On the same day that Rizal was executed, the British merchant ship Swordfish sailed into the middle of the Arabian Sea. This was a state-of-the-art merchant ship that had just been put into use. This time it was chartered by the Chinese Embassy in Britain to transport goods back home.
International students, due to the financial constraints of the imperial court, it is said that the cost of this chartered boat trip was generously donated by the respected Prince Yang. Of course, there are not only those government-funded overseas students on board, but also four employees of Bofors Company, who are also going to Shanghai.
Lord Zhen Guo Zai Ze stood on the deck and looked gloomily at the four compatriots not far away who were holding sextants and talking and laughing. These Chinese people, all dressed up as fake foreign devils, were said to be overseas Chinese in the United States.
Wearing a top hat, there is definitely no such thing as braids. After getting along with each other these days, he already knows the details of these four people.
"Bah, a bunch of hairy remnants!" Lord Zhen Guo secretly spat on the deck, lowering his voice and saying viciously.
As if he heard it, one of the guys raised his head and smiled at him. I don't know why, but looking at his smile, Zhen Guogong suddenly felt a little chill on his back. On such a cloudless noon, he was so close.
Under the equatorial sun, it was obvious that this feeling was a bit weird, so he decided that it was better to stay away from these guys. It was much more comfortable to go back to the cabin to find the little slave girl he bought in Egypt than to bask in the sun on the deck.
Watching him leave, the person opposite also put away the sextant in his hand, and then led the others back to the cabin. Then a radio wave was sent from the cabin, and a wireless telegraph machine hundreds of kilometers away quickly received the wave.
A few minutes later, a message indicating the Swordfish's position, coordinates, course, and speed appeared in Lin Taizeng's hands. He said expressionlessly: "The order is given to move forward at full speed!"
In the vast waves in the middle of the Arabian Sea, the latest armored cruiser Soryu quickly surged to thirty knots and headed towards the Swordfish in the distance. At midnight, the four Bofors employees on the Swordfish stopped.
When the evacuation order came, the four people put on inflatable life jackets as quickly as possible in the dark night, then slid down the side of the ship through ropes, jumped when they approached the sea, and quietly left the merchant ship, which was traveling slowly at ten knots.
.
At this time, a night sailing light appeared on the distant sea. The first officer of the Swordfish, who was on duty in the cockpit, did not realize that death had come. This is the main route from Europe to the East. At night
It was not strange to encounter a ship. He even ordered the signalman to send a greeting signal with a light. But then he received an unexpected reply.
"Stop the ship? What are they going to do?" the first mate said blankly, but he didn't want to give this order, so he quickly sent someone to wake up the captain. When the captain walked into the cockpit with a hint of impatience, the Canglong opposite was flashing lights.
You can already see it very clearly.
"Chinese?" When he saw this beautiful warship in the distance, the captain immediately put on a surprised expression. At this time, there were only two such warships in service in the world, and Prince Yang was currently visiting Europe.
His subordinates are the Canglong and Fengxiang.
"Indeed, I don't know if it's Canglong or Fengxiang. I think he went to England to escort His Royal Highness back to the country." The first mate said with interest as he looked at the slowly approaching warship. Look at the photos in comparable newspapers.
Much more beautiful.
"Send a signal and tell them that they have no authority to order us to stop the ship." The captain, who was woken up from his sleep and was in a bad mood, said with the unique arrogance of the British Empire.
The signalman quickly sent a light signal, but then a beam of searchlight came over. The Swordfish with a displacement of 2,000 tons was instantly shrouded in dazzling light. Almost at the same time, the main gun on the bow of the Soryu turned, and the No. 1 turret was twin-mounted.
The muzzle of the 52mm main gun flashed with a flash of fire, followed by a harsh whistling sound, and two shells exploded on the sea almost at the same time.
"Stop the ship quickly!" The captain was so frightened that he could no longer care about his arrogance and shouted quickly. Just as the Swordfish slowly stopped, he shouted: "Send a report to Aden Port immediately.
Just say that our ship was rudely attacked by the Chinese navy."
The first mate hurriedly ran to report, but the Canglong not far away swung its bow and went straight to the starboard side of the Swordfish. By this time, Zai Ze and others had been awakened by the sound of the cannons, and they didn't even bother to put on their clothes.
He ran out in a hurry and looked at the muzzle of the cannon facing him in astonishment.
"Damn it, isn't this Yang Feng's new cruiser? What is it doing here?" an international student next to me said in surprise.
Zai Ze, who was still mentally agile, suddenly remembered a terrifying thought, and his face suddenly turned pale. He pushed the guy beside him and stumbled into the cockpit and screamed: "Hurry up, it wants to sink us!"
At the same time, the first mate ran back with a panicked look on his face. He ignored the salute and shouted: "The transmitter is out of order and the telegram cannot be sent!"
No matter how slow the captain reacted at this point, he knew that he was involved in a conspiracy. He had also heard about the relationship between the prince and the royal family. It was obvious that Prince Yang was not prepared to let this group of international students from their royal family go back.
However, it was too late by this time.
"Hurry up!" Just as he roared in terror, another heartbreaking shout from the starboard side sounded: "Torpedo attack!"
On the sea surface illuminated by the strong light of the searchlight, a steam gas torpedo track hit the Swordfish's starboard side straight, and then a huge fire ball rose from the waterline. The 533mm torpedo weighed nearly 200 kilograms.
The antimony charge instantly broke the keel of the Swordfish. The small merchant ship was broken into two pieces like a toy, and then began to sink at the fastest speed.
Zai Ze in the cockpit was holding an unknown pipe tightly with both hands. The moment the ship stood upright, the captain next to him screamed and fell into the dark sea. At the same time that the seawater flooded to his feet, he
He got out of the cockpit and swam into the distance like crazy. After studying the navy for more than a year, his physical fitness had changed greatly. He still had some swimming ability. However, it was a pity that the devil-like battleship was very
Obviously not planning to leave anyone alive, he immediately put down the boat after the Swordfish sank and began to search for the crew on the sea. Regardless of whether they were dead or alive, he shot him in the head, and then used a rope with a lead weight attached to it.
With a set around the neck, the dead body sank to the seabed thousands of meters deep.
Zai Ze was swimming on the sea like crazy, hoping to hide in the darkness in the distance. On a small boat behind him, an officer glanced at him leisurely, and the sailor next to him used a hook to hook a surviving royal student.
, the officer ignored the other party's pleading, put the muzzle of the gun against his head and pulled the trigger. Another sailor quickly put a noose around the dead body's neck, then pulled it tight, then pushed it and replaced it with the next one.
Target, so it will be Mr. Zai's turn soon.
Zai Ze begged with runny nose and tears. The officer looked at him with a smile, then took out a clip of bullets and slowly put it into the Zilaide pistol in his hand. At this time, Zai Ze, who knew that he would not be spared, had already
I saw Lin Taizeng standing on the deck of Canglong.
"Lin, you traitor, I won't let you go even if I'm a ghost, and Yang Feng, Taizu Taizong, just open your eyes! The Qing Dynasty will be usurped by these traitors.
!" Mr. Zai looked up to the sky and cried, and then the sound of gunshots suddenly stopped.
"For Taizong Taizu, the Japanese ripped out all the bones and burned them!" Lin Taizeng said with a sneer.
The Soryu searched the sea for a full two hours, and after confirming that there would be no survivors, it turned around and sailed north to Kuwait. Before that, a small boat had already found the four people on the distant sea based on the light of the flashlight.
Known as an employee of Bofors Company, Lin Taizen's real mission on this trip was to wait there for the return of King Zhennan and then escort him back to the country.
The news of the sinking of the Swordfish did not attract any attention in the world. Shipwrecks are not uncommon these days. When the British fleet in Colombo received the report of the disappearance of the Swordfish, they searched along the route and found residual floating objects on the sea surface.
At that time, almost a week had passed. No survivors or bodies were found, and the location of the sinking could not be determined. So this can only be said to be a misfortune, nothing more.
But for Guangxu, it was not just misfortune. The poor emperor was almost driven crazy by the recent series of bad news. After Li Hongzhang withheld taxes, Zhang Zhidong also submitted a memorial
, with more than a thousand words, laying out facts and reasoning, giving examples and data, in short, telling him that the two lakes should concentrate their efforts on building the Lu-Han Railway, so this, his tax money was temporarily diverted to build the railway.
Immediately afterwards, Liu Kunyi also submitted a memorial. He also wanted to build the railway, the Shanghai-Nanjing Railway, so his income was temporarily withheld. This actually meant that two-thirds of the court's tax revenue was lost.
The impoverished imperial court can be said to have made matters worse. However, no one like Kang Youwei and others could come up with a truly reliable way to deal with these rebellious ministers. They did not even dare to issue an order to scold them. The entire Zhili army had 10,000 people to defend it, and
They were not so obedient and really pissed off these two old guys. They really dared to lead troops north to discuss how Cixi died.
These two people are a Hunan veteran and a Qingliu leader. Their appeal is not at the same level as that of fake foreign devils like Yang Feng. If they join forces, they can really oust him from the throne. Even Kang Youwei and others can do this.
Everyone knows it.
He originally hoped that people like Zai Ze would come back and really share his worries. After all, there were more than 300 international students. With these people, he could form an army truly under his control in the shortest time. Only then would he be able to speak.
Some people listened, but who knew that everything was lost in a shipwreck.
"Does this mean that the Qing Dynasty will be destroyed by heaven?" The poor emperor couldn't help roaring in grief and anger.