Since its establishment, Lushun has been the largest military port in Asia. During the First Sino-Japanese War of the Qing Dynasty, more than 20,000 people in Lushun were slaughtered by the Japanese, and after the war, the Qing government directly circled half of Lushun. With the help of Japan's reparations, the Japanese reparations were greatly expanded, the channel was expanded, the harbor was dredged, the sea was reclaimed, the forts were built, and the harbor pool was built, and now the Arthur Military Port has become the symbol of the Asian military port, the world-famous military fortress, and the British Portsmouth Military Port is one of the world's five major military ports.

Lushun Military Port is located at the southwest end of the Liaodong Peninsula and on the north shore of the Yellow Sea. The port gate opens to the southeast, the east side is the majestic Golden Mountain, the west side is the curved dry beach that resembles the tiger's tail - the Tiger Tail Peninsula, and there is the towering old iron mountain in the southwest. On the mountains on both sides of the channel, there are many hidden firepower traps, which cross into a network and support each other. Approximately a closed bay harbor is 4 kilometers long from east to west and 2 kilometers wide from north to south, and the entire bay is divided into two ports in the east and west by the Tiger Tail Peninsula. Westport concentrates a large number of arsenals, shipyards, and repair docks. The East Port is built into a supply terminal with a large number of warehouses and transportation terminals.

Since the expansion of the Port of Arthur began, civilian ships were no longer allowed to enter Lushun. All civil materials could only be transported to Dalian Bay and disembarked, and even the food and other supplies necessary by Lushun could only be stopped in the open sea, waiting for inspection and escorted by warships before they could enter Donggang. Not to mention the stricter surveillance of Westport. However, in the present day. The workers and soldiers on the wharf all stopped their work, and watched straight at the six lonely cargo ships that stopped and lined up in a row and slowly headed towards Lushun East Port. Even when I saw the torpedo boats patrolling the open sea, they showed no sign of slowing down even after just waving the flag.

"Port Arthur does not allow civilian cargo ships to enter the port without permission, otherwise they will be sunk on the spot. This is the emperor's ban, whose cargo ship is this, can even ignore the emperor's ban? Such a big face. One of the workers asked, a little surprised. But before anyone could react, a group of soldiers rushed out of the dock.

Soldiers in black uniforms represent the gendarmerie that maintains military discipline, and the gendarmerie is subordinate only to the General Staff of the service, and they are not only responsible for maintaining military discipline, but also as the guard of the General Staff. Also because of administrative subordination, staff officers assigned to the following corps and divisions, as well as to fleets and sub-fleets. The gendarmerie is also responsible for security and confidentiality. If you want to join the gendarmerie, in Guangxu's words, it doesn't matter if you don't have the ability, loyalty is the first thing. Not only can you not have a criminal record, but you also have to check your ancestors for eight lifetimes.

The background color of the epaulettes on the shoulders of the military uniform is to distinguish the unit to which the gendarmerie belongs. The blue ones are the gendarmes directly under the General Staff of the Navy. The yellow ones belong to the gendarmes directly under the General Staff of the Army, while the black epaulettes belong to the General Staff Headquarters. But the gendarmes who came today did not belong to the three gendarmes, and not only did they have golden epaulettes, but they all wore yellow coats. The gendarmes soon took up key positions, led by several officers who began to expel the crowd: "The port is under martial law, and all the personnel leave at once. "Not only did they expel the staff, but even the soldiers of the daily guards. The gendarmerie not only took over the docks, but also took over all the telegraph rooms at the first time.

"It's the Royal Gendarmerie." I don't know who shouted, and the crowd became excited. The Royal Gendarmerie is not very numerous, and all of them add up to about two regiments, and they are not stationed in many places, but they are the most important department. For example, the Academy of Sciences and the Guangxu Islands are important places for scientific research in these countries. It also includes the Huludao Shipbuilding Base and the Beijing Normal University Hall. Of course, these are not known to ordinary people. What ordinary people know is that the Royal Gendarmerie is the only army that can only be mobilized by the will of the Emperor, and it is also the highest rank of the gendarmerie. Now that the Royal Gendarmerie is here, martial law must be at the highest level. The workers on the dock have entered their work and left quickly in an orderly manner. The martial law at Lushun Wharf is not once or twice. Everyone knows what to do.

The young man who operated the crane on the dock put down the crane, opened the door and said to the military police guarding outside the door with a flattering face: "Don't worry, this military master, the small one only cares about lifting the goods." Not a word will be spoken. "Military docks, there are always some military secrets, and this is not the first time he has done this kind of thing. Each time, a gendarme would come up and say a bunch of words from a secret manual that he had memorized, and then stand by his side to supervise it. He was tired of listening, and he just did his work back and forth. Don't ask, don't talk. So every time he doesn't wait for the gendarmes to speak, he speaks first.

But this time it was different, and the gendarme said expressionlessly: "All the personnel need to leave, including you." ”

"What? Don't you want people to work? Or do you operate this thing too? Don't spoil me, the little family depends on it. The lad was not pleased, for the crane was everywhere in the docks, but he had learned to operate it and could have suffered it. Literacy again. He also learned to read pictures, and he followed the master for more than a month just to maintain this thing. Now after driving the crane, although the family is still not rich, but relying on his work as a crane on the dock, the family can always have a full meal. Elderly parents also work part-time jobs to support the family. Now life is slowly getting better. Don't let this group of soldiers get broken, if they are damaged, they won't be able to work and will have no salary, and they are still counting on their daughter-in-law!

"Is this what you can ask?" The gendarme said with a dark face. When the young man saw that the gendarme's hands were touching the knife on his waist, he immediately ran away in fright.

On the lookout platform of Lushun East Port, Deng Shichang, as the commander-in-chief of the navy, was looking through a telescope at the gradually emptying dock and the cargo ship being docked, his brows furrowed. Liu Buyun was sent back to the original Beiyang Fleet after the First Sino-Japanese War because of his conservative tactics, and he Deng Shichang took over the position of commander-in-chief. When he sat in this position, the first thing he did was to establish the Dalian Naval Academy, and then the construction of military ports and wharves in various places. The only work involving warships was to coordinate the Beiyang and Pacific fleets, and to transfer personnel from them to form the Nanyang Fleet. Of course, no one can say that the current officer training ground in the South China Sea -- the Palawan pirates, although the idea is the emperor's, but which of the things was not arranged by him. I really didn't expect that the little cruiser captain still had this talent. Deng Shichang, who was secretly happy, had no pride, and the work of the staff headquarters made him see his own shortcomings. In particular, Cheng Cheng, chief of the general staff of the Navy, was embarrassed by his strategic and tactical ability, and his efforts to learn more naval knowledge also made the emperor ask for a concession. When Cheng Cheng came to persuade him, the responsibility of the staff officer is to draw up a plan to deal with changes, and things such as the two armies facing each other with bayonets are the ones who are the commanders doing. He was able to be wary of training exercises in Hawaii, let alone charging through enemy shells. Therefore, the work of the commander-in-chief is still left to those who dare to collide with warships. It's not that complicated to be a commander, isn't that stupid big guy in the Pacific Fleet doing a good job?

Wu Deren, a big man, because of his foul mouth and no recuperation, attracted the unanimous consent of the entire staff headquarters to the title of stupid big man. is also the person who worries the staff headquarters the most, as long as he is given enough food and coal. Let him do anything. This kind of guy who even has to rely on others to help him calculate logistics supplies can be the commander of the main fleet, what reason is there for him, a high-achieving student studying abroad, not to be the commander-in-chief?

Looking at the dock, which was already under martial law, Deng Shichang put down the binoculars in his hand and turned to leave. On the docks, six cargo ships finally opened their hatches. In the last five cargo ships, unkempt men walked out of the cabin under the guns of the soldiers, and advanced on the designated road like zombies.

The first cargo ship came down with a bearded Northeast man, who shivered in the sun. It's too cold to the north.

"What a daring dog, a pirate leader dared to enter the military port. Can't find death? The cold as frost in his mouth, but Deng Shichang, who was full of smiles, walked over.

"Sa Zhenbing, the chief soldier of the Nanyang Detachment of the Qing Navy, has met the commander-in-chief." On the hand was a standard military salute: "Don't be mistaken, sir." ”

"Haha...... Sa people don't have to be polite. Sa people were born and died on the sea for the country, and they worked hard. After Deng Shichang finished speaking, he pointed to the group of ragged people and said, "How many slaves did you bring this time?" ”

"Six ships with a total of 20,028 people ashore."

"It's still not enough, the Asian Mining and Railway Bureau estimates that more than 10,000 will be enough."

"Not really. With this batch, we have captured more than 70,000 slaves from the South Seas in more than a year. ”

"No way, the mortality rate is too high." Deng Shichang said with a smile: "It's cold outside, let's talk indoors." ”

Lushun was stationed in the staff headquarters, and everyone sat down in ranks. The guards did not forget to close the door when they left the lobby after bringing tea.

Deng Shichang pointed to a middle-aged man sitting under Sa Zhenbing and said, "This is General Liu Hengfu, the commander of the 11th Army Division in Luzon." ”

"Below is Liu Hengfu. But he was not a division commander general. Liu Hengfu stood up and saluted: "I came here this time on the grounds that I was going to the Qing Dynasty to procure Luzon military supplies, but in fact, it was because the Luzon pioneers informed me to go to Lushun to attend the enlarged meeting of the General Staff Headquarters. I am really ashamed that I am not an official of the Qing Dynasty but I am among the participants in the meeting, but I don't know who the meeting is about? Please let me know. ”

"Actually, the officer doesn't know either, and the person the officer knows is only that the General Staff Headquarters has notified all the officials above the theater level to participate. This official is only half a day before you. It's just that the CIA people didn't inform General Liu, and the military department has listed General Liu's headquarters in the ranks of our Qing Army, and it has been called the 11th Division. The general is a major general and division commander? This matter has been approved by the emperor a year ago, why did the CIA not know about this matter to the general. What do the CIA guys eat. ”

"I really don't know, and no one has ever told me about it. As a member of the Chinese, I can't bear to be bullied and angry in Luzon. He had also taken the name of Luzon for himself before, trying to seek living space for our Chinese people as Luzon. Xin De has pioneers by his side to guide him from going astray and going further and further, and he also knows that if overseas Chinese want to be truly respected, they must have a strong country as their backing. Just like the British. I just do my best for the Chinese, and I can't afford to be this general. Please also ask the Commander to be clear. ”

"General Liu is too modest. The general has been working for the Chinese in Luzon for many years, and he has worked hard. In recent years, the Chinese have formed their own army to protect the safety of our Chinese, although the general has not been officially canonized by the imperial court and has not been paid military salaries, but he has really been included in the list of our Qing generals. Could it be that Mr. Liu dislikes the official position of the Qing Dynasty? ”

"I don't dare to do it below, it's just that the Chinese army built by the lower officials is just a group of people. It really doesn't deserve the name of this division commander general. ”

"If there are not enough people, they will be recruited slowly. Since the emperor has already made a will, as long as the general no longer refuses, it will be my Qing general. This officer is the commander of the navy, and this army is not under the control of this officer. After a while, Lord Ouyang, the commander of the army, arrived, and it was not too late for General Liu to complain to Lord Ouyang. Deng Shichang smiled: "Don't talk much, you have been tired at sea for a long time." After dinner, take an early break, and the enlarged meeting of the General Staff Headquarters will be held in the evening. ”

When night began to fall on Arthur, a large fleet of troops sailed by at high speed on the sea. All 22 main warships of the Pacific Fleet, without losing all of them, passed through Arthur at this moment and galloped towards the deep inland sea. Only one destroyer slowly stopped in the harbor.

"Hahaha, I'm not late." Wu Deren pushed open the door of the staff room and shouted.

Everyone gave him a blank look, and even those who dared to call themselves Lao Tzu in front of the emperor said that he didn't have it. Only Wang Shizhen, who is the chief of staff, said: "You are the last to arrive." We thought you weren't coming, thinking that Lord Wu must have taken refuge in the Queen Mother, so he wouldn't look down on us miscellaneous troops. ”

"Fart." Wu Deren jumped up angrily and scolded: "There are only a few people under your hands, T Niang D patted his ass and ran to the northeast to show his loyalty." There are more than 40,000 soldiers under Lao Tzu and more than 60,000 workers waiting to eat and drink, and you don't pay money. Lao Tzu doesn't take refuge in the more than 100,000 people under the Queen Mother's command to eat air. Fortunately, Lao Tzu was smart enough to know that when he went to the Queen Mother to get some silver flowers, he would starve to death as early as Lin Yongsheng in Nanyang. This time, if Lao Tzu hadn't supported him to order coal, it would not have been enough to rely on his coal storage to drive to the horse's tail. ”

"Hear it, Commander Wu is not allowed to be stupid in the future, how smart people are." Wang Shizhen's ridiculous words caused the audience to laugh, and even Wu Deren laughed indifferently. Wang Shizhen waved his hand: "Okay, no kidding." The reason why the General Staff Headquarters held an enlarged meeting this time was because a big battle was about to be fought, and it was still a second-line operation. Therefore, before the meeting begins, I must make it clear that the content of this meeting is related to the survival of the country, and all the contents of the meeting must not be leaked. But if it is violated, the emperor's will will punish the three clans. ”

"Yes." Whether they were standing or sitting, drinking tea or looking at the pictures, the generals all stood up and saluted.

It was also on this night that the No. 1 dock of the Huludao Shipyard, which had been closed for seven months, slowly raised the gate after concentrating the country's best design and manufacturing workers and working in two shifts for 24 hours, and with the help of high-horsepower tugboats, the first 8,000-ton experimental cruiser powered by steam turbines made by the Qing Dynasty sailed out of the dock. Except for the four turrets, which need to wait until Guangxu Island to be installed, this is already a complete battleship. There was no launching ceremony, only a design team led by McKinson to see him off.

The massive blades began to spin, and the experimental ship sailed into the center of the Pacific Fleet, which had been waiting for a long time. Then they accelerated together and sailed out into the sea in the night.