Ten Dragons Take the Inheritance

Chapter 454 The Beginning (Part [-])

"Mr. Xiao, I'm sorry, Ben Baylor tried his best, but Huang Ama..." As soon as Hongyang got the news that Gege Yixue was under house arrest in Changchun Palace, he knew that the matter between Gege Yixue and Xiao Yao was probably caused by Dongchuang. Then he put down the errand in the Ministry of Industry and tried to ask the face saint to intercede for Yixue, but unexpectedly, Yinzuo, who was in a rage, did not announce him to see him, but asked the eunuch Gao Nianying to pass on a sentence—to do it for himself, so he drove him away After leaving the palace, Hongyang had no choice but to go back to the Lingering Garden angrily, and told Xiao Yao what had happened.

"Qingqing Zijin, care about my heart. I get it, but I don't get it." After sitting in silence for more than half an hour, the pale-faced Xiao Yao sighed, then raised his head and looked at the Hong Yang, who was sitting with him all the time, smiled and said: "Second Master, don't worry, I'm fine, um, I can't blame Second Master for this matter, in fact, it was Er Ye who got involved with him, the Holy One also has his own difficulties, so I can understand."

"Sir, are you really okay?" Hongyang watched Xiao Yao return to normal, not only did not breathe a sigh of relief, on the contrary he became a little nervous.

"It's okay, it's really okay." Xiao Yao smiled and said: "It's okay, but the second master may have something to do. The Holy One will never tolerate any external force intervening in the competition between the second master and the elder brother. His Majesty may doubt the second master's intentions in this matter, so the second master must not interfere in this matter, otherwise the consequences will be disastrous."

"This" Hongyang is a smart person. When he thought of the words passed by Yinzuo's people, his heart trembled and his face was stunned for a while, but he recovered quickly and said resolutely: "Mr. In other words, Ben Baylor knows it well, but Ben Baylor will never let go of this matter. Since this matter was provoked by Gu Gu, Ben Baylor will find Gu Gu to solve it. Anyway, the matter of referring to marriage must be delayed first. Go down, or you will wrong the eldest sister."

"You must not, if this is the case, not only the second master himself will be in danger, but Yixue will have no choice but to marry the E family." Xiao Yao hurriedly said: "The reason why the Holy Majesty put Yixue under house arrest is not to leave immediately. The fact that the imperial edict refers to the marriage is because the Holy Majesty still has doubts in his heart. If the second master blindly joins in again, not only the second master's status will not be guaranteed, but Yixue Gege may also end well. Now that the matter is up to now, if the second master really wants to help If so, then please ask the second master to win this competition, as long as the second master can win, there may be a glimmer of hope for the second master, if the second master loses, then..."

You don't need a heavy hammer to play the drum. Hongyang is a person who is sober, and he understood the key point as soon as he heard it. He nodded and said: "Now that the big brother has opened up the situation, this is a very exciting start. Big brother With Huang Ama's behavior back then, Ben Baylor has fallen behind now, but it is a pity that there are too many technical materials in the Ministry of Industry. Alas, it has been almost two months now, and there has not been much progress. "

A strange look flashed in Xiao Yao's eyes, and he said with a smile: "Second Master, don't worry, the work of the Ministry of Industry is done slowly and meticulously. If things are done hastily, they will fail. There is no need to rush this matter. Sir The elder brother's hand knocking on the mountain and shaking the tiger is really cool, but this matter is not difficult in the first place, it's just a trick of following the gourd, the real difficulty is still to come, this official administration can't be guaranteed for a long time by clearing it once or twice Clearly, what the Holy Majesty wants is not superficial skills. The key is whether you can come up with an effective system. Big brother still has a headache. Second master, don’t be fooled by the brilliance in front of big brother. Dazzling, just integrate according to your own rhythm."

Xiao Yao's words were like a flash of lightning breaking through the fog in Hongyang's mind. The dull mood of the past half a month was swept away immediately, he got up, and respectfully saluted Xiao Yao: "Thank you for your guidance, Mr. Ben Baylor will definitely not lose this competition, sir, please rest assured." Xiao Yao just smiled, and didn't say anything, but the joy and bitterness in that smile were mixed together, which was a bit ambiguous...

At three o'clock on March [-], the seventh year of Yuanzhuo, the sky was clear and cloudy, and the sunshine in early spring was so warm that people were intoxicated. Flocks of seagulls were flying freely on the blue sea, as nimble as flying elves. The chirping sound mixed with the crackling sound of the sails blowing by the wind is so beautiful, all of this is so beautiful, even Qiao Hailong, who has been wandering on the sea for most of his life, has long been used to all this, but Still can't help but be intoxicated by it.

"Commander, are you homesick again?" Ke Mingda, chief of staff of the Dongying Squadron of the First Fleet, quietly appeared beside Qiao Hailong at some point, and asked with a smile.

homesick?That's a matter of course. Since being ordered to sit in Dongpu, the fleet has been wandering around the sea for nearly half a year. Not only the high-level officers are homesick, but the lower-level officers and soldiers are also looking forward to the day of changing defenses.Yes, soon, soon, the first fleet will be able to return to Qingdao Naval Port in about ten days, and all the more than twenty warships of the first fleet will also be repaired.A rare smile appeared on Qiao Hailong's dark face. Looking at the horizon in the distance, he asked with a smile, "Why, don't you want to?"

"Who wouldn't want to, my wife just gave me a fat grandson, I haven't seen him yet, hehe, if I go back, I must hug him enough..." Before Ke Mingda finished speaking, the mast The lookout post on the top suddenly shouted loudly: "Fleet! There is a fleet ahead, it is the large fleet of England!"

What?Qiao Hailong and Ke Mingda looked at each other, and there was a trace of anxiety in their eyes - this is the sea of ​​Dongying. According to the "Sino-British Beijing Treaty", the English fleet is not allowed to enter this sea area, but England broke into it last year Once, but at that time, it was not the first squadron that Qiao Hailong was in, but the second squadron of the first fleet. Later, the English ambassador was forced to apologize to the Qing Dynasty and declared that he would never do it again, but now, just a year later, the English fleet has made a comeback again, and its intentions must be bad!The Qing fleet is not afraid of war, but at this time the fleet has been cruising for a long time, and both the state of the battleship itself and the morale of the soldiers are already at their lowest point. If they fight against the English fleet at this time, the outcome will be difficult to say .

Qiao Hailong came back to his senses, took out a binoculars from his pocket, and carefully looked at the forest-like masts gradually rising from the sea level, his face was so cold that it was about to freeze—there were 32 ships in the English fleet Large and small battleships, including four first-class battleships, with a capacity of 850 people, and three artillery decks equipped with 104 artillery pieces; eight second-level battleships, with a capacity of 750 people, also three-tier artillery decks, equipped with between 90 and 98 artillery pieces; Twelve class battleships, with a capacity of 650 people, two artillery decks, equipped with between 64 and 84 artillery pieces, and six other auxiliary battleships.At the moment, the Qing fleet only has eight large warships, each with a crew of 880, three decks, equipped with 64 artillery pieces; twelve medium warships, two decks, equipped with [-] artillery pieces; and three auxiliary ships. ; Both the number of ships and the number of artillery are far below the English fleet. The only advantage is that the range and rate of fire of the Qing army's artillery exceeds that of the English artillery:

The artillery equipped by the British Royal Navy at this time is divided by the weight of the projectile, mainly 9 pounds, 12 pounds, 18 pounds, 24 pounds and 32 pounds. 10.4 cm, regardless of the caliber, all the guns are front-mounted old-fashioned guns. They use black powder and have a maximum range of 11.5 meters. However, England’s artillery can’t effectively shoot through the ship’s planks beyond 13.1 meters. England The rate of fire of the artillery is about one round every 14.4 or 15.9 minutes. In addition to solid bullets, there are also a small amount of shotgun and chain bullets.In contrast, the artillery of the Qing Fleet has only three specifications: 1,350cm, 200cm, and 3cm. It uses a rear-mounted drawstring artillery and uses smokeless gunpowder. Penetrating the ship's plank, the rate of fire is once every 5 minutes. Most of the bullets used are solid bullets, but there are also many explosive bullets, which are far more powerful than the shotgun and chain bullets used by the English fleet.

Qiao Hailong stared at the English fleet in the distance, gritted his teeth and said: "Command, raise the dragon flag, and order all ships to prepare for battle." This dragon flag is the battle flag of the Qing Navy, and it is usually kept in the flagship In the captain's room, the flag will only be raised on the flagship during combat. Once the flag is raised, it means that a life-or-death bloody battle is about to begin.

"Commander, our army is exhausted. I'm afraid it will be unfavorable to fight at this time. I hope the commander thinks twice. Besides, the English fleet's purpose is unknown. Is it not good to raise the dragon flag rashly?" Hastily persuaded.

"Why, are you afraid?" Qiao Hailong glanced at Ke Mingda coldly, and the disdain in his tone immediately angered the mature and prudent Ke Mingda. Ke Mingda, who is less than fifty, is also an old sailor who has worked in the navy all his life. Hearing Qiao Hailong's words, he suddenly became angry and shouted: "I'm afraid of farts, I have never been afraid of fighting, but the commander must think about my brothers. Our army has been on patrol for several months. At this time, morale, fleet The situation is worrying, what should I use to fight the red-haired ghost, and if I lose the battle, how will I explain to the Holy Majesty!"

Qiao Hailong sneered and said: "Old Ke, I know what you said, but what I know more is that the army's morale can't be discouraged. If our army is timid before fighting, even if we escape to Qingdao safely, the Holy One will forgive us." All the officers and soldiers? The shame of running away will forever be engraved on the bow of our First Fleet of the Qing Dynasty. Can you bear this responsibility? If our army shows weakness, once the British army takes advantage of the momentum to launch an attack, a big defeat is inevitable. My fleet may barely escape back to Qingdao, but what about the soldiers in Dongpu? Will they stay under the guns of the red-haired ghost and be beaten? Order: prepare for battle! All ships set sail and prepare to gain the upper hand!"

"Okay! Damn it! It's dead or alive, fuck it!" Ke Mingda tore off the white navy jacket on his body, exposing his strong chest, and strode towards the mast, loudly After conveying Qiao Hailong's order, as the messenger on the top of the mast quickly waved the signal flag in his hand, the Qing fleet immediately started to move, all the ships were fully sailed, adjusted into a single file and sailed towards the distance The English fleet greeted them.

This English fleet is the entire main force of the English Far East Fleet. Its commander is Admiral Sean Nadal, a veteran naval commander, and its chief of staff is Rear Admiral Prost Green, a rising star of the English Navy. Sending soldiers, the instructions received by the English fleet this time are extremely vague, and there is no clear stipulation that the Qing fleet must be wiped out. They are only here to test the response capabilities of the Qing fleet. Of course, if the Qing fleet is passive and idle, the English fleet can have The right to decide whether to annihilate this part of the Qing fleet according to the actual situation. According to Admiral Nadal's words, this order stinks like shit - whether to fight or not is even at this moment. The commander himself decided that if he wins the battle, those shameless politicians will be credited, but if he loses, Admiral Nadal, who is the frontline commander, is an excellent scapegoat who is good at starting the war. Without hesitation, he changed hands and dedicated himself to the Qing Emperor in order to appease the Qing Emperor's anger.

"Admiral, the yellow-skinned monkey came to the door by itself. Hehe, what a big group of fat sheep. With our superior force and rich combat experience, we can definitely defeat the opponent. Your Excellency, General, please issue a combat order." Green The major general's eyes are very thieves. After observing for a while through the binoculars in his hand, he found that there is something wrong with the marching array of the Qing army. The numerous shells on the hull also show that the Qing army fleet has not been well maintained for at least half a year. I can't help but see Lie Xin was delighted, and quite excitedly proposed to the fleet commander, Admiral Nadal.

Admiral Nadal is a veteran naval officer, how can he not see that the Qing fleet is in poor condition at this time, but Admiral Nadal is more concerned with political issues than the current naval battle However, it is not easy for him to order an immediate war - this is not only related to the fate of the two countries, but also a big issue that determines his personal future.Admiral Nadal ignored Rear Admiral Green's suggestion, his eagle eyes stared at the Qing fleet advancing at high speed, his lips were tightly closed, and he said nothing...

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The third update has arrived! Although the monthly pass for Chapter 606 is not full, Xiaoliu still issued the third update. For the sake of Xiaoliu's hard work typing until late at night, brothers, if you have a monthly pass, can you help me out?
(End of this chapter)