Knowing that the emergence of a large number of new weapons will stimulate Zhang Zuolin's ambition to win the Central Plains, but some things are not transferred by human will, Zhang Tinglan tossed for so long, and moved a full set of machinery and equipment and Jishu personnel from Russia.

The shipyard in Huludao was the same, after half a year of continuous efforts, the first shallow water gunboat they built of nearly 1,000 tons was finally officially completed, Wu Yulin couldn't wait to inform Fengtian of the news, hoping that the Feng army could send important personnel to participate in the launching ceremony.

"To put it mildly, the production of shallow water gunboats is still the task you gave them, and the launching ceremony should also be done by you, and you can still give them some pointers to see what is not being done properly." Yang Yuting said with a smile.

"Chief of Staff, when this warship is launched, our navy will be officially established. This is a bunch of landlubbers under me, and I don't even have a backwater, so you have to arrange someone who knows how to do it. ”

Yang Yuting showed a smug smile on his face: "Humble words, if it was placed in the past, I didn't have any haode candidates, but now it's different, some time ago, a group of naval talents came back from the United States, and when they arrived in Beijing, I asked someone to contact them and invite them to visit Fengtian, yesterday a group of seven people all arrived in Fengtian, the best of them is Shen Honglie, this person is talented, he understands the navy very well, I am about to recommend him to the marshal!" ”

Zhang Tinglan heard the name Shen Honglie, he is not unfamiliar, he is the founder of the Northeast Navy in history, and he is also an important general in the Feng Army, after the 918 Incident, the Northeast Navy lost its fundamental place and became a lost dog, Shen Honglie took refuge in Nanjing. has been stationed in Qingdao, Shen Honglie has also served as the mayor of Qingdao and has done a lot of useful work.

Shen Honglie's surrender to Nanjing seems to have betrayed the Feng army, but Zhang Tinglan also knows in his heart that there is no way to do it, as a naval general, there must always be a place to settle down, who called the Feng army down at that time, there are no eggs under the nest, overall. Shen Honglie is quite capable.

"Neighbor Ge, since you recommended Shen Honglie, then you might as well let him go to Huludao together to visit the newly launched warship, and let him see the strength of the Feng army."

"It's fine. We will inform them now and let Shen Honglie go to Huludao with you. ”

After discussing it. Zhang Tinglan reported the situation to Lao Zhang again. As soon as Zhang Zuolin heard that a warship had been launched, he was really overjoyed, and the Feng army could be said to have three armies, including the navy, land and air force, looking at the country, among all the warlords, including the Beiyang government. It's all first-class.

"In humble terms, go and comfort the workers of the shipyard, and then hurry up and set up the navy. Combat effectiveness is formed as soon as possible. ”

Zhang Tinglan saw that Lao Zhang was so urgent, and he sighed in his heart, and he said tentatively: "Marshal, the navy is a jishu branch, which requires a long time of accumulation and training, with the ship launched, there must be enough sailors to operate, if you want to really form combat effectiveness, I am afraid it will take a lot of time." ”

Zhang Zuolin frowned slightly, turned around on the ground a few times, and then said to Zhang Tinglan: "Clumsy words, do you think I'm pushing a little too hard?" ”

"Dashuai, the faster the development, the better, but some things need a cycle, and the process must be completed step by step, and there is no way to reach the sky in one step."

Lao Zhang nodded: "Humble words, you have always told me that you have to work hard and save liliang, and only if you can compete with the Japanese can you consider living in the Central Plains, and I have always agreed with you very much." Recently, however, someone made a new suggestion to me, that Japan is at war with Russia in the Far East, and both sides have invested a large number of troops, and the Japanese will be distracted from paying attention to the three eastern provinces. ”

Listening to Lao Zhang's confession, Zhang Tinglan listened carefully and carefully, constantly thinking and deducing in his heart, Lao Zhang's words are indeed reasonable, if the Japanese are deeply involved in the war with Russia and are unable to take care of the Feng army, and then the Feng army will quickly control the central power through this period of time, and then concentrate all their efforts to turn back against the Japanese.

This plan can't be said to be wrong, but Zhang Tinglan always felt that the risk was still too great, so he said: "Dashuai, this idea sounds good, but this opportunity is too difficult to grasp, and how much liliang needs to be paid to defeat Beiyang and control the Beijing regime, if Sun Wen's party in the south also sends troops, how to deal with it, this needs to be carefully weighed!" ”

"What I said makes sense, I'll think about it carefully, you go to Huludao first, and support our navy, even if there is no combat effectiveness for the time being, it is haode to support the façade."

Zhang Tinglan and Zhang Zuolin have been in contact for a long time, and they know Lao Zhang's temper very well, this handsome man can be good and is a very good leader, but Lao Zhang is also very stubborn, once he makes up his mind, he will not easily change his mind.

From Lao Zhang's words, Zhang Tinglan had already heard a trace of displeasure, obviously Lao Zhang did not listen to Zhang Tinglan's opinion this time, but had other ideas!

Zhang Tinglan also knew that he couldn't say anything at this time, otherwise it would only provoke Lao Zhang's rebellion, so he could only think of some other ways to persuade Lao Zhang.

After leaving the Shuaifu, Zhang Tinglan took Shen Honglie and others directly to the Huludao Shipyard, Shen Honglie was in his early thirties, wearing a pair of glasses, and he looked like a scholar more than a soldier.

After meeting with Zhang Tinglan, Shen Honglie looked very excited and took the initiative to say: "Commander-in-Chief Zhang, when I was in Britain, I heard about your great name, recovering the Middle East Road and defeating the Russians, it really greatly increased the prestige of the Chinese, even overseas newspapers have reported this matter, we wanderers are also honored!" ”

Shen Honglie said this completely out of sincerity, at this time the entire Western shijie is full of contempt for the Chinese, even if it is a very good talent, it is difficult to gain the true respect of the other party, behind you is a declining old empire, no matter when, out of the country. In order to truly understand the meaning of the motherland, the national fortune and the individual are closely linked.

Shen Honglie also had to face all kinds of ridicule and contempt in Britain, and suddenly the Fengjun defeated the Russians, and after it spread to the West, it suddenly became a news, and some British people also began to look at the Chinese with different eyes, and the contrast between before and after made Shen Honglie more and more understand the value of having a strong motherland, so after returning home, he took his fellow partners to Mukden. I hope to be able to serve the Feng army.

"Mr. Shen, Fengjun is developing, and what is most lacking is all kinds of talents, if you can go to Fengtian, we will definitely provide enough stages. Let you show your talents to the fullest. ”

As soon as Zhang Tinglan met, he showed the intention of soliciting, and the two sides talked happily. Shen Honglie also told Zhang Tinglan about various things in Europe. Zhang Tinglan also inquired about the situation of the European war from time to time, they took the train, and soon arrived at Huludao, and after getting off the train, they did not rest, and rushed directly to the shipyard.

Wu Yulin has been waiting here for a long time. saw Zhang Tinglan arrive. Wu Yulin greeted him with a smile: "Commander-in-chief, since receiving the instructions, no one in the shipyard dares to slack off, after several months of hard work. Finally, the first shallow water gunboat has been made, and it is waiting for you to come and accept it! ”

"Director Wu, I've been looking forward to the launch of the warship for a long time, let's go over and have a look!"

Wu Yulin took Zhang Tinglan and walked quickly to the dock, and a huge warship appeared in front of them, and on the warship, there were some workers doing the finishing work.

Seeing this warship, Wu Yulin also showed a full smile of joy on his face: "This warship, from the inside out, all the equipment is produced by ourselves, including power and weapons, except for the use of many Russian technicians, the rest are our own!" ”

After Shen Honglie heard this, he was immediately surprised, there are also several shipyards in China, which can produce ships, but most of the steam engines and weapons used have to be imported, and some even steel plates have to be imported, and now he suddenly heard that Fengjun can produce all of them, which scared Shen Honglie, and even he felt that Wu Yulin was bragging.

"Originally, the Dagu Shipyard had the ability to build warships under 1,000 tons, and we integrated the shipbuilding equipment Jishu personnel in Hailanbao and Vladivostok, and there was no problem at all in building small ships, and Boli's machinery factory was to produce ship power equipment, and we also got it, and there was no difficulty in producing steam reciprocating machines, as for the artillery Jilin Arsenal could produce it!"

Listening to Wu Yulin's introduction, Shen Honglie also had to accept this fact: "It's really unexpected, the strongest industrial strength in China is actually the three eastern provinces that are the latest to develop, and the Feng army can rise quickly and defeat the great powers, which is really extraordinary!" ”

Wu Yulin was also very happy, and introduced to them with a smile: "This shallow water gunboat has a displacement of 930 tons, a length of 72.4 meters, a width of 13.2 meters, and is equipped with two 152 mm main guns, one at the head and one at the end, and four 47 mm secondary guns, and the power is powered by a 1,400-horsepower steam reciprocating engine, with a maximum speed of 10 knots. A great weapon to support the infantry! ”

Zhang Tinglan was still a little confused about the navy, but Shen Honglie's eyes lit up, and he hurriedly asked: "Director Wu, listening to what you said, I'm afraid that this warship will surpass the Chuzi ship equipped by the Beiyang government in terms of firepower and tonnage!" ”

"Hmm!" Wu Yulin nodded happily and said: "There are a total of six Chuzi ships, all of which were ordered by Zhang Zhidong from the Kawasaki shipyard in Kobe, Japan, and they are old goods produced by the Japanese, and there is no way to compare them with our new ships. This shallow water gunboat has two prominent designs, which make the combat capability a very big improvement. ”

Wu Yulin pointed to Zhang Tinglan and Shen Honglie on the boat, and then said: "On this warship, it is equipped with two triple anti-aircraft machine guns, which can deal with ordinary low-altitude aircraft, and when fighting in the river, it can have not weak air defense capabilities!" ”

In this era, aircraft were just appearing, there was no real threat to ships, and there were not many gunboats equipped with anti-aircraft fire. Shen Honglie also noticed it for the first time, and he not only asked: "Will the gunboat still be attacked by aircraft?" ”

"That's right, but it's not our gunboats that are attacked, it's our planes that attack the opposing gunboats!" Zhang Tinglan said with a smile: "After the Feng army took control of Hailan Pao, some Russians were still unwilling, not long ago, two shallow gunboats tried to approach Hailan Pao and harass us, but they were defeated by the Feng army's air liliang, took two bombs, and fled in a hurry!" ”

When Shen Honglie heard that there was such a battle example, he couldn't help but nodded, and Wu Yulin continued: "There is another key place in this warship, that is, in the cabin, we have installed a large number of watertight compartments, so that the ship has a strong survivability, even if it is hit in shallow water, it will not easily cause serious damage, and the Japanese are completely different from the thin-skinned and stuffed goods!" (To be continued......)