Portsmouth, 25 October 1725.

An English fleet that was about to depart raised its sails and slowly sailed out of the harbor. They will stop at the Isle of Wight, not far from the harbor, to join up with another fleet from London, and then sail together into the grey and cold waters of the Atlantic.

The fleet consisted of thirty-two warships and four small supply ships, with a crew of 3,760. In addition, it contained 2,530 army soldiers. On the day of the voyage, the Nasby, armed with one hundred and six guns, sailed out of Spithead Bay with the flag of Admiral Royal Admiral and veteran William Payne.

The mission of the fleet was extremely secretive, so it was only given the code name: "Project to Slay the Dragon". The code name hints at some kind of secret that is hidden. Although the timing was unfavorable for the entire fleet, the Royal Navy would still cross the Atlantic and sail to the West Indies. The fleet went there not to attack the Spanish West Indies and the American possessions, but to "kill" the Oriental dragon hidden in the depths of the Atlantic.

Preparation of this battle plan began a month ago, and with the concerted efforts of the Royal Navy, it was put into practice in such a short period of time. Moreover, there are two fleets of almost the same size that carry out this mission, going to the North Atlantic and the North Sea region respectively, waiting for an opportunity to annihilate the Qi fleet roaming in these two seas.

However, the Royal Navy and Army are having difficulty recruiting enough troops. It is not surprising that after more than six months of the war, the Navy has still been unable to pay the salaries of its officers and men, and the number of volunteers is scarce.

Even William Penn himself, before he set sail, had to write to the gentlemen of the Naval Council, "Make a slip from the date of departure to pay my salary." Because, I'm not sure if I'll ever live to see you again. ”

At the same time, sailors, who faced the same suspicions and sailed for the same long hours, also submitted petitions to the Parliament and the Naval Commission, demanding that each of them be paid six months' salary to an impartial lawyer so that the families could collect it.

More than twenty years ago, the Kingdom of England was involved in the War of the Spanish Succession, the first time in centuries that England had been embroiled in a continental war of such cost. By 1713, when the war was finally over, property taxes, which accounted for 42 percent of government revenues, had increased dramatically. However, most Englishmen felt that the economic rewards given to England by the Peace of Utrecht, which ended the war, did not justify its participation in the war.

From that time on, the political leaders who came to power regularly assured the domestic parliaments and the many lords and merchants that they would pursue a foreign policy that would try to avoid involving England in the affairs of the European countries, and that the costly wars they would cause, so that the tax burden of the lords and merchants would be kept low.

However, the war with Qi suddenly raised the government's spending budget to a very high level, which forced the government to break its promise and start imposing land and commercial taxes on the lords and merchants in the country to raise the necessary funds for the war. During the months-long political tug-of-war and squabbles, the army's salaries were not guaranteed for the time being.

Nevertheless, in view of the prestige of Admiral William Penn and the sacred duty he undertook, the parliament allocated funds to pay the old general's salary in a timely manner.

Payne's request was settled, but the sailors' petition was frustrated. It is not only the issue of salaries that worries the officers and men, but also the possibility of illness.

Due to the secrecy of the operation, the officers and men of the fleet were only informed before leaving that they were escorted by merchant ships bound for the West Indies. As a result, this has caused various worries among officers and soldiers. The warm and humid sea is a hotbed of all kinds of strange diseases. Often, at the end of a voyage, at least a quarter of the people on board will die.

Salaries were deducted, lives were not sufficiently secured, and all the soldiers were filled with resentment and curses in their hearts, so that the morale of the whole fleet was not high, and there was no selfless will to die for the Kingdom of England.

The commander of the fleet, Admiral William Payne, also understood that the main reason for affecting the morale of the Navy was the overcrowding of the ship. He ordered the captains of the ships "to take great care in carrying the soldiers of the Army in order to prevent the occurrence of disease, and therefore to determine the number of men according to the circumstances, and to divide them reasonably among all the ships, and that no ship should carry so many men as to cause an infectious disease." ”

But the captains were apparently careless about it, and did not care. When the fleet left Portsmouth, in order to ensure the effective operation of the battleships and the combat effectiveness of the sailors, the larger ships, including the flagship "Nasby", carried only about thirty soldiers each. Most of the Army's officers and men were crammed into smaller ships.

On the "Catherine" with a displacement of more than 600 tons and the "Anxin" with a displacement of 500 tons, each ship can normally have only 90 crew members, including 40 guns and artillerymen. This time, however, the "Catherine" carried 200 soldiers, and the "Anxin" carried 160. Twenty smaller ships were used for transport, carrying a total of 1,800 soldiers. Many of them did not want to sail, so they had to be driven together, and they were driven aboard by soldiers with bayonets and cavalrymen wielding swords.

Naval ships have always been overcrowded, even according to the normal crew configuration: the number of ships required on board is far greater than that of merchant ships, so that they can handle their guns and guns in battle. For example, under normal circumstances, the "Catherine" should have 25 crew members on duty, and the other 25 non-duty personnel would be in the cabin for food and lodging. The remaining forty were professionals—gunners, carpenters, boatswain, and their assistants—they were not worth watching, but slept at night and worked during the day.

So under normal conditions, there are about sixty-five beds in the compartments of a ship of this tonnage. This time, more than 100 people were suddenly required to settle for the bed, most of whom would almost certainly be seasick. The sailors did not take seasickness seriously, and they did not suffer from seasickness. But for these army soldiers who have never been to sea in the implementation of the "dragon slaying plan", seasickness is a kind of torture that can be expressed in words.

First of all, they were forbidden to go to the open upper deck, where it would hinder the work of the crew, and they were kept in the worst place designed for seasickness patients - in the most wobbly and bumpy position under the gun deck.

There was no air circulation, and only a few candles were lit and dangling on the side of the gunwale. The only place to urinate on board was above the bow, on either side of the first stilt, with a view of the sky and the sea below. Exhausted seasick, neither strength nor willingness to climb onto it. If you want to solve the problem of personal convenience, you can only look for utensils that are not yet full, such as using a bucket to fill it. If they can't find it, they urinate in the corner of the deck where they sleep. They still have no way to bathe and take off their clothes.

The only way to clean the deck was to wash it with a bucket of seawater, which washed the filth down into the hold, where their food was stored, and then the dirty water flowed into the bilge and the curved parts of the ship's side.

As a result, they live almost exclusively in cesspools, lying in their own vomit and urine, and inevitably they are infected by the intestinal diseases that they bring to the ship.

Of course, the soldiers were not very particular about their living environment and food, but it was impossible for them to live like pigs in such conditions, and to be as strong and vigorous as they were. They themselves still hope that they will be in good health and ready for everything, and when the time comes for battle, they will be able to immediately rush to the battlefield with their weapons.

"Our fleet should be staffed with more experienced doctors." Fleet Commander William Payne said worriedly: "Children resting in such a bad cabin for a long time will inevitably breed all kinds of diseases. I don't want to be unable to hold a musket in a broadside battle or landing battle with the Qi people. ”

"General, we have tried all kinds of ways to bring all the doctors in the city who can be recruited on the ship." Adjutant Major Tommy Lawson had a helpless look on his face, "However, this move was reprimanded by city officials and councillors, and at the same time caused protests from local residents. Those doctors with a lot of experience are very well-known gentlemen, and we can't make coercive measures. ”

"Don't they know that an experienced doctor can save the lives of dozens or hundreds of soldiers in battle?" Payne sighed and said, "You know, on the battlefield, every soldier, every sailor, is extremely precious. They are defending our Kingdom of England, defending our sacred faith. ”

"......" Major Lawson listened, and was silent.

"We in England should learn from the Qi people, establish the necessary medical and health system in the army, train specialized military doctors, and provide adequate health and life support for our soldiers."

"General, this kind of initiative is to cost an additional government budget." Major Lawson reminded in a whisper.

"Yes, there is a high probability that the parliament will not approve such a move in the military in order to save government spending." Payne shook his head and said helplessly: "Everyone is complaining that the government is taxing too high, and everyone doesn't want to contribute financial funds to the country from their pockets. They would rather spend large sums of money on luxurious estates, import fragrant teas, peck at strong coffee, and hold endless balls......"

"General!" The Nasby's first mate stood at the door of the cabin and reported, "The Speke has sent a message that the steam engine is malfunctioning and needs time to be repaired, and requests to return to port. ”

"Heh, it's just been out of port, and there is a problem with the Speek's steam engine?" Hearing this, Payne smiled bitterly, "In that case, order them to return to the port and repair the ship's malfunction." Originally, I had expected the three steam warships accompanying me to exert their surprise attack effect, but I didn't expect them to be so unreliable. This time to carry out the dragon slaying plan, this is really a bit ...... It's not good to be a teacher! ”

(End of chapter)