In May 1902, the days began to get longer, and although there was still a slight chill in the morning, people felt very comfortable, and the coast looked like a slender line on the horizon from the Gulf of Finland, where the fleet was anchored. Pen × fun × Pavilion www. ｂｉｑｕｇｅ。 ｉｎｆｏ

A quartermaster on the Simonov cruiser "Minning", when he was resting, he often ran to the foredeck, where there were often some people lying down, some people sitting and reading the newspaper, the most attractive thing in the newspaper was the news of the war with the Chinese.

Despite the strict censorship of the press, the sailors learned from the newspapers that the situation of Russia in Asia was not good, that the Russian rulers were fascinated by the glory of the past, and that they were looking forward to a great victory, a peace treaty with Dalian, and, of course, a large war reparation.

But contrary to expectations, since the outbreak of the war, the Russian army has retreated on all fronts in the early days, and now the Primorsky and Amur regions are completely occupied by the Chinese, and in Trans-Baikal millions of troops of the two countries are fighting, and the First Pacific Fleet is now trapped in the port of Konstantin, with only a few warships distributed in the Philippines and other places.

The news in the newspapers was about the Philippine detachment, a few days ago the Philippine detachment tried to leave Manila Bay for Constantine to join the main forces of the First Fleet, but their breakthrough was unsuccessful, off the coast of Manila they encountered the Chinese cruiser fleet, the "Rurik" was sunk, and two of his partners had to return to the port in Manila Bay.

Now that the whole of Asia and the Pacific Ocean has completely become the world of the Chinese, the flag of St. Andrew's can only flutter gloomily in the port.

"Now they're finished!"

Engineer Tokarev lamented that he was usually a man who only cared about himself, but now he also began to care about the things around him.

As soon as the people around him heard him say this, they asked together.

"Who? Who is going to play? ”

Tokarev played. Lying down, his eyes were closed because the sun was strong, his face was pale, and his sparse hair covered the corners of his forehead. After a few minutes, he said in a lazy tone.

"The First Pacific Fleet, of course! At all costs. None of the warships of the First Pacific Fleet have escaped from the current predicament, they are either locked up by mines and warships, or they are trapped in ports, and our naval strength has been weakened, but there is no damage on the Chinese side. ”

Gun Commander Popokov was a guy with an active personality, and he immediately spoke.

"The Second Pacific Fleet will soon be ready to go, and they will definitely be able to relieve the First Pacific Fleet. You must know that the strength of our fleet far exceeds that of the Chinese, and do not forget that the Chinese fleet is only a few years old! ”

Poboko's words were full of pride, maybe the size of the Russian naval flag could not be compared with the British, but it was by no means comparable to the Chinese navy, even with the addition of the Beiyang Fleet, it was not Russia's opponent.

Simonov said gloomily.

"What do you say? You don't understand. Even now, the Second Pacific Fleet is ready. But it seems that it will take at least a few months to get from here to Asia. Maybe the entire nun's solitary life will be occupied by the Chinese, and our warships there will have long sunk to the bottom of the sea. ”

Not so long ago, when the Second Pacific Fleet was being hastily assembled, almost no one believed that it would be sent to the Far East, but now there was no room for doubt. Over the past ten days, almost all the main warships of the entire Baltic Fleet have been transferred to the 2nd Pacific Fleet. The commander of the fleet was Vice Admiral Rozhestvensky, who lived on the flagship "Suvorov", and a little later several battleship cruisers were ready to be incorporated into the fleet, and now they are still in the dock in Kronstad.

Simonov read aloud to his companions a boastful article published in a newspaper in which the author described the Second Pacific Fleet. Pinning all his hopes on them, he said that the combination of this fleet and the warships of the First Fleet would be enough to crush the Chinese fleet and then blockade the coastline to the northeast. Since the most prosperous areas of the Northeast are by the sea, then the fleet will directly threaten their economic center, and then the Northeast will be broken and surrendered, in short, for Russia, this time it will be a sure victory,

"This guy insists that our fleet is three times stronger than China!"

Someone said to Tokarev.

"But do you think they can beat us?"

"There is no better way to talk nonsense than those who speak without looking at the facts!"

Tokarev sarcastically said.

"Those are just a bunch of fools who sell themselves for their lives, he will say whatever others tell him to do, he will only brag, the First Pacific Fleet is no weaker than the Second Pacific Fleet, and it is more familiar with the sea conditions there, but what is the result? Locked in the harbor, now we're on an expedition from Europe to Asia, and God knows what will happen along the way! ”

His words immediately drew the approval of others!

"Isn't it, the formation of the Second Pacific Fleet is really too hasty, the "Grand Duke George" has just been built, and the "Oleg" is still in the dockyard, and the fleet formed in such a hurry is simply sent to death when sent to such a distant place, you see, what is the situation of the soldiers? ”

"Some people want to fight, others don't!"

The topic turned to the purpose of the war, which seemed to be becoming more and more unpopular, like the riots that are happening everywhere now, and now a storm is brewing in the Russian land, and even in the army, they can feel a more and more different atmosphere.

A whistle sounded on the deck, followed by a shout.

"Quartermaster, Quartermaster Simonov, the captain called you."

There must be something important about this, Simonov dropped the newspaper and hurried over, tidied up his clothes as he went, and when he arrived, he saluted at the open door.

"Your Excellency, I'm here!"

Captain Wilhelm was a typical German, tall and broad-shouldered, more like a lawyer than a naval officer, looking for something in a bookcase, and now turned to look blankly at Simonov.

Simonov walked over. Waiting for her to explain why he had been called, after a while the captain walked over to the table, searched for a while in the pile of papers, and said to Simonov.

"This is an order from the staff on the shore, and I don't want to lose a quartermaster like you. But no way, your work has been transferred, pack your bags and go as soon as possible! ”

"Your Excellency, can you tell me where I am transferred?"

"Transfer to the battleship" Oriyo "! ”

The voice of the chief was very calm, but to Simonov it sounded like a death knell, he did not want to go to the Far Eastern front, not even his ambitions, for her she was concerned with political change. This change is the most urgent thing for Russia in Simonov's view, where he has been talking to his friends about Russia's fate and its future, and he reads the latest books of this kind whenever he has the chance, but now fate has driven her in a completely different direction.

"This trip should be very interesting."

"You can see a lot of new places and compete with the Chinese, but the most important thing is that you will expand your business and get new revelations." Along the way, you can go to many countries to really see it. Find out what ...... those countries are."

What a column, I don't think this may be a hint that he is politically suspicious.

The captain paused and continued.

"I think you like this new quest, right?"

"Of course!"

Simonov immediately replied.

"Your Excellency, I am very honored to accept this fate."

Simonov said sincerely, and with a smile on his face, so that the captain did not see his true face.

"I know you'll be happy. See you then! ”

"Thank you! Your Excellency,"

Although he did not want to, but there was no way, Simonov had to go to the "Orilo".

In Simonov's opinion, compared with cruisers. The battleship "Orilo" looked like a giant, and the first thing that surprised her was that it was extremely large, its water part and the superstructure of the warship were all painted black, and there were twin turrets with twelve-inch cannons in the front and rear, and six-inch cannons on the left and right sides, and the muzzles of these cannons made one feel a terrifying power! The upper two platforms are the cannon plates, the exclusive 76.2 caliber rapid-fire guns designed to deal with torpedo boats, and above the upper deck is the bridge, the front bridge is divided into three levels, and the rear bridge is divided into two levels. On the top of the front and rear bridges were equipped with 47-mm rapid-fire guns of a smaller caliber, as well as searchlights, and in the honorable center stood two seven-story yellow chimneys, between which were small boats, airboats and torpedo tubes. The radio antenna was heavy on the main mast and went around the rear mast, which was covered by railings and steel armor for a lookout.

When Simonov boarded the ship, the whole "Orilo" was in shambles, the sailors were picking up munitions, crates, and all kinds of supplies from the barges moored next to the ship, and everywhere there were shouts of people, the sound of boatswain's flutes, the rattle of iron, and the clatter of cranes.

Simonov stepped up to the deck and walked towards the quartermaster's office in the midst of the noise, where he met an officer of considerable age, who was Soneskov, the two of whom had known each other, and who he told Simonov who his immediate superiors were, one was Biatevsky, a senior chief of affairs and quartermaster, and the other was Brnashev, an ombudsman.

"Biastov is not a bad person, he is just a selfish guy, as a quartermaster you know, he always puts money in his pocket, he is not a smart person, you know?"

"How's the Ombudsman?"

"It's just a lazy bone, he doesn't do anything, he signs official documents without reading them, and he completely treats the warship as a well-equipped hotel, that's it!"

Soneskov is a talkative guy, but he doesn't talk nonsense, and when a person's name is mentioned, whether he is a big official or a small official, he already knows his character.

"First Lieutenant Sidorov is a special big man, he came from St. Petersburg, he dances very well, and he likes women to look fierce, but like a joke, there is no need to be afraid of him. Want to know about the boatswains? Voyevokin and Pavlikov are young lads and you will get along well with them. But the boatswain foreman, you should be careful with him, the less the better, he is very pleasing to the commanders, because he knows his job, and Sidorov is as experienced in navigating these men as a troika......"

When a man in a silver epaulette walked into the office, Soneskov immediately shut up, the man who walked into the old man looked dignified and had a brown beard, and Simonov immediately guessed that this person must be the quartermaster, that is, his commander.

Soneskov immediately introduced Simonov to him.

"I'm glad you're here, there's so much to do here, I'm tired enough by myself!"

After a few brief polite remarks, Bia asked Simonov to report to the Ombudsman himself.

The prosecutor sat at his desk in Atractylodes, looking like he was dozing, and he glanced at Simonov thoughtfully.

"Well, you go to the first lieutenant and give him these documents,"

Simonov looked for the first lieutenant everywhere, because he was not on the upper deck, and finally found him, and when Sidokov read the official documents, Simonov observed his commander, and sure enough, he looked good, seemed to be very vicious, and had a thick beard,

"Okay, now that you've reported? Then get to work from now on, and you'll have a lot of things to do, and you'll have to fill all your warehouses to the brim! ”

"Yes, Your Excellency!"

"Don't be lazy! If I find out, I'll be polite to you, do you like vodka? ”

"I never drink, Your Excellency!"

Unlike his friends, Simonov never drank alcohol, so much so that his friends would joke about him, saying that he looked like a Russian only by name.

"That's good, drinking is always wrong. But I wonder if you're as strong as an officer should be? ”

Sidorov looked at the new officer in front of him, and even wondered if it was all about the noisy people now, the Second Pacific Fleet Lisse, this person didn't look like an officer at all, but like a malnourished teenager.

"I was born like this, Your Excellency, but my body is very strong."

Simonov's rebuttal did not bring the governor a temper, and Sidorov just turned and walked away very calmly, as if none of this had happened.

Leaving Simonov standing there, in this strange environment, Simonov knew that from now on the battleship would be his home. Soon, he will travel with it to distant Asia, on an unknown journey, to meet an unknown fate. (To be continued.) )