After nightfall, the Mastion Harbor.

Although the bay is now home to the home fleet of the Home Fleet, just over two years ago it was just a natural deep-water bay for fishing boats.

Whenever a typhoon arrives, nearby fishing boats take shelter here. As far as you can see, the bay is full of masts.

This is where the name "mast" comes from.

After more than two years of construction, the infrastructure in the port has begun to take shape, but traces of fishing ports and fishing villages can still be seen everywhere.

Not to mention anything else, most of the people involved in the infrastructure construction are local villagers, and many are fishermen who have gone ashore.

When the "Beihe" entered the port, the open deck in the middle of the battleship was less than half a meter above the sea, and the stern of the ship was all sunk below the surface.

It is conservatively estimated that the water intake is about 10,000 tons!

The situation of the "Nanjiang" was even worse, the bow of the ship was blown away, the hull was completely submerged in the sea, and only the superstructure was exposed.

After approaching the berth, the "Nanjiang" immediately sat at the bottom and sank.

On the way back, the officers and men of the two battleships had been actively saving themselves, and the accompanying cruisers had provided strong support, otherwise they would not have returned to their home port.

Because there were too many large-sized holes in the hull to be plugged by ordinary methods, the only way to pump water was to drain the seawater that poured into the hull.

For this reason, after returning to Mastitsu Port, the hull of the ship had to be repaired first.

Because the damage to the "North River" was relatively light, the "North River" was repaired first. In fact, it is to try to plug the loopholes in the hull, drain part of the seawater, and carry out a simple overhaul of the power system to ensure that it can go to the naval shipyard in Puzhou on its own.

Even according to the most optimistic estimates, the battleship will stay in the dock for more than half a year.

The situation of the "Nanjiang" is even worse, and it may have to be repaired for a year at the Assassin Navy Shipyard.

One way or another, both battlecruisers have returned to their home ports.

After the two warships were properly placed, the "Luhe" and "Yuejiang" entered the Mast Harbor and were led by barges to the deep-water wharf.

Bai Zhizhan had already packed his personal belongings, and when the "Luhe" docked, he immediately got off the boat.

He didn't go to say goodbye to Gui Boyong and the others.

It's not that he doesn't talk about feelings, but he doesn't know how to say goodbye.

He was the only one who received the order, and the other officers and men of the detachment headquarters had to stay on the "Lu River" to face the coming storm. Bai Zhizhan felt that he was running away now, which was tantamount to escaping, and in the eyes of others, he was a deserter!

Although Bai Zhizhan never cared about what others thought of him, he didn't want to explain it for himself, not to mention that there was no way to explain it at all.

Could it be that Gui Boyong was told that the empire was about to be defeated?

Or did He Yongxing value a young staff officer in his early twenties more than an old subordinate who had been following him for many years?

The more you explain these, the more unclear they become.

"Second Lieutenant Bai, you forgot something!"

As soon as Bai Zhizhan walked onto the dock, he was stopped.

That's right, it's Gui Boyong.

Now that he was seen, Bai Zhizhan did not avoid it.

"Commander He asked for my opinion, and I think you are the most suitable." Gui Boyong walked over and handed Bai Zhizhan a badge of the "Luhe". "There's nothing to give you, bring this with you, just keep it as a souvenir, I don't know when the next meeting will be."

"Colonel Katsura......"

Bai Zhizhan didn't know what to say, and listening to what Gui Boyong said, he had read the telegram and knew the news that the Manman Empire was about to be defeated.

"Good job." When Bai Zhizhan took the ship seal, Gui Boyong patted him on the shoulder a few more times. "Surely, when we go out with the fleet again, I'll have to take your command. Hopefully, by that time, we will be able to achieve even more brilliant victories! ”

After hugging Bai Zhizhan, Gui Boyong turned around and walked towards the gangway.

Looking at the back of Gui Boyong leaving, Bai Zhizhan couldn't help but sigh secretly.

Perhaps, Gui Boyong can't become a general like He Yongxing who commands thousands of troops and horses, and can win all battles, but he must be an excellent staff officer.

In the distance, a whistle was heard.

Driven by the barge, the "Yuejiang" is slowly approaching.

Outside the docks, a convoy is heading this way.

Wait a minute, and the dock will be crowded.

Bai Zhizhan did not delay any longer, turned around and walked towards the outside of the dock.

At this time, it was located on the outskirts of the imperial capital as the residence of the commander of the navy.

When the secretary came in to report that all the capital ships of the home fleet had returned to their home port, Zhou Kuande had already put on his coat and was sorting out the documents that needed to be brought.

Because in the afternoon, the home fleet sent a message that the relevant work had been arranged, so Zhou Kuande did not give any additional instructions, but just asked the secretary to call back to inform He Yongxing that after making arrangements, he would return to the naval headquarters to report on his work and formally accept the promotion and appointment.

As for the outcome of the Battle of the Watcher Strait, Zhou Kuande didn't care too much.

If this naval battle had taken place a year earlier, even if the losses suffered were even greater, Zhou Kuande would have been overjoyed and regarded it as a decisive victory.

But now, there is no need for this at all.

In the morning, Zhou Kuande received news that the intelligence agencies had confirmed that Wilder II had signed the edict of surrender and that the Empire had been defeated.

Unsurprisingly, within a month, the Rangman army would surrender to the Confederate group.

What can you do in a month?

Not to mention that the Imperial Navy and the Imperial Army are already scarred, from the commander to the privates, they are all exhausted, and they no longer have the ambition to start the war, even if they have all of them, and the rebirth of a "god of war" like Chen Bingxun cannot rewrite the doomed ending.

Now it is necessary to consider how to minimize the impact of the defeat of the Empire!

Because of the lesson of last year, that is, the defeat of the There Empire, the imperial authorities blocked the news, and after the news spread, the situation completely got out of control, causing a large riot that spread throughout the country, so the cabinet ministers all believed that they should take the initiative to release the news and use active means to guide public opinion.

Of course, it was not only public opinion that was affected by the defeat of the Empire.

At the afternoon meeting, Shousuke proposed for the first time that the possibility and feasibility of an armistice should be seriously considered, and relevant preparations should be made.

Perhaps because he didn't want to put too much pressure on other ministers, the first assistant used "truce" instead of a more straightforward "surrender".

However, the words used to describe it do not change the facts.

Whether it was an armistice or a surrender, it meant that for the first time in more than 70 years, since the Battle of Nanjiangkou, the empire ended a war without victory. If it is defeated and surrendered, and a treaty is signed, it will become the first surrender treaty in the history of the empire that humiliates the country!

Those who sign the treaty will definitely be nailed to the pillar of shame and become sinners who will be remembered for thousands of years.

Who wants to be permanently nailed to the pillar of shame in history?

Who wants to be a sinner of the country and the nation?

Who would dare to surrender lightly?

Thinking of this, Zhou Kuande hated that he was born twenty years earlier. If you are 20 years younger, even if you can't change your national honor, you can still die on the battlefield.

For a veteran who has dedicated his life to the Imperial Navy, he would rather die than suffer the humiliation of surrender!