After completing the ceremony to commemorate the martyrs, Xiao Yonglin was about to start today's sea target training, but a few faint pillars of smoke suddenly appeared on the sea in the distance.

"It looks like a warship." Deputy Captain Li Jinlin held the binoculars and said, "It may be me." ”

Xiao Yonglin turned his head to look at the neatly arranged columns of smoke, the corners of his eyes moved slightly, he turned his head and stared at the wreath floating on the sea, after seeing the wreath sinking into the waves little by little, he ordered in a deep voice: "Dive quickly!" ”

With his order, the deck team was busy quickly, and soon, everything was ready, all the crew members entered the cabin in turn, rushed to their respective posts, and finally Xiao Yonglin, who entered the boat, quickly covered the hatch cover and came to the command cabin.

The "Exocet 9" submarine soon dived to the depth of the periscope, and Xiao Yonglin crouched in front of the periscope, carefully observing the sea surface.

"Is it a warship?" Li Jinlin asked.

"Yes. And it's a big guy I've never seen before. Xiao Yonglin looked at the huge monstrous ship on the sea, sneered, and gave up the periscope to the deputy captain.

Li Jinlin took the periscope and brought his eyes to the camera, and couldn't help but be taken aback.

In front of him was a tall and strange giant battleship.

"Good guy, I estimate that there are almost more than 30,000 tons." Li Jinlin said.

"It's probably a lot more, did you notice, it has six main turrets." Xiao Yonglin snorted coldly, "The firepower is really strong." ”

"I remember that the British seemed to have a monster with a seven-gun turret, but the Germans blew it up at the Battle of Tereland." Li Jinlin's gaze still did not leave the periscope, "I want to surpass Britain and become a sea hegemon." ”

"Give me the booklet."

Xiao Yonglin pointed to a corner and motioned for one of his subordinates to bring the "Atlas of Ships of All Nations" equipped on the boat.

"Six main turrets, two in the bow, two in the stern, one between the two chimneys, and one between the chimneys and the aftermast." Li Jinlin said very tacitly, according to his description, Xiao Yonglin opened the album to the column of "Books" and quickly flipped through it.

Soon, Xiao Yonglin turned to a page of boat drawings and stopped.

"The 'Fuso' class battleship, 34,700 tons, has a total length of 205 meters, a width of 28.65 meters, a draft of 8.7 meters, and 24 oil-coal mixed boilers. The main engine power is 40,000 horsepower, the maximum speed is 23 knots, the endurance is 14 knots 8,000 nautical miles, 12 twin 356 mm 45 times caliber main guns, 16 152 mm 50 times caliber secondary guns, 4 76 mm anti-aircraft guns, 305 mm at the thickest point of the side armor belt, 305 mm in the frontal armor of the turret, 114 mm in the top armor of the turret, 203 mm in the turret armor, 64 mm in deck armor, and 350 mm in the thickest conning tower. ”

"34,700 tons, this may be my largest warship." Li Jinlin turned around and came to Xiao Yonglin's side, looked at the data on the atlas, and said a little strangely, "What do they mean by driving this thing to our door?" ”

"They must be heading to Lushun," Xiao Yonglin's brows gradually tightened, "Find a place to float up and send a report, and report the news to the base and the Admiralty." ”

"General, our correspondent has intercepted an unwired communication, which may have been sent by a Chinese ship."

On the bridge of the battleship "Fuso", the captain of the ship, Rear Admiral Tsuneta Shimauchi, reported to the commander of the combined fleet, Shigetaro Yoshimatsu.

"You mean, there's a reconnaissance ship of the Shina people moving around here?" Shigetaro Yoshimatsu frowned, his gaze quickly swept over the vast sea, "But we didn't find any ships." ”

"I suspect that the submarine in this area is moving." Tsuneta replied, "It is likely that a Shina submarine discovered us. ”

Hearing the word "Shina submarine", Shigetaro Yoshimatsu's face immediately became gloomy.

As for the details of the Battle of Caofeidian, through the unremitting efforts of the intelligence officers, the top brass of the Navy already knew what had caused the most serious losses to the Navy since its founding.

The results of the Battle of Caofeidian proved that the small submarine was enough to destroy the battleship of the Sea Overlord, which cost a huge amount of money, and gave a great shock to the military and political authorities, and some of the generals proposed that the construction of the submarine force of the Navy should be accelerated, and the large-scale submarine battle that took place in the Atlantic Ocean made the military circles realize the tremendous power of submarines, and the Navy of China was a little less contemptuous of the weak Chinese Navy with submarines, and more vigilance and concern.

"You mean that the China Navy already has submarines capable of sailing to the open sea?" Shigetaro Yoshimatsu asked.

"Yes, General." Tsuneta Toriuchi nodded and replied in the affirmative.

"So fast, it is impossible for the backward shipbuilding technology of the Echinans." Shigetaro Yoshimatsu shook his head to himself, as if he was looking for a reason to comfort himself.

"There is no doubt that the industrial technology of the people of China has always been very backward compared to the empire," said Tsuneta Shimauchi, "but it cannot be ruled out that they may go further than we think in some respects." Last time, they received important support from the people of the United States. China is now an important member of the Entente, and it is very possible that the people of China will secretly purchase submarines from the United States and Britain through this favorable opportunity, and it is very possible that the people of China will secretly purchase submarines from the United States and Britain through this favorable opportunity. ”

"What you said makes sense, the rice country is the most dangerous enemy of the empire in the future, and they have always wanted to use the resources and manpower of China to fight against the empire." Shigetaro Yoshimatsu said.

Thinking that this main battleship, which was named after the country name "Fuso" (the battleships were mostly named after the ancient feudal states) and symbolized the status of the world's third largest navy of the Saymoto Navy, might be under the threat of a cunning Chinese submarine, Shigetaro Yoshimatsu's heart couldn't help but feel a chill in his heart.

In 1906, the British battleship "Dreadnought" came out to announce the birth of a new era of naval operations - the "Dreadnought" era, and also greatly aroused a more fierce shipbuilding race around the world, and in 1912, Britain successively completed four new "Orion" class battleships, which suddenly increased the caliber of the main gun from 12 inches (305 mm) to 13.5 inches (343 mm). At the same time, a more reasonable configuration of the five main turrets was adopted, which was placed on the center line of the ship, and the other castes were comparable to the previous "dreadnoughts". The British press and media have described this powerful new battleship as a "super-dreadnought-class," and as a result, the focus of the world's naval competition has once again focused on this "super-dreadnought-class" competition.

The relatively conservative naval authorities have also begun to reflect on this trend, and they have temporarily abandoned "self-reliance" and "working behind closed doors" and have humbly refocused their eyes on Europe. The Navy ordered the world's most powerful battle cruiser "King Kong" from the British Vickers Company at that time, which was larger in hull, more powerful, faster in speed, and more reasonable in design than the "Lion" class, a similar British battle cruiser of the same period. So much so that when the British built the battlecruiser "Tiger", they in turn referred to the design ideas of the "King Kong" class. According to the British-made "King Kong," he copied three other ships of the same type, which raised the level of shipbuilding technology in China to a higher level. At the same time, the construction of "super-dreadnought" battleships by himself naturally became the subsequent goal of the Navy.

The design of the "super dreadnought" ship began in 1910, and the ambitious navy still clung to its long-standing tradition and always set its goal at the number one position in the world. Its original "super dreadnought" battleship was required to be designed as a displacement that exceeded that of any warship in the world, and its speed was higher than that of the usual battleships of other countries. After heated discussions, the main gun design of the "Fuso" class still adopts the same twin turret of the same type as the "King Kong" class, so as to facilitate training, and at the same time, the turret is equipped with all the turrets on the centerline to maximize the broadside firepower.

This kind of battleship in the world's largest "super dreadnought-class" can be said to bring together the highest technology of the Morimoto Navy, and the name "Fuso" that she is known from the name of "Fuso" can be seen from the expectations of the Shomoto military. However, although the shipbuilding industry and design capabilities of Yuben had made considerable progress at that time, it was still very difficult to design and produce the world's highest level of "super dreadnought" ships. In the past, it was still in the imitation stage, but now it is about to start building the world's largest and strongest warship in one fell swoop, so this kind of "great leap forward in building ships" without regard for reality has been ruthlessly punished by reality.

Due to the excessive pursuit of "the world's first firepower", more than half of the entire warship is occupied by the turret, once a salvo is fired at the side with maximum firepower, the gun smoke and air waves generated by the shooting will densely cover the entire warship, and these gun smoke and air waves will naturally bring damage to the superstructure, in addition, there are other troubles, because the rear firing command post is also sandwiched between the No. 4 and No. 5 main turrets, the gun smoke and air waves produced by the shelling will have a fatal impact on the observation of the firing command post. In addition, judging from the ship's main gun armament, the No. 1 and No. 2 turrets and No. 5 and No. 6 turrets were respectively equipped in the front and rear in a "piggyback" layout, while the No. 3 and No. 4 turrets in the middle were installed in the amidships in a state of reading power, and it was difficult to form a powerful gun group in terms of firing command.

In order to build the largest battleship in the world at that time, major factories in the country were expanded, and the "Fuso" was started in 1912 at the Kure Naval Factory. At that time, the construction of 30,000-ton warships in the dockyard was the earliest attempt in the world. More than two years later, in March 1914, the hull of the "Fuso" was basically completed. The Fuso finally joined active service in November 1915, when Britain and Germany conducted an encounter between capital ships on the Dogger Sandbank, and the following year the Battle of Deland was launched on an unprecedented scale, and the results of the Battle of Teland brought various lessons to the world's navies, and it can be said that it brought an earth-shaking impact to the design and construction of warships in the future. The construction of the second ship of the "Fuso" class, the "Yamashiro", began on November 20, 1913 at the Yokosuka Naval Yard, and was launched on November 3, 1915.

Although the "Fuso" class battleships still have defects of one kind or another in terms of design, the "face project" is still a "face project" after all, and the weaknesses and deficiencies of this class of super-dreadnought battleships, which have been greatly anticipated by the people of Japan but have unsatisfactory results, are well known to Shigetaro Yoshimatsu as commander of the Combined Fleet, Tsuneta Shimauchi, who is the captain of the "Fuso," and even some people at the top level of the "Fuso" are very well aware of the weaknesses and deficiencies of this class of super-dreadnought battleships, which have been greatly anticipated by the people of the country but whose results have been unsatisfactory. This is also why, at the repeated strong demands of the British, whose main naval force had been devastated in the Battle of Tsuderean, he only agreed to send "former dreadnought" battleships such as "Katori", "Kashima", and "Ibuki" and the early battle cruiser "Kurama" to appear.

"Order all ships to be on alert! Watch out for enemy submarines! Shigetaro Yoshimatsu ordered loudly.

"Did they find us?"

At this time, in the "Exocet 9" submarine, Li Jinlin, who was lying in front of the periscope, looked at the light ships of the fleet changing formations, and asked with some surprise.

"The wireless telegraph just now made them hear." Xiao Yonglin smiled slightly, "It seems that they are still very afraid of submarines." ”

"I scared us last time." Li Jinlin said with a smile, "What's more, there are also the glorious achievements of German counterparts, so it's no wonder that they are not afraid." ”

"Let's go, let's get out of here." Xiao Yonglin ordered.

"Don't you plan to make a vote and kill this No. 1 ship?" Li Jinlin said with a half-truthful smile.

"Come and say that Fang Chang, don't be in a hurry at this time." Xiao Yonglin took the binoculars, looked at the battleship "Fusang" that was advancing like the stars holding the moon, and sneered.

Li Jinlin issued a series of orders, and as the Chinese submariners were doing their work, the "Exocet 9" submarine flexibly turned its head underwater and headed in the opposite direction of the fleet.

The rays of sunlight shining through the azure sea shone on the sneaking submarine, reflecting the submarine's agile figure, and in the depths of the seabed, the wreckage of a sunken ship was clearly visible.

Nantes, northwest of France.

Groups of German soldiers wearing nails and helmets raised their submachine guns and rifles in their hands, and moved forward with heavy steps, and at their feet, there were everywhere the corpses of the war dead, most of them wearing British uniforms and pan helmets, but the faces of the vast majority of them were Oriental, and only a small part of the corpses could be seen to be white.

A German soldier noticed what appeared to be a red object flashing on the corpse of an officer, and he stopped, came to the corpse, and gently picked up the red object and looked at it.

It was a beautiful Chinese knot with a round square hole in it.

As soon as the German soldier put the Chinese knot in his pocket, a sharp reprimand from a German officer came from behind, and he immediately hurried to follow his companion and staggered forward.

Hearing the German shouts echoing in the air in the distance, Yuan Keding, who was hiding in the farmhouse, almost raised his throat in his heart.

He clutched the golden Browning pistol in his hand (a gift from Lord Kitchener, the British Secretary of State for Defense), looked carefully out of the broken window, and immediately retracted his head when he saw several more German soldiers appear.

Listening to the footsteps of the Germans gradually moving away, Yuan Keding's hanging heart was temporarily relaxed. His body slowly slipped off the wall, and the golden pistol in his hand fell to the ground.

Recalling the night after night when he came to Europe and the terrible encounter he experienced a few days ago, Yuan Keding covered his face with his hands and cried with a whimper.

Now he has become an out-and-out commander of the light pole.

After Paris was captured by the Germans, the Entente [***] team was demoralized for a while and collapsed. The British and French armies were defeated in the face of the fierce German attack. Although the newly arrived Chinese and American troops fought bravely, due to the bloated and unbridled command system of the Entente [***] team, coupled with the unique arrogance of the British and French and the prejudice against the Orientals, although the Chinese and American troops won a certain victory, they could not play a role in turning the tide of the overall situation. Due to the blind retreat of the British and French troops, the Chinese and American armies, which were relatively strong in combat, became the focus of the German attack.

After the fall of Paris, the Chinese [***] team withstood the German attack under the command of Chen Eun and temporarily stabilized its position, but the news of the "riots" in southern China came and had a rather adverse impact on the officers and soldiers of the Chinese expeditionary army far from home, and Yuan Shikai, who was not clear about the war situation in Europe, ordered Chen Eun to return to China to command the counterinsurgency, and Wang Shizhen commanded the Chinese expeditionary force to fight. This decision exacerbated the disadvantage of the Chinese expeditionary force.

Soon after Chen Eun left, due to his advanced age, Wang Shizhen died of illness in the army. Yuan Keding, who was nominally the supreme commander of the Chinese Expeditionary Force, panicked for a while, because he didn't know anything about commanding the army to fight (he was originally here to gild and go through the motions), in addition to ordering "the whole army to defend the position", he could only send a telegram to the emperor's father to allow him to "resign and return to the country", asking his father to "choose another merit and come to France to unify the army", Yuan Shikai of course understood that his son was not the material to lead the army at all, so he agreed to Yuan Keding's resignation, and the Jiangsu general "Xuanwu General" Feng Guozhang succeeded him in commanding the Chinese Expeditionary Force.

But what Yuan Keding didn't expect was that Feng Guozhang never left after receiving the order.

(To be continued)