Chapter 74: The War Against Portugal

"Gengtang, to be honest, I really envy you, the first general-class destroyer will give you the lead, and we will have to wait for almost a year to get a new battleship, and the combat effectiveness will definitely be far worse than yours by then!" Xu Shoushan touched the steel barrel of the thick 130mm naval gun on the 'Wang Qian', and said to the old classmates beside him with some complications.

"Yes, after this fight against Portugal and the occupation of Timor Island, you should treat us to a drink, or we won't agree!" a young man with thin cheeks and bright eyes, dressed in the uniform of a naval major, echoed with a smile.

"Li He is right, you kid has never returned to the Naval Academy since he became the captain of the destroyer Wang Qian, and we can't find you even if we want you to have a treat! However, this time you were caught by the two of us, and this meal must be replenished!" Xu Shoushan said with a smile.

Looking at his two old classmates, Lu Han suddenly felt a little lucky, they were all fighting in the same camp, and they didn't need to see each other, but the rest of them were a little uncertain. Among the four major sailors in the Qing Dynasty, many of Mawei's classmates held important positions.

Seeing the sudden change between the old classmates and the trace of worry in their eyes, Xu Shoushan and Li He couldn't help but glance at each other in disbelief.

"Gungtang, what's wrong, are you worried about tomorrow's battle?" asked Li Heshen calmly.

"That's not it, those Portuguese warships are more than thirty years behind us, and they don't pose a threat to our new destroyers at all!

Xu Shoushan looked at his confident look, and couldn't help but ask a little hesitantly: "Then ...... are you?"

"Yushan, Li He, we all know the young master's ambitions, and his plan for the Qing Dynasty has already started a year ago when the Huo Jiajun was just beginning to be established! Kidnapping us to Taiwan to run the navy is part of this plan! However, what puzzles me is why the young master didn't bring Liu Buyun, Lin Taizeng, and Deng Shichang to Taiwan, but put them in the Beiyang Naval Division, and ignore them, this is really strange?" Lu Han shook his head, looked at the distance where the sky and water meet in the north, and asked a little distractedly. Liu Buyun and Lin Taizeng are all the first graduates of the Mawei Ship Master School, almost all of them have the experience of studying at the Glenwich Naval Academy in the United Kingdom, not only are they talented, but they are also amazingly talented in the navy, they can be said to be the most outstanding naval talents in modern China, Lu Han has always been unable to figure it out, with the young master's thirst for talents, what will happen has not moved them until now!

"You're right, I discussed this issue with a few Dao at the beginning! But there has never been a conclusion that convinces both of us! However, the young master's vision in long-term layout and military strategy is not comparable to us, he is not like us who only thinks about the navy, he not only has the Far East in his heart, but also the whole world. Therefore, let Liu Buyun go, they may have some other concerns in the young master's heart!" Xu Shoushan said with some emotion and some melancholy.

"That's what I said, but what I'm worried about is what we will do with our former brothers in the future! After all, we have drunk and talked happily before, and we have sworn to fight for the rise of the Chinese Navy for the rest of our lives! If we really meet in the future......" Lu Han shook his head with a somewhat ugly face and did not finish, but the meaning of his words was already very clear. Before he came to Taiwan again, he had already served as the pipe band of the two warships of the Fujian Naval Division, the "Feiyun" and the "Weiyuan," and asked him to target his naval guns at his former brother, which made Lu Han, who had always loved officers and men, a little unacceptable.

"Let's start a little bit! We are now each his own master! Moreover, it is the duty of a soldier to obey orders, and we can't help ourselves!" Li He patted him on the shoulder and said with relief, but looking at his own frowning brows, he felt a little uneasy in his heart!

"Well, it's a little too early to say this! When we really start attacking the Qing Dynasty, maybe things will change!"

The originally relaxed atmosphere became a little dull, so that Xu Shoushan did not want to continue to talk about this topic! Although it would not affect the next war against Portugal, the good mood of several people participating in the first actual battle was probably completely destroyed!

"Let's go, let's hurry up and take a look at the map, Minister Huo Feng wants us to drive those five Portuguese warships back?" After realizing that he had made the atmosphere a little tense, Lu Han also quickly followed Xu Shoushan's words.

"yes, our task is not small!"

Alor Islands, Huakee City!

In this small city that had just been occupied by the Huo Jiajun for a day, there were not many traces of war except for the Huojia soldiers with guns on the streets! Because the Dutch troops who were originally stationed here, less than 500, were all knocked down by the Huojia army's single charge!

Now, because of its proximity to the Portuguese colony of East Timor, this originally inconspicuous small city has become the temporary headquarters of Murong Xin, commander of the Fifth Marine Division, who is responsible for commanding the entire war against Portugal!

"Are all the troops in place?" looked at the large map of Timor Island hanging on the wall, Murong Xinshen asked solemnly.

"All of them are already in place, and the 423rd Regiment of the 42nd Army Division to cooperate with us in the battle has consolidated the Dutch West Timor that they have just occupied! In addition, after handing over the defense to the local guard troops, they have now left for the border with East Timor! In addition, the 2,000 troops that we have secretly developed in East Timor will also cooperate with us in fighting! However, the main task of their two armies is to stabilize the place! The task of capturing Dili, the colonial center of Portuguese East Timor, is still the responsibility of our marines! In addition, when the time comes, the two special forces of 'Sea Lion' and 'Cheetah' will also cooperate with us in the battle! Oh, by the way! The three warships of our navy have already arrived at the Ambon Naval Base, and they will cooperate with our landing operation!" Sun Zhong, chief of staff, closed the telegram in his hand and continued: "Is it too much fuss for the sake of an East Timor, with less than 2,000 Portuguese soldiers, can we use so many troops?"

Listening to the disapproval in his tone, Murong Xin smiled faintly, "Now, I can roughly guess what the General Staff means! In fact, this operation is not so much a war as a more real military exercise! And the fragile Portuguese are the most suitable targets for our exercise right now! It will not cause us a lot of damage, but it can also increase the combat experience of our troops, what a good opportunity!" I don't think that if it weren't for the insufficient capacity of our transport ships, the General Staff would certainly have invested more troops to take part in this operation! After all, our army has not fought many battles since its establishment, and our troops seriously lack actual combat experience! Using countries like the Netherlands and Portugal to sharpen our soldiers is undoubtedly the best way to quickly enhance the combat effectiveness of our army! At all times, our primary enemy is Britain, France, Germany, and Russia, the most powerful European countries! Before facing them, we must first make all the preparations!

Being able to be the chief of staff of a marine division with nearly 20,000 people, Sun Zhong is certainly not a stupid person, almost as soon as Murong Xin mentions it, he thinks through all the joints!

"It's still the division commander who sees it far, and I originally wanted to suggest that only one regiment of troops would be enough! But according to what the division commander said, it seems that we should send all the reserves!"

"Hurry up and prepare! After the test of this war, our Fifth Marine Division will become the sharpest unit in the entire Huo Family Army!" said Murong Xinshen proudly.

――――――

"Lao Guo, these are your soldiers, it seems that the training is good!" Zheng Rong said with a smile as he crossed his arms and looked at the jīng Rui soldier who was checking the equipment, wearing a blue and white sè camouflage uniform and a fierce sea lion pattern pinned to his arm. As the squadron leader of the first squadron of the second brigade of the 'Cheetah' special forces, he has the qualifications to say so!

At the beginning of the formation of the Sea Lion Special Forces, Guo Jingyu was transferred from Cheetah to Sea Lion Seed! Now he commands a sea lion brigade and 100 Jīng Rui Navy Special Forces soldiers! Their mission this time is to seize the five warships that Portugal has parked in the port of Dili!

"Of course, you don't look at who trained them!" Referring to these soldiers who had been trained by himself, Guo Jingyu's face couldn't help but show a look of pride!

"Yo he, you said that you are fat and you are still panting, if it weren't for the urgency of this mission! Although there was only one squadron of cheetahs this time, their task was to seize more than 20 well-defended coastal defense batteries in Portugal near the port of Dili! Although most of these guns were still front-mounted old guns from the sail era! But even so, they were much more powerful than rifles! Therefore, for these artillery pieces that seriously threatened the lives of soldiers, Murong Xin, who was responsible for commanding the entire war against Portugal, immediately sent the sharpest soldiers in his hands to pull them out!

"Okay! Let's compare and see who completes the task first!" Guo Jingyu said with a smile.

"When the time comes, whoever loses will have to drink!

"It's a deal!"

"Never break your word!"

After the two stretched out their right fists and collided with each other, they looked at each other and smiled, and each walked towards their own troops!