Nanyang Storm 1864

Chapter 152 Navy High-Level Meeting
Seeing how much the Marshal attached to the naval fleet, naval generals Huo Haisheng and others signed a military order, feeling even more strongly the enormous responsibility on their shoulders and daring not to slack off in the slightest.

Since this time
The Chu Navy, which was under preparation, established a temporary naval office in Davao Prefecture to oversee all matters concerning the naval fleet.

Build naval exclusive camps, training bases, ammunition storage depots, material equipment storage depots, naval material storage depots, fleet logistics kitchens, guard forces, etc.

Following the fleet of sailing ships transporting a large amount of machinery and equipment were more than 130 retired US military officers and nearly 470 white sailors, plus more than a thousand Chinese sailors. This completed the achievement of 32 large sailing ships and 4 ironclad ships crossing the vast Pacific Ocean and successfully arriving in Mindanao.

some of

More than 130 retired US military officers accepted generous offers and sailed thousands of miles to Mindanao. However, they did not return after arriving, but stayed in the navy that was about to be established and became the core force of the Da Chu Navy.

Among these retired US military officers, some will participate in the establishment of the Davao Naval Academy, while others are former US Navy officers who are willing to sail across the ocean on warships and serve Da Chu, and will directly become part of the Da Chu Navy under construction.

Navy Office

In the high-level decision-making meeting that was being held, naval generals Huo Haisheng, Dong Kuifa, Nie Tongsheng, Zhang Lei, Fu Hongyu and others were all present, attending the meeting with solemn expressions.

They all have one common characteristic
He has an inseparable and complicated relationship with the Tongzhou militia. Huo Haisheng has always been an old man in the Zheng fleet and has delivered supplies to the Tongzhou militia countless times.

Dong Kuifa was originally from the Dong family of Tongzhou. Younger generals such as Nie Tongsheng, Zhang Lei, and Fu Hongyu all came from the Tongzhou militia, and were later ordered to join the fleet.

There are hundreds of grassroots military officers with similar experiences.

In the past two years

These naval generals have commanded fleets to travel between Chongming Island and Mindanao Island countless times, and have developed excellent skills in fighting wind and waves and sailing. They have been reused for their outstanding performance.

Sitting opposite these Chinese generals were three white officers, who were wearing former Northern Navy uniforms and had very serious expressions.

The tall and thin middle-aged man in the lead is former naval colonel Robert, who is also the leader of the retired military officers corps. He is responsible for commanding the largest second-wave sailing fleet to arrive safely in Mindanao.

Sitting next to Colonel Robert was former Lieutenant Colonel Phelan Williams, an experienced naval officer who participated in the famous Battle of Hampton Rhodes Bay and a series of subsequent naval battles. He was the fleet commander who commanded four sailing ironclad ships to successfully arrive in Mindanao.

The last one was former Lieutenant Commander Fleming, a good friend of Joe Johnson and a naval officer with extensive experience. He was the fleet commander of the first wave of sailing ships.

In addition to these officers, Zheng Xin, Li Jinghui, Wang Xuemao, Zheng Yulan and others in plain clothes also participated in the Supreme Naval Conference.

Needless to say, Zheng Xin was one of the four earliest aides to follow Zheng Guohui.

Leading more than a thousand people across the ocean to North America to bring back the fleet, crossing the vast Pacific Ocean twice, and having extensive contact with people from all walks of life in North America, Zheng Xin broadened his horizons.

He has been designated as the deputy chief of the navy, in charge of naval logistics matters, and is certainly qualified to attend such a high-level meeting.

Li Jinghui came from the Li family in northern Anhui. He was a Jinshi and one of the most talented children.

He is currently Zheng Xin's deputy, and has performed excellently in all the tasks assigned to him. Naturally, he is particularly favored and will surely hold an important position in the Navy Department in the future.

Wang Xuemao and Zheng Yulan are interesting. They were salt merchants born in Weiyang. They were badly cheated by Zheng Guohui and lost most of their family fortune accumulated over hundreds of years.

In the end, because of his serious crime, he had to follow the fleet to Southeast Asia.

However, a talented person is like a needle in a bag, the benefits will come out naturally.

These two people are also two of the many assistants who followed Zheng Xin to North America to pick up the fleet. They have seen the outside world and now admire the commander-in-chief very much and are willing to be ordered by him.

The people mentioned above are the senior leaders of the Great Chu Navy that is being organized.

Huo Haisheng cleared his throat and said;
"Everyone, the navy we are currently preparing carries the Marshal's heavy expectations and faces the imminent task of the Northern Expedition. Time is of the essence, isn't it?

Our naval colleagues must work together, strive hard, and present to the Marshal a new image of a navy that is high-spirited and progressive. We must take loyalty, honor, bravery, and fearlessness as virtues and forge the soul of our Great Chu Navy.

The most important task at present is to intensify training and form combat effectiveness as soon as possible. This is the overriding priority.

The Navy Department will prioritize its primary mission in everything it does, and advance its work around the theme of "focusing on training and forming combat effectiveness." It will formulate practical training requirements and time nodes.

When will the shipboard training be completed?
When can we practice maritime exercises?
When can we have joint training?
When can formation training be carried out?

We must finalize a plan today and implement it in the fleet. This cannot be delayed any longer.

Commander Zheng, is the ironclad fleet fully staffed?"

"Reporting to Commander Huo, the relevant personnel have been in camp training for more than a month and can board the ship tomorrow. It will not delay the training progress of the ironclad fleet." Zheng Xin replied solemnly.

Huo Haisheng nodded in agreement. He looked at Colonel Robert who was sitting opposite him and asked, "Mr. Colonel, you are an experienced senior person with regard to the training nodes of the fleet. What are your opinions?" The interpreter sitting in the conference room kept translating the conversation and explaining it to Colonel Robert and others so that they could keep up with the progress of the meeting.

After hearing this, Colonel Robert said calmly:
"During this period, the Chinese officers and soldiers I have taken over and met are very good. I am deeply impressed by their obedience and discipline. It is really good.

I have full confidence that General will fulfill his promise to the Marshal as scheduled.

Regarding the relevant training nodes, Lieutenant Colonel Phelan Williams has come up with a practical plan, which can meet the Marshal's requirements and enable the entire fleet to reach actual combat levels.

As long as we earnestly implement this plan, there will be no problem in achieving the mission objectives.”

After he finished speaking, he turned sideways and signaled with his eyes.

Lieutenant Colonel Phelan Williams took out a few sheets of paper from his pocket, on which were densely written English training plans, and placed them on the table.

Zheng Xin took the letter and handed it to Zheng Yulan, who was sitting nearby. He instructed, "The officers are waiting to see it. Please translate it quickly."

"Don't worry, Commander Zheng, it will be over soon." This was Zheng Yulan's forte. He took the papers and looked at them. He quickly took out a blank sheet of paper, brush and ink ready, and began translating immediately.

Arriving in Mindanao
Zheng Yulan was very interested in the foreign language, and he systematically studied English and German under Father Wehorst. Perhaps because he had a great talent for languages, he learned them very quickly.

The trip to North America completely aroused Zheng Yulan's passion for the foreign language.

While sailing in the Pacific Ocean, I watched him memorizing English words every day. His language ability improved by leaps and bounds and he had already reached a very high level of attainment.

Especially in English, he can not only speak, read and write, but also wrote dozens of poems in English.

After temporarily skipping this topic, Huo Haisheng continued to preside over the meeting. After resolving the differences, he asked Colonel Robert;
"Colonel, do you think there are any serious shortcomings in the comprehensive training program currently being promoted?"

"Of course. We must organize captain training as soon as possible. There are many new captains with different resumes, and the situation is quite complicated." Colonel Robert said bluntly.

He shrugged speechlessly, looked at everyone with a questioning look, and then continued;

"As a professional soldier, I have no doubts about the captain's selection and will fully obey the Marshal's arrangements.

But as a fleet commander, it is very important to understand the capabilities of each captain so that you can have a clear idea of ​​what to do in combat command.

The abilities of today's captains vary, so there will inevitably be inconsistent standards in organizing training, and unified training is needed.

We often compare the captain to a band conductor who coordinates hundreds of people. Only through the captain's effective command can a satisfying piece of music be played.

The same is true for a fleet. I don't want some reckless guy to break away from the formation when the sailing fleet I command is arranging the battle line. This will have an immeasurable impact on the morale and combat of the entire fleet."

After his words were translated, the senior naval commanders present agreed with him and all of them seconded his words.

The meeting quickly passed an agenda for a captain training camp, and immediately after the meeting, a six-day closed training session was convened.

This is just the beginning. In order to take into account the training of the entire fleet, 2-3 days of captain training will be held from time to time in the future.

In response to the problems exposed during training, we should unify our understanding and methods of handling them...

A series of decisions made at the high-level naval meeting were quickly implemented after the meeting with extremely high efficiency.

We are currently facing the heavy task of the Northern Expedition. Time is tight and the task is heavy. Everything has to be constantly adjusted and integrated during training. There is no time to learn slowly from the basics to the depths.

The naval fleet launched a comprehensive training boom. After only 12 days of docking training, one naval warship after another left the dock and entered the bay to begin ship training.

With the assistance of experienced retired American military officers, the training level has skyrocketed visibly.

This group of retired American officers indeed provided great help to the new naval fleet and pushed the fleet to mature rapidly.

After the Civil War
The Northern Navy alone retired more than 5000 officers and 4.2 sailors, allowing all these officers and soldiers who had made contributions in the war to return home and enjoy their old life.

Due to financial constraints, these retired officers and soldiers received almost no decent compensation.

Zheng Guohui's naval fleet was the knight that appeared in this situation. The recruitment process was very smooth, and the remuneration offered was only slightly higher than the original treatment of these retired officers and soldiers, and a large number of experienced naval officers and soldiers were recruited.

All of this has been an important impetus for the fleet to mature rapidly.

(End of this chapter)