"Zixiang said cautiously, be careful that the officials of the DPRK and the Central Committee are participating in your 'vain provocation'. Pen, fun, pavilion www. biquge。 info" Qiu Baoren smiled and said to Liu Buyun half-jokingly and half-seriously.

Listening to Qiu Baoren's words, Liu Buyun's face instantly darkened.

"This generation of femme fatales is several times more hateful than foreigners!"

The attacks on Lin Yizhe and Li Hongzhang, their subordinates, can be said to empathize.

"Zixiang, don't be impatient." Deng Shichang saw the green tendons on Liu Buyun's forehead bursting, smiled slightly, and said, "For today's plan, it is only serious to try to prevent those Qingliu from making a big fuss about this matter." ”

Liu Buyun listened to Deng Shichang's words, the anger in his eyes went out slightly, and he gradually calmed down.

"The British gathered so many military ships to come to Dagu this time, called a drill, but in fact, they were forcing me with their troops, and they wanted to use the Dian case to blackmail and forcibly cut off my interests." Deng Shichang said, "We have to break their wishful thinking and prevent that Wei Tuma's treacherous plot from succeeding!" ”

"Will the plan be released?" Liu Buyun asked a little eagerly.

"Wait a while, the drill of the British ship is about to start, we all have to watch the drill, I want to give the British a little bit of power, I don't know if Zixiang is willing to help me?" Deng Shichang smiled and asked.

Hearing that Deng Shichang was planning to take action, the eyes of Zhang Cheng, Qiu Baoren and other captains all flashed with surprise.

"Zhengqing, what do you want to do?" Zhang Cheng asked with some concern.

"A little joke with the British. At the same time, let them know: I, Da Shimizu, am not a soft persimmon! Deng Shichang said, beckoned, and motioned for everyone to come closer.

Deng Shichang whispered his plan, and after listening to it, Liu Buyun's eyes were full of excitement, Qiu Baoren smiled approvingly, and Zhang Cheng and Lu Lunhua looked a little hesitant.

"Zhengqing, let's do this, if we really annoy the British, if we make a move, it will be a big trouble, not only us, but I'm afraid that Li Zhitai and Master Lin will be involved!" Zhang Cheng hesitated, but still voiced his concerns.

"In order to seek the interests of the Dian case at the negotiation table, the British will never start a war with the Qing Dynasty, so they are just bluffing! Broken will not fire at our ship! Deng Shichang said with confidence.

"What Zhengqing said is that as long as we scare them back, they will naturally not be able to slander us. Otherwise, not only will the officials impeach us for cowardice, but if we really want to succeed in the blackmail, then I will be the sinners of the country. Qiu Baoren nodded.

Several captains were deliberating, and suddenly there was a whistle in the distance, and they followed the sound to see the British ships on the opposite side beginning to raise fire and anchor one after another.

"Brother Zhengqing, but it doesn't hurt to do it, I am willing to back up Brother Zhengqing!" Liu Buyun saw that Zhang Cheng and Lu Lunhua seemed to be hesitating, and said in a deep voice.

"Without further ado, with Zixiang to help me, the matter will be done, the three of you don't have to step forward at that time, just sweep the battle for me and Zixiang." After Deng Shichang finished speaking, he bowed his hand to several comrades, then turned around and got off the flybridge and took the dinghy back to his "Princess Heshuo".

Qiu Baoren, Zhang Cheng and Lu Lunhua discussed it, and then they also got off the flybridge, and each of them returned to the ship with small boats, and Liu Buyun immediately gave the order to raise the fire and anchor.

The roar of whistles resounded in the sea and air, attracting the attention of the people in the harbor, and in the astonished eyes of the crowd on the shore, one after another British warships sailed out of the harbor, and even more surprisingly, the Chinese fleet stationed on the other side also raised its anchor and sailed out of the harbor.

"The Chinese don't seem to know what formation to follow us in."

On the flybridge of the British fleet's temporary flagship, the Odisha Command, Captain Coles looked at the five Chinese warships that followed the British fleet in the distance, with a sarcastic smile on his face.

"What do the Chinese want to do?" Brigadier General Field, who had been appointed by Reddell as commander of the so-called "flying fleet," looked at his telescope and muttered something strange.

He saw very clearly that the formation of the Chinese platoon was very strange, an ironclad ship and a cruiser were driving side by side in front, and three cruisers were driving side by side behind, and the two warships in front were staggered.

"They're here to watch our drills." Coles looked at the binoculars for a moment, and smiled, "I'd rather they were here to fight us, though." ”

Through the binoculars, Coles had noticed that all the Chinese warships were apparently ready for battle, all the guns had been stripped of their gun jackets, and the black and shiny muzzles were sticking out of the side gun doors, with a solemn air of killing.

Field, apparently noticing this, too, "Can you imagine? Less than twenty years have passed since the last time the British Imperial fleet swept the shores of China, and the defeated men of that time now seem to have regained their confidence from the Japanese. ”

"Your Excellency, you don't need to be nervous about anything." Coles sneered next to him and said, "What if they defeat Japan? Her Majesty's warships are not those broken Hanako ships of the Japanese, since the Chinese want to understand the strength of the Royal Navy, let us open their eyes! Excellency! Please give the order for the drill! ”

"Mr. Colonel, don't you think it's safer that we should wait for Colonel Rambert's fleet to converge first?" Field asked.

"I don't think there's any need for that, Your Excellency, these Chinese warships, our existing strength can handle them completely, please allow the exercise to begin! Excellency. ”

Although Coles's words were still respectful, they had already revealed a thick non-negotiable tone between the lines, and even a hint of coercion, which made the always cautious Field a little uncomfortable to hear, but after all, Coles's words were "politically correct", and he couldn't say any reason to refute it, so he just nodded down the donkey, "Okay, let's get started." ”

Coles nodded, and then gave the order to the officers beside him.

As if to show off to the Chinese fleet, the British fleet began to change its formation on the surface of the sea and sail towards the sea where a nameless desert island was located, the predetermined exercise ground.

"No one on that island?" After discovering that the British fleet was planning to conduct an artillery attack drill on a small island very close to the coast, Deng Shichang frowned and asked Liu Houzhong, the first mate beside him.

"If you go back to your lordship, it's an uninhabited island, and there is really no one on it." Liu Houzhong replied.

Deng Shichang looked again, on this desolate island, there was no trace of any living people at this moment, it was almost silent.

"Don't worry, my lord, when we came to this island, we sent people up to investigate, and I also asked the defenders of the fort, and they also said that there was no one on it at all, and there were several caves on this island, and there were bandits who were desperate in the past, and they temporarily settled on it, but they only stayed for a night or two, and then they would leave, and no one would stay."

After listening to Liu Houzhong's words, Deng Shichang did not say anything more, but focused on the exercises of the British fleet.

At this moment, the British ships had already begun to line up and sail towards the desert islands, apparently using the mountains and rocks on those islands as targets such as "batteries" and preparing to launch artillery bombardments.

But at this moment, no one noticed that on the deserted island, a figure suddenly appeared.

It was a girl of about eight or nine years of age, her long black hair fluttering in the wind, and her whole person ran quickly towards a certain part of the mountain in an alert deer posture.

After she rushed to her destination, she immediately crouched down for some reason, her brows furrowed from the exertion, the green tendons on her thin arms were exposed, and she let out a slight low roar, she vigorously pushed away a heavy stone on the ground, and then pushed it to the side.

There's a spring down there.

Without a moment's hesitation, she neatly lowered the barrel to draw water, and the rope on the handle of the barrel was tightly grasped in her hand, and after skillfully flicking her wrist twice to fill the barrel with water, she immediately lifted the barrel out with force and placed it at her feet, then put the plank back on the well, and then lifted the barrel and quickly ran back.

The bucket of water weighed at least ten catties including the wooden bucket, but looking at her running speed and the series of actions she had just taken to fetch water, she seemed to be used to doing this, and all the movements were clean and neat, and she didn't drag the mud and water at all. It was almost a matter of minutes from the time she had just run from the opposite side to the time she had completed the task of fetching water and rushed back.

In fact, if she had slowed down, she would have been shattered by the British shells that exploded immediately!

And on the island, there is a man who watches her every move.

The man's eyes narrowed slightly, and most of his face, which was covered by a black cloth towel, was as cold as a stone sculpture.

Watching her run towards the back mountain, the man jumped neatly from the hiding spot he had chosen, and then followed her towards the back hill.

The shelling of the British fleet began, and with a piercing whistling sound, shells fell like meteorites, hitting the huge rocks that looked like stone forts, and with the black smoke rising, a large amount of rubble scattered in all directions.

As if he was very familiar with the terrible power of the cannonballs fired by the cannons of such foreigners, the man quickly fell to the ground, hugged his head, and cursed indignantly.

"Thief! It took nine deaths to leave the ghost ship of the Peruvian white devil and crash into the warship of the British devil! It's really a bit of a home! ”

In the smoke and dust, he unconsciously peeked at the girl running in front of her, she was very alert, and her body was dexterously covering up for herself with the help of all the shelters she could choose. Occasionally, the fragments of stone flakes stirred up by the explosion of the cannonballs flew and hit the covers, and there would be a "plop" sound. Occasionally, when it hits a rock, it will explode into a spark.

Inspired by her, the man saw the opportunity to stand up and continue to run.

The man followed her, watching her all the time, and saw her running quickly towards the back hill with the bucket, into a cave that must have been dug for some unknown reason in the early years.

The cannon rumbled behind him, and the man dodged into the cave, where he was surprised to find that it was not as dark as he had imagined, and that there was a lamp hanging on the top wall of the cave entrance, and that something like a clothes pole appeared in front of him. Although the light is not bright enough, the simple lighting effect is fully effective.

The cave seemed to have been tidied up, and holes had been dug out like compartments, which seemed to serve different purposes, and the girl slowed down and walked to one of the caves with the water.

The man looked at the girl, only to see her find a place to sit down, vigilantly watching the artillery fire outside.

She didn't look to be seven or eight years old, but she didn't show any panic, as if she had been used to all this.

The man silently observed the girl in front of him, and suddenly remembered another girl.

"Sizhu ......," he almost called out her name.

Thinking that after so many years, not only did he not find out about her whereabouts, but he was deceived by foreigners and was almost transported overseas as a slave, his heart was sour.

He didn't dare to think that he would be able to find her in his life.

After a few more moments, the girl suddenly moved, took a piece of bread from her pocket, stuffed it into her mouth, and chewed it.

There was a piercing whistling, and a cannonball landed at the entrance of the cave and exploded, stirring up a large cloud of smoke and dust, and the girl immediately ran towards the depths of the cave.

The man rolled over lightly at this moment, jumped off the invisible stone wall, and then dodged into the hole.

"The Chinese saw our shelling and did not know what mood it was." Coles looked at the island, which was completely shrouded in black smoke, and said to Field with a smile.

"If this is the coastal battery of the Chinese, there should not be a living person on it by now." Field put down the binoculars and said smugly.

Field turned around and looked at the Chinese fleet not far away, and was shocked to see that the Chinese warships were rapidly approaching the British fleet.

"What do these yellow-skinned guys want to do?" Field said strangely, and held up the telescope again.

In the binoculars, he immediately saw the dignified and fierce black faces of the Chinese Navy officers and men above.

"Maybe they want to have a confrontation drill with us." Coles smiled and said, "Then let's play with them for a while!" ”

Without waiting for Field's order, he commanded loudly, "Stop them!" ”

With Coles giving the order, the British fleet began to turn and meet the Chinese fleet.

And at this moment, Coles was surprised to find that the two Chinese warships that rushed to the front began to accelerate and pounce.

"Are they crazy?" Seeing the movements of the Chinese warship, Field was taken aback.

"It's the 'Thetis'......" Coles's face couldn't help but turn a little white when he saw the Chinese warship rushing over first.

Coles raised his binoculars again, and he immediately saw the angry face of the captain on the flybridge of the Chinese warship.

Coles recognized it as Captain Deng Shichang, who was famous in the Sino-Japanese naval battle, and his hands trembled.

At this moment, a series of flags suddenly rose from the mast of the "Princess Pegatron" that rushed over: "The operation of our ship is out of order!" Beware of evasion! ”

Coles saw the "Princess Peshuo" pounce like a tiger descending the mountain, panicked for a while, and didn't even notice the flag of the "Princess Peshuo", and only came back to his senses after being reminded by the neighing of his subordinates.

Under Coles' command, the "Odisha accelerated" and immediately distanced itself from the following British warships.

Because the flagship "Odisha" did not send any signal at all, the British warships behind were all at a loss, and at this moment, the "Longxiang", which was closely following the "Princess Peshuo", also waved the flag of "our ship's operation failed" and rushed over at full speed.

The British warship in the back was about to follow the flagship to accelerate, but the "Longxiang" was caught in front of it, and the follow-up British ship and the flagship "Odisha" were separated.

Seeing this scene, Field's face also changed.

"Colonel, what shall we do now?" Field asked Coles.

Coles turned a deaf ear to the chief's questioning, and he just stared at the "Princess Peshuo" who was rushing straight over, and kept muttering.

Thetis ...... Ship of the Damned...... Unsinkable ghost ship ......"

Field listened carefully for a moment before he understood what he was talking about, and a hint of anger appeared on his face.

"Colonel! Fulfill your duties! Field yelled at Coles.

Coles was suddenly surprised, he nodded in a panic, glanced at the "Princess Peshuo" like a mad tiger, and ordered to move forward at full speed to get away from the pursuit of the "Princess Peshuo".

When Field saw that Coles was only thinking about running for his life, and that he didn't care about the other British warships, he was angry for a while, and shouted: "Colonel! We've got to join the other warships! ”

Coles didn't heed Field's roar at all, but ran off the flybridge and rushed headlong into the wheelhouse.

At this moment, on the sea in the other direction in the distance, the figures of four British warships flying high suddenly appeared.

"What happened?"

On the flybridge of the flagship ironclad ship "Bipedal Wyvern", the commander of the East India Fleet detachment, Colonel Lambert, looked at the chaotic scene on the sea and asked in surprise, "Could it be that war has broken out?" ”

"No artillery fired, this is a drill." Bernie, the captain of the "Bipedal Wyvern", put down the binoculars and said in a chewing word, "And it is a 'joint exercise' with the Chinese." ”

"They didn't even wait for us." Rambot raised his binoculars and carefully observed the sea, "If it's a confrontation exercise, our situation doesn't seem to be good." ”

He had clearly seen that an old small ironclad ship with the dragon flag fluttering was stopped in front of several British cruisers, while the flagship of the British fleet did not know what to do.

"Where's the Otisha?" Lambot searched the sea, but did not find the figure of the "Odisha ironclad", and couldn't help but widen his eyes in surprise.

"Could it be that it was sunk by the Chinese?" Bernie was also surprised, "The cannon fire just now ......"

"Send a signal, ask the cruisers, where is the 'Odisha'." Lambert ordered.

The "Bipedal Wyvern" quickly issued a flag, and after a while, in the array of the "flying fleet", the cruiser "Ghisreal" was the first to give an answer.

"The Odisha has escaped!"