When the moon rose, the flotilla was shrouded in a milky white holy light, and the sea was calm after the typhoon had long passed, and the delicate waves lapped against the hull of the Seiwa like a mother coaxing a sleeping baby. After a year and a half of repairs and renovations at the Jiangnan Shipyard in Shanghai, this battleship, which was captured and returned to the Japanese navy, was finally named the "Qinghe" -- the name of a treasure ship of Zheng He's Western fleet 600 years ago.

This kind of harmonious and unkilling, nameless disappointment to the navy and the vast number of hot-blooded young people, and starting from this ship, it is conceivable that the naming of the subsequent battleships will be as light as this, Wellcome, Changning, Anji, Qingyuan, ......, these names will all come out. Unlike the hot-blooded youths, Rear Admiral Liu Guanxiong, the commander of the fleet who was happy to move to a new home, did not care about the name determined above, and he, the son of a cooper, was now able to become the commander of the navy, and the flagship under his feet was not inferior to any of the great powers, which could be regarded as content. It is precisely because of this that some Fujian scolding was deliberately forbidden by him, knowing that the navy of the new dynasty is a division of justice and civilization, how can such a vulgar term as 'you inside' appear on a warship?

"Ziying, this is a dog beating, and the lighthouse over there is flashing." Colonel Zheng Zuyi, the chief of staff who stood on the bridge and looked at the moon with Major General Liu Guanxiong, said. The Qinghe is on the left side of the ocean-going fleet, and now it has just passed through the Taiwan Strait, because the size of the fleet is really large, and the escort warships are very close to the Taiwan side. Both sides of the strait were Fujian people, and most of the surface ships of the Fuxing Army Navy were also Fujian, and the local people sailed out some wooden boats to frequently cross the escort line of Japanese destroyers and rush to the side of the fleet. However, these hand-rowed boats could not keep up with the speed of the fleet, and they could only stop to one side and wave their hands. Watch the entire fleet go south.

Every time he saw this, Liu Guanxiong was very excited, with his shallow historical knowledge, it was easy to compare the matter of escorting the transport fleet to Europe to participate in the war with Zheng He's voyage to the Western Ocean, and he believed that there would be such a stroke in the history of the future Qing: 'In the autumn of the sixth year of Shenwu, the acting admiral of the navy, Liu, was summoned to the country by King Min. Aiding the Anglo-French Allies in the war. At that time, the ships were full of seas and flags covered the sky......

"It should be something like Zhu Jie." Liu Guanxiong laughed as he spoke, and he looked at the merchant fleet not far to the right of the bridge. "Don't they know that this time it was all Russians, and these people were not necessarily under the command of our army to fight?" ”

"How can they know." Zheng Zuyi shook his head, and he also looked at the merchant fleet full of containers. It's mealtime. The hustle and bustle of the day disappeared, and the Omaozi who had been making trouble for a day finally stopped.

For the Russian soldiers, when others went to war, they enjoyed themselves in prisoner-of-war camps - the Chinese did not abuse them except to let them cultivate the land, and although meat could not be eaten often, wine was often available, but this had to be purchased with their own work. Now that Russia is rumored to be withdrawing from the war, it is actually going to fight in Europe thousands of miles away. This makes some people very unhappy. So, even though the officers forced the soldiers to get on board, many of them still dragged their feet. After getting on the ship, they started to make noise again, knocking on the container house, which is what the Russians call the tin house, and banging on the sky.

In the eyes of the Russians, these rectangular tin houses are nearly six meters long, 2.3 meters wide, and 2.3 meters high, with only a window hastily opened on the opposite side of the door. There were five bunk beds in the box, one horizontal and two vertical, because it was the beginning of autumn, and there were no other supplies on them except mats and wooden sleepers. A 6,000-ton merchant ship, which was supposed to hold 300 boxes, was only loaded with 200 container rooms in order to leave a gap between the containers, and the remaining 160 were all filled with people, except for the 40 that were used for the kitchen warehouse and the officers' accommodation.

Although this kind of accommodation is much better than when it was transferred from Europe to the Far East a few years ago, every time I think that this ship is going to the European battlefield, some soldiers who hate the prisoner of war camp but hope for war, and some soldiers who miss the prisoner of war camp but hate the war, all beat the tin box frantically, especially those who only boarded the ship from the ports along the Yangtze River. However, judging from the people in the Northeast and North Korea who got on the ship, these people were only manic for two or three days, and when they were tired of knocking, the world would be peaceful.

"Report!" After receiving the signal from the lighthouse, the signal officer came to the bridge to report to Liu Guanxiong. "I wish our army a smooth journey and a great victory in Western Europe."

"Alright, got it, let's go down." Liu Guanxiong turned his back to the signal officer and let him go down without looking back. Along the way, as long as you can send a message, you will wish the fleet like this. Sending troops to Europe to help in the war was a major event that had not been done for thousands of years, and as soon as this news came out, the first to boil were the coastal provinces and overseas Chinese, and everyone believed that if this war was fought well, there would be no suspense that China would become a great power in Asia. It was to spare no effort to buy bonds to participate in the war, and it was also spared no effort to send off the fleet with the view of the ocean-going fleet and the flags and lights.

"Just wait for the transport ships from Guangdong to return, and the fleet will be complete." Liu Guanxiong said.

"A telegram came from Guangzhou, and everything is ready over there." Zheng Zuyi said. "We still have too few big ports, otherwise these more than 100 ships will not be distributed everywhere from south to north."

To carry 200,000 people, it would require more than 130 standard ships of 6,000 tons; If these ships want to sail in formation, they must start from the northeast and North Korea, and use all the ports along the coast and along the Yangtze River, so that the merchant ships can form a formation when they enter the South China Sea. Only such a large formation was possible to concentrate the escort and reduce losses in the event of a wolf attack by German submarines. As a result, at every coastal port connected by rail, several merchant ships would return.

"No one expected that the fleet would be so large." Liu Guanxiong shook his head, "This is a million-ton merchant ship, and some countries don't have so many ships combined." However, the General Staff Department still has a way, and the ports along the coast and rivers are all arranged. There are more than 100 ships, and there are more than 50 frigates in the Mediterranean, depending on whether the German submarines or the convoy are powerful. ”

"Of course we're amazing." Zheng Zuyi said with a smile, "The navies of Britain, France, Japan and Italy have come to escort the ship, and there are not too many German submarines in the Mediterranean, how can they ......?"

"This thing. It's hard to say. Liu Guanxiong thought about the briefing given by the General Staff Officer, and was very worried, "Don't say anything else." Let's just say that the German submarine sank to the bottom of the water, just throw a few long-snouted torpedoes, and the torpedo detector will automatically follow the sound to find the target. ”

"But didn't the General Staff say that this weapon was ultimately a failure because of the interference caused by Germany's increased range and speed?" Zheng Zuyi also read the briefing, but unlike Liu Guanxiong, he remembered all the optimistic parts.

"Germans won't be so stupid, and they will definitely actively find out the reason when they go back." Liu Guanxiong thought about the dangerous and uncertain trip to the Mediterranean. He shook his head again and said, "It only depends on what Tian Shijie and those people do." ”

Liu Guanxiong was thinking about Tian Shijie. Colonel Tian Shijie sat on the French Navy Jules. The cruiser USS Michelet sailed to the Strait of Otranto at the heel of Italy. This is the only and most important anti-submarine line for the Entente to blockade the German-Austrian submarines, just. Unlike the British Royal Navy, which sealed off the entire North Sea. The Royal Italian Navy was unable to lock down this vital line of defense, and many submarines still penetrated through the gaps in the anti-submarine nets, engaged in unbridled and unrestricted submarine warfare throughout the Mediterranean.

"The submarine nets are made of light steel, and some mines will be hung on them. Once the tug is towed to a suitable location, it stops. There are more than 20 of these tugboats throughout the strait, which form an anti-submarine network of up to 100 kilometers, and in good weather, aircraft patrol them. to ensure the detection of submarines that want to exploit loopholes. "The commander of the French cruiser, Rear Admiral Juni, elegantly briefed the Chinese on the efforts of the Entente to blockade the strait. However, after the introduction, he changed his words and said helplessly: "But unfortunately, the water depth of the strait is more than 1,000 meters, and the 100-kilometer anti-submarine net is not enough to block the entire strait, and there are still many German submarines that will slip out of the gap in the anti-submarine net." ”

"Can we go any further?" Colonel Tian Shijie asked. It has not yet reached the Strait of Otranto, let alone the west of Brin, where the anti-submarine nets are arranged, and in the telescope, Colonel Tian Shijie can see nothing except an ocean, and there is no shadow of the tugboats towing the anti-submarine nets. However, at this time, the Mishley cruiser under its feet did not want to go any further, and the steering gear was making an irregular high-speed Z-shaped course, trying its best to avoid the submarine.

"No, no, it's too dangerous up ahead." "We can't get close to the strait, and the cruiser Gambida was sunk here two years ago, so the Admiralty forbade any ship to come near the Adriatic. If you really want to see the anti-submarine nets, you can land in Italy and go west of Brin. ”

On that day, the Entente listened to the plan submitted by Vice Admiral Lin Wenqian, commander of the expeditionary force, to attack the Austro-Hungarian Bora military port, the navies of all countries said that they would fully cooperate with this plan, and the British even hoped that this plan could be used in the Atlantic, but this was rejected by Colonel Tian Shijie on the grounds that technical problems could not be solved. It is said that it is full cooperation, but this is also based on the background of the Chinese Navy coming forward and they retreating, and now the French do not even dare to approach the strait, and they are really afraid of the German submarines.

"Your Excellency, the purpose of my visit is to thoroughly observe the submarine defense network and the Adriatic Sea, if this ship does not dare to go further because of the fear of submarines, then I can only ask Your Excellency to stop the ship, and I will take our submarine to the west of Brin." Colonel Tian Shijie looked at the Frenchman, hoping to use the agitation method to make him stronger. After all, it was only outside the Strait of Otranto, and he couldn't see anything and couldn't understand it.

But the French were indeed frightened by the German submarines, and after Tian Shijie's words were translated, Rear Admiral Juni actually said: "Then we can't stop the ship here, the ship will definitely provoke the German submarine, we should go to Malta, or the waters near Malta, where is the safe place." ”

In order to prevent German submarine attacks, the Mishley cruiser maintained a high speed from the moment it set sail, and when it approached the Adriatic Sea, its speed even soared to 24 nautical miles. In desperation, Tian Shijie had no choice but to acquiesce to Rear Admiral Juni's plan, and he said to Ouyang Lin beside him: "Contact the submarine immediately and see where they are." ”

In the Ionian Sea, near the recess of the Italian shoe, a submarine detachment headed by Captain Ouyang Ge was sailing in the bay near Katancharo. After departing from the port of Toulon, this swaggering submarine detachment would often cause the merchant ships that saw it along the way to make a sharp turn to flee, while the Allied warships that thought they had discovered German submarines approached at high speed. However, they did not go far, and waited to see carefully behind the dragon flag flying on the low bridge of the submarine. They all fired a few salutes, issued a few flags, and said goodbye politely.

Now, the little sailing boat in the bay rushed to the sight of the submarine like a mouse and a cat. However, these small boats could not row fast, and some of the sailing ships that were caught up by the submarine, the crew not only raised their hands to the submarine, but also many people jumped from the deck into the sea. Seeing this scene, although Captain Ouyang Ge regretted his face, his heart was very sweet, as if this submarine had been transformed into a battleship.

"Sir. Colonel Tian called and asked me where I was and said he wanted to join us. Then board the ship. The vice-captain took out the telegram he had just arrived from the cabin below, and handed it to Ouyang Ge as he read it.

"Hehe, I just said that these foreigners don't dare to enter the Adriatic Sea, and we have to go to reconnoitre." Ouyang Ge looked like he was in control of everything. Without reading the telegram, I guessed what Colonel Tian Shijie was going to do.

"You know Scouting!" Lieutenant Colonel Zhou Wenrui, who was on the bridge together, blamed. "We are too close to the Adriatic Sea, maybe it will arouse the suspicion of the Germans, the intelligence says that the commander of the German submarine forces in the Mediterranean is Waldemar Kophamel, this person is not easy to deal with, once he suspects it, it will be difficult to do the rest of the work."

"Cofamel?" After Ouyang Ge learned of the plan to attack the port of Bora, he kept asking for this order to be carried out in person. But when I think of the German officers who I used to train with me, I think of the German officers who were friends with me, and then I think of the fact that now everyone is torpedoed at each other. It's really unbearable. "How could he be here? He used to drink with us. ”

"The German submarine force expanded rapidly during the war, and the battle losses were not small. Although Kofamel is young, he has a deep understanding of the weapon of submarines, which is why submarines in the Mediterranean have repeatedly been indecisive. Zhou Wenrui said, "To be honest, I originally thought that the plan was ninety percent sure, but I heard that Cofamel was in charge of Pola, and this ninety percent certainty was instantly reduced by thirty percent." ”

Zhou Wenrui's words made Ouyang Ge frightened, just as he was familiar with the Germans, the Germans were also familiar with him, which means that as long as there was anything contrary to the norm, the Germans would suspect it, which was really not a good thing.

Captain Ouyangge's worries continued until he arrived at the west port of Brin, which was the forefront of the Allied reconnaissance of the Austro-Hungarian fleet in the Adriatic Sea, and also the starting port on the west side of the anti-submarine net, but the sabotage and blockade operations launched by the Austro-Hungarian fleet in the previous months had wrenched the anti-submarine nets to a mess, and the tugboats had sunk a lot. But even so, the ships and airships patrolling the blockade were only during the day, and it was completely dark at night, and it was only known how many German-Austrian submarines passed by.

The commander of the Adriatic Reconnaissance Fleet, Rear Admiral Alfredo of Italy, was in charge of the area. Acton did not treat Tian Shijie coldly, who was just a colonel, he very solemnly took the military band to greet the Chinese who came from afar on the dock, and also visited the U-49 submarine with great interest, and then sent Tian Shijie and the others to the happiest place in the west city of Brin with the luxury carriage waiting at the dock.

"General, I'm here to learn something about the enemy's fleet in the Adriatic," Colonel Tian Shijie was a little overwhelmed by the Italian enthusiasm, and according to the plan, he wanted to communicate with General Acton in the dock headquarters instead of entering the city.

"Curse the French who are afraid of death!" In the carriage, Major General Acton made no secret of his dislike for the French, "They did not dare to cross the Strait of Otranto, let alone come here - to face the front line of Hungary." They would rather send hundreds of warships to escort ships in the Mediterranean than strengthen the patrol fleet blocking the straits.

To tell the truth, we have no fear that the Hungarians will come out in anger and fight with us, and even if they are all dispatched, they are no match for the heroic and fearless Royal Italian Navy. The only thing we have to worry about is that they send cruisers at night to destroy the anti-submarine nets, and we can't patrol at night because of the lack of warships, which will allow some daring Hungarians to get their way, as happened in the previous months.

Dear Colonel Tian, it's great that you guys are here! With you there, the French fear of German submarines will be transferred to the Hungarians, the Germans. I very much welcome you to Westport in Bryn, the front line of the Mediterranean, where you will surely receive the highest honors, and of course, ......" The suave General Acton winked at Colonel Tian Shijie with his right eye and made a 'you know' expression. He then laughed, "...... It will also capture the hearts of many beauties. I envy you, it is said that you Chinese men can take several wives, Lord! How much do you love China?! ”

Originally, I wanted to talk about war. I don't want to be pulled by Acton and actually talked about women, Colonel Tian Shijie is thirty years old, and with the habit of early marriage of Chinese people, his sons are already in high school. His current energy is all about the military, and he doesn't want to go to Europe, and he actually got involved with an Italian general.

"General, this ......" Tian Shijie really didn't know what to say. I wonder if you can talk a little bit about the Austro-Hungarian Navy in the Adriatic, and the submarine forces......"

"No, dear Colonel. What we need to do now is to forget about the terrible war and enjoy the warmth of beauty. General Acton laughed, and as he said that, he lit his pipe, and the extinguished match was thrown out of the window. And at this time. The carriage had stopped somewhere in the city. The door opened, too, "Here you go, dear colonel." General Acton said.

The carriage was down to a wide Western-style street, with houses made of stone and roads. Waiters in exaggerated western dresses waited on the side of the carriage and bowed at the sight of guests, but these can be ignored, in the corridor of the arcade. A bunch of flamboyant women were looking curiously at the bewildered Chinese naval officers, all dressed in open-chested dresses. Wearing a beautiful straw hat, the smell of perfume on her body is so strong that people suddenly lose their sense of smell, and what is even more tempting is that these women are chattering, pointing, (Koukou Twenty-six words are omitted here), which made the submarine officers even more excited than they were to see their torpedo tubes facing the battleship.

After Colonel Tian Shijie got off the car, General Acton got out of the car, and behind the carriage, Ouyang Lin, Zhou Wenrui, Ouyang Ge and other lieutenant-level officers had already gotten off. Seeing so many exotic women looking at him, the impatient Ouyang Ge couldn't help but say, "This isn't the Eight Great Hutongs, right?" ”

Ouyang Ge's vain words attracted the angry eyes of his cousin Ouyang Lin, but before he finished his glare, the two flowery women were happily tired of General Acton, and the Italians kissed the back of their hands very gentlemanly, and introduced Tian Shijie beside him in a very exaggerated tone, under his introduction, a woman in green took the colonel's arm very elegantly, pulled him behind Acton, and walked towards the arcade together; The other officers, who were also distributed in the women's robbery, were dragged into the house one by one.

"Damn, this foreigner brothel ......" After everyone was welcomed into the green building, they were all taken aback by the luxury inside, but what was more attractive than the luxurious decoration was the oil painting on the wall. Seventy-one words are omitted here). In this situation, Captain Ouyang Ge, who was hot all over his body, only sighed for half a sentence and couldn't continue, he poured a mouthful of blood-red wine, wanting to suppress the evil fire in the depths of his lower abdomen, but the foreign woman next to him suddenly came over delicately, she (mouth mouth, ten words omitted here), it's okay not to look at it, but when she saw the captain, she was all stiff.

'Ding, ding, ding, ......' was the sound of General Acton striking his glass, which rescued Captain O, and the Italian's hand was now withdrawn from the waist of a bewitching woman, and when he saw that everyone in the room was looking at him, he said: "Gentlemen, warriors, congratulations on joining this great war, in which only the bad will not be summoned by the Lord to ascend to heaven." So, for those of you who are new to the city, what you have to do tonight is not to sink the Hungarian or German ships, but to sink the girls around you with your large torpedoes......"

'Haha......' The first to coax were the women who threw fruits and flowers on Acton's head, so that he could not continue to give a welcome speech, but for the captains of the expeditionary force submarines present, these words were enough - Captain Ouyang Ge subconsciously glanced at the foreign woman beside him, and a large torpedo suddenly appeared in his heart...... (To be continued.) If you like this work, you are welcome to come to the starting point () to vote for recommendation, monthly pass, your support, is my biggest motivation. For mobile phone users, please go to M. to read. (To be continued......)