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In addition to Ma Kui and several geological experts who had participated in oil exploration at Yumen Pass and Xinjiang, to Weng Wenhao's surprise, the Nanyang Fleet also sent two young lieutenant colonel officers, Bingwen and Zhou Songen.

The Chinese who make a living in Nanyang are more or less concerned about the development of the national navy, so the names of the generals and warships of the navy can be catchy, the older generation of Sa Zhenbing, Cheng Biguang These are not to mention, and now many people know that the navy has recently suddenly burst out called the Six Little Huya, which are Beiyang Chen Shaokuan, Bai Yutang and Shen Honglie, Nanyang Bingwen, Chen Shiying and Zhou Songen.

All six of them had studied in Europe, even the earliest Chen Shaokuan and Bai Yutang went to the Greenwich Naval Academy in England after the First Sino-Japanese War to continue their studies, and after the European War began, they were also conscripted into the army to fight with the British Royal Navy. What's more interesting is that this distinction also intentionally or unintentionally affected the navy, the Beiyang Fleet can be said to be the inheritance of the mantle of the old Beiyang, while the Nanyang Fleet is the embodiment of Yang Qiu's naval thought, which can also be seen from the distribution of warships.

After the conflict in the Yellow Sea, the two purchased Combined Forces-class battleships and the two Nevada-class battleships returned from the United States last year were delivered to Beiyang, making Beiyang have 4 battleships, 2 battlecruisers (Anhai-class repair) and 6 light cruisers in one fell swoop, while the Nanyang Fleet has 2 Anhai-class, 2 training aircraft carriers and 4 light cruisers, and it is said that in the 1920 naval plan, in addition to the two heavy cruisers, the Nanyang Fleet will also have all 2 new aircraft carriers and 6 of the 8 new light cruisers.

So now the Navy is joking. Now the annual routine north-south exercises are a "Anglo-German war".

No matter which country wants to intervene in the island-dense area of the Nanyang, the navy is the top priority, and the stability of the Nanyang Chinese in recent years is not because the country's strong naval strength has been restored, and the Nanyang Fleet will regularly send warships to Luzon and Borneo every year to turn around a few times in the name of training. So it is not surprising that the South Sea Fleet will come, because the navy itself is a big user of oil, and countries are now paying more and more attention to oil. Therefore, most of the oil companies and oil refineries have military backgrounds, and the Anglo-Dutch Shell Company in Palembang also often has British and Dutch naval visits, but they actually sent two "little tigers" in one go. I was surprised.

There were two exploration missions, one was the geological reservoir of the Mahakan River north of Balipapan, Borneo, which was discovered by Ong Boon Ho. He thinks there is likely to be oil. The other was to survey a tidal flat in the Strait of Malacca on the island of Sumatra, where the vice president was said to have received credible information about the presence of oil. Judging from the geological conditions, the reserves of the former will not be very large, and the Anglo-Dutch Shell oil company, which is close at hand, will not solve the problem by force. Considering Bingwen's background, Weng Wenhao took a breath of cold air in his heart, what is hidden under the wasteland of Sumatra? Is it worth it for the vice president to transfer a fleet to escort it?!

After the group drove to the Luzon company, Kwong Jingyang was also very happy to see Ma Kui and Bingwen, and held hands to greet him for a few words before asking: "Brother Ma, what is the vice president going to do with the oil fields in Borneo?" It's close to Barylpapan, I'm afraid. ”

The Anglo-Dutch Shell Company now had a monopoly on oil exploration in the Dutch East Indies, and the sudden insertion of a newcomer would surely be very hostile. Fortunately, Yang Qiu was also ready and thought of using Jacob's Jewish identity, because there are also Jewish colors behind the shell. So Ma Kui was full of confidence and said with a smile: "Brother Jing Yang don't worry, the vice president has already arranged this matter." ”

"That's good. There is more and more oil in the country, so without further ado, let's take a three-day rest and let's go. ”

"Okay."

While Bingwen and his entourage embarked on the road to search for oil, Yang Qiu also arrived in Qinzhou.

One of his plans was to enter the Nanyang oil industry, ostensibly in preparation for the next world war and to solve the problem of domestic oil shortages. But in fact, it is the prelude to the participation of national capital in international competition, and it is also a part of the Nanyang Chinese economic circle and going blue. The Jewish world is not monolithic, and the crazy oil oligarchs are no less passionate about politics than they are about money, and they have no way of mining their own land, and once they go out and stand shoulder to shoulder with them, there is really no guarantee that they will not provoke political conflict.

The use of the European war by light industry to enter the European and American markets is not a real international competition, it is only an area that Europe and the United States do not pay attention to, but oil is different! After the war in Europe, all countries began to attach importance to oil, and if it were not for the oil on Sakhalin, Japan would not have risked the threat of the continuation of the war. From the experience of later generations, it can be seen that because of the inability to enter the international resource market in the early days, almost all the oil of the Republic was stuck by others, so only by stabbing here can we gain a greater say in the future.

It's not easy to intervene, it's not all about the strength of the country and the army, but also about ideas and discrimination. White people have been rampant in the world for more than 100 years, and except for a few countries that have barely retained their independence, where in the world are they not making the rules? Saudi oil fields have not dared to expand their scale so far, just because they are afraid of being looked down upon! It's like a big bowl of fat on the table, you who are usually used to eating vegetables suddenly run to get a big piece of it, and a group of people can't beat you and disgust you.

Therefore, a naval force is even more needed to deter opponents.

In the past three years, Qinzhou has undergone very big changes, and the shipyard has expanded 2 slipways again. The two new slipways are less than 100 meters apart, and the two new slipways are currently being built on the imitation of the German oil tanker Jupiter, which was included in the second five-year plan. Oil tanker technology is actually very complicated, not only to calculate the volatilization and expansion in crude oil transportation, but also to install a special high-pressure oil pump, because the oil viscosity is very high, so the oil pipeline and oil pump need unique technology, but also need to be able to quickly replace, and to set up several independent oil storage tanks, so a ship alone has dozens of kilometers of internal pipelines. For China, which has only only recently entered the shipbuilding industry, these technologies were previously out of reach, but the Rhineland Plan made up for it.

The tanker Jupiter, which was bought from the Horvath shipyard, has been removed from the main deck to reveal its inner structure, and every steel plate and spare part has been numbered. Dozens of shipbuilding technicians who arrived from Germany after the war in the Rhineland Project were teaching Chinese technicians and workers by hand. In this simplest way, you can build two of your own tankers while surveying and mapping like building blocks. Efficiency is slow, but it is the way to go, and the new industrial countries need to take the path from simple imitation to technological innovation. The two ships are similar to the Jupiter in terms of tonnage and appearance, with a light displacement of 15,000 tons and a full load of 28,000 tons, which can transport 12,000 tons of crude oil at one time. The only difference was the elimination of the German boiler and the reciprocating steam engine power pack. Switching to the Jiangnan plant's reduced steam turbine and small water-tube boiler allowed the speed to be increased from 12 to 16 knots. Economically, the benefits are poor, but in the long run. At present, the reciprocating steam engine used by low-speed merchant ships in various countries has no future for development.

In addition to the German engineers and the Qinzhou shipyard's own personnel, there were many other shipyard technicians involved in the tanker imitation project, who took the opportunity to learn. And prepare for the future to build their own tankers. According to the calculations of the Ministry of Industry, if you want to have the capacity to transport 10 million tons of crude oil per year, you need 100 ships.

It is impossible for even the United States to build 100 special oil tankers, so at the same time, the Qinzhou plant has begun to design 50,000-ton ultra-large oil tankers with the help of German engineers. Wei Han, the director of naval shipbuilding, was even happier than Miao Yuan, pointing to the tanker and gushing, as if that thing was the domestic battleship that the navy people always wanted: "The design of the new tanker is almost complete, and the ship type experiment can start in July, and if it goes well, it will start by the end of 23." ”

The gray-haired Wei Han was the most important pillar of the navy in the late Qing Dynasty, but he was not understood by most people because of his work. During his tenure as Harbour Master. He presided over the design and construction of 12 ships, and the Tongji ship, which is still in service with the Navy today, was created by him. Although it is still very poor compared to foreign countries due to technical and other reasons, it is not his fault, so after Yang Qiu began to sort out the navy, Sa Zhenbing immediately found him. He was again appointed as the director of naval shipbuilding equipment.

He came this time to inspect the progress of the light cruiser in the 1920 naval plan contracted by the Qinzhou Factory, and the spirit of the 70-year-old man who spends half of his time running around the coastal shipyard every year was quite moved, and said with a smile: "Old Wei, just let this kind of thing come below, you have to pay attention to your body." ”

Yang Qiu likes to call older people what is old and what is old. It's no longer a strange news, Wei Han has already heard about it, and said with a smile: "Thank you, vice president, but the old man just can't be idle, you see these are treasures." Back then, if we had these, Kaishi, Zixiang, and Yuchen. At the end, the old man sighed and shed tears. What an excellent generation of Beiyang people, but for various reasons, the blood of the field has not returned. Yang Qiu hurriedly comforted him a few words, and he also knew how aggrieved these old Beiyang felt about the First World War back then, and even Li Yuanhong talked about Jiawu from time to time.

Afraid that his sadness would affect his body too much, Yang Qiu turned the topic to the matter of the naval treaty and asked, "Old Wei, how is the naval negotiation going?" ”

The Washington naval negotiations have been inconclusive due to the fact that China's entry into the new power has become more complicated, so the negotiations that ended in February have so far been inconclusive, mainly because the Chinese navy has demanded the same treatment as Japan. Although Wei Han was a technician, he was particularly concerned about this negotiation, because it was related to how many warships the navy could build, so he simply introduced it to Yang Qiu next to the oil tanker under construction.

Naval negotiations have been in contact since the beginning of '21, but so far they have been chaotic. The main core is that the United States demands the same status as the United Kingdom, while Japan demands 80% of the tonnage of Britain and the United States. The biggest headache for Britain and the United States is that the Chinese Navy has also proposed that the tonnage of its capital ships must be equal to that of Japan, otherwise it will not consider joining the treaty.

Britain had a headache about this, quibbling that this was not a national negotiation, but only a naval negotiation. China has no overseas colonies and no naval traditions, so it shouldn't have acquired that much tonnage. Yang Du and Ye Zugui will definitely not be fooled, don't you want a navy if you don't have a colony? From Qinzhou in the south, to the northernmost northeast strait of the Okhotsk Sea (the Shanghai Communiqué begins to divide from here, and the Chantal Islands belong to China), the entire coastline is 7,000 kilometers long, plus Britain and the United States recognized in the Shanghai Communiqué that the South China Sea Zhudao belongs to China, the Chinese Navy has the right to maintain stability in the South China Sea together with Britain, the United States and France, so the Navy needs to bear the security of about 11 million square kilometers of sea area! So at least 12 battleships, 8 battlecruisers, 40 cruisers and 200 destroyers were needed to maintain coastal security.

It's not that I don't know, but I'm shocked! 12 battleships. 8 battlecruisers, 40 cruisers, this is absolutely impossible! If it is given according to this tonnage, it will be directly comparable to Britain and the United States! Wouldn't it be another place with a much wider sea, hundreds of times more resources, and a coastline that was completely incapable of blockading Germany? Therefore, not to mention Britain and the United States, France and Italy, which have nothing to do with it, also shook their heads directly, and Japan even said that China's statistical law was wrong. Half of the sea area under its jurisdiction should be under the jurisdiction of Japan.

Yang Du and Ye Zugui also knew that they couldn't get it, and if they really got it, the country couldn't afford to raise such a large navy for the time being, and the reason why they did this was because they didn't want to be weaker than the Japanese navy. Otherwise, I won't be able to account for it when I go back

In the face of the aggressive Chinese navy, Japan shouted at the negotiating table that China threatened, saying that if China got the same tonnage of capital ships, Japan would withdraw. and despite the pressure of the domestic economy. Soon after the start of China's 1920 naval plan, the 88th Fleet plan was also changed to the 99th Fleet plan, and the construction of a series of new warships, including the Tosa-class, Amagi-class, Furutaka, etc., began in an attempt to maintain the status of the navy.

Of course, the United States cannot ignore the Japanese Navy's frenzied expansion plan, but its own domestic isolation has become more and more serious, and the economic downturn may not even be able to complete the construction of more than a dozen capital ships in the European war, so the requirements put forward by the Chinese Navy are very ambiguous, saying that it should not be such a large tonnage, but on the other hand, it says that it should respect the needs of coastal defense.

"Even if you are a bitch and want to set up a torii!" In the Washington negotiation venue thousands of miles away, Yang Du quietly entered the door and sat next to Ye Zugui. Laughed and squirted a dirty word. Coming to the United States for two years has also opened the eyes of this master of Chinese culture, and his thinking is more similar to Yang Qiuxian's view of suppressing domestic thoughts and making every effort to build the country, so he was particularly active in this round of naval talks.

When Ye Zugui saw him coming, he also laughed and said, "Did you know about it?" The United States has pushed for an open door to no avail, and the European war has not reaped any benefits. Therefore, the country began to isolate the mentality, and at this time, let them vigorously develop the navy to confront Japan, and they will not be able to pass the hurdle of appropriation from the National Assembly alone. ”

When Yang Du first came, a veteran riot broke out in the United States, and in the past two years, many companies have closed down because of the economic effect of the European war, so he also slowly understood the mentality of the Americans, and said with a smile: "This is a good thing." The United States has long surpassed Britain and France combined. If they expand, our country and the South Seas may not be able to survive. Now that I don't want to interfere, I want us to stand in front for a few years, and it's just right to get some benefits. ”

"Hehe, you're becoming more and more like the vice president, and you don't forget to do something good."

Yang Du himself also smiled: "Du is not a person who eats and drinks dew, and he has no intention of returning to the countryside, although the yellow and white things are dirty saints, they are also necessary things, a person is still like this in the world, how can a country be lucky if it wants to grow?" ”

Ye Zugui agreed with his point of view, glanced at the US representative who was speaking, and asked: "If we continue like this, we will not be able to get much tonnage, I wonder if there is any news from China?" ”

Yang Du came late because he was in contact with the country, so he took out a telegram to Ye Zugui: "What the vice president means is that the capital ship should be 250,000 tons, and if it is almost 220,000 tons, it can't be lower than France and Italy." ”

"How's that going to work!" Ye Zugui is also a person of great naval thought, and after Jutland, he strengthened his belief in the decisive battle of the capital ships at sea, and said: "Yesterday I went to visit the British Admiralty, and he meant that Japan took 60% of Britain and France, that is, 315,000 tons. If we take 250,000 tons, it will be a full difference of 60,000! Now it is considered a light load with water and no oil, and if it is at this tonnage, there will be 2 less capital ships! The two leased Nevada ships will be returned in three years, and the remaining 4 Anhai ships are 110,000 with a light load, and the 2 ships are 40,000 with a combined force of Austria-Hungary, so only 3 can be built. Japan now has 2 Hanoi, 4 British Battle Cruisers, 4 Kongo, 2 Fuso, 2 Nagato, 14 Even if we cut 3 ships, we will suffer too much! ”

Yang Du didn't know much about the navy, so he only said Yang Qiu's suggestion: "What the vice president means is that the 2 Austro-Hungarian second-hand ships will be decommissioned in 25 years, and the 2 American ships will also be returned, and we will build a few of the vacated tonnage." As for the gap with Japan, he meant to transfer 60,000 tons to aircraft carriers to ensure that they get the same tonnage as the United States and Britain. We want to ensure that we strive for special exceptions, keep four ships that exceed the standard for heavy patrols, allow our country to continue to use 210mm naval guns, and include the coast guard in the ranks of the coast guard, so as to avoid being counted in the total tonnage of the navy. ”

Ye Zugui felt a little uncomfortable in his heart, although Yang Qiu has been very active in the navy in recent years, and the funding and support are also in place, he always does not love battleships, but likes to develop aircraft carriers that are out of the way. This was an objection within the Navy, as aircraft carriers were much less valuable than battleships. As for separating the National Guard from the Navy, he agreed. Because the coastline is too long, the coast guard needs to build a group of large-tonnage patrol warships that can last for a long time.

Even if there are many dissatisfactions, Ye Zugui also knows that since Yang Qiu has decided, I am afraid that he has already discussed it with Sa Zhenbing and them, not to mention that the appropriation power of the Congress is in the hands of others, and the navy has no money. So take a deep breath. Looking at the representative of the Japanese Navy not far away, he gritted his teeth: "I'm going to see the US Secretary of State." ”

The unusual movement in the seats of the Chinese Navy delegation did not attract much attention, but a diminutive Nakasa in the Japanese Navy delegation kept his eyes on Ye Zugui, who got up to find the US Secretary of State. Seems to care a lot about this kind of move.

"Takano-kun, what are you looking at? Have you prepared the materials ready? ”

Nakasa retracted his gaze and handed the information on the U.S. capital ship to Yuzaburo Kato, who came to the meeting: "Your Excellency, the Prime Minister of the Sea." This is information on all capital ships in service and under construction in the United States, including those two Nevada-class ships leased to China. Allow me to suggest that if the competition for greater tonnage continues, it will inevitably lead to the abortion of the Conference on Disarmament, and that in five years the economic situation of our country and the number of warships under construction in the United States will be as many as 12 ships! So I think there should be a proper compromise, and what is more important for the empire is strategic depth, so it is possible to compromise the tonnage with the British, but we should do our best to keep Guinea and the Bismarck Islands, and as long as we control Rabaul, we can cut off the entire eastern route! Other than that. I also suggest that the capital ships should be appropriately abandoned, and the tonnage of aircraft carriers should be increased to ensure that they are the same as those of Britain and the United States. ”

Yuzaburo Kato seems to value this young man very much, but he is very dissatisfied with his exchange of capital ship tonnage for aircraft carriers: "Takano-kun's proposal is good, have Guinea and Rabaul. Our navy has vast depth and can gain an invincible foothold! But capital ships are the pillars that I must not give up in the Imperial Japanese Navy, and as for aircraft carriers, I don't think they are very important. ”

"But" Nakasa opened his mouth, but saw Kato Yuzaburo looking at the Chinese delegation with a sharp gaze, so he had to close his mouth. It is clear that the Japanese Navy cannot accept within the Navy that there are fewer or as many capital ships than the Chinese. Not to mention taking the initiative to cut it.

Japan did not agree to exchange battleships for aircraft carriers, but Ye Zugui put forward this proposal on behalf of Yang Qiu, and US Secretary of State Charles Hughes, who attended the meeting, was quite satisfied with this concession, after all, no country at this time thought that aircraft carriers could replace battleships. However, China's request for 250,000 tons still feels too much, saying that the United States can only support 175,000 tons, which is the same as France and Italy. As for the continued use of 210mm naval guns, it is acceptable to keep the existing four heavy cruisers that exceed the tonnage standard under construction, but this will inevitably allow Japan to continue to keep the two threatening Nagato.

175,000 tons, of course! In this case, it will be 140,000 tons short of Japan, and according to the proposed standard of 35,000 tons, it is a gap of four Nagato. After consultations with the country, considering the lack of manufacturing capacity, Ye Zugui proposed another way, that is, to take 250,000 tons, but only build 200,000 tons before 1930, and the remaining 50,000 tons to be built at an opportune time after 30 years, and was willing to accept international supervision.

Although Yingmei still feels that it is too high, Ye Zugui is unwilling to back down. Said that unless Japan cuts tonnage, it will withdraw from peace talks! Withdrawal is certainly not possible, and Japan is also reluctant to reduce it with the threat of withdrawal, and considering the relationship between China and Japan, Britain and the United States finally agreed to this special case. Although Japan was extremely reluctant, Britain agreed to follow the example of Sakhalin and continue to let it keep Guinea and the Bismarck Islands until after 1940, when Japan finally agreed to this choke point for controlling the Pacific Ocean shipping routes.

In this way, the United States will not do it, the strategic location of Guinea and the Bismarck Islands is too important, especially Rabaul, which is the choke point for controlling the southwest Pacific and the eastern route! It's acceptable to stay in the hands of Australia, after all, Australia has no industry, but it is too threatening to stay in the hands of Japan!

Ye Zugui later did not know how the British persuaded the United States and Australia, but the result was that the two countries agreed to let Japan control until 1940, but only allowed to open up land in Guinea and not to build offensive military installations. Japan rejoiced at this, and as for the prohibition of offensive installations, the seaports and fortresses were defensive anyway.

After obtaining Rabaul, Japan immediately increased the plan to build the Rabaul fortress on the basis of building the Truk base, and in order to hide people's eyes, in the name of cultivating grain and rubber, built seaports and bases, and built defensive fortresses, and also sent immigrants who had withdrawn from Taiwan there in one go, and transported laborers from China and North Korea.

That's an afterword.

In May 1922, after some bargaining, the Washington Naval Treaty was finally reached, and Ye Zugui and Yang Du signed the contract in the name of the plenipotentiary of the Republic of China.

The contract stipulates as follows.

The United Kingdom, the United States, Japan, China, France and Italy shall not build (or build for non-contracting states) capital ships with a caliber of 35,000 tons (all British tons) and a caliber of 16 inches (406 mm), and shall not build aircraft carriers with a displacement of more than 27,000 tons above the standard displacement, and all existing capital ships must be built at least 20 years after they are built and launched before they can be replaced (but excluding leased and second-hand capital ships built not by the country). No cruisers with a standard displacement of more than 10,000 tons and a caliber of 8 inches (203 mm) must be built, and no more than 10 6.1-inch guns per ship (anti-aircraft guns under 5 inches of 127 mm are not counted).

According to this standard, the tonnage of capital ships of various countries is: 525,000 tons (533,400 metric tons) for the United States, 525,000 tons (533,400 metric tons) for the British Empire, 315,000 tons (32,040 metric tons) for Japan, 250,000 tons (254,000 metric tons) for the Republic of China, 175,000 tons (177,800 metric tons) for France, and 175,000 tons (177,800 metric tons) for Italy.

Aircraft carrier tonnage: 135,000 tons (137,160 metric tons) in the United States, 135,000 tons (137,160 metric tons) in the United Kingdom, 135,000 tons (137,160 metric tons) in China, 81,000 tons (82,296 metric tons) in Japan, 60,000 tons (60,960 metric tons) in France, 60,000 tons (60,960 metric tons) in Italy.

Each signatory country may, within the scope of the total tonnage of aircraft carriers specified in the treaty, use the uncompleted capital ship to renovate two aircraft carriers not exceeding the standard of 33,000 tons (33,528 metric tons).

Since China has no ships available for modification, this exception is changed to allow it to retain four rebuilt heavy cruisers, continue to use 8.27-inch (210mm) naval guns on cruisers, and allow China and France to continue to use 6.1-inch (155mm) naval guns, but also abide by the clause that the total number of ships (over 152mm) shall not exceed 10.

wait

(To be continued.) If you like this work, you are welcome to vote for recommendation and monthly passes, and your support is my biggest motivation. )