Chapter 169 Battle Clouds

Lushun is located at the southern end of the Liaodong Peninsula. Although it is the south of Kanto, it is still windy and cold. At this time, it is almost evening, and the sunset shines on the mouth of Lushun and the hills surrounding Lushun. A wisp of breeze blew from the sea. The breeze was not big but with a piercing chill, and the wind swept the remaining snow on the ground and the eaves.

The piercing cold wind swept through the ground, and there were still bursts of coldness on the body. The old urban area of Lushun is much more dilapidated than the new urban area built by the Russians, and it is also more deserted. At this time, although the street lights are on, the street is like a dead street. Except for the sometimes barking of dogs, no other voices can be heard. The courtyard in the narrow street is simple because of the houses, although it is simple, it has already been powered on, but There are not many people who use electricity. Most of them use electricity in shops and rich gentry families.

Although the medical shop with the "Qingxiangrui" signboard is hung on the door panel, there is some orange light in the cracks of the door panel. As usual, when Cha Zhiqing finished counting the drugs in the clinic, it was already about 8 p.m. After taking stocking the drugs, as usual, Cha Zhiqing took a newspaper from the cabinet.

The headline of the newspaper is the news that "the negotiations with Russia are deadlocked, and I'm afraid that the war will not start". This is not news. At least in the past few days, newspapers large and small in Kanto have been talking about this, and even many rich gentry in Lushun City have seen the newspaper that the negotiations between Russia have been resurreted. After the report, he escaped from Lushun at the first time. Ten years ago, the Dongyang's little nose slaughtered only dozens of people in Lushun, and the corpses were still kept for collection. If you don't escape at this time, when? When the Dongyang's nose hits, can you still escape? Everyone knows that Dongyang's little nose loves to fight irredeclared, and the once lively old city is so deserted.

However, others can escape, but Zha Zhiqing can't escape. He sighed at the sudden situation and was annoyed by the battle between dogs and dogs in China. Cha Zhiqing casually turned off the electric light, and then walked from the front clinic to the backyard.

When I walked to the yard, I looked up at the sky. The deep blue sky was like a vast pot, and the dense and uncertain stars flashed faintly. The thick elm tree in the yard, the trunk of the tree was light blue and straight in the sky, melted in the dark night, and the branches and leaves could not be seen clearly.

In recent months, he still feels a little trance. He was introduced to Huangpu from a friend. After graduating from Huangpu School, he entered the second detective office. After staying in the capital for half a year, he came to Lushun to open a small clinic. Six months ago, he was still a polite newspaper editor in the capital, but now He is just a doctor in the old street of Lushunkou. All the experiences seem to be unreal like a dream.

As a spy, the colorful experience may be the biggest feature of the profession.

After a while in the hospital, I thought about what had happened recently. Thinking that someone wanted to kiss my little doctor, Cha Zhiqing couldn't help but take another look. He took a deep breath and went back to the room. He didn't turn on the electric light and lay in his clothes and looked at the roof.

"Maybe there will be a fight soon!"

Cha Zhiqing thought so, and sometimes frowned. The order he received was not to withdraw from Lushun. In other words, he must stay in this place before receiving further orders, even if there is a fire here!

Otherwise, it won't open tomorrow. First, use ash and steel bars to strengthen the basement. It's three meters deep in the basement of the partitioned house. Six months ago, when Cha Zhiqing first came, he dug the basement by himself. Although the basement is deep, if it really avoids gunfire, because of this, yesterday he I went to buy three buckets of ash and a cart of stones and steel bars to strengthen the basement.

"Well, let's do it tomorrow!"

I thought that I would close my eyes and fall asleep after a while.

Compared with the deserted city of the old city, Lushun New Town, a Russian industrial city established after leasing Lushun in Russia, seems to be more lively than usual today. There are occasionally some "bus cars" that exhale the atmosphere of "modern civilization" in the horse workshops running on the streets. These carriages and cars go to only One place is the officers' club of the Russian Pacific Fleet.

Today, civil and military officials in the governor's office of Kanto Prefecture of the Russian Empire rushed to Lushun to participate in the name of Maria, the wife of Stark, the commander of the Pacific Fleet. For the Russians, the important surname of the name is even far more important than birth. That's why these officials do not want to miss this name.

According to the usual practice, the officers of the Pacific Fleet prepared a grand dance for Mrs. Maria as a celebration. Not only ordinary army and naval officers and civilian officials from Kanto Prefecture came, but also Arexeyev, the uncle of the Far Eastern Governor-General, also personally led the officers in gorgeous dresses in the headquarters. Attend this dance.

At 9:00 p.m., guests from all sides had arrived at the Navy Club. The first arrived were the young military lieutenants and their female companions, followed by the officers at all levels. They wore gorgeous navy dresses and entered the club with their wives. The difference in official ranks was reflected in this, and the lieutenants greeted them with applause. When Commander Stark and his wife arrived, everyone had the warmest applause.

The ballroom, which can accommodate thousands of people, was quickly full of people. The band played a cheerful dance. This was Lieutenant Tucriki, the adjutant of the fleet commander, who walked forward and proposed that the male guests invite women to dance, and the dance party began.

And Mrs. Maria sat there, staring at a pair of men and women dancing with appreciative eyes. Occasionally, the wives around her commented on people's dance materials, saying that at this time, the star duty officer went to the commander to report.

"The Governor is here!"

When Stark heard that the governor was coming, he quickly took his wife to the porch to greet the governor.

Although his face was covered with a long beard, he could see that Alexeyev was full of joy. He was wearing a royal dress. As soon as he walked to Mrs. Stark, he took Maria's hand and kissed her hand.

"Maria, I wish you a happy birthday!"

Then he led Maria's hand into the ballroom with her right hand.

After they entered the dance hall, the music suddenly stopped, and the people in the hall stopped dancing. They bowed to the governor. Akseyev first said hello to the band, then bowed to the people in the hall, and finally asked them to continue dancing. After the music sounded, a pair of men and women swirled in the dance hall again.

Despite the smile on his face, Alexeyev was a little worried. Two days ago, he received a telegram that broke off diplomatic relations with Japan. For various reasons, he did not announce the content of the telegram to anyone. Today, the consulate in Dalian and the expatriates have left on the British business ship. The evacuation of the embassy was expected, but the evacuation of the expatriates was a strange signal.

These news lingered in Alexeyev's mind, which always made him feel uneasy, especially thinking of his own order yesterday, "The warships parked in the outer berth are temporarily free to lay lightning nets."

Although the Foreign Secretary Ramsdorf sent a comforting telegram, in which he resolutely denied the possibility of war, and specifically reminded that "if the navy did not take military action, but began to occupy North Korea, even if its army reached the border of Manchuria, Russia decided not to think it was an army. The beginning of the action."

Ramsdorf can talk about "there may be amazing things recently" and "I don't think it's war" in St. Petersburg, but Alexeyev can't help but consider these. His inner worries still make Alexeyev feel a little disappointed, especially at this time. What he is waiting for is further instructions from St. Petersburg. Before he came to the club department, almost after receiving His Majesty's permission to judge whether to implement mobilization in the Far East, he sent the request for mobilization to the Tsar. The Tsar's consent did not mean that he could mobilize directly. Today, the cruiser Varyag and the gunboats Koreans returned to Lushun again on the coast of North Korea were also to let the two ships spy on the military movements along the coast of North Korea, but there was no news from the two ships.

"I hope..."

When Alexeyev was worried about all kinds of unusual signals, Princeson, the representative of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to the governor's office, seemed more calm than usual. He just chatted with the generals of the fleet there. Slowly in the sound of music, Alexeyev gradually calmed down and became happy. In the cheerful music, the atmosphere of the dance party reached the most **.

Alessayev got up and invited Mrs. Stark to dance. The two of them stood in the front of the dance team. With the music, Alexeyev's fat body danced with his partner. The whole audience watched the couple. When it was the turn to dance, Alexeyev bent down and knelt down. In front of Mrs. Maria, he held her with one hand and rotated around him.

Suddenly, there were bursts of cannons, and even the stained glass on the window vibrated. From the window, you could see countless flashes when the gun was fired, and the sound of cannons roared in the air. The applause sounded in the officer's club. One was to praise the dancing skills of the noble partners, and the other was to praise the unexpected salute given by the fleet. Even Alexeyev forgot his original worries and thanked Stark enthusiastically for the sudden salute fired by the fleet.

In Alexeyev's thanks, Stark, as the commander of the fleet, was also surprised by the gunfire, but he concluded in his heart that it was arranged by the adjutant in advance.

"Lieutenant Tucriki, thank you for your careful arrangement!"

Lieutenant Tucrisky accepted the officer's gratitude with peace of mind. The smile on the officer's face made him believe that tomorrow, maybe the day after tomorrow, he would become Captain Tucrisky.

At this time, the people in the club's ballroom were even more excited. They danced more happily under the ensemble of gunfire and music. The sound of music and gunfire only pushed the atmosphere of the ball to the top.

For a whole day, the armored cruiser Zhishen was loaded with coal, because it had to leave for patrol along the coast of Japan and North Korea the next day. All the officers who had nothing to do on the ship went to the shore early in the morning to avoid getting coal ash, leaving only a few officers on the ship. An officer on duty and second lieutenant Yaqing Feiev, the official on duty.

Hundreds of tons of coal were not loaded until it was dark. Under the order of Second Lieutenant Yaqingfiev, the sailors washed the coal ash on the ship with a water pipe with starlight. After sloppy cleaning up the deck, the sailors dressed in coal ash went to the ship's bathroom to take a shower. When the last sailors climbed up their hammock. At that time, it was already twelve o'clock in the morning, and only a few sailors on duty were left to walk around on the deck.

The sea surface of Lushunkou is calm, and a little winter mist covers the bay. On the shore of the Tiger Peninsula, moored battleships of more than 70,000 tons are lined up in a line, like a continuous hill. There are six cruisers parked in the Inner Bay berthing area, and the lightning warships on duty are parked at both ends of the fleet.

"Dong, Dong..."

The crisp bells rang on the battle fleet's flagship Petropavlovsk, and the bells rang on the ships at the same time. The bells of the ship made the sailors on duty very happy.

"It's time to change shifts!"

After standing in the open air for two hours, the sailor said that his hand took out the cigarette paper and tobacco box from his pocket. It was time to roll up a cigarette and smoke it.

At night, the duty officer on the "Zhishen" looked at the entrance of the harbor, but saw several lightning ships at the entrance of Lushunkou. The lights were on the ship and drove towards the inner port of Lushunkou. He picked up the telescope and looked at the approaching lightning ship.

These are just a few ordinary lightning strike ships, each with four chimneys and a boiler cover in the middle. There are more than a dozen such lightning strike ships in Lushunkou. These lightning strike ships did not slow down in entering the port, but rushed straight to the "Zhishen", which only made Liebeev's heart feel a little panic.

"Yumi," Lebeev shouted at the duty signal with a telescope in his hand. Ask them for the signal!"

"Yes, ask them for the signal!"

The signal answered, and then sent out an inquiry signal.

When these lightning ships approached one or two chain lengths of Zhishen, they dispersed. The two sailed to the front end of the fleet, and the rest drove to the rear of the fleet. When several lightning ships were hundreds of meters in front of Zhishen, they released three torpedoes at it in a row.

On the bridge, you can clearly see the flash of the torpedo launch. When the muffled sound of the torpedo launcher bag came, several shiny torpedoes rushed over the Zhishen in the dim sea in the early morning.

"R Torpedo!"

When the sailors shouted in horror, when Lebeyev shouted the alarm, he heard bursts of cheers from the torpedo-launching lightning ship, and then several explosions sounded one after another. Under the sudden shocks of the "Zhishen" cruiser, when the exploding column of water rushed to the deck and washed people down, the hull began to Tilt to the right.

The explosion and violent shock woke up the sailors and officers. Before they could put on their clothes, they ran to the deck one after another. No one knew what was going on. All reactions were instinctive.

"In place, get ready to fight!"

Second Lieutenant Lebeev shouted loudly, but people did not listen to his command. Although the gunners did not receive the order, they ran to the cannon by themselves. The sound of the cannon sounded and fired shells at any suspicious target in the sea. Some sailors hurriedly put down the lifeboat and prepared to leave the destroyed warship in the fleet. More people were desperately trying to rescue the warship, and some sailors ran to the boiler room, because someone shouted that the coal tank was on fire.

Lieutenant Gryazinov, the gun commander in the confusion, appeared on the deck. As soon as the gunners saw their officers, they immediately calmed down. The gun sergeant reported the situation to the officer, and the originally chaotic gunfire stopped. While Lieutenant Glyaznov commanded the gunners to attack suspicious targets on the water, Lebeev and the captain commanded the damage pipe plugging work in the cabin, and several officers and mechanics led the fire brigade to the bottom cabin.

The initial chaos returned to normal in just a few minutes. When the crew of the "Zhishen" rescued their fleet under the command of the officers, the minelayers attacked the battleships parked at the end of the fleet. The two battleships "Leitwezan" and "Prince" hit, and the lightning strikes after one hit. The ship took advantage of the panic of the Russian fleet to escape from the Lushunkou and sailed to the sea.

All the warships attacked the fleeing enemy ships with small and medium-sized rapid-fire guns indiscriminately. The shells were scattered in the air, almost possible to hit the enemy warships. In the end, even the 305 cannons of the battleships roared, and the rumbled gunfire echoed in the air.

Almost the first time he was awakened by the sound of gunfire, Zha Zhiqing jumped up from **.

"It's a fight!"

He screamed. He hurriedly climbed the ladder, entered the attic on the second floor, went up to the wall pavilion, and looked at the port with a small window. This was the reason why Cha Zhiqing rented here. From here, you can see Lushun Port.

At this time, the mouth of Lushun was already boiling. The gunfire seemed to be the only sound in the weather. The orange cannon flame was spewing in Lushun Bay. In the sky illuminated by the cannon flames, Russian [***] ships were constantly firing shells outside the harbor. The inner berth of the minesmen headed by one in the cannon curtain were hidden, and Several warships went to the shore port, which was a shoal. Although he did not come from the navy, Zha Zhiqing still received some short training in naval knowledge when he was in school. This was a warship stranded after being injured.

"What's going on?"

An army like a battleship was stranded on the shore of the tiger's tail, while the other was placed under the opposite Golden Mountain, and a warship was placed next to the warship under the Golden Mountain. It's just that the Russians lost three warships at the beginning.

When the gunfire was loud, Cha Zhiqing hurriedly got out of the attic, left the bedroom and ran towards the partition house. He first pulled out a piece of wire and hung it on the wire by the window, and then climbed under the bed to push open the basement cover. After entering the basement, a radio telegraph was placed on a wooden table in the basement.

With a click, the radio waves were sent out along the tiled antenna in the attic.

(to be continued)