Lin Gao Qiming

Chapter 1010 Admiral
From the watchtower standing on the red-tiled roof of the Admiralty Building: the autumn sky is high and the clouds are clear, and the sea is sparkling—the new Admiralty Building is built in Bopu Port, saying goodbye to the past color steel plates The "building" built.The three-and-a-half-story red brick and red tile sloping roof building, red brick and red tile, watchtower with cast iron railings and continuous vaulted windows all reveal a Victorian decorative style.It fully expresses the interest of some people in the navy.

The watchtower of the Admiralty Building is a small platform on the top of the building, with a bronze ship bell hanging on it—it was not taken from any ship with historical significance, but an old scrap ship bought from Macau. It is for decoration.

There are several rattan chairs and a rattan table on the platform, which is the place where veteran senior officers in the navy drink tea in their spare time.However, according to the "balcony privilege" in the navy, only the Minister of Military Command Chen Haiyang and the People's Commissar of the Navy Ming Qiu often come here, and the others consciously wait until they are invited to come here.

Ming Qiu would come here to look at it every day, so that his mind and body could get enough rest.

As an old man in his sixties, according to the standards of this time and space, he is already very old, but thanks to the good health and nutrition conditions and years of military life in the old time and space, Ming Qiu's body still looks healthy and energetic.

But his years in the navy left him with a variety of ailments, although not too serious, but the level of medical care in the new dimension has greatly regressed.The Minister of Health advised him to "recuperate more, exercise more, and worry less".In fact, even if he has this enthusiasm, the daily high-intensity work of most veterans has made him unable to do it.

Mingqiu is very clear: the experience and prestige he has accumulated in the PLAN does not have decisive significance in this navy whose technical level, political foundation, and even values ​​are all completely different.Therefore, his focus on naval construction is mainly in the field of naval professional business, and he never expresses his position on content related to values ​​and ideology.

Therefore, as the People's Commissar of the Navy, he seldom appeared in the hearings of the Senate and the like. He acted more as a "consultant" to provide opinions and suggestions for the new navy of the Senate, including participating in naval regulations, operating codes and Training and other institutional aspects of the construction.

He was sitting on a rattan chair under a white canvas awning, wearing the official summer dress of the Senate Navy-a cotton white shirt with a short-sleeved blazer collar, and a rear admiral epaulette on his shoulder-he was one of only two major admirals in the navy. one.For the new navy, his feelings are complicated. Although he did not come to this time and space voluntarily to build a "new world order", but just conformed to the form, this new navy gave him and his family unprecedented high positions and powers. If you want to, you can get the most out of it...

"Sir, your tea."

The female naval orderly served him black tea graciously—looking at the young girl in a white jumper-style sailor suit, blue pleated skirt, and a bonnet with a morning star badge on her head. A strong sense of disobedience came to my heart, reminding him once again: He is no longer a member of PLAN—he is "serving the Senate and the people" Serve".

The Admiralty building, the uniforms of the female orderlies, and even this balcony fully express the aesthetic taste of this "new navy". To be honest, Mingqiu is really uncomfortable.Even in the PLAN, which is jokingly called the "Army and Marine Corps", the navy is also a "foreign style" arm, but the "foreign style" of the Senate Navy is unique, like the "mixed food" he ate when he was a child, what kind of There are all tastes.

"Chief, do you want sugar?" The female orderly who had been trained by the maid school asked in a soft voice that was low enough for him to hear clearly.

"No." Ming Qiu doesn't have the habit of adding sugar to tea—or he never drinks black tea, and drinking black tea is a new custom created by the "Senate Navy".Even though Ming Qiu didn't take it seriously, and even sneered at it, at least he understood the way of "being in harmony with the world".

He took a sip of black tea, and the strong aroma that was not similar to green tea filled his mouth—there was no Ceylon black tea, Assam black tea, or Lapsang Souchong in this time and space: none of these teas appeared.What he drank was the "South Sea Black Tea" fermented by Wu Nanhai on the farm with tea leaves brought in from Fujian.

The female orderly brought over a cigar case again, on which was affixed a patterned seal with the words "Navy Special Supply"—he took one, and for health reasons, Li Mei had repeatedly advised him to give up cigarettes and switch to smoking cigars. Healthier cigars.Ming Qiu also caught up with this fashion.

He was smoking a cigar, looking at the masts in the distance in the harbor and the black smoke that spewed out from time to time-the newly built and refitted ships were gathering in the harbor, and the engine operation was imminent.

Chen Haiyang and Wen Desi, who summoned him in the name of the executive committee, have already talked to him: the first high seas fleet of the Senate is about to become an army, and the commander of this fleet, She Mingqiu, will not be second.Anyway, Ming Qiu is not only the People's Commissar of the Navy, but also the only person in the entire Traversing Group who has experience in commanding a speedboat detachment.

However, he is over sixty after all, and although he is generally healthy, many people doubt whether he can sustain the energy of commanding a naval formation to cruise and prepare for war for a long time.Chen Haiyang also asked him to "don't force it".

Ming Qiu readily agreed.He was an old man, and of course he wasn't fighting for money, power, or fame.Moreover, commanding sea battles in the age of steam and sail is not his specialty. The reason why he accepts this task is mainly to satisfy past regrets.

He knew that because of the occupational diseases he had left behind from being in the navy for many years, Li Mei had whispered to the leaders of the executive committee several times, but he felt that his biggest regret in this life was that he hadn't made any real military exploits at sea.He has never even participated in a real war—this disease does not prevent him from going to sea, Ming Qiu doesn't think there is any trouble with his body.

Thoughts flew in the air with the smoke of cigars.Suddenly he heard the command "Stand Attention", the door leading to the watchtower was opened, and Chen Haiyang, Minister of Military Order, came up.

Chen Haiyang used to be the gunner commander in the submarine hunting boat and the deputy captain of the frigate, but his qualifications in the PLAN are far inferior to him, so even though the two sides have the same military rank, and there is no affiliation between the People's Commissar of the Navy and the Chief of the Navy Command, this Chen Haiyang still respects him very much because of the atmosphere in the army that likes to rank seniority.

"Commissioner Ming, you are so leisurely!" Chen Haiyang said, walked over quickly, and sat down on the rattan chair opposite him.Here, naval etiquette can be put aside for the time being.

Ming Qiu nodded.They often talk about some naval construction work on the observation deck.He didn't have a deep friendship with Chen Haiyang, but he still admired this straightforward person.

The female orderly brought him black tea, and Chen Haiyang waved her hand inadvertently: "Put it down."

"Yes, chief." The orderly realized that the two chiefs wanted to talk, and exited the watchtower in accordance with the discipline.

"Old Ming—" In private, Chen Haiyang always referred to Ming Qiu as a common veteran, "Are you ready to accept the position of Commander of the First Fleet?"

According to the plan formulated by the General Staff Headquarters: the 854 modified cruiser "Lichun", and the 901-type first-class gunboats that have been launched into service: the first fleet of the Navy, which has been launched into service;

The commander of the First Fleet is planned to be concurrently held by Ming Qiu, and Li Di will concurrently serve as the chief of staff of the fleet.Except for the Elder Mond who served as the captain of the Electric Switch, and Le Lin who served as the captain of the Harnessing the Wind, the captains of the other ships were all naturalized people.

Ming Qiu nodded: "That's right, I plan to be Feng's wife again, last time." He said with emotion: "If I don't play again, I'm afraid I won't have a chance in the future."

Chen Haiyang nodded: "Is the body able to take it?"

"It's not a big problem. The Lichun is much larger than the 037 submarine hunter I was in the speedboat detachment—at least it is a ship of more than 1000 tons."

The full-load displacement of the 037 submarine hunter is only 392 tons, and the living conditions are very narrow and inconvenient.Chen Haiyang was the gunner of the Type 037 submarine hunter, so of course he has a deep understanding.

"However, the engine operation time is very long this time, and the head and tail may last until next spring. It will sail continuously for more than half a year. There are no good support bases in Kaohsiung and Jeju. You have to take care of your health."

"It's not a big problem." Ming Qiu said and frowned, "I have other worries." He straightened up as he spoke, "I'm really not sure about this steamboat ticket. I read some information. 854 and The 901 may not be able to support long-term sea cruising, right? Our most modern destroyers back then had a low service rate—do you still remember the old 051s of the South China Sea Fleet? Not bad."

Chen Haiyang thought that Type 051 was still a modern destroyer—he belonged to the young officers in the PLAN, and he was quite critical of the outdated and backward naval equipment in the 90s.

But at the moment, the "ace of the Senate Navy"--the sailing performance and self-sustaining power of the steam engine-sail warship, Chen Haiyang himself has no idea--he is an officer raised from the grassroots of the army, except for the gun department. The department has also done it: even the modern power system of modern marine diesel engines is very laborious to maintain on weekdays.The soot-flying steam engine makes people feel very uneasy just looking at it.

"The establishment of a temporary base in Kaohsiung has been included in the plan." Chen Haiyang said, "The shipyard has not given detailed data yet, but I estimate that the engine hours of these ships are very short, and it will not take long Inbound maintenance."

(End of this chapter)