Wednesday, May 6, 1626, the beginning of summer in the lunar calendar.

The dry dock of the Beiyang Shipping Company began to fill with water, and the slender body of the sail frigate Enterprise slowly broke free, and then the dry dock gate opened, and the Enterprise slowly sailed into the East River, and then docked at the dock of the naval base.

On the shore, a group of young men and women wearing snow-white uniforms and naval cadet epaulettes on their shoulders were waiting in a neat square formation, and in front of them were Bai Jun, the newly promoted lieutenant colonel acting president of the Navy Long Island College, and the commander of the navy, Rear Admiral Wang Tiezhu.

Looking at the young generation of naval seedlings with straight and upright bodies, Wang Tiehammer was satisfied, and the navy of the Chinese American Republic, which had been painstakingly built since 1621, finally ushered in the first real harvest.

Today is the day of graduation of the naval cadets enrolled in the 1624 year. Although the Long Island College began its doors in the fall of 1623, the actual full-hour class was the one that was admitted in 1624. Just two years have passed, and a group of young people who were once so immature that they have hairy corners of their mouths are about to become real naval officers.

Today is also the day when the Enterprise sail frigate completes its annual overhaul and resumes its combat readiness duty, and from now on, the Enterprise, which has been sailing for many years under overload, will be honorably withdrawn from the front line and become a training ship of the Navy.

According to the Navy's personnel regulations established in 1623, regardless of the length of the semester, naval officers who graduated from the Long Island Naval Academy's various majors were awarded the rank of provisional second lieutenant of the navy, and then one year of apprenticeship on a warship before they could obtain the official rank of second lieutenant, and those who were evaluated with full distinction at the end of the apprenticeship were awarded the rank of lieutenant. Starting this year, all non-graduating naval cadets will also be on board at least once a year to enrich the learning experience of cadets. Cultivate the fighting style and team spirit of the junior officers of the Navy.

Under this guiding ideology. Among the cadets in the queue today. Most of them are ungraduated students who will join the Class of 1626 aboard the USS Enterprise for three weeks of training at sea.

One of the navy-themed military music, the tune of the classic song "Sailing" echoed over the naval base. It is different from the enthusiasm and excitement of the army military music with a strong drum rhythm. The military music of the navy is basically a slow and magnificent long song, and this completely different atmospheric style of music also leads the military music of the navy to always carry an indescribable tragedy, and also makes the officers and men of the navy always show a strange and proud image of "aristocratic melancholy and elegance".

"Aven. Wolfgang, awarded a temporary second lieutenant in the Navy! ”

With the voice of the principal Bai Jun. The commander of the Navy, Rear Admiral Wang Tiezhu, personally handed over a pair of epaulettes to the 19-year-old youth. As the first honor student of the class of 1626, he received the honor of being personally awarded the title of Commander of the Navy upon graduation. The eldest son of a former German Mason in the countryside of Heidelberg, Germany, became one of the first three Navy graduates to be awarded the title by the Navy Commander at this year's graduation ceremony, and the rule has been a tradition in the Chinese Navy since last year.

Aiwen's parents and his family have now all moved to Butterfly Island, and the family not only has the right to settle permanently, but even has a piece of land that truly belongs to them on Butterfly Island. His father, Rudolph, is the department manager of the Butterfly Island engineering team of the Oriental Construction Company, and he can be said to have a successful career, and he no longer works the construction site himself; His 17-year-old brother Frey excelled at an Ivy League higher education school, completing all of his basic classes (the equivalent of a national junior high school) a year early. Now that he has entered the advanced class, he has become a veritable "college student". Studying in the Department of Land Resources, the professional tutor is An Shaoqing, the country's most senior "geographer" and the Minister of Land and Resources of the Cabinet.

The son of Monty, the general manager of the Manchester City Inland Waterway Transport Company, who was once the most favored by the sailors in the navy, the 18-year-old Ruytel, the historical Dutch admiral, ranked second in his graduation grades, and could only rank behind Evan when he was awarded the title.

"Captain Ainwen is handsome, but Ruyter is too short. The commander of the Navy personally conferred the title, and it was such a big pomp and circumstance, and it was a long face......" In the corner of the cadet queue, Tang Hannah, who was obviously taller than others, smiled and whispered to a girl who was in a trance.

There was no response to the joke, and when she turned her head and found that the other party seemed to be a little absent-minded, a hint of playfulness flashed in Tang Hanna's eyes, and she suddenly lowered her voice: "Instructor Sun is here!" ”

"Ahh Yan Xianping suddenly came to his senses, and subconsciously straightened his body, while secretly probing left and right with a frightened gaze. After watching it for a few seconds, I realized that I was actually standing in the middle of the queue, surrounded by neatly lined up classmates, how could it be possible to squeeze in another person? In particular, isn't the "Instructor Sun" in Tang Hannah's mouth now commanding the fleet to fight on Butterfly Island?

Damn, tricked again!

Tang Hannah's desperately suppressed chuckle came from beside him, Yan Xianping looked at his feet, bit his lip tightly, and his face was red and white for a while. When he thought of the lieutenant colonel instructor who liked to pull himself to ask questions in class when he had nothing to do, or who had to find an excuse to let himself stay for "patient training" after class, Yan Xianping was inexplicably uneasy.

The melodious and magnificent military music in the ears is a strange and beautiful melody that Daming has not been exposed to at all, and sometimes a surging and undulating tune can't help but make people's pores tighten, and then it is an inexplicable comfort and excitement. Yan Xianping was already immersed in this peculiar "magnificent pathos", so much so that just now Tang Hannah seized the opportunity to tease herself again.

Looking at the black and white battleship in the distance, and the seniors in the front row who were receiving the titles one by one, Yan Xianping was both expectant and nervous. Although I have been on my father's Western-style sea ship countless times, I am very excited to think about it today when I want to actually board a Chinese US Navy warship as a Chinese US Navy.

Former First Officer of the frigate USS Liberty and Captain of the Kent Navy served as acting captain of the USS Enterprise training ship. The chief instructor of the ship is Zhang Chunrui, the newly promoted director of naval training for the navy, and although he has never participated in actual combat, he has trained thousands of qualified sailors for the navy.

In addition to the Navy Training Director himself, the Navy Command also sent a special female officer to the Enterprise this time, that is, Lieutenant Katarina. She will serve as a ship's onboard combat instructor and as an exclusive instructor for five female Navy cadets. Prevent possible incidents of harassment against girls.

With an order. 12 graduates of the class of 1626 and 50 non-graduates boarded the ship in turn. The provisional naval officers were assigned command positions in various departments by the captain of the ship, Captain Kent. And the non-graduating students can only play the role of "pitiful" soldiers.

……

In the seemingly wide and long Enterprise, in fact, because of the ship type and the fact that it belongs to the main warship built by the first generation of "rush" in China and the United States, the rationality of the interior space design is poor. It is narrower than a regular sail galen. Even with the same combat effectiveness, the number of officers and men of the Chinese and US Navy warships was much smaller than that of the European sail warships of the same period, and the accommodation space on each officer and soldier was pitiful.

Among the 50 ungraduated naval cadets on board. A total of 5 girls, including Yan Xianping, enjoyed special privileges, and a separate cabin served as their ship's dormitory. All the living items on the ship were prepared in advance, but seeing that there were 5 girls to be squeezed into such a narrow place, and there was no independent bathroom, the girls who had been pampered for a long time complained.

In the process of changing into a special training uniform for sailors on the ship, Yan Xianping had to expose his body in front of "outsiders". And the other 4 girls are still laughing and laughing. I don't mind the eyes of others at all.

I have to mention it again here, before Yan Xianping entered the school. The female students recruited last year were all small characters who traveled through the crowd. The 4 girls of the "Huamei Gaomen" in the same class, except for Tang Hannah, who likes to play tricks, the other 3 have a much colder attitude towards Yan Xianping, and even say something similar to "Ming Dynasty soil buns" behind their backs from time to time, which makes Yan Xianping dare to be angry and dare not speak. After thinking about it, although she was often teased by the other party, Tang Hannah was more "kind" to herself.

What's funny is that I don't know if it's an intentional arrangement or a coincidence, the 5 girls were uniformly assigned to the gun position at the stern of the ship this time and formed a gun team, Tang Hanna served as the temporary gun leader, and Yan Xianping was the first gunner.

For the first time, he saw the Chinese Navy breech mounted on a 90-mm naval gun at close range, and Yan Xianping curiously touched everywhere. From the gun carriage, the gun shield to the gun barrel, the color is pitch black and shiny, and then turn to the front of the gun, only to find that the muzzle of the gun is actually a strange equilateral hexagon.

"It's weird, the cannon cavity is angular and angular, aren't you afraid of the shell getting stuck?" Yan Xianping touched the muzzle of the cannon, full of questions, and couldn't wait to immediately tear open the canvas covering most of the cannon body, and then turn it into a cannonball and drill in to see what was going on.

"Yan Xianping, you can't untie the canvas on the cannon before you receive the order!" Lieutenant Katerina came from the side, decisively stopped Yan Xianping's good move, and quietly pulled the other party back to his position, "If you don't want to enter the confinement room as soon as you get on the ship, you must abide by military discipline!" The confinement room on the warship doesn't even have a toilet! ”

"Yes, sir......" Yan Xianping blushed again, and hurriedly stood in place obediently, no longer daring to do more hands and feet.

Seeing Yan Xianping look so deflated, except for Tang Hannah, the other girls in the artillery crew all laughed. The crisp laughter caught the attention of the boys in the neighborhood, and they all threw stammering smiles on their hippie faces.

"All in position, hoist the sails!"

Under the guidance of a European non-commissioned officer who served as a midshipman, more than two dozen boys who served as sailors rushed to the ground under the mast and began to pull the rope rails. The snow-white sails fell layer by layer, and the training ship Enterprise gradually went ashore, driven by an inland steam tugboat.

"The students looked excited." On the shore, Bai Jun said with a rare smile to the naval commander Wang Tiezhui beside him, "Three weeks of sea training can accelerate their growth. ”

"Although it's offshore training, safety is more important, and strictly speaking, they're all kids." Wang Tiehammer looked at the battleship in the distance, just said a few words, and then turned and headed for the carriage not far away, preparing to return to the naval headquarters.

"But the enemy doesn't think they're children." Perhaps not really understanding the meaning of Wang Tiehammer's words, Bai Jun looked at the distant naval commander and muttered softly.

……

The USS Enterprise made a beautiful circle around Manchester Bay, and the young cadets crowded the side of the ship, proudly waving to the officers and men of the Army at the Inner Bay Fortress. The fortress artillerymen, who had never enjoyed such "enthusiasm" of the Navy, were inexplicable.

However, in order to express "concern" for these children, a gun salute that was not part of the routine etiquette was fired. But because the distance is too close. A group of students who were bluffed to see the excitement retreated one after another. This scene made the fortress artillerymen laugh again. As a result, the sailors on the Enterprise were so angry that they blew their beards and glared, as if these cadets had caused the navy to suffer a serious loss of reputation, and with an order, all the cadets who had just "lost their temper" were driven into the cabin. as a punishment.

Just as the Enterprise giggled away from Manchester Bay, a small Navy clipper flying a medical flag sailed into Manchester Bay and into the military port on Long Island's West End.

In the evening, a river steamboat docked at the Jersey Town Pier. A Chinese sailor with a bandage on his arm slowly stepped off the board.

Huang Hu'er, short but very strong, looks extremely honest. Huang Huer, who turned 20 last month, was a refugee from Daming last summer. According to Huang Huer's original words, he was a military household in a certain coastal area of Fujian, his parents died, and he worked as a soldier in a water village in Fujian. I thought I was going to Nanyang to work, but I didn't know that I was sent to Huamei thousands of miles away.

Recruitment for the Navy that year. Huang Hu'er's qualifications and agility and skillful skills on the ship immediately attracted the non-commissioned officer in charge of recruiting recruits. Two months later, Huang Huer quickly walked out of the sailor training base and became a small soldier on the sail frigate Dongfang with the rank of private. Honest, diligent, obedient, and intelligent are the evaluation of him by the European non-commissioned officers of Huang Huer's foremast group, which is also the common denominator of most Chinese sailors.

However, Huang Hu'er was also unlucky, and the Vostok sail frigate encountered stormy weather while carrying out a routine patrol in the waters of Bermuda. In the storm, Huang Hu'er climbed the mast alone with amazing courage, intending to tear the rope that was hanged in a hurry, but accidentally fell, but fortunately he pulled a rope before falling to the ground, and did not fall into any major problems, but caused Yan Zòng's muscle strain.

Now, Huang Hu'er was sent back to the mainland for treatment and recuperation by the ship's military doctor on the grounds that he was "injured by a muscle strain and is not fit to continue on duty", and only returned to Mancheng in the morning on a naval hospital ship converted from a liaison ship eliminated by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Standing on the dock in Jersey Town, Huang Hu'er looked around blankly but thoughtfully. This is the place where Huang Huer settled after immigrating to Huamei, but Huang Huer has only lived here for less than a month since the day of resettlement. It seemed that it was not easy to recognize the direction of "home", Huang Hu'er carried the package with one intact arm and slowly walked towards the town.

A small, simple apartment community to the south of Jersey Town is home to single Ming immigrants like Huang Huer. A two-storey small apartment can accommodate four single men, a living room, a bedroom, a bathroom and a kitchen, the area is not big, it is not small, but it is better in the quiet environment, and the home furnishings are simple and complete. Moreover, as an active-duty soldier, the original "Migrant Housing Resettlement Loan" was also paid for by the Ministry of National Defense, plus he was single, so Huang Huer did not have any financial burden at all, and he was purely in a state where the whole family was not hungry.

Huang Huer has no feelings for this family at all, and has come back from vacation once in the past six months. Lighting the candle, it was dim and cold, and slowly put down the package, Huang Hu'er couldn't help but sigh softly.

"Coming back?"

Suddenly, a familiar voice sounded from outside the door behind him, which had not yet been closed, and Huang Hu'er quickly turned around as if he had been stung, with a hint of panic in his eyes. Outside the door, a middle-aged Chinese man dressed as a farmer was holding a kerosene lamp and looking at him with a smile.

"Sun ...... Brother Sun ......" Huang Hu'er secretly settled down, lowered his head slightly, and whispered to the farmer in front of him.

"Well, folded your arm? You haven't eaten yet, so come and talk to me! The farmer's smile vanished, his voice lowered, and he turned and walked to the other end of the apartment hallway.

It seemed that this attitude could not be refused, so Huang Hu'er had no choice but to obediently follow behind and enter the other party's home.

……

Under the light of several candlesticks, there is a rubber raincoat hanging on the wall, and a few labor protection clothes, there are a number of uncleaned vegetables and fruits piled up in the corner, a pair of cloth shoes with mud are discarded at random by the wall, there are a few plates of cold vegetables and a pot of rice wine on the wooden table in the center of the living room, and the peanut shells scattered under the wooden table have been piled up, and at first glance he is a rough man who has no ability to take care of himself.

“…… Hmph, it's just a little bit of a muscle, such a small injury can be idle, this gorgeous sailor is quite good at buying people's hearts. After gently checking Huang Hu'er's injuries, the man surnamed Sun smiled slightly, turned his head to look at Huang Hu'er who looked nervous, "How long will it take to return to the ship when you go ashore to recuperate this time?" ”

"Returning to the words of the president, the captain of the ship Yun Xiao has been cultivating for a month." Huang Hu'er hurriedly left his seat and knelt on the floor.

"What? Haven't you heard that this China and the United States are not allowed to kneel? The farmer surnamed Sun sat on a chair and said coldly, with a hint of pride in his eyes.

"The little ones don't dare to ......" Huang Hu'er hung his head tightly, and his voice trembled a little.

"This time in China and the United States is really interesting, I didn't expect that the person sold by Yan Siqi has such blessings, and everyone is like a paradise...... General Zheng still looked down. Mr. Sun slowly stood up and slowly paced back and forth in the room, "I have already found out that the people of the Yan family really lived in the Huamei Jingshi on the other side, and they were greatly valued by the government, hum...... However, the family members of a group of outlaw pirates can enter the house in a country and be respected as guests! ”

Huang Hu'er was still kneeling, just listening quietly to the self-talk of Zheng Zhilong, a Penghu guerrilla general, and he didn't dare to come out of the atmosphere.

“…… Anyway, you and I haven't seen each other for a few months, just listen to the details of this gorgeous sailor, there is some wine and food on the table, let's rest when you have a full stomach, and tomorrow I will ask you after work. Remember, you must watch more and pay more attention in the future, and do not reveal your identity, otherwise you should know what the fate is......" After Sun finished speaking, he entered the inner room alone.

Seeing his beautiful "boss" disappear at the door, Huang Hu'er breathed a sigh of relief, but when she was so frightened, she didn't even feel hungry, and just stared at the wine and food on the table.

Slowly took out a sandalwood tag tied with a rope around his neck, and looked quietly at the kerosene lamp, as if his mother and two young sisters were far away in Daming...... (To be continued.) )