Chapter 12 of the Gambler

Although Holland is a technology expert, he has seen big people in the United States. His eyesight and knowledge are not bad. He is not the kind of fool with only technical problems in his eyes. When he raised his eyes, Holland saw Xu Yifan behind Chen Congyun, with a respectful look. He remembered that Xu Yifan didn't buy much in the military camp. Naturally, he thought that he saw this man with a very friendly smile, and he must be a not simple person.

Easy-going! But he is not without his majesty! Such a demeanor is definitely not something that ordinary people can have, but is formed by being at a high position for a long time. Old Holland, who has devoted his whole life to the submarine, immediately thought that this might be an opportunity for great development of his career, and his heart was beating a little hard.

"Thank you for your concern! Everything is good in China, but there is no decent work room, and many test work cannot be carried out." Old Holland seemed to be talking about difficulties, but in fact he was testing what Shen Congyun was in front of him.

Old Holland's seemingly casual complaint made Xu Yifan feel a little uncomfortable. He believed that Chen Congyun came here to verify the feasibility of tactics from the performance of the submarine, rather than to listen to the complaints of a foreigner, Holland. If this old guy makes Chen Congyun impatient, it will be even more difficult to get involved in the navy in the future. Xu Yifan is an ambitious person, naturally he does not want to see such a situation. He quickly stepped forward and said, "Mr. Holland, this is the president of my country and the commander-in-chief of the entire army, Lord Chen Congyun. What do you think, such as submarine technology and tactics, can speak freely."

Even Holland broke his head and never expected that the president of New China was standing in front of him, and he had a respectful tone to speak to him. Although the United States advocated equality for everyone, can ordinary people compare with great men?

Chen Congyun saw the shock on his face clearly, and smiled even more intimately. He held Old Holland's hand and said with a smile: "Haha, Mr. Holland, you are a great scientist. On behalf of the Admiralty, I thank you on behalf of the Chinese people on behalf of the Chinese people. Don't worry, your difficulties are our difficulties, and the difficulties of the Chinese people. I will definitely help you solve them with all my strength." Chen Congyun's official speech was now so disappointed. After the last sentence, he hinted that Chen Congyun himself had to solve the problem.

Old Holland was so excited that he was thinking of his own submarine research at this time. When he thought that China had begun to purchase its own submarines on a large scale, he had a premonition that it would likely make a greater breakthrough in the future with the attention of China. Holland couldn't help but take over Chen Congyun's words and said, "Your Excellency President, your high opinion touched me, but you must also know that the US Navy disdained my research results. They said I was a liar, because the Chinese Navy purchased a large number of submarines, I came to China."

Holland obviously had something in his words, and wanted to make a bigger noise in China, but was worried that Chen Congyun would not accept it. After all, what Chen Congyun said just now was polite words, and he dare not take it seriously.

Chen Congyun immediately understood the old man's concerns, and then smiled and said, "Mr. Holland, if you are willing to stay in China to continue to do research, funding, technology, personnel, and treatment, these are not problems. Some people in the US Navy are short-sighted and cannot see that you are engaged in a great cause that may be a great cause to guide the transformation of sea wars in the future."

The promise was so straightforward. Old Holland thought he had heard it wrong, but Chen Congyun stood in front of him alive. Old Holland withdrew his hand in disbelief and gently pinched his cheeks. It would hurt, which means he was not dreaming.

Chen Congyun did not give Old Holland a chance to breathe, and immediately turned around and waved his hand and said, "Li Yaoguo, please record it." Li Yaoguo held a small notebook and stepped forward and stood on the side with a big step.

Chen Congyun still smiled and said softly: "The order is as follows. First, the Navy Department immediately set up a scientific research center, and the funds will be directly allocated by the Ministry of Finance as a start-up capital. Second, the Director of the Research Center is the revered Mr. Holland. The allocation of various funds must be approved by Mr. Holland before it can be used. Third, the Director of the Research Center, Mr. Holland, is awarded a major general and enjoys the same level of treatment, and a monthly nutritional subsidy of 100 yuan will be issued. Fourth, all personnel and equipment required by the Navy Center shall not delay and slack once Mr. Holland proposes, and violators shall be dealt with as malfeasance. Fifth, once all research results of the Navy Center are adopted by the military, the leaders of the research results will receive a certain proportion of dividends, and the specific number shall be negotiated by the Navy Department and the research party."

After Chen Congyun finished speaking, he took Li Yaoguo's record and looked at it. After seeing that there was no problem, he translated it into English for Holland one by one.

As Chen Congyun's translation ended, the excited expression on Old Holland's face disappeared, replaced by a kind of solemnity.

"Mr. Holland, if you have no other questions, I will sign this order to take effect." Chen Congyun's move is really too ruthless. A few people who are skilled can withstand the temptation of this strength. A feeling of a soldier dying for his confidant came to old Holland's heart.

"His Excellency President! I..." Old Holland held Chen Congyun's hand excitedly and burst into tears. Thinking of the treatment he received in the United States, Old Holland was in a mixed mood at this moment.

"Mr. Holland, you think that a great and respectable scientist is not enough. If you have any other difficulties in the future, you can directly react to me." Chen Congyun added to the point of further work, and Holland slowly calmed down at this time, and his mind turned back to the submarine. The people who were doing research were still relatively simple.

"His Excellency the President, the biggest problem with this Holland-6 submarine is that it has a battery life. Judging from the current data, there is absolutely no problem in offshore combat, but this is not the goal I hope to achieve. With your strong support, I am confident that in the next eight to ten years, the combat performance of submarines will be further improved, and strive to develop submarines that can operate from oceans as soon as possible to repay your expectations for me."

The conditions were ready and the politeness was over. Next, Old Holland led Chen Congyun to carefully introduce his proud work. Chen Congyun also seemed patiently to follow Old Holland in and out. The soldier who said that Chen Congyun was a translator had long been frightened as shown in the picture. He stood in a corner on the shore and was trembling, and he was not not leaving or leaving.

After visiting and accepting, it was already dark. When talking about submarine knowledge, Old Holland seemed to be ten years younger and kept introducing it. Chen Congyun suddenly remembered some submarine information I had seen before, but his memory was a little blurred. After thinking about it hard, he still mentioned it: "In 1898, the French submarine Gustav and Zied sunk the British battleship Machenta during the exercise. You should have heard of it. According to the information we obtained, the submarine adopted a double-layer structure, steam engine sea surface push. The concept of double-layer structure is personally considered to be the leading technology today. Can steam engine propulsion be improved into a diesel engine propulsion with stronger power than gasoline engines?"

Chen Congyun's forward-looking prompt immediately made Holland fall into deep thought. However, Holland is a rigorous scientist after all, so naturally he would not take Chen Congyun's point of view seriously.

"Well, this idea is very good. We can increase research in this area in the future." Holland said the truth. Although Chen Congyun clearly knew that in the future, until the application of nuclear technology to submarines, diesel power was the first choice for submarines. Even after the extensive use of nuclear technology, submarines were still the main submarines equipped by the world's naval equipment. However, Chen Congyun could not tell Holland, listen to me, yes, I know that this is the truth.

…………………………

While the Navy Command was busy formulating the New Year's combat plan, Chen Congyun stayed in Weihai and waited patiently. Xu Yifan didn't expect that after Chen Congyun saw Holan, he did not mention the submarine combat anymore. He couldn't help but be anxious. He felt that he had finally caught a chance to show his face in a submarine force and could not miss it like this. So, after Xu Yifan went back, he stayed up all night and worked hard to formulate a combat plan.

When I woke up early in the morning, I handed over the combat plan to the Navy Command. As a result, an old staff officer in the combat room, who had the rank of lieutenant, took Xu Yifan's submarine force as a dish, and threw Xu Yifan's combat plan back to him and said: "It's hard to say how the submarine will be in the future, but now it's a bunch of garbage. The headquarters has no idea of ​​submarines going to fight at all, so don't bother you."

Xu Yifan, who was desperate, thought of Chen Congyun and plucked up his courage to come to see him.

While waiting outside Shen Congyun's temporary residence, Xu Yifan was a little nervous. As a young man with great ambitions, he was disdainful of submarine combat before. When he was squeezed out within the navy and the early days of the submarine force, Xu Yifan was not optimistic about the future of submarines. Submarines were a means of sneak attack by the navy of weak countries, and this argument is still mainstream today.

Xu Yifan is not Dengniz. He is trying his best to fight the submarine force, which is undoubtedly a matter of looking at the problem from the future development. Of course, Xu Yifan has indeed done a lot of work in the submarine force. He wants to make some achievements and does a lot of research in submarine tactics. After the research, Xu Yifan still saw a little bit of the future development prospects of submarines. Combined with Chen Congyun's emphasis on submarine technology, Xu Yifan's initial speculative mentality in front of Shen Congyun has evolved into a mentality that may be able to make some achievements in the submarine force.

No matter what, what is in front of us is a good opportunity for the submarine force to perform. Xu Yifan doesn't want to miss it, nor can he miss it. If the submarine force wants to develop, it must prove its value through reality.

Under the guidance of the guards, when Xu Yifan walked into the reception room, Chen Congyun was looking at the sea from afar. In the calm harbor, there was a busy scene on all the warships. Occasionally, the sound of three or two firecrackers came, indicating that today is the 28th New Year and the New Year is coming.

When Chen Congyun went out, if he wanted to bring a woman, he would definitely bring Zi Yu. At this moment, Zi Yu was sitting quietly on a chair, holding a book of "Rongzhai Essays" to Chen Congyun. Chen Congyun had the habit of reading history books, and his eyes were tired when he looked at traditional Chinese characters, so Zi Yu was often read to Chen Congyun.

Seeing Xu Yifan standing at the door, Li Yaoguo leaned over and talked and winked carefully. Zi Yu stopped reading aloud, walked to Chen Congyun, patted her shoulder lightly, smiled and pointed to the door, then turned around and told the maid to take the tea, and went down very consciously.

Chen Congyun lit a cigarette for himself, took a sip and looked at Xu Yifan who was a little embarrassed and said, "What? I have the courage to ask for a meeting, why don't I have the courage to speak?"

Xu Yifan stood upright and shouted loudly: "Report to the President, I have prepared a combat plan. Please check it out."

Chen Congyun couldn't help but frown and said, "The combat plan should be handed over to the Navy Command. Why did you hand it over to me? You are reporting it above the level, isn't it right?"

"Sir, a staff officer in the Navy War Room said that submarines are garbage! The headquarters did not consider the possibility of submarines going to fight at all." Xu Yifan explained dissatisfiedly. Chen Congyun's face immediately sinks. Chen Congyun personally ordered a scientific research center for Holan's submarine research yesterday. What do people dare to say about the submarine force today? Isn't this equivalent to indirectly hitting Congyun's face?

"Bang!" Chen Congyun slapped the table hard, scaring Xu Yifan's face jumped.

"A bunch of confused guys! If you fall behind, you will be beaten. Don't they understand?" Chen Congyun hummed angrily, and was really angry at these officers with old-fashioned ideas.

Xu Yifan didn't dare to answer the conversation, so he stood aside honestly and looked at Chen Congyun's reaction with his eyes.

"Come!" Chen Congyun shouted, and Li Yaoguo came in immediately.

"Go, give me Liu Buchan and Lin Taizeng... Forget it, I'll take a trip myself." Chen Congyun said and stood up, thinking in his mind that this matter didn't seem to be anything on the surface, but the essence of the matter shows a problem. The current leadership of the Chinese Navy has lagged behind in concept. This is really a bad phenomenon for the future naval development and must be corrected.

Zi Yu, who was in the room, immediately came out to put on a coat for Chen Congyun and finished serving him. Chen Congyun picked up Xu Yifan's combat plan and walked out the door. Seeing Xu Yifan still standing there, he couldn't help but smile at the slightly awkward young man and said, "What are you still standing there? I hope I will care about your meal?"

Xu Yifan ordered a moment of urgent order and said casually: "Where to go?"

"Nonsense, of course it's the Navy Command's combat room." Chen Congyun dropped this sentence and took the lead and walked out. After Xu Yifan reacted, he felt ecstatic on his face and chased him up like a wheel. When he arrived at the door of the combat room, Li Xiaosan was about to go forward and open the door, but was stopped by Chen Congyun.

When Chen Congyun pushed the door open in person, there was smoke in the combat room, and a group of staff members were busy with their own work, and no one looked up.

It should be said that the atmosphere inside was still very tense. Chen Congyun was very satisfied with his work attitude, and his unhappiness also dissipated.

Chen Congyun looked back at Xu Yifan, stuffed the combat plan into his hand and whispered: "Which staff officer just said that the submarine was garbage?"

Xu Yifan looked at Chen Congyun in surprise, and quickly pointed at a staff officer who was working with his head down at the door of the Chief of Staff's office.

Chen Congyun took Xu Yifan's combat plan and gently walked to the staff officer, throwing the combat plan on the table.

The busy staff member glanced at the plan and whispered in a low voice: "Xu Yifan, don't you see when this is the time. Everyone is busy making a roundabout way. I wish you could use it as two people. Why are you causing trouble here?" As he said that, the staff member continued to do his work. Chen Congyun smiled and still stood there without moving. Not to mention anything else, the staff member's work attitude is worthy of praise.

Chen Congyun stood for about a minute. When the staff officer saw that the combat plan was still lying quietly on the table, he probably felt impatient. He suddenly raised his head and whispered: "I said Xu Yifan, it is the chief of staff who does not participate in the war. If you don't agree, go find it..."

When the staff officer said this, he finally saw who was standing in front of him. His face changed instantly. When he stood up in a hurry and was about to salute, Chen Congyun quickly reached out and cleaned up his mouth, and whispered: "Don't quarrel at everyone's work, where is Lin Taizeng?"

On the way, Chen Congyun really wanted to teach the staff member who was talking aloof, but when he arrived, he saw a busy scene and immediately thought that these people must have been working all the time. It is understandable that they were in a bad mood when they were busy. Correcting backward ideas can achieve their goals through other ways. It is a fatal blow to the officer's future development, which is unfair, bullying others with all their might, and an extremely irresponsible behavior.

Unfortunately, during the busy process, a stack of sub-documents were slammed to the ground, which immediately alarmed everyone and attracted everyone's dissatisfaction. It turned out that the staff member remembered what he said to Xu Yifan in the morning. Now Shen Congyun came with the combat plan himself, worried that he would come to settle the score with him. Chen Congyun came to settle the score, which was a fatal matter, and the staff member's face was scared green.

When the staff members saw clearly that Chen Congyun was coming, they were also stunned. They put down their work and stood attentively saluted.

"salute!"

Chen Congyun looked at the scene and felt a little regretful that he was impulsive. He quickly smiled and said to everyone: "Everyone keep busy, I'll discuss something with your Chief of Staff." As he said that, Chen Congyun squatted down and helped the staff pick up the documents on the ground and put them back on the table.

At this time, Lin Taizeng, who was busy in the office inside, also heard the noise outside. He had always been strict with his requirements and heard the noise outside. He opened the door and said angrily: "What's the noise? I'll work quietly, Commander Liu is still waiting for the combat plan to report... Say!" Seeing Chen Congyun clearly, Lin Taizeng also shivered, and quickly stopped and stood at attention.

Chen Congyun smiled bitterly and said, "Lin Taizeng, this is your territory, you have the final say. In this way, I have something to ask you, Liu Buchan, to discuss it. You can lead the way and we will find him."

Lin Taizeng quickly said to everyone: "Everyone keep doing things." He led Chen Congyun out of the war room.

Liu Buchan's office was in the yard next to him. When Chen Congyun was waiting in, Liu Buchan was squatting on the stone bench in the yard, staring blankly at the chart.

"How to fight this battle? It's a headache!" Liu Buchan muttered to himself, not paying attention to Chen Congyun and the others coming in. The guards beside Liu Buchan saw Chen Congyun and the others, and were about to remind Liu Buchan that Chen Congyun raised his hand and signaled not to disturb him, so he had to give up.

"Since the Japanese Navy refuses to fight, why don't you consider using the main force to block the Tsushima Strait and cover the army to land on Tsushima Island? Take advantage of the situation and take the Ryukyu Islands into your pocket?" Chen Congyun interjected on the side. Liu Buchan was thinking about it and answered without looking back: "That's the issue that the General Staff considers. My Navy..., ah, sir!"

Liu Buchan reacted, turned his head and saw that it was Chen Congyun, so he jumped off the stool.

"Haha, stop saluting. I have something to discuss with you, so I'll come over by myself." Chen Congyun smiled, imitated Liu Buchan's appearance, squatted on the stone bench, looked at the chart for a while, then raised his hand to greet Xu Yifan and said, "Xu Yifan, come and take a look."

Liu Buchan and Lin Taizeng were so excited that they immediately thought that Chen Congyun's purpose must be related to the submarine warfare. They couldn't help but show concern on their faces.

You can't let Xu Yifan do whatever he wants. This is what you thought.

"Tell me what you think, the commander-in-chief and the chief of staff are both here." Chen Congyun smiled and looked at Liu Buchan and Lin Taizeng, and signaled them to come and listen.

Chen Congyun squatted, but everyone else dared to squat on the ground. Who dared to squat higher than Chen Congyun?

"Sir, please see. Japan is an island country. As long as the main force of our navy blocks the Japanese joint fleet in the military port, the hidden combat capability of our submarine force can have an unexpected effect. My plan is to block the Japanese military port first, and the submarine force will be accompanied by a special supply ship, so there will be no problem of insufficient fuel. When we reach the periphery of Nagasaki Port, our submarine force can sneak into the military port in the night and use torpedo to attack Japanese warships in the port. Once this plan is successful, it will completely defeat the confidence of the Japanese joint fleet to defend and force them to go to sea to fight."

"What do you think?" Chen Congyun asked Liu Buchan and Lin Taizeng with a smile. The two looked at each other and said together: "It depends on the decision of the lord."

These two veterans! Chen Congyun smiled bitterly in his heart, they were worried.

"Since I'm going to tell you, I'll just talk about my opinion. I think I can try it. Failure is a lesson." After Chen Congyun set a tone for this matter, Xu Yifan's face turned red with excitement.

Chen Congyun glanced at Xu Yifan and said, "Xu Yifan, please leave your plan and go back and prepare. For details, I will discuss with the two adults."

Xu Yifan responded, Chen Congyun stood up and turned around to greet the two of them, "Go into the house and talk."

After entering the office, Chen Congyun said seriously: "Two, I have something to criticize you. As the direct person in charge of the navy, your eyes are slightly short-sighted. As a new weapon with extremely high concealment, the appearance of a submarine seems to be difficult to shake the balance of sea combat. But have you ever thought about what impact will a submarine with stronger ocean propulsion and longer submarine time appear on the future naval battle? I'll ask you, what effective means do you have to find an approaching submarine when a submarine is sailing underwater?"

The two of them were speechless, and Chen Congyun said solemnly: "Once the submarine enters the vast sea, let alone now, even if the science and technology advance in the future, it may not be able to discover and eliminate the submarine that is approaching in time. Therefore, we should not be anxious to deny new things. Many things are denied in the early stages of the occurrence. When Galileo was burned to death, who could have thought that the statement that the earth is round today is already a common saying? Now we deny submarines and reject the combat potential of submarines, and fly in the sky will appear in the future. Where is the aircraft? An aircraft carrier that can be reproduced in the airplane appears? Are you still denying it?" Chen Congyun found that he was a little far away in time, so he quickly braked and continued to say, "My words are just one thing. When dealing with new things, we must understand and master them, rather than rejecting them like a flood. Wasn't the strong ships and cannons of foreigners considered witchcraft? In fact, aren't we all using them now? But the acceptance process is too expensive. As latecomers, we must learn from the lessons of our predecessors."

Chen Congyun's words still touched the nerves of these two people. Liu Buchan and Lin Taizeng looked at each other and replied together: "I know I am wrong!"

Chen Congyun nodded and said, "Bold assumptions and carefully prove them. In the future, we must treat new things and new opinions in the entire army."

………………………………

Amid the sound of firecrackers on New Year's Eve, the Spring Festival of 1899 finally came. Chen Congyun, who was in Weihai, personally climbed the Great Wall and the Yellow River ships to express condolences to the officers and soldiers on duty, and watched the performances of the Navy Art Troupe with the officers and soldiers.

Early on the first day of the New Year, when all households were still busy with the New Year, thick black smoke floated over the Weihai, and all ships lit the fire. Perhaps because of God's help, the weather has been good these days.

As naval warships left the port one after another, Chen Congyun, who stood on the dock watching the soldiers going out of the expedition, silently watched the last warship disappear into sight. The next series of plans had actually been issued by the General Staff. The newly formed Independent First Division and Independent Brigade had quietly taken the train to Jinan. The hundreds of cargo ships collected by the China Merchants Corporation gradually completed the assembly on the Shandong Peninsula.

Ryukyu and Tsuma Island were all within the General Staff’s combat plan. Chen Congyun decided to make some noise in this battle, but the Chinese people were excited at the beginning of their beliefs. They captured Ryukyu and Tsuma Island, annihilated the Japanese joint fleet, and forced Japan to surrender before the Russians took action.

Chen Congyun had thought about the combat plan to land in Japan, but unfortunately, the time is not allowed, and the current domestic situation does not allow Chen Congyun to make such a big move. The wish to jump to Tokyo is beautiful, but it is unrealistic.

In fact, Chen Congyun knew very well that the most urgent problem facing the moment was actually to quickly control the whole country and then devote his energy to comprehensive construction. The helpless reality is that some people did not let Chen Congyun Ansheng, Russia and Japan have almost reached a crazy level of desire to seize Chinese territory. If they don’t teach these two beast countries a lesson, they will not be honest. Only by knocking them down and stepping on one foot will they be honest.

When the main force of the Chinese fleet appeared in the Japanese waters, it immediately caused panic among the four islands of Japan. When the devastating defeat of the joint fleet was still fresh in memory, the Chinese fleet came to the door again, as if they were happy to sprinkle salt on Japan's wounds.
To be continued...