In the submarine command platform, submarine commander Zhao Cong had just raised his periscope to observe the situation on the sea. He had left the Weihai base a week earlier and was on a shipping route in the middle of the Pacific Ocean to await orders.

In the past week, the Chinese side suffered heavy losses because of the attack on Chinese merchant ships carried out by the cruiser and destroyer, and the people and public opinion were both indignant and helpless. After all, in the case of the main fleet fighting the main fleet of the Yue army in the Sakhalin Sea, China really has some way to take the attack fleet of the Yue Ben.

So naturally, after a period of suppression, the voice of the Lord and the Lord resurfaced, and this time there were many capitalists and entrepreneurs in the Lord and Peace. Although these men had suffered a great deal of losses in the past week as a result of the break-up of the war, it was clear that their losses would have been even greater if the war had continued, and it was natural that they had made a choice.

At this time, after the news of the peace talks proposed by Yuben came out, the main peace faction was even more like being stimulated.

Because in the eyes of the Lord and the faction, the conditions proposed by him this time are not very harsh.

As long as China cedes the northern part of Sakhalin and the occupied Vladivostok to Yuben, and at the same time allows the military divisions that have retreated to Korea to return to the northeast, he is willing to enter into peace talks with China.

At the same time, he also proposed to sign a naval regulation with China, so that the ratio of the capital ships of the navy between China and China will reach ―――――― 1:1, so as to avoid a senseless arms race and a bad impact on the relations between the two countries. This is just like before the European War, when Britain and Germany were preparing for the competition, except that Britain was undoubtedly the number one maritime power at that time, and it only wanted to sign an agreement with Germany because it did not want to have a needless dispute.

At this time, not to mention comparing with the British, in terms of qualifications, I am afraid that it has only just reached the level of rationing British shoes.

Of course, the British are not good people.

―――――――――― after the war broke into the war, according to the proposal of the domestic lord and the group of birdmen, Yan Guang also made a request to the ambassadors of Britain, the United States and France to intervene in this matter. After all, China and Ben both belong to the Allied countries, and according to the idea of the Lord's and faction's birdmen, it is impossible for Britain, France, and the United States to sit idly by and watch the internal strife between the two Allied countries.

It stands to reason that this idea of the Lord and the faction is still relatively correct to some extent, but it is a pity that this idea of theirs is a few years late. With the United States entering the war, and the situation of the whole war has been clear, China, a former ally, has become a thorn in the side of Britain, France, and the United States, especially when China is still a yellow country.

In fact, it was originally said that the book could also enjoy this kind of treatment, but it is a pity that the current version is too weak, and there are two countries such as China and Soviet Russia that need to be contained... Therefore, when the officials sent by the Lord and the Lords came to the door, the ambassadors of Britain, France, and the United States had only one answer.

"Non-interference in the internal affairs of the countries of the Entente ...

To put it simply, it means non-interference in the internal affairs of other countries.

Even if it is a conflict between two allies, and it has reached the point where war is about to be declared ... However, when the officials of the Lord and the faction returned disappointed, Yan Guang, who learned the news, slapped his hands with joy, because Yan Guang was waiting for this sentence... Non-interference in conflicts between allies? Yes! Do not interfere with the methods of warfare such as breaking the engagement waged against the allies? That's fine, too!

But when I do this to myself, you'd better not change your face to another one.

Yan Guang waited for a few days, just to wait for this sentence that could be gagged―――――― although it is not impossible for Britain and the United States to be shameless at that time, after all, they are used to being shameless.

Of course, waiting for this sentence will not be without a price, but these losses are exchanged for the key to untie the shackles. What's more, these surfacing costs, one day in the future, Yan Guang will let him pay back ten times the price... And then..."Captain, the order just sent from the country ...

"Orders?" Putting down the periscope, Zhao Cong took a piece of paper handed over by his subordinates and looked at it, and only hammered the bulkhead road with a half-bang. "Good!"

Perhaps because Zhao Cong's excited voice was a little too loud, the crew members who were working quietly in the command platform turned their heads to look at it one by one.

You must know that the submarine is different from other ships in the navy, not only the lights are dim, but the space inside the submarine is also quite narrow, coupled with a long time of not seeing the sky and a closed and humid environment. Although the [Kei Shui Leopard] class submarine commanded by Zhao Cong has an underwater displacement of 1,200 tons, which is a rare large boat in this era, it cannot be compared with the nuclear submarines that have rest rooms, swimming pools and even saunas and other entertainment facilities in later generations.

The [Kei Shui Leopard]-class submarine commanded by Zhao Cong is so narrow that the space is unimaginable, and the four-story high and low beds where the sailors live, after people lie in, the beds from head to top can only accommodate the distance of two fists. The officers were in a better situation, but they were still in one cabin. The best condition is Zhao Cong, as a commander, he has a cabin with reading power, but after deducting the bed, there is only room for a chair, and there is still no hatch at the door, which is replaced by a curtain.

And when on duty, the crew is simply on duty against the wall.

Working in this kind of [big boat] with a displacement of more than 1,000 tons, the time is short, but it can be quite irritating after a long time.

And at the moment, these crew members under Zhao Cong are in this state, if Zhao Cong is not their commander, and the crew of the submarine is generally close to each other (there are few people, and they all live in a small tin can), maybe the crew in the submarine has spoken ill of Zhao Cong―――――― you know, in this world, good-tempered soldiers are rare.

And Zhao Cong also hurriedly made an apologetic gesture after noticing the gaze of his subordinates.

As a submarine commander, he knew very well how much a sudden loud noise would have on his subordinates who had been underwater for a long time.

But despite this, all this still can't hide Zhao Cong's excitement, because what he is waiting for is a permit, a combat permit.

"It's finally time for this day..."

No one knew how uncomfortable it was to watch the merchant ships flying plaster flags passing by on the route, and they had no choice but to feel uncomfortable. You know, since he arrived in the Pacific Ocean not long ago, he has seen more than a dozen merchant ships with his own eyes..."Congratulations, sir..."

Seeing Zhao Cong's expression, Zhao Cong's adjutant stepped forward to congratulate.

While congratulating, the adjutant was somewhat envious.

Unlike the Allied merchant ships in the Atlantic, the merchant ships in the Pacific Ocean did not even have the slightest sense of precaution, and fighting in such an environment was tantamount to making a meritorious contribution.

And by the time he reacts and establishes a more effective escort system, I'm afraid Zhao Cong has become the ace captain who sank 100,000 tons... And as long as you can get such a record, then promotion or something is probably not a luxury.

Zhao Cong was so excited that he was not like an adjutant, it was for promotion, he was excited just because he could finally really participate in the war..."I order, the whole ship is in combat readiness, and our task is to sink every merchant ship that passes through us..."

"Understood!"

Zhao Cong didn't wait too long, just an hour later, a merchant ship of three or four thousand tons had already appeared in the sea area he was in charge of.

Looking at the flag of the country hoisted on the merchant ship, Zhao Cong was not even interested in boarding the ship to see what kind of cargo it was carrying, so he had already ordered his subordinates to launch a torpedo and sink the merchant ship.

At the same time that Zhao Cong gave the order, on other routes in the Pacific Ocean and even the Indian Ocean, the remaining more than 100 submarines were also sinking merchant ships flying the flag of their own country.

When a horde of Yakben ships is spotted, the commander of the discovery will even send a signal to summon nearby Wehrmacht submarines, and then several submarines will play wolf pack tactics together, and then have a beautiful dinner... In just three days, the unsuspecting man himself had already lost at least 50,000 tons of ships. Moreover, this number is constantly expanding, and sometimes even warships patrolling the vicinity of the sea area will become the target of the submarine force.

As for my fishing boat? The commander of the submarine force would not be so tyrannical as to sink a small fishing boat with a torpedo of more than 500mm, but it would be okay to give away more than a dozen shells for free... Under the [breaking the battle] of the submarine force, Yue's losses are expanding day by day, and he is still dreaming of signing peace regulations, and he himself who did not expect Yan Guang to retaliate like this is also completely in a panic.

He was not ignorant of the power of submarines, after all, the ships that the Germans scuttled in the Atlantic were all his allies. And as early as 1907, he had already begun to design submarines.

I just didn't expect that one day I would be attacked by a submarine.

Therefore, without any preparation, he seemed quite flustered and had no ability to deal with it at all.

Of course, it is not that I have not thought about implementing the escort system, but the escort system is not something that can be implemented in a hurry. After all, a large number of merchant ships are now in the open sea, and unlike the British, there are not so many warships to serve as escort ships.

And if there are fewer escort ships, then escort ships can only be hunted in the same way as protected merchant ships. This is by no means a lie, in fact, in the beginning, he also arranged two destroyers to escort several merchant ships from the mainland, but the result of this was to attract more submarines, and then these two destroyers sank to the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean with the merchant ships they protected... Afterwards, I also came up with the idea of flying the flags of other countries on merchant ships, but if you fly the flags of other countries, can't I board the ship for inspection? When you get on the boat, what do you look like, and what kind of bird language is coming out of your mouth?

After half a month, Yan Guang could still bear it, but he couldn't bear it anymore.

I had the intention to turn to Britain and the United States for help, but Britain and the United States were a little unable to open their mouths because they were too full of words earlier.

It's just that they can't open their mouths, but Britain and the United States still open their mouths, because in just half a month, they have lost more than 300,000 tons of ships. 300,000, you must know that the book at this time is not the later book, and the 300,000-ton ship is not a small number for the current book.

If you really want to continue like this, you don't need Yan Guang to attack the local area, I'm afraid that the city will already be dragged down. Of course, I can also use foreign ships to deliver supplies, after all, China is not engaged in unrestricted submarine warfare. It's just that with the current financial situation of Yuben, it will be okay for a short time, but for a long time, not to mention that after the supplies sent to Yuben by North Korea are cut off, Yuben is also a little unsustainable... As for the UK? Although Britain has promised financial support, now that the British are fighting a European war with the Germans, it is the Americans who are really paying for it. And the Americans? With the surnames of these capitalists, how can they always invest in a bottomless pit...―――――――――― Yan Guang in the recent period can be described as a spring breeze, if some time ago it was still the main peace faction in China begging for peace talks with Yuben, then after a month, Yuben has already taken the initiative to come to the door.

Of course, Britain and France also came to the door before Yu Ben came to the door, and persuaded Yan Guang to stop [breaking the war], after all, it was the Entente countries that were too stiff, and Yan Guang had only one response to this, that is..."Don't interfere in the internal affairs of the allies..."

This is the answer of the British and American ambassadors when the Lords and Peacemakers wanted Britain and the United States to intervene... The same is true of Yan Guang now, since you refused to interfere in the war that was carried out by the original on this ground, then now you should also not interfere with us... Seeing Yan Guang's attitude of refusal, Britain and the United States were very annoyed, but it was useless to be annoyed, after all, now the forces of Britain and the United States are concentrated in Europe, especially the United Kingdom, just for this European war Britain is about to run out of strength, so in the end, Britain and the United States have to continue to come to the door with the ambassador.

There was no way, because after the army in the northeast withdrew to Korea, a group army assembled in the northeast had already driven to Lushun, and there was only less than a day's way to Lushun.

At this time, because of the broken belligerent relationship, the connection between Ben and North Korea and Port Arthur has been severed, and it is okay for North Korea to say, after all, North Korea is not big, it is not small, and it has a little savings.

However, Port Arthur, if the garrison and the expatriates there had left the country, they would have run out of ammunition and food in less than a month. However, Yan Guang didn't care about this, at least until he recaptured Lushun, Yan Guang would never stop breaking the battle.

However, the role of the submarine still surprised Yan Guang, and of course it was even more surprising that those who looked down on the submarine at all in the past. But it's no wonder, after all, compared to the mighty dreadnoughts, submarines are too inconspicuous, not to mention that submarines are hidden underwater most of the time..."At least those guys who don't know will not oppose the development of submarines..."Thinking so, Yan Guang suddenly frowned. "But the problem of the Americans..."

Originally, according to Yan Guang's prediction, before the outbreak of World War II, he had already had a good relationship with the United States. After the end of World War II, when the post-war interests were divided, there was a conflict with the United States.

But judging from the current situation..."In that case, let's leave for Tianjin tomorrow..."

"But President, tomorrow I am afraid that the British and American ambassadors and the present ambassadors will have to come again..."

Hearing Yan Guang say that he was going to Tianjin, Yue Chang on the side hurriedly spoke.

But Yan Guang is just a way.

"It's okay, anyway, every time they come, it's just a set of rhetoric, and they don't even have any sincerity." Saying that, Yan Guang turned his head to look at Yue Chang. "Also, you go and talk to Yaowu in a while, and when I come, let him tell me [Since you started the game first, don't be afraid to play..."

"This..."

Patting his shoulder, Yan Guang said with a smile.

"Okay, anyway, it's not important, you pack your things first, and accompany me to Tianjin tomorrow."

"Yes..."

Yan Guang is going to Tianjin, and it is not important to go, mainly because he has been annoyed by Yingmei and himself recently, so he wants to avoid it. The next step is to go to the shipyard in Tianjin to see how it is going there.

"Zhang Zuolin's group army is progressing very smoothly, I believe that it will not be long before it will be able to launch an attack on the outer positions of Lushun, and according to the current situation of the defenders in Lushun Port, I believe that taking Lushun will not be much more difficult than taking Vladivostok, and at that time it will also develop into a large shipyard in Lushun..."

Lushun's alias is Dalian, even in later generations, Dalian is also an extremely important shipbuilding base in China―――――――― although in later generations, whether it is a mass-produced 054A-class frigate, or a 052C destroyer that has begun mass production, and even the 056-class corvette that is about to be developed into a dynamic logistics does not seem to have Dalian's share... In any case, the Dalian shipyard also took over a Varyag, and through the Varyag, it also figured out the structure of a conventional aircraft carrier.

Therefore, Yan Guang still intends to build Lushun into a large-scale shipbuilding base that is not inferior to Tianjin, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Fuzhou.

―――――――――― after the success of the Yuan campaign in 1913, there was a railway frenzy throughout the country, and in addition to the extremely important Dilan Railway, other areas that originally did not have railways also began to build railways.

Of course, the Tianjin-Beijing Railway is not one of them, because as early as 1895, the construction of the Tianjin-Beijing Railway from Tianjin to Lugou Bridge in the southwest suburbs of Yanjing City has begun, and by 1897, the Tianjin-Beijing Railway has been fully opened to traffic.

It's just that as a railway from Tianjin to Yanjing, the freight volume of the double-track railway is too little, so after 14 years, the original Tianjin-Beijing railway began to expand the work, and the entire railway was expanded from the original double-track to the eight-line railway.

Together with the expansion of the Beijing-Tianjin Railway, there is also the Jingu Railway, that is, the railway from Tianjin to Tanggu.

In addition to the policy and financial support of the political axe, as well as the free ride of the European war, the most important point of China's rapid development is the vigorous development of the transportation system.

As the old saying goes: "If you want to get rich, build roads first." ”

For the words of the ancients, Yan Guang didn't dare to forget them at all... And now Yan Guang is going to the Tianjin shipyard along the Tianjin-Beijing Railway, which has been expanded to eight lines..."Yes, the atmosphere is very good..."

At this time, in the Tianjin shipyard, not only more than a dozen large and small cruisers and destroyers were under construction, but also a battleship and a battle cruiser were also under construction and were almost completed.

In fact, in addition to Tianjin, the three major shipyards in Guangzhou, Shanghai and Fuzhou each have a battleship and a battlecruiser under construction.

These four battleships and battlecruisers are not simple replicas of the [Baxia] and [Jairus] classes, and although China is now relatively wealthy, it is not so rich that it can waste time and money casually.

There is only one difference between these eight warships and the past six warships, and that is that they are bigger, faster, and stronger!

For example, the new battleship named the [Star Horse] class not only still retains the four triple turrets of the past, but also the original 380mml/50 main gun has also been replaced with a new 406mml/55 main gun, and at the same time replaced with harder and stronger armor, of course, the displacement is also unprecedentedly large, its standard displacement has reached 41,000 tons, and the full load displacement has also reached 47,000 tons... The new battle cruiser, which was named the [Kui Timberwolf] class, the original four twin 356mmL/45 main guns were also replaced by new 380mm main guns, with a standard displacement of more than 35,000 tons and a full load displacement of more than 41,000 tons... With such eight large capital ships about to be launched, it is no wonder that Sa Zhenbing, who was the Minister of the Navy some time ago, even had a lot of black hair. After all, if these eight capital ships can be put into service, it will not be a problem to catch up with the law, not to mention that Yan Guang also promised to start construction of at least two battleships and two battle cruisers every year?

Of course, such a powerful surname and such a large displacement, the cost must be unprecedentedly large, although the ordinary people are not clear about the cost of these capital ships, but Yan Guang is very clear, because a single [Star Horse] class battleship needs 50 million, which is equivalent to the cost of the past two [Baxia] class.

Although the cost of the [Kui Wood Wolf] level is a little less, it may not be less... In fact, these eight ships alone accounted for one year's purchase funds for the Navy's military expenditure.

Sa Zhenbing also fought hard at that time, after all, these eight capital ships were much stronger than first-class and second-class cruisers and destroyers. As long as these eight capital ships can be commissioned, the Chinese Navy will be able to reach a level second only to Britain, Germany and the United States in an instant.

Such an expensive construction cost has also caused considerable controversy within Congress and the political axe, not to mention four ships per year? Even the army and the air force are quite dissatisfied, after all, the navy occupies too much military spending, you must know that the army is also waiting for large-scale equipment of tanks and armored vehicles, and the air force is also thinking about serving more new bombers and fighters.

But I care about all these Yan Guang, because..."It's been 18 years now, and in three or four years, it should be the time when the [Washington Treaty] will be born..."

The Washington Naval Treaty (Treaty on the Limitation of Naval Armaments of the Five Powers) was signed in Washington on February 6, 1922 by the United States, Britain, France, Italy, and China. The treaty was in force until 31 December 1936. Historically, the treaty mainly stipulates that the ratio of the total tonnage of the capital ships of the United States, Britain, Israel, France, and Italy is 5:5:3:1.75:1.75.

That is, the United States and the United Kingdom have the most, which is said to be the first, while France and Italy are tied for third.

Yan Guang still remembers this period known as the [Navy False Saying], not to mention that because of this treaty, an alternative type of ship called [Treaty Battleship] was also born in later generations, a type of ship that was artificially suppressed. (In the Washington Treaty, the displacement of battleships and cruisers, the caliber of their main guns, etc., were all limited by the treaty, so the warships built during this period were called "treaty battleships", and by the way, in addition to battleships and cruisers, aircraft carriers were also restricted.) Historically, when the Washington Treaty was signed, only five countries attended the signing ceremony, namely the United States, Britain, Israel, France, and Italy. However, Yan Guang believes that after the end of the European war, China will definitely participate in this conference as the sixth country.

So two battleships, two battlecruisers or something a year......... This carnival belonging to the Navy lasted until 22 years and ended. And 22 years ago, Yan Guang needed to at least bring the navy to a level second only to Britain and the United States.

Of course, this time I came to Tianjin not just to see these two capital ships that are about to be launched, to be honest, the two capital ships of [Kuimu Wolf] and [Xingyuema] are indeed pleasing to the eye, after all, they are both large capital ships of 30,000 or 40,000 tons.

But these two types of capital ships were not taken very seriously by Yan Guang, because he knew very well that the development of aircraft carriers in later generations was the king, and battleships could only do the work of bodyguards in the future.

Yan Guang will now vigorously develop battleships and battle cruisers, simply because in this era, battleships and battle cruisers are the real capital ships. If you only develop aircraft carriers, and only build three or four battleships, then no matter how many aircraft carriers you have, you will only be a second-rate naval power in the eyes of the world, after all, this is the era of big ships and huge guns, not the era of aircraft carriers... And because of scientific and technological limitations, the current aircraft-carrying aircraft carriers have not been able to replace battleships.

Yan Guang came to Tianjin this time for a submarine, a submarine that sailed to Tianjin because of sea trials and is currently being tested in the shipyard in Tianjin... Cruiser [Aqua Ape] class...

(To be continued)