Originally, Zheng Sen came to visit Hong Kong Island with the spirit of curiosity and learning, but he did not expect that the Australian Army would shock him so strongly.

He was also present when the Hailan shelled the Zheng family's fleet, and the Australian Army did not dispatch at that time, and after watching the confrontation drill this time, he learned that the Australian Army was as strong as the Navy.

Just not long after he left, a new decision was being discussed in the conference room of the Australian Ministry of Defence.

After discussing with the Ministry of Foreign Trade, the Navy has allocated five Western sailing ships, but the premise is to help the Ministry of Foreign Trade transport a certain amount of goods every year.

The reason why the Ministry of Foreign Trade agreed so readily is that its own crew is not enough, and the crew trained by the Naval Academy happens to be internal personnel of the Navy, and these people have signed service contracts with the military, and if they change jobs, they will face the risk of imprisonment.

Even though the Ministry of Foreign Trade's offer for recruiting crew salaries is very attractive, no one dares to trade their freedom for money.

Under this premise, the Ministry of Foreign Trade had no choice but to compromise and lease the three sailing ships to the Navy in the form of leases, and of course the Navy would not really pay any rent, as long as it helped the Ministry of Foreign Trade to transport a certain amount of goods and escort tasks every year.

The two departments reached this preliminary decision through communication, for the navy, whether to lease or directly to the actual question is not big, at this stage the navy is not a war, and to help the Ministry of Foreign Trade to transport goods and escort can not only train soldiers but also obtain the right to use ships, which is very good.

The most important thing is that the Navy's annual military expenditure is not high, if it is really all classified as the Navy Department, the annual maintenance and repair costs alone are a large amount of high expenses, so this time the Navy is very calm to accept the proposal of the Ministry of Foreign Trade, people lease you for the ship, and even the maintenance fee is paid by yourself, where to find this kind of good thing.

The ship is allocated to the navy, but how to use it, the navy and the Ministry of Defense have their own considerations, at present, the sea blue is as the backbone of the coastal defense of the mainland, in addition to sailing between Christmas Island and the mainland, and does not do long-distance navigation tasks, this time with the new allocation of five modified warships, will be able to completely liberate the first sea blue.

According to the advice given by the Navy, the Navy Blue was the flagship and two modified Western sailing ships to form an offshore defense fleet to patrol the waters between Australia and Christmas Island.

However, this proposal was vetoed by the Ministry of Defense, and it is possible to form a fleet, but it is a bit wasteful to carry out patrol missions, because at present, there is no danger in this section of the sea from all indications.

Since there is no danger, there is no need to waste military spending, and the country has not yet reached the level where it can cruise around with warships.

The Ministry of Defense has the considerations of the Ministry of Defense, and the Navy also has the considerations of the Navy, and if they can't make a plan, they need to train a group of rich naval personnel who can fight at sea, and this time they have found a new reason.

Since Hong Kong Island has been leased and troops are stationed, there is no reason not to think about maritime security, and it is necessary to form a patrol fleet specifically responsible for Hong Kong to Batavia, and with the presence of such a force, it can effectively deter the forces in these areas.

Hong Kong will be Australia's final stronghold and bridgehead on the mainland for a long time in the future, and it will be really difficult to handle if something happens, although the land defense force is there, but the threat from the sea has always existed, and there are the Portuguese in Macao, the Zheng family in Fujian, and the Dutch also cruise to this generation from time to time to fight the autumn breeze.

After some discussion, the Ministry of Defense finally agreed to the new plan of the navy, but it is absolutely impossible for the Sea Blue to be stationed in Hong Kong, where the status is important, but the security of the mainland is more important than there.

After the initial agreement, the Ministry of Defense and the Navy began to talk, and the two sides discussed various matters in detail.

The Navy decided to station the two warships in Hong Kong for a long time to form the East China Sea Fleet, which is specifically responsible for the patrol missions of the East China Sea generation and the escort of Australian merchant ships.

Because what we know from the Ministry of Defense is that the patrol task of the warships of the coastal defense is not too heavy, which means that most of the time, they will stay in the port or act as cargo ships to transport goods.

"General Wang, today the Ministry of Defense will officially approve the approval report of the East China Sea Fleet, and you can set sail." A long conference table with Defense Department officials sitting opposite Navy officials.

The preliminary discussions between the two sides have been going on for three days, and today they basically informed the navy personnel that they had approved the approval.

The East China Sea Fleet is officially established, and judging from the current scale, its number is only two modified warships, but in the future development plan of the East China Sea Fleet, its establishment will be within 20 warships, divided into two home ports, one in Hong Kong, and the other is the Manchester City military port in Australia.

However, when the East China Sea Fleet grows to 20 ships, it will not be until 10 years at the earliest.

At present, the authorized number of the East China Sea Fleet is set at about 440 people, and each ship has about 160 personnel, in addition to a 120-man Marine Corps to cope with the landing operations required when performing tasks abroad.

After the meeting of the Ministry of National Defense, Wang Tiezhu returned to the office of the Navy Department with his people, summoned all the officers at and above the rank of captain of the Navy, and held a brief meeting, the main content of which was to announce the establishment of the East China Sea Fleet and the tasks to be carried out in the future.

Although the establishment of the East China Sea Fleet is well known in Australia, He Yu, who is far away in Hong Kong, does not know that two warships will be stationed in Hong Kong for a long time.

In view of the special nature of Hong Kong at present, the command of the fleet will be jointly owned by the Hong Kong Island Military Management Commission and the navy; in wartime, the supreme executive officer of the CMC may mobilize the fleet's operational rights, and in peacetime, the navy will make arrangements for the change of guard and patrol tasks.

After all matters have been discussed, the East China Sea Fleet will set sail on the 15th of the middle of next month, and will officially carry out its mission, taking on the task of protecting Hong Kong and merchant ships, and at the same time deterring neighboring forces.