The 500-ton steam engine sail cargo ship carried Zhu Daolin, Zhang Gongwei, Xu Hongji, Wu Jingxian and hundreds of guards and entourage, cleaving the waves and cutting the waves, day and night.

The two large chimneys towering behind the ship's building, thick smoke billowing and steaming in the wind, ten miles away from the inshore fishing boats, could see this monster sailing north at high speed with the wind.

More than 20 senior technicians who were temporarily transferred to the ship took turns to stay in the engine room of the bilge, taking turns to take care of the rumbling steam engine that worked continuously for two days and one night in three shifts.

Eight young, strong, sweaty furnace workers kept shoveling the carefully washed refined coal into the four blazing boilers, and none of them showed the slightest sign of slackness, but were deeply honored because of the arduous task they had received.

Xu Hongji, Zhang Gongwei and others, who were sitting on the foredeck drinking tea, no longer had the horror and worry of the day before, nor were they surprised to sigh at the shock and subversiveness brought by science and technology, but they were still worried that the machine that sailed continuously for a day and a night without stopping would suddenly fail, causing everyone to float helplessly on this big ship far from the coast.

"Virtuous nephew, Qingdao is almost here, right?" Zhang Gongwei's inquiry is already the third time.

Zhu Daolin had no choice but to hand his sleeping son to the guard, and ordered him to be sent to the shipyard to be handed over to his wife and a few family members, and then patiently explained to everyone:

"It's almost there, we can see the lighthouse erected on the small island outside the port within an hour, and we can live in the Fushan Acropolis before dark, rest for the night, maintain the machinery and equipment, and add some coal and local vegetables and fruits in Jiaozhou Bay, and continue to travel early tomorrow morning."

"We went down to look at it again just now, and the cabin was as hot as a steamer! There is still most of the refined coal left in the coal bunkers on both sides. But those red-hot boilers and rumbling machines have been running non-stop for two days, can they bear it? Wu Jingxian asked with concern while wiping his sweat.

At Zhu Daolin's suggestion, Zhang Xiangling, deputy director of the Yangtze River Shipyard and director of the Ship Research Institute, who was sitting on the left, explained with a smile: "Don't worry, father-in-law, this 500-ton sailing ship is the third military ocean-going cargo ship that we have officially mass-produced after more than half a year of experiments and summarization......

"This boat is much stronger than the two steam ferries last year, both in terms of keel and hull thickness. Both the ship type and the hull structure are built in strict accordance with the standards of the battleship, and the hull is reinforced with a 14-ton stainless steel skeleton, and two 450 horsepower steam engines and four supporting boilers are installed from Tianshu Pavilion, instead of the civil ship steam engine imitated by our Yangtze River Shipyard Affiliated Machinery Factory, so this ship can ...... at a normal speed of 16 knots per hour."

"Wait, how many miles are you talking about 16 knots per hour?" Wu Jingxian, who had always lacked nautical knowledge, asked curiously.

Zhang Xiangling patiently explained: "The speed of 16 knots per hour is converted, which is nearly 30 kilometers per half an hour, but today's speed has exceeded this number." Because it was downwind, the speed of the ship was faster when the sails on the three masts were pulled, reaching a speed of 75 miles every half hour. ”

Zhang Gongwei sighed again and again: "It's really fast, although I don't know how to convert it, but it feels like it's at least five times faster than the clipper of the Jiangnan Sailor, it's really incredible!" ”

Everyone laughed, everyone had Zhang Gongwei's sigh, in the past six months, I have been used to seeing the steam ferry that runs back and forth between Shangyuan Port, Xiaguan Wharf and Pukou Wharf on the north shore all day long. There are also the five steam tugboats belonging to the Longtan Iron and Steel Plant that transport iron ore to and from the upper and lower reaches of the Yangtze River, and the initial shock and shock gradually faded away. Basically adapted to the presence of a steamer.

The only difference is that the military steam engine sail cargo ship that was on this ride was larger and faster, and it did not appear under the public's nose many times because of secrecy, and few people were lucky enough to ride, so few people could think of the huge changes brought about by it.

Seeing everyone laughing happily. Zhang Xiangling was also happy: "Through the statistical calculation of the past two days, the average speed of the ship we took has reached 38 kilometers per hour, that is, 72 miles every half hour. At this time, I have arrived at Qingdao Port for a long time! ”

"In the four months before that, our two finalized and mass-produced sailing ships of the same class had sailed up the river to Yichang three times, crossed the East China Sea five times, and sailed directly to the freshwater port of Yingzhou, except for some small problems that could be quickly eliminated, and two of them were sailing in sea conditions with level 5 wind and waves, and there were no major problems with the machine and hull."

"The ship we are taking now is further improved on the basis of the previous two ocean-class sailing ships, if it weren't for the fact that it was requisitioned north by the marshal without completing the sea trial, and it was the master mother, the eldest prince and all the nobles, and there was no need to run with the ship at all with more than 20 master craftsmen, haha!"

Between talking and laughing, the clock passed.

The towering lighthouse and blurred coastline outside Qingdao Port gradually appeared in everyone's field of vision.

Wu Jingxian and several nobles couldn't help but walk to the front of the ship, looking at the majestic Qingdao Port, which seemed to be born out of nowhere, while Zhu Daolin quietly returned to the shipbuilding behind him, and warmly greeted his beloved wife Xiaoying and his concubine Xu Fo, who insisted on accompanying him.

On the night of the stay in the port of Qingdao, to base Li Yiliang and Deputy Commander Normancia. Morality. More than 30 generals and colonels headed by Calis gathered together, and immediately held a military meeting after dinner, and Yuhu, who had been transferred from the post of deputy chief instructor of the Jiangnan Martial Arts Academy two months ago to serve as the major general of the second division of the Fushan Army, was even more excited, and followed closely by his senior brother Zhu Daolin, unwilling to stay away half a step.

In order to win Xu Hongji's father and son and Zhang Gongwei to enter his camp as soon as possible, and in order to strengthen the confidence of the generals to win, Zhu Daolin not only invited Xu Hongji, Zhang Gongwei, Wu Jingxian and others to attend the meeting, but also did not hide his strength, signaling the generals under his command to report without any scruples.

After listening to the progress and training reports of the army expansion and training reports of Li Yiliang, Calis, Han Yuhu and other generals, Xu Hongji, Zhang Gongwei, Wu Jingxian and others were shocked and dumbfounded, and they couldn't believe that a little new Fushanwei had such a huge strength:

Two separate cavalry regiments with 7,000 cavalry and 15,000 horses are about to begin a month-long combat exercise, with the participation of two separate cavalry regiments with 7,000 cavalry and 15,000 horses.

Three months ago, 15,000 Qilu recruits who were undergoing intensive training were recruited on a large scale, and in another three months, they could be sent to various battlefields in phases and batches to replenish fresh blood for the Fushan Army and the Dongjiang New Army.

The Qingdao Fortress Garrison and Qingdao Training Base, composed of 5,500 veterans from various departments and 450 instructors with actual combat experience, not only shoulder the heavy responsibility of guarding Qingdao's 100-mile radius, but also continuously train new recruits for the land and water armies in Korea and the coastal islands of Liaodong.

The 360 senior instructors, headed by Calis, deputy commander of the Fushan Army and commander of the Qingdao base, and director of education of the Yongsan Military Academy, have participated in the construction, equipment, and training of the Fushan Army and the Qingdao garrison in an all-round way.

Half a month later, 800 of the 2,200 students will be honored to become the first batch of cadets of the Infantry, Cavalry, Artillery, Engineer and Navy Non-commissioned Officer Sections of Qingdao Longshan Military Academy for a three-year period of professional study and training.

More than half of the 360 senior instructors are Westerners of Ming nationality, and most of them have already settled in Qingdao, and only about 40 naval instructors transferred from the East China Sea Fleet have been promoted to the North Sea Fleet after being promoted to the first level, and the best of them are still holding the posts of chief officers at all levels of the North Sea Fleet, which is booming and growing.

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PS: Thank you for your big tip! (To be continued.) )