The person who came was Li Hongzhang's chief staff who relied on his right-hand man, the Minister of Beiyang Customs, Sheng Xuanhuai.

"Brother Xingsun—"

"Brother Xingsun, you're back—"

When Li Hongzhang was tired and heard that this right-hand man was back, he was immediately refreshed.

"It's Xingsun back, come on, sit down."

"Lord Zhongtang, as soon as I returned to Shanghai, I heard the news that Japan had attacked my Beiyang troop carrier, so I hurried all the way back."

After Sheng Xuan saluted with his fists in his arms, he sat down on the next head given by Zhang Peilun and said.

"At this time when the country is in crisis, this time I came back to give a great gift to the sailor of Lord Zhongtang."

"Oh?" Li Hongzhang looked at his old subordinate suspiciously.

"Accompanying the humble duty to return to China this time, there is still a Nanyang freighter full of munitions, and the ship is full of blasting grenades with 12-inch main guns prepared by the second ship of Dingding."

"What did you say?!"

"Brother Xingsun, can you be serious?!"

Sheng Xuanhuai looked at the colleagues around him who eagerly asked each other and Zhongtang, who also seemed a little nervous, and said with a smile, "It's true! ――”

Clapping his hands, Sheng Xuanhuai shouted loudly outside the door again, "Come on, bring up the box I brought!" ”

I saw several customs clerks outside walking into the hall hand in hand carrying a pine ammunition box.

"Lord Nakado, everyone, please look!" Sheng Xuanhuai commanded a few people to pry open the wooden box with a pry shovel at hand, "This is the kind of 12-inch Krupp 25 times the diameter of the naval gun's special explosive grenade." ”

When Li Hongzhang heard this, he strode excitedly to the box, and stroked the hard metal shells of the two 12-inch shells inside with his fingertips, "Okay! Good! Xingsun, you have made a great contribution to our Beiyang! ”

Everyone in the hall was delighted, looking left and right around the two cannonballs.

"Lord Zhongtang, it's not over yet" Sheng Xuanhuai held an arms bill and handed it to Li Hongzhang beside him, "Please take a look!" ”

Li Hongzhang took it with a little expectation, "Oh? ”

"In addition to the 12-inch shells of fifty bases totaling 1,000 for the use of the 2nd ship, the ship was equipped with the latest Austrian 150-mm twin breech-loading rapid-fire naval guns"

Sheng Xuanhuai explained to the people around him while showing Li Hongzhang on the slip, "This kind of artillery is equipped with an automatic loading machine, which can quickly fire 7 shells per minute, and this time a total of 20 such twin cannons are loaded on the cargo ship brought below. In particular, I have seen that in addition to the 150 mm ammunition brought by the ship, the shells equipped with this kind of artillery are completely compatible with the shells of the same type used in the Krupp 150 mm naval guns imported from Beiyang in the early days. ”

"Let's go! What else to say! Li Hongzhang stood up in surprise, "Where is the ship, take the old man to take a look." ”

"Zhongtang, the ship is parked in Tianjin Harbor......"

Before Sheng Xuanhuai finished speaking, everyone in the hall was already "escorting" him, and they left the Governor's Mansion with Li Hongzhang in their arms......

Shandong Peninsula, Beiyang Naval Division Military Port Weihaiwei

"I wonder what happened to Lord Nakado's order for an armored speedboat outside?" Fang Boqian, the leader of the Jiyuan ship, asked a few colleagues who were discussing the military situation.

Ye Zugui, the leader of the Jingyuan ship, responded quite expectantly, "Yes, I heard that the imperial court has placed orders for seven or eight ships abroad, it would be great if we could really buy them back, we haven't added a new ship for seven or eight years, right?" ”

"Hey, I think you guys better don't get your hopes up, it's all going to fight now, who will sell it to you." Lin Jiusheng of Jingyuan said helplessly, "Thank God if you can replace all the old naval guns on the ship for me!" ”

"I knew now, why bother in the first place! The old lady can buy 20 'Dingyuan' ships with the silver from repairing the Summer Palace! Dingyuan Guan took Liu Buyun and said angrily.

Deng Shichang, the pipe belt of the Zhiyuan, worried, "The Japanese Navy has been fully equipped with a new type of rapid-fire gun, which is several times better than me in terms of firepower!" And we ......"

"It's useless to say these things now, at least give us some shells" Lin Taizeng, the pipe leader of the Zhenyuan ship, frowned, "Especially the blasting grenade of the main gun of the second ship in Dingzhen!" ”

"This kind of large-caliber grenade can't be made in China, so it can only be bought from abroad," Ding Ruchang, the chief commander of the Navy Division, said with a sigh, "I'm afraid that it will be troublesome if all countries refuse to sell it." ”

"Let's apply to buy it every year, what are we going to do earlier!" Zhenyuan's first mate Yang Yonglin said angrily.

As he was cursing, Qiu Baoren, the first mate of the Pingyuan, suddenly broke in from outside the door.

"Quick! Come out and see!! Nakado-sama bought us cannonballs! The boats have arrived at the dock! ――”

……

Lord Sheng Xuanhuai returned with a large number of arms.

This news spread like the wind in an instant throughout the entire Beiyang Naval Division.

Weihaiwei ammunition depot of the Beiyang Naval Division Fleet

Admiral Ding Ruchang personally snatched a pry shovel and pried open a box of newly imported ammunition, "This batch is all 12 inches? ”

"It's all 12-inch/25-diameter Krupp shells!" Sheng Xuanhuai pointed to the ammunition boxes filled with the entire warehouse in front of him, "These are the blasting grenades that are urgently needed by the Navy Master and the Second Ship of Zhen. ”

"Good! That's great! On the one hand, Yang Yonglin, the deputy of Zhenyuan, who was crowded at the front of the generals of the water division, was overjoyed.

Sheng Xuanhuai pointed outside, "In addition to the 50 base 1,000 grenades of the second ship, this time I also brought 20 twin-mounted 150 mm new Austrian cannons. ”

"Hahahaha, this is just right!" Fang Boqian of Jiyuan said happily, "20 new rapid-fire guns, just Jiyuan, Pingyuan, Jingyuan, Chaoyong four old-fashioned ships and one five, haha!" ”

Ye Zugui replied with a smile, "Hey, I said Lao Fang, don't take it all, why don't you leave two doors for my Jingyuan ship."

"Come on, Zu Gui, you and Lao Deng's Zhiyuan are both 8-inch guys" Fang Boqian said viciously with red eyes like an old rich man, "Don't be robbing us poor guys!" ”

"Hahaha!" The crowd laughed.

"Alright, don't make a fuss! It is not so easy to modify naval guns, but fortunately, it is better to have a new gun now than to buy it from abroad. From now on, start to hurry up, let the technicians hurry up and replace Jiyuan and other ships with this batch of new guns! Admiral Ding Ruchang said in a loud voice, "In addition, all ships will be fully replenished with ammunition!" From now on, all ships will work and rest according to wartime regulations! ”

"Yes! Military Gate! ――”

"Yes! Military Gate! ――”

"Yes! Military Gate! ――”