Chapter 214: 3 Miles of Waves
Chapter 214: Three Thousand Miles of Waves
"Sixth Lady, record my order:
Let Wu Ziyi select a battalion of retired engineers, form the Huai Army Railway Engineering Battalion, and transfer them to help the railway company with blasting and splitting rocks.
Soldiers from other units were transferred to the engineering brigade for balance and replenishment.
The shortage caused by this forced Dong Fuxiang to continue recruiting a cavalry battalion in Shaanxi and Gansu to expand the Gansu Army.
After Hu Liuniang recorded Shao Quanzhong's order and sealed it, a guard turned around and rode on horseback, heading for Suzhou.
Crocker, who was standing next to him, could not stop him and sighed, "My Lord General, the engineers are using black powder, which cannot blast through the solid rock."
Shao Quanzhong curled his lips and said, "Who said I was going to use black powder? Just report to your superiors and tell them that we are using nitroglycerin invented by Nobel to fry."
"Sir, there have been many accidents involving nitroglycerine, and your engineers will surely suffer heavy casualties."
"This is our business. Just redesign the route and start the work quickly. Don't wait for my engineers to arrive. You don't have any rocks for them to blast."
Clark shook his head and sighed, "Mark, you make General Shao sound like a god, but I don't think he cares about the lives of his soldiers."
Shao Quanzhong retorted, "Don't worry, Nobel will soon invent safe solid nitroglycerin, you don't know this news."
Really? My information is out of date? Crocker began to wonder.
Well, actually Nobel hasn’t tried to find a solution yet.
The team continued to move forward and entered the mountain road of Longxi Mountains on the Loess Plateau.
When Shao Quanzhong went to Lanzhou and even Suzhou, he went through Jinjibao in the north and did not take this road.
Now after walking around, I found that the road really follows the ravine, and it is very difficult to build a railway.
It was only 500 miles from Baoji to Tianshui, and it took me seven days to get there. By the time I arrived in Baoji, it was already the 21st day of the first lunar month.
Mark Twain caught up with Shao Quanzhong with a map of the Qing Dynasty in hand, full of worry. "Shao, we have been here for twenty days, and we have only traveled this far on the map. It is still several thousand miles to Hailing. I am afraid that you will not be able to return to Suzhou before the beginning of spring. Will it delay the Western Expedition?"
Shao Quanzhong laughed, “Mark, you worry too much, we will arrive in Hailing soon.”
"Dirty! Dirty!"
Baoji had already built a railway station, and Shao Quanzhong, the governor of Shaanxi, relied on his power to obtain a special train.
Black smoke was billowing and white steam was rolling. Shao Quanzhong's team took a special train and did not have to wait for any time. They passed Xi'an in one day and arrived at the final stop, Longjuzhai.
The Guanzhong Plain is all flat roads with stable geology. It has been a year and a half since Shao Quanzhong first arrived in Xi'an.
Lei Zhengwan had been recommended by Shao Quanzhong from the nominal commander to the newly appointed commander of the railway troops. Under the whip of the railway soldiers, the 800-mile railway from Baoji to Xi'an had already been completed, but there were many mass graves of bandits, eunuchs and captives on the roadside.
Shao Quanzhong even had time to visit the Duolong'a temple in Longjuzhai and report to Lao Duo.
Shao has inherited your will, and Shaanxi and Gansu have been completely liberated. There are no rioters or bandits in the entire Shaanxi and Gansu, and the people have lived a peaceful life.
I will soon lead my troops to recover Ili Province, and also have a clash with the Russians. If you know about this, please bless me with victory.
Shao Quanzhong respected all good officials who truly benefited the people, regardless of whether they were Tartars or Han.
After leaving the temple, Shao Quanzhong headed straight for Longjuzhai Wharf, where a 200-ton steam reconnaissance ship was already waiting.
The Zhenjiang Shipyard, a joint venture between Qing and Britain, had been built long ago, and various auxiliary ships of the Nanyang Navy produced in Zhenjiang according to the contract had been launched continuously.
Auxiliary ships, not necessarily small ships, such as transport ships can be built very large. However, without iron armor technology and naval gun technology, the British allowed them to be built overseas. In fact, the Huai Army had obtained the special steel technology used by American warships, which was slightly inferior to that of the British, but could also be used.
The Zhenjiang Shipyard had already trial-produced small ironclad ships and bought ready-made artillery equipment from Britain, but the British did not care and just sneered.
In addition to transport ships, auxiliary ships also include reconnaissance ships, hydrographic survey ships, supply ships, training ships, rescue ships, hospital ships, engineering ships, test ships, maintenance and supply ships, deployment ships, base service ships, and so on.
Shao Quanzhong felt a headache just listening to this. The navy was too professional and he really didn't understand it. Liao Rong would be indispensable in the future, and now Ma Han was the one in charge.
The reconnaissance ship was not equipped with armor at all. It had a high-powered steam engine and a small ship. It was only equipped with a self-produced imitation Williams rapid-fire cannon and a Gatling manual machine gun as defensive weapons. Its characteristic was its fastest speed, reaching an astonishing speed of eighteen knots.
The reconnaissance ship braved the wind and waves, entered the Han River from the Danshui River at Longjuzhai, then entered the Yangtze River, and returned to Hailing via the Grand Canal. It took only five days to travel more than 3,000 miles.
The ship also stopped in Zhenjiang on the way. Because the number of ships under his charge increased greatly, Shao Quanzhong specially promoted Ma Han's rank from brigadier general to rear admiral.
The Huai Army had its own transport ships and no longer needed the help of You Sihai's steamships.
However, the You family was still a reliable ally that needed to be won over. The sailors of the Nanyang Navy all came from the You family's freight, which was equivalent to the navy's militia insurance team and the initial training base for sailors.
On the 27th day of the first lunar month in the fifth year of the Tongzhi reign, Shao Quanzhong arrived at the loyal Hailing City.
Lord Qiao left Hailing, but the local officials in Taizhou are still die-hard supporters of the Qiao faction.
The imperial court did not even dare to touch the Hunan Army's territory. Historically, it was four years later that it tentatively sent Ma Xinyi to serve as the governor-general of Liangjiang to seize Zeng Guofan's territory. Then Ma Xinyi was immediately assassinated and his death was unclear.
Not to mention that Shao Quanzhong had an army of 80,000 armed to the teeth, fighting for the country in the northwest. No one dared to touch the iron sphere of influence of the Huai Army in the rear.
Shao Quanzhong changed into the earl's first-rank hat and Manchu official uniform, and went home to visit his parents as soon as possible.
After he kowtowed to his parents, he turned around and left. From a distance, he heard Aunt Qiao chasing after him and shouting, "Congratulations, Master. Madam Wenxiu is pregnant again."
Well, considering the strength I had in Lanzhou, this is normal. Shao Quanzhong had no time to care about family affairs. He changed into a military uniform and rushed to the newly built Xiaoxiangya Scientific Research Institute.
Here, I didn't find Nobel, but I met Rong Hui.
Rong Hui, dressed like a Western woman, came over and hugged Shao Quanzhong tightly, making the old man feel embarrassed. "No, there are so many people... Hey! Mark, don't take pictures."
It’s too late, the filming has already been completed.
Mark Twain responded with a smile, "Shaw, you are a politician, and politicians are not entitled to privacy. A lover warmly embraces her husband, a general, who has just returned from the front. This is a good selling point, and you will be loved by the American people because of it."
Shao Quanzhong muttered, "It's likely that you, the paparazzi, will be praised by the boss and get a raise."
"Brother Shao, Nobel is not here. I prepared a villa for Nobel here as you requested. However, those scientists collectively refused to be neighbors with Nobel. They didn't want to be blown up in their sleep. So Nobel just lived directly in his laboratory. We are urgently building a new villa for him there."
Um, then I'll go to the Nobel Laboratory.
"Since you are here, why not meet Maxwell? He is world-famous..."
"No time!"
Shao Quanzhong went straight to the Nobel Research Laboratory, which was located in a corner of the Hailing Arsenal. A large area around it had been cleared out, and the original neighbors had moved away in a hurry.
Before Shao Quanzhong even entered the courtyard, he heard a loud “Boom!”
(End of this chapter)