On the winter solstice of the twelfth year of Chongzhen, nearly 100 warships belonging to the Hongtang fleet went straight to the north along the vast coastline.

This is the largest military operation of Hongmen so far, and it is also one of the few times that Hongmen has appeared head-on in the battle situation of the Ming Dynasty.

Before the army set out for the expedition, the transport fleet of Qixintang under the command of Hongmen had already placed enough rations for half a year for the 30,000 army in the Ming Yingtianfu, which was relatively stable in the Ming Dynasty.

Although Xiao Yifu has laid a good relationship for the Hongtang army and others, Li Tianyang may not have a shortage of grain and grass on their trip, but the food supply system of the Hongtang soldiers themselves is different from that of the Ming Dynasty, and the battle situation on the battlefield is unpredictable, Li Tianyang and they dare not hand over the most important logistics and auxiliary issues to the officials of the Ming Dynasty.

At the same time, the scale of the army reported by Li Tianyang to Xiao Yifu was only 10,000 people, but in fact, the army dispatched by Hongmen was 15,000 people, of course, because the number of soldiers in the Hongmen Penghu Naval Division who now has a roster to check is only 15,600.

In order to make this battle smooth, Hongmen used the most elite soldiers in the army, 8,000 musketeers, 3,000 cavalry, and 1,000 field artillery, and the remaining 3,000 soldiers were also highly qualified engineers, who could still act as a qualified infantry when there was a shortage of troops.

Of course, Li Tianyang is not a fool, and he will not give up his greatest reliance - the powerful Hongmen fleet, which is invincible in the entire Daming Sea Frontier.

Although the Hongmen army went deep into the interior to fight this time, the Hongtang fleet still prepared nearly 100 warships to cruise near the Bohai Bay in Shandong, which was closest to Henan, so as to be ready to meet the retreat of the Hongtang army at any time.

Compared with the biggest advantage of other armies in the Ming Dynasty, the Hongtang army does not need to use too much manpower in logistics, just the two marching food belts carried by each marching soldier can support the soldiers with dry food for ten days, not to mention that the Hongtang fleet goes straight up the Yangtze River on this road, and can land at the junction of Jiangsu and Henan, eliminating the consumption of the Hongtang army all the way.

Li Tianyang stood at the bow of the boat, looking at the people and customs along the Yangtze River, in addition to Wu Chao, Fan Wenchou, Niu Qiangwei and other old people, more of them are the new generation of Hongtang children who have gradually emerged in recent years.

Almost all of the more than 20 members of the crew under Yao Qisheng, director of the Whale Department's Aircraft Division, are young and vigorous young men, and a large number of sub-battalion commanders and deputy battalion commanders are also occupied by the new generation of Hongtang's children.

In the past, there were still differences between inside and outside Hongmen, such as Dong Haoran, Hong Zhengkai and other children who were all trained by Hongmen themselves, and generals like Lu Qi and Liu Xiang who later defected to Hongmen, there was a lot of estrangement.

However, with the continuous development of Hongmen, except for the small leaders at the grassroots level and the ordinary soldiers who were gradually promoted due to merit, the remaining middle and high-level generals and administrative positions were already occupied by the vast majority of Hongmen's own trained members.

It's not that high-level commanders like Li Tianyang protect their shortcomings and handle things unfairly, but in the Hongmen system today, if you don't have outstanding ability, it is very difficult to occupy a high position.

Knowledge may not be transformed into insight, but those who have the ability to insight, except for a very small number of elites, most of the rest are intellectuals.

The students cultivated by Hongmen themselves need more than six years of ordinary compulsory education alone, and if they want to have a place in the middle and upper echelons of Hongmen, more children have studied for almost 12 years, and the knowledge content they have learned can be said to be the best in the entire Ming Dynasty.

After six years of compulsory education, if students want to develop in that aspect, there will be professional courses for them to learn, for example, if they want to join the army, then there will be professional military courses: "Sun Tzu's Art of War", "The New Book of Discipline and Effectiveness", "General Essentials of Wujing" and so on; If you want to go into politics, you will have a variety of professional courses: engineering specialization, compulsory mathematics, legal education, and so on.

Even if you want to enter the special technical work, there are special disciplines.

Li Tianyang believes in handing over professional things to professionals and other talents, and if there are no professional talents, then cultivate talents by themselves.

After more than 20 years of hard work in Dayuan Island, it is now time for Li Tianyang to sit back and enjoy their success, and more than 1,000 students graduate from Bengang Academy every year, and they are continuously exported to Hongmen and other positions.

And those Jianghu people in the gangs who are known for their courage and good fighting, maybe they are not small in fame and ability, but in the face of the systematic cultivation of talents like Hongmen, even if Li Tianyang treats them equally, what do these people use to compete with talents who are active in thinking and brainstorming, and complement each other with the Hongmen system!

Over time, except for a few elites in the rivers and lakes, the talents cultivated by themselves in the Hongmen system naturally occupy the dominant position of the entire team.

Of course, it's not that the heroes who are very famous in the rivers and lakes have no future after all, Hongmen and other education have been open to the public, as long as you have an enterprising heart and are willing to work for Hongmen, Hongmen is not stingy with knowledge, and will also be willing to cultivate them, let them go back to school for further study, and after they come out, depending on their ability, they will get their due status.

After re-studying in the Hongmen Bengang Academy, perhaps their mature and stable three-view thinking is still different and contradictory to Hongmen, but the overall planning of Hongmen is also acceptable, and it is recognized by other Hongmen children, which is also the proper meaning.

"My lord, after crossing this Hongze Lake, we need to go ashore and hurry!"

Yao Qisheng took a map and compared it, and after understanding it with the military guide, he came forward to report to Li Tianyang.

"Well, tonight, let's settle down in Hongze Lake for the night, let the soldiers and soldiers repair themselves, and then wait for the road, but it won't be as carefree as this road!"

Li Tianyang nodded in approval.

Nearly 100 huge fleets went straight up the Yangtze River, and then flowed into Gaoyou along the Zhenjiang River to Hongze Lake in Anhui Province.

No one would have thought that in the Ming Dynasty, there were such a powerful sailors, and the Western-style warships had different shapes, and the huge and majestic hulls were not comparable to those inland river locks along the way.

Fortunately, along the way, Li Tianyang greeted the local parents in advance, otherwise it might really bring a lot of shock to the local Anhui where the situation was already unknown.

(End of chapter)