Seven Seas Beacon Fire

The world's first super-dreadnought Orion-class battlecruiser cost only £185 million per ship (which is ridiculously cheap). Even the Lion-class battlecruiser cost only £2,083,999. To put it bluntly, battlecruisers are not necessarily fragile, and heavy armor and high speed are not mutually exclusive—as long as you are willing to spend more money!

While the Victorian Empire outwardly maintained the world's most powerful navy for a long time, its national strength was actually far from sufficient to enjoy such versatile warships. To truly build a main fleet composed of such heavily armored, high-speed ships would probably require an unprecedented superpower with both economic and industrial strength.

Lloyd George fully understood Fisher's meaning. Just like the Royal Victorian Navy had abandoned the heavy armored high-speed ships, it was not because the heavy armored high-speed ships were bad, but simply because they were not capable of doing so.

Just like with the problems facing the East now, the Victorian Empire is not unaware of what the best course of action is, but it no longer has the capacity to do so.

"So now we..."

"When the enemy is invincible, the foundation for friendship has already been laid."

After a long period of silent contemplation, Prime Minister Lloyd George slowly nodded: "I understand."

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Yanping East Capital

As one of the most important overseas fiefdoms of the Ming Dynasty, and the fiefdom of the Song Prince's Mansion, one of the three great non-royal princes of the Ming Dynasty after Emperor Chongzhen, Yanping Island marked the beginning of the Ming Dynasty's industrialization. At one point, Yanping accounted for more than 50% of the Ming Empire's industrial output.

Although this area, as an early industrial zone, was surpassed by later planned new industrial zones and cities after the start of the Second Industrial Revolution, and its industrial share within the empire's territory continued to decline, its special place in the history of industrial development in the Ming Dynasty will never be erased.

Dongdu (present-day Brunei), the capital of the Yanping Kingdom, was once a shining pearl in Southeast Asia. However, this pearl can no longer be seen on this land. The once prosperous and beautiful Dongdu city has disappeared, the beautiful Southeast Asian rainforest in the suburbs has long been burned to the ground, and the buildings in the city are now covered with ruins and smoke.

It has been a year since the Allied forces, led by the United States of Colombia, landed on Yanping, and the Battle of Dongdu has been going on for more than half a year.

When the flames of war first reached this large island, Yanping was not prepared for war. After all, who could have imagined that the navy, which had previously held a relative advantage and had just won the Battle of the Sulu Sea, would suddenly capsize in the Java Sea? And who could have imagined that the Kingdom of Japan in the north would rebel so emphatically, providing the United States of Colombia with an excellent springboard for attack?

Therefore, when the troops of the United States of Colombia landed in the north, the local garrison in Yanping was unable to organize an effective defense. After landing, the Colombian army marched south and successively captured Sandakan, Xiang'an, Kawang and other places, and quickly advanced along the coastline to the outskirts of Dongdu.

At that time, the commander of the 1st Marine Division pointed to a number on a milestone in the suburbs outside Dongdu and took a commemorative photo. That milestone indicated that Dongdu was still a mile away. In that photo, the urban area of ​​Dongdu could already be seen from behind the commander.

When The New York Times published this photo, the accompanying headline was "The last mile! One charge is all it takes to take the East Capital."

The war has dragged on until now. Although the Colombian army has already crossed that distance, they have not been able to control the entire city, or even reach the Song Prince's Mansion. As the earliest region in the Ming Dynasty to implement constitutional government, the Song Prince's Mansion in Yanping has long held a position similar to that of the British royal family. They basically no longer concern themselves with political affairs. Therefore, the Song Prince's Mansion is now actually used as the office of the Yanping local government. The Song family actually lives in their manor on the outskirts of the city.

However, when the enemy was at the gates, the King of Song actually moved his entire family back to the Song Palace. In the words of King Zheng Qinguo, the Song Palace could not do anything practical now, and the only thing it could do now was to use its own actions to inspire the people and not tarnish the prestige of its ancestors.

Although the enemy's shells were already able to reach the palace, Prince Song actually preferred to hide in the basement of the palace and eat dirt for three months rather than leave the palace. To this day, the Colombian army has still not been able to take the city. In fact, last Christmas, the local garrison publicly mocked the Colombian army on the other side via radio - "Now you know how far a mile is, right?"

Although the people of Yanping were united and contributed many heroic deeds in the defense of Dongdu, and the city has not fallen to this day, the long-term deterioration of the overall war situation has made many soldiers and civilians who fought hard lose hope of victory.

From the collapse and surrender of their European allies in Letania to the fact that the Ming Dynasty's emperor and the Left Censor-in-Chief died together in a fierce debate, the entire country was in turmoil and on the verge of collapse. They fought for almost a year, but during that year, the aid and supplies sent from within the country were relatively limited.

Although Yeonpyeong itself has many factories, it can produce everything from bullets to shells. Even equipment like cannons can be supplemented by developing army gun carriages for factories that manufacture anti-lightning guns for the navy.

However, Yanping does not have a complete industrial chain. It can manufacture some things, but not others. For example, artillery should normally be equipped with optical sights, but there is not a single precision optical equipment manufacturing company on the entire island of Yanping, so it cannot make up for this itself.

As for other things, such as the explosives loaded in the shells, they are currently produced by fertilizer companies on the island. The side effect of using raw materials for fertilizer production to produce explosives for the cannons is that the shells are relatively weak, but for now, having something is better than having nothing.

In short, amidst a series of bad news, although resistance continued and fighting continued, reports from lower-ranking officers indicated that desertion rates had risen by a full three percent compared to before. Moreover, it wasn't just the lower-ranking soldiers; even some officers were pessimistic about the future of the war.

Under these circumstances, the only two pieces of good news that Yanping has heard in the past month or so are the previous victory in Pyongyang and the victory in the Battle of Dongsinra Bay.

"I never expected that after His Highness Prince Jin took over the overall situation, he would bring about such a change in our atmosphere in such a short time, and we would win one victory after another on the battlefield. Send word down that we should quickly spread the news of the naval victory and print it into a brochure for distribution."

In the Wenyuan Pavilion of the former Song Dynasty palace, Chen Shiying, the ruler of Yanping and the de facto head of government since the start of the war, quickly produced a new propaganda brochure based on the latest news of victory. This victory was indeed a rare boost to Yanping, which was under heavy siege by the enemy.

"Governor, shouldn't we consider the feelings of the Prince Song's residence when we conduct such a high-profile publicity campaign?"

Hearing his subordinates mention the Song Prince's Mansion, Chen Shiying couldn't help but feel a headache coming on. Although the current Prince Song had acted very "righteously" during the invasion of the United States of Colombia, as the ruler, Chen Shiying knew very well that while everyone might be happy to see the good news, the Song Prince's Mansion would be the only one with mixed feelings.

This is certainly not because the Song Prince's Mansion only did a good job on the surface and was actually thinking about how to surrender. The Song Prince's Mansion was basically blameless on major issues of right and wrong. They even took the initiative to come into the city when the enemy invaded the capital. This can be regarded as an example for most nobles in the world.

However, there is one thing about the Song Prince's Mansion: they are truly loyal to the Ming Dynasty—loyal without any exaggeration or joking.

It's important to understand that the Song Prince's Mansion wasn't just about the Song Prince of Yanping; looking across Southeast Asia, Zheng Chenggong still wielded considerable influence to this day.

As for the attitude of the Song Prince's Mansion towards the Jin Prince's Mansion, or more accurately, the current Song Prince's attitude towards the Jin Prince, it can hardly be considered good. This is because the Song Prince has repeatedly made various sarcastic remarks towards Li Zongdi after Li Zongdi announced the Fengtian Jingnan campaign. At least in the Song Prince's eyes, the Jin Prince is the living Cao Cao of today.

However, the successive victories, whether on land or at sea, seem to be related to the Prince of Jin's residence, which makes the Prince of Song very unhappy.

Chapter 84 Yanping (2)

"I don't like him, that's just my personal feeling, and I won't let my personal feelings ruin the overall situation of the war of resistance."

Looking at the regent who had come to pay his respects, King Song Zheng Qinguo grumbled with some dissatisfaction, "I have also read the Romance of the Three Kingdoms. After the battles of Maicheng and Yiling, the relationship between the Shu Han and Eastern Wu could almost be described as a blood feud. However, in the face of the overall situation of resisting Cao Cao, even Liu Shan knew the priorities. Does the regent think that I am not as good as the Later Lord?"

Chen Shiying couldn't help but smile. The King of Song's personality was still so straightforward and adorable, so simple that he didn't even seem like the ruler of a kingdom.

Everyone in Yanping knows that the Song King is particularly fond of reading the Romance of the Three Kingdoms. Whether it's important national affairs or trivial matters in daily life, he will use examples from the Romance of the Three Kingdoms as analogies whenever he has the chance, even though the Romance of the Three Kingdoms is very popular throughout Southeast Asia.

Even in Southeast Asia, when conflicts arise between two villages over land or wells, in this land where everyone is a soldier, the two sides not only bring out long guns and short cannons, but more importantly, each side has a copy of "Romance of the Three Kingdoms" which almost serves as a "strategist textbook". However, those who like it as much as King Song are extremely rare.

However, Chen Shiying would never underestimate Song Wang just because of his simple-minded nature. Although Yanping and Luzon had been constitutional governments for many years and Song Wang's palace had not interfered in politics for almost sixty years, one should not assume that constitutional monarchies in the world are just figureheads and that the monarch has no rights, as textbooks say.

Just like the most typical British royal family in the world, does anyone really think that the British royal family is a flock of sheep?

During World War II, Nazca's deputy leader Hess inexplicably flew to Britain and was immediately placed under tight control. Did anyone really think Hess was an idiot who naively thought he could persuade Britain on his own? Was there really no underhanded dealings and tacit understanding between the high-ranking officials of Britain and Germany behind him?

After the war, he was imprisoned until his death. Could Hess's war crimes have been any greater than those of other war criminals? Why didn't the Britons dare to release Hess?

Not to mention the absurd rule that the Devonshire was kept secret for 100 years.

In short, when HMS Glorious and its accompanying destroyers were sunk by the Leyte forces, the passing heavy cruiser HMS Devonshire received a distress telegram but lied that it was simultaneously conducting a main gun salvo training exercise (the British themselves thought it was a coincidence that the heavy cruiser's main guns opened fire at the exact moment the telegram was received), and then passed by. Afterwards, of the 1537 British sailors, more than 900 climbed onto lifeboats, but only 46 survived.

After fabricating a flimsy excuse, the British Admiralty raised the secrecy level of the matter to 100 years. As late as 1999, the matter was questioned by the British Parliament, and the response was that it remained classified.

Considering that the British were still dealing with the Leitanians in 1940, and that the Norwegian royal family had close ties with Leitania, who facilitated Hess's visit?

Connecting the dots above, we can see that the Windsor royal family abandoned 1500 sailors who were fighting against the Ley army at sea to die, and then simply declared them missing and ignored them.

Guess how many ministers each word in this sentence is worth.

Do not imagine any so-called constitutional monarch as a lamb. A country's monarch is not willing to give up power because they are kind-hearted. Even those monarchs under the nominal "figurehead" system, even if they cannot accomplish anything, can definitely cause trouble.

If the Prince of Song were to do something unwise at this juncture because of his personal feelings, Chen Shiying knew he would be in real trouble.

“Your Highness, there are some things you may not want to hear, but I have to say them. I know you are very dissatisfied with what Prince Jin has done since the Jingnan Rebellion. A big reason why you can tolerate it now is that we are all still openly under the banner of the Ming Dynasty. But this situation will not last long, Your Highness.”

"You mean that the living Cao Cao couldn't hold back anymore?"

Chen Shiying shook his head: "I believe that His Highness Prince Jin is not in such a hurry. Otherwise, he could have established a new dynasty after moving into Yingtian Prefecture. But right now, there are many people who hope that His Highness Prince Jin will take that step. This is not something that His Highness Prince Jin can control on his own."

"Hmph! You don't need to tell me, I already know that his men definitely want to persuade him to surrender. Only in this way can they be promoted and ennobled. A bunch of traitors! Cao Cao's men are all like Jia Xu and Cheng Yu!"

(Quanjin has been censored, so this isn't a typo, it's a variant character!)

Chen Shiying was speechless at Song Wang's analogy. To be fair, he wouldn't comment on whether Jin Wang had ambitions, but compared to the officials in the Ming court, Jin Wang's men, if not more principled, at least had much higher moral standards. He really couldn't find people like Jia Xu and Cheng Yu at the moment.

On the contrary, there were a few guys in the previous provisional government who had the same character but lacked the same ability, and they are still being held in prison by the Prince of Jin.

"Your Highness, I must remind you that compared to the people under Prince Jin's command urging an audience, it is actually more of the officials who have been retained who are now urging an audience," Chen Shiying said earnestly to Prince Song. "The previous throne was actually a mess, and no one in the imperial clan was willing to take it over. The late emperor only left behind one daughter, and no one in the country was willing to step forward to take responsibility. Prince Jin stepping forward at this time, regardless of whether he is motivated by ambition or any other purpose, is more beneficial than harmful to the country."

The King of Song snorted and remained silent.

"And the situation is different now, Your Highness. Before launching the Jingnan Campaign, Prince Jin had already defeated the Colombian army in the Battle of Pyongyang. And just yesterday, the 10 federal troops surrounded in Wonsan laid down their weapons and surrendered. This is thanks to the cooperation between the second son of Prince Jin's mansion and his grandson on land and sea."

Especially at sea, the grandson's scheme was a masterful deception, concentrating hundreds of torpedo boats in the Sea of ​​Yeongju and, under General Cheng's command, defeating the Federation Navy's Seventh Fleet. This not only completely revitalized the Silla's war situation, but also likely reduced the pressure on us here.”

"Hmph, Cao Cao's sons, Cao Ang, Cao Pi, and Cao Zhi, are indeed superior to the sons of Sun Quan and Liu Bei. As for Cao Rui... he's even further beyond the reach of the Sun and Liu families. We've long heard of his intelligence since childhood. I originally thought he might be a child prodigy who wouldn't necessarily amount to much later, but now it seems he truly has ability." At this point, King Song's face fell. "It's a pity that despite my lifelong wisdom, my sons are all fools! One after another, they're like Liu Shan (Liu Bei's son who couldn't handle his own fate), they can't possibly outmaneuver Cao Cao's sons and grandsons. Heaven is blind..."

Chen Shiying automatically ignored the King of Song's words about being "wise and virtuous throughout the ages." Although he hadn't done anything foolish since ascending the throne, that didn't mean it was related to being wise and virtuous. As for his evaluation of his sons, they were all like Liu Shan (a foolish and incompetent ruler). The ruler also wanted to complain: the level of the last emperor of Shu Han was definitely not as incompetent as portrayed in the Romance of the Three Kingdoms. A monarch who still fully supported Jiang Wei's Northern Expeditions after the death of Prime Minister Zhuge Liang, a man who hid Jiang Wei's letter, "I wish Your Majesty would endure a few days of humiliation, for I wish to restore the state from danger and restore the sun and moon from darkness," for decades—did you really think he was a fool?

Don't flatter yourself!

“Your Highness, at least for now, the Prince of Jin’s mansion is full of talented people, which is a good thing for the overall situation. In the current situation, we should remember what Emperor Longwu said back then: ‘It is better to lose the country than to lose the world.’ If the banner of the Ming Dynasty is to be replaced by the banner of the Prince of Jin’s mansion in the future, even if you don’t like it, we have to put up with it.”

Song King Zheng Qinguo opened his mouth as if to say something in rebuttal, but the words spoken by Emperor Longwu back then were so famous that even when Emperor Jingyun later compiled the Complete Book of Jingyun, he could not erase the words as a kind of historical record.

Because this statement was in fact the foundation of the Southern Ming dynasty. Without this statement and the actions taken to put it into practice, Emperor Longwu could not have made the three princes sincerely obedient. After all, the three princes were two rebels and one pirate. Without such courage and personal charisma, how could he have conquered them?

"My health is poor, and I won't live for many more years. I'll send a telegram to that living Cao Cao as soon as I get back. I can't control what he does after I'm dead, and I don't dare to interfere with my useless sons. But as long as I live, this banner of the sun and moon shining together cannot..."

“You mustn’t act rashly at this time, Your Highness,” Chen Shiying said anxiously. “Right now, it’s not about the Prince of Jin’s Mansion using the prestige gained from this great victory to gain anything. This war will eventually end, and we and the West will eventually have to sit down at the negotiating table to negotiate. Your Highness, the Prince of Jin’s Mansion can now fly the banner of the Ming Dynasty, but before they sit down at the negotiating table, they will eventually have to raise the banner of the new dynasty. If you make such statements, are you going to jump into the sea yourself?”

King Song glared at him and slammed his fist on the table: "You're becoming more and more disrespectful to me. How dare you speak to me like that?"

"I am merely advising Your Highness that it is best not to do anything right now, especially since there are undercurrents in the political situation both here and on the mainland. How many people were implicated in the case involving Her Highness last month? If Her Highness is really sent here, Your Highness will be put on the hot seat!"

"I'm not afraid of being roasted over a fire!" King Song declared loudly.

"But you have to consider Her Highness the Princess, don't you?" Chen Shiying promptly offered a ladder to the ground.

"That's... Speaking of which, Her Highness is still being watched by that grandson of the Crown Prince. I wonder how that little brat treats her. Thinking about this makes me... Sigh! My dear minister, you said we should send something to Her Highness. They shouldn't have any reason to stop us, right?"

"Send something over?" Chen Shiying thought for a moment. "You don't mean to send a troop of guards over to Her Highness the Princess, do you?"

"Of course, how can Her Highness not have someone responsible for her safety? The incident that happened before was precisely because Her Highness didn't have a loyal and reliable person by her side."

“Instead of sending a guard, it would be better to send just one person.” Chen Shiying couldn’t help but shake his head at the words of the Prince Song: “Your Highness, what is your purpose in sending a guard for the Princess?”

"Of course, it's to protect Her Highness's safety."

"Then do you think the Prince of Jin's residence wouldn't protect Her Highness the Princess's safety?"

"That's exactly what I'm guarding against! That Cao Cao is letting his grandson take the princess with him. He dares to do this now, and I don't even want to think about what he plans to do in the future!"

"I think you are overthinking this. If Prince Jin really does ascend to the throne in the future, his grandson can marry any woman, but it is unlikely that he will marry Princess. Otherwise, having a descendant with the blood of two dynasties would be a disadvantage for the succession. Your Highness should think about Li Ke during the reign of Emperor Taizong of Tang."

King Song nodded as if he understood but not quite.

Chen Shiying said, "If the Prince of Jin's mansion wants to harm Her Highness, what good will it do for Your Highness to send a guard? In fact, it will only make your relationship with the Prince of Jin's mansion more distant or even tense."

Therefore, instead of sending a guard, wouldn't it be better to send Her Highness the Princess? She is both learned and skilled in martial arts; by Her Highness's side, she can keep her company, and her status as a princess can also keep an eye on that grandson, wouldn't you say?

"You mean... send Fourth Sister to the Princess's side?"

The Song King frowned slightly. He never expected Chen Shiying to come up with such an idea. Zheng Anqi was the only princess in the Song King's mansion. She was the fourth child in the family, so she was privately called Fourth Sister. She was also the daughter whom the Song King had late in life, so she was spoiled rotten from a young age.

"Yes, Your Highness, the most important thing about sending people to the princess's side is to establish a communication channel between the princess and you. As for providing the princess with security... that's like a fence that keeps out honest people but not scoundrels. In this regard, we can only hope that the Prince of Jin's mansion will treat the princess well."

"Why do we have to cater to the whims of the Prince of Jin's family in everything?"

"We do have to be mindful of the Prince of Jin's wishes right now, because a lot of our supplies are being delivered to us by them. Whether it's by submarine or cruiser, they always find a way to get the supplies we urgently need, especially all kinds of first-aid medicines. If the front lines lack first-aid medicines, we don't know how many more people will die."

Chapter 85 Riding the Momentum of a Great Victory (1)

News of the victory quickly spread throughout the country, and the entire nation desperately needed such news in the current situation.

As a naval officer surnamed Zhang said, the belief in victory is also very important, even decisive.

After all, when Prince Jin was ordered to quell the rebellion, he overturned the table of the provisional government and refused to recognize and accept the ceasefire agreement signed by the provisional government, which was too humiliating and detrimental to the country. This was largely due to the fact that the general public also realized how outrageous and harsh the ceasefire agreement was, and thus had the idea that "then we might as well continue fighting!"

However, this idea is ultimately just a momentary outburst of righteous indignation and a temporary surge of passion. The reason why the Ming Dynasty's "Sun and Moon Shining Together" banner could no longer be raised was only partly due to the turning point in the war. During World War II, the two sides fought back and forth on the Soviet-German front, from Moscow to Stalingrad and then to Kursk. So many battles were fought back and forth, and it was only after the ten consecutive Stalinist raids that began in 10 that the Germans were finally completely defeated.

Although the Ming Dynasty lagged behind the Federation in industry, as a country with an annual steel production of over ten million tons, and an industrial scale even stronger than that of the old Yingzhou during World War II, it should not have seen its situation deteriorate so drastically due to a major naval defeat.

To put it bluntly, the root cause is that internal strength has not been properly cultivated. The defeat on the front lines is merely the fuse that ignites internal economic and livelihood problems. Although the people previously supported continuing the war due to their indignation at the harsh armistice treaty, if these fundamental problems are not resolved, the situation will only revert to its old ways in the future.

Now, the Prince of Jin, who has just taken over the entire empire, and the "Datong Faction," which has close ties with the Prince of Jin's court and has been governing various garrisons in the northwest for over a decade, forming its own northwestern faction within the Ming court, cannot make adjustments to domestic affairs overnight. Governing a large country is like cooking a small fish; trying to concentrate every problem and achieve results in a short time... Children, let's look at Emperor Sizong on Old Coal Hill.

This victory has greatly strengthened the people's confidence in "victory." If the people's support for the war is an asset, then the Prince of Jin now has enough capital to "borrow" it.

While the whole country was celebrating this victory, the navy did not lose sight of its goals by indulging in the joy of victory. At the Vladivostok naval base, the celebrations for the victory were limited to an extra meal in the mess hall that evening, where everyone was given a glass of wine.

The war has had a profound impact on people's livelihoods. The government's inappropriate wartime economic policies have caused enormous damage to the people's livelihoods. Although the military can still receive priority support, Li Che's initiative to suggest that everyone should be frugal and patient during this period has gained widespread support, especially among the middle and lower-ranking officers. They are more aware than the aristocratic officers of how much their families' living standards have declined since the war.

Of course, there was another very important reason, which was the welcoming ceremony held at the naval port to celebrate the fleet's triumphant return. Originally, this should have been a joyous moment, but as the returning fleet sailed into the port one by one, some people who were carefully counting the number of warships entering the port gradually had tears in their eyes.

Of the massive fleet that once set sail, only half have successfully returned to Vladivostok naval base. The Vladivostok naval base, which was once nearly crowded with torpedo boats, now appears much emptier.

Although not all ships that did not return were sunk, a considerable number were too badly damaged to be beached after the devastating torpedo night. While theoretically these warships could be recovered in the future, it is known that the vast majority of these beached warships will actually be abandoned. After all, rather than towing them back for repairs, the navy might prefer to use the experience gained from this battle to start building newer types of torpedo boats in the future.

After all, in this battle, torpedo boats of various types and with different torpedo launching methods underwent a brutal test, but basically only those torpedo boats that used fixed torpedo tubes to launch torpedoes directly forward using compressed air were considered the most easy to use.

In addition, whether it is using the tail skid to let the torpedo slide into the water or distributing them on both sides and throwing them directly into the water, it will either affect the torpedo's course and accuracy after release, or the process of releasing the torpedo is too cumbersome and tedious, making it easier to be exposed to the enemy's direct fire for a long time.

These are lessons learned from the blood of martyrs in this battle. Whether they were ships that sank or those that did not, the casualties suffered by these unprotected light fast boats from enemy fire were extremely heavy.

Because the voyage in this battle was not actually very long, the remains of the fallen soldiers were not buried at sea. Although the Ming Dynasty navy had a tradition of burying soldiers at sea when conducting operations in the open ocean, in cases like this where the distance was not too far, the Ming Dynasty Royal Navy preferred to bring these fallen soldiers home.

Dark blue body bags were laid directly on the deck, and the naval flag was draped over them. The surviving naval officers and soldiers showed neither the elation of victory nor the grief of losing their comrades. Their expressions were indifferent; after such a great battle, perhaps these officers and soldiers had become indifferent to life and death.

However, the ships they were piloting silently told onlookers about the brutality of the battle, because even those ships that successfully returned to port were mostly damaged to varying degrees, some even with horrific battle damage.

For example, one destroyer had a half-meter diameter hole that ran across the entire forecastle above the waterline. This was actually damage caused by the destroyer being directly hit and penetrated by the large-caliber main gun of an enemy battleship during battle.

Some destroyers had their entire bows smashed. This valiant warship deliberately rammed an enemy cruiser after firing all its torpedoes at night. The bow of the warship was driven directly into the side of the enemy ship, and the two ships were thus "wedged" together. The bullet holes on the bridge of this destroyer, which were almost like a honeycomb, showed how fierce the hand-to-hand combat at sea was between the officers and soldiers of this warship and the enemy cruiser who was using anti-torpedo guns to fire shrapnel shells.

Some torpedo boats had their entire foredeck ripped off by shells, and some cruisers had their entire stern section burned, damage caused by fire during nighttime engagements with the enemy.

Li Che and his entourage silently saluted the returning warriors on the dock, their raised hands remaining raised for a long time. Zhu Miaoyun was among them, and she also saluted like the people around her to welcome the warriors. The long salute made her arm a little sore and numb. At this moment, Zhu Miaoyun couldn't help but secretly look at Li Che. She saw that on the dock where the cold wind was blowing, his upright posture and his raised right hand were flawless, even after standing for so long.

So the princess gritted her teeth and straightened her back a little more, paying her highest respects to these victorious warriors.