The handover of the two gunboats took a total of three days.

When the Aspen fleet came from England to the east, it was not fully staffed, and there were only about 40 British sailors on the Jintai, while there were more than 30 on the ironship Baiyue. Most of these British sailors were former officers and men of the British Royal Navy, and they held a special letter of exemption issued by the Admiralty to serve in the Chinese Navy. For Britain, such generosity is actually a secret attempt to control the future Chinese navy.

The captain of the Jintai is called Edward, and coincidentally, the captain of the Baiyue is actually called Edward, both of whom are naval lieutenants, but they are not brothers and are not related by blood. In order to distinguish them, according to the age of the two, the Edward on the Jintai was called the Great Edward, and the Edward on the Baiyue was called the Little Edward.

Guan Zhuofan sent Ding Ruchang, as a third-grade general, as the chief manager of the Xuanjun Naval Division. More than 100 people who had interned on US warships with Ding Ruchang were assigned to two ships to study as sailors, gunners, and engineers. In addition, two commanders were drawn from the regiment, each with 30 foot warriors, carrying guns, and boarding the ship as escorts, in the name of preventing the long-haired from robbing the ship in case of contact in the future.

This is considered a "marine", right? Guan Zhuofan doesn't know much about these things, and no one can ask about them, so he can only think about them like this.

After the handover procedures and paperwork were completed, Li Taitai took the remaining six ships and set sail towards the Dagu mouth in Tianjin. Guan Zhuofan not only specially prepared two heavy "Cheng Yi" to distribute Li Taitai and Asben, but also went to the dock to see them off. The fleet departed. Wave goodbye. Wait until the sedan car returns to the yamen. sent someone to call Ding Ruchang over.

"Ding Ruchang."

"In!" Ding Ruchang stood straight in front of Guan Zhuofan like a javelin. In the past few days, he has been like a child who has suddenly obtained the toy of his dreams, and he is full of energy.

"Do you remember that in October last year, when we got on the boat in Wuchang, when the ship arrived in Jiangning, what did I ask you?"

"Mark it and remember!" Ding Ruchang made a little reminiscence. replied clearly: "The boss asked me, if the British and French warships entered the inland river and fought against Peng Yulin Peng's Hunan army sailors, what would be the outcome or defeat." ”

"Well, how did you answer?"

"The mark says that as long as there are two gunboats, it will be enough to sweep from Shanghai to Wuchang."

"Hmm......" Guan Zhuofan stopped talking, and tapped his hand lightly on the case.

Ding Ruchang said. Maybe the marshal is going to send me to sweep the sailors of the Hunan army? Naturally, it is still focused on the long-haired sailors. So he thought about it for a while, and said boldly: "Boss." These two ships are the most suitable for inland river operations, and if you want to sweep away the long-haired naval army near Jiangning, you must be able to do it! ”

"Oh? How so? ”

"This is what the Admiral of the American Navy, Singleton, told me. The Jintai and Baiyue, which used both sails and steam paddlewheels, had wide hulls and shallow drafts. If it is a naval battle, when the wind and waves are strong, the boat will swing on both sides, and there will always be a paddle wheel on one side, and the paddle blades will hang in the air and become idling, and it will not be easy to control. On the contrary, in the inland lakes, the wind and waves are calm, and you can move forward, especially the main gun in the bow of the ship, which is extremely powerful, and any ship in the long-haired naval army can be smashed with just one shot. ”

So it was, Guan Zhuofan remembered the "big, thick and long" 110-pound naval gun on the Jintai again.

"But there are many long-haired boats, and it is said that when the gongs and drums sound, they swarm like ants, and if you use the broadside battle to grab the ship, what should you do?"

"I can't connect to the broadside, and there is too much difference in height." Ding Ruchang gestured with his two hands, one high and one low, and explained for Guan Zhuofan, "And where is he allowed to get close?" The distant cannon was sunk, and it was really close, and our bow was equipped with a large angle of attack, and there was a paddle wheel as a power, so it was easy to smash the long-haired boat. ”

"But......" Guan Zhuofan tried his best to think about it, trying to give him a problem, "Long hair also has cannons, if dozens of boats surround us and punch the master to death, so what?" ”

"Boss, the long-haired sailor, the mark is very familiar, the cannon type is messy, the power of the cannon is small, and the accuracy is also extremely poor." Ding Ruchang was not stumped at all, and the answer was like a stream, "Under the waterline of the Jintai, it is covered with copper skin, and the Baiyue is an iron-hulled ship, even if it is hit, it will only be an itch, and it will not be hindered at all." ”

In other words, China's own gunboats, whether they were the sailors of the Taiping Army or the Hunan Army, could not pose a real threat to foreign ships. Guan Zhuofan is happy and worried, happy is now, worried about the future.

"Our Xuan military sailors, we can't just have these two ships, you pick a few steamboats, as well as supply ships or something, and put them together, this is like a fleet." After Guan Zhuofan finished explaining, he looked at Ding Ruchang and asked the most important sentence: "Ruchang, let me ask you, how long will your people learn when they get on the boat before they can replace those foreign soldiers?" ”

"Boss, I've been thinking about this for a long time." Ding Ruchang couldn't help but lower his voice and replied, "If you say that your own people can control the boat freely, how can it take a year." If it is said that the ship has a problem and can be repaired, it will take at least three years, which is not a major problem. ”

Guan Zhuofan was silent, this time was much longer than he expected, it seemed that the foreign soldiers and technicians on the ship had to be used, so he had to make a comprehensive plan.

*

*

In accordance with Guan Zhuofan's instructions, Ding Ruchang selected four steamboats that were originally used to fight on inland rivers, plus a large barge, and put them together with the two ships of Jintai and Baiyue, and turned them into a decent "fleet."

Although it is still just a prototype, the sailors of the Xuan Army have become an army after all! Guan Zhuofan worked hard and used the strategy of "creating something out of nothing", which lasted more than half a year, and finally bit off this piece of meat from the Aspen fleet. He thought to himself, these are the two most powerful warships in China at present, and they are also the only two warships with offshore combat capabilities, which can be regarded as the beginning of China's modern navy, right? Counting the year, it is about 20 years earlier than the day when the Chinese Navy was formed in history.

With this article alone, it will also have its own place in the history of future generations.

As a result, on Qingya Street, where Guan Zhuofan's "headquarters" is located, there is another sailor's yamen, which is located in a small three-span courtyard between the shipping bureau and the telegraph school. The chief officer of the Yamen is Ding Ruchang, who is also the head of the Sailor Regiment, and because of the fact that at the beginning of the establishment of the Sailor, it took a lot of effort and it was difficult to really take into account both sides, so the position of the regimental officer of the Pioneer Regiment needed to be handled by another competent person.

Forrestal's foreign spear regiment, Ixan's Kezi regiment, and Ding Ruchang's Xianzi regiment have always been the three main forces of the Xuan Army, and with this consideration, the selection of the acting regimental officer must be extremely cautious, because it is obvious that Ding Ruchang will definitely specialize in supervising the sailors in the future, and this acting regimental officer will become a real one sooner or later.

For this position, Túrin was a little eager to try, but Guan Zhuofan did not agree to his request.

Although Túrin is his own house slave, loyal, and very alert and capable, he needs such a person by his side, and secondly, what is it...... Guan Zhuofan sighed in his heart, Tulin was a flag man after all.

Among the current Xuan army, only Daniel Zhang's horse team has slightly more flag people, because that is the old foundation of the original Chengnan horse team and Xiying horse team. The other infantry battalions are almost all Han Chinese, and among the commanders, there is only one Ixan with the rank of deputy general, who also fought hard in blood and fire with a knife and a gun. According to Guan Zhuofan's plan, having Ixan as a "banner" is enough.

So they were selected and chosen, and in the end, in accordance with the military regulations of the wartime, they promoted the battalion official Jicheng, a 27-year-old Jiangxi native, to be the acting officer of the Xianzi Regiment. He is the foundation of Tongsheng, brave and strategic in battle, and has prestige in the regiment, and even learns foreign dialect better than others.

And if the sailor fleet wants to control Ruyi, it is not so simple, and those two "Edwards" must be bought well.

*(To be continued......)