In the Subic military port, the four dry docks are crowded with busy blue figures, and unlike the uniform white uniforms of other countries, the Chinese Navy not only has white formal military uniforms, but also has this kind of marine blue overalls. 【 I want: super fast update 】

Although Luzon lacks heavy industry, it does not hinder the daily maintenance of the fleet, after the four Jinghai-class ships entered the dock, the first thing to do is to drain the water, and then let the bottom of the ship be exposed to the sun for a few days, and then the sailors and workers are busy with the thick shells and small crustacean creatures attached to the bottom of the ship, and then paint a red background, and then brush a layer of waterproof paint for protection, this kind of work is extremely important for the light patrol who eats by speed, because if these small things are not cleaned up in time, even if the power is at a strong speed, it will inevitably drop several knots.

In addition to cleaning the exterior and interior, deck and interior maintenance is no easy task, cleaning the deck, scrubbing the barrels, changing parts, drilling into the narrow oil tanks to remove the accumulated heavy oil residue, and then using the developed lubricating oil for mechanical components such as steam turbines.

As the leading light cruiser, the Jinghai-class is epoch-making, even if it was designed nearly ten years ago, it is still second only to the eight capital ships in terms of electrical applications, and even higher than the Defense-class destroyers that have been launched in the past two years.

Naval generators, electric loading winches, electric motors driving turrets, shipborne pumping machines, etc., these inconspicuous places are full of traces of China's imminent entry into the electrical age from the mechanized era, training and combat in a long-term salt spray and humid environment, and also making a large number of high-quality electrical maintenance personnel for the navy and even the country through the eight Jinghai-class, and even the eight capital ships that have just entered service have also transferred a large number of electrical non-commissioned officers from the eight Jinghai-class to supplement the needs after joining the fleet.

In order to ensure that Russia would not be able to figure out the true strength of the Chinese Navy as much as possible before the war, almost all of the overseas bases used by the Navy were closed and easy to control, and almost none of the domestic military ports were put into use.

In the eyes of outsiders, this kind of busyness seems to be the nervousness of the coming big war, but the sailors do not admit that in fact, warships have to do such comprehensive maintenance every three months on weekdays, otherwise why does the navy have a saying, "It's easy to build a ship and it's hard to maintain a ship?" "Processes like this may not be significant when separated, but they can be a huge expense when put together.

In fact, half of the navy's annual budget is spent on this kind of maintenance, which makes some Chinese, especially those who have just immigrated to Luzon and Borneo from the interior, wonder why these big guys should come every few months, and feel that it is too wasteful, and it is better to reduce the size of the fleet and save money for local construction.

But these words only dare to nag in their hearts, but they dare not say them, because if such words are heard by the Chinese in the two places, or even the Luzon people, they will be poked in the backbone, because in their eyes, the navy is a big backer and protector.

However, when the news spread a few days ago that the Russian naval fleet, which claimed to be the third in the world, was coming, those skeptics immediately changed their views, because at this moment, in the face of a potentially large Russian fleet, they really understood that these huge warships in front of them would be the last steel barrier in front of them.

Standing beside these steel behemoths, Le Fei, who had come to check the progress, still didn't have a smile on his face, not that he didn't love these big guys, but that he loved them too much, because they gave him another unique choice of naval warfare. 【 I want: super fast update 】

Firepower and speed, this is almost a pair of hostile brothers in the navy, the battleship needs to emphasize the firepower, but the thick armor *** speed, and the light patrol needs speed, but the survivability makes it have to find a way to increase every inch of muscle.

After last year's upgrade, the speed of the eight Jinghai-class light cruisers has increased to a staggering 28 knots. Although there is still a gap of two knots compared with the 30 knots of the Defender-class destroyers, the destroyers cannot be compared with the Jinghai-class, and the range of the upgraded L52/152 mm naval guns exceeded 20,000 meters for the first time, and the rifle pressure and muzzle velocity have increased significantly.

In internal exercises, one Jinghai-class can easily kill four or even more defender-class ships, so in the navy, the Jinghai Eighth Ship has the reputation of a destroyer killer, and even Ji Weishan, who has always been relatively conservative, has made no secret of his love for the Jinghai-class when faced with this problem, believing that the Jinghai-class is a nightmare for the second-class cruisers and destroyers of various countries of 3,000 tons, and is full of praise for its versatility.

However, this data is still in strict secrecy, and the released data of the Jinghai class is still 24 knots, a number that can drive a 10,000-ton warship to this speed with a generation of coal-fired boilers and reciprocating steam engines in Europe.

Although the Jinghai class seems to outsiders, it already belongs to the perfect kind of light patrol in various countries, but as the commander of the fleet, Le Fei knows very well that in fact, the Jinghai class has fallen behind, nine years have passed since the design, and countless technologies are being abandoned in the nine years, so this kind of light patrol is inevitably getting old.

However, he is happy that the design of the first generation of light cruisers has been completed, and it is said that the first keel will be laid next month, which means that the navy will fully welcome another strong partner.

But now is obviously not the time to consider partners, the intelligence said that the Russian fleet will depart in two days, and when they cross the Suez Canal, it will take about 20 days or so to enter the Indian Ocean, judging from the progress of maintenance, it should be completed when the Russian fleet passes through the Suez Canal, and then use a few days of sea trials to adjust, and then it can enter a state of combat readiness.

The corners of Le Fei's mouth hooked, because this time Boss Long shouted that he would personally command a naval battle in his life, and then go home to concentrate on being a wet nurse for the naval cubs in his mouth, so he and Ji Weishan had to give up their positions, plus the two fleets would merge to concentrate on the battle, so he was rushed to lead the light patrol and destroyer formations again, and Ji Weishan became the commander of the heavy patrol formation.

Can you deal with the scene of the *** returning fleet in the Great Xia Islands again?

"Speed will change naval warfare!"

Le Fei muttered to himself, this is his big dream, when he was about to board the ship to see the specific maintenance progress, a jeep suddenly stopped not far away, Lan Jianshu jumped off the car, and before he could finish saluting, he smiled bitterly: "Commander, it seems that we don't need to be in a hurry to finish." ”

"Why?" Le Fei was confused, and when he opened the information, he suddenly couldn't cry or laugh.

It was really hard to cry or laugh, and Emperor Li was in Huayuan, holding Fang Xianqi, who had just given birth to his second son, and turned around a few times, and let her go in the latter's shame.

Probably only Li Enfu doesn't understand the navy, but after all these years of hearing and seeing, he always knows a rough idea, no matter how bad he is, he knows how exhausted the sailors will be after a fleet drifts for half a year, according to Long Guozhang's words, there is no need to fight, as long as you find a thousand *** girls to stand next to the Russian fleet, those sailors who will have green eyes when they see sows are absolutely willing to surrender.

"This old navy bastard!"

Fang Xianqi's eyes twisted, he secretly laughed and scolded, and left after handing over the work of serving tea and water to the maid in a foul language, causing Li Mo to hurriedly throw Long Guozhang back to the Admiralty.

Long Guozhang did have a reason to be depressed, because the route of the Russian fleet was to make a detour to the Cape of Good Hope in Africa, so that it would arrive in at least half a year, which was equivalent to the fleet that had just completed maintenance and needed to come again in a few months.

When Long Guozhang was worried about maintenance and maintenance, Roger Stewinst's face turned white, he just made a suggestion, but he didn't expect His Majesty the Emperor to put himself directly into the sea of fire!

When he cautiously told Nicholas II that he was only a rear admiral, and the commander of the Baltic Fleet was a vice admiral, so in terms of military rank, he could not command the expeditionary fleet with the Baltic Fleet as the main force.

But this question was too simple for His Majesty the great and wise Tsar, and an order crossed the military, directly promoted the major general to lieutenant general, and then patted him on the shoulder and said: "Do a good job, even if you occupy Luzon, I will make you a general and a marshal." ”

At this time, Roger Steinster could not escape, so he had to listen to the scalp and began to prepare for the expedition, but when the news that the Russian expeditionary fleet needed to pass through the Mediterranean Sea and go through the Suez Canal was conveyed to Britain, the British First Admiralty Fisher threw the transit report directly into the trash.

The British Prime Minister, the Marquis of Salisbury, rejected the Russian ambassador's lobbying, and the reason was very simple, the total number of ships proposed by Russia to go to the Far East from Suez reached 45, of which the 10,000-ton capital ships reached 20!

Get rid of it, God knows if you will hug the rabbit and beat the grass, in case you don't understand, stop at the Suez Canal, do you want to replace Li Mo for the heavens?!

The second disagreement is the Ottoman Empire, the sick man of Europe who got a Chinese-type battleship, has become a small overlord of the Suez Canal in the past two years, relying on the third in Europe, and it can even be said to be the first actual combat battleship, almost every day to walk around the Mediterranean twice, according to the words of Caliph II, it is time for the Ottoman Empire to show its strength.

But this force is obviously not suitable for the transit of the huge Russian fleet, the relationship between the two countries was originally tense, and it was difficult to lock up the Russian Black Sea Fleet at home through a paper agreement and could not get out, if it was a mighty Suez Canal, in case Nicholas II burst beans and ordered to turn around and join forces with the Black Sea Fleet to capture Ishtambull, there would be no place to cry.

Although there is a type of battleship, all of which are known to be powerful, except for a few shots from Hua, no one has really used it in actual combat, so the panicked Caliph II even refused to cross the border with the threat of war.

Istampur is a sensitive place, Britain and France and other countries have a great headache, hearing that the Ottoman Empire actually threatened war and did not support the Russian fleet to go through the Suez Canal, although Nicholas II was annoyed, but he also had the ability to risk offending the whole of Europe and the ability to go to war with the two countries, so he could only put this hatred in his heart.

Can the inaccessible Suez Galaxy trap the mighty Third Navy? Apparently impossible, His Majesty the Great Tsar immediately suggested going to the Cape of Good Hope!

This frightened Roger Stewins, starting from the Baltic Sea, bypassing the whole of Africa, more than 10,000 nautical miles in 10,000 years, and then reaching Luzon across the Indian Ocean, which was as high as 16,000 nautical miles.

But this did not bother the Tsar, he immediately ordered the conscription of noble women, and also ordered that they should know the common sense of medical care, so that they could know how to sing and dance, and be able to relieve the loneliness of the soldiers on the expedition, and when they were recruited, they were immediately stuffed into a medical ship.

Yes, His Majesty the Emperor is like this, and he has no choice!

Roger Stevenster gritted his teeth and prepared, the first problem he encountered was fuel, and the voyage of up to half a year was extremely difficult for battleships with a endurance of only four or five thousand nautical miles, let alone destroyers!

So he ordered that all the places on the ship could be filled with coal, that even the living quarters had to be stuffed with a few bales per bed, and that a large amount of timber was cut down and piled directly on the deck, and that even the turrets were piled up.

But this is not enough, fortunately at this time the great ally France sent comfort, although it can not provide a base in the Far East, but Africa can, so it offered to provide a base in Madagascar to Russia to replenish coal, and Britain also promised to temporarily open several coal stations on the west coast of Africa, but this is not enough, because after Madagascar, Britain and France themselves lack bases.

At this time, the cousin came to the rescue, and Germany offered to lease several large ocean-going freighters for the use of the Russian fleet, although the price was a bit expensive, but Roger Stewinst agreed almost without hesitation.

But the problem was that he did not know that China and Germany had signed a secret treaty at this time, and that Wilhelm II was not really willing to help Russia, but was afraid that the Russian fleet would find it difficult to make a detour and not go to the Far East, so he was willing to ship.

Wilhelm II's plan was to let the Russian fleet leave Europe, so that he could not consider Russia's maritime threat and concentrate on competing with France and Britain for the navy, and the second advantage was that if China could be defeated, then Germany might be able to get a piece of the pie, and even if it didn't, Russia would suffer heavy losses, anyway, the worse Russia would lose, the more warships died, and the more national strength would be lost, so that loans and other means could be used to force Russia to their side and completely break France's attempt to encircle Germany.

When the last 2,000 shipwrights and fishermen who had been recruited and trained for two months were forcibly enlisted in the navy and boarded the warships, Roger Stewinster's vast Far East Fleet finally set off.

To borrow the words of an American journalist who came to watch the departure ceremony.

"The smoke obscured the sky and the steel covered the harbor, this was the largest maritime expedition in human history so far, because the total tonnage of all warships and transports combined exceeded 400,000 tons!"