Red Mansion: I am Jia Lian

Chapter 721 Ambush Turns into Hunt

On the fifth day, Jia Zhi did not mention expanding the eastern border, but instead demanded one million yuan in compensation.

Negotiations broke down, and Roosevelt could not afford the consequences.

The real reason was that Jia Zhi learned the latest intelligence that Li Heng had dispatched a cavalry force to the south to clear out American settlements.

The main components of this cavalry were natives and Mexicans, but they flew under the banner of the Donghua Kingdom.

The quality of these soldiers was questionable, and a very brutal military operation ensued in the South, resulting in the deaths of at least three thousand immigrants in the conflict.

Americans are not as naive as they are now; they don't think that they can fight the natives but others can't fight them.

Roosevelt was traveling along the Missouri River in a small steamer. At the bow, he stood with his youngest son, Theodore, and pointed to the scenery before them, saying, "Remember, America may lose this place forever."

Young Theodore nodded blankly; the scenery before him was not as attractive as the tricycle that Jia Bing had given him.

After escorting Roosevelt to the border, Luo Min stopped following him and returned to Kaiyuan Prefecture, where Jia Zhi needed him to compile the information he had gathered about the eastern United States.

Luo Min doesn't actually know much about the eastern United States; he's only been to New York and Philadelphia. For Jia Zhi, Luo Min's experience will definitely be helpful.

In early spring on the Crimean Peninsula, thick fog blanketed the sea in the morning, delaying Jia Quan's planned first sea training trip.

It was called training, but it was actually combat.

According to information provided by the British, Russia is preparing for the next Russo-Turkish war. Why the British? Aren't they allies?
That's magical.

The question of whether to trust British intelligence was a hotly debated issue among the Ottoman Turkish leadership, with the powerful faction led by Ibrahim arguing that Southern Europe should be strengthened.

The Russians were determined to retake Constantinople, and to achieve this goal, it was essential to expel the Ottomans from Southern Europe.

As the most important source of tax revenue for the Ottoman Empire, Southern Europe could not be lost.

Looking at a map, it's easy to see that the Ottoman Empire was a truly vast empire during this period.

However, this empire was not the unified empire that the Chinese understand it to be. The southern European countries still had kings, and they were only subordinate to the Ottoman Empire.

This can be understood as feudalism.

The members of the military advisory group now had a basic understanding of the situation in Europe, so they found it difficult to comprehend the backward system of the Ottoman Empire.

The advantage of this system is its low cost of governance, but its disadvantages are also obvious: these areas are prone to separatist movements at any time. If external forces become too strong, widespread conflict will inevitably ensue.

Rome has proven this point in history. This practice of having governors only responsible for collecting taxes and delegating most of the power ensures that Southern Europe will not become like the Ottomans, even a thousand years from now.

With the rise of modern nationalism initiated in France, nationalism surged across Europe. The Ottoman Empire spent centuries without resolving the issue of national identity.

This problem, if traced back to the Roman Empire, was undoubtedly a product of the Church's deliberate reinforcement.
The most successful place for this system is actually India, where brilliant rulers used Hinduism to distort people's self-perception.

The idea that "nobles and high-ranking officials are born with special privileges" seems to be a way of thinking found only in the Confucian cultural sphere.

Think about it carefully: how terrible it is for someone to consider themselves inferior and be willing to be a slave or servant at heart.

In fact, the Ottomans also didn't understand these military advisors of the Central Empire, as they did not act as if they were superior to others.

All military advisors would go down to the troops, eat the same food as the soldiers, and serve as role models during training.

Why force yourself to endure hardship when you could comfortably write textbooks indoors?

Despite the lack of understanding, the Ottoman army's training level had improved significantly, and its morale was extremely high.

According to the plan, the Central Empire's military advisory group would help the Ottomans train 500,000 elite troops and train thousands of officers.

On Jia Quan's ship were two Ottoman naval officers who initially arrived with servants, but Jia Zhi immediately dismissed them. The two men then found the conditions rather harsh, feeling it was too strenuous. They believed they were there to learn military skills, not to clean the decks.

Jia Quan unceremoniously ordered them to be hoisted onto the mast so they could watch from above how the soldiers worked.

After being released, the two insisted on leaving. Jia Quan made it very clear to them that they either had to jump into the sea and swim back, or continue working.

Having finally reached the shore, the two wanted to leave immediately, but Jia Quan told them that if they left like this, they would be labeled as deserters.

These two had no choice; they really dared not go back. Under Ottoman military law, even if deserters weren't executed, they'd never have a chance to rise in rank for the rest of their lives. If their backers weren't powerful enough, they wouldn't even be able to remain nobles.

After two months of this ordeal on the warship, the two of them finally started to look like normal people. Jia Quan, rather unkindly, gave them nicknames: the older one was called Big Ha, and the younger one was called Second Ha.

The reason they were given this nickname stemmed from Jia Lian. Before they left, Jia Lian even joked, "Among men, Lü Bu; among horses, Red Hare; among kingdoms, Husky."

After Jia Quan understood what the husky meant, he finally realized how much his father disliked this country, but he still had to send troops to help Türkiye, which was too painful.

It's really too much to ask of people in order to achieve the country's global strategy.

As long as you can endure hardship, there is no soldier you can't become. After Da Ha and Er Ha spent two months on this warship, their entire demeanor underwent a tremendous change.

The naivety and foolishness in his eyes disappeared, replaced by a bloodthirsty warrior ready to fight at any moment.

"The fog has lifted, time to set sail!"

Clang, clang, clang, the bell rang, and the soldiers rushed out of the cabin. Da Ha and Er Ha also came to the command cabin and stood behind Jia Quan, a bunch of two generals.

The biggest problem was the language barrier; they couldn't communicate directly and needed translators. Of course, this only applied to these two individuals. Throughout the entire Ottoman Empire, there was no mandatory official language, and no one had ever counted how many languages ​​were spoken under its rule; even the writing systems were different.

(When I was young, I saw people criticizing Qin Shi Huang, calling him cruel and naively believing he was a deserving tyrant, utterly useless. Only after reading more did I realize that compared to people of that time, Qin was the only hope for those born without privilege. Qin's system provided a path for upward mobility for the lower classes. Shang Yang's reforms brought institutional advantages to Qin. Qin Shi Huang's series of reforms—standardizing writing, cart axles, and weights and measures—ensured the continuation of this civilization. From then on, the people of this country were no longer just people of Zhao or Qi, but people of a unified Qin. Subsequent dynasties never strayed from the framework established by Qin Shi Huang. This is why Emperor Wu of Han made unification deeply ingrained in people's hearts. From then on, anyone who tried to turn back the clock of history met a bad end.)
Jia Quan didn't believe in his heart that the Ottoman Empire could become powerful. Even if it became powerful temporarily, it would still fall apart in the future.

The reason is simple: just look at their system. Therefore, looking at the whole of Europe and even North America, this framework, which continued the Roman system, was destined to be unable to compete with the unified East. Even if it occasionally became powerful, it would eventually vanish like Rome. During his time in the Ottoman Empire, Jia Quan truly understood why the Central Empire was the most powerful empire.

Jia Quan was unaware that there had been a Soviet Union in history, which ultimately collapsed as well. The biggest problem with the federal system stems from its inherent contradictions.

When a nation is thriving, everything is fine. But once a nation declines, issues of national identity can cause a powerful nation to vanish as quickly as ice and snow melting away.

"Send the signal to keep the Hengshan and Huashan ships at a safe distance." Jia Quan kept a close eye on the sea and was ready to issue instructions at any time.

The friendly visit fleet split into two: three ships remained in the Mediterranean, while the other three entered the Black Sea to help the Ottoman navy control the waters.

The ten new warships purchased by the Ottoman Empire from the East were also distributed in multiple ports, with the aim of completely blocking the Russians' shipping routes in the Black Sea.

In several Russo-Turkish wars, the Ottoman navy suffered heavy losses. Seeing that Tsarist Russia was about to provoke another war, the military advisory group immediately demanded that the navy blockade shipping lanes.

Without the transport capacity of the Black Sea shipping route, the Russian military's logistical support capabilities will be greatly weakened.

This is common sense that every officer must master.

On a side note, common sense among Chinese people is often overturned after a trip abroad for a while.

The biggest takeaway from the trip abroad, Jia Quan could only say in one sentence: The world is a mess.

Suddenly, the alarm bell rang, and the Hengshan ahead raised its flag, indicating that another ship had been spotted, but the situation was unclear.

The lookouts, positioned high above, surveyed the surrounding area and continuously reported their observations.

"Targets detected, three ships for now. New targets detected, twelve ships in total. More new targets detected, twenty-four enemy ships in total. This is an ambush."

It's unclear how the Russian Navy managed to concentrate so many warships without being detected by the Ottoman Navy. After seeing it clearly through his binoculars, Jia Quan couldn't help but want to complain.

The Ottomans were incredibly sloppy in their work; they didn't even notice such a large-scale assembly beforehand.

Turning around now would be against the wind, and if we were surrounded and engaged in melee combat, we would be in serious trouble.

"Order to seize the T-formation. Each ship, locate your targets and use your range advantage to inflict as much damage as possible on the enemy ships. This is a premeditated ambush; there's no escaping it. In a narrow encounter, the brave will prevail! Hoist the Z-formation flag!"

As a Z-shaped flag was raised, the three warships of the squadron accelerated and turned, abandoning their need for precise firing, and locked onto their respective targets at a distance of three thousand meters and opened fire.

Da Ha and Er Ha showed fear on their faces, but they were quickly infected by Jia Quan's calmness. They couldn't learn anything by standing here, so the two of them simply ran to the gun emplacements on the fore and aft decks to help move cannonballs.

"Three thousand meters, aiming complete, fire!" The 105mm main gun still had a high degree of accuracy at a distance of three thousand meters.

Boom! The main guns of each ship fired in succession, and six shots exploded in sequence. Although none of them hit the target directly, they caused a cross-section of the guns.

The second salvo of the main guns was successful, with two out of six shots hitting their targets. The two enemy ships to the left front caught fire and immediately slowed down.

In the third salvo, the main guns continued to fire at the six enemy ships to the left front. Three more shots hit, setting three enemy ships ablaze, and one ship, after being hit twice, had its mast broken.

The power of a 105mm high-explosive shell was simply too great for a wooden boat. The Russian troops directly ahead were still rapidly closing in!

The fourth round of main guns...

"Two thousand meters, secondary guns fire!" Twelve enemy warships rushed forward menacingly, only to be met with concentrated fire from the thirty 75mm secondary guns of three warships.

At the same time, the main guns continued to bombard the enemy ships blocking their left front.
After the tenth round of main gun fire, all six enemy ships to the left front were hit, without exception. The sails of the six sailing warships all fell, and after losing power, they spun around on the sea.

"Maintain distance, continue firing the main guns at the enemy ship to the left front, and continue firing the secondary guns at the enemy ship directly in front. Ignore the enemy ship on the right and deal with them last."

Jia Quan's orders were continuously relayed by the signalmen, and the three warships immediately followed the orders and continued their attack.

The enemy ships directly in front also suffered heavy damage. At a distance of two kilometers, after two salvos, four warships were hit and caught fire.

At this moment, among the enemy ships to the left front, only one was still able to fire normally, but due to the distance of one thousand meters, the shells fired were completely ineffective.

The eleventh round of main guns, at a distance of one kilometer, greatly improved its accuracy, hitting all six enemy ships to the left front. Three of them exploded, and the other three caught fire, rendering them incapable of fighting.

The squadron, with a score of 3:24, successfully broke through the encirclement from the left front. After completing the turn, the secondary guns on the starboard side roared.

"Surround them, the hunt begins." Jia Quan gradually became excited. In his view, the outcome of this battle was already predetermined. Now that the enemy ships had turned around and fled, there was still a possibility of survival.

Unfortunately, the Russian ambush fleet was stubborn and continued to advance, intending to fire solid shot from its naval guns once it got close enough.

The three new cruisers also found their rhythm, maintaining a distance advantage and bombarding the enemy fleet's main force with the most intense gunfire.

With eight enemy warships directly ahead hit and ablaze, the enemy's main ambush force was reduced to only four warships still capable of maneuvering and fighting. The remaining six enemy ships were now further away.

"Fight on your own, and remember to concentrate your firepower in each round to hunt down enemy ships." Jia Quan's face was flushed with excitement; the booming cannon fire was so captivating, it made one's blood boil.

After four more enemy ships were hit and caught fire, the six enemy ships that had been lagging behind chose to abandon their comrades and turn back.

Upon hearing the news, Jia Quan felt helpless. He knew he couldn't catch up now, so he might as well just eat the meat that was already in his mouth.

The enemy ship, having lost power, became a target for hunting, and the desperate enemy soldiers, their bodies ablaze, jumped into the sea.

The squadron, at a distance of one kilometer, continuously bombarded the enemy ships with its main and secondary guns.

The sounds of explosions rose and fell, and enemy soldiers who had jumped into the sea quickly filled the surface. After the enemy ships raised white flags, Jia Quan reluctantly ordered: "Cease fire! Send out the small boats and let them save themselves."

Our warships did not approach, but kept a close eye on the enemy ships. The enemy ships also continuously launched small boats, and after the officers and soldiers boarded the boats, they used white pieces to approach our ships.

(End of this chapter)