The exercise began with the whipping of the supreme commander of the fleet and the overseers, and the whip was whipped again and again on the back of the fine red, bringing up flesh and flesh and splatters of blood. This qiē was supposed to be a mere exercise that should have ended as a formality, and it was covered with a layer of blood, adding a solemn atmosphere to it.

Although Wallace was a dilapidated aristocrat, he had been pampered for many years, and he had raised a body of fine skin and tender meat, and every whip of the law enforcement guards made him feel painful. But out of the corner of his eye, he caught a glimpse of the gritted prison army beside him, and he kept warning himself in his heart that he couldn't lose to this nasty fly no matter what. Wallace originally looked down on this Ming Dynasty civil official who had never commanded any experience in his heart, but at this moment, Mi Yan was able to endure the great pain and not say a word, which was really awe-inspiring.

Wallace is adding this kind of pain at the moment, and naturally empathizes, and the previous disdain and contempt are suddenly much less, at least such a tough person will not disgrace his aristocratic pride. Also punished was the fleet law enforcement officer, whose status was relatively special, although he did not have any command and promotion power, but his status was equal to that of the deputy chief soldier He Bin, and he was the core officer in charge of the fleet's military law. Because his personal signature and official seal were also stamped on the temporary regulations suspected of defrauding the officials, he also bent down and waited for the flogging after the military law and the prisoners were announced.

Compared with Wallace and Mi Yan, He Bin, who intuitively felt that he was infinitely wronged, screamed with the rhythm of the undulating whip of the execution. Its poignant Cheng dù can be transmitted almost to the outside of Lixu, so that the sailors on the warships in the military port are all awe-inspiring.

The torture of several high-ranking officers greatly stimulated these people, and some of them immediately ran to the bulkheads of the battleship and carved the regulations on wooden boards, looking word for word for possibility that they had violated military law. The planks were carved in three languages, so that they did not affect the recognition of sailors from various countries, and even if the majority of the sailors were illiterate, the battleship Shanghai had a special propaganda officer, and it was only necessary to ask them for advice.

Half an hour later, the military law was executed, and Li Xin gave another order in a deep voice.

"Everyone, the exercise continues!"

This was tantamount to suffering for the several high-ranking officers who had been tortured. After receiving dozens of whips on the back, I am afraid that it will be difficult to completely heal in a month or two. However, if an existing military order is issued, it must be carried out unconditionally. After a brief bandaging of them by the military doctor, they returned to the flagship for a drill that had just begun when it was unexpectedly interrupted.

The second mate of the shells who was punished with him received the least lashes, and he was a little apprehensive when he saw that several fleet commanders and prison guards who could only obey orders on a daily basis were willing to be punished. Only then did I realize that what the Marquis said on the gun deck was not a lie.

Although he could not be lined up with the well-looking sailors, it was a great honor to be punished with the supreme commander of the fleet, and he believed that he might be the first person in the navies of all countries!

With this thought, the unhappiness caused by the unfair treatment has been swept away, and the whiplash on the back does not seem to be very painful. When he was summoned by Li Xin, he never mentioned the duel again. However, it is clear that Li Xin has not forgotten the shell to ask for a decision.

"Second mate of the shell, the business is over, now let's talk about private matters, the duel between you and me ......"

The second pair of shells looked quite unnatural and laughed: "I said it wrong!" Your Excellency the Marquis has no place to deal with injustice! ”

The bloody episode did not affect the continuation of the exercise, but unlike the previous ones, no one saw the exercise as a formality.

Soon the problem of the lack of training of the recruit sailors was revealed, and one of the new sailors, unwilling to be a standby spinnaker operator, offered to dispose of the spinnaker with the ropes mixed together. The experienced veteran sailor, without a good reason to refuse, let him dispose of it. As a result, the alternate spinnaker was entangled in the rope even more due to his lack of experience in handling it, and he was unstable in his control, and he actually fell headlong into the surging river.

Fortunately, when recruiting new recruits, they recruited people who knew how to be water, and under the rescue of the sailors on the deck of the battleship, they finally climbed back to the battleship along the dropped cable.

This accident made Huai Lai feel disgraced, and the sailor, who was the spinnaker operator, actually fell into the water, and if this was a critical moment in the enemy's engagement, the battleship would probably have fatal consequences because of this mistake.

In this regard, Li Xin did not make a single word of discussion, drills, exercises, just to discover problems and then solve them. If everything goes through the motions perfectly, won't the exercise lose its original meaning? Therefore, he will not interfere with the commanders of the battleships because of these mistakes.

After several miles of sailing in the Yangtze River waterway, the fleet quickly arrived at the key position of the exercise, and the main event began. More than a dozen battleships formed a long snake formation, and when they were almost at right angles to the targets on the shore, the forward-mounted cannons on the port side fired a salvo. Every time a battleship passed, there was a volley, and after a dozen battleships had completely sailed, the mound targets on the shore had long been unrecognizable.

The rest of the exercise was thrilling until the sun was about to set, when all the subjects were practiced and the ships returned to port. Due to the delay of the previous public execution, by the time the fleet entered the port, it was already completely dark, which caused a lot of trouble for the fleet to enter the port safely.

But it is this kind of emergency that can test the ability of sailors to respond. At this point, the recruits were helpless, and all they could rely on was experienced veterans.

Li Xin's flagship failed to sail into the narrow passage several times, and Wallace began to lose his breath, after all, as a flagship, he had to set an example, how could he be trapped outside the narrow passage?

Soon, the reason was fed back, "Report to the chief soldier, the second mate Baker was injured in the torture, and the captain ordered the inexperienced Mister Zhang to replace him, so ......"

"Go, go tell that damn Baker, even if he climbs, he'll have to climb to the bridge, or throw him overboard to feed the sharks!"

When the flagship finally landed, Li Xin suddenly found that among the countless lanterns lit on the shore of the military port, there were actually lanterns of the Yamen of the governor of Nanzhili. However, the governor's yamen did not send anyone to attend the debut of the Pingbo fleet, and a sense of foreboding arose.

Sure enough, as soon as the flagship docked, he saw that Sun Jie, the governor of Nanzhili, was already waiting in the military port.

Sun Ji stepped forward and grabbed Li Xin and came to a secluded place, opening his mouth to get straight to the point.

"Oops! You're back! In the afternoon, I just received a military report from Jiangxi that Nanchang Mansion had fallen, and the Huaiwang rebels had turned to attack Jiujiang Mansion! The dispatch of troops is imminent, and it cannot be delayed any longer. Otherwise, if they have their hands free, the Duke of Wei in Taiping Mansion will be in danger! ”

Then he asked, "How?" Can this drill of the Pingbo fleet be smooth? When can the troops be dispatched as scheduled? ”

Sun Ji didn't know much about this kind of sea ship with cloth as sails, but when he saw the hedgehog-like guns on both sides of the ship, he could also understand that this kind of warship was difficult to match with any big ship in the country.

"The problem is that there are some, when it does not affect the dispatch of troops! What King Huai relied on was nothing more than the old foundation of the Huangmei thief. The positioning of the Pingbo fleet in this battle was only to transport the infantry battalion of the Three Guards Army to the hinterland of Jiangxi, and their role was equivalent to that of a transport ship, and it was the infantry battalion that really played the main role. ”

"So great! The strength of the infantry battalion of the Three Guards is obvious to all, even the Tartars are not opponents, and the Huangmei thieves must be able to catch them, don't delay any longer! The situation north of the Yangtze River has been completely eroded, and all the battles that have been fought for so many years have been broken! Jiangnan can't be chaotic anymore no matter what, this is my last hope for Daming to turn over Zhongxing! ”

Sun Ji's voice was a little excited, trembling slightly: "In order to boost morale, I decided to set off with the fleet, disembark again at the Taiping Mansion, and send the military rations that the Wei State Ministry of the Taiping Mansion failed to send as I wished last time." ”

Hearing that Sun Ji was going to the front line in person, Li Xin had a different opinion.

"The undercurrent in Nanjing is surging, and it is really not appropriate for the ministry to leave, otherwise the rear will be in danger!" Sun Jiao naturally knew what Li Xin meant when he said that the undercurrent was surging in Nanjing, although the opposition forces in Nanjing had been completely suppressed, who could guarantee that after he left, no one would be ready to move again?

Thinking of this, Sun Ji slapped his thigh with some annoyance.

"At the critical moment, it's full of constraints! If I die, sooner or later, I will die in these corpses, and I don't do anything......" Sun Ji couldn't continue, and only sighed heavily.

Li Xin prevented Sun Jiao from going to Taiping Mansion, and there was another layer of worry. Sun Ji has been in poor health since he was injured in the water, and his condition has been good and bad. He was afraid that Sun Ji would not be able to withstand the bumps in the road, in case he fell ill in the Taiping Mansion, and then he would really be alone. This matter must be done as a last resort.

Sun Ji also made a quick decision, "Then don't go!" As long as the food goes, it will be the same whether I can get there or not! This time, do you plan to lead the troops yourself, or do you want to send people away? ”

In fact, as far as the current Nanjing is concerned, not only is it not suitable for Sun Ji to leave, but even Li Xin is not suitable to leave. The two of them are one, and if they lack either side, I am afraid that they will give the young people in the city a chance to take advantage of it. Sun Ji is so clever in his mind, and how can he not think of this layer.

"Cheng Mingjiu went to Dasheng Pass, so he could only let Zhang Shi go with the infantry battalion dominated by the grenadier battalion! And Kong Youde's Second Artillery Battalion ......"

Sun Ji has always distrusted Kong Youde and his people.

"Kong Youde? This person is capricious and can be entrusted with a heavy responsibility? ”