The Sino-German Secret Pact stipulates that Germany will support the northern government and future China in the development of industry, and that the northern government will open its markets to Germany. As for the finer terms, it was mainly Germany to provide the northern government with a minimum loan of 500 million marks at an annual interest rate of 5 percent, to be repaid after 15 years. However, the loan was required to purchase all German weapons and industrial equipment.

The weapons and equipment purchased, in addition to the more than 200 fortress guns in the Arthur fortress, are the battleships of the navy. Including two 'Dragon-class' battleships, each with 45 million marks. Seven 'Northern Provinces' light cruisers, five and a half million marks each. 12 'Class A' destroyers, each with a total amount of 170,000,000 marks.

As for the industrial equipment purchased, it is mainly steel smelting, non-ferrous metal smelting equipment, and various precision machine tools for the production of machinery and equipment. In addition, there is equipment for the manufacture of locomotives, etc. In addition to this, the northern government ordered all the equipment needed for a medium-sized shipyard from Germany. The shipyard was located in Arthur, and when completed, it was capable of producing cruisers of less than 10,000 tons. As for battleships or battlecruisers, on the one hand, the technology is not enough, and on the other hand, there are not enough skilled workers, so they can only wait until later to continue to upgrade.

In addition, the northern government also carried out a series of military cooperation with the German side. The government in the north will send 1,000 army students to Germany to study at the Army Academy in Germany. The Navy will send 2,000 students to study at the Naval Academy in Germany. Compared with the army, China lacks talent in the navy. Other than that. The officers and men who received the orders for these battleships, light cruisers, and destroyers will also go to Germany before the end of the year for training. Wait until the battleship is finished. Drive straight back. Wu Haoxuan estimated that the war would probably have already begun by then.

In addition, the Germans will help the northern government build a submarine factory for the development and manufacture of such underwater weapons. Under the circumstance that there is a huge difference in the naval strength of China and Japan, Wu Haoxuan can only try his best to reverse the unfavorable situation. The use of surface ships and underwater submarines to flank them will undoubtedly cost the Japanese dearly. The Japanese warships, however, have never paid attention to anti-submarine warfare. This even carried over into World War II. If the Northern Navy can deploy more than 10 submarines in the Yellow Sea, it will certainly be able to teach the Japanese a hard lesson.

Sa Zhenbing, Cheng Biguang and others returned to Lushun in late July. Wu Haoxuan also rushed to Lushun from Shengjing to meet them. The warships needed for the Navy had already been ordered from the Germans. What is missing now is people. Don't buy a battleship and not have enough people to fly it, that's a big joke. Fortunately, Sa Zhenbing and Cheng Biguang this time. Brought enough people to Wu Haoxuan.

In addition to the old men of the Nanbeiyang and Fujian sailors and Guangdong sailors. There are also many young people who are determined to join the navy, and they also came to Lushun together. Sa Zhenbing even emptied the entire Yantai Sailor School, whether it was an instructor or a student, all of them followed him to Lushun. After meeting Wu Haoxuan, Sa Zhenbing directly proposed to set up a larger sailor academy in Lushun, striving to train 2,000 or more qualified officers and men for the navy every year.

In this regard, Wu Haoxuan readily agreed and directly agreed to establish the Northern Naval School. Moreover. The scale has been greatly expanded, and efforts have been made to train 5,000 or more naval officers and sailors every year. Such a big deal. Sa Zhenbing, Cheng Biguang and the old men of the navy who came with them were very satisfied. They could see from this that Wu Haoxuan sincerely wanted to build a powerful navy.

In the conference room of the commander of the Lushun Fortress, Wu Haoxuan held a meeting on the inaugural of the Northern Navy. Of course, because everything was to be kept secret, only a few high-level people participated.

"Ladies and gentlemen, thank you for coming to Lushun, to the North. I know that the fiasco of the First Sino-Japanese War is a pain in your heart and a shame for everyone. I think so, too. Therefore, we should be more ashamed of our courage. The navy is a military branch that a big country must have. If the army is the cornerstone of defending the country, then the navy is the sword that opens up territory for the country. I hope that in the future, the Northern Navy will not only be able to defeat the Japanese Navy, but will also be able to defend our interests overseas. Wu Haoxuan said solemnly.

Wu Haoxuan has high expectations for the navy, China is a continental country, and the Chinese people have a very shallow understanding of the sea, which makes everyone not pay attention to overseas interests. Although, now the world has been carved up by the great powers. However, the landscape of the world is about to change dramatically. China must seize this opportunity if it is to expand its interests abroad. This makes it necessary for China to have a strong navy. The Northern Navy is undoubtedly the predecessor of the Chinese Navy.

"This is the young marshal's expectation of us, we have nothing to repay, only bloody battles, even if we are broken and die for the country, we will not flinch!" Sa Zhenbing said excitedly.

The others were also excited. They could hear Wu Haoxuan's expectations for the navy, and this, what they were longing for soon?

"Ladies and gentlemen, we have secretly ordered 21 battleships from Germany, including two battleships with a displacement of nearly 30,000 tons and armed with ten 305-mm guns, as well as seven light cruisers with a displacement of nearly 5,000 tons and 12 light cruisers with a displacement of nearly 1,500 tons. Although I know that there is still a big gap between this and our opponent, the Japanese Navy. However, this is only the first time we have purchased a ship from an external source. As long as the navy has enough personnel, the strength of the navy will continue to expand in the future. Wu Haoxuan said again.

"Two battleships with a displacement of almost 30,000 tons? This is probably the largest battleship in the world, right? Cheng Biguang exclaimed.

"Two battleships, 7 light cruisers and 12 destroyers, such strength, although not comparable to the Japanese Navy, is enough to pose a serious threat to them." Sa Zhenbing also said.

"Ladies and gentlemen, from now on, the Northern Navy can be regarded as officially established. Then, the first priority next is to select the personnel who will secretly go to Germany to receive these warships. Now all the battleships have been laid on shipyards in Germany. It is expected that the destroyers of the 'Class A' and the light cruisers of the 'Northern Seven Provinces' will soon be completed. The 'Dragon-class' battleships will also be completed before 1910. In order to fully exploit the combat power of these battleships, we need to send people to receive and train as soon as possible. The Japanese will not give us enough time to develop, wait until the fleet returns home. Perhaps the fleet has not yet returned home, and war may break out. Wu Haoxuan said solemnly.

"Yes, young marshal." Sa Zhenbing nodded.

Then they began to deliberate on the candidates. In the end, Sa Zhenbing personally served as the captain of the battleship Longteng, and the captain of the battleship Longxiang was Liu Guanxiong.

Cheng Biguang served as the captain of the light cruiser 'Fengtian' and concurrently served as the commander of the cruiser; Zheng Rucheng served as the captain of the light cruiser 'Jilin,' Li Dingxin served as the captain of the light cruiser 'Heilongjiang,' Huang Zhongying served as the captain of the light cruiser 'Chahar,' Lin Jianzhang served as the captain of the light cruiser 'Rehe,' Du Xiqi served as the captain of the light cruiser 'Suiyuan,' and Wu Jingrong served as the captain of the light cruiser 'Mongolia'.

Li He served as the captain of the destroyer Jia-1 and concurrently served as the commander of the destroyer's fleet, and the destroyers of the 'Jia-2' and the destroyer Jia-12 were all served by the old men of the Nanbeiyang Naval Division, the Fujian Naval Division, and the Guangdong Naval Division. Although, most of them are in their forties. However, there is really no one to replace them in China. Only when a new group of people grows up can we replace them.

In addition, more than 5,000 people were selected from among the sailors and junior officers who were attached to the Northern Navy. They will secretly go to Germany in batches to receive warships, and they will train in the military bases of the German Navy to complete the run-in and master the performance of these warships.

In addition to this, the rector and vice-principal of the Naval School were appointed. Like the Army Military Academy, Wu Haoxuan personally served as the principal of the Naval Academy. However, he, the principal, is just a name. The real thing is that there are a few vice-principals in charge. Lin Qiying, Xie Baozhang and Qiu Baoren were appointed as the vice principals of the Naval Academy, responsible for the schedule management of the Naval Academy.

The director of the shipyard was Wei Hanlai, and the Northern Navy's own warship design institute was formed. The Navy's warships cannot be purchased only by foreign countries, but ultimately need to be built by themselves. Therefore, it is also necessary to have your own battleship design institute.

After these talents are in place, the Northern Navy can finally get on the right track. Wu Haoxuan was also able to free himself from these trivial matters and began to think about other things.

The navy now has battleships, light cruisers, and destroyers, and will further complete the navy by building its own gunboats, patrol boats, and torpedo boats after the shipyard is built. However, among the various warships of the Navy, it seems that an armored cruiser is missing. Now the navies of various countries are equipped with quite a lot of armored cruisers. They have great firepower, thick armor, and extremely high speed.

China's old enemy, the Japanese, was equipped with a lot of armored cruisers. In addition to what they bought from the British, there were also those captured from the Russo-Japanese War. The Northern Navy also needs a warship that can restrain these armored cruisers. (To be continued......)

PS: The third update is here, asking for subscriptions, monthly passes and recommended tickets! Thank you for the tips and monthly passes of extreme deep-sea diving! Thank you for the reward from Liu Lijin, Dongshan Village, Ningxiang County!