Churchill opened his mouth with a look of abrupt realization.

"I heard that the rebellion in southern China had been put down, and that the impostor doctor who liked revolution had been killed by bombs dropped by the bombers of the Chinese [***]." Churchill remembered the momentous events that had taken place recently, and a subtle sneer appeared at the corners of his mouth.

"That's right, sir." The naval officer, Admiralty Aid, Colonel Royce, replied, "This indicates that the rebellion in southern China will soon be put down." ”

"But now China's political axe has to face a huge internal crisis." Churchill looked at the red, yellow and blue "human" flags fluttering in the wind on the mast of the ship, and said worriedly, "The foundation of this newly established empire is not solid, the crown prince has just been killed, the emperor has been assassinated, and there will be a fierce struggle before a new heir to the throne is determined, and I fear that China will be plunged into chaos, and that will undoubtedly affect our cause." ”

"Yes! We now badly need Chinese forces against the Germans. Colonel Royce also sighed, "Our important partner Russia has fallen, and if China also falls, it will be a great disaster for us." ”

"The Chinese [***] team in France has reached 600,000 people, and the Chinese soldiers we have trained are excellent soldiers, hard-working, brave and good at fighting, and are an important force for us to fight against the German army." Churchill's eyes fell on the triple cannon of the American-made Chinese battleship, and a smile of relief appeared on his face, "And after the catastrophe in Deland, we urgently need warships to defend our shores." I couldn't even sleep well before the arrival of these battleships ordered by the Chinese, and now these beautiful little girls have finally arrived. ”

"It's great that they're here." Colonel Royce said, "It's just that the people who indulge these little girls have not yet undergone the baptism of real naval battle. ”

"It's really hard for me to imagine that the Chinese designers could design warships that are better than the most powerful battleships of the Imperial Navy." Admiral Betty, the new commander of the "Grand Fleet", who was standing not far away, heard the conversation of Churchill and Admiral Royce and came to their side, "and it is a miracle that the Americans were able to build them in such a short time." ”

"It is said that this is a first-class fast battleship, and in front of them, the 'Perfect Cat' no longer has any advantages." Churchill looked at Betty coming over, said hello to Betty, and said meaningfully.

Listening to Churchill's words, a bitter smile appeared on Betty's face.

In the Battle of Deland, the British Navy's Ingjie Fisher's theory of "speed is defense" not only cost the British Navy a heavy price, but also made Britain's hundreds of years of maritime hegemony shaky. In this naval battle, which determined the fortune of Britain in the past century, the British Navy's battle cruiser fleet was completely wiped out, and the battlefleet also suffered heavy losses, and it also took the surname of Admiral Jericho, commander of the "Grand Fleet", and tens of thousands of naval officers and men. After the end of the naval battle, he thought he would get "William. Wallace's Punishment" was appointed to replace Admiral Jellico, who had sunk with his flagship in the naval battle.

The Battle of the German Sea completely broke the maritime superiority of the Allies, and the British Navy, which suffered huge losses, was unable to prevent the German Navy from attacking, and the German Navy frequently visited the British mainland, and the German fleet carried out many shelling of the British coastal batteries, ports and cities, which not only caused great damage, but also brought great panic to the British people. During this period, although Betty led the remaining British fleet to take the initiative and fought the German navy several times, and achieved some victories, which improved the morale of the British [***] people, but it did not help to turn the tide of the war.

After learning that the six battleships built by the United States for the Chinese Navy had been completed, the British political axe first proposed to the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs to buy it at a large price, and then planned to lease it, the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs politely refused under the pressure of the Admiralty, but agreed to send these six battleships to Britain to help in the war. In order to enable these six valuable battleships to play their role as soon as possible, after consultations between China, the United States, and Britain, an "naval cooperation" agreement was finally reached, which stipulated that the US Navy would send experienced officers on active duty to the ship as captains, Chinese as deputy captains, and the warships would be mainly carried out by Chinese sailors, and US Navy technicians would accompany the ships to fight against the German Navy.

After such a toss-up, the six new battleships of the Chinese Navy left the United States and arrived in Britain to join the Allied navies in the war.

"Not only these sea monsters, but also the light ships built by the Americans for the Chinese Navy are also very distinctive." Admiral Royce did not notice the irony in Churchill's words, and pointed to a Chinese light cruiser moored in the distance, saying, "It is said that the main design is also by Chinese designers." ”

Churchill and Betty looked in the direction of his finger and saw a beautiful light cruiser, different from similar ships of the British, this light cruiser with a standard displacement of 3500 tons, equipped with three twin main guns (caliber 150 mm), but the way of arrangement, but the alternative "front one and back two" knapsack type, and what is particularly special is that there is a triple torpedo tube (533 mm) behind the bow wave bridge, Chimneys No. 1 and No. 2 are followed by a quadruple torpedo tube.

Such a design clearly shows that this is a cruiser with torpedoes as the main offensive weapon (heavy mine-mounted light cruisers).

"This is nothing, the Empire's shipbuilding technicians are the best in the world, the Empire has the most powerful shipbuilding industry in the world, as long as we can get out of this danger, it won't be long before the Imperial Navy will have more powerful warships." Churchill said confidently.

"These battleships are more powerful than the existing battleships of the US Navy, and it is strange that the Americans should allow the capital ships of the Chinese Navy to surpass themselves." Betty looked at the American captain who appeared on the bridge and said a little strangely.

"There's nothing strange about that." Churchill smiled and said, "The Americans are willing to build such powerful battleships for the Chinese in order to help China fight against Ben, and at the same time, it also shows that they will build more powerful battleships for their own navy." ”

"The Chinese' battleship main guns have reached sixteen inches (406 mm) and the displacement is already close to 50,000 tons, and if the Americans build more powerful battleships, the caliber of the main guns will definitely exceed this standard, and the tonnage will be larger." "We're going to have to build bigger and stronger battleships." He turned his head and looked at several warships flying the "Chrysanthemum Sun" flag not far away, and let out a sneer, "We can't let Yue himself look at the Imperial Navy's joke like this." ”

Listening to Betty's words, Churchill and Colonel Royce looked at the lonely few warships, and their faces became a little ugly.

British officials rushed to the homes of Chinese laborers to offer condolences and send condolences money, British women wore Chinese-style dresses to celebrate, and even British Prime Minister Lloyd-George exclaimed, "We are finally safe again," and British Admiral Winston Churchill, who had already resigned from his post due to the defeat in the Dardanelles Strait, delivered an enthusiastic speech in the House of Commons, praising "the great role played by China in the cause of the Entente." ”

However, as Britain's main ally, under the strong urging of Britain, he only sent old-fashioned dreadnoughts such as "Katori", "Kashima", "Tsukuba", "Ikoma", "Kurama", and "Ibuki" to fill up the numbers. He said that compared with China, which is also a member of the Entente, the difference in his attitude towards his allies is simply beyond the imagination. The British were humiliated and outraged by their refusal to exert all their strength in the war and took advantage of Britain's inability to take care of the East, especially the British Navy, which had suffered heavy losses in the Battle of Deland.

"There is no such thing as a free lunch," Churchill sneered, "I think that when this war is over, that is, when our alliance with myself ends." ”

"Before the Imperial Navy regains possession of such a new battleship, let's use the hands of the Chinese to teach the Germans a hard lesson!" Looking at the high main guns of the battleship "Republic", Betty's face showed a vicious expression.

At this time, on the bridge of the battleship "Katori", a general dressed in the uniform of a vice admiral was looking at the Chinese battleship with the flag of "man" fluttering in the distance with a blank gaze.

This person is Mayuki Akiyama, who has been promoted to commander of the Second Fleet of the Navy.

"That's a battleship of the Shina Navy, isn't it?" Looking at the battleship "Republic" fluttering and slowly driving out of the port, Akiyama asked softly.

"Yes, Your Excellency, Commander." A staff officer replied, "It is the latest type of battleship purchased by the people of China in the United States, with a displacement of nearly 50,000 tons and a main gun caliber of 16 inches. ”

Probably in order not to make the weak commander feel uncomfortable, the staff officer deliberately emphasized the sentence "purchased in the United States" when answering.

"Sixteen ......inches," Akiyama muttered to himself, "this is larger than the caliber of the main gun of the Ise......

"That's right." The staff officer said with some reluctance, "It is said that these new battleships are faster, reaching a speed of 31 knots at the time of testing. ”

"How is this possible? ......" Akiyama Mayuki's face showed a hint of horror.

"The people of China have always been willing to exaggerate and bluff, and this may be because they help the shipyards of the Chinese people to advertise." The staff officer said, but in Akiyama Mayuki's ears, it was inevitably suspected of lack of confidence.

"But the Ise can only reach a speed of 23 knots...... "Akiyama clenched his fists, as if trying to calm himself.

Seeing that the commander's face was not very good, the staff officer closed his mouth sensibly.

"How can they have so much money to buy battleships from the Mi people? I remember that the foreign debt of the political axe has always been very high, and they even mortgaged the salt tax, how could there be so much income? Akiyama said as if he was asking a question to himself.

"I heard that it was the Shina political axe that raised a large amount of donations from overseas immigrants, and they used the money to buy the battleships." The staff officer replied.

"It can't be so many, it's impossible." Akiyama Shinyuki frowned and whispered.

I don't know how long later, Akiyama Shinyuki raised the telescope on his chest and looked at the Chinese battleship, and the first thing that caught his eye was the red, yellow and blue battle flag fluttering in the wind on the mast.

"Is that their naval flag? How did you change it? Akiyama asked in a self-to-diary manner. What does it mean? ”

"It may be that the Chinese people hung the flag down, it should be a 'Y' word." The staff officer couldn't figure out how to answer, so he tried to give an answer that the donkey's lips were not in the horse's mouth.

"No, that's a word, a kanji for 'person'......" Akiyama Mayuki slowly put down the binoculars and said the answer himself, "Under the blue sky, on the red earth, a person stands there, a person ......"

The staff officer looked at the commander who looked a little puzzled, and didn't know what to do for a while.

In the eyes of many people in the Akamoto Navy, the spirit of "first-day genius" Akiyama Shinyuki has been somewhat abnormal since the end of the Russo-Russian War.

After the Battle of Tsushima, Akiyama Shinyuki couldn't bear such mental pressure and became a strange person. The first four words of his summary report to the Military Command Department were: "God helps." Mayuki Akiyama, who once established the "Magnificent Honor" for Samoto in the Battle of Tsushima, became a vice admiral full of strange powers and chattering all day long after the end of the Russo-Japanese War. Many people are surprised that Mayuki Akiyama has become like this.

In fact, it is not without reason that such a strange phenomenon appeared in Akiyama Shinyuki.

In fact, Akiyama Shinyuki was essentially a man of letters, and he could be said to have been fooled into the army by his older brother Akiyama, but he was not suited to a battlefield full of bloody killings. After the end of the Russo-Russian War, Akiyama Shinyuki had repeatedly asked to retire from the navy and become a monk, but if he really did that, it would undoubtedly be a big loss of face for the Akiyama Navy, so Akiyama Shinyuki's request was never approved. Although Akiyama Masayuki's request was rejected by Masamu Akimoto, in order to appease this "genius of the first day", Masamu Masamu Akiyama was given the title of Akiyama Masamu continuously, and he was once appointed as the director of the most important military affairs bureau of the Ministry of the Navy, and his military rank was also promoted to vice admiral.

After the outbreak of war in Europe, he took advantage of the inability of the great powers to invade China on a large scale, but suffered a crushing defeat, and was further valued by Akiyama Shinyuki's "foresight" before the war. After the end of the war, Masayuki Akiyama was again appointed commander of the Second Fleet. At this time, Akiyama Mayuki had been diagnosed with peritonitis, but he resolutely refused to go to the hospital to find a doctor for treatment, but kept going to the temple to pray to God and worship Buddha, and made a will to insist that his son become a monk in the temple on behalf of his father!

In the eyes of many people, this "first day genius" General Akiyama Shinyuki was actually tired and crazy by the Russian War, and there is such a sentence in the book: "The Russian War is going to Kodama Gentaro's **, and it is going to the spirit of Akiyama Shinyuki." "It's not unreasonable.

At this time, the whistle of the Chinese battleship sounded, and Akiyama Shinyuki, who was standing on the bridge facing the wind, suddenly realized that he stood there with his fists clenched, staring blankly at the Chinese battleships passing in front of him one after another, and his slightly thin body trembled uncontrollably.

"The design style of these battleships is different from the battleships of Britain, Germany, and the United States......" Akiyama Mayuki's face once again showed a look of panic and horror, "Could it be that the people of China designed it themselves?" ……”

"Seems to be so, Your Excellency, Commander." The staff officer replied cautiously, "I heard that the design drawings came from the Mawei Shipyard in Fuzhou, China, and since China does not yet have the ability to build large warships on its own, the design and drawings were handed over to the shipyard in the United States to be built by the Mi Shipyard." ”

"How could they do that?" Akiyama Mayuki's face turned pale all of a sudden, "Could it be ......?"

"Impossible! That's impossible! The science and technology of the people of China cannot surpass the book! That's impossible! Akiyama Shinyuki screamed, and suddenly a mouthful of blood spurted out, and then his body slowly softened.

The staff officer was shocked, he stepped forward and hugged the commander's body, and then began to shout for help, and several officers hurriedly stepped forward to lift Akiyama Shinyuki, got off the bridge, and ran towards the infirmary.

"It looks like something happened on my ship."

Xu Zhenpeng, who was standing on the bridge of the battleship "Republic", put down the binoculars in his hand and said a little strangely, "It seems that someone is injured." ”

"It is very likely that I saw that the Chinese Navy had such a powerful warship, and jealousy, envy and hatred were intertwined, so I fell ill." US Navy Captain Schneider, who served as the acting captain of the "Republic," said with a smile in Chinese, which was not very fluent, "According to our intelligence, the Chinese Navy does not have a warship of such a large tonnage now, and this time, the Chinese Navy has gone ahead of the Japanese Navy." ”

(To be continued)