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Volume 3: The Wind Rises in the South Chapter 116: Interview

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    The Andaman Sea in winter is dominated by northeasterly winds. Compared with summer when southwesterly winds prevail, the Andaman Sea receives less rainfall in winter and the ocean surface is much calmer. Looking from a distance, the sea surface presents a beautiful  Green, like a huge emerald.  The sharp bow of the second-class cruiser "Southampton" cut through the emerald ocean surface, leaving a white mark on the sea. Dozens of seagulls flew on the stern, pecking at the bread thrown by a few British sailors.  The whole scene is like a beautiful oil painting.  "Colonel Kitchener!" Captain Alexander, who was leaning on the bridge guardrail, gently knocked on his pipe twice and took out the ash inside: "If I am not mistaken, in ten to twelve  In an hour, you can see the spire of the Shwedagon Pagoda in Yangon, so I suggest you go to the cabin to sleep first, so that you can get back to work with strong energy when you get off the boat. ¡± ¡°Thank you.  Your suggestion! Alexander!" Kitchener turned around and put down a sketch that was two-thirds complete. As an officer who graduated in military engineering, he was also a good amateur painter. He returned to the coffee table.  , took a piece of gingerbread, and said with a smile while eating: "But I don't have to sleep for that long. In Africa, I am used to sleeping four hours a day. Also, please tell me how you know that we are now  Location? Inferred from the time you have been sailing? " "You have strong energy, which is a common characteristic of great people!" Captain Alexander smiled and complimented Kitchener: "No, my method is much simpler.  !¡± The captain pointed at the sea outside the ship¡¯s side: ¡°Have you noticed the color of the sea here?¡± Kitchener glanced at the sea and replied: ¡°It¡¯s beautiful green.¡± ¡°Yes, this?¡±  This shows that the sea water here is not deep, and the deepest depth does not exceed 500 feet. Most of the water in the Andaman Sea is not deep, especially in the northeastern part. One-third of the sea in the northeast is less than 180 meters (600 meters) deep.  feet), this is mainly caused by the large amount of silt carried by the Irrawaddy River to the sea. Maybe this place will become land after thousands of years!" "Bah, bang, bang!" Kitchener puffed twice.  Palm: "Captain Alexander, you are a man who knows the sea very well. Perhaps it is for this reason that the Royal Navy is so powerful!" "Thank you for your compliment, Colonel!" Alexander waved his pipe  : "But now times have changed. What determines the success of a naval battle is no longer the bravery and determination of officers and soldiers, but the speed of the battleship, the thickness of the armor and the caliber of the cannon, or which country has more  Lathes, more mines, and more engineers!" When Alexander saw the slightly confused look in his eyes, he explained with a smile: "I wonder if you have noticed that in the past hundred years, the navy's  The rate of replacement of warships is constantly accelerating. If Viscount Nelson had not died in the battle at Trafalgar in 1805, he would still be able to command the "Victory" and continue to sail on the sea thirty years later. But today.  It¡¯s different. A warship will become obsolete within twenty years at most after it is launched. The new warship far exceeds the former in terms of speed, armor and cannon caliber. The former will never be able to compete with the latter. Either way, his fate awaits.  The cannon is removed and reduced to a cargo ship, or sent to the ship-breaking platform to be scrapped. The one who can win in the end is the last one standing in this never-ending boxing match, but the naval officers and soldiers cannot.  "You are right!"  Alexander!  "Kitchener was convinced by the other party: "But fortunately, the engineers of Great Britain are better than those of France and Germany. As for the mines and workers, we will only be better, not to mention that Britain is an island country and does not need to spread its energy to  Army goes up, and the one who can stand in the boxing ring in the end will definitely be no one else!  "At this point, Kitchener winked at the captain. "As a naval officer, I am not as confident as you!  In the past twenty years, the gentlemen of the House of Representatives have sunk one warship after another, but our enemies continue to work hard.  Colonel Kitchener, if a hundred years ago, Lord Nelson could have defeated Napoleon's fleet with his genius and brave soldiers outnumbered.  So if a similar situation occurs again today, all we can do is pray to God to bless old England again!  " Kitchener gave a bitter smile and had no words to continue. As a professional soldier who has served overseas all year round, Kitchener is not ignorant of the development of the British Navy over the years. Since the Crimean War, it may be  Because the traditional old rival, the French, had an unstable internal political situation and were unable to compete with the British for global hegemony, while new maritime rivals were still in their infancy, the development of the British Royal Navy also entered a period of stagnation, from 1875 to 1884.  In the dark period of the Royal Navy, the authorized capital ships were far from meeting the British Navy's requirements for controlling world sea power; in contrast, France?After Napoleon III completed industrialization, although he lost to the Germans in the Franco-Prussian War, he vigorously expanded his naval fleet and almost surpassed Britain to become the world's largest.  Especially in 1884, the British Navy still had many old-fashioned broadside gun armored ships. These ships were basically built between 1864 and 1872. They were already outdated and could not be compared with the new steel-hulled armored ships with central gun profiles.  , which made Alexander, a young and promising officer who was very familiar with the development trends of the navy at that time, helpless to feel frustrated.  "Alexander, what about the 'Southampton'? How is this ship?" Seeing the other party's appearance, Kitchener deliberately changed the subject, wanting to say something that would make Alexander happy.  "Oh, are you talking about this ship?" Hearing Kitchener mention his warship, Alexander's somewhat gloomy face suddenly became cheerful: "Of course she is the best. She has just served for a year.  year, with a displacement of 8,400 tons, four 234mm/32x breech-mounted rifled guns, and most importantly, she can run as fast as fourteen knots. There is no cruiser in the world that can compare to mine.  The 'Southampton' is faster! There is no one!" "But you were still complaining that Parliament was unfair to the Navy?" "There is no contradiction between the two, Captain Kitchener, you know this is the Navy.  The third fast cruiser equipped in it, considering that the British Empire has territories all over the world, do we rely on three cruisers to deal with the enemy? This is simply a joke!" Alexander retorted angrily.  "Can you tell me what those are?" Kitchener asked, pretending not to understand anything, pointing to several things wrapped in canvas on the deck.  "That's a 6-inch 40-caliber rapid-fire gun produced by Armstrong. It can fire 7 six-inch shells in one minute. It's mainly used to kill people on the enemy's deck and buildings on the deck that aren't protected by armor. It can also be used.  "Come and shoot those fast torpedo boats." "Mr. Captain, if we go to war with the Chinese, I mean if." Kitchener considered the words and asked in a low voice: "How do you think our navy will act?"  "If we go to war with the Chinese, then I think we should organize a fleet of four to five battleships and corresponding cruisers to block China's coastline and bombard one of Guangzhou, Ningbo, Fuzhou, and Shanghai.  Force the Chinese fleet to come out to fight, and then destroy them. " "No, no!" Kitchener replied a little embarrassed: "Alexander, what I said about war is only the war in Myanmar. The Parliament has no plan for a full-scale war.  "What I mean is how the navy will act if the war is limited to Myanmar." "That's it!" The captain showed a disappointed expression: "If this is the case, then the navy has only two tasks: to arrive in Calcutta.  I personally think you should collect enough hydrographic data first to escort Yangon and support the army in inland rivers, and prepare some ships suitable for shallow water offshore operations. The draft of a ship like mine is too deep and the freeboard is too high, so it is not suitable.  Enter the river! There are a lot of these broken-leg rags in Singapore's Far East Fleet. "Thank you for your help!" Kitchener stood up with satisfaction and stretched out his right hand.  He was very satisfied with this conversation.  "It's nothing!" Alexander shrugged and took Kitchener's outstretched hand: "Remember what you once said to me, 'The flag of Great Britain will never retreat!'" Kitchener nodded seriously.  He nodded, shook the other person's hand firmly, and walked down the ladder. He decided to go back to his cabin to sleep for a while to recover from the fatigue of the past few days. Once he arrived in Yangon, he would devote himself to work.  At about 7:30 a.m. the next day, the "Southampton" arrived in Yangon. The energetic Kitchener got on the carriage waiting at the dock and whispered to the consul who greeted him: "Let Gillings go immediately.  Sir and Major Duncan come to my place, I want to meet them as soon as possible!" In the reception room of the consulate, Gillings and Duncan sat opposite each other, with uneasy expressions on their faces.  Just a week ago, an order from London had dismissed Gillings from his post as Consul General of the British Empire in Burma. A secretary from India had taken over Gillings's position. Moreover, the order did not include a new appointment for Gillings. This was surprising.  Not a good sign.  As for Duncan, as an officer with civilian background, he had no well-meaning nobles to speak good words for him in London. In his opinion, the next step would most likely be an order to retire from active service, and then he would have no choice but to take off his clothes.  The major's uniform that was still warm was rolled up in a small package and returned to his hometown in Scotland to farm.  In comparison, going to the Southeast Asian peninsula to find a local chieftain to be a military instructor is a job that is more suitable for his temperament.
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