Standing on a high place, looking up, a hanging Milky Way crossed the sky, and countless stars were mixed in between it, "like flowing mercury, dazzling, people can't bear to move their eyes." (Full text reading, all in. (.i. Want. Wen. Learning Network)

This is the island of Masti, located off the coast of Chile, "an island in the South Pacific Ocean that is increasingly named after the Chinese Empire, where there is no industry" and no smoke, only a small town with a population of less than 200 next to the port, and a starry sky and a wide expanse of the sea in front of it.

Standing here, Li Zhen seemed to feel that all the hustle and bustle of the worries had disappeared, and he couldn't help but think of what his father said to him alone before stepping into the military academy.

"Every man should go out once in his life and travel the world, because only when you experience it yourself" can you experience the magnificence of the world, and you can know how big and beautiful it is outside the window. ”

"The reason why the navy can become a leader in national progress and an open branch of the military" is because warships can take you anywhere you want to go, and sailors can use this to learn about the world, and then bring back what they have seen and heard, so as to promote family and friends at home to understand the world. ”

"When a cycle begins to run benignly, we can get rid of ignorance and absorb the strengths of the world" to revitalize the country and the nation. ”

"We are a big country, and we need to fight for the rights of a big country, instead of passively sitting in Beijing and waiting!"

"And the navy is the only force we can show our strength and fight for the right to speak!"

At the time, he didn't quite understand these words, but when he put on his navy uniform, boarded the Guam, and traveled south through the Ryukyus, Hawaii, and South America to Chile, he "learned how thrilling the vastness of the sea and the magnificence of the world were."

No wonder my father attaches so much importance to the navy, "he does not hesitate to invest nearly half of the country's resources in it, from the sea coachman to the empire on which the sun never sets, all the countries that go to the sea first are destined to be strong, and China has had the opportunity to lead the world in history, and the great voyage since the Song Dynasty "The Three Treasure Eunuchs have crossed the ocean, and have provided opportunities, but the rulers are trapped on the loess" missed the opportunity to build a thousand-year-old empire in vain!

Now, through the efforts of his father and countless naval personnel, he has finally brought this nation to the deep blue, what a feat, so only when he comes into contact with the outside world can he understand this great value.

Sitting cross-legged on a jutting boulder, the Gulf of Mas Di in the distance was silent, and the two Guam-class battleships that had just been bottom-cleaned in Chile were like behemoths lying on the water, while beside their massive steel bodies, the Navy Dolphin training sailing ship that had lowered its sails looked insignificant.

But Li Zhen didn't dare to look at the three-masted training sailing ship of the Dolphin.

Because sail training is the foundation of every naval power, even in the era when the steam engine replaced sailboats, young sailors and officers also need to fight the sea through this kind of unpowered sailing ship"In addition to sailing ships can exercise their sailing ability, so that everyone can experience the hardships of the great age of discovery, but also because sailing is a kind of operational ship that requires a high degree of unity, through long-term operation and voyages, the unity of officers can be largely condensed, so that they can have a brotherhood to go to danger together in the future."

Both he and any of the officers of the 31st Fleet were trained in sailing, and it was precisely because of this that "the Guam, with its 1,127 officers and men, was able to withstand the test of the sea like a family, and could go to the test of the sea like a brother." (Full text reading, all in. (.i. Want. Wen. Learning Network)

Li Zhen took a deep breath, and when he began to reminisce about the experience of this time, he saw the two mast lights on the sea in the distance flickering rapidly, which made him return to reality at once, who is it so late? Why this humble island?

"Emperor, the captain asked me to come to Jiang You."

Stunned, "The partner who boarded the ship together for internship brought a message from the captain, Li Zhenfei jumped off the boulder, said thank you and was just about to leave" After thinking about it, he turned around and said with a smile: "Next time, call me Li Zhen" Don't forget that you are in the army now, and the commander has given orders.

The partner scratched his head, remembering the order that the commander had ordered all officers and soldiers not to call the emperor during the mission, but only by his first name, and immediately nodded and saluted: "Second Lieutenant Li Zhen, the commander asked me to inform you to go see him immediately." ”

"Yes!"

Li Zhen's standard military salute made everyone a little shy about this character, but he didn't have a good impression of the emperor, who usually didn't even go to the officer's canteen, and was willing to squeeze together with the sailors, when Li Zhen trotted all the way back to the harbor, "I saw that nearly 100 cadets of the Naval Academy were boarding the Dolphin, which made him a little surprised, are they going to train at night?"

When he got on the traffic boat and sailed towards the Guam, he found that the two flickering masts were actually from a Yangtze River-class light cruiser, the Dongting Lake integrated supply ship in service, and a Chilean transport ship.

The appearance of the Yangtze River class light cruiser was not surprising to him, the Navy cruiser was supposed to carry out daily patrols, and the Chile and South American routes were important to the Empire, but the arrival of the supply ship Dongting Lake made him feel a little strange.

Before he came to Guam for his internship, he knew that the Guam-class battleship itself had a cruising capacity of 18,000 nautical miles / 15 knots, although this was ideal, "including the need to maneuver and change direction during the voyage, the distance would be shortened to 16,000 nautical miles, and of course the additional fuel consumption distance would be shorter if engaged."

But even so, the Guam also has the ability to drive directly from the Ryukyus all the way to Chile, not to mention that there is a Honolulu base in the middle to replenish, and after the maintenance in Chile was completed before, it was also filled with low-miscellaneous light and heavy oil that was once sold by the Navy to the Chilean Navy, and the supplies and food were also replenished, so why suddenly sent supply ships?

You must know that the Dongting Lake is a first-generation supply ship, with an empty load of 15,000 tons, a full load of 33,000 tons, and can carry 16,000 tons of light and heavy oil, 1,500 tons of ammunition and 500 tons of food and other supplies at a time "In order not to take up space, it also has two additional boilers, which can desalinate seawater by steaming" If necessary, it can provide 500 tons of domestic fresh water to the warship receiving the supply within five hours, and it has a cruising range of 10,000 nautical miles / 15 knots, This is not counting the use of heavy oil in the oil tank to increase endurance, the important thing is to catch up with the speed of more and more capital ships, the designers cleverly used four Guam class military gear variable speed steam turbines and boiler power packs, with two by two groups of alternating work to drive two main shafts, to achieve the supply ship can be the whole 20 knots of the speed of the ability to sail, and in case of emergency, the speed of the four together will reach 26 knots, as long as the danger can be detected in advance, most of the warships of various countries can not catch up with it.

It should be said that this is an important ship of the Navy in response to his father's call for "a decisive battle outside the territory and the construction of a global navy, and judging from the waterline that has been submerged slowly approaching, it is now fully loaded, which means that the range of the two Guam-class ships will be increased by another 70 percent.

When Li Zhen hurriedly ran to the large Guam operations conference room, he found that not only Li Xiuyan was here, "Chen Shaokuan, the captain of the Medan, and several important officers appeared, but strangely enough, the Chilean admiral, his father's friend Admiral Simmons, and the captain and instructor of the sail training ship Dolphin actually came," and they all looked strange.

What happened?!

Li Zhen's heart sank suddenly, and after saluting, Li Xiuyan motioned for him to sit down, took out a telegram, and looked at the telegram that was about four pages long, "He is a trainee telegraph officer, and he frowned, because this is the island of Mas Ti in Chile, and the Colón Islands are still thousands of nautical miles away from here", so the long-wave radio station needs to be used to contact the Guam, and the information carrying capacity of the long-wave radio station is very small, "The four-page telegram can be sent in two hours, so there are no special circumstances, and the long-wave contact will be very brief."

"War has broken out!"

Li Xiuyan then glanced at Li Zhen and spread the information on the table: "I just received news from the General Staff that at four o'clock in the morning in Beijing today, the British and American fleets attacked Nauru and Perth, and at five o'clock they handed over the declaration of war to the emperor. ”

"That is!"

"We've been attacked!" , Li Xiuyan's words suddenly made the conference room silent, although everyone was speculating about when the war would break out, but no one expected it to be such a sudden start.

"The Emperor has declared war on the Entente" and the Diet has passed a bill to join the Alliance, "The Admiralty is preparing to launch a counterattack." Li Xiuyan glanced at Simmons, "Although this big beard is more worthy of belief, he still hasn't said the news that the Battle of Perth and the Battle of West Cape have been won" continued: "But it is not clear when Nauru and the Chinese supporting Perth will be able to recapture, and the Admiralty has received accurate information, the US Pacific Fleet has poured out, eight US capital ships are rapidly attacking Rabaul, and two Delaware-class battleships and two New York-class battleships are speeding south to intercept us, According to intelligence, they have reached the sea off Peru, "If we go home and head north now, we expect to encounter tomorrow afternoon!" ”

“。 "Luo" only sent four "too small" to look at us! Although most of the two ships are young officers, in order to form combat effectiveness as soon as possible, the Admiralty has also transferred a large number of old non-commissioned officers to enrich them and take charge of important posts, plus it has been half a year since the launch and delivery, according to the original plan, the two ships will enter the naval combat readiness sequence after returning this time.

Li Xiuyan waved his hand to stop everyone from continuing to discuss, and said: "Captain Chen, Instructor Wu (the commanding officer of the sail training ship Dolphin), the Admiralty has already agreed with Vice Admiral Simmons that for the safety of the cadets, you will stay in Chile for a while, and after we regain the initiative after the counterattack is victorious, we will immediately send a cruiser to protect you back." ”

"In the meantime, General Simmons will keep you safe!"

"Thank you, General Simmons." , Captain Chen and Instructor Wu immediately got up and saluted Simmons in thanks.

"You're welcome, although my country is a neutral country, I have been old friends with His Majesty the Emperor of the Concubine Kingdom for many years" I will do my best! Simmons assured with a smile.

"Also, I want the Emperor to be with you." Li Xiuyan wanted to say that Li Zhen should also stay in Chile, but before the latter could finish speaking, he stood up suddenly: "Captain, according to the Navy regulations, any officer who has obtained a trainee on the ship will automatically become a regular officer of the ship in the event of a sudden war, so I think I should stay!" ”

"Here" I'm just your officer, not the emperor! "But......

"Captain, if I leave at this time, how will you make my father face the soldiers who fought bloodily for the country? How do you deal with the families of those fighters? ”

"Wherever the ship goes, it is the sea frontier that needs to be guarded, and I am willing to pay for it with my life." "These are my words when I took the oath to join the Navy, do you want me to break my oath?" Facing Li Zhen, who was standing next to him with a straight posture, the conference room gradually quieted down, and Li Xiuyan also found that his consideration was a little inappropriate, but his next task was too dangerous, what if?

Just when everyone was in a dilemma" Simmons suddenly stood up, walked to Li Zhen's side, hugged him with a smile, and said proudly: "Child, you are a good soldier I have ever seen!" Captain Lee: "I think that if you can't forget his identity", then you might as well enter our harbor and wait for the war to end! ”

"Because." Simmons looked at Li Xiuyan and said solemnly: "After he leaves, the combat effectiveness of your warship will drop a lot!" ”

Simmons's warning is very correct, if Li Zhen is allowed to leave at this time, the morale of the army will inevitably fluctuate, so let the emperor continue to stay, and the morale of the soldiers of the two warships can be guaranteed to a large extent, because the sailors will feel that it is proud to fight with the emperor!

Thinking of this, Li Xiuyan nodded: "Second lieutenant, go and prepare, we will leave here in an hour!" "Yes! "Being able to stay makes Li Zhen very excited" hurriedly saluted and walked out of the conference room.

With Li Zhen leaving, the news of the outbreak of the war began to reach everyone's ears, and the small bay suddenly became busy, and the transport ships brought by Simmons began to approach the two Guam-class, constantly carrying the supplies ordered by the Chinese Admiralty to him on deck, and those generation of naval cadets who needed to go to Chile for temporary refuge, although they wanted to fight with their predecessors, could only board the ship under the strict orders of the captain and instructor, raise the sails and sail towards Santiago with the Chilean Navy transport ship.

"As Li Xiuyan gave the order for light control and radio silence, the lead fleet consisting of two Guam-class battleships, the supply ship Belgahu and the second batch of Changjiang-class light cruisers Tumenjiang" slowly left the birthplace of the Chinese Navy.

Looking out of the porthole on the island of Masti that was getting farther and farther away, Li Zhen suddenly felt the path his father took back then, the Royal Navy of the Chinese Empire embarked on a journey from here more than 20 years ago, and now he will witness another glory of the navy from here!

However, when the island finally disappeared into the darkness and Li Zhengang was about to leave, he suddenly felt a shock under his feet, "The deck has been slightly tilted, and when I look up again, I find that the bow is constantly deflecting" After a while, it actually pointed to due south!

Give up going north and go home, continue to sentence south, right?!

"We're going to fight back!" Suddenly, Li Zhen thought of his father's words on the telegram just now.! ~！