Chapter 36: The Marine Corps

  Liu Buzhen, lost in thought, was startled by Li Hongzhang's question. He did not directly answer Li Hongzhang's question, but instead asked Zhou Xuanzhang: "Zhou Xuanzhang, if you were the commander of the Red Army, would you have a way to retake Weihaiwei within two days?"

  Liu Buzhen no longer wanted to defeat Zhou Xianzhang, he was humbly seeking advice from Zhou Xianzhang. As a high-ranking general with a first-class hat, bowing down to ask questions of a primary school student was a great loss of face.

  Last night, Liu Buxian and Zhou Xuanzhang met each other. Although he didn't think much of Zhou's flowery writing style, Zhou's calm and composed demeanor left a deep impression on him.

  Liu Buqian was different from those officials of the Qing dynasty who were busy with their official duties all day. He didn't care about his own fame or fortune, what he cared about was the life and death of the Beiyang Fleet!

  It can be said that the Beiyang Fleet was nurtured by Liu Guanxiong with his own hands, and the Beiyang Fleet is his life!

  Although this was just a sandbox exercise, in Liu Buxuan's eyes, it was a real battle!

  The entire Northern Navy was annihilated, and Liu Buzhen had already lost his will to live, so he didn't care about his own dignity anymore.

  Zhou Xuzhang said: "Liu Guangdi, with the current organization of the Beiyang Fleet, it can't be done!"

  Liu Buxian's heart skipped a beat: "Quota? Are you talking about quota?"

  "Yes!"

  Liu Buxuan bowed deeply to Zhou Xianzhang: "Please speak clearly!"

  Liu Buzhenduan, a general-grade commander, surprisingly bowed to a primary school student in the presence of everyone, shocking all the officials present, and even Weng Tonghe shook his head.

  Jin's face turned even paler. In his eyes, the distinction between superior and inferior was the foundation of the great Qing Empire. Without this hierarchy, the country would not be a country!

  "Zhou Xianzhang! Don't you dare kneel down for Liu Guan at once!" Jin rebuked.

  Ye Qiong was so angry that he was fuming with rage, and shouted: "Zhou Xianzhang disrespects his superiors, just for this reason alone, he should be executed immediately!"

  Liu Buxian waved his hand at everyone and said seriously: "Mr. Zhou, please speak clearly!"

  Zhou Xuanzhang felt a sense of emotion, it seemed that this famous Liu Buxian Liu Guandai was indeed not an ordinary person, and he couldn't help but feel full of respect for Liu Buxian.

  Zhou Xuan Zhang raised his hand and gave Liu Bu Chan a Western-style military salute, saying: "Liu Guandai doesn't mind the student's rudeness, the student admires. The student will speak boldly now, if the Red Army fleet had a marine corps, the situation would be different!"

  Zhou Xuan Zhang's words awakened the dreamer.

  The Marine Corps is not a new thing. In the Western navies of the late 19th century, there were already shadows of the Marine Corps, but the scale was not large, generally used for reconnaissance, navigation and other auxiliary combat, and could not independently execute large-scale combat tasks, especially could not undertake fortification.

  However, in today's sandbox showdown, the Marine Corps became the Red Army's only lifeline.

  If the Red Army fleet has a slightly larger marine corps, even if it cannot immediately retake Weihaiwei, it can still pose a threat to the Blue Army in Weihaiwei and at least win enough time for the naval fleet!

  "Right, right, right!" Ye Kung shouted: "The Marine Corps can land at Rongcheng Bay..."

  "No, not Rongcheng Bay!" Zhou Xuan Zhang said: "Rongcheng Bay is still too far away, the Red Army fleet can't wait that long! It should be Dagou Bay!"

  Everyone followed Zhou Xunzhang's baton and saw a small bay north of Weihaiwei. This bay is adjacent to Weihaiwei, and once landed, it can launch an attack on the northernmost artillery position of Weihaiwei from the side and rear!

  Zhou Xuzhang said: "The Blue Army dare not land in Dagukou Bay, because Dagukou Bay is a key defense area of the Red Army, with three battalions stationed there, and the terrain is treacherous. There are also artillery positions to assist in the battle, and the Red Army fleet can quickly launch a devastating attack on the landing troops! However, once the Blue Army occupies Weihaiwei, this place becomes the weakest link in the defense of Weihaiwei. The Blue Army's forces are insufficient, and there is no fleet to assist them. The Red Army can completely land here, and with surprise, they will surely win the battle!"

  "Provided that the Red Army has at least four regiments, a two-thousand-strong naval infantry equipped with sufficient artillery and heavy machine guns. Such a scale of naval infantry is unprecedented in Western navies."

  Liu Buchan made a courtesy call to Li Hongzhang and said: "Your Excellency, I humbly request that you approve the establishment of a Marine Corps in the Beiyang Fleet, with four battalions. I recommend Zhou Xianzhang as the first commander of the Marine Corps, with the rank of colonel."

  As soon as Liu Bu's words came out, everyone was shocked.

  Not to mention that Zhou Xuanzhang offended Li Hongzhang, he is already a sinner. The rank of the participant is from the fourth rank, and Zhou Xuanzhang is still an unemployed student with no achievements, just because of a sand table exercise, he suddenly became a high-ranking general, higher than Ye Tong's rank, it's too fast!

  Moreover, the establishment of a marine corps in the Beiyang Fleet was not a trivial matter. It's even more ridiculous to establish a branch of the military just because of one sand table exercise!

  Zhou Xuan Zhang let out a long sigh of relief, now that he didn't have to be an official wasn't important, what was important was that Li Hongzhang wouldn't chop his head off! His head, at least in this martial arts hall, was safe.

  Ye Qiao shouted loudly: "Liu Guandai, don't forget, today is a sand table exercise, not a real battle!"

  "Sand table operations are war!" Liu Buxian said: "My Beiyang Navy lost today, and tomorrow it cannot lose again!"

  Suddenly, a loud and stern shout came from the entrance: "Liu Guandai, when did the Beiyang Navy lose, and to whom did they lose?"

  Everyone followed the sound and looked over, only to see that at the main entrance of the martial arts hall, a little girl with a flower-adorned hairpin walked in proudly.

  That little girl wore a pink long dress, with a head of jet-black long hair, looking handsome and cold, with a pair of big watery eyes that showed a bone-chilling chill.

  Zhou Xuanzhang took a deep breath in surprise. The one who came in was none other than Min Tuo Gege, the very person he had admired while she was bathing!

  Until now, Zhou Xuanzhang still didn't know what kind of gege Mian Yu was. There were many gege in the Qing Dynasty, there were gege in the Wangye's house, and also gege in the Beile's house, of course, the emperor's house had even more gege.

  However, Zhou Xuan Zhang knew that this princess had a big temper and dared not only to chop off his head but also to rush into the martial arts hall.

  After a war of words, Zhou Xuan Zhang finally managed to keep his head in front of Li Hongzhang, but unexpectedly, Min Yu came knocking on the door again.

  Offending Li Zhongtang's great sin can be considered as having gotten away with it, but the great sin of peeking at Gege while she was bathing cannot be escaped no matter what!

  Zhou Xuan Zhang was in a panic, but he didn't know that his master Na Jin was even more flustered.

  That Jin was the associate principal of the school, in 21st-century terms, he was the executive vice president! The principal of Tianjin Military Academy was called the general manager, but the general manager did not actually manage anything. It was the associate principal who managed things, which means that the actual person in charge of Tianjin Military Academy was Jin, the associate principal.

  A woman suddenly appeared in the school, and this woman, under the eyes of the high-ranking officials of the imperial court, openly broke into the martial arts hall! This is a capital offense that requires beheading, and it's not just one person who will be killed, but a whole string of people! As the actual highest official of the school, Jin would be the first to be executed!

  Jin was shocked and pale, shouting loudly: "Guards, take this woman out and behead her in public!"

  "Bring it on, I'd love to see you try and take my head off!" Ming shouted.

  That Jin didn't think about it, how could an ordinary little girl possibly rush into the heavily guarded Tianjin Martial Arts Academy? Even if she had this skill, even if she borrowed ten times her courage, she wouldn't dare to rush into the performance hall. Moreover, in the hall sat Li Zhongtang and Weng Zhongtang, who were the most prominent figures in the current imperial court! They were all people who stood above millions of others!

  Then she fixed her eyes and with a thud, knelt down in front of Min Yu.

  He finally recognized Min Zhuo, the fearless and powerful Heshuo Gege! The emperor's sister, the empress dowager's niece!

  They openly clamored for the beheading of Hua and Sui, but this is tantamount to putting their own heads on the chopping block!

  Don't look anymore and thank you for collecting! (Kneel down in gratitude!)