Chapter 264 Reactions of "Friendly" Countries

The Strait of Malacca is located between the Malay Peninsula and the island of Sumatra. There is a slender waterway in a southeast-northwest direction. Its northwest end is connected to the Andaman Sea, and the southeast end is connected to the South China Sea... This is the Strait of Malacca. The Malacca Strait is a throat channel connecting the Pacific Ocean and the Indian Ocean. The total length of the Strait is about l080 kilometers, with a width of 370 kilometers in the northwest and only 37 kilometers in the southwest. The Strait of Malacca is named after the ancient city of Malacca along the coast.

Sea fog, for the vast majority of seafarers, is not a good omen. In the era of great navigation, countless ships were lost in the sea fog called "Sea God breathing", and the Strait of Malacca is famous for its diffuse sea fog all year round. The fog in the strait is a typical warm and wet sky from the sea facing the island. The gas is forced to rise on the windward surface, resulting in an adiabatic cooling effect, causing the air to reach saturation and the island fog.

In the Strait of Malacca, it is often seen that the windward slope of many mountains in Malaysia and Sumatra is covered by fog, which makes it difficult for sailing ships to find landmarks, especially at night.

At night, the whole Strait of Malacca was completely covered by the sea fog rising from the sea. In addition to the roar of the ship's turbines, almost everything on the sea was shrouded in sea fog. As usual, when the ship passed through from here, the metropolis illuminated the route with a light, which was used as an anti-collision warning.

Today, the ships in the fog seem to be a little different from the past. They can only hear the roar of engines from the fog, but they can't see any light signals. The two ships "Zhenhai" and "Dinghai" are driving in the strait one after the other.

At this time, except for the turbine personnel, all the people on the boat stood on the side of the ship and nervously visited the foggy night. During this voyage, even this night was against them. There is no moon, no stars, and no light that can be seen by the eyes.

The British sailors standing on the side tried to open their eyes wide, so that they could barely distinguish what was 15 to 20 meters away from theboard; no matter how far away it was, there was a vast white dark night sky.

As employees, it is difficult for them to understand why these Chinese people made the decision of "secret navigation", just to let those receiving officers master some navigation skills? Those Chinese are willing to take a million-pound warship for the risk, but these sailors don't want to risk their own lives. At this time, they have to keep their eyes wide open and stare at the sea and the signals from other merchant ships.

Sailing in the Strait of Malacca, because it is far away from the central route, two warships need to change their course from time to time, constantly changing their speed, sometimes high and sometimes bottom. As the leader of the ship, Cheng Biguang, with sweat in his hands, for fear of making a mistake, hitting the island or colliding with other ships, but Yes, why do you calculate it? As it goes deeper and deeper into the strait, the width of the strait becomes narrower and narrower, and the fog is getting thicker and thicker.

The white sea fog drilled into the command tower from the cracks like a sea snake. After a while, the helmsman, first mate, captain and other officers standing next to Cheng Biguang also became blurred. There were only these Chinese naval officers in the command tower. Unlike in the past, all of them were wearing weapons, which was for Prepared to prevent foreign sailors from seizing ships.

"Five degrees left..."

"Five degrees left..."

The order shouted from Cheng Biguang's mouth. It was not until a flashing red dot left that Cheng Biguang loosened down. How many merchant ships did they avoid after entering the strait? Every time I sweat in my heart, I am afraid of being found by them during the day, and I am worried that they will bump into each other at night.

"Sur, naval telegram!"

I took the telegram and looked at it a few times. Cheng Biguang, who had not had a smile for a few days, opened his face.

"You are in charge of command, and I'll report to my wife!"

With that, Cheng Biguang went down the command tower and went down to the deck cabin. His footsteps seemed very relaxed. Perhaps the best good news he had received in the past few days.

The sound of the piano echoed in the officer's restaurant. Twenty-six British and German naval officers standing in the restaurant were holding wine glasses, and the champagne in the glass was still bubbling. The officers looked at the duchess playing the piano with a smile on their faces. If it is an honor, perhaps for their lives, the honor at this moment will be Always keep it in their hearts.

After the song "Cannon" was played, the applause sounded in the restaurant, and Ji Li nodded politely to the officers when she stood up.

"Now the warship is passing through the Strait of Malacca, and the warship will arrive in China. Thank you for your loyal service all the time..."

After getting up, Ji Li, who was smiling, comforted these naval officers with words just like the past few days. In the past five days, any soldier would be suspicious of the abnormal performance of the fleet, and Ji Li just appeased these officers with her own music. Cheng Biguang also gave various explanations.

Fortunately, China is a neutral country! Therefore, although these foreign employees are a little confused, they can't say why. They can only complete their tasks conscientiously as in the past, and the Chinese navy sails back to China.

"Madam!"

Cheng Biguang, who walked into the restaurant, gave a look at his wife. Ji Li hugged and apologized when she saw it and left the restaurant.

As soon as Ji Li, Cheng Biguang and others left, the British and German naval officers who were originally standing there listening to music gathered together.

"Mott, I bet you that I don't know what happened!"

Skot turned his head to Mott and said that in the past five days, these Chinese people have been very abnormal. They not only changed their course, but also avoided merchant ships from various countries, just like at this time, they even chose a high-risk signalless night voyage in the Strait of Malacca.

He once asked Lieutenant General Cheng, but the answer he could get was "training needs". Training needs? Does training need to be like turning the sea into hide-and-seek?

"Skot, what do you think will happen?"

"I'm afraid only God knows this. I dare to bet 200 marks with you. China certainly doesn't know what has changed, otherwise they will never hide in the sea!"

Skot has good reason to believe his speculation.

"Maybe some country wants to intercept them or capture them!"

"I bet you 40 pounds. It's just training!"

Mott squeezed out a smile on his face. In his opinion, Skott's worry was simply... Uh-huh! China is not involved in the war at all. How can there be interception or capture? Even if they are involved in the Russian war, do the Russians have the ability to intercept them? And I can never be their enemy. After all, I am Asian.

"Madam, the Ministry of the Navy came to tell us to speed up the speed as much as possible, and there is no need to consider the interception in the Strait of Malacca! It is expected that we will be home in seven days!"

"Huh?"

Ji Li looked at Cheng Biguang in surprise. The news was too sudden.

"Have we reached an agreement with them?"

"Madam,"

Cheng Biguang squeezed out a smile on his face. After receiving the telegram, he knew that his wife had won the bet.

"Congratulations! We won!"

The naval building is quiet, but the lights are bright, and all departments are quietly engaged in mysterious work. General Ye Zugui gently walked to the window and looked at the distant night sky. Several stars were shining, and a faint cloud floated in the clear air, and the eastern sky was about to shine.

A cool breeze came, which made Ye Zugui shiver and found that the cigarette in his mouth was not lit. Therefore, he took out a lighter from his pocket and lit a cigarette, and wisp of smoke spewed out of his mouth. Intelligence from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs shows that the British are unwilling to fight, and the sudden return of the U.S. Asian fleet this afternoon is obviously related to a separate meeting between China and the United States in Peiping, which shows that the various strategies adopted by the ruling axe have been successful.

The ruling gamble won!

But as the Minister of the Navy, Ye Zugui knows how lucky it is to win this gamble. Why did the British give up intercepting and calming the two ships just because of the posture of governing and preparing for war? Not all of them! Is it because London doesn't want to see a newly crowned duchess sink with the ship? Not all of them!

No matter what, you always win! Although it is full of fluke!

"I hope this is the last luck!"

Five minutes away from six o'clock, the conference room of the Admiralty is full of chiefs from the Naval Intelligence Department, the Submarine Department, the Naval Aviation Department, the Surface Ship Department, the Marine Warfare Department, the Ship Administration Department and other departments.

When Ye Zugui entered the conference room at exactly six o'clock sharp, he looked at everyone present with a solemn expression and said a word.

"Don't think that the US [***] ship in Shanghai has been withdrawn, and the German [***] ship has returned to Qingdao halfway, and everything will be easy. There is only one thing I want to say, that is, this time we have to be blessed by God, lucky to bet all the cards, but we can't do it again. Next time we are so lucky, we don't know. This time, what we need to summarize is not how we cheated the cards, but to summarize why and why the great powers. You can send warships to Shanghai without scruples, and you can threaten us with gunboats!"

If it is a cloth task, they may immediately answer to ensure the completion of the task, but in front of them, they just listened to the commander-in-chief's training in a daze, without any foolish and excited expression. All of them know in their hearts that dealing with the great powers is not a joke. With a little carelessness, the price paid is probably far beyond everyone's imagination.

"Why, no one can answer such a simple question?"

With that, Ye Zugui took a look at his pocket watch.

"The answer is very simple, because we have no defense, and because China has been weak for a hundred years, so the powers can unscrupulously impose gunboat diplomacy on me. The answer is so simple!"

Ye Zugui's words were full of grief and indignation, staring at the subordinates sitting there.

"This time, we can bet that the government has bet on the whole country, and the wife even bet on the lives of herself and her daughter. Only then can we be fooled. But it can be attributed to the root. If it hadn't been for the entanglement of the interests of the powers, it would be impossible for the countries to reach an agreement on the issue of interference. Is there any chance? No!"

With a cold hum, the muscles on Ye Zugui's face trembled gently, and he stared at the people who didn't say a word.

"Our navy spends up to five million yuan a month, but when the country is useful, it has to rely on the army's desperate posture there and relying on his wife's flesh and blood to block the shells for us. I just want to ask what this is."

The more Ye Zugui's expression, the more sad and angry he became.

"It's a shame! The shame of the whole navy!"

The scolding without a trace of face echoed in the conference room, just like the guards outside the conference room. At this time, the minister's anger could be heard, and there was also a trace of shame on his face.

"Take a look!"

Ye Zugui raised a few pieces of paper in Yang's hand, which was the navy's response plan after the war began.

"Look, the Chinese navy, what is the navy with double pay is going to do? Not only can't resist the enemy outside the country, but it can only escape with its tail between its tail and escape to the high seas to break the battle. If it sounds good, it is to break the battle. If it sounds bad, it is to pinch the soft persimmon!"

The reason why I am so angry is that in Ye Zugui's opinion, in this fraud, the ruling axe, the army, the people and even the wives on the Zhenhai have played their role, and what about the navy? The navy is just watching! This time is absolutely different from the chaos of Geng Zinian's personal anger. This time, the whole country is united only to fight for the power of the state!

"You don't feel panicked, but as long as I think that our navy can only do this job, I feel that there is no brilliance on my face!"

"Minister, we... we don't have warships!"

Finally, after Ye Zugui vented his dissatisfaction and embarrassment, Shi Tiange of the Naval Office answered for everyone. Unlike the army, the army can use courage to make up for the gap in weapons, tactics and training, but the navy needs to speak with warships, even with Jing Kezhi. Can Haitian and Haiqi sink the battleships of foreigners?

After indignation, Ye Zugui looked at Shi Tiange and said, "If there is no warship, we will build and buy it. Aren't there still tens of millions left in our style? If you can buy it, buy it. If you can make it, you can make it yourself!"

Then he looked at the crowd again, and finally just said one sentence.

"Remember this time, each of us should remember, in short... This will be the last time that a foreign warship will do something in front of our house! The day when there is no sea and no defense must become history in our hands!"

After Ye Zugui's voice fell, everyone's expression became solemn. There was no defense. Every moment, he did not torture every one of them. Seeing the foreigner's warship show off in front of the door, any naval soldier was full of grief and resentment, but at least before he did not have enough strength, But they had to swallow their teeth into their stomachs. Not only for them, but also for the whole of China, they not only had to swallow the beaten teeth, but also had to lose their smiles when they were beaten.

(to be continued)