Chapter 66: The Hero of the Declining Family

  Zhongyong Army also dispatched troops to take over the Haiphong base, and it took a whole week for the Zhongyong Army to transport the captured materials alone.

  Immediately, the loyal and brave army mobilized 80,000 fully armed elite land forces to launch a fierce attack on the French army in Hue and Vinh. With the support of the naval fleet and transport ships, the loyal and brave army forced the unsupported French army into a predicament.

  Under the encirclement and attack of Zhou Yujun's fully armed fleet and big guns, the French imperial garrison stationed in Hue and Vinh, Vietnam was quickly forced to surrender.

  The Zhongyong fleet, after a brief rest, turned its guns on the French troops stationed on the Western and Southern Paracel Islands. Without any defensive firepower, the small number of French troops garrisoned on the islands chose to surrender. The Western and Southern Paracel Islands were recovered.

  After the war, Zhou Yu ordered the relocation of residents to live in the Xisha and Nansha Islands, and also built strategic fortifications on the islands, deployed troops, erected the Huaxia Divine State Boundary Monument, and determined sovereignty.

  The Zhongyong Army captured a large amount of military supplies and precision machinery, as well as food, factories, and plantations.

  Immediately following, the Zhongyong Army, taking advantage of its victory, secretly signed the Treaty of Hanoi with the Nguy?n Dynasty of Vietnam, dividing the territory into two halves along the H?ng River, with the southern half belonging to the Nguy?n Dynasty and the French-occupied area south of Hu?. Zhou Yuxi promised that after he had put his own army in order, he would help the Vietnamese king retake it, while the area north of H?ng City would belong to the Zhongyong Army.

  Of course, Zhou Yu took away all the things he liked in the occupied area of southern Vietnam. As the saying goes: "Ant meat is also meat!" (Speechless)

  The Nguyen king of Vietnam, being a timid and fearful person, had been trembling with fear since the French army occupied Vietnam. Now that he was rescued by the Trung sisters' army and could still be his peaceful king, he agreed to all their conditions without hesitation.

  The King of Vietnam temporarily designated Da Nang as the capital of Vietnam, and all Vietnamese civil and military officials moved from Hanoi to Da Nang. The Da Nang military base was temporarily garrisoned by the Trung Nghia Army to protect the stability of the King's regime.

  The signing of the Treaty of Hu? was later viewed by Vietnamese nationalists as a betrayal, and the Nguy?n king was called a traitor.

  The Zhou Yu Group is now one of the world's military powers and a powerful presence that no country in the world dares to underestimate.

  They acquired more than sixty warships of various types through transactions, construction and capture, including twenty-six ironclad ships and armored ships captured from the French Navy, and sixteen self-built warships.

  All the French naval vessels captured were renovated by Zhou Yu, removing their original weapons and equipment, installing weapon systems conforming to the Zhongyong Army's standards, greatly reducing logistical burdens, with significant improvements in speed and performance. Among them was Rashid's flagship ironclad warship, which was renamed A3 heavy cruiser by Zhou Yu and assigned to Deng Shichang as his flagship.

  There were also twenty or so low-tonnage, low-speed three-masted wooden ships, all of which were arranged by Zhou Yu near each base to be responsible for normal base security patrols.

  Eight submarines have been built underwater, with new technologies. More than a year ago, four 1,200-ton B-class submarines were also successfully tested and equipped with troops recently.

  Due to the diesel engine being paired with an electric motor, there were certain safety risks. Zhou Yu sent people to bring sealed diesel engine and closed-cycle gas turbine drawings and technical data to Dassault and Raval respectively, requiring them to start experimenting and manufacturing these two types of engines specifically needed for submarines.

  There were nearly a hundred transport and supply ships of various types, not including deep-sea transport vessels flying flags of convenience.

  The Zhongyong Army currently has more than 260,000 regular troops scattered in secret bases around the world. Among them, there are also small and medium-sized underground military secret bases built in various share-holding companies of Zhou Yu in China.

  Zhou Yu also arranged for the construction of medium-sized deep-water wharfs, shipyards, submarine production bases, airship laboratories, powered tri-wing laboratories, steel mills, gun and cannon weapon factories, ammunition plants, and defensive facilities on the Xisha and Nansha Islands. Laxide was secretly sent to Yongxing Island to preside over the research and development of the two projects, airships and powered tri-wings, with Zhou Yu providing drawings and data.

  Zhongyong Army also took Yongxing Island as its main base and expanded westward into the depths of Nansha Islands.

  Zhou Yu made detailed plans for the navy:

  He divided the navy into Ye Fushan's Pacific Fleet, which included a total of 14 warships of various types including an A1 heavy cruiser, with Ye as commander and Xu Shoushan as deputy commander, and its main base was Pearl Harbor in Hawaii.

  Lü Han's South Sea Fleet, consisting of fourteen warships of various types including an A2 heavy cruiser, with Lü as the commander and Chen Ying as deputy commander, was based in Vietnam.

  Deng Shichang's Beiyang Fleet consisted of fourteen warships, including one protected cruiser, with Deng as the commander and Ye Zhi as the deputy commander. The main base was Keelung, Taiwan.

  The surviving Fujian naval elites in the Battle of Mawei were separately arranged by Zhou Yu in his three fleets.

  Originally, Zhou Yu was going to appoint Liu Yongfu as the Commander-in-Chief of the Navy, but later on, with a large number of naval personnel available, he changed his mind and appointed Liu Yongfu as the Commander-in-Chief of the Zhongyong Army instead.

  When Deng Shichang, Ye Chen and Lü Han boarded the Zhiyuan (armored cruiser), their bodies were trembling with excitement.

  Can't get excited?

  Loaded with nearly ten thousand tons of ironclad giant ships, they didn't even think about it, this is their own battleship!

  In today's world, I have never seen a 10,000-ton-class battleship! Let alone one from the Chinese military's own fleet?

  As a result, all the naval officers and men of the Zhongyong Army basically spent their daily lives on warships. They loved their warships to death and wanted to improve themselves at all times so that they could better grasp the performance and maritime combat skills of these ironclad ships.

  Under the unremitting efforts of the vast number of naval officers and men, Zhou Yu's military expenditure was rising steadily. The navy's consumption of supplies for that month reached a staggering nearly $500,000. At the price level at that time, each ship consumed more than $1,000 per day, which was an unimaginable crazy move!

  When the data was reported to the grassroots of the navy, Lv Han, Deng Shichang and others all felt ashamed, Ah! It's all our fault! After that, they also restrained themselves a bit, such consumption is sitting on a mountain of gold and silver, and there will be a day when it will be consumed!

  Deng Shichang is now all smiles and full of joy, but at the time he was half-coerced and half-forced by Ye Fu to join the Loyal and Brave Army, he wasn't very happy about it, secretly blaming Ye Fu for making him a disloyal and unfilial person.

  Now he has thoroughly realized the good intentions of Ye Fu at that time, and if he is still serving in the Beiyang Navy, his final result will be as tragic as Ye Chen's.

  Ye Fu quickly pulled himself into the Zhongyong Army, allowing him to quickly grasp the standard weapons of the Zhongyong Army and the use of ironclad ships. This also avoided the possibility that he would not be able to keep up with the nearly abnormal pace of the Zhongyong Army in the future, leading to the possibility of leaving his beloved Navy.

  Find some spare time, I still have to go back to Dagukou, pull over the good friends of the Beiyang Navy, and let them become a member of the truly powerful Chinese navy like myself.

  Deng Shichang ended his reverie, and stood up beside Ye Chen, who was also deep in thought. He smiled wryly and asked, "When you first arrived, you were crying and begging to return to Ma Wei. Now that you have the opportunity, do you still want to go back?"

  Nonsense! I heard Commander Ye Fu say: At first, you weren't happy to come either. Now, as far as I can see, even if the principal were to whip and drive you away, you wouldn't be willing to leave our Donghai Fleet!

  That's it! For this matter, Ye Fu also teased me. Now thinking carefully: we were really very silly and childish at that time!

  Our Hua Xia Zhongyong Army has completely destroyed the French invading army in the Far East, but instead of rewarding us, the Qing government is selling us out. How can such a government accomplish anything?

  And the widows of the martyred generals in the Battle of Mawei, our principal gave them the treatment of martyrs' families, issued a large amount of consolation money, and established a monument to the martyrs in Taiwan, engraving the names of the martyrs on the tombstones, saying that they would let future generations admire these heroic martyrs who died for their country.

  Moreover, what can be seen everywhere in Taiwan is that our vast number of Chinese compatriots are full of confident, proud, self-reliant and optimistic smiles. Never have I seen a single face with numbness and no vitality among the people.

  This is still Taiwan, a place that our brave army has transformed in less than two years. What about Vietnam and Hawaii, which we have not been to yet and were transformed the earliest?

  I believe that now, it must be a peaceful scene there. Deep in my heart, I hope our principal will make an early decision to unify China, only then can my Chinese nation truly take off and rise. Speaking of this, Deng Shichang's face revealed a proud expression.

  I also had such thoughts, but the principal said: In order to avoid an internal war and harm innocent people of China, only when the timing is fully ripe can we take and implement the final plan for unifying China.

  I, Ye Chen, am ashamed of being blind to true worth back then!

  Our principal is the true model for the country and the people, our Zhongyong Army is the backbone of the Chinese nation! As Ye Chen spoke, his body stood upright like a mountain, as if telling the world that he was the sacred Zhongyong Army of China, and even more so, the backbone of the Chinese nation. His face was also flushed with excitement.

  So! Now the only thing we can do for the principal is to train, train and train again. We must train our fleet into a steel teacher of Huaxia.

  Ye Fu, Lü Han and others joined the Zhongyong Army earlier than us and also came into contact with real ironclad warships earlier than us. For our Donghai Fleet, and even more so for our principal who had great confidence and hope in us.

  We must all pay more time and energy than Biye Fu and Lü Han to train our soldiers, so that we can catch up with or surpass their fleet strength as soon as possible. Only by achieving such results can we live up to the expectations of our principal.

  Your idea is great! I fully support your approach with both hands and feet, let's not waste any more time and start training right away! However, we should try to save some expenses for the principal now!

  Don't let the principal think we're good-for-nothing kids!

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