Three, four, eight, departure

On the No. 3 pier of the Subic Military Port, the sailors untied the thick cable tied to the pier, and in the rattling of steel, the anchor chain was raised by the winch little by little, and the sea water dripped down the anchor chain on the blue sea, attracting a group of small fish to play and chase. (Full text reading, all in. (.i. Want. Wen. Learning Network)

On the deck, Filitman still looked at the remote pier that plunged into the bay in the distance, and although his view was blocked by the mountains and trees, he could not see it at all, but he still had the difficulty of holding himself as if he had dreamed a big dream.

There is no doubt that the mighty British Empire is being challenged, the war between the British and the Boers is becoming more and more intense, the Prime Minister and the Secretary of State for Defence are racking their brains every day, and the Admiralty is desperately trying to send supplies there, blocking the sea without the slightest slack.

But at this very moment, another challenge has quietly surfaced from the Far East

From beginning to end, he didn't know what the name of the battleship was, and the nameplate that was supposed to appear on the wall of the command tower had been removed, but at this time it was no different whether he knew it or not, because the appearance of that battleship had already announced that the once powerful Far Eastern Fleet, and even the battleships of the whole of Europe, were obsolete

Ten heavy guns, with a large fire output of eight when firing to one side

Oh, God

It will make any battleship that comes its way tremble, and it will undoubtedly destroy any opponent who dares to challenge

Not to mention him, I'm afraid that the whole of Europe would not have thought that an epoch-making battleship would appear in a country that a few years ago was poor and white, and there were not even a few decent docks, and only a few small cruisers could be built.

The skillful maneuvering of the sailors during the battleship's maneuvers and the uniform sound of the shelling proved that the warship must have been secretly put into the test a year ago.

year

Such a long time is enough to test any complex warship, and at this moment, Li Mo took it out, in addition to deterring himself from causing trouble in Borneo, it means that they have completed all the tests, and they have the confidence and ability to build this kind of battleship on a large scale

He could not imagine how much of a challenge it would pose to the British Empire in the future when all the Chinese navy was replaced with this type of battleship, and perhaps the whole of Europe would be in its shadow.

What is frustrating is that due to the fact that it has never been possible to solve the accuracy of the triple naval guns and greatly reduce the recoil of the naval guns, the country can only continue to build the Edward VII class with the separation of the first and second main guns. No one knows what technology Li Mo used and how he solved the critical recoil problem, but one thing is for sure, as many as eight Edwardian VII-class battleships under construction are outdated, and when they are launched in a year's time, they may be immediately sent to the scrap shipyard.

That would be the world's most expensive scrap metal, worth more than 12 million pounds

Standing on the deck, Subic Harbor was a little far away, but an old three-masted galleon had already lowered its gangway, but this did not attract the attention of Philitman, there are still many such old sailing ships in the South Seas, and what he wanted to do now was not to return home immediately and report what he saw here, but to meet Sir John Fisher, who was racking his brains in the West Indies naval station, trying to load at least eight main guns into the battleship.

There is no doubt that the conservative Admiralty sent a god to that damn place to retire in order to make his ears clean

When they brought the news back home, they knew what kind of day they had missed, because if Fisher continued to serve as the third Admiralty, then he could use the vast resources of the Admiralty to conduct all kinds of experiments, he was a real Imperial Navy fighter, I dare not say that he would definitely be able to solve the problem, but at least he had predicted the future of the battleship

Philettman slowly withdrew his gaze, sighed a little lonely, and walked into the officer's cabin, there was no doubt that he had done nothing here until the British Empire also built such battleships, and the British Far East Fleet was going on the defensive for the first time in history.

He didn't even think about what kind of sensation and change it would bring to the world when the battleship spread around the world with Li Mo's round-the-world visit in the near future

That would be a disaster for any country's old navy

In a small three-story building in the center of Subic Military Port, I saw Filitman walking into the cabin with his head down, Duan Fei's lips hooked, and the telescope turned to several big men who had already disembarked from the sailboat and were walking here. (Full text reading, all in. (.i. Want. Wen. Learning Network)

"Take them to the conference room, I'll be there in a moment." After Duan Fei handed over the telescope to his assistant, he smiled and walked towards a remote military camp next to him.

Not long after he left, the three sturdy men looked east and west, and under the leadership of the guards, they walked into this small building that seemed to be very ordinary, but it was hidden among the trees, and it was difficult to see the whole picture from the outside.

"Boss, this place is so big, your water village is ten times bigger"

"Fuck off, this is called a naval base, how can it be compared with our water village" Next to him, the man with a sea snake tattooed on his arm swallowed his saliva: "Boss, why do you say they called us here?" Could it be? ”

Although the man didn't finish speaking, the heavily guarded guards around him and the sweat droplets on his forehead had already expressed his thoughts, and even Yonglun, who was walking in front, couldn't help but subconsciously pinch a cold sweat.

A few years ago, it was no secret that the fish head gang on Palawan Island was in the water villages all over the place, that Luo Sanniang has now become the imperial concubine, and the fish head gang has also ascended to heaven, not only washed away the skin of the former pirates, but also the lucky sea harrier has become the head of the regiment even if it is poor, and now he has run his own business, last time he also saw Zheng San who had seen him in Palawan in Sumatra before, and now he is a big proprietor of several plantations.

Looking at the lush tobacco plantations of others, and then thinking about how much you have to pin your head in your belt to do business, it is really a bit of a bad taste, everyone is poor, if you are not forced to be helpless, who wants to be a bandit?

Now people don't even want coolies, good deals are gone, and everyone is going to have a day of eating without a meal, and they don't know when it will be a head.

Yonglun sighed slightly in his heart, and after following the guards into the conference room, before he dared to sit down, the waiter had already brought them tea and snacks, and this enthusiasm made the three of them worry a little.

As the three of them looked left and right about the wide meeting, the door was pushed open again, and a cold-faced man was the first to enter, followed by an officer in a dazzling military uniform.

Especially the officer, when his eyes swept over the three of them, he actually gave them a feeling like a knife scraping, which made the three of them tighten.

"Hello, here's down."

"I know, Yonglun is in charge, your father also followed Zhang Baozai before, and then Zhang Baozai perished, so he took dozens of boats to Annam, and then went to Sumatra, and now you have forty-two ships, two are steamers, and the others are wooden-hulled sailing ships, with more than 4,700 brothers and tens of thousands of families, which is a big water village on this sea."

Duan Fei's resume and numbers reported like a few treasures made Yonglun's heart sink vigorously, and even the two henchmen behind him were in a cold sweat, but he didn't expect that people only knew how many boats and how many people were in the water village.

The expressions of the three of them made Duan Fei very satisfied, smiled slightly, motioned for the three of them to sit down with peace of mind, and continued: "Yongda master, please rest assured, I invited you over this time, I don't have any malicious intent, and I also heard Luo Niangniang talk about it just now, and I wrote it down." ”

Sissy"

Yonglun sat down next to half of his buttocks, and stood up again.

"Lord Duan's sister is Concubine Yue, and she is a good sister to Luo Niangniang." After Dong Dahai finished speaking, he narrowed his eyes, took out a cigarette and smoked it.

At this moment, Yonglun's eyes widened, the deeds of the emperor who started by the sea have already spread all over the world, who doesn't know that there are four women around him, but he didn't expect that the young man in front of him turned out to be the brother of Duan Niangniang, who had just given birth to the first princess

You must know that the emperor is very fond of that Duan Niangniang, and after hearing that she gave birth to a princess, she also spent a lot of money to order a big boat, saying that it was specially for the princess to celebrate.

Duan Fei didn't seem to see the expressions of the three of them, and after waving his hand to let everyone sit down again, he took out a document and handed it to Yonglun: "Master Yongda, I heard that you have studied in a private school, you should be able to understand the things on it." ”

"I've been reading it for a few years." Yonglun nodded hurriedly, opened the document and looked at it, but the more he looked at it, the more solemn his face became, and when the next page ended, he raised his head in shock: "Lord Duan, what is this?" ”

Duan Fei retrieved the document, pressed his right hand and said, "Master Yongda, since you understand, and Luo Niangniang recommended you to me, then I will be straightforward." ”

Duan Fei took out a pack of cigarettes from his pocket, scattered a few to the three of them, and then lit one himself and continued: "Now that the times are different, since this has become our Hua land, then Shuizhai will definitely not be able to do it, even if you don't attack the Chinese."

"Originally, the emperor was going to take Borneo, so he arranged for the fleet to clear the water village in this area, and everyone was a peaceful sea, but Luo Niangniang thought that you were all born poor, and you had to give a chance, so let me come to see you and give you a chance to make meritorious contributions." Duan Fei lightly patted the document twice.

"This is the business I am going to let you do, I don't know what the big boss wants?"

After Duan Fei finished speaking, Yonglun's face became more and more heavy, he believed that Duan Fei would definitely not tell a lie, because the emperor was the one who made his fortune in the sea, and he couldn't see the bandits rampant, and he specially sent a warship to Nanyang to protect the safety of the fleet before he ascended the throne, and now after he ascended the throne, he definitely didn't want to see pirates in the waters under his control.

But the problem is that the business on this document is not easy to do, and the people who are not familiar with the place where they are all uncivilized savages, this is not pushing their brothers into the fire pit

But don't you say yes? Looking at the officer next to him narrowed into a thin slit, the cold light shimmered in his eyes, he knew that he was probably not the opponent of others when he came together, not to mention that when he first came, he saw that the harbor was full of large and small warships, there were dozens of them, if this Lord Duan was really ruthless, let alone block the water village, I am afraid that he would not even be able to run away.

Duan Fei knew what Yonglun was worried about, so after smiling slightly, he took out an official document from under the table, handed it over and said, "Big boss, here are some land deeds and land properties in Borneo, which should be enough for your brothers to settle down with their families." ”

"In addition, you won't be alone this time, five good iron-hulled ships, the speed is definitely faster than that of foreigners, and I also prepare three thousand rifles and a few machine guns for you, as for the ammunition, you don't have to worry, you can send someone back to get it."

"And." Duan Fei pointed to Dong Dahai beside him: "They will also go with you to help you clean up some difficult opponents, how about it?" Relieved, right? ”

Five iron-hulled ships, 3,000 foreign guns, and machine guns

and this extremely powerful officer on the side also followed, such a big stroke, it really made Yonglun startled, not to mention the land in Borneo, which shows that as long as this task is completed, the brothers can really wash their hands and come back to be rich

It's just that that place is really dangerous, and the main place is still the territory of foreigners, and if you bring so many Chinese to it, wouldn't it give people eye medicine?

Thinking of this, he immediately said: "Lord Duan, forgive me for talking too much, there is one thing Yonglun doesn't understand, this place is not too far, it only takes a few days to get out of Sumatra, why doesn't the emperor send a sailor?" ”

Duan Fei smiled: "Big boss, do you think we can go now?" Italy and England are at odds with each other right now, and if we send troops openly, I'm afraid it won't be so simple."

"But the big boss also rest assured, my people have already been there, and now they are still doing some small business there, according to his report, now Britain and Italy can still live in peace for the time being, so you just need not to cause trouble in the past, more of a conflict with the locals, and the emperor did not want you to expand the territory, and you don't have to deal with the foreigners, as long as you run it well, so as to make a small harbor or something."

Of course, in case the foreigners can't resist the pursuit, you can also disperse on your own, and you don't have to fight to the death. But the important thing is that you can't use the banner of our Hua, you can only count the descendants of the Manchu Qing who fled to where you were persecuted."

Listening to Duan Fei's words, Yonglun finally breathed a sigh of relief, as long as he didn't let him give eye medicine to foreigners, as for the simple disguise of pretending to be a fleeing Manchu descendant, these people were all hard-working people, building a small harbor or something like that, or building a settlement over there to make it simple, it was completely possible to do it in the name of mining, anyway, the status of the Chinese has also been high in recent years, and the foreigners who go to mine dare not blackmail too much, plus there are thousands of guns as a backing, it should be possible.

Seeing that Yonglun's face gradually softened, Duan Fei immediately said: "You don't have to worry too much about Yongda, although I just said that you can't use the name of Hua, but you are still Hua's expatriate, in case of danger and emergency, as long as you send someone to inform us, we can protest to the foreigners and rescue you through diplomatic means."

And when you get there, I will give you a sum of money, you can follow the path of a normal person, open a company, do business, anyway, as long as you treat yourself as a businessman, and the emperor has also decided to open a special trading company to support you. ”

As soon as he heard that Li Mo was also going to set up a special trading company to specialize in trading there, Yonglun finally showed a smile on his face, if the emperor really wanted to set up a trading company to specialize in trading there, it would be a good opportunity Not to mention that although foreigners still don't want to see the Chinese, they must also admit that they really don't dare to bully everyone as blatantly as before.

In addition, that place is only a corner, and there is a huge continent behind it, and how much gold and silver treasure there is in it is indeed an opportunity to make a fortune, not to mention that people have arranged the back road of Borneo.

Yonglun squinted his eyes, and after considering the gains and losses, he finally gritted his teeth and nodded.

"Master Duan, I did this deal"

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The camel bell is long, thick and long.

Looking in the direction where the caravan had left, the snow-covered peaks pressed the peaks, the countless mountain shadows made it difficult to distinguish things, and from time to time there were goshawks hovering overhead, looking down on the endless desert.

On the desert Gobi, the brown and yellow earth city lies horizontally, and the arrow tower that stands is like a standing giant guarding this ancient city pass, and the city walls on both sides of the city pass cross the desert Gobi, like an arm stuck in the throat of the Hexi Corridor.

Whenever you see it for the first time, there are only four words that can jump out of your mind, majestic, desolate because this is Jiayuguan, which is known as the world's first Xiongguan.

Jiayu Mountain Pass, the only way to the Central Plains in ancient times, is also the only passage of the ancient silk road, since ancient times is the place where soldiers must fight, so from the time he learned that Chang Gung was killed, Sun Jiugong sent someone to take over Jiayu Pass as soon as possible.

But the matter of extending the oil field undoubtedly slapped him in the face, starting from Xinjiang, Jiayuguan is a place that must be passed, and the soldiers stationed here did not even notice that there was something unusual, and even not long ago they threw away all their horses, disguised themselves as camel teams and then retreated from here to Xinjiang and escaped, which really made him very angry.

Not only did the officers stationed here be replaced, but even a few soldiers who were negligent in their duties were arrested, so that Jiayuguan had strict contacts and there was no such attack as last time.

Now, an infantry division and four cavalry divisions have all arrived at Jiayuguan, and the soldiers are either leaning against the earthen wall or standing on the city wall, staring to the west, they are all waiting for news.

"Is there any news from Star Gorge?"

Sun Jiugong stepped into the headquarters set up in Jiayuguan, his eyes were like the long-standing glacier on the top of the mountain in the distance, and it was terrifyingly cold.

"A general offensive is already being launched, and it is expected that we will be able to fully control the Star Gorge in three hours" The staff officer immediately got up and read out aloud the telegram news he had just received.

"Inform the troops." Sun Jiugong looked at his watch.

"Two hours, go"

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