Chapter 373: Reorganization of Naval Organizations
Thousands of soldiers from the engineering troops got off the train in formation, preparing to change waterways to the Patagonia region in the southern part of the country to continue railway construction work. After most of the passengers got off the train, a group of soldiers dressed in gray autumn and winter military uniforms and wearing large hats
The mid-level and senior officers in brimmed hats (the winter in South America is in July, August, and September), escorted by two rows of soldiers, walked into the station.
The reform and reorganization of the twelve central departments involves the General Staff, the military leadership organization. For this reason, Li Mingyuan specially summoned the main generals of the navy and the army to Chang'an, the capital, to provide advice and suggestions. He also expressed useful suggestions and opinions on the changes in the functions of the military administrative organization.
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In this context, Chen Sen, Commander of the Navy's First Fleet, Li Han, Commander of the Second Fleet, Feng Guoan, Commander of the Marine Corps, Hou Taiyuan, Commander of the Caribbean Squadron, Commanders of the Army's First to Seventh Divisions, Commanders of the Guards Division, and former General Staff Officers
The chief officers of various departments of the Ministry set out from different stations, either by train, or by bicycle, or by water, heading towards the same destination.
Chen Sen, Li Han, Feng Guoan, and Hou Taiyuan walked side by side. Each of the four held a thick stack of official documents in their hands, which contained suggestions and opinions compiled by them and their staff, and prepared
Submit it when you meet Li Mingyuan.
Split the General Staff and establish a separate Navy Department. The main purpose of the Army Department is to further improve the system of separation of military affairs and military orders, and to separate the daily management of the army, weapons and equipment, combat material transportation management and other matters from the military combat command authority.
Form a well-organized and efficient wartime and non-wartime military management system to ensure that the development of the military is not separated from the control of the emperor and the government.
According to the preliminary functional reorganization document issued by the central government, the Ministry of Navy is under the jurisdiction of: War History Department, Fleet Affairs Department, Ship Construction Director, Waterway Management and Surveying Department, Internal Audit Department, Naval Education Director, a total of four departments, two directors, and six first-level
Functional departments are responsible for daily administrative management, education, personnel, weapons procurement, ship construction and bidding and other matters related to the navy.
The Naval Staff Department, which is parallel to the Admiralty Department, is under the jurisdiction of
There are five departments: Military Affairs Department, Operations Department, Intelligence Department, Communications Department, and Training Department.
The Military Affairs Department is responsible for general affairs and military affairs management, and the Operations Department is responsible for fleet establishment, formulation and implementation of combat plans, military discipline and other matters. It is the core department of the Naval Staff Headquarters.
The Intelligence Department is responsible for military intelligence collection, investigation of combat sea lanes, weather and other conditions, and translation of war history and foreign intelligence.
The Communications and Training Department are respectively responsible for the communication between the fleet and the mainland and naval bases, as well as the training and selection of naval ship personnel and reserve personnel.
The establishment of the Naval Staff Headquarters and the Navy Department means that the military powers of the two chief officers have been reduced. At the same time, after the functions have been subdivided and improved again, the administrative status of both the Navy Department and the Naval Staff Headquarters has been greatly improved.
Under the original General Staff system, although the Navy and Army were listed as subordinate units of the General Staff, more than 70% of the departments and bureau-level units under the General Staff were occupied by Army officers, and the Navy's right to speak there was restricted.
Great restrictions and compression. This difference can be easily seen from the number of general-level officers on both sides of the army and navy.
In the army, the seven field force division commanders and the Guards division commanders are all major general or lieutenant general level officers. In the navy, the only officers above the general level are Chen Sen and Li Han, and they are all major generals, and those below the general level are
The only two main officers are Feng Guoan and Hou Taiyuan. Whether in terms of the number of general-level officers or school-level officers, the gap between the Navy and the Army is more than four times.
The Navy was established a little later than the Army, and its strategic position is also far behind the Army. Various reasons combined have led to an imbalance in the strength of the Army and Navy. However, with the opportunity to reorganize the Navy organization, Chen Sen and Li Han saw that
When the opportunity arose for the rise of the navy, while Hou Taiyuan and Feng Guoan were delighted that the navy had gained the attention of the emperor and the government, they also saw the possibility of further advancement in military rank.
Feng Guoan was a subordinate of Han Dynasty veteran Li Sandou. Because he was transferred from the Army to the Marine Corps, he did not receive a major combat mission in the Argentine War, thus missing the precious opportunity to be promoted to Major General.
On the one hand, Hou Taiyuan was stationed in the Caribbean all year round and lacked opportunities to perform meritorious service. On the other hand, Hou Taiyuan, who was not from a direct lineage, had a brief hesitation when faced with the recruitment of the army and was not favored by the main generals of the Han Dynasty.
happiness,
Therefore, when Li Han, who he originally sent to contact the Chinese army, had been promoted to rear admiral of the Second Fleet of the Han Navy, and was awarded the hereditary noble title at the enthronement ceremony, Hou Taiyuan was still in the position of lieutenant colonel.
with,
Li Mingyuan saw that he had served diligently and responsibly in the Caribbean for more than ten years, and that he had worked hard without merit, so he temporarily promoted his military rank to colonel, and then added a new hereditary baron title to the list of hereditary noble titles.
Otherwise, according to the thinking of most direct officers of the Han Dynasty, Hou Taiyuan has been deliberately ignored for a long time, and he can only wait until he is old enough to retire. If the situation develops like that, let alone the hereditary baronetcy, I am afraid that it is time to retire.
, still holding the original rank of lieutenant colonel.
Unlike Chen Sen, Li Han and even Feng Guoan, Hou Taiyuan is more than ten years older than them. The time left for him to serve in the navy is only eleven or twelve years at most. If he has served in the navy in the past two years,
His official career has not improved yet. Even if Li Han and Wang Youtian tried to say something nice for him in front of Li Mingyuan out of their old friendship, he himself would not have the shame to continue to stay in the navy.
Taking a carriage sent by the navy stationed in the capital to pick him up, Hou Taiyuan thought about the situation in the Caribbean and the purpose of his trip.
Affected by the growing anti-Chinese trend in the United States, countries such as Canada, Cuba, and Colombia have also been affected. Canada, and Cuba under Spanish rule have used the excuse of changes in the international situation to unilaterally violate the Chinese labor repatriation agreement signed with Han.
Repatriating local Chinese workers out of the country in advance has brought great transportation and maintenance pressure to Hou Taiyuan's department.
The Han Kingdom only has a small island with an area of 160 square kilometers as a base in the Caribbean, and because of concerns about interference from the United States, Britain, and the two countries, the location of the Caribbean Squadron is still nominally under the jurisdiction of the black Haitian government. Hou Taiyuan donates it to people close to it every year
The Haitian warlord leader of Torti Island gave a batch of weapons and supplies as a fee for occupying the island.
After the anti-Chinese crisis in North America, due to the small size of the island, Hou Taiyuan had to move some Chinese to the side of the Haitian island that was under the management of the warlords. In this way, for more than a year, the number of Chinese immigrants to the main island of Haiti has increased.
Unknowingly, the number increased to 20,000, which was twice the number of Chinese resident on Torti Island.
The last resort opened up a new idea for Hou Taiyuan. Didn't the United States implement the Monroe Doctrine in the Caribbean and not allow external countries to occupy Caribbean island countries? Then Han used Chinese immigrants to quietly infiltrate
Enter the island of Haiti, and then wait until the number of Chinese in Haiti expands to a certain extent, then occupy the entire Haiti in the name of native Haitians.
Anyway, tracing back to the roots, the original residents of Haiti were Indians who were also of the yellow race. The black Haitians were just latecomers. In a sense, they were the real colonizers, while the Indians were the victims.
After clarifying the underlying principles, Hou Taiyuan came up with a suitable solution. When the Chinese were dissatisfied with the oppression of the black colonists and prepared to drive them out of Haiti, the worst they could do was be thick-skinned and insist on claiming that they were descendants of Haitian Indians and Chinese.
, and later they were forced to live in other parts of the Americas because their land was occupied by blacks and whites. Now they are launching an uprising to get back the land that originally belonged to them, not an illegal invasion.
Based on the growth rate of the Chinese in former Haiti, the local population of Han, and the changes in the country's comprehensive national strength, Hou Taiyuan estimated that it may take decades to complete the entire plan.
However, once this plan is completed, Han will have a forward base covering an area of more than tens of thousands of square kilometers in the Caribbean. Then even if the world situation changes dramatically twenty, thirty, or even a hundred years later, Han will be able to rely on it.
Haiti Island, the strongest base, pushes the frontline of the confrontation between China and the United States from South America to the Caribbean, preventing the United States from threatening the Chinese mainland.