Army food has always been the number one problem that soldiers complain about. Now it's on the battlefield, and Zhang Cheng is willing to pay for it, so he's better here. But it was still impossible to satisfy the soldiers.

Zhang Cheng spent money to get a few field cooking cars, which is a really good thing. He was able to get his soldiers to eat hot food on the battlefield instead of chewing on cold dry food!

In this era, there were no roadside stalls, no fast food restaurants, and no door-to-door delivery service. Even if you have money in your pocket, it doesn't help!

Just like the town of Varazze now. After the devastation of the war, there are almost no intact buildings left here. All infrastructure has been destroyed, and it is a hassle to get a drink of clean water.

Thousands of soldiers packed the town, and the big guys were all left outside the town. White smoke rose from several field cooking trucks, and the aromatic lunch attracted a large number of soldiers to watch, and the sound of swallowing saliva sounded from time to time.

"What's the situation?" Zhang Cheng, who was looking at the map and thinking about things, looked at He Laosan who was trotting over and asked in a low voice.

"Sir." He Laosan raised his hand and saluted: "Garrisoned here are two companies of the Sardinian border guards. Most of them ran away during the previous naval shelling. We came too fast, and some of us didn't run away and were blocked in the town. Killed hundreds, caught dozens of them. ”

"Hmm." Zhang Cheng nodded, his eyes moved slightly, and continued to ask, "What useful information is there?" ”

"Sir." He Laosan bowed his head slightly, and replied in a loud voice, "I interrogated a second lieutenant, and he said that the main forces of the Sardinians are now near Turin City. There was only one company and a battalion headquarters of the defenders in the port of Savona in front, and. Speaking of this, He Laosan grinned and said, "The second lieutenant said that when he came from the port of Savona, he saw several naval ships staying in the port of Savona all on fire, and they should have fled to France. ”

"Don't make judgments lightly." Zhang Cheng glanced at him, his gaze changed, and he said in a deep voice, "The situation on the battlefield is changing rapidly, can you be sure that they have escaped, not to meet the navy?" ”

"Hey, hey." He Laosan scratched his hair a little embarrassed, and responded with a smile: "How can the few small broken ships of the Sardinians go to fight the navy?" It's not enough for a few rounds of artillery in the Navy. ”

"It's not that simple." Zhang Cheng shook his head and took out a cigarette, "Never underestimate your opponent, because you never know what will happen on the battlefield in the next moment." ”

Zhang Cheng's words are not wrong, there is never an absolute thing in this world. The Ming Navy, which seemed to be incomparably powerful and had an overwhelming advantage over the navy of the Kingdom of Sardinia, soon suffered a big loss!

A naval battle that no one had imagined even triggered a worldwide naval revolution!

In the afternoon of the same day, after having lunch and resting a little, Zhang Cheng and his troops set out on the journey to the port of Savona again. This road is much better than the previous one, at least it has the appearance of a road. And the weather began to clear up, and Zhang Cheng's march was much faster, and he reached the port of Savona before dark.

The Sardinian defenders in the port of Savona in northwestern Italy, near Nice, France, fled to the nearby mountains with only symbolic resistance. Zhang Cheng didn't have any intention of pursuing. After sending a war telegram to the headquarters in Milan, Zhang Cheng ordered his troops to expand the alert area and stay in the port of Savona to wait for new orders.

At the same time, the local fleet of the Italian garrison cruising on the sea, led by Yan Haiyang, entered the docks of the port of Savona, which was largely undamaged. Yan Haiyang only left two destroyers in the open sea to patrol, and the other ships all sailed into the port.

Because the tonnage of the Yancheng was too large, it had to be docked at a large civilian wharf. Yan Haiyang, who was proud of the great power in his hands, did not take the Sardinians seriously. For by this time the naval vessels of the Sardinians, with the exception of those besieged in the port of Cagliari, had fled to Marseille and had been disarmed by the French, who had declared themselves neutral. Because it was too relaxed, the Yancheng didn't even put down the lightning net when it docked at the dock.

When Zhang Cheng met with Yan Haiyang, he simply arranged the port defense work, and did not have too many in-depth talks. Neither of them expected that the Sardinian Navy, which seemed to have been completely desperate, launched a big event that shocked the world on this night!

Qi Bing is a senior reporter at The Times. This time, he acted as a war correspondent with the expeditionary force of the Ming Empire.

Because he likes to compete for news on weekdays, he offended a lot of colleagues, and this time several colleagues in the same industry squeezed him out together and kicked him to the Third Volunteer Regiment of the London Concession led by Zhang Cheng. Rather than where the main forces were located, this made Qi Bing very depressed.

Fortunately, Qi Bing also knew that it was useless to talk too much at this time, so he dutifully did his own interview work in the Third Regiment these days. He was satisfied with the news of a skirmish that broke out during the day today, as well as the news of the naval shelling of the town of Varazze. It's just that the instinctive sense of smell of a senior reporter still makes him a little unsatisfied. After taking photos of Zhang Cheng and Yan Haiyang and writing press releases, Qi Bing hung his camera and wandered around the docks of the port of Savona, intending to find the big news.

Seeing more than a dozen sailors walking across the dock laughing, Qi Bing shook his head. Compared to the Ming Navy, the Sardinian Navy, which was too weak to be mentioned, could not pose any threat to the Ming Navy at all.

With the help of the bright moonlight and the bright lights on the pier, Qi Bing raised his camera to take a panoramic photo of the 10,000-ton heavy cruiser in the distance. Because it is docked at a civilian wharf, the huge body of the Yancheng looks extremely conspicuous under the illumination of the lights. Although Yan Haiyang had ordered the lights to be controlled, it was obvious that it did not play a role here.

The continuous waves constantly crashed against the pier, bringing a burst of 'swish' sounds. The cold, fishy smell of the sea breeze blew, making Qi Bing, who was fiddling with the camera, suddenly shiver.

Looking up at the bright moon, Qi Bing wiped his nose and muttered depressedly, "Damn winter." ”

In the distance, quietly docked on the Yancheng next to the wharf, the soldiers on duty on rotation leaned on the side of the ship in twos and threes, smoking cigarettes and chatting. The atmosphere on board the ship was so peaceful that it was not even obvious that it was wartime.

"How's it going?" Yan Haiyang, who was in a straight military uniform, walked into the bridge and asked loudly.

The first mate, who was originally drinking coffee leisurely, suddenly stood up, smiled and saluted, "Everything is normal." ”

"Hmm." After looking at the bridge, Yan Haiyang instructed softly, "Pay more attention and observe, and the evening shift will be handed over to you." ”

"Captain, you can go to sleep in peace. I promise you'll give you the Yancheng in its entirety when you wake up tomorrow. The first mate said with a smile.

"Okay." Yan Haiyang moved the corners of his mouth, smiled and raised his hand to pat the shoulder of the first mate, "Then I'll do"

Before Yan Haiyang's words were finished, the piercing sirens on the ship sounded violently!

"Torpedo !!"

The sailors on duty at the Yancheng lookout post howled as hard as they could!

On the sea surface about 200 meters away from the port side of the Yancheng, two obvious white high-speed water mark bubbles are speeding towards the huge body of the Yancheng at a speed of more than 20 meters per second!

More than 20 meters per second, a distance of more than 200 meters. There wasn't even enough time left for the Yancheng to give the order to light a fire in the boiler room!

"It's over this time." Yan Haiyang, who pounced on the port side of the bridge, muttered to himself in distraction.

Even if the enemy torpedo was just fired, it was impossible for the Yancheng docked at the dock to have a chance to dodge. What's more, it was only discovered when it was obvious that it was at the end of the moment.

The warship of more than 10,000 tons is docked, and in a minute or two at most, who can make it move? This is a battleship, and not a motorcycle.

When it was confirmed with his own eyes that it was a torpedo attack, Yan Haiyang, who was pale, closed his eyes in despair.

"Boom! Rumble! ”

Two loud bangs woke up the entire port of Savona!

"What's going on?!" Zhang Cheng, who was still studying the map, rushed out of his office, looked in the direction of the blazing dock and shouted.

"I don't know!" Zhang Tao, who hurriedly came out in a military uniform, shouted in a panic: "But the sound came from the direction of the dock!" ”

"It seems to be the civilian wharf, it seems that the Yancheng is on fire!" Du Feng, who also ran out, looked at the dock in the distance with a surprised expression, where a sky-high fire had already ignited! Du Feng was puzzled: "Could it be that the boiler of the Yancheng exploded?" It shouldn't be. ”

"Huh?" Zhang Cheng's eyes froze slightly, and he looked up at the bright moonlight in the sky, "Air raid?!" As a person from modern time and space, Zhang Cheng's first reaction at this time was to encounter an air raid.

Zhang Tao and Du Feng all looked at Zhang Cheng with puzzled expressions. Aircraft in this era do not have the ability to fly at night at all. Moreover, how can an airplane go about attacking a warship? Crashed into it?

"That's a submarine?!" Zhang Cheng, who reacted instantly, suddenly shouted loudly: "Order all departments not to panic!" Stay in your camp! The guard company followed me to the dock to save people! Turning to look at Zhang Tao and Du Feng, he ordered in a deep voice, "You go and stabilize the barracks and strengthen the perimeter guard." The enemy must not be given any chance. ”

Zhang Cheng had a lot of recruits under his command, and the sudden explosion of this big night would inevitably cause panic and turmoil. Once the army gets out of control, it will be fatal to get back together on this big night. In the same way, in the hills outside the port of Savona there were still Sardinian armies. They must not be given any chance. Night fighting is a headache for all commanders.

"Yes!" In any case, as a graduate of a regular military academy, I still have this kind of vision. Zhang Tao and Du Feng quickly understood what Zhang Cheng meant. The army must not fall into chaos.

PS: Thank you for the tips from book friends Pure Xiao Mo and TXZG. Thank you to all friends for your support! Thank!

Starting Point Chinese www.qidian.com welcome book friends to come and read, the latest, fastest and most popular serialized works are all original at Starting Point! For mobile phone users, please read it on m.qidian.com.