Back to the Republic of China as a commander

After looking at it for a while, Wang Zhenyu decided to go to the General Staff Headquarters, which was arranged on the schedule, because it was said that Chief of General Staff Wan Yaohuang had a new army plan to come out.

In the General Staff Headquarters, Ma Xicheng, Minister of Armaments, and Sa Zhenbing, Minister of the Navy, were present. Now it was time for Wan Yaohuang to speak.

"Chairman, our current army is already very large. There are 60 field divisions, [-] security corps, and other auxiliary troops. The total number actually exceeds [-], and there is not much combat power. According to the report sent back by the military observation mission to Europe, our firepower configuration is not up to European standards, and many things need to be re-improved based on our actual situation."

Wang Zhenyu didn't interrupt Wan Yaohuang's words. In fact, the organization of the current youth army is determined by him, which is very random and lacks professionalism.Especially in the configuration of heavy weapons, strictly speaking, only nine of the fifteen field divisions currently have standard configurations.Therefore, it is also necessary to take advantage of the opportunity of North-South peace to carry out army rectification. After all, the opponent of this army is no longer Beiyang, but also damn Japan and the great Soviet Russia that will be born in the future.

"The plan of our General Staff Headquarters is to reorganize the existing field divisions and abolish the army-level organization. The army unit will transfer deputies from the various departments of the General Staff as needed during combat. And the division level also changes the practice of the regiment directly under it. There are two brigades and four regiments under the division. The division headquarters is also affiliated with the heavy artillery regiment, the logistics regiment, the secret service regiment, the guard battalion and the field hospital. The communication company has five units. In the brigade headquarters, it will be downgraded to one level, especially the establishment of the health brigade. The total number of people is expected to remain unchanged at 5000, but the technical equipment will increase. My idea about the artillery here is that the division headquarters As a heavy artillery regiment, it will be equipped with 105 24mm howitzers (6 for each battalion) in the future. The brigade's heavy artillery battalion will have 16 75mm mountain guns, and the mortar battalions directly under each regiment will be equipped with 24 Min-8 mortars. It is an improved version of the 200-type mortar produced by Anjiang Military Factory this year. It is lighter and safer, has a longer range, more powerful shells, and a faster rate of fire. At the battalion and company level, our Anjiang Military Factory An ultra-light mortar has been developed. The total weight of this thing is less than [-] catties, and almost every infantry can carry it with them. The range is almost less than [-] meters, and the shell weighs less than one catty, so its power is much smaller. , but the effect of using it to deal with the enemy's machine gun position is quite good. Our plan is to assign it to the expeditionary army first, and then wait for the improved version with a longer range and greater power to be attached to the battalion and company level Send out the firepower, and strive to have one of these things in each combat squad."

Wang Zhenyu nodded in satisfaction. It seems that during the time he went to Shanghai, the gang of the General Staff still did some work at home.Wang Zhenyu just thought about another issue, which is the issue of submachine guns for infantry. This is very important. You must know that because of industrial capabilities, the Japanese army has never dared to equip them (too much bullets).If you equip your infantry with this thing and use it intensively for strategic assault or intensive defense, it will be very spectacular. It is estimated that it will be uncomfortable for anyone to put it on after a firepower strike.

However, it seems that the world's first portable light machine gun (the scientific name of the submachine gun) mp18 was made by the Germans in 1918, and it is still two years away, so there is no rush.

Then what should I be anxious about now? By the way, I heard that Cai E will go to Wuhan in the next few days, and then go to Japan for treatment via Shanghai.According to history, this trip meant that he died in a foreign country and would not be able to return. Should I stop him and find another group of American doctors to treat him?But this kid is really good at fighting, there is no place for two tigers on this mountain, if he is left behind, where will he go?

I am still a professional. From the perspective of a politician, it is king to see how I can unify the three southwestern provinces after Cai Songpo's death.

Just as I was thinking about it, a loud voice suddenly came: "Your Excellency Chairman, I have something to say about my humble position, may I ask if the Chairman still wants the Navy?"

Wang Zhenyu raised his head in surprise and followed the voice. It was none other than the No. 1 Navy Minister of the Republic of China, Sa Zhenbing, who spoke.Sa Zhenbing has been getting angry recently. Since the Yuan Dynasty, the Republic of China Navy, which inherited the former Qingshui Division, has been in a very embarrassing situation.Due to the country's financial difficulties, the navy has not only acquired new warships, but even its own military pay has become a big problem.In the history of the Republic of China, Feng Yuxiang had the reputation of a defected general, but in terms of the number of defections, compared with the Navy of the Republic of China, this defected general can only find a place to cool off.The navy of the Republic of China has developed to the point where there is a mother who is a mother. As long as you give money, he will defect. Today, if Beiyang gives money, he will defect to Beiyang.The speed of changing flags will keep you dazzled.There is really no way to do this. In the troubled times, everyone puts survival as the first priority, and integrity cannot be eaten.

How are you doing now?After the Nationalist Government was established, almost the entire Chinese navy unceremoniously joined the Nationalist Government.But it is a pity that the national government itself is also very short of money. It is already very good that he can pay enough for the navy.

Sa Zhenbing didn't think much of Wang Zhenyu, a young boy, so after the establishment of the Nationalist Government, he almost never came to Wuhan as the governor of Fujian Province. He just stayed in Nanjing and asked Hu Hanmin for money every day.It seems that the Ministry of the Navy is not a unit under the name of the General Staff of the Military Commission of the National Government, but a unit under the name of the Executive Yuan of the National Government.And Wang Zhenyu really has no plan to develop the navy right now, so he just let it go.In fact, the navy is the most expensive of all arms. To develop the navy, you must first have a strong shipbuilding industry, and this is not done by building a shipyard. The shipyard is actually just an assembly workshop, and many spare parts are produced by upstream companies. Yes, and the level of involvement of these upstream companies is too wide, to the point where Wang Zhenyu, who has made a fortune by issuing currency indiscriminately, can't afford it.There is another important reason. If Wang Zhenyu develops the army, as long as the secrecy work is in place, the Japanese may not be nervous.But if Wang Zhenyu develops the navy, the commander of the Japanese Combined Fleet probably won't be able to sit still.At present, the maritime hegemony in Asia belongs to Japan. Although it is unwilling to admit it, this is the fact.

To put it all together, calculate the economic accounts, the cost of building a fleet is almost enough for Wang Zhenyu to arm hundreds of thousands of troops, not to mention that the navy is now in charge of the Fujian gang, and he can't get involved at all, so he will not let go of this anyway. of.But since the Minister of the Navy has spoken, Wang Zhenyu still has to deal with it politely. After all, when he entered the navy, he was still wearing crotch pants.

"Old Sa misunderstood, how could we not want the navy anymore, Wen Zheng dare not forget the historical lesson that there is no defense in the sea." Wang Zhenyu replied very politely.

Sa Zhenbing didn't intend to be polite: "Well, why did the military committee refuse to approve our plan to purchase additional warships this year, and the military expenditure allocated to the navy is only two yuan for the military salary and the maintenance cost of the warship? Is this to build the navy?"

All the generals set their sights on Wang Zhenyu. In fact, everyone didn't know anything about the navy, and they never put their own people in this system.

Wang Zhenyu smiled calmly and said: "Old Sa, don't worry, development is a long-term process, and it's not just a matter of spending a lot of money all at once. In this way, you can talk about the situation of the navy first, and I will Everyone, myself included, has no idea about the current state of the Navy."

Well, this denunciation has turned into a report, and Sa Zhenbing sighed helplessly: "The 1st and 2nd Fleets, the Practice Fleet, the Torpedo Guerrilla Squad, the Survey Squad, and the Patrol Squad have a total of about 50 ships, with a total displacement of nearly 3.5 Ten thousand tons. The entire navy of the Republic of China is here, and this total tonnage is even smaller than the lightest battleship of the Orientals."

The family background of the Navy is really not enough, Wang Zhenyu thought while clutching his chin.

"Old Sa, to run a navy, we must first have talents. My idea is to change the way of thinking of the navy. In the current navy, 11 relatively good warships will continue to be used, and all others will be allocated to form the National Government Coast Guard. , affiliated to the Ministry of Public Security. The retained warships form the Navy’s first training fleet, which is stationed at Wusongkou. I mean to expand the scale on the basis of Nanjing and Wusongkou Naval Academy to form a Nanjing Naval University. I personally serve as the principal , the source of students should not be limited to Fujian, it can be recruited from all over the country, and the military commission is solely responsible for the funding, what do you think?"

Sa Zhenbing nodded: "That's great, but the issue of the warship is still unresolved?"

Wang Zhenyu sighed and said: "It's still the European war, we can't buy ships even if we have money, and my plan is to have my own shipyard. My plan is to build a shipyard in Shanghai, Guangzhou, and Hainan. But Sa You are also an expert, this matter cannot be done right away, it will take time, so what I mean is, you can give priority to a job here."

"What job?"

"Form naval aviation and marine warfare!" Wang Zhenyu smiled and said, "My plan is to build eight military naval aviation bases in the coastal provinces for the formation of naval aviation. In the future, we will have aircraft for offshore defense. In addition We also set up two marine divisions, according to the standards of the field army, but they are mainly responsible for beach landing training, these two divisions are located in Hainan, and their affiliation is with your Navy Department."

Chapter 303 Navy ([-])

Sa Zhenbing was confused, naval aviation?It's an airplane, but what's the use of this thing?Can you sink a warship?nonsense?At most, it is reconnaissance and reconnaissance!And that marine division, what the hell?In addition, the previous part of the naval ships was set aside to form the Coast Guard, nakedly digging the walls and mixing sand!No, absolutely not, this Wang Wenzheng is too bad, if the navy makes him toss like this, then he will be disbanded.

By the way, Wang Zhenyu said so much, in fact, he has already made up his mind to dismantle the Fujianese who are in the group. Don't you love the group?I'll break you up, and at the end, I'll add more than half of the people from other places to see how you hug them?

Seeing that Sa Zhenbing was about to speak up to object, Wang Zhenyu immediately said: "In addition, we have a five-year plan. The plan is to increase the total tonnage of the navy to 3.5 tons within five years. This [-] tons is really not enough, this is the idea of ​​our Military Commission, it is a set, what do you think, Mr. Sa?"

"One hundred thousand tons?" One sentence blocked Sa Zhenbing's objection.

Sa Zhenbing looked at Wang Zhenyu suspiciously: "Chairman, there is no joke in the army."

Wang Zhenyu said with a smile: "I can make a military order with Sa Lao, and if I can't reach it, I will go to the field."

Sa Zhenbing weighed the pros and cons, and in the end the interests of the country still prevailed over the interests of the small navy group in his mind: "Then, as the chairman said, as long as we can see the revival of our navy, my old Sa will die." And no regrets."

Hearing what Sa Zhenbing said, Wang Zhenyu couldn't help admiring this man. The naval problem that he thought was very troublesome was actually solved in this way.Feeling overwhelmed, Wang Zhenyu suddenly asked himself, in terms of patriotism, is he better than Sa Zhenbing?

Before the meeting ended, Sa Zhenbing suddenly got up and said: "Chairman, I am here on board the first ship of the Chinese Navy, Haiqi. The officers and soldiers on board implore the chairman to go and inspect it."

Wang Zhenyu thought for a while, nodded and smiled, "Okay, I'll go!"

The rising sun is in the sky, the river is breezy, and at the newly-built National Wharf in Wuhan, various cargo ships are constantly entering and leaving, and the newly installed tower cranes are also busy.At that time, Wuhan was a big construction site. Under the organization of Wang Zhenbang, Wang Zhenyu's fifth brother, [-] migrant workers gathered in Wuhan and were building an international metropolis.

At this moment, the 4-meter-long Haiqi ship was very majesticly parked near the National Wharf, causing the busy dock workers to stop their work unconsciously, pointing fingers at the huge ship, and passing by. The citizens also stopped to watch.The first thing Wang Zhenyu saw when he saw this big warship was that he had the desire to go shopping. It was like seeing Ai Crazy [-]s. Wow, no wonder the grandchildren of the Navy want to buy a warship every day. This thing is so comfortable to look at. .

The guards at the attendants boarded the ship first for a safety inspection according to the old rules, and after confirming that there was nothing abnormal, Wang Zhenyu came out.

The sailors lined up along the side of the ship in beautiful sailor uniforms, with their feet spread wide, one hand holding a gun on the ground, and one hand behind their backs, looking very energetic.The moment Wang Zhenyu stepped onto the deck, the commander issued an order: "Salute."

All the sailors immediately stood upright, raised their chests, looked straight ahead, and saluted Wang Zhenyu with their guns.

这艘海圻舰是甲午海战后大清国购买的2艘大型巡洋舰之一，被誉为天朝海军第一舰。海圻舰造价计328242英镑，排水量4300吨，舰长132.3米（434英尺），舰宽14.3米（46.8英尺），吃水深度6.1米，最大航速24海里／小时(24节)，马力17000匹。海圻舰的主要武备有200mm舰炮2门，舰艏舰尾各一门；120mm舰炮10门，左右舷各5门；47mm舰炮12门，左右舷各5门，舰尾下层甲板2门；37mm舰炮4门。鱼雷发射管7座，所配鱼雷为英制直径533mm白头式鱼雷。

Hearing that such a big guy can reach a speed of 24 knots, Wang Zhenyu suddenly became interested. He remembered a data in World War II. It is said that the fastest warship in Japan at that time was the Yamato, with a speed of 27 knots. The fastest in the world was The American battlecruiser Iowa can reach 33 knots.

"Old Sa, I think the navy's thinking needs to be changed. We have only one imaginary enemy in the future, and that is Japan. But if we don't have external help for the combined fleet of Little Japan, if we want to face it head-on, we will do it no matter what. But. So we have to change our thinking and compare ourselves with him. Our future warships will reach a speed of 27 to 30 knots. We will fight if we win. If we can’t win, we can at least run! And we have to take Japan into consideration. It’s an island country, and it’s not necessarily a fleet battle with them when you want to attack it. It’s not better to attack his sea lines of communication and play with it. He is an island country and has no material input. I think he’s not good enough. In the powerful United Fleet, if the fuel is used up, he can only lie down."

When Sa Zhenbing heard this, his eyes could not help but light up. Only now did he really feel convinced of Wang Zhenyu, a junior.

He immediately became very enthusiastic: "Chairman, let me introduce you to a few colleagues from the navy. They are all young talents from the younger generation of the navy."

"Chairman, this is Vice Minister Liu Guanxiong, he is now the head of the Military Order Department of our Navy Department"

"Hello Chairman!" Liu Guanxiong was already in his early fifties, he was stocky, but still full of energy, and he was a very standard military salute to Wang Zhenyu.Wang Zhenyu returned a military salute, and shook hands with Liu Guanxiong very enthusiastically.

"Chairman, this is Vice Minister Cheng Biguang, whose name is Hengqi. He is the same year as Vice Minister Liu. He is from Xiangshan, Guangdong. He is now the commander of the 1st Fleet. My idea is that he will be the commander of the [-]st Training Fleet next. Take office?"

When Wang Zhenyu heard Sa Zhenbing's words, he was hinting to himself that the navy would no longer blindly reuse Fujianese, so he smiled secretly and nodded in unison.Then he shook hands with Cheng Biguang. Cheng Biguang is also considered a figure in history, but the ending was not good, and he was assassinated. As for the main murderer, there are many versions. Some say it was done by Lu Rongting, and some say it was done by Sun Yat-sen. God knows the truth?

But now that history has changed his face beyond recognition as a big butterfly, naturally there is no such thing as being assassinated.

"These two are newcomers to our navy. Chen Shaokuan, styled Houfu, is currently the captain of Hairong; Chen Shiying, styled Jiliang, is currently the captain of Jiangheng." Wang Zhenyu looked at the two of them, both of whom were still very young. He knew that he was from Fujian, he smiled and shook hands with the two: "Do it well!"

After getting off the Haiqi, Wang Zhenyu said to Sa Zhenbing and other five people: "I think this training fleet is mainly cruisers, and the ships are based on Haiqi as the standard ship. I don't want to do anything new. Tactics, our navy is weak, we will be pirates in future wars, we can block the Yangtze River estuary with river defense fortresses, and at sea we will build a fleet to break the war, and we will only make soft persimmons. Change the name of the ship, what I mean It can be named after a hero in history, such as the Yue Fei, but if these good names are used on a good ship, it would be a shame if it sinks after a dozen. As for the ship of the broken fleet, I mean to name it after the place name. The Changsha, the Hunan, and the Guangzhou are all fine. It is better to build the ship, but our shipbuilding industry will not be able to produce it for a while. We can buy three more warships of the Haiqi class, but I There is a request, including the current ship, the power must be replaced, 24 knots is still too slow, at least 27 knots. I will allocate one billion yuan to your navy first, and you will give me the shelf of this broken fleet Get up, pay attention to secrecy, I will send someone to form a Navy Department of Military Intelligence, responsible for your intelligence and internal security work."

Just after a visit like this, ten billion Chinese yuan came down. How can these five people in the navy not be excited? You must know that the National Government’s allocation to the navy this year is only 4000 million Chinese yuan, which is just enough to pay salaries and For the maintenance of the ship, even the fuel for training cannot be replenished.

With such a large sum of money, and three new Haiqi warships, what kind of separation, the Coast Guard, and the Navy don’t care about it at all, not only don’t care, but for the money to be in place sooner.When I went to the UK to contact the shipyard, the person in charge of the reform was also racing against time to carry out the reform. I was no longer afraid of offending people, and I didn't talk about the relationship with fellow villagers.In short, a large number of old-school military officers who are too old, have gradually lost their courage, and have a bad style were assigned to the Coast Guard of the Ministry of Public Security without hesitation during this naval reform. Pirates live.The navy subsequently recruited a large number of officers from Jiangsu, Hubei, Jiangxi, and Guangdong to study at Nanjing Naval University, and the atmosphere of the entire navy was renewed.

In any case, after such a small-scale review, the extremely weak navy of the national government finally began to stagger on the road.Fortunately, since the Battle of Jutland, the British Navy has been unemployed. This result naturally led to the unemployment of the shipyard.As soon as the Chinese orders for three warships and one ship's transformation arrived in the UK, Liverpool immediately injected a little vitality, because everyone had work to do.According to the agreement signed between the Ministry of the Navy and the British side on August 28, the fifth year of the Republic of China, the British side will deliver the goods to the Chinese side before May of the seventh year of the Republic of China.The Ministry of the Navy of the Military Commission of the Nationalist Government also followed suit and named the four Haiqi-class destroyers: "Anjiang", "Wuhan", "Nanjing", and "Fujian".

Wang Zhenyu was very satisfied with the report submitted by the Ministry of the Navy, and he immediately instructed Ma Xicheng to include the one billion yuan for the navy in the budget and pay it off when the ship was delivered.As for the naval aviation and marine divisions, there are not many manpower now, so let's take it easy. Wang Zhenyu is already very satisfied with inserting the Military Intelligence Bureau and taking back the personnel rights through the Naval University.

Chapter 304 The meeting of the wind and clouds

Wang Zhenyu and Cai E met for the second time in their lives in Wuhan, and this was also their last meeting.

Since Cai E's ship stopped temporarily in Wuhan halfway, and Cai E's physical condition no longer allowed him to disembark, our Chairman Wang ran on board to see Cai E without putting on airs.