The "Renchen Incident" ten years ago changed many things, from the rise of local forces marked by the "Eight Governors and Deliberations" to the local government's large-scale handling of foreign affairs and the training of the new army. There are too many changes in the pen "Fun" Pavilion www.biquge.info, which makes people dizzy.

However, for the local area, the biggest change is probably the Beiyang, which is the Beiyang Fleet. After all, that year Beiyang lost Port Arthur, lost the dock and fortress of Lushun.

At that time, there were many choices in front of Beiyang, such as Jiaozhou Bay in Shandong, Sanmen Bay in Fujian and Keelung in Taiwan.

After ten years of construction, the barren beach of Jiaozhou Bay has become a small coastal city that has begun to take shape, with various facilities such as ports and docks scattered on the Jiaoao Peninsula, which has become the largest naval base in South China.

Yesterday, the sky was clear, and the warships in the harbor were fluttering colorful flags. Surrounded by a large group of officials and entourage, Li Hongzhang ascended the Jiaoao Mountain Fort.

Jiaoao Mountain Fort is the core of Jiaoao Fortress, and there is an underground headquarters of the fortress on Jiaoao Mountain, which is only more than 100 meters above sea level. It can be said to be the largest and most well-equipped underground military building in Kannai.

On the gun emplacement, several 12-inch tube-retreat fortress guns stood majestically, the muzzles of which pointed directly at the sea, and on the side, several 10-inch rapid-fire guns could be seen.

Walking to a twelve-inch cannon, Li Hongzhang glanced at the inscription on the cannon. It's not a foreign language, but a square word that he is familiar with.

"12-inch fortress gun, made by the arsenal of the three eastern provinces"

Simple in a dozen words. But it reveals a lot of information. These cannons were all made in the Northeast. The dignified military port in Beiyang uses cannons made in the Northeast, and it will be despised if it is spread out.

As the host of Beiyang, Li Hongzhang knows very well that compared with Guannai, the military industry in Northeast China can be said to be very developed, not to mention the 12-inch cannon used in the fortress, which is the rifle used by the Beiyang New Army. It was also produced by the drawings provided by the Arsenal of the Three Eastern Provinces, and even the rifles originally manufactured were also assembled by the Beiyang Machinery Bureau with parts provided by the Arsenal of the Three Eastern Provinces.

When building the Jiaoao Fortress, Li Hongzhang initially did not consider buying weapons from the northeast, he preferred the German Krupp cannon, but in the end, he could not refuse the more advanced and cheaper cannon made by the arsenal of the three eastern provinces.

It should be understood, so when I saw the sign of the arsenal of the three eastern provinces. Li Hongzhang's face did not have a trace of abnormality. He paused for a moment by the cannon before continuing towards the fort.

Standing on the edge of the fortress and looking into the distance, the spring sun shines on the rippling blue harbor, and there are thousands of golden scales of light waves. On the surrounding hills, the majestic posture of the coastal artillery is faintly visible.

Sheng Xuanhuai followed Li Hongzhang's side, squinting his eyes, looking around, like a child, full of fresh curiosity about everything.

Li Hongzhang looked at him like that, and couldn't help but smile and said:

"Xingsun is the first time to come to Jiaoao?"

Lord Zhongtang's question made Sheng Xuanhuai quickly nod his head:

"Yes, I have heard that Jiaoao Port is the first good port and the first fortress in East Asia, and I can see it today, so I know that this is true!"

Nodding, Li Hongzhang replied:

"It's not easy, the construction of Jiaoao Port has been ten years and has cost tens of millions of silver, so that it has today's scale ......"

Mentioning this fortress, Li Hongzhang became interested, pointed at Sheng Xuanhuai one by one, and said:

"Look at the wharves and anchorages in this harbor, where all the ships of the Beiyang Navy can be stationed; On the surrounding mountains, there are coastal forts, and there are more than 40 huge cannons controlling the sea surface within a radius of tens of miles; Look at the port again, the telegraph office, the machine factory, the Benbei Hospital, the mine battalion...... Everything but the kitchen sink. ”

Lord Zhongtang's number of treasures made Sheng Xuanhuai exclaim:

"How can Lord Zhongtang be so familiar with the situation of the military port, what a treasure!"

Ding Ruchang, who had been with him, lost no time in interjecting and said: "Jiaoao Port, like Lushun Military Port, was planned by Lord Zhongtang and created by himself. ”

Ding Ruchang's welcome made Li Hongzhang smile and said:

"Yu Ting, it's an exaggeration."

Ding Ruchang knew that Li Hongzhang was very useful for such flattery, so he was relieved to "contradict" and said:

"The humble duty is not exaggerated, the humble duty still remembers that when the Lushun Fort was built, the Lord Zhongtang once came here in short clothes to participate in the construction and repair the Jiaoao Mountain ......"

As if remembering something, he suddenly fell silent. The faces of the people around him have also become extremely complicated, no wonder, after all, now that Lushun has returned to the Northeast, even the reason why the Beiyang Fleet moved here, in the final analysis, was it forced by others!

For Beiyang, the loss of Lushun can be said to be an extremely embarrassing thing, compared to Lushun, Jiaoao is good, but after all, Beiyang first lost Lushun, before moving to Jiaoao.

However, from the navy's point of view, the conditions of the Jiaoao military port are only excellent, far from being comparable to Lushun's, where the water depth of the harbor is deeper, the sea surface is wider, and it can berth warships of larger tonnage.

Perhaps this is in line with the sentence "Saiong loses his horse and knows whether it is a blessing", not to mention, the Northeast did not get Lushun in vain in those years, in those years, the warships of the Beiyang Fleet were maintained, maintained and maintained in Incheon, and even there, the old guns on the ships were replaced.

Now Beiyang uses a color rapid-fire cannon, those rapid-fire guns are made by the arsenal of the three eastern provinces, and they only charge a cost price, if you calculate carefully, it is not so much that Beiyang lost Lushun, but that Lushun was sold to the three eastern provinces.

"When the Lushun Military Port was repaired, the old man was still in his old age, and when he arrived in Jiaoao, the old man couldn't even lift the stone......

Li Hongzhang, who seemed to be in a good mood, did not notice their changes, but said with great interest:

"Let's go, let's take a look at the port, Yu Ting, this fleet is the old man's confidence!"

Li Hongzhang said with a smile, and then the person walked directly to the outside of the fortress, and took the tram that had been waiting for a long time outside, compared to Lushun. Jiaoao Fortress is connected to various places inside by trams. It only takes ten minutes to get from the fortress battery to the port.

It's still far from the port. You can feel the strong atmosphere of vigilance, and on the walls of a row of houses made of stone on the side of the road, it is written in red lacquer "Military port land, fireworks are strictly prohibited!" "A few big words.

Around the military port, there are three steps and one post, five steps and one sentry, and there are soldiers with guns and sabers, and they are on high alert.

These are all sailors on duty. If the surprise attack on Lushun back then, what did Beiyang learn?

I am afraid that it is necessary to strengthen the defense of the military port and establish a full-time marine corps to protect the military port. For now, at least, even if anyone enters the port, it will be difficult to capture it under the protection of tens of thousands of marines, let alone control the fortress.

The warships in the harbor are next to each other, Haitian, Haiqi, Hairong, and Haichou. More than 10 warships such as Haichen, Zhenyuan, and Ding were anchored in the harbor. As in the past, the main warships of the Beiyang Navy are still moored in the harbor. The colorful flags fluttering on the warships were specially hoisted to welcome Li Hongzhang's arrival, and only the navy could see that the specifications of those colored flags were the specifications for greeting the head of state. If this is spread out, it is not just a matter of overstepping the system, but then again, even if it is spread, what can the Manchu court do with Li Hongzhang?

"I'm afraid that they can only pretend to be deaf and dumb at that time, after all, for the Manchu court, our Lord Zhongtang is the best candidate to maintain the current situation, if there is no Lord Zhongtang......"

The corners of Chen Youquan's lips were slightly the same, and his tone was full of mockery.

"I'm afraid that this Manchu court will no longer exist a long time ago!"

As a naval soldier, he has no loyalty to Chen Youquan in the Manchu court, and even in private, he has a lot of complaints about Lord Zhongtang, just like now.

"Just say it in my ear!"

Glancing at Chen Youquan, Deng Shichang lowered his voice slightly and reminded softly.

"If this word gets out, it may cause you some trouble! I'm about to make a pipe belt, so I can't even tell the weight of this point. ”

Deng Shichang said bitterly that he has always admired Chen Youquan, a junior who graduated from the US Naval Academy, and in fact, those officers who graduated from the US Naval Academy in the Beiyang Fleet have also won the appreciation of the Zhongtang adults.

Over the years, under the deliberate promotion of Lord Zhongtang, they are gradually replacing the dominant position of the people of Fujian Province and the Beiyang Fleet.

"It's not like I can't tell the difference!"

In the face of Deng Shichang's persuasion, Chen Youquan said stubbornly.

"I'd rather think that I can't tell the difference between right and wrong, and I can't tell which is more important, so that there will be a lot less trouble, Lord Deng!"

After a pause, Chen Youquan looked at Deng Shichang and said with distress.

"We are soldiers! We are the Chinese Navy! Now the Northeast Navy is preparing for war with all its might! What are they fighting for? Is it for Tang Dashuai's selfish desires? Or for the country? If it is for its own selfishness, how can it rashly challenge the great powers? Since it is for China, how can we, as the Chinese Navy, sit idly by? ”

Thinking that his former classmates were in the midst of this war related to the fate of the country and the nation, and he could only sit back and watch in the harbor, how could he feel at ease?

"Don't forget Lord Nakado, for you and me!"

After being silent for a long time, Deng Shichang's voice sank.

"We must keep this in mind, if we don't have the support of Lord Zhongtang, how can we be now!"

"But the country! Who has considered the country? ”

After questioning, Chen Youquan shook his head helplessly and sighed.

"If I really hadn't considered the kindness of Lord Nakado! I'm afraid I've already ......."

Looking to the north, Chen Youquan was even a little jealous of those classmates, their circumstances, and their ability to serve the country with what they learned.

"My lord, if it is in the future, it will be ...... in the future"

Without waiting for Chen Youquan to finish speaking, Deng Shichang spoke.

"No one knows what will happen in the future, if the Northeast will be useful to our Beiyang in the future, I think Lord Zhongtang will definitely have the country as the priority, and we will naturally be willing to serve the country when the time comes!"

"Your Excellency, you know that's not what I'm asking!"

Chen Youquan looked at Deng Shichang and said in a serious tone.

"I'm going to ask ......"

"I know what you're asking,"

Shaking his head, Deng Shichang remembered the books that the sailors of the warship liked to read, as well as the commentaries they liked to listen to, and even on this warship, there were sun and moon flags.

"But Lord Zhongtang has the grace of knowing Deng......"

Dropping these words, Deng Shichang got up and returned to the bridge, and just as he was doing it, he saw Lord Zhongtang and his party coming.

Boarding the "Haiqi" battleship, Li Hongzhang looked extremely happy, and he looked inside the warship with great interest, and sometimes he even deliberately put on white gloves and wiped the dust with his fingers in the corner of the artillery, so as to confirm whether the sailors were lazy.

"How far can this 12-inch gun hit?"

Entering the main turret, Li Hongzhang asked the gunner with great interest, and after getting an accurate answer, he continued to ask.

"So how many seconds does the cannonball man have to fly in the air!"

These are all the knowledge that the artillery commanders need to master, and the artillery commander's answer made him nod with satisfaction, and then said to Deng Shichang.

"Excellent! If our Beiyang Navy is like this, why worry about coastal defense? ”

After leaving the main turret, Deng Shichang accompanied Lord Zhongtang to continue to visit the warship, and Li Hongzhang said to Deng Shichang as he walked.

"Zhengqing, there is no one else here, you tell me, if the Northeast Navy fights with the Russian Navy, who will win and who will lose?"

Perhaps because he was afraid that Deng Shichang would not tell the truth to himself, Li Hongzhang deliberately emphasized.

"Zhengqing, you are all human beings, temperament, the old man knows, if he doesn't understand you, how can the old man put you in this position."

When he said this, Li Hongzhang could hear someone behind him snorting slightly, and he didn't need to look back, he also knew who was snorting, who else could it be besides those Min people?

In the appointment of the "Five Seas," those people have a stomach full of opinions about themselves. Even so, what's the matter, the current Beiyang is not the same as it was without them.

"Lord Hui Zhongtang, from the humble point of view, even if the Russians send reinforcement fleets, it will be difficult to defeat the Northeast Navy, after all, they are labor expeditions, if the humble duties are not bad, when the time comes, the main force of the Northeast Navy will inevitably attack to meet the Russian reinforcement fleet, and will never give it time to enter Japan to rest."

"Hmph, do you think he is in the northeast, and he wants to intercept and become interception? Don't forget, there is still the Russian Pacific Fleet in Konstantin, and if the main force of the Northeast Navy is exhausted, when the time comes, maybe the Pacific Fleet will copy the hometown of the Northeast Navy! By that time......"

Without waiting for the man to finish his cold words, Chen Youquan said with a straight face on the side.

"At that time, could it be that my Beiyang Fleet is just not furnished?"

Turning his face to look at Lord Zhongtang, Chen Youquan gave a military salute.

"Lord Zhongtang, could it be that I have been building an army in Beiyang for decades just to make the world laugh at it! Laugh at me, no boy in Beiyang! (To be continued.) )