Chapter 29: Heart Like Summer Flowers

  Ye Fu pushed open the hatch of the command tower of heavy cruiser A1, letting the cold sea wind cut through his body like a knife.

  But his scorching heart was ablaze with fierce passion, he looked back at his fleet and couldn't help but reveal a proud and intoxicated smile.

  As a member of the Zhongyong Army of Huaxia, he has something to be proud of.

  Take the naval fleet of Zhongyong Army for example, the combat effectiveness of its ironclad warships was unimaginable in the past.

  Having a fleet of two ironclad warships with a tonnage close to 10,000 tons is beyond comparison with the several hundred-ton mosquito gunboats he originally commanded in the Fujian Navy.

  To put it bluntly: if our fleet stays in place and lets the Fujian Fleet bombard us continuously for an hour, there won't be too much loss, but as soon as the Fujian Fleet's warships come into contact with our main force, they will likely be destroyed or sunk.

  All of this was brought about by the leader of the Zhongyong Army, Principal Zhou Yu. The vast number of grassroots officers and soldiers of the Zhongyong Army all say in private that the principal is the Wenchang star who has descended from heaven to save the people of China, because Zhou Yu is all-powerful, all-knowing, and all-capable.

  Ye Fu also had the same feeling, in his heart Zhou Yu was the god in everyone's mind, with Zhou Yu, everyone was like having a backbone, fearless and proactive.

  According to a good friend, Wei Han, who privately revealed the news to me: The principal is planning to build three steel-clad iron armor warships with a tonnage of over 10,000 tons. What concept is that? I don't know, but I do know it's many times more powerful than our current A-class battle cruisers.

  Thinking of one's own future, looking back at one's children and relatives Deng Shichang, it's just a belly full of anger.

  This elm knot still holds onto its extravagant hopes for the Great Qing, foolishly loyal to the Great Qing.

  Can't he see that the rotten Qing dynasty is on the verge of collapse?

  He repeatedly asked people to bring letters to him, asking him to join the Zhongyong Army. Even when Wong Fei-hung brought his own handwritten letter to see him, he was unmoved.

  Made himself unable to lift his head in front of his peers, and he felt even more guilty for the principal's careful cultivation.

  The bus strait sneak attack battle ten days ago, I felt extremely satisfied, but the principal was quite dissatisfied, he said: That time war own fleet performance is too poor, the whole is simply no law to speak of.

  He also said: The Chinese naval fleet will face the British, French and American navies in the future. At this level, it is not even enough to fill their teeth gaps.

  As for the principal treating the powerful navies of Western countries as enemies, Ye Fu didn't quite understand it, but he knew that the principal never spoke without a reason, and he firmly believed that what the principal said was definitely correct.

  Even self-taught training on ironclad ships is sometimes useless, in the eyes of the principal they are all trash, let alone Deng Shichang, who has not even come into contact with a real 10,000-ton ironclad ship?

  He was secretly worried about his family in his heart, and the Zhongyong Army was developing rapidly in all aspects, with obvious improvements every day. For the sake of his family, he decided to take advantage of his opportunity in Taiwan to hurry to the mainland to find Deng Shichang and bring him over.

  The principal attaches great importance to his own relatives, Deng Shichang. I don't know how the principal came to know this, Ye Fu didn't think deeply about it. Anyway, the principal has many skills that he doesn't understand himself, so knowing his relatives is not surprising.

  Wanting to take action, Ye Fu and Zhou Yu took a leave of absence. After getting Zhou Yu's consent, Ye Fu excitedly boarded a cargo ship to find trouble with Deng Shichang!

  Zhou Yuna was delighted to see it, Deng Shichang, that is a national hero! In the Sino-Japanese War of 1894, on September 17th, Deng Shichang commanded the "Jiyuan" ship to fight bravely in the Battle of Dagu Bay. Later, under the attack of Japanese warships, the "Jiyuan" was heavily damaged and caught fire, with the hull tilting.

  "We have been soldiers, guarding the country, and we have long disregarded life and death. Today's matter is just a matter of dying!" "The Japanese ships rely solely on Yoshino, if this ship sinks, it will be enough to take away their spirit and achieve our goal." With determination, he drove the ship at full speed towards the right side of the Japanese main force ship "Yoshino", determined to perish together with the enemy.

  During the voyage, the torpedo tube of the "Chiyuan" warship was unfortunately hit by a shell, causing an explosion in the tube and sinking the ship. After Deng Shichang fell into the sea, his entourage tried to rescue him with a life ring, but he refused.

  He said: "I vowed to kill the enemy and die for my country, now I am dying at sea, it is righteous, why should I seek life!" The pet dog "Sun" he raised also swam to his side, biting his arm to save him. Deng Shichang swore to share the fate of the warship, resolutely pressed the dog's head into the water, and he himself also sank into the waves. Only 16 officers and soldiers on the entire ship were rescued together.

  How could such a heroic figure as Zhou Yu let him off?

  Deng Shichang was very surprised by Ye Fu's sudden visit, because he had heard that his family had moved to Hawaii, but he still warmly received Ye Fu.

  Ye Fu's face turned red with rage, and he scolded him severely: "You this wretched boy, do you think I'm not worthy of your respect? You don't even bother to reply to my letters, and when someone comes to invite you, you still put on airs. Are you the only great one in all of China? Do you think that being related to me would tarnish the reputation of a great general like yourself?"

  Deng Shichang gave a wink to the people below, and after they all retreated, he sat Ye Furong on the stool. Alright! What's going on? Why are you, an honest man, getting so angry? If I've been remiss in any way, I'll apologize to you right here, no need to get so worked up! Getting too angry can harm your body.

  As for Deng Shichang's soft and gentle appearance, Ye Fu was even more furious, but he suppressed his anger and said, "I'll settle the score with you in the study."

  As soon as he sat down in the study, Ye Fu couldn't help but say, "Don't pretend to be dumb, I've asked you repeatedly to resign and come to Hawaii with me, why didn't you respond? Are you really going to stick to this path until the end? Is the Qing dynasty worth your loyalty?"

  Deng Shichang said solemnly: You know, I was born in the great Qing dynasty and will die as a ghost of the great Qing. This is my motherland that gave me life and raised me, how can I leave her?

  That is foolish loyalty. The China I know is the China of the Chinese people, not the China of the Manchu Qing dynasty. Am I betraying my country?

  This year, the United States had the "Chinese Exclusion Act" incident. Did the Qing government make any statement? No! Are overseas Chinese not our compatriots?

  And our loyal and brave army is the only organization in the world that has issued a statement of condemnation.

  I also know you love the country, but you must distinguish between the China you love and the Manchu Qing dynasty. Think back to when the Manchu Qing invaded our great Chinese territory, how many Chinese people were killed? That's not all, after they established their regime, have we Han people ever had good days?

  In the entire land of China, we Han people have the lowest status. There is a nursery rhyme as evidence: First-class foreigners, second-class Manchu, third-class ethnic minorities, fourth-class Han.

  Are you made of iron and steel, willing to be a running dog for the Qing government? In the words of our principal: that's a traitor! Traitor, do you understand?!

  What! How can it be like this? Was I wrong to be loyal to the Great Qing? Was I wrong to be loyal to my country?

  Deng Shichang was somewhat perplexed.

  It's not that being loyal to the country is wrong, but rather you're being loyal to the wrong object. Our principal said: We should be loyal to the entire Chinese nation, rather than a certain individual or the Manchu Qing dynasty. The Manchu Qing dynasty represents only a small ruling class, and does not represent the majority of the Chinese nation.

  The principal said: I don't want you to be loyal to me, although I am your leader, but if one day I can no longer benefit the Chinese people, then you can overthrow me.

  What we want is a government that represents the people, rather than one that rules over them.

  The principal not only required us to do so, but also required himself to do the same. He took out his own house and implemented free compulsory education for all citizens in the base. He also stipulated that the wages of Chinese people within the jurisdiction should not be less than 20 taels of silver, while he himself was frugal and simple, never wasting anything.

  Even his villa in the base was secretly built by Wei Han and others, for which he blamed everyone for wasting money.

  The money, technology and weapons he equipped for the Zhongyue loyal and brave army could add up to establish a country.

  Everyone under his leadership was filled with hope and motivation in their hearts.

  Do you know what kind of warship I'm commanding now?

  It is a fully loaded ironclad of nearly 10,000 tons, and we have already laid the keel for three all-steel ironclads, which are fully loaded with nearly 15,000 tons of all-steel ironclads. And yet our principal says that the technology is too backward.

  Do you know what an all-steel ironclad is? That's an ironclad ship built entirely with steel, what a concept, I'm sure you understand it better than me!

  The alloy steel invented by our principal is a new type of steel that even the world's number one naval power, Britain, does not have. Compared to the carbon steel used in Western countries, it is more solid and lighter. This is what the principal told us.

  As for what the principal told us about steel's tensile strength and yield point and so on, I didn't understand it, but I knew that it was strong, that it was good.

  If it weren't for the principal's fear of an internal war, with innocent civilians getting killed or injured, with our current military strength, we could have taken Beijing directly. With such a promising army for our nation, you don't want to join? You'd rather be this damned Qing dynasty's slave?! Are you worthy of your ancestors?! Are you worthy of the Chinese people?!

  After a good scolding from Ye Fu, Deng Shichang was finally lured into the Zhongyong Army by Ye Fu. It is unknown whether it was Ye Fu's severe reprimand that awakened him or he was tempted by the ironclad warship of the tonnage class.

  Deng Shichang requested to return home due to illness, and at that time Deng Shichang had not yet had the opportunity to demonstrate his command ability, so he was easily approved.

  Deng Shichang and his family disappeared from the sight of the Beiyang Navy at Dagukou, but Deng also made it clear to Ye Fusheng that their guns would not be aimed at their own compatriots. Ye Fusheng smiled slightly in response, "Will the principal aim his gun at the Chinese people? Who would believe that?" This was what all the loyal and brave soldiers were thinking in their hearts.

  In the massive shipyard base in Keelung, Taiwan, Zhou Yu led a grand welcome for Deng Shichang's arrival. It wasn't until Deng Shichang boarded the A1 heavy cruiser that he truly believed Ye Fu's words, and by then he was left speechless from shock.

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