Even though it was the middle of summer, the cold winds blowing from the direction of the Arctic Ocean still made the North Atlantic look a little cold. Pen %Fun %Pavilion www.biquge.info Despite the scorching sun in the sky, the mercury thermometer on the warship still stopped steadily at 12 degrees Celsius. Even if it's not winter, there are still floating icebergs in the North Atlantic, and the sea is full of bad waves. The waves are constantly hitting the deck, and when the warship sails here, there will always be a fierce scene of fighting against the wind and waves.

For the Chinese Navy, although it is unfamiliar with the North Atlantic, it is not at all unfamiliar with a similar environment, after all, in the past many years, going to Beihai City in Kamchatka has been a necessary basic training for the Navy, and the sea conditions in the Peking Ocean are somewhat similar to those of the North Atlantic, and there are storms and waves every year.

For all this, the officers and men of the cruiser "Fenghai" have long been accustomed to it, and although this is the first armored ship of the Chinese Navy in the true sense, although it has only just passed its fifth year of service, it is no longer the main force of the Navy.

However, this did not prevent him from being transferred to the Atlantic Ocean last year with several old wooden-hulled warships, becoming the flagship of the African Fleet and the most powerful warship of the African Fleet.

After the end of the routine training, the "Fenghai" returned to the voyage as planned, and in the first few days it suffered a summer rainstorm that lasted for several days, and the waves even seemed to want to shoot the "Fenghai" into the bottom of the sea, and today the rain stopped, and the sky and the sea turned blue again, like a washing blue, which always made people feel refreshed.

This is a rare good weather, out of understanding for the sailors on the ship, as the captain of the ship Zhang Guolin released the combat readiness, for him, he knows that the continuous training for a long time makes the sailors extremely tired, today's good weather is a good time for the soldiers to rest and relax.

Indeed, the captain's understanding is good news for the sailors, when the warship is heading towards the port of Ansi on the coast of southern Africa, the sailors on the deck lie there enjoying the sunshine and the pleasant sea breeze, and there are even sailors sitting in the stern of the warship and throwing down the tuna hook to fish on the sailing warship, which is a "privilege" that only naval officers can enjoy, and it is also one of the traditions left over from the age of sailing, that is, it can relax the officers and soldiers. It also allows the ship's sailors to get fresh food that is extremely rare when they sail at sea.

Not only that, but even the head chef moved out the barbecue grill and grilled large pieces of beef, and for a while, the warship was more like a "cruise ship" than a warship.

For the sailors on the "Fenghai", this is an extremely pleasant moment, especially after the heavy training, this kind of relaxation and comfort is undoubtedly a different kind of enjoyment.

However, despite the ease of the sailors on deck, inside the bridge, the officers still stood in good luck and vigilantly searched the sea.

"Sir, a Prussian merchant ship has been spotted on the port side!"

The first mate's words made Zhang Guolin pick up the binoculars, and when he saw the merchant ships in the binoculars, he immediately gave an order.

"Move closer to it, send the flag!"

After discovering this merchant ship, Zhang Guolin immediately gave a signal.

"Please tell me the right time"

When Captain Carlins of the "Bonn" saw the five-color flag on the mast of this warship, he was stunned at first, for he, who had just left the British port, when he left the port, he already knew that China and Britain were now in a state of war.

However, as the captain of a neutral country, as an old sailor, he did not resist the Chinese warship's request for help - because if something went wrong with the clock, it would be a big trouble to be unable to figure out the time, and even misorient it, and then fall into danger, and even cause the warship to be silent. Therefore, when encountering such a request during the voyage, no captain would refuse, and Karin, as the captain of a neutral country, would naturally not refuse, so he ordered the merchant ships to gradually approach the other party.

However, for Zhang Guolin, the flag he issued was not because the time was inaccurate, but because he had been at sea for a month, hoping to get some new news, after all, after leaving the port, he was almost isolated from the world.

Soon the two ships were in parallel, and as they did, Captain Carlin couldn't believe his eyes as he looked at the Chinese sailors on deck who looked like they were camping more than they were at war—didn't they know what was going on? Or do the Chinese not take this war seriously at all!

"Hey, would you like a barbecue?"

For these guests, Jiang Hualin, who is the chief engineer, showed the unique enthusiasm of the Chinese people, and without even waiting for the other party to refuse, he asked the head chef to put a few large pieces of barbecue meat weighing dozens of catties in a clean tablecloth and threw them to the other party.

In the face of fragrant oriental barbecue, the Prussian sailors on the "Bonn" were all drooling, and in the face of the enthusiasm of the Chinese, they gave back to Prussia's specialty - beer.

If it weren't for the fact that they were on a voyage, no one would even suspect that they might have held a barbecue party together at sea.

"This barbecue is so delicious!"

The second mate on the merchant ship complimented in stiff English.

"The beer was good too! It's a Prussian beer! ”

Jiang Hualin raised the cup in his hand and praised loudly.

"Of course, German beer is the best in Europe!"

The second mate of Prussia looked at the Chinese sailors on the deck, and said in a praising tone,

"But you're so good, you can be so relaxed in this situation, no wonder the British can't beat you!"

In the eyes of this Prussian second officer, the appearance of these Chinese sailors is obviously because they are not afraid of war, so they are so relaxed.

What the?

The British can't beat us!

What's going on?

Jiang Hualin's eyebrows furrowed, and he asked as quietly as he could.

"Oh, really?"

"Of course, when we left the port, the British there were extremely nervous, and although all of Europe knew that you would definitely not attack the British mainland, they were still strengthening the defenses of the homeland......"

As if trying to prove something, the second officer took a newspaper out of his pocket.

"Look at this, this is the newspaper left by a British customs officer when we left port!"

As he spoke, he had already wrapped a few finney coins in the newspaper and tossed them over.

Picking up the newspaper, as soon as he opened the newspaper and saw the content on it, Jiang Hualin's expression suddenly changed, what was going on?

"Britannia up to the challenge!"

The content of the newspaper exceeded everyone's expectations, and Zhang Guolin, who was on the ship, never imagined that the war would come so suddenly.

The war has broken out!

After the departure of the Prussian merchant ships, Zhang Guolin's mind flashed with this thought, although he was skeptical of the news, but he still ordered the warships to enter combat readiness, but because the news was not confirmed, he did not immediately order the news of the war to be told to everyone, only among the officers.

"We need further confirmation!"

The farther south they went, the more merchant ships they encountered, and the news of the war was constantly confirmed by those merchant ships, and the fleeing British merchant ships convinced them of the reliability of the news.

The war has broken out!

Finally, after confirming the news on a foreign merchant ship for the sixth time, Zhang Guolin, as the captain of the ship, finally decided to inform the whole ship of the news.

"I'm sure you've all sensed the difference, and in the last few hours, we've been able to confirm the news through our contacts with merchant ships of all countries - three days ago, the Empire had declared war on Great Britain, and we were at war with Britain......

Although Jiang Hualin, who heard the news from the sound pipe, had been mentally prepared for a long time, he was still a little distracted when he got the news from the captain's mouth.

For a graduate of the British Royal Navy, he knows the strength of the British Navy, and he also knows the strong national strength of this enemy very well, but now, the two countries are at war, which makes Jiang Hualin can't help but worry about the future, to be precise, whether the Navy can win the war in the future.

"Four days ago, in order to prevent the British from interfering with Panama, the Imperial Western Fleet was forced to meet the British task force off the coast of Cologne, and in the naval battle, the Western Fleet was defeated by four warships, and the British Royal Navy's thirteen overwhelmingly superior fleets were defeated, and the victory was to sink eleven ships and capture two powerful ironclad ......ships."

The captain's words shook the spirits of everyone on board, and some sailors shouted excitedly, cheering for the victory of their comrades.

Four against thirteen!

Sink eleven ships!

Capture two!

Doesn't this mean the total annihilation of the British fleet?

What an unprecedented victory!

And more importantly, this news was confirmed through foreign merchant ships, which means that there is certainly no doubt about this victory. And this also means that there is no doubt about the news of the outbreak of war, and what does all this mean?

It means that they are involved in a war, and at this time they are alone at sea, and they may encounter a British Royal Navy warship at any time, and now a choice is in front of everyone.

“…… Now we are faced with a choice, whether to return to the port of Anxi, join the fleet, and wait for further orders from the Imperial Admiralty, or take the initiative, after all, we may encounter British merchant ships and warships at any time, and it is undeniable that we will face an enemy far stronger than we are, but I believe that with the courage and skill of all the officers and men of the ship, we will be able to defeat every enemy we encounter! ”

There is no doubt that in the face of the captain, no one chooses to run away, and the navy will not run away, and "fighting when you see the enemy" is the most basic quality of the navy. When the captain's words fell, the entire "Fenghai Ship" was completely plunged into a surge, and only two words remained in the minds of every officer and soldier: "battle"!

"Quick, all hammocks are concentrated ......"

With the issuance of one order after another, the "Fenghai" soon entered the combat preparations, and those sailors bundled the hammocks one by one, and then tied them into sandbags, tied to the bridge railings and other positions to prevent the destruction of enemy shell fragments in the next possible naval battle.

At the same time, the lookout on the mast, also holding a telescope, searched the sea, now that the warship has entered a combat state, they must be vigilant to observe the sea, searching for all suspicious targets, whether warships or merchant ships.

Searching for targets on the vast sea, most of the time it depends on luck, even on a fixed route, the distance between merchant ships may be far apart, not to mention the warships on a non-fixed route, when the lookout is searching for the target, the gunners are also preparing for the next battle, the tail of the 254 mm cannon in the bow has two more shells, the gunpowder bag has been raised from the ammunition depot under the waterline, and is packed in the explosion-proof box, once the target is found, It can fire the first shell in a minute, and as for the secondary gun, it is already loaded.

At the same time that the "Fenghai Ship" completed its combat preparations, Zhang Guolin, as the captain of the ship, ordered the warship to sail to a fixed route between Britain and North America, and there were too many British merchant ships on this route.

"Whether we can touch British warships is not always, as long as they meet British merchant ships, whether we capture or sink them, it will be a blow to the British, our actions can distract their forces, so that the British will not put their navy into the next naval battle, but must send their warships to escort their merchant fleet......"

As an officer who graduated from the Whampoa Naval Academy, he studied the Chinese Navy's unique theory of "breaking engagement" in the military academy, of course, this is only a theory, this is after the navy occupied Kamchatka, in order to deal with a possible military attack from Russia, put forward the theory of naval warfare, by striking the Russians' sea transportation lines, disintegrating their land combat capabilities, forcing them to use more sea forces for escort.

No one thought that the theory of naval warfare that had been formulated against Russia would now be applied here in the war against Britain, but what the specific effect is, I am afraid that even as the captain of the "Fenghai", Zhang Guolin cannot guarantee that now for him, all he needs to do is to sail the warship into the vicinity of this route on the return journey in accordance with the requirements of this theory, and everything that follows is completely dependent on luck.

"You might find a big fish!"

Just as Zhang Guolin was saying this, the lookout suddenly found a smoke trail between the sea and the sky, and he immediately shouted loudly.

"Discovery of ...... of vessel of unknown nationality"

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