The development of the navy is inseparable from military spending, and compared with the army, the navy is a bottomless pit that burns money, and a warship with a small tonnage can range from hundreds of thousands of oceans to several million. The money for the purchase of an additional warship could have been used to build an army of regiments or even divisions, so the annual military budget allocated by the Nationalist Government to the navy was very limited.

Despite this, the financial difficulties did not discourage Chen Shaokuan, and he squeezed out money from the surplus of the navy's monthly budget to build the "Yongsui," "Minquan," "Minsheng," and the 1,500-ton "Yatsen" one after another. Nine. After the 18 Incident, the Admiralty asked the central government to allocate funds to order the 2,600-ton "Ninghai" from Japan, and the Jiangnan Shipyard also built the "Pinghai" of the same ton according to the Japanese schema. From 1928 to 1936, after eight years of hard work, the Admiralty built a total of 7 warships and 10 300-ton Ningzi gunboats, and refurbished 1,400-ton "Jian'an" and "Jianwei" and "Hushan", "Wusheng", "Desheng", "Weisheng", "Gongsheng", "Yisheng", "Chengsheng", "Rensheng", "Yongsheng", "Shunsheng", "Qingtian", a total of 13 ships. So far, the total tonnage of the navy's ships has increased to more than 44,000 tons, and the strength has been greatly strengthened.

However, even so, the Chinese navy is still far inferior to the Japanese navy. Although the Chinese Army is also at an absolute disadvantage, after all, the Nationalist Government can still rely on the large number of people to compete with the Japanese army, although it has been defeated. However, there is always the capital to fight.

However, the navy is far behind, and compared to the weak Chinese navy, the Japanese navy can be called a giant. At this time, Japan had the world's first-class naval forces designed and produced by itself, and Japan had a complete fleet of capital ships and aircraft carriers that were second to none in the world, with a total of 285 large warships and a total naval tonnage of 14 million tons. China, on the other hand, has only 57 small and obsolete ships capable of operating on inland rivers and along the coast, with a capacity of 59,000 tons. Therefore, in terms of naval combat strength, the Chinese Navy and the Japanese Navy do not even have the ability to engage in head-on fire, and can only carry out sneak attacks, explosions, and mine operations.

Although there is a huge disparity in strength, it is facing the danger of the nation. The Chinese Navy, however, has exploded into unprecedented combat effectiveness. Although the various ships were far inferior in tonnage, performance, firepower to the sworn enemy Imperial Japanese Navy. However, the navy soldiers were worthy of the military soul of the Chinese Navy, bravely and tenaciously faced the strong enemy of Fusang, and it can be said that they fought until only the most rearly left one ship and one boat, and some ships sank after the battle. Or salvage their weapons and spare parts to continue the fight against the Japanese invaders.

The gap between the Chinese and Japanese navies gradually widened with the outbreak of war. This was especially true after the Battle of Jiangyin.

Jiangyin was known as Jiyang in ancient times. The narrowest stretch of the Yangtze River between Shanghai and Nanjing is only 1,250 meters wide. By the spirituality of the Yangtze River water, the small city of Jiangyin chokes the throat of the Yangtze River. The geographical environment is superior, which is convenient for freight transportation and tax collection, and Jiangyin was an important port in the Tang Dynasty. In the Song Dynasty, it was often crowded and bustling. During the Southern Song Dynasty, it was one of the 11 foreign trade ports along the coast of China. As long as a few large-caliber guns are installed on both sides of the river, it is difficult for the huge fleet in the river to go up.

In 1937, with the advent of the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, Chen Shaokuan, then Minister of the Navy, first admiral of the Navy, launched the most tragic and brutal sea, land and air combat of the Chinese Navy in World War II. In this naval battle, the Chinese navy blocked the Yangtze River channel with the tragic tactic of self-sinking, and launched the last battle against the Japanese navy.

On August 12, the main forces of the two fleets were assembled on the Jiangyin River, the first large-scale external mobilization of the navy after the First Sino-Japanese War, and all the officers and men of the navy had a high fighting spirit and vowed to fight to the death against the Japanese invaders! However, when the fleet was concentrated on the Jiangyin River, the officers and men who were full of enthusiasm waiting for the flag order that "China deeply hopes that everyone can do their duty" were stunned to find that they were going to witness the largest collective self-sinking of the Chinese Navy. It is ridiculous and heavy that a country's navy should protect its territorial waters in such a tragic way!

The first batch of self-sinking warships were the oldest "Tongji" training ship, the "Datong" and "Ziqiang" cruisers, the "Desheng" and "Weisheng" hydro-engine carriers, the "Wusheng" survey boat (no longer in service), and the "Chen" and "Su" torpedo boats (all out of service), and most of these warships were old ships left over from the Qing Dynasty. In addition, the navy also solicited from China Merchants and various steamship companies that 20 steamships, namely "Jiahe", "Xinming", "Tonghua", "Yushun", "Taishun", "Guangli", "Xingshi", "Huaxin", "Hui'an", "Tongli", "Ningning", "Kunxing", "Xin'an", "Maoli No. 2", "Yuanchang", "Muyou", "Huafu", "Dajiao", "Tonghe", and "Ruikang", were simultaneously sunk to form the Jiangyin lock line. When the 1st Fleet arrived in Jiangyin, 28 military and civilian ships waiting to sink were already anchored in the Junshan River.

At 8 o'clock in the morning of the 12th, all ships on the Jiangyin River were led by the "Pinghai" ship to carry out a flag-raising ceremony. At 8 o'clock, the "Pinghai" warship held a flag-raising ceremony, and the officers and men of all warships "stood on the slope" on the side of the ship and saluted the military flag. Chen Shaokuan's general's command flag rose to the top of the mainmast amid military music. Subsequently, the self-sinking fleet, led by the flagship "Tongji", sailed to Fujiangsha to take position.

After the ships arrived at their positions, Chen Shaokuan, who was sitting in "Pinghai", issued an order to sink the ship, and each ship opened the underwater door at the same time and slowly sank. The self-sinking operation was carried out until the evening, but due to the rapid current, most of the first ships were washed away from their ideal position by the current when they sank, resulting in an incomplete blockade.

When the Admiralty discovered that the blockade line was incomplete and that there were many gaps, it requisitioned three civilian steamers, "Pingping," "Wanzai," and "Yongji," and sank them into the blockade line, and eight Japanese barges seized in Zhenjiang, Wuhu, Jiujiang, Hankou, and Shashi, "Ji'an," "Zhen'an," "Fu'an," "Han'an," "Tai'an," "Yongqing," "De'an," and "Shashi," were also towed to the blockade line and scuttled one after another. The Admiralty also asked the Executive Yuan to instruct the governments of Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Anhui, and Hubei provinces to urgently requisition 185 civilian boats and salt ships, which were loaded with stones and sunk into the gaps in the blockade line. A total of 309,400 cubic feet of stone were used in these civilian vessels. 65,020 quintals. If we add the four cruisers "Hairong," "Haiqi," "Haichou," and "Haichen," which sank on 25 September, a total of 43 old warships and merchant ships sank during the shipwreck closure operation in Jiangyin, with a total tonnage of more than 63,800 tons. With the self-sinking of the four cruisers "Hairong", "Haiqi", "Haichou" and "Haichen" on September 25, the Chinese Navy lost its main force on that day.

After the main force of the navy was wiped out, Chen Shaokuan became the commander of the light pole, and his mood was extremely heavy, and without the navy, China had completely lost control of the 10,000-mile sea frontier. However, he did not regret it, although the main force was all sunk in Jiangyin. However, the battle to defend the Jiangyin blockade line stopped the Japanese army's attempt to advance west along the Yangtze River, shattered the Japanese army's dream of annihilating China in three months, and protected the safe transfer of military and political organs and industrial and mining enterprises in the lower reaches of the Yangtze River to the rear of Sichuan. He made outstanding contributions to the protracted victory of the National Government in exchanging space for time.

This time, I heard that the army actually captured three large Japanese warships in Tianjin. This made Chen Shaokuan see the hope of the rise of the navy again.

As the six large transport planes slowly landed at the Tianjin airport, the 150 officers and men of the Chinese Navy quickly stepped off the plane, and Chen Feng could see clearly that there was a lieutenant general and two major generals walking behind the very closest. saw Chen Feng and others walking over. Chen Shaokuan also hurriedly came over with a few officers.

"Chen Feng, commander of the 61st Army of the National Revolutionary Army, welcomes the arrival of Commander Chen!"

"Commander Chen is polite. I'm ashamed to say it. I, the commander of the navy, am really a wretch, and I don't have a decent ship in my hand, so I didn't hear that you had captured three Japanese ironclad ships in Tianjin. I wonder if you captured the three Japanese warships? Hehehe! Chen Shaokuan said with a smile.

"The three warships we captured this time are the Kawauchi, the Tenryu, and the Yubari, as for what kind of warships these three warships are and what their performance is, Commander Chen has to see it himself, I, a layman, don't know anything about it!" Chen Feng said with a smile.

"Are you sure there's a Kawauchi in there?" Chen Shaokuan asked excitedly.

"Yes, I've been to see it in person, it's indeed the Kawauchi, it looks like it's a cruiser, I don't know if it's right!" Chen Feng said.

"Yes, yes, it's a cruiser, and if it's really the Kawauchi, that's great." Chen Shaokuan said happily.

"Commander Chen, is this cruiser Kawauchi very powerful?" Chen Feng asked with a smile.

"It's not very powerful, the Kawauchi light cruiser is an improved version of the Tenryu-class. There are three warships of this class, namely the Kawauchi, Shentong, and Naka 3 ships, and the design purpose of other light cruisers is the same, these three battleships are all used as the command ships of the torpedo team, equipped with water observation aircraft and catapults for torpedo firing guidance, the main guns have been increased to 7, and they are equipped with the most powerful Type 93 acid torpedo in the world. The displacement is 7100 tons, the main gun is 7 140mm guns, can carry 1 seaplane, the design speed is 35 knots, and the crew is 450 people. There are many warships in the Japanese Navy that have more firepower than this class, but none of them are suitable for us. Now that the main force of our navy is gone, the only way to fight the Japanese army is to attack by sneak attack, which requires the warship to sail fast, and the speed of the Kawauchi is 35 knots, which can fully meet our requirements. ”

"What is the performance of the remaining two warships, and can they meet the requirements of the Navy?" Chen Feng asked again.

Chen Shaokuan thought for a while and said: "Yubari is okay, this warship was designed by the most famous Japanese naval designer at that time, Yuzuru Hiraga, and its combined main chimney and bow design were quite avant-garde at that time. The main gun adopts a unique configuration, adopts a new type of engine shaft, and its combat capability is outstanding relative to its displacement, which surprises the navies of various countries. The displacement is 3587 tons, the firepower is two twin 140mm guns, with an additional 2 torpedo launchers and 12 anti-aircraft guns. In general, the performance is average, and this kind of warship with a small ship and a short range is mostly used for coastal defense. The Tenryu was even worse, it was the first cruiser built by the Japanese Navy, which had been built and put into service after the First World War. The main cannon and the triple torpedo tubes are its main battle weapons. The combat tactic is to lead a destroyer to approach the enemy's capital ship in hand-to-hand combat at night, usually as the flagship of the torpedo team. It is not much better than our self-sinking "Hairong" and "Haiqi". ”

Originally, Chen Feng wanted to settle Chen Shaokuan and the others first, at least he had to have a meal for them, but unfortunately Chen Shaokuan's interest in the three warships that were about to arrive was far beyond eating, and he strongly asked Chen Feng to take him to the port to see the warships first. (To be continued......)

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