"Let's go! Kid, today is the day that Mr. Lin Yiqing gave a speech at the Naval Academy, let's go listen to it. Pen | fun | pavilion www. ｂｉｑｕｇｅ。 Rockefeller got up and picked up his hat and said to his son, John Jr.

"Why did you suddenly become interested in the Navy?" Little John looked at his father in bewilderment.

"I'm not interested in the navy, but in Mr. Lin Yiqing." Rockefeller smiled.

Today, the auditorium of the Annapolis Naval Academy was packed, and people dressed in solemn naval uniforms sat there listening to Lin Yiqing's speech on naval strategy delivered by Lin Yiqing on the podium in fluent English.

“…… The Caribbean Sea and the Gulf of Mexico are now being studied as a possible battlefield for naval warfare, and this study does not take into account the relative armed forces that either side may now or at any time invest in order to occupy the territory; Rather, it is assumed, as before, that the naval forces of the opposing sides are equal to each other. ”

"Therefore, this study deals with only one aspect of strategy, which is location; That is, to study the value of the location in both military and commercial aspects. In maritime strategy, commercial value and military value are inseparable, because the greatest interest at sea is commerce. Here it is worth recalling Napoleon's definition of war, which, among other things, is 'dealing with position'. In the commentary he wrote, he found noteworthy illustrations or applications; Referring to the military operations in the desert in connection with his personal expedition to Syria in 8099, he pointed out that in countries where there is no water in general, the location of wells is the most decisive strategic element. ”

"When beginning to study any land battlefield, the first step must be to clearly define the scope of the battlefield; The second step is to undertake a comprehensive and not overly cumbersome examination of the natural features that may have a decisive impact on the strategic plan. The first step is to make it mandatory and, for the sake of convenience, both instructors and students should know what they have to consider; The second step is the question of substance, which arises from the nature of things. The same procedure, and from the same reasoning, applies to the study of strategic battlefields at sea. Students who are interested in research, no matter what, should be familiar with the battlefield in the first step, so that they can accurately determine what is directly related to the battlefield and what is not related to the battlefield; Only in this way can the scope of the tasks entrusted to them be determined. I therefore invite you to join me in testing the truths that have set the scope for our present study. ”

"A lot of trade and shipping goes into the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean. Most of them no longer continued on their way, but were scattered through islands and various parts of the coast. But many sail to other areas; This must be the case when man changes nature, especially when the canals of the Isthmus of Central America are navigable, and the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean Sea in particular, will have and will show more prominently that they are trade roads rather than shipping destinations. ”

"The maritime rights and interests of countries are almost exclusively trade rights, that is, freight rights. Although seafood is valuable, its quantity is insignificant compared to that of land-based products. The great value of the ocean to humanity lies in the fact that it provides the widest means of communication and transportation between countries; is often the only means. It is recognized and under international law that the sea is a public good, and it is a great plain with many roads running through it for public enjoyment. All nations have a common interest in all aspects of this wealth; However, there are many points where roads meet, or divide, and for good reason, this right is of course the most important. ”

"On this particular battlefield that we have proposed to be studied, there are two such points of convergence, or points of dispersion: the mouth of the Mississippi River and the Isthmus of Central America. When the world's eyes first converged on the island, there was a debate about whether Panama or Nicaragua was the best location for the canal that passed through the isthmus. This problem, which has now been finally resolved through the selection of Panama, where Colón is the terminus of the Panamanian Railway, has long been recognized as the only meeting point for trade routes from the Caribbean Sea to the Pacific Ocean. ”

"These two meeting points, the intersections, have long been and still remain the supreme rights of all mankind. At one point, all the highways in the Mississippi River basin, all the great and small tributaries of the great river, converge and disperse from there. On the other hand, all the roads between the Atlantic and Pacific oceans are concentrated here. The growing inlet and economic development of the Mississippi River basin and the completion of the Panama Canal will certainly interact with this international interest in the future. No other of the world's great powers has paid as much attention to this development as the United States; For one of these two centers, the mouth of the Mississippi River and the vast territory behind it belong to the United States, which is geographically close to another point. This special right, which is naturally and inevitably formed by geographical proximity, is all the more prominent by the implementation of the Monroe Doctrine, a well-known national policy; In particular, as a result of the concrete effects of the Monroe Doctrine, the right to control, administration and military protection of the isthmus of the Panama Canal Zone has been resolved. This special mandate, which has recently been acquired and put into practice, is in itself nothing more than a continuation of the old treaty relationship with the Republic of Colombia concerning guarantees of transit security; Under that treaty, the United States took armed occupation of the territory traversed by the Panama Railway last year in order to maintain and ensure its use for peaceful transportation. ”

"The successive political developments of the Caribbean in a large part of the Caribbean, that is, almost all of it that is not occupied or controlled by the United States or a European country, have been, and remain so precarious, that they have become a serious disturbance in international relations; This will inevitably have an impact on future events that may occur militarily or strategically. There is no doubt that it was the Monroe Doctrine that prevented foreign encroachment on most of the Caribbean countries and saved them from the ill fortunes of the North African countries, such as Algiers and Tunis, which had been annexed by France, and Egypt, which had effectively been controlled by the British. Morocco has also become the object of contention, almost leading to war, because there is no such thing as the United States, a unique relevant power in the Americas, pursuing a policy similar to the Monroe Doctrine and gaining recognition. ”

"Such a region is rich in natural resources and is commercially and politically important, but politically unstable, attracting the attention and jealousy of more powerful countries. The rights of a stable and consolidated state will be recognized; If these States exercise these rights and to some extent assume obligations to other States, the burden is usually tacitly tolerated and endured until it is alleviated by treaty or other means of peaceful conciliation. But when the rule of one government is weak and may not be sustainable, what happens next and what impact the upcoming changes will have on the well-being and political security of the people of other countries becomes an important matter for the other countries. In 9078, Britain helped Austria gain administrative rights over Bosnia and Herzegovina; Austria imposed an unprecedentedly special rate on British goods in return, and from then on, Austria took advantage of the advantageous position it had gained at the time to politically annex the two provinces to its territory, ignoring British protests. This is only one of many examples of the conflation of national interests with the resulting national interests, taking advantage of the possibility of losing political control over the current rulers of certain countries because of their political incompetence in order to achieve their future domination over them. Mutual jealousy between competing countries often allows a government to prolong its life or otherwise succumb to its rivals, as in the past Turkey and Morocco in the present, are well-known examples. ”

"Just before my visit, Japan had wanted to annex Korea, which provided another example from the side, and the current state of affairs clearly shows that Japan, with the help of Russia, continued to expand its power into the surrounding areas, and because of the weakness and incompetence of the Korean government, the Korean government and people then became inclined to Japan's 'economic attractiveness' and alienated other commercial countries, with the result that Korea was slowly but surely breaking away from the control of the Daqian Empire, and fortunately the Japanese invasion was stopped in time by the Daqian Empire's navy."

"Together, the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean Sea form an inland sea or 'Mediterranean'. On one side of its border, it is bounded by the Florida Peninsula, Cuba, Haiti and the Lesser Antilles or Windward Islands; On the other side, it is bounded by the countries of the American continent, from the United States to Venezuela. Within the boundaries of these two existing boundaries, we can see a similar situation with the Mediterranean: on the one hand, there are real or relatively strong and stable European-style traditional states; The other side is in a state of development in terms of political effectiveness, on a par with the countries of North Africa. ”

"This inland sea, which enters the Americas from the Atlantic Ocean, has its entrance only on its north and east sides, and has many shipping lanes: the Florida Strait, the Windward Channel, the Mona Strait, etc., and on the east side numerous shipping lanes that pass through the Lesser Antilles. On the west side, there is a continuous continent, which is not accessible by water; Moreover, there is a general lack of navigable rivers or other adequate means of inland transport, leaving the eastern seaside slopes of these countries to be supplied only by these seas. Goods destined for the Pacific coast of Central America and Mexico must be transshipped through the Isthmus of Panama. On the north and south banks, the Mississippi River, the Magdalena River, and the Orinoco River, all or in part, eliminate this inconvenience. ”

"Different shipping lanes into these waters have different values, but all of them have a certain value, so we have to include all of them. Its value may be, and generally will, be influenced by both military and commercial considerations, both of which must be adequately weighed in any comprehensive examination. It is often the case that a shipping lane has little commercial value, but is militarily important, or vice versa. A shipping lane, which is extremely important for a country's trade, cannot be ignored from the point of view of military control; However, it is likely that the country that desperately wants to control it will not be able to do so, and in such a case, in wartime, commercial convenience will inevitably be limited by the military power of that country. From a military point of view, we can say that of the many entrances to the Caribbean Sea, some of the western side are the most important, and their value decreases from the Strait of Florida to the Lesser Antilles. These entrances are indeed the most important to the United States not only because of their relative distance to the United States, but also because of the location and nature of the waterways themselves and their surroundings. The military importance of these waterways and gorges depends not only on their geographical location, but also on their width, length, and ease of access. A strait is a strategic stronghold, and its value is determined like any other stronghold: first, location; second, strength, that is, the possibility of creating obstacles on the way of the attacker, thereby creating favorable conditions for the defender, in other words, the difficulty of passing; Thirdly, resources or favourable conditions, such as the ease of access for the occupier to reach a certain point or to reach another via one port, and to shorten the distance. ”

"In determining the value of any one shipping lane, an important consideration is whether there is another shipping lane in its vicinity that could be used for the same purpose. The value of a waterway increases if it is located in such a way that it cannot be used by a belligerent and must be detoured over long distances; It would be even more valuable if it were the only link of communication between two bodies of water or between two naval depots, such as the Dardanelles or the Strait of Gibraltar. As for the power of the channel, that is, its difficulty of passage, it is caused by a variety of conditions, such as the condition of the channel, the presence of obstacles on the surface or under the water that impede navigation, which obliges ships to follow a certain course, and can provide a convenient assembly point for the fleet guarding the channel, so that the fleet can easily navigate and facilitate the attack of the enemy from either direction. Such a natural feature is clearly consistent with the force of the terrain and therefore the strength of the terrain. A glance at the map shows that the Florida Channel and the Windward Channel have reached the highest level of narrowness, length and difficulty. At the same time, the docks of Jamaica and its port of Kingston, which are located on the right flank of Cuba on the north Atlantic, are located in the Windward Channel and the Yucatan Strait, which are suitable for one position to guard two gorges at the same time; Since it is located in the rear, it facilitates the movement of all forces in either direction. None of these lanes are as narrow as any of the specific shipping lanes between the two islands of the Lesser Antilles of the eastern group of islands; Each of the Lesser Antilles has narrow lanes. This is compared to the entire body of water, from Haiti to Trinidad, which has many places to cross, and can in fact be seen as a contiguous body of water. ”

Jamaica's control over the Yucatan Strait was the weakest, but Jamaica's control over the Yucatan Strait was strengthened by the fact that the shallows and coral reefs off the coast of Honduras on the way forced passing ships to sail along the eastern flank, pushing them deeper into the powerful distance of Jamaican cruisers. All in all, Jamaica's vantage point allows it to monitor access to the isthmus via the Yucatan Strait and the Windward Channel. As a result, Jamaica is positioned to guard a 900-nautical-mile front from Cape Catochew to central Haiti in the face of an invasion from the Atlantic. There are only two gaps in this line that are navigable, the Yucatan Strait and the Windward Strait. ”

"The Bahamian Shoal and Archipelago, which stretches from the coast of Florida near the coast of Florida and along the north coast of Cuba and Haiti almost to the eastern longitude of Haiti, has a great influence on the approach to the western shipping lanes and must be included in the general study. With the exception of the Bahamas, there seemed to be no reason to extend the northern boundary of the area to the outer coast of Puerto Rico; In the east, the boundary does not have to go beyond the smaller islands, including Barbados and Trinidad. Within this line and within the Florida peninsula, without exception, all strongholds must be taken into account, and the study of the question of the relative use of all strongholds, which show favourable conditions, must be particularly exhaustive; At the same time, it is necessary to bear in mind the general principles of naval strategy, which have already been briefly outlined. ”

"But there's one place where you don't have to think too much about it. The coastline of the Gulf of Mexico, from the mouth of the Mississippi River westward to Cape Catoche, has no port that is strategically advantageous for guarding the Caribbean; Moreover, the location of this line of coast is farther from the center of military and commercial interests than many other ports with both power and resources. Therefore, for our purposes, it is advisable to omit the Gulf of Mexico, which forms the western line from the mouth of the Mississippi River to Cape Catoche. Since Mexico is not a great power, it does not have any significant impact on the military balance in the Caribbean, which makes all the more sense; Moreover, Mexico's political situation is quite stable, which raises hopes that it will not provoke foreign interference. Moreover, Mexico's east-coast trade does not increase by its use as a transit point for supplies in short supply to the Pacific Coast. This means that the importance of commerce on Mexico's east coast depends only on its own natural development. It doesn't benefit from being a hub; Once the Panama Canal is navigable, the entire west coast of Mexico will be stimulated by commerce, as is now expected on the Pacific coasts of Canada and the United States......"

Ma Han listened to Lin Yiqing's smooth speech, and it can be said that he was both surprised and admired.

Lin Yiqing's theoretical knowledge is so rich, far beyond his imagination.

What shocked him even more was that Lin Yiqing, as a general of an ancient empire in the East, was so familiar with the situation in the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean Sea thousands of miles away. (To be continued.) )