"Captain, you go back to your cabin now to pack your things, and in an hour, the fast sail notification ship 'Feiyan' will dock with this ship, and you will take the 'Feiyan' directly back to China."

"Yes."

Xu Daizhuo didn't want to leave, he had never seen his grandfather, and he didn't have a deep affection for Wen Xianggong.

What's more, leaving the battlefield before the war is over will make him feel like he is a deserter.

Although now the sailors of the Fuso people no longer have the ability to fight back.

However, it is a pity that he has to go, this is a direct order from the royal family and the cabinet, and the naval command has already granted him leave without his knowledge.

"Captain, wait a minute."

The captain called Xu Daizhuo, who turned around and was about to leave, and in the latter's puzzled gaze, he hung an eight-pointed silver star medal with a ribbon under Xu Daizhuo's neck:

"This is a reward for your heroic deeds and contributions to the Navy during your service."

"My subordinates deserve it."

When it comes to fighting bravely, Xu Daizhuo did not flinch on the battlefield, and during the Battle of the Seto Inland Sea, he even participated in the gang jumping operation with the flagship of the Oda Naval Army, and killed two Fuso sailors.

However, this level of bravery was nothing in the Imperial Navy, and even less worthy of a silver star of the second rank (the gold star was awarded only to generals).

As for the contribution to ......the Navy, what great contribution can a pre-commissioned ensign a year ago, a captain who has just been promoted, make to the Navy?

You know, ninety percent of the captains of the empire haven't even gotten the Bronze Star.

"Don't think too much, and I don't want to shy away from it, in your capacity, as long as you are a member of the navy, it will be the greatest contribution to the navy."

The captain explained with a smile:

"When you come back from Jiangnan, the Admiralty will promote you to the rank of Lieutenant ......, of course, you can also choose not to return to the Navy, if so, I want you to remember that you were once a glorious Imperial Navy soldier."

"I see, thank you, Lieutenant Colonel." Xu Daizhuo saluted again: "I will always be a naval officer." ”

"Always."

……

An hour later, the "Feiyan" joined the "Dengyingzhou" on time, and Xu Daizhuo, carrying his personal luggage, boarded the fast sail notification ship through the pedal.

When he left, no one came to see him off, there was no touching farewell to his comrades-in-arms, and no one expressed dissatisfaction with the "deserter", which made Xu Daizhuo feel a little lonely.

In fact, the sailors didn't think it was a big deal for Xu Daizhuo to leave, on the contrary, with such a background in the sky, at least they didn't have to share too much credit.

The "Feiyan" spread all its sails and arrived at the Dengzhou Military Port five days later at the fastest speed.

After that, Xu Daizhuo changed to a fast horse and rushed all the way from Dengzhou to Quancheng under the protection of ten guards cavalry.

By this time, Xu Shiyang and all his children had returned to Quancheng from Yanjing, and the 37-year-old supreme commander of the imperial army had a reunion dinner with his family.

At the family banquet, Xu Shiyang was in a very bad mood - his eldest son proposed to go to the Western Regions when he was in Yanjing, Xu Daixuan's reasons were very sufficient, but Xu Shiyang always felt that his son was only 17 years old and had to travel thousands of miles to go out, even if it was a heavenly family, it was too unkind.

It's just that Xu Shiyang has no reason to refute, the child grows up and has his own ideas, so he, as a father, can't stop it at all except support.

This time, Xu Daixuan was willing to come to Quancheng, purely to see off his younger brother and have a reunion dinner with his family - he didn't go to Jiangnan, and Xu Daizhuo's grandfather was not his own grandfather.

Then he will go to the Western Regions, with the help of Zuo Helin, Xu Shizhen and Wang Qinian, to prepare for the establishment of an expeditionary force.

It is estimated that he will not return home for a few years or even more than a decade.

Xu Shiyang suddenly had a bleak feeling - the family affairs of the heavenly family are really more difficult to deal with than the state affairs.

After the family banquet, Xu Shiyang personally sent Wen Yue and Wen Ji to the fleet to Jiangnan.

In order to avoid the risk of navigation, Wen Yue returned to Jiangnan this time by inland river boat, directly taking the Grand Canal route - after the empire unified the north, it has been dredging the Grand Canal route, and several reservoirs have been built to store water.

In today's north-south trade, the carrying capacity of sea transport is the largest, followed by canals, and land transport is the last.

But in terms of safety, it has to be reversed, and the land route is the safest, because the empire and the Great Zhou have suppressed bandits many times, and the traffic on the two roads along the Huai River is very safe.

Although the pirates are gone, there are several ships that are lost due to changes in sea conditions and other reasons, and the proportion of ship losses is about 5 per 10,000, which is not big but is always risky.

As for canal transportation, everything is relatively modest, even if the ship sinks, with the width of the canal and the density of ships, at least there is no big problem in saving people, and it is easier to forcibly dock and run aground at the last moment.

Therefore, it has become the best choice for this trip to Jiangnan - if he goes to Jiangnan by himself, Xu Shiyang will definitely choose the fastest sea boat, but his wife and children go, even he is not willing to take the risk.

The southbound fleet consisted of more than 200 river boats, and in order to ensure safety, the General Staff transferred 1,000 soldiers from the Guards, 300 of whom were approved by the Great Zhou court to carry weapons into Jiangnan.

Their task is that once all the preparations they have made before have not worked, and Emperor Longdao is really crazy to detain Wen Yue and the others, they need to fight their way to the death and send all the important people to the Qiantang River, where there will be a fast sailing ship of the navy waiting to pick them up.

Xu Shiyang did not like to give his subordinates such tasks as "desperate" and "at all costs", in fact, when the staff held an internal meeting, Xu Shiyang once criticized the officers of the Pingxia Regiment:

Because someone in the battle took the situation of self-detonation to break through the enemy's defenses.

This behavior of soldiers cannot be criticized, only praised, but the officers who command them must be punished - Xu Shiyang believes that a strong army must not be afraid of sacrifice, but it is best to save itself and kill and wound the enemy at the same time.

It's just that this time, in order to be foolproof, Xu Shiyang can only give such an unkind order.

After all, he did not reach the height of sacrificing his family for victory.

For this reason, Xu Shiyang also tacitly acquiesced in the General Staff Headquarters in formulating a large-scale exercise plan, mobilizing the reserves and militia of several provinces near the Huai River, and dispatching a total of 100,000 field troops to deploy along the Huai River.

Such an unplanned exercise was expensive, but the household department did not embarrass the military on the issue of cost, because everyone knew what it was for, and in the eyes of the people of this era, these expenses to ensure the safety of the crown princess and the crown prince were completely understandable.

On the contrary, Xu Shiyang was a little embarrassed about this.