Zhao Yufeng knew that he had said the wrong thing, but he was just shrugging his shoulders as an American faction, Kun Shuai has an open-minded personality and never cares about these small things, but it is not a good thing to be too careless, and last time he made Secretary Liu cry, and his eyes were red for several days.

Suddenly, the roar of the motor in the distance came, and an American-made Harley-Davidson military motorcycle dragged the billowing dust and smoke from the direction of the provincial capital, and drove to the bottom of the hill in an instant.

Zhao Yufeng took it and handed it to Chen Zikun.

Chen Zikun said with a smile: "It's not that the chief of staff has won, this is too fast." When he opened the letter, his face suddenly turned pale.

"Dashuai, what's wrong? Ambushed? Zhao Yufeng asked cautiously.

"The British steamer sank in the middle of the Huai River, and one of our grain ships was killed, and the goods and personnel suffered heavy casualties!" Chen Zikun hated.

Zhao Yufeng was a little dumbfounded: "The foreigner's ship, what should I do?" ”

Chen Zikun said: "The same thing happened in Sichuan last year, and I won't let the Wanxian tragedy happen again in Jiangdong, come on!" ”

"Yes!" Shuangxi, who was fully armed and hung with two box cannons, responded loudly, Zhao Yufeng is now the adjutant director, and Shuangxi is Chen Dashuai's personal adjutant.

"Pass my order, let Zeng Jiao of the Marine Police Corps lead the brothers to detain the British ship that is in trouble, if it can't be detained, let him come to see him!"

"Yes!" Shuangxi turned around and left, and was stopped by Chen Zikun again: "Send another order, pull the artillery regiment to the river and prepare, in case it can't be detained, start shelling!" The trajectory of the mountain artillery is curved, and the boat is not strong, so send more field artillery, go ahead. ”

"Yes!" Double Happiness ran down the mountain to give the order.

Zhao Yufeng said worriedly: "Dashuai, do you really want to fight with the British?" ”

Chen Zikun said: "It's strange, the British are not three-headed and six-armed, why can't they fight?" This time, I have to let them know that I am very powerful, prepare the horses, and I will go back to the provincial capital to command it myself. ”

"But what about this one?" Zhao Yufeng panicked.

"Isn't there a division commander and brigade commander in charge, just follow the step-by-step order, you can't beat the British, I have to come in person." Chen Zikun had already turned over on his horse and galloped away, kicking off the yellow dust all the way.

Zhao Yufeng scratched his head: "Mom, the handsome man is going crazy, this matter is a big deal, someone is coming." ”

"Yes!"

"Send a letter to Chief of Staff Yan, only he can persuade the marshal."

……

Chen Zikun hurried back to the office, the loss data had been reported, the wave sank a sailboat, 2,000 loads of military rations sank to the bottom of the river, 15 soldiers on the ship drowned, and three shipwrights also drowned, which can be described as heavy losses, and all this could have been avoided, only because the British ship was arrogant, relying on the large tonnage, strong horsepower, and rampage caused a tragedy.

Zeng Jiao, the captain of the Marine Police, broke in in a rage, and his voice was very loud: "Dashuai, are you going to do something to the British devils?" ”

"Didn't I give an order, why did I still ask?" Chen Zikun frowned, this kid has become the captain of the Marine Police, and he is still very arrogant, the buttons of the police uniform are open, and he is not wearing anything in the cold weather, revealing tattoos with teeth and claws.

Zeng Jiao took out two Emei thorns from behind his waist and slapped them on the table and said: "Dashuai, the brothers have been angry with the British for a long time, and I don't need to make a move in this matter, there are a few brothers in the team who are better than me, they have already rushed over, if the British boat runs away, I will poke myself in the eyes with the Emei thorns to thank the world." ”

Chen Zikun smiled at this time: "You pack the ticket, I naturally believe it, but you have to be careful, British steamers are not as good as Chinese sailing ships, and they will not be able to drive if they are robbed." ”

Zeng Jiaoman said indifferently: "Isn't it just a machine ship and a steam turbine, the brothers have played with it and are very familiar with it." ”

While speaking, Shuangxi reported: "Dashuai, the British ship has been detained and has stopped at the dock of the provincial capital." ”

Chen Zikun said: "Arrest the captain and sailors for me, interrogate them well, and send a telegram to question the British consul and ask him to apologize. ”

Everyone was gearing up, Chen Zikun rubbed his temples, paced back and forth in the room, wanted to smoke, and touched his body, but he didn't bring it.

There was a soft knock on the open door, and Liu Ting came in with a tray with a pot of coffee and a box of Eggolik cigarettes.

Chen Zikun picked up a cigarette, Liu Ting helped him light it with a match, put the teacup on the table, and turned to leave.

"Last year, the British ships shelled Wanxian, causing thousands of casualties among the people, and the gains really outweighed the losses, and now I have seized the British ships again, in case the British ships shelled the provincial capital, wouldn't it be troublesome, and the gains outweigh the losses?"

These words seemed to be talking to themselves, and they seemed to be asking Liu Ting.

Liu Ting turned around and said: "The commander-in-chief is in the United States, and he is not the same as Yang Sen's generation, he is reasonable and restrained, and he advances and retreats in a certain way, what can the British do?" ”

Chen Zikun smiled bitterly: "That is the case, after the British concession in Hankou Jiujiang was forcibly recovered, the British Empire was like a chicken blood, I really want to find fault, this time I hit the muzzle of the gun, but I can't pretend not to see it, I can't do it, and now I can only be hard, but unfortunately we don't have a gunboat, all the artillery is added together, and the firepower is not as good as half a cruiser, there is no hard power, and I can only be beaten up." ”

Liu Ting said: "I heard...... There is a defensive weapon called a mine. ”

"Mines? We don't have that thing equipped. Chan shook his head.

Liu Ting smiled: "Commander-in-chief, this, you can have it." ”

Chen Zikun thought about it and understood, and laughed heartily: "Okay, you go and buy mines, and we will fight the British to the end." ”

……

After receiving the news of the seizure of the British ship, the British consul issued an ultimatum to the military and political authorities of Jiangdong Province, ordering the release of the ship and the sailors within 24 hours, otherwise drastic measures would be taken.

Three British destroyers sailed into the Huai River and went straight to the provincial capital of Jiangdong, and the people were worried about the recurrence of the Wanxian tragedy, so they fled from the provincial capital with their families.

The Marine Police Corps has several small steamers under its banner, the tonnage is very small, and they are only equipped with machine guns, which cannot compete with the British ships at all, and the largest artillery caliber of the army is only 75 mm, which cannot compete with the British ship's S four-inch naval guns in terms of firepower and range.

The British knew the strength of the squadron well, and the three destroyers swaggered to the vicinity of the waters of the provincial capital, and found that the river boats were scarce, and there were black spherical objects looming on the water surface, and the sailors observed with binoculars and exclaimed: "Mines!"

When the captain heard the news, he personally inspected it, and saw a huge black object in the water, with tentacles on the outside, very similar to a mine, he was taken aback, and ordered to slow down, and at the same time put down the dinghy to visit, and the sailors sat in a rubber boat and rowed to the front of the mine to take a look, and immediately laughed, it turned out to be not a mine, but a big ball made of bamboo strips, and the outside was brushed with a layer of black paint, which looked like a mine from a distance.

When the captain saw this scene, he also showed a disdainful smile, and the Chinese like to play tricks and tricks to scare the Royal Navy, which is really ridiculous and generous.

The destroyer once again drove at full speed, unscrupulously moving forward in the Huai River, not caring at all about the so-called "mines", a bamboo mine was touched by the bow of the ship, and it actually exploded, blowing out a big hole in the bow of the destroyer, although there were no casualties, but the psychological shock to the Royal Navy was greater than the explosion.

The Chinese really have mines!

The captain had to redeploy, cautiously move forward, and fired mines with secondary guns, hitting five mines, one of which exploded, forming a high column of water, the charge yield is not very large, but it is the traditional Chinese black powder, for light destroyers, eating a few is also fatal.

The Royal Navy finally understood that this was a Chinese home-made mine, and it was false and real, true and false, although the technology content was low, but it was enough to delay the maneuver of the British ship.

Suddenly, there was a burst of artillery fire on the shore, and the artillery regiment that had been in ambush for a long time opened fire, the first time it was a warning shot, and the 75-caliber mountain artillery shells stirred up a column of water in front of the British ship's channel, and the shooting was quite accurate.

The force and determination displayed by the Jiangdong Army made the commander of the British destroyer formation understand that Jiangdong was not Sichuan, and Chen Zikun was not Janssen, but the honor of the British Royal Navy would not be tarnished on the Huai River.

Flags were waved on the shore, demanding that the British ships withdraw from the waters of the Huai River, and the British ships replied in flags, claiming that they enjoyed the right of legitimate inland navigation and were not under the jurisdiction of the Chinese side.

The guns on the three destroyers were loaded and aimed at the south bank to prepare for bombardment, and the Jiangdong Army on the shore also completed combat preparations, and only waited for the commander's order to shell the British ships.

The sailors saw the Jiangdong Army logo painted under the wings and hurriedly prepared to meet them, but the anti-aircraft fire on the destroyer was pitifully small, and it was extremely difficult to deal with for a while.

Fortunately, the plane did not strafe and drop bombs, but flew over the destroyer deterringly, and the altitude was so low that the wind blew off the sailor's hat, and someone clearly saw the face of the pilot, who was actually a white Westerner.

The British ships finally realized that the Jiangdong Army was coming prepared, so they had to raise the flag and suggest a peaceful settlement, while slowly withdrawing from the theater of operations.

"The Brit ran away with his tail between his legs!" There were bursts of cheers from the artillery positions on the shore, and the soldiers were holding back their strength to give the foreigners a little color, but the officers were sweating, they knew their strength, and if they really fought, the artillery regiment would be wiped out in one minute.

The British ship retreated temporarily, and the British consul envoy came in a menacing manner, and after visiting the British crew members in custody, he met with Chen Zikun, commander-in-chief of the Jiangdong Army, and presented him with a solemn protest and ultimatum, that the ship and crew must be released unconditionally, otherwise they will face the wrath of the British Empire.

"I'd love to settle accounts for you, Your Excellency." The envoy said reservedly and coldly, "There are one hundred and seventy-one warships stationed in Chinese waters by foreign navies, and in this huge foreign fleet, Britain has seventy-six warships, thirty American warships, forty-eight Japanese, ten French, four Italians, and one each from Spain, Portugal, and the Netherlands. ”

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