In fact, Fang Lang did not know the strength of the Brazilian Navy at first, but through communication with Colonel Parisi, Colonel Teach and his subordinate De La Torre, he gradually gained a general understanding of the strength of the Brazilian Navy.
In addition to these two battleships, the Brazilian Navy's most advanced warship is the Bahia-class light cruiser, which was also ordered by the Brazilian government from the United Kingdom.
The British built two ships (Bahia and Rio Grande Dosso) according to the specifications of the British reconnaissance cruiser Explorer, which was also a veteran of World War I.
Unfortunately, there is only one left now. This is because the Bahia was carrying out a mission to rescue American transatlantic transport aircraft after the war, specifically on July 4, 1945.
During a routine live-fire air-to-air shooting training, a gunner operating a 20mm anti-aircraft gun hit a target aircraft. Perhaps out of greed or addiction to shooting, this guy continued to chase the target aircraft with the gun.
Who would have thought that as the target plane fell towards the ship, the shell fired by the gunner unfortunately hit the depth charges arranged on the ship. After a strong explosion, the Bahia sank to the bottom of the sea.
Apart from the remaining cruiser Rio Grande do So, the Brazilian Navy only has eight old World War I-era destroyers left.
In other words, the current Brazilian Navy, apart from Fang Lang’s First Naval Fleet, has only eleven old-style warships.
However, Fang Lang's First Fleet had the latest US Cleveland-class cruiser, three Fletcher-class destroyers, a Shark-class submarine, Germany's most advanced U-boat, and two tank landing ships donated by the US military.
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There are a total of eight warships, and all of them are advanced warships that have just been tested in World War II. Their combat effectiveness is incomparable to the original old warships of the Brazilian Navy.
This naturally made other generals of the Brazilian Navy extremely jealous, and they wished they could divide up the warships of the First Fleet.
Unfortunately, the Navy General Staff was not willing to separate the warships of the First Fleet.
This also caused Fang Lang to have a special status in the Brazilian Navy. Although he was very powerful, his relationship with other navies was not harmonious.
I met Colonel Teach before the end of the war, when the First Fleet had not yet been established!
That’s why we can become friends.
According to the naval generals, Fang Lang is the youngest son of the Navy Department, while the others were adopted before their biological sons were born.
Colonel Teach was of course aware of this special situation. Therefore, he wanted to use the inauguration ceremony of the new president to introduce Fang Lang to other naval officers and ease the relationship.
"Fang, let me introduce you to our colleagues in the Brazilian Navy. This is Colonel Marcelino Orlando, the captain of the battleship Minas Gerais.
This is Colonel Emre Little, captain of the battleship São Paulo.
This is Captain Gonzalo Thorne, captain of the cruiser Rio Grande Doso.
This is Colonel Pzemesro Doyle of the Belém Naval Base.
This is Captain Gordon McCoy of the Naval Base in El Salvador.
This is Captain Gernard Berry of the Sao Paulo Naval Base."
Fang Lang also saluted and shook hands with everyone one by one, appearing very humble and polite.
However, standing among a group of middle-aged and elderly colonels with wrinkled faces and some with gray hair, no matter how humble and polite Fang Lang behaved, he looked a little out of place.
Everyone looked at Fang Lang in different ways. Some looked at him carefully, some had a look of amusement, and some simply looked at him with disdain. There were all kinds of expressions.
However, at this special time, everyone was still very restrained. Some people just nodded and ignored it, while others even had fake smiles on their faces.
There was also someone who shook hands with Fang Lang enthusiastically. This person was Colonel Gernard Berry of the São Paulo Naval Base.
"Colonel Fang, I am stationed in your hometown! Recently, the Port of Santos has become very lively due to the big move of Fangyuan Group!
Next time you go back to Sao Paulo, remember to come and have a drink with me."
Fang Lang also hurried forward to have a cordial conversation with him.
"Colonel Berry, hello! Hello! Our family's safety in São Paulo is thanks to your protection! Next time I go to São Paulo, I will definitely invite you to my home for a nice dinner."
"Haha... Why do we have to wait until next time? After the inauguration ceremony of the President, let's have a good reunion with Teach."
After hearing what Berry said, Fang Lang had some guesses of his own in his mind, and he looked at Colonel Teach beside him.
Sure enough, he saw Colonel Teach standing by and nodding at him with a smile.
Fang Lang understood that this Colonel Berry might be a good friend of Colonel Teach, which was why he was so enthusiastic towards him.
"No problem. After the inauguration ceremony, we can get together and make some new friends."
In fact, the current commanders of several naval bases of the Brazilian Navy still have some power, because they are not just the commanders of the naval bases.
During World War I, Brazil divided its navy into four theaters of war: the Belém Theater in the north, the Salvador Theater in the east, the Metropolitan Theater in the capital Rio de Janeiro, and the São Paulo Theater in the south.
Of course, there is now also the Natal war zone in the northeast of Fang Lang.
Obviously, the commander of this war zone is the commander of the current naval bases.
In fact, all each naval base can offer are two old-style destroyers from World War I, and the four war zones together have only eight old-style destroyers.
As for the two battleships and the remaining cruiser, they are directly under the jurisdiction of the Navy General Staff.
When combat is needed in various war zones, troops will be assigned to the corresponding war zones to participate in the battle.
Fang Lang didn’t even know what two destroyers in a war zone could do. Who could they destroy?
Therefore, it was inevitable that after the end of World War II, the Brazilian Navy would purchase new warships from the US Navy to arm itself.
The history of the Brazilian Navy really began after the end of World War II, when Brazil purchased dozens of warships from the United States.
By insisting on the path of domesticating ships and developing many ships independently, the country's naval strength has increased rapidly. It has surpassed Chile and Argentina successively and became the number one maritime power in South America.
Of course, although Fang Lang’s First Fleet is now in place, the Brazilian Navy is still a rookie.
Just as Fang Lang was thinking about the strength of the Brazilian Navy at that time and wondering why Colonel Berry was so enthusiastic.
Colonel Teach had already explained the reason for Fang Lang.
"Haha... Barry, if you want a new destroyer, you should go to the Navy Department. It's no use asking Fang Lang."
When Fang Lang heard this, he understood why Berry was so enthusiastic.
This must be the news that I leaked to Colonel Teach last time that I could get him an American Fletcher-class destroyer.
Colonel Teach told Colonel Berry the news.
The commanders of the other two naval bases were all stunned when they heard what Colonel Teach said.
Soon his expression became very enthusiastic and he came over and said:
"How can you leave us out for dinner? Right! McCoy."
The speaker was Colonel Pzemesro Doyle of the Belém Naval Base, and Colonel Gordon McCoy of the Salvador Naval Base, who was being questioned by him, nodded repeatedly:
"Yeah! We can't be left out when we drink!"
This was completely different from the expressions on the two men's faces when Colonel Teach introduced them just now.
Colonel Teach saw it, smiled, and didn't say much.
The captains of the other two battleships still had arrogant and disdainful expressions on their faces, as if they looked down on the fact that several people were trying to curry favor with Fang Lang for the sake of a small destroyer.
However, after hearing the conversation between the few people, Captain Gonzalo Thorne, the captain of the cruiser Rio Grande Doso, showed a little interest, but hesitated for a moment and did not take the initiative to come forward.
Fang Lang saw the change in the attitudes of the few people and became very enthusiastic. He did not treat them differently just because of their bad attitude when he greeted them earlier.
After all, the customer is God!
He only has business when there is demand for new warships!
Whether it is wanting retired warships from the US Navy or building new warships in Brazil, there is no way to escape his business scope.
"Okay then, I'll treat you to dinner tonight, and we all have to get drunk."
When they saw Fang Lang taking the initiative, they all laughed and said they would not leave until they were drunk.
General Morais, who was in the distance, saw the movements of several people from afar, smiled slightly, and asked General Leta beside him:
"Leta, I heard that Fangyuan Group's military industry group urgently trial-produced several artillery pieces to be used as gifts for the president. Is this true?"
When General Leta heard the Minister of Defense asking about his work, he immediately said in a serious tone:
"Yes, General. This time we are testing the American M2A1 105mm howitzer, which is made entirely of imported American artillery technology and was completed under the full guidance of American experts.
After testing by our logistics department, there is no difference between this artillery and the ones originally produced in the United States.
However, American experts said that this is just a trial production and the artillery still has some flaws, and it needs to continue to improve the process before it can be officially put into production. "
"Oh! Did the American experts explain what specific flaws there are and what processes need to be improved?"
General Moraes was somewhat curious as to why the American experts still wanted to continue improving the technology even though the Brazilian Logistics Department had already approved it.
“General, as far as I know, this artillery expert named Girard Bull said that the current artillery is a complete imitation of American artillery.
However, when Colonel Fang recruited him from the United States, he specifically stated that he would be given the right to research artillery, and now he is making new improvements to this type of artillery.
He wanted to produce this gun through the new electroslag remelting and barrel self-tightening technology, and expected that the gun's barrel would be stronger, have a longer service life, and be lighter than the original American version.
At the same time, he expressed his intention to apply chrome plating technology to the inner boring of artillery to further extend the service life of artillery.
Therefore, we are not ready to put this artillery into mass production yet."
In fact, General Leta didn't know much about these manufacturing processes, but he learned and put them into practice, which made a small splash with General Morais.
"You mean, he wants to produce a better gun than the American original?"
General Morais did not understand these techniques, but he still easily grasped the key points of what was expressed.
"Yes, General."
This obviously surprised General Morais. In everyone's perception, American products are the most advanced and best. Unexpectedly, the artillery expert found by Fang Lang could actually make improvements based on American products.
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