Chapter 166 Chapter 6

"Xinyu", "Xinkang", "Xinming" and "Airen" are four passenger ships of China Merchants Group, which are berthed at Tianjin Wharf. Before April 15, 1916, Liu Guanxiong, the chief of the Navy, notified Tianjin Wharf that the military would requisition these four passenger ships and send the 12th Division of the Beiyang Army to Guangdong to join Long Jiguang. So on the 15th and 16th, for two consecutive days, the soldiers of the 12th Division boarded a ship and set off in Tanggu. In addition to the four merchant ships requisitioned from China Merchants, there were also "Hai Rong" and "Hai Qi" Two warships accompanied.

The six ships sailed on the sea for two days, and suddenly saw the "Hai Rong" waving a semaphore to stop the ship. Why stop?The boat is in the depths of the sea, does not rely on the village in the front, and does not go to the store in the back? But it must be stopped, because just received accurate news that Guangdong Long Jiguang is brazenly independent.At this time, if everyone went to Guangdong again, the consequences would be very bad. Maybe Long Jiguang would bombard everyone with artillery. The ship stopped for half a day, and after urgent consultations, it was finally decided to divert to Zhejiang to dock.So the six ships turned around and headed towards the coast of Zhejiang with a clatter.In less than two days, a semaphore was raised on the "Hai Rong" to ask everyone to stop again.

What happened again? As I said before, Zhejiang has also become independent at this juncture.Originally the post-independence governor was Qu Yingguang, but Yuan Shikai published Qu Yingguang's secret telegram desperately at the time when the people were rebelling, hoping to inspire the cold-blooded Beiyang soldiers to return to the correct path of loving Yuan Shikai. Yuan Shikai's move was self-defeating, and the Beiyang soldiers were not moved, but almost cost Qu Yingguang's life.Although Qu Yingguang was not killed, the governor of Zhejiang was replaced by Lu Gongwang, a ruthless character.

If Qu Yingguang is the one who keeps his word in Zhejiang, it will not be a problem for everyone to go to Zhejiang to dock.But Lu Gongwang is different, this guy is definitely sinking you. You didn't discuss it, so you can't mess with it. So the six boats on the sea had to turn around and change direction. This time the six boats really had nowhere to go, like six motherless children, floating alone on the sea.After being suspended for two days, everyone discussed, otherwise, we might as well go to East China. But no one could tell where they were going in East China. In fact, the six boats were just blindly opening their eyes on the sea surface. When they were at a loss, they saw that the sight ahead was gradually blurred, and the heavy sea fog shrouded the surrounding area.This sea mist is strange and extremely dense, like a dark gray viscous substance, and it looks like some terrible strange creature, wriggling gloomyly. The merchant ship "Xinyu" was engulfed in dense fog, and the other five ships could not be seen, nor could they hear a whistle. In a panic, they hurriedly accelerated, fearing that they would be abandoned on the endless sea.

Suddenly there was a loud bang, and the hull of the "Xinyu" merchant ship tilted sharply in an instant, and the Beiyang soldiers on board uttered a scream of imminent disaster. The real disaster was imminent, and the merchant ship "Xinyu" collided with the warship "Hairong".The warship has a strong hull and a large draft, but it is not a problem. It is just a pity that the "Xinyu" was originally just a small steamer for a short distance. The hull lost its balance, and the stern plunged upside down under the sea surface, standing up high. The Beiyang soldiers on the boat, shaped like rolling gourds, fell into the water with screams and squealed in clusters.The disaster came too quickly, and when the other ships realized what had happened, the "Xinyu" had disappeared on the sea, leaving only some tires and other things, drifting away with the current.

In less than 20 minutes, 1 Beiyang Army regiment commander, 1 regiment deputy, 740 soldiers, 24 pilots, sailors and cooks, a total of 766 people died in the sea. In addition, there are 100,000 yuan in military pay, 4 machine guns, 6 mountain guns, 500,000 ammunition, and countless military uniforms and weapons, all of which were also erased from Beiyang's accounts. It was on April 20, 1916, and the location was located in the sea of ​​Wenzhou. On that day, the Beiyang soldiers, headed by Feng Guozhang, called the Zhengshitang and asked Yuan Shikai to step down.