Years of the Republic of China 1913

() The troop increase proposal formed by the cabinet was quickly passed by the Congress. After all, the victory of this war is almost a foregone conclusion. Members of Congress are not fools, and no one will vote against it under such circumstances.

However, the number of additional troops this time far exceeds the original plan. From the perspective of the source of troops, China does not lack troops.After several years of construction of the national defense force and several reorganizations, the entire country has a regular army of one million, and 2030 million of them are transferred to Europe without affecting domestic stability.

In addition, the military equipment has also been well developed under Fang Zida's attention in the past few years. Except for a few local troops, the National Defense Forces have almost completed a comprehensive refit. New rifles, mortars, grenades, etc. have become standard equipment. Except for the rocket launchers that are still strictly kept secret and only glimpsed at a glimpse, compared with the early years of the Republic of China, the current national defense force has reached the level of the world's second-rate army. Over the years, the elite armies of the major powers in Europe have almost been exhausted. Except for a few veterans, most of the troops are recruits who have undergone several months of training. The army, what they lack is the baptism and experience of war. ..

It is not easy to transport so many troops at once, and because of the United States' participation in the war, the old maritime empire Britain has also put its energy on the more reliable Yankees. The Far East cannot allocate more ships. As for the United States, All ships have been listed for military use, and it is very difficult for the Chinese government to transport troops through allies as before.

According to the plan of the General Staff, it was originally planned to use most of the British and American transport ships and some rented Japanese ships, but I did not expect that a few days after the United States entered the war, just after the National Congress of the Republic of China passed the proposal to increase the number of troops, the Japanese side also Suddenly announced his formal participation in the war.It is claimed to the outside world that it will send the navy and the army of two divisions to Europe.As a result, the original transportation plan could no longer be carried out. For a while, everyone in the General Staff and the Ministry of National Defense was overwhelmed with worries. Seeing that the army would soon be assembled, how could they go to Europe without ships?

Fortunately, Fang Zida considered this in advance.China Merchants was notified in advance, and most of China Merchants' ocean-going ships were mobilized for temporary use by the Navy.But this is just a drop in the bucket. Although some of China Merchants' ships have been replaced in recent years, most of them are small in size and small in tonnage. They are acceptable for civilian use, but insufficient for military use.Just when Fang Zida was racking his brains to think of other ideas, good news came from the Shanghai *Shanghai Manufacturing Bureau. There happened to be two [-]-ton ships that had just been built in the shipyard. These two [-]-ton ships were shipbuilding Factory built for the French.It was originally a freighter used to transport supplies across the ocean for the European battlefield.After receiving the news, Fang Zida was overjoyed, and quickly contacted Cao Rulin to ask the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the French government to negotiate, and proposed to temporarily use these two freighters to transport troops.

The French government quickly agreed to the request of the Chinese government. Although there are still some shortcomings in transportation, the addition of these two large ships has solved this problem to the greatest extent.

The troop increase this time is slightly different from the last time, and the whole navy also joined in this operation.Compared with the army that has begun to take shape and has a huge number.China's navy can be said to be much poorer.In cabinet meetings, whenever armaments are discussed.The navy has never complained that the army occupies a larger proportion of military expenditure than the navy.From the early years of the Republic of China to the present, the Chinese navy still has a few old ships. Apart from maintaining the fleet every year, the navy can be said to be stagnant.

After the size of the army was formed, Fang Zida had already begun to consider the construction of the navy.However, compared with the army, the expenditure and training of the navy in order to form a scale are extremely astonishing and astronomical.The income of the government of the Republic of China was invested in it.It is far from meeting the needs of naval construction, and Fang Zida does not intend to start building a navy immediately under the current situation. After all, he knows that after the European war is over, countries around the world will definitely cut down their troops, whether it is the army or the navy.There is no need to maintain such a large scale.At that time, you can buy very good ships from foreign devils at the price of picking up junk, so why bother to swell your face and pretend to be fat when you are not financially well-off?

Moreover, the navy of World War I was still in the form of strong ships and cannons, and battleships ruled the ocean.But with the rapid development of technology, battleships will soon be replaced by aircraft carriers. With the historical situation already known, Fang Zida will not waste money to build a navy with the goal of battleships. He has long considered, either without building materials, If we want to build a new type of navy, let China have a new fleet that is not inferior to a maritime power while becoming a continental power.

Since the Jiangnan Shipyard started the war in Europe, it has built a total of seven 5000-ton ships, eleven ships of more than 23 tons, and 2000 small and medium-sized transport ships of [-] tons. While building these ships, the Manufacturing Bureau has trained a large number of skilled shipbuilders Workers and a large number of excellent technicians and engineers. On this basis, it is not impossible to design and build an aircraft carrier.As for the aircraft, the military industry has also made great progress. According to Chen Yu's report, the core high-power engine of aircraft manufacturing has made a breakthrough. It is expected that the new generation of experimental aircraft will be formally developed soon. Fang Zida is very happy with these good news. Encouragement, he even thought about whether to gather some scientists from Germany after Germany's defeat, and even get a few real killers like mushrooms to play with.

Thinking of this, Fang Zida almost snickered, if there were a few mushrooms in hand, who would China be afraid of?But he is not irrational. It is not that simple to grow mushrooms. Even if you know the theory, before the basic science and development equipment can meet the conditions, growing mushrooms is simply whimsical. Fang Zida is not a fairy, and he has no With the system and other things against the sky, the unrealistic idea of ​​growing mushrooms is simply not something that China can afford today. Even the most powerful countries, Britain, France, the United States, and Germany, may use the power of the whole country. It will take several years to get an idea.

This increase in troops is obviously to press the chips and grab the fruits of victory, and the participation of the United States in the war already means that the countdown to the victory of the war is approaching.The morale of the assembled army was high, and from top to bottom there was a feeling of going to the West to open up foreign trade.The General Staff was very disapproving of this, and specially held a military meeting to point out to the generals that although the victory of the war was close at hand, the Allies still possessed strong military strength. If they could not enter the battlefield with a good attitude, it is conceivable that they would suffer heavy losses And know.As long as the war has not officially ended in one day, as a general who leads troops, he must face his opponent seriously, and he will suffer big losses if he is underestimated. If anyone still has the mentality of playing, then the General Staff will immediately disqualify him and replace him Other troops go to Europe.

Wang Shizhen's words beat the generals hard, which made their mentality change slightly.Of course, there are some people who don't talk about it and don't think so in their hearts, but when they go to the European battlefield and experience the offensive of the Allies, I'm afraid they won't think so anymore.

As for the navy, it would be great to take this opportunity to exercise. After the Battle of Ridland, the navy of the Allies was at a disadvantage. In order to keep his High Seas Fleet, the Kaiser strictly ordered the fleet commanders not to go to war without authorization, which was tantamount to giving up the command of the sea.

Except for the threat of a few submarines and destroyers, the sea route from China to Europe is unimpeded.It happened to be a rare opportunity for the navy to take over the transportation. I think that after the war is over, the Chinese navy will have a group of good personnel, which will also lay a solid foundation for Fang Zida's future naval plans.

There is just over a month before the end of the year, and the kmt meeting will be held in late November. Fang Zida has already made preparations and intends to put forward a proposal to reorganize the board of directors at this meeting, and compete with Song Jiaoren for the post of chairman.

In order to paralyze Song Jiaoren, during this troop increase, Fang Zida deliberately allocated two divisions from his own troops to join the expeditionary force, and set out first as the vanguard.When the news reached Song Jiaoren's ears, Song Jiaoren felt a sense of relief all over his body. In his opinion, this was Fang Zida's way of giving in to himself.

Only Liao Zhongkai understood Fang Zida's intentions, but the entangled Liao Zhongkai had to keep his word and tell Song Jiaoren the truth. At the same time, Liao Zhongkai didn't want Fang Zida and Song Jiaoren to tear each other up. The country still treats kmt better. As for what will happen in the end, Liao Zhongkai didn't think of a better idea for a while, so he could only wait and see.

Apart from confusing Song Jiaoren, Fang Zida had another important reason for sending his direct troops to Europe, and that was his post-war European plan.As for how to use the expeditionary force to maximize benefits after the war, apart from some issues proposed in the cabinet, Fang Zida has other ideas, and the implementation of this idea must rely on the backing of strong force, although the current expeditionary force has already There are Fang Zida's troops, but this is far from enough. The two newly joined divisions are to ensure the implementation of this plan. gave him a secret order.

The increase of troops here has just been implemented, and there is good news from the north.With the support of Shang Zhen and Zhang Zongchang, Kolchak has successfully arrived in the Far East, and most of the huge wealth he carried has also traveled with him and arrived safely.

Hearing the news, Fang Zida danced with excitement.He hurriedly found someone to send a telegram to Jiang Zhiqing who had just rushed back to Shanghai, and at the same time contacted several major financial groups in the United States, intending to cooperate with the two parties to take over this huge wealth.

Of course Fang Zida wanted to swallow this fat meat in one gulp, but he also understood that it was very difficult for one person to eat this piece of meat.It is safest to bind several parties together with interests.Otherwise, if he had such a heart, Kolchak would not have fully handed over the funds to the Queen. Of course, Fang Zida would ensure his own interests to the greatest extent. In his opinion, this is the result of a win-win situation. . (To be continued.)