The south coast west of Busan, the southernmost part of the Korean Peninsula, winds and changes, forming a number of natural harbors such as Zhenhai Bay, Mashan Bay, Gucheng Bay, Jinju Bay, Nanhai Bay, etc., and among them, Zhenhai Bay is the most, the blue Zhenhai Bay can be said to be the first good port in Northeast Asia, compared with the narrowness of the Lushun Pass, the opening of Dalian and Incheon, it is about 40 kilometers away from Busan in the east, and it is bordered by the Korean Strait in the south, choking the throat of the Korean Strait. Pen @ fun @ pavilion wWw. ｂｉｑUｇE。 Surrounded by hills 40~300 meters high on the east, west and north, the terrain is hidden, and it is a sheltered harbor against typhoons, and the natural conditions are extremely superior, with an area of hundreds of square kilometers of water, which is sheltered by Geoje Island, which can be described as a wide harbor and deep water.

Even now, in the sequence of the Northeast Navy, the Zhenhai base is also the largest naval base, combat command center, strategic base and base camp of the Northeast Navy, and it is also the main force gathering place and logistics support base of the Northeast Navy. More than half of the combat ships of the Northeast Navy are deployed here.

After four years of construction, Geoje Island has become a naval island - nearly 20,000 civilians on the island have been relocated from the island several years ago, and Geoje Island is now completely used by the Northeast Navy. The muzzle of the cannon on Geoje Island guards the sea, and the huge 12-inch fortress cannon is pointed directly at the sea, for the Northeast Navy, which is "not a fortress". Zhenhai, as the home port of the navy, was naturally an exception, and its batteries were not only equipped with dozens of guns folded from Arthur, but also added several 12-inch fortress guns, continuous battery batteries, and machine-gun pillboxes. As a result, Zhenwan formed a tight system of land fortresses.

At this time within the bay of the town. In smooth water. In the harbor below Geoje Island, warships are moored at berths, and the flags of warships flutter in the wind. On the trestle, the sailors were busy, bags of high-quality North Korean anthracite coal tanks, not inferior to Welsh coal, preparing for the sailing.

On the gangway, the sailors even sent baskets of vegetables and meat to the warship, and everyone seemed very busy. The sailors on the deck were busy, and the boiler crews below deck were also not idle, and when the boiler was ignited, the boiler began to pressurize.

Prepare for sailing!

Prepare for sailing!

The issuance of an order made the atmosphere of the entire First Fleet tense up, and everyone was preparing for the next ocean-going cruise.

For the past two months, the newly formed First Fleet has been conducting routine patrol training, in the Yellow Sea, in the Sea of Japan, and sometimes. It was as far as the East China Sea, but that was just normal training. Only a small number of shells were carried at a time, but today it is different from the past.

"Bullet!"

With a roar, the idlers on the trestle retreated, and the narrow-gauge electric train that drove out of the underground ammunition depot stopped on the trestle, and with the help of a crane, an 800-pound shell was lifted from the carriage, spun in the air, and hoisted to the supplementary mouth of the "Zhenhai" combat ship.

With the help of the hoist, the heavy shells passed through the decks and entered the bomb bay under the waterline, and the sailors immediately pushed the shells with carts and placed the shells in the cart racks, at this time, the empty ammunition compartment was filled with shells for the first time, and black shells full of protective oil were placed in the ammunition compartment.

"Check the fuse!"

With the command of the young officer, the sergeant on duty immediately took the form and checked the number of fuses.

"Twelve-inch explosive bomb fuse ......"

After checking the numbers, the young officer randomly selected a fuse box, and in the steel box, the fuse made of brass shimmered with dazzling brilliance under the light.

"Checked, the ammunition bay is complete!"

While the sergeant on duty was putting away the manual, the young officer took out another order from the briefcase on his waist.

"Now, convey the direct order of His Excellency the Commander!"

The order is very simple, the sailors in the ammunition depot are required to remove the shell protection butter and apply it to liquid protective oil, this order only makes the sergeant on duty stunned, these shells that have just been transported from the ammunition depot are coated with a thick layer of butter, according to the normal use rules, the butter is removed before the gunnery drill, this is to protect the shells, after all, any rust of the shells may affect the accuracy of shooting.

Remove protective butter and apply liquid protective oil, what does it mean?

Outsiders may not know, but the sergeant, who is the squad leader of the ammunition depot, knows very well that this is not a preparation for navigation, but a preparation for war.

"Yes, sir......"

Although he was surprised, the sergeant had no doubts, he had served in the navy for several years, and naturally knew the rules of the army, and the only thing he needed was obedience.

"Be careful with secrecy!"

"Yes!"

At the same time that the crane hoisted the shells and trams to the ship, a new detachment drove along the pier to reinforce the crew of the "Zhenhai" ship, and the same team appeared on every warship of the First Fleet ready to sail. All of them are young detachments of officers. They are very young indeed, almost children. They are all young students of the military academy who have not yet graduated from the naval academy and have just completed their first ocean-going sea training and have received official military ranks, and they are proud of their new identity and new uniforms.

The ranks of the young officers seemed very lively, completely devoid of the restraint of ordinary sailors, and even the steps seemed brisk and proud, and under the guidance of the military band, they drove towards the gangway of the battleship "Zhenhai". Soon the military band stopped at the gangway and continued to play military music, and the young men boarded the warship along the gangway with the precise and well-organized pace characteristic of the army. When the party reached the aft deck, the officer leading the group saluted the commander who was reviewing them on the ship, reporting the arrival of their team. At the end of the loading and unloading work on the dockside, an order was given to the team to face the bridge.

The groups of port attendants who had been busy on the docks gradually dispersed, and the military band blew while walking in the direction of the base, and the music gradually disappeared, leaving only the sailors still standing in line, waiting for the commander's lecture.

At this time, Li Weizhong, the commander of the fleet, who was wearing a dark blue tweed military uniform, left the commander's cabin. Walk over to the megaphone on the bridge.

"Everyone!"

The moment the two words burst out from Li Weizhong's voice. The officers and men on the deck, as well as the officers who had just come to report, all had a light blow to the boots. Slightly raising their chins, they looked directly at the bridge, although they could not see the appearance of the fleet commander at all because of the distance and height, but it did not prevent them from staring there with a respectful expression.

Feeling the sight from below, Li Weizhong only felt that his breath was stagnant, as the commander of the fleet, he knew better than anyone else. What is behind this so-called "Nanyang Consolation Cruise", and he also knows what awaits him, so his expression will be so serious.

"All of you are Chinese navy soldiers, and you all have the responsibility to defend China's maritime frontiers, so as a navy soldier, you must not relax your sense of responsibility, and you ...... now."

When Li Weizhong began his speech, the young officers under the bridge listened intently and were fascinated. His speech was heard throughout the ship through a sound tube amplification system. While talking about the responsibilities of the navy soldiers, he extended a warm welcome to the young officers on board. and explained to them that they had been specially selected by the highest authorities to take part in the voyage. Therefore. After returning home, they will grow into real naval soldiers, and the hope of the future navy lies in them.

In a word, the commander's speech was a reminder of their responsibilities so that each one could fulfill his or her duties on the rest of the voyage. This is a routine speech of the Navy.

As the deputy of the fleet and the instructor, Su Yueyang behaved extremely calmly, and he still had a signature friendly smile on his face, which was the signature of the instructors, if there was any difference between him and ordinary officers, it was probably a pistol hanging between the belt under his blue tweed uniform.

The instructor is not a secret in the Northeast Army, of course, this is also a "fine tradition", since it is a "fine tradition", then the navy is no exception, for his identity, Su Yueyang is naturally very clear, if necessary, he will not hesitate to enforce discipline, arrest the fleet commander or captain and other officers, in short, he has this power - the military police on the ship, which is his support.

Outside the entrance to the bridge, two military policemen in white helmets stood by the door, looking formidable, and for the instructors, the gendarmes were where their courage lies. However, as the "second-in-command" of the fleet, Su Yueyang's mind was not on the gendarme, and even most of the time, he did not have the consciousness of being an instructor. However, this did not prevent him from thinking about naval warfare as a competent naval officer.

Vice Admiral Li Weizhong, who was the commander of the fleet, asked the captains to get on small motorboats and walk back and forth in the bay of the town to test what position was easiest to maintain. In this way, it was found that the easiest formation to maintain was the one-line column. There was no need to consider anything at all, speed, course, as long as they firmly followed the ships in front, but because of this, the naval battle theory at that time was that horizontal formations were given priority, and advocating that a single column was risky, so he conducted confrontation drills, and the result was that every time a single column won the victory, he ordered that no matter in the cruise and reconnaissance, this formation must be maintained.

Su Yueyang, who is also a naval officer, is also conducting his drills -- he is practicing how to use torpedo boats and even submarines to "cut off beards." In short, he will never interfere with Li Weizhong's plan on how to drill the fleet, and will do his duty to maintain his authority so that he will not be dissatisfied with the existence of this alternative position of instructor.

However, he was also aware of the risks of this mission based on past exercises, which proved that torpedo boats were capable of threatening warships, but the only thing they were thankful for was that this time they were facing only an old torpedo boat. But at least theoretically, it can still pose a threat to the "Zhenhai".

When considering this threat, Su Yueyang turned his eyes to Tang Zhaoyi, who was wearing a business outfit beside him, as the Minister of Foreign Affairs, he will go to Nanyang with the fleet this time to carry out a consolation mission, he is a native of Guangdong, can speak Cantonese, looking at Tang Zhaoyi with a slightly smug expression, Su Yueyang couldn't help but think, if this Minister Tang now knows the thoughts of the Navy or the thoughts of the teacher, what kind of demeanor will he have?

Sometimes, some things are always full of this weirdness, even if it is your own people, you have to do everything possible to prevent it. Well, it's not a precaution, but for secrecy, at least for the outside world, their cruise is just to promote national prestige in a foreign land, to show the strength of the country to the West, as a diplomatic backing.

Of course, by the way, they don't mind playing a certain role when necessary, such as protecting overseas Chinese and showing force, anyway, this time to Nanyang, Fuzhong didn't plan to let the Dutch stop.

When Vice Admiral Li Weizhong spoke, Tang Zhaoyi's heart was very excited, in fact, from the moment he boarded the "Zhenhai" battleship, which symbolizes the highest technological achievement of China's shipbuilding industry, his whole person was in a state of excitement, so that even those footsteps couldn't help but flutter, and he always murmured, is this true?

Originally, he only hoped that Fuzhong would send warships to Nanyang to "go around" to show Fuzhong's concern for overseas Chinese in Nanyang, and he even swore that after that circle, he promised to exchange no less than 10 million yuan in bonds for Fuzhong -- Nanyang's bond market is still a market to be developed.

Unexpectedly, the handsome man waved his arm and said, "How can a warship? In my opinion, if you want to send a few more, otherwise, people don't look down on us! At the beginning, he thought that he was sending two or three warships, and even thought that it would be those two warships, and he naturally longed for the "Zhenhai Ship" in his heart, but after all, it was a "sharp weapon of the country" How could it be lightly shown to others, so it would be okay to take a back seat and send a "Dinghai". According to the speculation of everyone in the ministry, they estimated that it would be the "Dinghai class" with one Pingbo class and two warships, which was enough, and the naval strength of the Netherlands was ...... It's not worth mentioning at all.

But when he got the news from the Admiralty, he was completely stunned by the handiwork of the marshal, not two warships, but an entire fleet! There was even a marine battalion accompanying him, which was there to preach consolation, and it was clearly to go to Nanyang to demonstrate force.

"Gunboat diplomacy! Gunboat diplomacy! ”

muttering these words in his heart, Tang Zhaoyi's chest suddenly straightened, and a burst of blood suddenly gushed out of his chest. (To be continued.) )