Volume 1 Tigers in Southeast Asia Chapter 7: Go to Southeast Asia and conquer the world
The Japanese soldiers rushed towards Lin Fei like crazy. Lin Fei picked up the girl and stepped onto the whaling ship in a few steps. At this time, the whaling ship shook, left the dock and sailed out of the port. There was a burst of gunfire on the shore. Lin Fei lay on the deck and bullets flew over his head.
The whaling ship took advantage of the current and quickly sailed more than 500 meters. Lin Fei looked at the gradually moving away coast and knew that the Japanese could not catch up with him, and they could not send out warships to catch him, because in this era there was no radar or global positioning system, and it was impossible to find a ship in the vast ocean.
Lin Fei let out a long breath and loosened his arms. The girl fell to the deck with a cry of "Ouch" and began to cry. Lin Fei's strength seemed to be drained away in an instant. He sat down on the deck, gasping for breath.
At this time, the prisoners gathered around and said, "Lin Shangguan is really amazing! How do you know that the Japanese dare not disobey you?"
Lin Fei smiled bitterly and said, "I was just gambling with my life, and we won. The devils listened to me."
Everyone cheered. At this time, Li Mingbai came close to Lin Fei, pointed at the crying girl on the ground and said with a smirk: "Shangguan Lin? How should we deal with this woman? We brothers haven't touched a woman for several months." After Li Mingbai finished speaking, all the prisoners grinned.
Lin Fei frowned and said, "What nonsense are you talking about? Go back to the cabin. There are still many things to do. Stop thinking about women!"
Li Mingbai sneered twice and led everyone back to the cabin. Lin Fei walked up to the girl, squatted down, and asked in Japanese: "Do your eyes still hurt?"
The girl ignored him and cried. Lin Fei said, "Miss Chiyomika, I'm really sorry for what happened today. Don't worry, we won't hurt you."
Chiyo Miyuki choked and said, "I want to go home, please, let me go home..." Chiyo Miyuki cried pitifully, her shoulders and neck trembled constantly, the bruises on her neck caused by Lin Fei's arm were particularly eye-catching, one of her clogs fell off, and her white socks fell on the deck, revealing her white and tender feet, which were covered with scratches of blood.
Lin Fei looked at her and felt guilty. He sighed lightly, picked up her clogs and white socks, asked her to put them on, then picked her up and took her to the captain's room. He called a sailor from the Zhiyuan ship. This sailor was the one who said to Lin Fei, "The ammunition belt has been filed down a bit, but it still can't fit into the barrel." His name was Sun Yong, and he was the chief gunner on the Zhiyuan ship, and a senior non-commissioned officer.
Lin Fei asked him to guard outside Chiyomika's room and not let anyone approach the cabin, then he came to the cockpit. Inside the cockpit, Liu Daming was steering with two Zhiyuan sailors. Lin Fei asked, "Are the nautical charts and magnetic compasses useful?"
Liu Daming laughed out loud and said, "Don't worry, it's very useful."
Lin Fei said: "Okay, let my men keep an eye on it. Come out and we'll have a meeting."
Liu Daming followed Lin Fei to the main deck. Lin Fei called Yu Xier and others to the deck. Everyone sat on the deck. Lin Fei said first: "Brothers, we have escaped from the Japanese. Now it's time to think about where to go."
Liu Daming smiled and said, "Need I say more? Of course I'm going back to the Qing Dynasty!"
Lin Fei looked at the others and asked, "Does everyone think so?"
Li Mingbai nodded and said, "Of course! Isn't it said that fallen leaves return to their roots? Where else can we go if not home?" Everyone responded, but Lin Fei didn't say anything. At this time, Liu Daming said, "Old Lin must have other ideas. Old Lin, where do you want to take us brothers?"
Lin Fei sighed and said, "Anyway, I don't want to go back to the Qing Dynasty!"
Everyone was shocked and asked, "Where else can we go if not to the Qing Dynasty?"
Lin Fei waved his hand, signaling everyone to be quiet, and then said: "I would like to ask everyone to think about your days in the Qing Dynasty. Are you living a comfortable life?"
Although Lin Fei did not know the origins of these people, his historical knowledge told him that soldiers were discriminated against in this era. The saying "good men do not join the army, and good iron is not used to make nails" is a clear proof of this. Those who can join the army in this era are those who are so poor that they cannot even make ends meet and have to join the army to make a living.
Li Mingbai and other infantry prisoners of war all looked worried when they heard Lin Fei's words. Lin Fei said, "Brothers of the infantry, you suffered from the bullying of the landlords before you joined the army, and from the bullying of the corrupt officials after you joined the army. If we return to the Qing Dynasty, won't you still have to suffer from their bullying?"
Li Mingbai and others were silent. At this time, a sailor from the Zhiyuan ship said, "Gunner Captain, their infantry brothers are bullied, but our brothers in the fleet are different!" What the sailor said was true. The sailors who could enter the Beiyang Fleet had all passed the examination, and their quality and treatment were much higher than those of the infantry.
The sailor continued, "Our Captain Deng tells us every day that a good man should be loyal to his emperor and his country. If we don't return to the Qing Dynasty now, wouldn't we be disloyal and unrighteous?"
Lin Fei said, "Brother, think about it carefully. Even if we return to the Qing Dynasty, can we repay our country? Why can't the shells of our Zhiyuan ship be loaded into the barrel ? Why can shells of unqualified size be loaded on board? Because someone has taken money! Ask the chief steward Lao Yu, is the coal we use high-quality anthracite? No! High-quality anthracite has been sold abroad in exchange for silver!"
Yu Xier nodded and said, "Mr. Gunner is right, that's exactly what he said!"
Lin Fei said loudly: "Let me make it clear, the Qing government is corrupt and incompetent, we can't go back! I will lead you to conquer a world that belongs to us! In our world, no one will go hungry, no one will be bullied, are you willing to follow me?"
When Lin Fei said this, everyone was silent. After a long while, Li Mingbai said, "Lin Shangguan, is it true that there will be no suffering and hunger in the world you are talking about?"
Lin Fei patted his chest and said, "I, Lin Fei, told you in the prisoner-of-war camp that I have a way to rescue you. Now I tell you that I can create such a kingdom. Do you believe it?"
Li Mingbai sighed and said, "I believe it, but my parents, wife and children are all in the Qing Dynasty. Wouldn't I be abandoning them all if I leave like this?"
Lin Fei slammed his fist on the deck and said angrily: " You are still called 'Li Mingbai'? I think you should be called 'Li Hutu'. After we conquer the world, we can take them over and enjoy the good life. Isn't it better than staying in the Qing Dynasty and suffering?"
Li Mingbai thought about it, slapped the deck hard, and said loudly: "I will be hungry and bullied if I go back anyway, I will follow Officer Lin!" The infantry prisoners said one after another: "Yes, that's right, we will follow Officer Lin." However, the sailors of the Zhiyuan ship frowned one after another. They were poisoned by the idea of "loyalty to the emperor" much more seriously than the infantrymen who came from poor families.
Lin Fei first looked at Liu Daming and said, "Old Liu, we are brothers in life and death, you should express your attitude first."
Liu Daming stood up and said loudly, "Old Lin is right. The imperial court is indeed rotten to the core. Brothers of the Zhiyuan, we have seen too many things, right? Let me pick one out and talk about it. It is clearly written in our Beiyang Navy Regulations that captains are not allowed to go ashore. But look at those captains. Except for our Lord Deng, who doesn't have three wives and four concubines on shore? I've had enough of them. We are not going back!"
Liu Daming's attitude infected the sailors, and they all said, "Yes! Let's follow the gunner and not go back !"
Lin Fei looked at Yu Xier and said, "Old Yu, you are British, are you following us?"
Yu Xier smiled and said, "Although I am British, I have been with the brothers of the Zhiyuan for seven years. I cannot leave you. I will follow you!"
Lin Fei said loudly: "Okay! Since everyone is willing to follow me to conquer the world, then I will tell you where we are going. Come and see."
Lin Fei took out a world map from his pocket. He had taken it from the captain's room. He unfolded the map, pointed at it and said, "This is Nagasaki, Japan, where we are. If we go east, we will enter the vast Pacific Ocean, which is 7,000 to 8,000 nautical miles away from the North American continent. We can't go that way."
"If we go west, we will reach the Qing Dynasty. We have already said we will not go back. If we go north, we will reach Korea, which is now the territory of the Japanese. There will be no place for us to stay there. We can only go south. First in the south is Taiwan Island, then the Philippines, and then Malaya and Indonesia. Malaya is the territory of the British, and Indonesia is the territory of the Dutch."
"Britain is the world's largest country, we can't afford to offend it. The Netherlands is not weak either, we can't afford to fight them. The only place we can go is the Philippines, which is now ruled by the Spanish. Spain was the world's largest country more than 300 years ago, but now its national strength is getting weaker every year. Just a few decades ago, Spain even had an internal war, and its national strength has weakened further. So the Philippines is our first territory!"
"There are many factors in the Philippines that make it easier for us to conquer them. First, there are many Chinese in the Philippines who share the same culture and ethnicity as us and can be our strong support. Second, there are a large number of natives in the mountainous areas of the Philippines and we can unite with them. Third, the southern Philippines is dominated by Muslims. The Spaniards invaded the Philippines for more than 300 years and never defeated these Muslims. They are also the targets of our alliance."
Lin Fei spoke nonstop for a long time, and the crowd only half understood what he said, but they all secretly gave him a thumbs up, thinking, "Lin Shangguan knows a lot. It's definitely right to follow him!"
Lin Fei put away the map and continued, "The ship is fully equipped with magnetic compasses and nautical charts, so it won't be difficult to find a route to the Philippines. This ship has both sails and steam engines, so although there isn't much coal, it's enough for us to reach the Philippines. There's also a lot of whale meat and whale oil on board, enough for us to eat. Let's change our route now and go to the Philippines to conquer the world!"