(Every one of your subscriptions, recommendations, and favorites is a great support for "Iron and Blood"!) It's not easy to get a new book, so please support it, thank you! "Iron and Blood" Novel Group: 150536833, welcome book friends to join and discuss the plot together! PS: Add more today...... Ask for a commuter pass! Ask for a subscription! ）

The rain was heavy in the heavens and the earth, and the wind was howling, but there was still no intention of stopping. Pen ~ fun ~ pavilion www.biquge.info wind and rain, the river fog is shrouded, and the extreme eye can see, a fog. And in this fog, the steam engines of several foreign-style sailing ships with lower sails spewed faint soot all the way down the river.

On the leading "Chu Feng" warship, Shen Ming and Granson stood side by side, their expressions were excited, looking at the vast river fog, but their excited expressions were overflowing with excitement.

Fleet sortie!

After the Battle of Yueyang, the Yangtze River Fleet seemed to disappear, and never sailed on the river again, in fact, after the capture of Hunan, it was undoubtedly beneficial for the fleet - compared with the narrow channel of the Yangtze River, the water depth and the lake is 800 miles wide, Dongting Lake is the best training ground for the fleet, in the past six months, the Yangtze River Fleet has been training on the Dongting Lake, although the Dongting Lake, which has an area of only more than 5,000 square kilometers, cannot be compared with the sea, but enables the fleet to carry out a lot of tactical training on the lake that cannot be carried out in the past.

It is precisely because of the wide training waters that the tactical level of the fleet has rapidly improved, and compared with the past, there has been a faint show of the momentum of a navy, although this navy has never set foot in the sea, but now, they are heading towards the sea.

"This time, after defeating Chongming, we will be able to go to sea!"

Go to sea!

As the admiral of the fleet, Shen Ming longs for the sea, he has long been accustomed to the sea, and naturally hopes that this fleet can get used to and adapt to the sea, after all, compared to rivers and lakes, the sea is their destination.

"We're going to the sea!"

In the fleet, the "Xiangyu" is a small gunboat of only more than 700 tons, as the captain of the ship, Li Tianfang, used to be just a sailor, in fact, this is also a characteristic of the seven warships in the fleet, "Chu Si Xiang San" seven warships, although the Yi army has as many as 33 small gunboats, and even the ironclad ship "Chu Wang", but in fact, the Yangtze River Fleet has only seven warships "Chu Sixiang San", these seven warships transformed from merchant ships, have always been the core of the fleet.

"Only at sea will we become a real navy!"

Li Tianfang said silently, through a little moonlight, through the river fog, he could see the sailors on the ship, resting in the cabin, now they did not open the hammocks, but slept on the ground, ready to fight at any time, after all, whether it is the Taiping army or the Qing army, they may become their enemies at any time.

For the Governor's Office, the Taiping Army may be a temporary ally, but it will never be an ally of the First Generation, and the Qing Army is the enemy of the Governor's life and death. Although he knew that on this river, except for the twenty red single boats from Guangdong at the mouth of the river, he could pose a certain threat to the fleet, and in this Yangtze River, the fleet was almost like a giant.

Now, all they need is to use the cover of the river fog to reach Chongming Shijiao, which is located on the coast of the East China Sea, and then give the Guangdong water group there a fatal blow to seize Shijiao Port. This task seems simple, but in fact it is not very easy, after all, the fleet has only seven warships, and this is the first time that the fleet has gone to the mouth of the river to fight thousands of miles away from the lake.

In the night of Shijiao Harbor, this will still be a bright light, in the Shijiao Harbor moored a number of sand boats full of rice and grain, there are dozens of them, these ships without exception are hanging mast lights. Although it was late at night, at this time, most of the people on these sand boats were gambling on pai gow in the cabin.

Not only is this the case with the sand ships transporting grain, but also in the cabin of the red single ship moored together not far away, dozens of sailors are also drinking old wine there, pushing pai gow in the cabin, and some sailors are lying in the cabin and smoking big cigarettes in front of the light.

People smoke, more people are there to bribe money, Cantonese is good at gambling, if a few old people get together and don't gamble, it is really a normal thing, not to mention that for sailors, there is no other entertainment on the ship except gambling money. The cabin was filled with smoke and smoke, but there was a miasma of smoke here, and all kinds of smells were mixed together, and the smell was extremely unpleasant. "Son of a, lost again!"

A sailor who was pushing Pai Gow pulled his waist, threw the money bag on the table, and drank a few sips of old wine with his head up. Then he looked at the people who were smoking big cigarettes next to him and said with a scolding.

"He's a bunch of smokers, it's you who choked, and I made Lao Tzu lose so much!" "Hey, you kid, isn't it, can't you pull and complain about the toilet?"

"It's not, it's hard to get up, no one is not beautiful, women are not beautiful......"

The others laughed while sharing the money, and one said:

"Old Wangtou, you have paid filial piety to your brothers this month, and a few of our brothers are going to sleep on the shore."

Where there is a dock, there are prostitutes, some open and some dark, this has been the rule for hundreds of years, after all, for sailors, they always have such and such needs, and it is their needs that prosper the docks.

"! It's like prostituting your daughter-in-law! The jailer who lost the money snorted coldly and took a sip,

"Damn, smoky miasma, smoked to death, Lao Tzu breathed a breath on it!"

The old king cursed, went up to the deck, and then sat down on the side to smoke the cigarette pole. There was a mouthless cigarette, and the old king's heart muttered there.

"Lost to those grandchildren, what a bunch of bastards! I don't leave some ...... for Lao Tzu."

After all, it was a month's salary, and it was all lost at once, and the old king was naturally very uncomfortable, after all, it would be another month in the future, who said that there was no worry about eating and drinking on the ship, but if there was no silver in a man's pocket, he would naturally have no courage.

What's more, it's gone, the silver it can't go to the shore to find a good girl, those years the girl usually talks about love with you, but in fact, there is only white silver in the eyes.

The drama is ruthless and unmeaningful. If it's gone, no one else will accompany you.

"Grandma's, tomorrow I will find a month's salary for the boss, and I have to get all the money back tonight,"

Scolded fiercely, Wang Tou stood up and knocked his cigarette pouch on the side of the ship. At this moment, he looked into the distance as if he felt something strange.

Listening to the rumbling sound of the water, I don't know how many miles there is still on the opposite bank, only to see the two strings of the river like ink, rolling and tumbling. It doesn't seem to be any different from usual. But for some reason, the king's heart always felt a little uneasy.

"What's going on?"

Wang Tou stared at the river, looked carefully, and just as he was about to breathe a sigh of relief, suddenly the black shadow on the river made his eyes widen.

"This ......"

Before the king could react, he saw the black shadow rushing towards the harbor.

"Come on! Come on! ……”

The king shouted in horror, and just as he was shouting loudly, the black shadow approached, and by this time he could already see that the black shadow was a foreign ship. Black smoke was spewing from the ship, and it was a steamer for foreigners.

"What's the matter with the foreigner's ship?"

The other sailors who were called up by Wang Tou'er said one after another.

"I said, Wang, what's the matter? If you lose money, you lose, you shout like this, it hurts me to have a good hand, and I don't have it,"

"No, my good hand ......"

As soon as they saw that it was a foreign ship, these sailors were not worried, this foreign ship on the river was normal, and it was no big deal. If it's some sampans, it's even more scary.

Because the Taiping army is that kind of small wooden boat, this foreign ship must be all foreigners, naturally it cannot be the Taiping army. But just when they wanted to breathe a sigh of relief. The pipe belt that had just come out of the warehouse noticed something unusual, because instead of one ship, he saw seven whole ships.

Seven Western-style sailing ships appeared in front of everyone's eyes like that, and under the gaze of everyone, they received, only two or three hundred meters from the port.

Despite the mist on the river, and despite the darkness of night, at such a close distance, Wang Tou'er and the other sailors could see the open gun windows on the sides of the foreign ships.

They saw the barrel of a cannon sticking out of a door, and the muzzle of the black hole was aimed at them.

"I'm still stunned! Hurry up and copy the guy......"

In fact, there is no need for other people's reminders at this time, for these sailors who have been making a living from the sea, in the process of dealing with pirates, they have also encountered such a thing, almost as soon as they saw the muzzle of the black hole, they immediately rushed to the gun position and got busy.

Although these sailors are not professional soldiers, their years of experience dealing with pirates do require them to operate their guns very quickly. "Quick, gunpowder, cannonballs......"

The king who was guarding the tail of the cannon shouted loudly, and the sailors who had been complaining about a good hand were now busy.

"Don't worry, big guys, it's just a round of cannons, as long as we resist it, we can bomb them back......"

Just like in the old days with pirates, when the sailors were busy, the pipe belt and the side cheered them up.

In fact, there is no need at all, the sailors know better than anyone that at sea, they are fighting for their lives, and they can't save their lives if they don't kill you, and now that the other party has the upper hand, the next first round of artillery must be fired by the other party, as long as they hold the next round of cannons, they can fight back, and then survive.

"Damn, hurry up, I have to let them coax us all to the sky, do you know how to work hard......"

The king shouted and cursed loudly there, and he was not scolding the others, but the water warriors on the boat, who were extremely slow compared to their water bravery.

Just as the king's words fell, the river surface shrouded in night suddenly remembered a bright light. The bright light instantly reflected the surface of the river, and even the king couldn't help but close his eyes.

It's fired! (To be continued.) )