The first ironclad fleet of the Qing Dynasty appeared on the Huangpu River, as soon as the news spread, the people rushed to the riverside to see it first, the more than ten miles long along the river avenue was crowded with people who came to watch, of course, the personnel of the consulates in Shanghai of various countries will not miss this rare opportunity, the ironclad ships of the Qing Dynasty are like the ladies in the deep boudoir are kept secret, they have exhausted the means and it is rare to see, and now they are actually generously displayed, they are naturally excited.

The English embassy staff who are at war with the Qing Dynasty in South Africa can be described as ecstatic, and the consul Mai Huatuo led a group of embassy personnel to take pictures and records, and they were very busy, the shape of the ironclad ship of the Qing Dynasty is somewhat similar to that of the clippers, the bow is sharp, and the line is smooth, but there is only one chimney, I don't know how fast it can reach?

And the most interesting thing is the firepower of the battleship, the large should be more than 8,000 tons of several main battleship guns are distributed on the deck, the three main guns are arranged in front of the two and one behind, using a semi-enclosed rotary turret, and six secondary guns, all the guns are covered with gun jackets, and the caliber size can not be seen, and there are four wrapped in gun jackets but I don't know what it is, from the size of the guns should not be artillery.

Mai Huatuo's most important thing is naturally a few large capital warships, as for the small ones, he lacks interest, however, he still asks people to take pictures of each battleship, after all, this is a very rare opportunity to have a comprehensive understanding of the Qing ironclad ships, and it is difficult to say whether there will be a chance in the future.

Obviously, the ironclad ships of the Qing Kingdom have completely jumped out of the mode of sail battleships, not only completely canceling the sails, but even the iconic side guns of the sail battleships have been canceled, however, what makes him wonder is that the main ironclad ships of the Qing Kingdom have a total of 9 guns, how to ensure the firepower output of the battleship?

The ironclad ships of the British Empire are prone to dozens of guns, even if they are small ironclad ships, the guns are as high as more than ten, the two are compared, the gap is really too big, logically speaking, the Qing people can not lose the firepower of the ironclad ship for the sake of blindly seeking innovation, there is only one explanation, the artillery technology of the Qing State has made a breakthrough, and 9 guns are enough to meet the firepower needs of the ironclad ship.

The embassy personnel of France, the United States, Russia, Germany and other countries also have a lot of speculation about the scarcity of the number of guns of the Qing ironclad ships, but they are not in a hurry, the first war in South Africa, the real combat power of the Qing ironclad ships will inevitably be exposed.

Zhennan Wangfu, Changle Book House.

"Tick bell" The crisp phone rang, Zhao Liewen hurriedly put down the newspaper in his hand and went to answer the phone, the ironclad fleet came, causing a sensation throughout Shanghai, he had already seen the ironclad ship in Qingdao, so naturally he would not go to join in the fun, picked up the phone, reported his name, and listened to the voice of Yi Yi from the microphone, "I heard that the ironclad fleet appeared in Shanghai, Brother Huifu didn't go to watch?" ”

Zhao Liewen said with a smile: "King Gong is well-informed, I will ask the big shopkeeper to answer the phone." ”

Listening to Gong Wang Yiyi, Yi Zhishu got up and took the phone and said lightly, and Yi Yi, who listened, said: "The naval battle in South Africa, can Brother Guocheng be sure?" ”

"Nope." Yi Zhishu said very simply: "The unforeseen factors of naval battles are far greater than land battles, how can I dare to say that we are sure, but the battle for South Africa is a battle between the Qing Dynasty and England, no matter what, this battle must be fought!" ”

After being silent for a moment, Yi Yi said slowly: "Brother Guocheng should know better than anyone else, as long as the Qing Dynasty develops steadily, it is only a matter of time before it surpasses England, so why bother to gamble with England in South Africa?" ”

"This is not an era of peaceful rise, if you want to rise, you must prove your strength through war, and only in this way can you be recognized by the world's major powers." Yi Zhizhi said in a deep voice: "For the Qing Dynasty, it is better to fight this battle late than early, now is the most suitable time, the gold mine of the Transvaal in South Africa, Yuan Qi has long known that he chose this time to mine because this is the best time!" ”

Although the Qing and British have fought in South Africa, neither country has publicly declared war, so it can be said that there is still enough room for maneuver, once the naval battle starts, the scale of the war may continue to escalate, and even develop to the point of being out of control, the fight is won, everything is easy to say, but what if it loses? Daqing can't afford to lose!

Seeing Yi Zhi's contentment attitude, he knew that it was useless to persuade him, so he sighed lightly before he said: "It is a matter of national fortune, Brother Guocheng is determined to fight, and the imperial court can only support it with all its might, but if there is a need, even if you open your mouth." ”

Yi Zhizhi smiled and said: "King Gong can have this attitude!" ”

Putting down the phone, Zhao Liewen said with a smile: "The ironclad fleet was originally sent to Shanghai to alleviate the run, and the run has been significantly eased in the past two days....... ”

"Letting the ironclad fleet come to Shanghai is not entirely to ease the pressure of the run." Yi Zhizu paced slowly: "The fleet came to Shanghai to take a turn, to tell the British that our Qing ironclad fleet is going to recover Maputo. ”

Zhao Liewen reacted very quickly, "What does the big shopkeeper mean, placing the battlefield in Maputo Bay?" ”

"Not bad." Yi Zhizu nodded slightly: "The Mozambique Channel and the sea currents near Cape Town are complex, the wind and waves are high, and it is not suitable for naval battles, Maputo Bay has little wind and waves, and most of the time the sea is relatively calm, and the bay is not too big, for us, it is the most ideal battlefield, and for the British army, Maputo Bay is also a good battlefield." ”

There is still this meaning in the co-authorship, Zhao Liewen pondered for a while before saying: "Will the British see the strangeness of the appearance of the ironclad fleet?" ”

"There must be something strange about the gunnery of the battleship." Yi Zhizhi said disapprerovingly: "But this time our killer weapon is a torpedo." ”

Five cars with internal combustion engines were driving fast on the empty road, and Zai Zhao, who was riding in this kind of car for the first time in the second car, was very curious, and couldn't help but ask: "This is driven by a steam engine?" Why is the sound of the machine so quiet? ”

"It's low because of the muffler." Yi Zhengxing, who came to greet the generals on behalf of Yi Zhicontent, replied with a smile on his face: "This is not driven by a steam engine, it is an internal combustion engine, a power machine that is more advanced than a steam engine, and will be gradually applied to trains, ships and ironclad ships in the future." ”

Zaizhao is Yi Zhengxing's uncle, so he is naturally very casual, and immediately asked, "How fast is this?" ”

"Forty kilometers per hour." Yi Zhengxing said: "At present, the fastest speed has been able to reach a speed of 60 kilometers per hour, but my father is not satisfied with this, and asked them to continue to improve, saying that the speed should reach at least 8 kilometers per hour to reach more than 100 kilometers per hour. ”

Zaizhao was stunned and said, "Isn't that faster than a train?" ”

"That's for sure." Yi Zhifen said with a smile: "In a few years, cars will replace trains and become the most important means of land transportation, at present, the two highways from Shanghai to Jiangning and Shanghai to Hangzhou have begun to survey the routes, and construction ........will start this year." ”

"Highway?" Zaizhao hesitated and said, "Specially built for this car?" ”

"Yes." Yi Zhengxing said with a smile: "Yuanqi is building a factory, preparing to produce a large number of cars, in addition to this kind of car, there are also trucks that can carry goods, which can carry four or five tons of goods at a time, and there will be no horses to pull artillery in the future." ”

Zai Zhao said with emotion: "The changes in the Qing Dynasty over the years are really too great, and the speed of development makes us feel overwhelmed, and many things are undreamable before." ”

Xiao Mingliang and Guo Zhongmou on the back car are also emotional, Shanghai's changes are really changing with each passing day, almost every time you come to Shanghai, you can see new things, and the driver who listened to the driver said that these five cars are the only five cars in Shanghai, and both of them are warm in their hearts.

The sedan stopped directly outside the courtyard of Changle Bookstore, and when they got out of the car, Xiao Mingliang and a few people tidied up their military appearance before they walked into the courtyard, and they saw Yi Zhizhi and Zhao Liewen standing on the steps outside the door waiting, and several people hurriedly stepped forward to salute, "Student Xiao Mingliang and others have seen the principal." ”

Yi Zhishu smiled and nodded, "Let's go into the house." After entering the room and taking a seat, he asked about the situation of the fleet, and then he said slowly: "The purpose of the South African war is to make England retreat from the difficulties and dare not touch the Transvaal and Orange.

To put it bluntly, our country's current industrial, economic, financial, and naval strength cannot compete with England's, and we must try our best to avoid expanding the war indefinitely.

Therefore, in this battle, we must have a good sense of proportion, not only to hurt the British army, but also not to let the British army suffer too many casualties and be forced to expand the war. ”

Hearing this, Xiao Mingliang was really a little embarrassed, this measure is not easy to grasp, what is too many casualties? In the Battle of Pretoria, the British army suffered more than 10,000 casualties, is this big or small?

He was hesitating here, but Zai Zhao had already spoken: "The principal can't let us be restrained?" ”

After slowly glancing at a few people, Yi Zhizhi said: "It's not to let you tie your hands and feet, but to let you not covet war merits, don't kill them all." ”

This is easy to understand, Xiao Mingliang hurriedly said: "Students understand!" ”

Yi Zhixiang glanced at Yi Zhengxing, and said slowly: "Xingzhi wants to increase some military experience, let him follow Zaizhao to the south with the fleet, if he negotiates with the British army, he can be in charge, but in the military aspect, he is not allowed to interfere." ”

Yi Zhengxing went south with the fleet? Xiao Mingliang couldn't help but hesitate, there are too many accidents in this kind of thing to fight, Yi Zhengxing is the identity of the prince, and he is the successor of Yi Zhixing's deliberate cultivation, and he will inevitably serve as the prime minister of the Qing Dynasty in the future, if there is any mistake at sea, this crime is not small.

Before he could speak, Zai Zhao already smiled and said: "The principal has been fighting horses for many years, and he should indeed have some experience in the military, not to mention the use of soldiers, at least he can know the soldiers." ”

Hearing this, Xiao Mingliang was not easy to shirk, and only said: "The principal can rest assured, the students will definitely protect the world." ”

"There is no one in the army." Yi Zhizhi said: "Let him hang the rank of combat staff officer, so that he can learn in the army." ”

Yi Zhengxing followed the fleet to the south, even Zhao Liewen didn't know, after thinking about it, this is also reasonable, Yi Zhengxing really needs to go to the army to experience, otherwise it will be difficult to control the army in the future, waiting for Xiao Mingliang and others to retire, he said: "The big treasurer also said, there are too many unforeseen factors in naval battles, and this time the ironclad fleet went south, in fact, it is ...... to have fewer enemies and more enemies." ”

Yi Zhizu waved his hand and chuckled: "There can be no absolute security in battlefield training, compared to the army, the navy is safer, he should also go to the army for training, I am at his age, I have already led the army to fight head-on with the British army." ”

Maputo, South Africa.

After the British captured Maputo, they organized officers and soldiers to actively dig trenches to build positions, and although they were harassed by the Qing army from time to time, they still built a considerable position around Maputo in nearly a month, and a batch of artillery guns were dismantled from the battleships, which was considered a complete foothold.

For the British army, their purpose was to capture Maputo and cut off the access to the Transvaal, not to eliminate the Qing army in Maputo, of course, the British army also knew that it was impossible to destroy the Qing army, and it was already very good to occupy Maputo steadily.

As the number of harassments by the Qing army became less and less, Maputo gradually calmed down, but the naval fleet has not stopped during this time, conducting various formation exercises and live-fire exercises in the bay, and Hebu, as the commander of the fleet, knows very well that the Qing naval fleet will definitely come, but it is a matter of time.

On the afternoon of that day, Hebb was watching the battleship's live-fire drill from the flagship, when a communications officer hurried over to report: "General, London Telegraph——。 ”

Since the Crimean War, the cable telegraph has begun to be used in the war on a large scale, and the British army sent troops to South Africa, and began to lay cable telegraphs from Cape Town to the port of Bander, which is only more than 200 nautical miles from Maputo, and after the occupation of Maputo, the cable telegraph was also laid.

He Bu was stunned when he received the telegram, without him, the telegram was too long, the telegram was sent by the Admiralty, giving a detailed introduction to the warships of the Qing army's ironclad fleet, and informing him that the Qing army's ironclad fleet had gone south, and the target should be Maputo.

It's finally here! He Bu was both excited and a little worried, and casually forwarded the telegram to Arthur Hood, he took out a cigar and lit it slowly, the Qing army actually only had twenty-four ironclad ships, only four large-tonnage capital warships, and the capital battleships were equipped with only nine guns, which really surprised him.

After reading the telegram, Arthur Hood asked suspiciously: "Why did the Qing army's ironclad fleet delay until this time to go south?" ”

"The Qing people have the custom of the Spring Festival." He Bu said contemptuously: "Generally, troops will not be sent during the Spring Festival, and the Qing army in Maputo is exceptionally quiet during this time, which also includes this factor. ”