Chapter Thirty-Three: Perfect Encounter Battle

  Just after the Spring Festival in '83, Zhang Long, who couldn't wait any longer, received orders from Zhou Yu to lead a fleet of three warships from the Zhongyong Military's naval fleet to set sail for Coco Island in Costa Rica to excavate the treasure there.

  This Spring Festival, Zhang Long did not have a good time. His heart was like a cat's scratch, and he couldn't rest assured if the treasure didn't arrive in his hands for a day. He had already regarded the treasure as the private property of the Zhongyong Army, and was even more tense than Zhou Yu.

  He stood on Lü Han's A2 main battleship, with an extremely excited mood, wanting to see the gold.

  He recalled that when Teacher had just arrived at Liu's Village, he and Liu Chengliang were the first to jump out and challenge Zhou Yawei.

  At first, Zhou Yu had nothing and he and Liu Chengliang were skeptical of their young teacher, but now three years have passed and the two have transformed from strong opponents to loyal supporters, what a change!

  Now I think back, I'm still embarrassed by my ignorance at the time. With Teacher's literary and military prowess, just a few gestures with his fingers left me not knowing how to react, let alone talk about anything else?

  Now, both he and Liu Chengliang are almost dead skin and thick-skinned, forcibly calling Zhou Yu as their teacher. As they continue to interact with the teacher, they increasingly discover the teacher's vast wisdom and his nearly divine and abnormal skills. They all learned a lot of knowledge from the teacher, and the teacher also brought everyone a brand new idea and realm.

  He himself rose from an unknown young man to become the Grand Marshal of Hawaii, a first-class official in a country!

  Most importantly, I am no longer the Zhang Long of three years ago. The current me has fully matured and my teacher has taught me a great deal of military knowledge that even Ye Fu and Lü Han, those military geniuses, are amazed by. Not to mention this little white in military affairs!

  "What's on his mind! Lü Han saw Zhang Long standing there, staring blankly into space, which was a bit strange. In his impression, Zhang Long had always been a chatterbox, but suddenly he became deep and introspective, so he still needed to show some concern."

  I am thinking of our principal.

  Are you thinking of the principal? Have you made a mistake! You're a man and it's pointless even if you think about it!

  Go die! You're always full of nonsense and trash! I was thinking about the changes our principal has brought to us. Is it as despicable as you think?!

  Yes! At that time, if Ye Fu and I hadn't offended the corrupt officials, who knows where we'd be languishing now?!

  Zhang Long looked back at the trail left by the fast-moving heavy cruiser and said with some emotion: "Yes! Am I not the same? We are all the same, when the Black Flag Army was under General Liu's command, we were oppressed by the French devils to the point of being unable to breathe. Look at our troops now, it's a completely different story!

  The principal said: This year the French are going to have a war with us, I believe it now. The French look very fierce, but they are paper tigers. Our real opponent is America.

  I'm surprised, the US military now has only tens of thousands of people, and there are only 24 warships, all of which are outdated, some of which are even wooden ships. How can the principal think so! It's really incomprehensible.

  Don't try to understand if you can't, it's strange that your wooden brain can figure it out!

  Cut! Are you smarter than me? If you have the ability, say something reasonable out. If what you said makes sense, I'll admit defeat to you!

  "Ah! I don't understand either, but since I don't understand, I won't think about it. All I know is that as long as I follow the principal's words, I'll definitely be right!"

  This is still what you said, everyone knows!

  Hey! Seriously, this time the principal sent 3 warships, what are they doing in this godforsaken place?

  Don't tell you, it's a military secret! Last time I was scolded by the teacher for this matter, I don't want to make the same mistake again!

  Cut! Don't mention it, you think I want to listen? I was teasing you on purpose. I don't know about military discipline, do I?

  In this way, two people chatted and talked along the road, and they didn't feel too lonely anymore.

  When they arrived at Coco Island, Zhang Long took out the map given to him by Zhou Yu and started searching. After several days of hard work, he finally found the three treasure caves on the map.

  After all the treasures were transported onto the ship, Zhang Long secretly opened a large box. The moment he saw the gold ingots inside, his mouth was left agape in astonishment and his eyes instantly turned golden.

  Goodness! It's all gold coins, a whole box of gold coins. Zhang Long touched it again and again, and after a long time, he reluctantly covered the lid, nailed it with iron nails, and re-sealed the seal.

  On the way home, Lü Han kept hearing Zhang Long muttering something.

  Ask him how he's doing, always so nervous.

  Zhang Long replied absolutely: Yellow! All yellow!

  Lü Han took a look and couldn't get anything out of it, so he thought Zhang Long was just being eccentric and lost interest in asking. Lü Han secretly thought to himself, "Is it time to find a wife for Zhang Long? Otherwise, why is he always muttering about yellow things?"

  General! There is a cruiser ahead, probably around 3,000 tons, flying the American flag.

  What to do? Should I avoid it? The sentry's report reminded Lü Han, who was in the midst of the crowd, that he wasn't quite safe yet!

  Have they found us?

  It seems to have been discovered and is heading towards us.

  Order immediate inquiry, ask them what they are doing. We also hang the American flag, don't be nervous, all make good preparations to welcome the battle.

  "My goodness! Commander Lü, is this an American warship? If so, it's going to cause trouble for our principal! The lookout soldier got anxious and started speaking in Hokkien."

  The sentinel's warning did not change Lü Han's final decision.

  When the warships of both sides approached about 8,000 meters, the other side also sent out flag language: We are the US Pacific Fleet, what are you doing?

  We are the trial ship of Morgan Company in USA, going to South America for sea trials!

  "How can Morgan have a warship? It's even more impossible to sail to the East Coast! What kind of people are you, hurry up and stop the boat for inspection! Otherwise, my ship will open fire on your side!"

  Alright, we'll stop the ship. We are indeed from Morgan's company. This is a trial vessel, not a warship, and the cannons on board are also fake.

  Lü Han ordered two destroyers, a freighter and his own heavy cruiser A2 to slow down.

  The other side saw them slow down and felt a lot more at ease. In the minds of American soldiers, it was absolutely impossible to believe that someone would dare to make a move against their regular US Pacific Fleet in a place over 200 nautical miles from the US coastline. It's unthinkable, unless this country wants to court disaster.

  Lü Han looked at the opponent's warship and repeatedly confirmed that the opponent only had one warship. He then ordered to raise the flag, full speed ahead, and advance in a triangular formation to encircle and annihilate the enemy. His own warship was still a secret and could not be revealed to others. If they encountered his ship, it would be their bad luck!

  How did the US Pacific Fleet end up on the East Coast?

  They originally had four ships, and President Chester A. Arthur was keen on naval construction, ordering the formation of the Pacific Squadron, which was mainly responsible for patrolling the coastline along the eastern coast of the United States.

  Originally they were routine affairs and no American would have thought that anyone would be hostile to an American warship.

  Keats was the captain of this warship, a veteran naval officer in his 40s who had even participated in the American Civil War. At first, he didn't take the observation post's report seriously.

  Although the other side said it was an experimental ship, that's a ridiculous statement that even a ghost wouldn't believe. It's clearly a warship, and they thought it was their own country's newly developed secret military vessel!

  However, the opponent is now accelerating to encircle himself, this phenomenon makes him feel frightened, the opponent has three warships that are much larger than his own, and their weapons seem to be more advanced.

  Judging from the situation, the other side is an enemy warship rather than a domestic one. At this time, the distance between the two sides was less than 5,000 meters.

  Order, all five turrets fire at a 15-degree angle, Kestrel's crisp command, this is a good habit that has been cultivated for a long time, taking the initiative to strike first.

  But what was the result?

  In order to get as close to the enemy ship as possible, Lü Han did not give the order to fire, and firing now would affect the speed of the warship.

  The general took the lead in opening fire, and Lü Han looked at the several large water pillars rising from the front of the warship. The reaction was quite quick! Unfortunately, it's a pity that the warship is too small! A 200mm caliber cannon doesn't pose much of a threat to itself.

  The opponent saw that I was the flagship and actually let all the cannons fire at me, quite courageous.

  Just as Lü Han was thinking, the warship suddenly shook violently, and almost at the same time, he heard a loud bang in his ear. The slanted armor plate on the bow of the ship was hit by two shells, and a large fire broke out on the deck immediately.

  Order, reserve team fire, all eleven o'clock direction, distance four thousand one hundred meters free shooting.

  The order had just been given when Lü Han felt his warship suddenly shudder violently; he knew the bombardment had begun.

  After several rounds of shelling, the American ship's swelling and bow were hit by two armor-piercing shells, causing serious damage to the warship.

  Keast saw that the enemy's firepower was too great and ordered his ships to turn back to the US base on the east coast, but could they still make it?

  Kester's misjudgment thoroughly buried his own warship. At a distance of less than 4,000 meters between the two sides, isn't turning around looking for death?

  Lü Han did not let go of this opportunity, ordering the launch of torpedoes. The three ships fired a total of 9 steam-powered Whitehead torpedoes, each at an interval of 10 seconds, and charged towards the enemy ship at a speed of 50 knots.

  Kester was shocked and ordered an emergency evasion maneuver. At such a close distance, the 13 or so sections of the American ship were far from enough.

  While barely avoiding other torpedoes, four torpedoes on the right side have already reached the forbidden zone.

  Without waiting for him to issue another order, the single-barreled 76mm rapid-fire guns on the warship rattled and fired a barrage at the torpedoes, but the warship still did not escape disaster, with two stray torpedoes hitting its starboard waterline.

  The hull and crew of the American ship flew up like clouds and fog, and when they fell into the sea, they had already been cut into three sections by two torpedoes weighing several hundred kilograms.

  In less than two minutes, the entire sea surface was left with only a huge whirlpool formed by the sinking of the warship, and the US military did not have time to escape, being dragged into the deep sea.

  Lü Han waited in place for nearly half a watch, repeatedly confirming that there were no personnel or leaks before ordering the return voyage.

  When each ship took stock of its battle damage, only two gunners on the flagship had suffered minor bruises; everything else was intact.

  The sloping armor deck hit had only two shallow shell holes, and the sloping design and new steel's bulletproof capability can be seen.

  Next was a smooth return to Pearl Harbor base, Lv Han and Zhang Long reported the events that had occurred along the way to Zhou Yu. Zhou Yu only asked one sentence: Were there any casualties? As for the rest, he reacted calmly.

  Lü Han and others were deeply moved. The principal's first concern was the life and death of the officers and soldiers. What other requirements can be made of such a leader? Everyone had no choice but to fight to the death, in order to repay the principal's kindness as thick as a mountain, there is no other way.

  On the way, everyone always found that Zhang Long's eyes were yellow and his spirit was confused. Even in the fierce sea battle they passed through on the road, he was still like this.

  As for this, Zhou Yu had a number in his heart. He knew that Zhang Long must have sneaked a peek at Huang Jin and was subdued by Huang Jin.

  After all the treasures were stored in the warehouse, Zhou Yu's heart also settled down. These are the national gold reserves for Zhou Yu's future country! It's impossible not to be nervous.

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