Ning Yu understands Ujijing's choice very well, perhaps for a person like him, dying on the couch in the future is the greatest sorrow. Therefore, Ning Yu will not interfere with his choice.

When this small turmoil passed, everyone followed Ning Yu into the battle planning room, only to see that the lights were bright, and there were two large sand tables, each of which was almost two and a half zhang long and one zhang wide, and the two sand tables showed the strategic situation in the north and south of Ning Chu respectively.

At this time, on the northern sand table, there have almost been many small red flags, from Beijing to Chengde, and then to Liaoning, Seoul and other key positions, there are Ningyu currently deployed troops, but in front of a large piece of red flags, it is a vast grassland terrain, obviously the desert south grassland and the desert north grassland, and in the middle of the grassland is a desert made of yellow sand.

Compared with the north, where heavy troops are gathered, there are not many small red flags on the sand table in the south, which are basically gathered along the coast and in the southwest, and even Nanjing has only one small flag, which represents the Janissary Division stationed in Nanjing.

When Ningchu's strategic focus was on the north, it was naturally impossible for the south to have too strong troops, but fortunately, there was no real external trouble in the southeast, so there was no need to worry very much.

"It is not a difficult thing to recover Taiwan, even if Zhu Yigui is unwilling to annex it, our army can be captured with only two divisions....... On the contrary, it is a strategic place like Malacca, which must no longer be occupied by the Dutch. ”

Ning Yu made no secret of his ambitions for the Luzon Islands, you must know that for the perception of the Luzon Islands, Huaxia is much earlier than those Westerners, as early as the "Zhangjun Chronicles" of that year, it was recorded that the so-called "Oriental has Luzon and Sulu countries........ Luzon, Wutong, Sha Yao, Tortoiseshell, Cebu, Wenlai, Nanwang, Dagang, Bijiashan, Miyan, Zhongbang Yining, Malilu, Mi**, Gaoyao, Wuyunfuhe, Lunantang, Lüpeng....... Overseas, this is the farthest. From Quanzhou to its territory, about 100,000 miles. ’

Especially for Ningyu from later generations, in addition to its own inherent precious resources, Luzon Islands is also very strategic location, the so-called island chain blockade theory, Luzon Islands can play a key role, and the importance of the Strait of Malacca is no less than the Suez Canal in the eyes of Westerners.

Therefore, the control of the Strait of Malacca is not only the control of a key sea lane, but also the situation in Southeast Asia as a whole.

Ujijing, deputy director of the General Staff, said with a somewhat solemn look on his face: "If you want to compete with the Dutch in the South Seas, the army is not the key, only the navy can ensure the smooth operation of the war." ”

Admiral Qiu Ze picked up a very delicate and small model of a sailing ship, placed it near the Strait of Malacca, and said: "If you want to land in Malacca, you must first solve the current Far East Fleet arranged by the Dutch East India Company in the waters of Malacca, and the strength of this fleet is not strong for our army. ”

"According to the information collected by the South Seas Division of the Military Intelligence Service, there are currently only six real warships in the Far East Fleet of the Dutch East India Company...... The largest of these flagships is the new ship Malacca, of the first class of the Seven Provinces, equipped with 68 guns. In addition, there were five battleships of the same class as the Hector, armed with thirty-six guns. ”

"In addition to the above warships, there are more than 30 converted armed merchant ships, most of which are only equipped with more than 20 artillery pieces, which add up to more than 40 warships claimed by Zhu Yigui."

Ning Yu's brows furrowed slightly, "Except for the Malacca, the others don't seem to be worrying. ”

Everyone present smiled slightly, because this is the greatest praise for today's Ning Chu Navy, especially in combination with the old things of the past, it can reflect how hard-won this change is.

The so-called old events of the year refer to the battle of Yanping King Zheng Chenggong to recover Taiwan.

In the previous propaganda, there were not many descriptions of this battle, mainly focusing on the king of Yanping himself, so that in the face of victory, many people thought that the difference between China and Europe at that time was not big, but in fact this was also a misreading.

As far as the people of insight here are concerned, they all understand one thing, that is, the battle between the king of Yanping and the Dutch is really not easy, and it can even be said to be very difficult. And in this war, the gap in the navy was particularly obvious.

Like today's Ning Chu, if the king of Yanping wanted to take Taiwan, he first had to solve the navy deployed by the Dutch East India Company in Taiwan, and at that time, the Dutch East India Company only had fifteen warships on its books, of which only four ships were really stationed in Taiwan, namely the Hector, the Sgraflan, the Egret and the Maria, and the most combat-effective of them was the Hector.

As for the Zheng naval division led by the king of Yanping, it was the overlord of the East Asian seas at that time, invincible in the naval battle with the Qing army, with hundreds of warships and as many as 25,000 soldiers.

If in the eyes of people who are not familiar with military affairs, the power of King Yanping is almost more than ten times that of the Dutch East India Company, which is almost a one-sided advantage.

However, when the first naval battle before Zheng Chenggong's landing, the Battle of Taijiang, broke out, Zheng's sailors felt the trickiness of the Dutch warships.

At the beginning of the war, the king of Yanping sent his generals Chen Guang and Chen Chong to lead sixty large warships in the direction of the Dutch warships, preparing to encircle the Dutch warships. At that time, the largest Dutch army, the "Hector", took the lead in firing, and the other three Dutch ships also opened fire, and the battle was very fierce.

Although the number of warships of the Zheng Army Naval Division occupied a great advantage, because the Zheng Army ships at that time were traditional Chinese soft sails and did not adopt the design of broadside gun emplacements, the number of guns carried on the ship was very limited, usually referring to the deployment of two guns, and the Hector at that time was equipped with nine bronze cannons and 27 iron cannons, and the firepower was not at the same level at all.

Therefore, the large number of Zheng's sailors on the surface was suppressed by the Dutch sailors, and more than 30 Zheng's sailors were sunk just after the war, and then other Zheng's sailors did not deal an effective blow to them, and even the sinking of the Hector had a bit of a dramatic factor - it was not sunk by Zheng Ming's army, but was destroyed by the carelessness of its own crew.

Survivors of the Hector at the time stated that the Dutch had placed a cannon in the gunner's cabin, and the gunner's porthole had a hatch leading to the powder room, and the porthole that played the role of blocking in the middle was not closed tightly, causing the sparks from the cannon to reach or the pharmacist, causing the grenades and powder kegs on the ship to detonate, and thus sank.

Is it because the Hector is too strong? No, in fact, the Hector, as a warship with a displacement of only 600 tons and only 36 guns, can only be regarded as a fourth-class battleship in the entire European warship, not even a third-class battleship, and it is really not worth mentioning compared with the capital ships of the navies of European countries in the same period.

You must know that Zheng Ming's naval division did not fight with the regular Dutch navy, but only a Dutch East India Company, and the company did not put all its forces in Taiwan, but the battle to recover Taiwan still made Zheng pay a heavy price.

After the end of this war, many people of insight throughout China began to study the West, because the scene on the battlefield had already explained the problem, and there was already a great distance between the warship design of China and the West at that time.

For example, four years after the Battle of Taijiang, the Netherlands and Britain fought a naval battle on the sea - the Battle of Lostoft, and in this battle, the Dutch and British sides dispatched more than 100 warships, including more than 30 second-class warships such as the Seven Provinces, and warships of the class such as the Hector were even more common.

Therefore, when Ning Yu was disdainful of the Dutch warships in Malacca, this sense of strong contrast made Admiral Qiu Ze's heart sink, and he understood why the emperor was so confident, because even he himself was full of confidence at this time.

Navy Governor Qiu Ze said in a condensed voice: "Your Majesty, at present, our army has launched six new ships, all of which are sail warships with 74 guns, and these warships are now undergoing intensive training and will be able to officially exert their combat strength in April next year. As for the original old ships, they are also stepping up rocket modifications. ”

The six Taishan-class third-class battleships that began to be designed from the three years of innovation and completed the construction and service after a full year are undoubtedly the latest warship representatives of Ningchu, and it has been designed by several warship designers from the West and hundreds of Chinese shipwrights with the joint efforts of the 'Taishan-class' sail warships.

The Taishan-class third-class battleship is 51 meters long, 13 meters wide, has a displacement of 1,400 tons, is divided into two layers, has 74 guns of various types, can carry a crew of up to 470 people, and can also store 20 tons of gunpowder and 60 tons of various shells, the overall combat capability is very strong, even compared with the current Dutch East India Company's flagship Malacca, its combat power is still surpassed.

Especially after the installation of rocket launchers, the combat power of the Taishan-class sail battleships has been greatly improved, even for those experienced Western warship designers, they have to sigh that this is a great innovation, which makes the difficulty of boarding battles greatly increased - because the enemy ships are easy to be fully covered by rocket fire during the approach.

Because of this, Ning Yu and Qiu Ze and others will still be so confident in their hearts, because the current Ning Chu Navy and the Zheng Navy under King Yanping back then have almost a reborn change, and when they look at the Dutch warships in Malacca, they feel that it is nothing more than that.

Of course, compared with the first-class and second-class warships currently equipped by Western European maritime powers, the Taishan-class sail battleship is just a typical third-class battleship, and there is still a considerable gap, but it is a good start for Ning Chu to design and build a battleship for the first time.

When all armies are just established, they need a lot of time to learn and grow, especially for the navy, they need to learn a lot of new knowledge.

Therefore, Ning Yu is also very satisfied with this result, after all, it only took one year to design and build six third-class warships, which is a cause for celebration even for the Western maritime powers.

"For Da Chu at the moment, the third-level battleship is indeed a good start, but it is not the end, in the future, I also hope to be able to see the second-level battleships and even the first-class battleships designed and built by ourselves, as for the higher requirements, I hope that our fleet can spread all over the world!"

Ning Yu's tone was more or less full of sighs, compared to the army that had grown up, the navy was still just a baby, and the sea area it could influence was only limited to the coast of China, and it still needed more time to grow and more resources to tilt ...... Of course, he is confident that with long-term support, the future Ningchu Navy will inevitably go to the ocean, and it can even fight with Britain, the number one maritime power today.

"Yes, Your Majesty." Qiu Ze's tone contained infinite confidence, and he had reason to think that this day would come soon, perhaps only a matter of time.

Shoufu Cui Wancai muttered: "It must not be a big problem to take Malacca at the moment, but there is still a question in the minister's heart, according to His Majesty's words, the Dutch Yu Lusong is just a company, and it is normal for the strength to be low, but there is no shortage of first-class or second-class warships in its native main flagship, and the ships are strong and the guns are sharp, what if it crosses the ocean to come to conquer?" ”

After hearing this, the ministers nodded in their hearts, after all, Shoufu must be old and serious, and the places that should be taken into account need to be taken into account, no matter what considerations the emperor has in his heart, the ministers can not blindly cater to the wishes. Especially for an important minister like Shousuke, not having his own ideas is contemptible after all.

Ning Yu smiled and nodded, and said, "I naturally understand what Shoufu said, but I often talk freely with Ernst and others, and Yu Xishi also has his own opinions, so I will listen to it with you." ”

"Please also ask Your Majesty for advice." Seeing Ning Yu putting on a look of wanting to solve his doubts, everyone naturally cooperated.

Ning Yu glanced around at everyone and said with a smile: "Nowadays, the Western countries, their pattern is similar to the troubled times of our Chinese Warring States, the countries are arguing endlessly, and they are often raising troops to fight for hegemony, among which the Westerners still attach importance to maritime trade, so the hegemony on the sea is even more to the death, the first hegemonic country is Spain, and then it is the Netherlands, and now after several battles to cater to the Anglo-Dutch War, it has become England, so the Netherlands is especially unable to protect itself at the moment, let alone cross to my Celestial Empire?" ”

"Your Majesty is wise, but your ministers are ignorant. Thinking that the Dutch had acted so arrogantly before, and had offended other countries in the West, not to mention other countries, England alone was enough for them to deal with. Cui Wancai suddenly realized.

Ning Yu Zhizhu was in his hand, and said with a smile: "That's right, but the contact with Britain and France can't be ignored, the so-called long-distance friendship and close attack, we also have to make good friends with these Western powers, I heard that they are about to arrive in Nanjing now?" ”