The first clear after the snow is snowing, and the Yellow River is still frozen. Although it is early spring, the ice layer on the river is still connected in scattered areas. Due to climate change, the ice layer begins to thin. In the cold winter, the ice surface of the Yellow River, which can be driven by horses, is full of dangers at this time.

If someone who is not aware of the depth tries to cross the river, it is easy to crush the ice and fall into the river halfway through the ice. Even if you walk and check, you will not be sure to reach the other side of the river safely.

After a while, the ice melted and a large amount of floating ice roared down with the river water. At that time, the Yellow River surface was not easy to sail, because the ships were easily knocked out by floating ice, and serious accidents occurred due to a large amount of water inlet.

Therefore, early spring has long been the most dangerous time to travel back and forth between the two sides of the Yellow River.

But now, it's different.

The bleak ice surface of the Yellow River suddenly sounded one after another, and thick smoke rose from several ice surfaces. The ice surface was exploded and cracks spread around.

Amid the roar of the machine, a steamer was advancing towards the ice layer, and the bow and steam-powered rods on both sides kept hitting the ice surface.

On the left and right, several similar ships were sailing in the same direction, with dozens of steps apart from each other, and they used their own poles to continuously hit the ice surface, leaving behind water surfaces behind them.

The icebreaker, which uses steam as the propulsion, is currently working hard to break the ice. This type of icebreaker with a wide hull and rear paddle has a double hull, which has good resistance to the collision of floating ice. In recent years, it has been fighting on the front line of icebreaking in the Yellow River.

Whether it is the Pujin River section in the upper reaches, the Fenglingjin River section, the Mengjin River section, or the Baimajin River section in the lower reaches, the icebreaker has made great contributions to ensuring the smooth flow of the waterway.

But the icebreaker only showed its power in early spring. In the cold winter, because the ice surface of the Yellow River is too thick, it takes time and effort to break the ice. Because the weather is cold, it is very likely that the water surface cleared the day before will be frozen again after one night.

Therefore, only in early spring when the ice surface of the Yellow River begins to thin, people can see the icebreaker.

On the south bank, the Tongji Canal enters the port area of ​​the Yellow River, and thick smoke rises from the lock area, as if black willow trees appear on the horizon.

The steam engine that operates with all efforts opens the lock gate, and the steamer in the lock slowly sails towards the channel outside the lock. Through this unsuccessful waterway, the ship must enter the Yellow River from Tongji Canal.

On the first steamship, a large number of soldiers in military uniforms looked forward with the railings. They were first shocked by the frozen river scene, and then noticed the busy "silhouettes" on the ice, and were all surprised.

Some crew members introduced to everyone that those ships were the rumored "icebreakers", and many people couldn't help but be excited.

As their ships sailed into the Yellow River and advanced along the channel opened by the icebreaker, the figure of the icebreaker ahead was getting closer and closer. The soldiers stretched their necks to see how the eight-armed icebreaker broke the ice.

Most of the soldiers from Lianghuai had never seen the icy wonder of the entire river, nor the shape of an icebreaker. If they had not been ordered to go to war, they would still be in their hometowns to prepare for spring plowing.

At the end of last autumn, many of them followed the team to Huangzhou, guarding the emperor's palace, and then received excellent teams, and then received excellent selections from the imperial court. After the spring, they set off on a steamer and headed north on a steamer.

The troops of each military administration set out from their respective garrisons and gathered in Yingzhou at the mouth of the Yellow River, then crossed the Yellow River to reach the north bank, entered the Yongji Canal, and continued northward.

The soldiers in the Huaihe River are somewhat watery and will not vomit a lot because of the bumps when taking a boat. However, most of them took a steamer for the first time, so after getting on the boat, they were very excited all the way.

The magical steamship can move forward by burning coal without sailing or oars. It can take five hours a day and sail for no less than one hundred and fifty miles, saving everyone's pain of hiking and marching.

The soldiers took a steamship to go on a warship, eating and living on the boat, and enjoying the scenery on both sides of the canal during the day, eating the food prepared by the chefs on the boat, making them very comfortable.

At night, the steamer was berthed at the pier, and everyone spent the night on the rippling boat, which was a unique feeling.

For the soldiers, everything else is fine except for the fact that the steamship was a little noisy and the toilet was less when sailing.

Now, the troop transport ship sailing on the Yellow River is at a certain distance from the icebreaker ahead, which makes everyone's hope of seeing the true face of the icebreaker, but many people still find it incredible to look at the icebreaker on both sides, which seems to be endless.

Sure enough, the entire river was frozen!

There were many incredible things along the way, which gave the soldiers a lot of talk along the way, and the tense atmosphere before the war relieved a lot.

It seems that this trip was not to go to war, but to travel around the mountains and rivers. The popular ports along the Tongji Canal impressed many soldiers. Now, the huge ship lock on the north bank of the Yellow River in front of you also amazed everyone.

The Yongji Canal Ship Lock is located at the junction of the Yongji Canal and the Yellow River. It is located on the south bank and is just opposite the Tongji Canal Ship Lock on the south bank.

Since the Tongji Canal was opened last year, various materials from the southeast region have been transported to the Yingzhou section via a canal ship (mainly a steamer ship), entered the river through the lock, and then moved upstream, passing through Mengjin, a boundary of Luozhou, and arriving at the port downstream of the Yellow River Dizhu Mountain in Shanzhou.

At the same time, supplies from all over Hebei were also transported to the Yellow River through the Yongji Canal, and entered the Yellow River at the lock at the mouth of the river, and headed to the upstream area.

This is the direction of transportation of grain, but the merchants' merchant ships use the Yongji Canal and Tongji Canal to travel to Hebei and Jiangnan. The section of the Yellow River located at the mouth of the two canals, and the shipping has become very busy.

It is said that during the busiest time, there are ships crossing the river all day and night, and it lasts for many days. The ships crossing the river are almost connected to the ends, and from a distance they look like a floating bridge.

Amid the roar of the steam engine, the gate of the front channel of the Yongji Canal lock slowly opened, and the troop transport ship that crossed the river slowly drove into the channel inside the lock. Because the vision in the front and left and right were blocked, the soldiers on the ship could only look back.

Behind, there was thick smoke on the surface of the Yellow River, and a large number of steamships carried soldiers and baggage, lined up in a row, entering the river from Tongji Canal and heading towards the Yongji Canal lock on the north bank.

The huge fleet of steamships carried tens of thousands of soldiers to the north, spanning thousands of miles, from the Huai River coast to the south to the Youyan land in the north, and arrived at the assembly site within a specified period.

Yanjin of Youzhou General Administration is one of the gathering places, and another gathering place is in Huangcheng of Laizhou, the Qingzhou General Administration. No matter where, it is Lushun Port at the southern end of the Liaodong Peninsula across the sea.
Chapter completed!