"British merchant ships?" Xu Shoushan was also very surprised, yesterday's intelligence was clear, the entire fleet was French ships, how could two British ships appear inexplicably today, but now in this situation, how can there be any accidents, he slapped the table, "All of them are caught, all the ships are transported to Sulu Quezon Port, clean up the battlefield, be sure not to leave a mouth"

An hour later, calm had regained on the island, and there was no sign of the fierce artillery battles and large-scale naval interceptions that had preceded the heavy artillery battles and large-scale naval interceptions that had preceded the island, except for the occasional remnants of the ship, and the French fleet that had departed from the port of Singapore early this morning...... It's as if it's evaporated from the world.

The news of the disappearance of the French flotilla did not come to the attention of Rear Admiral Miller, commander of the French Far Eastern Fleet in Cochinchina, Saigon, until six days later, when the Singapore consulate had sent a telegram confirming that the flotilla, which was transporting large quantities of military supplies and supplies, had passed through the area on 7 October.

It was now October 13th, and even if it was to climb from Singapore, it should have climbed to Saigon a long time ago, and the fleet sent out to patrol had never encountered the fleet at all, and even several British merchant ships that had already arrived at the port of Saigon left Singapore later than the fleet...... The only explanation, apparently, is that something happened to the fleet

Thinking of the recent disappearances of French merchant ships north of Singapore, Rear Admiral Miller immediately realized that this could not be caused by coincidence or natural causes, and that it would be absolutely brainless bastards to put the blame on pirates...... Even if it encounters the warship of the Nanyang Naval Division, it may not fall behind, and it is a new type of warship that the Republic has just launched this year

When he brought Colonel Sean, a staff officer of the fleet, to discuss the matter, the 50-year-old French man's first reaction was that the fleet must have been wiped out by the Chinese

Sean's theory is also very simple, in the six months before the war with the Chinese, there were only two French merchant ship shipwrecks, and in the end they were confirmed to be accidental shipwrecks of the ship, and since the war with the Chinese began in August, the disappearance of this ship has been a continuous occurrence, and this time such a shocking incident broke out

Colonel Sean's suggestion was to immediately send an investigation fleet to the vicinity of the most likely island of Puluo to investigate, and at the same time send a note to the British, use diplomatic relations to ask them to assist in the investigation, and be sure to find out the truth behind the scenes, and to take effective countermeasures, and never beat people in the back as they are now.

At the same time, a fleet should be sent to immediately escort the French fleet from Singapore to the port of Cochinchina to ensure the safety of military supplies...... Before Miller could make up his mind, the information on the missing fleet sent from Governor Lu Mei directly made Miller almost angry

The missing fleet transported almost all the military supplies of the war in North Vietnam in Cochinchina, among which the two largest **** were 8,000 M1878 rear-loading rifles, 30 field artillery pieces of various types, nearly 5,000 shells, and important materials such as medicines, bullets, tents, and military uniforms that were most demanded on the front line.

And now, such a large fleet has disappeared inexplicably in the seas of Southeast Asia, although there are no valuable clues so far, but there is definitely a very suspicious object, Major General Miller looked at Staff Officer Sean, the old French man's guess coincided with him.

However, speculation in a diplomatic sense was completely useless, and now he could not even produce a little evidence to support his conjecture, but this was not at all a reason to prevent him from acting, and he came to the chart to examine it carefully, and Puluo Island was just a few sesame seeds on the sea.

The route from Puluo Island to Saigon to the north is more than 1,300 kilometers, and 600 kilometers to the east is the headquarters of the British Borneo Company, and 200 kilometers to the north is also the British Straits Settlements, and if they attack French merchant ships here, they will inevitably have a stronghold around, and their imaginary enemy Chinese will naturally not be able to detour 5,600 kilometers from Guangzhou to make such an attack.

In fact, this is not a one-time attack, there have been four so far, and there must be some clues in the surrounding portsHe exchanged views with Colonel Sean, and immediately decided to send a fleet to cruise the Saigon-Singapore route while waiting for an opportunity to investigate the disappearance.

On October 15th, a seemingly ordinary telegram was sent to the Mawei shipping branch in Olongapo, and then forwarded to Guangzhou again, the content was completely some very boring topics, and it was in English, "Uncle will leave today, accompanied by your three cousins and two cousins".

Soon this telegram was forwarded to Guangzhou as it was, and when Qin Kai got this telegram, this telegram had been translated into the following content, "On October 15, the French fleet sailed to Singapore, and the fleet was formed, 1 heavy ironclad ship, 3 armored cruisers, and 2 iron-wakil wood-hulled cruisers"

Qin Kai smiled slightly, Xu Yushan's movements in the South China Sea were really a big deal, the original plan was that after the Guangzhou fleet knocked out some French merchant ships and warships in the vicinity of Singapore, it would create signs of rampant piracy, and take the opportunity to attract the attraction of the Vietnamese and French Far East fleets, and find an opportunity to destroy some of the combat power of the French fleet.

I didn't expect to encounter such a large French fleet, and there is also a new French armored cruiser, Xu Shoushan naturally won't let the fat in his mouth slip away, of course, he was entangled in almost all the strength to make such a big vote in Puluo, but this also completely disrupted the plan later.

After such a stirring, now the Guangzhou fleet is trying to conceal its strength, it is obviously not a very easy thing, Qin Kai except for sending a telegram to Olongapo to remind Xu Shoushan, he did not make a directive decision, since Xu Shoushan has an appetite, he naturally raised his hands in favor, only by beating the French in pain, can the French in Saigon be mobilized.

In fact, the French did move, and the fleet of six warships, which was already a third of the size of the French Far East Fleet, fell into deep thought before he came to the chart with a telegram.

His meddling in the Vietnam War situation has made history quietly changing, and it is indeed changing, and his careful arrangement in accordance with the course of history with the benefit of hindsight now seems to be suspected of being played by history.

The news that came back from the front lines in Hanoi and Yong'an, except for the fall of Shanxi, where he withdrew Liu Yongfu, the director of the Wuxie Liu Yongfu, in order to preserve his strength, had undergone strange changes in other aspects.

After Wu Changqing settled in Hanoi, he vigorously and resolutely controlled several Vietnamese officials who were eye-to-eye with the French, and from some other officials who were close to the protection **, Wu Changqing had completely incorporated the Vietnamese indigenous soldiers and horses in the city, and these soldiers and horses were incorporated into the Qingzi Army as a supplementary force for the people, after all, these people were more powerful than the Vietnamese people.

In addition, He Bang, the commander of the Gui army, was invited by Wu Changqing to drink wine, and after returning, the Gui army also played with his life and began to build a position in the west of the city.

Facing the pressure of the most powerful Huai army in the Qing Dynasty, He Bang's original idea of fighting and running was completely blocked, after all, the commander of the war on the Eastern Front was Wu Changqing, and if he really killed the generals before the battle, no one could stop him.

And the soldiers and horses of Wu Kui of the Guangdong army stationed at the south gate, Wu Changqing personally led people to send just 2,000 new fast guns, which can be regarded as an affirmation of the Guangdong army's previous performance in the battle.

And Zhou Ruidong is now also in a certain passivity because of Wu Changqing's order, five days ago, Wu Changqing sent someone to send a general order, drop the protection ** to reinforce Hanoi, after all, the command of the entire eastern front of North Vietnam still nominally belongs to Wu Changqing, for this order, only choose to accept, and it is impossible to refuse.

Zhou Ruidong did not mobilize Liu Yongfu's troops, who had been fully defended in Luerzhuang, but urgently ordered Liang Gang's three battalions of 700 people to cross the Red River, build fortifications near the fort built by the Qingzi Army on the east bank of the river, and put it into defense, after all, as long as the fort was held, the French could not cross Hanoi to further threaten the downstream, which was also in line with the instructor's grand strategy.

And the first support army appeared in the Zhiling Fortress just a few days ago, and Zhou Ruidong also showed a rare smile to greet the second assistant general Zhang Kui, who had not met for more than half a year, but Zhang Kui did look more and more white-faced.

He was also wearing a set of strange clothes, if someone saw it, they would definitely think that this dress was similar to the military uniform during the Liberation War.

"Zhang Kui, the teacher sent you to train in coastal defense, but he didn't let you recuperate over there, look at your appearance, it doesn't look like you practice every day" Zhou Ruidong seriously raised his question, Zhang Kui, who wore this thing, if you want to use any words to describe it, the appearance of a dog is undoubtedly the most appropriate. ,

Zhang Kui laughed, completely disdainful and discerning, for his best friend, the relationship between brothers does not need to be maintained with hypocrisy, "Che Ruidon, don't be jealous of me, don't look at you in the academy It's a super cool brother, but we're famous for not tanning, hey...... I can't help it."

"You kid, you are still this stinky virtue" Zhou Ruidong laughed, and the two walked side by side into the huge fortress on the bank of the river.

Climb the cannon bunker erected on the top of the mountain, the place where the Qiujiang, Qingjiang and Taiping rivers meet, the river is open, and the heavy artillery of the Zhiling Fortress is pointed straight ahead, in the past year or so, a three-dimensional firepower of up to 40 cannons has been built on the high and low gun positions here, so to speak, any enemy who intends to pass through from the fortress needs to get the approval of these cannonballs, otherwise it is absolutely impossible.

"Ruidong, how did you build such a big guy, it's so damn amazing, how did these big guys get to such a high place, and they also installed equipment that can turn a large corner"

Zhou Ruidong smiled slightly, and didn't mean to answer Zhang Kui's boring questions at all, just pointed to the left front, south of the Taiping River, "The battle situation in Hanoi is still very delicate, the Qingzi Army is much stronger than the Dingzi Army we beat last time, and there is still some time to divide the victory and defeat, when do you think the decisive battle will be held?" ”

Zhang Kui flipped through the battle report sent from Hanoi with a pile of guns in his hand, the battle between the two sides has not shown any signs of truce, every day both sides are repeatedly impacting each other's fortifications, the main position of the Qingzi Army in the center of the north of the city has been repeatedly contested many times, but from the battle situation, in addition to the Qingzi Army position can be repeatedly contested, the Gui Army and the Guangdong Army positions on both sides have been occupied by the French army in many places.

The news sent back by the front-line intelligence officials judged that the main thing was that after the Qingzi Army changed its outfit, more than 9 percent of the army was equipped with rifles, and there were also heavy weapons such as Green guns, and the Gui Army also had nearly forty percent of the firearms equipment, but what was puzzling was that the commander of the Gui Army and the governor of Guangxi, Lord Xu Yanxu, discovered a battle secret with his shrewd imagination and put it into practice very intelligently.

After observing the weapons of the French army and the Qing army, he very wisely asserted that the French rear-loading single-shot rifles had small projectiles and poor power, while the Chinese-style home-made weapons "lifting the gun" that only existed in the Qing army just restrained the French, and the French could only fire one projectile with one shot, while the lifting of the gun could fire dozens of lead pellets, which was completely effective in the form of one as ten.

So before the war, he purchased all kinds of domestically made zuò guns in large quantities, the Gui army had 500 people per battalion, and was equipped with less than 100 front-loading rifles, in addition to the same number of old men such as bird guns, but he was equipped with 50 guns, this thing fiddled with four or five people, and the fight was even more earth-shattering, but this power, accuracy and his movements were simply not worth mentioning, and this consecutive defeat was also excusable, and it was really an unlucky job to have such a big man who commanded remotely 500 miles away.

Zhang Kui looked at it for a while before smashing it and smashing his mouth, and muttered, "Ruidong, I feel very fast, when I came out, the teacher sent a telegram, Xu Shoushan and Lu Han went out, they must have some big action, although I can't think of the specific content, but I believe that soon, the French will soon scream."

Speaking of this, Zhang Kui shook his head, thoughtful and then laughed again, "What are we talking about about this, I always feel full of confidence, and I don't know why."

The two looked at each other, both smiled and said nothing, it is true, although the time to protect the ** army is not long, but it is completely different from the training of this era, strict military discipline, those weapons that are completely proud of the opponent, and these united core groups make them extremely firm in their steps, and follow the teacher to go on, always able to hold unexpected hole cards in their hands, which feels too good

In the dark night, on the South China Sea, a fleet sailed quietly in the moonlight, their masts did not fly any flags, and they were always in silent sailing along the way, except for quietly entering Subic Bay for a little replenishment.

Lu Han stood in the bridge, quietly looking at the bright moon on the sea in the distance, and several officers behind him were nervously surveying and mapping the map, whenever any reference sign appeared, they immediately corrected the error, they had to strictly calculate the itinerary, and rush to the planned place at the planned time. ,

An officer came to Lu Han's side and calmly reported: "General, the 601 ship in front has sent a light signal, and it has been connected with the people from the Intelligence Department."

"Oh, are the French moving?"

"When the intelligence department came out in the afternoon, they observed that 6 targets were in the harbor, in addition to 4 backup targets"

"Very good, let's go, let's go and march for these brothers" Lu Han nodded, and took the lead out of the bridge with a calm face, the sea was calm tonight, but at this time, every officer who followed Lu Han could not calm down at all, after a year, they came to the largest French stronghold in the Far East again

The "Tianfang" merchant ship is a new 1,600-ton cargo ship purchased by the Mawei Shipping Company at the end of last year......

The cabin was already in full swing at this time, a group of soldiers dressed in black rubber clothes and carrying an iron cylinder were making the final mobilization, and a burly man was checking them one by one, straightening their equipment from time to time.

He is Miao Feng, an officer from the Nanyang Naval Division, and the commander of this 40-person frogman team, the four or five oil lamps in the cabin are brightly lit, but in a few minutes, he has completed the inspection, and immediately gave a quick order, "1 group, Liu Shao"

"To," the officer below, who was not tall, seemed to have some horizontal development, and replied loudly.

"Your group is an outpost, be sure to complete the clearance tasks that may need to be carried out to promote the SL-1 heavy underwater bomb, the target camera is determined, the ironclad ship is preferred, and the preparations will be completed within 20 minutes after the dispersal attack"

"Understood" Liu Shao snapped a military salute and took the order.

"Group 2, Wang Han"

"To," the tall, slender, dark-skinned man with a somewhat bookish demeanor immediately replied loudly.

"Your second detachment, advance SL-III light underwater charges, responsible for attacking the cruiser, depending on the target camera"

"Understood"

“……”

The order was issued in an orderly manner, and as soon as the hatch opened, Lu Han walked in, he did not interrupt Miao Feng's topic, and made a gesture to signal Miao Feng to continue, and he silently looked at these soldiers in this strange appearance beside him.

This soldier is from the Marine Corps of the Nanyang Naval Division, all of whom are good soldiers with combat experience, with excellent physical fitness and excellent qualifications, and have quietly trained in the base for nearly 4 months, and the Mawei Artillery Bureau has also specially made a batch of bombs for frogman soldiers.

In order to envisage this battle, they conducted no less than 20 exercises in Mawei Port, taking into account almost every conceivable special situation, and constantly improving their combat quality during the exercise, because this is a new combat arm that has not even been mentioned in books, and they can only improve their combat strength through self-training

Tonight, it's time to show your hole cards...... Thinking of this, the corners of Lu Han's mouth rose slightly, and a thought flashed in his heart

How will the French react?

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