Chapter 1089: The Empire's Atlantic Fleet (3rd update, please subscribe)
"Captain, the flagship has issued an order."
The first mate of the battleship "Shandong" reported loudly over the phone.
This battleship is the fourth ship of the "Nanhua Class". It was once the pride of the Imperial Navy and the pearl of the Imperial shipbuilding industry - once.
Now it's just an ordinary battleship.
"oh?"
Captain Yan Haipeng, who was standing beside the chart table and chatting with two naval officers, turned around quickly.
"What orders?"
"The commander has ordered the fleet to enter level one combat readiness! Sir."
Lieutenant Colonel Qi Mingfei answered loudly. Although the first mate's expression remained serious and calm as usual, Yan Haipeng could still hear the uncontrollable excitement in his voice.
In fact, he was also excited, but he just forced himself to calm down.
"Yeah, I see."
The captain's answer suddenly made the atmosphere in the bridge tense.
Zhu Zhenwu, standing at attention next to the nautical chart, felt a surge of hot blood suddenly surging from the bottom of his heart. The burning feeling instantly spread throughout his body. At the same time, a numbing sensation like an electric shock was rushing along the tailbone to the top of his head like lightning, making his scalp numb, and even his hair seemed to explode.
At the same time, his heartbeat began to beat violently.
“It’s finally started.”
Zhu Zhenwu took a deep breath and tried hard to control his excitement and accelerated heartbeat.
"Lieutenant Colonel Qi!"
Yan Haipeng said this in a tone without any emotion.
"Pass on my orders!"
"Yes, Captain."
Qi Mingfei tensed all his muscles, stood straight, puffed out his chest and answered loudly.
Not only the first mate, but all the officers and non-commissioned officers on the bridge stood at attention with their chests puffed out respectfully to the captain, even Zhu Zhenwu, the crown prince of the empire... No, there were only a handful of people in the navy who knew Zhu Zhenwu's identity. Here he was just an ordinary soldier.
Everyone held their breath, quietly waiting for the captain to issue orders. For a moment, the entire bridge became silent.
"All personnel immediately arrive at combat positions, and the entire ship is on level one combat readiness!"
"Yes, sir!"
The next moment, an urgent electric bell rang inside the warship!
This is the bell for preparation for battle.
The officers and soldiers ran to their posts and hurriedly carried all the hammocks, mattresses and quilts into the fire room.
Yan Penghai and others had already reached the top of the bridge, they stood there facing the sea breeze, looking at the surrounding sea. A huge fleet appeared before his eyes.
This is the main force of the Imperial Atlantic Fleet!
Two Youzhou-class ships, four Nanhua-class ships, plus four armored cruisers, four protected cruisers and eight torpedo boats cruising around the fleet.
It can be said that the Imperial Navy has sent out its elite forces, at least the Atlantic Fleet has sent out its elite forces!
"How about it, Zhenwu, you have never seen such a powerful fleet!"
Yan Penghai smiled as he looked at the naval lieutenant next to him - he thought highly of Zhu Zhenwu, who was born in Nanhua. His father was a company employee and his mother was a housewife. Of course, this was not important. What was important was that his hammock number was No. 12 of the 16th class of the Naval Academy.
The hammock number system is that the naval academy determines the hammock number of the cadets according to their academic performance. This is the emperor Zhu's borrowing, and the purpose is the same as the invention of this system in Xiaori, which is to solve the problem of "nepotism".
As we all know, in China, wherever it comes to official ranks, there will be "reverse elimination" such as nepotism and favoritism. No matter how well the system is designed, there will always be some dignitaries who take advantage of loopholes. Those who favor nepotism can even make you command a warship with a piece of paper.
The Empire!
It is a natural place of power and wealth. Without strict systems, nepotism and nepotism would be normal.
Fearing that those guys would cause him to become captain of a note-taking ship in the future, Emperor Zhu thought about it and decided to introduce the "hammock number system", even though some people said that this system was rigid and inflexible, and was one of the reasons for the failure of the Japanese Navy in World War II.
But you don’t know that being rigid and inflexible was his original intention.
Under this seemingly rigid "hammock number" system, which is basically a certificate of the students' personal performance, only those who rank at the top can apply for the Naval University. If you can't go to the Naval University, you can't become a captain, let alone a senior naval officer, and naturally it's even more impossible to enter the upper echelons. Using this system is to fundamentally eliminate the problem of nepotism, and guide the employment atmosphere to meritocracy, and evaluate talents based on their abilities and backgrounds.
Many people ridiculed the rigidity of this system because of the failure of the Xiaozi Navy, accusing it of not being able to "select talents regardless of their background", which led to the failure of the Xiaozi Navy. But believe it or not, if it is "unrestricted", then the targets will almost all be the children of high-ranking officials. At that time, the son of a marshal is a marshal, and the son of a general is a general, which is not a joke.
What is class stratification!
That is class stratification.
The "hammock number system" may seem rigid, but it is the only option to break the rigidity.
Everything became very fair under the "hammock number system" because the Navy stipulated the criteria for applying to the Naval University, that is, only students whose hammock numbers ranked in the top 20% of their classmates were eligible to apply. Apart from that, no matter what kind of family background you had, it would not work. In other words, even if your father was a powerful figure in the upper echelons of the empire, but you ranked last among your classmates, you could not go to the Naval University, and you might even be kicked out of the Naval School. But as long as your grades were good enough, even if you were a civilian with no background, you could still make a name for yourself in the Navy with your own strength.
The "hammock number system" may be a bit rigid, but it is better than class stratification, or than high-ranking military and official positions being controlled by the children and relatives of the powerful.
Therefore, compared to the young masters who drank tea that cost hundreds of thousands of dollars a cup and held high positions in the empire, Emperor Zhu would rather be a little rigid than give them "unconventional" power.
Because of this, over the past decade or so, the navy has developed the habit of hiring people based on their rank. Prince Zhu was ranked 12th, so he was naturally trusted and respected by his superiors and was even targeted for training.
When Zhu Zhenwu turned his attention to the fleet, Yan Penghai gave instructions to the young officers around him.
"This is a rare opportunity to maneuver and attack. You must learn well. In the future, one of you will definitely become a captain or even a captain."
Needless to say, all the classmates knew who the captain was. It must be Zhu Zhenwu. It was impossible for Hammock No. 12 to become the captain. As for the captain, he also had a great chance. Zhu Zhenwu did not notice their envious eyes at all. He just focused on looking at the sea.
This is truly a powerful fleet.
At this time, the warship was full of busy scenes, and teams of sailors were running quickly on the deck to make final preparations before the battle.
The huge ship cut through the blue water and moved quickly on the sea.
Zhu Zhenwu looked at the busy scene on the deck with great interest. He knew that it must be the same in other places on his ship.
Entering level one combat readiness too early will only waste the morale and physical strength of the soldiers. Isn't it too early for the fleet commander to put the warships into combat status now?
"Don't you think it's a little early?"
Yan Penghai said with a smile.
"Commander Meng is an old navy man. He knows what to do."
Just as he finished speaking, a lookout suddenly reported loudly.
"Smoke column spotted at 320 degrees on the left wing!"
"Speak of the devil and he will appear!"
Standing on the wide terrace on top of the battle bridge, Yan Penghai sneered as he picked up a telescope and looked at the American fleet that "welcomed" their arrival.
"Well, here they come..."
(End of this chapter)
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