Chen Feng pondered for a while before raising his head and asking, "In Brother Houfu's opinion, what do we need to build a strong navy, and what should we do to fight the Japanese homeland?" ”

Chen Shaokuan thought for a while and said: "Whether it is the army or the navy, what affects its combat effectiveness is nothing more than the quality of soldiers, weapons and equipment, logistics support, and other aspects, and the quality of soldiers is divided into the quality of soldiers and the quality of officers, which is one of the most important factors affecting the combat effectiveness of troops. ”

"Whether an army's combat effectiveness can meet the requirements is extremely important and the composition of its officers and soldiers, not to mention, take Zhu Mao in Yan'an, for example, when it was at its strongest, there were only more than 300,000 soldiers, but the Central Army had a full 15.6 million people, plus the Gui Army, the Sichuan Army, the Guizhou Army, the Dian Army, the Ma Jiajun and other warlord troops, the number of soldiers that could be used even reached more than 2 million. However, in the first four of the five encirclement and suppression, the Central Army suffered heavy losses, and only in the fifth encirclement and suppression did it achieve some results, but it also failed to eliminate Zhu Mao and others. ”

Then Chen Shaokuan continued: "This is related to the composition of the soldiers on both sides, according to the confession of the Red Army prisoners captured by the Central Army, what they advocate is the equality of officers and soldiers, and the military rank system is not implemented. All the soldiers are willing to join the army, and they also have to be educated and told what to fight for, which is why Zhu Mao's army is so powerful! ”

"On the other hand, the party-state, when there are no soldiers, they will be conscripted, and if they can't be recruited, they will be arrested, and when the soldiers arrive in the army, they will become cannon fodder for Shangguan to earn military merits, and they don't know how they died, and there is a large number of people in the army who drink the blood of soldiers, and the combat effectiveness of the army composed of such a group of people can be imagined. Therefore, if we want to build a strong navy, we must first raise the quality of our officers and men. ”

Chen Shaokuan's remarks are very reasonable, although he has been emphasizing the quality of officers and men, in fact, one of the central focuses is talent, and Chen Shaokuan was able to put the importance of talent in front of weapons and equipment, which made Chen Feng quite happy.

The officers of this era are also aware of the importance of talented people, but they have always believed that advanced weaponry is far more important than a group of outstanding officers and men, and they have put the cart before the horse.

"Speaking of weapons and equipment, the importance of a batch of advanced weapons and equipment for an army is self-evident, and the focus of our talk today is the Japanese Navy. Then let's talk about the armament of the Japanese Navy! According to the information obtained by our intelligence services. The Japanese Navy has at least 8 aircraft carriers, 10 battleships, 30 cruisers and no less than 100 destroyers, and the Japanese Navy has at least 3,000 carrier-based aircraft and seaplanes. ”

"The ships of the Japanese Navy have not only absolute superiority in quantity, but also superiority in quality. Compared with the ships of the Japanese Navy, the performance of our Chinese naval ships is not half a star. Take, for example, the cruiser "Pinghai", the flagship of our Navy. Named cruiser. However, its displacement is only 2,383 tons, and it is only 106.7 meters long and 11.9 meters wide. In fact, it is equivalent to a destroyer of the Japanese Navy, and there are several hundred Japanese warships with similar performance as the Pinghai, and without a batch of advanced weapons and equipment sufficient to balance the Japanese Navy's warships, it may be difficult to hit the hometown of the Japanese. Chen Shaokuan said.

Chen Feng thought for a while and said: "Brother Houfu, the problem of equipment is easy to solve, junior brother, I have already got a batch of advanced ships, there are still a lot of them, but because they are too advanced, our naval officers and men are currently unable to control these big guys, so I say, the quality of officers and soldiers you said just now is very important, I agree with this, if you can summarize it in one word, that is, talent!" We lack enough naval talent! ”

"Brother Houfu, if I put this batch of advanced ships and all the naval power in my hands under your command, how long can you make them form combat effectiveness?" Chen Feng seemed to have made a lot of determination to ask.

Chen Shaokuan was silent for a few minutes and asked: "Brother Solemn, I don't dare to guarantee this, since you can't control these new warships even with Chang Zhiguo, as their teacher, I don't dare to guarantee that you will definitely be able to control it." In addition, I don't know much about the navy under my brother's command, so I really don't dare to play this guarantee! ”

Chen Feng said: "The navy under my command now has more than 250 ships of various kinds, including 11 aircraft carriers, 6 new main battle aircraft carriers, and the remaining 5 are not bad. In addition, there are 4 battleships, 28 cruisers, 33 destroyers and 49 frigates, in addition to a number of auxiliary ships such as minelayers, minesweepers, supply ships, in addition to nearly 100 submarines and more than 1,000 carrier-based aircraft! ”

"So much? How well do these ships perform? Chen Shaokuan asked in surprise.

"The performance is very good, and there are about 60 old warships that have been removed, and the rest are new ships launched last year and this year, so you can rest assured!" Chen Feng said proudly.

"What about the officers and men of the Navy?" Chen Shaokuan asked again.

"Now the navy under my command is divided into three fleets and a submarine force, with a total strength of 47,500 people, but some of them are marines, that is to say, the naval units responsible for beach landing, these people cannot participate in naval battles in the navy, they are not really navy, they can only be regarded as a branch of the army, and if these people are discarded, the navy will only have more than 30,000 people." Chen Feng said.

"More than 30,000 people is a bit less, and more than 250 ships also need at least 50,000 people!" Chen Shaokuan said.

"That's true, so I'm going to expand the navy to 68,000 troops. There is no shortage of soldiers, but the quality of these soldiers cannot be guaranteed! Chen Feng said.

Chen Shaokuan thought for a while and said: "In fact, we are also experienced in the cultivation of naval talents!" ”

"What experience? Where did the experience come from? Chen Feng asked strangely.

Chen Shaokuan said: "The experience comes from the Qing Dynasty that has been overthrown, to put it bluntly, it is the Westernization Movement!" Experience comes from wherever it comes from! ”

Chen Feng knew that the Westernization Movement took place in the 60s and 90s of the last century, and was a self-help movement adopted by a part of the Westernization faction of the feudal ruling class under the double blow of foreign invasion and domestic peasant uprising. It was also during the Westernization Movement, under the slogan of "seeking strength", that they created China's modern navy. But what is the relationship between the Westernization movement and the cultivation of naval talents, Chen Feng really doesn't know very well!

I saw Chen Shaokuan say sadly: "Although the Beiyang Naval Division of the Qing Dynasty suffered a heavy blow in the First Sino-Japanese War, the main fleet was completely annihilated. However, the measures taken by the Westernists to build and strengthen the navy for cultivating qualified personnel have been effective and have left behind many useful experiences. ”

Seeing that Chen Feng was listening attentively, Chen Shaokuan continued: "The external troubles of the Qing Dynasty came from the sea, so the late Qing government also attached great importance to the development of the navy. ”

"I know very well with the Western powers that if they hadn't opened the door to China on a rampage, China would still be a closed feudal country, and to some extent, we do have to thank the Western butchers with butcher knives! This is the same as Napoleon's conquest of Germany, which also promoted the emancipation of the mind! But thanks to the Japanese, I don't understand, what is this for? Chen Feng said with a smile.

"The relationship between Japan and China has been a master-servant relationship since the Han and Tang dynasties, and the Japanese have always regarded China as an object of study, and that admiration comes from the bones. However, this phenomenon changed dramatically after the arrival of the Western powers, especially after the Meiji Restoration, when Japan's national power grew stronger and stronger, and it abolished a series of unequal treaties signed with Western countries during the shogunate period, regained national sovereignty, and finally entered modernization. ”

In 1874, Japan, which was small and backward in the eyes of the Qing government, instigated by the United States, actually provoked the Qing Empire, sent troops to invade Taiwan, annexed the Ryukyus, and also forced the Qing Empire to compensate for military expenses and demand 500,000 taels of silver, which gave the Qing Dynasty ruling group a greater shock. At the same time, it also made the Qing rulers realize a truth, that is, the reason why foreigners dare to be arbitrary and unscrupulous in China's maritime frontiers is because China does not have a strong navy. Foreigners rely on their own "strong ships and guns" and have nothing to fear. ”

In the face of the constant provocation of foreign invaders and the long and empty coastal defense line of the Qing Dynasty, many ministers advocated earnestly strengthening the construction of coastal defense, stressing that it is necessary to start now, although it is too late to make immediate preparations, but there is still room for redemption. Subsequently, the general of Fuzhou, Wen Huang, the governor of Fujian and Zhejiang, Li Henian, and the prime minister, Shen Baozhen, the prime minister of shipping, jointly said: "Japan...... And those who dare to be arrogant are also peeking at the lack of precision of China's equipment, and relying on the secret funding of the United States. …… And the country still has the ironclad ship No. 2, although it is not complete, but it is more than enough to destroy ordinary ships. He has it but I don't, and the water master is angry for it,......。 'Asked for the formation of the Qing Dynasty's own navy, and in this way China had its own navy. We shouldn't be thankful to the Japanese in the process, but we had to do it in the end! ”

"This is true, but does the experience of the Qing Dynasty's Westernization Movement really guide our naval construction? If it weren't for Li Hongzhang's assassination and injury in Tokyo, I'm afraid China would have suffered more blackmail, is their experience really useful? Chen Feng was very skeptical about this. (To be continued......)