Although it is said that the navy organized to go to the Americas for exploration and colonization, the navy is a pure armed force, and the exploration and colonization of this kind of thing is actually not professional for the navy.

The navy is best at war!

Therefore, not all of the more than 20 ships that went to the Americas this time were warships of the Navy, and there were actually only nine ships that really belonged to the Navy.

And only one cruiser and two frigates are official warships, while the other six naval vessels are actually armed transport ships.

The remaining thirteen ships are from more complex sources, including three migrant transport ships rented and dispatched by the Department of Resettlement and Reclamation of the Ministry of Agriculture.

The remaining nine are all ships of Datang Americas, but although they belong to the company, most of them are leased by Datang Americas!

Of the nine vessels, only two are assets of Datang Americas, while three of the remaining seven are vessels belonging to Datang Toyo, two are vessels belonging to Datang Western, and the remaining two are leased from other private shipping companies.

Datang Americas Company is a new company established only last year, jointly funded by the Royal Assets Division and the Ministry of State-owned Enterprises, and the registered assets are not much, only more than 200,000 taels of silver, which are basically invested in the purchase of second-hand ships or the ordering of new ships.

At the same time, the company, like the Toyo Trading Company and the Nanyang Company, although it was an official background, did not have the monopoly of trade like the Western company, let alone the company's armament.

Datang Western Company is a special product, and this special product is naturally impossible to appear too much.

As of this year, the Ministry of State-owned Enterprises has invested in new construction, acquisitions and other ways to control more than 100 enterprises, and these more than 100 enterprises are generally typical enterprises, represented by the three major weapons companies, several major shipyards, several major steel companies, and several machinery companies, almost monopolizing the heavy industry of the empire.

In addition, the Ministry of State-owned Enterprises also manages many government-run enterprises controlled by the local Yamen Financial Investment, which are also state-owned enterprises in a broad sense, but outsiders prefer to call them local government-run enterprises, and the scale of these local government-run enterprises is large and small, and the large scale has the Nantong Textile Company in Jiangnan Province, employing more than 5,000 people, and the small scale is only a few dozen employees.

If this part is also counted, then the number of enterprises managed by the Ministry of State-owned Enterprises will exceed 2,000, of course, there are only more than 100 large enterprises, and the rest are small and medium-sized enterprises.

There are relatively few companies controlled by the Royal Assets Division, more than 30 in total, but the enterprises controlled by the Royal Assets Division are generally large enterprises, and at the same time, they are mostly high-tech industries, with a lot of profits, and they are supported by the well-known Royal Bank.

Datang Americas, in terms of investment figures and background, can only be said to be an ordinary maritime trading enterprise with a certain official background.

However, from the beginning of its establishment, the company was established to carry out trade with the Americas, so this is also highly consistent with the Navy's strategy for the Americas.

Since last year, the Navy has cooperated with Datang Americas, preparing to send a large fleet to the Americas to establish colonies.

At the end of last year, the expedition fleet sent by the Navy to explore the route to the Americas also returned, and their successful return also means that they have explored the route to the Americas.

At the same time, the expedition team brought back a large amount of gold and silver, which also blinded the eyes of the navy's top brass, and the crew said that after arriving in the Americas, they could exchange gold and silver from the local natives for anything.

A finger-sized glass bead can even be exchanged for a basket of gold and silver!

Yes, it's just a basket, not fake at all!

America is full of gold and silver!

This has further stimulated the idea of the Navy to launch a strategy for the Americas and to improve the status of the Navy.

After months of preparation, the Navy and Datang America joined forces, and along with the Department of Immigration and Reclamation of the Ministry of Agriculture, they also sent three migrant ships to form this huge fleet to prepare for the American continent.

When the three parties join forces, the purpose sought is naturally different!

The American Company wanted to trade and obtain a large amount of wealth by exchanging large quantities of gold and silver from the local natives with gadgets such as glass beads.

The navy hopes to establish a solid colonial base in the Americas, and at the same time use the rich Americas to influence the domestic high-level to promote the implementation of the American strategy.

As for the Immigration Reclamation Division, they don't have any specific goals, anyway, wherever the Tang Dynasty soldiers go, they are all immigration targets of the Immigration Reclamation Division, whether it is in Nanyang or India, or in Australia or even the Americas, the Immigration Reclamation Division will go.

It took a combination of the forces of the three parties to have this huge fleet set sail and was ready to go to the Americas!

And this huge fleet is also called the American Fleet by the Navy, if it goes well, the Navy will directly establish a naval base on the American continent, and then set up a detachment, and this detachment is the American Fleet.

It is worth mentioning that among the above-mentioned ships, except for the three warships of the Navy, the other ships, whether they are called migrant transport ships, armed merchant ships or armed transport ships, are actually all new Datang ship types.

Even the tonnage is much the same, half of them are standard 680 tons, and most of the rest are 450 tons.

After years of development, the Datang ship type is already very mature and perfect, because of the standard design, even the parts are the same, so that the difficulty and cost of construction are greatly reduced, so that many large-scale shipyards in China can build this kind of standard ship.

However, in this fleet, the most eye-catching is the cruiser USS Ryukyu, which was sent by the Navy.

The cruiser Ryukyu is the first 800-ton cruiser of the Tang Navy, the sixth ship of the Songjiang-class cruiser, with a standard displacement of 830 tons, with a double-deck gun layout, two decks and the bow and stern, carrying a total of 52 long-barreled guns of different calibers.

Its firepower is second only to that of battleships!

Not to mention the strong firepower, and this class of ships is designed according to the cruiser, and the design is designed with long-lasting combat capability, seaworthiness and speed in mind.

At present, although the most powerful and largest tonnage ships in the Datang Navy are battleships, in fact, more of the combat missions in the open sea are the combination of cruisers and frigates of various types, and the battleships basically stay on the coast of the mainland or occasionally go to the South Seas to deter the Portuguese.

The cruiser USS Ryukyu, with its powerful firepower and good seaworthiness, was enough to act as a bodyguard for the entire fleet.

Led by the cruiser USS Ryukyus, this huge American fleet began to leave Shanghai, then to Naha, Osumi Prefecture in Ryukyu Prefecture, and finally continued eastward along the Fuso Islands, and finally broke into the depths of the Pacific Ocean!

According to the plan, they would need to sail thousands of kilometers to find Midway and Honolulu, which they had previously found by the expedition fleet, so that they could get fresh water and food, and then continue eastward from Honolulu to the coast of the North American continent, where they would be their destination.

In this long route, there were not too many islands for them to replenish, and this was the first large-scale voyage, in order to avoid accidents, the more than 20 ships in the fleet, in fact, did not carry many personnel, not even much cargo, most of the ships were used to carry various supplies.

The entire fleet, except for the sailors of the navy and the merchant ships, was only a pure immigration, only more than 800 people organized by the Immigration and Reclamation Division, and these people did not go to the Americas according to the plan, but were going to go to Honolulu Island, and finally establish a stable colony to supply the fleets that came and went.

As for colonizing the Americas, that can only wait for the next voyage.

After the fleet arrived in Osumi Prefecture smoothly, after the last large-scale replenishment and rest, it went directly into the Pacific Ocean, at first they still advanced along the Fuso Islands, but soon after a short stop and replenishment, they directly turned and went directly into the depths of the Pacific Ocean.

The reason why they did not continue along the Fuso Islands, the last way north, and finally across the northern Pacific into the northern part of the Americas, was because it was more dangerous to do so than to cross the Central Pacific.

The North Pacific Ocean is close to the North Pole, and the temperature is not a problem, but the key is that the wind and waves are strong, and it is very dangerous to navigate.

After all, the ships of these years are all sailboats, and the tonnage is no more than a few hundred tons, and it is almost self-defeating to sail in the sea area with strong winds and waves, and extremely cold.

The Tang Empire has already sent three expeditions to this sea area, none of which successfully arrived in North America, two of which were forced to return with heavy losses on the way, and the last expedition team was directly missing, no need to guess, it must have been sleeping in the Pacific Ocean.

In such a dangerous North Pacific, the Datang Navy naturally would not choose to be in this sea area.

Although the Central Pacific Ocean is vast, it is difficult to replenish, and sometimes there are windless belts, but it is safer, anyway, there is enough food and fresh water with them, even if it encounters a windless belt, it can survive for several months.

After the departure of the American Fleet, it didn't take long for Li Xuan to receive a report from the Navy, saying that the American Fleet had officially left the Fusang Sea and entered the depths of the Pacific Ocean.