Seven Seas Beacon Fire

"During my conversation with His Highness the Crown Prince just now, I could see that despite not having received any formal naval training, His Highness possesses an extraordinary keen eye and talent in the field (Li Che: Actually, this is experience gained from chatting with military enthusiasts on the internet). However, I still know very little about His Highness's other aspects besides the navy. I wonder how His Highness has impressed the Lord of the Imperial Guard?" Akiyama asked, bowing.

After all, he was about to start working under a new boss, and Akiyama-dono was also looking for an opportunity to figure out his new boss's temperament and personality.

“I’ll just say one thing,” Tokugawa Akiko said. “I’ve confirmed with more than one person that the Crown Prince slept on the street on the first night he entered Yingtian Prefecture with the Prince of Jin’s army.”

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As the train pulled into Vladivostok station and came to a stop on the platform, a large amount of white steam was released from the boiler at the locomotive, instantly engulfing most of the platform.

A group of officers who had been lining up on the platform to greet the special train maintained their perfect military posture even in the fog. These officers knew very well who the "big shot" on the train was.

Most of those standing on the platform were from the navy, and the vast majority of naval officers still had deep feelings for the Ming Dynasty royal family. Among these officers, even if they were not royalists, they were at least sympathizers of the royal family.

Therefore, although everyone seems to be on good terms with Li Che, who is to some extent the descendant of a "traitor," they are actually preparing to give this "overconfident" guy a taste of his own medicine.

After all, just as there is a large group of aerial combat Brahmins in a certain Russian Genshin Impact player group, the noble navy of this day and age naturally also has a group of naval Brahmins.

In the eyes of these Brahmins, Li Che, you have been praised as a genius since childhood and that is not something they can stop, but even a prodigy must follow the rules. In this world, who can formulate a practical battle plan without any professional training?

In particular, rumors circulated that the battle plan currently being prepared was spearheaded by this grandson of the Crown Prince. Many naval officers believed this was the grandson trying to glorify himself, just as someone might hire a ghostwriter to write an article; the battle plan must have been devised by someone else.

Every army has its troublemakers, and this is especially true in the Ming Dynasty's army and navy.

For example, the commander of the coastal defense of the Vladivostok naval port, who was standing at the very front of these officers in formation, stood straight with his head held high. This was not because he had great respect for the grandson of the Prince of Jin, but simply because he wanted to show this "young boy" what true military bearing was.

"Our commander looks really energetic today."

"That's right, we can't lose face in front of that person."

“That’s great!”

Hearing similar words echoing around him, Long Keduo, the commander of the Vladivostok coastal defense, became even more determined. He was determined to give that grandson a good beating today, to show him what a true naval soldier was, and that all the soldiers of the Ming Dynasty's Royal Navy were like him—tough, disciplined, and meticulous…

"Aha——————"

A long yawn came from behind him, which made Long Keduo frown slightly. To be able to yawn in such a situation, such a nonchalant person, he could guess who it was without even turning around.

Sure enough, a sarcastic voice followed: "Hey Xu Yueming, when you were studying at the Naval Academy, did you yawn in every class like you do now?"

"You don't understand, do you? He used to just fall asleep the moment his head hit the pillow, he never yawned. Otherwise, how could he have graduated first in his class from the Naval Academy?"

"Last place is still first, right?"

Long Keduo couldn't help but sigh inwardly. This guy, who had always been at the bottom of his class in military school, had been under his command for a while now, and his lax attitude was really making him feel uncomfortable.

This guy doesn't have a single trace of military discipline!

Just as he was considering whether to turn around and reprimand the guy, he heard the mechanical sound of the train doors opening from the other side of the carriage. He immediately realized that behind the white steam emanating from the train engine, the grandson of the prince who had traveled to Vladivostok on this special train was finally about to get off and face them.

He was fully prepared, with contingency plans in mind for all sorts of meeting scenarios, whether they were assertive or friendly.

But when a bright-eyed, white-toothed girl in military uniform happily ran out from behind the white steam, Long Keduo became even angrier.

Why is this spoiled brat bringing a woman to the battlefield? And he even dressed her in our navy uniform?

Leave

Chapter 46 was censored, mainly because it involved some real-world country names. I have resubmitted it for review, and now it's up to the reviewers to release it.

I have some things to do tonight. I originally wanted to finish this chapter before going to sleep, but I'm just too sleepy. I'll update two chapters tomorrow. The main thing is that some of the earlier chapters need to be revised. For example, the book will be called Fusang from now on, and the United States will be called the United States, etc.

Long live everyone's understanding.

Also, I'm thinking of changing North Korea to Samhan, but I feel it doesn't sound as natural as names like Fusang. If you have any opinions, feel free to say them here.

Chapter 48 The Inferior Students of the Naval Academy (2)

Commander Long is the most intolerant person, and also the most traditional naval officer, a Brahmin among naval Brahmins.

Of course, as for why a naval Brahmin didn't become a fleet commander but instead became a coastal defense commander... well, there are plenty of players in Genshin Impact who are supposed to be ultimate aerial combat Brahmins, but whose actual skill level is only good enough to be space monkeys.

However, this certainly does not prevent Commander Long from proclaiming himself and demanding of himself the standards of a "Naval Brahman." Putting aside the issue of Commander Long's personal abilities, he does manage the entire port area with extremely strict discipline. In this respect, he is indeed conscientious and responsible, or perhaps his greatest strength is maintaining the discipline of the troops.

In a port area on the outskirts of the empire, without such strict discipline, the operational readiness rate of the entire naval port, from the coastal defense guns and minefields to the fleet within the port area, would probably not be very good. Nobody likes the head of discipline, but the school cannot do without him.

Therefore, when Commander Long saw that a woman was the first to get off Li Che's special train, he was genuinely furious. After all, not everyone in the navy agreed with Sa Dingming's behavior of "kowtowing" to Prince Jin.

Don't think these people's ideas are foolish and hard to understand in the context of facing a great enemy. There has never been a shortage of conservatives in this world who believe that "starving to death is a small matter, but losing one's integrity is a great matter."

Although Commander Long wasn't exactly that kind of person, that didn't stop him from feeling "unafraid of the powerful." Therefore, he stepped forward to the girl, adopting an angry expression befitting one of the Four Heavenly Kings in "Black Myth: Wukong." While seemingly addressing the girl, he was actually speaking to Li Che, who had just arrived at the car door behind him:

"So the Prince of Jin's mansion has a tradition of taking their favorite concubines to the battlefield?"

His words completely baffled Li Che and Zhu Miaoyun. What the hell are you talking about?

Li Che was the first to react. He quickly realized that Zhu Miaoyun's attire had caused the misunderstanding. However, although he realized it, he did not intend to correct this amusing misunderstanding.

He brought Zhu Miaoyun here to use as a special attack weapon against the royalists in the navy. Therefore, he was now completely watching the show. He was ready to put on a spoiled rich kid's expression at this moment, just like in some urban transmigration novels where people show off and get slapped in the face.

He wasn't just idly messing around with these local officers. Every army has its own factions, and to win battles, you have to manage those factions effectively. Factionalism is unavoidable in the military because armies are inherently attracted to the strong, just like a pack of wolves will inevitably choose an alpha wolf.

However, he doesn't have the time or energy to carefully understand and deal with these powerful factions. All he can do now is to act as a powerful outsider and suppress all the local bullies.

Zhu Miaoyun was just one of many tools he used to achieve this goal.

But the scene that Li Che had hoped for hadn't even begun. Behind Commander Long Keduo, a naval officer, after clearly seeing Zhu Miaoyun's face, exclaimed in surprise, "Your Highness? Is that you? Your Highness!"

As he asked this question, he voluntarily broke away from the queue and stepped forward without asking for permission.

"Princess?" Commander Long had never met Zhu Miaoyun before, but after hearing the officer address her as "Your Highness," he belatedly realized the strangeness that had occurred earlier, and his face quickly turned a liverish color—this was the first time Li Che had ever seen someone's face change color so literally, almost comparable to the faces of some swimmers at the Paris Olympics in another world.

Yes, even if the grandson of the Prince of Jin was truly a man of empty reputation and debauchery, he still brought his favorite concubine with him to the front lines. It's impossible for that concubine to just jump out of the carriage so casually before him.

Looking at Li Che's regretful expression, as if his scheme had almost succeeded, Commander Long realized just how big a pit he had stepped into.

He was now incredibly grateful that he hadn't said any more hurtful things, otherwise he wouldn't know how to face the princess.

As he approached, Zhu Miaoyun reached out and tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. Then, she bowed deeply to Commander Long and the other officers and soldiers who had come to the station to greet them, whether they had reacted or not. This sudden gesture of courtesy caused the naval officer who had come forward to greet her to immediately kneel down.

After Zhu Miaoyun bowed, she found that several officers in front of her had knelt down. Some of the other officers seemed to be still in a daze, while others hesitated whether to kneel down as well. Of course, there were also some who were just looking at her with surprise.

At this moment, Zhu Miaoyun inexplicably thought of a famous line from a movie that the pig loved to watch before she transmigrated.

So Zhu Miaoyun just shouted out the line directly: "Get up! Don't kneel!"

The girl's voice didn't sound authoritative, but her words clearly surprised most people present.

Li Che really didn't expect that someone would have seen Zhu Miaoyun in such a remote place, so he had actually specially prepared something to prove Zhu Miaoyun's identity, but now it seems that these preparations are no longer needed.

He heard what Zhu Miaoyun shouted, and it did remind him of that movie, causing him to glance at Zhu Miaoyun again.

However, although he vaguely sensed that the princess was "not quite right", Li Che did not intend to reveal his identity. After all, it was possible that it was just a coincidence. Just like his grandfather sometimes said things like "full of vitality, all things are thriving", but after his test, he knew that his grandfather was his grandfather and definitely not some bald guy who had traveled through time. You ask how he tested him?

Have you ever seen a bald-headed coach whose command skills could make him one of the world's four most recognized generals?

Therefore, these suspicious points about Princess Changning are likely just simple coincidences.

On the other hand, even if Princess Changning is a time traveler, it doesn't mean Li Che will return to his hometown and be moved to tears. On the contrary, the more Li Che suspects that Zhu Miaoyun might be a time traveler, the more cautious he will become.

After all, who knows what kind of person the transmigrated into? Even if the person in front of him is a beautiful girl, she might have been a burly man before transmigrating. Anyway, in the fan group of a certain writer he joined in another world, that guy had expressed more than once that he hoped to transmigrate to another world with the other members, and then all the other members except him would become white-haired beauties, and then he would have sex with all of them.

Although he experienced a lot in another world, he still sighs every time he encounters something like this, realizing how truly perverted some people on the internet are.

Therefore, he only came to Zhu Miaoyun's side and said to everyone on the station platform: "In my grandfather's army, there is a saying that soldiers whose kneecaps are too soft cannot win battles. I don't know if your kneecaps are relatively hard or relatively soft."

This is practically a mockery. Those who just knelt down were mostly just acting on instinct, especially the navy, which has the prefix "royal" in its name. They inherently believe they should have a closer relationship with the royal family, so it's quite normal for them to suddenly encounter a princess wanting to perform a grand ceremony at this critical juncture.

But things change after being "stirred up."

Zhu Miaoyun probably didn't catch the sarcasm in Li Che's words. She simply thought it was a superior reprimanding a subordinate. Although Li Che only gave her the rank of Navy Colonel, his status as the heir apparent, coupled with his de facto power as "Imperial Envoy," made Zhu Miaoyun oversimplify the situation.

In her opinion, after Li Che said those words, the officers who had just been kneeling and saluting became much more "spirited".

So Zhu Miaoyun raised her voice and said, "I am Zhu Miaoyun. I was once Princess Changning of the Ming Dynasty, but now I am just an ordinary person here doing what I can, such as doing some clerical work for the grandson of the Prince of Jin..."

At this moment, Li Che silently took notes on the rich micro-expressions of the officers in front of him. This was not to note who was disrespectful to him and to make things difficult for them later, but to remember the faces of those who were obviously more impulsive. He would carefully consider these people when he personally selected the platoon commanders to carry out the torpedo attack.

Contrary to what many people subconsciously think of as the criteria for selecting personnel, some might think that leading torpedo boats in an assault requires a commander with a brave, tenacious, and combative personality, like Li Yunlong. But in fact, the opposite is true. What he needs now is a group of calm and composed commanders.

This is actually easy to understand. After all, players of the game know very well that playing cruisers and destroyers requires more brainpower than playing battleships. In the Russian version of Genshin Impact on Antonstar, in the WWII squad leader matches, some heavy tanks can win almost by simply pressing W. The more aggressive and fierce the fighting, the greater the results. However, in the light vehicles in the squad matches, it takes more calmness and a smart enough mind to achieve good results.

Torpedo boats may seem like a game for the brave, but they actually require wisdom and composure to provide extra protection for the unarmored torpedo boats and their crew.

The selection process for commanders actually began at this moment.

However, after his gaze swept over the faces that were either excited or cold, Li Che's eyes settled on one guy—a guy standing at the edge of the line who was slacking off while Zhu Miaoyun was speaking.

Yes, literally slacking off, because he was secretly taking out dried fish from his pocket and tossing it to a cat that was rubbing against his trouser leg.

Chapter 49 The Inferior Students of the Naval Academy (3)

Zhu Miaoyun wasn't actually very good at public speaking. What she said on the train platform sounded more like a college student's speech in a class meeting. But that didn't matter, because in this era, apart from a few people like Little Mustache who had a talent for public speaking, many important people's speeches not only lacked appeal but were also rather jarring.

The princess, with her beautiful voice, only needed to say a few words. For many officers in the navy who had a special affinity for the royal family, hearing the princess's voice was enough; what she said was unimportant.

Li Che could feel the morale of these officers and soldiers steadily rising. After Zhu Miaoyun finished her clear and sincere speech, which sounded like that of a college student, Li Che stepped forward:

"I came to Vladivostok for only three things."

He raised his hand, clenched his fist, and swung it three times forcefully in the air: "Victory! Victory! It's still the mother's victory!"

I know that many of you will not believe what I am saying, and that is normal.

But I'm not afraid you won't believe me, because you all have no other choice now. After the defeat in the Java Sea naval battle, will Emperor Yongning still support the navy to avenge the defeat? He will only feel sorry that the navy has damaged his big toy!

Would former Left Censor-in-Chief Liu Chengzhi give you a chance for revenge? He was willing to abandon all overseas interests to withdraw from the war because it affected the Jiangnan financial group behind him and their business dealings with the West!

When Li Che said these words, he didn't give any face to Princess Changning's father. Many people were secretly watching Zhu Miaoyun's expression. However, to everyone's surprise, Princess Changning's expression was extremely calm. Even when Li Che mentioned Emperor Yongning, her face showed no ripples.

Of course, this was mainly because Zhu Miaoyun was not familiar with Emperor Yongning, but to these naval officers, it conveyed a different meaning—even the late emperor's daughter did not approve of him!

"I believe that all of you who arrived in Vladivostok before me have already guessed what we're planning to do, unless you're an idiot. I know that for some of you, this might be a crazy plan. I came here in person to select the most qualified commanders for this crazy plan."

I know that this battle plan will inevitably be accompanied by heavy casualties, and the losses of the troops may even be greater than those in the Battle of the Java Sea. But at this very moment, on the Silla Peninsula, on Luzon Island, on Yeonpyeong Island... I don't know how many people are bleeding and sacrificing their lives. Since the outbreak of this war, I don't know how many families have given up their sons, husbands and fathers.

We have gathered here for victory, but I cannot promise you that we will succeed, for success depends on our combined efforts and whether fate smiles upon us. I also cannot sail with you to meet the enemy, for I am utterly inept when it comes to the navy; I even suffer from seasickness…”

At this point, a somewhat amicable laugh rippled through the crowd at Li Che's self-deprecating remarks.

“But!” Li Che’s gaze slowly swept over the soldiers in front of him: “What I can promise you is that I did not come here for a vacation. While you are fighting against the enemy in warships whose firepower and tonnage are far inferior to theirs, I will set up a forward command post at the front line closest to Wonsan, under the enemy’s guns, to communicate and command the various torpedo boat formations. I will face the enemy’s fire with you!”

All of this, for victory! For our motherland!

After a moment of silence, someone raised their hand: "For victory! For our motherland!"

Then, similar shouts rang out one after another.

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Li Che's impromptu speech was very effective. After all, few people would adopt such an inflammatory speaking style these days, especially the younger officers in the navy, for whom this style was more to their liking.

After he finished speaking, although Li Che could sense that Commander Long's attitude might not have changed much, the other officers were at least less resistant to him at this point.

In his opinion, this was already quite an achievement. After all, what he said on the train platform was just empty talk until he actually delivered on his promises. It was already quite good that his words had achieved such an effect.

The next part of the itinerary involves a brief visit to Vladivostok, a port city that, compared to the major megacities in the heart of the empire, has a pitifully small urban area due to its greater military functions.

Li Che predicted that visiting the main places wouldn't take much time, but what Zhu Miaoyun saw after leaving the train station made her gasp in surprise.

The first thing that catches the eye is a house that has been severely damaged by shelling.

Li Che initially estimated that this effect could only be achieved with shells of at least eight inches in diameter. At this moment, Commander Long's voice came from behind: "This was left behind when the Federation bombarded our port a while ago."

"I think I saw this in your battle report. It seems you successfully repelled the Federation fleet that bombarded Vladivostok, but I didn't know the Federation caused such extensive damage to the city." Li Che sighed, "Was the damage only around the station?"

“They’re everywhere. I don’t know if the Federation’s shells are spreading out on purpose or if their shells are just too widely dispersed,” Commander Long said. “However, after our 280mm and 240mm coastal defense guns hit the Federation’s battleships one after another, they quickly retreated.”

After listening, Li Che expressed his desire to visit the coastal artillery position that had repelled the Federation forces. His request was quickly granted. However, when Li Che arrived at this meritorious coastal artillery position in Vladivostok, the more he looked at the cannons, the more he felt that something was amiss.

He recognized these cannons so well—in another world, he had seen the 280mm Krupp cannon, now an artifact, when he visited Hulishan Fortress, and he had also seen the 240mm Krupp cannon, which was also from the late 9th century, on the internet.

The cannons he was seeing now were exactly the same as the famous Krupp cannons.

The problem is that those Krupp cannons were products of the late 9th century, and most of them were even products of the 880s—some of these cannons could even be classified as recoilless guns.

They used these outdated cannons to repel the Federation warships that came to bombard the port.

However, Li Che had already deduced from the terrain of these forts why the Federation had so many shells fired into the city.

It's simply because the gun emplacements of these cannons are set on the reverse slope, making it extremely difficult for the Federation's shells to hit them. If the shells are fired too low, they will be caught in front of the mountain, and if they are fired too high... well, they'll end up in the city.

"Could I meet the commander who directed these old cannons to repel the Federation fleet?"