At this time, the Japanese intervention forces no longer had the slightest arrogance, a group of soldiers who had just escaped death, half of the soldiers lost their weapons, and even many escaped empty-handed. When they saw that the Chinese still kept a large number of heavy weapons, and everyone in the squadron was riding horses, they knew that the logistics of his squadron were doing a good job, while the logistics of the Japanese army had long been interrupted by the harassment of Russian partisans. In other words, the Japanese don't know what to eat after escaping. The commanders of the four divisions immediately made the decision to follow the Chinese to Xinjiang and from there back to Japan, a longer but safest road that the Chinese did not dare to kill.

"These leper dogs." Ren Yuanxing scolded them resentfully in his heart.

On October 10, 1919, the main force of the First Army of the Chinese Intervention Army, carrying a total of more than 500,000 refugees, finally arrived at the destination of Lake Balkhash. After arriving at Balkhash Lake and meeting with the advance troops, Wang Maoru stood on the roof of the command car and said to the crowd that could not be seen around: "This is Balkhash Lake, and on the other side of the lake, it is our China!" The crowd cheered. Wang Mao then ordered all the troops to rest here for ten days, and after ten days, Ren Yuanxing's troops and the Japanese intervention army chasing in the rear would quickly arrive at Balkhash, and finally the troops would be united.

I was finally able to rest for ten days, and many people cried with excitement, and the formation of this month was almost like a year.

Although it was autumn, Wang Maoru still swam in Lake Balkhash, washing off the dust and exhaustion of his body. The mood was relaxed. Seeing that Xiu Shuai took off his clothes and went into the water to swim, and other people also went into the water, at this time there was no difference between the officers and the soldiers, except for the women, the men all screamed and went into the water to swim.

"Hahaha, these people are suffocating." Wang Maoru pointed to the crowd and said. Ma Liang handed over the towel and laughed too. After a while, a telegram came from the secret telegram, and Ma Liang immediately said: "Xiushuai, call from England." ”

"What? News from the UK? ”

"General Shen Honglie, chief of staff of the Navy General Staff Headquarters, called and learned in Britain that the British Navy was about to decommission or dismantle nearly half of its old warships. The performance of many of these warships far exceeds that of China, and he is already in talks with the British side. Maleonn looked up in surprise as he read the telegram: "He also said that he valued a kind of battleship. ”

Wang Maoru frowned and said, "One? He scratched his head and said, "What this kid said is that he doesn't take a fancy to several battleships of the same level as others?" ”

"Yes." Ma Liang said, "It's an old man-class battleship. ”

Wang Maoru asked, "What does this old man's star battleship mean?" How much? ”

Maleonn said: "It didn't say it in the telegram, so I guess it shouldn't be expensive." ”

"Wait for his news, you call back and ask him to send back the parameters of the old man's star battleship. Let's take a look, and there's. If the total purchase price is less than £1,000,000,000, he doesn't have to ask me. After all, in the Navy he is an expert, I am not. ”

"Yes, Xiushuai."

What Wang Maoru didn't know was that at this time, Shen Honglie had already been dazzled in Britain, and Britain really had to drastically cut military spending after the war, and the huge imperial navy was about to face the danger of several warships being demolished. During the European War, the large British navy made a huge contribution to the victory over the Central Powers. And after the war, it was inevitable to weaken the power of the navy. After all, Britain cannot stay in a state of war forever, and the British people must survive, develop and live. Of course, Britain retained most of the advanced warships and invited all countries to reduce their navies together, among them France, Italy, the United States. Japan, etc. - there is no China, because China does not even have a single battleship at this time, and it does not deserve to be invited.

The main warships decommissioned by the United Kingdom are:

Three retired Sovereign-class battleships, namely Sovereign. The Emperor of India, the Fearsome Revenge. Displacement of Sovereign-class battleships (standard): 14150t, (full): 15580t; Length: 125.12m, Width: 22.86m, Draft: 8.38m, Speed (knots): 18.27/13000hp/2 axles; Artillery (mm): 343 twin x2,152x6,6-pounder guns, 16 guns, 12 3-pounder guns; Armor (mm): The composite armor belt on the side of the ship is 457-356 mm thick, 76.2 meters long, 1.52 meters high on the waterline, and extends to 1.07 meters below the waterline, the bulkhead thickness is 406-356 mm, the upper armor belt is 127 mm thick, the gun mount armor is 432-279 mm thick, the deck thickness is 76-63 mm, the conning tower armor is 356 mm, and there are four retired old man star battleships, namely the old man star, the glory, the revenge, and the England. It was designed to be deployed in the Far East against the rapidly expanding Shoben Navy. They are armed with the same weapons as the Majesty, but lighter and faster. They were the first battleships to use a water-tube boiler and used a new 152-mm Krupp armor plate. After completion, they were both sent to China, where they returned in 1905 and fought in World War I. His parameters are displacement (standard): 12950t, (full): 14320t; Length: 131.06m, Width: 22.55m, Draught: 7.9m, Speed (knots): 18.25/15400hp/2 axles; Personnel: 680; Artillery (mm): 305 twin x2,152x12,76x10; Torpedo (mm): 475x2 armor (mm): 152 on the side strap; deck 63; Eight Mighty class battleships with turret 203 were decommissioned, namely the Noble, Prince George, Victory, Jupiter, Hannibal, Mars, Caesar, and Vitality. by William. Designed by Sir White, it was the best battleship of its time. It was also the largest number of first-class battleships ever built. 203 mm Harvey steel armor plates were used, as well as a new 305 mm gun. The armor-covered hull bends underneath the armor belt, and the main gun fires armor-piercing shells with smokeless gunpowder, which is much more penetrating than the previous 13.5-inch gun. His parameters are displacement (standard): 14900t, (full): 16000t; Length: 128.32m, Width: 22.86m, Draft: 8.38m, Speed (knots): 17.5/12000hp/2 axles; Personnel: 670; Artillery (mm): 305 twin x2. 152x12，76x16； Torpedo (mm): 457x5 armor (mm): broadside strap 228; deck 63; Turret 152 retired Dreadnought-class battleship USS Discord. Three Duncan-class battleships were decommissioned, namely HMS Duncan, HMS Albemarle, and HMS Exmouth. Rapid-class 2nd class battleship Rapid. There were seven Edward VII-class battleships, namely the Republic, the New Zealand, the Sovereign, the Indian, and the African. Britannia, Ireland. One Nelson-class battleship USS Nelson.

Of course, although so many battleships are about to be decommissioned, Shen Honglie does not dare to buy them at will, mainly because the price of these battleships is too expensive, and he hopes to buy the price of scrap steel to buy the warships that are about to be scrapped. After all, there is such a large-scale retirement of warships like now, and many warships have only been built and put into service for more than ten years, where can such a good thing be found.

The news of the imminent reduction of the navies of the countries of the world was supported by the peoples, as for the British. They now need money, not warships.

Shen Honglie and other Northeast Navy officers secretly inspected these warships that were about to be decommissioned or, according to legend, about to be decommissioned. Then he thought that he should buy an old man-class battleship, because this kind of battleship has fast speed, advanced power, and because it belongs to the offshore warship, it is not taboo for the Japanese.

Of course, the British also actively peddled their obsolete battleships, the main of which was to sell several obsolete super-dreadnoughts, the battleship Irish with a displacement of 22,000 tons and the battleship Agincourt with a displacement of 27,000 tons. There was also a battleship Canada with a displacement of 28,000 tons.

Indeed, the sale of these three Dreadnought-class battleships immediately caused a sensation in the whole world, and the British even took out the Dreadnought-class battleships, which shows how much attention Britain has to the naval disarmament plan.

The Irish cost £1.8 million and cost £1.7 million, and the Akincourt cost £2.2 million and cost £2 million. The Canada cost £2.5 million and cost £2.2 million.

Shen Honglie looked at the price, swallowed his saliva, and finally retreated helplessly. Let's take a look at the cheap ones, the ones with good performance and cheap, this is the focus of this observation. And Shen Honglie finally determined the offshore battleship that can dominate the coastal waters of China, the old man's star battleship. The old man star battleship was originally designed to deal with the Japanese Navy, at the beginning of the design, in order to pursue fast enough, it sacrificed part of its armor, its power can reach a speed of 18.25 knots, and two 350 mm main guns are enough to make it dominate the Republic of China Navy.

Among the four old man interstellar battleships for sale now, the old man star is the best maintained, Shen Honglie looked at the price, this battleship that has been decommissioned in the British Navy only costs 400,000 pounds, and he can't help but be happy in his heart, 400,000 pounds is enough, great. Shen Honglie immediately asked the British Navy about the various performances of warships of this class. Shen Honglie's question aroused the interest of the British Navy's arms sales department, and at first thought he was Japanese, but did not think that he was Chinese, a subordinate of Wang Maoru, a Chinese general who had played soy sauce in the European war.

What the? The Chinese want to rearm the Navy? Are they crazy?

The news of the Chinese's purchase of warships immediately attracted the attention of the Japanese, who were also visitors to the British Navy's arms sale, and of course, they were only visitors. The Japanese side has also received news that the Washington Convention is about to be held, and each country will reduce the size of its navy accordingly and set the proportion of the total tonnage of each country's navy. Among them, the super invincible British Navy will be the most reduced, so the British Navy announced the news of ship arms sales in Liverpool, and naval procurement personnel from all over the world have gathered in Liverpool.

The Japanese Navy has always been afraid of the news of the Chinese Navy, but whenever there is a little news about the Chinese Navy, the Chinese people may not know anything, but the Japanese Navy must be the first to know about it. Shen Honglie's secret arrival in Liverpool somewhat surprised the Japanese, and even more surprising was that the Chinese still wanted to buy battleships? It's just wishful thinking. But then they suddenly thought of a problem, that is, the Japanese government lent them (the five provincial governments of northeastern China) 100 million yen, which is equivalent to 10 million pounds......

The representatives of the Japanese Navy immediately cried and scolded their mothers, these Chinese, who had just lent them money for a year, were going to arm the navy! The Chinese are too much! The Japanese bankers have gone too far! Prime Minister Yuan Jing is really a traitor, what a traitor!

The British immediately recommended other warships to Shen Honglie, because the price of other warships was high, but Shen Honglie said that he did not dare to buy them for fear of being blocked by the Japanese. The British immediately said: "The Japanese have no reason to buy, we are all businessmen, we only talk about business matters, since they don't buy, do you want to prevent others from buying?" Are they enemies of our British Empire? ”

Shen Honglie knew that they would definitely use other methods to stop it, and the Japanese would not be so stupid. After a visit, Shen Honglie finally decided to buy the Old Man Star battleship, which is definitely suitable for China's situation, and it is also used in the civil war. In particular, if its tonnage were larger, it would not be able to enter the Yangtze River, and the displacement of 12,000 tons would just be used for the inland river fleet.