Later historians and military history enthusiasts have already researched the identity experiences of every officer and soldier on the Feishuang destroyer. Just like the six torpedo boats rushing towards the huge Japanese fleet outside Huangdao. This history is a microcosm of the difficulties, twists and turns in the early stages of the development of the Chinese navy. They embodies the entire determination and courage of this new navy, and also inspires the future navy to firmly move on the road of development. In the early days, this navy ushered in one heroic sacrifice after another, but that fearless courage has become a precious tradition of the navy and a symbol of their fighting will.

On the Atlantic Ocean, all the officers and soldiers from Major Luo Rutian did not think of this. They just watched the tails of the two torpedoes suddenly appear on the sea surface. On the tumbling sea surface of the white waves, in the dark gray water, this small warship produced by the British Armstrong Factory, which was 750 tons, crossed the torpedo road at his greatest speed. On the decks of the two transport ships they covered, the army officers and soldiers watching all this shouted loudly to the fearless naval robes, that it was meaningless. They just saw that their comrades used their bodies to block the torpedoes shooting towards the transport ship. Navy, the navy was really covering them with their lives!

Major Luo Rutian, 27 years old, from Hou Guan, Fujian. He graduated from Mawei Naval School and served as an adjutant of the famous Qing Dynasty naval general Sa Zhenbing. As the gun captain of the Chutai gunboat, he was the first naval officer to be thrown at Yuchen. In August 1914, he received the Feishuang destroyer. He was young and promising and had a long future. At this moment, he stood sternly on the uncovered destroyer's simple Luojing Bridge, holding the enclosure with both hands, and quietly watched the torpedo rush towards his warship. The white waves stirred up at the tail of the torpedo,

It was already clear that he could see clearly. He knew the power of the two white-headed torpedoes of 533 mm. He could completely smash his small destroyer to pieces. But what he thought about now was that he hoped that the depth of the two torpedoes was within the draft of his destroyer, so that they would not rush over from the bottom of the ship to hit the transport fleet! The sea breeze of the Atlantic Ocean blew the military uniforms of him and his subordinates. Some people even saw the sailors on the deck salute to their army brothers.

Two loud bangs, the water column soared into the sky, completely covering the figure of Feishuang. The violent shock of the sea made everyone feel shocked. The steel debris of Feishuang were blown up all over the sky. The power of the explosion had completely submerged the small destroyer. He Sui's hand holding the telescope was white because of his force. The alarm sounded between the sea and the sky. Other warships that had reacted had rushed towards the direction of the German submarine, and the 102mm main gun on a British destroyer also roared. When the smoke and water column dissipated, the figure of Feishuang was no longer there.

The two torpedoes hit the brave and fearless destroyer unit, and at that time, one of the only ten modern destroyers in the Chinese Navy was blown into two pieces. The 122 officers and soldiers of the entire ship were all martyred from Major Luo Rutian. However, they protected more than 3,000 army brothers on the two transport ships behind them. At this moment, they saw that there was no trace of the Feishuang on the sea surface, and many army officers and soldiers on the deck actually burst into tears. The navy fired their first shot on the European battlefield in such a heroic way! This sea area recorded the tragic tragedy of this small destroyer.

The German submarine dived down rapidly, and the periscope was no longer visible. The Chinese naval destroyer, who was like crazy, was in big circles around. Deep water bombs were thrown down from the stern guide rail, and water columns soaring into the sky were stirred up on the sea. He Sui put down the telescope and punched the command platform with a heavy punch. Li Rui also looked at all this silently. At this time, all the words became unnecessary. Zhang Qian's eyes were full of tears, but he still said to He Sui in a deep voice: "Commander He, the Feishuang has fulfilled his duties. The German submarine has lost the suddenness of the raid. Leave one or two warships to continue to fight the submarine. The brigade will continue to move forward. As long as tens of thousands of brothers are sent to France, the navy will complete its mission successfully!"

He Sui nodded silently: "You are an expert, listen to your......... order the entire fleet to raise the flag to pay tribute to the Feishuang. Leave the warship behind the German submarines and search for the survivors on the Feishuang. The brigade continues to move forward..." He was silent for a while, and finally broke out: "The Navy is good!"

Caen Pier, France, August 10, 1915.

In France, it was a battlefield scene that was mobilized nationwide. The French nation had experienced the great shame of the French-Prussian War and withstood the danger of national destruction in the early stages of the war. This country had vowed to carry out the war to the end and completely defeat their life-and-death enemy on the European continent. The powerful Germanic nation-state in Central Europe composed of Junker nobles and Prussian militarism. In this series of French port cities facing the English Channel, it had been completely transformed into huge barracks, warehouses, transportation hubs, and combat bases. The materials and equipment transported from overseas were gathered here. The British Expeditionary Forces heading to France one after another, wearing various colonial divisions with their own characteristics.

After they all got on and off the ship here, they were trimmed and changed their equipment, they rode onto the busy army and drove to the huge meat grinder-like battlefields on the front line. British professional army wearing shallow-bottomed steel helmets and yellow-green military uniforms, French foreign legions wearing white cylinder hats, British and Indian legions wrapped in bag heads, and barefoot French black troops all came and went in this city. Cannon carriages and horses passed through the city streets. Sometimes, there were a team of French cavalry units wearing shining breastplate proudly passing by these infantry, as if showing off the last glory of the outdated cavalry units in this war. The whole city was full of the strange charm unique to the wartime locks.

In the harbor of the port, countless warships, chimneys and masts of transport ships form a steel forest. Outside the harbor, French destroyers, warned of German submarines and torpedo boats, were constantly cruising. The black coolies at the wharf were lazily loading and unloading mountains of materials. The resources and industrial products of the whole world were imported into this battlefield. Then the crystallization of human industrial civilization was used in this way on the battlefield where humans killed each other. This was Europe in 1915, and this was the world in 1915.

A big belly reserve major general in the Fifth Army-level logistics management area in northern France, as well as several senior officers from the French Army headquarters, and Lieutenant General Recheval, the commander of the 11th Army of the French Army, who was training in the Straits, have been waiting in Caen for a long time. They are all waiting for the arrival of the Chinese Expeditionary Force advance troops. In this war, Britain and France have initially established a joint supreme command. However, it is still far from the time to be effective. The British Expeditionary Force maintained sufficient independence under the command of Marshal John French. The French army also believed that it was undoubtedly the main force on the European battlefield under the command of the Army Minister Marshal Xiafei. The Commonwealth troops were under the command of the British Expeditionary Force, and the troops recruited in the French colonial system were commanded by France. The two sides did not interfere with each other. Even the barriers on the battlefield were clearly distinguished. There was no one in 1916.

The death fight between the two sides was far from the point where they were later mixed. Regarding the advance force of the 90,000 expeditionary force, and the expected command power of the hundreds of thousands of Chinese troops in the future, a fierce quarrel broke out between Britain and France. Britain made various reasons, from the diplomatic efforts of Sir John Grey to persuade Britain to join the war, to Yuchen's early visit to Britain, the agreement reached by the General Staff of the Imperial General Staff and him. It strongly stated that this force should be assigned to the command of the British Expeditionary Force. With these hundreds of thousands of troops, Britain's dominance in this war on the European continent will greatly increase. This is an irresistible temptation for every pure senior commander of the army. Who doesn't want to be the protagonist of the battlefield? Lord Kitchenna sent more than a dozen long telegrams to negotiate with France for this issue. In the final analysis, this force is required.

France is naturally not that stupid. On their front, they also urgently need these hundreds of thousands of people to fill their trenches. As a powerful auxiliary force for their attacks, and they do not have the tradition of a continental army. France loses thousands of young people every day and needs these new forces to supplement them! Any way that can save the lives of French youth is something they must strive for. In subconsciously, there is a subtle guardianship of Britain. The British will play the leading role on the land. After the war, what will France have to say on the European continent? And they also solemnly pointed out that the Chinese expeditionary force, their weapons and equipment, are basically provided by France. France also bears almost half of their combat funds. In future operations, their logistics supplies still need to be provided by France. In this case, what reason is there not to place this army under French command?

Both sides took out the London statement signed by Yuchen and the Paris statement. A long telegram was sent to Nanjing, China. I hope Yuchen made a statement in this regard and was working hard to convince him. They had never thought about the issue of allowing this expeditionary force to fight independently. They believed that it was natural to be assigned to which country to command. But Yuchen expressed it very vaguely in this regard. He just said that the dispatch of troops was for the overall situation of the entire war. He did not understand the situation in Nanjing and could not control it from a distance. In France, senior commanders of the three parties could negotiate and resolve it.

So when this army arrived in France, the French military, as the landlord, attached unprecedented importance to it. In addition to Marshal Xiafei, who was unable to withdraw, he had already sent his deputy, plus the deputy chief of staff of the army. He hoped to establish contact with the senior officers of the Chinese Expeditionary Force as soon as possible and negotiate. The specific placement of them in the specific force was also planned. It was the 11th Army, which was training in the strait direction. As a reserve force for the counterattack, in order to appease and win over this army, France allocated abundant supplements for the newly arrived troops.

The materials were given, Adrian helmets, replenished ammunition, fresh food, military clothing and equipment, which were produced, were all ready to stop. Just wait for them to arrive. France had made up its mind to hold this army in its hands! In addition to ridiculing France behind the scenes, Britain had already started negotiations with Yuchen through the British military delegation to China. The subsequent troops of the Expeditionary Force were transported by Britain, and the British first sent a transport ship and escort ship to the UK to gather for training! He Sui and the others had no idea that the undercurrents were surging in France at this time.

The guard fleet at the French port, which was waiting for the arrival of the Chinese fleet, formed a formation of greeting with a light cruiser, and the warships were covered with colorful flags. This is a very high-level way of greeting. No matter how many innate discrimination the white people have against the yellow people, the war in Europe has advanced to the most intense and cruel times. An ally sent his own army to extend a helping hand. Everyone's touching mentality is still the same as having no ethnicity or national boundaries. The telegram has been received since noon, and the Chinese fleet will arrive outside the port of Caen at 5:00 pm. The summer sun shines thousands of golden light from the clouds in the west, and waves on the sea surface are dotted. Everyone is on the deck facing southwest.

Looking at the navy cap on the head, the French sailors with red pompons were squeezed on the deck. Everyone was extremely curious about the expeditionary forces from the mysterious country of the East. When did the poor and distant country, in everyone's impression, also sent their troops to participate in the war in Europe? What did they look like? They carried opium blasters in one hand and rifles in the other hand, and walked in a crooked manner? For this country, in the minds of most people, it was just an oriental geographical term with a little mysterious color. In France, there were Vietnamese car drivers, Indian infantry, and the fierce mountain civilian army of Gurkha. Now with the Chinese expeditionary force, this has really become a world war.

The commander of the French fleet stood on the bridge, beating his belt, and laughed at the staff around him, "The world has really changed... We actually expect the Chinese to help us the top leader. Could it be that the glory of Europe will be completely extinguished after this war? The future world is the world of these yellow-skinned people?" The staff around him were laughing in kindness. The arrival of the Chinese Expeditionary Force, in the minds of these soldiers, was just a success of the French government's diplomacy and a little curiosity about the Eastern army. How great help can the Chinese army be on the battlefield, but no one has too high hopes.

In the distance, dozens of smoke pillars could be seen floating in the sky from afar. The sound of the whistle could be faintly heard. The commander of the French fleet waved his hand and laughed loudly: "Send the order and let my children stand on the slope to welcome these Eastern friends. Everyone should be polite. After all, others are coming to Europe to bleed for us... The first allied country to send troops to Europe!" He smiled reservedly while turning the telescope to the direction of the Chinese fleet. First a mast appeared in the telescope's sight, followed by a forest of masts. The mast at the front was hung with the flag of the lieutenant general, and then the military.

The bridge of the ship jumped out of the sea. It was the flagship of the Chinese fleet, the USS Zhaohe. The naval flag on the head of the ship had been lowered half, and I don’t know whom I was mourning. Then there was a huge sea steel jungle composed of various ships. The scale of the transport fleet that transported 50,000 or 60,000 troops at a time was also very shocking! The transport ships made by China, coupled with cruisers produced by Britain and the United States, protected the fleet until they occupied the entire field of view of the telescope. The light signal was emitted on the cruiser Zhaohe. This light signal that is commonly used by the navy all over the world was immediately read in his heart by the commander of the French fleet: "From Asia to Europe..."

The commander of the French fleet smiled in a low voice and ordered to the people around him: "Return the signal to them, welcome to Europe, and look forward to your victory." From the telescope, you can see that the Chinese navy soldiers were also wearing white naval uniforms and squeezing on the deck. They did not stand on the slope, but just looked towards the coast of Europe. The deck of each transport ship was filled with army officers and soldiers wearing yellow military uniforms and large-brimmed hats. Although they were far apart, they could clearly see that the coming was not the imagined opium ghosts, but the soldiers in high-end and strong outfits. When these guys saw the coast of Europe, they became energetic and rushed to the deck neatly. He Suiyuan came

The military appearance problem that was worried was solved by itself at this time. These soldiers and officers who had traveled tens of thousands of miles were not looked down upon by others! In the telescope of the commander of the French fleet, they saw a tall army soldier walking to the front of the deck of the Zhaohe warship, holding a huge red flag in his hand. With just one wave, the flag fluttered in the wind outside the coast of Europe. Although it was so far away, the upright figure of the soldier holding the flag was still like a sculpture from the East. This flag is the highest military flag regarded as a treasure by the National Welfare Army, and the vanguard in Shanghai represents the entire glory and history of the National Welfare Army.

He Sui and Li Rui stood on the bridge, put on a full set of military dresses, staring at their military flags, and also looking at the coast of Europe. Once upon a time, a ship of Europeans set out from here, bringing a new world outside to the Asian Celestial Empire, as well as blood and shame. In the hearts of the people of the Celestial Empire, this seemed to be a powerful existence far beyond the Celestial Empire. They were advanced, they were powerful, and they could not resist. They used the strong ships and cannons in their hands to grab everything they wanted. And they also gave the boss a stagnant

The Celestial Empire brought awakening and rising. Today, this army from the East also appeared in front of the coast of Europe! At this moment, there was naturally a sense of sacred pride in his heart. Europe is no longer the Europe of the past, and China is also not the China of the past! The flag of the Shanghai pioneer flies in the Atlantic Ocean. It seems to have told everything. China's pace of going to a new world has begun, and he firmly believes that this pace is also unstoppable. History has opened a new page.

Caen finally ushered in the Chinese expeditionary force. Admiral Varo, deputy minister of the French Army, Admiral Resuele, deputy chief of the French Army, and Lieutenant General Recheval, the commander of the French Eleventh Army, took a large group of staff to examine the army officers and soldiers rolling down from the ship with the eyes of pure soldiers. There is no doubt that this is a strong army. The soldiers and officers are all young people between the ages of eighteen and twenty-four, and the officers are also surprisingly young. Although they are not as big as Europeans, each of them is well-nutrition and full of muscles. Looking at their neat and quiet movements, you will know that they have received very good training and strict discipline. Their faces are also full of the army they belong to.

Pride. Unlike the Indian troops who also came from Asia, the commands they shouted loudly in Chinese were resounding on the dock, and the soldiers quickly stood up on the dock, measuring them with rulers one by one. The soldiers on the dock and the French people looked at them curiously, but none of them looked around and stood straight like sculptures. The French station staff in charge of receiving the French station looked at the Eastern army in their own teams, and could not find a partner to contact for the moment. The advance personnel who arrived here early brought the reserve old man and Major General of the French Logistics Zone to welcome the senior commanders such as He Sui and others, and walked towards the senior French officers who were welcoming them.
Chapter completed!