Chapter 244: Li Huamei and the Navy Crowd

Meanwhile, aboard the Hangzhou, Li Huamei was ruthlessly mocking Le Lin at the helm, telling him his steering would only drive the ship onto reefs. Le Lin's immaculate U.S. Navy uniform was drenched by spray, and he had to endure the beauty's merciless teasing; he looked miserable. Then she shouted at the navy men who had clung to the masts and yards for over an hour without unfurling any sails, just hugging the timber and shivering: "How long are you country bumpkins going to hug them? Planning to take the masts as wives?!"

Li Haiping was trembling up there. Climbing yards on a mast swaying left and right more than ten meters above deck was no job for ordinary people. Though he had climbed up, once at the top he didn't dare traverse the yards, let alone furl canvas. He clutched the rope net with a death grip, feeling his body constantly rising and falling, complaining incessantly—he hadn't expected sailing ships to be so un-fun. It seemed he would have to become a die-hard proponent of steam ironclads in the future.

Lao Di next to him was even more miserable. Lao Di had originally worked in the Army but somehow wanted to join the Marines. Relying on two years of coastal defense service, he had become a Marine Corps company commander upon defecting to the Navy. This man liked to talk hardware—K98s, Tiger tanks, and 88mm cannons never left his mouth, belonging to the rare Germanophile faction among naval enthusiasts. He had always claimed climbing masts was easy, but lost his nerve the first time he got on a ship for sea training. Now he hadn't even climbed onto the yard, hugging the mast halfway up with eyes closed tight. Damn, Li Haiping thought, modern people shouldn't be afraid of heights—we all have to climb a few floors wherever we are...

"Alright, come down. Watching you is truly distressing." Li Huamei had apparently lost hope.

"My leg cramped today—gave out," Lao Di emphasized objective factors upon hitting the deck. "Really, look, it's still numb now—"

"It's truly a miracle you guys can live till now in Lingao." Li Huamei laughed. "And like this, you still want to sail ships yourselves? You can't even climb masts."

Depressing yet irrefutable. Li Haiping was speechless. However, he noticed she greatly appreciated the detailed division of sailor duties and the continuously conducted drills. She was also extremely interested in the Derringer pistols equipped by the navy men. Watching this, he was secretly delighted—as long as she had a weakness or desire, she would be easy to handle.

Mund, panting and clothes rubbed black by the mast, protested: "Who said a captain must climb masts? Does a captain shovel coal into boilers himself?" Suddenly realizing Li Huamei didn't know what boilers were, he corrected himself. "We are high-quality talents who have mastered technologies more advanced than climbing masts!"

Li Huamei smiled without speaking, but she knew in her heart this wasn't false. She already knew from her Mistress that the Australians possessed many fresh gadgets, but experiencing them personally was completely different. The shock of that huge iron ship in the bay was unparalleled. The largest ships she had seen previously were the great galleons of the Spanish and Portuguese. Compared with the iron ship before her—those thousand-ton sea monsters were merely the difference between whales and sharks. Just the hull sides, taller than city walls, amazed her.

As for their pistols and rifles—she didn't know who else in this world could possess firearms that fired without matchcords, wheellocks, or flints. What secret was hidden in those small copper pieces? This interested her more than the iron ship. Not to mention the binoculars worn by every officer—they could see farther and clearer than all European telescopes from the entire East Indies to Macau.

There were also things not so scientific. Strangest was a small box that could talk to people far away at any time. At first, she thought it a trick, but truly hearing the voice and watching them converse endlessly with it, a great sense of fear welled up in Li Huamei's heart—such a thing, what was it if not witchcraft?

But these people showed no signs of practicing witchcraft—Macau was a bizarre colonial city with all cultures and beliefs, including various practitioners, so Li Huamei knew about witchcraft. This group had not a shred of religious belief; their speech and behavior were that of atheists.

During her days at Bopu, almost every day brought surprises. She discovered new things from the iron ship down to their paper—and strange habits: for example, they always carried tissue paper, using it as handkerchiefs to wipe mouths besides the toilet.

Overall, she felt the Australians were more like Europeans in their understanding of technology, the items they used, and clothing habits—even their speech and manners were similar. But they were indeed of Chinese descent. Later, hearing the navy men say they were descendants of Song Dynasty immigrants confirmed her judgment.

If Li Huamei grew up in a family mixing Chinese and Western cultures and thus could take distinct cultures calmly, what the Australians possessed was a brand-new culture she had never felt before. This turned her originally passive mindset into strong curiosity.

"That iron fast ship of yours is indeed excellent." Li Huamei agreed. "But it seems you can't build another one."

"That's now. In a few years, our cruisers will cover the entire China Seas." Li Haiping was full of pride, completely forgetting his ugly state on the mast.

"Really? Then will you sell me one?"

"This..." Li Haiping hesitated, "needs our leaders' agreement. However," he said solemnly, "if you're willing to be our chief naval instructor, giving you one in the future won't be a problem!"

Li Huamei giggled. "I'm kidding. Those iron ships are treasures—don't think I don't know. I'd better earn my money. Casually teaching you to climb masts is nothing; just sell me a few guns in the future."

"Okay, okay!" Li Haiping nodded repeatedly, forgetting he wasn't the navy head. "As long as you help train us, what do a few guns count for—"

Just then, rumbling cannons came from Lingao Cape, and white smoke pillars rose into the sky. This was the Ordnance Design Bureau test-firing cannons—the 150mm muzzle-loading rifled gun newly cast for Lingao Cape Fort at Bopu. It was the largest caliber cannon manufactured since D-Day. When firing 48-pound Minié shells, maximum range approached four kilometers—a terrifying figure at the time.

Everyone excitedly picked up binoculars: sampans were anchored in a line at a certain distance from the beacon tower, with red flags planted on them. Water columns constantly rose near the sampans, rocking the small boats.

"What accuracy is this? More than ten shots, not a single hit." Li Haiping said darkly. "Looks like we need to triple training shells in the next budget, otherwise enemies will rush to our faces before we hit them."

Several navy men chimed in.

Lao Di knew better: "What are you shouting about? This is calculating artillery range tables. Those boats aren't targets—the cannons are firing from near to far."

"Those are range-finding boats—" Le Lin said.

Li Huamei snatched Li Haiping's binoculars and looked for a long time, eyes shining. "This cannon is very good, the gunners are strong too. Shooting quite accurately."

This was a slap in the face for the critics. However, they were used to Li Huamei's sarcasm. Anyone could see her strong interest in cannons—she had been at Bopu nearly a week without seeing the Transmigration Army's cannons fire.

"If you're willing to sell me cannons, I'll help train sailors!" Li Huamei put down the binoculars and said this heavily.

"Deal!" Li Haiping patted his chest. Several Maritime Department lechers laughed secretly—the mermaid had finally taken the bait. A few with stronger organizational discipline, including Le Lin, were somewhat worried: the Executive Committee hadn't approved this, and even their own Navy leaders hadn't agreed—how could they casually promise?

"I'll take responsibility for reporting to leadership! They'll definitely meet you soon."

"Quite the bureaucratic airs," Li Huamei curled her lip. "I don't care. What Executive Committee members? Worth a few dimes? Just dressed-up monkeys!"

The navy crowd laughed heartily; making fun of leaders has always been favorite Chinese entertainment.

"Rather than meeting some Chairman, I want to go up on the big iron ship—" Li Huamei sighed charmingly. "So big—"

The crowd of lechers immediately had their minds in the gutter, indulging in mental fantasies.

Mund immediately stated: "We'll talk to leaders again. Letting you see the ship is nothing big."

Though the navy crowd's intimacy with Li Huamei skyrocketed, due to high-level caution, her movement remained limited. Except for sailboats, she couldn't board any powered vessels, from the Fengcheng to landing crafts. When appointing main naval leaders, Ma Qianzhu wisely chose only former PLA officers, hoping to use their party-instilled discipline and political consciousness to implement the Executive Committee's will.

Thus two factions unconsciously formed within the navy: one composed of former professional officers like Chen Haiyang, the other composed of naval enthusiasts and former naval soldiers. The two major groups of the future navy began taking shape.

(End of Chapter)