Two days after Akiyama Mayuki left Tianjin, three warships of the Beiyang Naval Division: Haiqi, Hairong, and Haichou arrived at Dagukou.

When the warship entered the harbor and anchored, Sa Zhenbing saw the Zhenyuan moored at the dock from a distance, and his heart couldn't help but fluctuate. Zhenyuan, one of the core and main forces of the Beiyang Naval Division at that time, was naturally very familiar. In the past, Sa Zhenbing had boarded the Dingyuan and Zhenyuan ships many times. At present, there are a large number of soldiers in the Beiyang Naval Division who originally served in the Dingyuan and Zhenyuan ships, such as Chen Zhaoqiang, the chief engineer of the Haitian, who was the chief engineer of the Dingyuan ship, and Shen Shoukun, the first mate of the Haiqi, who was the chief officer of the Dingyuan ship.

Sa Zhenbing is a graduate of the second driving class of Fuzhou Mawei Shipyard School, and the main "Eight Yuan" captains at the beginning of the establishment of the Beiyang Naval Division, such as Liu Buyun, Fang Boqian, Lin Taizeng, Lin Yongsheng, Qiu Baoren, Ye Zuqi, Deng Shichang, Li He and others are all graduates of the first class, Sa Zhenbing is lower in seniority, in the First Sino-Japanese War, Sa Zhenbing was only the pipe belt of the training ship (iron waki, wood-hulled clipper) Weiyuan, so he did not participate in the Battle of Dadonggou, only participated in the Battle of Weihaiwei, which decided the survival of the Beiyang Naval Division, and it can be said that he witnessed the destruction of the Beiyang Naval Division. At this time, I looked at this familiar warship again, in the battle 5 years ago, the Dingyuan ship sank by itself, Ding Ruchang and Liu Buyun committed suicide and martyrdom, and the Zhenyuan ship was captured by Japan, and this scene seems to reappear in front of Sa Zhenbing's eyes.

Although after the First Sino-Japanese War, the Beiyang Naval Division was rebuilt, but it was only maintained without force, and the capital ships changed from the original "Eight Great Distances" to "Five Seas", but both firepower and tonnage were far apart, and the brilliant achievements of Dingyuan and Zhenyuan, known as the first in Asia and the seventh in the world, could only become the memory of Sa Zhenbing's heart, and the Zhenyuan ship later became a member of the Japanese Navy, which became Sa Zhenbing's biggest regret.

And now the Zhenyuan ship has actually returned to China, although Sa Zhenbing knows very well in his heart that the return of the Zhenyuan ship has nothing to do with the current Beiyang Naval Division, and even has nothing to do with the Qing court, it is completely the credit of overseas Chinese, not so much that the Zhenyuan ship is returning to China, but rather returning to overseas Chinese. But this is also stronger than the Zhenyuan ship in the hands of the Japanese, no matter what, overseas Chinese are also considered descendants of China, and in Sa Zhenbing's heart, overseas Chinese have long regarded overseas Chinese as a part of China.

Just when Sa Zhenbing was very moved, the three warships had slowly docked and anchored, and Shang Jinfeng and Wang Hailong had already led the army to line up and greet their arrival on the shore. Sa Zhenbing didn't dare to hold it up, so he took people to stand on the side of the ship early, and instructed the captains of the other two warships to wait on the side of the ship.

After everyone saw each other, they were polite to each other, and Shang Jinfeng and Wang Hailong invited Sa Zhenbing and his party to the reception room, and the two sides held talks on the matter of this naval exercise. First of all, Shang Jinfeng introduced himself and the military exercise process and subjects set by Japan, such as Sa Zhenbing and others. Sa Zhenbing and others had no objections to this process and subjects, but they were quite interested in the subjects of the warship confrontation exercise, and even proposed to Shang Jinfeng, hoping to let the warships of the Beiyang Naval Division participate.

It turned out that during the Gengzi State Change, the fleet of the Eight-Nation Alliance attacked Dagukou from the sea, and the main force of the Beiyang Naval Division at that time, the "Five Seas" were anchored near Dagukou, but Admiral Ye Zugui did not start a war with other countries, but gave up Dagukou and led the "Five Seas" to flee to Shanghai for evasion, and has been criticized. Participating in the joint military exercise at sea this time, Sa Zhenbing also breathed a sigh of relief, and always wanted to find an opportunity to save the reputation of the Beiyang Naval Division.

Shang Jinfeng agreed to Sa Zhenbing's request in one mouth, and at the same time asked Sa Zhenbing to serve as the deputy commander of the combined fleet and board the flagship Brandenburg. Sa Zhenbing couldn't help but be a little flattered when he heard this, although the deputy commander was only a symbolic position, but this also meant that overseas Chinese did not bully others, and they were still very polite to the Beiyang Naval Division.

In fact, such an arrangement is Wang Hailong's suggestion, and the purpose is not to respect the Beiyang Naval Division, in fact, in the eyes of the traverser, the Beiyang Naval Division has nothing to respect. It's just that this joint naval exercise is the first time that the traverser has completely used a warship of this era to carry out a mission, and the traverser is very lacking in practical experience in this regard, including Wang Hailong, and the Beiyang Naval Division, no matter what the combat record, but it has been in the army for more than ten years, and only the experience of using warships in these ten years is much stronger than that of the current traverser. The purpose of this joint naval exercise is to learn some experience from the Beiyang Naval Division and speed up the growth of the People's Navy, so Sa Zhenbing is given the title of deputy commander, so that it is logical to let Sa Zhenbing act with the flagship Brandenburg, and Wang Hailong can also ask Sa Zhenbing for advice at any time.

Sa Zhenbing knows that there are so many routines in this, but the Brandenburg is a 10,000-ton battleship, and the overall combat effectiveness is far better than that of Dingyuan and Zhenyuan, as a naval officer, Sa Zhenbing naturally hopes that he will one day be able to command such a giant ship, of course, Sa Zhenbing knows very well in his heart that this is impossible, because it is impossible for the Qing court to equip the Beiyang Naval Division with such a giant ship. But boarding the Brandenburg to participate in the military exercise, although he was not personally commanded, but at least he could participate, which was also an irresistible temptation for Sa Zhenbing, so he immediately agreed.

This time, at the request of the traverser, Sa Zhenbing also brought a group of officers and men from the original Dingyuan and Zhenyuan ships, a total of 103 people, and the traverser equipped the Zhenyuan ship with 210 people, although it was slightly less than the official establishment of the Zhenyuan ship, but it was enough under normal circumstances, after all, this time it was not a real battle.

In addition, the traversers equipped each of the three warships of the Beiyang Naval Division with a communication group, four people and a small radio station, which could communicate with each other within a range of 40 to 60 kilometers, and the communication efficiency was much higher than that of the flag language. Of course, the communications group also has the task of observing how the Beiyang Naval Division sets up warships, otherwise two people can operate a radio station, and four people will be used.

And after trying the effect of the radio, Sa Zhenbing couldn't help but be amazed, he naturally knew the great significance of this kind of radio in naval battles, and he was even more respectful to the traverser. Because Sa Zhenbing can be regarded as a more scientific person among the Chinese in this era, he naturally knows the scientific and technological power represented behind this small radio station.

The Beiyang Naval Division rested for a day at Dagukou, and started the Zhenyuan ship, conducted trial training, and informed the Japanese side that it could set off. In the morning of the next day, we set sail from Dagukou.

The commander of this formation is Wang Hailong, and the captains of the other ships are also the captains and deputy captains of the passing warships.

The flagship Brandenburg was commanded by Han Chao, deputy captain of the Kunming;

The Saxony was commanded by Deputy Captain *** of the Sanya;

The Zhenyuan ship was commanded by Chen Xiaojiang, deputy captain of the Yueyang ship;

The Orlando is commanded by Captain *** of the Xiangyang ship;

The Lufthansa was commanded by Liu Hao, deputy captain of the Huaihua;

The Korean was commanded by Captain Lu Kai of Changbaishan;

The Lyon was commanded by Jin Kewen, deputy captain of the Xiangyang;

In addition, there are 4 transport ships, plus 3 warships of the Beiyang Naval Division, the entire fleet has a total of 14 warships. The total number of troops is more than 3,800 people, and in addition to the military personnel of the Beiyang Naval Division, the People's Army Navy has sent a total of more than 2,800 military personnel, and the total number of soldiers from the crossing fleet is about 650 people.

It was about 300 kilometers from Dagu Pass to Beihuangcheng Island, where it joined the Japanese fleet, and the fleet traveled at a speed of about 12 knots, and it was expected to reach its destination at dusk. During the voyage, Wang Hailong also commanded the fleet, constantly changed the formation, carried out various combat readiness and combat training, and even conducted more than 10 artillery firing training.

Although Wang Hailong is usually very aggressive, he is very serious and meticulous in training. It also made Sa Zhenbing, who was on the same ship, very impressed, when the Beiyang Naval Division first became an army, it was also similar to the current People's Army Navy, quite new, enterprising, serious in discipline, and the morale of the officers and men was very high, but after the resignation of the British chief instructor Xi Langweili, the training of the fleet became increasingly relaxed, and military discipline deteriorated. Later, the fiasco of the Beiyang Naval Division in the First Sino-Japanese War was not the main reason, but it was also an important factor. Later, after the reconstruction of the Beiyang Commander, Sa Zhenbing strongly advocated strict military discipline and strict training, so when watching Wang Hailong command the fleet to conduct various tactical exercises, Sa Zhenbing also felt as if he had returned to that era.

Of course, Wang Hailong did not forget to ask Sa Zhenbing for advice on various matters such as piloting warships and naval battles, although Sa Zhenbing was also a little strange, because some of the questions asked by Wang Hailong were very basic questions, but he also answered them one by one to the best of his knowledge, so that Wang Hailong also benefited a lot, and had a further understanding of the warship driving and combat in this era. Sa Zhenbing was quite interested in the Brambaugh, and during the voyage, he visited the whole ship, and even touched the barrel of the main gun with his own hands, although he didn't say anything, but it was still obvious from his expression that he was quite envious of this battleship.

At about 5 o'clock in the afternoon, the fleet arrived at the destination of the voyage, Beihuangcheng Island, at this time the Japanese fleet had not yet arrived, in fact, this is also the crosser has already calculated, because Japan's closest to Beihuangcheng Island is the Sasebo Naval Base, which is also about 1100 kilometers, and it will take two days to do so, so the People's Army can rush to Beihuangcheng Island one step ahead of schedule to arrange, so that it can not only show its sovereignty over Beihuangcheng Island, but also take advantage of occupying the host road first. So Wang Hailong ordered the fleet to anchor on the west side of the island, build a pontoon bridge on the island, and set up camp on the island.