Chapter 2271
But without permission from the military, no one dared to approach these warships that were listed as restricted areas. The management of the naval base is stricter than that of the army base. After disembarking, the guests who came to watch the competition can only follow the sailors leading the way to the designated place to wait, instead of being able to wait in a larger area like yesterday at the army base. Feel free to move around.
Of course, such measures are normal in Zhang Jinbao's view. After all, these warships are all treasures of the Haihan Army. Foreigners cannot buy them if they want to, so naturally they cannot be given the opportunity to learn about the navy's various technical secrets.
Since it is a competition in naval sports, the content must be mainly water sports, and the competition venue is located in a large swimming pool at the base. For most of the audience present, this was probably the first time they had seen such a large swimming pool.
The large swimming pool in the naval base is built according to a standard competition swimming pool. It is 50 meters long and has eight swimming lanes. The entire pool is paved with ceramic tiles. There are two swimming pools like this in the base, one in the south and one in the north. Sailors start training their swimming abilities in swimming pools, and then slowly transition to natural waters after they have a certain foundation.
For safety reasons, the military did not put swimming events directly into the sea, but arranged them in the base's swimming pool. However, this is more convenient for the audience to watch, and they do not need to stretch their necks to find targets among the waves. .
The competition events arranged by the Navy are simple and crude. In the morning, they are all swimming, divided into several categories: speed swimming, water obstacle course, and armed swimming. Such a dense schedule will be a great test for each team in arranging players and stamina distribution. Even the strong will find it difficult to participate in multiple events in a row.
In the afternoon, there was an event that required going out to sea to compete, but it was just a single-man windsurfing race on the sea. To say that the confrontation was only average.
The navy's competition events mainly focus on physical fitness and water resistance, and the test indicators are mainly the physical fitness of the participants. However, advanced skills such as marching and fighting on the sea and commanding operations are difficult to arrange in this kind of competition due to limited conditions.
"Your Majesty, what do you think of today's competition?" Zheng Zha sat next to Li Xie today. After he sat down, he took the initiative to chat with Li Xie.
Li Zhen felt that he was not qualified to comment on the strength of other countries, so he said modestly: "Our country is not good at naval warfare. Today I am afraid that it is only at the level of running with others."
Zheng Zha smiled and said: "Your Majesty is quite humble... So between our country and Xu Jiajun, who is stronger?"
"This... the young prince is in such a difficult situation!" Li Xie felt that this issue was really dangerous, and he could easily offend people no matter which side he chose.
Zheng Zhao said: "Your Majesty, you don't have to feel embarrassed. Do you and I really regard this martial arts competition as a great event? I just want to hear your views, but it doesn't matter."
Li Zhi silently thought about his words for a while, and then responded: "From the results of yesterday's competition, it can be seen that the strength of your country and Xu Jiajun is about the same. It mainly depends on how you perform on the spot! In my opinion, it should be the same for you two today. Everyone competes for the top spot.”
Zheng Zhuo laughed at himself and said: "The prince may have made a mistake. Our country is really no match for Xu Jiajun in these water sports... They are very strong, you will know later."
Li Zhi didn't know what he meant, but from Zheng Zha's tone, it didn't sound like he was speaking modestly. At the moment, I was also a little curious about how strong Xu Jiajun was, who could make Zheng Zha take the initiative to admit defeat.
Li Zhi didn't know that in the past few competitions, Xu Jiajun had won the first place in the naval event. Although Annan Army almost always followed closely behind and got the second place, the gap in the middle was not You can catch up if you work hard.
The reason why Xu Jiajun has such a big advantage in naval projects is mainly because they invested a lot in the early stage and have always attached great importance to introducing all military technologies from Haihan. The methods of training the navy are almost copied intact from Haihan. Chinese. Although the hardware is indeed inferior to the Haihan Navy, the quality of individual soldiers is actually far beyond the average level of the Ming Navy.
Although Annan also attached great importance to the construction of maritime armed forces, due to the civil war, the economic situation was not ideal, so he had to hand over the natural harbors on the coastline to Haihan to operate in exchange for Haihan's military assistance. .
In terms of military budget, the Annan Army is far from being able to compare with the wealthy Xu Jiajun, so there is naturally a clear gap in training effectiveness. Zheng Zha himself also understood that the gap could not be caught up in a short while. Only when Annan's own economic situation improved and he could spend more money to invest in naval training could he hope to catch up with Xu Jiajun.
In fact, among the ten teams participating in this competition, only Xu Jiajun started out as a navy soldier, and his emphasis on sailor training is indeed unparalleled. Xu Xinsu's requirement for the naval forces under her command is to be on par with the Haihan Navy. Since the gap in weapons and equipment cannot be erased, she can only make more efforts in training.
Sure enough, after the event started, Xu Jiajun's advantage was significantly stronger than yesterday. Almost no team could pose a real threat to him, and he quickly won the first place in several swimming racing events.
"Where did your Xu Jiajun recruit such a talented person?" Even Yan Chujie couldn't help but ask Xu Yuxing a question after seeing it. Among the soldiers sent by Fujian for training every year, there are several who are proficient in water skills, and their level is even better than the swimming experts in their own navy. Yan Chujie also wants to know how Xu Jiajun trained these people.
Xu Yuxing smiled faintly and said: "Master Yan is overly praised. In fact, most of these people are just fishermen and sailors. They have only been familiar with water since they were young. But as long as they get decent results here, they can at least become a general manager when they return to Fujian. You think Can these people not work hard? ”
Promotion and wealth are the simplest and most practical rewards for these people. The Xu family has enough resources to completely change their lives, so these people are naturally very dedicated.
But even so, Yan Chujie believes that such talents are not just picked up in large numbers. Before they were sent to Haihan for training, they should have been selected at all levels, and they had already received rigorous training for a long time in Fujian. , only by being fully prepared for the subjects that will be tested during the training period can such outstanding performance be achieved.
Zhang Jinbao, on the other hand, didn't care at all about the soldiers from various countries splashing around in the swimming pool. When he saw Li Nai getting up and leaving the stands, he guessed that the other party was going for convenience, so he followed him out. Zhang Jinbao took the initiative to chat with Li Nai on his way back, pretending to be concerned about Jindun's performance in today's competition, and then changed the topic to cooperative school running.
Li Nai heard the song and knew what it meant, and took the initiative to say: "After we finish the business here, how about we set off to Danzhou together tomorrow afternoon?"
Zhang Jinbao went around in circles for a long time just to finalize the matter with Li Nai. Since the other party took the initiative to bring it up, he responded calmly: "Then it's settled. If the third young master is free at noon tomorrow, I can do it for you." Dong, let’s have a casual meal together?”
Li Nai said: "I already have an appointment with Young Prince Annan at noon tomorrow, and I appreciate Dean Zhang's kindness. I will send someone to the inn tomorrow to pick up Dean Zhang and his party. Then you can board the ship first and wait for me. After finishing the matter, we will leave Hong Kong.”
Li Nai arranged things very carefully, and Zhang Jinbao couldn't fault him at all. He quickly bowed and thanked him, saying that he would entertain Li Nai as a landlord once he arrived in Danzhou.
The competition in the morning was uneventful. Xu Jiajun's performance was outstanding, while other teams could only compete for the second and third positions. Only the last item of armed swimming, because it was relatively closer to actual combat, finally made the audience interested.
This event requires contestants to complete five round-trip courses in the swimming pool while carrying personal equipment, including rifles. And after landing at the end, you have to complete shooting at the target at the designated location - if the rifle gets water during the swimming process, this task will obviously be difficult to complete. Only when all tasks are completed will the final result be considered valid, so even if you are the first to complete the swim and land ashore, you may not necessarily be able to secure first place.
Considering that the water in the swimming pool does not flow, the difficulty of this project is actually much easier than it actually is. The key lies in having enough physical fitness and swimming skills to complete this mile-long swim.
This project is of course also the original creation of the Haihan Army. The Marine Corps has included armed swimming as a training subject and has used this special combat method many times in actual combat. However, the equipment of the Marines is more advanced. When performing armed swimming missions, each person will receive a leather inflatable float to reduce the load of soldiers in the water.
The military only requires foreign students to swim in swimming pools. As for whether they will practice more in rivers, lakes and seas after they return, Haihan doesn't care. In the end, Xu Jiajun still came out on top in this project, but the advantage was much smaller than in the previous projects.
After lunch, the officials arranged a small event for the guests to visit the Haihan Military Museum located here. For most people, this is their first time to step into this familiar yet unfamiliar military base, and it is hard to say whether there will be another opportunity. Naturally, they will not miss this officially arranged activity.
The Haihan Military Museum is not usually open to the public. Generally, only recruits and foreign guests are arranged to visit the place. During special periods, groups such as students will also be organized to come here to receive patriotic education.
This place collects all the historical materials of military operations from the beginning of Haihan to Sanya. The earliest ones include the bows, arrows, waist knives and other weapons seized by the Ming army during the landing, as well as the first musket and the first gun that Haihan trial-produced by himself. Artillery and so on.
The most displayed items in the museum are the various trophies captured by the Haihan Army in various periods of combat operations, including the pirate weapons captured after defeating Liu Xiang's fleet at the Pearl River Estuary, the garrison flags captured after conquering Hue City in Annan, Later, there were various trophies from the Netherlands, Spain, Britain, the Manchu Qing Dynasty, Japan and other countries, which were so diverse and dazzling.
Visitors from their own countries were naturally very proud, and were even more convinced that the Haihan Army was invincible, while guests from other countries could not help but have some subtle emotions.
Su Keyi then noticed that the Dutch weapons and equipment left over from the Battle of Nanri Island and the Battle of Penghu were displayed here. Among them, there was even the saber of Van der Wegen, the commander of the Nanri Island Battle, and the armistice signed by Hans, the chief executive of Taiyuan Port. Replica of the agreement - the original should be stored in Fort Victory.
These things all symbolize the many defeats that the East India Company suffered at the hands of the Haihan Army in its early years. It is precisely because of these wars that the special diplomatic relations between the two sides formed today. The Batavia authorities had to ask Sanya for many things. Adopt a compromise attitude in exchange for being able to continue participating in trade in the northern region.
Su Keyi was not the only one who had such complicated emotions. Fei Cexian's mood at this time was not much better. There is a display at the entrance where Haihan was captured by a Ming army patrol when he landed here. Now it looks full of irony. If the Ming army stationed in Yacheng could expel the Haihan people from this place, then there might be no Haihan Kingdom later.
But this idea only flashed through Fei Cexian's mind, and was rejected by him as too absurd. After all, the military strength of the Haihan people is here. How can the few garrison soldiers stationed in a remote small county beat the well-equipped Haihan people. Just the few giant steel ships docked in Victory Port are enough to scare people, and how can they still have the courage to fight with them?
Of course, Haihan's combat experience against the Ming Dynasty goes far beyond this. In fact, Haihan's main direction of expanding his sphere of influence has always been along the coast of the Ming Dynasty. And many of the furnishings in this museum are related to these histories. Almost every territory of the Ming Dynasty occupied by Haihan had related items displayed here. For Fei Cexian, it was a complete record of the process of Ming Dynasty being encroached by Haihan.
As an envoy of the Ming Dynasty, seeing such historical facts, it was naturally difficult for him to pretend to be calm, but he couldn't lose his temper in front of distinguished guests from various countries, as it would only make him appear to have a bad temper. In order to avoid embarrassment, Fei Cexian could only choose to walk quickly to other parts of the museum to see the trophies captured by Spain, Manchu and Qing Dynasty.
Li Zhi watched it with gusto. He didn't know there was such a place in Sanya, otherwise he would have asked Haihan to visit it long ago. In particular, the weapons and equipment of the Haihan Army from all dynasties displayed here made him greedy. Most of these guns, artillery and other equipment were not for sale by Haihan and could only be enjoyed for a while.
Li Yan suddenly remembered that Haihan officials had announced at the dinner party a few days ago that a weapons display event would be arranged after the competition. He didn't know what novel gadgets he would see.
(End of chapter)