Chapter 122 The Launching Ceremony of the New Battleship

On the vast sea, two Chinese warships are cruising at a speed of 8 knots, and the battleship in front is the "Zhennan" gunboat of the Beiyang Naval Division, Deng Shichang is standing on the bridge and is holding a pair of German-made high-powered telescopes to observe the surrounding situation.

The cruising mission in the past few months can be described as very easy for him, a round-trip voyage every four days, which is really a piece of cake for the sailor, but the routine training on the ship, he can not relax at all, the soldiers' artillery practice and combat drills are compulsory every day, but he also knows the combat power of the 11-inch old breech gun on his ship.

He turned the binoculars, followed by the Chengqing warship of the Nanyang Naval Division, through the telescope, the busy training of the soldiers on the opposite ship was very clear, the soldiers were loading a simulated shell into the breech, and then carried out a simulated firing, hurriedly withdrew, and then reloaded! The movements and processes are very mechanical, but they can be seen to be very serious.

And this battleship of the Nanyang Naval Division is a thousand-ton wooden-hulled warship, in fact, there is nothing special, the only special thing is that there are a lot of guns, and there are four or five small-caliber guns with a silhouette of four or five mén guns in front and back.

For this Nanyang Naval Division, which has always been only subordinate to the Great Qing Dynasty, in fact, this batch of pipe belts in Beiyang has the most right to speak, most of them have been apprenticed in this outdated naval division, and even many people have stayed in the Nanyang Naval Division for a period of time, what is the state of the naval division at that time, they know best, Beiyang has also taken over a lot of battleships sent by Mawei over the years, and the strength of the Nanyang Naval Division is also clear, but the two consecutive victories......

During this period of time, Deng Shichang has been thinking about a question, what is the reason why he has seen such a completely reborn Nanyang Naval Division that has made this naval division change so much? Could it be the political envoy of Qin Bu who is always very enthusiastic when he sees him...... However, this Qin Liefeng is confirmed to be not bad, and he seems to have an aura completely different from the officialdom of the Qing Dynasty.

"Lord Deng, I'll be at Mawei Port soon!" The soldiers came to report and woke Deng Shichang from his contemplation.

Deng Shichang sighed, took the telescope and looked at the Mawei Port that was gradually revealed in the distance, during this time he noticed that the gold medal fort and the Changmén fort outside the Mawei port are undergoing artillery transformation, the two forts hold the narrowest part of the main channel of the North Port at the mouth of the Min River, which was called the rapid water mén in ancient times, and the two forts separated by only a hundred zhang are guarded according to the danger, which can be described as unbreakable!

But after entering the berth of Mawei Port, he found that several platforms built on the high slope on the right side of the wharf before his patrol were now revealed to be several medium-sized batteries in a row, and after being linked, they formed a firepower point covering the entire port...... However, in this port, who came up with the idea of building such a ring of forts! Deng Shichang couldn't help but be a little sneering......

After the fleet revetment, the steward was busy negotiating with the officers of the Nanyang Naval Division on the shore about the trivial matters of adding coal and water, while Deng Shichang led his favorite black sè hound to get off the gunboat and walk along the trestle, but soon he heard someone shouting at him from a distance!!

Turning his head to look, it was Lu Zhiyuan, the pipe band of the Chengqing warship, for this alumnus of the eighth phase of the Mawei Academy, Deng Shichang still attaches great importance to it, and has patrolled together many times in the past two months, along the way the Chengqing has shown a very good tactical level and training level, and the training intensity is much stricter than his own requirements! This Lu Zhiyuan is a talent......

Lu Zhiyuan ran over with a team of soldiers and said loudly to Deng Shichang: "Deng Guandao, Lord Qin sent someone to invite you to the shipyard, today is the first steel-hulled battleship in our shipyard to be launched!" Please take a look! ”

This news obviously surprised Deng Shichang, the steel-armored battleship, the "Zhennan" gunboat he is now bringing is also an iron-hulled ship, but the tonnage is less than 600 tons, Liu Buyun has left last month, with a group of sailors, take a British steamer to Armstrong to take over the new warship, which is only a 1300-ton steel-hulled ship, which immediately aroused his interest. ,

"Land pipe belt, I don't know how big the new ship of Mawei Ship Administration is this time?"

"Lord Deng, I don't know the specifics, but I've heard Lord Qin mention it, because it's the first time that we have designed a battleship by ourselves in Mawei, and it should be a battleship of about 1,000 tons!"

Deng Shichang was very surprised, this sounded like the new warship ordered by Beiyang, waved his hand and called his own soldiers, called all the officers on his ship, and went to see the new warship of Mawei Shipbuilding.

The two chatted while walking, and when they were patrolling the sea, most of the jiāo streams on both sides were in the guò flag language, but there was no opportunity to talk deeply, Deng Shichang was an easy-going person, among the entire high-level officers in Beiyang, he was a rare non-Fujian officer except Ding Ruchang, but the relationship with the officers was very harmonious, and he was quite involved in chatting with Lu Zhiyuan at this time.

After a while, their team of men and horses rushed to the Mén entrance of the Mawei shipyard, at this time many soldiers with guns had been arranged outside the shipyard, several people patrolled back and forth in groups, and the guards were heavily guarded.

Lu Zhiyuan naturally knew Song Yunze, and today's posture was the first time he encountered it, so he leaned in and asked, "Yunze, why are you so guarded today?" ”

Song Yunze turned his head and smiled, "Lu Guan, today Governor Ding and Governor Zhang are all coming to observe the launch of this new battleship, which is naturally very grand!"

When I arrived at the shipyard, where was the dock lit up at this time, it looked like a happy event for the people's families, and there were dozens of people standing in the open space outside the dock, which made Deng Shichang a little strange that most of the people here looked like workers in the factory......

He turned his head and asked Lu Zhiyuan, "Lu Guandao, who are these people standing in the open space outside?" Looking at the dress, it doesn't look like a yamén! ”

Lu Zhiyuan laughed, "Lord Deng, you're right, those are the directors of the factories of the Mawei Shipyard and the technicians who built this battleship, and they are all important figures in our Shipyard!" ”

Deng Shichang said thoughtfully, he knows these people, he is also from a poor background, and he naturally has no prejudices about this place, but he is still quite surprised by the employment of Mawei Shipbuilding, you know, even in the Jiangnan Bureau of the pioneer of foreign affairs, the real people in charge are Huai officials who have some experience in foreign affairs, and the positions of those who are really working in the factory are the turn of these workers who are regarded as craftsmen.

At this time, Qin Kai had already greeted him from afar, "Brother Zhengqing is here, please come inside!" ”

"Gale, why is it so grand today!" Deng Shichang asked curiously.

Qin Kai pointed to the more and more workers gathered in the square, "Brother Zhengqing, look at these workers, they are all ordinary people, some of them have been craftsmen since they were enclosing the land to build a factory more than ten years ago, with a salary of one or two per month, working day after day, every iron plate and every rivet of this battleship is made by their hands!" ”

Deng Shichang actually didn't understand that Qin Kai had opened the topic, and when he talked about these workers, he asked with a smile: "Gale Wind, what does this have to do with today's grand launching ceremony?" ”

"Zhengqing, I just want them to understand how important the industry they are engaged in is, and I want to tell them one thing today, the quality of the ship built by the Mawei Shipmaster is related to the fortune of the country! A year ago, we could only make wooden ships, but now we can make these 2 to 4 inch armored ironclad ships, and to be honest, I don't think it's funny! Qin Kai smiled and sighed.

The two walked into the dock side by side, and at this time a solid high platform had been built at the mouth of the dock, and Ding Richang and Zhang Peilun were watching with great interest as the workers removed some of the rigging on the dock, and the hull painted black sè stayed quietly on the dock like a monster with teeth and claws.

Ding Richang took the teacup and looked happily at the ironclad warship that had successfully completed the trial production under his leadership, although Qin Kai had also reported many times, this shell was a 3-inch thin armor, and the inside was lined with a wooden shell, but this was indeed an ironclad ship, I didn't expect that when I was in office, this horsetail shipmaster could make so many achievements.

"Youqiao, if the Mawei Shipyard can make this iron-hulled ship bigger and bigger, those foreigners won't dare to make trouble again. It's still us, and it's still in the Ryukyus! ”,

When it comes to Ryukyu, Zhang Youqiao has aroused the topic, two years ago after the Wa Kingdom announced the establishment of Okinawa Prefecture in Ryukyu, the government and the opposition have also been greatly shaken, that is, he is still a Qingliu cadre, he is naturally the first to fire, fiercely criticized Beiyang's inaction, the old and young in the court are naturally happy to see the powerful Li Zhongtang being bombarded, with the voice of echoing, even the queen mother of the two palaces is silent.

As a result, Li Zhongtang didn't say a word, handed over a copy of the excerpt of the requisition for the ironclad ship, and vowed to reorganize the army and compete with the Japanese state, but he got the excerpt to the military aircraft department to put this matter on the court, and the Beijing division collectively lost its voice, if it is accurate, the power of the Huai army has risen by a few points, if it is not allowed, this has just sung a red face, isn't it a slap in the mouth.

Since then, Zhang Peilun has also cared about this military, but the interlaced lines are like mountains, and he can't understand the truth of the facts in his circle, and it is rumored that the Japanese ironclad battleships are invincible at sea, which is also an imaginary result, and the Qing Dynasty is all wooden warships, so it is not surprising to see that the iron-hulled battleships are a little unclear.

"Lord Ding, I wonder how our ironclad ship made by Mawei wants to be compared to the English warship? Presumably what about the warships of the Japanese Kingdom? Zhang Peilun remembered the problem that had plagued him for a long time.

Ding Richang's eyes rolled, he didn't know anything about this, so he hurriedly got up and called from below: "Gale Wind, Governor Zhang wants to know about the combat power of our new warship Mawei?" ”

Qin Kai was holding a pamphlet and Deng Shichang to explain the xìng of this light cruiser, and when he heard that Zhang Peilun was also interested, he was also stunned, this old Zhang is tinkering with your writing, you don't know anything about military affairs, what are you talking about, but Lao Ding called, naturally it is not good not to give face, climbed onto the stage, bowed and explained.

"Governor Zhang, the combat power of this battleship naturally depends on the artillery, our new ship is 62 meters long, 9.4 meters wide, 4.57 meters draft, normal displacement of 1250 tons, full load displacement of 1450 tons, 4 water-tube boilers, powered by 2 horsetail self-produced three-expansion steam engines, driving the "Huawu I" steam turbine, two-shaft propulsion, after the addition of weapons, it is a moving sea battery, the Japanese battleship that adults care about, in my judgment, we can definitely defeat the current Japanese warships in technology! ”

Qin Kai naturally did not disclose that due to the investment of new boilers, steam turbines, and steam engines, the driving power of this small-tonnage warship reached an astonishing 3000 horsepower, and the expected speed was 18-20 knots, due to the use of a three-expansion steam engine, the huge savings obtained by coal burning, and the cruising speed and endurance were close to 7000 kilometers of the 501 ship, and he also knew that Zhang Peilun didn't care about this information, he cared about who could win.

Zhang Peilun heard the word victory, and his heart moved, now he is already a feudal official, but he has always had no credit that can be taken, and the queen mother in the palace can let herself come out to do her current position, undoubtedly to balance the strength of Beiyang by herself, he looked at Qin Liefeng, who seemed to be quite military and strategic......

This Qin Liefeng is gangless and unfactional, and he thought he was from the Hunan army faction when he first came, but during this time, the people in the Hunan army system did not have real power in Mawei Shipbuilding, but some low-born officials who held the real power here, and the relationship between Ding Richang and Lord Zhongtang and Zuo Dashuai was naturally clear in the court, and it was a rare horn that was exquisite on both sides.

And this Qin Liefeng has not been attached to Beiyang so far, which makes him think more, he has also invested in Qin Kai, and ...... The return is very rich, of course, it doesn't refer to the little things like money, the usual practice of Qin Kai in this regard is undoubtedly the most lucrative, two inspections of Nanyang and the training and protection that is being supervised in Vietnam, which can give him the face of the governor.

He listened to Qin Kai nagging another naval battle term that sounded like a book from heaven, anyway, he already knew the information he needed to know, and he happily praised a few words.

Seeing that the workers gathered outside the dock were almost, Qin Kai got up and asked the two bigwigs to announce the launching ceremony of the hull of the new ship, as Ding Richang made a knife making a gesture, the fixed hull shook violently, and then slowly retreated from the dock, he glanced at Deng Shichang on the side, but saw this man with an easy-going expression on weekdays, but his face was a little self-deprecating at this time.

He just wanted to ask, but the sound was completely covered by the sound of firecrackers set off violently outside, the huge warship hull rubbed against the dock rails, making a harsh sound, slowly retreating into the water, and then stopped steadily on the water, and suddenly the entire dock on both sides immediately came from the overwhelming roar of the workers, indicating that the hull construction had achieved a decisive success. ,

After launching, the workers on the hull of the ship had hurriedly thrown out the cables, and the winch on the outfitting dock quickly fixed the battleship, and then used various timber to resist the hull to prevent collisions. After all, hull outfitting is the most important part of ship construction, and it is also the most chaotic and accident-prone link, so Hu Changchang, who is in charge of the construction of this warship, is carefully directing the workers with the research team.

Deng Shichang looked at Qin Kai, pursed his lips and said with a smile: "Gale Wind, I suddenly regretted it just now, why didn't I work as a pipe band in the Nanyang Navy Division in the first place!" ”

"Brother Zhengqing, with your ability, you can actually show your standing anywhere," Qin Kai replied with a smile, "If I have the opportunity, I am very much looking forward to fighting side by side with Brother Zhengqing!" ”

The two looked at each other and laughed.

Qin Kai convened a meeting of all the core members of Mawei that night, he first announced his next itinerary, and in the next few months, he will soak in Vietnam, where there is a large area of land that needs to be carefully taken care of, the latest news has come, the vanguard of Wu Changqing of the Huai Army has arrived at the Nanguan of Guangxi Town, and is preparing to enter Vietnam.

This Vietnam is our internal territory to earn meritorious deeds, whether it is the Qingzi Army or the Dingzi Army, in my territory, it is up to me to call the shots, but this Wu Changqing is an old man of the Huai Army, naturally he will not buy his own account, he needs to go and arrange it well, thinking of the Qingzi Army, he can't help but think of a person with bad taste, Yuan Datou brother doesn't know what it looks like now......

The equipment of the river juniper and Xian'an silk reeling factories will be entrusted to Xu Guofang, and the production will be completed as much as possible, and the dumping of ready-to-wear clothing in Japan and the sales of féi soap, toothpaste, small hardware, and tobacco will also have to keep up, so that these things do not need to share profits with other foreign companies, and directly Jiāo will be operated by Smith's foreign company, and this piece of industry will let Li Donglai in Shanghai keep an eye on it!

With the gradual opening of the Mawei real yàn room, it has provided a lot of impetus for the innovation of the various R&D groups, but in the end, it has just begun, and there are no special results, Zhang Siqi reported that one group has already produced an aromatic substance in the real yàn, and is in the process of molecular determination of compounds.

In this regard, Qin Kai does not have any timetable, engaging in science is not a race to walk, he hopes to maintain this calm and calm in the Mawei Shi yàn room, but he himself is still very uncalm, and he is very much looking forward to whether he can cultivate a group of young and promising scientific talents, but it seems that a qiē can only be at the cost of time.

On the side of the Artillery Bureau, Qin Kai separately arranged to speed up the processing of mortar shells, in the predictable future land war, artillery is undoubtedly the artifact that dominates the war, but the current situation is that the production capacity of the Artillery Bureau has not been able to go up due to the high processing requirements of mortar shells, and the current inventory of artillery shells is only more than 2,000 rounds, which is a tragic number, you know, this mortar has been equipped with nearly 100mén troops......

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