Wang Zhenyu turned his head to look over, two tall and thin young men were saluting to him, Wang Zhenyu returned the salute and said: "It's two little Fujian fellows again, someone said to me that the navy is all Fujian people, but if you want me to say, what's wrong with the Fujian people?" Fujianese are not Chinese? As long as they can fight tough battles and win battles, there is no need for the navy to avoid their relatives. ”

Hearing Wang Zhenyu say this, Chen Shaokuan and many other Fujian navies present couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief in their hearts. After the assassination incident the year before last, with the fall of Sa Zhenbing, the Fujian and Guangdong departments in the naval department were suppressed, and now with Wang Zhenyu's assurance, everyone is somewhat comforted.

Wang Zhenyu seemed to see through everyone's careful thoughts, and took the initiative to speak: "Come, let's let our brother Chen Shiying, who doesn't look young, introduce to us the performance of this X-type submarine?" ”

Chen Shiying, born in 1883, graduated from the Jiangnan Naval Academy and is now 36 years old. Different from historical encounters, after following the naval uprising, he was sent to study in the British Navy in the fifth year of the Republic of China because of his outstanding military professionalism.

In the European War, due to the outstanding achievements of the German submarine force, the British Navy had to put a large number of students into the battlefield, and it was at this time that Chen Shiying fully realized the power of submarines. In February 1918, with the end of the war, Chen Shiying returned to China after completing a two-year study at the Royal Naval College in Portsmouth, England. To be honest, because of the war, he didn't learn much about battleships and the like, but he was not familiar with German submarines. After returning to China, he handed over a report to Minister Sa Zhenbing, advocating the establishment of a naval submarine force. Sa Zhenbing, on the other hand, was not interested in submarines, believing that this thing would not become the mainstream weapon of naval warfare; Second, he was too busy to take care of himself because he participated in Wang Jingwei's assassination of Wang Zhenyu, so this report was thrown in Sa Zhenbing's drawer and no one cared about it. Chen Shiying, on the other hand, was fortunate to avoid the risk of assassination, as a large number of officers of the Fujian faction of the Navy were arrested and executed by the National Security Bureau. Due to the shortage of positions in the navy itself, he was assigned to the newly built naval base in Zhanjiang as a commander, and trained the marine regiments in the base every day.

Originally, he thought that he would never return to the warship, but at this time, the navy underwent great changes, and the 27-year-old Vice Admiral Chen Shaokuan became the new minister of the navy, and a group of naval officers from Germany brought a new atmosphere to the navy of the Nationalist Government.

One of them, the captain of a naval submarine named Dönitz, quickly became acquainted with Chen Shiying, the commander of the Zhanjiang base, and the two discussed submarine tactics almost every day.

And Chen Shaokuan saw Chen Shiying's report "On the Importance of Forming a Navy Submarine Force" by chance, and then handed it over to Wang Zhenyu like a treasure, so Chen Shaokuan soared.

In October 1918, with the secret help of the Germans, the submarine force of the Chinese Navy was officially established, and Chen Shiying was awarded the commander of the First Submarine Fleet. At the same time, the Admiralty, with repeated emphasis from the Military Council, drew up a new plan for the allocation of military spending, in which the Navy's submarine forces received the lion's share.

And now it is Chen Shiying's turn to report to Wang Zhenyu, who came to inspect the Zhanjiang base: "Report to the committee, this is one of the only three X-type submarines we have at present. The X-boat is technically essentially an improved version of the German U-boat, still with a pressure-resistant hull structure and a slender steel cylinder with waterproofing facilities. The outer side of the pressure-resistant hull is equipped with a Barast groove and a seawater flap underneath. When the air is filled into the trough, the buoyancy of the submarine increases, and the submarine floats. If you open the seawater flap and the air flap, the sea water will enter the tank, the air will be squeezed out, and the submarine can dive. The fuel depot on the outside of the boat is cleverly constructed so that there will be no unnecessary buoyancy due to gaps caused by fuel consumption, nor will it collapse due to excessive pressure during submersion. The X-type submarine uses two propulsion units, a two-engine coaxial symmetrical arrangement, and a two-shaft twin-propeller propulsion. Two diesel engines are used when sailing on the water, and the maximum surface speed is 15~18 knots; Underwater, two electric motors powered by batteries are used. The battery pack is very heavy, the latest two battery packs weigh up to 600 tons, the battery pack needs to float up and use the diesel engine to charge after the power is exhausted, the charging time is longer, and the later stage can be charged in the submersible state after being equipped with a snorkel. Its combat performance has improved somewhat compared to the German U-boat. ”

After a pause, Chen Shiying said solemnly: "But the commission, our submarine still has great shortcomings." At present, the surface speed of the X-type submarine driven by the diesel engine is not high, and it can only catch up with some slow merchant ships, and the maximum speed under the water is only less than 10 knots, generally about 4 knots (except for the XXI type, because it is equipped with a 600-ton high-energy battery pack and a streamlined hull design, it can continue to fight for an hour at an unprecedented high speed of 17 knots underwater), in contrast, the maximum speed of the destroyer is 30 knots, and the actual anti-submarine combat needs to use active sonar and hydrophones, and the speed of the ship is generally still 10~15 knots, The depth charges of the U-boat against enemy destroyers under water were difficult to evade, and the lack of maneuverability was a fatal weakness of the X-type submarine. ”

Wang Zhenyu scratched his head and said: "That's the case, I guess everyone has heard about the Paris Peace Conference." The imaginary enemy of our current navy is Japan, and I don't need to chase them down, I just need to ambush our submarines at the mouth of the Yangtze River and wait for their fleet to come and send them to death. In addition, the Japanese fleet is no better than the British fleet, and there is no sonar at all, so you don't have to worry about this, what I really care about is the formation of your army. ”

At this time, Chen Shaokuan couldn't help but interject: "Your Majesty, our plan for the submarine force is to complete the 14 capable submarines by the end of this year, and complete the full fleet of 24 submarines by the end of next year. But the Admiralty, last year, the Navy Department submitted a six-year construction plan for the Navy to the Military Commission, but it has not been approved by you, I don't know what you think? ”

According to Chen Shaokuan's intentions, from the seventh year of the Republic of China to the end of the twelfth year of the Republic of China, Wang Zhenyu planned to form a huge new naval fleet, including one aircraft carrier, two battleships, four cruisers, 28 destroyers, and 24 submarines......

Speaking from the heart, Wang Zhenyu was really moved when he saw the aircraft carrier, and the cost was not high, the 20,000-ton aircraft carrier was only 200 million Chinese yuan, Wang Zhenyu felt that this Chen Shaokuan had a strategic vision. But when he suddenly remembered the level of aircraft in this era, he suddenly understood that Chen Shaokuan, the co-author, was still an old guy whose mind was stuck in the era of fleet duels, and his aircraft carrier did not play a strategic role, but only a reconnaissance effect. As a result, Wang Zhenyu threw this plan aside, and at the same time urged the Admiralty to shift its focus to the submarine force as soon as possible, and the aircraft and submarines were now regarded by Wang Zhenyu as the most practical guarantee for China to become a great power.

However, Chen Shaokuan said this, and Wang Zhenyu couldn't get over it if he didn't give some explanation: "Minister Chen, I'm afraid this battleship and aircraft carrier will have to be slow, and the four cruisers are enough, and the one that really needs to be worked on is a destroyer and a submarine." These are all key weapons for the Navy to carry out the task of breaking diplomatic relations at sea in the future, and I know that you must say that battleships can decide to control the sea. But I still can't say yes to you right away, after all, the government's finances are also tight. In addition, it is not completely impossible to deal with battleships, I have arranged for the Ministry of Defense to focus on the construction of Chongming and Jiangyin fortresses, and then there will be 380mm caliber cannons inside, which will be handed over to the navy, so once the Sino-Japanese war breaks out, the navy only needs to lock a few estuaries to the sea, and the rest will go to attack Japan's logistics line. They are island countries, and they can't consume ours. Okay, you can arrange it, I'm going to have lunch with my German friends here, and I'll tell them that China won't demand a penny of reparations from Germany, and that from now on we're allies......"

At the same time, at the Liuguo Hotel in Beijing, Shi Congbin, chief of staff of the Zhilu Allied Forces, secretly held a secret meeting with Wu Junmei, head of the North China Station of the National Security Bureau.

"Mr. Wu, my general has been convinced of Wang Dashuai in Wuhan for a long time, please bring me a message, as long as Wang Dashuai needs it, my general will definitely go to the soup and fight the fire!" Shi Congbin, who is already in his fifties, said that he felt numb, but he didn't blush.

Wu Junmei did not forget to say a few polite words while admiring: "General Xiaokun has a heart, and if General Kun has this idea, he can go to Wuhan in person, presumably Wang Dashuai will definitely welcome him." ”

Shi Congbin is also a ** lake, he shook his head with pity: "What Mr. Wu said is true, but my general is also holding other people's jobs, and many times he can't help himself......"

After a polite greeting, Shi Congbin went straight to the topic: "It's not a secret, my general sent Shi to negotiate with you on important matters, since the Feng army entered the customs, the lives of the people in the northern provinces have been miserable, and my general and all the officers and soldiers of the Zhilu coalition army can't stand it." This time it was a diplomatic failure, the people's resentment was boiling, and all the officers and men of our army were filled with righteous indignation......"

It seems that the lives of the people are not living here, and your Zhilu coalition army has a lot of credit, thinking so in her heart, Wu Junmei still said politely on her mouth: "So, General Xiaokun intends to seek well-being for the common people in the world and justice for the country and the nation?" ”

"That's exactly what I mean, but this needs your support before we dare to go straight to Huanglong!" Shi Conghama Road ......

The relationship between Zhang Zongchang and Zhang Zuolin is going to be anti-water, then there will be a talk next, and the two sides have become vendors in the vegetable market, and they began to grind little by little.

"The security chief of the three eastern provinces, no matter how much it is estimated that Wang Dashuai will not give it, and the army will gradually be nationalized, so ......"

Shi Congbin nodded and said, "This is very good, I will go back immediately to report to my general, when the war between the north and the south starts, my general will definitely turn against the king in front of the battle......"

After Wu Junmei came out of the Liuguo Hotel, she got into a rickshaw and left......

"Stationmaster, we've all gotten rid of the sentry, what does the old man say?" The car was pulled by none other than Ming Dahu, the captain of the North China Station Action.

Wu Junmei leaned her neck back and said, "I want to think about it, this matter is all strange." Big Tiger, do you think Zhang Zongchang will betray Zhang Zuolin? ……”