Chapter 204 On the ship

The spring of 1906 came earlier than before. Although it was only March, the warm wind in early spring has made the trees in Nanjing more green. The slightly warm spring breeze caress people. The spring breeze and Jiaoyang can always make people feel the beauty of spring.

In the morning, when Jiaoyang was on his head, Chen Moran, the emperor of the empire, stood quietly in the garden alone, quietly looking at the small lake in the palace.

Occasionally, a few bubbles will boil on the mirror-like lake, and the bubbles will ripple.

At this time, everything in the garden is quiet, and the occasional song of birds seems to remind people that spring has arrived.

"Your Majesty!"

The voice behind him did not make Chen Moran look back. He still looked at the lake.

Today is an extraordinary day. In terms of preparation, it should be from five days ago. Five days ago, Germany accepted China's request to include Britain in the surname clause.

According to the agreement agreed by the two countries, the two countries will announce the Sino-German alliance treaty in ten days. Although there is no need to publish the content of the treaty, in the end, the British will know the content of the treaty through their channels within a few weeks.

Because of this, the stumbling block that has been blocking the army's attack on Japan has finally been removed, and the army needs to launch military operations before the treaty is announced.

"I heard that we are allied with Germany!"

Ji Li, wearing a light yellow Confucian skirt, looked at her father-in-law in surprise. China and Germany formed an alliance, which was somewhat unexpected to her. If it hadn't been confirmed by Zhang Zhidong, she wouldn't have believed that it was true at all.

"It's impossible for the British to..."

Without waiting for Chen Moran to finish her words, Ji Li shook her head and said.

"I know that Britain cannot be an ally of China, but..."

Then, she looked at her father-in-law.

"In any case, your father-in-law, you should understand that China can only be friends with the winner, and..."

"I understand!"

smiled, interrupted Ji Li's words, and looked back at Ji Li. The delicate face was as beautiful as in the past. She looked at her quietly for a while, but Chen Moran sighed in the bottom of her heart.

"The army is going to be dispatched!"

Huh?

Ji Li's beautiful eyes opened slightly, and then she nodded and said.

"I will go to the church to pray for them!"

In a word, it shows Ji Li's attitude. No matter when and where, she will support her husband and the country.

"Thank you!"

When thanking him, Chen Moran gently conceived his wife's slender waist. Perhaps, after this battle, China... "Quick! Come on, get ready to board..."

On the simple wharf made of steel beams and steel piles in the Northern Jiangsu Comprehensive Training Base of the Army, whistles and shouts kept echoing in the air. The army soldiers in a line, with the orders of officers and non-commissioned officers, were moored on the "armed troop carrier" next to the trestle. The small crane put cars, horses, The ammunition box was hoisted on the ship, while the soldiers on the trestle stepped on the web boat with thick arms placed on the side of the ship.

Each of them received a small sign. After boarding the ship, they had to follow the signs to enter the narrow cabins, and then wait there for the arrival of the last landing moment. Of course, it took a few days to sail before they arrived at their destination.

"This is the steamboat!"

On the beach, soldiers with rifles looked at these steel-shelled ships in surprise. Many of them made steamboats for the first time, and even saw this steel-shell steamboat for the first time.

"Good boy, this boat is so big!"

The soldiers sighed at the size of the steel-shell ship there, but they didn't know that these armed shiplifts were small boats of about 3,000 tons. After sailing to the ocean, a little wave would shake violently. In the next few days, almost all of them will suffer.

And they also don't know that there are only 4,57 steam ships in China's maritime industry, with a total tonnage of only 38,18,89 tons.

Jiang Fangzhen, as the chief of staff of the army, was very worried about this matter before the war. If you can't transport soldiers, you can't fight. The army is different from the navy. The navy has at least a few troop carriers, and the army doesn't even have a santa.

Moreover, in order to keep the Army's action plan confidential, the Army specifically requested that the Shipping Department must consider the issue of confidentiality when preparing ships. For this reason, when making the corresponding requisition plan, the Shipping Department looked through the list of ships of each shipping companies.

Finally, a trainee staff officer of the navy put forward a "reasonable suggestion" - to borrow a ship to blockade the sea.

It was in this name that the navy marked ten steamboats in red on the list, and then directly sent an official letter to the Maritime Department of the Ministry of Agriculture and Commerce.

"The ships on the list want to be borrowed and used immediately, so that these ships can be gathered in Sandu Australia within a week!"

And the shipping companies that received the notice only answered.

"I see!"

Subsequently, under the coordination of the Shipping Department of the Ministry of Agriculture and Commerce, all the 36 cargo ships requisitioned gathered in Sandu Australia within the specified time, and the crew was then listed in active service. As for those foreign captains, they were "semi-overage" in the Sandu Australia Naval Base. Until the armed merchant fleet sailed out of Sandu Australia again, they were still hanging in the sea. The sixth and seventh blockade fleets of the army, and the task they are going to carry out is to "go to the sea to carry out the blockade mission at sea".

At least before the fleet arrived in Subei, all the crew thought it was their task.

At this time, on the temporary dock of the Northern Jiangsu Army Training Base, any crew member who saw these army soldiers with live ammunition ready to board the ship could vaguely guess what they were going to do.

"I'm going to attack Japan!"

The crew whispered in their hearts or mouths, while the army soldiers were still boarding the ship.

Since getting on the ship, Wei Ze has been lying in his berth, which can accommodate a company's compartment. After a day's voyage, it is filled with all kinds of odors. Because of the ventilation pipe, no one knows where the loud speech comes from in the compartment. Occasionally, the sound of the turbine will also be heard. Come here, and even in the middle of the night, you can hear someone kicking the gun equipment on the ground.

But Wei Ze, who was lying in **, looked calm. He just closed his eyes, put the rifle in his chest, and his helmet and backpack were placed at the head of the bed. Most of the time in the past three days, he looked like he closed his eyes and refreshed.

“*（—......（*”

In the compartment, from time to time, you can hear the translators in the company teaching the soldiers to learn the words from time to time. They are nothing more than sayings such as raising their hands and lying on the ground. Of course, there are also some words that deter the surname.

However, everyone doesn't seem to be interested in it.

"What to learn, one with one with one translation, one with four translations..."

Of course, this is just an excuse, just a reason, just a reason and an excuse that the soldiers don't want to learn.

"The simplest deterrence on the battlefield is that the white knife enters and the red knife comes out!"

Almost every officer and soldier of the Imperial Guard Army knows this eternal truth. Deterrence is not based on the mouth, but on the muzzle of the gun.

"Sergeant Sergeant!"

The words next to his head only made Wei Ze twist his head gently, but his eyes still did not open. He knew that now he must take advantage of the calmness of the sea.

"Take advantage of it now to have a good sleep, otherwise, there will be a wave, and you won't have a chance to sleep!"

Wei Ze said again, and then continued to sleep, but the voice next to him did not seem to want to let him go.

"Sergeant, do you think it's really like what the officer said..."

"Huh?"

Wei Ze, who opened his eyes slightly, took a look at Wu Zhenhua, a 17- or 18-year-old teenager. He was the first conscripts of the Chinese Empire. Now China implements a compulsory military service system. New recruits like them are mostly for the benefit of "the Rongmin family's lifelong exemption from agricultural tax".

Rongmin's tax exemption is the biggest difference between China's compulsory military service and other countries. Sometimes I think that a soldier can benefit the two families, and sometimes Wei Ze even considers whether he should contact his old family to see if he can... "I am the enemy?"

When the young Wu Zhenhua spit out this sentence, there was a trace of doubt between his eyebrows. This is what the officers said, saying that he was all enemies.

What should I do with the enemy? As a soldier, Wu Zhenhua understands that there is only one way for the enemy, which is to kill them.

They are all enemies!

Wei Ze was stunned at first. This is the officer's direct order. The verbal order is very clear. He must use the most resolute and decisive action to completely cut off the thought of trying to resist.

At the combat layout meeting held in the battalion, the battalion commander said bluntly that as for the rules of engagement... there are no rules! In other words, as long as you think it is appropriate, the frontline officers and soldiers can use any method, as long as they can effectively attack the enemy.

And what does this command mean?

As a veteran, Wei Ze knows more than anyone what this order means, which means that the officers have relaxed their actions for everyone. After launching an attack, everyone can do whatever they want and kill any enemy at will, without considering that the other party is a civilian or a soldier.

"As long as you can win!"

When he said this to himself in his heart, Wei Ze did not show any emotion.

As for whether he can win or not, Wei Ze does not doubt it. At most, he just doubts whether everyone has done it. If he has learned anything in Alcatraz, I'm afraid that there is no word "impossible" in the army. As long as you do it, you can do it. It's not because you didn't do it, and you don't have the idea of "try it". Learning from military life, Wei Ze has long learned patience, and also learned that "as long as you do it, you can do it". He also knows that this is the combat effectiveness of the Guards.

"Don't talk nonsense, obey orders, and try to do your own things well!"

While talking, Wei Ze turned over and turned his body aside, but he saw that Chen Translator in the company was lying on the small shop and seemed to be writing something. Chen Translator was staying alive. Originally, he should have taught the soldiers to learn Japanese, but now he is just writing in **. The soldiers are not willing to waste time learning the original words, and the officers have no clear requirements. Anyway, they are all enemies. For the enemy, the approach of the guards is very simple. Killing them, that is, dead people, that is, it is necessary. Do you want to talk to them?

"Maybe I'm writing a letter to my family!"

Lieing on the bunk, Chen Mingtian, who had just finished writing the diary, could clearly feel that the waves were coming, and the boat seemed to be a little bumpy. Writing the diary was a habit formed after studying abroad three years ago. In the past three years, he has never stopped writing the diary. To some extent, he has always regarded himself as a person who abides by the rules of life. Because of this, unlike the relative resistance shown by others after receiving the conscription order, Chen Mingtian enjoys this regular life in the army.

After writing a short diary, he took out a pile of postcards from his backpack. The front of the colored postcard was the Japanese "Mount Fuji". This was sent by the officer when everyone got on the boat, saying that when the Japanese book arrived, everyone sent a postcard to relatives and friends from the Japanese book, which was also a souvenir.

"Classmates, how are you? Teacher, I have the honor to serve in the army. Everything is safe and sound. I hope you can grow up quickly and serve the country..."

Chen Mingtian's words on the postcard are very simple. Before receiving the conscription order, Chen Mingtian was a middle school teacher with the first grade of junior high school. Although he failed to graduate when he was studying abroad in Japan, it was enough to lead junior high school.

Should we write a farewell letter full of ** and patriotism to the children?

After writing a few postcards in succession, those children came to Chen Mingtian's mind. As a teacher, didn't he also read them the military suicide letters selected from the newspaper in class?

Isn't this the best opportunity?

Realizing that this would be an opportunity to educate children, Chen Mingtian quickly picked up his pen and wrote on a postcard.

"Children, it has been three months since I left you. Maybe the teacher has never had a chance to see you again. As a Chinese, when I studied abroad five years ago, I was called a dolphin-tail slave and a Qing Dynasty slave. In fact, it is a shame for men and a shame for China. Today, the teacher is lucky to serve in the army. I, and landed with the army. Every time I thought that the teacher would be in this great battle, the teacher only felt that his blood was boiling, so excited that he could not restrain himself. Tomorrow's battle was of extraordinary significance to me. This was the first time in my military career that the teacher and I went to the battlefield to rush to the enemy. At this time, the teacher felt myself. Just like being blessed by God, your teacher's first battle was in such a great war. Now you may not be able to imagine how much impact this war will have on history. If we win, the war will end soon, and our motherland will really join the ranks of the world's powers. And teacher, I firmly believe that we will be able to win..."

Although he is not a Chinese teacher, Chen Mingtian still wrote a "soldier's masterpiece" on the postcard with the words of **. He can even see that when the children in his class received his own postcard, the students When we read out the contents of this postcard, tears will keep falling from their faces, but the most important thing is.

They will receive a real patriotic education. What can make them intuitively receive the most real and direct patriotic education than letters from front-line soldiers?

Thinking of this, Chen Mingtian raised up and looked around at the crowded and narrow compartment. Some of the soldiers were napping, some were chatting there, and some were checking their weapons there. These were a group of innocent and tame young people. These comrades-in-arms gave him the illusion that they were their own students.

Maybe they should be asked to write letters to the children!

Looking at these comrades-in-arms, he thought in his heart. When he closed his eyes, he could even feel what his students would be excited when they received postcards sent to them by these soldiers. After all, this was a letter with gunpowder from soldiers from the front line.

For any student, this letter is undoubtedly a treasure, which is bound to be cherished by those students, and at the same time, students can get a good education.

"Yes, you can mobilize your comrades-in-arms to write letters to the students!"

Thinking about it, Chen Mingtian squeezed out of the sixth bed where he slept. There were still several soldiers chatting in the narrow aisle. "I really want to wash my face. If I could wash my face with cold water, how happy it would be!"

A soldier stretched out and said that on the transport ship, fresh water is precious. In their memory, the last time they washed their face seemed to be before they got on the ship.

"Wash your face?"

The speaker is Song Pengcheng. This first-class soldier is a restoration veteran.

"I just want to poop comfortably now!"

While speaking, he pointed to his head.

"If you shit in this place, it's almost the same as the punishment..."

He referred to the only few bathrooms on the ship, which were so simple that their buttocks were half exposed to the transport ship when they untied their hands.

In a word, on this troop carrier, everything is an extravagant hope. There will be no normal life here. All life is obviously different from those on land, and even the conditions of life are far worse than in the field. At least on the battlefield, washing your face and solving your hands are not a luxury.

The long journey and narrow space, coupled with the bad air, made almost everyone fall into an indescribable dryness. They lost their usual activity. They were all anxious and didn't know what to do.

"Hey, first-class soldier Song, what's the matter?"

Chen Mingtian, who came down from the bed, asked Song Pengcheng.

"What? There is only one thing to sleep here!"

Song Pengcheng responded with boredom.

"Oh, that's right. If it's okay, can I ask you a favor?"

"What's the matter? Come on, translator!"

"That's right,"

Looking at the people around them is full of interest. In this boring voyage, everything can make them interested.

"I want to write to my students. No, I want you to write to my students..."

(to be continued)