The port of Bella is the main port of Sumatra Province and the most important military port of the Chinese People's Navy in Sumatra Province. On 3 October, as soon as the storm in the Indian Ocean stopped, the naval fleet, which had been delayed for two days, set sail for Sri Lanka.

The huge fan in the rest compartment of the landing ship was blowing through the wide space, and Second Lieutenant Qi Rui wiped the sweat from his forehead and inspected the situation in the row before returning to his bunk and sitting down. The second lieutenant was admitted to the Nanjing Army Academy in 1876, and successfully completed his studies at the school in 1879 and went to the grassroots army for internship. After a year as a class president, he returned to the military school with a good evaluation. In 1880, Qi Rui got the rank of second lieutenant and became a platoon commander in the army.

After entering the military academy, Qi Rui realized that when he was at home, he didn't show any special dad Wei Ze, what kind of cow he was. It was not because Wei Ze could make a million-strong army live and die with a single order, but because Wei Ze established the war ideas of the Guangfu Army and the combat equipment and combat techniques that matched these war ideas. Not to mention the unintuitive things such as tactics, the Type 1876 rifle, Type 1880 steel helmet and Type 1880 backpack in the hands of Second Lieutenant Qi Rui were all completed on the basis of the design proposed by Wei Ze.

Sitting down on his bunk, Wei Rui felt that the metal deck under the military quilt was warm. Opening the geography book he carried, the Indian Ocean is a tropical ocean, with sea temperatures reaching 22 degrees in winter and even 30 degrees in some places. Combined with the heat emitted from the wheel compartments of the lower decks of the landing ship, it is not surprising that there is such a temperature. The only thing that is worth the odd is that this knowledge is taught in both middle and high school. At that time, he only learned this knowledge to prepare for the exam, and Wei Rui, who had a very good score, could only vaguely remember what he learned at that time. Now when he was ready to use it, he remembered what direction he should be looking for. As his dad Wei Zeai said, "Learning knowledge doesn't really mean that you can learn to know everything, but it is great to learn to know where to look for answers." ”

At this moment, the comrade next to him made a "vomit" sound, and as soon as he heard this sound, Second Lieutenant Qi Rui knew that this was another seasickness. Sure enough, the comrade next to him barely managed to prop up his body and vomited in the aisle between the bunks.

"Next time you want to vomit, you say it early, go to the window and vomit! You're so neat, what should you do? Because of some seasickness, the squad leader, who seemed to be very unwell, said angrily.

Second Lieutenant Qi Rui frowned, and it was repeatedly emphasized in military academies and training at all levels that comrades should never be treated like this. Get up and ask the squad leader to come over and help the vomiting fighter to the porthole, let him lean out a little and vomit outside the window. Second Lieutenant Qi Rui caressed the soldier's back to make him more comfortable, and he was also worried about not letting the soldier fall into the sea.

When this round of vomiting was over, Second Lieutenant Qi Rui took out toothpaste from his backpack and wiped it on the warrior's midmen. The fresh aroma of plants poured into his nostrils, and the warrior felt a burst of unobstruction, and threw up again on the porthole. When he really had nothing to vomit, Second Lieutenant Qi Rui and the squad leader helped the soldiers back to their bunks. Cleaned up the vomit again. There were buckets and mops and it wasn't particularly difficult to clean.

After doing this, Second Lieutenant Qi Rui also felt a little tired. He put the book back in his marching bag and lay down on his bunk. The Liberation Army attaches great importance to politics and practice, and it is unrealistic not to want to experience a soaring grassroots level. The first threshold is not that high school graduation depends on military schools, and ordinary soldiers can also be squad leaders and platoon leaders. The most difficult threshold is whether you can be admitted to a military school again after becoming a platoon commander.

He was re-admitted to the military academy, and after nine to fifteen months of study, according to the different educational level of each person, he went to the teaching unit to undergo a three-month trial training. After passing this set of inspection and training, this is called a junior commander, which can be regarded as being included in the training list. The second threshold is whether you can become a regiment commander and become a middle-level commander after re-entering the military academy. The third threshold is to enter the military academy as an instructor and enter the ranks of generals after becoming a division commander. Wei Rui's position was not far from that of a junior commander, not at all enough to talk about generals, or even marshals.

Wei Rui hoped that he could achieve something in the profession of a soldier, and Wei Ze also promised Wei Rui that if Wei Rui could become a mid-level commander, he would restore his real name. Not to mention the intermediate commander, if you want to be a junior commander, you must first skillfully apply the dozen or so things in the marching backpack. For example, toothpaste can not only relieve some discomfort, but also treat mosquito bite lumps, eat it when you are hungry, and even play a role in emergency wound treatment.

Many people actually don't want to learn so many things, just like the content in junior high school textbooks, everyone basically forgets after the exam. If you want to become a recognized soldier, you have to strengthen your training in the process of learning and turn it into your own direct reaction.

This is only the military technical aspect, and when the seasick soldier finally fell asleep in a daze, Second Lieutenant Qi Rui called the squad leader to talk outside together, "Old Gu, do you think our comrades will deliberately vomit on the deck?" ”

Squad Leader Hu is actually not very old, he is 21 years old this year, the same age as Second Lieutenant Qi Rui. However, young people like to learn from the old guys in power, and they are also old Gu and Lao Qi's screams. Listening to Second Lieutenant Qi Rui's words, there was a bit of blame in it, and squad leader Hu was unhappy, "That guy Zhou Jun is just lazy, you see that he actually wanted to move at the beginning, and then he came to see you help clean up, but this time he didn't move at all, and vomited directly." If I don't say a word to him, he'll be even lazier. ”

Ideological work is so troublesome, Second Lieutenant Qi Rui can practice it himself, and he would rather maintain order, but according to his heart, he really wants to send a soldier like Zhou Jun back directly. Ideological education is not an easy task, and it is indeed beyond his ability to ask a 21-year-old young man to do this. But the concept of the army is that this is a revolutionary melting pot, and everyone should be trained in it, rather than simply seeing the wrong people and driving them away.

Seeing that Second Lieutenant Qi Rui was silent, squad leader Hu was also a little energetic, and he continued: "Platoon commander, you just don't care so much about the comrades below, and you have to take care of it when you should take care of it!" ”

"I see." Second Lieutenant Qi Rui replied. It's not that he hasn't tried it, but he feels that some people just have a hard time communicating, and no matter how they talk about it, it's like a chicken and a duck.

Seeing that Second Lieutenant Qi Rui didn't lose his temper, squad leader Hu didn't continue to say this. When Second Lieutenant Qi Rui talked about these issues, he avoided other soldiers, which was also a sign of respect for Squad Leader Hu, who was quite satisfied with this approach. He changed the subject, "How far are we from Ceylon?" ”

As soon as Second Lieutenant Qi Rui finished reading the information, he replied: "It is 1,225 nautical miles from Port Bellah to Colombo in Ceylon, and at a speed of 10 knots, it will take 122.5 hours to arrive. That's about 5 days. ”

"That means we're going to have to drift at sea for three days, how about that?" Squad Leader Hu asked.

"At least three more days of drifting." Second Lieutenant Qi Rui gave a very clear answer.

Hearing such an answer, squad leader Hu could only sigh. He understood what Second Lieutenant Qi Rui meant, and after arriving near Ceylon, he had to wait for the navy to finish fighting, and he needed to continue to wait. It is also not known when the order to land will be issued.

Vice Admiral Ding Ruchang, commander of the fleet, was in charge of the campaign, and he decided when to land. Four battleships, four heavy cruisers, eight cruisers with steam turbines, a mighty formation escorted the landing ships, and 20,000 troops were heading for Ceylon. The vice admiral thought that he would be able to build six to eight battleships, but in fact only four battleships with a displacement of 14,000 tons were built. Of course, there are factors such as Weeser's excessive requirements for battleships and heavy equipment, but a more realistic problem is the lack of docks for the construction of 14,000-ton warships.

Ding Ruchang also knew that in 1881, the production capacity of China's steel casting enterprises exceeded 10 million tons, and these enterprises were fully operational, and they actually produced 10 million tons of cast steel and made various steel products. He did not know that the British steel casting production capacity in the same year was around 5 million tons, and the actual production volume was less than 2.5 million tons. Even so, the British built 8 Sovereign-class battleships with a displacement of 14,000 tons in one go,

The British Empire's centuries of industrial accumulation were not in vain, with millions of workers tempered by the economic crisis, a large number of technicians, and a large amount of infrastructure. China, a newly industrialized country, is not easily surpassed, and it will take decades of unremitting efforts.

However, China has the spirit of a newborn calf that is not afraid of tigers, and Ding Ruchang also firmly believes that the new battleships will be invincible. After loading the 300 mm main gun, Ding Ruchang understood what the benefits of the giant cannon were. After this 300-mm main gun is installed, one gun and one ship is not a dream. Even if he knew that Britain had eight new battleships, Ding Ruchang thought that he could easily annihilate the British fleet.

On October 7, the Grand Fleet of the Chinese Navy reached the sea near Colombo, Ceylon. The telephone man of the command immediately informed the command that the British fleet had been spotted opposite. Since the Chinese ambassador to the UK has clearly informed Britain that China is going to take action against Sri Lanka, the British Indian Ocean Fleet has also made preparations.

But this preparation is really shabby in the eyes of the Chinese Navy. Three battleships, nine other "small ships", this is almost the entire strength of the entire Indian Ocean Fleet of the British Royal Navy. The British Navy had an order to fight in the face of the enemy, and even if they knew that they would be defeated, they had to bravely meet it. At this time, the British Navy had also seen the figure of the Chinese Grand Fleet, the huge figure of four battleships. There is nothing to say anymore, the British Navy launched an attack on the Chinese fleet almost on its own.

The battleships went to meet the enemy, and the "small ships" began to retreat. The British commanders did not see any point in suddenly sending those troops to their deaths. Then a once-in-a-lifetime scene appeared before the eyes of the officers and men of the Indian Ocean Fleet of the Royal Navy of the British Empire.

Four warships of tens of thousands of tons, four warships of nearly 10,000 tons, and eight warships circled the battlefleet column that came to meet them at an astonishing speed, and rushed towards the "small ships" that had begun to retreat.

"How fast are they?" The commander of the Indian Ocean Fleet held up his binoculars and stammered to the adjutant. This is a speed that is completely beyond the imagination of the British, and it is a speed beyond the rationality of all those who eat naval meals in this era.

"There have to be 21 verses, right?" The lieutenant replied in a tone that doubted whether he really existed.

One nautical mile is equal to 1.852 kilometers, and the British "small ships" can run 16 nautical miles at most, that is, for every hour of pursuit, the Chinese battleship can shorten the distance by 9 kilometers. The distance between the two sides was only about 15 kilometers, and after more than an hour, the Chinese battleships were able to slaughter the British "small ships".

"Chase!" The commander of the Indian Ocean Fleet shouted. Since it is doomed, there is no reason to run away now.

The adjutant couldn't help but ask, "Your Excellency, if we retreat now......

"If we retreat now, can we go?" It is not that the commander did not think about this issue, but the result of the consideration was rather pessimistic. The British fleet was more than forty nautical miles from the port of Colombo, while the British battleships were no more than four nautical miles from the Chinese battleships. The small ships now fled to the port of Colombo, where they were caught up and annihilated before they could enter the port. Even the battleships were now running away to the port of Colombo, and the Chinese battleships were already running ahead of the British battleships at this time.

If they fled in the direction of India, with the current speed of the warships on both sides, the British battleships would not be able to run for too long before they would be overtaken. Since the two sides were destined for a bitter battle, as a glorious British Imperial Navy soldier, he could not be saved after sacrificing the lives of his subordinates, which was completely contrary to the morality of the navy.

Moreover, if the small British ships can decisively turn back to meet the battle, the British may be able to surround the Chinese fleet in the middle of the British warships and fight a more effective battle.

The British Navy deserves to be the world's first navy, and without the order of the commander-in-chief of the Indian Ocean Fleet, the small ships in front saw the Chinese Navy behind them chasing at an unprecedented high speed, so they gathered together, changed formations, and completed a 360-degree turn before entering the engagement, and launched an attack on the Chinese Navy in a horizontal formation.

Observers from the British Navy had good eyesight, and they even saw a flock of pigeons released from a British warship. It was not for peace, but for the carrier pigeon to pass on the most important information. Seeing the unprecedented high speed of the Chinese Navy, the British naval observer could even think that there must have been such a message in the pigeon.

In fact, even after witnessing the terrifying speed of 21 knots, British naval observers wondered if they were being blinded by the scorching sun in the Indian Ocean. In fact, nothing like this happened, everything was just a delusional dream of the observer while he was drowsy on the mast.

Then, the observer saw that the Chinese battleship lightly changed its angle, and the entire turning radius was actually less than 400 meters. Across the hull, four double-barreled guns opened fire. Seconds later, a British warship was shot. Less than half a minute later, a sky-high flame rose from the warship. With a huge explosion, the warship broke directly into two pieces and quickly sank into the sea.

An even more deranged nightmare for the British observer began.