The captains of the three gunboats were gathered in the captain's quarters of the God, and in the distance the Portuguese Empress was sinking in thick black smoke. Pen ~ fun ~ pavilion www.biquge.info

"I'll give you a briefing on the situation." Zeng Guangxian hung his arms and said, "The Pearl Harbor operation ended successfully, we sank 2 enemy ships, captured 102 prisoners of war, captured 21 cannons, and captured all gold and silver, and the specific number will be counted after returning home." Our side lost 2 artillery pieces, 5 seriously wounded, 2 people killed. The remains of the two martyrs we will bring back to Yulin Bay. ”

None of the people in the room spoke, and for the first time, someone sacrificed to make all the traversers feel an inexplicable sadness.

"Now, I command." Zeng Guangxian put on a serious face, "All the gunboats were reorganized into a line-up formation, the distance between the ships was kept within half a nautical mile, the sails were full at full speed, the course was northwest, and the communication signal remained unchanged. Ladies and gentlemen, let's go home. ”

"I'm home." The people around cheered, and it has been more than half a month, and this is the first time that the Yulin Bay Navy has collectively experienced the test of fire and blood. For these inexplicably returning to 400 years ago, returning home seems to have a special meaning.

"Lin Zhaolong." Zeng Guangxian ordered again, "Bring the two captains who have been captured." ”

After a while, several marines escorted two Westerners into the captain's room, and Shinyuzaemon followed behind, and the small captain's room suddenly seemed a little crowded.

Zeng Guangxian gave a military salute with his left hand, and temporarily made himself an official: "I am Zeng Guangxian, commander of the Hainan Wei Navy of the Ming Empire." ”

One of the two Westerners was a tall man who bowed: "Honorable commander, I am Mattheis, captain of the San Marino in the Kingdom of the Netherlands. First of all, I would like to thank Your Excellency the Commander for the rescue and treatment of our crew, but I would also like to say that your continued shelling of our ships in defiance of the white flag that we have hoisted is a serious violation of the regulations of naval warfare. On behalf of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, I would like to lodge a grave protest against this. ”

Zeng Guangxian ignored his protests, and instead asked another Westerner who was a little shorter, "Your name, position." ”

"Your Excellency." Shinyuzaemon did not translate Zeng Guangxian's words, but said, "This man doesn't know Dutch. ”

“Shit.” Zeng Guangxian scratched his head and blurted out the mantra.

"I protest that you have no right to insult a captain of the Portuguese Empire, and I demand that he be treated as he deserves." Unexpectedly, Zeng Guangxian's English had just been exported, and the Portuguese captain on the opposite side protested loudly in English.

"Can you understand English? How's that said? Zeng Guangxian was a little surprised, a Portuguese can also speak English.

"Yes, my grandmother was English."

"Hehe, that's good." Zeng Guangxian was secretly happy to find a means of communication, "I apologize to you for what I just said, I didn't mean to insult you, it's just a mantra." Please ask your name and job title. ”

"I am Captain Maniche of the HMS Empress of the Royal Portuguese Navy. On behalf of the Portuguese Empire, I would like to lodge a grave protest to the Ming Empire, that you have attacked our ships for no reason and plundered the property of the Portuguese Empire, and you are bandits. ”

"Again?" Zeng Guangxian smiled secretly in his heart, "Do you really think that you are a few representatives, I also bought a watch last year." ”

Before Zeng Guangxian could speak, Wang Zhaoxing preemptively said, "Robber? Are you not robbers? If you don't stay in Portugal honestly, go to America to massacre the Indians, go to the South Seas to plunder resources, and forcibly occupy Macau of our Ming Empire for no reason, who are the robbers? ”

Wang Zhaoxing's stumbling English shrouded Maniche in a fog. Zeng Guangxian laughed: "Captain Maniche, let me explain to you what our Captain Wang said just now." This is the territory of my Ming Empire, you came here to occupy my land, abuse my people, our actions against you are not robbers, but self-defense, actions to defend the country, and actions of justice. ”

"Manila belongs to the Kingdom of Spain, not the territory of the Ming Empire." Maniche argued, blushing.

"Just kidding, I said yes. Not only Annam, Siam, but also the Kingdom of Sulu and Java, which is not a vassal, worship every year, and pay tribute every year. I, the Ming Empire, naturally have an obligation to maintain the security of these subject states. In addition, you violated the regulations of naval warfare and used deceptive means to carry out a sneak attack on our side, causing casualties on our side, and I have not yet settled this account for you. Zeng Guangxian didn't want to dwell on this issue anymore, and the conversation changed, "We don't have to discuss this issue." Two captains, I now inform you of your rights on behalf of the Ming Empire. You, including your crew, are now prisoners of war of my Ming Empire, your personal safety will be guaranteed, and you have the right to keep your personal belongings. But other than that, you don't have any rights. For other questions, when we return to Qiongzhou Mansion, someone will naturally come to contact you. However, I would like to remind both of you that any excesses will be considered an act of rebellion at sea. How to punish the rebels at sea, I don't think I need to explain it to the two of you. ”

Zeng Guangxian didn't say anything to the two captains, but beckoned to the landing soldiers: "Take it down." ”

The three gunboats traveled day and night, and once again neatly moored at the Yulin Bay pier. All the members of the two committees at home and the people who had nothing to do came to the dock, and Sun Dalei made a heartfelt welcome ceremony, and the whole dock beat gongs and drums, and the sound shook the sky.

The three gunboats stopped quietly, but none of them got off the boat, and everyone on the shore felt a little strange. Suddenly, a loud order from Wang Zhaoxing came from the God: "All of them are here, and they are walking!" ”

Two rows of naval soldiers, armed with flintlock muskets, walked up to the deck. Wang Zhaoxing was dressed in a clean captain's uniform, holding a command knife and walking at the front of the team: "All of them are there, stand up!" Turn left and right! Raise your gun, put it! ”

With the command, the soldiers of the 2nd platoon neatly raised the flintlock pistols in their hands, and the muzzle of the gun rushed up, and after a burst of fire and smoke, the sound of "ping-pong" gunshots came.

"All of them, the gun on the shoulder, the gun on the shoulder, the gun on the shoulder, loaded. Gun on the shoulder, raise the gun, put! ”

"All of them, the gun on the shoulder, the gun on the shoulder, the gun on the shoulder, loaded. Gun on the shoulder, raise the gun, put! ”

The sight on the ship stunned all the people on the shore, and the drumming stopped unconsciously. Sun Dalei turned his head and asked Zhang Guodong: "What are they doing?" ”

"Don't talk, watch." Zhang Guodong vaguely felt that something might happen.

After three rows of gunfire, the smoke cleared. Zeng Guangxian walked to the deck with all the officers on his arms and two pairs of improvised stretchers. Each stretcher is covered with a large flag with the word "Ming".

Wang Zhaoxing commanded a wave of the knife: "All of them, salute!" ”

The ensuing sight surprised everyone on shore. With Wang Zhaoxing's order, led by Wang Zhaoxing himself, the soldiers in the 2nd row knelt on one knee in unison. Zhang Guodong's heart was slammed into it: "Could it be that a traverser died in battle?" ”

Zeng Guangxian stepped off the God, handed the stretcher to the people behind him, and ran quickly to Zhang Guodong and Sun Dalei: "Report to the committee and the military committee, the Pearl Harbor operation has been successfully completed, and Zeng Guangxian, the commander-in-chief of the task force, has come to return to his life." ”

Zhang Guodong didn't bother to ask anything else, but pointed to the two stretchers: "Who is that?" ”

"Report to Chairman Zhang." Zeng Guangxian's voice could be heard throughout the dock, "The gunner of the battleship God of the Navy in Yulin Bay, Navy Corporal Liu Zimin, and Navy First Class Private Li Guoliang fought bravely and died for their country. Here are their remains. ”

Zhang Guodong secretly wiped his sweat: "You TM scared me to death." ”

"You're doing a great job." Zhang Guodong's voice is no smaller than Zeng Guangxian, "For these martyrs who sacrificed heroically, they have the right to enjoy the treatment they deserve more than anyone else." I Yulin Bay will never forget any of the martyrs who sacrificed their lives for the country, their courage will inspire each of us to move forward bravely, and their deeds will never be forgotten! ”

"Come!" Zhang Guodong and Sun Dalei greeted the committee members behind them, "We carry the coffins of the martyrs." ”

In the conference room of Yulin Bay, all the committee members and the leaders of each group held another enlarged meeting.

"Everyone, everyone." Sun Dalei, who presided over the meeting, said with unconcealed excitement, "The results of the Pearl Harbor operation have been counted, a total of 2 enemy ships were sunk in this battle, 102 Western prisoners of war were captured, and 。。。。。。 ”

"Chairman Sun, don't talk about this, how much gold and silver have been seized, this is what we are most concerned about." Fan Qiuming's words drew a burst of laughter.

"What are you laughing at, you don't know how expensive firewood and rice are. I, the director of the industrial bureau, am about to go and ask for food. The laughter of the crowd was even louder.

"Don't laugh, don't laugh." Sun Dalei stopped everyone's laughter, "After counting, we have seized a total of 2.3 tons of gold and 6 tons of silver, equivalent to 773,000 taels of silver. ”

With a "boom", the conference room suddenly became chaotic.

"More than 700,000 people, how much can everyone share?"

"It's okay now, no longer have to cry and shout and beg grandpa to sue grandma for money."

"But he's rich, I don't have to hide from those creditors anymore, damn, I don't even dare to go home after chasing debts."

"Be quiet, be quiet." Sun Dalei and the others quieted down a little and continued, "As for how to use this money, everyone will think carefully when they go back, and come up with a proposal, and then determine the specific use of the crossing conference after the Spring Festival next year." But I'll do some privileges first, and my opinion is to use it as a reserve, to make a bank, to issue banknotes. ”

"Okay, let's not talk about this issue for now." After Sun Dalei finished speaking, he stopped the committee members who were about to speak, "The Chinese New Year is coming soon, and there are a few things that are imminent, so let's discuss them first." ”

As a result of the discussions, several resolutions were made at the enlarged meeting. Because the God was damaged during the Pearl Harbor operation and needed to be repaired, it was decided to send the Yazhou to Qiongzhou to bring all the traversers from the Qiongzhou office back for the Spring Festival and participate in next year's traversal conference. Some of the arrears of more than 100,000 taels of silver to be paid at the end of this year are nearly a year in arrears, and this time they are all paid off, and there is no bad penny. All the 102 Western prisoners of war who were captured, like the last prisoner of war on the Saint-Louis, were temporarily sent to the Tiandu Mine for screening at a later date.

Shen Daxing, Zhang Xin, and Ye Sunquan stood in front of the captured Western cannons. A total of 45 large and small Western guns were captured in the two battles, and after the evaluation of the ordnance group and the military committee, there was basically no direct use, because neither the quality nor the firing range were comparable to the 30 naval guns in Yulin Bay. But these cannons have one feature in common, they are all bronze cannons. In the end, the military committee decided to return to the furnace and strive to use these materials to make an army three-pounder gun.

Shen Daxing is almost hiding from Han Wantao now. Since the last time he blew out the cowhide of the army's three-pounder gun, Han Wantao came to the ordnance group every once in a while. Due to financial and technical problems, Xia Yang's Industrial Bureau has not been able to come up with a water conservancy forging press, and when Fan Qiuming re-takes over the Industrial Bureau, the issue is shelved. Shen Daxing's daily scolding of Fan Qiuming is a bureaucratic style. But scolding and scolding, there is still no cannon. Shen Daxing had experimented with the three-pounder cannon with iron, but it was not practical at all. Now with these bronze cannons, the matter of three-pounder cannons is back on the agenda.

"Although the three-pounder gun of the Washington era is light, the caliber is somewhat large, 74 mm caliber, and the firing range is only more than 360 meters, which is still a bit close for the army." Zhang Xin estimated how many raw materials these bronze cannons could produce when they were returned to the furnace, and on the other hand, he talked to Shen Daxing. Ye Sunquan introduced the three-pounder cannon of the Washington era.

Ye Sunquan didn't dare to say a word, it had been more than half a year, and it was not easy to figure out that Napoleon was not eaten or drunk, but a person's name, and this suddenly came out of Washington. God knows what weirder names these old men will have.

"Can we improve?"

"It should be possible, let's try it first." Zhang Xin glanced at Shen Daxing, "Don't forget, our homeland is 200 years more advanced than Washington. ”