Chapter 244: Going Into Battle in Person

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Wei Jichen stayed in the submarine for half a quarter of an hour, excited and depressed. He was excited because he had just obtained such a weapon, but depressed because he knew nothing and dared not move. At most, he could only turn on the light and watch anxiously.

No, Yang Yonglin must be found.

The headquarters of Kuaima Shipping on Changxing Island has built rows of houses as residences for company employees. The welfare of shipping companies is definitely much better than that of large companies in later generations.

Food and accommodation are provided, and even sailors can be allocated a large house.

As the commander of the fleet, Yang Yonglin was allocated a small courtyard. Compared with being a captain in the Beiyang Navy, his salary is much higher.

Yang Yonglin lay on the bed, tossing and turning, unable to sleep. This was all caused by Wei Jichen.

"Oh, my leg!" Yang Yonglin looked at his bare knees. His calves were completely gone. Yang Yonglin asked someone to buy a pair of artificial limbs from abroad, hoping to walk with his own strength.

Why think so much? Turning over, Yang Yonglin continued to think: I should just take care of the fleet. The Junma has two cargo holds that can be expanded to carry more cargo.

Well, I should suggest that Wei Shuai install some weapons on each ship. So now the company's route only opens from Lushun to Dagukou. This line is relatively peaceful, but when the business grows in the future, it is hard to guarantee that there will be no pirates or the like. It is not possible not to install some cannons on the ship.

The cargo ship is not without armed forces. Wei Jichen equipped the sailors with rifles, and each ship was equipped with two Maxim machine guns. However, Yang Yonglin, who came from the navy, did not think of personal equipment first, but to transform the ship.

Bang, bang, bang…

A knock on the door interrupted Yang Yonglin's reverie. Who would come to see me so late? Did something happen to the shipping company?

Yang Yonglin quickly sat up, put on his clothes, and said, "Come in, the door is not locked."

Yang Yonglin was not mobile, and there were no criminals on the island, so he didn't close the door every night when he went to bed.

Two soldiers came in with lanterns. Yang Yonglin saw their faces and found that they were Wei Jichen's personal soldiers. He asked curiously, "Is it General Wei who is looking for me? Is there something wrong so late?"

One of the soldiers smiled and said, "You will know when you go there."

The two lifted him up. Yang Yonglin looked puzzled. Seeing them lift him to the mysterious port, he was even more curious.

You know, since the port was repaired, even Yang Yonglin could not enter.

Yang Yonglin watched carefully along the way and was secretly shocked. He saw checkpoints everywhere along the way, with a guard every five steps and a sentry every ten steps. From time to time, he would find the vague figures of one or two soldiers in the dark. What made him feel even more uncomfortable was that it seemed that wherever he went, there were people watching them vigilantly.

This is a civilian port, with strict guards, even more so than military ports. Could it be that there are some unspeakable secrets hidden in it? Yang Yonglin's heart was pounding, and he seemed to feel that he was one step closer to Wei Jichen.

Hey, there is a ship in this port. In the dark, Yang Yonglin only saw the general outline. When he got closer, Yang Yonglin found that this behemoth was about 30 meters long and 20 meters wide.

"What kind of new cargo ship is this? I have never seen it before." Yang Yonglin, who thought he was knowledgeable, looked at the steel behemoth half floating on the water curiously. The cold smell emanating from the ship made him more interested and began to think hard.

When they were only a dozen meters away, Yang Yonglin suddenly felt a shock in his heart. He suddenly felt that this ship was a bit similar to the submarine described.

As a naval commander, Yang Yonglin naturally paid close attention to the situation of the navies of various countries. During the American Civil War, he built a ship that could sail underwater and prepared to attack enemy ships with mines. He achieved results and sank the battleship Monsatoni, creating the first case of a submarine sinking a warship.

Now more than 30 years have passed since the American Civil War. Although countries have not paid much attention to the role of submarines, they have also conducted relevant research and developed a number of submarines.

As far as Yang Yonglin knows, in 1880, the Tianjin Machinery Bureau secretly developed an underwater motor ship. The Machinery Bureau blocked a section of the Haihe River with a wall. At that time, the Beiyang Navy was vigorously developing. The underwater motor ship was completed in the autumn of that year and was tested in the Haihe River. The ship was semi-floating on the surface and was extremely agile. It sank underwater and laid mines without any problems. It was absolutely in the world's leading position at that time.

The news leaked, which caused a sensation in the news media and attracted the attention of many countries.

Yang Yonglin, as the first mate of the Beiyang Fleet at the time, knew some inside information that others did not know. After the successful development of the underwater motorboat, the Tianjin Machinery Bureau was ready to invest more funds and manpower in its development.

However, at this critical moment, the underwater motorboat mysteriously disappeared, and even the information related to the manufacture of underwater motorboats in the Machinery Bureau caught fire and burned completely. After an investigation, the spearhead was pointed directly at the powers. The Qing government did not dare to investigate further, nor did it dare to develop underwater motorboats, and the matter was left unresolved.

The most advanced submarine in the world today is the "Gustav Zied" developed by the French two years ago. It is said to be about 40 meters long and has a displacement of more than 260 tons.

In this era, the most advanced weapons and warships developed by various countries were not regarded as secret weapons, but were vigorously promoted to other countries. Therefore, Russia ordered two submarines from Germany.

Could it be that the court secretly developed this thing somewhere else? The shell that resembles a torpedo boat, the tight appearance, and the precise welding all indicate that this submarine is absolutely at the forefront of the world. Yang Yonglin was shocked.

Thinking about it, Yang Yonglin felt that it was impossible. Such a big movement, no matter how secret it was, under the surveillance of the powers, there was no possibility that the slightest information would be leaked.

Before Yang Yonglin could react from the shock, two guards had carried him to the dock, only a few meters away from the submarine. Yang Yonglin stretched out his hand, his expression excited, wanting to touch this huge thing, but he couldn't reach it.

"Brother Yang, what do you think of this submarine?" A loud voice sounded in Yang Yonglin's ears. He turned his head and saw Wei Jichen standing aside, looking at him with a smile.

"General Wei, this, this is beyond my expectation." Yang Yonglin was so excited that he couldn't finish his words. If he could stand up, he would have run up and kissed the submarine's shell.

Wei Jichen smiled mysteriously and said lightly: "In the future, there will be more surprises waiting for Brother Yang. From today on, this submarine belongs to you."

"Belong to me?" Yang Yonglin asked with a face full of joy and disbelief, pointing at his nose.

Wei Jichen said solemnly: "Brother Yang is so talented, how can I bury you and treat you as the commander of a fleet? Now, I will appoint you as the commander of the "wolf pack". These three submarines will be under your jurisdiction. I hope you can lead them, like a pack of wolves, to fight for the big with the small, surround and eat prey that is more ferocious than yourself."

"I will definitely die to repay your kindness." Yang Yonglin struggled to roll off the stretcher and kowtowed several times on the ground.

Wei Jichen was surprised. He didn't expect Yang Yonglin to be so excited. He cast an observation spell over and found that his friendliness towards him jumped directly from 70 to over 90.

"Brother Yang, you don't have to do this." Wei Jichen stepped forward to help him up and said with a smile: "Let's contribute our own efforts to the rise of the Chinese Navy."

Yang Yonglin's lips trembled. He was so excited that he couldn't say anything more. He murmured: "I didn't expect that Yang's incomplete body could still contribute to the development of the navy."

Although Yang Yonglin guessed that Wei Jichen's submarine detachment must have been secretly established without the court's knowledge, he had long been disappointed with the Qing court and did not express any opinions on this. The two of them finally talked about the Chinese Navy, not the Qing Navy, which itself explained a lot of things.

Yang Yonglin looked at this younger than himself, but with a majestic aura, Wei Shuai, thinking of his series of legendary experiences, the speed of his rise was unmatched, and his future was unpredictable. Perhaps, following behind him, it was not impossible to change China.

"Come on, Brother Yang, let's get on the submarine first." Wei Jichen didn't care what Yang Yonglin thought. Anyway, friendship would not lie. With a height of 90 points, as long as he didn't do anything that would anger the heavens and the people, he almost didn't have to worry about him rebelling against him.

As soon as Yang Yonglin climbed onto the top of the submarine, he exclaimed.

"I didn't expect that this submarine was also equipped with a cannon, so that it can attack underwater and conduct artillery battles on the surface. Not bad, not bad."

"What is this? Elevator? It should be used to solve the problem of longitudinal stability. Oh, that's it. The outer shell is similar to a torpedo boat, and there is a very different inner shell. The space between the inner and outer shells is a ballast water tank, which can control the submarine's diving and surfacing. Well, after rising, the water in the water tank can be removed, and it can have good seaworthiness like a torpedo boat. After injecting water, it can sail steadily underwater. It's amazing."

Yang Yonglin praised it endlessly, and his eyes were shining when he looked at various equipment.

"Brother Yang, several Russian cruisers anchored in Jiaozhou Bay are coming to Lushunkou, so I want to destroy them in one fell swoop before they set off. I wonder how long it will take for Brother Yang to lead the sailors to get familiar with this submarine?" Wei Jichen said worriedly.

"Destroy the Russian fleet!" Yang Yonglin was shocked by Wei Jichen's bold words, but when he saw Wei Jichen nodded heavily, he immediately calmed down.

"As long as it is done secretly, who would have thought it was us who did it!" Wei Jichen said slowly with a hint of coldness in his eyes.

Yang Yonglin's heart pounded, and after a moment of silence, he slowly said: "Although many of the equipment in the submarine is the same as other ships, there are some differences after all, so please give me a month, General Wei, within a month, I will definitely lead the sailors to get familiar with this submarine."

"To be on the safe side, I plan to send three submarines to act together." Wei Jichen said again.

Submarines require very few people, only more than 20 people aboard. The sailors are not a problem, but an outstanding captain is.

Yang Yonglin understood Wei Jichen's meaning, thought for a while and said, "He Pinzhang, the former assistant chief officer of the Zhenyuan ship, and I are close friends. Now he is dismissed and at home. As long as I write a letter, I believe he will respond to the call. As for the other ship, he must be trustworthy and capable. I really can't think of it for the time being."

Wei Jichen frowned. It was his first attack, so he wanted to miss any factor that could increase his chances of victory. It was not difficult to delay for a month. He just needed to discuss with Liu Buchan and find some excuses, but where could he find another captain?

Yang Yonglin had observed him for quite some time before he trusted him. Since He Pinzhang and Yang Yonglin dared to introduce him to him, he must be a trustworthy person.

Otherwise, I will do it myself. This idea suddenly popped up in Wei Jichen's mind.

Before, he was not prepared to buy three submarines at once, so he was not well prepared. In the training base, personal training included land warfare training, forest warfare, desert warfare, urban attack and defense warfare, and naval warfare training. Although he usually did not pay attention to it and only took a quick glance, he also found that there was a submarine battle inside.

In a month, I choose a 1:5 time ratio, and spend 6 to 12 hours of actual time in submarine warfare every day, and 30 to 60 hours of virtual time. Isn't a month of actual combat training enough for me to be familiar with the inside and outside of the submarine and command operations?

Do it, that's it.

Although choosing a 1:5 time ratio costs more than 200 prestige points per hour, more than 1,000 prestige points per day, and 40,000 to 50,000 prestige points per month, it is definitely worth it when I think about it, I will be able to command submarine operations and achieve great victories in the future.