Go back to the past and be a schoolboy

Chapter 237 Sea Power
There is a saying: "The bandits are rich in extravagant gifts, and the most important thing is sincerity."

Whether as the first chief executive of Jiangnan Shipbuilding Institute after the reform, or the current head of the Fuzhou Shipping Bureau, or a famous naval figure who has made contributions to the country.

Out of emotion and reason, Cheng Nuo knew that no matter from which angle, he should maintain enough respect for Chen Zhaoqiang.

In the selection of gifts, it is even more thoughtful.

With Huang Yanpei as the host, the two met at his home and exchanged a few pleasantries. After the relationship between them became less rigid, Cheng Nuo took out the things he had prepared, put them on the table and said with a smile:
"General Chen, a small gift is not a respect."

"What is this? We don't need to be so polite between you and me." The smile on Chen Zhaoqiang's face froze, and there was some deep meaning in his eyes: "Professor Cheng, we can talk about the world today, so to speak, talk about other things in such an elegant place , something is wrong."

"General Chen might as well open it and have a look. Maybe what's inside is what we'll talk about next." The moment he took out the gift, Cheng Nuo felt that Chen Zhaoqiang was trying to alienate him, but he didn't care, and continued to talk about it. Push the gift in: "I don't care about the sky today, I don't care about the earth."

"Oh?" Chen Zhaoqiang looked at the gift with interest: "What is that?"

"Sea!" Cheng Nuo's eyes were sharp: "To be precise, everything about the sea!"

"Hiss~" Chen Zhaoqiang's pupils narrowed slightly, and after carefully examining Cheng Nuo, he put his hand on the gift: "Cheng Xiaoyou, you don't mind if I open the things here?"

Cheng Nuo stretched out his right hand and said politely, "Just call me Zhiyuan. Since the things are prepared for General Chen, they will naturally be left to General Chen to dispose of after sending them out."

Chen Zhaoqiang did not speak in a hurry, but quickly unwrapped the gift wrapping paper, pausing for a moment when opening the box.

However, he didn't pause for too long, and quickly opened the box.

But at the moment when the true face of the thing was revealed, Chen Zhaoqiang was shocked, and even the hand holding the lid trembled a little.

"Professor Cheng... Oh no, Zhiyuan, where did you come from, could it be the Dingyuan ship?"

Cheng Nuo smiled: "General Chen has good eyesight. This thing is a scaled-down model of the Dingyuan, and all the parts are custom-assembled by masters from our academy. Are you satisfied with the gift?"

Looking at this mini version of the Dingyuan, Chen Zhaoqiang's lips could not help but tremble, and the circles of his eyes also turned red.

Putting down the cover in his hands, Chen Zhaoqiang originally wanted to hold the Dingyuan with both hands, but for some reason, he didn't lift it up normally the first time, and waited until the second time to pick it up.

He kept rubbing his hands on it, looking left and right, up and down, and couldn't get enough of it.

"It's been 23 years. For 23 years, I haven't seen Dingyuan again. I didn't expect to see it here today..."

At this moment, Cheng Nuo quietly turned the gift box, took out the small package inside, and placed it in front of Chen Zhaoqiang.

"General Chen, there are still things that haven't been taken out here, so you might as well take a closer look."

"Okay." Chen Zhaoqiang's Adam's apple twitched, and he opened the small package. Two miniature dolls came into view.

Although the model was shrunk again and again, I still saw myself and my seniors on it, and tears fell down my cheeks.

"I told you a long time ago that our army has no chance of victory based on the fragility of the naval guns. The country has suffered a lot, and you are not the only one to blame. Why are you so stubborn? If you are still alive, will you be so stubborn?" What's the situation?"

Now that the chatterbox has been opened, the memory behind it is like a flood, and it can't be stopped.

Chen Zhaoqiang believes that relying on the high morale of the same enemy and flexible combat tactics is enough to defeat the enemy.

For this reason, he and the patriotic officers and soldiers of the Beiyang Navy requested to wait for an opportunity to fight, but the Qing government kept avoiding the enemy.

"The edict was ordered to retreat to Weihai, and not to attack and fight. As a result, our Beiyang navy was surrounded by enemies on three sides, and was restrained by the imperial edict. Speaking of this, Chen Zhaoqiang slammed his fist to the ground: "There are many national sacrifices, there are many national sacrifices!"

This is not because he takes it for granted, but has a certain basis.

The Beiyang Navy was formally established in 1888. The fleet has two world-class iron-clad giant ships with a displacement of more than 2 tons purchased from Germany. China's Beiyang, Nanyang, Fujian, and Guangdong fleets have a total of 7000 warships. With a total tonnage of 78 tons, it ranks eighth in the world, once surpassing Japan.

It is a pity that the compromise line of the Qing government and Li Hongzhang's idea of ​​protecting the ship and avoiding war eventually led to his disastrous exit.

Although he knew that the Sino-Japanese War ended in failure, Cheng Nuo was still very curious about the details.

"General Chen, it is rumored that a large part of the reason for our failure is that our military discipline is not correct. I heard that some sailors have been abandoned to dry clothes on the gun barrel?"

"Bullshit!" Feeling that he lost his temper, Chen Zhaoqiang let out a little breath: "It's a bunch of nonsense, whoever dares to do such absurd things above, dare to throw him overboard tomorrow and take off his clothes!"

When the mood stabilized, Chen Zhaoqiang went on to say: "At the beginning, Admiral Ding and the leadership of each ship had already made a decision, saying that pre-emptive strikes were the best policy, and they even made a decision to make all ships ready to go. attack."

Cheng Nuo nodded: "The fighters on the battlefield are fleeting, and I agree with Admiral Ding's decision."

Chen Zhaoqiang gritted his teeth: "But the Qing court actually said that we must wait until the Japanese ships fired their guns and added verbal provocations before we could fight back, but what was called a counterattack at that time? It's inevitable!"

Cheng Nuo sighed, and said: "Our equipment is relatively backward, but we still have to learn from Song Xianggong. It is really unreasonable. If we confront the main force of the Japanese ship, the Yoshino, on the battlefield, it will be very difficult to win. "

"Yoshino? Huh! Not so much." Chen Zhaoqiang solemnly put the Dingyuan back into the box, and said with disdain on his face: "Although the Yoshino runs faster, the key to fighting is the right time, place and people. In naval battles, the Yoshino could not give full play to its advantages.

Moreover, we are outnumbered, so we must count on the odds. If the Yoshino is wiped out, the rest will be nothing to worry about, and the influence of the situation on the Sino-Japanese War will be great.

It's a pity that our government is arrogant and arrogant. It can neither prevent danger before it happens, buy new ships; Sacrifice! "

In the end, Chen Zhaoqiang was so angry that the veins on his face popped up, and he couldn't even sit still.

Cheng Nuo let out a long sigh. He never expected that the war was imminent, and Man Qing would be so short-sighted.

"This is the end of the matter. General Chen still needs to look forward." Cheng Nuo took out another box that was exactly the same as before, as if doing a trick.

It's just that that one is blue, and the one right now is red.

"This is another gift I prepared, and please take a look at it, General Chen."

"Oh? Then I have to take a good look." With the popularity of the "Dingyuan" just now, Chen Zhaoqiang was looking forward to this red gift. This time, he opened it without any hesitation, and his eyes were also filled with the word shock .

The difference from before was that this time there was some confusion.

"Zhiyuan, can you explain one thing or two for me? I have seen a lot of ships in half my life, but this is the first time I have seen this type of ship. If I read correctly, it is an airplane docked on it? "

"Yes, it's an airplane." Cheng Nuo nodded, with a mysterious and proud expression on his face, and solemnly carried the ship out with both hands: "This is called an aircraft carrier, and its main attack method is the aircraft docked on the deck. , The larger the combat radius of the aircraft, the wider the attack range of the ship."

Chen Zhaoqiang has a cautious attitude towards this: "Is this really feasible? The offensive method looks very sharp, but is it not enough in terms of homeland defense?"

Cheng Nuo shook his head and asked back, "General Chen, do you know what the strategic thinking behind the establishment of the Beiyang Navy is?"

Chen Zhaoqiang thought about it carefully, and replied: "I really don't know about this."

Cheng Nuo said earnestly: "Li Zhongtang once bluntly said that the status of coastal defense is higher than that of land defense, and that the lack of defense in the sea is a serious problem in the heart. With this insight, the Beiyang Navy was established.”

Chen Zhaoqiang nodded: "It turns out that there is such a thing, I don't know too much about it, but it has something to do with the ship, that is, the aircraft carrier you mentioned?"

"Once the strategic thinking is wrong, failure is inevitable." Cheng Nuo sighed, and continued: "The so-called coastal defense thinking here is not the thinking of sea power. From the perspective of the world system, after the industrial revolution that began in the mid-18th century, the West has firmly established its dominance on the global oceans and in world politics,
Their gunboat policy not only disintegrates our tributary system, but also opens our door and does not allow China to have its own sea power at all, so the external environment is not conducive to China's concept of sea power.

In terms of marine cognition, we only realize that the ocean is a channel for foreign invasion, and we have not yet got rid of the traditional concept of "land master and sea slavery". Naval strategy is still a traditional passive defense. So, how can we save the country's maritime crisis? "

As soon as the call was dropped, Chen Zhaoqiang instantly understood the meaning, and he was able to extend it along the way: "No wonder the Qing court asked us to defend and avoid war. It turns out that the root cause is here. I finally understand."

Cheng Nuo placed the aircraft carrier on the table. It was polished by craftsmen so that it shone brightly in the sun, making it impossible to look directly at it.

"In today's world, the importance of sea power is becoming more and more prominent. It is the fundamental reason that determines the rise and fall of world powers, and it is also a major factor that affects the course of history. After the defeat of the Sino-Japanese War of 19-[-], it returned to the situation before the middle of the [-]th century. We cannot Sit and wait!"

Chen Zhaoqiang originally thought he was a reformist, but he did not expect that he looked like an establishment faction in front of Cheng Nuo. He said cautiously, "Zhiyuan, what would you do if you followed what you said?"

Cheng Nuo smiled knowingly: "Of course, it is necessary to build an ocean-going fleet with strong advantages to protect the country's overseas trade, overseas markets, maritime navigation and overseas interests, and at the same time project the country's political will and diplomatic influence to the world, and use it to influence the land. Check the situation and progress!"

Chen Zhaoqiang gasped: "Zhiyuan, you really dare to think!?"

Cheng Nuo said to himself: "People always ask me, can we change China? General Chen guess how I will answer?"

Chen Zhaoqiang asked: "How to answer?"

Cheng Nuo said calmly, "Why not?"

If we really follow the historical trend, the international system during the period of the Republic of China continued to have a negative impact on the development of my country's sea power, especially when my country's neighbor Japan aggressively expanded its sea, we were still in a state of ignorance.

Of course, it is not ruled out that someone did it on purpose.

After all, Mr. Sun once emphasized that the so-called Pacific issue refers to the issue of world sea power, and the center of gravity of the Pacific refers to China.To fight for the sea power in the Pacific Ocean is to fight for the right to control China.Whoever holds this door will have this hall, this treasure, and people will fight for me, how can I ignore it?
It's a pity that some people who claim to inherit the will of Mr. Wang just stay in their mouths.

By 1937, when Japan launched a full-scale war of aggression against China, there was basically not much domestic achievement. In the battle against Japan, the Republic of China Navy used self-sinking to block waterways and relied on coastal fortifications to resist Japanese naval aggression, and finally lost everything.

After the war, Britain and the United States assisted some warships of the Kuomintang government, but they only played a role in the civil war and the Kuomintang government's evacuation to Taiwan.

In terms of ocean cognition, the ocean is still not raised to the level of expanding national interests, but is still considered a channel to prevent external aggression.Until the founding of New China, the real concept of China's sea power did not exist in this period.

Although Chen Zhaoqiang was a little caught off guard by the arrival of these new knowledge, he was in favor of taking the initiative to attack. After a while, he became a supporter of Cheng Nuo's sea power theory.

Excitedly said: "This theory is good. My mind, which was chaotic before, has been completely cleared up. I finally understand all the things I can't figure out."

Cheng Nuo smiled: "Not only that, but it can also be used to prevent invasion at sea. The historical lessons of several modern wars tell us that we have been facing the invasion of Western maritime powers, so taking the initiative to attack can also deter Xiaoxiao.

To protect mainland China from large-scale sea landing attacks and defend maritime sovereignty, that is to say, we can implement a maritime active defense strategy. "

"Okay, I've made a note." Chen Zhaoqiang nodded, then asked, "Among them, is there anything I can do?"

Cheng Nuo smiled and replied: "Of course, I heard that Jiangnan Shipbuilding has received a big order, and the [-]-ton steamship it undertakes is the largest ship ever built in the Far East, excluding Japan.

In the past, most of the warships and merchant ships needed by China were ordered in the United States, Britain, and Japan. Now the situation has changed, and those who demanded them from others can now supply them. This is a new era in the history of China's industry. "

Chen Zhaoqiang raised his eyebrows: "So you want to participate?"

Cheng Nuo smiled and said, "Naturally."

Without waiting for Cheng Nuo to explain the reason in detail, Chen Zhaoqiang agreed without even thinking about it: "Although I am not the head of Jiangnan Shipbuilding Institute now, it is all my old department inside. Based on my relationship, I will let you join it. Not too big."

Cheng Nuo was very happy about this, and he patted his chest repeatedly to reassure: "Don't worry, General Chen, let us get involved scientifically, it will definitely be of great help!"

Chen Zhaoqiang was noncommittal: "I'll talk about this later, but right now I have one more thing to ask you."

Cheng Nuo asked curiously, "Please tell me."

Pointing to the aircraft carrier, Chen Zhaoqiang asked curiously, "Does this ship have a name?"

Turning the aircraft carrier in one direction, Cheng Nuo smiled: "That's natural."

Under the sun, "Liaoning" is shining brightly in two big chiseled characters.

(End of this chapter)