——In the early morning in Andong New Port, the sea is foggy.

Ma Dongzi got up early today, got dressed and gestured twice in the mirror, and smiled proudly.

He believed that even an old friend from the past would not recognize this well-dressed young man in his twenties in the mirror, knowing that he was still a beard two years ago.

Beard, is the horse gang bandits, walking vertically and horizontally between this white mountain and black water, and they all have their own backers, because he couldn't pay the rent, gritted his teeth and walked on this road, with a horse ability, became a well-known leader in the Haicheng area.

But who would have thought that one night, he was actually overturned by more than a dozen big men wearing black clothes with their faces covered, and they had no power to fight back.

Since then, he has become a subordinate of those people whose names he still doesn't know, and he has done a lot of big business together, only to find out that compared to others, he used to be a child!

Until a year ago, those people suddenly made a move, killing all the hundreds of restless lords in the original team overnight, and also pulled the rest here and reorganized them into security teams. When he got here, he finally knew that those big men had defeated Yue himself not long ago, and now the famous Pacific Army!

Without much consideration, Ma Dongzi chose to join the gang, in addition to the other party's means of killing people without blinking, but also for the sake of today's stable life.

To tell the truth, except for those restless lords, who are willing to be bandits with their heads up, most of them were forced to go to Liangshan when they had no way to live, so after clearing out those who were restless, the remaining people all accepted their new identities.

Nominally, they are the security team of the Devensian foreign company, but in fact, in the Pacific Army, they have another identity, the 2nd Wing of the Pacific Army, responsible for defending Honolulu's interests there.

Ma Dongzi has never read a book, he doesn't know a few characters in Douda, and he doesn't know much about what interests he defends, but one thing is very clear, that is, who dares to stretch out his claws to Devens, regardless of whether he is a bandit or an official soldier, he is the sworn enemy of the Reading Battalion!

This sentence is not a joke, from a bandit to a warrior, not only is his identity changed, but he can also get ten taels of silver every month, and he no longer has to carry his head to do business! The most important thing is that the relatives and friends of the partners, as long as they are next to each other, as long as you open your mouth, almost all of them have become workers of foreign banks, not only have no worries about food and clothing, but also have a dazzling salary, which is a good life compared to the previous days of just digging in the field.

Under this method, the current reading camp has long been monolithic.

Ma Dongzi checked the pistol, it was a new shipment that had just arrived, it was much stronger than the kind of handcuffs he had when he was a beard, and even the war horse couldn't survive long after a shot, and after checking the firearms, he immediately pushed the door and walked out.

Walking on the ash paved road, Ma Dongzi soon came to the stable located in the northwest corner of the dock, relying on the skills on horseback, he has now become the squadron leader in the reading camp.

Originally, there was a special person in charge of this kind of thing, and he didn't need to be cared about as a squadron leader, but this time it was really different.

Because the war horses purchased by the foreign bank from Mongolia have arrived in the past few days, a full 3,000 war horses, which has kept the horsemen in the reading camp very busy, so he, the squadron leader who knows how to raise horses, also had to come to help.

Walking into the enlarged stable, Ma Dongzi's eyes lit up, only to see rows of brightly colored war horses close together, neighing twice from time to time, and soaking bean cakes in salt water in the grabbing trough.

After greeting a few stables, Ma Dongzi immediately picked up the bean cake and began to feed the horses, but as he walked past one stable after another, his eyes became brighter and brighter! Three generations of his ancestors grew up on horseback, and the eyesight of the horse is not simple, and at a glance he knows that these are the best war horses, each of which is worth a lot of money, even in the Mongolian steppe, such good horses can only be owned by those noble old men!

Who is so capable that he actually got such a good war horse!

Ma Dongzi's eyes lit up, and he patted a jujube red horse that stretched out his head to snatch the bean cake in his hand, and really wanted to take it out immediately. Just as his hand was about to touch the reins, a long whistle suddenly sounded in the distance, and the horses that had heard the whistle of the sea wheel for the first time raised their necks one after another, and the horses' hooves became restless.

Ma Dongzi hurriedly looked up, only to see three sea ships faintly appearing in the sea fog, and suddenly felt a trace of abnormality!

You must know that since the opening of the spring ice, all the things in the warehouse have been transported away, and the rest is not enough to fill a ship, how can there be so many at once?

Could it be that someone is looking for trouble? Thinking of this, Ma Dongzi immediately threw down the bean cake in his hand, led the jujube red horse, patted it lightly twice, and then ran quickly towards the dock.

When he arrived at the dock, he suddenly found that the entire harbor was under martial law, but fortunately the soldiers guarding him knew him and let him in. After the first big ship slowly approached the shore and began to unload, Ma Dongzi knew why it was so different today!

In his eyes, a cannon slowly lowered from the freighter crane made his eyes immediately straight! ——

Inside Port Arthur.

Lin Taizeng and Liu Buyun walked slowly on the side of the dock, looking at the two ships in Dingzhen that had been repaired docked on the dock, not only did they not have the slightest excitement on their faces, but after seeing several warships flying the Russian flag in the distance, their eyes were full of worry.

"Zixiang, do those Russian Maozi have an answer?"

Liu Buyun shook his head and smiled bitterly: "I asked Yang Yonglin to inquire, and they will stay for a while." ”

"Still there!" Lin Taizeng clenched his fists violently, Lushun is an important place in the North Ocean, and it is also a key place to guard the throat of the Gyeonggi gateway, and it has been stationed by a foreign fleet for a long time, which really makes him very worried.

A few days ago, it was possible to delay it with wintering, but now that the ocean has long thawed and the shipping route to North Shanghai and Cowsman is unimpeded, the Russians are still holding on, and it can no longer be described as worrying!

At this time, except for the Pacific fleet, which often sent several warships to turn around twice in the Yellow Sea, there was only the Beiyang in the Far East. And now that Russia has massively increased its troops, stationed in Arthur by wintering, it has already made him feel a little uneasy!

Thinking of this, he immediately asked again: "Brother Zixiang, what do you think?" ”

Friends for many years, and studying in the UK together, how could Liu Buyun not know Lin Taizeng's thoughts, sighed and shook his head: "Lord Admiral has gone to Tianjin to see Zhongtang yesterday, I hope there will be results." ”

Although Liu Buyun did not answer directly, he also knew that the longer the Russians were stationed here, the more disadvantageous it would be, although they were nominally for wintering, and with the idea of North Korea, who knows if they would turn the muzzle?

In this period, in order to guard against the Russians, the sailors almost ate and lived on the ship, and the soldiers kept on guard for twelve hours.

"Brother Kaishi, are you wrong when you say Lord Zhongtang?"

"Wrong?" Lin Taizeng stopped and turned his head to look at Liu Buyun, who met his eyes and said: "I think that the adults were trying to subdue North Korea without reason at that time, but at this moment, I am afraid it will be a big mistake to join forces with Russia!" ”

"Oh? Did Zixiang make a recent discovery? ”

Liu Buyun nodded, stretched out his hand and pointed to the Russian [***] ship in the distance: "In the First Sino-Japanese War, the army battalion and our sailors fought to the death for the country, although they lost troops but did not hurt their vitality, the Pacific Army slaughtered out of the sky and completely wiped out the water division, which not only solved the danger of our water division, but also forced the indemnity to sell the island, and the strength was greatly damaged!" ”

"At that time, it was supposed to be the best time for our generation to recover the subject country, but at this time, the imperial court agreed to the conditions of the British and chose peace. Tens of thousands of troops withdrew to the Yalu River, and we also lost our troops and lost our troops, and although the DPRK is now in the hands of Yueben, they have no warships, and even the big ships have been looted by the Pacific Army. ”

"The imperial court may feel that since it has become a toothless tiger, there is no need to fight this battle again, but Lord Zhongtang should not forget that the Russians have coveted North Korea for a day or two, and if the British hadn't interfered with it before, I'm afraid they would have taken Wonsan Port a long time ago!"

"Since Zhongtang finally chose to be consistent with the imperial court, he should not interfere again, he Russia wants North Korea to fight, we just need to watch from the sidelines and be on guard, but now we are mentioning the United Russia again, isn't this leading the wolf into the room!"

Seeing that Liu Buyun became more and more excited, Lin Taizeng couldn't help frowning, and said, "Brother Zixiang, you can't say that, you don't know the hardships of Lord Zhongtang." In order to ensure their interests in the Qing Dynasty, the British were afraid that the Pacific Army would intervene, so they deliberately used Yuben to divert their attention and provoke a fight between the two families, forcing them to prepare for war and not be able to take care of it. ”

"Now that Yueben has gained a firm foothold in North Korea, and it won't be long before all the big ships they purchased will come back, once Yuben defeats the Pacific Army, do you think we can stop so many big ships in Beiyang?"

Lin Tai once smiled bitterly: "It would be okay if we had a few more ships to settle the town, but at this moment the imperial court can no longer come up with the money, and it is precisely because Lord Zhongtang saw this that he prepared to join forces with Russia and prepare for the defeat of the Pacific Army in the future." ”

"So, Brother Kaishi, do you think the Pacific Army will definitely lose to Yuben?"

"Even if you don't lose, it's a miserable victory." Lin Tai once took a breath: "Twelve ironclad ships, the smallest is the same as our two ships in Dingzhen, I am really crazy!" ”

Liu Buyun moved his mouth, closed it again after thinking about it, and suddenly smiled: "Speaking of which, it's all to blame Fang Boqian's good son-in-law, since he defeated Yuben, why did he let go of North Korea, isn't it just to increase our trouble!" ”

"Hehe......." Lin Tai once heard it, and he was also happy, and said with a smile: "He went to Hawaii, and I don't know what happened." By the way, I heard that people from Hawaii came recently, and the emperor also promised them to open a mansion and set up a trade office in Yantai. ”

"yes, I've heard that, too." Liu Buyun nodded, and suddenly smiled mysteriously: "I also asked someone to buy a few catties of toffee, do you want to try it, Brother Kaishi." ”

"Good guy, you're still fast! I heard that the toffee that was shipped with the Hawaiian minister is now selling like crazy in Beijing! The princes and Baylors are all moving dozens of catties and dozens of catties to their homes, and even the Queen Mother is full of praise! No, Zixiang, you have to homogenize me. ”

Lin Taizeng grabbed Liu Buyun's sleeve, and was about to talk about it first, when he suddenly saw Ye Zuqi running in a hurry, and seeing him looking flustered and hurried, his heart suddenly sank, and asked, "What's wrong?" ”

"Oh no, Lord Ding just sent a telegram from Tianjin, saying that the Nanyang Navy Division had discovered four large Russian ships passing by outside Shanghai and were heading for Lushun!"

"What!" ——

Standing at the window of the Ryukyu Temporary Headquarters, you can see the blue sea as far as the eye can see, dotted with waves rising and rolling throughout. Several fishing boats sailed together, bringing up a white wake.

Not far behind them, in the harbor of Bahai, the Pacific Fleet was gathering four Polar-star battleships, four Determination-class heavy cruisers, two light cruisers, and if not six destroyers, the scale would be even larger.

This is already the maximum force that the Pacific Fleet can come up with to deal with the situation in the Far East at this moment, because the Longxiao needs to ensure the safety of Hawaii, so it and the other two destroyers will not participate in this operation, and even the Honolulu quickly rushed back to Hawaii after completing the escort mission, using the speed to assist the patrol.

However, Chen Ping was not too worried about the safety of Hawaii, although the United States had transferred the newly launched battleship Oregon to the San Diego base to expand the strength of their Pacific squadron, but they probably would never have thought that Marseo, who had been funded by the young master, was ready to do it!

Not long ago, Duan Fei's news showed that the 10,000 rebel troops in the hands of Macio had infiltrated Cuba in batches, and there were already signs of another outbreak of turmoil in various places, so even if the Yankees had the heart, I am afraid they had to consider the safety of their own gate first!

"It's a great move!"

Chen Ping clenched his fists, he had no doubts about his vision all along, and he was also very confident, but since he met the young master, he found that he was no longer half a little behind, whether it was building an army in Chile, or laying out Cuba, seizing Hawaii, until recently, he suddenly recruited Liu Hengzhen to support the local armed forces in the Philippines! Now this series of things that seemed to have nothing to do at the time gradually converged, and Chen Ping understood that the young master's vision and methods could only be described as unpredictable!

Cuba will become the biggest stumbling block to US expansion, and as long as it does not move this big rock for a day, it will not be able to concentrate its forces in the Pacific Ocean for a day! And Luzon will also become the biggest stumbling block to hold the Strait of Malacca and prevent the great powers from entering the Pacific Ocean, as long as they wait until next year, when the Jinghai plan is completed, then they will no longer have to look at anyone's face!

"It's a big time, it's turbulent, weird and changeable! But it belongs to the era of our good men, and it is the best time for our generation to make contributions! ”

This is what the young master said when he recruited Liu Hengzhen, and now it has been widely spread in the Pacific Army, inspiring countless recruits! It has also become the rhetoric of countless hot-blooded men in the Pacific Army!

Although Chen Ping can't be compared with those ten-year-old young people, he is only thirty-three years old, and when he heard this, his whole body was still trembling with the excitement and heat rushing out of the words!

It's a big time!

When Chen Ping's eyes suddenly lit up, Zhang Zuolin's voice also came from behind him.

"Report, the Sailfish sent a telegram from the sea off Arthur that the second Russian fleet has arrived at the mouth of Arthur, turned around the rest of Arthur, and is sailing back to Vladivostok."

Chen Ping took the telegram, looked at it and said with a smile: "If you want to cover it, I'm afraid they will come back in less than a month." After speaking, he put together the information and asked, "How is the organization of the army?" ”

Zhang Zuolin was dressed in a brand-new military uniform, and the major epaulettes on his shoulders shone in the sun.

This young major staff officer, because of a sentence last time, has been regarded by Chen Ping as an assistant, from a second-level army staff officer to an army coordinator of the staff headquarters, it seems that he is a staff officer, but the meaning is diametrically opposite, the coordination officer means that he has been recognized and has the right to access higher-level decisions and plans, so he has now become the idol of the younger generation of the entire Pacific Army!

Hearing the chief of staff's inquiry, Zhang Zuolin hurriedly straightened up and reported: "The first and fourth divisions have all been organized and can set off at any time, the first regiment of the Marine Corps is also ready, and the new second marine regiment has also been incorporated into the formation sequence. ”

"How long will it take for the Third Division to fully enter Aimei Island?"

"The vanguard has been stationed on Aimei Island, and according to the progress, the remaining troops will all arrive within half a month."

Chen Ping nodded, the second regiment of the Marine Corps obviously can't catch up, but three divisions, one marine regiment, a full 35,000 soldiers, except for the three divisions that must be stationed in Hawaii, this will be all the forces that they can use in half a year, the difference in the number of land forces facing the Russians of 50,000 is not very big, but compared with Russia, which may increase troops again at any time, this is already the current limit of Honolulu, after all, Hawaii and Ryukyu are small in area, human resources are not abundant, and it is already very stressful to be able to gather 40,000 troops.

You can't stop fighting because of the big difference in numbers! Chen Ping smiled and asked, "By the way, which unit is doing coolies?" ”

The chief of staff's relaxed tone made Zhang Zuolin laugh too. In order to achieve the intention of rapid support, the first fleet had already taken the lead in Andong with heavy equipment, but because Andong was too close to Dagu Mountain, where the Qing army was stationed, it could only arrange a thousand people to be stationed, and it had to be covered in the name of coolies.

"The 1st Division, 2nd Regiment, and 3rd Battalion are ready!" Zhang Zuolin replied with a smile.

"This Zhao Long, I'm really willing!" Chen Ping smiled, although the first division was known as the strongest in the Pacific Army, in Chen Ping's eyes, it still lacked the test of the big battle, so he was also in favor of Zhao Long's decision, and said: "Just let them station, tell them that without an order, no one is allowed to leave the dock for any reason!" ”

"Yes."

"By the way, tell him again that someone must be in charge of keeping it secret!" Chen Ping told again.

"Immediately convey to the King of the Ryukyus and the representatives of the countries in the Ryukyus that in view of the possible changes in the situation in the Far East, the fleet will temporarily be stationed in the Ogasawara Islands."

"Yes."

After Chen Ping finished giving the order, he turned his head to look at the sea outside the window, the Pacific Army made a big circle again, and had accumulated enough strength to finally march inland from the dark blue!

The road begins with the fleet's deliberate avoidance! ……

(To be continued)