In March, the military song is loud.

Renault drove young men with shiny epaulettes to the Wusong wharf, outside which two large Changfeng-class destroyers, which had just been launched after more than a year of hard work, were painted light gray and guarded the passenger ship that had not yet untied its cables.

Inside the bridge, Rear Admiral Qiu Baoren, president of the Shanghai Naval Academy, is inspecting the battleship, the first generation of former Beiyang generals who went to study in Britain and experienced the First Sino-Japanese Naval Battle, will not only lead officers and cadets to observe the operations and training of the British and French navies in the next two years, but will also be responsible for the test work of two Changfeng-class destroyers, laying the foundation for the next batch construction.

The Changfeng class adopts the British high freeboard flat deck design, with a standard displacement of 180', full load tons, and uses four British Curtiss recoil steam turbines, which were replaced by the Babcock-Wilcox supercharged kerosene mixed boiler of the United States after reaching a boiler purchase agreement with the United States, with a maximum speed of 30 knots and a cruising range of 12 knots. Three twin-mounted self-produced imitation German mm/156 naval guns, semi-open turret, front two rear and one knapsack layout, twin 37mm rapid-fire guns, and four navy twin water-cooled 127mm fangs heavy machine guns. The torpedo underwater launcher was abolished, a quadruple 450 mm blackhead torpedo launcher (to be changed to a storm torpedo in the future) in the middle of the second and third chimneys, and two mines and anti-submarine depth bomb slides in the stern, which could carry 20 mines or 32 depth charges.

Whether it is appearance or performance, the Changfeng class is still a traditional surface decisive battle warship, especially the speed is not satisfactory, and the air defense is even weaker. However, considering the times and the country's industrial capacity, the comprehensive strength of this large destroyer cobbled together with existing equipment is very good, so even the British Navy sent people to observe and board the ship for inspection when it was launched. And given its large displacement, there will be a lot of room for modification in the future once the new equipment is formed.

At present, Jiangnan and Mawei have laid six follow-up keels at the same time, but the construction work has begun to slow down, after all, this is the first time he has built a modern warship, and he must wait for the first batch of two chapters, three and six chapters to compete for all the tests of the European ships before continuing to build. It just so happened that it was necessary to escort observers to Europe this time, so the Navy also took this opportunity to conduct an intercontinental ocean-going experiment on the two destroyers, hoping to use a more violent Atlantic breeze to test whether the domestic equipment had passed.

On the passenger ship next to it were the first batch of more than 300 military observers sent to Europe after two months of consultations. In addition to Zhang Xiaozhun, Ke Shao, Yu Dehai, and other front-line generals in the army, there are many lieutenant interns from major military academies, Bai Chongxi and Li Zongren are also waiting in the crowd to get on the ship, they will all go to the most dangerous and cruel Western Front meat grinder battlefield, and together with more than 200 students such as Long Yun and Liu Mingzhao, who have been conscripted into Germany and have experienced life and death in the sea of blood and trenches for more than half a year, they will personally experience the heat of the world war.

This large-scale dispatch of military observers has also aroused curiosity in the Western world. Many people are speculating whether this is a signal for China to enter the war. For this reason, in addition to Song Ziqing and Ye Zugui, who came to see them off, Bernard, the British envoy to the Far East, and Kant, the French minister, also came to the docks, and their appearance reinforced this speculation.

"Will (Bernard), have you found out? They were moving very quickly, and it seemed that a divine favor had descended. Just look at this kind of destroyer, which is very much in line with the concept of large-scale destroyers proposed by your country. "French Minister Immanuel Kant, a former French Navy's colonel, is a veteran diplomat with more than 20 years of diplomatic experience, and he saw through at a glance the concept of fleet size embodied in the Changfeng-class destroyers.

"Yes. Whitehall was also very surprised by this! Bernard, the British envoy to the Far East, nodded.

Although he was not a soldier, he could still learn from telegrams from Whitehall that the destroyer had caused quite a stir in Europe. Even Whitehall is beginning to wonder how a country that just a few years ago had no innovation in imitation weapons could have so many new concepts overnight. Thankfully, their biggest regret is that they can't quickly translate the technology into a steady stream of products.

"Maybe we should be glad that at least the relationship between China and Germany has been broken, and I heard that the old fellow Traun has been demoted and retained."

"Hopefully, this rupture will continue forever." Bernard took a breath, turned his head and said, "Your Excellency Kant, what do you think of the suggestion that the Japanese are going to send troops?" ”

Both are currently in charge of the entire Far East, so they are very sensitive to recent rumors that Japan will send an expeditionary force to Europe to join the Entente. Kant frowned, but such an important troop dispatch did not make him happy: "I would very much like to see more allies join, after all, the war is becoming very, very difficult, but one, five divisions have to pay dollars, don't you think the price is too high?" Although I sympathize with the debt crisis. But France doesn't want to be blackmailed, and it doesn't want to be blackmailed! ”

Bernard was also unhappy with the Japanese Navy's recent tentative offer to its allies, sending Kongo-class battle cruisers and five army divisions to fight in Europe, but requiring a total of dollars in special war funds. Moreover, this idea is only unilateral to the Japanese navy, and there is still no news from the government and the army. So he also said, "I don't like it either. But we need more allies now, and Italy is not a partner to trust. ”

Minister Kant agreed with his words, and thought about it: "Your Excellency, the United States has clearly refused to enter the war, and Japan is willing to export only troops rather than much-needed labor, so do you think there is any chance of persuading them to join us?" His finger pointed at the naval formations that were beginning to leave the port. In recent times, due to the increasing tension in the war in Europe, human resources have become the most headache for all countries, especially the occupied France, which has lost nearly one-fifth of its population (including the occupied areas), resulting in the rapid shrinkage of the originally strong French industry, and the steel output has plummeted from 5 million tons before the war to 2 million tons at present. And that number is declining as a large number of workers are forced to pick up guns. Although German steel production also fell to 9 million tons, it was replenished by the occupied territories of Belgium and France.

Therefore, finding manpower replenishment has become the most concerned issue of the warring countries, Russia is not short of manpower, Britain does not have to worry too much because of the existence of India, only France is more painful, so France has recently begun to study the import of labor from China. 400 million people.! Just thinking about it is enough to make France drool, and Kant has always wanted to do this, only because the Republic of China is in the middle of a general election that he has to wait a little longer.

Bernard was well aware of the suffering of France, the war had reached a stalemate, and no country could relax. "Sending observers has taken the first step. I think maybe we have a chance. ”

"Then go meet him!"

On March 28, 15 years of the Republic of China, the general election quietly ended a few days after the National Social Congress.

Li Yuanhong, as the only candidate nominated by the National Security Agency, was elected as the first official president of the Republic of China with 80% of the votes, and Yang Qiu continued to serve as vice president, minister of national defense, and commander-in-chief of the National Defense Forces, and also held the post of new chairman of the National Development Commission. At the same time, Tang Shaoyi served as the general manager, and the cabinet was also adjusted accordingly, the original Ministry of Industry and Commerce was officially divided into two departments, the Ministry of Industry and the Ministry of Commerce, the Minister of Commerce continued to be served by Shen Shukai, and the new Minister of Industry was served by Zheng Tingxiang, the former general manager of Chongqing Industrial Group. Wu Qingdu, a former mechanical expert in the United States, director of Hankou Tractor Factory, and who made outstanding contributions to the modification of bunker cars and the development of diesel tractors, was hired as the new general manager of Chongqing.

Jiangnan Shipbuilding Group also took advantage of this time to officially determine the head. He studied ship design and warship construction at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in the United States, and participated in the construction of Pennsylvania-class battleships during his internship. His friend He Maoqing, who also studied ship design, became the director of the Mawei State Shipyard. Finally, the Yangtze River Group, which was reorganized from the Yangtze River Gang in the past, also hired the Department of Economics and Management of Chongqing University, and Lu Zuofu, who was only 23 years old, became the general manager of the two major ocean shipping companies in Sihai and Wuzhou.

Taking advantage of the vacation and meeting, after sorting out the industry under his name, Yang Qiu took Miao Luo back to his residence in Nanjing, but as soon as he entered the door, Song Ziqing was already blocked at the door.

"This is the recent war in Europe. Recently, it has been rumored that Japan is ready to send troops to Europe in exchange for funds to continue building capital ships to suppress us. Moreover, Britain and France also offered to send labor to Europe. ”

"Finally can't help it?" Yang Qiuxian didn't look at the documents, but asked while unbuttoning his coat, "What is your opinion?" ”

After Yang Qiu returned to Wuchang to take care of government affairs, Song Ziqing has been sitting in Nanjing to help supervise military affairs. So he was more familiar with what happened during this time, and said solemnly: "The General Staff has already held a meeting a few days ago to discuss this matter, and Cai Yi, Sa Zhenbing, Feng Guozhang and I all believe that the Japanese army must be prevented from entering Europe!" If we allow them to send troops, it will inevitably strengthen our relations with Europe, which will not be conducive to our complete recovery of Taiwan! ”

"What about laborers?"

"There are two factions on labor issues. Sa Zhenbing and Feng Guozhang felt that they could be sent in the name of the country to win over relations with Britain and the United States. He felt that once the dispatch of laborers in the name of the country was undoubtedly a declaration of war against Germany, it would be very detrimental to our relations with Germany, after all, the war would always end, and maintaining good relations with Germany was the key to breaking the encirclement between Britain and France. ”

"What about you?"

Yang Qiu saw that he had been talking about other people's opinions, and said with a smile: "It won't be the chief of staff who has been in office for a long time. Don't even dare to say your opinion, right? ”

"The commander-in-chief said with a smile, Ziqing has not yet reached the point where he can't open his mouth in front of you." Song Ziqing smiled slightly: "My opinion is similar to Cai Yi, but if there are enough benefits, I think it is still necessary to send laborers, but it is better not to leave a tongue in the form of a state, even in name." ”

Yang Qiu untied two M1911 pistols from his belt. After the Sino-Japanese War, the security level around him has been so strict that he even picked up a pistol that he hadn't used for a long time to defend himself, after all, Japan is also a country where assassins are rampant. After stuffing the pistol into the drawer, he picked up the papers, and after reading them, he asked, "What step has Hou Yi taken to act?" ”

"Fang Rui said that in three days at most, 5 million yen will all be in the hands of the right-wing of Japan, and now it is the time when the new prime minister of Japan is having a difficult birth, and he thinks that as long as he burns the fire again, the action can begin!" Song Ziqing continued: "I think that this fire has appeared! The fact that the Japanese navy wants to make money by sending troops to Europe should have the support of some important government officials, and even if the negotiations are agreed, the navy will definitely take the lion's share, and under the joint suppression of politicians and the navy, the Japanese army must have been very annoyed! ”

"Then burn it! In a word, we can't send a single soldier to Europe! ”

As Yang Qiu slammed the document shut, a race between China and Japan for Europe quietly began!!