In a blink of an eye, the two brothers Zhang Shun and Zhang Heng have been fighting for 20 years, from the beginning of the southern and northern wars with Liu Zhenglong, to the later expansion of the territory for the Han Dynasty, the two brothers have always charged into battle without regrets.

There are many times that the sailors have fought a lot, but there has not been a large-scale naval battle, this time it is different, 100,000 navy, millions of stone gunboats, but it is the first large-scale naval battle since the founding of the Han Dynasty, and it is also the first time that the most advanced turbine steam gunboat has been on the battlefield, this battle is extraordinary, representing the official sailing of the Han Navy.

Zhang Shun said to Zhang Heng: "We are not as simple as conquest of Liu Yu, the most important thing is to take the islands of the East China Sea, there are many barbarian natives on it, although it is relatively backward, but it is very barbaric and warlike, and it is also a tough battle for us, so we must not be careless." Besides, His Majesty means that we will also follow the route he set to the north, and finally reach the beautiful continent, where to expand the territory, it is a strange continent, I don't know what it looks like, I don't know how many years it will take to return to this expedition. ”

This time, strictly speaking, it is not a naval voyage, to be precise, the Han Navy is going to conquer a continent that is not known how many times larger than the territory of the Han Dynasty, and I don't know how many natives there are on it, what kind of risks will there be, it can be said that the task is heavy and the crisis is numerous.

Zhang Heng usually doesn't like to talk, he faced the sea breeze, took a deep breath of fresh air and said: "Second brother, do you know, the Emperor Taishang is the emperor immediately, he has been fighting for 20 years, there is no sign of tiredness, he wants to lay the largest territory in the past, it may be many times larger than the previous Tang Dynasty, this is absolutely ancient and unparalleled, a few years ago, I talked to Your Majesty about this issue, at that time Your Majesty said that the outside world is still very big, very big, and there are many species that the Han Dynasty does not have at all, waiting for the Han people to develop and conquer. For example, the cigarettes we smoke are transported to Dahan from the beautiful continent of the south. ”

Zhang Shun lit a cigarette to Zhang Heng and said: "Cigarettes are really good things, almost everyone with a head and face never leaves their cigarettes, but they are too expensive, a cigarette costs fifty yuan, which is enough to have a meal outside and drink a pot of wine." I don't know why, Your Majesty has always refused to let soldiers in the army smoke, is it because it is expensive? ”

"It's expensive, mainly because the transportation cost is too high, we have been going south from the Northern Beautiful Continent to the south, and after finally occupying the Southern Beautiful Continent, cigarettes will not be so expensive. His Majesty said that a beautiful tobacco company will be established in the southern beautiful continent, and our brothers will occupy one percent of the shares, the navy will occupy two percent of the shares, and the other shares will all be purchased by the merchants. Zhang Heng doesn't take money very seriously, but the profits of cigarettes are too big, among the top 20 of the rich businessmen of the Han Dynasty, there are as many as five related to cigarettes, why is this not tempting?

In the Han Empire, merchants are a very special class, they can live according to the amount of tax to get the reward of the imperial court, although there is only a grade, and there is no real power, but can be mixed to more than three grades are basically imperial merchants, which can be said to be rich and rival the country. You must know that the official position is your own, and no matter how much power you have, it has a certain timeliness and restrictions. But wealth is different, it belongs to the whole family, and it can be said that children and grandchildren can enjoy wealth.

The business of the Han Dynasty was unprecedentedly developed, and the imperial court did not hinder officials and their families from doing business at all, as long as they operated in good faith and paid taxes according to law, the income obtained was protected by law. They enjoyed the privileges enjoyed by officials, breaking the original social hierarchy and greatly improving the status of merchants.

In Dahan, if you don't have a business at home, and you don't have a lot of property, you are embarrassed to tell others. In this context, Dahan's business has developed unprecedentedly, and its development speed is also unusually fast.

Zhang Shun likes to do business, Zhang Heng has no concept, but the relationship between the two brothers is very good, basically they are discussing it, this time Zhang Heng's plan is to set up his own business empire in the North Beautiful Continent and the South Beautiful Continent.

The establishment of a commercial empire is still far away, and the top priority is to take the islands of the East China Sea and capture Liu Yu alive. If you can't get this step, then everything else is.

No matter how damn Liu Yu is, but after all, he has two daughters in the palace, and everyone doesn't look at the monk's face, the Buddha's face, the fish, and the water. Zhang Shun meant to capture Liu Yu alive and hand it over to the imperial court for disposal, and the province offended the two Liu Niangniang.

Zhang Heng resolutely disagreed, he said: "The Son of Heaven talked to me, and the meaning is very clear, that is, Liu Yu can't return to China alive, what it means, you should be clear." ”

This is indeed a difficult decision, the meaning of Liu Haotian, the son of heaven, is very clear, that is, Liu Yu must be executed, and His Majesty Liu Zhenglong, although he did not give clear instructions, but acquiesced to the intercession of the two Liu Niangniang, and Liu Yu could be left with a life. Whether you should listen to the Son of Heaven or the Emperor Taishang, this makes it difficult for the two brothers Zhang Heng and Zhang Shun.

For a long time, Zhang Shun and Zhang Heng have only one majesty in their hearts, that is, Liu Zhenglong, the emperor, in order to make a difference, they basically call the emperor the son of heaven and the emperor his majesty.

Whether they should listen to the Son of Heaven or the Emperor, to be honest, the two brothers are very difficult to do. Emotionally, I must listen to the Emperor, after all, I have followed the Emperor Emperor in the south and the north for 20 years, and the friendship between the monarch and the minister is not something that the outside world can experience. However, the Emperor Taishang has gradually moved away from the court situation, and the Han is the Son of Heaven, because this matter offended the Son of Heaven, is it a bit worth the loss.

The two brothers quarreled for a long time without an answer, this was the first time the two brothers quarreled, Zhang Ruoyu said: "Father, uncle, perhaps, the emperor, the Son of Heaven does not mean this, and does not mean to embarrass you, if you look at the problem from a different angle, then this thorny problem will be solved." ”

"What do you mean, to put it bluntly."

"After all, Liu Yu betrayed the Great Song Dynasty and took refuge in the Jin Kingdom, he is a national sinner, this kind of person is not enough to make the people angry, but if he kills him, it will cause instability in the harem, and we will also offend the two Liu Niangniang." Zhang Ruoyu's thinking is still very clear, he pondered for a moment and said: "The situation in the East China Sea Islands is complicated, the indigenous people on the islands are fierce and aggressive. ”

Yes, Liu Yu died in the hands of the natives of the East China Sea, that is very appropriate, one sentence solves two major problems, Zhang Shun and Zhang Heng The two brothers recognized Zhang Ruoyu's statement and were ready to do so.

The ideology is unified, the next step is to fight, there are many natives on the islands of the East China Sea, it can be said that in the process of military conquest, many people will die, almost every island needs to be fought down There will be major sacrifices, who is not flesh and blood, who dies is a matter of no matter how strong the minister.

Emotionally speaking, Zhang Shun and Zhang Heng both longed for Liu Yu's death. , so in terms of layout, they gave up the idea of capturing alive, and wanted to directly kill Liu Yu on the battlefield and let the natives of the East China Sea Islands bear the black pot.

When the war was coming, Liu Yu panicked again, last time, he was lucky enough to escape from Shandong to the vast sea, where is there such good luck this time?

People are used to living a good life, and they are absolutely unwilling to die, it is obvious that Liu Yu is at ease in the East China Sea, and he will definitely not be restrained, and he is now a strong soldier, and he is fighting on his own soil, and he has enough combat power to fight against the Han army.

This time Liu Yu was actively preparing for war, vainly trying to take advantage of the complex situation near the island, the changeable weather and the Han army, and finally defeat the Han army.

In Liu Yu's view, no matter how powerful the Han army is, it is fighting on land, and he is the king of naval warfare, with a group of cunning 'savage, brutal pirates', and fighting on the mainland, as long as it is well prepared, it will definitely be able to give the Han army a head-on blow, as long as it is defeated, I believe that the Han army will not come to cause trouble again.

After making up his mind, Liu Yu began to actively prepare for war, this time he set the first battle on Zimu Island, which is two islands, one large and one small, the island has a circumference of five or six miles at most, and there are small hills on it, if you shoot condescendingly on it, it will definitely give the Han army a fatal blow. The big island is at least more than 100 miles long, and if you look down from the air, it looks like a mother with open arms holding the island in her arms, so the two islands are collectively called the island of the mother and the child.

The waves around Zimu Island are very large, and they have not been very calm, unless it is a big ship, it is difficult for ordinary small boats to approach, and it is obviously not a decisive place to fight here, but the reason why he chose this place as a battlefield, Liu Yu has his own plan, that is, to plant explosives in the mountain, and after the Han army lands on the island, he will directly blow up Zidao to severely damage the Han army, he believes that the Han army will definitely land on the island, because this is the first stop, and it can't be avoided at all.

The sub-islands are only a dozen nautical miles away from the mother island, and they are not related to each other, which means that they will not rescue each other, but if there is a war between the two islands, the attacking side will be covered by the other party's artillery fire.

Although at this time, the Han Dynasty had a very strict supervision of artillery, but there were still people who risked killing their heads and sold the artillery to Liu Yu's side, although it was not the latest, but it was still amazingly powerful.

Artillery, no matter how strict the supervision is, will always leak, which seems to be impossible to stop at all, besides, Liu Zhenglong has not stopped it, after all, the core formula is in his own hands, which indicates that no matter how rampant smuggling is, it is just a small fight, and it can't become a climate.

After seven days and seven nights of sailing, the troops in front were already less than 30 nautical miles away from Zimu Island and could launch an attack at any time. The person in charge of the front station is Zhang Ruoxiao, this guy is a bold and careful person, he knows that in this battle, Liu Yu's old thief must have been carefully deployed, and it is not easy to get off to a good start in this case.

Do you want to go around the island of Zimu? Soon, Zhang Ruoxiao gave up, this very mentally retarded idea, obviously, this is the first stop, this war is related to the overall situation, that is, you must not lose face to the big man.

How to fight this battle, this battle is related to the overall situation, Zhang Ruoxiao is still very clear, he did not immediately attack, but let the patrol boat circle around Zimu Island three times, wanting to see what the situation on the mother island is.

The mother island is densely wooded, and there are small hills on the sub-island, but the total garrison of the two islands is less than 3,000, it seems that Liu Yu does not plan to go all out to defend the sub-mother island, in this case, there is no need to go around in circles.

When the soldiers were sent to land on the island and the warships were ready to leave, Zhang Ruoxiao changed his original plan, for this kind of small island, there was no need to go all out to land on the island and then occupy Zimu Island.

There are more than 2,000 soldiers on the island, there is no need to worry too much, after getting ready, the gunboats aimed at Zimu Island and began to bombard indiscriminately. The effect of this fight is the most direct and effective, the most simple and crude.

It is obviously not a good thing that the first battle ended like this. At least Liu Yu felt that it was not a good thing, so he sent out a fleet to actively rescue, hoping to defeat the other party in the first battle.

Ono Takeshi is a general under Liu Yu, very short, probably stunted, at most less than one meter four, but his small eyes reveal cunning and shrewdness. This guy is loyal to Liu Yu, and his sister has also become Liu Yu's wife.

Loyalty, only what can be seen on the surface, in fact, the military generals represented by Takeshi Ono were originally the indigenous leaders of the East China Sea Islands, to put it bluntly, they were the emperor of the soil, how could they be willing to submit to the quilt? The situation is stronger than people, in the case of Liu Yu's strong soldiers, the choice of refuge is in the case of being unable to fight back, if he can resist, Liu Yu would have been destroyed long ago.

More than a dozen big ships, more than thirty big ships set off when they were ready, this is all the belongings of Takeshi Ono, this kid is very cunning, he knows that this battle is not easy to fight, so he thinks about how to save it to the maximum.

In battle, there were no immortals, and the two armies soon fought fiercely together. The gunboats of the Han Dynasty are simply the existence of giants, and the enemy troops who did not fight in half an hour fled into the wilderness, obviously the two sides are not on the same starting line, this kind of duel machine is unfair, which is equivalent to saying that the soldiers of this archipelago country are destined to be beaten to the desert and flee, and they will not become the climate.

The sound of explosions announced the beginning of the battle in the East China Sea, and the gunboats of the Han Navy were simply a giant existence, which looked like a small hill from a distance on the sea, and almost rampaged through the sea, and did not take the rebels' spring in their eyes at all.

Zhang Ruoxiao knew that the number of this battle was so big, and the next thing was to take advantage of the victory to attack, defeat, and kill Liu Yu's rebels who had followed, and the first battle was very important, because this battle played the heroic style of the Han army and laid the foundation for surveillance for the subsequent naval battle to occupy the island.