Australian Storm 1876

  Chapter 164 Naval Plan

  Finished business

  The maids offered incense to the military leaders, and there was a harmonious chat between the ministers and the ministers, and the topic turned to Shangri-La Island.

   (Military personnel are all counts and vassals, awarded the title of guardian knight, in accordance with the feudal tradition of the European aristocracy, there is a relationship of ministers)

  "Your Excellency Earl, we think we should set up a garrison unit to station Shangri-La. The Coast Guard cannot take up this responsibility. They can only fight at sea, and they can't drive ships ashore."

  Chief of Staff Konrad Ardenne ignored the elongated face of Geng Bao and began to fight for the interests of the army. This is what his military's top man should do.

  The Coast Guard is another system, ostensibly affiliated with the Queensland State Self-Governing Agency, and Conrad Adenauer certainly does not regard it as his own.

"Lord Earl, my humble position does not agree with the Chief of Staff's opinion." What Geng Baobao received was a standard British officer education. He had nothing to do with a high-ranking chief of staff. Of course, he must try his best to fight for the rights and interests of the Coast Guard; "Shangri-La is far away. At home, the guard work should work closely with the coast guard, and have a certain degree of independent combat capability in wartime. The humble post suggests that a marine police district should be modeled on the British naval system to govern coastal and land guard tasks."

"Please wait a minute, did I misheard something?" Conrad Adenauer immediately interrupted the precious words, and said in a very exaggerated tone; "Your Coast Guard of the Queensland State Self-Government Office actually tried to inflict on the earl. My lord’s private territory makes me mistakenly think that today is April Fool’s Day. This suggestion is really stupid. To be honest, I am very optimistic that you sailors floating on the sea can perfectly perform the important task of guarding the territory.”

"Please don't confuse the concept, Mr. Chief of Staff, on the point of being loyal to Lord Earl, the officers and soldiers of the Coast Guard have used their blood to prove their loyalty. We don’t know what is the Queensland Self-Government, as the guardian knight of Lord Earl, The Coast Guard officers will defend their loyalty and honor with determination."

   "Speaking of loyalty, who can be more loyal than the Dragon, Tiger, Leopard, and Wolf Four Cavalry Guards? We have proved this with the sacrifices of hundreds of soldiers." Conrad Ardenne immediately counterattacked.

He didn't know that this sentence had offended Fu Peng and Lei Xiao, the leaders of the Guards. The two looked at each other angrily, and Lei Xiao said, "Your Excellency Chief of Staff, please pay attention to your words. All the Guards officers and soldiers are 24 hours a day. Stand by at any time, always ready to defend Lord Earl with his life, never hesitate to die..."

  Li Fushou sat at the head, and felt a headache when he heard the fierce argument from his subordinates.

Don’t underestimate Shangri-La’s current status as a deserted island to be developed, but the military considers it from a military point of view. Due to the importance and sensitivity of geographical location, the confrontation between Britain and the Netherlands is involved, and Spanish colonists and Germans may also be added. , Must be the focus of future contradictions.

  A consensus has been reached to enhance Shangri-La’s military defenses. This is not only the Coast Guard, but also land-based military forces.

  The area is not suitable for cavalry development due to conditions, but an infantry garrison is indispensable.

  As a coastal defense outpost, the initial stage was at least the size of a cavalry guard, which was about 1,400 troops.

  Who doesn't want to fight this big piece of fat?

   "Ahem..."

  Li Fushou gave a dry cough, and the quarrel that had become fierce quickly quieted down. The soldiers of the several parties glared at each other, and the unconvinced look in their eyes could not be concealed.

  Soldiers, that’s it, what do you say?

  "You have seen the seriousness of Shangri-La's problem very deeply. It shows that you have excellent vision, especially loyalty, and it is gratifying."

Li Fushou kindly reassures everyone, and then said: "Our confidentiality measures have been done very well, and Shangri-La’s security issues need not be worried for the time being. By the beginning of April, the last batch of Seagull-class frigates of Hongshan Shipyard will be available. Formally entered service, even if you look at the entire Southeast Asia region and the South Pacific, this is a powerful force, which greatly increases the military power we can use at hand.

  Be prepared for danger in times of peace, and take precautions.

You think this is good. The Coast Guard will come forward to organize a Shangri-La Marine Police District. The number is tentatively set at a size of 1,000. It can be increased or decreased at any time according to the situation. The specific command and training will be temporarily assigned to the General Staff. Ministry is better at it.

  Well, the size of the guards should also be expanded, from 120 to 180. Specifically, Captain Lei Xiao is responsible for the selection and training.

  In this way, the advantages of all parties are used and it is in line with the current situation. How good is it for you? "

  This arrangement is arranged in rows to divide the fruit.

   means that all aspects have been taken care of, but everyone is not very satisfied. The Coast Guard has obtained the Marine Police District, but has not been given the command and training authority.

  The General Staff has captured the military power, but this is only temporarily in name. If it doesn’t work, the cooked duck will still fly.

  The two guards are very satisfied. Now the scale of the Red Fort is continuously expanding. The construction has not stopped for more than 4 years, and the fortress headquarters with military function is being built.

  The personal guards also felt that they were overwhelmed. It was only a big red fort. Each shift had 60 guards scattered in it, even the shadows of the people were invisible, and the guards had to be arranged to rotate on duty.

   "Master wise, I have nothing to say." Fu Peng shook his head and intervened in a teaser, very satisfied with the result.

   "Lord Earl is wise and decisive, and obeys unconditionally at humble ranks." Geng Baogui took the lead in making a statement.

   "My Lord Earl, the staff has no opinion." Chief of Staff Conrad Adenauer looked a little sad.

  As the most powerful military leader, his qualifications and prestige are all first-class, but he was robbed of the name of the Marine Police District by this young kid from the Coast Guard. How could he be reconciled?

  See this scene

  Li Fushou laughed to alleviate the rigid atmosphere, leaving everyone to chat for a while, and then he offered tea to the guests.

after awhile

  Geng Zhenzi quietly returned, seeing Li Fu Shouan sitting on the head and waiting for him, he quickly took two steps and snapped his legs together, offering a standard military salute.

  "Humble job and not talented, please show me the Lord Earl."

Li Fushou smiled and said, "Hehe... Brother precious, don’t be restrained. Sit down and say, here is your brother and I have a chat. I have asked you to come here for the next step in the Coast Guard’s armament plan. What do you guys have for this? Imagine? I want to hear your opinion."

   "Humble duty, follow orders." The excitement on Geng Baogui's face flashed away.

  I’m sorry, Lord Earl has finally paid attention to the Coast Guard.

  Li Fushou smiled indifferently when he saw this. Naval construction has always been a long-term and continuous process of heavy investment. Although there is no such thing as a century-old navy, it can never be accomplished overnight.

  Now the world’s naval powers have entered a period of full-scale construction of steam and iron-clad battleships, investing heavily in building ocean-going fleets and fighting for the right to speak in the ocean.

  Not in 10 years

  When Britain’s former dreadnought warship was born, revolutionary changes have taken place in the battle for hegemony at sea, from tactics to battleships. All of these heavy-duty armored battleships will be reduced to scrap and abandoned by the era of rapid development.

  In a few more years, the dreadnought ship will debut, once again leading the development trend of battleships in the world...

  Why can the Fuso country rise in East Asia?

  In the Russo-Japanese War, why can we defeat the Russian expeditionary fleet?

Nowadays

  Fuso is a typical poor country with no resources and no industry. The whole country is doing its utmost to implement the Meiji Restoration and strive for development. Fearing the cannons of the Qing Dynasty’s Beiyang Naval Fleet, it has no choice but to make it smaller.

  Who would have thought that this small overseas island country would have risen in just a dozen years and caused a far-reaching disaster to China...

  Since the Westernization Movement, the Qing Dynasty adopted the opinions of the Westernization Minister to set up the Fujian Shipping Academy to cultivate its own navy talents in order to resist the enemy.

  1875

  Western Affairs Minister Li Hongzhang impressed the court with "changes unseen in thousands of years, a powerful enemy unseen in thousands of years", and was able to lead the preparations for the establishment of the Beiyang Navy.

   Out of concerns about checks and balances of power, the court sent other ministers to prepare for the establishment of the Nanyang Navy and the East Guangdong Navy. The annual naval expenditure is 4 million vehicles, of which about one million taels are used for additional warships.

  The Minister of Foreign Affairs Li Hongzhang listened to the opinions of the British and took the lead in ordering warships in the UK. With the appearance of the "Super Brave" and "Yangwei", the Beiyang Navy gained a certain degree of strength.

  In 1880, Li Hongzhang sent a Beiyang Navy delegation headed by Xu Jianyin and Li Fengbao to inspect the navy and negotiate the purchase of ironclad ships in Britain, France, and Germany.

After visiting the German-made "Saxony"-class ironclad ship and the British "Indomitable" ironclad ship, the two decided after repeated consideration that the German side was more sincere and willing to build a warship for half of the price, and decided that the German Volkeng The shipyard built two iron-clad battleships combining the strengths of the "Saxony" class and the "Indomitable" class. These were the later "Dingyuan" and its sister ships.

  Now the Dingyuan has been installed on the water. In the same period, the sister ship "Zhenyuan" was exposed on the slipway and was built day and night.

  The changing situation in the Far East condenses the epitome of the situation in the world at the end of the 19th century.

  Clearly know the direction of the historical trajectory, which contains a lot of opportunities for overtaking in corners. Because of various factors, even if Australia cannot become the maritime hegemon of the British Empire, it must become a small but strong naval power.

  Australia is inherently a large country with a small population and does not have the conditions to develop a Continental Army.

  Only relying on immigration, the upper limit of population growth in the next 20 years will not be high.

  Now that the population of Tsarist Russia has exceeded 100 million, you can easily take out more than 10 million gray animals to participate in the European hegemony. From Europe to the Ottoman Empire, from India to the Qing Dynasty, there is no neighboring country that does not fear this greedy polar bear.

  As a traditional army power, the European powers are fierce, and millions of troops are still used. The population advantage and deep national heritage are unmatched by Australia.

   Therefore, Australia should focus on developing the navy. This is Li Fushou’s clear long-term strategic judgment and a route suitable for Australia’s development.

  But for this kind of thing, Li Fushou can't figure it out alone in his heart. There must be a strong executor and promoter to call for the development of the navy.

  After several years of careful observation, Li Fushou found such a suitable candidate, that is, the chief of the coast guard.

  Secret talk till late at night

Combining the situation of the world and the situation in East Asia, Li Fushou gave his own judgment on the world situation for more than ten years, combined with the current situation of the Red River Valley and the consideration of the development of the navy in the next ten years. Discussed in detail.

  Finally reached a common conclusion; a small but powerful navy must be developed.

Geng Baogui left the Lingxiao Pavilion late at night and stood there for a while in the silent corridor. Suddenly he knelt down on his knees, knocked three times in the direction of the Lingxiao Pavilion, and said; Master, my teacher, please be worshipped by the disciples."

  After speaking, he turned and plunged into the dark night.

  (End of this chapter)