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After determining China's general diplomatic strategy of "uniting Britain to resist Russia," Song Xiaofei, Liu Buyun, Deng Shichang, Li Yuanhong, and others discussed the issue of China's sea power. Watermark Advertising Test Watermark Advertising Test Song Xiaofei said: "The reason why China has today's stable development environment is that our original Beiyang Navy Division has built a first-class fleet in Asia and controlled the sea power in East Asia, so that it firmly choked the neck of the Japanese. If my prediction is correct, in the next ten years, Kaiser Wilhelm II will challenge Britain's sea power with giant ships and cannons, which will eventually lead to a competition between Britain and Germany with huge artillery battleships, and then there will be a lot of 20,000-ton giant gunboats, and our Chinese navy cannot be too far behind. ”

Feng Guozhang has been in the army and does not know much about sea power, saying: "China is a landlocked country, and since ancient times, it has attached importance to the army, and we should also vigorously develop the army now. ”

Deng Shichang said: "I don't agree with General Feng's words, the prosperity of our China's maritime trade began in the Tang Dynasty. In the early Tang Dynasty, special institutions were set up to manage ships, merchants, and collect taxes. Overseas countries, Japan and Israel traded, and the fleet departed from Guangzhou, passed through the South China Sea as far as the Persian Gulf, the Red Sea, and the coast of East Africa, passing through more than 30 countries and regions. The economic center of the Song Dynasty shifted southward, and the southeastern coastal areas became the lifeblood of the economy, and the coastal residents abandoned agriculture and went to the sea, and many merchants from the interior also joined in. The Yuan Dynasty recruited foreign merchants every year, and listened to the sale of goods such as Yizhu, Cui, and incense goods in Fanbang. The invention of the Chinese compass has promoted ocean navigation. ”

Song Xiaofei nodded and said, "Indeed, our ancient Chinese maritime trade was very developed. I don't know if any of you here have seen the travelogue of a European named Marco Polo, in his description, Quanzhou in the 13th century. Magnificent and beautiful, ships come and go, merchants gather, and goods are piled up. He marveled that Quanzhou is one of the largest ports in the world. Then. An active maritime trade network connected ports in Northeast Asia, Southeast Asia, the west coast of India, and even the Persian Gulf, and Europeans even named this period of trade the 'Quanzhou Era'. ”

Liu Buyun said: "I also know something about this. In the Ming Dynasty, Zheng He also led a huge fleet of more than 200 ships and more than 20,000 people, and appeared in the Indian Ocean in a mighty way. ”

Feng Guozhang was not convinced. "I'm talking about the navy, not maritime trade," he said. When has the Chinese Navy ever been strong? ”

Deng Shichang said: "In fact, the Ming Dynasty navy was superior to any Asian country, and even all the European countries of the same era combined could not match the Ming navy." At the end of the Ming Dynasty, China fought a naval battle with the Netherlands, which was the strongest maritime power at the time, and this naval battle was no less large than the Opium War, but the outcome was very different. If I'm not mistaken, it was in July 1633. The Dutch governor of Taiwan, Putmans, led thirteen Dutch warships to attack the Ming coastal area in a surprise attack. The Dutch proposed that the Chinese immediately stop trade with Spain, Portugal and other countries, and that they could only trade with the Dutch alone, otherwise the war would continue. This unreasonable demand was rejected by the Ming Dynasty. Zou Weilian, the governor of Fujian, received the holy decree of Emperor Chongzhen's 'strict order to punish the lotus', with the general Zheng Zhilong as the vanguard, Gao Yingyue as the left wing, and Zhang Yongchan as the right wing, to face the Dutch. In October of that year, 150 warships of the main force of the Ming army, which had received reliable information, quietly sailed to the mouth of Liaoluo Bay in the south of Kinmen Island, where the entire main force of the combined Dutch and pirate fleets was moored. The main forces of the Ming army all went straight to the Dutch fleet, and only auxiliary forces were used to deal with the corsair ships. At the same time, they adopted the tactics of a sea of fire that had never been seen in the European theater. Among the 150 warships of the Ming army, only 50 were gunboats, and the remaining 100 small boats were all fireboats. After a commotion, two of the large Dutch ships that took part in the battle were caught and burned as soon as the battle began, the other two were sunk in the artillery battle, one more was captured, and the rest fled after being heavily damaged. Fifty pirate warships participated in the battle, and all the troops were destroyed. Since then, the Netherlands has paid an annual tribute of 120,000 francs to the Ming Dynasty. In this way, the Ming fleet finally seized all the East Asian sea supremacy from Japan to the South China Sea, and all ships sailing in East Asia at that time had to spend money to buy the Ming Dynasty's order flag, otherwise they would be intercepted. ”

Song Xiaofei said: "Chief Deng is really a talent, so familiar with the history of the Chinese Navy. You explained that at the end of the year, the Chinese navy paid reparations to the Dutch, which was undoubtedly a humiliation for the Netherlands, the maritime hegemon in Europe at that time. It seems that the Chinese navy only lagged behind when it closed itself off to the rest of the country at the end of the Qing Dynasty. I don't think you need your army and navy to fight, and now the sea supremacy is particularly important to a country's strength, and it must be guaranteed. Song Xiaofei raised his hand to signal that the argument between Deng Shichang and Feng Guozhang was over, and then glanced at the Navy Chief Liu Buyun and said, "Zixiang, you can introduce to you the current family background of the Chinese Navy." ”

Liu Buyun nodded, stood up and said: "The Chinese Navy now has 3 15,000-ton Dahan-class gunboats, and another 3 20,000-ton gunboats can arrive at Tianjin Port by the end of this year. There are 4 10,000-ton battleships, 6 7,000-ton cruisers, 20 5,000-ton dome cruisers, and 24 3,000-ton battleships, that is to say, a total of 60 ironclad warships of more than 3,000 tons, and warships of 1,000 tons and below have been decommissioned, converted into fishery ships, and handed over to the customs department. In addition, there are 8 submarines. The Navy currently has more than 30,000 people. ”

Song Xiaofei said: "Judging from the 'family background' just reported by General Director Liu, our navy can still squeeze into the top five in the world. Germany is now building warships in large quantities, that is, the Anglo-German shipbuilding race is carried out under the premise that Britain is the sole hegemon in the world. Kaiser Wilhelm II wanted Germany to rise, and the huge mountain that stood in front of Germany was England. Now it seems that Germany deliberately built a large number of warships, so to speak, with all its national strength to build ships, hoping to build a fleet that could compete with the British Navy, which was bound to fail. We should safeguard China's sea power, not follow the old path of the Germans, and building too many warships may not suit our national conditions. ”

Vice Admiral Li Yuanhong, who also visited Europe and the United States, stood up and said: "I agree with the judgment of the great president.

It was indeed too expensive for Germany to build a fleet, and it cost a lot, but once Germany faced the main force of the British navy head-on, I felt that the Germans were not sure of victory. Although Germany gritted its teeth and built a batch of warships in a short period of time, the follow-up could not keep up. ”

Song Xiaofei said to Li Yuanhong: "Song Qing." You and General Liang Qichao have inspected the countries of Taixi together, and tell us what strategies China can adopt if it wants to have sea power in Asia. We'd better not engage in a warship race with Britain and Germany. So as not to be like the Germans. Angered the British. What are the latest developments in the sea power of countries around the world? ”

Li Yuanhong replied: "At present, there are two main modes of the navies of various countries. One advocates the construction of submarines, and the other advocates the construction of cruisers. In the 80s of the 19th century, a "green water navy" doctrine appeared in the French naval circles, and the main combat idea was to use low-cost torpedo boats as the core force. Taking advantage of the weakness of the general slow rate of fire of the battleships' artillery, the enemy ships were flooded with a huge number of "torpedo seas". To this end, France also built the only torpedo boat carrier in history, intending to put torpedo boats to use in ocean-going operations. However, in 1888, Professor Alfred Mahan, a naval strategist in the United States, published a paper entitled "The Relationship between the Influence of Sea Power and the War of 1812", in which he put forward a core viewpoint: The method of seizing sea supremacy is a decisive battle of the fleet and a naval blockade, and it is necessary to completely seize sea supremacy. Only through the decisive battle of the fleet. This view is well respected in naval circles except France, especially the United Kingdom and the United States. In Germany, Admiral Holman was an advocate of the cruising strategy, so Germany is now in the long-term planning for the next ten years. Priority is given to the construction of cruisers with independent combat capabilities. ”

After hearing this, Deng Shichang expressed his own views and said: "With the increase in the rate of fire of small and medium-caliber artillery, torpedo attacks, which are obviously inferior in range and speed, are no longer suitable as an attack force in theory. However, as a defense force in the near sea, torpedo boats can still be used in conjunction with low-cost coastal defense ships. The Germans wanted to challenge Britain by building a large number of warships, and if we didn't do that, we could vigorously develop submarines and focus on defense. ”

Song Xiaofei nodded and said, "Chief Deng and I thought about it." In the process of the rise of the Chinese Navy, it must look low-key, Britain and Germany build large warships, and we will not engage in competition. However, our Chinese navy must also develop in a big way, and we must have our own bottom line. The entire Asian region is China's territory, and if anyone dares to invade China's existing sphere of influence, the Chinese Navy will not hesitate to launch a war, showing the world that no one can touch our interests. Our wars against France, Germany, and the Netherlands were motivated precisely by such intentions. ”

Liang Qichao said, "What does the president mean that China's strategy of maintaining sea power is to resolutely protect China's inherent interests in Asia, not to openly duel with Britain, the world's largest hegemon, but to play the role of this hegemon's helper, and constantly convey to Britain that 'the existence of the Chinese navy is not a threat to you, but a help to you'?" ”

Song Xiaofei said: "What Chief Liang said is exact. Therefore, on the one hand, we must upgrade our warships and add three to five more heavy artillery warships of more than 20,000 tons in the future. In addition, we must vigorously develop the submarine force, and in the next 10 years, I hope that China will have more than 100 submarines. And if it's the most advanced in the world. Moreover, China's shipbuilding industry must make a qualitative leap and be able to build 20,000-ton warships on its own. ”

Tan Sitong, who has been promoted to minister of national defense industrialization and mechanization, said: "I don't think there is a problem in realizing this 10-year plan. ”

Song Xiaofei nodded and said, "Okay, the navy will take the lead in coming up with a ten-year development plan, and I will submit it to the Congress this month." ”

Seeing the development of the navy, Duan Qirui, who was the chief of the army, couldn't sit still, stood up and asked Song Xiaofei: "Is the equipment of our army also going to be upgraded?" ”

Song Xiaofei laughed and said, "Of course we won't forget the army. He asked Tan Sitong, "How is the development and production of the 'Flying Dragon' second-generation machine gun?" If it succeeds, equip the army as soon as possible. ”

The predecessor of the Chinese "Flying Dragon" II machine gun was the Maxim machine gun launched in 1882, which was produced in the arsenal in Tianjin after minor modifications, mainly by reversing the locking mechanism, which reduced the weight and facilitated mass production, and finally finalized production in 1902.

Tan Sitong said: "So far, 300 machine guns have been produced. In addition to its slightly outdated style, the reliability of the Wyvern II machine gun was a dream of all soldiers, and in one test, 10 Vickers machine guns fired 1 million rounds in 12 hours, an average of 10,000 rounds per hour. Although 100 barrels were replaced during this period, and countless cooling water were used, there was not a single jam, which was probably beyond the reach of the Maxim machine gun. ”

Song Xiaofei said: "Okay, strive to produce 2,000 'Feilong' second-generation machine guns before 1905, so that each group army has a machine gun battalion of about 300 machine guns." ”