Chapter 268: Find a Way to Kill It

Although Xu Guangjin left, he was not at ease with Liang Yao.

Xu Guangjin left three battalions and the Guangdong Navy on guard in Xiangshan. Before leaving, he told Hong Mingxiang to notify him immediately if Liang Yao made any unusual moves in Xiangshan.

Hong Mingxiang nodded and agreed to Xu Guangjin's instructions: "Don't worry, Minister, leave the affairs of Xiangshan to me."

After watching Xu Guangjin leave, Hong Mingxiang looked at Liang Yao's flagship Roland with envy, thinking how nice it would be if the Guangdong Navy had such a ship as its flagship.

Of course, Hong Mingxiang also knew that his idea was just a luxury. In recent years, the court has often defaulted on the military pay of the Guangdong Navy, not to mention the purchase of new ships.

"General Hong."

Liang Yao walked towards Hong Mingxiang with a smile. He saw Hong Mingxiang's thoughts and extended an invitation to Hong Mingxiang.

"You and I are from the same hometown. How about we go aboard and have a chat?"

The admiral of the navy is a first-rank official position in the Qing Dynasty. There are three admirals of the navy in the Qing Dynasty. In addition to the admiral of the Guangdong Navy, there are only the admirals of the Fujian Navy and the Yangtze River Navy.

The status of the admiral of the navy is very high. In Guangdong, Hong Mingxiang is only under the control of the governor of Guangdong or the governor-general of Guangdong and Guangxi. In addition to the two governors-general, the only one with a higher status than him is the general of Guangzhou. He is a person worth winning over.

Hong Mingxiang, who came from a grassroots military officer, did not have as many concerns as Xu Guangjin. Hong Mingxiang, who came from the navy, was also very interested in Liang Yao's warships.

Facing Liang Yao's invitation, Hong Mingxiang rubbed his hands with expectation and readily agreed.

Western warships are not rare in Guangzhou, especially after the British occupied Hong Kong and had a stable naval base, British warships often appeared along the coast of Guangdong and even on the Pearl River.

However, Hong Mingxiang had only seen Western warships from a distance before, and this was the first time he boarded a Western warship for a visit.

The clean deck, spacious hull, towering chimney, huge paddle wheels on both sides, and huge naval guns left a very deep impression on Hong Mingxiang.

These were all new things that could not be seen on the warships of the Qing Dynasty.

"Western ships are indeed much better than our Qing Dynasty ships." Hong Mingxiang couldn't help but sigh.

"Although Hong is the admiral of the Guangdong Navy, this admiral is so aggrieved, damn it! The British regard our Guangdong coastal defense as nothing, and we have to suffer the British every now and then! If Hong had this ship, why would he suffer the British!"

Liang Yao leaned on the railing and looked into the distance. At this time, there were ships of the British East India Company hanging on the Lingding Ocean, but they were just British armed merchant ships.

Seeing the British armed merchant ships approaching, the Chinese small fishing boats on the Lingdingyang Sea hurriedly avoided the British ships to avoid being overturned by the waves raised by the British armed merchant ships.

These British East India Company merchant ships saw the Chinese small fishing boats in front of them, and had no intention of avoiding them. Instead, they accelerated and continued to ram the surrounding Chinese fishing boats.

Seeing the fishermen panic, the crew members on the British East India Company merchant ships became more and more excited. Scaring the small fishing boats of these Chinese fishermen was one of their entertainment and pastimes when they entered the Lingdingyang Sea.

"Sven, who is the best gunner on the Roland?" Liang Yao called the captain Sven on the Roland.

"It's Heyman. Heyman was a very good gunner when he served in the British Royal Navy." Sven thought for a while and replied.

"Let Heyman come to see me." Liang Yao said.

Soon, Sven called Heyman.

"Colonel! Heyman, a crew member of the Roland, reports to you!" Heyman saluted Liang Yao with a British military salute with his palm turned outward.

Liang Yao has two regular army regiments, but he does not have a navy, so the crews on the Roland, Chaoyong and Yangwei do not have corresponding naval ranks, but only employees of the American Group.

"Did you see the East India Company ship?" Liang Yao pointed to the armed merchant ship that was running rampant not far away.

"I saw it! What instructions do you have?!" Hemanda said.

"Find a way to shoot it, and the shells should not fall too far from it, nor hit it. Do you understand what I mean?" Liang Yao said.

"I understand!"

"Very good, if you do well, I will give you a salary increase of $10 per month."

"You have definitely increased my salary!" Heman said confidently.

Heman skillfully loaded the shells, stared at the armed merchant ship of the British East India Company, calculated the firing parameters in his mind, adjusted the muzzle, and then fired at the armed merchant ship of the British East India Company.

Hong Mingxiang was stunned. Before she could react, a huge cannon shot was heard. The shells whistled and created a beautiful wave less than three meters away from the stern of the British East India Company's armed merchant ship.

"Well done!" Liang Yao couldn't help but clap his hands and said, "Sven, give Heyman a new contract!"

"Thank you, Colonel!"

Heyman was very happy to get a raise. Of course, he was even happier that he had the opportunity to show off his skills in front of Liang Yao and left a good impression on his employer.

As long as the money was enough, he would dare to attack not only the British East India Company's armed merchant ships, but also the British Royal Navy warships.

This shot scared the crew on the British East India Company's armed merchant ships. Before that, no ship dared to fire at them in the Far East. Even pirates had to avoid the flag of the British East India Company and dared not have any unreasonable thoughts.

Soon, the frightened armed merchant ships of the British East India Company put down their boats and sent the first mate on board to protest to Liang Yao.

The first mate approached the Roland in a small boat and looked up at the Stars and Stripes hanging on the Roland: "Damn Yankees, do you know what you are doing? You are firing at the ships of the British Empire!"

"Damn British guys, do you know what you are doing? You have broken into the waters where the American and Qing navies are exercising! Get out of here! Don't interfere with our exercises. The artillery shells will not avoid the ships of the British East India Company!" Liang Yao crossed his hands and spoke condescendingly to the British first mate on the boat below.

"exercise?"

The first mate of the British East India Company had a look of disbelief on his face. The navy of the United States and the Qing Dynasty were conducting naval military exercises. This was the first time he heard such a new thing. He obviously did not believe this kind of rhetoric.

"This person next to me is the Admiral of the Guangdong Navy of the Qing Dynasty." Liang Yao snorted coldly, "If you don't believe it, you can let your ship continue to sail in the exercise waters, but I have to remind you that if the next cannonball If I accidentally landed on your boat, you will be responsible for the consequences!”

The first mate looked at the Qing warship that was confronting the American warship. He was doubtful of this statement, so he had to return to the ship and report the situation to the captain.

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