Chapter 132

The Admiralty is formed!

In the June 1895 newspaper, the news was so inconspicuous that even a very small number of sensitive diplomats or observers would not have noticed what kind of changes the establishment of this department would bring to the Northeast, after all, there seemed to be nothing new about it. Pen % fun % Pavilion www.biquge.info

In the military system of Northeast China, the Supreme Command Department is the Military Command Department, and the Military Command Department under the Governor's Office has some characteristics of its own -- in terms of its functions, it manages the building of the armed forces of the three northeastern provinces and the Korean unified supervision region in a unified manner, such as the recruitment, establishment, equipment, training, military scientific research, ranks, and salaries of military personnel.

On the other hand, the Military Command Department does not have actual military command. The military command of the Army units is subordinate to the General Staff Headquarters, which is directly under the Governor's Office. It is precisely through the interlocking distribution of power that the military and political power in the northeast has always been firmly held by Tang Haoran, who is the governor of the three eastern provinces, rather than being "managed" by others -- even the general staff does not have direct military command over the troops.

In the process of building the Northeast Navy, its naval department was not included in the management of the General Staff, but was included in the Military Command Department, and the Navy Department under the Military Command Department was followed by "(preparation)", which can show the status of the Navy in the Northeast.

In the armed forces system of the Northeast, the navy does not seem to know that it has been squeezed into that corner for a long time. If it weren't for the construction of naval bases such as Lushun Military Port and Zhenwan Military Port, as well as the training ships of the Northeast Navy, which often sailed on the sea. Maybe no one knows yet. There is still a navy in the Northeast. Moreover, when it comes to tonnage, it is still "the second in the Great Qing Dynasty", although it has only one cruiser, but it has forced the United States to make concessions on the Hawaii issue, and it can be regarded as a foreign land, which is a "great achievement" that even the Beiyang Fleet has never had.

Despite this, the Northeast Navy is still inconspicuous, and even fleets such as the Beiyang Navy will always say "yo" in a mocking tone when referring to the Northeast Navy. There is still a navy in the Northeast", the implication is that they don't look down on this navy armed with merchant ships at all, let alone regard them as a navy.

Indeed, for other navies, the Northeast Navy is too weak, claiming to have a tonnage of tens of thousands of tons, even exceeding that of the Beiyang, but in fact there are only a few small gunboats, and the rest are all warships converted from merchant ships, and even warships are not even on the largest tonnage training ships. It's just four or five guns.

That so-called "Northeast Navy". At best, it can scare and scare pirates, that's all. Well, it is also possible to provide this service to fishing boats, which is the purpose, so that naturally no one will look at them squarely, let alone see them as equal "partners".

But when the Beiyang Navy and others are still looking at the Northeast Navy with the eyes of "hey, they actually have a navy", the Northeast Navy has launched a strong expansion foot, first of all, last year, the Pingbo-class armored cruiser lead ship "Pingbo" was put into service, although its tonnage is not large, and the firepower is relatively limited, but it means that the Northeast Navy has achieved some sharp changes.

Since then, the Northeast Navy has slowly begun to show its strength. At the beginning of the year, the "Dinghai," the lead ship of the "Dinghai"-class armored cruiser ordered by France, returned to China, and by the middle of the year, under the guidance of French engineers, the "Jinghai," the sister ship of the "Dinghai," was completed and sea trials began.

On the slipway in Incheon, the "Jinhae" combat ship and the three "Pingbo-class" are in full swing under construction, and even the more powerful "Jinbo"-class armored cruiser with a tonnage of more than 7,000 tons has also completed the preliminary design, and can start construction in Incheon only after the approval of the navy.

In this way, the Navy did not stop its expansion, not only to carry out the design at home, but also to send an inspection mission to Europe to purchase more advanced armored cruisers from the United Kingdom, so as to master more cutting-edge armored cruiser construction technology.

Therefore, when two "Dinghai-class" and two "Pingbo-class" and Jingyuan appeared on the sea, they immediately shocked the Beiyang Fleet, and even the Western naval powers, and it seemed that overnight, Northeast Asia had another powerful navy, although in reality, their strength was still very limited.

But this does not prevent people from paying attention to this navy that seems weak now, but is full of future, with various eyes. It was in this situation that the Admiralty (preparations) finally moved out of the Military Command Department and into the somewhat empty Admiralty.

The location of the Admiralty is opposite the Dalian Shipyard, the shipyard slipway can be seen from the Admiralty Building, you can see the progress of shipbuilding from time to time, perhaps, this is also a kind of supervision, in the Western architecture of Dalian, the Admiralty Building is undoubtedly a very spectacular building, the architectural style has a strong English style, but the grandeur of its appearance can always make visitors breathtaking.

However, this imposing Admiralty building seemed a little too large for the newly built Northeast Navy, so that most of the rooms were vacant, after all, there were not so many institutions in it—the foundation of the Navy was too weak, but the grand buildings often had other meanings, such as symbolizing the ambitions of the Navy.

"Oh, that's an ambition that cost 4 million yuan......"

Stepping on the marble floor of the lobby of the Admiralty Building, looking at the Admiralty lobby that can even be described as resplendent and resplendent, the officer wearing a naval uniform and the rank of lieutenant colonel on his shoulder, couldn't help but laugh, and his ridicule immediately caused the laughter of a group of lieutenant officers around him.

4 million, this is the cost of the Admiralty Building, almost equivalent to half of the "Zhenhai Combat Ship", for these young officers, naturally there is some resistance to this kind of magnificent building, but this group of young captains and officers have attracted people's attention as soon as they came in. Their laughter is even more eye-catching.

On the balcony on the second floor facing the hall. A few officers who spoke a somewhat stiff Nanjing official dialect. All the more so because of the laughter of these young officers. And frowning slightly, in their opinion, this is undoubtedly an extremely rude performance.

"Really, who are they?"

It's really rude, this is the Admiralty! How could there be such a rude guy.

"I came back from studying in the United States, I heard that they are all guys who want to be captains!"

As soon as I heard these people speak, there was no surprise - they were Japanese naval officers in Chinese military uniforms. The reason why the Northeast Navy was able to expand rapidly was due to the absorption of hundreds of former Japanese naval officers, and it was with their assistance that the Northeast Navy was able to get on the right track step by step.

The same scene existed in the Beiyang Fleet, but in the Beiyang Fleet, these former Japanese naval officers in exile in China played more of the role of "foreigners", while in the Northeast Navy, they were regarded as Chinese, and if qualified, even if they were appointed captains. In fact, there are quite a few Japanese captains. However, the appointed captains often have a premise - naturalization, they must become Chinese nationality and naturalize as Chinese before they can take up such an important position as the captain. And as one of the symbols of naturalization, it is to abandon the Japanese surname and use the Chinese surname instead.

Like the sister ship of the Dinghai, the captain of the armored cruiser "Jinghai", Lieutenant Commander He Yuanyi, is a naturalized Japanese naval officer, and his Japanese name is Kawahara Yoichi. For the Japanese, this was the most direct way for them to board the warship.

However, there are many officers in the Admiralty building who still maintain Japanese surnames, but as a distinction they do not wear Chinese military ranks, but civilian ranks, which means that they cannot directly command the fleet and can only be used as staff officers. This is undoubtedly extremely inappropriate for naval officers who are eager for the sea, but it is precisely this "distinction" that has contributed to the "naturalization" of a large number of naval officers of Japanese descent.

"No, especially the lieutenant colonel who took the lead, his teacher in China is His Excellency the Marshal, and his teacher in the United States is Mahan......"

When one of them looked at the leading lieutenant colonel, his words were even more sour, and he even said with sourness.

"I heard that he has a good chance of being the captain of the armored cruiser Jihai!"

According to the naming rules for warships formulated by the Navy Department, the capital ship is named after "Hai", the cruiser is named after "Bo", and the destroyer and mine-strike ship are named after "Fu". Under this naming rule, Zhenhai, as a combat ship, is naturally a veritable "Hai-class capital ship", but the "Dinghai-class" armored cruiser is somewhat unworthy of the name, although it is a historical legacy, but it cannot be denied that for the current Northeast Navy, it means that it is the capital ship that is indisputable. At least until the "Zhenhai" is put into service, the "Three Seas" will be the main force of the Northeast Navy.

And now, although the Jihai is not in service, it seems that the choice of its captain has been chosen, at least in the Admiralty is not a secret - even in the military, there will inevitably be some political problems that need to be resolved, just like the placement of these students in the United States, which involves political reasons. Inevitably, Han Che's appointment and dismissal is one of the unavoidable political issues.

"Gee, that's a lucky guy!"

As soon as they heard that the other party was so big, the others all hurriedly changed their words. Two teachers, one is a scholar who knows the West, and of course, more importantly, he is the supreme ruler of the Northeast. The other is a world-famous naval strategist, how can people not sigh about his luck.

Of course, this is not the luckiest thing, for him, the real luck, both the former and the latter, will help his development in the navy, for many naval officers, he is undoubtedly the real lucky, his origin guarantees that he can have more shortcuts.

"What a blessing, if he could come back a few months earlier, maybe he would be the captain of the "Zhenhai Ship"! ”

Although the outfitting of the Zhenhae has not yet been completed, its captain has been appointed, at least approved at the joint meeting of the Navy, and even the new captain has already led the crew to Incheon to familiarize himself with the warship, and it is too late to say anything. Even if he was a student of the marshal, it could not change this fact. What's more, the Navy is a place of experience, and maybe their teacher is very good, but he has no experience in commanding warships after all.

"I heard that the "Zhenhai" already has a captain, Han squad leader, you ......"

For the first batch of naval officers studying in the United States, Han Che was their squad leader, and even now that they have returned to China, they are still accustomed to being called when they were in the United States, and their common experience determines to a certain extent that this is destined to be a group, but unlike Fujian, which is determined by provincial nationality, this group is determined by a common experience - they are all merchant cadets transferred to the naval school to study the navy, and then sent to the United States to study the navy. This is a special experience that makes this group different from any other naval group.

The words of the comrades beside him made Han Che just smile slightly, and he replied with a smile as he walked in the corridor of the Admiralty building as if he were in his own home.

"It doesn't matter! You see, this is the Admiralty, I tell you, I didn't even think about the "Zhenhai", besides, don't think that we can get here by drinking foreign ink for two more years, even if we give you a cruiser now, can you guarantee that you are competent? In this Admiralty building, the ......"

Nodding with a smile at several unfamiliar officers wearing civilian ranks, Han Che said to his friends with a solemn expression, he is naturally very aware of the current situation in the navy, and of course he also knows what his classmates are longing for, so he said these words to remind them and remind them to pay attention to their words.

"Do you see them, they are all old navy, they have served on the ship for more than ten years, although we just graduated, we have interned on a US warship, but compared with them, the experience is similar to that of children, as a captain? Hone and hone it again! ”

After learning that the "Zhenhai Ship" had been appointed as a captain, Han Che, who knew the reason, only smiled secretly in his heart, not the slightest sense of annoyance, but felt relieved, as a teacher's student, he naturally knew what he represented in the navy, but he knew the navy, and knew that he was far from being a competent captain now.

"So, I want to ......"

After a slight pause, Han Che put away the smile on his face and said softly towards the deputy chief of the Admiralty who greeted him.

"We have other options!"

(Goodbye 2015, hello, 2016.) I wish you all a lot of encounters, career progress, and good luck for your family in the new year! Ask for a commuter pass! More tomorrow! (To be continued.) )