Rise of the 1630s South America

Chapter 2427 The First Intimate Contact

On April 1701, 4, Fenggu Island was cloudy and rainy.

Fenggu Island in late autumn is really hard to bear.Rain, fog, low temperature, and strong wind are all torturing people's nerves and making people feel annoyed.In fact, everyone who has lived here for more than 20 years and does not pay attention to maintenance will have some joint problems, especially when it is rainy.

Fenggu Island Naval Academy is located in Qingjiangpu Port, Qinghe County.As the only specialized military academy in the hands of the navy, the school has a complete range of departments and a lot of investment. Over the years, it has sent a large number of qualified professional officers to the three major fleets of the navy. Now it has the reputation of the cradle of the navy.Compared with the Army’s two military academies—the Dingyuan Military Academy specializing in training mid- and low-level officers, and the Army University in charge of training senior officers—the Navy has only one school that trains junior officers.As for the development of senior officers, it depends on self-study during the service and the refresher classes held from time to time.At least so far, the navy's system has been operating fairly successfully, and the professionalism of naval officers is top-notch in the world.

Today, Lieutenant General Zhou Yu, Chief of Staff of the National Armed Forces and Minister of the Navy, came to Fenggu Island Naval Academy for inspection.He arrived on a fresh water supply ship "Daming Lake", which is a [-]-ton all-steam-powered ship with an oak hull and a steel keel, and is expensive to build. The "Daming Lake" was unarmed, but relying on its tonnage and speed, it was believed that it would be difficult for the enemy to cause serious damage to it, unless the captain was too brainless to sneak into the enemy's encirclement net.

The entry into service of the 12-ton logistics auxiliary ship demonstrates the improvement of the comprehensive supply capability of the East Coast Navy.According to their plan, the Navy will form a total of 10 water supply ships, 4 ammunition supply ships, 6 coal carriers, 3 troop carriers, 3 medical ships, 1 repair ships, and 1703 large comprehensive ship before the war. The huge logistics auxiliary fleet of supply ships and several fast contact boats has a total displacement of more than [-] tons. At present, more than half of the construction has been completed, and it is expected to be completely completed before [-].

The improvement of logistical supply capability is crucial to enhance the ocean combat capability.In the past, Europeans always felt that across the Atlantic Ocean, the navy on the east coast did not pose a particularly great threat to them, because Laoshi's expedition was exhausting and dangerous, and wise men would not do it.

Of course they are right to think so, because until the beginning of the 20th century, if a fleet was not well supplied and rested, its combat effectiveness would drop to a very low level after ocean voyages.The most typical example is the Japanese-Russian Battle of Tsushima, where the Tsarist-Russian Baltic Fleet labored on an expedition. As a result, the entire army was wiped out in the Tsushima Strait, causing almost no harm to the Japanese.In fact, before the fleet set off, there were many opponents in Tsarist Russia, but the Tsar insisted on going his own way, and as a result, most of the ports on the way were closed to him, so that when sailing to the East Asian waters, the linen clothes on the Russian sailors were all torn into strips , the mental state of the personnel is also very suspicious, and the operating condition of the equipment is even more appalling.In such a situation, even if the Daluo Jinxian came, there was nothing he could do. The Japanese-Russian naval battle became a one-sided massacre, and the prestige of the Japanese navy was achieved in vain.

Of course, the East Coast Navy would not be in such a miserable state.They have many supply points on the way to Europe, not only can supply coal, fresh water, food and weapons, sick people can also be resettled locally, because these supply ports have a certain population and economic scale, It is a serious city, the result of decades of operation by people from the east coast.

Under such circumstances, it is a bit too optimistic for European countries to speculate that the number of naval labor forces on the east coast will drop significantly after the expedition.There will definitely be a decline in combat effectiveness, such as low morale of the sailors, acclimatization, and lack of sufficient overhaul capabilities for ships, etc., but it will never drop too much.What's more, a considerable part of the east coast navy has already stationed in overseas ports such as the Cape Verde Islands in advance, and it is only one step away from the European mainland, so the impact is even lower.

As Minister of the Navy, Lieutenant General Zhou Yu was not at all worried about the battle of the East Coast Navy in Europe.With so many main battleships and five game-changing ironclad ships to help out, how could they lose?If this fails to beat the enemy to the ground, then the Army will happily question the combat effectiveness of the Navy, and then demand a reduction in Navy military spending.You know, recently they have been holding back their energy and clamoring to continue to form four mixed regiments to expand the size of the army.

Of course, Lieutenant General Zhou Yu was not interested in the army's "reactionary".He easily suppressed the objections, and with only two words "to be discussed", he pushed back the army's massive action, and then left the right and wrong place of the military headquarters, and happily came to Fenggu Island Military Academy for inspection up.

The content of the military academy inspection is actually the same.Take a look at the facilities, listen to the report, walk around the campus, and then speak to the teachers and students of the school.The content of the speech is also a routine, nothing more than studying hard and serving the motherland. The navy is the future arm, and it is the protagonist who dominates the world.After the inspection, he returned to the hotel specially built by the Fenggu Island Military Academy to entertain the internal personnel of the system, and reviewed the official documents.

"...The gathering of a large number of people and livestock has caused great difficulties in the supply of materials in Cedar Castle. The wilderness is facing threats, and it is difficult to replenish food and firewood. In order to reduce possible losses, we have introduced precious ships into the inland river, which makes The fishing plan has been greatly affected. I dare to say that if I did not use my life to force the local natives to supply us with some fresh fish and seal meat, in the case of so many people suddenly gathered, the incidence and The death rate is bound to be very high."

"...In order to prevent the enemy from appearing near the river mouth, Commissioner Zhang did not follow my suggestion to send half a company of troops there to wait for the enemy. It did not appear, which made it extremely difficult for us to build the necessary winter shelter."

"... Throughout the voyage season, Special Commissioner Zhang sent all three ships out to search for the other party's personnel, but unfortunately found nothing, found nothing, and wasted precious ship maintenance time, sailors I was also exhausted and complained."

"...A supply sailing ship dispatched in the second half of last year was spotted by an enemy cruiser while sailing through the Aleutian Islands. So the enemy pursued it. The captain of this sailing ship was a good and brave one. He They directly ordered the ships to anchor in a river mouth. The enemy ships did not dare to enter Hanoi rashly in the calm weather, but they sent many small boats. The captain of the supply ship and the crew (12 people) could not defend themselves, so they burned the sea. Then, according to the map, they arrived at Cedar Fort by land. But their actions made the enemy more sure of our existence, so we fell into a more dangerous situation."

"...Before this, I had always emphasized the preparation of all kinds of materials, the construction of enough winter places, and the establishment of a basic hospital. But this was opposed by Commissioner Zhang. Spreading rumors to his superiors, slandering my work. But his various extreme reactions undoubtedly exacerbated the complexity of the matter. The sinking of the supply ship 'Sardine' ruined the hope of establishing the hospital. Now everyone's morale is very low, no know what to do."

"...Fortunately. Perhaps Tianzun was moved by the hard work of my colleagues and me. At the last moment before the end of the voyage last year, the other party sent a small fishing boat to Cedar Fort with a secret letter. I don't know how to describe myself mood, because the other party has discovered the existence of this stronghold, and has probably been secretly monitoring us for a long time—maybe a few months, maybe more than a year—until they reached a consensus internally, and then sent someone to contact us Commissioner Zhang received the envoys too graciously. I think his etiquette is not appropriate at all. A moment ago, he seemed to be facing an enemy, and even sent most of his troops to prepare to meet the enemy, but now he is so affectionate. He looks like an old friend for many years. But he is a bit too attentive and does not correctly reflect the supremacy of our East Coast Republic of China. Everyone thinks that he should be removed from his post, and he will not come to any good negotiation results. "

……

Lieutenant General Zhou Yu finished reading the copy of the official document with a little amusement.The official document was sent by Wei Chengwu from Fort Cedar, and arrived at Liucheng County, the home port of the Third Fleet, together with more than 20 patients.Members of the Executive Committee have discussed this document and have all appended their opinions.As a member of the Executive Committee, Lieutenant General Zhou Yu will be the last person to comment on this document.

He took a general look and found that other committee members held positive and positive opinions on negotiating with the North American Democratic Freedom Federation.They are generally inclined to recognize the existence and independence of this country, and are willing to carry out a series of commercial and military cooperation with it.But before talking about cooperation, it is necessary to find out the details of this country and understand their strength.Therefore, they have decided to send a delegation of about 30 people from the mainland to officially visit the Democratic Federation of North America, to take a look around this country, and talk to their politicians and even ordinary citizens (if there is a chance) .

Close contact is always the best way to collect first-hand information.With more economic and cultural exchanges, even if the other party wanted to hide something, it would be impossible.Lieutenant General Zhou Yu expressed his colleagues’ opinions on the opinions of several other committee members, but he also wrote down his own thoughts, that is, the negotiation process should be as long as possible, and during this period, he will do his best to strive for the normalization of trade, and to the members of the Executive Committee. Provide a little more information reference for making decisions.

The Democratic Freedom Federation of North America, which is still holding a pipa and half conceals its face, is finally about to unveil its mysterious veil in front of the people on the east coast.Where will the relationship between the two countries go in the future, and what kind of impact will it have on the East Coast? Hey, it's really interesting.Thinking of this, Lieutenant General Zhou Yu smiled, flamboyantly signed his name at the end of the official document.

(End of this chapter)