On the morning of February 3, 3011 in the Tang calendar, the former dreadnought battleship Lu Jiang of the Royal Navy of the Liuyun Empire, a fleet composed of two armored cruisers, two light cruisers and four destroyers came to the waters near Xingang City.

Inside the bridge of the Lujiang, Liu Huaizhong, the naval minister of the Liuyun Empire, asked Tang Guoyi, the senior counselor of the Admiralty, "Brother Tang, what do you think of Su Yi?" ”

Tang Guoyi rolled his eyes and said: "Marquis Liu, I went to Xingang City last time, but I didn't even eat a meal, and I was driven away by Su Yi, my understanding of Su Yi may not be as good as that of Marquis Liu!" If you want me to say, Marquis Liu should bring your precious granddaughter this time, I heard that Su Yi admires Mu Qing's little girl very much, hehe. ”

Tang Guoyi has always looked down on Liu Huaizhong, Tang Guoyi thinks that Liu Huaizhong has neither too strong ability, nor has he made much military achievements for the Liuyun Empire, so letting Liu Huaizhong be the naval minister of the Liuyun Empire is simply a corpse vegetarian meal.

Moreover, during the years that Liu Huaizhong was the Minister of the Navy, the military spending of the Royal Navy of the Liuyun Empire has been decreasing, which made Tang Guoyi even more dissatisfied with Liu Huaizhong, and often ridiculed Liu Huaizhong in person, but Liu Huaizhong never turned his face with Tang Guoyi for this.

Liu Huaizhong smiled bitterly and said, "Brother Tang, the old man is not in the mood to joke with you at this time. ”

Tang Guoyi pursed his lips and said, "Marquis Liu, I'm not joking with you, if Su Yi can really become your grandson-in-law, then it is not impossible for your honorary marquis to become a hereditary marquis!" ”

Liu Huaizhong waved his hand and said: "The old man can't control that crazy girl Mu Qing, I hope Su Yi can agree to our request this time, the navy of our four eastern countries is too weak, if Su Yi's two super dreadnought battleships join, at least the navies of the Shalad Empire, the Jisk Empire and the Orenza Empire can have a little scruples." ”

Tang Guoyi said in a deep voice: "I didn't expect that the Shalad Empire and the Jisk Empire had already secretly signed a secret agreement with the Orenza Empire for an offensive and defensive alliance, and our Liuyun Empire was pulled into a big pit, this time His Majesty gave Su Yi a very generous condition, presumably Su Yi should not refuse, and even if Su Yi is unwilling to join this war, the navies of the Sharad Empire, the Gisk Empire and the Orenza Empire may not let go of the fleet under Su Yi!" ”

When Tang Guoyi said this, he suddenly paused, and then continued: "In fact, the fleet under Su Yi will almost definitely be involved in this war, is it necessary for Your Majesty to offer such generous conditions?" ”

Liu Huaizhong sighed and said: "Your Majesty, this is afraid that Su Yi will escape directly with the fleet, Su Yi's relationship with his father is not good, which makes Su Yi have one less concern, if Su Yi wants to leave our Liuyun Empire, we can't stop it at all." ”

At this time, the captain of the Lujiang reported to the Minister of the Navy Liu Huaizhong and the senior staff of the Admiralty Tang Guoyi: "Marquis Liu, Earl Tang, a light cruiser and two destroyers have been found in front, waving the flag of our Liuyun Empire, which should be a warship under Su Yi's command. ”

Liu Huaizhong nodded slightly and said, "To indicate our identity, we have already contacted Su Yi before, and let these three warships guide us into the port of Xingang City." ”

The fleet of the Royal Navy of the Liuyun Empire, guided by a light cruiser and two destroyers of the Newport Fleet, sailed into the port of Newport City at half past nine in the morning, and at this time Su Yi had already waited at the dock of the port with a group of officers for a long time.

Navy Minister Liu Huaizhong walked down from the Lujiang and looked at the two super dreadnought battleships, two former dreadnought battleships and two large armored cruisers docked in the port, and couldn't help but say to Tang Guoyi with emotion: "I didn't expect that the old man would be able to see our Liuyun Empire's own super dreadnought battleships in his lifetime!" ”

Tang Guoyi tugged at the corners of his mouth and said, "It's a pity that these two super dreadnought battleships are not in your hands!" ”

The two Ise-class battleships, two Iron Duke-class battleships, four Edward VII-class battleships, and four Minotaur-class armored cruisers that had just entered service in the Newport Fleet did not stop at the port of Newport City at this time, and according to Su Yi's order, these twelve warships were temporarily hidden near an island about thirty nautical miles south of the port of Newport City.

Temporarily hiding these 12 warships was suggested by Wang Chengliang, commander of the Xingang Fleet, and this was tantamount to hiding a killer feature for the Xingang Fleet.

Navy Minister Liu Huaizhong walked to the dock, saw Su Yi at the front of the crowd, and said with a smile on his face: "You must be Su Yi!" Mu Qing, that girl, mentioned you in front of the old man, and she is really a talent! ”

Tang Guoyi, who was following Liu Huaizhong, pouted disdainfully, and lifted Mu Qing's little girl out as soon as they met, the old guy's face was thick enough.

Su Yi was stunned for a moment, and couldn't help but ask Liu Huaizhong, "May I ask who you are?" ”

"Hehe, the old man is Liu Huaizhong, the Minister of the Navy of the Imperial Admiralty, and Liu Muqing is the granddaughter of the old man."

Liu Muqing didn't tell Su Yi that her own grandfather was the Minister of the Navy of the Liuyun Empire.

Su Yi hurriedly said: "It turned out that Marquis Liu came to Xingang City in person, Su Yi missed the welcome, and asked Marquis Liu to forgive him." ”

"Su Yi, don't be polite, this time the old man is here, but I have something to discuss with you, you find a quiet place, and the old man will talk to you in detail."

"Marquis Liu, please come with Su Yi!"

In a conference room on a two-story building at the port wharf, Admiralty Minister Liu Huaizhong said to Su Yi: "You must already know that our Liuyun Empire, as well as the Three Kingdoms of Cangyu, Tianxing, and Purple Moon, have declared war on each other with the Sharad Empire, the Jisk Empire, and the Orenza Empire. ”

Su Yi nodded solemnly and said, "Marquis Liu, I already know." ”

Liu Huaizhong sighed and said: "The current situation can be said to be very unfavorable to our four eastern countries, except for the army of the Orenza Empire that has already invaded the Purple Moon Empire, just two days ago, the army of the Sharad Empire has attacked the western region of the Cangyu Empire, and at the same time, the army of the Jisk Empire has also invaded the southern region of the Celestial Star Empire, only our Liuyun Empire, because of its geographical location, has not yet been invaded by the enemy army." ”

Su Yi's brows furrowed, a few days after the two sides declared war, the armies of the Shalad Empire and the Jisk Empire had made a big move, which showed that the Shalad Empire and the Jisk Empire had been preparing for this for a long time, and they were definitely not in a hurry.

Liu Huaizhong continued: "What's worse is that the navies of our four eastern countries are too weak compared to the navies of the three enemy countries, especially after the navy of the Purple Moon Empire was severely damaged, now the navies of the three kingdoms of Cangyu, Tianxing, and Purple Moon can only hide in their respective military ports, it can be said that the sea dominance of the three kingdoms of Cangyu, Tianxing, and Purple Moon has been completely lost, and our Liuyun Empire, without this fleet under your command, the sea dominance cannot be maintained at all." ”

"So what does Marquis Liu mean by coming this time?"

"Su Yi, this time the old man is here with His Majesty's sincerity, Your Majesty hopes that the fleet under your command can be organized into the Fourth Fleet of the Royal Navy of the Liuyun Empire, in fact, the Fourth Fleet is only in the name of the Royal Navy, and the entire Fourth Fleet is still under your sole responsibility, of course, the Fourth Fleet's funds and various expenditures, the Royal Navy does not care."

After a pause, Liu Huaizhong continued: "If you agree, Your Majesty is also willing to canonize you as a hereditary baron, and reward you with Xingang City as your hereditary fief, Su Yi, what do you think?" ”

Su Yi touched his chin, this time the emperor of the Liuyun Empire threw an olive branch to himself, but he was full of sincerity.

In this war between the four eastern countries and the three first-class powers, it is almost impossible for the Xingang fleet under his command to stay out of the matter, and Su Yi is not willing to be alone, after all, he is also a member of the Tang clan, and the people of the four eastern countries can be regarded as Su Yi's compatriots.

So Su Yi said loudly: "Marquis Liu, our Su family has enjoyed the blessings of the royal family for generations, of course I, Su Yi, am willing to be loyal to Your Majesty, but I hope to change the Fourth Fleet to an independent fleet, and in addition, the independent fleet must have the right to fight independently!" ”

Liu Huaizhong and Tang Guoyi glanced at each other at this time, and both of them were secretly relieved, it seems that they did not run in vain this time.

Liu Huaizhong pondered for a while and said: "There is no problem with changing to an independent fleet, and there is no problem with the right to fight independently, but in terms of general strategy, the independent fleet must accept the command of the Admiralty. ”

"Of course, after all, the independent fleet also belongs to the navy of the Liuyun Empire, as long as the independent fleet is not allowed to complete the task of sending to death, the independent fleet will definitely obey the command of the Admiralty."