Episode 157 East Cockscomb Mountain Villa

The light cruiser Xuda sailed north at a speed of 28 knots, and after sailing for about nine hours, at six o'clock in the evening.

The sea at dusk was covered with golden waves, and a lone cruiser anchored on the surface of the sea, bouncing up and down with the waves.

This is the Yellow Sea far away from the land, more than 200 kilometers to the west, is the Huanghuai coast of the Northern Qing Dynasty, probably the location of Haizhou, that is, Lianyungang in later generations. More than 300 kilometers to the east is the southern tip of the Korean Peninsula. It is surrounded by four sides, and as far as the eye can see, there is only the vast sea.

As the sun sets into the sea, the sky on all sides becomes darker and darker, and the color of the sea slowly changes from grayish white to deep blue-black.

According to the agreement, only one light cruiser could come from both sides. After the two ships approached the coordinate point of the meeting, they each lowered their boats and rowed towards each other. The dinghy on the Nanming side carried Xiang Xiaoqiang, Zheng Yuxuan and the negotiation team, and the dinghy on the Beiqing side carried the younger brother of Emperor Guangwu, Yu Yan, and a dozen or so personal servants who served him.

But just in case, Nanming has quietly sent 10 submarines to ambush nearby, forming an encirclement. Once the Northern Qing warship behaved abnormally, then in addition to dealing with a light cruiser of the Southern Ming, it also had to dodge the torpedo array of 10 submarines.

On the deck, Xiang Xiaoqiang and Zheng Yuxuan stood side by side on the railing of the bow of the ship, looking due north, the direction in which the Qing cruiser should come.

Zheng Yuxuan's face was flushed, he didn't say a word, and his whole body trembled slightly. Xiang Xiaoqiang approached her, and the two of them gently touched each other's shoulders. Xiang Xiaoqiang could still clearly feel that Zheng Yuxuan's body was spasming slightly.

Xiang Xiaoqiang knows why this is and understands her feelings. Yes, she, the county lord of the Ming Dynasty, is about to board the warship of the Northern Qing Dynasty and go to the Northern Qing Dynasty. And the controller of that land is the sworn enemy of the Ming Dynasty for hundreds of years. The uncertain future of life and death made her inevitably afraid. But Xiang Xiaoqiang knows that for Zheng Yuxuan, a girl who is eager for adventure and excitement, this experience is also extremely exciting. Especially going on adventures with his sweetheart, which is incomparable for Zheng Yuxuan.

Zheng Yuxuan knew that from the moment he boarded the Qing cruiser, his safety was completely out of his control. Everything that accompanied him from childhood to adulthood: the identity of the Marquis and the county lord, the empress's cousin, her father, the rich family consortium, the huge wealth in her hands, and the laws and military of the Ming Empire...... For the first time, all the things that have protected me for more than 20 years have left me. In the past few days, the only person who can protect her and give her a sense of security is Xiang Xiaoqiang.

The important thing is that in these few days, Xiang Xiaoqiang is only himself, and there will be no Qiuyu, Xiuxiu, Princess Liaoyang, and cousins to share......

It's a wonderful feeling.

Yesterday, when her cousin asked her to enter the palace, took her hand, and choked up to discuss this matter with her, Zheng Yuxuan only thought about it for half an hour, and then agreed categorically. After that, she didn't even go home, didn't tell her father, and got on the train to the train station. After getting on the special train, Xiang Xiaoqiang was waiting for her there. Zheng Yuxuan trembled and hugged Xiang Xiaoqiang tightly.

……

The Xu Da fluctuated with the waves at the agreed place for an hour, and at seven o'clock in the evening, when it was nearly dark, the observer on the top of the bridge shouted loudly that the target had been found in the distance. Because it was already very late, the visibility was not as good as during the day, so when I found it, the distance between the two sides was less than four thousand meters.

The observers continued to work hard to identify the target, while the Xu Da began to lift anchor with a "whoosh", the heavy oil boiler began to pressurize, and the stern propeller quickly stirred the white waves, and the whole ship entered a combat state.

On the deck "Woo——!! Woo——!! The ground battle siren sounded throughout the ship, and immediately two officers ran over and escorted Xiang Xiaoqiang and Zheng Yuxuan down the gangway and into the cabin below deck. There was the best location for the armor protection of this light cruiser. However, it is only relatively the best. Compared to the capital ships, the armor of the light cruiser was already pitiful.

The light cruiser Xu Da dragged the white waves, turned its slender hull to the right, aimed its flanks in the direction of the target coming from the north, and turned all eight 155-mm naval guns to aim at the other side.

In the cabin below deck, Xiang Xiaoqiang and Zheng Yuxuan were huddled by the round porthole, looking at the approaching black dots in the distance. The cruiser sped up, the undulations beneath its feet were even greater, and the waves continued to crash from the outside to the outside to the outside of the glass of the portholes, shattering into a white foam. Xiang Xiaoqiang grabbed Zheng Yuxuan's waist and whispered in her ear:

"Nervous?"

Zheng Yuxuan's body trembled even more, looked outside, bit her lip and nodded.

Xiang Xiaoqiang was also a little nervous, and laughed in a low voice:

"It's okay, it's just a preventative action. It's not going to really hit. Even if there is a fight, the combat effectiveness of the Qing ships is far below us. ”

Zheng Yuxuan's face was still very pale, and he nodded again.

……

Soon, the bridge observer of the Xu Da found that the warship on the opposite side also began to cross the body, sailing parallel to the same direction with the Xu Da, separated by a distance of three thousand meters. Even more worrying is the fact that the warship opposite has three chimneys.

That's not a light cruiser, but a heavy cruiser. The naval flag of the Qing Empire hunts and flutters on the mast.

Immediately after, behind the heavy cruiser opposite, two more small warships emerged in the twilight. That's two destroyers. After a while, two more appeared.

So far, the Qing army has appeared with a heavy cruiser, four destroyers, and a fleet. And the Ming army had only one light cruiser here. Although there were still ten submarines in ambush under the sea surface of several thousand meters around, the Qing army came with four destroyers, and these ten submarines of the Ming army had changed from hunters to prey.

The Xu Da is at a complete disadvantage.

"It's not good, it's not good......" Captain Xu Da held up the binoculars and muttered, "That's the 'Yongzheng' heavy cruise, the 'Kangxi class'...... The strongest warship of the Qing Navy...... What do they want to do with such a blatant violation of the agreement? ”

The Xu Da increased its horsepower, and its speed approached 30 knots, dragging a long white mark in the same direction as the Qing fleet, and it was five degrees south. In this way, the distance between the two sides gradually widened.

Although the distance between the two sides was close, under the cover of twilight, it was not a big problem for the Ming light cruisers to get out.

……

At this moment, a signal light flashed on the heavy cruiser of the Qing army. This is a pre-agreed meeting signal for both parties.

Seeing the other party's signal, although Xu Da continued to close the distance, he also called back according to the agreed signal.

The Qing army's heavy cruiser "Yongzheng" slowed down. After a while, it stopped, and the white marks on the tail gradually dissipated. However, the four destroyers around them began to increase their horsepower, dragging black smoke in a zigzag pattern, and the bow of the ship cleaved the waves to search for submarines nearby.

At the same time, Xu Da also slowed down, but always kept a distance of more than 3,500 meters from Yongzheng.

The various actions of both sides all reflect a serious sense of distrust of the other side.

Next, the two sides began to "light up". The Qing ship asked the Ming ship to get closer, saying that the more than 3,000 meters were too far away, and the two sides would be tired and half dead just rowing the boat. And the Ming ship replied that he was tired and half dead, and he was tired and half dead, who told you to come to a fleet without abiding by the agreement, and there was no sense of security when you approached us.

The two sides pulled the skin for a while, and finally at a distance of 3,500 meters, both sides lowered the dinghy.

Xiang Xiaoqiang and Zheng Yuxuan sat on a rubber boat, surrounded by a circle of sailors paddling. There was also a rubber boat in the back, where several other members of the delegation were seated. A light hangs on each boat to indicate its location to the other.

Far to the north, under the tall black silhouette of the Yongzheng, there are also two small bright spots shaking. It was their two rubber boats, and on one of them, there was Emperor Guangwu's own brother: Aixin Jueluo-Yuyi.

Xiang Xiaoqiang took Zheng Yuxuan and sat in the middle of the boat, and suddenly reached out and touched a cold thing, which was quite heavy. When he picked it up, it was a woodpecker machine gun, with a long chain of bullets connected to a heavy magazine! Put the bipod away, hold it in your arms and you can strafe!

There were two sailors behind him, please put it down to Xiaoqiang, saying that this is just in case, there must be one on the dinghy over there, so we can't do without.

Xiang Xiaoqiang sweated. No wonder they didn't row and rested, they turned out to be machine gunners.

This serious mutual distrust between the two sides is 100 times stronger than during the Cold War in later generations.

……

Not only did it take a long time, but the sailors on both sides were almost exhausted anyway, and the two lights in the distance gradually approached. The four rubber boats on both sides finally came together. At this time, the warships behind both sides were far away, and only a black silhouette could be seen.

The four dinghys threw the cables to each other and fixed them together. The sailors on both sides looked at each other warily.

An officer stood up on the dinghy of the Qing army and shouted in a Beijing accent:

"Driver, which one is General Xiang? Who is the lord of Leping? ”

An officer on the dinghy of the Ming army also stood up and shouted:

"Who is His Royal Highness King Fuping?"

A figure stood up on the opposite side, and the young Beijing said loudly:

"The Lone King is. Is General Xiang coming? ”

The light on the side of the Ming army immediately shone on him. It was a young man in his twenties, dressed in a robe and coat, with a thin face, similar to the faces of Pu Yi and Guangwu.

Xiang Xiaoqiang stood up and said:

"Ben will be here."

Immediately afterwards, Zheng Yuxuan also grabbed Xiang Xiaoqiang's hand and stood up, and said in a clear voice:

"The lord of this county is also here."

A bright light from the opposite side came, hitting the faces of the two of them. Xiang Xiaoqiang and Zheng Yuxuan could barely open their eyes, but they both held their hands tightly and raised their heads to let each other carefully distinguish. They knew that Fuping Wang Yuyi was also receiving the light from his side at this time.

Both sides should carefully discern and verify their identity. Once the "fake" is received, then the life of the hostages is not guaranteed.

Two officers on both sides jumped onto each other's skiffs, holding a stack of photographs, carefully discerning them from all angles, and almost went to their faces to look at the pores with a magnifying glass.

In this way, after half an hour of "inspection", both sides recognized each other's identities.

Then, Xiang Xiaoqiang first jumped onto the rubber boat of the Qing army. Immediately afterwards, Fuping Wang Yuyi jumped onto the rubber boat of the Ming army. Then, Zheng Yuxuan jumped onto the rubber boat of the Qing army.

The next thing was that the entourage of both sides jumped onto each other's boats one after another.

In this way, at almost ten o'clock in the evening, the "handover of hostages" was officially completed. The rubber boats on both sides carried the opponent's people, and each rowed back to his own warship.

Xiang Xiaoqiang and Zheng Yuxuan sat together, shook each other's hands, and didn't say a word. Surrounded by Qing army sailors. They paddled hard as they stole a curious glance at the two of them. After a long time, Xiang Xiaoqiang and his party boarded the heavy cruiser of the Qing army, the Yongzheng.

……

The fleet commander of the Qing detachment came to see Xiang Xiaoqiang and Zheng Yuxuan, treated them very respectfully, personally led them to their respective rooms, and then brought in exquisite meals.

After boarding the Qing ship, Zheng Yuxuan's excited trembling reached a high point, and whenever Xiang Xiaoqiang hugged her, he could strongly feel her body trembling.

After dinner and bathing, it was already late at night, and the two of them were going back to their respective rooms to sleep. When they were separated, Xiang Xiaoqiang was sticking to her ear and said softly:

"Xuanxuan, the last time you escaped from your home, it was the first time in your life that you made such a big decision on your own. But it turned out that you made the right decision. You've won your freedom and brought us both together...... This time you made another decision to go to Beiqing with me. I'm sure you'll be right this time. ”

Zheng Yuxuan turned his head to look at Xiang Xiaoqiang, and swallowed nervously, but a layer of blush rose on his face and smiled.

……

The "Yongzheng" detachment of the Northern Qing Dynasty kept moving in the north-northeast direction at a speed of 22 knots. The next morning, it turned northwest again.

At 11 p.m., a piece of land appeared ahead. It was a mountain. Gradually, a wider land mass emerged.

That's Old Iron Mountain.

At 12 o'clock, the fleet sailed into one of the three major military ports of the Northern Qing Dynasty: Port Arthur.

Xiang Xiaoqiang took Zheng Yuxuan and the delegation down the gangway to the cement wharf. Two more cruisers were moored in the harbor, as well as a number of other auxiliary vessels. In the distance, small boats can be seen shuttling and moving, and workers and sailors are working and patrolling on the shore.

But the nearby pier was empty. It seems to have been cleared.

Only a few cars were parked in front. This should pick them up. It seems that the Northern Qing side should also try to keep a low profile and try not to let the outside world know that the two sides are negotiating secretly. At least until the negotiations were unsuccessful. As for the success of the negotiations, if the Northern Qing extorted enough oil and water and had enough "political victories", then the Northern Qing would definitely have to hype it up.

Xiang Xiaoqiang and his party got into the car and were taken out of the port area.

The Nanming delegation still does not know exactly where the venue for the talks will be. Beiqing has always kept this secret. Now that I'm on the shore, I still don't know. Is it in Lushun? Or somewhere else? Or to Beijing?

I have already arrived in Lushun, and it seems unlikely that I will go to Beijing from here. If you take the train, it will take a big bend and go around the entire Liaodong Peninsula. If you go to Beijing, then the cruiser will dock directly at the mouth of Dagu in Tianjin, which is the closest.

Xiang Xiaoqiang decided to ask again.

The official of the Northern Qing Dynasty who was sitting in the front passenger seat hesitated for a moment and nodded:

"It's in Lushun."

Then, which official took the initiative to speak again:

"General Xiang, now we are going to the East Cockscomb Mountain Villa, where you and your delegation will stay during the negotiations...... It's coming soon, and when you arrive, hehe, we'll pick up the wind and wash the dust for you and the county lord's mother. ”

Xiang Xiaoqiang nodded, a thought flashed through his mind, and he smiled:

"My lord, are we going to see some big people then?"

The official was stunned for a moment, looking very mysterious, and hesitated for a long time, noncommittal.

Xiang Xiaoqiang didn't ask anymore. He didn't know the bottom of his heart. originally thought that the Northern Qing Dynasty would take such great pains to let himself come over, and it was estimated that Emperor Guangwu wanted to see him. But now instead of going to Beijing to negotiate, but in Lushun, he is a little uncertain.