Reborn as King of South America

Chapter 225 Receiving the Warship
ps: Thanks to Xiaobaicaidunmogu for the 1000 Qidian coins and 88chunbai for the 100 Qidian coins for your support!
With the unified implementation of the gold standard monetary policy, the Han Dynasty's economic and trade relations with Western countries developed rapidly. Among them, the newly established German Empire had the closest economic exchanges with the Han Dynasty.

The Han Dynasty first authorized German companies to use several patents related to bicycles, including pneumatic tires, gears, and air pumps, and only charged a small fee. Subsequently, new weapons invented and improved by the Han Dynasty, such as mortars and grenades, as well as agricultural products such as livestock, meat, and fish produced in the Han Dynasty, were also introduced to Germany, and the economic trade volume between the two sides expanded year by year.

On the basis of the continuous introduction of Western technology, the Han Dynasty's local food canning and food refrigeration technology gradually developed. Especially after the introduction of new food refrigeration technology from Australia in 1875, the shelf life of fishery products and meat in the Han Dynasty was longer, and more agricultural products could be transported to other regions by sea.

Thanks to the expansion of maritime trade between the Han State and other countries, Yang Kaifu no longer had to worry about not being able to sell the fish he caught and then rotting and stinking. However, after he and his son sorted out the sea fish on the boat, Yang Kaifu found that there were too many fish caught this time, and the fishing boat was too far from the port. If some of the sea fish were not abandoned, it would be difficult for the fishing boat to return to the port before sunset.

The sea fish on the fishing boat were caught by Yang Kaifu with great difficulty. After arriving at the port, all these sea fish can be exchanged for silver or shiny Han Yuan banknotes. Yang Kaifu was unwilling to throw away some of the sea fish, but was worried that he would go back too late and would not be able to catch up with the time when the port merchants would collect the fish.

Unable to make a decision, Yang Kaifu remembered that a few years ago, the official in charge of selling the boat advised him to borrow more money from the government and buy a slightly larger fishing boat equipped with a steam engine. If he had listened to his advice and bought that larger fishing boat, not only would he be able to pay off the money he owed to the government sooner, but he would also catch more fish without worrying about not being able to make it back in time.

When Yang Kaifu was regretting his decision, he suddenly heard his son let out a soft cry.

"Dad, look! That's the navy's ironclad ship!"

"What a huge ironclad ship!"

Following the direction of his son's finger, Yang Kaifu couldn't help but exclaim.

"That's the Chaoyang, the navy's largest ironclad ship!"

Yang Guangzong said excitedly to the ironclad ship, "After the final exam, the principal took us to visit the naval base, and I saw this warship."

After the intermediate school students pass the graduation examination, the school will arrange for them to visit several universities and naval and army military bases to deepen their understanding of universities, navy and army, and provide reference for their academic choices after graduation.

"Dad, let's ask the navy for help and ask them to pull our fishing boat back to the port."

Seeing more than ten warships densely packed on the vast ocean, Yang Guangzong was so excited that he blurted out.

"Son, forget it. The navy is out at sea to perform military duties. We can't afford to offend them if we delay their work because of our little matter."

Due to the Chinese people's fear of the government, Yang Kaifu immediately shook his head in objection.

Hetao County is close to the coast, and most of the local people make a living from fishing. When Yang Guangzong was in school, his teacher told him that fishermen can ask for help from the navy or coast guard when they encounter danger at sea. However, their fishing boats are slow because they carry too many fish. As long as they throw away some of the fish, the boats can return to the port before dark. It is not appropriate to ask for help from the navy at this time. After hearing his father's words, Yang Guangzong gave up the idea of ​​asking the navy for help in a moment of excitement. At the same time, Li Han and Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Hu Yaji, who were preparing to go out to sea to perform their missions, also saw the small fishing boats anchored on the sea.

"General Li, there seems to be an accident with the fishing boat ahead. Do you want to send someone to rescue it?"

Li Han is the commander of the Navy's Second Fleet. Although Hu Yaji is the person in charge of this mission, he still seeks his opinion first to show respect.

"That's right." Li Han nodded and waved his hand to order a small gunboat to approach the fishing boat to check the situation.

The fishing boat that appeared ahead was just a small episode. After sending out the gunboats, Li Han continued to talk to Hu Yaqi and said, "After escorting six gunboats to Kismayo, the fleet will continue to sail along the east coast of Africa, pass through the Suez Canal through the Red Sea, and arrive in France via the Mediterranean Sea route. After the fleet receives two new warships at the French Mediterranean Shipyard, it will accompany Lord Hu to visit the German Empire."

"The Qing government has sent Guo Songtao and Liu Xihong to serve as diplomats to Britain and Germany for two years. Your Highness is worried that Guo and Liu will hinder the cooperation between the Western powers and the Han Dynasty. Therefore, he took the opportunity of the navy receiving the ironclad warship to go to Europe. On the one hand, he wanted to use the warship to boost the prestige of the Han Dynasty, and on the other hand, he wanted to deepen the cooperative relationship with Germany and prevent the Qing government from sowing discord."

"Since the National Defense Force occupied northern Argentina, the Qing government has become increasingly wary of the Han Kingdom. Although the National Defense Force has restrained its troops in northern Annan from clashing with the Qing army, it has to guard against the Qing government's diplomatic tactics of alienation."

Li Han nodded in agreement, a steady expression on his face, which was tanned by the sea breeze.

Ten years later, Li Han was promoted from a down-and-out pirate to the commander of the Second Fleet, one of the two main fleets of the Han Navy, succeeding the former commander of the Second Fleet, Hans. His military rank jumped above the level of colonel and he became a rear admiral of the Han Navy.

After the Argentine War, the National Defense Army and Navy had not experienced a large-scale war for more than eight years, and the positions of senior officers in the army entered a stable period after the initial rapid promotion.

In the navy, there were only two generals, Chen Sen, commander of the First Fleet, and Li Han, commander of the Second Fleet. In the army, after Chen Guozhu, Li Sandou, and Zhang Ansong, three old Taiping Army veterans who were former royal guards, retired from active service one after another, there were less than ten generals left in the army. Excluding Li Mingyuan, the highest rank was lieutenant general.

The population of Han increased rapidly, and the size of the National Defense Army's navy and army also expanded accordingly. The navy, including the Marine Corps and the frogman unit, had a total of 4200 people. The four army divisions were expanded to 1.2 people each, with a full strength of 1.6. The three mixed brigades were expanded to 6000 people, with a full strength of 9000 people. The cavalry brigade and artillery brigade were expanded to cavalry divisions and artillery divisions, with a strength of 8000 and 1 people respectively.

The Engineer Regiment, Gendarmerie Regiment and Special Forces were expanded into the Engineer Command, Gendarmerie Command and Special Forces Command, with a strength of 4000, 3000 and 1500 people respectively.

The total strength of the army is 9.25, and the total strength of the navy and the army is 9.67.

Nearly 100,000 field troops are the main force of the National Defense Army. When encountering a major war, the Han Kingdom can also issue a general mobilization order to recruit soldiers from the garrison army, reserve militia, and young and middle-aged people of appropriate age to supplement the main force of the field army.

(End of this chapter)