Great-mother dark sand

Today, the sun is shining. To the east of the Shoal of Zengmu, a Pacific Cargo passenger liner is heading west, the first ship to leave the Pacific Ocean for the Atlantic Ocean since Pacific Freight's founding. It was also the first time that the Atlantic route was opened, and it was also from this ship that the Pacific Cargo Company's route began to extend to the Atlantic.

Since the reign of the Qing Dynasty, not a single steamship belonging to the Qing Dynasty has sailed to the Atlantic. So it is not just an ordinary voyage, but also the footsteps of the Great Qing Kingdom towards the world. This voyage has attracted a great deal of attention from all over the world.

The British "Times" published an article entitled "The Qing Kingdom Towards the World," which said: The Qing people, who have never been looked down upon by the Qing people, gave the Qing people a head start in the First Sino-Japanese War. Under the leadership of Guangxu, a young and enlightened monarch, the once lofty Qing Dynasty began to let go of the momentum of the Celestial Empire and began to truly understand the world. …… He opened up the domestic market in exchange for all kinds of support from the world for the Qing state. He also sent a large number of students to countries around the world to learn advanced scientific knowledge. …… This was just an ordinary voyage in the West, but it was given a higher meaning in the Qing Dynasty. Emperor Guangxu of the Qing Dynasty repeatedly asked the Pacific Freight Company to complete this voyage, precisely because the Emperor Guangxu of the Qing State saw the gap between the Qing State and the world. He hoped that in this way, Qing Guo would begin to catch up with the world. It was a truly world-oriented voyage......

Whatever foreigners may think of the significance of the voyage, the ship did carry 3,000 skilled workers who were going to England to learn and build two battleships of their own country. And that's just the first people. These people were carefully selected by Guangxu, they were not only young and literate, but more importantly, they were dissatisfied with the fact that the Qing Dynasty was almost defeated by Xiao Xiaoben, they wanted to strengthen their country, and they also realized that if a country wants to be strong, it must have a strong navy. They have the motivation and energy to learn advanced technology. With the gradual shipment of equipment purchased by the Qing Dynasty in Western countries, they also saw the pace of self-improvement of the Qing Dynasty. As long as they return, they are the leaders of shipbuilding technology in this country. Full of hope for the future, they resolutely embarked on the journey of studying in the West.

On this ship, there are not only invited foreigners to guide them, but also officials sent by the imperial court, who will arrange accommodation and provide them with accommodation. At this moment, everyone gathered on the deck and looked at the Zengmu Dark Sand in the distance.

"The dark sand of the great-mother in front of me is the southernmost land of the Great Qing Kingdom. When we crossed the dark sands of the Great Mother, we walked out of the land of the Great Qing Kingdom, far away from our hometown. It is said that people who leave their hometowns are cheap, let alone leaving their own country. The language is not clear, and the customs are different, so the emperor sent us. Let us take care of your lives so that you can devote yourself to your studies. Before leaving, the emperor summoned us. And let us tell you, study with your heart, fill your brains with knowledge, and the emperor and China are waiting for you to come back. ””

After three months of arduous negotiations, the Qing State exchanged the support policies of Western countries for China at the cost of gradually increasing the number of treaty ports, opening up the Qing Dynasty's domestic market, building railways, and cooperating in the exploitation of various mining resources. In his previous life, he used the reparations from the First Sino-Japanese War to form the 66th Fleet, and today, Guangxu also wants to use the reparations from the First Sino-Japanese War to build his own 66th Fleet.

Two improved battleships of the Majestic-class were ordered from the United Kingdom, and a set of 35 times 305mm caliber naval gun production lines were built with British assistance.

In Germany, two battleships were ordered, and Germany sent more officers to help Qing train the army.

Two heavy cruisers were ordered in the United States and the latest technologies for the production of automobiles were introduced from the United States.

Purchased a large number of shipbuilding industry equipment in France to prepare for the shipbuilding industry that is about to be fully built in the country.

and purchased a full set of naval artillery technology below 203mm caliber from Italy, and at the same time, orders for eight 10,000-ton ocean-going carriers were placed in Italy.

And so on and so forth......

But when Guangxu put the requirements of the battleship on the table, all countries were shocked, what did the Qing country want to do? Two new twin L40/305 mm naval guns, four twin 45L/203 mm secondary guns, 12 single 45 x caliber 152 mm side guns, four twin 37 mm rapid-fire cannons. The full use of the majestic class hull, the standard displacement of 14,500 tons, the full load is 16,000 tons, the use of 203 mm armor, the maximum speed of 18 knots. It is necessary to install an 8-inch secondary main gun, and it is equipped with four twin guns, where is this a battleship, this is completely a mobile battery. Judging from the superficial data, this completely suppressed the Majesty-class battleships, and the British political axe hesitated, and the Sovereign-class battleships have now been rejected by the Qing Kingdom with great certainty, and they are considering whether to sell such advanced warships to the Qing Kingdom. But Germany immediately agreed.

Germany wanted to expand, but Britain was always in the way. In particular, the British navy is an irresistible force for Germany now. If there is a design that surpasses the latest British battleships, and it is built at someone else's expense, using someone else's money to experiment on itself, then what reason should there not be? The most important thing is that as soon as such a battleship is built, it will challenge the latest British battleship. As long as it can make the British unhappy, Kaiser Wilhelm II will be happy.

Now the Germans readily agreed, and in order to suppress Germany, the British quickly agreed. For this reason, the British decisively dismantled the last two Sovereign-class battleships that were still on the slipway, and began to build the Majestic-class battleships on the slipway.

But when it comes to price, the two countries are like negotiating. 1.5 million pounds a ship, and there is no counteroffer, and Ren Guangxu will not let go of his mouth when he says it. MD, the dreadnought level is only 1.8 million pounds, which is 1.5 million? Didn't he just snatch 330 million taels of silver from the book, which is equivalent to 20 million pounds, and they were all targeted.

"Help me train 3,000 shipbuilders and 300 officers. Otherwise, I don't want to. Guangxu said fiercely with a dark face. There is nothing to train people, after all, when countries buy warships, they will require the training of officers and the training of shipbuilders. So the countries quickly agreed.

The Americans also wanted to win the order for battleships, first, the American Ayihua-class battleship Guangxu was not eye-catching, and second, the United States was not sure about building this latest type of battleship. At present, the United States is only an industrial power, not an industrial power. A lot of advanced shipbuilding technology doesn't have the same as this. I can only win the order for two heavy cruisers, but it doesn't matter, after the efforts of the American minister, these two heavy cruisers must also be 9,000 tons.

The ministers of various countries went back happily to accept the reward of the political axe, and Guangxu finally picked the personnel here, and then threw them all on the boat.

When the ship crossed the sands of the great-mother, it meant that a new voyage had begun. At the moment when he crossed the dark sands of his great-mother, the steamer whistled and the whistle resounded through the sea and air. In the distance, a whistle sounded in response, and two warships, flying dragon flags, were heading towards them at high speed.

"Lord Lin, in front of you is Zeng's mother Dark Sand. We returned home. "The navigator excitedly reported.

"Sound the whistle and fire the salute. Tell Daqing Guo that we're back. Lin Yongsheng looked at the sea in front of him and gave an order.

When the salute sounded, involuntarily, two lines of tears slipped from Lin Yongsheng's eyes. A year and a half ago, when he was aggressive towards the Qing Dynasty, every pipe band in the Beiyang Naval Division knew that there would be a war soon. At this time, Lin Yongsheng was ordered to go to England to receive two of the latest cruisers. The Beiyang Naval Division has not added a single ship for ten years since its establishment, and now this addition is two of the latest warships. Lin Yongsheng understood that as long as these two warships returned, they could fully suppress the ship's branches. So he went to England with the emperor's affirmation and earnest entrustment, full of confidence. However, the British deliberately slowed down the construction of the Qing [***] ship in order to complete the Chilean order first (what Lin Yongsheng didn't know was that the ultimate goal of the British was actually to support the Qing Dynasty in challenging the Qing State, and deliberately did not allow these two warships to rush back to participate in the war). Finally, Chile's warships were delivered, and two of its own warships sped up. Just when it was ready to be delivered in another ten days, it was said that Ben sent troops into North Korea. At this time, everyone forgot about the two warships that were about to be delivered in Britain, and the emperor declared war on him. The British side withheld the two ships on the grounds that they did not sell arms to the belligerents, and this deduction was one year.

When the war began, Lin Yongsheng immediately reported that he would return to China to participate in the war, but he was not approved. Instead, the emperor stuffed them into the British naval school, and through his efforts, the emperor incorporated two warships into the most powerful home fleet of the British Empire and trained them with the British. In school, he learned newer theories of naval warfare and participated in the training of the British home fleet, which made Lin Yongsheng truly understand that the Beiyang naval division of the Great Qing Kingdom was really just a naval division. The difference between it and the fleet that can fight in the open sea is a world of difference.

Britain also paid great attention to the first battle of the steam ironclad fleet in human history, and this battle entered the textbooks of the British naval school. The Beiyang Naval Division, which had heavy ironclad battleships, lost to the cruisers, and almost all the British captains looked at them in disbelief. They understood that the reason why the Beiyang Naval Division lost was because of the ideology. Even the obvious tactical mistakes made by the Beiyang Fleet during the battle were visible to even the British cadets, but the Beiyang Naval Division still lost.

When the emperor was trapped in the Grange, he was anxious, but in the end the Qing Dynasty won. The Battle of Rongcheng Bay dashed his last hope, and his British colleagues congratulated them. And what he himself received was contempt for his fellow students. At this moment, Lin Yongsheng understood. Respect is also built on the basis of victory. So, they study and train harder. It is also because of their efforts that they have gained more respect and help. Just before they left for their homeland, the commander of the British Empire's Home Fleet even held a small farewell party.

Today, when the warship sailed through the dark sands of the great-mother, they finally returned.

"Wechen was ordered to go to the UK to receive the warship, and now the mission has been completed. I hereby submit my decree to the emperor. "The first time I came to the Jinluan Palace, Lin Yongsheng, who was facing the saint for the first time, was a little excited.

With the arrival of these two warships, the reform plan of the Qing Navy was finally confirmed.

Liu Buyun, the former chief of staff of the Navy during the war, was transferred back to the Beiyang Fleet as commander of the Beiyang Fleet because of his conservative tactics, Cheng Cheng, the former chief of staff of the Pacific Fleet, was appointed chief of the general staff of the Navy, and the Naval Affairs Yamen was reorganized into the Navy Department to take charge of naval affairs, and Deng Shichang, the former deputy commander of the Beiyang Fleet, was transferred to the post of Minister of the Navy. With the two new cruisers returning from Britain as the main force, the original Guangyi and Guangc, and four other fast destroyers (at this time, Guangxu clearly renamed the small ships such as the lightning strike ship as destroyers) as the auxiliary, and Lin Yongsheng was promoted to the main and Cheng Biguang was the deputy to comprehensively reorganize the Nanyang Naval Division into the Nanyang Fleet, which was stationed in Guangzhou. The establishment of the Pacific Fleet remained unchanged, and all the newer warships from the original Nanyang Naval Division were incorporated into the Pacific Fleet, stationed in Naha and Keelung, Taiwan. The Beiyang Fleet has been weakened to the greatest extent, according to Liu Buyun's words, it is not comparable to the Pacific Fleet in terms of firepower, and it is not comparable to the Nanyang Fleet in terms of speed. At present, the Beiyang Fleet has only six capital ships, Ding, Zhen, Lai, Jing, Jing, and Ji, and many small auxiliary ships have been dismantled, and the only warships that the other two fleets do not want are supplements. Stations in Weihai, Lushun.

In Naha and Keelung, the port is being expanded. The most ambitious project is still in Huludao, where four 20,000-ton docks are under construction. The most puzzling thing is the large interval between each dock, and it is rumored that the emperor wants to reserve a place for the future conversion of a 50,000-ton dock. Rumors are rumors, what are you kidding, 50,000 tons will not be used until the Year of the Monkey, and there are really not many people who believe it. But it's true.

But what no one noticed was that the Cruise, which was built under the order of Lushun, suddenly lost news. (To be continued.) )