At this time, the sea surface was slightly windy and the waves were low, and it was still clearly visible more than ten miles away. Seeing the British naval fleet, Bu Xiuqiu murmured a curse and became nervous.
He couldn't help but be nervous. The three ships were just ordinary merchant ships. They were a little nervous even going out to the open sea. They were unarmed and couldn't protect themselves at all.
At this time, Europa has already acquired some skills from China, and has made progress in both muskets and cannon-making. But the gap between them in basic industry is too big, so although the appearance of muskets and artillery is equivalent to that of China, there is a gap of more than one generation in performance.
Even so, the long and short muskets of dozens of security guards on the three ships may not be able to block the opponent's artillery.
"They are signaling!" the crew announced: "We need to stop immediately and accept inspection, otherwise the gun will be fired"
"Ignore them, as long as they dare to fire, it means declaring war on China." Bu Xiuqiu said.
Huang Zongxi looked at him with some surprise. This young naturalized Chinese was quite brave. In the past few years, naturalized Japanese, Japanese and Annan people have been working for China in Africa and Europe in the hope of making contributions and earning a future for their descendants. They always rush to do the most tiring, painful and dangerous work, and perform extremely well. Fortunately, most of the young generation trained under the Chinese education system are full of passion. The pride during the rise of the empire prevents them from doing so. He tolerates himself being inferior to those naturalized people in any aspect, so the younger generation of China can still suppress these naturalized people.
"Isn't it tantamount to declaring war now?" Huang Zongxi said.
"Of course it doesn't mean that. Chief Huang Shan also knows that there are sectarian disputes among European countries. The dispute between England and England started early. Now King Charles II actually respects the Pope in Rome, but most of the old members of his country's cabinet believe in Protestantism. Before that, Those who besiege us are mostly members of the Pope's group. If we pursue the case, they will send some scapegoats at worst, just saying that it is a heresy. If that doesn't work, they can also send out Charles II as a scapegoat - Dong Lin Bu in the former Ming Dynasty Have you ever sent Emperor Chongzhen out to be a scapegoat?"
These words immediately set off Huang Zongxi's rebellion. Although Huang Zongxi accepted the fact that Yu Guozhen was the emperor of China, he still stubbornly believed that the Donglin Party had hundreds of benefits and no harm to the country. He rolled his eyes and glared at Bu Xiuqiu: "National events have their own historical commentary, why should you, a Japanese, say it!"
"Captain Huangshan, I respect your great knowledge and don't want to argue with you, but if you say 'Japanese' one more time, I will throw you into the sea, along with all your rotten Confucian scholars and naturalized students, and go back Just say it was Yingman¡¯s doing.¡±
Bu Xiuqiu rolled his eyes, with murderous intent in his eyes. If Donglin is Huang Zongxi's reverse scale, then the Japanese species is his reverse scale. He had always regarded himself as a retainer of the Yu family, because he had been studying with Yu Xiang for a long time, but his origin as a Japanese made him deeply hate him.
When Huang Zongxi heard what he said, he couldn't help but feel angry. He was about to say "How dare you" but saw Niu Duo standing behind with a pale face, so he endured the tone.
He himself can ignore life and death, but he cannot cause these naturalized beings to die with him. The Confucian road is like a tree with three branches. Now that Europa is seeing a trend of prosperity, he must endure it!
"snort!"
After the two stared at each other, they both turned away.
"Captain, they are urging us, how should we respond?" the sailor asked Bu Xiuqiu.
"Reply to the past, if you dare to attack us, you are attacking China."
This reply was cold and hard, which surprised Huang Zongxi: "How about shelling the enemy?"
"Being born as a hero of China, one should have the arrogance to fight to the death." Bu Xiuqiu replied coldly.
"You are crazy, don't you know that Han Xin can endure the humiliation of his crotch for the time being"
"That's a personal grudge, Chief Huangshan. You just insulted me. I can bear it because it's a personal grudge. Now it's national prestige. I'm serving in the Chinese army, how can I lose the prestige of our country?"
Speaking of this, Bu Xiuqiu had a kind of fanaticism in his eyes.
The surrounding security guards nodded one after another. Most of them were naturalized Chinese citizens. This identity was obtained through their own efforts, or their families had put in countless efforts. Therefore, they cherished their identities more than the real ones. Chinese people are even more proud of their identity.
Huang Zongxi was speechless. He looked at Niu Rui's twitching buttocks again, and suddenly felt his interest waning.
Niu Pu is considered his disciple, and these naturalized Chinese who studied at Xinxiang Elementary School are Yu Guozhen¡¯s disciples. His disciples, at least in terms of courage, are far inferior to these people.
"Boom!"
After the flag message was answered here, the British navy was silent for a while, and then fired.
Cromwell isDuring his reign, England established a considerable navy, and Charles II inherited his power. But this artillery blast was a little far away, and it was obviously just for intimidation, hoping to scare the Chinese people. But the three ships ignored them and hoisted their sails, looking for a way to break through.
These three sailing ships are all Chinese models, and their speed when fully loaded with sails is better than ordinary sail warships. Seeing them breaking through the waves and getting further away, the English finally made up their mind. The cannons on the battleships rang out one after another, stirring up clouds of water around the three sailboats. Niu Dun murmured and knelt on the ground to pray, but Huang Zongxi pulled him up.
¡°Don¡¯t lose your momentum!¡± Huang Zongxi shouted, looking at the security guards who, although their faces were pale and had different expressions, were all holding on to the cable fence.
Niu Rui was silent, his heart full of disappointment. He was really interested in Confucianism and studied with Huang Zongxi. Firstly, he had food to eat and clothes to wear. Secondly, he also wanted to learn some practical Chinese knowledge from Huang Zongxi. What he is really interested in is this, which is much more practical than moral principles and the like, and Niu Dun has no doubt that these things can help him change his very embarrassing situation. But now that we have not yet come into contact with the essence of Chinese practical learning, we will be buried in the water first.
He only hoped that the British fleet would take care of the people who fell into the water after sinking the ship. He had already seen a wooden box nearby. If the ship was hit, he made up his mind to replace it with an empty wooden box.
However, when shooting at sea, it is not so easy to hit the target. The British Navy's shooting skills are good, but after chasing for half an hour, they still only hit two guns, and neither of them were seriously injured but slightly injured.
"But the speed of the boat slowed down after being injured, and we saw that the distance between the two sides was gradually getting closer.
At this moment, cheers came from the first ship. Bu Xiuqiu looked east and saw a few smoke pillars emerging between the sea and the sky. Seeing this, he was immediately overjoyed: It was a Chinese steamship!
Countries in Europe are also imitating steam engines. In fact, some coal mines in England are already using steam engines to pump water, but currently these steam engines cannot be used as ship power. Bu Xiuqiu has read an internal investigation report, which states that it will take about five to six years before Europa can actually produce a steam engine that can be used as power.
However, China is confident in its technological advantages. The number of officially supported researchers in China alone is more than 30,000. Including the investment of various industrialists, among China's population of about 150 million, there are only 30,000 researchers. The number has reached more than 50,000. Some people say that, together with various craftsmen who make their own inventions and create in the hope of winning the government-established awards, there are as many as 200,000 to 300,000 researchers in China. Thanks to their efforts, China's steam engines have reached the fourth generation, and even internal combustion engines have entered the experimental stage.
Now, the appearance of Chinese steamships here means that the Chinese escort fleet stationed in Lisbon got the news and came here to receive support.
Huang Zongxi knew that the Chinese West Sea Fleet has a squadron stationed in Lisbon, which rotates every six months. This fleet is the most powerful fleet in China today, because there are no enemy forces worth mentioning in the entire South China Sea, so the new ships Almost all of them were assigned to the West Sea Fleet. The entire fleet has twelve battleships, three of which are stationed in Lisbon. Together with auxiliary ships, the number is eleven. Although such a fleet is not enough to completely destroy the English fleet, there is no doubt that they can be driven back.
The English also saw the three smoke pillars, which proved that at least three Chinese navy warships were coming. They obviously panicked, and then began to intensify the bombardment, trying to sink the three merchant ships in the shortest time. However, everyone on the merchant ship was encouraged by the impending rescue. One by one, they scooped up water and paddled, speeding up the ship as much as possible. The distance between the two sides, which was originally close, actually began to widen again.
The English estimated the situation and found that the Chinese Navy's gunboats would arrive in about an hour. At this time, it would be difficult for them to achieve their goals. In this case, they would retreat to the port and rely on the forts to hold on. It's their only choice.
"It's the Huaqing!"
Bu Xiuqiu said excitedly when he saw the approaching warship glowing with metallic luster in the sun.
It is indeed China's first all-steel battleship Huaqing. In terms of body shape, it is not big among battleships, but its tonnage is very heavy. More importantly, it is equipped with thick armor. , the solid shells used by most of Europa's warships today are simply unable to penetrate its armor. The purpose of sending this battleship to Europa was to promote the country's power and deter the intimidating and unethical Europeans. Secondly, it was to accumulate more experience in ocean navigation of iron-clad battleships and test the practicality of this first iron-clad battleship.
"You have worked hard. "
After being picked up by the Huaqing, Huang Zongxi couldn't help but feel wet in his eyes when he heard what Yu Dahai said. Such a simple sentence, heard after escaping death, is really heart-warming. He felt a sense of pride as a Chinese, and then he looked at Gu Ma Shiying with a smile.
"Huang Taichong, you are in a bit of a panic this time."
"Huh, Ma Yaocao, I disappoint you. I didn't die here, but you, old man, dare to take a boat out?"
"That's inevitable. I'm going back to China and I have to come and see you - this is our Minister of Foreign Affairs of China, Minister Xu Zhongxu. Taichong, why don't you come over to see me?"
Huang Zongxi looked at the many people around Ma Shiying with some surprise. He had known him before, but he had never met the leader of the Chinese army. Such a distinguished high-ranking official would also appear here!
"Chang Huangshan, please tell me what is the situation in England." Many people said with smiles: "I can tell you the truth. Your Majesty sent me here this time to completely solve the problem in England. Your point of view will be It will decide how much blood will be shed when the British barbarians are defeated!"