Seven Seas Beacon Fire

A year after the outbreak of World War I, as both sides were embroiled in a protracted trench war, the value of heavy artillery became increasingly apparent. In particular, as a response to the Gallic army's 420mm heavy howitzer, the French army ordered eight 400mm heavy railway guns from Saint-Chamont. The company began deliveries the following year, and they were designated Saint-Chamont M915 400mm howitzers.

As a complex heavy artillery piece, the company was able to deliver it in such a short time not only because of its high level of technology, but also because the artillery was second-hand. The company enlarged the barrel of a retired M1887 340mm naval gun to 400mm. The gun was originally calculated to be 42 times the caliber. After modification, the barrel was shortened to 25 times the new caliber, and the total length was shortened by about four meters. The breech of the gun uses an intermittent threaded locking structure.

In wartime, this railway gun has a maximum rate of fire of about one round every five minutes, a maximum muzzle velocity of 530 m/s, a maximum range of 16 km, a maximum accurate effective range of about 13 km, and is equipped with high-explosive shells weighing 900 kg for killing soft targets and armor-piercing shells weighing 640 kg for dealing with reinforced concrete fortifications.

Given the superior naval fleet, the United States of Colombia still chose to acquire such insane large-caliber heavy artillery from the Gallic people. The only explanation is that the Colombian army planned to use this artillery to break through the defenses of the Eastern Port Area from the rear. After all, although the forts in the Eastern Port Area were equipped with 360-degree firing turrets, firing at the land behind them was limited by some terrain obstructions, leaving some blind spots that could not be reached.

If the Colombian army were to actually break through the port's defenses with such heavy artillery, given the character and conduct of the politicians and military personnel of the United States of Colombia, they would absolutely be capable of having the naval fleet launch a massive, indiscriminate bombardment of the entire Eastern City.

By then, even if the defending forces possessed the same fighting spirit as the Soviet troops during the Battle of Stalingrad, they would likely find it difficult to hold out against such overwhelming firepower.

"Damn it," Li Che cursed inwardly. What he hated most right now was this feeling of both sides gambling with each other's time.

Because it feels like watching the Chinese national football team play in the group stage; the choice of advancing is not in your own hands.

"Didn't Grandpa send me a telegram?"

"No, His Highness Prince Jin only sent a telegram to inquire about your meals these past few days..."

"Now you're asking me how the food is. Do you believe that once the nameless hill in the northeast of Dongdu falls, the old man will send a telegram telling me to hurry up and find a solution, or he'll kick my ass?"

Everyone remained silent.

Just as Li Che was about to continue speaking, someone suddenly burst into the conference room from outside. Everyone turned to look and found that the person was Ling Xiao, who was usually quite composed.

Li Che stared at Ling Xiao's not-so-handsome round face: "What happened? Why are you in such a panic? Has the Federation fleet gotten outside our port?"

“No, that’s not it.” Ling Xiao waved his hand. “Your Highness, a submarine from Yanping has entered the port.”

"A submarine from Yanping?"

"Yes! This submarine was also seriously damaged. It is said that it destroyed a Federation destroyer in a surface artillery battle on its way here!"

"what?"

Chapter 101 The Wind Rises (2)

As the Yanping Navy submarine, Courage, slowly entered the port with the tugboat, many people emerged from the submarine's small, enclosed compartments, looking at Leizhou Port with curious and expectant eyes.

Many of Yanping's naval vessels frequently visited the mainland in the past, but these vessels did not include Yanping's submarine force. After all, submarine forces were generally considered unsuitable for diplomatic visits or fleet exercises before the outbreak of the World War.

For most of the officers and soldiers aboard these submarines, this was their first time visiting a naval port on the mainland.

However, the submarine does look rather dire now. There are many obvious shell damages on the hull, including open breaches caused by large-caliber shells, as well as damage from small-caliber shells and machine gun fire.

Clearly, this submarine has experienced a fierce surface gun battle, which is unusual for a submarine. Judging from the fact that the submarine is still afloat and can enter the port under its own power, it has undoubtedly won the battle.

The fourth princess also arrived on the submarine's deck at this time. The journey had been extremely difficult for both the fourth princess and the officers and soldiers on the submarine. Not to mention submarines of this era, even in World War II or the first generation of conventional submarines after the war, the living conditions inside the submarine, including the air and various living facilities, were worse than those in a prison.

At least prisons are well-ventilated. Anyone who studied science in high school or civil engineering in college knows how "refreshing" the smell in a classroom can be when most of the students are men and the windows are closed in winter. The environment inside a submarine is even worse.

After all, students at least want to take a shower and can shower every day, but the limited fresh water on a submarine makes it absolutely impossible for you to wash your body every day. Not to mention that the working temperature in places like the engine room may even be above 50°C. Such a hot and enclosed sauna-like environment, mixed with sweat, foot odor, and even the "fragrance" of the toilet overflowing in harsh conditions, would definitely be an unforgettable experience for anyone who experiences a submarine for the first time.

Therefore, it was common for submariners to wear only underwear when they went out to sea. In this special working environment, even wearing an extra piece of cloth was a form of torture.

However, this time the princess was also on the same submarine. Even though the captain gave the princess the only single room on the submarine—his own captain's cabin—this so-called single room was actually only about the same size as a sleeper compartment on a train. And like a sleeper compartment on a train, it didn't have a door; there was only a curtain hanging at the door.

At the beginning of the trip, the Fourth Princess was still in the submarine's conning tower, but she soon found that everyone was not used to it. In the past, everyone would take off their clothes as soon as they set off, but this time, because the princess was on the submarine, everyone wore their military uniforms properly. As a result, not only were everyone's clothes soaked with sweat shortly after setting sail, but even the captain, who was wearing the most neat military uniform, was almost suffering from heatstroke with two layers of clothes.

Therefore, the fourth princess could only say that she was seasick and then voluntarily went back to the captain's cabin to stay there. Except for going to the toilet, she did not come out even to eat or wash up. This made the submarine crew outside breathe a sigh of relief, and everyone was able to take off their clothes and operate the submarine shirtless.

The HMS Courage is the largest submarine in the Yeonpyeong Navy, and therefore also the one with the longest range and greatest endurance among all of its submarines. With a surface displacement of 1500 tons and a submerged displacement of 2400 tons, in terms of size and tonnage, it is in no way inferior to the Little Shark-class submarines of the Federal Navy during World War II in another world. In this era, it is undoubtedly a large submarine, and in this era, it is basically the largest submarine except for the British K-class submarines (2500-ton displacement submarines that generally use steam turbines).

Therefore, the submarine Courage secretly slipped out of the port under the cover of moonlight. After observing the surrounding waters with its periscope and confirming that it had passed through the enemy's first blockade line, it quickly surfaced in the last few hours before sunrise and then sped along the planned route at a maximum speed of 16 knots.

Everything was going very smoothly. For the first day and night, the Courage submarine maintained its surface navigation and did not encounter any enemies. Don't ask why the submarine had to stay on the surface. In this day and age, a submarine is essentially a ship that can dive, and it spends most of its time on the surface.

This good fortune ended during their northward journey. The submarine had already reached the waters around the Xisha Islands, and everyone thought that since they had reached this point, they would not encounter any more federal patrol vessels. However, unexpectedly, at dawn, they collided with a federal destroyer at sea.

Because both sides had kept their lights off during the night, neither noticed the other until sunrise.

When the two sides spotted each other, they were only 8 kilometers apart. At that distance, it was clear that the HMS Courage would not be able to dive before the other's shells hit it. Once a submarine's pressure hull is hit, it can basically say goodbye to diving.

Under those circumstances, the captain of the submarine Courage made the most correct decision – to engage in a gun battle!

The Courageous were quite lucky; the Federation destroyer they encountered was the Pauling-class, the second generation of the Federation's so-called "700-ton" destroyers. This was also the Federation Navy's first destroyer to use fuel oil as fuel. In terms of firepower, it was equipped with five 12-pound guns and three torpedo tubes. This type of destroyer, which is now somewhat outdated, was being used by the Federation Navy for patrol and reconnaissance missions.

Although the Federation, as the world's most industrialized nation, always gives the impression of being an industrial monster of our time, the research and development and manufacturing of any weaponry requires procedures and time.

The reason why the USN was able to launch the Essex at an astonishing speed during World War II was that the USN had already begun designing the Essex in the late 30s (of course, the name had not yet been decided at that time), and construction had started on April 28, 41, before the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. The shipyard's production lines, orders, processes, and personnel training were all already in operation, which enabled Essex ships to be deployed to the battlefield one after another in 4.

Since the Union only began to fully transition to a state of war after the defection of Yingzhou and the decision of Congress to expand the scale of the war, the large-scale construction of consumables such as destroyers only began at that time. Before that, although the construction of various types of warships of the United States Navy had expanded to some extent on the basis of the pre-war foundation, it could still be described as proceeding in an orderly manner.

For this reason, even though the warships on those shipyards have not yet been put into actual service and formed combat capability, the Federal Army has now made full use of all the warships it has available. After all, the cost of a transoceanic expedition is much higher for the United States than for the Ming Dynasty.

This is why these early destroyers were deployed to the front lines. Their firepower was insufficient to fulfill the functions of conventional fleet destroyers. Therefore, these older destroyers actually performed tasks similar to those of the frigates built by the Royal Navy of Victoria during World War II and the escort destroyers built by the Colombians.

Given that such an elderly elementary school student encountered the "unconventional dead-water" Angry, the outcome of their firefight was not surprising.

Although submarines are not known for surface gun warfare, the Courage was twice the size of the opposing destroyer in terms of surface displacement. In terms of firepower, the Courage had a 120mm gun on both the foredeck and aft deck, and a 75mm gun on the conning tower. Although the number of guns was far less than that of the opponent, the advantage in caliber was too great. Moreover, the old destroyers of the Federation were not equipped with machine guns, so even if they wanted to wash the deck, their firepower was not enough.

If the Federation destroyer had retreated at high speed from the beginning, it might have had a chance of survival. However, it bravely decided to go toe-to-toe with the Courage, and was quickly hit by the Courage's 120mm shells in the boiler room. Now it was doomed.

After a 40-minute battle, the federal destroyer was sunk, and the surviving officers and men were salvaged by the HMS Courage. Only after all this was over did the HMS Courage finally encounter a large Ming destroyer that arrived late.

Having experienced so many hardships and unexpected events along the way, Zheng Guanyin was now eager to meet the grandson of the emperor. During the process of the submarine entering the port, Zheng Guanyin had already seen the barriers that Leizhou Port had set up around it.

It was obvious that all the effort put into building these barriers was to prevent outsiders from seeing what was happening inside the port. This made Zheng Guanyin even happier, because it seemed that this grandson was indeed gathering the warships of the Ming Dynasty's Royal Navy, preparing to launch a large-scale operation.

If we can persuade him to take action as soon as possible, then Dongdu will truly be saved.

As the submarine, guided by tugboats, entered the port from the river, the majestic, mountain-like silhouette of the main warship came into view. Zheng Guanyin immediately spotted the imposing and powerful Dingyuan battleship. This main warship, currently the largest and most powerful in the Ming Dynasty Royal Navy, was renowned throughout Asia. Zheng Guanyin could see that sandbags had been strapped to the bridge and many other parts of the battleship, indicating that it was ready for battle and could set sail at any time upon receiving orders.

This is wonderful! Such majestic and imposing warships, such a large fleet...

fleet?

As the submarine HMS Courage continued its voyage deeper into the port, Zheng Guanyin saw two Pinghai-class battleships behind the two Dingyuan-class battleships. These two oldest dreadnoughts were quite famous, after all, they were the first batch of dreadnoughts in the East. Although they were converted from the original quasi-dreadnoughts that were half-built, the title of the first dreadnought in the East was still very prestigious.

Although these two ships are older and less combat-ready, what works best for the moment is what works best. Using whatever ships are available is perfectly acceptable. In fact, it's commendable to make the most of all the potential of all warships.

But..........

But why are there only four battleships in the port?

Zheng Guanyin looked around Leizhou Port with some confusion, but what made her heart sink was that there were indeed only four dreadnoughts and super-dreadnoughts in this naval port. The rumor that the main force of the Ming Dynasty Royal Navy had moved north from Jinlan Bay to Leizhou Port was obviously not true!

What exactly is this grandson doing, causing such a commotion in Leizhou Port?

Zheng Guanyin felt her mind was in a mess. She had originally planned to act as an envoy like Lin Xiangru, Su Qin, and Zhang Yi, but now it seemed that her prepared arguments were useless.

The captain of the Courage had obviously noticed this as well. He knew what his princess's purpose was in this trip. Seeing that the princess's expression was getting worse, the captain quickly said, "Your Highness, perhaps the other warships are just going out to sea for training."

"You're right, hopefully they've gone out to sea for training." Although Zheng Guanyin said this, it was clear from her tone that the Fourth Princess did not believe such an explanation.

As the submarine slowly docked at the pier, Zheng Guanyin saw a young man standing in the middle of the group of people who were there to greet her.

By this time, the honor guard was already lined up on the dock, and the military band was in position, clearly indicating that the other side had prepared a high-level lineup. The officers and men aboard the Courageous submarine had also put away their previous disheveled appearance during the voyage, all changing into brand-new, clean white military uniforms and standing in formation on the submarine's deck (standing in formation, a naval term referring to a form of queuing for crew members on board). Zheng Guanyin herself had also changed into a dress uniform, and even wore a beautiful gauze hat.

As the gangway on the dock approached the submarine deck, the military band on the dock began to play music. After slightly adjusting the hem of her skirt, Zheng Guanyin took a step to walk down the gangway. The Fourth Princess had too many questions she wanted to ask this grandson of the Crown Prince in person.

Just then, a gust of wind suddenly blew by, playfully lifting the veil on the Fourth Princess's head. Zheng Guanyin wanted to reach out and grab it, but her skirt was also about to be lifted by the wind, so she could only hold down her skirt with both hands. The hat that was lifted by the wind spun twice in the air before slowly falling down.

Standing on the dock, Li Che subconsciously reached out and caught the hat. He looked down at the hat in his hand, then at Zheng Guanyin on the gangway in front of him, and waved gently to her with the hand that had caught the hat: "Welcome, Your Highness."

Chapter 102 The Wind Rises (3)

"Shehui, Shehui, Mingzi, look what I said before? Your competitor has arrived, hasn't he?"

In the distance, Zhu Miaoyun, who was lying on top of a convertible, was constantly spreading alarmist rumors to Tokugawa Akiko.

"Your Highness, Zheng Guanyin has come here to ask for help."

“Not bad, not bad. You’ve started calling her by her name instead of the Fourth Princess, which means you’ve already placed Zheng Guanyin in the position of a worthy opponent.”

Zhu Miaoyun put down her binoculars and patted Tokugawa Akiko on the shoulder with a look of considerable satisfaction.

Tokugawa Akiko originally thought she was very good at getting along with different people, that is, to put it bluntly, she could speak to people in a human way and to ghosts in a ghost way. In front of Li Che, she was an obedient girl and a naive young lady from Yingzhou. Because Tokugawa Akiko believed that no man in the East wanted his woman to be like Empress Lü or Wu Zetian.

In front of "shogunate retainers" like Akiyama, she never hesitated to show her shrewdness and skill. Tokugawa Akiko knew that her brother's abilities were not enough to support the restoration of the shogunate. In the past, her brother could be a "clay shogun," but now a more capable person was needed to lead the shogunate in the future. Tokugawa Akiko was not sure that she had such abilities, but in front of people like Akiyama, she had to show that she was that kind of person and worthy of their following.

However, in front of this Ming princess, Tokugawa Akiko was truly unsure how to deal with her. Although many emperors in Ming history were quite eccentric, with all sorts of bizarre hobbies that made a name for themselves, this princess was different even compared to those eccentric Ming emperors. She often uttered incomprehensible words, just like she had just said.

Is there any necessary connection between "society" and the fourth princess of the Song Prince's Mansion?

Besides, wasn't it just that His Highness caught the princess's hat that was blown up by the wind? What could that possibly mean?

Zhu Miaoyun looked at Tokugawa Akiko with an expression that said, "You don't understand now, but you will in the future." She continued, "Asking for help is one thing, and marriage is another. Think about it, the Song Prince's Mansion is already in a critical situation. How much assistance they can get and how long it will take to get it largely depends on the Jin Prince's Mansion. In this situation, don't you think the Song Prince's Mansion might try to use a honey trap?"

Akiko Tokugawa shook her head: "So what if that's the case? I won't worry about things I can't control. But Your Highness, you're being far too excited."

"I'm just watching the show, of course I'm enjoying it."

After Zhu Miaoyun finished speaking, she continued to look at the dock through the binoculars. However, in the binoculars, Li Che and Zheng Guanyin did not develop as the plot of a certain romance anime. Instead, Li Che was pointing in the direction for Zheng Guanyin with his hand, and it seemed to be pointing to... her current location?

???

For some reason, Zhu Miaoyun now has a strange feeling that she originally came to watch the play, but it seems that she has also become a part of the play.

-------------------------------------

“Princess Changning is right there.” Li Che pointed into the distance and introduced her to Zheng Guanyin: “The one looking at us with binoculars is Her Highness the Princess, and the one next to Her Highness the Princess is a princess from the Tokugawa Shogunate.”

“I had heard that the Tokugawa Shogunate had sent their most beloved daughter to serve as a maid to His Highness. I thought it was just a rumor…” Zheng Guanyin withdrew her gaze from the direction Li Che was pointing, and then carefully examined the young prince of the Jin family in front of her again. He seemed harmless, perhaps because he was too young, except for his good looks: “I didn’t expect that the Jin family is now completely different from what it used to be.”

What Zheng Guanyin didn't know was that while she thought Li Che was too young, Li Che also thought that this fourth princess of Yanping was too naive. Although in terms of age, 24-year-old Zheng Guanyin was definitely an older sister to 19-year-old Li Che, in another world, while that silly girl was sleeping, she would use her body to browse her phone. Sometimes she liked to use a certain pink app to read some older sister type comics. The older sisters in those comics were basically Zheng Guanyin's current age.

However, Li Che still felt that the fourth princess of Yanping was a bit too young. After all, although Li Che was 19 years old, considering that his consciousness had been in another world to "study abroad" since he was a child, if he added up the time he had spent in that other world since he was a child, the age that Li Che had actually experienced should be approaching the age of 35 when he was "optimized".

Li Che was truly mature beyond his years. His two lifetimes brought him not only the knowledge and skills he gained in the other world, but also the valuable experience he accumulated.

The fourth princess clearly came here to find him with political motives. The young man was still too impatient. I believe that after entering the port, the fourth princess looked around at the warships in the port. The number of large capital ships in the port was obviously very disappointing to the princess.

Originally, this princess was supposed to come to curry favor with him, since the Song Prince's Mansion was a true loyalist of the Ming Dynasty.

Now, he probably feels like a big liar, so he inevitably loses control of his attitude when he speaks, and his sarcastic tone comes out unconsciously.

Although the fourth princess seemed to realize that her tone of voice might not have been appropriate, the words had already been spoken and could not be changed.

“What the Fourth Princess is saying now is a bit off.” Li Che shook his head: “The Jin Prince’s Mansion is doing this not because our Jin Prince’s Mansion is now more powerful and incomparable to what it used to be, but simply because we now want to find a way to unite all the forces that can be united, all for the sake of the war of resistance.”

"Is taking in a princess from Yingzhou as a maid also related to the War of Resistance?"

"The Tokugawa Shogunate can now be described as a regime with no territory, no finances, and no army. However, the Tokugawa Shogunate itself is its greatest value. After all, they once legally ruled the Yingzhou Islands for hundreds of years. The existence of the Tokugawa Shogunate is a taboo for Yingzhou, which has betrayed us. A family that has ruled Yingzhou for hundreds of years cannot simply lose its power on the Yingzhou Islands just because they retreated to the mainland. If we accept a woman sent by the Tokugawa Shogunate, we can make them work for us and use us. Let alone the obedient and lovely Akiko they send, even if the Shogun sends his old mother, we will take good care of her."

Zheng Guanyin hadn't expected that her casual mention of sending a gift to the princess would elicit such a high-sounding response from this grandson. This response didn't displease Zheng Guanyin; on the contrary, she felt somewhat gratified because it showed that the grandson "didn't seem like a good person."

Zheng Guanyin understood that the United States they were facing was a shameless and powerful nation, and if you wanted to fight against such a villain, you certainly couldn't be a good person either.

However, just thinking about the fact that there were only four battleships in the port made Zheng Guanyin almost lose control of her emotions.

She had placed all her hopes for saving Dongdu on the man in front of her, but when she actually arrived at Leizhou Port, she discovered that the rumored powerful fleet was nothing but a fabrication.

"Your Highness's clever words have amazed us." Zheng Guanyin continued, somewhat unwilling to give up, "When we entered the port just now, I saw several majestic battleships of the navy, one of which should be the famous Dingyuan-class, right? It's a pity that I only saw four such giant ships in the port. I suppose the other warships are out at sea for training now? Does Your Highness know where the remaining battleships of the navy are currently conducting training?"

When she asked the question, Zheng Guanyin stared intently at Li Che. What she hoped for most was for Li Che to say something like, "The other main warships have just gone out to sea for training and will be back soon."

But Li Che only made her shake her head in despair: "We don't have any other capital ships available right now. These are our only four capital ships that can carry out all combat missions."

"Are there really only four?"

"How many ships does the Fourth Princess hope for?" Li Che countered. "Of course, we both hope to have as many capital ships as possible right now, but the Fourth Princess must also understand one thing: after the Battle of the Java Sea, since a significant portion of our navy's main force was blockaded in Surabaya Port, we currently only have about a dozen capital ships at our disposal. The United States Navy has twice as many capital ships as we do. With the entire fleet in Cam Ranh Bay here, do you really think we can compete with the United States on the high seas?"

Zheng Guanyin didn't know much about the navy, but as a princess of an island nation, she was well aware of what it meant to have only half the number of capital ships as the enemy. Throughout human history, there has been almost no one who could win a naval battle under such circumstances. Once the numerical advantage of a navy reaches a certain level, the quality of its equipment becomes less important in turning the tide of battle.

Even Nelson didn't defeat his opponent at sea with half the opponent's forces.

"So Your Highness should relax now. Since our current forces are no match for the United States Navy, we cannot possibly defeat it head-on if we want to relieve the siege of Dongdu. We need to find another way."

"Find another way?" Zheng Guanyin herself didn't realize that her thinking had been led by the nose by Li Che. Of course, this was not because our fourth princess was too naive. Zheng Guanyin was not stupid. She was just too concerned about the war situation in Dongdu and was so concerned that she paid extra attention to any news that could affect Dongdu.

"Your Highness, on paper, the naval forces of our army and the Federation army are still in a relatively 1:1 ratio, with both sides having more than 20 capital ships. Our current extremely passive situation is because more than a dozen of our capital ships are currently unable to play a role."

甚至由于缺乏维护连作为存在舰队的价值都很低，这就导致我们虽然纸面上和联邦军是1:1的兵力，但实际上联邦军相对于我们是2:1的优势，但是如果我们能够想办法把这种优势重新追回到1:1呢？”

Li Che had already made his point clear. How could Zheng Guanyin not guess what Li Che was plotting?

The problem is that the whole world knows what happened to the fleet in Surabaya Harbor. The fleet was stuck in a port without proper maintenance facilities, and the damaged warships could only undergo the most limited repairs. This situation had been going on for a whole year.

No one believed that the fleet in Surabaya Port still possessed combat capability, and Li Che mentioned that his solution was to put this paper strength into practice—which would definitely involve relieving the fleet in Surabaya Port.

But how easy is that?

The Federation Navy's main force is now divided into two groups. Either the 38th Fleet or the 39th Fleet is capable of single-handedly confronting all the dreadnoughts and super-dreadnoughts currently available to the Ming Dynasty's Royal Navy.