Reborn as King of South America

Chapter 162: The Navy is Formed
At the southern port of Xinjing, three freshly painted ironclad ships were docked at the front of the port, followed by wooden warships and gunboats.

The Navy's inauguration ceremony was held as scheduled. Li Mingyuan, wearing a specially made navy white dress uniform, rode on horseback among a group of senior officers.

The open space on the shore of the port was filled with soldiers. Two thousand five hundred naval officers and soldiers were arranged in five neat squares with 500 people in each team. Led by a group of young naval officers, they were eagerly waiting for the time when the navy would be established.

"Thump, thump, thump." More than a dozen guard soldiers rode tall horses into the naval camp. Naval officers such as Chen Sen and Feng Guoan immediately stood up straight with their chests puffed out, their eyes fixed on the gate of the camp.

The guards who entered the naval camp first were divided into two rows, replacing the naval soldiers on duty at the gate, and stood guard on both sides of the gate on horseback. More than 300 guards were stationed in the camp for defense in an orderly manner, and then the senior military and political officials of Rio Grande do Sul, led by Li Mingyuan, began to enter the camp.

A group of officers marched to the center of the military camp, and Chen Sen and others who were waiting on the side saluted in unison to express their welcome to Li Mingyuan, the naval commander.

The Chinese army was extremely short of naval talent, and the highest rank of the promoted naval officers such as Chen Sen was only a lieutenant colonel. As a technical branch of the military, the position of commander was not something that ordinary young officers could hold. Therefore, after careful consideration, Li Mingyuan personally took on the position of commander of the navy, taking charge of both the army and the navy.

Although Li Mingyuan attended the Navy's founding ceremony as the Navy Commander, his military rank does not belong to the Navy system.

Under the current military rank system for the army and navy, the highest rank awarded to a general is major general. However, as the monarch of Rio Grande do Sul and the commander-in-chief of both armies, Li Mingyuan's rank is the marshal, which is tailor-made for him.

The highest active military rank is general, and the rank of marshal is reserved for the monarch. In practical terms, it is more like an honorary title.

Chen Sen and the others saluted, walked quickly to Li Mingyuan's side, and said respectfully: "All naval officers and soldiers are here, waiting for the commander's inspection!"

"Let's start!" Li Mingyuan returned a military salute and spoke.

The order was given, and the well-prepared naval soldiers immediately began armed drills.

The three ironclad ships docked at the port started their power plants, and dense black steam and smoke emerged from their chimneys. The battle flag was raised on the Chaoyang's lookout tower, and the three ironclad ships quickly formed a combat formation and rushed towards the exercise targets on the sea surface of the port.

The target ship was an abandoned sailing warship with all its sails deployed. When the exercise order was given, the soldiers near the abandoned warship immediately untied the reins that secured the ship, and the warship, pushed by the wind on the sea, sailed towards the downwind sea.

On the Chaoyang, Hans, a Prussian officer in charge of the exercise, stood in the command room holding a telescope and shouted, "Fully left, two vehicles in two, target the enemy ship on the left!"

"Fully left, two cars in two, target the enemy ship on the left!"

The helmsman repeated the order loudly while operating the rudder to correct the ironclad's course.

The Chaoyang's two vehicles were fully powered, turning faster and getting closer and closer to the target warship ahead.

"Target enemy warship, distance 1200, right 20, one round to reload, calibrate the gun one round,"

"Target enemy warship, distance 1200, right 20, one round to reload, calibrate the gun one round."

The sailor on duty relayed the order and the main gunners on both sides of the battleship quickly loaded shells.

"Ready, requesting orders!" "Fire!"

"Fire!" The gunner pulled the bolt, and a loud "boom" sounded on the sea, and the shell fell into the water not far from the abandoned warship.

"Target enemy ship in front, distance 1130, 20 to the right, one round to reload, seven rounds in a salvo, ready!"

Hans corrected the position of the abandoned warship and shouted orders.

The hurried battle orders echoed on the Chaoyang. Dozens of gunners quickly loaded shells. After the shells were loaded, Hans gave an order and the abandoned warship broke into two pieces under a round of artillery fire and quickly sank into the water.

The navy's first exercise was generally successful. Within half an hour, all six exercise ships were sunk, and two of them were sunk by the Chaoyang.

The Chaoyang and Liming suffered minor damage in the Battle of Joinville and returned to fleet service after a month and a half of repair. The other ironclad ship was a seriously damaged warship captured in the Paraguayan War. After two months of repairs by Prussian technicians, it was included in the navy sequence more than ten days ago and was named Victory by Li Mingyuan.

The main force of the navy to be established includes three ironclad ships, Chaoyang, Liming and Shengli, ten wooden warships of more than 1,500 tons, fifteen gunboats, and twenty-five supporting troop transports, supply ships, and patrol ships.

The Chinese troops captured only a few hundred large and small ships. In addition to the above-mentioned ships that were kept as the main warships of the navy,
The Caribbean Fleet and the Inland Fleet were allocated a total of more than 70 ships, 90 of which were of more than 500 tons after carrying out transport missions, and more than 50 ocean-going ships purchased from other countries, which together formed a total of 150 ships to form the Rio Grande do Sul Ocean Shipping Company, which was mainly responsible for transporting Chinese immigrants. At the same time, when sailing empty ships, it carried goods produced in South America and sold them to merchants in the Nanyang region, who then acted as middlemen to sell them to other regions.

When the Chinese navy was at its strongest, it had more than 150 ships of various sizes. After it was reorganized, the main fleet had less than 40 ships left.

Steam power is widely used in the shipping industry, and gasoline-powered electric motors will also develop rapidly in the next few decades. The role of wooden warships is becoming less and less, so Li Mingyuan went against the majority and eliminated most of the wooden warships from the navy.

The obsolete wooden warships were not used directly for immigrant transportation, but were first transformed in a civilian shipyard near the Xinjing Port, where steam engines were installed as a power system to increase the ships' sailing speed.

After the naval fleet exercise, which mainly consisted of three ironclad ships, was completed, Hans and some naval officers and soldiers disembarked one after another and reported the exercise to Li Mingyuan.

Hans stayed in South Rio Grande as an instructor for the Chinese troops after Colonel Wester returned to his country. Two months ago, Prussian experts and officers arrived in South Rio Grande and brought news from home that the Prussian government allowed the officers to join the Chinese troops as private individuals, and the Chinese troops were responsible for their treatment. Prussia allowed officers of the officers to join the Chinese troops because Li Mingyuan sent people to negotiate with them. Most of the more than 200 Prussian officers were lieutenants, and only a few Prussian staff officers and Hans, who had just been promoted, were majors. Although the officers of the officers' corps did not have high ranks, the formal military education they received in the Prussian troops was urgently needed by the Chinese troops. In order to make them sincerely serve the Chinese troops, Li Mingyuan not only offered generous military pay, but also encouraged them to join the National Defense Army, arranging good housing and additional military subsidies for them.

With Li Mingyuan's use of money and various conditions, three-quarters of the officers agreed to join the Chinese troops as private individuals, and Hans was among them.

Li Mingyuan first affirmed Hans's achievements in person, then took a letter of appointment from the guard and said solemnly: "Major Hans, in view of your outstanding performance during the training and command of the naval forces, I, as the commander of the Rio Grande do Sul Navy, will grant you the rank of Lieutenant Colonel of the Rio Grande do Sul Navy and serve as the commander of the Second Fleet."

"Yes, Your Majesty!" Hans took the letter of appointment solemnly with the traditional steady character of a Prussian soldier. At the same time, Li Mingyuan took out a pair of lieutenant colonel epaulettes to replace the major epaulettes on Hans' shoulders.

After issuing the commission to Hans, Li Mingyuan appointed new positions to naval officers such as Chen Sen and Feng Guoan. Chen Sen's rank was promoted one level to lieutenant colonel, responsible for commanding the First Fleet composed of the Chaoyang and Liming as the main forces, while the Second Fleet composed of the Victory and some wooden warships was under the charge of Hans. Feng Guoan officially served as the commander of the Marine Corps with the rank of lieutenant colonel.

After the conferring ceremony, Li Mingyuan personally announced the establishment of the Rio Grande do Sul Navy. From that day on, the National Defense Force officially had both naval and land combat capabilities, taking a key step in the development and growth of Chinese in South America.

(End of this chapter)