After half a month of preparation, Zhou Chen successfully sent away the first batch of sailors from the original Beiyang Naval Division, and this batch of hundreds of people was sent to Fujian by the network of the Tongguò Tiandihui, and then sent to Quanzhou Port, and then gradually sent to Taiwan by ship. However, the only pity for Zhou Chen is that these are mainly soldiers, and there are no senior officers who really have a certain grade, which makes Zhou Chen feel a little headache. According to the task assigned to him by Wang Guorui, these low-level sailors represent the future, but if they really want to form combat effectiveness, they must choose a group of experienced sailor officers. Preferably, if you can poach a naval officer at the rank of captain, and then dig it up and train a little, maybe you can become a naval detachment commander.

"I've seen the generals!" Zhou Chen used a circle of people to make a loop.

And these people are the last senior officers of the Beiyang Naval Division, these people are Ye Zuqi of the original Jingyuan pipe, Li He of the Pingyuan pipe, Lu Wenjing of the Zhenbei pipe, Lin Wenbin of the Zhenzhong pipe, and Sa Zhenbing of the Kangji pipe. And they looked at Zhou Chen, this person has been mobilizing many sailors from the Beiyang Naval Division to serve in Taiwan during this time, and then form a new naval fleet. And then Zhou Chen came to mobilize them, hoping that they could serve as officers of the Taiwan Navy.

"You want us to go to Taiwan, what conditions can Governor Wang give us?" Ye Zuqi asked.

And Zhou Chen also said very directly: "First of all, our Governor is also from Fujian, and he is the same township as all of you. Moreover, Lord Wang also hates the Japanese Kou very much, which is in line with everyone's meaning. Since everyone has a bitter enmity against the Japanese Invaders, there is naturally no need to separate. ”

"And we can guarantee that you navies will not be used as a tool to fight against the party, and you will not have to worry about corruption and misappropriation of salaries and funds. Even the warships are better than they used to be! Zhou Chen said.

When the generals of the Beiyang Naval Division heard this, they immediately felt a lot of emotion in their hearts. Because what Zhou Chen said was to the point, this was the biggest problem of the Beiyang Navy Division at that time. First of all, Li Hongzhang regarded the Beiyang Naval Division as his own political capital for the party to fight against differences, and the direction of forming the Beiyang Naval Division from the beginning was wrong, they were not to defend the country but to fight for the government. And then because the Beiyang Naval Division belonged to Li Hongzhang, and Li Hongzhang and Hubu Shangshu Weng had a great personal enmity. In addition, they are not people who belong to the same party, so Weng Tongyi deliberately deducted the military expenses of the Beiyang Navy for a long time. And the Empress Dowager Cixi embezzled the navy's military funds to repair the Summer Palace, which made matters worse.

Finally, there is the issue of warships, the Manchu court allocates funds every year and even the maintenance of warships is not enough, where can there be money to buy new warships? Before the First Sino-Japanese War, the warships were old and had not been effectively maintained for a long time, so that the warships of the Beiyang Naval Division also became much worse in combat effectiveness. The artillery firepower is also insufficient, and the warships are all antiques for many years. In the face of the new Japanese warship in this way, can it not fail? So what Zhou Chen said was completely about the eternal pain in the hearts of those officers of the Beiyang Naval Division.

They usually don't experience defeat, so naturally they won't have such unforgettable pain. But now they really lost a battle, and those comrades died. Moreover, the vast majority of these officers of the Beiyang Naval Division are Fujianese, and they all graduated from the Fujian Mawei Shipbuilding School, and they are all fellow villagers and classmates. comrades-in-arms, so they have a very good relationship. Even if they usually have a fight. But after all, the relationship is very close, and when facing foreign enemies, we must be united. And the Japanese army gave them shame, and of course they wanted shame all the time.

"Your Governor Wang has formed a Taiwanese naval division, do you have warships? The warships of the Japanese are complete, and we have no warships at all. And how many warships can Taiwan have, and will it be able to defeat Japan? If it is not possible to defeat Japan. Then we definitely won't go. Li He asked.

And Zhou Chen immediately said: "We in Taiwan are about to buy three warships with a displacement of more than 10,000 tons, and they are all battleships. There are also five cruisers with a displacement of more than 5,000 tons, and there are countless other warships, so you just need to get on board and get acquainted with the new warships as much as possible. ”

These generals of the Beiyang Naval Division took a deep breath. I couldn't believe that what Zhou Chen said was true. Three battleships of more than 10,000 tons and cruisers of more than 5,000 tons, this is simply shocking. You must know that in this era, there are not many warships that can have a displacement of more than 10,000 tons. In this era, all pay attention to the cannon giant ship, the larger the ship, the more artillery can be placed, and the more powerful the combat power will be at that time. And now Zhou Chen actually said that Taiwan can have more than three cruisers of more than 10,000 tons, which is simply unlikely. Because at the beginning, the Zhenyuan and Dingyuan were the two most powerful warships of the Beiyang Naval Division, but they only had a displacement of 7,000 tons.

However, Zhou Chen also promised to have three battleships of more than 10,000 tons, and even five cruisers of more than 5,000 tons, so the total displacement of these eight battleships alone has reached more than 55,000 tons. In the past, the displacement of the Beiyang Naval Division was more than 30,000 tons before the First Sino-Japanese Naval Battle, and it increased a lot all of a sudden. As for the next other service ship, the displacement is not 70,000 tons, which is very much. The Japanese combined fleet is only more than 40,000 tons, and it was also bombed by Tanya three ships in Taiwan, adding up to a displacement of about 10,000 tons. If there really were three 10,000-ton battleships and five 5,000-ton cruisers, then this would have surpassed the Japanese almost twice as much in displacement, so can this not be shocking?

"What you said is true?" Sa Zhenbing asked.

Zhou Chen immediately assured: "Yes, we are about to procure, this is what Lord Wang personally told me, and he is ready to procure it back." As long as you can go to Taiwan, as long as you get used to it for about a year, you will be able to restore your combat effectiveness, and then we will be able to expand our territory for the country. Moreover, we, Lord Wang, promise that the Taiwan Navy will never be short of military funds and will never be misappropriated. We are willing to pay for warships of more than 10,000 tons, so will I still lack those maintenance costs? ”

"Where did you get the money to afford such a huge warship? Moreover, it takes years to build a warship of more than 10,000 tons, how can you order it so quickly? Lu Wenjing asked.

"I don't know about this, our Lord Wang has great powers, and it's not a strange thing to be able to get it." Zhou Chen said.

And the people of the Beiyang Navy Division also glanced at each other, if what Zhou Chen said was true, then it was not impossible for them to go to Taiwan. First of all, they are all navy, a captain without a ship, what status can he have! So they all hurriedly looked for their next home. However, there are not many people in China who can afford to raise a navy, and they have taken refuge in the past, and naturally no one looks down on them. Where else can they go besides the Beiyang Sailors? As for taking refuge with foreigners, it is impossible, and this has left them with no home. As for Taiwan's current navy, they can all find a home.

And the Manchu court said that they were rebellious, and this person from the Beiyang Naval Division did not take it seriously. After all, Taiwan did not stand on its own, and it was a special administrative region of the Manchu Qing Dynasty, so their defection to Taiwan was not considered treason. Therefore, they can rest assured that they can take refuge in Taiwan, so that if they can form a new fleet in Taiwan, they will not be able to become a captain again.

"If you can prove that those warships are real, then we are all willing to go to Taiwan to serve. But how can you prove it? Ye Zuqi asked.

And Zhou Chen asked rhetorically: "What are you going to do to believe us?" ”

"It's very simple, hearing is believing, and we have to see three battleships in person, and five cruisers of five thousand tons. Not to mention three battleships, five cruisers, even if it is one battleship, we can go with three cruisers! Ye Zuqi said.

Zhou Chen scolded in his heart: "Sure enough, it's an old fox, no wonder he can be an officer, he is a group of masters who don't see rabbits and don't scatter eagles!" ”

These officers of the Beiyang Naval Division did not listen to Zhou Chen's words, they had to claim that they had to see the real warship, that is, what they could see and touch, and they could only follow after making sure that there was a real warship. If they had taken refuge before they were sure that there were warships, then the Manchu Qing side would have lost their support, wouldn't it be a fool? So they had to see the warship, so that they could give up their status on the Manchu side and then follow them to Taiwan as naval officers. As someone who can be an officer, how many are not old foxes? So they won't take refuge until they figure it out.

"Okay, Sa Zhenbing, let's go to Taiwan and have a look! If there really is a warship, then send a letter back, and we'll leave right away! Ye Zuqi said.

And Sa Zhenbing took the initiative to say: "Okay, I'll go with this Mr. Zhou and see if there are any warships!" ”

Zhou Chen couldn't either, if there were no real warships, they wouldn't have taken refuge here. Therefore, Zhou Chen could only send Sa Zhenbing to Taiwan, and then let Wang Guorui solve it himself. As for the problem of the warship at that time, that is, let Wang Guorui solve it, anyway, he Zhou Chen, a small spy, can't turn it into a warship. If Wang Guorui can get the warship, it will naturally solve this problem. (To be continued......)