Volume 1: The Empire Awakens Chapter 6 The Fifth Fleet (Part 1)
It was already noon local time when the "Albatross" seaplane slowly approached the dock.
"Sir, your escort is here!"
The roar of the two engines almost drowned out the voice of the pilot, the sergeant.
"Thank you, bye!"
After greeting the two pilots, Tan Renhao jumped off the plane and came to the dock.
Tan Renhao was greeted by a staff sergeant from the Fifth Fleet. The jeep he drove was parked on the embankment outside the dock.
"Sir, I'm Du Xing, and I'm your adjutant now!"
After the sergeant saluted, he immediately took Tan Renhao's canvas bag, which only contained toiletries and a few sets of happy clothes.
Tan Renhao returned the salute and followed the sergeant toward the jeep.
In the past, he was the one who called others "sir", but now, within less than a minute, two people called him "sir", which gave him a very strange feeling.
According to the regulations of the Imperial Navy, any newly arrived officer will have a sergeant or a lieutenant adjutant, and such an adjutant plays a very important role. He can help junior officers who have just arrived in the army to quickly familiarize themselves with the military situation, and can teach these officers who have just graduated from military academies some of the customs and traditions of the army, so that the officers can familiarize themselves with their own troops as soon as possible.
"Sir, I will take you to the dormitory first. The commander will summon you at 2 pm."
"To summon me?"
Tan Renhao frowned slightly , "By the way, you don't need to call me 'Commander' in the future. At least, when it's just the two of us, you don't need to use this title."
Du Xing smiled and nodded.
"Yes, the commander called this morning and asked you to come to his office at 2pm."
Tan Renhao nodded. It was already a very good treatment to be summoned by the commander when he first arrived at the fleet.
Each fleet of the Empire has its own home port.
For example, the home port of the First Fleet is Dagu Port, the home port of the Second Fleet is Singapore, the home port of the Third Fleet is Kolamba, the home port of the Fourth Fleet is Cape Town, the home port of the Independent Fleet is Corinto, and the home port of the Fifth Fleet is Naha.
In addition, each fleet has other permanent ports, with some having more than a dozen and some having only four or five. However, the Fifth Fleet exception. Naha is the Fifth Fleet's only permanent port.
The fleet's headquarters is located in the home port and is generally separate from the port headquarters, but the Fifth Fleet is an exception.
Now, the Fifth Fleet headquarters located in the west of the port is still under construction, so the Fifth Fleet can only temporarily set up its headquarters in the port headquarters in the east, which is a part separated from the port headquarters.
Tan Renhao's dormitory is on the edge of the cliff near the south. There are five rows of rooms here, and each row has more than 20 rooms squared. A path connects this dormitory area with the fleet headquarters building on the east. Those who live here are all young officers of the fleet. Of course, they are all low-ranking officers from second lieutenant to captain. Senior officers and generals of the fleet live on the other side of the base.
Tan Renhao was assigned a single room, which was only slightly better than the two-person non-commissioned officer's room and the four-person sailor's room.
The room is only about ten square meters in size, and all the furniture in the room is a steel-framed single bed, a vertical wardrobe, a wooden desk, and an iron-framed chair.
However, the only thing that made Tan Renhao feel a little satisfied was that he had a private bathroom. Although the area was only about one square meter, it was much better than going to a public bathhouse.
Tan Renhao spent half an hour taking a cold shower and then washed all the clothes he had taken off.
After tidying up the room, he went to the nearby officers' mess to have a not-too-rich lunch. There were not many people in the mess because the lower-ranking officers in the fleet usually had lunch on the warships and would only come back here for dinner.
When he returned to the dormitory, he saw Du Xing was already waiting for him outside, and the jeep was parked outside his door.
"Sir..."
Du Xing smiled awkwardly, "It's almost two o'clock!"
"Give me five minutes!"
Tan Renhao has a mild obsession with mysophobia, and he also doesn't want to leave a bad first impression on the fleet commander.
The fleet headquarters building was originally a warehouse of the port command. Later, when the Fifth Fleet was established, this warehouse was converted into an office building because there was no suitable office location. However, it now seems that this will be the center of the Fifth Fleet, at least until the Fifth Fleet's command base is officially built.
General Liao Hanxiang's office is on the second floor (there are only two floors in total) at the very end facing the harbor.
The office was large but simply decorated, with some of the paint on the walls even discolored.
However, what surprised Tan Renhao a little was that General Liao Hanxiang was definitely the kind of person who didn't care about his appearance. At least, this could be reflected from the messy condition of his office.
"Report, Navy Lieutenant Tan Renhao is here to report!"
A middle-aged man in his fifties stood up from behind a desk that looked a bit like a dining table.
He is the legendary general of the Imperial Navy, Liao Hanxiang. Apart from his tanned skin and slightly white hair, Liao Hanxiang definitely looks like a middle-aged man in his forties rather than someone in his fifties.
He was not very tall, only about 1.65 meters, which was due to the fact that he joined the Imperial Cavalry in his early years. However, he was very strong and had a well-proportioned body, without any signs of gaining weight.
However, what impressed Tan Renhao the most was the scar on the general's face, which was left after a plane accident. This also made Liao Hanxiang's appearance look more resolute and wild.
"Jianqiang, go make two cups of tea!"
Liao Hanxiang first gave an order to the orderly standing by the door, and then walked up to Tan Renhao with a smile, "Young man, are you Tan Renhao? Not bad, it seems that I didn't write that letter in vain. Sit down, please, it's a bit messy here, but I think you will get used to it soon!"
Tan Renhao took off his hat with a smile, and hung it on the coat rack by the door. After General Liao Hanxiang sat down, he sat on the chair next to him. The sofa on the left side of the door was full of documents and there was no way to sit down.
However, from the first sentence, Tan Renhao judged that General Liao Hanxiang was a very easy-going person.
This is the same as the simple conclusion Tan Renhao drew from some information.
General Liao Hanxiang has a very complicated experience, which makes him more approachable than any other imperial naval general. At the same time, this also enables him to gain the support and love of many of his subordinates!
