At nine o'clock in the morning, more than a dozen warships of the First Fleet moored at the Quanzhou wharf began to leave the wharf.

Thick smoke rose from the three towering chimneys of the capital ship "Wuchang No. 1", and the sailors had already begun to lift anchor and prepare to go offshore.

Of the 22 ships that accompanied the "Wuchang No. 1" on the expedition, five were large yellow boats, two of which were used as supply ships and three were used to transport goods, and the transports were carrying supplies that were in short supply in the Ryukyu Province.

There are three small clippers for liaison between fleets.

There were two sentinel ships and two wave-opening boats, both of which belonged to warships.

Ten bird boats. Bird ships belong to naval warships and are responsible for the main warships, but in front of the "Wuchang No. 1", they can only be demoted to escort ships.

The bird ship, also known as the green eyebrow, is about 30 meters long, about 6 meters wide, has a draft of 2 meters, a displacement of 200 tons, and has three masts and five sails, of which the mainmast is 20 meters high, the mainsail is on three sides, and the speed can reach up to 9 knots.

The bow of the ship is equipped with one Hongyi cannon, six thousand-pound Franc machines, three bowl-mouth guns, 20 thunderbolt guns, 60 spray canisters, and 10 Lumi guns.

The crew was one hundred and fifty people, including thirty sailors, in five teams. The first is the artillery team, which operates the ship's bow gun and Franc machine, and throws fireballs and fire bricks at close to the enemy; the second shooting team, which specializes in shooting shotguns; The third and fourth teams are javelin miscellaneous servants, and they also operate boats in close combat; The fifth is the fire crossbow team, which specializes in rockets.

Ten bird boats were divided into two groups, five in front, forming an avant-garde phalanx with two sentinel ships and two wave-opening boats; Five other bird boats followed, protecting the five big yellow boats.

As the avant-garde nine ships had already sailed away from the Quanzhou wharf an hour in advance, and with a long whistle, the "Wuchang No. 1" also started slowly.

"Commander Zheng, please go to the rear cabin and take a rest, just have me in it." Captain Xu Changming said politely.

Zheng Chenggong was also very polite: "Senior, I want to see the transport ship anchor before I can rest assured." ”

In Ryukyu Province, the small size of the province made it impossible to build an economy based on agriculture, and most of their grain was transported by sea.

In the Ryukyu Seas, because of the rampant islands, especially the rampant Japanese pirates, it is difficult for transport ships to escape the fate of being looted without armed escort.

Looking at Quanzhou from the command cabin, the scenery is picturesque. However, for Zheng Chenggong, he turned a blind eye to all this, and his heart was filled with the safety of the fleet.

It is said that with a warship with super firepower like the "Wuchang No. 1", Zheng Chenggong does not need to worry about anything, however, after all, it is the first time to lead such a fleet to sea, and it is inevitable to worry without actual combat.

The "Wuchang No. 1" did not go at full speed, but moved at a speed of 8 knots, in order to maintain a certain distance from other ships.

After Zheng Chenggong saw the big yellow boat behind him set off, he walked down the stairs and left the command cabin with confidence.

Immediately beside him was a general named Chen Bin, this Chen Bin is Zheng Chenggong's general, a native of Chaozhou, whose palms are amazingly large, twice as large as normal people, nicknamed "Big Slap", both civil and military.

After the two men descended from the command cabin to the deck, they walked directly to the rear of the ship.

The total length of "Wuchang No. 1" is more than 20 meters longer than a football field, and the width is half that of a football field. We usually watch football, and the field is cut out of the middle, and the remaining half is the size of the deck of "Wuchang No. 1".

So on the deck, his personal guards did not dare to let their guard down, and four or five personal soldiers followed him closely.

They walked to the aft deck, ascended the stairs, and went into the rest cabin to rest.

The rest cabin here is much wider than the Xiangyang-class one, and the Wuchang-class battleship is improved on the basis of the Xiangyang-class, not only equipped with iron sheets, but also much larger than the Xiangyang-class, the Xiangyang-class battleship can sail on the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal, and the Wuchang-class battleship can only sail on the sea, if you want to enter the inland river, you must touch the bottom.

There is Zheng Chenggong's private room in the rest cabin, and there is a comfortable bed in the private room.

Walking into the clean and bright private room, Zheng Chenggong was full of emotion......

Since the establishment of the Huaxia Kingdom, he tried his best to persuade his father to serve the country, not to follow the late Ming Dynasty, let alone to be a pirate again, and now it seems that his and his father's choice is correct.

The Zheng family is also a descendant of Yan and Huang, he is now an important military general of the country, this psychological return makes him very satisfied, all the actions now are for the country, for the entire Chinese nation, and the previous fight and killing are not at the same level, the previous fight and killing are for the development of the Zheng family.

As a young person, who doesn't have ambitions?

Moreover, he has studied at the Chongwen Naval Academy, and he is also a disciple of Chongwen, who deeply understands the significance of the country.

Fight for the country, *******, *******?

What Zheng Chenggong did not expect was that the strength and development of the motherland were so rapid, and in only a few years, the equipment of the troops had been changed again and again, especially the navy, which now used steam engine ships.

Zheng Chenggong saw such a big ship for the first time, although he had also heard of the grandeur of Zheng He's treasure ship, but he had not seen it with his own eyes, and now he was on the "Wuchang No. 1" battleship, appreciating the majestic and heroic appearance of the battleship, and deeply felt the strength of the motherland.

Zheng Chenggong was in a terrible mood, he didn't have the heart to go to bed, he wanted to go down to the bottom to see how the steam engine worked.

He walked out of the lounge, Chen Bin was napping on a row of chairs in the lounge hall, Zheng Chenggong walked out of his private room, and his guards reminded him.

Chen Bin hurriedly followed.

Zheng Chenggong said: "Big slap, you don't have to follow, you didn't sleep all night last night, you see that your eyes are red, just sleep well!" I went outside to blow the wind. ”

Chen Bin really needed a good night's sleep, and he gratefully returned to his chair and lay down.

Zheng Chenggong used a telescope on the deck to observe the convoy of transports following behind for a while, and then led a few personal soldiers to get out of the bilge.

As soon as he went down to the lowest deck, he had already reached the entrance of the bilge, and his adjutant Zhou Quanbin stopped him.

"Commander, Commander, we have spotted a small boat coming towards us."

Zhou Quanbin, a native of Kinmen and Pubian, Tong'an County, understands the strategy of naval warfare.

Zheng Chenggong looked at the sea on the right side of the ship with a telescope, and sure enough, he found a small clipper ship heading towards him.

He ordered: "Give a signal to this ship to stop approaching us!" ”

Zhou Quanbin said: "Captain Xu has ordered the flag soldiers to send a signal to them. ”

Zheng Chenggong had no choice but to give up the plan to get out of the bilge and return to the command cabin to see what the ship was going to do.

Zhou Quanbin followed behind Zheng Chenggong and asked, "Commander, do you want to send our clipper to intercept it?" ”

Zheng Chenggong appreciates Zhou Quanbin very much on weekdays, and he agrees with Zhou Quanbin's opinion.