Red Alert 1895

Chapter 133: Digging the corner of Beiyang wall (belo

After half a month of preparation, Zhou Chen successfully sent away the first batch of sailors from the original Beiyang Navy. This batch of hundreds of people was sent to Fujian through the Tiandihui's network, and then to Quanzhou. Hong Kong and then gradually sent to Taiwan by ship. However, Zhou Chen's only regret is that these are mainly soldiers, and there are no senior officers of a certain level. This makes Zhou Chen feel a little headache. According to the task Wang Guorui gave him, these low-level sailors represented the future, but if he really wanted to form combat power as soon as possible, he had to select a group of experienced sailors. It would be best to poach naval officers at the captain level, and then poach them and train them a bit, and maybe even become a naval detachment commander.

"I've met all the generals!" Zhou Chen used a bow to a group of people.

And these people are the last senior officers of the Beiyang Navy. These people are Ye Zugui, who was in charge of the original Jingyuan, Li He, who was in charge of the Pingyuan, Lu Wenjing, who was in charge of the Zhenbei, Lin Wenbin, who was in charge of the Zhenzhong, and Kang. The Jihao tube takes Sa Zhenbing. And they looked at Zhou Chen, this person has been mobilizing many former sailors from the Beiyang Navy to serve in Taiwan, and then form a new naval fleet. And then Zhou Chen came to mobilize them, hoping that they could serve as officers of the Taiwan Navy.

"You want us to go to Taiwan, what conditions can Governor Wang give us?" Ye Zugui asked.

And Zhou Chen also said very directly: "First of all, our Governor-General is also from Fujian, and he is from the same hometown as you. Moreover, Mr. Wang also hates Japanese pirates very much. This is what everyone thinks. Since everyone is right The Japanese pirates have deep-seated hatred, so naturally there is no need to separate."

"Also, we can guarantee that you navy don't need to be used as a tool to fight dissidents, and you don't have to worry about embezzlement and misappropriation of salaries and appropriations. Even the warships are better than in the past!" Zhou Chen said.

When the generals of the Beiyang Navy heard this, they immediately felt filled with emotion. Because what Zhou Chen said was on point, this was the biggest problem for Beiyang Navy at that time. First of all, Li Hongzhang regarded the Beiyang Navy as the political capital of his own party to fight against dissidents. From the very beginning, the direction of forming the Beiyang Navy was wrong. They were not for defending the country but for political struggle. And then because the Beiyang Navy belongs to Li Hongzhang. However, Li Hongzhang and Weng Tonghe, Shangshu of the household department, had a great personal enmity, and they did not belong to the same party. In this way, Weng Tonghe deliberately withheld the military expenditure of the Beiyang Navy for a long time. And the Empress Dowager Cixi embezzled naval military funds to repair the Summer Palace, which made things worse.

Finally, there is the issue of warships. The Manchu and Qing courts don’t even have enough funds for the maintenance of warships every year. How can there be money to buy new warships? And the warships were before the Sino-Japanese War. The style is old and has not been effectively maintained for a long time, so that the warships of the Beiyang Navy have also become a lot worse in combat effectiveness. The firepower of the artillery shells is also insufficient, and the warships are all old antiques for many years. Can such a Japanese army with new warships not fail? So what Zhou Chen said was completely referring to the eternal pain in the hearts of those officers of the Beiyang Navy.

They haven't experienced defeat in normal battles, so naturally they won't have such unforgettable pain. But now they really lost a battle, and those comrades are all dead. Moreover, most of the officers of these Beiyang Navy are Fujianese. And they all graduated from Fujian Mawei Shipbuilding School, and they are fellow villagers and classmates. Comrades, so their relationship is also very good. Even if they usually fight, they are very close after all, and they must be united when facing foreign enemies. And the Japanese army gave them shame, of course they want to avenge their shame all the time.

"Your Governor Wang formed the Taiwan Navy. Do you have warships? The Japanese pirates have all the warships. We have no warships at all now. But how many warships can Taiwan have, can it defeat Japan? If it can't defeat Japan, then we must not Will go." Li He asked.

And Zhou Chen immediately said: "Our Taiwan will soon purchase three warships with a displacement of more than 10,000 tons, and all of them are battleships. There are also five cruisers with a displacement of more than 5,000 tons, and there are countless other warships. You just need to get on the ship and get familiar with the new warship as soon as possible.”

The generals of the Beiyang Navy took a deep breath, and couldn't believe what Zhou Chen said was true. Three battleships of more than 10,000 tons and cruisers of more than 5,000 tons, this is simply shocking. We must know that in this era, there are not many warships with a displacement of more than 10,000 tons. In this era, we all pay attention to giant ships with cannons. The bigger the ship, the more cannons that can be placed, and the stronger the combat effectiveness at that time. And now Zhou Chen actually said that Taiwan can have three cruisers of more than 10,000 tons, which is simply impossible. Because at the beginning, the Zhenyuan and Dingyuan were the two most powerful warships of the Beiyang Navy, but they only had a displacement of 7,000 tons.

However, Zhou Chen immediately promised to have three battleships of more than 10,000 tons, or even five cruisers of more than 5,000 tons, so the total displacement of these eight battleships alone has reached more than 55,000 tons. In the past, the Beiyang Navy had a displacement of more than 30,000 tons before the Sino-Japanese War, and it suddenly increased a lot. As for the next service ship, the displacement is not 70,000 tons, which is a lot. The combined Japanese fleet is only more than 40,000 tons, and Tanya bombed three ships in Taiwan, which together have a displacement of about 10,000 tons. If there are really three 10,000-ton battleships and five 5,000-ton cruisers, then the displacement is almost twice that of the Japanese, so wouldn't this be shocking?

"What you said is true?" Sa Zhenbing asked.

Zhou Chen immediately promised: "Yes, we are going to purchase it soon. This is what Mr. Wang told me personally, and he is ready to purchase it back. As long as everyone can go to Taiwan and get used to it for about a year, it will be completely The fighting power can be restored, and then we can expand the territory for the country. Moreover, our lord Wang guarantees that the Taiwan Navy will never lack military expenditures and will never be embezzled. We can even afford to buy warships over 10,000 tons. Then, will I still be short of those maintenance expenses?"

"Where did you get the money to afford such a huge warship? Moreover, it will take several years to build a warship of more than 10,000 tons. How did you order it so quickly?" Lu Wenjing asked.

"I don't know about this. Our Lord Wang has great powers, so it's not surprising that we can get it." Zhou Chen said.

And those members of the Beiyang Navy also looked at each other. If what Zhou Chen said was true, then it is not impossible for them to go to Taiwan. First of all, they are all navy, a captain without a ship, what status can he have! So they all hurried to find another home. However, there are not many Chinese who can afford to support the navy. Naturally, they would look down on them if they took refuge in the past. Where else can they go besides the Beiyang Navy? As for seeking refuge with foreigners, it is also impossible, which makes them have no next home. As for the formation of a navy in Taiwan now, they can all find a next home.

The Manchu Qing court said they were rebellious, but the people from the Beiyang Navy didn't take it seriously. After all, Taiwan did not stand on its own as a country, and it was considered a special administrative region of the Manchu Qing Dynasty, so it is not considered treason for them to seek refuge in Taiwan. So they can take refuge in Taiwan with peace of mind, so that if they can form a new fleet in Taiwan, it is not possible to be a captain again.

"If you can prove that those warships are real, then we are all willing to serve in Taiwan. But how can you prove it?" Ye Zugui asked.

But Zhou Chen asked back: "What are you going to do to trust us?"

"It's very simple, hearing is believing, seeing is believing. We have to see three battleships and five 5,000-ton cruisers in person. Not to mention three battleships, five cruisers, even one battleship, three We can go to the cruiser!" Ye Zugui said.

Zhou Chen cursed secretly in his heart: "It really is an old fox, no wonder he can become an officer~lightnovelpub.net~ They are a group of masters who don't see rabbits and don't scatter eagles!"

The officers of the Beiyang Navy didn't listen to Zhou Chen's words. They had to claim that they had to see real warships, that is, things that could be seen and touched, and they could only follow after confirming that there were real warships. If they took refuge in the past before it was confirmed that there was a warship, then the Manchu side also lost their support. Isn't this a fool? So they had to see the warship, so that they could give up their status on the Manchu side, and then go to Taiwan to serve as naval officers. As a person who can be an officer, how many people are not old foxes? So before they figured it out, they wouldn't come here.

"Okay, Sa Zhenbing, go to Taiwan and have a look! If there is a warship, then send a letter back, and we will set off right away!" Ye Zugui said.

And Sa Zhenbing took the initiative to say: "Okay, I will go with this Mr. Zhou and see if there are any warships!"

Zhou Chen couldn't help it either, if they didn't have a real warship, they wouldn't have come here. So Zhou Chen could only send Sa Zhenbing to Taiwan, and let Wang Guorui solve it himself. As for the issue of the warship at that time, it will be left to Wang Guorui to solve it. Anyway, Zhou Chen, a small spy, can't change the warship. If Wang Guorui can get the warship, then this problem will naturally be solved. (to be continued)