The important event of the day was the commander's "press conference of orders". Pen | fun | pavilion www. ｂｉｑｕｇｅ。 Info summoned by the herald they assembled in the commander's compartment and were seen with him and the lieutenant wearing large-brimmed hats and carrying full gear. The first thing he said was, "This is the order press conference." I want you to be fully equipped when you participate. We happened to be on the train, but that fact doesn't matter. Kondrachenko thought he was going to send them back and get dressed again, but he stared at them for a moment and said, "Sit down." ”

"We put the camp in a very undignified situation. Everywhere I went, I saw that the officers were not doing their duty. The appearance of the abandoned camp is the best indication of the efficiency of the regimental officers. The honor of the battalion and the officers of the battalion rests on this. And—"Did he really say what was going on, or did Kondrachenko guess it from his angry tone and eyes?"

Kondrachenko thought, he swallowed the words and did not say them - "I don't want the looseness of a couple of temporary officers to ruin my honor." ”

Everyone sat there, notebooks and pencils in hand, waiting to write down detailed instructions for the next step. A more sensitive person will see that he can no longer impress; He may have seen this, adding, "All I ask for is a spirit of loyal cooperation." ”

Then, looking at his notebook, he read:

"Command."

"Intelligence: There are indications that the British Navy will invade the Baltic Sea, and the headquarters will join the coastal defense forces. The headquarters is currently operating between Site 012 and Site 054. This is the main line of the 063 site, vulnerable to artillery shelling of enemy ships and landing forces. ”

"Intent: I'm going to get to 054 location."

"Method: The train arrives at its destination at about 21:15......" and so on.

Hearing these words read by the commander, the hearts of Kondrachenko and everyone couldn't help but sink.

No one expected that the Russian espionage case triggered by the Irish assassination envoy would trigger such a big incident.

Kondrachenko has been paying close attention to the news and the progress of events in London, the latest news is that the Metropolitan Police has cracked the Russian intelligence network in London and captured a large number of spies, because there are Russian legation personnel involved, Britain asked for a search of the Russian legation, which of course angered the Russian side, and the Russian minister Ramsdorf claimed that if the British side forcibly searched the Russian legation, it would be "a serious violation of the dignity of the Russian Empire", and he would return home and sever diplomatic relations with Britain. Under Ramsdorf's threats, the British government, out of prudence, did not immediately search the Russian legation, but only blocked and monitored the embassy. Later, the captured spy confessed, and the Russian military attache in London, Colonel Pavlov, was involved in the espionage activities, and the British side immediately demanded that the Russian legation hand over Pavlov, but the Russian side first refused the British's request, and then claimed that Colonel Pavlov and his wife Vallenia had disappeared and were not in the embassy at present. While the two sides were negotiating tensely, Pavlov's secret residence hiding in the suburbs of London was discovered, and the British police immediately went to arrest him, and Pavlov shot and resisted arrest, only to be killed. Later, Pavlov's wife, Valenlia, broke into the residence of Lin Yiqing, the envoy of the Qianguo, and left after making a fuss, killing a man in a park and committing suicide.

Because the British police found a large amount of his stolen property in Pavlov's residence, including a large number of valuable and precious works of art collected by the Dunlop Councillors, indicating that Pavlov also played the role of a thief during his tenure as a military attaché, the British side used this as a reason to forcibly search the Russian Legation, and seized a large number of maps, letters and documents in Pavlov's room, showing that Pavlov was indeed carrying out espionage operations against Britain, and in the face of these evidences, the Russian Minister Ramsdorf resolutely refused to admit it, Claiming that it was "a terrible British planting of Russia", in order to protest the actions of the British to search the embassy, Ramsdorf announced the closure of the embassy and the flag was broken, and the British side was completely enraged and announced that the British Home Fleet and the Channel Fleet were in a state of readiness.

And the order just announced by the commander indicates that war is imminent.

In the order just now, the vital point appeared under the "logistics" announced at the end: the Third Company had a platoon of men to unload the trains when they reached the siding, where some wagons were carrying all the supplies to the temporary storage area of the new camp. They will work until they complete their tasks; A platoon of men was also drawn to guard the gathering place and keep watch around the camp.

"Any questions?"

"Can we hand out tea to the people on duty?"

"No, you can't. Still have questions? ”

When Kondrachenko conveyed this order to the sergeant major, he said: "Poor old third company is unlucky again. Kondrachenko understood that he was punishing him for opposing the commander.

Kondrachenko conveyed the commander's orders to several platoon commanders.

"Hey," said Oleg, "this errand is very difficult for our boys, and they will lose their temper." He always seems to send us to do the dirty work. ”

"You're on guard."

"Okay. But how can I see the cordon around me in the dark? ”

Soon after the light control began, a soldier walked down the train body in a sullen manner, and the rattling sound he made alarmed us. An experienced sergeant shouted, "It's time for the second course." ”

"If the enemy ships go to the sea, they will see the lights," Kondrachenko said to the group, "and make sure to close all the windows." He then wrote a concise situation report explaining the state of work without delay. It seems that the commander was satisfied with the report, because he said nothing more. After dark, everyone went to sleep.

Finally, in the middle of the night, the troops arrived at the railway siding to which they were going. Their training for safe combat operations requires avoiding stations and platforms. In the dark, jumping from a moving train to a slag-covered track caused chaos and loss.

"Meet on the way to the bottom of the railway embankment. Captain Kondrachenko, the actions of the third company slowly swallowed as usual. ”

"Yes, sir. It's just that we had some difficulty getting out of the car. ”

"What's wrong?"

"The soldiers can't see the road, sir."

"Oh, I'm sure you guys should be very serious. Leave the lights out and get moving. ”

By this time, Kondrachenko's half-asleep, exasperated soldiers were lining up on the main road. After a while Oleg's platoon set off and disappeared in the darkness. Kondrachenko saw several wagons, and soldiers lined up to deliver supplies from the steep embankment to the embankment one by one. Now, when soldiers find themselves doing a purposeful job, they become more cheerful. Initially, Kondrachenko passed things with them for half an hour; Then he stopped to meet the deputy company commander who was sitting in the carriage that drove back first.

"The camp was nice," he reported, "a very large stretch of private house with two or three lakes." It seems that if we are lucky, we can catch a few mallards. There is a hotel in the village, a post office. There are no towns within a few miles. I've managed to get a cabin for both of us. ”

At four o'clock in the morning, the transport work ended. Kondrachenko rode the last carriage through the winding country lanes, the drooping branches of which often whipped the roof of the carriage, and in some places they left the trail and drove onto the carriageway in the private house, and in other places they drove to the open field where the two carriages met, and a string of windproof lamps marked the place where a pile of supplies had been placed. Here they unloaded the car and finally followed the guide to the camp, there was not a single star in the sky, and the drizzle began to fall.

Kondrachenko slept until the orderlies woke him up. He got up tired, silently dressed and shaved his face. Kondrachenko walked to the door and asked the deputy company commander, "What is the name of this place?" ”

He told Kondrachenko the name of the place. Immediately, as if someone had suddenly closed the door, the sound that had been ringing incessantly and stupidly in his ears for so many days was suddenly interrupted; Then there was a great silence, at first empty, but as Kondrachenko's wounded senses regained consciousness, his ears gradually filled his ears with many sweet, innocent, long-forgotten voices: for the deputy company commander uttered a place name so familiar to Kondrachenko, a magical name with ancient and profound magic, and as soon as he heard it, the shadows of the years began to flutter before Kondrachenko's eyes.

Kondrachenko stood dumbfounded outside the hut. The rain stopped, but the clouds were thick and low overhead. It was a silent morning, and the smoke from the kitchen rose straight into the leaden sky. A large driveway, originally paved with gravel and then overgrown with grass, is now rutted and muddy. This large lane stretches along the hillside, and you can't see it when you go down the hill. The road was littered with small houses, from which came bursts of gratling, human voices, whistles, and boos, and a battalion of soldiers began their day, making noises like in a zoo. A more familiar, exquisite landscape of gardens unfolded in front of and around them. It's a secluded place, in the middle of a solitary, winding valley. Their camp was stationed on the gentle slopes of the hills. Opposite, the unenchanting wilderness stretched all the way to the nearby horizon. In the middle of it flowed a small stream, called the Moon River, which ran from a farm called Moon Springs less than two miles away, where they used to go for tea; The stream flows downwards and becomes a great river before it flows into the sea. The river is barred by a sluice here, forming three lakes, one of which is nothing more than a blue-gray reed, but the other two are much wider, reflecting the clouds and the sky and the huge beech trees around the lake. The trees are full of oak and beech trees, the oak trees are gray and bare, and the beech trees are slightly green because they have just budded buds; These trees, along with the green glades and open green meadows, form a simple, elaborate pattern – do yellow-bottomed white-spotted fawns still graze here? Lest there is no place for purpose, an old church stands at the water's edge, and an ivy-covered arch rests at the bottom of the connected weir. All of this was designed and built a century and a half ago, so that people can enjoy the richness of the scenery today. A green mountain blocked Kondrachenko's view from the houses on the other side of the mountain, but he knew very well the location and shape of the houses, which were lying among the trees, like a hind crouching in the sheep's tooth grass.

Oleg came sideways and saluted Kondrachenko in a way that he had mostly learned, but others had not. His face looked a little gray because the guards had stayed up all night, and he hadn't shaved his face yet.

"The second connection did it for us. I've sent the lads to take a shower. ”

"Okay."

"The house is just around the corner over there."

"Got it." Kondrachenko said.

"The brigade headquarters is going to be moved. This place is big enough to be a barracks. I just scouted. I think it's gorgeous. Oddly enough, there is also a church. I went in and looked, and it was going to worship – there was only a priest and an old man, and I was very embarrassed. You are more religious than I am. Perhaps he saw that Kondrachenko did not seem to heed him, and in order to make a last effort to arouse Kondrachenko's interest, he said: "There is also a very large fountain in front of the steps, which is entirely made of rock-carved animals. You must not have seen a fountain like this. ”

"Yes, Oleg. I've been here before. ”

These words echoed in Kondrachenko's ears, even louder due to the dome of the house where he lived.

"Oh well, you know all this. I'm going to wash. ”

He'd been there before, and he knew everything there.

"I've been here," Kondrachenko said. He'd been there before; More than ten years ago, on a clear and cloudless day in June, he went there with Sebastian for the first time, when the ditch was covered with pale yellow velvet chrysanthemum, and the air was full of summer aromas, and it was a particularly sunny day; Although he often went there and felt different each time, it was his first visit that he remembered when he revisited the old place for the last time.

On that day, he also came here aimlessly. It was a boat race here. That place is now sunk, forgotten, and irretrievable; The sea quickly submerged it, and at that time it was still a small town with intricately carved carvings. In her empty, quiet streets, people walked and talked as if they were in the Golden Age; Her autumn mist, her gray spring, her rare summer splendour—as it did that day—when the chestnut trees bloomed, and the bells fluttered clearly high over the gables and cupolas, giving off the soft scent of centuries of youth. It is this silence that makes their loud laughter echo, and makes the echoes flutter quietly and joyfully in the midst of the noise. During the rowing race, a group of women, numbering in the hundreds, came in a row, chattering and walking on the cobblestone road, climbing many steps, sightseeing, merrymaking, drinking glasses of red wine, eating bread and pickled cucumbers; Propping up the square-headed flat-bottomed boat around the river, hugging the yacht in piles; They erupted in a comical and amusing conversation among the young people, and their chorus in the university classroom was particularly noticeable. The clamor of the intruders resounded in every corner, and in this town it was not an ordinary clamour, but a source of the most vulgar commotion. People were having a dance party. Floors have been laid under the front row of houses in the quadrangular courtyard where Kondrachenko lived, tents have been erected, and palms and rhododendrons have been placed around the gatehouse......

Now, the beautiful town is gone.

The reason for her disappearance was the construction of the naval and coastal defenses of the Russian Empire.

St. Petersburg, the capital of the Russian Empire, is located on the shores of the Baltic Sea, and this sea area is of great importance to Russia, and preventing foreign enemies from threatening the capital from the sea has become a top priority for the Russian navy. By far the biggest threat in the Baltic direction is undoubtedly the British Navy. As a traditional continental country, Russia is quite lacking in naval theory and naval strategy, and the Russians have no idea how to deal with future maritime crises, so Russia can only refer to other countries, first of all, France, because France is also a traditional continental country. However, the reference that France can provide to Russia in terms of navy is quite limited, and there are often many problems, such as the ironclad ships built by France tend to have a larger superstructure, a higher center of gravity, and a large inward camber of the gunwale, which is seriously tilted when turning at sea, and lacks stability.

In terms of naval policy and theory, the "small ship torpedo" theory prevailing in Obei's "new school" also had a great influence on Russia, and some people advocated the deployment of a large number of mine-striking ships and submarines in the Baltic Sea, and the use of "swarm" mine-striking ships and submarines to submerge the invading British Navy. The advantage of this proposition is that it saves money, results quickly, and is not as complex and expensive as the traditional main fleet. The Russian army's top brass also welcomed this theory, because the navy would have less money, and the army's "cake" would naturally be larger. In the eyes of some, ironclads are really expensive and useless.

But the Russian top brass who prefer "big ships and big guns" do not allow such a "small navy" to appear. The next question is which type of ironclad to choose, which is not a problem for a country like Britain, which is bent on maritime supremacy, as long as they have standard ironclads with huge cannons and serve as the core of their ocean-going fleet. But for the Baltic littoral states, they also have a seemingly inexpensive option: shore defense ships (to put it nicely, "shore defense ironclads"). This type of warship is only equipped with a small number of large-caliber main guns, and the armor is also thin, and the requirements for speed and endurance are lower than those of normal ironclad ships. In fact, Sweden, Norway, Denmark and other countries on the Baltic coast have chosen shore defense ships as the main force of their navy. But Alexander III could not tolerate his navy being in the company of the small Nordic powers. (To be continued.) )