Chapter 186, Nansha Chronicle (I)

South China Sea, USS Bailu Integrated Supply Ship

A ray of early morning sunlight shone on Captain Rong Shiqi's face through the porthole, but the captain was still half-asleep and half-awake, and he didn't seem to notice it. Pen & Fun & Pavilion www.biquge.info

Although several years have passed since the crossing, Captain Rong Shiqi is still dreaming of the philosophical temperament over and over again - dreaming of the modern city life before his crossing. Is it that after crossing over, I dreamed of the past before the crossing, or did I dream of traveling to the end of the Ming Dynasty in reality?

From an intellectual point of view, it was more realistic for me to dream of crossing, but the wooden ceiling of the cabin in front of me was so real...... Rong Shiqi, who finally came to his senses, shook his head and rang the copper bell at the head of the bed. Outside the door, the orderly soldier of the Li nationality on Hainan Island with black lines on his face immediately opened the door and came in to dress and tidy up his appearance, looking at himself reflected in the three-sided dressing mirror of equal height: handsome, handsome and handsome, and a bit of literati elegance in his martial arts appearance. Rong Shiqi, who hung the navy sword, couldn't help but smile on his lips: It seems that it is better to cross!

When Captain Rong Shiqi was feeling good about himself, his comprehensive supply ship Bailu was moored on the reinforced concrete trestle of Taiping Island, the largest island in the Nansha Islands. The ship's current mission is to transport supplies to garrisons and migrants on various islands and reefs in the South China Sea.

Today, with the establishment of the Huameng and the influx of huge investment from the modern Chinese government, the South China Sea has initially become a "sea of the Chinese", with weather stations, naval posts and strouncer quarries built on several of the largest islands and reefs, and the southernmost frontier colonial stronghold has expanded to Borneo (Kalimantan). The long-term goal is to penetrate the South Seas from China mainland to the Australian headquarters of the China League.

For this reason, the Dutch East India Company, which is currently entrenched in Batavia, the Spanish colonies in the Philippines, and several sultanates on the islands of Java and Sumatra, are among the "demolition targets" of the Chinese League in the long term.

Of course, in the short term, it will be very, very difficult just to push the colonial stronghold to Borneo on the other side of the South China Sea. The many coral islands in the South China Sea are not only the transportation relay stations between the base camp of Hainan Island and Borneo, but also an important source of fertilizer for Borneo's reclamation movement, so in just two years, the South China Sea Islands have been operated quite prosperously, but they have also been peeped at by pirates.

After the civilian merchant ships that delivered supplies and transported ore to the islands and reefs in the South China Sea were plundered by pirates twice in a row, the navy had no choice but to allocate the newly launched comprehensive supply ship Bailu to be responsible for the long-term logistics and transportation of these coral island strongholds in the South China Sea.

Due to the fact that the steel production of the Traveler in this time and space is still relatively limited, the Bailu comprehensive supply ship still adopts an iron-ribbed wooden hull structure, with a standard displacement of 4,000 tons, and uses a steam propeller and sail hybrid. The anti-pirate self-defense armament consisted of six 30 mm cannons, albeit hand-cranked instead of steam-powered. This can reduce the jamming caused by the uneven shaking speed of the manpower, and also save the physical strength of the gunner. The hull was wrapped in copper under the waterline, and in key areas such as the engine room, the bridge command room, etc., armor defense was also carried out with fifty mm forged steel.

Although the name of the Bailu comprehensive supply ship, like the "Lichun", was also taken from the solar terms of the lunar calendar at the beginning of its formulation. However, it can't stand some literary young people from thinking of Miss Chen Bailu, the peerless courtesan in "Sunrise". Therefore, its bow portrait has also been replaced by a certain traverser officer with a literary and artistic young temperament from the original Mazu Niangniang, to a Chen Shu version of Chen Bailu's cheongsam statue that he ordered for the navy at his own expense.

At that time, the traversers in charge of the shipyard generally felt that it seemed unlucky to get a statue of a prostitute to be placed on the bow of the ship, but under the pleas of the young literary officer, they finally installed the statue of Chen Bailu with the mentality that it was indispensable.

(Chen Bailu, the heroine of Cao Yu's drama "Sunrise", is set as a famous courtesan in Tianjin during the Republic of China.) Born in the countryside, he was once innocent and pure, but he fell into the dust. After being raised by a rich man and enjoying all the drunken gold fans, Chen Bailu encountered a literary and artistic youth again, fell in love, and wanted to get out of the quagmire, but who knew that he was taken by his lover and finally died lonely, which can be roughly compared to Margaret in the Republic of China version of "La Traviata". ）

The indigenous sailors on the Bailu integrated supply ship naturally did not know who this female statue wearing a cheongsam and burning wavy hair was. So in the end, in the mouth of the crew, she became the goddess of white dew in Australia with false rumors. So much so that from time to time, some people secretly offer fruits and cakes to this statue at night, praying for Miss Chen Bailu to realize a series of different wishes, from safe navigation, promotion to wealth, early birth of a noble son, and so on. When the officer of the traverser found out, he did not care, and some even suggested that a female student who studied drama should be seconded to play Chen Bailu and accept the blessings of the sailors.

But this seemingly holy Miss Chen Bailu, what kind of character is set up, the traversers themselves are clear, and those who have been engaged in the maritime profession for a long time have a little superstitious thoughts, so most of those senior old navy members are reluctant to give up on this ship. The newcomers, who are not superstitious, prefer all kinds of majestic warships, and are not very happy to spend time on a supply ship.

As a result, Rong Shiqi, who was far from having enough qualifications, unexpectedly became the first captain of the Bailu comprehensive supply ship.

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Captain Rong Shiqi is only twenty-seven years old this year, and he belongs to the kind of standard soy sauce people who do not have enough professional knowledge and are very tired of labor. After experiencing many reincarnations of migrant workers, farmers, stevedores, and rural cadres, in order to change the fate of the bottom, he resolutely chose to join the army. As we all know, the so-called "army, navy, and air force are big hooligans." Since there are no big hooligans to be there for the time being, let's join the foreign navy.

With this thought, Rong Shiqi, a landlubber, got on the ship of the navy, and then suffered a lot - for rookies who have never been on a sea ship, going to sea for training is really a nightmare within a nightmare. First it swayed from side to side in the near sea, then swaying and draping, and finally the chaos of the open ocean. The naval cadets ate and vomited, and even the water they drank spit out, and even the fragrant pork cutlet became unnoticed: after all, a wooden sailing ship of several hundred tons and a luxury cruise ship of tens of thousands of tons felt really a heaven and earth for the passengers.

The landlubber cadets who couldn't stand the bumps of the waves soon left, and the rest also asked to go to the military port fortress to serve as marines. Although Rong Shiqi vomited to death at that time, he came up with a ruthless energy, and with the idea that he must be a master, he actually gritted his teeth and persevered.

After another three months, I don't know whether it was because of the numbness of the nerves or the automatic adaptability of the body, Rong Shiqi actually overcame the problem of seasickness and finally became a qualified naval ocean-going officer. First, he served as the captain of a patrol boat for more than a year, and it is said that he has defeated two groups of pirates, and his performance is very good. Then he descended from the sky and became the first captain of the comprehensive supply ship Bailu, which can be said to have initially become a winner in life.

After changing into a short-sleeved summer navy dress and carefully combing his hair, Captain Rong Shiqi left the captain's room and walked into the officer's quarters. At this time, the officer's cafeteria, located at the stern of the White Dew, had already begun to fill with the smell of breakfast.

Because the White Dew was at anchor, and the wind was calm and the sea conditions were good, the small kitchen of the officer's canteen was a rare fire. From afar, you can hear the iron pot bouncing up and down in the hands of the chef, accompanied by the sizzle of hot oil heating in the iron pot, the crisp collision of the spatula and the iron pot, and the pleasant smell of oil smoke, all form a simple but energetic symphony.

Today's breakfast staple is white rice mixed with mixed grains, and the side dishes are fish steaks fried with various kinds of miscellaneous fish, potato balls made by kneading mashed potatoes into a ball and fried in a pan, stir-fried water spinach and sugar cold tomatoes just taken from the Taiping Island vegetable garden, and a pot of seaweed and shrimp skin soup. The newly waking officers sat at the table and whispered conversations, munching on fragrant fish steaks and drinking delicious hot soup.

As soon as Captain Rong Shiqi took his seat at the top of the table, a waiter served him a breakfast, hot fish steak and potato balls, and crispy stir-fried water spinach and cold tomatoes. Just as Rong Shiqi was contented to enjoy this hearty breakfast, while looking up at the coconut grove and beach of Taiping Island outside the window, he suddenly found that there seemed to be no one next to the table.

“…… Huh? Why didn't Mr. Xu Xiake come to dinner? Could it be that he hasn't gotten up yet? ”

“…… Captain, that Mr. Xu got off the ship as soon as he docked last night, and even his luggage had already been moved to the island! An officer replied.

Captain Rong Shiqi's reaction did not show any regret or regret, but instead exhaled as if relieved, "...... Phew, thank God, I finally sent this difficult old ancestor away......"

——Before leaving the port, he took over the task of taking Xu Xiake to Nansha Taiping Island by the way, and stayed on the same boat with the first donkey passenger in the late Ming Dynasty for two weeks, the previous longing and worship for ancient celebrities had long since dissipated from the heart of Captain Rong Shiqi. Instead, there is a headache of seeing someone who is not ashamed, and the boredom and embarrassment of facing a super-stingy miser......

To be honest, although Xu Xiake was a famous traveler in the late Ming Dynasty, it does not mean that this old man's character is very good. If Xu Xiake is really the kind of guy who has a lot of personality charm, leadership talent, or can think about others, then he will not almost every time he goes on a long trip, the servants he took with him when he set off have to escape most of them on the road, or even all of them, so that Xu Xiake can only go home alone.