The voyage fleet sailed here from the mainland, and it took several months to sail through wind and waves, and the consumption of coal was naturally not small. Although the steam engine was not always on during the voyage, after more than four months of sailing, the four ships still consumed a total of nearly 580 tons of coal. However, when they set off from Tacheng, they loaded a total of more than 900 tons of coal, which was a precautionary measure prepared by Mo Ming for fear that the coal mine here would not be successfully mined.

The total of about 420 tons of coal left in the cabin now, plus the 80 tons of coal that was stacked on the dock of Heishui Port when Li Yi came last time, is a total of 500 tons. Mo Ming planned to transport all the 500 tons of coal to the Yuanbo Port on Rishiri Island in the south, which was the winter base for the fleet scheduled by the people on the east coast, and then the steam fleet could use it as a coal and water base, whether it was to transport immigrants or go to sea to plunder, it was very convenient to attack from here.

"Coal mines need to be mined as quickly as possible." Mo Ming said concisely, and at the end of the day, he accentuated his tone and said, "I think the rest can be put aside for a while, and the coal mine must be erected in the shortest possible time." I don't want to wait too long, so I will transfer some young and middle-aged men from the North Koreans in the city to dig coal and transport it, and in the next few days, after I have sorted out the things here, I will take people south to see if I can loot some people back from North Korea and the Ming Kingdom, and then there should be more manpower. ”

Coal is indeed the number one priority right now. Don't look at the fact that the people on the east coast still have 500 tons of Tacheng refined coal in hand, but this will not last long. If the four steam ships are dispatched together, the coal consumption per hour alone will reach more than 500 kilograms, and the 500 tons of coal will be enough for them for more than a month. If the local coal mine is not producing sustainably, what will the ship's boiler burn in a month? Do you burn charcoal?

"Second thing. Immediately send someone to give me a dry dock on the dock to pick up and tidy up. I brought a group of technicians from the major shipyards from the mainland. In the future, they will be used as the backbone to build a ship repair yard. Provide maintenance for ships coming and going, as well as minor repairs to steam engines. ”

The voyage fleet took with it a considerable amount of steam engines and their transmission system parts when they departed from mainland China, which were then stored in the dock warehouse. More than 20 technicians and skilled craftsmen from the Hyundai Factory, Zhenhai Factory and Dayuhe Factory will put up the shelves of the shipyard here, and may recruit another batch of apprentices locally in the future, depending on the situation. They have the skills to do so, and the tools and parts brought from the country are quite sufficient, so they can basically carry out sufficient maintenance for the ships docked here to ensure their sailing performance.

"The third thing is to build a brick kiln as soon as possible. At the moment, the wooden houses on this side of our city are not very strong. If an enemy comes to attack, it will be of limited use. I also brought a group of masters from the building materials factory from the country, as well as a batch of refractory bricks or something, and you have to send someone to assist them. The brick kiln was repaired first, and the cement kiln and the lime kiln could wait, and there were quite a few of these things in the cabin, which was enough for us to use for a while. Also, I don't think there's enough limestone to make these things. After the brick kiln was built, the clay used to burn the bricks was replaced by silt from the river. First, a batch of bricks for the city wall were burned, and the important facilities such as the weapons depot, grain depot, material depot and dock warehouse in the city were replaced with brick houses. The current wooden house is not too safe, and I am not at ease. ”

The armed transport ship "Businessman" also had nearly 300 tons of rice and wheat in its hold. This is everyone's lifeline, if something goes wrong, then everyone's fun will be great, is it all turned to fishermen to fish? The existing wooden warehouse was built in a so-so way when it was built, with poor fireproof and moisture-proof performance, and the volume was too small to fit such a huge amount of grain that could be carried. Then, it was only natural to build a sturdy brick house as a grain storehouse. The same is true for other depots and weapons depots, which need to be rebuilt. Mo Ming plans to pile up all the materials he brought here for the time being, and then find a way to repair a dock and warehouse on Rishiri Island in the south after waiting for enough manpower, and then transfer some of the materials to that side.

"Fourthly, the campaign to win over the natives of the island through trade and gradually infiltrate the Ezo region in the south and even the Matsumae Domain in Japan must be carried out resolutely! Our strength is not very sufficient, and we must unite all the strength that can be united and expand our strength as soon as possible. Otherwise, how will the next attack on the coasts of Korea, the Qing and Ming countries continue? It is impossible to rely on the local people for everything, and the local people will not mobilize too many troops to this side. These Shengnuzhen are excellent military supplements, and their personal qualities are extremely strong, and if we teach them discipline and a sense of honor, then they will become a formidable force in our hands. ”

As for the next plundering of the Ming Kingdom, the Qing Kingdom and the coastal areas of Korea, Mo Ming had made sufficient plans before setting off. That is, with the 102nd Company of the Army, the 1st Company of the Independent Field Artillery, the 1st Battalion of the 1st Standard of the Eighth Banner New Army, and some sailors as the core force, supplemented by a large number of recruited Jurchens, Ainu, Japanese, and even Koreans as servants, they were divided into several large ships that enjoyed absolute sea supremacy in this sea area to plunder the coastal areas where these countries had lax defense. The area of raiding is mainly in the northern seas, and try not to cross the line of the Zhoushan Islands to the south, so as to avoid undue conflicts. Based on the current strength, the core force in the hands of the East Coast is about 1,100 men, while the number of servant troops is zero, and it needs to be replenished urgently.

After explaining these things, Mo Ming immediately waved his hand to stop Sergeant Johnson, who was about to stop talking, and said undoubtedly: "I know that you have to tell me that you are short of manpower. Don't worry, this matter will be resolved in a few days. There is an order for the above few things, first to build coal mines and docks, and the rest can be slowed down a little. Okay, hurry up and get down to work. ”

Sergeant Johnson saluted, and then went down with a sad face to arrange for the men to do the work. The new commander doesn't seem to be a good stubble, and he has to be careful to do things himself, so as not to be rectified.

After Sergeant Johnson left, Mo Ming did not rest, but walked around the messy and dirty city, and then did not say anything more, but went straight to the port. Over there, several ships were entering the dock one by one, ready to be repaired and maintained by the technicians.

"Bronze bushings are not as easy to use as iron pear wood bushings." Lola, who was wearing the uniform of a gray shipyard technician, carefully inspected the propeller tail shaft tube of the "Fubo", and said with a frown: "The bronze material is relatively soft, and when driving in the sea area of strong winds and waves, the large axial vibration of the propeller makes the wear of the shaft sleeve very serious. Comparatively speaking, the iron pear wood bushing is much better. ”

"However, the bronze shaft sleeve has good heat dissipation performance, unlike the iron pear wood shaft sleeve, which needs to be injected with oil to cool and take away the heat." Suddenly, a familiar male voice sounded behind Lola, and Lola looked back, and sure enough, it was Mo Ming, the supreme and all-powerful commander of the locality, who was wearing a black alpaca tweed coat.

Lola's face instantly turned a little pale, and her originally confident and focused eyes began to be a little flustered at this moment, and even the words stammered: "But... However, at low speeds... The low-speed rotation of the paddle shaft ... case, heat dissipation... Heat dissipation will not be an issue. ”

"Is that so?" Mo Ming stood closer, looking at Lola with playful eyes like a big bad wolf who saw a little white rabbit, and said after a while: "It seems that this is indeed the case." Then I'll write back to the local area and ask them to choose all the iron pear wood bushings. Although we don't have iron pear wood ourselves, this thing is used in small quantities, and it is enough for us to buy a batch of trees for a long time. I'll include your opinion in the letter, Ha Luha, and maybe it will impress your superiors. Oh yes, and how long do these boats take to maintain? I'm going to use it soon. ”

"It's going to take a long time." Lola calmed down a little before she whispered, "There is only one dockyard, and the work of scraping the bottom of the ship and smearing tar can only be done step by step. If there are enough people, a ship can be finished in three days, after all, our ship is not big. But if there are not enough people, then the work may have to be extended. ”

"It takes three days for a ship, and it's too slow when there are enough people." Mo Ming thought about it slightly, and quickly made a decision: "First do maintenance for the 'Breaking Waves' and 'Chopper', they will transport people to Australia next, and the maintenance and repair must be completed as soon as possible." I'm going to take a few other boats to Rishiri Island, so I'll use them for a while and then I'll do maintenance when I get back. That's it, oh, by the way, I'll tell the kitchen to make you a few salmon for a snack at noon, so you'll have to work hard. ”

After speaking, Mo Ming turned around and left in style. Several other officers and technicians present all looked at this beautiful nineteen-year-old girl with strange eyes, and the complex content contained in those eyes almost made Lola cry, she obviously had nothing to do with that guy, why did everyone look at them with this look?

On May 1, 1643, the officers and men who had rested for two days in the port of Blackwater once again embarked on a hard life at sea. In order to boost morale, Mo Ming announced in public that he would distribute North Korean women to every meritorious soldier, which immediately caused everyone to cheer and burst their morale. Soon, more than 1,000 officers and men of the 102nd Company, the 1st Independent Field Artillery Company, and the 1st Battalion of the Eighth Banner New Army, who had just gone ashore for less than two days to recuperate, boarded the ship as fast as possible. Then, under the leadership of the expedition ship "Fubo", the "Tsuhaee" and "Baobab" followed in turn, leaving the port of Blackwater and heading south towards Jeju Island. (To be continued......)