Chapter 45 I and Luo Rongguang made a pact by striking our palms together.

  Right up my alley

  The Tianjin base has developed into a fully functional coastal new area, with all aspects of construction thriving: it has successively improved the shipbuilding industry, shipping industry, fishing industry, salt industry and other related industries, expanded ports, cargo yards, warehouses, train stations, power plants, water plants, hospitals, post offices, commercial districts, residential areas, schools, hotels, administrative institutions and military camps. In the vast inland area west of the new district in the southeast of the base, farms, reservoirs and other infrastructure have been newly built, gradually forming a self-sufficient local economic system. The rapid growth of trade volume has attracted people with different skin colors from home and abroad to flock here, and the population of outsiders has increased sharply. Different ethnic groups, enterprises with unique characteristics, and exotic customs have blended in, combining with everything here to form a colorful and harmonious picture, making Tianjin base's commerce and service industry develop rapidly, becoming the largest and most prosperous trading port in the Far East.

  Several high-yielding oil wells have been drilled in the wilderness southwest of the base, and a new industrial base integrating petroleum exploration, refining, and chemical industry is rapidly taking shape. As Kavan said to Donovon, the underground here is indeed a large structure rich in oil and natural gas!

  "Kang Fan, from now on you are my God." Donovon took off the pure gold cross that had been hanging around his neck for over a decade and handed it to Kang Fan, "It's yours now."

  Kang Fan smiled and accepted it, "Alright. I'll keep it for now. When you want to go back to your old ways again, I'll return it to you."

  Duonowan shook his head like a Lang drum, "I've said it before, from now on you're my God!"

  The Tianjin Shipyard, with the support of the Shanxi industrial sector, produced a new type of motor sailboat that used a 450-horsepower diesel engine as its main propulsion method and a new synthetic fiber sail as an auxiliary propulsion method. This new type of fishing boat was widely adopted by the Tianjin Fishing Company and soon appeared in Chinese coastal fisheries and even further out to sea, astonishing their peers.

  This new type of fishing boat could choose to use either sails or diesel engines for propulsion depending on the sea conditions, making it both fuel-efficient and safe. It had excellent wind resistance and fast navigation capabilities, far surpassing the performance of fishing boats from other countries at that time.

  After successfully developing a new type of water-cooled, straight-line, double-row 12-cylinder diesel engine with a total power output of 2200 horsepower, the Tianjin Shipyard designed and built a new type of passenger cargo ship using this engine as its main propulsion system. The ship had a displacement of over 1,000 tons, an all-steel structure, and a speed of over 20 knots. It was named "Freedom Wheel" and was produced in batches for the Tianjin Shipping Company, replacing the old wooden sailing ships and coal-fired steam-powered passenger cargo ships that were previously used on domestic coastal routes. The transportation efficiency increased several times.

  After going through the above-mentioned series of shipbuilding and production processes, the Tianjin Shipyard combined its experience accumulated from repairing and dismantling ships for both domestic and foreign clients to cultivate a team of skilled workers and technicians. This laid a solid foundation for building even larger and more advanced civilian ships and military vessels in the next step.

  The fishing and passenger fleets of Tianjin have been fully updated to meet the current domestic demand, but Captain Li's ocean-going transport fleet is no longer able to meet the rapidly increasing volume of import and export trade. As it was not possible to build large ocean-going cargo ships domestically at that time, two 5,000-ton ocean-going cargo ships were ordered from shipyards in Britain and the United States respectively with investment from Shanxi Province, and presented to Captain Li as a reward for his previous trip to Britain to raise funds.

  Li Ship Captain laughed and asked: "Why don't you set up your own ocean-going fleet? Afraid of breaking my rice bowl?"

  Kang Fan waved his hand and said, "It's not possible yet. Our country's navy is still very weak and has not formed the ability to protect our domestic sea trade routes. In this current unsafe ocean environment, it's better not to establish an ocean-going fleet. You are American, the powerful US Navy can well protect your fleet, use your fleet safely."

  Captain Li suddenly realized.

  "Get ready for long-term service under me, Captain!" Kang Fan laughed.

  "Mr. Kang, you are the best business partner I have ever met, and I am more than happy to do so," said Captain Li with a nod.

  "How's your arrangement with Judy and her family?" Kang Fan asked him.

  Captain Li smiled, "As per your instructions, I sent a ship to South Africa last year and brought back my cousin's whole family to the United States."

  Cornelius felt relieved, "The Second Boer War has not ended yet, it's better for Judy and her family to stay in the United States permanently. Even if the war ends, those Boers who are descendants of Dutch, Portuguese and French colonizers will never get along with the Anglo-Saxons who have occupied their homeland and slaughtered their compatriots. The hatred will be forever buried deep in the hearts of these Boers."

  "Yes. You're right: hatred will be passed down from generation to generation." Captain Li sighed.

  Kang Fan then went to pay a visit to Luo Rongguang, the garrison commander of Tianjin Town, and inspected the Dagukou Fort under Luo's accompaniment.

  Tianjin is the gateway to the capital, and the Tianjin Dagukou Fort guards the estuary of the Haihe River, which is a crucial coastal defense fortress for Tianjin. Its importance goes without saying. General Luo Rongguang admired Kang Fan's courage and collaborated closely with him on Tianjin's coastal defense construction. Kang Fan provided large sums of military funds to Luo Rongguang in his personal name, supporting the renovation of the Dagukou Fort. Starting from 1898, the Shanxi army's regular troops and later the internal guards' engineering corps participated in the fort's renovation project, investing heavily and using new technologies, materials, and equipment to thoroughly renovate the fort: replacing the original brick-wood structure with new concrete and steel materials, changing the structure to a semi-underground fully enclosed construction, covering it with soil and planting flowers, grass, and trees for camouflage; modern facilities such as electricity, water supply, heating, ventilation, and sewage systems provided a clean and comfortable internal environment for all defensive facilities; numerous permanent machine gun firing points were built around each fort, connected by underground transportation systems and road networks, garrisoning infantry to protect the fort and forming a tight support with the Shanxi army's infantry stationed along the Tianjin coast, greatly enhancing the fort's anti-strike capability and defensive firepower. To enhance the fort's sea-fighting firepower, the old-fashioned cannons originally equipped in the fort were dismantled, and 36 new-style 130mm fortress guns were installed in six forts on both banks. These cannons were improved from the Shanxi army's original 130mm cannons, changing from traction to fixed gun mounts, with electrically powered automatic loading and control of elevation and rotation, increasing the firing rate to 20 rounds per minute and the maximum range to 30 kilometers. In addition to firing ordinary killing shells, they could also fire newly developed 130mm purple copper shell-shaped armor-piercing shells with electric ignition fuses specifically designed to counter modern armored warships. Such performance was unimaginable for Western powers, with a single 130mm fortress gun having dozens of times the power of the original old-fashioned cannons!

  Kang Fan and Luo Rongguang climbed up to the shooting command tower in the middle of the artillery platform, overlooking the sea river estuary, harbor, Tianjin urban area, Bohai Sea surface and coastline, with a very large observation range. Each fort at Dagu has such a command tower, which is designed to be modern and beautiful, with a net height of 36 meters, made of reinforced concrete, and is quite solid. The top of the tower has a spacious artillery shooting command room, equipped with precise large-scale optical rangefinders, searchlights, telescopes, and wired telephones, which can concentrate on commanding and controlling the artillery of each fort. In addition, there are also navigation indicator lights, which serve as lighthouses in peacetime, providing navigation services for passing ships entering and leaving the Haihe River and Bohai Sea.

  After the expansion of the Tianjin base, it covered the entire Haihe estuary and the surrounding Bohai coast, including the Dagukou Fort. As Luo Rongguang was about to be transferred to Xinjiang as the commander-in-chief of Kashgar, Empress Dowager Cixi intended to let Kang Fang's Shanxi army take over the defense of the Dagukou Fort. Therefore, the main force of the fort's garrison has now been taken over by the Shanxi army, and the original Qing army garrison has retreated to a secondary position. The reason for this arrangement is that the original Qing army garrison was unable to operate the new-style weapons and equipment of the Shanxi army proficiently; secondly, it was to enhance the fort's defensive strength. However, the command of the fort temporarily still rested with Luo Rongguang as the main commander, with Kang Fang as his deputy.

  "The greatness of Shanxi can be seen from this cannon platform. Governor Kang is indeed a pillar of the country!" Luo Rongguang said.

  Kang Fan bowed his head and said: "Lord Luo has spent his whole life in the military, making great efforts to stabilize the Qing dynasty. I am ashamed to receive such praise from you, sir."

  Luo Rongguang said seriously: "At present, the contradictions between the Boxers and foreigners in China have reached a critical point. If this continues, foreigners will inevitably take advantage of the situation to send troops to quell the uprising. In that case, Tianjin will be the place where foreigners must pass from the sea to the land. If a big war breaks out, I hope that Governor Zhang and I can unite as one, fight side by side, and sacrifice our lives for the country!"

  Kang Fan Zheng emphasized his head and made a pact with Luo Rongguang: "As long as we are in Dagou, the land will be stained with blood to sacrifice to heaven!"

  Luo Rongguang was right, the Eight-Nation Alliance's invasion of China in history did indeed break out in Tianjin in 1900. However, Kang Fan didn't want to be passive and defensive, but rather wanted to take the initiative to launch a war that would intimidate Japan and the Western powers, in order to gain a strong international influence, establish China's prestige, and delay the impending Eight-Nation Alliance's invasion of China by several years, thereby gaining precious time to make sufficient preparations for war. At present, Shanxi and Liaodong are at a critical stage of development, all they need is time, precious and sufficient time, and there is a possibility that both places, the whole of China, and even the entire world may be changed!

  Before Kang Youwei came to Tianjin, he submitted a memorial to Empress Dowager Cixi, the main purpose of which was to persuade Empress Dowager Cixi to disperse the Boxers. Because the Boxers' hostile actions against Western missionaries and Christians in China provided an excuse for the Western powers to launch a war of invasion, dispersing the Boxers would temporarily ease the conflict between the Qing government and the Western powers, creating favorable conditions for Kang Youwei's next move.

  The Empress Dowager Cixi seemed to have accepted Kang Youwei's proposal, issuing an edict to restrain the Boxer rebels' hostile behavior towards foreigners in China, which to some extent alleviated the increasingly deepening contradictions and helped Kang Youwei. However, Kang Youwei's original intention was to disperse the Boxers: The Boxers were originally a purely civilian organization that took violent resistance against Western missionaries in China due to their dissatisfaction with the barbaric behavior of Western missionaries, but later became a political armed force with religious color used by conservative forces within the Qing government to achieve their political ambitions, losing its original nature. Religious beliefs should be free, and it is up to the people to believe in which religion, without right or wrong. However, Western missionaries not only spread Christianity but also introduced modern medicine, promoted the abolition of feudal superstitions such as foot-binding and concubinage, and disseminated new ideas such as Western constitutionalism, which, like the reform movement advocated by Guangxu, inevitably aroused the hatred of conservative forces within the Qing government. Moreover, the Qing government's granting of extraterritorial rights to Western missionaries and churches further fueled the arrogance of some lawless Christians and clergy who oppressed the people, leading to conflicts caused by economic, cultural, and social differences. Therefore, once the people were incited, the situation became uncontrollable, directly leading to chaos in the domestic situation and the serious consequences of joint military intervention by Western powers. Therefore, it was necessary to disperse the Boxers and let these young people do what they should be doing instead of blindly following orders to create trouble for China. However, Empress Dowager Cixi compromised during the execution, which made Kang Youwei very angry. Even so, a considerable number of Boxers came to Shanxi or Heilongjiang, starting their new lives in different positions, which somewhat comforted Kang Youwei.

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