Master Yuan, start!

With the help of Americans, he established a naval school in Huangpu and actively recruited his fellow Anhui natives to study naval courses.

Thanks to his unremitting efforts, the South China Sea Fleet, which was originally composed almost entirely of Fujianese from top to bottom, has become a fleet where only middle and middle-level managers are from Fujian.

Positions such as sailors, gunners, engine operators, and even cooks at the lower and middle levels were all held by Anhui people who had just graduated from the Whampoa Naval Academy.

Such an approach naturally caused dissatisfaction among the Fujianese in the South China Sea Fleet, which led to the tragedy of internal strife when the South China Sea Fleet went north to seek a surprise attack on the Beiyang Fleet.

After the internal strife, the remaining ships of the South China Sea Fleet returned to their home port of Guangzhou. Before Li Hongzhang had time to deal with the Fujianese who caused the accident, news came that they had died.

Therefore, to this day, Fujianese still have a certain degree of say in the remaining warships.

People from Fujian and Anhui also maintain an extremely fragile balance.

The first thing Yuan Shikai did when he arrived in Guangzhou was to stabilize the morale of the army. By personally visiting the front line, he gave the National Revolutionary Army heading south a reassurance.

As for the second thing, it is for the South China Sea Fleet.

The navy is a highly technical branch of the military with an extremely long training cycle.

In Yuan Xiangcheng's impression, if the German Nazi army, which was invincible in land combat, or the Soviet Red Army, which was famous for its steel torrent and could flatten Europe in 48 hours, were compared with their navy.

The gap between the latter and the former in the international arena is not small.

It took the Germans 20 years to go from being defeated in World War I to conquering the whole of Europe with lightning speed in World War II.

It took the Soviets five years to recover from the disastrous defeat in the Soviet-Finnish War, to gather a million-strong army, push back against the German army, and capture Berlin.

As for their navy, it has never stood up from the beginning to the end.

Whether it is the famous German High Seas Fleet or the Soviet Red Navy that can only bathe in the Black Sea and the Baltic Sea, they are more like the level of a second-rate country.

It took their army just over a decade to catch up with the international leading level, but it took their navy much longer to reach the same standard. Even when the country was destroyed, this wish was not fulfilled.

It takes ten years to grow a tree and a hundred years to train a person. When applied to the navy, this saying should be reversed.

A group of naval officers can be trained in 10 years, but the huge number needed to build naval ships will take 100 years to grow.

Therefore, when all the tall oak trees in Europe had been cut down, Britain was able to rely on its vast colonies around the world to collect trees from all over the world and build an invincible fleet.

By the time of the ironclad era, the definition had changed, but it could also be said to have remained unchanged.

A country that can produce enough steel to build 10 warships will inevitably be inferior to a country that can produce enough steel to build 100 warships.

It’s like Japan during World War II, the speed at which they destroyed US Navy ships was not even as fast as the speed at which they were launched.

No need to fight at all.

Unfortunately, China today is not the kind of country that can increase its steel production indefinitely.

Even if production was running at full capacity and steelmaking technology was introduced from the United States and Britain, the estimated steel production under the rule of the People's Republic of China in 1898 was only 20 tons.

Compared with a few years ago, it has increased by about 10 tons.

This was Germany's output in 1870 and Britain's output in 1871, which seems very backward.

However, this indicator is 100 times that of the Qing Dynasty in a parallel universe, 50 times that of Japan, and is close to one-seventh of France's steel production.

Even though France has the lowest steel production among the five countries of the United States, Germany, Britain, Russia and France, with only 5 million tons of steel production in 1898, it is already something to be proud of.

However, Yuan Shikai, in line with the principle of saving as much as possible, decided not to waste a single ounce of steel and took the South China Sea Fleet for himself.

"Brother Yuting, long time no see!"

Yuan Shikai was the first to extend his right hand to Ding Ruchang who was walking down from the side of the ship. Ding Ruchang knew the rules of the republican government, so he did not bow, but also extended his right hand and shook hands.

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"Consolation..." Ding Ruchang hesitated, then continued, "The President... I thought the President was still in Jiangning, but I didn't expect him to go to Guangzhou in person again. No wonder the National Revolutionary Army was able to win the battle between Zhenjiang and Liangshan."

"Hahaha, Brother Yu Ting, you're joking. I came here just to ask, Brother Yu Ting, are you willing to find a way out for the South China Sea Fleet?"

Ding Ruchang was stunned. He didn't expect Yuan Xiangcheng to ask such a direct question without even any greetings.

After a long pause, he heaved a sigh of relief and replied, "This... Our South China Sea Fleet is based in Guangzhou, and all supplies are handled by the Lingnan Xinghan Governor's Office.

Therefore, Grand Admiral... whatever Li Hongzhang asks, as the naval ambassador, I can only obey his orders. However, as a Chinese, the President, and everyone in the fleet have no intention of becoming traitors.

Now that the Southern Kingdom has been secured, and the President has come to Guangzhou, I can bring the entire South China Sea Fleet and surrender to the President!"

Ding Ruchang and the South China Sea Sword Fleet are now trapped at the mouth of the Pearl River, near the Lingdingyang.

Ding Ruchang did not dare to take the risk of breaking out to the south as he might face the furious French navy.

After all, the French don't care whether you are from the Huai faction or the Fujian-Xi Republican faction. You are all Chinese anyway. As long as you dare to leave the port, you will most likely be engaged in battle and bombarded.

Even with the South China Sea Fleet in a victorious posture, Ding Ruchang did not have the confidence to take over from France, let alone now that they had already split?

So he had no choice but to lay mines near the port to prevent the French navy from breaking into the waters near Guangzhou and avoid a repeat of the Mawei tragedy.

But doing so would completely lock the South China Sea Fleet near Guangzhou.

A boat can stay on the water forever, but people cannot stay on the boat forever.

The shells can be stored for one or two years, but the fresh water will be finished in 4-5 days, and the food will be exhausted in more than a month.

They could certainly sneak off the boat at night to replenish fresh water and food, but what would be the point?

As long as we surround the possible landing areas of the South China Sea Fleet along the coastline, they will eventually surrender.

The first time Ding Ruchang and Yuan Xiangcheng met was on a ship returning to Tianjin from Korea. At that time, Yuan Xiangcheng was just a rising star who had quelled the unrest in the Korean court.

In recognition of his meritorious service, the imperial court specially recalled him to the capital to reward him and ordered Ding Ruchang to send a ship to pick him up.

Ding Ruchang was a nominal admiral at the time, while Yuan Xiangcheng was just a small deputy general without independent command power.

The two men had different statuses, but Ding Ruchang treated Yuan Xiangcheng with a slightly appreciative attitude, as if he were a junior.

They met again after the founding of the People's Republic of China. The two of them jointly welcomed Deng Shichang in Weihai, who was leading the Zhiyuan north to fight against Russia.

At that time, one was the naval ambassador of the Lingnan Xinghan Grand Military Governor's Office, and the other was the provisional president of the Republic of China.

Although Ding Ruchang's life was not smooth, it was still much duller than Yuan Xiangcheng's.

To this day, Yuan Shikai still comes in the name of the Provisional President of the Republic of China, and Ding Ruchang is still the naval ambassador of the Lingnan Xinghan Grand Military Governor's Office.

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However, the People's Republic of China today is no longer the same as the Republic a few years ago when it had not yet successfully resisted the Russians and had not yet wiped out the Xiang-Huai Rebellion.

The current Lingnan Xinghan Military Governor's Office has long been reduced to ruins with the sound of a cannon.

After Li Hongzhang's death, Ding Ruchang took advantage of the chaos to escape, which was just an instinctive reaction.

He had been fighting wars all his life and had no knowledge of politics. He didn't know who he could trust in Guangzhou, so he hurriedly ran to the fleet full of soldiers.

After calming down, Ding Ruchang was ready to surrender as a defeated general or even a prisoner.

But Deng Shichang rushed to Guangzhou from the north and had a long talk with him all night, which changed his mind.

Yuan Shikai's demand to the remaining warships of the South China Sea Fleet was that they unconditionally lay down their weapons and surrender, and all disembark and come ashore.

Do not accept compromise in any situation.

This condition seems very harsh, but compared with the subsequent promises, it is not so excessive.

After laying down their arms, Yuan Xiangcheng promised them that they would be paid half a year's salary and then be free to leave or stay.

The navy has "complete" freedom to stay or leave, unlike the army, where they are screened and then selectively released.

If the soldiers in the South China Sea Fleet are willing to serve the Republic's Navy, the National Revolutionary Army will also gladly accept them. However, no matter how high their previous official positions were, they must start from the grassroots level.

After studying at the Incheon Naval Academy for half a year, he went on board the ship to receive orders.

In fact, this approach has, to a certain extent, eliminated the "fellow countrymen" in the South China Sea Fleet.

Whether the Fujianese or Anhui people are forming cliques, it is not good for the future development of the navy.

However, the future development of the National Revolutionary Army Navy cannot do without these naval talents.

So, Yuan Xiangcheng finally made this decision.

Most naval officers and soldiers with certain official positions cannot accept starting as privates and will most likely choose to take the money and leave.

These people are the important factors in the formation and maintenance of the Navy Clan.

Young people are the rising sun of the future. Rejecting the Fujian and Huai factions does not necessarily mean sending out Fujianese and excluding Anhui people.

As for the remaining young people, if their status is not much different, they will most likely choose to join the National Revolutionary Army.

Under the leadership of the Socialist Revolutionary Party, on the territory of the Republic of China, these naval forces that once served local warlords for their own selfish interests may become the backbone of the National Revolutionary Army Navy.

The sincerity shown by Yuan Xiangcheng cannot be said to be insufficient.

Seeing that Ding Ruchang looked dejected and his posture of bending down to surrender did not seem fake, Yuan Xiangcheng walked up to him and helped him up.

"Well, Brother Yuting, you have made a great contribution to the surrender of the South China Sea Fleet.

In the future history of China's navy, no one can avoid mentioning the three names of Ding Ruchang!

Chapter 443: The Southern War

While European revolutionaries were talking and talking, a new war had already broken out in the far East.

"Logged in!"

"The enemy has begun landing on the coast near Lianzhou. At least one infantry brigade has landed, and another unit has landed at the southernmost tip of Leizhou."

"The 22nd, 23rd, and 24th Brigades of the National Revolutionary Army have begun to block the enemy! Confirmed, the battle near the coast of Lianzhou Prefecture has begun!"

The three pieces of news that came one after another swept through the entire Guangzhou city like a whirlwind. Even though everyone in the National Revolutionary Army knew that after the French occupied Qiongzhou, their next target would be the neighboring Leizhou Prefecture and Lianzhou Prefecture.

However, when the news spread that the French army had sent two infantry brigades for a full-scale attack, people could not help but feel worried and nervous.

Inside the operations room, Wang Shizhen opened the door, and almost every officer coming in and out took a look.

However, they were soon disappointed. There was no sign of tension or anxiety on the face of the man known as the first staff officer of the National Revolutionary Army. On the contrary, he would occasionally chat and laugh with the officers who came to report.

Is Wang Shizhen really not nervous? That's a lie.

In fact, he knew better than anyone how serious the current situation was. Now that the landing battle had begun, could the National Revolutionary Army maintain the results of the Battle of Zhenliang, and could it hold on and survive to the end under the threat of the terrible heavy artillery group on the sea?

Up to now, even Yuan Shikai was probably unsure, and there was another thing that made him very worried, although the British had ensured the safety of important coastal ports.

But starting from Tianjin and going south all the way to Lianzhou Prefecture in Guangdong, there are only a few important ports along the tens of thousands of miles of coastline.

They can now land from Lianzhou and Leizhou. If they land from Huizhou and Chaozhou after a while, forming a trend of encircling Guangdong, how should the National Revolutionary Army counterattack?

After all, these places were not important ports, and the French did not risk offending the British by bombarding Guangzhou.