Chapter Seventeen: The Navy Takes Its First Steps

  December 3, 1914

  Last night the whole of Washtown was filled with gunfire and shouting, hundreds of bandits looted more than a dozen large and small landlords in Washtown. Several notorious landlords were even killed along with their families, including the family of Li Youpi, the mayor of Washtown. More than 100 soldiers in the town were also beaten unconscious and tied up, until they were released by the townspeople at dawn the next day.

  Moreover, it is said that after the bandits looted the town, they wanted to go to Qinghe Village to rob, but were annihilated by the security team led by the captain of the Qinghe Village Security Team, killing the bandit leaders Wang Dama Zi, Wang Er Ma Zi and San Dang Jia. Nearly a thousand bandits were eliminated, and more than 200 were captured.

  This morning, San Ge took 50,000 yuan and more than a dozen heads of hemp to the county magistrate of Huashi County. In the afternoon, the county magistrate's announcement came out immediately.

  "There is a bandit gang in Huashi County's Laohushan Mountains that has been causing trouble for the neighboring villages. Yesterday, the bandits rioted and unfortunately, the family of the town head of Huashi Town was killed. Fortunately, the head of the Qinghe Village Security Team bravely eliminated the rioting bandits, killing the leader and several other key members. After reporting to the Nanning Military Governor's Office, we are rewarding the Qinghe Village Security Team by formally incorporating it into the Guangxi Military Governor's Office. The team leader, Chen Shao, is promoted from lieutenant colonel to colonel and concurrently serves as the town head of Huashi Town area. The security team is expanded to become the 18th Infantry Regiment of Guangxi, with all military expenses self-funded. We hope to soon eliminate the bandits in Qinghe... December 3rd, 1913, Nanning Military Governor's Office, Guangxi."

  Looking at the appointment letter in his hand that cost 50,000 yuan to obtain, it's really true that money can make a ghost push a millstone. Chen Shao let out a sigh.

  Chen Shao stood on the parade ground of the barracks, looking at the lined-up members of the Security Regiment. Chen Shao shouted loudly: "From now on, the Qinghe Village Security Regiment is officially renamed as the First Regiment of the Chinese People's Army. I am the regiment commander, and the deputy regiment commanders are Kong Wenhong."

  Battalion Commander: Feng Tianxin

  Deputy Regiment Commander: Qian Sihai

  Deputy Regiment Commander: Mao Dajiang

  Carrying heavy loads for a long time: Sun Xiao

  Deputy Brigade Commander: Huang Bai

  Battalion Commander: Wang Yunshan

  Scouting Company Commander: Liu Yunfei

  Platoon leader of the guard company: Wang Xiaoshan

  Below regimental level, squad leaders serve as company commanders, platoon leaders serve as battalion commanders, and team leaders serve as platoon leaders.

  All reserve forces are converted to active duty, and from now on, recruit reserve troops. The personnel of the reserve troops will be fixed at 7,000 people. From now on, the reserve troops not only participate in military training and defend Qinghe Village but also participate in construction labor. Three months later, the reserve troops will hold a full-scale competition, and those with good performance will be supplemented into the First Regiment until it is fully manned.

  The formation of the first and second battalions is the same as that of the third battalion. After conscription, soldiers will undergo closed training and are allowed to visit their families twice a month. Moreover, family members of active-duty soldiers will enjoy half-price purchases at all stores under the Longteng Group.

  There are also uniform factories and helmet factories that have produced a batch of new military uniforms, which will be one of your combat equipment in the future, I think you will definitely like them.

  "Now start reorganizing, new battalion commanders and instructors go to receive equipment and new military uniforms"

  Yes

  Two hours later, three neat phalanxes stood in front of Chen Shao, each wearing a grass-green camouflage uniform, camouflage helmet, and camouflage boots, with a simple tactical vest on their back. The vest was covered with small pockets that soldiers could adjust to quickly retrieve the contents. It could hold bullet magazines, hand grenades, and other small weapons. There was also a water bottle pouch on the vest with a small tube sticking out, allowing soldiers to drink directly from it.

  The value of this set of equipment alone was 20 taels of silver, which was still the cost price. This equipment was prepared by Chen Shao for all regular troops in the future. Although it was expensive, it was worth it. The clothes had changed, but the weapons remained the same. Thinking about the arsenal in the barracks, there were still submachine guns and mortars. Submachine guns didn't need to be equipped for now, while mortars would be used by the newly recruited reserve troops for training, and once trained, they would be assigned directly to the First Battalion.

  Although each battalion's establishment was not yet full, at least the framework had been set up.

  "Attention, I now announce a task, starting from tomorrow, two battalions will be dispatched every day to eliminate bandits, adopting a rotational system, until there are no more bandits within a 100-kilometer radius of Qinghe Village. Do you have the confidence to complete it?

  Now that our household is getting bigger and bigger, we also need a stable development environment. Previously, Chen Shao thought that the soldiers' training was not up to par, but after the battle at Laohu Mountain, Chen Shao completely changed his mind. The whole day's battle only had a few injuries, although the bandits' combat effectiveness was low and their equipment was good, this achievement already made Chen Shao very satisfied. The time to completely eliminate the bandit threat around the base has also arrived."

  Ensure completion of tasks.

  Uniform and consistent voices made the warriors seem very excited.

  "The morale is commendable, I am very satisfied. Now let's have Vice-Commander Kong Wen-hong arrange for everyone to get familiar with the new military uniform first."

  Chen Shao finished speaking and directly took the guard company commander Wang Xiaoshan and a group of soldiers from the guard company to leave the military camp. Outside the military camp, there was a sedan (purchased, not yet produced in the base) and a military vehicle. Wang Jie was waiting there. Chen Shao, Wang Jie, and Wang Xiaosan got into the sedan, while the guard squad boarded the military vehicle. The two vehicles headed towards the shipyard.

  The guard company was composed of the top-ranked people in the monthly martial arts competition, and Wang Xiaoshan was specially chosen by Chen Shao because he was another third-class soldier besides Chen Shao himself who could become a third-class soldier within half a year from being a private, absolutely a genius. The guard company not only had new military uniforms but also equipped with submachine guns.

  Submachine guns and mortars are newly produced weapon equipment. The prototype of the submachine gun is the Thompson M1928 type, but Chen Shao did not give it another name, directly calling it the Thompson submachine gun. As for mortars, Chen Shao only valued the 60mm mortar, as a close-range firepower support unit, and its small size, with an unconventional arched trajectory that can fire shells into trenches. The role of mortars is still very significant.

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  Today the entire shipyard was bustling with activity, 1000 future naval hopes, under the leadership of naval officers, lined up early at the entrance of the shipyard, and a group of shipyard workers and scientists waited for Chen Shao's arrival. The rumble of trucks grew louder from afar, slowly coming to a stop at the entrance of the shipyard, and under the gaze of thousands of eyes, Chen Shao opened the car door and stepped out. Seeing Chen Shao get out of the car, 1000 naval cadets, with their officers' gestures, gave a rifle salute, and the naval cadets expressed their respect to Chen Shao, the greatest officer in their hearts, with neat military salutes.

  "Classmates, is studying hard?"

  "Unfortunately bitter."

  "I believe you are the future pride of China's ocean, and when the navy is officially established, I will personally pin the epaulets on each of you." Looking at the young and solemn faces, also symbolizing the Chinese nation, this nation that has suffered many disasters and hardships, in the not-too-distant future, freely galloping in the deep blue.

  "We will definitely work hard to study."

  Chen Shao asked the two junior instructors who brought the students back to the military camp, asking the senior naval instructor beside him: "How long will it take for them to form a real combat force?"

  "Report to the superior, after 1 year of basic training on land, then go to the warship for training, and it is estimated that it will take 3-5 years to form combat effectiveness."

  "No rush, I can wait, China can wait."

  It seems that the speed of naval training needs to be accelerated, Chen Shao thought about the second world war in later generations, every country can gather tens of millions of navies, what he has done is still far from enough, now these 1000 people are just the seeds of China's future navy.

  Today Chen Shao came to the shipyard because the shipyard was about to start building warships. All kinds of equipment and workers were in place, and three ships would be built at once. The construction drawings were also ready. Chen Fu had been staying in the shipyard for some time, arguing with a group of scientists and technicians, as he wanted to start building the Longmen-class battleship immediately. However, others were afraid that starting such a large project all at once would make it difficult to complete smoothly. Later, Chen Shao decided to build three destroyers, which ended the dispute. Afterwards, Chen Shao also promised Chen Fu that within a year, he would build at least three more shipyards (one shipyard can build three warships at the same time), and build the Longmen-class battleship. Thinking of this, Chen Shao had to order his spies in Europe to dig up more shipbuilding workers, while increasing efforts to win over employees of the Jiangnan Shipyard.

  The groundbreaking ceremony was very simple, with only a few hundred shipbuilders and twenty technicians, plus Chen Fu as the head of the naval expert team. The destroyer being built is a World War II-era US destroyer: the Allen M. Sumner-class destroyer, which Chen Shao named the City-class destroyer, with the lead ship being the Xiamen, and two other ships of the same class being the Chongqing and Nanning.

  The data of city-level destroyer is:

  Full displacement: 2,800 tons;

  Principal dimensions: overall length 114.85 meters, overall width 12.34 meters, draft 3.81 meters;

  Speed: 34 knots;

  Crew: 345 people;

  Main armament: 3 × Mk.32 twin 5-inch dual-purpose guns

  Torpedoes: 5 x 21-inch torpedo tubes (2 mounts)

  Anti-aircraft guns: 4 × twin 40mm Bofors, 2 × single 40mm Bofors, 11 × single 20mm Oerlikon

  Anti-submarine: 2 × depth charge throwers, 4-6 × Hedgehog anti-submarine mortar.

  This is a very advanced destroyer of this era, mainly for anti-submarine warfare, which is also the reason why Chen Shao wants to build this type of destroyer.

  Today there is another reason for coming here, Chen Shao plans to build an air force command center here, as for the aircraft, Chen Shao has already found a way, and formal news has come from Feng Ru's place, Feng Ru promised to help him establish China's first air force unit. This place is located in a remote area, the land is flat, and after the air force is formally established, it can also guard the shipyard, which is also one of Chen Shao's reasons for establishing an air base here. Moreover, he also wants to build barracks and air force instructors, recruit air force students.