Tuesday, February 4, 1625. ,!

The large flying clipper merchant ship Ao Chin and the light cruiser Discovery slowly approached the pier of the twin ports of Butterfly Island, and hundreds of officers and men of the 2nd Operations Battalion began to step off the board of the ship one by one.

Soon after the departure from Bermuda, the fleet was hit by a storm at sea, and not only were the officers and men of the two ships dazed, but the sail locks of the Ao Chin were also damaged for a certain distance, which delayed the voyage for almost a day. The soldiers of the 2nd Combat Battalion, who have now gone ashore, are in a state of malaise.

There are a large number of temporary warehouses and storage tents in the port area, the military fort near the military port is still being built, and hundreds of sweaty construction teams and more Carib prisoners of war who are shackled and whipped and bloodied are still working at full strength. According to the current progress, in half a month at most, the first phase of the military defense project of the twin ports will be completed. At that time, a considerable part of the construction force will be transferred to civilian projects, including the first phase of the cement building materials factory of Zhang's Building Materials Group and the wood processing plant of Huamei Wood will also break ground.

Around the harbor, shirtless army soldiers sat lazily drinking and smoking in the shade of trees, a makeshift army field clinic was isolated between a large dark green tent, and occasionally a group of soldiers could be seen carrying a few wounded towards the infirmary.

The officers and men of the 2nd Combat Battalion, dressed in summer uniforms, lined up in a neat line and slowly passed through the port, and the officers and men of the 1st Combat Battalion who were onlookers all threw strange smiles, and even a few shirtless European soldiers deliberately whistled.

"Qiao Yan, why do I think they are annoying now?" Yu Shan walked in the middle of the team, looked at a soldier sitting under a tree on the side of the road and was napping, and couldn't help but muttered to his companions beside him, "Have they all become stupid?" ”

"Maybe that's why we're here too, I've heard that there are very few veterans in the first battalion." Qiao Yan tightened the shoulder strap of his rifle and looked at his comrades in the First Combat Battalion on both sides of the road, showing a kind smile.

"Shut up and keep your military appearance, or you'll be like those rookies!"

Sergeant Major Makarov yelled in the back. The sound inevitably reached the ears of the officers and men of the 1st Combat Battalion who were onlookers, and immediately caused a sparse burst of laughter and laughter on the side of the road.

The 2nd Battalion walked through the harbor for about half an hour to the north, and on the south bank of a Tamsui River, a large and heavily guarded barracks finally appeared. Soldiers are on guard at each watchtower. All 100 meters of forest have been cut down.

In front of the barracks, Major Feng Bin, commander of the 1st Operations Battalion and Commander-in-Chief of Operations in Guadeloupe, and several officers were already waiting.

"Brother Feng, oh, Major!" Deng Jian walked in front of Feng Bin in a few steps. He gave a military salute with a smile, "I did a summer climate adaptation break in Bermuda, and I was delayed for a few days. ”

"Hehe, I'm sorry, I'm late!"

Behind the line. Captain Zhu Xiaoli of the Army's Special Operations Squadron also walked over with more than 20 special combat personnel wearing camouflage combat uniforms. All of them were unusually strong, everyone looked lazy and indifferent, and some officers and soldiers near the barracks who watched the reinforcements enter the camp exchanged heads and ears.

"The two of you have worked hard, You Nanzhe is leading the troops to carry out a clean-up operation along the north coast of East Island, and he has not yet returned. You rest for a few days to familiarize yourself with the environment and climate here, and after Chinese New Year's Eve, we will discuss the next battle plan. ”

Feng Bin now looks like he has a scruffy beard, so that Deng Jian and Zhu Xiaoli almost can't recognize each other.

"Brother Feng. You are the commander-in-chief, and you can arrange it when the time comes! Seeing the commander-in-chief's somewhat haggard face, Deng Jian remembered the instructions given to him by his old boss, Lieutenant Colonel He Yu, before leaving.

"You're welcome, I'm afraid we're going to have the special forces team take the lead this time." Feng Bin smiled bitterly, and his feelings still did not improve because of the arrival of reinforcements.

"Huh. Let's do our best, to be honest, except for a few old brothers, our special operations team has not actually conducted actual tropical jungle training. The environment of Bermuda is quite different from here. "Zhu Xiaoli feels the tropical temperature that he has not experienced for a long time, and he can only say it conservatively." I won't rest for the past few days, so it's better to take the guys around to get used to it, and it's even better to have map information. ”

As a veteran scout before the crossing, as well as a number of veterans who also had experience in serving in the south, Zhu Xiaoli and others have traveled all over the world, but it is difficult to say that more than half of the 17th-century members of the team have special operations experience, which is basically in the high altitude of the northern hemisphere. Now that they have just arrived, many European players are inevitably showing a trace of fatigue.

While the officers stopped to greet each other, the soldiers of the 2nd Combat Battalion could not stop, but within a few minutes, 380 officers and men entered the camp. Whatever the schadenfreude and pathology at work, the arrival of a new force made the morale of the first Guadeloupe expeditionary officers and soldiers a little better.

The next day, Captain Yau Nam-cheol's troops also returned by boat, not only without any battle damage, but also brought back several hundred Caribbean prisoners of war, so that the construction force of the port was replenished again. According to the plan, most of the Carib prisoners of war captured in Guadeloupe would be transported to the city of Double Bay in Bermuda or to work in the mainland, and the anthracite coal mine found south of the town of Silver Valley on the east bank of the Song River is now in desperate short supply.

As the Spring Festival was approaching, Major Feng Bin chose to suspend the military operation so that all the officers and soldiers of the army could gather together to take a unified rest and recuperate in the name of the festival and adjust the follow-up battle plan. The few additional recruits who came with the 2nd Combat Battalion were also assigned to several infantry companies that had lost Yanzhòng.

However, after only one day of rest, Zhu Xiaoli took all the special combat team members into the nearby rainforest, and then did not see anyone for five days. It wasn't until the night of the third day of the Lunar New Year that more than 20 ragged special combat team members returned to the barracks, exhausted one by one, but judging from Zhu Xiaoli's slightly relaxed expression, this temporary adaptive special training seemed to have some effect.

The Spring Festival of 1625 on Guadeloupe Island was a bit special, and the environmental climate and the traditional Spring Festival and winter were completely out of tune. The army command specially brought a large amount of food supplies from the mainland, and even sent a lot of lanterns, Spring Festival couplets and other knick-knacks, and of course, the soldiers with families also received the long-awaited letters from home.

The Chinese soldiers, who accounted for more than one-third of the total strength of the army on the island, happily decorated the barracks. European or Native American soldiers followed suit, and they filled the barracks with all kinds of native plants and flowers that they thought were beautiful.

A number of Chinese soldiers from the southern provinces of the Ming Dynasty took out piles of starch-rich European fern rhizomes from the nearby forest, mashed and filtered out the starch, and made fragrant fern root powder. It was an eye-opener for other comrades. During the Spring Festival, the employees of the two major construction companies who remained on the island worked overtime also had a party with the military for several days, enjoying some special canned food that only the military could eat.

In order to boost morale, a few days after the Spring Festival. Army Commander Chen Liwen, newly promoted to Major General. He also personally came to Guadeloupe to inspect and commended some officers and men who had shown their bravery in the early stage of the battle, and a group of recruits who were "excellent" received a large amount of combat bonuses, which stimulated other recruits to scream.

No matter what. In Guadeloupe, where the gunfire has temporarily stopped, the army and navy have all been given a rare break in February, temporarily forgetting the bloodshed of the previous days.

Friday, February 21, 1625, the fifteenth day of the first lunar month. Lantern Festival.

Less than a week after the Spring Festival holiday, another traditional festival was ushered in, and the festive atmosphere of the New Year has not subsided. Expensive imported glutinous rice continues to make money at a loss, and almost every Chinese family has a unique aroma of glutinous rice, which attracts the greed of European neighbors. Under the deliberate propaganda of the government, this allegorical family reunion from Oriental culture has made European citizens who were once scattered in famine and war and have regained a stable and well-fed life in a new land.

Many citizens whose husbands or children served in the Army and Navy crowded in front of the post office in the New District of Long Island on this day, hoping to receive letters from relatives fighting in Guadeloupe.

Whenever a letter from Double Bay City, Bermuda, is called out by the salesman to the recipient's name. There was always a housewife who would cry and laugh and run up and hold it in her hand. The citizens, who did not hear their names until the end, looked with disappointment or envy at the people around them who were impatient to open the letters on the spot.

Most housewives who are still in the period of literacy can only ask the literate strangers next to them to help read the contents of the letters, and many European housewives continue to draw crosses on their chests while listening carefully; Chinese families are much calmer. He just clenched his fists and didn't say a word, and the expression on his face changed from nervous to smiling.

In the taverns on the streets, the men were still drinking and cheering. Or learn to hum the Army's Soldier March to a tune. On the artfully processed leaflets of the Ministry of National Defence sent back from the distant island of Guadeloupe, one can see the swift advance and invincibility of the autumn wind sweeping away the leaves. Under the blows of the heroic and fearless Huamei Army and Navy. The Caribbean barbarians were defeated, and the soldiers were as leisurely as if they were out hunting. Once again, propaganda mouthpieces ridiculed how European hillbillies, including Spaniards, were imbeciles, and the hundreds of frail Carib prisoners of war who were escorted to the mainland by sea in Guò corroborated this propaganda.

There are many truths, and the weight of lies is not low, in short, in the perception of the current Chinese and American citizens, there is basically no suspense in this war to seize a rich island from the barbarians.

The spring green of the earth has quietly appeared in all corners of the city, and in the wide Manchester Bay, the majestic sail light cruiser USS Constitution, painted in black and white naval camouflage, is spitting a faint soot and begins to slowly enter the port.

This was the first ocean-going sea trial of the Constitution after the Chinese New Year, and unlike the previous simple sea trials in Manchester Bay, the Constitution completed a full round trip from mainland China to Bermuda in a week with pure steam power, with an average cruising speed of 8 knots, exceeding 7. Design cruising speed of 5 knots.

The 160 tonnes of high-quality anthracite coal loaded by the Constitution according to the design standard can provide a cruising range of about 4,000 nautical miles when sailing with pure steam power. In other words, in the future, starting from the native city of Manchester, you can easily reach the port of Recife in Brazil, or from the twin ports of Guadeloupe, and go directly to Cape Town, South Africa.

The Navy and the government congressional bigwigs who welcomed the return of the USS Constitution in the military port were all smiling at this time, especially the newly promoted Rear Admiral Navy Commander Wang Tiehammer, who specially brought his wife and children to watch the return of the USS Constitution today.

Wang Tiezhu's wife, Xiang Wei, gave birth to a child shortly after the catastrophe, and is now 4 years old. The little boy who has changed his name to Wang Xiaowen does not know that he is the first "native" in the true sense of the word, let alone that he is not Wang Tiehammer's biological son, and now he is pulling Wang Tiehammer's military pants, stretching out his hand and shouting vigorously at the Constitution.

And in Xiang Wei's arms. still holding Wang Xiaohai, the second son born to Wang Tiehammer last year, the family of four stared at the battleship returning from the sea trial with a smile.

"Xiaoyou, this time, the ocean-going sea trial of the Constitution has been successfully completed, and I am relieved again." Wang Tiezhu said with a smile to You Qi, the chief engineer of the Beiyang Shipbuilding Company who was accompanying him, while hugging his eldest son, who was shouting. "When is the next sea trial?"

"It just looks smooth. I am afraid that many places have left problems, and the Constitution needs to be inspected and maintained for at least half a month, dealing with and counting all kinds of faults and wear and tear. The next sea trial will probably have to wait until mid-March. And the next sea trial is the most critical, that is, the pure steam power unit is running at full capacity, and this level can be passed, and the Constitution can be truly qualified. ”

You Qi is a well-known black-hearted capitalist and pseudo-Wenqing in the eyes of the Navy, but at least in terms of the quality of warship construction. It's very realistic. According to the rules he set himself, the chief designer of each new naval warship of the Beiyang Shipbuilding Company must accompany the ship for the first sea trial of each type of newly built naval warship, and take responsibility for the quality of the ship.

"It is necessary to complete all the test projects, not only for your shipyard to mature the construction process, but also for the navy to accumulate experience in the use and maintenance of new equipment." Wang Tiehammer was in a good mood and praised You Qi's cautious attitude, "Wait for the Constitution to officially enter service." I can arrange for the Republic-class light cruisers to be docked one after another for modification. ”

It would also cost up to $100,000 to rebuild a Republic-class light cruiser, including a steam power pack and gun upgrades. Under pressure from the Navy's military spending, only two renovations of the six Republic-class light cruisers in service can be completed each year. However, Wang Tiehammer can wait now, and he is still very happy.

European captains of several traditional sail galen boats docked at a nearby civil dock. They all looked enviously at the mighty and majestic beautiful figure of the navy's sail light cruisers, and they all held binoculars and looked greedily, and they kept talking to the sailors around them.

The return of the Constitution caused quite a stir during the Lantern Festival. This unhung battleship spews black smoke in the Bay of Manchester and can run faster than any European sailing ship. Let the citizens who are already accustomed to seeing it in China and the United States still talk about it.

In the afternoon of the same day, the ocean-going shipping subsidiary of the state-owned import and export group quickly approached the civil business department of the Beiyang Shipbuilding Company and directly put forward the intention of designing and building a large ocean-going sailing merchant ship in the future. Today's Beiyang Shipbuilding Company has more than 1,200 shipbuilding workers, becoming the second largest enterprise in China after the state-owned agriculture, forestry, fishery and animal husbandry group, of which at least 40% are experienced with more than three years of service, and the proportion of senior technicians has also reached 10%. There are 10 large shipbuilding slipways and 3 3,000-ton docks, and it has the engineering strength to build 10 1,000-ton large ships a year. Shi Yige, who is in charge of the civil transport ship business, smiled and patted his chest again and again, guaranteeing that as long as the 100-ton forging hammer of General Industries Company can produce qualified iron keels, it can undertake the construction of large ocean-going sail-powered merchant ships.

But before that, the Aoguang-class large flying scissor merchant ships were still the absolute main force of the country's ocean-going trade and freight. Ao Guang class large flying shear merchant ships named after the dragon clan in oriental mythology have now been put into use six ships, including Ao Guang, Ao Yan, Ao Qin, Ao Shun, Ao Bing, and Ao Chun, and the seventh Ao Lie, the eighth Ao Mo Ang, and the ninth Ao Mang have also been put into construction not long ago. The ocean-going shipping companies under the state-owned import and export group have built ocean-going ships so intensively and on a large scale, and their abundant financial resources are enviable.

On February 27, the summary report of the results of the ocean-going sea trials of the USS Constitution was released, and the frequency of failure of the boilers and steam units of the battleship's configuration and the wear and tear of key components were within the design allowable range. It seems that they can't wait for the results of the next sea trials, or they are completely confident in the performance of the existing warships, and the contract for the construction of the Navy's jewel-class sail light cruiser has been brought forward by two months.

It is said that the latest 320 horsepower double-expansion steam unit with higher steam efficiency of NORINCO has been put into trial operation in the workshop of General Industries, and the research and development progress and project quality are within the expected range, and the time frame for the final quality acceptance to be delivered in the second half of the year is basically no problem. This means that the technical restoration project of the steam engine has officially entered the stage of "multi-expansion", and the power equipment of the Jewel has been guaranteed.

On March 1, the keel that had been made for the lead ship of the Jewel-class sail light cruiser "Sapphire" and the same ship "Opal" began to be laid on the slipway, opening the prelude to the era of hybrid naval sails.

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