Lu Ming

Chapter 588
After nightfall, a formation consisting of a gunboat and two small frigates began night exercises.

At this time, the Dongjiang generals who had something on their minds had no choice but to let go of their emotions and concentrate on observing their master's "Night Sea Battle Ability".

In other words, the so-called night combat exercises are actually quite novel to Kong Youde and his generation.

Prior to this, the sea control power including the entire Liaodong Peninsula was in the hands of Dongjiang Town.The Manchus, who grew up between the white mountains and the black waters, are half fishing and half farming people, and have nothing to do with the sea.

However, having command of the sea is not the same as having superb navigation skills.

Except for the Manchus who can "overwhelm" the people who don't go into the water at all, Dongjiang Town has no formal water forces.

Although the so-called "Navy" is busy on weekdays, it goes south to Shandong to transport supplies, and goes north to North Korea for private trade.But they were all sailing civilian boats during the day, and they would be blown to Japan if they were not careful. It had nothing to do with the word navy.

In fact, even in the most prosperous era of the Ming Dynasty, due to the underdevelopment of science and technology, the navy could only be said to be capable of fighting, and it was far from being able to fight at night.

Therefore, it is not surprising that Kong Youde and his crew would feel "frightened" when they saw the full set of routine training subjects such as fleet night formation change + shelling with night vision goggles.

"Brother, this thing can really see people at night!?"

Even when he was surrounded by Houjinbaijia soldiers outside Lushun City, Kong Youde never lost his composure.But after all, he is a young general just over 30 years old, so when the soldiers on the deck of the neighboring ship clearly appeared in the camera, Kong Youde still couldn't hold back the emotional shock, and finally screamed out.

Although the eldest brother Geng Zhongming, who was sworn in at the side, was older, he was also taken aback by the night vision device in his hand.At this moment, in the icy sea breeze outside the bridge, Geng Zhongming sucked in a breath of cold air habitually: "Hiss, this thing is wonderful, almost ghosts and gods. So, who can beat it?"

Only those who have truly led troops into battle know the power of night vision.In the ancient times when soldiers were full of night blindness, and camp screams would occur at every turn, causing the army to collapse overnight, night vision ability is really too mysterious a skill.

"It's just that this item is so expensive, I don't know what joints it has."

After being frightened, Kong Youde was the leader of the army after all, and he quickly got rid of his abnormal state of mind.So he thought of a possible reason: Is there any usage restriction on this thing?
Geng Zhongming smiled when he heard the words: "Oh, there is no need to guess, we can just ask and find out."

Not long after, in the brightly lit war room, Geng Zhongming generously raised questions about night vision: Could this thing be used in land warfare?What's the point?
Sha Zhengming laughed loudly when he heard the words: "It doesn't matter, why not fight on land? You don't know, in the first battle to recover the three camps, our army's elite entered the city at night, launched a surprise attack, and killed the Tartars in the city. It was clean, and no one was allowed to get off, and this is how the case of the Shuo Tuo Department was kept in the dark."

When Sha Zhengming said this, he turned his head and gestured to Zhang Zhongqi, who was drinking coffee leisurely: "Hey, this is the right person to ask. In the battle that day, Mr. Zhang was the leader."

The original "King Qin's self-defense counterattack", after the content process of "processing" by the traversers, is now well known to the whole country of Ming Dynasty.

So when they heard the climax of "Sneak Attack on Santun Camp", which was recognized by storytellers, and the protagonist in it was actually Zhang Baihu in front of him, Kong Youde and the others looked at Zhang Zhongqi with a more serious look.

This is really unexpected, a seemingly inconspicuous follower of hundreds of households is actually a veteran who has done great things!
This time, Kong Youde and the others bowed their hands respectfully, and put on a posture of reacquaintance: "I have met Mr. Zhang."

Zhang Zhongqi smiled and stood up, but a coffee cup slowly came over.After meeting each other, he nodded to Kong Youde: "It's probably a coincidence. I feel happy when I see a hero. General Kong, the moonlight is good today. Why don't you move a little bit and have a cup of coffee with my brother? How about a hero?"

As for coffee, today's guests were lucky enough to have a drink with the crowd during lunch.To be honest, this imported "bitter tea" does not appeal to the natives.But all the smart people present, knowing that this Zhang Baihu deliberately invited Kong Youde, must have something to say, so after a moment of hesitation, Kong Youde nodded and followed Zhang Zhongqi to the captain's room.

Even the captain's room is narrow for an 800-ton gunboat, not to mention watching the moon and cooking wine.

Fortunately, the kerosene lamp in the captain's room was brightly lit.After Zhang Zhongqi entered the door, he greeted Kong Youde to sit down, then smiled and made a cup of hot tea from a tin kettle and handed it over: "I was joking just now, I know you are not used to it, let's all drink tea."

Kong Youde took the green tea mug with both hands.He already felt a little strange, but he still couldn't figure out what kind of medicine was sold in the other party's gourd, so he just smiled and said nothing.

"Brother Ruitu, let me introduce you formally." Zhang Zhongqi stretched out his right hand at this moment: "Your Majesty is the person in charge of all intelligence matters in North China sent by my family's commander-in-chief."

Probably because she was afraid that the other party would not understand, Zhang Zhongqi shook hands with Kong Youde and added with a smile: "Factory guard."

"Zhen Fusi sits in front of thousands of households? How courageous!" Kong Youde shook hands with the other party clumsily. Although he was a little frightened in his heart, Kong Youde replied repeatedly: "It turns out that Master Zhang is face to face. This, brother understands. clear!"

Kong Youde, who originally had a faint guess in his heart, still didn't understand something at this moment.And the reason why he was a little frightened was the opponent's unscrupulousness: comparing himself to the factory guard, he has no law.

However, after the first round of communication, when he sat back in the chair, he somehow felt a little relaxed. Perhaps it was because the other party revealed his "shortness"?Or do they both have dissatisfaction with the court?
Next, in order to continue to ease the atmosphere, Zhang Zhongqi didn't say any more sensitive topics, but chatted with the other party all over the place.

After realizing the rhythm of the conversation, a smart person like Kong Youde quickly adapted to it.And when the atmosphere in the room became more harmonious, Kong Youde finally took the opportunity to ask a question that he wanted to ask before: Is Uncle Cao from the south or from the north?

Cao Chuan in reality, his ID card before crossing shows that this guy is a dick who came from a county-level city in southern Hebei.So Zhang Zhongqi had nothing to hide at the moment, he told Kong Youde openly: Master Cao Chuan is an authentic northerner.If it is divided according to the ancient map, then Mr. Cao is the surname of Yan Guoren.

Kong Youde immediately slapped his thigh when he heard the words: "Oh, brother, you're right!"

When Zhang Zhongqi listened to Kong Youde's explanation in surprise, he laughed again.After laughing, Zhang Zhongqi told the other party: You guessed right.At least half of the old brothers who went to sea with Mr. Cao to establish a foundation were from the north, including Zhang Zhongqi himself and Sha Zhengming.

Zhang Zhongqi also told Kong Youde: Some of them were also from Liaodong, so sometimes the accent sounds a bit like Liaodong.
Unlike later generations, in ancient times, geographical ties were a very important part of all relationships such as interpersonal relationships, family relationships, master-student relationships, and court relationships.

Mr. Cao is from the north, and the news that there are even Liao people among the senior officials under his command is undoubtedly great news for Kong Youde.At least in the foreseeable future, it will be much easier for the two parties to deal with each other in the future.

At this moment, Kong Youde suddenly felt much closer to the other party.

So he took the initiative to get up, picked up the thermos with a smile, and filled Zhang Zhongqi's tank with boiling water.

The next moment, after Kong Youde took a sip of the tea, he touched his lips and asked solemnly, "I don't know if my lord is calling my brother here today, but what instructions do you have?"

Zhang Zhongqi nodded unsurprisingly: "Hehe, brother Kong is a smart man, and now everyone recognizes distant relatives, so I'll just say it straight."

"The fleet came to Dengzhou this time. On the surface, it is naturally urgent to save the court and save the ancestor's birthday. But, I think my brother already knows about the joints?"

"I know, I know!" Kong Youde nodded again and again: he had found out the news from Sun Yuanhua before, and knew that the two brothers' units were here to make soy sauce this time.

"Well, let's not talk about things in the open, this is in the dark, it's actually brothers. I received a message from Mr. Cao: I want to use this matter to join hands with Brother Kong. From now on, you and my two families will help each other."

"Ah!?" Kong Youde was still stunned at this moment, although he already had a faint result in his heart.

"En!" Zhang Zhongqi nodded in affirmation: "There is a name, called the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement."

Naturally, the topics that the two of them were talking about in the cabin at this moment cannot be seen on paper.So Zhang Zhongqi then began to explain to Brother Kong one by one.

According to Zhang Zhongqi, after the two sides "reciprocate Austrian aid", Dengzhou Kong Youde (including Geng Zhongming, etc.) will continue to receive secret support from an adult in the south for a long time in the future.

This support is comprehensive.Among them are not only funds, food, medicine and other military supplies, but in some cases there will even be arms support.

In addition, Zhang Zhongqi emphasized that what Kong Youde's department, and even the generals of the Dongjiang faction, lacked the most was not weapons, but the protection of political groups.

Regarding this point, Zhang Zhongqi also promised: Once the matter is accomplished, Kong Youde will be equivalent to joining Lord Cao’s faction in the court in the future—an extremely powerful faction that not only has the core political alliance of the current prime minister + the great eunuch, but also There is a broader honorary group, and a well-intentioned scholar-bureaucrat group.

Zhang Zhongqi finally said unscrupulously: "Except for the emperor, all the civil and military men of the Manchu Dynasty are good friends of my lord!"

When Zhang Zhongqi said this, Kong Youde lowered his head at some point, his forehead was already covered with cold sweat.After a long time, the young native raised his head and asked slowly, "Master Cao, is he planning to rebel?"

(End of this chapter)