Flagship. ※※※※※ I ※ I ※ ※

Inside the Duke, the technicians hurriedly pierced back and forth between the conning tower and the telegraph, and as soon as the wires were laid naked in the aisle of the cabin, they were not even interested in covering up.

This scene made the captain Liu Buyun's eyes red, as the first ship of the Duke class, this time it was designated as the flagship by the commander, how could it be so bad, not to mention that he has treated this baby better than his own wife in the past few years, and now he ...... Forget it!

Seeing that the commander-in-chief was all open and closed, he could only turn his head and deliberately not look at the messy wires with a dark face, but he secretly swore in his heart that if these experts from the Ministry of Science and Technology who were afraid of being melted by the emperor in his mouth couldn't make a fart, he would definitely let the soldiers throw them directly off the warship!

Long Guozhang and Tan Xiaozeng were very interested, and communicated with the technicians beside them from time to time, and their faces seemed to have an eager expression.

On the ocean next to it, four Polar Star and six Duke-class destroyers were all in place, four Vladivostok-class and four Jinghai-class destroyers were in the distance, and as many as twelve Guard-class destroyers were on the periphery.

Taking advantage of the just-concluded joint exercise between the two fleets, this is the first time that the navy has been united since its separation; although it seems that the navy is still from these backgrounds, and the total number of ships has not changed much, in fact the connotation is quite different.

Akashi, Tsugaru, Soya and Tsushima.

The Navy has a naval tradition of naming four captured battleships after the four straits that are related to the life and death of Japan but have been controlled by the Navy, in addition to commemorating them, in order to highlight the previous great military exploits.

After being repaired and refitted, they are no less than the first-line capital ships of any country in the world, and together with their brother ships, they constitute the core striking force of the Chinese Navy.

The Vladivostok class is still getting stronger and stronger, and the Jinghai class is a rare all-rounder in the navy, and the first appearance of the Defense-class destroyer, in addition to more than double the displacement of the previous destroyers, is the first time that the speed of the warship has been increased to 30 knots! With the spear heavy torpedo on it, even a giant ship like the Duke class would not dare to take it lightly.

In addition to these things that can be seen on the water, they have taken the lead in quietly attacking, and the submarine forces lurking in various strategic positions have become one of the killers of the navy, and these gray spine sharks can not let people relax in the slightest as long as they are underwater for a day.

To the delight of all the captains and officers, although the Zhonghua test ship became the Rhine, the two real Zhonghua-type battleships and the four heavy cruisers that had just been named the Liaodong-class finally laid their keels at the same time as the Ryukyu, Dalian and Huludao shipyards a month ago after more than half a year of experiments and preparations, and the navy will be completely transformed in two years.

After two years, the Navy once again recalled the ships that were originally scattered in various bases, and clenched their fists, "At this moment, what everyone has to face will not be the Japanese Navy that even the sailors are short of, nor the Russian Navy, which is ambitious and sparse, this time the opponent is the real number one in the world, the total number of ships and the total tonnage are far beyond themselves, and it is the world's first navy that deserves to be!"

Even if he is only a regional fleet here, he still doesn't dare to be despised by people!

From the beginning of the army, to the emergence of the Pacific Fleet, and then to the face of the world's most powerful navy! It took Hua a full eight years.

Eight years!

It is even possible to make the first generation of naval people age!

Liu Buyun straightened his waist and "breathed the scorching sea breeze, staring at the fleet beside him for a long time and refused to withdraw, until a harsh chainsaw-like noise suddenly sounded from the command tower, bringing him back to his senses. ※※※※※ I ※ I ※ ※

"Okay?" Like a curious baby, Long Guozhang took the phone receiver handed by the engineers, "It seems that he can't believe that talking to this thing will make the whole fleet hear his voice."

"Rest assured, commander, the signal is not stable," but there are absolutely no problems with sound transmission. After several years of studying with Tesla, Hua's own radio engineers finally began to emerge, and they still nodded confidently in the face of the naval commander's doubts.

"Hehe, then I'll say it?" Long Guozhang touched his nose, glanced around at Tan Xiaozeng, Ji Weishan and others behind him, and waited until everyone nodded in response, "smiled and slowly raised the phone receiver."

The sound of stirring and piercing electricity rang out from the loudspeakers of every battleship.

This voice, like the signal of a decisive battle, "made every sailor stand up straight."

"They say this thing can bring my voice to every warship." Long Guozhang held up the phone with his eyes blazing: "I believe them, because they are all excellent scientific experts in my country." ”

"As much as I believe in them, I believe in you*......"

"You have defeated Japan, you have defeated Russia, and you have just taught the Netherlands a lesson, but I still have to tell you, forget about it!"

"Those exploits have passed, and compared to them, it is the real navy that stands in our way at this moment! It is the world's first navy that has been crisscrossing the world for hundreds of years! ”

"The emperor said that he didn't want to fight, so he went to Europe to visit, brought the friendship of the Chinese nation, and brought peace, but what he got was rejection!"

"Those people!"

"They are trying to continue to divide our country, trying to rely on warships and artillery to bully our generation!"

"We will never say yes!"

"Never!"

"Let's go, go and tell them, get out of the old territorial waters! They are the Royal Fleet, and the old ones are also the Royal Fleet! This is our country, for the unification of the Chinese nation, even if it makes us pay for our lives and blood, we! ”

"Our Chinese Navy!"

"The same will move forward!"

The sound was still a little distorted, and the murmur of electricity was still accompanied from time to time, but the phrase "never* ......" ignited all the soldiers, and at the same time, three short whistles sounded from the ships, as if in response to the commander's oath, billowing smoke gushed out from every chimney, and even the nearby islands seemed to be obscured by smoke.

"It's okay to keep it said*......" Looking at the fleet in response, Long Guozhang clenched his fists and turned his head excitedly to look at everyone, and he didn't know whether he was impressed by this first-generation radio system that was dragged into use for the first time, or he throbbed when he saw that the fleet was about to set off.

"Commander Long, it's time for us to go, I wish you and the fleet success!" Several engineers took the phone in Long Guozhang's hand, "The red frame is red: "We will never answer] Okay! ”

Long Guozhang saluted the engineers, but when they began to clean up, he was reluctant to accept this kind of good thing that could communicate directly with other ships without wires, and swallowed: "This is the end?" Why don't you stay here and let me help you continue testing. ”

"Commander, don't embarrass them, this thing Chang Lin said that it is not mature, wait for another two years. , Tan Xiaozeng smiled, grabbed Long Guozhang, who had straight eyes, and handed over the telegram he had just received.

"I just received the Taiwan declaration, Qiu Fengjia announced the abolition of Taiwan's autonomy!" Tan Xiaozeng continued: "Chen Ping asked me and you to rush to Taipei immediately to sit down*......"

"To Taiwan? Wouldn't that be unprofitable again? Long Guozhang rubbed his hands, looked at the fleet that was about to depart, and was about to ask the communications officer to send a telegram back, Tan Xiaozeng pulled him again, pointed at Ji Weishan and Le Fei and said with a smile: "They are all fleet commanders!" ”

Long Guozhang suddenly understood what Tan Xiaozeng meant: "Although the opponent in this battle is tough, it is difficult to say whether Philettman will fight to the death, so it is time to give young people some opportunities to exercise."

"Fight well......" After Long Guozhang dropped three words, he was unwilling to take Tan Xiaozeng and several other staff officers to board the Honolulu and sail towards the island of Taiwan in the distance.

Behind him, the billowing smoke split into two parts, and the flying disappeared into the sea level.

September 5th, the seventh day of the eighth lunar month, night.

The British Embassy in Beijing was full of people, and the embassies of France, the United States, and Russia were also brightly lit, and the soldiers standing guard were staring wide-eyed, for fear of putting any new face by mistake.

Although Li Mo's round-the-world visit has not yet ended, he has obviously lost patience, especially when France and Britain have successively rejected his demands for technology in exchange for reunification, "they are directly ready to use force!"

The British ambassador Dou Maile frowned, because of the withdrawal of Germany, the Sino-German friendship agreement reached with Limer, and the sale of the Rhine to Germany, so the feuding France has sent a fleet to intervene on a large scale, and the only thing that can be relied on is the East India Fleet with only six main cruisers currently stationed in Cam Ranh Bay, Vietnam.

Although Russia has the heart, it can only threaten in the north" Moreover, the low bureaucracy of the Russians has so far made it impossible for them to organize a reliable, even numerically superior army, although Nicholas II has sent Parokut to Siberia as commander-in-chief, but the north, especially Siberia, is about to enter winter" According to the efficiency of Russia, it will definitely drag on until tomorrow spring.

As for the Russian Navy, Nicholas II had already rejected the British request for him to send additional warships, citing the fact that his fleet was not yet fully ready, and even half of the ships were still being built.

The United States has responded positively, but what can they do? Just ended the ridiculous Cuban War, the Pacific Fleet is bypassing half the world and retreating, there is a lack of main warships on this side of the Pacific, although George Dewey's fleet is in Tokyo, but Yokosuka is in the hands of China, and the Uraga Waterway is a dead place that is stuck, and it is a question of whether it can come out in case of a declaration of war!

And Britain is not comfortable, the war with the Boers has no end in sight, but more and more troops, God knows that so many weapons and equipment from the Boers, both machine guns and artillery, have driven the British Empire crazy, and Britain has been opposed to the whole of Europe on the Boer issue, those guys are afraid that they still wish that Britain would open a big war in the Far East and completely consume the strength of the empire on which the sun never sets.

At this time, Dou Maile, who is the core brain of the Far East, did not begin to believe in the legend that Li Mo was favored by Lady Luck, otherwise the Boer War, which he thought would only take a few weeks, would become a swamp?!

"Your Majesty, an urgent telegram from Shanghai."

The military attaché's words made Dou Mai Lefei get up and take the telegram, but after only a hurried glance, his face suddenly turned iron and blue!

Taiwan announced the end of autonomy and accepted the leadership of China!

The Chinese army has begun to take over Taiwan's defense, and a Marine Corps regiment in the vanguard has even been stationed in Penghu this afternoon! The forward battalion of an infantry division stationed in Borneo has also arrived on the island of Taiwan!

This means that with Taiwan as a base, the entire southeast coast is within the range of the Chinese army's artillery!

This means that if Philettman did not react in time, the Far East Fleet of the British Empire would have been divided into two parts, Hong Kong and Shanghai!

"Prepare the car, I will go to see Prime Minister Hua immediately."

Early morning.

The light rain fell overnight, making the water of the Yangtze River muddy.

On the wharf of Hankow, the collected ships lined up like a wooden embankment, separating the rushing Yangtze River from the wharf, and the soldiers stepped on the soft grass and flew onto the deck, and the hedgehogs gathered together.

Behind the embankment of the river defense, a cannon that had been hidden for a long time was dragged out, and the gunners quickly turned the shaker, and then the fish white could clearly see that the muzzle of the cannon was rising little by little.

Behind him, one by one the shells were fitted with fuses, and the loaders took advantage of the time behind to vigorously wipe the already visible shells.

In the distance, tens of thousands of warriors sat quietly, smoking cigarettes, wiping guns, or talking in small groups, all waiting for the red sun to leap out of the riverbank, waiting for the thunder to sound.

There was also silence in the front-line headquarters in Wuhan, everyone raised their wrists from time to time to look at their watches, and when the hands were about to reach the end of the line one by one, when a round of red sun suddenly jumped out of the river, the communications officer suddenly picked up the telephone.

"Thunder."

"Thunder!" The communications officer spoke these two words into the telephone, and received an echo reply.

As soon as the telephone was put down, a burst of muffled thunder suddenly exploded from the distant riverside, and the rumbling cannon sound spread along the Yangtze River like earth-shattering thunder, and hundreds of cannons burst out at the same time, and the gushing fire was even brighter than the red sun!

At the same time, Chongqing, Yichang, Nanjing and other places also sounded the sound of thunder at the same time, dozens of hippo-class airships flew southeast in the morning light, and the boat motorboats hidden in the complex waterways were also roaring in the motors, along the abundant waterways all the way to the south!

September 6.

On the eighth day of the eighth month of the lunar calendar, seven o'clock.

The rolling thunder kicked off the prelude to the southeast war.

Three army divisions, two internal affairs divisions, a total of 80,000 troops, sang the inspiring song of the volunteers composed by His Majesty the Emperor's "pro-* ......", and crossed the Yangtze River moat from Sichuan, Hubei, Anwei, and Jiangsu provinces at the same time under the cover of heavy artillery.

There was only one thought left in the minds of all the soldiers who participated in the battle!

"China is unified!"