After entering the calm waters of Pier 4, the patrol boat turned again and sailed out of the entrance in the middle of the "T" shaped breakwater in the middle of the water, bypassing the 200-meter breakwater outside Pier 4, and entering the adjacent naval port from the 50-meter-wide entrance to the south.

Between the edge of the wharf and the deep waters, more than 20 warships of all sizes were divided into two groups and berthed neatly, and on the three towering flagpoles directly above the wharf, Zhu Daolin's handsome flag and the flag of the navy and army were fluttering.

The officers and men of the navy and the troops of the fortress who received the urgent report from the lookout were already waiting in line at this moment, and more than 6,000 officers and men formed 12 neat squares, standing majestically and solemnly.

The solemn atmosphere created by the battle flags, shining steel helmets, spears, and bayonets shocked Wang Zhaohuan, Fan Sanmin and other civilian officials.

Seeing this scene, Zhu Daolin suddenly remembered that the honor guard of the three armed forces came, but this thought was suppressed by him as soon as it appeared, and now is not the time to show off, and he has to keep a low profile in the next few years, and it is good to get rich.

When the patrol boat docked, Zhu Daolin immediately jumped onto the dock, solemnly arranged the camouflage training cap and the hem of his jacket on his head, and strode up to more than a dozen neatly saluted officers surrounded by a group of naval and army generals, raised his hand to salute in return, and then saluted more than 6,000 officers and men one by one.

In an instant, the voice and password sounded loudly, and all the soldiers returned the salute neatly, and thousands of pairs of eyes were full of irrepressible admiration and pride.

Zhu Daolin forcibly held back the excitement in his heart, walked forward, shook hands with the eager officers one by one, and exchanged a few words with each officer.

It was the turn of the acting fortress commander Celso. Amos, the 38-year-old former second lieutenant of the Spanish Navy in a fortified city, loudly advised:

"General, allow me to make a suggestion to you, and I and most of the officers and men of the fortress force believe that the mission of the Tamsui Port Fortress Force is to defend the Tamsui Port and the mouth of the Tamsui River two kilometers to the north. It was the last defensive barrier erected behind the navy, and as such, the Tamsui Harbor Fortress troops should belong to the navy, not the army. ”

"What!?" Zhu Daolin was quite surprised when he heard this, thought for a while and asked, "I don't know if the garrison of the Manila defensive fortress is the navy or the army?" ”

Amos's tanned face suddenly turned purple: "The Governor of Manila is just a politician who talks nonsense. He and his staff didn't understand the army at all, and they didn't value it, so the eight forts around Manila Harbor were very chaotic, both navy and army. ”

"Although that port has never been attacked by hostiles, once it is attacked, there will be a huge confusion in command, and it will be difficult to form a unified defensive force between the various batteries and the defensive fortresses because they are not subordinate to each other."

Zhu Daolin nodded with relief: "Thank you, Lieutenant Colonel Amos!" I will seriously consider your suggestion. Until the General Headquarters makes a decision, I hope that you will continue to stick to your post and lead the fortress troops to protect the Tamsui Port and protect the 130,000 citizens behind you. ”

There was a stirring of the officers around him.

So far, only the East China Sea Fleet and its subordinate First Marine Division have been awarded, and there has been no news of the newly formed North Sea Fleet and all army units.

The Tamsui Garrison Command and the Fortress Units are now part of the Army, and the positions of commanders of various departments, battalion commanders, and captains are temporarily established. There is no corresponding rank and treatment to go with it.

Now that Zhu Daolin has actually called Amos, the acting commander of the fortress, a lieutenant colonel, there is no doubt that the title of the whole army is about to be conferred. How not to make the officers and soldiers feel inexplicably excited?

Amos didn't expect to be appointed as a lieutenant colonel, so he raised his head in excitement and said loudly: "Amos will never live up to the trust of the general!" ”

Zhu Daolin patted Amos's arm and nodded: "I have always trusted you, Lieutenant Colonel Amos!" Let's order the departments to be disbanded, and let's first visit the camp of the admirals. Then I need you to take me to the camp of the fortress troops. ”

"Yes!"

Amos replied loudly, took a step back and asked Zhu Daolin to go first, then walked to the neatly lined up soldiers and gave a loud order to disband and return to the camp.

The naval barracks, which covers an area of more than 80 acres, are located directly behind the military port. In the depths, there are two family quarters in the valley that are still under construction, the west side of the camp is separated by a high wall is a lively community of 3,000 artisans and their families, and the southeast of the camp is closely connected by two 70-meter-high hills, which are the largest Tamsui fortress No. 1 fort and the camp, which the people of Tamsui call the South Fort.

The South Fort is a large fortress built with mountains and reinforced concrete, and halfway up the hill behind the hill, four caverns dug with explosives are arranged in sequence, which can store 12 tons of gunpowder and 20,000 shells.

The 16 210 mm caliber forged guns erected on the mountainside at a height of 50 meters, and the 12 150 mm caliber cast guns erected on the top of the mountain were all forged steel cannons ordered by Zhu Daolin from the Tianshu Pavilion Southwest Military Factory last year.

With the addition of a sturdy gun carriage with a mechanical retraction system and adjustment mechanism, these guns can generally reach a high frequency of three fires per minute, and the 5-kilometer fan of water at the center of this circle is within the range of artillery fire.

At the foot of the low hill 200 meters southeast of the South Fort is the earliest prismatic defensive fortress completed in the entire defense system, and the outer wall of the fort is all made of large stone strips and concrete, with a thickness of 2. 5 meters, 12 meters high, 82 meters long and 40 meters wide, 520 officers and soldiers of the musket battalion of the Tamsui Fortress troops were stationed here.

This large two-story fortress built on the mountain, in the shape of an irregular half-plum blossom, lies like a monster between the mountains and the coast to the south of the Tamsui Harbor, and firmly protects the Tamsui Harbor and the flat valley leading to the eastern depth, and is the most important part of the entire Tamsui Fortress defense system.

Before the construction of the fortress, Zhu Daolin and more than a dozen instructors of the instructor team repeatedly deduced according to the drawings, and finally came to the conclusion:

More than 50 large warships and more than 6,000 musketeers were needed, and only God knows how many battleships and soldiers will be left behind after the battleships risk death to get close and destroy the South Battery with naval guns.

After visiting the well-equipped barracks on the ground floor of the fortress, Zhu Daolin and dozens of civilians and soldiers went to the playground 40 meters square in the middle of the fort to discuss the request of the officers and men for a concrete-ground basketball court.

Who knew that in the end of the discussion, this matter fell to Zhu Daolin, including the sewers around the basketball court and football field in the camp in the valley behind the South Battery, and the cement needed had to be provided by Zhu Daolin. (To be continued.) )