Nanhua Bay cannot be said to be wide. It is only about 20 kilometers long from east to west. The nearly 100-meter-high cliff on the coast completely blocks the bay from the hinterland of the mainland. There is only an entrance four kilometers wide for ships to enter and exit the bay.
This is one of the best natural harbors in the world. Even though the bay is not large, it is divided into two parts by the left island in the center of Nanhua Bay. The relatively wide left bay is a civilian port, dedicated to the entry and exit of merchant ships.
Right Bay is the military port of the Coast Guard.
The cliffs of the Tianya Peninsula seal the bay into an airtight inner lake, and the right bay from the left island to the right island, also known as Panshi Island, completely closes the right bay into an independent harbor. As the home port of the Coast Guard, it is here all year round.
The main force of the First Fleet - four armored cruisers - is parked. Although the "Tianlong-class" cruisers ordered from the United Kingdom in previous years are deployed in Shanxi as the main force of the Second Fleet, the First Fleet is equipped with two 1,600-ton cruisers.
The "Fubo-class" and two 2,800-ton "Shanxi-class" are all new armored cruisers built by Nanhua Shipyard. Together with several gunboats of about 1,000 tons, the current First Fleet can be called
South America's most powerful maritime force.
But this kind of power is only in South America.
As an instructor at the Naval Academy, Liu Tiannian knows this very well.
In the classroom of the Naval School on Panshi Island, Liu Tiannian took out a model, then looked at the students in the audience and said.
"Who can tell me its name!"
The students sitting in the audience raised their hands one after another.
"Li Mingwu."
Li Mingwu immediately stood up and replied.
"Reporting to the instructor, this is the HMS Warrior of the British Royal Navy!"
"What's his displacement?"
"9284 tons!"
"Then that year was he underwater?"
"1860."
After a simple question and answer, Liu Tiannian motioned to the students to sit down, and then he said,
"In 1860... I went to study at the British Merchant Marine School in 1861, and four years later I served as a trainee on the "Black Prince" of the same class. The displacement of these two warships of the same class exceeded 18,500 tons. So who can tell me,
What is the total tonnage of our fleet?..."
"More than 17,000 tons!"
"In other words, the gross tonnage of our ships cannot catch up with the two warships they launched ten years ago, and what is the gross tonnage of the British Royal Navy?"
Liu Tiannian continued.
"633,000 tons, including 57 armored ships, with a total tonnage of 398,000 tons. According to the British Royal Navy's shipbuilding plan, their average annual growth is 3.3%. Basically, the tonnage of new armored ships in service every year is almost equivalent to our navy
Gross tonnage!”
How powerful is the British Royal Navy?
Without telling these numbers one by one, no one could intuitively feel their power, but after Liu Tiannian said these numbers, his expression became a little serious.
"What is the goal of the British government's naval construction? It is to "make its navy powerful enough to compete with the navies of two powerful countries"! That is to say, the British navy is more powerful than the navies of the second and third largest countries combined!
This requires a large amount of capital investment, and the British Parliament has to debate the next year's naval economic budget for the first time, but it can all be passed smoothly. When I was studying in the UK, I found that "the parliament will make decisions in order to expand the navy regardless of the budget."
"If the authorities are a little slow in making decisions, they will be attacked by all parties." The reason for this is because the British people know very well that the fate of Britain lies in the ocean, and this kind of Britain is what we will face in the future.
!”
Although Liu Tiannian did not use "enemy" to describe Britain, the students still understood the meaning of his words, so some students asked.
"Instructor, are you saying that the Royal Navy will be our enemy in the future?"
Of course, the students do not quite understand this, not only because the Royal Navy is too powerful, but more importantly, since the day the naval school was established, too many British factors have been injected into it - the materials used in the school
It is a textbook for the British Royal Navy, and the instructors are also hired from the UK. Although the naval school's academic system is an American-style four-year system, the teaching here is based on the British.
However, this does not mean that there are no Chinese characteristics. In order to sharpen the students' "will" and strengthen their ability to adapt to the environment, in addition to the modern naval military courses, the naval school has brutal physical training every day, with Japanese instructors teaching swordsmanship.
, judo, and boxing skills taught by Chinese instructors, and sports such as football are even more indispensable. All of this is to strengthen the physical fitness of sea school students and strengthen their will and belief.
But what is certain is that British naval education has had a more profound impact here, and even until now, the vast majority of military instructors in naval schools are British naval reserve officers.
"Whether the Royal Navy is our enemy is not decided by us, but by the British. If one day, a Royal Navy warship appears in South China and declares war on us, then who is our enemy?"
Do you still need to ask?
It must be the UK!
"So, your graduation topic today is...how to defeat the British Royal Navy!"
What!
Everyone's eyes suddenly opened!
What is the instructor saying?
How to Defeat the Royal Navy!
Just us...
"Didn't you hear that?"
"Listen, I heard it..."
"I didn't hear what you were saying! Who can hear clearly the voice that sounds like a girl!"
The instructor's reprimand made all the students in the classroom shout in unison.
"Understood, instructor!"
"very good!"
Liu Tiannian nodded, satisfied.
"energetic!"
…
When Liu Tiannian assigned the final research topics to the graduating students, at the window of the swordsmanship hall, Major Douglas, a British naval officer who came to Nanhua nine years ago, listened to the roars in the swordsmanship hall and watched.
The expressions on those students who were wearing armor and practicing slashing with swords looked quite serious.
"Captain, do you think there will still be boarding battles in modern naval warfare?"
"Definitely not."
Standing next to the major, Rosen said.
"So, I have never been able to understand why they have to practice this kind of swordsmanship. It is said that it was requested by His Majesty, just like he required the army. Officers and soldiers must practice stabbing skills. But at sea, is he prepared to let them
Do you want to engage in boarding battles with his fleet? So, his fleet officers also need to practice sword skills?"
For Rosen, who had just arrived at the Naval Academy, it was difficult for him to understand this kind of teaching.
"They wasted a lot of time on unnecessary training in swordsmanship and boxing, completely ignoring the fact that modern navies have long since eliminated the possibility of engaging in boarding battles!"
"Rosen, my friend..."
Douglas shook his head and said.
"You don't understand, you don't understand them at all!"