Volume 1: The Battleship Yitian Changes into the Sino-Japanese War of 1894 Chapter 64: The Uninvited Russian Fleet
On this day, the two destroyers "Feiting" and "Feiying" arrived in Weihai and officially joined the torpedo ship division of the Beiyang Fleet.
Although it was a bit small (no more than one thousand tons ), he happily "accepted it" based on the principle that hairy is not bald.
As soon as the war broke out, the confused Emperor Guangxu ordered the Ministry of Revenue to allocate funds to purchase warships overseas. However, the two destroyers that had been purchased were all detained by neutral countries. In addition, it seemed that the Nanyang side also bought four large torpedo boats, which were also unable to return to China to participate in the war. This incident also reminded Sun Gang that if you cannot produce weapons yourself and buy them during the war, you will be controlled by others in every way. Therefore, the matter of this shipyard is indeed urgent.
"It was quite easy to raise the money." Ma Yue looked at him with a smile, "With your title as the Minister of Shipbuilding, everything goes well for you."
"You can't do anything rash." Sun Gang looked at her and smiled.
"In fact, the business community is very optimistic about overseas trade, but they are short of ships." The beloved wife let him hold her and said. Now she was used to him holding her.
"Why didn't you tell me earlier? I already have it." Sun Gang laughed.
"You don't want to use warships, do you? I heard that two new ships have arrived?" Ma Yue asked.
"What are you thinking? If I do that, the emperor and his mother will eat me up." Sun Gang looked at her with frustration and said, "It's cheap for you to be a destroyer."
"Then where did you get the boat?" Ma Yue asked, blinking her big eyes.
"You don't know? The Chileans stole them." Sun Gang said, "When they were sent to harass the Japanese coast, they captured many Japanese merchant ships, including the people, ships and goods. After the treaty was signed, the people were expelled back to their country. As for the goods and ships, I accepted them all."
"You've cashed in all the goods, right? I was wondering where you got the money from." Ma Yue laughed and said, "What a lucky guy."
"Is the Beiyang Navy's first lucky star called for nothing?" Sun Gang said proudly, "Tell me, how much do you want?"
"How much do you have?" Ma Yue asked, tilting her head.
"There are sixteen , all of which are large cargo ships. I have converted four of them into transport ships, and there are twelve left." Sun Gang said.
"Great, I want them all." Ma Yue smiled and stretched out her white palm.
"You have a big appetite." Sun Gang looked at her in surprise and patted her hand.
"If you want a battleship, give me the ship and I guarantee that your dream will come true," she said firmly.
"Okay." He kissed her lovingly, and the foundation of "Husband and Wife Shipping Company" was laid with this kiss.
"I have two pieces of news for you, one good and one bad. Which one do you want to hear first?" That day, after finishing his official duties, his beloved wife began to "harass" him again.
"Listen first." Sun Gang said.
"Remember the British cruiser you sank in Nagasaki on your submarine?" Ma Yue said, "It wasn't actually British."
"What? What's going on?" Sun Gang asked in surprise.
"That's the Argentine armored cruiser '25 de Mayo '," she said. "The Japanese commissioned Ecuador to purchase it. It was purchased less than a day ago, and you destroyed it."
"How did you know?" Sun Gang looked at her in surprise and asked.
"Don't you want to set up a military intelligence department? I got a few people to test their abilities first." She looked at him proudly and said, "What you just heard is the result of their 'trial period' activities."
"Fortunately it was sunk, otherwise Japan would have another 'Yoshino' and we would have to worry again." Sun Gang stuck out his tongue, looked at the beauty in front of him and said, "You are really amazing. You wouldn't even trade for a prime minister." He couldn't help but think of the famous beautiful prime minister of Ukraine in later generations.
"It's good that you know." She smiled. "Maybe I will really be the prime minister in the future."
"So what's the bad news?" Sun Gang asked uneasily.
"The bad news is that the Russians landed in Hokkaido, and the Japanese used a coordinated sea and land attack to drive them back to sea." Ma Yue said, "The Russian Pacific Fleet was preparing for a massive retaliation, and Britain and the United States stepped in to mediate. The Russians agreed to withdraw their troops, and the Japanese agreed to Russia's temporary occupation of Kunashir Island."
"Dog bites dog, that sounds good." Sun Gang looked at her blankly, "It should be considered good news."
"Really?" She put her face close to him and teased him, "But many warships of the Russian Pacific Fleet are heading our way. They have already passed North Korea. Do you know why?"
"What? Towards Lushun?" Sun Gang was shocked. "When did that happen?"
"Come on, I'm a girl, why are you asking me this?" She smiled and tapped his forehead, "Yesterday."
What did the Russians want to do? Sun Gang's mind was in a mess for a while, but his wife saw that he was really anxious and called him back to his senses with a word.
"We don't know anything else." She held his face, looked at him and said, "I've been here for several years. I only know that every winter, the Beiyang Fleet has to go to the southern ports to avoid the cold, so..."
Sun Gang immediately understood what she meant. The Russians had no ice-free ports in the East, and they wanted to find an excuse to come to Lushun to spend the winter!
They have been coveting Lushun, the first fortress in East Asia, for a long time!
When he thought about it carefully, he broke out in a cold sweat again. He had focused too much on Japan and forgot there was a polar bear behind him!
No wonder Russia was the only country that did not declare neutrality when the war broke out!
If he had not changed the outcome of the Battle of the Yellow Sea, Port Arthur might not have belonged to China!
They suffered losses in Japan and probably felt that the Japanese were too stubborn and difficult to deal with, so they wanted to come to China to take advantage of the situation!
"Let Lord Lin and the others go out to sea. Can't you not go?" Seeing that he looked a little panicked, she gave him a deep comforting kiss and said.
"Okay." He nodded, and his thoughts returned to the Beiyang Fleet. He couldn't help but look worried again, which made her, who was originally happy, very puzzled.
"What's wrong?" she asked carefully.
"'Dingyuan' and 'Zhenyuan' are being refitted and cannot go out to sea." Sun Gang said, "There is only one battleship, the 'Kaiyuan'. If a battle breaks out, I'm afraid we will suffer."
After hearing his words, a trace of worry appeared on her face.
Sun Gang immediately informed Lin Taizeng, Zhang Wenxuan and Xu Bangdao of the situation, and sent an urgent telegram to Li Hongzhang and Ding Ruchang. Lin Taizeng was shocked when he learned about it, and immediately ordered all ships to prepare for battle and light fires to prepare for departure.
As the shrill alarm sounded, the entire base became busy and nervous.
Sun Gang looked out the window and saw team after team of soldiers rushing to their posts. The warships in the harbor sounded whistles. The "Sun-Chasing" torpedo cruiser was the first to sail out of the harbor and slowly disappeared from sight. Sun Gang knew that she was going out for reconnaissance.
"Your people are very efficient. I plan to set up the Beiyang Military Intelligence Office as soon as possible." Sun Gang said to his beloved wife who came to take care of him, and gave her a comforting smile, "Don't worry, I won't go to sea. I have handed over the command of the torpedo ship division to Captain Cai." He knew that she was still worried and afraid that he would go to sea secretly.
"I'll wait for the telegram and their news here." He pointed to the fleet in the harbor and said, "You go back and rest. I promise not to go out."
"My being here won't cause you any trouble." Ma Yue said stubbornly.
Sun Gang watched the warships sail out of the harbor one after another. On the "Kaiyuan" ship, Lin Taizeng's admiral flag was fluttering in the wind. The "Dingyuan" and "Zhenyuan" were unable to go into battle now. Could this "new sister" from Chile turn the tide?
Did the Russians know that the two battleships of the Beiyang Fleet were under overhaul, so they arrived so timely?
His heart suddenly seemed to be hit by something.
Could it be that the Russians also have spies in China?
"It's useless for you to think too much now." Ma Yue comforted him, "Master Zhongtang has been notified. You have done your best. Now, it depends on Master Lin and the others."
"If my estimation is correct, the Russian envoy should be sending us an ultimatum at the Zongli Yamen right now." Sun Gang sneered, "Maybe they want to find a place to hibernate for a long time. If we don't agree, they will take advantage of the absence of our two battleships to attack us . They have a very shrewd plan. They really deserve to be killed."
"I never thought that the two battleships would play such a big role." Ma Yue nodded and said.
"The crown of the king of naval warfare is now worn by the battleship, and later passed to the aircraft carrier and submarine." Sun Gang said: "Therefore, the purchase of battleships is urgent."
He looked at her thoughtful expression, smiled, and comforted her, saying, "It's no use saying anything now. We can only wait. I don't know how the Lord Zhongtang is doing."
"I think there will be a telegram coming soon." Ma Yue said, " Forget it, instead of just waiting here, let's talk about something else."
"What do you want to say?" Sun Gang asked with a smile.
"Let's talk about topics that you men are interested in." She looked at him with a smile and said.
"What do you mean?" Sun Gang asked curiously, feeling a sense of "danger" for some reason.
"You are really too cruel. You left such a beautiful woman alone for so many days without going to see her. " She laughed. It was indeed a dangerous topic, and the alert level was above orange.
"I haven't put in any effort..." He fell into a trap with just one sentence.
"Oh..." She raised her head slightly, as if something had suddenly dawned on her, "So it turns out that I don't have the time."
He looked at her in frustration, unable to explain himself.
"I forgot..." The more I explained, the worse it got.
"So you're still thinking about it?" Ma Yue asked.
Sun Gang looked at her carefully and didn't dare to say anything. Ever since his beloved wife started to compete with the Beiyang Military Intelligence Department, she has been showing more and more signs of acting like a fox.
She looked at his embarrassed look and finally couldn't help laughing out loud, "Look at you, that's so funny."
"It's not funny at all." Sun Gang still didn't dare to relax his "vigilance" and waited carefully for her next words.
"Okay, okay, it's just a joke, stop here." She smiled and pinched his nose, and said, "I talked to her. She is very good at poetry, calligraphy and painting, and she knows Mandarin and Japanese. I heard from her that she wants to be your secretary, so I came to tell you."
Sun Gang looked at her carefully, trying to determine if this was another trap.
"What are you looking at! Can you please stop standing there in a daze?" she said with a smile.
"Let's discuss it later." Sun Gang saw an officer hurriedly coming over with a telegram, and hurriedly said to her, taking the opportunity to end this more "dangerous" topic.
Korean version of female secretary? What a joke!
"Sir, Lord Zhongtang called." said the officer, handing him the telegram.
