New Ming Empire mixed in America

While envoys from various countries were visiting each other, the Pacific Fleet had completed cleaning up the waters near the port.

Well, the specific point is to keep those ships that are illegally fishing for Xinming Empire whales nearby away from them.

When encountering those shipowners who claimed that they were citizens of a certain country and that the Xinming Empire had no right to drive them away, the fleet would even considerately send them to enjoy a cold bath in the sea.

Without any eyesight, the fleet began to form a battle formation. These guys were still protesting with semaphores around the fleet. Isn't this looking for death?

At this time, transport ships equipped with mines had already begun laying mines along Honolulu Island under the protection of fourth-class ironclad battleships.

Because they did not see the battle flag hoisted on the Xinming Empire's warships, the defenders on the fort only watched nervously as the Xinming Empire's transport ships loaded with mines were busy.

Besides, they didn't know what the ship was doing, and the distance was beyond the range of the fort's shore defense guns.

The British warships had the ability to stop it, but they did not receive the order to fire, so they could only pretend not to see it.

Of course, the level four iron-clad battleship that had been standing between them and the mine-laying ship was one of the reasons why they did not dare to act rashly.

"When will the captain come back? I always feel that there is something weird about that Oriental transport ship."

The first mate stood on the deck, staring at the minelayer not far away.

The four battleships in the port area are all under full sail, and they will always be wandering near the port waiting for the captain to return.

If the warships of the Xinming Empire launch an attack, they also have the right to fight back. This is the order given to these people by the captains before leaving.

As for when the captain will return, the first mate actually knows the answer in his heart.

If the Orientals accept negotiations to resolve this dispute peacefully, it is estimated that the captains will appear on the battleship immediately.

But if the Orientals choose to start a war, the captains will probably prevent the soldiers from defending on land.

"Not only that strange transport ship, look at the two strange things in their fleet that are expanding!"

The boatswain stared closely through the telescope at the two specially-built transport ships in the Pacific Fleet of the New Ming Empire.

At this time, he saw that the white oval objects on his two transport ships that they had regarded as buildings actually floated.

And as time passed, the thing began to slowly rise into the sky, causing the iron chains connecting the transport ship to collapse.

The first mate heard the bosun's voice and raised his binoculars to look over. He exclaimed at just one glance.

"It's an airship. The Orientals brought the airship over too!"

He had read the newspaper delivered some time ago, and the photo of the airship flying in the sky and the burning White House below left a very deep impression on him.

His grandfather's family lived in Washington, so he was very nervous at the time. But after seeing in the newspaper that the bombed areas were concentrated in the mansions of wealthy people, he felt relieved.

His grandfather's family had no money, so they could barely live in a civilian area of ​​Washington by running a small tailor shop.

airship?

The boatswain watched more carefully after hearing the first mate's exclamation.

"Oh God, they are flying. The big thing that is longer than a battleship is actually flying!"

Looking at the airship already floating in the sky like a giant beast in the sky, the bosun couldn't control his voice.

It was indeed flying. The specially-made transport ship had disconnected from the airship pod, leaving only an inflatable tube that continued to extend as the airship rose.

After the airship reached thirty meters, the inflatable tube was disconnected. Finally, everyone looked up and watched the airship continue to rise.

When the height of the airship exceeded two hundred meters, Li Mingqi breathed a sigh of relief.

The first time he performed inflating and taking off at sea made Li Mingqi's heart pick up in his throat.

Fortunately, the airship was quite powerful and didn't lose its chain. Otherwise, the incendiary bombs installed on the airship would have turned the airship into a fireball in an instant.

One takeoff cost Li Mingqi nearly 30 million system funds.

If the helium was not recycled every time the airship landed, Li Mingqi would have gone bankrupt just by inflating the airship.

Now, because the airship takes off at sea, it will inevitably waste some helium, otherwise the cost of one takeoff would not be so much.

What's more, once Yingtianfu's natural gas collection project makes progress, helium will be produced by itself.

Although the waste may be serious, it is nothing to Li Mingqi who occupies Yingtian Mansion. If the amount extracted is small, then he can build more factories.

He did not believe that the entire Xin Ming Empire could not purify enough helium for the future airship fleet.

Yingtian Mansion not only has natural gas, but oil is also the most important strategic material of the Xinming Empire.

When the airship finally rose to a height that could only be seen by the naked eye, Li Mingqi was completely relieved.

By this time, a full four hours had passed, and after a while it was getting dark.

But night is the opportunity Li Mingqi needs, and the fireworks will be more beautiful then.

At this time, the transport ship that was laying mines also came to an end. A naval soldier let out a long sigh of relief after watching the cable come off the winder.

This minelaying was the same as the previous minelaying in San Francisco Port. All the mines were strung together with a cable, and this time the buoys on the mines were adjusted above the sea surface.

This is a mark made to prevent your own battleship from accidentally triggering.

"Come and help me, something may be stuck in the roller, I can't move it by myself!"

Just as the navy soldier was clearing away debris on the deck, a soldier next to him shouted.

"Is it not lubricated well?" He complained as he quickly walked over and helped his companions send the last pontoon into the sea.

"Don't forget to hang up that symbolic flag. The captain said that hanging this banner will help those foreign ships touch as few mines as possible."

After hearing the reminder from his companion, the naval soldier who had just shouted for help reluctantly took out some pontoons with banners and started playing with them.

"Why do you want to hang this thing? Wouldn't it be good to blow up a few more foreign ships?"

After a few words of underestimation, the naval soldier connected the buoys with banners to ropes and began to release them into the sea.

"What's the use of blowing up a few more ships? They're not battleships. It will be very troublesome to recover the mines."

At this time, a naval soldier who had just climbed back to the deck from the sea said something. He shook the diving goggles he had just taken off twice, and then with the help of the logistics staff, he began to take off the diving equipment one by one.

Down.

I did not forget to educate the two rookie sailors in my group:

"This will be our territory in the future. If the mines are not recovered, what will happen if there is danger?"

"Have you forgotten the mines that a fishing boat brought back from San Francisco Harbor last time?"

Speaking of which, the diver also had to feel lucky for the silly and bold fisherman.

When that guy pulled the mine to the front of the Wehrmacht, he was almost shot dead by the Wehrmacht as a spy.

If there hadn't been a problem with the welding that caused the explosive to get soaked in water, the mine would have exploded long ago just by tinkering with it.

At this time, the rest of the divers also got on board one after another, and the mine-laying ship also began to return to the rear of the fleet along the intervals specially left during the mine-laying.

The banners they left behind were also discovered by the British warships cruising near the port area.

After seeing the English slogan clearly, a first mate who had experienced the Crimean War had goosebumps all over his body.

The mines deployed by Tsarist Russia at that time caused the Combined Fleet to suffer enough.

The sentence written on the slogan also kindly told them that the mines of the Xinming Empire were much more powerful than those of Tsarist Russia:

'Pay attention to the mine area, they are more powerful than the Tsarist Russian mines in the Crimean War!'