On the docks of the New York shipyard, many American workers and officers of the American military were looking at the officers and sailors of the Navy who were walking here in the distance, their eyes full of curiosity.

"Is this the Chinese who are coming to take over the Rivadavia?" Standing at the front of the dock and elbowing his colleague next to him, Moreno asked softly. "Why don't they have braids?"

Moreno, who is wearing a navy uniform, is a major of the US Navy, and what Yan Shao bought from the Argentine government this time is not a machine gun or a cannon after all, but the most deterrent steel monster of this era.

So, of course, the U.S. government sent someone to intervene in the deal.

Of course, this is not to say that the U.S. government wants to go back on it, and in this era of the arms trade, unless the buyer and the seller turn against each other, even if there is a slight conflict of interest between each other, the seller will not do anything superfluous.

In fact, before Yan Shao bought the ownership of the Rivadaville from the Argentine government, the U.S. government was actually worried about the Argentine government's financial situation. At present, the Rivada Wil has not been delivered, and Argentina has not yet paid the balance of the battleship, and if the Argentine government suddenly announces that it will not buy it, then the battleship will be smashed in its hands.

It is not unheard of such things in history, for example, the famous 'Seven Turret Relic' was finally smashed into the hands of the British because of the financial problems of the Brazilian government. But then the Turks took over, which somewhat saved the British shipyards from unemployment.

It was only later that the British and the Turks turned against each other, and the battleship was also seized by them. Become one of the most high-profile members of the British Empire's battlefleet. However, it didn't matter if Britain had a war at that time, but the Americans were different, not to mention that although the situation in Europe was tense, who knew when the war would start.

If the Argentines just gave up, the next second the European side would be fighting so much that it didn't matter, the US government could just sell the battleships to the British. But in case the fight hasn't started in the next ten or eight years, then these two battleships can be the same as the title that the 'Seven Turret Relic' once won in history. It's going to be called the Rust...

(Historically, more than 800 workers were fired after Brazilians announced the cancellation of their purchases of the Seven Turret Relic, and Armstrong executives rushed to London for political support.) On the other hand, it is only possible to find other buyers internationally. For the last two months of 1913, the battleship, which had lost its owner, lay quietly in the Tyne, its deck in disarray, and its new name was the Rust. There is not a single Brazilian in Newcastle. It turned out that most of the workers who built the ship had gone to work on other slipways. There were also many who lost their jobs and waited in fear for the harsh winter until the ship was bought by the Turks and a brand new crescent flag was raised... ）

Now that the Chinese have taken over one of them, the Argentines have also said they will buy the other when they have sufficient funds, which somewhat relieved the US government. Especially the senior management of the shipyard, when they looked at Liu Guanxiong and his party, they were more or less grateful, after all, if they hadn't bought the Rivadavia. No one knows what will happen afterwards.

But what needs to be done is always to be done, and this time the U.S. government sent several naval officers. You will watch the whole process of the national government taking over the battleship, including learning to operate the battleship and so on.

This was done not only to assess the combat effectiveness of the Rivadavia class and the Chinese Navy, but also to ensure that there would be no accidents—————— such as these Chinese suddenly and frantically aimed their guns at New York, although it is very unlikely, but after all, it is better to be cautious...

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"Braided? I don't know this very well, but then again, many Chinese in Chinatown don't seem to have braids, and of course many of them have left, and I'm not interested in this..." Lighting a cigarette he had just pulled out, Rival continued with a smile. "Speaking of which, don't you think the style of military uniforms worn by these Chinese is very good, and it seems to look a lot better than the one on us..."

Not only Rieval, but as Liu Guanxiong and his party on the opposite side got closer and closer, many people on the dock focused their attention on them.

At this time, the air force was not very successful, and although the Wehrmacht was also equipped with a lot of aircraft, such as some 'Gao Delong' planes captured from the Beiyang government, most of them were attached to the army.

This is also something that can't be helped, after all, most of the 'airplanes' at this time are nothing more than toys, and they don't have much practical significance. Although many planes also participated in the battle when the Great War broke out between the Nationalist Army and the Beiyang Army, these planes did not seem to have any impressive achievements except for playing some roles in reconnaissance.

So today's national defense force is mainly composed of the army and navy, as for the air force, although Yan Shao really wants to get one, but I'm afraid it will take a while longer...

Nowadays, the army and navy wear almost the same uniform, that is, the pure black Type 11 uniform, the difference is only in the style of silver decoration such as epaulettes and collars.

However, in any case, this military uniform is indeed very good-looking, which also attracts the attention of the Americans on the dock. Naturally, Moreno was also observing the Chinese soldiers in front of him, who were getting closer and closer. Somewhat unexpectedly, although they were a little short, these soldiers were very sturdy and energetic, very different from what he had imagined—————— such as a big smoker with a smoking gun or something.

"You're General Liu, aren't you?" said the director of the shipyard with a smile on his face after taking two steps forward. It's the director of my shipyard, my name is Iger, and I'll take care of the rest of your affairs here, so rest assured, I'll make you feel at home..."

"Then it's troublesome..."Shaking hands politely with Yiger, Liu Guanxiong said with a smile on his face.

In his early years, Liu Guanxiong went to England to study under the arrangement of the Qing government. So I speak English very fluently. Hearing Liu Guanxiong's fluent English, a hint of surprise flashed in Iger's eyes, but he quickly changed his mood. He pointed to the battleship Rivadaville, which was docked at the docks.

"How does it feel? This is the dreadnought we have built for your country, with a full displacement of 30,000 tons, and there are few greater battleships in the world than this one..."When describing his product, Eagle was full of pride both in anticipation and in his expression.

In fact, where do you need to use him, before Liu Guanxiong and Eagle started talking, Liu Guanxiong and the thousands of naval officers and sailors behind him were already deeply attracted by this steel giant beast about 180 meters long.

Especially after learning that this battleship was about to become theirs, some old navies even shed tears of excitement......... For those of them. The Chinese Navy has really been sinking for too long ...

"I'll introduce you to you next..."Seeing that Liu Guanxiong and the others seemed to be very satisfied with the Rivadaville, Eagle smiled proudly, and then pointed to the few people in Rieval not far away. These were Lieutenant Commanders Moreno and Rear Var sent by the Navy, as well as ......... "Zero Zero Total." About a dozen people were introduced, including people from the Navy and people from the shipyard.

And Liu Guanxiong also nodded to them separately, especially several of them who were in charge of sea trials. Next, Liu Guanxiong and the sailors he brought with him had to learn the skills of operating battleships from these people. Otherwise, if you want to drive the battleship back to China just by self-study...

I'm afraid it's going to take a very, very long time...

"Then I'll take you to the arranged accommodation..."After introducing each other, Eagle looked kind. I'm sure you're all tired all the way, and we've arranged temporary accommodation for you in the venue......... I'm sorry, but due to the large number of people, most of your country's soldiers can only be arranged in the staff dormitory, but I can guarantee that the living environment of the generals must be pleasant, and if General Liu and the other generals are not satisfied with the accommodation. I can arrange it for you, but in terms of price..."

Although it was the first time to meet. But Iger's attitude is absolutely impeccable, not only does it discriminate against people of color by ordinary white people, but when he meets Liu Guanxiong, it is even like seeing a friend he hasn't seen for a long time.

Things will turn out like this, also because of the orders of the top management of the New York shipyard ...

As one of the largest shipyards in the United States and the largest shipyard in New York, the New York shipyard also has a number of powerful people among its shareholders, who are usually well-informed.

From the mouths of these people, the top management of the shipyard has learned that the current president of the Kuomintang government, Yan Shao, has at least one of the top five in the world in terms of personal wealth, and his wealth is even more than the annual financial income of the US government, which can be seen from the fact that he can borrow 130 million pounds to the Chinese government and private capital at one time, and at the same time can spend nearly 10 million pounds at will to buy three battleships and other supporting services.

Not long ago, the New York shipyard has analyzed the current situation of the Chinese navy, believing that it is very weak in terms of equipment and personnel, and at the same time, considering the fragile finances and huge foreign debts of the Nationalist government and the high cost of naval equipment, it can basically be concluded that there is no hope for the navy of this country—————— in fact, it is true, in history, the Qing Dynasty has planned a very large-scale naval revival plan, and even sent people to visit the shipyards in the United States, intending to invest heavily in reviving the navy.

As a result, before this plan was put into action, the Qing Dynasty was overthrown by Sun Yat-sen and Yuan Shikai and others, and then when Yuan Shikai died, China was completely mired in a situation of warlord warfare, and in the next thirty-four years, it was almost never truly unified, and it was naturally impossible to talk about building a strong navy or anything...

There is no way, as long as the generals command well, and the troops under your command are well-trained and morale-high, even if you invest less money and no matter how poor the equipment is, you can still fight some wonderful battles.

But the words of the Navy...

It's nothing to make a fuss, but if it's something else......... I really can't do it without money...

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If we only look at the finances of the national government, basically there is not much hope for the Chinese navy.

But considering that they have a monopoly who can be included in the top five of the world's richest list, this matter cannot be seen as such. Taking into account the current state of the Chinese Navy. And this brother surnamed Yan threw out 10 million pounds or 20 million pounds effortlessly, if such a big customer can be wooed, the New York shipyard may not need to worry about business problems in the next ten years...

So the order given to Eagle by the top of the New York shipyard was also simple. It is to improve the favorability of both sides as much as possible, so that if the national government wants to purchase warships, the first thing to consider is their shipyard...

And as one of the directors of the shipyard, Eagle naturally did not want to lose his job.

"These merchants..."

Seeing Iger's courteous appearance beside Liu Guanxiong and the others, Moreno and Rivar looked unbearable, of course they knew what Eagle was doing for him, but they were just ......... That's it for some orders. They really can't accept it.

On the other hand, hearing that Eagle had already helped him arrange his accommodation, Liu Guanxiong and the few people around him frowned slightly. Because on the way here, Liu Guanxiong and a few other people had already discussed the issue of accommodation, so after half a ring, Liu Guanxiong spoke.

"This ......... We're sorry, but you've already arranged accommodation for us. But I wonder if we can live directly in the warship? ”

The little money you save on your accommodation. To be honest, Yan Shao really didn't pay attention to it. In fact, before he came, Yan Shao had already made it very clear to Liu Guanxiong that if there was a need for money, he could contact the New York branch of Yushi Group, and as long as he explained the reason for his use, he could withdraw 1 million pounds in cash...

1,000,000 pounds, or 1,050,000 Chinese dollars. Before leaving, Yan Shao didn't care about it, but Liu Guanxiong complained fiercely in his heart. But in general, if it's just a matter of accommodation costs, Liu Guanxiong really doesn't look at it much.

Merely...

It's different from the past. In the past, Liu Guanxiong and other admirals also tried their best to revive the navy. But to be honest, they also know very well how the finances of the Beiyang government are, so they don't have much confidence in the revival of the navy, they can only say that they are stronger than the chaos, and they don't go to the position in addition to the desire for power, and they also want to make more money, so that they don't have to worry about money when they retire in the future.

But now...

Although the Nationalist Government had only been established for a short time, anyone with a discerning eye could see that the Nationalist Government was much stronger than the original Beiyang Government, so the revival of the Navy was no longer a dream.

In this case, Liu Guanxiong naturally does not want to wait for death like in the past, but plans to take this opportunity to make more meritorious achievements...

If you live in a battleship, the living conditions are indeed a little worse, at least the small space is definitely not as good as the dormitory of the shipyard workers. But living in it allowed Liu Guanxiong and his party to familiarize themselves with the structure of the battleship as quickly as possible, and allowed them to master the warship as soon as possible.

Before departure, Yan Shao had already made it very clear that the battleship must sail back to China as soon as possible.

At present, the 'Rivadavia' has finished outfitting and officially entered the sea trial stage, and the interior space has almost been completed. There will basically be no problem for the sailors to live in, and since Liu Guanxiong plans to make a career, it is naturally the best choice to do so.

"Did you move into a warship..."

Hearing Liu Guanxiong say this, Eagle was also taken aback. But soon he was happy.

"No problem, I'll arrange the futon for you right away..."

On the other hand, the naval officers and men behind Liu Guanxiong didn't care much about where they lived, and after a long journey, what they wanted most now was a place to lie down and sleep.

Soon, Eagle arranged a place for them to live in the warship, and those naval officers and sailors who arrived in New York with Liu Guanxiong had just fallen asleep on the beds in the warship, including Liu Guanxiong—————— as a naval general whose qualifications were not much worse than Sa Zhenbing, Liu Guanxiong's age was not too young at this time. Those young lads are still tired and can't stand it, let alone him...

However, when he did so, the welcome party prepared by the shipyard failed...

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Almost not long after Liu Guanxiong, the naval officers and sailors sent to Brazil also arrived at their destination.

However, they did not go directly to Brazil, but first stopped in Buenos Aires, the capital of Argentina, and handed over the full payment of the 'Rivadavia' to the Argentine government.

After taking stock and confirming that there were no problems, the Argentine government also sent a telegram to the New York shipyard, officially transferring the ownership of the "Rivadavia" to the Chinese government.

Later, the sailors sailed to Rio de Janeiro, the capital of Brazil, where they had been waiting for a long time. However, compared to the enthusiasm of Argentines and Americans, Brazilians, who are originally very enthusiastic, are very cold in the face of these guests from distant countries.

No way, the Americans kept the business, the Argentines were annoyed, but the money they got would also allow them to keep one of the battleships, but the Brazilians ...

But I couldn't save even one...

In this case, let alone the Brazilian Navy, even the Brazilian government feels a little awkward, and naturally it is impossible to give Buzigao them any good looks.

Fortunately, they didn't come here for this, so the officers and men of the navy had just disembarked, and they had already started relevant training, hoping to drive the two battleships back to China within a month... (To be continued......)