Black Flag Army

Chapter 158 The Navy Needs Submarines

The bartender was dozing off, but when he heard someone talking, he woke up, hurried over with a menu, and asked the guests what dishes and drinks they wanted.

Deng Haoxiong said, "Director Li, you guessed wrong. I just arrived in Beitang City today. Since you recovered more than two million square kilometers of land in Beihai and Beiling provinces, you have no idea how many people in the country admire you. When the news of the recovery of Hailanpao spread to Guangdong Province, in Guangzhou alone, tens of thousands of students and citizens took to the streets to celebrate. The students held up the portraits of the three giants of your Justice Party and a dozen Mohists, and shouted slogans loudly. And Director Li's inspirational story of going from a rickshaw driver to a police chief in just a few years has inspired so many people at the bottom of society? Many rickshaw drivers are proud of you!"

A bitter smile appeared on Li Fei's lips, and he said helplessly: "It's really unexpected that such a trivial thing of mine could be turned into an inspiring story. If it weren't for the blessing of God, I had the honor to meet the noble man Di Juzi, I am afraid that even if I worked hard and struggled all my life, I would still be just a humble rickshaw driver in the end." His voice was filled with endless emotion and helplessness about the fickleness of fate.

Lan Jinping asked, "Deng Haoxiong of Guangdong, why does this name sound familiar to me? Can you tell me your father's name?"

Deng Haoxiong said: "Of course I can tell you my father's name, but he is not famous at all. Lan Juzi will definitely not know him. Only my uncle was somewhat famous in the Qing Dynasty. Now it is the Republic of China, and I guess few people remember him. My uncle's name is Deng Shichang!"

Lan Jinping was surprised and said, "So Uncle Ling is the national hero Deng Gong who died heroically in the Sino-Japanese War of 1894! No wonder your name sounds familiar to me, because all of Deng Gong's sons were named Hao! Di Juzi mentioned Uncle Ling when he told us stories about the Qing Dynasty. He admired his courage in ramming the Japanese warship with his warship!"

Deng Haoxiong said, "You made me blush a little! You have recovered so much land for the country, you are the real national heroes! Although my uncle died heroically, he did not sink a single enemy ship, nor did he recover a single inch of land. At that time, the naval battle was halfway through, and there was no ammunition. Many captains ordered their warships to retreat, but he insisted on using his warship to ram the Japanese warship, which was destroyed by a torpedo. More than 200 people on the ship died. Afterwards, many people laughed at him and called him Deng the Fool. You didn't laugh at him, and I am very grateful."

Li Fei said: "I don't know history, but since Di Juzi said he is a national hero, he must be a national hero. Only people like Fang Boqian who are afraid of death will laugh at him."

Lan Jinping said, "Mr. Deng came to Beitang City, I guess he is looking for a job? I wonder what skills he has?"

Deng Haoxiong sighed, "I graduated from the Berlin Naval Academy in Germany. When I graduated, my teacher wanted me to stay in the school to teach, but I wanted to return to China to serve, so I refused. I didn't expect that after returning to China, I would have no way to serve my country!"

Lan Jinping was surprised and said, "Navy talents who have studied abroad are in great demand in China. How come there is no way for them to serve the country?"

Deng Haoxiong said helplessly, "After I returned to China, I went to the Navy Department of the Beiyang Government in Beijing with great hope to apply for a job, but was ruthlessly rejected. I have a classmate who works as a clerk in the Navy Department. Through him, I learned that to join the Navy, even if it is just to be an ordinary sailor, it will cost a full 2,000 yuan in "joint fees". And for someone like me who is eager to seek a place on a warship and hold an official position, it will cost at least 10,000 yuan! You can imagine how difficult it is. In the past, my family had already spent all their money to support me to study abroad, and even owed a huge debt. How can we come up with such a high fee now?"

Li Fei asked: "Why don't you try a few coastal provinces? The warlords in the southeastern provinces all have navies."

Deng Haoxiong said: "I've been there, and they all charge a commission, the only difference is the amount. The most ruthless one is the Guangdong warlord Chen Jiongming. His naval officers asked for 20,000 yuan as soon as they opened their mouths!"

Lan Jinping asked, "So you want to try your luck in Beitang City? What major did you study at the German Naval Academy?"

Deng Haoxiong said: "Submarine major!"

Lan Jinping and Li Fei looked at each other, both with ecstasy on their faces! Li Fei said, "We visited one city and four counties incognito this time, but we didn't meet any talented people. I didn't expect to meet one in the tavern when we returned to Beitang City."

Lan Jinping asked Deng Haoxiong, "Why did you choose submarines as your major?"

Deng Haoxiong said, "As the saying goes, it takes ten years to build an army and a hundred years to build a navy. The naval powers such as the United States, Britain, France, and Germany have been ahead of us for more than two hundred years. It is too difficult to surpass them. If we want to achieve a certain balance with them, we can only take a shortcut, and the shortcut is to develop submarines. Although we can't build advanced and huge warships like theirs! But we can use submarines to sink them from underwater. If we fight with a naval power, we have planes in the air and submarines underwater, and we can also make them dare not approach the coastline."

Lan Jinping said, "Very well said! It is almost the same as what Di Juzi said at that time. It is true that great minds think alike. Di Juzi will be back from Suwu City tomorrow. I will introduce you to each other and you will definitely become friends."

Deng Haoxiong said with a sad face: "How could I dare to hope to make friends with a noble man like Di Juzi! As long as I can find a job to make a living in this Beitang City, I will be grateful! After all, time without a job is simply a nightmare! The young son at home is starving, and my beloved wife is seriously ill and has no money to treat her. Back then, I was also a man of iron will and dignity! But now, I can only throw away all my backbone and face, force a smile, and beg others to give me some odd jobs. I have tried all kinds of hard, dirty and smelly jobs, such as carrying heavy bags, digging manure, and moving bricks. However, there are too many people and too little work, and the job-hunting journey is extremely difficult and bumpy. No matter how hard I struggle, I still can't win over others in the end."

Lan Jinping said earnestly: "You are a leader in the field of submarines! Every profession has its own expertise. You are naturally no match for those who make a living from physical work like this. It's just like the story of "The Ugly Duckling". The reason why the ugly duckling seems out of place is not because it is not outstanding enough, but because it is not an ordinary duck at all, but a white swan that can fly freely in the sky! And now, you are lucky enough to meet us, and your hard days are over!"

She said to the waiter, "Mr. Deng's wine and food should be charged to me!"

The waiter agreed, and Lan Jinping took out a gold bar and asked the guard to bring it to Deng Haoxiong, saying, "Use this money to improve your life! It's your advance salary."

Deng Haoxiong stared at the one-kilogram gold bar in front of him with disbelief, and was amazed in his heart. He turned to look at Lan Jinping, and said with a hint of doubt and puzzlement in his tone: "Lan Juzi! Do you know? This gold bar is worth a thousand dollars! So far, you haven't even mentioned a question about naval submarines to me. Aren't you afraid that I am a liar? What will you do if I take this gold bar and run away?"

As he spoke, he gently stroked the heavy gold bar in his hand, as if feeling the wealth and trust it represented. Lan Jinping, who was standing opposite, smiled and stared at Deng Haoxiong quietly, seemingly unmoved by his words.

The tavern owner and his staff were also staring at the golden bars, and were very jealous of Deng Haoxiong. Deng Haoxiong quickly put the gold bars away.

Lan Jinping smiled and said, "I trust my instincts! If you are really a liar, even if you escape from Beitang City, I will find a way to catch you back."

Deng Haoxiong choked up and said, "No matter what! I must sincerely thank Lan Juzi for trusting me. From now on, my life, Deng, will completely belong to you." Tears flashed in his eyes, as if it was the expression of deep emotions in his heart. This sentence is not just a simple promise, but more like a vow, an expression of determination to devote oneself completely to the other party. At this moment, Deng Haoxiong seemed to have put aside all his worries and hesitations, and threw himself into this new journey without hesitation.

At 8 o'clock the next morning, Di Xiong, who had just returned to Beitang City, convened a Justice Party meeting despite his fatigue, and reported the situation of the negotiations with the representative of the Bu Party, Duhachev. Di Xiong said: "We had a fierce battle with the White Guards in Suwu City before, and our vitality was greatly damaged. Although we wiped out nearly 100,000 White Guards, our own casualties exceeded 30,000. The army of the Bu Party Fu Longzhi is said to have a million troops, but in fact there are more than 600,000 troops. We can no longer withstand the consumption, so we can only make concessions when negotiating with the Bu Party."

Lan Jinping asked: "What demands did the Bu Party make? What concessions did you make?"

Di Xiong said: "This time, the Bu Party did not ask for land, but asked us to return the 600 tons of gold seized from the White Guards. I told them that there were not 600 tons of gold at all, only 300 tons. Our army sacrificed many people in order to seize the gold, so at least two-thirds of it must be left. At most, I can only give them 100 tons of gold."

Wu Zhong became anxious when he heard this and asked Di Xiong, "Did you really give them a hundred tons of gold?"

Di Xiong said: "Of course not. Dukhachev thought 100 tons of gold was too little and insisted on 200 tons, otherwise he would go to war. They killed and captured more than 100,000 White Guards in the valley near Krasnoyarsk. They seized all their heavy artillery and anti-aircraft guns, so they were very confident of defeating us. The negotiations were very difficult and lasted for several days. We had a falling out several times, but at the request of Fu Longzhi, the commander-in-chief of the Burmese Party, we renegotiated the talks. Finally, after consulting Su Gangtie, the two sides finally signed an agreement. We will provide the Burmese Party army with food, salt, liquor, cigarettes and other goods worth 150 tons of gold in three years. The Burmese Party promised not to make land demands on us for three years!"

Li Fei asked: "Do we have so much goods to provide them? Will it cause supply shortage in Beihai Province?"

Wu Zhong breathed a sigh of relief and said, "If we just exchange it for goods like grain and liquor, it won't be a problem. Because of the Beihai Lake water diversion project, the arable land in Beihai Province has expanded to more than 10 million mu. Most refugees don't know how to do anything else except farming. As a result, most of them only grow wheat and potatoes. There is too much grain produced. We can't eat it all, and we can't sell it all. Some of the grain has rotted, and some of the grain has become stale."

Wu Chunfeng asked, "Can't we use the extra grain to make wine?"

Wu Zhong sighed and said, "The problem is that we have too much wine and can't sell it. Now we can sell the grain and liquor to the Russians and save gold, which is killing two birds with one stone."

Tian Mengxue asked: "Will the Russians suddenly tear up the agreement after getting the goods?"

Di Xiong said, "We have analyzed it and it won't happen. Although the Burmese army wiped out hundreds of thousands of White Guards, they also suffered heavy casualties. The most important thing is that they are seriously short of food. Almost all the powerful countries have imposed economic sanctions on them. The only one they can count on to provide food is us. Therefore, they will not turn against us for at least three years. Both we and they need time to recover. Three years is very important to us and precious to them. It depends on who recovers faster."

Lan Jinping said: "I believe that in three years, they will face an even more powerful Black Flag Army, so powerful that they dare not turn against them!"

Xian Pingji said: "After three months of training, hundreds of thousands of new recruits have been incorporated into the regular army. Now that the war over Beihai Lake is over, where are they going next?"

Di Xiong pulled away the gray cloth on the wall, revealing a new map. When everyone saw that it was a map of the outer northwest, they understood what Di Xiong was going to say next.

Di Xiong said: "There are currently three forces in the Outer Northwest. The strongest is of course the British-backed Dennikin troops, which have 200,000 troops. The second strongest is the 100,000 troops of the self-proclaimed Xila Kingdom, and the 80,000 troops of the self-proclaimed Haohan Kingdom. Both Xila and Haohan were destroyed when Tsarist Russia was strong. Now that the Tsarist Russian emperor is gone and the country is falling apart, they have emerged again. Originally, whether they seek independence or not is none of our business, but the area they control happens to be the Outer Northwest region we want to recover, so we may have no choice but to destroy them."

Li Fei said: "I didn't participate in the last war to recover Outer Northeast. Last night, Deng Haoxiong said that we were the heroes who recovered Outer Northeast. I blushed when I heard that. I request to participate in the battle of Outer Northwest this time!"

Tian Mengxue smiled and said, "You are the director of the police department. If you join the army, you won't be able to be the director. Before Sister Lan joined the army, she was dismissed from her positions as general manager of Weili Company and president of Beihai Bank."

Lan Jinping was reminded of something sad and glared at Di Xiong fiercely!

Li Fei said: "As long as I can participate in the battle to retake the Outer Northwest, I am willing to give up the position of Police Chief."