The sun never sets in America

Chapter 120 Han Navy
Jinshan Port, the home port of the Han Navy. Since the establishment of the Han Navy, it has done two things in total, which is to train and buy ships, and then it is gone.

As for your record, I'm sorry, it's still zero so far. Even zero is not enough to describe the misery of the Han Navy.

Just as Jiang Yucheng, the Minister of the Navy of the Han Dynasty, said: "We are just a navy with no combat experience and only know how to wander around the nearby waters..." Calling our own navy a navy is both indignant and a bit a bit cumbersome. sorrow.

And this is indeed the case. Since the establishment of the Han Dynasty Navy, it has never fought a war. Even the shipbuilding is a fifth-class sailing warship of about [-] tons. As for the warships of more than [-] tons, they are still in the shipyard in London, England. .

At the very least, he won't be able to return to China until next year, and he will have to undergo training from the British for several months or even years.

Only those five newly purchased warships can achieve combat effectiveness.

Without him, there are too few people in Han who really know how to navigate. Except for those who need to carry out maritime trade, there are even fewer left for the navy.

The entire Han navy knew this.

So much so that every time Jiang Yucheng holds a meeting, he puts the introduction of marine talents first. Even fishermen are key recruitment targets for the navy.

Not to mention anything else, just a long-term sea driving training without seasickness is better than many people.

Moreover, the biggest problem with Navy training is qualified gunners.

The earliest gunners of the Han Navy were all transferred from the Han Army. At first, Jiang Yucheng was full of confidence, claiming that it would take five years to build an army to dominate the western seas of the Americas, and ten years to build an army to span the entire Americas. Super navy.

Now, all this has become a complete joke.

Because the navy's gunners and the army's gunners are two completely different arms, although they both fire artillery, most of the army's targets are fixed targets, such as military formations, fortresses, etc., and slow-moving targets, as long as the artillery calculations are accurate, basically It’s easy to hit, but what about at sea? ?
Not to mention anything else, when two warships with a large number of artillery are facing each other, it is impossible for them to bomb you while they are standing. They will definitely change direction in the middle and even leave the battlefield.

Otherwise, the Navy would not have the term straddle-shooting. It would not be that moving targets at sea are too difficult to hit.

Moreover, the shells fired are fine when the wind is nice and sunny. Once there is a storm or even strong winds, the shells are likely to deviate from the ballistic trajectory. You must know that for the relatively primitive shells of this period, wind speed, weather All issues must be taken into consideration.

Just like flintlocks and matchlocks, which are easy to malfunction in rainy weather, you rely on gunpowder to ignite and launch, and are naturally restrained by the weather. The gunpowder is easily wet.

As for the gunners of the Han Navy, most of them were transferred from the army artillery to the navy. These people basically showed up. They hit fixed targets accurately every time, and when they hit moving targets, they began to have problems, such as the decline in bombardment accuracy...

These are just some of the problems. The real big problem is that it is difficult for Army gunners to adapt to life at sea and artillery standards.

Since the establishment of the Han Navy, hundreds of army gunners have expressed their wish to leave the navy and return to the army.

Because they really couldn't do it anymore, when they first came to the Navy, they all held the idea that the Army would provide technical poverty alleviation to the Navy. When they actually got on the ship, their first thought was to dig trenches. Why is this place so small? ?

For those army gunners, the positions have become gun mounts and are divided into several decks. The distance between the gunners has become tight. On land, this means that once they are hit, the surrounding Anyone can be implicated.

And wandering at sea was really uncomfortable for those landlubbers. This also happened the most famous event in the history of the Han Navy, the August [-]nd Artillery Incident. More than a hundred gunners collectively demanded to return to the army professionally. ask.

If Liang Wen, the director of the Logistics Department, had not gone to negotiate in person and suppressed the pressure, the Navy might have lost at least one-third of its gunners. This also meant that at least three of the nine existing warships in the Navy would have lost their firepower. level, losing combat effectiveness.

Such consequences are unbearable for the navy that has not yet developed.

"Damn, these guys are clamoring to go back every day. If I had known that these people from the mainland were unreliable, I shouldn't have let them join the navy in the first place..." Liang Wen complained to other officers in the Logistics Department in the office. , "It is better to have people who are trained within our navy and are loyal to our navy. This is the real navy!!" Liang Wen continued to complain to other officers. In Liang Wen's view, these guys who came from the army are really It is too difficult to manage. If you are not satisfied at all, you will have to return to the army.

These guys are eating the Navy's food and getting the Navy's pay, and now they want to go back to the Army. What the hell! !

If I had known earlier, I shouldn't have let them join the navy in the first place. With this money, it would be great to train our own people.

This is what many Navy insiders really think at this moment.

"Everyone, how can we solve the problem when the navy is short of personnel??" Liang Wen scolded for a while, and then asked other officers in the logistics department if there was a solution. "Our current internal personnel are still training at the naval school. For the time being, they are taking If you don’t have people on your side, the army can only take care of it for a while, not for the rest of your life. The most important thing now is how to solve the human problem... and let our navy develop??" Liang Wen said a lot , the final summary is one word, that is people.

Without people, the navy is boundless water. No matter how much money you invest or how many warships you buy, it will be useless.

"Director Liang, I do have a way, but I don't know if it is feasible. I don't agree with the higher-ups..." An officer named Xiao Zhandu, a major naval officer, said to Liang Wen, with a look of hesitation on his face. I don't know. Should I say this sentence?

"What solution?" Liang Wen heard that someone had a solution and immediately asked, "Don't worry, as long as it is beneficial to our navy, no matter how outrageous it is, Minister Jiang and I will consider it." Then he was afraid that Xiao Zhan would worry, so he added In one sentence, it gave him a reassurance.

"Director Liang, because our navy has only developed in a short period of time, the problem lies in its people. The people we train cannot keep up with the speed of our development. Let's just talk about the warships ordered by the British. There are no two thousand ships. People can't drive at all..." Xiao Zhan told Liang Wen and other people around him about the unpleasant situation the Han Navy is currently facing, and everyone showed an expression of approval, because now the Han Navy is indeed as good as Xiao Zhan As said, the growth of naval personnel could no longer take into account the expansion of the Han Navy.

"So I think that we should temporarily focus the construction of the navy on cultivating naval personnel, instead of expanding the strength indiscriminately like now. In the end, there will not even be enough people to drive..." Xiao Zhan looked seriously at Liang Wen and others. Said, "There is only one way for us to solve the human problem, and that is to hire..." Xiao Zhan looked at Liang Wen and said with firm eyes.

As soon as these words came out, everyone's expressions changed. They understood very well the meaning of Xiao Zhan's words.

To hire, doesn’t that mean that I, the Han Navy, would go abroad to find mercenaries? ?

If we really do this, will this navy still belong to our country of Han? ?
What would the world think of it, what would the common people of the Han Dynasty think, would they think that the navy was incompetent and that it had to rely on outsiders to keep the navy running?

"Director Liang, you must not hire..." Before Liang Wen could speak, a lieutenant colonel naval officer stood up to retort, "If mercenaries are used, will the navy still be our sea? What's more, what will happen to the army? Look...Director Liang, think twice!!" The lieutenant colonel officer advised Liang Wenqian earnestly, fearing that Liang Wenwen would comply with the employment strategy proposed by Xiao Zhan just now.

"Yes, Director Liang, although our navy is in some difficulties, it is not to the point where outsiders can command us..."

"Director Liang, think twice!!"

"I think it's better to let the cadets from the Naval Academy graduate early, so that the difficulties we encounter can be solved..."

After the lieutenant colonel officer finished speaking, there was a sound of persuasion immediately. It seemed that in their opinion, as long as mercenaries were used, the navy would be destroyed.

In fact, Liang Wen knew very well the real purpose of their opposition. The first was power, and the second was face...

Among them, the right is worried that those foreign naval employees will take away the rights in his hands and even lower their status in the navy.

And face, just like the lieutenant colonel who was the first to stand up and object, if the navy hires him, what will the army think of it? This is the key point! !

Although the Han Dynasty's navy and army have not yet reached the level of turmoil between the navy and the army of later generations, the army's embezzlement of navy military expenditures from the beginning, or the recent August [-]nd Artillery Incident, have left deep traces between the navy and the army. Crack...and the main reason for this rift is distrust.

Such distrust includes jealousy that the Army occupies a large amount of military expenditures, and also hatred of the conflicting history between the Army and the Navy! !
Although after the end of the war with Mexico, the army's military expenditures were reduced and the navy's military expenditures were increased. The central government of Han Dynasty even used the government's few funds to order many British warships for the navy. You must know that these five warships include personnel. Training and training...

A total of 15 pounds, that is 90 Chinese dollars, almost the same as the [-] lightning rifles sold to the UK.

Moreover, Liu Peng also privately stated that he would increase military expenditures for the Navy next year, and also promised that this part of military expenditures would be filled by part of the reduction in Army military expenditures.

In fact, the Navy has now passed the most difficult period and is embarking on an unprecedented development path.

But precisely because of this, the navy's internal policy towards the navy is actually very swaying, and this swaying is now vividly displayed.

They can boycott hired workers for the sake of face and power.

"Director Liang, this is the only way the navy can go at present. Otherwise, even if we buy a ship, it will be useless for at least two years..." Xiao Zhan listened to the objections around him and then asked Liang He persuaded, "And what we hired is a mercenary, maybe a teacher!!" Xiao Zhan finally added to Liang Wen.

"You mean??" Liang Wen's eyes suddenly lit up when he heard this, and he quickly understood what Xiao Zhan meant.

"Everyone, I need to discuss this matter with Minister Jiang." Liang Wen, who understood, then told the other officers around him, "Let's all disperse first..." Liang Wen dismissed the naval officers who were still trying to say anything. lay off.

"You go back and write a report for me..." After Liang Wen got rid of all those people, he turned to Xiao Zhan and ordered, "Remember, write it as clearly as possible. Minister Jiang wants to read it..." Liang Wen Wen finally gave Xiao Zhan another warning, with a meaningful expression on his face.

"Yes, Director Liang!!" After hearing this, Xiao Zhan's face lit up and he immediately hugged Liang Wen and left Liang Wen's office.

"Shit, it's all bullshit..." After Xiao Zhan left, Liang Wen immediately smashed the documents on the table to the ground and cursed.

"Forget it, as His Highness the Prince said, ten years of army and one hundred years of navy, although it is an imaginary number, it is not that easy..." Liang Wen muttered to himself with a complex expression, and then picked up the documents on the ground. Clean up your mood and start working again.

.............................................

thump...

"Come in……"

"Minister Jiang, I have something I would like to discuss with you." Liang Wen walked into Jiang Yucheng's office and said to him.

"What's the matter? It's not about those artillerymen, right?" Jiang Yucheng put down the signature quill in his hand, then raised his head and asked Liang Wen, in his opinion, what else can you do recently that can compare to the naval gunners? The shock of asking to return to the Army.

Even Jiang Yucheng was stunned for a long time after receiving the news, and finally sighed and said:
"It's going to rain and my mother wants to get married, so let it be..."

From this sentence, we can see Jiang Yucheng's mentality at that time. Although Liang Wen later suppressed the matter, the seeds of doubt had been planted.

Even the orthodox naval faction within the navy looks at naval officers transferred from the army in a wrong way, as if they were looking at thieves.

There is even a person who asked a naval officer who was born in the army in a weird way, such as if the people below him are going to return to the army, will you go back, is the army better than the navy, etc. In a weird way...

"It is indeed related to that incident." Liang Wen sat on the chair opposite and agreed with Jiang Yucheng, "But the most important thing is that an officer named Xiao Zhan proposed a plan." Liang Wen continued to tell Jiang Yucheng .

"What plan? Tell me..." Hearing that it was a naval officer below who proposed a certain plan, and that it was Liang Wen who said it himself, Jiang Yucheng immediately became interested, and then asked...

"This is his plan. Minister Jiang can take a look..." Liang Wen did not answer, but took out a document from the bison leather briefcase he carried with him and handed it to Jiang Yucheng opposite.

"He wants to become a mercenary?" Jiang Yucheng frowned and asked Liang Wen while watching.

"Yes, his plan is to introduce retired naval officers and gunners from the UK to help us complete the basic training and operations of the navy..." Liang Wen nodded and agreed, "Of course, these people are also responsible for training our own navy. "Liang Wen then added to Jiang Yucheng, fearing that the other party would disagree.

"These people spend a lot of money, right?" After Jiang Yucheng heard this, he did not object immediately. Instead, he thought about how much money it would cost to support these foreign mercenaries. "The military expenditure of our navy will not increase until next year." , this year the central government only reissued 50 to us, which is probably only enough for maintenance and training, and the purchase of a batch of artillery shells..." Jiang Yucheng then continued to talk to Liang Wen about the current financial situation of the navy.

There is no way. Even after post-war compensation, the Navy's military expenditures are still insufficient. Otherwise, it would be impossible for him to be the Minister of the Navy. If the Navy wants to introduce mercenaries, it will not first consider the harm that mercenaries may bring. , how much does it cost to bring in these people...

I have to say that the saying "a penny beats a heroic man" is so true! !
"Mr. Minister, you have forgotten that we are not bringing people here now. We can talk to the British first. It is impossible to find everyone at once. It will take several months to wait until we understand the financial situation in March." Meeting, don’t we have money..." Liang Wen looked at Jiang Yucheng, who was a little worried about the navy's financial problems, and then prompted him.

March of each year is the day when Han State summarizes the first quarter's economy, and it is also the day when Han State makes fiscal allocations for the whole year. This is a very important day for any department.

The same goes for the Navy! !

What Liang Wen just meant was to find all the mercenaries people need first, and wait until next year when there is money to do so, so as not to delay this year's plan...

"Liang Wen, you are indeed an economic genius..." Jiang Yucheng's eyes suddenly lit up when he heard Liang Wen's plan, and then he half-jokingly and half-praisingly said to Liang Wen, "If you were transferred to the Ministry of Finance, you would definitely He’s doing better than that Jiang Jap!!” The Jiang Jap in Jiang Yucheng’s mouth is Minister Jiang of the Ministry of Finance. He was jokingly called a Jap because he was too fussy about financial allocation.

It means being smarter than a kid! !

"But this matter must be discussed with His Highness the Crown Prince first. After all, this matter can be regarded as a diplomatic matter..." Jiang Yucheng then mentioned Liu Peng and diplomacy to Liang Wen. This matter is indeed what Jiang Yucheng said. , is not only a matter of a department of the Han Dynasty's navy, but also closely related to the Han Dynasty's foreign policy.

After all, in the treaty signed between Han and Britain, although Britain helped train Han naval personnel and even improved Han's shipbuilding strength.

But letting retired British naval officer gunners join the Han Navy as mercenaries is a big deal no matter which country it is in.

What's more, Han and Britain are currently allies and have signed treaties with each other. Things like this must be discussed and reported to Britain.

Otherwise, he secretly went to Britain to recruit retired naval personnel. Once it was revealed, it would easily cause diplomatic disputes... and sow the seeds of distrust in the relationship between Han and Britain.

The best way to make the British trust you is to take care of the British's feelings and say something about everything that involves the British. In this way, even if the British don't care about things, they are actually happy in their hearts...

After all, this means how important Britain is in the hearts of the Han people.

When it comes to acting, you have to do the whole thing...you can't give up halfway like some countries do! !
　Please give me a reward and make a full order.
　　
　
(End of this chapter)