When public opinion was fermenting for almost a week, the Datang cabinet officially announced to the outside world that Datang would use force to defend its national interests and national dignity. The Tang Dynasty officially transferred www.biquge.info wartime cabinet and declared war on the Qing State, appointing Rear Admiral Bai Nan as the commander-in-chief of the Tang Expeditionary Force, commanding the expeditionary force to fight in the Qing State.

As for the specific number of troops commanded by General Bai Nan, the announcement did not mention it, after all, the purpose of the announcement was to inform the people that we were going to fight - as for how to fight, how many people were going to fight, and how long to fight, it was not something that ordinary citizens should know.

The ships that were originally used for trade were all requisitioned for military transportation, and they could not go to the Manchu Qing Dynasty for trade anyway, and a considerable part of the transportation capacity was also liberated. In the past two years, Datang has focused on training sailors, as well as recruiting free seafarers from abroad, and has a fairly strong transportation capacity, Bai Nan mobilized troops this time, covering the snow leopard regiment of the first brigade, all of the second brigade, and the first regiment of the marines, with more than 6,000 troops alone. In the war, more than 20 large steamships of more than 3,000 tons were requisitioned and dispatched.

This is already the limit state that can be accepted by the Sapporo forward base now, and of course Bai Nan can put the 3rd Army Brigade and other troops into it in one go, but then there is no way to guarantee the state and supply of the troops. However, Bai Nam believed that with the troops he had at his disposal, it would be enough to deal with the situation, and once the war expanded, he could still transfer the Third Brigade from the country to fight.

The Qilianshan dock landing ship, which had not been used for a long time, was once again put on the battlefield and was in the harbor. Bai Nan looked at the huge warship. I couldn't help but sigh: "It's been five years." She didn't seem to have changed at all, and the comrades in charge of maintenance were also attentive. ”

Naval Commander Deng Xiyi also felt the same way: "The Qilianshan has not changed, but we have all changed, with a new identity, a new life and a new goal. ”

"Yes, things are not people. Before the expedition, someone asked me if I wanted to tear off the August 1 naval flag on the Qilian Mountain, and I said it was not necessary. Even if we have changed our identities, the Qilianshan is still a warship of the People's Navy, and we are still fighting for the interests of our nation. ”

Deng Xiyi was emotional, patted Bai Nan on the back, and said: "Don't say these hypocritical words, you are now the commander-in-chief of our Tang Expeditionary Force, and the burden on your shoulders is not light." ”

Bai Nan nodded: "Since I took on this task, I have not underestimated the difficulties we will face, but I also firmly believe that we will win in the end. ”

Deng Xiyi smiled and pointed to the ships that were gathering. said: "The family of our navy has been handed over to you, the Pinghai ship that has just entered service." The four Liberty Winds, which have only recently been commissioned, are the ultimate strength of our navy. ”

The naval fleet that followed the expeditionary force this time was no longer the first-generation naval ship that followed Liu Fangwu on the expedition to the east coast two years ago, the Pinghai-class cruiser hurried to catch up, or officially entered service at the beginning of the year, and the second ship Ninghai, which was built with her, has also entered the final stage of sea trials, and if it is delayed for another two months, it is estimated that it will also go out with Bai Nan. Free Wind has been in the army since the previous year, and eight ships have already entered service, and Bai Nan has only taken half of the eight.

Deng Xiyi talked about the navy's family background, and seemed to be happier again, and said: "Now that we have directly entered the wartime state, military spending has risen several times, in addition to the two shipyards in Long Beach and the West Coast, the San Francisco shipyard has also been completed, and this year we can fight together to build eight more Free Wind and three to four Pinghai class, and the foundation of the three fleets is almost completed." ”

Bai Nan asked curiously: "Originally, the Pinghai class planned to build four ships, but now there are more than six ships, will the Yangwei class continue to be retained?" ”

Deng Xiyi's smile was a little brighter: "The French ordered the Glory class from us, and the Spaniards did not dare to lag behind, the navy plans to cancel the power upgrade of the Yangwei class, replace it with a steam boiler that is not as good as our previous one, and reduce the speed of the Yangwei class to about 12 knots, and remove all the original high-end guns on the ship, install the front-loading rifled guns we used for export, and sell them directly to the Spaniards, the Spaniards have accepted this intention, and the same as the Glory class sold to the French, the price is 5 million Tang Yuan." Although it was second-hand, the tonnage of the Yangwei class was somewhat larger than that of the Glory class, and it was also our actual combat ship, and the Spaniards still agreed to the price. ”

"Maybe the Spaniards also have the intention of grabbing advantages from the British, with a stronger army, they will definitely be able to gain some advantages, and although Spain and France are both Bourbons, if they are thrown too far away by France, Spain will not be happy."

Deng Xiyi said: "We can't control this, by next year we will remove all Qi Jiguang and Yangwei classes, our navy is also limited, it is already a little difficult to maintain the equipment of the second generation of ships, and there is no extra strength to use the things of the older generation." There were plans to use the Qi Jiguang class to do some coastal defense, but judging from the speed and cost of creating free wind now, it is completely unnecessary. ”

Bai Nan nodded: "That's the same thing." ”

The Datang Dynasty, which has entered a wartime state, has invested a huge amount of money in ordnance, and the procurement of weapons alone is very scary, and the purchase amount of the navy's main combat ships alone has exceeded 30 million Tang Yuan, and the army is not bad at all, and the orders for weapons such as Type 77 armored vehicles, transport trucks, and artillery have been filled, and as for military supplies such as military coats, canned food, and military boots, they are produced in large quantities for reserves.

Not only that, the further research and development of ordnance, the Ministry of National Defense Equipment Bureau is also not ambiguous, North Industry is required to complete the development of semi-automatic rifles at the fastest speed, and the army units, and the navy is required to further improve the power and weapons, such as the development of a new generation of naval guns, and the equipment of the most basic level of detection and detection equipment and fire control systems.

The Cabinet has expected that after the Qing State opens up the situation, there will be a sharp increase in Datang's military needs, because at that time, the defense will not only be about defending North America and the three southeastern states, which are not too challenging. Datang needs more military forces to maintain its presence in East Asia, and the area under its control will continue to expand, and if it really arrives at the time of the surge in demand, it will be too late, so it must develop reserves in advance. (To be continued.) )