Chapter 488 Practical Difficulties

Li Qingyang didn't know how much the Haihan Militia's navy would spend. If he saw the military budget figures from the Ministry of Finance, his jaw would drop to the ground. For the current troops of the Haihan Militia, their annual expenditure is almost

It is equivalent to the military expenditure of the entire Ming Army in Guangdong Province. And this army, which was built with huge military expenditures, has indeed lived up to the expectations of the Haihan Executive Committee. Both its weapons and equipment and its combat level far exceeded that of the Ming Dynasty.

Army. Although Li Qingyang has not witnessed the combat of the Haihan Militia with his own eyes, based on the public displays he has witnessed so far, he can already believe that the combat effectiveness of the Haihan Militia is far better than that of the Ming Army, and this gap is not

It can be filled simply by using troops.

The only thing Li Qingyang can hope for now is to continue to maintain the peace between the Ming Dynasty and the Haihan people to the best of his ability, and not to give these Haihan people an excuse to start a war. Otherwise, the Ming Dynasty may lose more than just the land on Qiongzhou Island.

The Haihan people were able to achieve such rapid expansion in less than three years by using only peaceful means. If a war really broke out, Li Qingyang could not imagine the strength of the Haihan people given the disparity in combat power between the two sides.

How will it skyrocket? And when the strength gap between the two sides reaches a certain level, will the attitude of the Haihan people still be as conservative as it is now? Li Qingyang dare not vouch for them.

In the first report Li Qingyang sent back to Nanjing, he basically did not mention the status of Haihan's armaments. Instead, in accordance with the requirements of the Ministry of Security, he tried his best to describe Sanya as a new commercial port, and the Haihan people were a group of people who were engaged in commerce.

The main business is the descendants of overseas Han people. As for the Haihan militia that is rumored to have attracted the attention of the Jinyiwei Yamen, Li Qingyang described it as "a joint defense association of rural people, with a scale of only a few hundred, and mostly using sticks as weapons, so it is not a cause for concern."

Of course, if Haihan's strength is blindly belittled, Nanjing may soon order his transfer back. This is not the result that the Ministry of Security wants, so some other content has been added to the report so that Li Qingyang can have enough information.

excuses to stay in Sanya. For example, it mentioned the various advanced production technologies that Haihan has in his hands, and even implicitly mentioned that Haihan may be suspected of trafficking in large amounts of smuggled salt - even though this belongs to the Salt Class Examination Division.

The scope of jurisdiction is not Jin Yiwei's business, but catching private salt dealers is a fat job. If there is a chance to make a fortune, Jin Yiwei will not take the initiative to give up this fat to the salt class for prosecution.

Hao Wanqing, who presided over this matter, believed that keeping Li Qingyang in Sanya could stabilize the Jinyiwei Yamen to a certain extent and prevent them from taking further actions against Hai Han in the short term. As Li Qingyang's understanding of Hai Han gradually deepened

, that kind of resistance will become weaker and weaker. After all, there were many people who gave in with thoughts similar to his at the beginning, but now how many people dare to say that they are tough-minded people who would rather break than bend?

Li Qingyang noticed that among the naval team passing the viewing platform, there was the Annan surrendered general Wu Sen whom he had seen a few days ago. He had also doubted Wu Sen's identity before, thinking that this might be just an arrangement by the Haihan people.

In a bureau, he found someone to pretend to be Annan's surrendered general. However, he soon confirmed Wu Sen's true identity through various channels, because there were many immigrants from Annan, but there were not many senior officials of the former South Vietnamese court among them.

See, many local Annan people recognize surrendered ministers like Wu Sen and the Nguyen brothers. The "Fu Ji Pharmacy" where Li Qingyang works has four or five naturalized people of Annan descent working as helpers, and they are all from Hue.

Yes, after Li Qingyang inquired a little, he found out that Wu Sen was indeed a naval commander in South Vietnam, and according to South Vietnam's military system, Wu Sen's position was not low.

Li Qingyang didn't know that Wu Sen had a similar mental journey to him after being brought to Sanya, and was also sent to Tiandu Iron Mine to work as a coolie for a period of time. But since the Haihan people regarded Wu Sen as

After being absorbed into the vigilante group, Li Qingyang thought that this must be because of his ability. He just didn't know if Wu Sen had the same mentality as his now. He was afraid of Haihan, but he still had a trace of unwillingness in the deepest part of his heart.

emotions.

Wu Sen did not have such complicated emotions at the moment, and was still mostly excited. After passing a series of political reviews and professional training, Wu Sen was lucky enough to get the opportunity to serve on the "Dignity" warship, which also

This means that he has officially been included in the system of the Haihan Militia - serving as the first mate on the "Lightning" was not really considered a service, and he rarely had the opportunity to perform military missions.

The military selected the crew of the "Majesty" some time ago. The targets were mainly active sailors and crew members from the Ministry of Shipping and the Navy, as well as dozens of special operations soldiers recommended by the Annan Military Region.

In this crew selection of the "Majesty", the number of Annan crew members and sailors was only more than 30 and less than 40, which accounted for almost only one-tenth of the rated personnel on the ship. In such fierce competition,

Among them, Wu Sen is the only person selected as a general, which can be regarded as an extremely rare personal honor.

Of course, Wu Sen also knew that this opportunity was hard-won. When he put on the navy uniform, shouldered the Type 28 breech-loading rifle, and entered the square formation of the troops being reviewed, a long-lost passion suddenly arose in his heart. Even if he was

Born in Annan, he was Haihan's former rival, and he had to admit that it was every soldier's dream to have the honor of serving in such a powerful army.

Although he had not had many opportunities to perform military missions before, Wu Sen's training and life were all in the militia, so he also knew that this army had never lost a battle on the battlefield since its establishment. After joining this group, he also

I fully felt the almost fanatical loyalty and admiration of ordinary soldiers and junior officers to the Haihan Executive Committee. Almost everyone in this army is eager to fight and hopes that they can kill the enemy and make meritorious deeds on the battlefield, and senior officers

This militant spirit is being instilled into the grassroots all the time. Everyone firmly believes that under the command of the Executive Committee and the Military Commission, the Haihan Militia will maintain an invincible record.

The information that Wu Sen can accept in this environment and the surrounding atmosphere are almost non-stop brainwashing. After staying for a long time, it is actually difficult to maintain the ability to think independently. Seeing this majestic-looking ship on the dock

, Wu Sen felt that his brain was about to be filled with blood, and he wished he could get on the ship as soon as possible and take this powerful warship to conquer the next opponent of the Executive Committee. When passing by the viewing platform, Wu Sen shouted at the top of his lungs with all his strength.

He uttered the slogan "Serve the Executive Committee" and his excited mental state was no different from that of other naturalized soldiers around him.

"Are these navy soldiers trained by Tom or Gu Wei? They seem to be well trained!" Perhaps noticing the passionate slogans of the soldiers, Tao Donglai turned to Yan Chujie and asked.

"Tom personally trained the sailors, and Gu Wei is responsible for the soldiers." Yan Chujie immediately explained: "However, their current training process is still in separate formations, and they have not yet entered the joint training stage. The details will be discussed after the ceremony is over.

.”

When Tao Donglai heard what he said, he realized that this matter was probably related to what Yan Chujie had mentioned before, so he did not continue to ask further.

The viewing ceremony was actually not long. After the military parade, several main leaders gave brief speeches. There was no direct seagoing process as in the previous "Exploration Class" and "Exploration Class" warship induction ceremonies. It took about forty minutes.

It was announced that it was over. Each of the executive committee members had their own work tasks. After the meeting, they immediately took the ferry and left the military port, returning to Fort Victory to continue their work. Tao Donglai stayed and went to the garrison camp with Yan Chujie.

I plan to listen to his explanation of what happened earlier.

"Close the door! If anyone comes to see me, please wait outside. Don't disturb Mr. Tao and I's discussion." Yan Chujie ordered the naturalized guard who came in with tea.

After the guards went out and locked the door, Yan Chujie said: "Although this ship has been commissioned, it will not be able to form combat effectiveness in the short term."

"Is there something wrong with the ship's construction process?" Tao Donglai asked.

"That's not true. It's mainly a personnel issue." In his office, Yan Chujie had nothing to hide. He directly opened the skylight and spoke frankly: "The operation and maintenance of a marine steam engine requires about twenty people, but now

We don’t have that many people available.”

"You mean within the navy establishment?" Tao Donglai understood what Yan Chujie meant.

"That's right." Yan Chujie nodded and said, "This is the Navy's first hybrid warship, but there are no experienced personnel in this field within the Navy's establishment. We submitted a personnel application report to Ning Qi, but it has been a month and there is still no

No results came out.”

"Oh? What did Ning Qi say?" This is the first time Tao Donglai has heard of this matter. In the past period, due to the start of infrastructure projects in various places, he was busy dealing with the troubles at the Ministry of Construction and had no time to ask the Navy.

business here.

"Ning Qi said that there is indeed something difficult about this matter. There are twenty people, but he can't transfer people if he wants." Yan Chujie said helplessly: "The Ministry of Industry has only trained less than a hundred people in total.

Among steam engine operators, only one-fifth of these people know how to do simple repairs and maintenance. If the Ministry of Personnel allocates all these people to our military..."

"I'm afraid many places will have to stop production because of this!" Tao Donglai started talking before Yan Chujie finished speaking.

Although many units in the area under Haihan have begun to use steam engines to assist production, due to the complicated manufacturing process of this time-breaking gadget, not everyone can quickly learn to operate and maintain it. The Ministry of Industry spent a lot of time

It took more than a year to train these professionals, and it is true that the positions of these personnel cannot be transferred casually, such as the steam lifting device used in Tiandu Iron Mine, or driving from Sanya Port to Tiandu

The steam locomotives between them, once these jobs are stopped, it means that the entire industry under Haihan's rule will be affected, and this responsibility is not something the navy can afford.

Although Yan Chujie also put some pressure on the personnel department that Ning Qi was responsible for, after Ning Qi put the problem on the table, Yan Chujie had no good solution. If he was forced to transfer people, then after problems arise in these units

, the responsibility must be traced to the military, and Yan Chujie does not want to take the blame - now some people think that the navy's investment is too large and takes up too many shipbuilding resources, so that it has affected Haihan's sea trade to a certain extent.

Development speed.

If people are forcibly snatched from other units, dissatisfaction with the military within the group may increase rapidly. However, Yan Chujie does not want to provoke public anger because of the new warship, so he can only suppress this matter first, which is what he had previously said.

It means "get in line first and talk about other things later".

Tao Donglai pondered for a while before speaking: "As for the issue of skilled workers, why weren't arrangements made earlier? I remember the plan to develop a hybrid warship, but preparations were already underway two years ago."

"You can't blame our military for this!" Yan Chujie complained bitterly: "Education and training are a matter of the education department. Professional skills training is a matter of the Ministry of Industry. Their training speed cannot keep up. The military

There’s nothing we can do, we can’t let us take over all their work, right?”

"Then have you ever asked them why they delayed such an important matter?" As soon as Tao Donglai finished speaking, he answered on his own: "Forget it, I can probably think of the answer without asking. The education department is like that

It would be great if we could increase the number of teachers and organize more literacy classes. As for the situation at the Ministry of Industry, I know a little bit about it. The training of technical workers is slow, and they may not be able to keep up with the speed at which steam engines are put into use. How can there be anything else?

Those who are idle will be given to the military."

"That's pretty much what it means." Yan Chujie responded with a wry smile: "So we can't expect the steam power system on this ship to be really useful for the time being. Let's make do with wind propulsion for now!"

"How much do you think this will affect combat effectiveness?" Tao Donglai asked.

Yan Chujie thought for a while and said: "At least 30% during combat, because the steam power system on the ship is not only used for propulsion. Steam power is also used to raise and lower the sails and auxiliary steering. Without this thing, we can only

It relies entirely on manual operation, which requires at least a quarter of the manpower on the ship."

"Thirty percent...a quarter...isn't unacceptable." Tao Donglai weighed it and said, "Have you discussed this matter with Ning Qi carefully? When will he be able to solve the problem of professionals? Yes.

No clear timetable?”

Yan Chujie nodded and said: "We talked about it, and he said that it will not be fully resolved until at least March next year. Now I can only pray that no large-scale naval battle will break out in these three months, otherwise the warships we have worked so hard to build will only be able to function."

Use some of your power."
Chapter completed!