Chapter 75: The Vanishing Fleet

A cargo ship that had already cleared its cargo slowly crawled out of the temporary port under the leadership of a steamer, and there was only one river, which made it extremely inconvenient for the ships to enter and exit, and the direct consequence was that most of the cargo ships were waiting for their time, and the problem was that if the enemy put a few warships at the mouth of the river, or even worse, lay mines, it would be very light to block the sea passage of the river juniper.

Zhang Kui was obviously also aware of this problem, on the outer islands, he had a whim, and built a xiǎo-type fort in the gap under a huge cliff, but the terrain there was too cramped, and after the layout of Jīng's heart, he installed a 5mén150 speed shè gun, which formed a horn with the main fort behind, even if the other party wanted to land on this island full of rocks, he had to endure the heavy artillery of the main battery, What's more, the island is also equipped with the Makqin heavy machine gun, which is a sharp weapon for infantry defense.

Qin Kai could only admire Zhang Kui's layout, especially the artillery position on this island that was built under the boulder using the natural terrain, which reminded him of the impeccable artillery position carved out of the cliff in the famous "Six Warriors" in Hollywood in later generations......

In this case, for the artillery on the warships of this era, it is almost the difficulty of using cannons to fight mosquitoes, Qin Kai praised Zhang Kui with a smile, "Zhang Kui, I am very satisfied with such a defense system!" To be honest, it exceeded my expectations, but the most common tactic in this era is not to attack, but to besiege! What are your arrangements? ”

"Instructor, you underestimate the wisdom of your students too much," Zhang Kui looked unashamed again, "To the north, the pass to Fangcheng County, the capital of Daqinglian Prefecture, is already in my hands!" To the south, the mountain pass connecting Haiphong City has long been garrisoned by my troops, and at present I have taken the initiative to cut off the passage on the river over there, this is to prevent the leakage of news from these two counties! ”

"Very good, Zhang Kui, the Beilun River on the border between the two countries, you have to manage it well, there is a South China Sea in the east, going upstream, you can reach the border of Guangxi, and the other side is Lianzhou Mansion, which is where we need to operate!" Qin Kai thought for a while, "It's still an old problem, this deep-water port must find a way to find out, if the cargo transportation channel is not smooth, these two counties will become the industrial production center of our Mawei Shipbuilding, it will be a big problem!" ”

"Understood, instructor!"

"And! Here, you can follow the plan I wrote, and gradually implement any changes, provided that you follow the trend, and any changes do not involve life-and-death contradictions, remember to deal with them safely, and be sure to report to me as soon as possible, but! Any forces that are hostile to us need to be completely defeated! I still say the same thing, the barrel of the gun is king! ”

"Well, instructor, I understand, in fact, the first step, I have already stepped out, three days ago, the instructor you wrote the "State Ownership of Land" I have already implemented in Hejuni, Xian'an!" Zhang Kui's expression at this time was very strict, this was a decision that was important to the relationship, and he also made up his mind after careful consideration.

"Oh! What's the response? ”

"We are implementing the acquisition method, and there is the bond that the instructor said, and the progress is basically smooth, but in the mountainous area near the river juniper, there are a large number of ethnic minorities mentioned by the instructor, which is a little troublesome! I'm trying to figure it out," Zhang Kui said of ethnic minorities, with a few more wrinkles in his brain.

Qin Kai smiled slightly, this ethnic policy is indeed the most difficult problem to solve, who makes our Han nationality the most integrated ethnic group, the later republics have solved it very well, "This problem, I have actually given you the answer a long time ago, give them slightly higher treatment than our Han people, people do not suffer from poverty but suffer from inequality!"

Zhang Kui was stunned for a moment, and immediately understood the trick.

Saigon, Jiāo Toe China Naval Fleet Headquarters, a slender face, bearded French ** officer examined a piece of information, he was in charge of intelligence screening staff officer Sean, this is the news sent from the Chinese port of Guangzhou earlier, because wireless telegraphy did not exist in this era, even in Europe, where the telegraph industry is the most developed, the telegraph between Britain and France is completed by relying on the cable just below the sea, and in the Far East naturally there is no relevant cross-sea telegraph industry.

So at present, the fastest and safest way to deliver messages is through the guò high-speed steam express ship, so the news he is getting now was sent back by the intelligence officer of the Guangzhou port three days ago, "Qing Guo's attention to the situation in Vietnam has increased significantly, and it is reported that a fleet of ironclad ships of the Qing State Naval Division of the Nanyang Navy Division left Guangzhou on June 2!" ”,

This was obviously an important piece of information, and Sean remembered something again, and from a pile of case files, he came up with a message that he had received more than ten days ago, "A fleet of the Nanyang Naval Division was ordered to patrol the South Seas, and after leaving Mawei Harbor, it lost its relevant whereabouts!" ”

Is this two fleets, or is it one? This is obviously a troublesome problem, from the point of view of time, the speed of this fleet is too snail, how can it run for more than ten days in a three-day cruise? If it weren't for one fleet, it is said that the ships of the Qing Nanyang Naval Division were old, and there would be no way to make up two decent fleets......

Soon the news was presented to the desk of the commander of the Jiāo Tochina Navy, and the staff officer's analysis of the intelligence also caused Gu Ba's trouble. Because of the accurate information delivered from the French minister, the total tonnage of the Qing Nanyang Naval Division did not exceed 10,000 tons, and there were no ironclad ships, and they were basically breech guns with a caliber of less than seven inches (178mm).

Now the news that has come out says that the other party actually has an ironclad ship, this joke is a big joke! However, even if the Chinese sailors have ironclad ships, can they stop the advance of the French fleet? Not to mention just one ship.

He immediately convened a meeting of all naval officers and reported the latest situation of the Qing naval division, and Gu Ba's application of this pre-war jī encouragement activity had long been in full swing, which immediately triggered a response from a group of young naval officers.

The commander of the armored cruiser Destein, Galloc, immediately stood up and said loudly: "Dear General Guba, for the provocation of the yellow-skinned monkey, it is an insult to the honor of our French soldiers, don't they know that Jiāo Zhizhi has long been included in the protection of our French Republic?" ”

Gallok was referring to the Treaty of Saigon in 1873, in which Vietnam promised to open its territory to France while ceding large tracts of land in exchange for a so-called peace alliance!

"We must let the Chinese retreat," another middle-aged officer also said aloud, and it was clear that this was also the idea of other French officers, and immediately received a chorus of approval.

After listening to the advice of these high-ranking officers, Guba immediately went to the chart table, took the instructions bāng, and drew a large arc from the coast of Saigon to Quang Ngi City, which was still under the control of the Vietnamese.

"Since the Chinese have made a provocative move, then we must not turn a blind eye", Gu Phong glanced at the surrounding officers, who immediately straightened their bodies, it seems that the commander is going to choose the commander of this battle to deal with a backward navy of a declining dynasty, which is a low-hanging glory.

"I command! The cruisers Desdan, La Perlouz, and Nielli formed a rapid response xiǎo team, commanded by Captain Gallok of the Desdan armored cruiser, and headed north into the Vietnamese city of Quang Yi, I think, if the Chinese patrol the South China Sea, this is where they must pass! Of course, if they do not appear, then the camera attacks in the broad sense, bī forces the Chinese to come to the back! ”

The three battleships sent by Guba this time are all light cruisers built by France in the past two years, the Destan, La Perlouse, and Nielli are all warships of the same type, and the French La Perlouse-class cruiser has a tonnage of 2,363 tons, and is equipped with 70-110mm steel armor above the overall waterline, equipped with 2mén 200mm, 25 times the diameter breech gun, and the secondary gun is a 1mén 180mm gun, in addition to a 120mm gun 4mén, and a Gatling gun 6mén, The 356mm torpedo has two barrels, a cruising speed of 12 knots, and a maximum speed of 15 knots, which represents the latest industrial achievement in France.

Colonel Gallok received the order with great triumph and excitement, especially in the order to allow an attack on the city of Jiāo Zhichina under suitable circumstances, and in his opinion, it was in line with this condition at any time! This time, no matter what, I will try to attack the city of Jiāo Toshina.

After the order was given, the three officers who received the order rushed to the port to prepare for sailing, while the others dispersed in a hurry, and continued to search for their own life in Saigon, a paradise for the French.

Staff Officer Sean came to the lonely behind the window and suddenly asked, "General, when are we leaving?" ”

Qin Kai's merchant fleet cruised in the South China Sea at a cruising speed of 8 knots, and when he arrived in Haiphong, he immediately found the local Freemasons, and wanted to inquire about when Liu Shen's fleet had passed before, and there was a number of estimates of where they could keep up with this advance team, but the news he found made him break out in a cold sweat - there was no so-called Qing fleet to inspect Haiphong City!

Fortunately, this time Haiphong City did not come in vain, half a day late, Wu Jingui rushed to Haiphong to report back to Mawei about the coal mine, he didn't expect Qin Kai to be in Haiphong City. ,

Hearing the news of this big coal mine, Qin Kai's first thought was to do his best to form a production capacity, this iron ore in Quang Ninh Province must be stored in Zài, since the coal mine is lù noodles, then the iron ore can be far away! However, he immediately began to have a headache with this machine...... Now the Mawei Artillery Bureau is definitely the first-class machine factory in the Qing Dynasty, but it is limited to manpower, and now the production capacity has not been able to go up!

In particular, the lack of senior technicians, coupled with the fact that Qin Kai has spread out a stall, is really not xiǎo, and now every senior technician has been put on the top of a substantive position, forming a complete set of industrial processes from R&D to product line production.

Qin Kai pondered for a while, but he didn't have a plan, and finally he still used the convention and started to be the shopkeeper, "Wu Da shopkeeper, I will write a letter to you to bring this matter to the country, let them arrange it, I only have one request, build the factory within two months, this coal transportation, you go back to Mawei this time, find Hu Changchang, I Jiāo designed and built a warship for inland rivers on his behalf should be completed, it should be able to be converted into an inland river transport ship!" ”

The next day, Wu Jingui boarded a ship that had unloaded the goods and returned to Mawei, and Qin Kai's fleet left Haiphong City without stopping yesterday. Although he doesn't have much affection for Liu Shen, but now that he is fighting against the French for the time being, of course he needs to be unanimous with foreign Luo.

At this time, Qin Kai and the French are worried about Liu Shen's fleet, but they are slowly moving on the sea east of Xisha, this route is absolutely bizarre, if you draw a straight line from Mawei in Fujian to Quang Yi City in Vietnam, this is a straight line from the top right to the bottom left, and the line that Qin Kai is taking now is a large arc along the continental shelf on the left of this straight line.

However, Liu Shen's fleet took a route that was opposite to Qin Kai, and even further east, this route could reach the coast of the Philippines! Because this commander Liu did not know the route of the South China Sea, he specially found a guide who claimed to be a merchant in the South Seas, and the guide proposed two routes, one is the route that Qin Kai is now taking along the continental shelf, and the other is to go out of the horsetail, cross Taiwan all the way down, and after arriving at the sea off the coast of the Philippines, he will turn to direct shipping to Vietnam.

Liu Shen, the commander of the naval division, is really a little embarrassed, it is safer to take the first route, which is convenient for nearby supplies, and the second route, the guide thinks that the probability of encountering the French Navy is the best, after all, the Philippines is still a Spanish colony, although the first generation of the empire on which the sun never sets has declined. In the end, he chose a simple way, rolled the dice to decide, and the ghost made the god choose the second route.

According to the nautical charts drawn along the way, Liu Shen was pondering the next plan, after all, this time the generals came out to inspect the South China Sea, which could not be faked, Ding Richang transferred a letter from Liu Kunyi, the minister of Nanyang, to the king of Vietnam, and specially instructed that he must go to the most frontline cities in Vietnam to inspect in a broad sense, and choose the opportunity to inspect the land of South Vietnam.

This land of Nanyue, Liu Shen is determined not to go, now that there is already the world of the French, if his brain is not funny, he will definitely not go, but Guangyi City is going to go, this time is naturally grasped, otherwise it will collide with the French, and it will definitely not be able to beat, the problem is the speed of his own ship, and it will be a problem to run...... But he overlooked one of the most important problems - his poor seamanship.

When Qin Kai arrived at Hue City, it was already the evening of the eighth day, and he found Xue Chao, who was left behind, the situation in Vietnam was becoming more and more confusing, and he had to be prepared to deal with the situation of war. As for the news about Liu Shen's fleet, there is no information in Hue City, which is the capital of Vietnam, and Liu Shen must come here to deliver Jiāo documents......