Colonel Parisi's ability is definitely not a problem, as can be seen from the ideas he gave Fang Lang. Although, the Brazilian Expeditionary Navy is not large in scale and has little combat effectiveness.
However, the one who was selected to be in charge of the expeditionary navy must be no ordinary person. Therefore, Fang Lang felt it was a pity for him to retire.
After thinking for a while, he said:
"You are in your prime, you can't start enjoying your retirement life so early. You are a navy man, how about we invest together to open a fishing company in Alegre, buy a hundred fishing boats, go out to sea to fish, and catch some lobsters.
By the way, you can continue to be your own naval commander, how about that? "
This was indeed an idea Fang Lang had just come up with, and it was suitable for Parisi's job. After all, Brazil has a long coastline and is close to the vast Atlantic Ocean. It would be unreasonable not to reach out to the ocean!
"Hey! This is a good idea! I have no problem with the management. However, with so many fishing boats, we can get a lot of seafood, and we Brazilians don't have a high demand for seafood!"
This is not an excuse for Parisi. Brazil's coastline stretches for more than 7,000 kilometers, ranking 16th in the world, and its freshwater resources account for 20% of the world's total.
The fishery resources are very rich, with more than 2,500 species of fish. However, Brazilians, who advocate freedom and enjoy life, have special requirements for food. They like to eat a lot of meat. It is very appropriate to describe Brazilians as "meat lovers".
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Under the influence of long-term immigration culture, Brazil has formed a unique eating habit. In Brazil's food tradition, black bean rice, cassava bread and Brazilian barbecue are the protagonists.
Except for some seafood in coastal areas, it is difficult to find seafood in inland areas. This is somewhat similar to the situation in China.
However, Fang Lang had never thought about how much seafood to sell in Brazil. The real major seafood consuming countries have always been European and American countries.
"What does it matter? We can make frozen or canned food and sell it to the European and American markets! This is a good business to make US dollars. Don't worry about the sales, I will take care of it. How about it? Are you interested in trying it?"
Colonel Parisi was actually somewhat tempted by Fang Lang's proposal. He was an old sailor who had spent his entire life sailing on the sea. It would certainly be difficult for him to adapt to suddenly returning home to be a farmer.
Just as the two were about to continue chatting, Parisi's adjutant came in to report:
"Sir, Rear Admiral Crook of the Admiralty is about to arrive."
"Oh! Fang, let's go down and greet Ying together!"
Colonel Parisi stood up immediately after saying this.
Fang Lang also stood up soon after, straightened the wrinkles on his military uniform, and strode to the door to greet him.
Not long after the two arrived at the door, they saw three black Buick sedans driving up.
A major officer got out from the passenger seat of the middle vehicle, nodded to the two men, and opened the back door.
Colonel Parisi and Fang Lang quickly stood at attention and saluted.
A white major general with gray hair and about fifty years old got out of the car. Although the major general was white, his skin looked like he had a modern tan. A pair of gold-rimmed glasses made him look gentle, but his straight back made it easy to tell that he had a military background.
Colonel Parisi spoke first:
"Good morning, General Crook! You must have had a hard journey!"
Major General Crook extended his right hand and shook hands with Parisi, then nodded and said:
"Colonel Parisi, good morning! This must be Major Fang Lang!"
As he said this, he turned his gaze to Fang Lang who was standing beside him.
Fang Lang also stood at attention and said loudly:
"Your Excellency the General, I am Fang Lang, the captain of the expeditionary navy ship House. Welcome!"
After hearing Fang Lang's words, General Crook laughed and said:
"Fang, you are really young! Come on, let's go inside and talk."
He stretched out his hand and shook Fang Lang's hand vigorously, then pulled Fang Lang towards the office building.
Fang Lang hurriedly followed, and after General Crook let go, he lagged behind him and walked towards the office building.
Colonel Parisi walked in front and led the way, and soon brought everyone to a conference room that had been set up. There were already more than 20 officers sitting in the conference room, and except for five officers who were colonels, most of them were lieutenants.
Here should be all the officers of the Brazilian Expeditionary Navy.
Following the command to stand up, everyone stood up straight.
General Crook came to the main seat, looked at the people in the conference room, pressed his hand down, and motioned for everyone to sit down. Everyone sat down with a swish.
"Everyone, I came here today to announce three things to you. First, we want to congratulate our Brazilian Expeditionary Force Navy Lieutenant Commander Fang Lang for being promoted to the rank of colonel by the Brazilian Navy Department. Let us all applaud and congratulate him!"
Everyone immediately looked at Fang Lang with burning eyes, with shock, admiration, envy, and jealousy in their eyes.
Although Fang Lang had anticipated this, he still felt excited when the moment finally came. He quickly stood up and saluted everyone.
The major officer who came with General Crook came to Fang Lang with a gift box in his hand and stood beside him. Major General Crook also came over, picked up the colonel rank on the gift box, and personally pinned it on Fang Lang's collar.
"Colonel Fang, thank you for your outstanding performance in the European war and your achievements. You have attracted the attention of the world and made all Brazilian soldiers proud of you. I hope you can keep up the good work and achieve more success."
After saying that, he saluted Fang Lang.
Fang Lang also quickly returned the greeting and said:
"Thank you for your trust in me and the country. I will definitely live up to my mission and create greater glory."
After the ceremony, Crook smiled and shook hands with Fang Lang again, and gently patted Fang Lang's arm with his left hand. He looked like he was optimistic about him, which made others envious.
After the conferment of titles was completed, General Crook returned to the main seat and took out another document and said:
"Then let us announce the second thing. Everyone please stand up!"
With a "swish", all your officers in the conference room stood up and looked at General Crook with serious faces.
General Crook looked around and read out loud:
“Order: Effective immediately, Colonel Fang Lang is appointed as the commander-in-chief of the Brazilian Navy’s First Fleet, responsible for establishing and managing the overall work of the First Fleet.
Order of the Ministry of National Defense and the Ministry of Navy of the Federative Republic of Brazil, dated June 1, 1945.
After reading it, General Crook turned the letter of appointment around and showed it to everyone. Then he handed it to Fang Lang, who had already started fighting.
General Morais had already revealed this appointment to Fang Lang in advance, and Colonel Parisi was also well aware of it.
However, the other officers at the scene were not clear about this, and they all turned their eyes to Fang Lang. After all, no one knew the exact size and scale of the Brazilian Navy's First Fleet.
Fang Lang himself was not clear at the moment, so he certainly could not answer for everyone. After receiving the letter of appointment, Fang Lang did not say much, but just saluted and said loudly:
"Yes, General!"
Then, without waiting for Fang Lang to sit down, General Crook took out another order and read it out loudly:
"Order, Commander of the First Fleet, General Guan Lang, to lead all the warships of the First Fleet to Saipan before July 1st, to join the U.S. Fifth Carrier Strike Group and participate in the Pacific War.
Order of the Ministry of the Navy of the Federative Republic of Brazil, dated June 1, 1945.
After saying this, he showed the order to everyone again and handed it to Fang Lang who was still standing there.
This order was completely beyond Fang Lang's expectations. Didn't they say they would join the British Pacific Fleet? How come they were now joining the US Navy's battle sequence?
It seems that a lot of twists and turns have happened in the past two weeks! However, none of this has anything to do with Fang Lang, as long as he is sure that he can participate in the Pacific War.
I couldn't help but shout out loud in my heart:
"You damned little devil, your Grandpa Fang is here. I'm going to trample Mount Fuji on my horse."
He certainly couldn't show it on his face, and he suppressed his inner excitement. After a standard military salute, he said loudly in a calm tone:
"Yes, General!"
Fang Lang had no idea what General Crook said next, because his mind was filled with the excitement of being able to ride a horse to Mount Fuji.
When the meeting was over, everyone came up to shake his hand and say goodbye. He was in a daze the whole time. After everyone left, he was ready to leave with them.
Just as he reached the door, he was grabbed by Colonel Parisi and then he reacted.
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