Chapter 273 The value of the airship

In the Tsugaru Strait at 3 a.m., the sea breeze roars, and on the dark sea, four Vladivostok-class heavy patrols and four Jinghai-class light patrols are lined up. This time, in front of the cold cannon mouth is another city in Japan. It has not been established for many years, but nearly one-third of the Japanese immigrants on the island has been concentrated.

This city, which witnessed the end of the Japanese shogunate era and the beginning of the new era of the Meiji Restoration, was one of the earliest port cities in Japan. Due to the short establishment time and the beginning of the Meiji era, Japan has been plotting against the Qing Dynasty, so it did not have the energy to develop Hokkaido. After the last war, it was even more I had to focus on defending the island, so there were almost no defense facilities in Hakodate, not even the fort.

Because the undersea telephone line was cut off as early as half a year ago, and this strait is the main blockade site of the Pacific Fleet, at least two gunboats patrol 24 hours a day, so more than 30 ships were sunk here in just half a year, especially carrying 2,000 soldiers from Aomori after the declaration of war. The fishing fleet preparing to strengthen Hokkaido's defense was sunk by eleven ships, and more than 1,300 soldiers were killed.

This strait, which is only 24 kilometers away, seems to have become an insurmountable sky. Looking at the patrol that slaughtered fishing boats with quick-fire guns on the sea that day, almost every Japanese soldier stationed in Hakodate opened their mouths wide. Now their only hope is that the fleet will come back as soon as possible and drive them away. Some murderous butchers.

But they didn't know that the fleet they had been looking forward to for more than half a year had all sunk to the bottom of the sea.

The shells were filled into the gun, and the muzzle began to rise little by little. When the muzzle rose to a fixed angle, the gunmen at all levels again calculated the coordinates given by the Ainu people, and the Hokkaido First Wing stationed in Hakodate in the distance did not know that they had been locked by the cold muzzle.

After so many actual combat shelling and high-intensity training, coupled with the Jinghai-class light patrol service with a rangefinder, the gunners of the fleet have been able to accurately lock fixed targets of about 10,000 meters, while Hakodate is only 20 kilometers away from the seaside, and almost the whole city is within the range of Jinghai ships.

Eight warships, except for a base number of armor-piercing shells, are all filled with new incendiary bombs, but this is also the last batch of incendiary bombs. Because the incendiary bombs are expensive and complex in manufacturing, there are not many reserves.

But this is enough. Eight warships, large and small, have a total of 26,000 white phosphorus incendiary bombs, enough to completely destroy the city with a width of less than 20 kilometers, and all of them are made of wood materials!

"Fire!"

When Le Fei, the commander of the shelling formation, gave the order, nearly a hundred light spots suddenly lit up on the sea only two kilometers away from the sea of Hakodate, and then the dark Hakodate seemed to brighten up.

The dense rain of shells roared to the hakodate in his sleep. Almost at the same time, the white fog and Mars exploded from everywhere, and the Hakodate barracks, where 4,000 soldiers were stationed, even turned into ashes without even firing a single shot.

Countless flames surged up from all over the city, and even the ships' secondary guns with short range and no incendiary bombs were added to the chorus!

In the early morning of June 3, 1897, the Pacific Fleet shelled Hakodate. When it became popular, it rose from behind Hakodate. The largest city in Hokkaido has been burned, and the death toll was more than 40,000! ——

In the early morning of Ryukyu, the sea breeze is gentle.

In the distance, thick chimneys have begun to roll black smoke, and the roar of steam engines came one after another. Luo Sanniang leaned by the railing, and her beautiful eyes flashed with stars.

She has been in Ryukyu for half a month, but every time she sees this scene, she is still in a bad mood, because she already knows that these changes are all because of that man.

Thinking of this, the corners of her eyes couldn't help but glance at several people sitting around the garden drinking morning tea. Feng's eyes immediately stared at the man. Every time she frowned and smiled, she somehow felt that her heart was also pulled in.

"How could I promise him to accompany him back to Ryukyu?"

"He must have did it on purpose!"

"Yes, he used his brother to coerce me. I didn't volunteer."

"But..."

After a series of self-questions and answers, her pretty face became more and more rosy. Although the man hasn't asked for her body, who has regarded himself as his woman these days, and even his generals and ministers are respectful when they see him.

This feeling is both pleasant and annoying.

I didn't give him anything. Why...!

He must have did it on purpose!

Between thoughts, two eyes suddenly flew, which made her face more red. She walked into the room in a panic and looked at the spacious and comfortable carved bed in the middle of the room. Her cheeks were flushed and she couldn't help but worry secretly. She heard that his other women were coming. What should I do?!

What should I call you and how to salute?

Is he his concubine?

Luo Sanniang walked to the dresser. In the mirror was a thin white face. Because she had gradually faded out of the special service team for so long, she did not have to suffer from the wind and sun, and her body seemed to be much plump.

Looking at herself in the mirror, her slender fingers gently stroked her face, slowly slid down to her towering chest, stopped there, and felt her heartbeat. Suddenly, she regretted her life in the pirate's nest. At that time, she forced herself to forget the reality of being a woman, so that she didn't know when she met him now. What should I do? How about giving him his body before her comes?!

Master Li withdrew his eyes anxately. He didn't know that Luo Sanniang in the room was worried about the upcoming arrival of several other women, and the corners of his mouths were slightly tilted.

"Young master, the Germans want to buy airships and construction technology." Li Enfu took a sip of tea and took out the telegram from Tang Shaoyi.

"Yes." Before Chen Ping and Long Guozhang could react, Master Li immediately snapped his fingers: "Old rule, the order of 20 accessories."

"Sell the airship?"

"No way!"

Sitting on the opposite side, he immediately jumped up with four captured battleships from the Japanese front line, like escorting their sons into the Ryukyu Shipyard for maintenance and modification.

After Xixiang Congdao led the surrender of the Japanese navy, Long Guozhang allowed the other party to retain the last dignity and sink the warship, but he asked for an accurate mine defense map of the Uraga waterway. In just five days, he relied on the positioning of the small boats and forcibly collected 20 Japanese trawlers, cleared the whole waterway and completely released the Japanese Tokyo. Bay Gateway.

In addition, the Polaris and the Rising Star are responsible for stationing outside the waterway, which means that he has completely controlled the whole Tokyo Bay, so he still expects the airship to go deep into the place outside the range of the Japanese inland naval gun a few times. How can it be sold now?

And Chen Ping on the side also shook his head. This time, the newly formed air force is obvious in the operation. There is no doubt that it will be a new generation of equipment vigorously built by various countries in the future, but they need enough time to break through the defects of the engine, so he is firmly opposed to selling it now for a few days. The trump card, according to his words, will be at least a year later.

However, Li Enfu insists on selling, because those major international countries have almost mastered the airship technology, which is nothing more difficult to structure and engine technology. However, at present, he has publicly sold cars on his side. Although the structure is different, if countries increase investment, I'm afraid that sooner or later they will start a special airship. The machine.

So he thinks it's better to take this opportunity to salvage a ticket than to wait for others to make it by themselves.

Li Mo also agrees with Li Enfu's idea that the air force's use of airships is an expedient. Although the airship relies on large load and more economical reasons, it has not been eliminated even in later generations, but he knows very well that the future sky belongs to the aircraft, and he has seen the progress of the aircraft experimental center. It can be said that the preliminary design of the aircraft It has been basically completed. At present, the biggest problem is the suitable engine, but under the public relations of the internal combustion engine power research laboratory, which has more than 200 people, it only takes two or three years to break through this key technology at most, so it is better to sell it now to make money.

Compared with making money, Master Li actually has another intention to sell airships, that is, to provoke another competition in various countries other than the navy. After all, airships are not a bargain on the street. Purification of hydrogen alone is a small expense. After the sale, it can not only recover the previous huge investment, but also use the funds for more important. In the plane, it can also consume the economy and strength of various countries, which is really a matter of many birds with one stone.

When all countries in the future will focus on airships and drive these giants to load their own planes!

The sky is full of fire!

I'm excited to think about this scene! However, if you want to sell the airship and let everyone see its value, you need to show it well! Thinking of this, Li Mo immediately turned his head and asked, "Wen Shou, has the intern officer of the German navy arrived?"

"I came out of Honolulu six days ago. I'm going to arrange them into the heavy patrol, and I have formulated a confidential manual so that Duan Fei can also send someone to keep an eye on them." Chen Ping also thought that Li Mo was worried about the leak, so he quickly explained the secrecy.

"Notify Zhao Long that the bombing of Seoul will be postponed for a few days. When they arrive in Lushun, it will start. In addition, you can arrange for you to choose two German [***] officials to participate in the bombing all the whole process." Li Mo narrowed his eyes: "Remember, use ordinary bombs, don't use incendiary bombs."

"Young master, what are you doing?" Long Guozhang was a little surprised to have a cigar in his arms.

"Tell Xue Muhua to uninstall all the radios and don't leak all our backgrounds." Li Mo smiled and said, "If you want to sell at a good price, of course you have to let someone inspect the goods first."

Li Mo's words made the three people laugh at the same time. I believe that the Germans will definitely be moved when they see the power of the airship, and as long as Germany buys it, then Britain, France and other countries must come up with containment measures. Although their scientific research ability is strong, the hippo-class airship is also passed by themselves. It is impossible for them to take out the equipment against the hippo level in a short time, so it is obvious that the money will eventually fall into their pockets.

If the airship is sold successfully, it will also become the first self-developed military equipment to be sold to European countries, which is of great significance to the Ministry of Equipment.

After Li Mo's explanation, several people gradually understood, but they still had little confidence in the plane that relied on mechanical power to go to the sky. Fortunately, the young master did not sell all the airships in his hands, but was ready to let the factory sell the factory in the form of parts. In this way, they could not only make profits, but also make the current airships. The factory is fed to the full and trains a large number of skilled workers.

According to the current purchase price of the Air Force, an airship is almost 10,000 pounds, of which the biggest cost is to refine hydrogen. Now that it is selling spare parts, it can completely avoid this most time-consuming process. Coupled with the transfer cost of manufacturing technologies such as engines, the airship alone can be given to the government in the next two years. The Ministry of Service has brought a revenue of one million pounds, which is enough to build a Duojing naval ship!

When Li Enfu quoted the price, Chen Ping and Long Guozhang's eyes lit up for the first time. They really didn't know that the airship could make so much money. They immediately joined the discussion happily. When they planned how to make Xue Muhua's play more wonderful and let countries willingly touch their pockets, Du Dazhuang already had the latest love. The newspaper came to Li Mo.

"Young master, Le Fei reported that the Hakodate has been burned, and the first regiment of the Marine Corps has landed at five o'clock this morning. The forward troops have exchanged fire with the Japanese army stationed in Sapporo. The other two regiments have also landed and are advancing towards Sapporo. It is expected to arrive in three hours."

"All were burned!"

The word brought by Du Dazhuang made Li Mo take a deep breath. A bombing confirmed the value of the air force and made people see the horror of the new incendiary bombs. Therefore, this time in Hakodate, the cruiser formation carried more than 20,000 incendiary bombs at a time, not to mention a small wooden seaside town in 1897. Even a medium-sized city with a population of millions in later generations can't stand this level of blow, and this is still a junior thing. If aluminum powder is added to the incendiary bomb in the future, I'm afraid he can't even imagine the power. For this reason, he, who is still a modern young master, has a little guilty.

Hakodate does not know its own plan. When tens of thousands of incendiary bombs hit the sleeping city, when the wooden building encounters a white phosphorus powder that can drift away with the explosion shock wave, the result is completely conceivable.

But this guilt did not last long, because it was a war. Even if he did not make a white phosphorus bomb, others would make it in the future. This may be an add-on brought by the war. Instead of being burned by others in the future, the best way is to master this deterrent weapon first!

A fortified wing of 4,000 soldiers completely disappeared into the sea of fire under the roar of long-range naval guns, and the remaining 3,000 soldiers in Sapporo could not resist the two regiments, 10,000 marine soldiers equipped with a large number of grenades and mortars.

This indicates that the occupation of Hokkaido has entered the countdown!

After getting rid of the mood brought by the Hakodate War Report, Li Mo grabbed the teacup and took a sip, and then fiercely hit the table.

"The next goal, Seoul!" ......

(to be continued)