, they are a group. Four years later, he returned from England to become a first mate, and a year later he went to the Beiyang Naval Academy as a teacher...... Later, he also participated in the Sino-Japanese War as a battery commander.

Luo Yaoguo smiled and nodded: "It is said that Ben is the third largest naval power in the world today, and they are well-deserved hegemons in the Western Pacific, with the most powerful navy and the most powerful battleships. Their Nagato and Mutsu are now included in the world's seven battleships. In the face of such a formidable adversary, how does the Admiralty plan to use the new navy you envision? ”

"Of course, it's to stick to Haikou." Without thinking, Sa Zhenbing said the plan of the Admiralty:

"We will use the newly built ships to form the Nanyang Fleet and the Guangdong Fleet. Each fleet will have one battleship, three heavy cruisers, and four or five light cruisers. The two fleets will be deployed at the mouth of the Yangtze River and the Pearl River respectively, relying on coastal defense fortresses to defend the southeast and south China estuary. With such a powerful navy and four major coastal defense fortresses, it should be possible to ensure the defense of the southeast and the South China Sea. This is the same as the idea of the army relying on a strong position to fight a defensive war, except that the navy is an offensive service.

Luo Yaoguo sighed lightly and waved his hand: "Does Duke Ding think that with one battleship with the surname that may not be the best, plus seven cruisers, he can fight against the combined fleet?" I'm afraid that if people come out with two battleships, we won't dare to leave the port, right? Two fleets of no more than four battleships, plus a few cruisers and auxiliary ships, could be blocked in the harbor and immobilized. In the end, it was just a port garrison that had to be protected by the army...... Fortunately, the [***] Army is now comparable to the Huai Army of the Non-Manchu Qing Dynasty, and it is bound to be able to keep the forts from losing. But what is the real combat significance of such a naval fleet? What our National Revolutionary Army needs is not a navy that hides in the harbor and does not dare to go out, and will be completely wiped out as soon as it goes out. What we want is a fleet that can turn the enemy's lines of communication upside down, but also make it impossible for the enemy to catch and defeat, and can really fight! Is there such a fleet in the plans of the Admiralty? ”