Chapter 72: The New Eighth Great Plan

  Gaoyang rubbed his brow and fell silent for a moment before speaking softly, "...... Yuan point, thank you. I'd like to inquire about the data on British Royal Navy ships that are preparing to be decommissioned."

  Lin Jianzhang and Du Xike exchanged a somewhat nervous glance. Commander Gao had been silent for so long, could it be that the Navy was too impatient and had displeased him?

  Just as they were nervously preparing to speak, Gao Yang moved. Gao Yang turned his head and smiled at them, indicating that they should sit down first, then looked at Mak Klaus with a faint smile and said, "Mr. Ambassador, I'm actually interested in some other Royal Navy warships."

  "Hmm?" Everyone present became excited. Mack, with a cigar in his mouth, was trembling slightly as he tried to suppress the excitement in his heart and said with a smile on his face: "Mr. Gao, which ship are you still interested in? Just say it, everything can be negotiated!"

  "Sir, please bring the Royal Navy's ship catalog for Mr. Gao to review! Hurry up!" Sir Makely was already extremely excited in his heart. Even if it were just High Sun's current military procurement requirements, it would be the largest military procurement contract in history! If High Sun still fancied any of the warships, he would bring back even more pounds for the Empire, and his position at the Foreign Office would also rise, George V would surely knight him!

  Major Parker immediately got up and left. Before long, Major Parker hurried back with a thick naval chart book in his hand!

  Du Xigui and Lin Jianzhang, who had been sitting next to Gao Yang all along, were so excited that their hands trembled slightly. 30 years! It's been 30 years since the Chinese Navy added a large ship after Dingzhou! The nightmare that has plagued the navy for decades is about to be broken today, right under their noses!

  Two naval officers tore open the collar of their uniforms, standing behind Gao Yang with red eyes staring fixedly at the naval chart in his hand.

  Gao Yang felt their scorching gaze, his mouth slightly curled up, revealing a knowing smile. As for Hai Jun's thoughts, he could roughly understand them - since they had caught up at the right time, they might as well do a big business deal.

  Gently flipping through the manual, I took a closer look. Although I had already looked at the materials from the beginning and had some candidate warships in mind, it was still worth taking another serious look. After all, appearances are also important.

  Du Xigui and Lin Jianzhang, standing behind him, watched as Gao Yang flipped through the pages one by one, feeling anxious to the extreme. It's really every single one that they want! There's no way out, the country is backward and can only rely on buying, the impoverished navy really wants everything!

  When he flipped to the Iron Duke-class battleship, Gao Yang stopped and tapped his finger on the picture of the Iron Duke, smiling slightly as he looked up at Marquis who had been staring at him and asked, "Can the Iron Duke-class battleships be sold?"

  Major Parker looked at the ambassador, who nodded slightly before saying seriously, "This requires the consent of the British government. However, I personally think that as long as the price is right, there should be no major issues!"

  "Ah, Mr. Gao, allow me to introduce you to the pride of the Royal Navy - the Iron Duke-class battleship! The Iron Duke-class is an improved version of the George V-class, and it's even more powerful! Its standard displacement is 25,000 tons, with a full load capacity of 30,380 tons. The ship measures 198.8 meters in length, 27 meters in width, and has a draft of 8.7 meters. It's equipped with 18 coal-fired boilers, 4 steam turbines, and 4 propeller shafts, delivering a total power output of 29,000 horsepower! Its top speed is 21.25 knots. At a cruising speed of 10 knots, it has a range of 7,780 nautical miles, while at 19 knots, its range is 4,840 nautical miles. The ship requires a crew of 995 personnel."

  He paused, a hint of pride flashing across his face, and continued, "The Iron Duke class has powerful firepower, with 10 dual-mounted 343mm 45-caliber main guns installed on the entire ship! In addition, there are 12 152mm anti-destroyer secondary guns, and four 533mm torpedo tubes underwater. Apart from its strong firepower, the Iron Duke class also has excellent defensive capabilities. The main armor belt is 305mm thick, the bridge armor is 279mm thick, the front armor of the main turret is the same as the bridge at 279mm, the gun seat armor is 254mm thick, the compartment partition armor is 203mm thick, and the horizontal deck armor is 64mm thick!"

  When Major Parker explained the performance data of the Iron Duke-class battleship, Du Xigui and Lin Jianzhang, who were standing behind Gao Yang, had their mouths watering so much that it almost dripped onto Gao Yang's head. Gao Yang touched his mouth corner, turned his head to look at the two commanders and asked in a low voice, "How does it feel? Is it okay?"

  The two commanders nodded hastily, their frequency so fast that they didn't even have time to speak. Gao Yang's finger tapped gently on the chart, muttering to himself "4 Iron Dukes plus 3 George V-class, only 7 ships in total, still one short of the Northern Ocean's Eight Greats!"

  Gao Yang's soft words made Lin Jianzhang's heart tremble! His head buzzed and he felt a little dizzy, Gao Yang's words had touched the deepest pain in his heart.

  Lin Jianzhang graduated from Jiangnan Naval Academy in the 16th year of Guangxu, coinciding with the First Sino-Japanese War when the Beiyang Fleet was completely destroyed.

  At that time, 21-year-old Lin Jianzhang heard the elders of the Nanyang Fleet laughing and talking about the Beiyang Fleet's demise. Young Lin Jianzhang was puzzled, wasn't the Beiyang Fleet his own people? The Beiyang Fleet was gone, the war was lost, the country was defeated, and territory and indemnity were ceded.

  The First Sino-Japanese War tore off the last layer of gorgeous outer garments from the rotten Qing government, and since then, any foreign devil with a name in the world can take a bite on this ancient land! It has become a colony that is not worth mentioning, just because it has no sea defense.

  Since then, Lin Jianzhang has been striving to make the Chinese Navy stand up again one day, and he has walked step by step to the high level of the navy, dedicating himself to the navy.

  It's just that the national strength has been getting worse day by day for decades, let alone buying warships and building ships, even maintaining the existing scale is impossible! Lin Jianzhang, who was in pain, had been struggling hard for the revival of the navy until Gao Yang appeared!

  When Lin Jianzhang learned that Gao Yang was preparing to purchase a large ship for the navy, he immediately abandoned his reputation and went to join Gao Yang. This was extremely notorious at the time, but for the sake of the navy, Lin Jianzhang no longer cared about these things.

  Until just now when he heard that Gao Yang was going to rebuild the Beiyang Eight Greats, Lin Jianzhang felt that even if he died tonight, he would die with a smile!

  Du Xigui graduated from the Jiangnan Naval Academy when the Beiyang Fleet had been gone for nearly a decade, so he didn't have the same deep-seated pain as Lin Jianzhang.

  As a naval officer, he watched as the nearby Japanese Navy grew stronger day by day, ranking among the best in the world. Meanwhile, his own country's navy continued to weaken, causing him great anxiety.

  Until Gao Yang's generosity and grandeur prepared to rebuild a powerful navy, Du Xigui felt that he had indeed made a wise decision in following Gao Yang. The plan to rebuild the Eight Great Far Seas will make this ancient country boil over with excitement, because when the Eight Great Far Seas were still around, this country could still wield its military might in East Asia and retain the last vestiges of dignity as the Celestial Empire! The people still had a strong sense of national pride, rather than being colonized natives like they are now.

  Gao Yang didn't know that his casual remark had excited the two generals, and Gao Yang already had a target for the last of the Eight Great Remotes.

  "Colonel, is this ship for sale?" Gaoyang asked with a smile, pointing to a warship on the diagram. Everyone leaned forward to see which ship Gaoyang had chosen, even Major Parker's opponent, Lord Mackenzie, stood up to take a look.

  Major Parker glanced at the picture and immediately knew which ship it was. With a strange expression, he said to Gao Yang, "Mr. Gao, that is the HMS Eagle aircraft carrier of the Royal Navy. It was originally built for the Chilean Navy as the Admiral Cochrane, but construction was interrupted by World War I. The Royal Navy purchased it on February 28, 1918, and sent it to a shipyard for continued construction. It was completed with an aircraft carrier conversion on June 26, 1924. Are you really sure you want an aircraft carrier?"

  Du Xigui immediately became anxious when he heard Gao Yang wanted to buy an aircraft carrier, and hastily advised Gao Yang: "Commander, battleships are the way to go! Aircraft carriers can only be used for reconnaissance, how can they compare with battleships? And besides, it's just one of the Eight Great Fears!"

  Lin Jianzhang said somewhat anxiously, "General Du, aircraft carriers are just a burden. Let's buy another battleship instead!"

  Kōyō shook his head slightly and said in a faint tone, "These are the main warships, after all. The number of sailors who can board these ships nationwide is not that many. With just these few battleships, it's enough for us to be asked to join the Washington Naval Treaty, don't you think? Lord Makku?" The latter part was directed at Ambassador Makku.

  "Mr. Gao, if your ship-purchasing plan is carried out, the total tonnage of our main fleet will reach 169,900 tons! This has approached the standard limit of the main fleet tonnage of France and Italy, and both France and Italy can only have five main fleets each. Your plan has already exceeded theirs! I think it's certain that your country will be included in the Washington Naval Treaty."

  Gao Yang smiled lightly and lit a cigarette, saying slowly, "Mr. Ambassador, as far as I know, Article 18 of the Washington Naval Treaty stipulates that the signatory countries guarantee not to give, sell or transfer warships to foreign navies in any form if there is a possibility that they will be used as combat forces after the transfer. Do you think this arms deal between us can be reached? Will other signatory countries agree to the smooth progress of this arms deal?"

  Mackenzie burst out laughing, and after a while, puffing on his cigar with a proud face, said "Mr. Gao, any treaty is made by humans! So it can also be modified by humans! I can assure you that as long as your massive military procurement plan is really implemented, the British Empire will absolutely not oppose it! As for the American side, with your good relationship with the US government, there shouldn't be a problem, right? If the British Empire and the United States agree, then there's no problem at all!"