Dagukou can only moor ships of more than 2,000 tons at most, and the Haitian-class patrol will definitely not be able to drive in, but standing on the Dagukou fort and looking from a distance, it is not difficult to identify what type of steel giants are cruising on the sea.

The strength of the Haitian-class patrol has been fully proven in the naval battle of Jianghua Bay, and even the British have to admit that she is the most powerful armored cruiser in the world

Li Hongzhang was so shocked that he almost stumbled and fell to the ground, he refused Li Hui's support, and asked eagerly, "How can there be so many Haitian-class patrol ships?" ”

"Actually, it's not all here, the current Ocean Fleet has a total of six Haitian-class patrols. Well, the Beiyang Navy has been merged with our fleet, and I have organized it into two fleets, the Ocean Fleet and the Coastal Defense Fleet, with Liu Zixiang and Deng Zhengqing as the commanders of the fleet, that is, the Admiral", Li Hui's addition made Li Hongzhang more and more shocked, so that he opened his mouth wide, but he didn't know what to say for a while.

And Li Hui's next words made Li Hongzhang even more like a dream, "In addition to the current six, our base still has six under construction, and by next year, our navy will have a full 12 Haitian-class armored cruisers, at that time, even if the Western powers unite, don't want to invade our sea frontier!" ”

"Is it true that China will have 12 10,000-ton giant ships, 12 ships?" , Li Hongzhang held on to the outer wall of the fort with one hand, staring at the giant ships on the sea, and his eyes were full of tears

Seeing this, Li Hui couldn't help but sigh slightly, although Lao Li's operation of coastal defense was also mixed with selfishness, but in his heart he still hoped that China could have a strong navy, and he did spend a lot of effort for this goal

After comforting Lao Li for a few words, Li Hui thought silently, "Maybe I'm too harsh on them, due to the limitations of the times and classes, it is indeed difficult for them to make different choices." As long as I am no longer my enemy, and I don't violate the law of the country in the future, let the previous things aside! ”

Although the Chinese historiography in later generations adhered to the basic view that Chinese civilization had taken the wrong path since the middle and late Western Han Dynasty, and it was getting more and more deviated, resulting in the development of science and technology becoming slower and slower, and finally being overtaken by the West, for specific historical figures, as long as they did not play a key role in promoting the process and left a legacy to future generations, they can generally still get a more fair evaluation, as long as he can do far better than his peers of the same era, he still deserves to be "outstanding". Or even a "great" evaluation

After a short period of distraction, Li Hui talked to Lao Li again, "The twelve Haitian-class patrols are indeed very powerful, but the personnel required will be much more than now, if it is all supplemented by recruiting new recruits, the quality of personnel will decline too quickly, and the naval training cycle is long, I am afraid it will take a long time to fully form combat effectiveness." ”

"So you thought of the other two sailors? Also, although the quality of the personnel of the Nanyang and Guangdong sailors cannot be compared with the Beiyang, but they are much stronger than the recruits, as long as they are trained strictly, they can fully form combat effectiveness in half a year at most, no wonder you want the old man to write a letter to the eldest brother, it turns out that he is worried about the Guangdong sailors! Li Hongzhang suddenly came to his senses, and then expressed his concern about the body of the eldest brother Li Hanzhang, "Alas, the eldest brother originally planned to beg for bones, and he couldn't imagine how difficult it was for the country to get out, first the Japanese went to war, and then it was you, and I don't know if the eldest brother's body can still hold up."

Speaking of this, Li Hongzhang suddenly remembered something, and asked Li Hui with a serious face, "You guys are making trouble, but the Japanese people have profited, if this leads to the defeat of the front line, the loss of Fengtian, and even the entire Manchuria, Dongyang, you will be infamous as a disaster country?" I don't know if there is a solution? ”

"I have long seen the weakness of the Qing army, if it weren't for the fear that the Japanese would be profitable, I would have rebelled a year ago, and now that the Japanese navy is completely wiped out, how much threat can I have if I rely on a division that has been cut off from supplies and maintained by all captures?" , Li Hui replied contemptuously, seeing that Lao Li's brows were locked tighter, he explained to him with a smile, "The reason why the Japanese Third Division was able to fight all the way to Mukden was, in the final analysis, because the Qing army was too unbeatable and collapsed without a fight, and gave a large amount of baggage to the Japanese. My army isn't that wasteful. It is not appropriate to boast about Haikou without fighting at this time, but one thing I can guarantee is that at least even if my army loses, it will resolutely destroy weapons and burn supplies so that it does not fall into the hands of the enemy. In fact, as long as this can be done, no matter how strong the combat effectiveness of the Japanese army is, there is only one way to die, and it is all maintained by capture, after all, it is not the right way."

Thinking of the devastating performance of the rebel army when it captured Tianjin and the strict military discipline that did not commit any crimes in the autumn after entering Tianjin, Li Hongzhang felt a little relieved, but he immediately remembered something and asked urgently, "By the way, how is Lushun now?" If Lushun fell into the hands of the Japanese, and there were enough supplies stored there for them to use for more than a year, it would be troublesome! Moreover, this one ship repair base in the north can repair Haitian and Dingzhen, and if it is lost, even at sea, there may not be no possibility of the situation being reversed, and who knows if the Japanese government will buy a large number of warships? You have offended the Great Powers now, and don't expect them to remain strictly neutral."

"Don't worry, how could I not have imagined this? Although a large-scale landing operation requires a relatively long preparation time, the vanguard will be in place tomorrow, although there is only one regiment of 2,000 men, as long as the Jinzhou Isthmus is jammed, with their weapons and equipment, even if the Japanese army and the Qing army attack on both sides, it will be enough to hold out until the large force takes Lushun. Li Hui replied with a confident smile, and at the same time persuaded Lao Li again by the way, "Of course, if you are willing to write a letter to persuade the Lushun defenders to surrender, our large army can go ashore directly at Lushun Port, saving at least a week's time, then it is even more winning, there is nothing to worry about."

Although Li Hongzhang had not yet made up his mind to "rebel", he did not want Lushun to fall into the hands of the Japanese, so he came up with a workaround, "Now that the telegram from Lushun to Tianjin has been interrupted, you can have someone pretend to be my envoy to pass the order, and take down the guards who came to greet him on the spot, and Lushun can overcome without a fight" (to be continued). )