Different from the navigation of ordinary warships, these two warships spewing smoke from their chimneys have been sailing at a high speed of more than 10 knots, and the bow of the ship slammed into the blue sea, leaving a white ripple behind the ship that continues to spread around.

Attentive people will notice that on these warships flying the British merchant flag, the bow of the ship is decorated with a golden dragon pattern, and their stern is written with Chinese square characters "Zhenhai" and "Dinghai". Two warships purchased by Chen's family for the Navy.

21 days ago, on 24 August, 10 days after Cheng Biguang and his entourage arrived in Britain, the "Zhenhai" class warship finally set sail from Portsmouth Harbor to return home, and in addition to the 20 or so naval officers on each ship, hundreds of British and German naval officers and sailors were hired to help drive and escort the ship, and the naval officers who received the ship accompanied the ship to assist in driving and training.

In order to save money and shorten the time for entering the port and replenishing during the voyage, the two battleships of the same class, "Zhenhai" and "Dinghai", were overloaded with coal storage at Portsmouth, and the "Zhenhai class", which was designed to carry only 840 tons of coal normally, was loaded with nearly 2,100 tons of high-quality British Welsh anthracite.

The Chinese Navy, and even the whole of China, were eager to see through these two warships, and arranged for the two warships to sail all the way out of the North Sea, across the Atlantic Ocean, into the Mediterranean Sea through Gibraltar, into the Red Sea through the Suez Canal, and finally across the Indian Ocean to the South China Sea.

In the process of deciding on the name of the ship, it can be said that it took a lot of twists and turns, and at first someone proposed to use "Ji Li? After nearly a month of discussion, the navy finally came up with two "Zhenhai and Dinghai", and the two ships were officially named after being handed over to the ruling government. The difference between "Zhenhai" and "Dinghai" and the "Zhenyuan" and "Dingyuan" warships of that year is only one word, and this difference in one word shows the Admiralty's expectations for these two warships, and the long-awaited navy is looking forward to these two warships, and even 1,600 sailors carefully selected in the entire navy, when they return, have already taken ships from various places to Guangdong, where they will receive warships, and finally, with the help of British employees, drive the warships to Nanjing, after the ruling parade. Sail into the Ma'anshan ship to perform maintenance on the ship.

Like a loving father's wandering son looking forward to his return, the Admiralty sent telegrams to the "Zhenhai" and "Dinghai" ships named by the ruling subordinates, and every day along the way, at 8 a.m., 6 p.m., and 0 p.m., the Admiralty had to take a telegram to report at these three times, so that the Admiralty could grasp the news in time.

"Toot ......"

When they met a British cruise ship under the scorching sun of the Indian Ocean, the two ships "Zhenhai" and "Dinghai" sounded their whistles one after another to salute each other, and they were accustomed to each other's first salutes along the way.

"Da, Di......"

When the whistle sounded, the telegraph clerk in the telegraph room heard a ticking sound in the headphones, when the telegram note wrote down the dots and lines of the telegram, the telegraph man holding the pencil kept copying the telegram on the paper, this is a cipher code that is completely different from the code used in the past, although the vast majority of the crew on the ship are British and German naval employees, but the telegraph is sent by the Chinese Navy, but at the moment of copying the telegram, the young telegrapher's heart is tight.

Although he did not have a translation of this code, the completely different coded message reminded him of the fact that it was a wartime code, and according to the orders made by the Admiralty, the Navy would only change the code suddenly in wartime.

"Class A Cipher!"

After completing the telegram check, and glancing at the telegram in his hand again, the telegraph operator turned to the sergeant beside him and said.

As soon as he heard the Class A secret telegram, the sergeant was stunned at first, he did not take the telegram directly, but took out the pistol from the cabinet behind him and pinned it to his waist, and then carefully covered it with his military uniform, and after handing the telegraph man a submachine gun, he took the telegram and left the telegraph room, when he went out, the hatch of the telegraph room was closed, and the telegraph man pressed the submachine gun next to the telegraph, waiting for the next telegram, or further orders.

Hiding in bed, Ji Li, who became weak because of the storm after crossing the Red Sea, listened to her daughter's cry and couldn't help but regret it again.

"Ressa, maybe we should really take the train back from Russia under the pretense of going home!"

She was seasick, Ressa was also seasick, and the most heart-wrenching thing was that Qin'er, who was only ten months old, was also seasick, the last time she took a cruise, it was okay, but this time she took a warship back home, although a hanging blue was installed on the chandelier in the captain's room, Qin'er was still seasick when the storm came, in order to save money and time, the warship did not hide from the storm.

"Madame......"

Without waiting for Ressa to speak, the door of the captain's room was pushed open, and it was Cheng Biguang who walked in.

"Madam, I just received a telegram from Nanjing!"

"Yes...... Did the ruling send it? ”

Listening to the telegram, Ji Li couldn't help but be overjoyed, and hurriedly sat up from the bed, her pale pretty face full of joy.

"Madame,"

Nodding and shaking his head.

"Yesterday, the ruling axe negotiated with the countries to withdraw the right to withdraw tariffs, and the countries refused to negotiate, and the ruling axe ordered the imposition of additional taxes, and now Britain, the United States, France, and Germany are mobilizing warships to demonstrate in Shanghai......

Cheng Biguang's voice was a little dignified, maybe this is fate, when the second ship of Dingzhen returned to China, it was forced to return to Hong Kong due to the Qing and French wars, and now the second ship of Dingzhen has returned to China, but it has been threatened again.

"What!"

Ji Li's expression tightened, and she looked at Cheng Biguang in surprise.

"The government requires our ship to return at full speed, and it is possible that it will ...... There is a possibility that the fleet will be intercepted by British ships in the Mannar Bay......"

Listening to Cheng Biguang's words, Ji Li asked in a rhetorical voice after pondering for a while.

"We're still a few days away from getting to Mannar Bay!"

"If you speed up, you should sail through Manar Bay in the early hours of tomorrow!"

"General Cheng!"

Ji Li, who stood up on the bed, looked at Cheng Biguang in front of her.

"If the countries use warships to threaten each other, then China needs these two warships more than ever, you are the commander of the fleet, I have only one hope, that is, to safely sail the warships back to China, and hand them over to the navy to fight against the countries, this is what you should do."

She glanced at her daughter, who seemed to be asleep in the cradle, and remembered something her father-in-law had said.

"My husband told me that the greatest shame for a soldier is to disarm and surrender, I am not a soldier, but I know that for the British Navy, the white flag will not be raised at any time, and I believe the same is true for the Chinese Navy!"

"Madam, among the 1,100 officers and men accompanying the two ships, there are only one hundred and three officers and men of the navy, and the others are all British and German naval employees!"

Cheng Biguang expressed his worries, if there were only a thousand naval officers and sailors on this warship, he would rush back at any cost, but this was not the case, before coming to the captain's office to report to the lady, they had already held a meeting, and they would carry out the orders issued by the government, but the lady ...... "The soldiers are ashamed to disarm, there is no reason to explain, these two warships are donated by me to the navy, if my husband asks us to enter a neutral port to wait, I will accept, but my husband asks us to sail back to China." It can be seen from this that the country needs these two warships, and if the British Navy tries to surrender the ships, then, General Cheng, I have only one request"

Ji Li's voice was not loud, but there was a resolute look in her expression, "Blow it up!" ”

"Madame!"

Cheng Biguang looked at the lady in front of him in surprise, and Ruisha's face was also shocked, she also didn't expect that the lady would make this decision.

"If that moment really comes, I hope that General Cheng will blow up and sink the warship after firing the cannon, and the Chinese Navy will never surrender without a fight!"

After saying this, Ji Li walked towards the hanging blue hanging in the chandelier buckle, and in the cradle that shook with the sailing of the warship, her daughter was sucking her big fingers, watching her daughter Ji Li caress her daughter's delicate face with her fingers, and a slight smile appeared on her face.

"Lower the merchant flag! From now on, these two warships are the presence of the Chinese Navy in the ocean! ”

"Madame, I hope you and Mademoiselle will be able to leave the warship! About 130 nautical miles away from us is a merchant ship returning from England, and I think they must be willing to protect my wife back safely! ”

Ji Li shook her head and turned to look at Cheng Biguang.

"General Cheng, if it was my husband who was on the warship at this time, would he be a deserter?"

A rhetorical question made Cheng Biguang silent, and it was very clear in the ruling telegram that it was up to Mrs. to stay and stay, and it was also a requirement of the ruling that the warship could not be surrendered.

"General Cheng, please take the officers to the war room, I hope I can say something to them!"

"Yes, ma'am!"

After a military salute, Cheng Biguang exited the captain's room.

"Madame......"

As soon as Ressa was about to speak, Ji Li spoke to her, held Ressa's hand, and gave a serious advice.

"Ressa, what if...... You take Qin'er and Mr. Zhang to the lifeboat together, and you promise me that you will bring Qin'er back to the young master's side safely! ”

"But what about you, ma'am?"

Instead of answering Ressa's question, she dressed herself in the mirror and left the captain's room, courtesy as she occasionally met British or German sailors in the aisle, as she had done in the past, when they saluted her.

“…… The ship cannot be surrendered, and it cannot be taken by the enemy, I hope you will remember this lesson! If the British army is bound to seize the ship, I hope you will carry forward the spirit of the navy and coexist with the ship. ”

As she spoke, Ji Li bowed deeply.

"Anyway, please!"

"Please rest assured, Madame, we will not dishonor the name of the soldier and swear to coexist with the ship!"

The thirty-two officers accompanying the ship replied politely, looking at the lady in front of them, but the reverence in their eyes was from the heart, this reverence was no longer originally derived from the righteous act of the lady to sacrifice the ship, but now more out of respect for the courage of the lady.

(To be continued)