"What do you want to do with the Navy?" Jiang Qun was very surprised.

"Not bad!" Ma Lei said with a smile: "This is the purpose of our rapid march to Jiujiang. ”

"Navy ships are tough and not easy to deal with. We are afraid of naval fire, so we can't do it. Yuntang, don't you have any good plans? ”

Ma Lei smiled, looked back at Jiang Fangzhen and Zhang Zhenwu, and said, "Junyang, please rest assured, when it comes to night, you will know." ”

…… …… …… …… …… …… …… …… ……

In Jiujiang Port, under the night, Chu You's ship is like a mountain, standing majestically. In fact, just by listening to the name, you can know that this Chu Youjian has a great relationship with Wuchang. This Chu Youjian is still a blessing left by Zhang Zhidong when he was the governor of Wuchang Huguang. In 1904, Zhang Zhidong raised 2,360,000 taels of silver and sent six shallow-water gunboats* to the Kawasaki Shipyard in Japan, and this Chu You ship was one of them. Now, Chu Youjian, as the flagship of the navy to control Sa Zhenbing, was ordered by the Admiralty of the Qing court to bombard Wuhan and suppress the uprising of the revolutionaries.

If Zhang Zhidong Jiuquan knew that he had done his best to build the elite of the land and water armies for China, and he was actually going to meet each other at this moment, would he sigh a sentence of providence to make people? If he wants to know, in a long time, the two northern and southern strong forces derived from the self-improvement army he built back then will also fight to the death, how should he feel in his heart?

At this moment, the flower-haired Sa Zhenbing sat in the command cabin of Chu You's ship, his face was not shocked, but there was a terrifying majesty. Three days earlier, he had received a telegram from the Admiralty that the Wuchang New Army had rebelled. Under the military order, Sa Zhenbing didn't have time to think about it, so he led the warship to the west of the river in the starry night, preparing to attack Wuhan with the Beiyang New Army by sea and land.

Along the way, he constantly received information from the Admiralty. The situation in Wuhan gradually became clearer. It was Li Yuanhong who led the rebellion! Li Yuanhong was a former student of his former teaching and training at the Beiyang Naval Academy, participated in the Battle of the Yellow Sea, and defected to Zhangzhidong after escaping death. The Chu Youship he is riding on at the moment, a few years ago, was still under the jurisdiction of Li Yuanhong. This world, sometimes, is really small and pitiful.

Thinking of Li Yuanhong, Sa Zhenbing followed closely, and thought of the Sino-Japanese War of the First Sino-Japanese War, and the pain of his life, that is, as a naval general, he never commanded a warship to resist foreign aggression. It was as if there was a boulder in his heart, and he couldn't breathe. Everything on Liugong Island that day seems to be still vivid, and it is never forgotten. When the ammunition and food were exhausted, there were no rescuers outside, and many commanders, comrades-in-arms and young classmates were unwilling to be humiliated and committed suicide with a knife. Liu Buyun committed suicide, Ding Ruchang committed suicide, and Yang Yonglin committed suicide...... The blood of life and death partners sprayed in front of his eyes.

These past events made Sa Zhenbing's chest panic, so he stood up, walked out of the command cabin, looked up at the starry sky, and took a few deep breaths of fishy water, and his heart gradually calmed down.

Standing quietly in the night, he looked at the ancient city of Xunyang in the distance, where the heroic Zhou Gongjin took the stage to worship the generals, and the world was divided into three points in a battle. When will the Chinese navy be able to ride the wind and waves and sail thousands of miles?

Sa Zhenbing was so engrossed that he didn't see that in the ancient city of Xunyang opposite, there was a fire flashing and flashing, as if he was talking to something. However, Zhu Shenggang, the captain of the Chu You ship, and Tang Qianming, the staff officer, who had been standing beside him, saw it clearly, as a navy, they were always a little sensitive to the lights and flags.

"Commander, what do you think it is?" Tang Qianming pointed to the firelight in the distance and said.

Sa Zhenbing stared at the past, and also felt a little strange, before the three of them could react, suddenly Xunyang City in the distance lit up with a fire, followed by a shout, the three of them were taken aback, not knowing what happened on the shore.

The fire was quickly divided into several strands, scattered, Tang Qianming saw clearly, there were two strands that rushed to the two offices of the provincial government, he was surprised and happy in his heart, and was surprised that this revolutionary was really bold, even despite the powerful naval artillery, he dared to rebel, and the joy was that after the first uprising in Wuchang, sure enough, there was chaos in various places, and it seemed that the life of the Qing court was over. As a navy, he is an important weight on the scales. If it works well, it is the time for you to show your own future.

"It seems that there are revolutionaries who are in rebellion!" Zhu Shenggang said in a deep voice.

Sa Zhenbing was still expressionless, and calmly ordered: "Order all ships, raise fire, and leave the port immediately!" ”

Zhu Shenggang nodded, loudly conveyed the order to the soldiers on duty, and soon, the sharp siren completely shattered the silence of the night, and all ships woke up from the silence, and they were busy and noisy for a while.

But the situation on the shore is not known, and since it cannot be known, there is no goal. Sa Zhenbing watched Xunyang City burn out everywhere, burning more and more, but he was helpless. The only way to do this was to order the ships to sail out of the harbor in turn, line up on the Yangtze River, and wait for dawn before making plans.

"Commander, should we send someone to the shore to have a look?" Tang Qianming asked.

Sa Zhenbing shook his head, he knew in his heart that there were also many revolutionary parties in the navy, and if they were really put on the shore, only God would know who they would help.

"Send my order to all ships: After receiving the order, all ships shall immediately impose martial law, take back the small boats tied to the side of the ship, and the personnel on the ships shall not come and go at will, and the gangway shall not be lowered at will. Defend tightly, and attack suspicious ships immediately. ”

Tang Qianming wanted to speak and stopped, and finally immediately conveyed Sa Zhenbing's order. The lights on Chu You's ship flickered, and after a while, the order was transmitted to the ships.

The ships quickly left Jiujiang Port in order, but did not go far, lined up on the Yangtze River, and quietly waited for the dawn.

The fire on the bank of Xunyang rose violently and disappeared very quickly. Not even many gunshots were heard from the shore. In the middle of the night, the light of the fire gradually decreased, and at last the shore was dark again, and the silence of the night was restored, as if nothing had happened. The fire and the shout just now were just a momentary illusion or a dream.

It was dark and bright, as usual. However, all the officers and men on the Yangtze River Fleet felt that the night was so long and difficult. In everyone's heart, they are thinking about what kind of scene will be in the ancient city of Xunyang after dawn.

After dawn, there was still silence on the shore, except for a few places of smoke that drifted away with the wind. Seeing the smoke, everyone felt that the firelight and gunfire of last night were indeed real.

On Chu You's ship, Sa Zhenbing held a clairvoyant mirror and looked carefully at the ancient city of Xunyang on the shore in the distance. There was something strange in his heart. Because this night, the navy was so clean. The two provincial government offices did not let anyone come to ask for help, and the revolutionaries did not come to make trouble. On the shore, who wins and who loses?

The answer soon became known. Because in Jiujiang City, what is fluttering in the wind is no longer the banner of the Qing Dynasty, but a colorful flag.

Sa Zhenbing didn't know that it was the five-color flag of the Restoration Society, but he knew that the revolutionaries had occupied Jiujiang City, and there was no doubt about that. Suddenly, he suddenly remembered something, and looked through the clairvoyant mirror. My heart suddenly cooled, and sure enough, on the Hukou Fort, what was fluttering was also the five-color flag.

If there are people who know the soldiers among the revolutionaries, they will definitely seize the two forts of Madang and Jinjipo, and if these three forts are occupied by the revolutionaries, then there will be the Jinjipo fort in front and the Hukou fort in the rear, and the Yangtze River fleet will want to retreat in its entirety. But it's hard.

Sa Zhenbing's mind turned, strode towards the command cabin, and as he walked, he immediately ordered the fleet to move westward, to sail out of this river first. But at this moment, a few muffled sounds of only a few roars came from afar, followed by a few shells falling on the river, setting off several flying waves at a height of a few feet!

There are bullet points in the front and back of the fleet!

Sure enough, several forts have already fallen into the hands of the revolutionaries!

It seems that there is already a bloody battle in front of us! Sa Zhenbing squinted his eyes, looked at the churning waves, and calmly gave an order: all ships raised their fires, fired live, and prepared for battle. Target: Jinjipo Fort. He wants to lead the fleet, highlight the mouth of the Jiujiang River, and rush to Wuchang!

The fleet lined up in formation, and the Hairong ships went out and approached Jinji Slope.

The strange thing is that after those few cannon shots, the batteries everywhere did not fire again.

Suddenly, Tang Qianming rushed into the command cabin, pointed to the river to the west, and gasped heavily, but he couldn't speak for a while.

Sa Zhenbing looked in the direction indicated by Tang Qianming, and saw that in the distance to the west, it was vague, with a few thick iron chains, staggered up and down, several zhang apart, across the river.

This revolutionary, so fast! I don't know how they did it overnight.

Sa Zhenbing was suspicious in his heart, and the expression on his face remained unchanged, this iron rope across the river, if it was before, it was indeed difficult, but in front of today's ironclad warships, it is just a mantis arm! He picked up the clairvoyant mirror and looked closely, and suddenly found a long banner hanging between the chains, on which something was vaguely written.

Sa Zhenbing adjusted the clairvoyant mirror, but he still couldn't see clearly, he went straight to the bow of the boat to the west, adjusted the clairvoyant mirror to the farthest, only to see that on the banner, there were a few words written on the bucket, looking from right to left, it was a couplet:

"On this day, the world is full of tears, and there is a strong navy!"

Sa Zhenbing was shocked! This is a couplet, which was written by Emperor Guangxu himself to commemorate Deng Shichang, the leader of the Zhiyuan ship who was martyred in the First Sino-Japanese Naval War!

Sa Zhenbing put down the clairvoyant mirror, his heart was a little bitter, and tears flashed in his eyes. The war of the first year flashed in front of us again.

There was a sudden burst of singing on the shore, which drifted to Sa Zhenbing's ears with the wind, but it was a southern Fujian fishing song often sung by their classmates in the Mawei Ship Master School back then!

The singing is long, as if it was yesterday.

It's just an old tour, and it's gone.

Hearing the singing, Sa Zhenbing couldn't stay in the command cabin any longer, he strode out of the hatch and looked to the west, at this moment the sun was rising and the river was sparkling. In the distance, a small boat suddenly swung out, with a dragon flag planted on the boat, broken and defaced, and a man in the prime of life, standing at the head of the boat, facing the river breeze and morning light, drove quickly towards Sa Zhenbing.

From afar, the man said loudly: "Old man of Liu Gongdao, come for a while!" Sagong, do you remember my Mare? ”