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After a long period of sea trial training in the East China Sea, the battlecruiser "Jingyuan," which sailed into the Sanduao Naval Base, was preparing for another sea trip at the base after a short rest.

In order to be able to master these two latest, most modern, and equally powerful warships in the shortest possible time, the Imperial Navy Staff took great pains to make use of all possibilities and intensified training with an attitude that bordered on madness, and the junior officers and sailors worked day and night to conduct intense, monotonous, and repetitive training in naval combat skills.

After the Zhiyuan ship was put into service for three months, the number of shells fired in the three months of naval artillery training exceeded that of the past year, and the total number of shells fired by the navy was more than 254 mm.

At this time, after entering service, because the No. 3 twin turret was replaced with a three-row turret, and the main armor was thickened, the battlecruiser "Jingyuan", which was considered the most powerful in the Imperial Navy, was being refilled with supplies, trying to saturate all its supply and ammunition compartments.

Today is the first time that the cruiser "Jingyuan" has gone to the South China Sea to conduct naval artillery training.

On the granite, reinforced concrete docks, a steam locomotive spews thick white smoke, while a long train of convertible trunks hangs from the back of the locomotive parked on the side of the board, and the train is loaded with huge 13.5-inch shells that had arrived from the Jiangnan Navy Manufacturing Bureau just a few weeks ago.

Amid the shouts and whistles of the sailors, the cranes on the ship are staggering to lift the 650-kilogram, powerful shells into the air, and the huge, black-and-gray painted brass shells are shining golden in the sun, this Type 4603 13.5-inch shell is a "heavy bomb" urgently improved by the Navy after a series of long-range artillery experiments, because the experiment shows that heavier shells will be more accurate.

Due to the increase in the weight of the shell, in order to ensure that the bore pressure does not exceed the design limit of the gun, the muzzle velocity also decreases, but it improves the long-range hit rate and long-range power of the shell, and the pursuit of long-distance combat is precisely the fundamental purpose of the navy's artillery warfare.

When the heavy shells were loaded into the ammunition compartment deep under the waterline, groups of recruits and cadets of the Naval Academy, who had graduated ahead of schedule, marched toward the battleship in a column with their luggage on their backs, each of them feeling proud of their new identity as "a member of the Jingyuan Ship" and their new military uniform as "the micro-seal of the Jingyuan Ship." The marching procession appeared lively, brisk and proud, and under the lead of the marching band, they headed for the gangway of the "Zhiyuan".

Soon the military band stopped at the gangway and continued to play, and the young men boarded the warship along the gangway with the precise and orderly pace characteristic of the army. When the party reached the aft deck, the officer leading the group saluted the commander who was reviewing them on the ship, reporting the arrival of their team. At the end of the loading and unloading work on the dockside, an order was given to the team to face the bridge.

At the same time, the officer who supervised the loading and unloading of the munitions on the dock had a whistle in his mouth, blew the whistle first, and only after the whistle alerted the deck officers did he shout, "The last one"

An officer on deck replied, "The last one." ”

The crane staggered the last 13.5-inch shell that shimmered into the ammunition bay. The groups of orderly workers and workers who were originally busy on the wharf gradually dispersed, and the military band played while the music gradually disappeared. …,

"Hi, I wrote a letter to Abba, and now everyone in the whole county knows that I served on the Jingyuan"

"Isn't it, even when the British saw the Jingyuan ship, they were scared and speechless."

"No, not yet, our warships are very powerful, but the British have more warships than us, we are the most powerful, this is true"

"Now in the newspapers, what is being said, we and Japan are gearing up, looking forward to fighting, we have to train desperately, the more accurate the artillery fire, and when the real fight starts, the more skilled we can fight."

"Hey, what are you talking about, our gunners have been trained on Zhiyuan, and we are in the damage management team......"

The sailors who were holding a high-pressure hose to wash the soot on the deck, you and I said it word by word, and each of them felt extremely proud to be able to serve on the Jingyuan, and so did their families.

"Heh, maybe if we fight, we won't be of any use at all, but we have nine 343mm cannons, the most powerful naval guns in the world, maybe we can sink Mikasa with one shot,"

"What? Mikasa"

"Yes, the flagship of the Combined Fleet"

"Mikasa let the Japanese sink it themselves, let's go there to fight Mikasa"

"Don't ask, anyway, we should be able to sink their warships very easily, sink one with one shot, maybe our one warship can send the entire combined fleet to the bottom of the sea"

Confidence, the confidence in the conversation of the sailors, let the chief officer of the Jingyuan Yang Shuzhuang listen to it, just smiled slightly, no matter how the sailors are full of confidence in the future, no matter how you look at it, it is a good thing, even if it is arrogant, it is also a good thing

The Jingyuan is the best and most up-to-date warship, and it took nearly three times the construction cost to build, and when the warship was built, the design draft or counter-draft was repeatedly considered, and the experts racked their brains to come to the best possible conclusion, and finally achieved this most powerful and modern warship.

However, this also brings a negative effect, Jingyuan, like Zhiyuan, has too many extremely complex machinery, these complex mechanical equipment, it is not difficult for sailors to be very complicated, the same is true for officers, to master those advanced and complex equipment, it takes time and training.

"Let's Ring the Bell"

Turning his head to the boatswain holding the bell on the side and commanding one, Yang Shuzhuang walked towards the captain's room, today the Jingyuan is full, and you need to take a "family photo" before leaving.

"Bell, bell"

And as the crisp ship bell rang, the originally busy sailors stopped what they were doing, and everyone's face was full of smiles.

"Quick...... Hurry up, it's time to take pictures."

"I have to grab a good seat, wait for the photos to be washed out, and send a ...... home"

The sailors wearing white fireproof suits or blue sailors' uniforms happily ran along the ladder or deck towards the front main gun, and after 10 minutes of going up, the officers and men of the "Jingyuan" battleship were standing on the front and rear of the front main gun and on the turret, and everyone had a smile on their faces, which was a smile of pride and confidence.

"Jingyuan" captain Tang Tingguang is dressed in a vice admiral uniform, wearing a sword from His Majesty standing in the center, his face is also overflowing with a smile, full of confident smile, he is confident enough to make such a smile, although the Jingyuan ship is a sister ship of the Zhiyuan, but it is significantly different from the Zhiyuan ship, The artillery firing of the Zhiyuan ship showed that his hull could fully withstand the recoil of 9 13.5-inch naval gun salvos, which made the Admiralty immediately make a decision to change the Jingyuan ship's original twin-mounted No. 3 turret to a triple turret, and the increased buoyancy of the outboard anti-torpedo compartment made the main armor belt of the Jingyuan ship jump from 7.5 inches to 8.5 inches. Tang Tingguang naturally had enough confidence to smile like this. …,

"Left side inward......"

The photographer who bent down and covered his head behind the camera shouted loudly at the soldiers who were taking pictures when he moved the gathering distance, this is the first group photo of the 1,282 officers and men on the Jingyuan battlecruiser, and this group photo means that the Jingyuan battleship has reached the combat readiness level of "full load" for the first time, although he is still a long way from being able to enter the battle.

"Bang"

When the smoke of the flash powder cleared, the photographer who showed his head smiled with satisfaction, although the negative had not been developed, he believed that it was definitely a good photo, and that the confident smiles on the faces of the sailors and officers were enough to make a good photo.

"Okay"

After taking pictures, after the sailors rushed back to their posts, Tang Tingguang glanced at the "Hairong" in the distance, at this time, the chimney of the "Hairong" protective cruiser had begun to spew soot, and the Hairong was ready to set sail.

"It's time to go"

"Yes, Captain"

Yang Shuzhuang, the first mate of the young Jingyuan battle cruiser, nodded, and after four days of repairs in Sanduao, the Jingyuan was about to leave the port again.

"The last sea trial went very smoothly, and the problems that I was worried about did not happen, which shows that our ship-building level is more mature than that of the Zhiyuan ship."

Looking back at his battleship, Tang Tingguang said with regret that after the sinking of the Dingyuan ship, he once thought that in his life, he might not be able to erect such an ignorant giant ship again, and now this Jingyuan, with a standard displacement tonnage of 19,152 tons, just exceeded the total of the Beiyang Fleet in the past.

And the most unbelievable thing is that such a powerful battleship is actually domestic, as for what armored wind plate is made in Germany, the structural steel plate is made in Britain, France, Germany and the United States, the keel is made in Britain, France and Germany, the engine is made in Britain, the boiler is made in Britain and the United States, the main gun is made in the United States, the turret is made in Germany, the bomb loser is made in Britain, the main designer is Chinese, the system engineers and construction engineers are all German or American and British, and even half of the workers are from the United States, Germany and Britain, on the Zhiyuan ship, Metric, imperial-sized parts and components can be found, and in any case, this is not a first-class qualified battleship, in the words of foreigners.

"Zhiyuan is just a pile of children's toys"

And when Zhiyuan was just launched for sea trials, this and that question seemed to confirm this statement, but all this was not considered by Tang Tingguang, in his opinion, in any case, this warship is a domestically produced warship, and it is the most powerful warship in the world.

"In the future, we will definitely be able to build a more powerful battleship than Jingyuan, and the Zhenyang fleet will become the most powerful fleet in the world in the future."

Yang Shuzhuang said with great anticipation, how huge will the Zhenyang fleet be in the future?

In the minds of every naval officer, there is a dream of a powerful Zhenyang fleet, and in the Naval Command Department and the Ship Administration Office, some relatively radical people have even put forward such a plan as "three battleships (six ships each) and three battlecruisers (four ships each)", even the most conservative plan is two teams of battleships (eight ships each) and two teams of battle cruisers (eight ships each), China has never been so eager for the sea as it is now, and has never been so fanatical in trying to build a huge navy.

But it was also just the right time that the Chinese had already found the goal of their own naval development: the Zhenyang fleet. Yes, it will not only be the target of the Chinese Navy, but also the name of China's ocean-going navy

Even in the dreams of naval officers, each of them aspires to transform such an inconspicuous coastal defense navy into a huge ocean-going navy overnight. From Dalian, Shanghai, Ma'anshan to Sanduao, from the icy Yellow River to the warm South China Sea, there may be ignorant giant ships made of tens of thousands of tons of steel in the future, constantly sliding down the slipway and rushing out of waves in the icy seawater. …,

At that time, all kinds of battleships, battle cruisers, armored cruisers, and light cruisers will be all over the coast of China, and the royal flags and royal micro-medals awarded by His Majesty the Emperor will appear in all the seas of the world along with the warships of the Chinese Navy, at least for now, but it is only a dream.

And Yangshuzhuang understands that this dream can even be interrupted by the Japanese at any time

The gap between reality and dreams is often reflected here, once the navy thought that it had the opportunity and time to develop, but the reality did not give the Chinese navy this opportunity in the end. The nascent Chinese ocean-going navy has not yet shed its immature fluff and goes to truly understand the sea. The war came when the strength of the Chinese Navy was still slightly inferior.

The threat of war left the Zhenyang fleet with no chance to train itself, and could only bravely march towards the sea, which was actually unfamiliar to the Chinese navy

"Let's go and break into this ocean."

When he spit out this sentence, Tang Tingguang's left eye jumped slightly, but at this time, he was full of ambition but he didn't care about it at all.

The last day of October was a sunny summer day, the sun dispelled the mist on the sea, and the gray reef at the mouth of Dongchong, which surrounds the Dongchong Peninsula and the Jianjiang Peninsula, was like a viewing platform, inspecting the slowly departing warships. Looking out of the Haikou from the observation post of the armored battery on the coast of Dongchongkou, the Jingyuan battle cruiser had disappeared at the end of the blurred sea level.

"Finally on the move"

Looking at the Jingyuan that was gradually disappearing, until the huge mast disappeared into the horizon, Lin Shaozhi felt a complex emotion surging in his heart for no reason, and let out a short sigh in his heart, vaguely feeling that this was the last time he saw these two warships.

The observation post of the "Yuanjiao" triple 305 mm armored battery on the Dongchong Peninsula witnessed the "Jingyuan" far away from Liu Guanxiong, the former chief mate of the Beiyang Naval Division Jingyuan, and the current commander-in-chief of the Zhenyang Fleet, only felt that it was difficult to calm down for a long time, Dingyuan, Zhenyuan, Zhi......yuan, and then Jingyuan, now the eight great distances of the old Beiyang are complete, and as soon as the Second Fleet returns to China, the Zhenyang Fleet can become an army, although it is ...... But it was always a deterrent to the Japanese Navy.

"Jingyuan ......"

"Sir, what did Chief of Staff Sa say, the Japanese Southern Dispatch Fleet is heading towards the South Seas, so I hope Jingyuan can avoid it, but if I am a strong man, as long as I see Jingyuan from afar, I will be sure to hide far ......away."

Liu Chuanshou said lightly on the side, when mentioning the chief of staff, his tone was slightly hostile, in fact, his hostility was caused by the contradictions between Liu and Sa, in the old navy of the previous dynasty, Liu Guanxiong's qualifications and status were inferior to Ye Zuqi, Sa Zhenbing, Lan Jianshu, Li Dingxin, whether it was in the past or now, Ye and Sa were his bosses, Ye appreciated him very much, and had a deep friendship with each other, Sa Ze and he were not in a mood, naturally as Liu Guanxiong's confidant Liu Chuanshou knew what he should say when, In his opinion, his old commander is now the commander-in-chief of the Zhenyang Fleet, and in terms of rank and status, he is second only to Yesa and others, far surpassing Lan Jianshu, Li Dingxin and others, they are just captains or commanders of the detachment, and as the staff officer of the Zhenyang Fleet, he himself has to make his position clear when he occasionally speaks.

Shaking his head, Liu Guanxiong, who looked at the horizon, sighed.

"Heart group, Chief of Staff's concern is not unreasonable, but the Japanese sent the South China Fleet to actually prepare for intercepting our Second Fleet and breaking our arm, and the South China Sea is a training place for our fleet, and we are far more familiar with it than the Japanese, but Jingyuan is not the case, so no matter what, they have to go to the South China Sea for training, first, to improve their artillery skills, and second, to adapt to the climate and environment of the South Seas...... Of course, the concerns of the chief of staff also have to be considered, so I ordered the Zhiyuan to shorten the visit time in Singapore, Xingu, in the future, pay attention to the tone of your reference to the chief of staff, understand? ”。

Although he said so, Liu Guanxiong also had his own little abacus in his heart, and it was a well-known thing that he did not agree with Sa Zhenbing, and it was precisely because of this that he would support Jingyuan to go to Nanyang for training with sea trials and training needs when Sa Zhenbing asked Jingyuan to conduct gunnery training in the Taiwan Strait.

"Yes, the sir's lesson is very good"

Although His Majesty has a strong appointment to the Navy, the most disgusting thing for His Majesty is that he is all from the Navy and the officer sub-regiment of Fujian Province, and the commander and the chief of staff can be at odds, but if the disagreement between the two affects the naval operations or stability, His Majesty's means are afraid that the two will not be able to fall well, and it is precisely because of this that no matter how discordant the two are, they must maintain a superficial harmony, otherwise the consequences will never be ...... they can bear.