Chapter Twenty-Four: Young Children Staying in England

Among the people present, only Chen Zeyu may be able to look at the birth of these "Luzon-class" warships relatively calmly, after all, in the last time and space, the Republic has already begun to build a sea giant of more than 100,000 tons.

This Luzon-class ironclad battleship, named "Zhanjiang" by Chen Zeyu, originally hoped to directly burn the boiler power system of heavy oil according to Chen Zeyu's idea. But later, after many considerations, Chen Zeyu finally gave up this proposal temporarily. It's not because it can't be done, it's just because the logistics system related to heavy oil boilers has not been established.

Under Chen Zeyu's reminder, the avalanche shipyard in Sizhejiang has noticed the advantages of the heavy oil boiler system.

However, if a warship is powered by heavy oil, then the entire logistics support, the equipment of the wharf, etc., need to be rearranged and redesigned, and even the scale of the original oil refining and oil production plant is not enough. In the end, the time required for the completion of the entire renovation will greatly exceed Chen Zeyu's own expectations. Thinking of the original use of heavy oil boilers for naval warships of various countries could not be popularized until the beginning of World War II at the earliest, Chen Zeyu temporarily put aside this idea.

However, the relevant technical work has begun to be designed, and Chen Zeyu has also explained the supporting heavy oil boiler system and even the future research and development of internal combustion engines. It is believed that when the project is really launched, Huameng's industrial sector will be able to once again lead the world.

The thoughts that drifted through his heart did not hinder Chen Zeyu's line of sight from observing the new battleship, and under the attention of many engineers in the dock, the workers in the No. 1 dock began to lay some strange lines to the top of the battleship......

"It's the radio engineering team that is laying out the lines," seeing Chen Zeyu's doubts, Wu Zhongxian, who was beside him, explained.

Chen Zeyu nodded clearly, in the future, the communication of naval ships in Sizhejiang will be a dual-track system.

In addition to the communication flag, radio communication between ships plays a crucial role in bad weather. In addition, the distance of radio communication between ships is also much greater than the visual distance between the signal soldiers on the sea.

In addition to the one in the No. 1 dock, the floating docks with the largest specifications in the other five shipyards that have reached the conditions are also working on the construction of warships of this class. Among them, the planned "Shantou" and "Quanzhou" have already entered the stage of deck installation, and their progress is only slightly slower than that of the "Zhanjiang" in front of them. Although the construction of the remaining three "Guangzhou", "Xiangshan" and "Nanning" has just begun, according to the summary construction progress, they can definitely be launched before 1894.

Looking at the battleship in front of him, Chen Zeyu's gaze seemed to have crossed time and space, and he suddenly remembered the batches of young students who were arranged to study at the European Naval Academy a few years ago.

Calculating the time, the first batch of children who studied abroad should have almost returned from school......

－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－

Go back six years

In February 1886, the No. 6 pier in Luzon and Zhejiang

At the end of the pier, a huge ship with dark blue paint is quietly docked here. Today, she is about to sail out to sea with the hope of a strong Chinese nation and sail into the distance.

After an intense selection process in China, the first batch of 59 children will go to study at the Greenwich Naval Academy in Europe on this day.

The youngest of these overseas teenagers is only 11 years old, and the oldest is only 15 years old. The faces of all the children are mixed with the timidity of being about to leave the family, and at the same time, there is a hint of perseverance on their immature faces, because... All of them carry the hope of the resurgence of the Chinese people.

Led by a middle-aged elder named Shen Boyan, these children, dressed in uniform blue Western-style children's clothes, carried suitcases one by one, and boarded the cruise ship that was about to leave one by one amid the greeting and crying of each other's parents on the trestle.

"Son! My son~"

"Ji Liang, remember to send a telegram home when you get there!!"

"Son, it's windy on the ship, remember to add extra clothes!!"

"Don't forget to write to your mother!!"

"Zhao Nan! You have to study hard, don't embarrass your Uncle Chen!! ”

"Daye, listen to Mr. Shen on the road, don't be picky when eating..."

“……”

"Woo-" With a long whistle sounded, the ocean liner "Kaitai" slowly left the dock.

On the giant wheel, Chen Jinhua, Huang Jiliang, Yang Zhaonan, Cai Tinggan, Cai Jinzhang...... One by one, all the young children had tears in their eyes, clutching the side of the ship on the deck of the cruise ship, and involuntarily fell to their knees.

"I went to the West, I know China's plan for self-improvement, and I have nothing else to ask for! Carrying the future of the country and seeking the science of foreigners!! Going to the long distance of 70,000 miles, farewell to the motherland and the state of the parents, I have no regrets!! ……”

In order to let these children return from school as soon as possible, when they were selected, the staff in Huameng were all selected with rough writing and ink, and even many of the older children were proficient in English.

The speed of the "Kaitai" is quite fast, but it will take about two months to reach the distant United Kingdom from Sizhejiang by sea and land.

As the "Kaitai", which belonged to the Avalanche Mail Shipping Company, left Sizhejiang and set off, several interpreters on board began to train a few of the children who were not very proficient in English according to the plan. In addition to these, all the children have to follow them to learn the national conditions and customs of European countries every time they are on the boat, among which the tallest boy named Yingzhe is particularly conspicuous.

Yingzhe, a native of Panyu, Guangdong, moved to Siwu in Nanyang with his parents since he was a child. Ten years ago, the local aborigines were instigated by the Dutch colonizers to set off a wave of anti-Chinese movement, and Yingzhe's family was also affected, and they came to Luzon after hardships.

As soon as he heard that the authorities were recruiting young children to study at the British Naval Academy, Young-cheol begged his father to sign him up. Originally, he had exceeded the recruitment limit of 14 years old according to the regulations, but when the personnel in charge of the selection conducted an assessment of him, they found that he could speak English and French Chinese, so they accepted him together.

At this time, he was quite fluent in foreign languages, so he was pulled by Mr. Zhuang Ding and worked with you interpreters to teach the rest of the children.

At that time, there were no airplanes, and cruise ships traveled a long time at sea. In order to relieve the fatigue of the children on the ship, Shen Boyan not only attended classes, but also often organized some activities such as parties for the children, so that they could become more familiar with each other.

At this time, it has become a time for all talented children to perform for everyone, Yingzhe has been practicing martial arts with his father since he was a child, and he can see other children talking and singing, and his heart is itching for a while, and his intuition can also go up and show his hand.

In the cheers of the surrounding children, Yingzhe appeared and made a few wonderful handstand backflips, where have these children seen this, one by one applauded vigorously.

The gentlemen didn't expect him to be able to do such an amazing act, so Yingzhe, who was still quite stable and shy in the eyes of several adults, suddenly became a naughty child.

On the fifth day, after passing through the Strait of Malacca, the "Kaitai" cruise ship sailed into the Indian Ocean, and at this time, the wind and waves at sea gradually increased.

The tonnage of more than 10,000 tons of ships is considerable, but many children still start to get seasick during the voyage.

While the boat was swinging, the children on the boat were swaying one by one, and Yingzhe thought that he was in good health, but he also felt a little dizzy on his head.

At night, in the four-person cabin, Young-cheol could even hear the faint crying from the bed next door.

By the next morning, some of the children were lying in bed and unable to get up.

Shen Boyan, who led the group on the ship, hurriedly found the doctor who accompanied him, but fortunately, the situation was not serious, and he was alive and well one by one within a few days after taking the seasickness medicine.

In the next few days, although the cruise ship still encountered storms from time to time, fortunately, most of the children had adapted to it, but they were playful because they were not allowed to go to class, which made several adults speechless.

After a few weeks, the ship sailed into the quiet Red Sea.

When the wind is beautiful, the children like to run to the stern of the boat together to watch the flying fish on the sea.

When the cruise ship crossed Djibouti, a mist suddenly erupted from the sea, and when the cheers of the children on the other side came, Shen Boyan and the others found that a rather huge whale's tail gradually disappeared above the sea......;