young marshal spring and autumn

Zhang Hanqing has long researched whether the country's military development will be dominated by land power or sea power after the establishment of a unified country in the Northeast and even in the future.While still in college, he had studied Mahan's Theory of Sea Power and Douhet's Theory of Air Power.In his view, it is a wise move and a last resort for New China to start land first and then sea.

China has a long coastline, and defending the sea by land is obviously a waste of money and people. This can be seen in the late Qing Dynasty, which had a huge army but was repeatedly defeated by the few great powers with cannons.However, the development of the navy cannot be completed overnight: the navy is a highly technical arm. In the vast sea, it is not a fluke to discover opportunities first and defeat the enemy with firepower.China's industrial capacity and financial strength are not yet up to the task of building a powerful navy.A battleship alone is worth 1000 million silver dollars, enough to arm an army of 10 men.It is not easy to defeat the Japanese navy, which has been developing for decades, at sea.At present, the strength of Fengjun is not to say that it is still a long time before the unification of China. Even in the Northeast base camp, the Japanese have entered their hearts and dare not drive them away.

It is beyond the financial and material resources of any country to develop the land, sea, and air powers in a balanced manner and to have the most powerful power.From the point of view of military geography, the geographical situation of each country is different, and the most favorable geographical situation should be chosen to develop a single military branch, supplemented by the other two military branches.For example, the geographical situation in Germany is suitable for the development of land power, so it became a land power power in the [-]th century; Britain and Japan are island countries suitable for developing sea power, and Britain can take advantage of it and devote itself to developing sea power. It has become the overlord of sea power in the century, and its sea power strength cannot be underestimated so far; Japan's land power and sea power went hand in hand, but it was defeated in the end.This is a violation of one of Ma's important teachings: "A country cannot develop land power and sea power at the same time."

For China, because she has long been a typical land-based country, it lacks the tradition of maritime expansion.Therefore, in planning the country's military development and strategy, it is Germany that can provide reference for Zhang Hanqing and others, not Japan, which is separated by the sea and has been worshiped as a teacher by the Chinese.

Before the Franco-Prussian War, Germany was just a geographical term like Italy. It consisted of dozens of feudal states and was not a unified country.Taking advantage of modernization as an opportunity and using the nation-state as its slogan, Germany became a powerful country in Europe and even the world in just a dozen years, which was indeed attractive to China at that time.Germany's geographical location is in the middle of Europe. In terms of the art of war, it is the place of the Four World Wars. The geographical advantage is not as good as that of China.In terms of geopolitics, the final development direction and national positioning of continental and oceanic countries cannot be the same.Therefore, Japan has no reference significance for China, while Germany's experience and the oppression suffered by other powers in modern times have many references for China.

Since the construction of the current navy is unrealistic, Zhang Hanqing turned his attention to another military strategist Du Hei's theory of air power.

Douhet is the originator of the theory of air power, the first to develop the new concept of air power, and strongly advocated the establishment of a strong and independent air force, which changed the type of war; the world that used the Mercator projection map in the past has been replaced by the pole-centered projection map Instead, the era of sky roads is coming, the geographical barriers of the North Pole are meaningless, the Arctic region has become the center of air power, and Alaska has become the sky road shortcut between Asia and the United States. The concept of air power breaks the previous frontline and rear Divide the field; the type of war has evolved into a national war in which the whole country prepares for war.

Before the 20s and 30s, the world was still stuck in the era of giant ships and cannons, and the understanding of the air force was far from reaching a strategic level. At this time, all countries were on the same starting line in terms of aircraft construction.Zhang Hanqing was deeply aware of the great power of the air force.

Since the Wright Brothers built the first aircraft, due to the limitation of the industrial level at that time, the subsequent aircraft did not improve much. Not only the range was short, but maintenance was inconvenient, and they did not make much achievements in civil and military fields.In the late period of World War I, military aircraft were mostly used for reconnaissance or transportation. The so-called fighter jets had machine guns placed on the front of the aircraft, while bombers were limited by engine thrust and carried extremely small ammunition, so they were of little use.

In the early days, seaplanes and landplanes were developed simultaneously. In the 20s, water planes developed rapidly, long-distance and intercontinental flights were almost monopolized by water planes, and regular passenger flights across the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans were also opened up.

It can be said that it is not too late to start China's aviation industry. On August 1919, 8, China successfully trial-produced the first seaplane - "Type A One".This is a 9-horsepower, tow-in double-winged water trainer aircraft with a height of 100 meters, a body length of 3 meters, a width of 88 meters, a maximum speed of 9 kilometers per hour, and an empty weight of 32 kilograms. It has a load of 13 kg, a fuel capacity of 70 liters, a flight altitude of 126 meters, a flight time of 836 hours, a range of 1063 kilometers, 114 crew members and 3690 bombs.The performance and quality of the aircraft are no worse than those made by Bayuzao and others in Meikutis, Nengyong, and Boeing's third factory.

Zhang Hanqing managed to recruit Liu Zuocheng, who was appointed as the captain of the aviation team by the Beiyang government and was hailed as the first generation of aircraft manufacturers in China. He also tried every means to recruit a group of technicians from Fujian Mawei Shipyard, the original production place of the first water plane. The first aviation school "Qinhuangdao Air Force School" in the Republic of China was established on the banks of the Qinglong River in Qinhuangdao outside the customs. Liu Zuocheng was the principal, and there were 2 water jets in total.

At that time, the air force directly under the jurisdiction of Sun Liechen had only 3 land planes and several airboats, which could carry out the task of throwing bombs.Although it is ridiculous in terms of quantity, it is the only one in China.

The cost of building an aircraft was expensive, but not unacceptable.Now there is money in the Feng Department, it's just how to spend it secretly.Zhang Hanqing secretly established the No. 12 Squadron of the Air Force, and planned to build [-] land-based and water-based prototypes at the initial stage. In addition to training pilots, continuous improvements were made to ensure the ability to update technology.

In order to enable each division to have strong divisional firepower, Zhang Hanqing actively invested heavily in the development of large-caliber cannons.Originally, the 75mm howitzer was equipped to the artillery regiment of the division for suppressing firepower. By the end of 1920, 6 divisions had been equipped, and the remaining divisions were only equipped with the artillery battalion.With the improvement of the economy of the Fengtian forces, the Fengtian Arsenal has also increased its horsepower, but it is still not enough.

In order to provide the Northwest People's Army with ammunition nearby, Zhang Hanqing arranged to open the Lanzhou Ordnance Factory in Lanzhou as a supplement to the Fengtian Arsenal.The preliminary plan is to produce ammunition and have the ability to provide maintenance for various types of cannons, and to manufacture rifles, machine guns and bullets in batches.Lanzhou was originally the barrier and throat of the Northwest, occupying an extremely important position strategically. Zhang Hanqing's move still wanted to lay the foundation for Lanzhou and make great achievements in the Northwest after the country became strong.

The newly established "Commission of Science, Technology and Industry for National Defense" has given great support in overall planning, and all staff members have invested considerable enthusiasm in the plan to allow the Chinese army to upgrade equipment. The huge popularity gathered by the "National Unification Committee" has made all Industry talents have a place to use.So far, Zhang Hanqing has completed the layout of military equipment, and the military industry of the Feng family has entered a stage of rapid development.