C1915 Great Bitter Lake (1/2)

The Great Bitter Lake was a very important shipyard in the Suez Canal. As the canal was too narrow and could only be used for a row of ships at a time, the lakeshore became a resting place for the queue to enter the canal.

Before the canal was opened, there were no lakes here. Before the canal was dug up, there was only a low-lying area of saltwater and desert. Only after the canal had dug up all the seawater, did it turn into a lakewater.

Some people claimed that the name Great Bitter Lake came from the lake water, which was salty and bitter, while some people claimed that tens of thousands of labourers gathered here and spent eleven long and painful years of hard work here. That was why the lake was named Great Bitter Lake.

The united fleet gradually entered the Great Bitter Lake from the south to the north. It was only when Xiao Letian's line of sight was covered by the dark blue lake that he truly realized the greatness of this canal.

The endless lake was densely packed with docked ships. The white sails of various sizes were mixed with the black smoke of the steamboat. There were at least three to four hundred merchant ships docked at a place where one could only see.

These were all merchant ships waiting to cross the canal. As the United Fleet had the powerful naval guards of the British Empire and the coordination from the British diplomats, the Alliance Fleet had the highest authority.

The French canal authorities, though reluctant to do so, had to clear the river ahead of time, trying to get the United Fleet through first. This way, the original schedule would be thrown into complete disarray.

Italy, Greece, the Netherlands, the Portugal... When the merchant ships of a small country were driven to the farthest reaches of the canal entrance, the French officials remained unmoved, no matter how much the captains scolded and scolded.

The British and French merchant ships had to temporarily move away from the river to let the United Fleet rise above the water. The British were slightly better off because they all knew from the newspapers that the Emperor of Great Qing Kingdom and the Head of the Hua Clan had come to visit. When they saw that the United Fleet and the Zhiyuan Warship s were around, they honked their pipes and saluted, waving sailors everywhere on the deck.

A small number of Prussian merchant ships were even more excited, pointing at the mighty warship and shouting, ”We made it! Long live the ships we built in Prussia! Long live Prussia! Long live! ” National pride has never been higher.

Only the French and Russian merchant ships remained silent. The sailors on the deck looked at the United Fleet with a complicated look, especially the ones that were directed at the Zhiyuan Warship.

”Die you bastard! Just wait for His Majesty the emperor to deal with you. Sooner or later, your iron turtle will sink!”

Of course, the Chinese would not care about the clown's curses. These valiant and formidable soldiers all had their hands behind their back as they lined up on the deck and proudly accepted the gazes of the Great Bitter Lake merchant ships. They were using their actions to change the misconception of the Europeans towards China.

Qing Dynasty can't represent China, and those scrawny smokers can't represent the Chinese. Today, I'll show you how mighty the Chinese army is, and how imposing they are!

Although the Great Bitter Lake's water surface was wide, there were too many ships docked. Adding to the chaos, the fleet's speed was very slow.

After all, the canal had just been put into operation this year, and the management was also accumulating experience from their work. It was understandable for them to make some mistakes, but after entering the lake for just two hours, something happened in front of the United Fleet.

The idiotic French pilot ship led the way, and an Italian brig was directly involved in a serious mishap with a Dutch scissor boat.

The surface of the lake was filled with the sound of grinding teeth. The two merchant ships that were passing by were clashing against each other. Pieces of wood were flying everywhere.

”Hahaha …” This bunch of French idiots, how did they lead the way? Idiot, trash … ” The surface of the lake was filled with whistles and boos. Amidst the chaos, the speed of the United Fleet had become even slower.