Ryukyu Sea, the ship "Osaka Maru".

There was a lot of commotion on the deck, the wind and waves on the sea were not big, and the people who had been holding in the cabin for a long time came to the deck to breathe at this time, and Eto Haruko also left her cabin and came to the deck.

Although the weather was sunny today, the wind and waves at sea were very strong, and Haruko Eto saw such a big wave for the first time, and she was both curious and scared.

The moment the ship came out of the sea, the blue of the eyes came to the face. The sky was bigger and farther than she had imagined. In the distance, the floating flowers and waves are like a thousand piles of snow, clustered around a small black sampan, swaying in the waves, as if they are about to sink at any moment.

Haruko Eto didn't dare to look at the little sampan anymore, she turned her head and looked at a tall and majestic three-masted double-chimney Qianguo warship not far from the "Osaka Maru".

She already knew that this warship, named "Kaiji," was the newest and most powerful cruiser in the Qianguo Navy at present.

Regarding the name of this warship, Lin Yiqing told her that it was taken to mean "opening the world and helping the sea".

Haruko Eto had sailed with her father, Shinpei Eto, more than once, and had seen a steamship, but it was the first time she had seen such a majestic battleship as in front of her.

She stared at the battleship in front of her, her heart fluctuating like the sea.

"Kaiji" is the first armored cruiser in the true sense of the word in Qianguo, with a standard displacement of 4,086 tons, a full load displacement of 4,531 tons, a length of 97 meters, a width of 14 meters, a draft of 6.5 meters, and is equipped with four 190 mm 35 times the diameter Ghanaian guns, evenly distributed on the four gun mounts on the side side, and six 140 mm 35 times the diameter Ghanaian guns. 2 guns were located on gun mounts in the bow and stern. The 4 doors are evenly distributed on the side sides. In addition, there are 10 40 mm 30 times the diameter guns and 6 12.7 mm 30 times the diameter guns are distributed on both sides, and the firepower can be called the crown of the dry navy, and by the French Navy's emphasis on torpedo operations and the Russian Navy used torpedoes to sink the Turkish Navy's ironclad ships in the Russian-Turkish War, the "Kaiji" is not only equipped with one 457 mm torpedo tube located in the bow underwater position, but also has two torpedo tubes of the same caliber on the deck, and adopts advanced deck fixed slide launchers. As an armored cruiser of the first rank, the armor of the "Kaiji" reached 100 mm at its thickest point, and the deck armor was 50 mm. The protection capability has been greatly improved compared with the previous "Fujing" class. The "Kaiji" uses a reciprocating steam engine with a coal-fired boiler, a single-shaft transmission, a turbine power of 6,100 horsepower, a coal load of 1,000 tons, and a maximum speed of 17 knots.

Now, the Kaiji is escorting the last Satsuma merchant ship "Osaka Maru" from Nagasaki to the port of Wyane, the capital of the Ryukyu Kingdom.

After the fall of Kumamoto Castle, Nagasaki became the last bastion of the Satsuma army, but the Japanese government never launched a large-scale attack on Nagasaki, because Nagasaki is a foreign trade port with a history of hundreds of years, and many merchants and people from all over the world gathered. It is a famous international commercial port, if you rashly launch an attack. It was unacceptable for the Japanese government to cause casualties among foreign nationals and to provoke the intervention of foreign powers.

Lin Yiqing found out the weakness of the Japanese government, and at the same time asked Oyama Tsunato to ask the foreign consuls in Nagasaki to "be jointly administered by all nations," he instructed his wife, his brother Qianguo's minister in Japan, He Ruzhang, together with the envoys of Britain and France, to formally put forward a proposal to the Japanese government that "all nations should jointly administer Nagasaki."

He Ruzhang's reason for proposing that "the nations jointly administer Nagasaki" is very strong: the number of merchants and civilians in Nagasaki is very large, about 20,000, and there are more than 1,000 Ryukyu merchants in Nagasaki, many of whom have bought property in Nagasaki, and some families have been operating in Nagasaki for generations, and it has been a hundred years, so it is impossible for them to relocate, and the Japanese government cannot protect them, so it can only "send warships to protect them at any time", and "the power of one country is limited, and there are many businessmen and people in various countries", so the Satsuma rebels withdrew from Nagasaki. Under the current situation that the Japanese government is out of control of Nagasaki, "it should be jointly managed by all countries, and only then will it be good," and it will wait until the war in Japan has completely subsided, and then "return it."

He Ruzhang's proposal was supported by the ministers of Britain, France, the United States, the Netherlands, Italy, Austria and other Western countries, but the German side hesitated to do so, and the Russian side expressed fierce opposition after learning the news (because it belonged to the side of the belligerent countries, and the Russian army was notorious in Japan, and Russia was not included in the "condominium of the nations" plan), claiming that this plan infringed on the interests of the Russian residents in Nagasaki, but He Ruzhang pointed out that there were very few Russian expatriates in Nagasaki, and that the Russian residents had followed the advice of the Russian consul long before the outbreak of warThe Russians in Nagasaki are mostly non-combat prisoners handed over by the Satsuma Army to the care of the Dutch Consulate, and many of them are still Poles, and there is no way to talk about the so-called "infringement of the interests of Russian residents." In addition, the Russian army supported the Japanese government forces in the war, and belonged to the belligerents, and the Russian warships that were originally in Nagasaki had already been evacuated, which was actually tantamount to abandoning their responsibilities to the Russian residents of Nagasaki, so Russia was excluded.

After seeing that the Qianguo and Britain, France, and other countries were extremely resolute in their will to adhere to the "joint administration of Nagasaki by all the nations," the German side finally agreed to this plan and expressed its willingness to join it, but the Russian side always insisted on opposing it because it was excluded, and as a result, it fell into unprecedented isolation, and the Japanese government finally weighed the pros and cons and was forced to agree to this plan and ordered the front-line troops to "postpone the attack on Nagasaki" in order to prevent accidental injury to foreign nationals.

According to this plan, Nagasaki was divided into nine areas, namely, Britain, France, the United States, Qian, Germany, Austria, Italy, the Netherlands, and Belgium (Lysburg), according to the residential areas of each country, and the nine countries jointly sent marines on warships to take over the defense of the Satsuma Army, and then handed over to the Japanese government after the end of the war.

After the successful implementation of the plan of "all nations jointly administering Nagasaki," Lin Yiqing and Tsunashi Oyama immediately seized the time to organize the evacuation of the Satsuma military and civilians in Nagasaki and handed over defense to the marines of various countries in Nagasaki.

Now, Lin Yiqing is on the Mitsubishi Osaka Trading Company's transport ship "Osaka Maru", which left Nagasaki last.

The "Osaka Maru" is a merchant ship of Mitsui Trading, which was captured by the Satsuma Navy and loyal to the Japanese government, and was formerly known as the "Soryu Maru", which is currently the largest merchant ship in the Mitsubishi Trading's fleet. The full load displacement is close to 5000 tons. After being captured by the Satsuma Navy at the beginning. Lin Yiqing once added artillery to it and converted it into a substitute cruiser to assist the Satsuma Navy in the battle, and after the Satsuma Army retreated from Honshu Island to Kyushu Island, in order to increase the strength of the Mitsubishi Trading Company's fleet, Lin Yiqing restored it to the merchant ship and gave it to Iwasaki Yuka, who commemorated the days and nights in Osaka. It was renamed the "Osaka Maru".

In order to ensure the safety of Lin Yiqing and the last group of Satsuma people to evacuate Nagasaki, Pei Jinquan, commander of the Qianguo Ship Administration and Naval Division, specially dispatched the most powerful armored cruiser "Kaiji" to escort the "Osaka Maru." Of course, in order to hide people's eyes, it could not be announced to the outside world, but after the rendezvous on the high seas, the "Kaiji" first conducted a "temporary inspection" of the "Osaka Maru" and then set off together.

"Haruko, the sea breeze is so strong, aren't you cold?" Haruko Eto was looking at the Kaiji in distraction, when a familiar and friendly voice interrupted her thoughts.

She turned around. A pair of warm hands had already taken over and draped a fur coat over her.

Eto Haruko saw Lin Yiqing's concerned gaze. He shook his head and smiled quietly.

"How does Haruko look at this battleship?" Lin Yiqing smiled and pointed to the "Kaiji" on the sea and asked.

"I like her a lot." Haruko Eto nodded, "She's here to protect us, isn't she?" ”

"Yes." Lin Yiqing said, "This is the newest and most powerful warship of the Qianguo Navy, and it is specially here to protect us all. ”

Eto Haruko recalled the team of officers and soldiers wearing fiery red clothes and jewel blue clothes who came to the "Osaka Maru" from the "Kaiji" just now, and when they came up, they all looked very serious, looking at the people on the ship, they could even be said to be a little stern, but when they saw Lin Yiqing, they all looked very excited, which surprised her.

Eto Haruko has never been to Qianguo, but she has seen some Qianguo people living in Japan, in her impression, they are only slightly taller than the Japanese, very slender and thin, but they often wear wide robes and large sleeves and skirts, both men and women have hair that is spread out for a long time, holding a folding fan in their hands, giving people a feminine and incomprehensible feeling, it is said that those who dress in this way are people from the south of Qianguo, and the Qianguo people in the north are different, they are tall, sturdy, and wear short-sleeved and short-sleeved Hufu, Wearing leather boots, only a short hair on his head, shorter than the Japanese hair after the Meiji Restoration, and some people simply shaved their heads, although they are not monks, the women of the northern Qianguo people like to wear the same clothes as men, and their personalities are as bold as men, so in contrast, Eto Haruko prefers the northern Qianguo people.

In her opinion, Lin Yiqing is a typical Qianguo person in the north.

Although those sailors in red and blue clothes were all short-haired, they should be from the southern Qianguo in terms of figure and appearance, but after they saw Lin Yiqing, they all showed a kind of reverence from the heart, like Satsuma samurai and ninjas.

These people came to the ship to "inspect the ship", in fact, they just took a casual look, and then went back in a dinghy, but an officer wearing royal blue clothes and embroidered two coiled dragons on his sleeves entered the cabin with Lin Yiqing, and after talking for a while, he came out and returned to the "Kaiji" in a dinghy.

"What will we do when we all arrive in the Ryukyus?" Haruko Eto looked at Lin Yiqing and asked.

"The islands of the Ryukyus, as well as Amami Oshima, now have our people, and everyone lives well, and Haruko will know when she arrives in the Ryukyus." Lin Yiqing knew what she was worried about, and touched her long hair with a smile, "Haruko will live well when she gets there, and she will no longer be threatened by war." ”

"Ryukyu is a very small country, won't Japan and Lucia fight?" Haruko Eto remembered the scene when Saga fell, and her eyes unconsciously showed a look of fear.

Hearing Haruko Eto call Japan by its name, it seems that she no longer thinks of herself as a Japanese, Lin Yiqing knows that her plan to cut the sun has been reflected in the girl in front of her, and she can't help but sigh secretly in her heart.

"Ryukyu is a subject country of the Qianguo, that is, a protectorate, and the navy and army of the Qianguo have been stationed here for many years, if Japan and Lucia want to attack the Ryukyus, the army of the Qianguo will definitely protect us and attack them." Lin Yiqing comforted her. "Western countries will not allow that to happen either. That's why I evacuated everyone to the Ryukyus and nearby islands. As long as you leave Japan, everyone will be safe. ”

Hearing Lin Yiqing's answer, the worry and fear on Eto Haruko's face disappeared.

"General, you'll always protect us all, won't you?" She couldn't help but take his hand and asked expectantly.

"Of course, as long as I live, I will definitely protect everyone!" Lin Yiqing smiled. He patted her little hand and replied firmly.

At this moment, the "Kaiji" not far away let out a deafening whistle.

The people on deck heard the whistle and ran to the other side of the ship, pointing in one direction and talking. Lin Yiqing noticed something unusual, and pulled Eto Haruko to walk in the direction where the crowd gathered.

Seeing Lin Yiqing appear, people automatically got out of the way, and bowed to Lin Yiqing one after another, and Lin Yiqing waved his hand to everyone. Hurried to the side of the ship.

In the distance, a thick black pillar of smoke rose from the sea.

Lin Yiqing looked at the pillar of smoke. The brows gradually tightened together.

Nomura Shinosuke came to Lin Yiqing's side and handed the telescope in his hand to Lin Yiqing.

"It's a Russian warship." Nomura Shinosuke said in a deep voice.

Lin Yiqing nodded and raised the telescope.

He had already made the same judgment in his mind just now, although the distance was far away, and he could not see the flag of the incoming ship clearly, but the black column of smoke was very revealing -- most of the warships of the Russian Navy in the Far East were old ships that had been in service for many years, their boilers were old, and the coal used was of poor quality, so the smoke from burning was far darker than that of warships of other countries.

Lin Yiqing carefully observed with a telescope, and sure enough, it didn't take long for the figure of a huge Russian warship to appear in front of him.

"It's the Migne." Lin Yiqing nodded and returned the binoculars to Shinosuke Nomura.

"I'm afraid it's not good." Seeing the "Migne", which is much larger than the "Kaiji",

"Migne" is a large cruiser with a displacement of 6234 tons, equipped with 4 203 mm cannons and 12 152 mm secondary guns, launched in 9069, 89.9 meters long, 15 meters wide, 7.7 meters draft, power machinery using single propeller, vertical composite 12-cylinder engine, maximum speed 12 knots.

Originally built as a low-freeboard ironclad in 9066 with 4 280mm cannons in a twin Coles turret and full sail gear, after the launch of the ship, construction was suspended due to the sinking of the British ironclad ship "The Captain", and then in 9078 it was built as an armored cruiser. Having learned the lesson of the sinking of the Captain, which was equipped with a heavy Coles turret, the modified Migne removed the twin 280-mm cannons and replaced them with four 203-mm cannons and 12 152-mm cannons, four of which were housed in a long box-shaped turret, and the other 12 152-mm cannons were evenly spaced on both sides. After its completion, the ship has been in service in the Pacific region and is the main warship of the Russian Siberian Fleet.

At this time, on the flybridge of the "Migne", the captain of the ship, Tiletov, was also holding a telescope, carefully observing the "Osaka Maru" merchant ship that appeared in front of him, and the first mate Oleg stared intently at the "Kaiji" in the distance.

"It's this ship, the 'Osaka Maru', our intelligence is not wrong, Lin Yiqing is on this ship." An intelligence officer said to Tiletov.

"Yes, I have already seen him, the most dangerous enemy of the Russian Empire in the Far East, is now on deck." Tieretov stared at the Qianguo man holding the hand of a Japanese girl in the telescope and sneered.

"Give the order to fire! Your Excellency Colonel! The intelligence officer said with some eagerness.

Tiletov put down his binoculars and looked at the officer in the army uniform with some amusement, "Your Excellency, are you crazy?" Do you want the Russian Empire to once again erect a barbaric image of killing civilians to the whole world? ”

"But how can you kill this terrible man if you don't?" The intelligence officer hurriedly said, "Now is the best chance to kill him!" Besides, those who are in the same boat as him must be rebels! They deserved to die! ”

"Your Excellency, I would like to remind you that the Imperial Navy is not a barbaric Cossack!" Tiletov said in annoyance, "It's impossible for my warship to fire at an unarmed merchant ship!" ”

"But if you can't kill or catch this man today, you and the people on your ship will become sinners of the Russian Empire!" The intelligence officer was also on fire and shouted loudly.

"We can't open fire, Your Excellency, haven't you noticed that the escort for this ship is a Qianguo warship." First mate Oleg saw that the two were arguing, and although he was also dissatisfied with the words of the army intelligence officer, he did not want the captain to offend the other party too much, so he said this in order to divert the attention of the two.

Hearing Oleg's words, the intelligence officer also noticed the existence of the "Kaiji", held back his anger and stopped talking.

"Of course I'll catch him." Tiletov glared at the intelligence officer, said in a deep voice, and turned his gaze to the "Osaka Maru". (To be continued......)

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