"Your Majesty, Tiancheng has sent the latest message from Fujian, and the navy launched a sea-crossing campaign on the last day of March to launch a campaign to recover Liuqiu." Early in the morning, Li Xuanqing had already set off with Qiaoxi to the headquarters of the former industrial group on the outskirts of Chang'an, which has now become the headquarters of the newly established Datang Industrial Group. After the original industrial group was split, the R&D base of the headquarters of the manufacturing group was still set up in a distant place, while the manufacturing headquarters was located in Shenzhou and the newly developed Zhengzhou. Li Xuanqing and Qiaoxi have recently been busy solving the finalization of large-scale machine tools for the industrial group.

Li Xuanqing was stunned for a moment when he heard the news sent by Xu Tianxiang, what he didn't expect was that Yang Tiancheng decided so quickly to decide the specific time of the Navy's eastward expedition, but Li Xuanqing also saw Guo Chongtao's preparation during this time, in addition to doing his best to strengthen the Izumo-level actual combat ability, the rest was the tacit understanding of running in sea and land operations, and the 15,000-strong Marine Corps itself trained with the fleet to land on the island all year round, and after Chen Yu arrived, he continued to strengthen the cooperation between the two. Therefore, Yang Tiancheng must have seen that the cooperation between Guo Chongtao and Chen Yu had been basically formed, and then he would give the specific date of the decisive battle.

"Inform the logistics department, all the material preparations for the Eastern Expedition must be effectively implemented, and you go to Mr. Cen, the arrangements for the Liuqiu Island should be started as soon as possible, Qian Biao has arrived in Liuqiu in the past few years, in addition to guarding against us, he has also done a lot of things for the development and development of the island, and the residents of Liuqiu Island have at least doubled, so you can consider listing Liuqiu Island as a separate overseas province." Li Xuanqing thought about it and then instructed Xu Tianxiang.

"I can let the Ministry of Industry and Commerce inspect the flow of time, this big island is actually very promising." Qiao Xi remembered the natural resources on the big island in the future, and immediately nodded.

Xu Tianxiang nodded, for Li Xuanqing and his wife's vision of economic development is admiration, so after writing this down, he turned around and went in the direction of the cabinet, Zuo Tiancheng of the logistics department has basically transported all the follow-up materials to Fujian reserves, as long as the navy opens up the situation, it will definitely be loaded into the sea as soon as possible and then sent to the army in a steady stream.

"Big brother, what will happen if we recover Taiwan this time and let those people in the future know?" Qiaoxi walked up to Li Xuanqing, snuggled into his arms and asked with a smile. Regarding Liuqiu, that is, the big island of Taiwan, I am afraid that everyone will not be able to avoid this problem. Therefore, Li Xuanqing also smiled slightly when he heard Qiaoxi's words, gently hugged her, turned around and said with a smile: "There will be no such strange problems in this life anyway, this most personal guard of the Central Empire should now return to his position." ”

"Okay, let's go and see how the large machine tool is, this is related to the long-term plan of our industrial development." Qiaoxi took Li Xuanqing's hand and walked out with a smile: "Although our current large-scale machine tools are far from the gap between them and later generations, they can at least be large-scale, can process and produce basic mechanical parts, and then assemble them, which is beyond my expectations." When the mother bed is successfully manufactured, our machinery manufacturing level will definitely go to a higher level. Although it is a single-axis driven by a large steam engine, it can operate and process 28 kinds of mechanical appliances at the same time, and it integrates the technology and concept of the highest level of machinery manufacturing in the Tang Empire, which is basically comparable to the second generation of machine tools in the era of the industrial revolution in later generations. Although many of the basic knowledge in this middle were forcibly raised by Li Xuanqing and Qiaoxi, in the practice of the past few years, the theoretical experimentalists represented by Mu Chen and the practical schools represented by Zhang Qiang still quickly integrated these knowledge, and deeply understood the principles and then fed back to the basic disciplines, so as to drive the development of the basic disciplines. It is precisely in this way that Li Xuanqing and Qiaoxi saw the hope that the knowledge they brought would take root in this era.

When Li Xuanqing put down the plan of the navy and turned to the development of industry wholeheartedly, in fact, Yang Tiancheng also felt a lot of emotion on the front line, and he watched the whole exercise held by the navy, which not only opened his eyes, but also gave him a deeper understanding of the new military technology revolution proposed by Li Xuanqing. After watching the exercises held by the Navy and the Marine Corps and the preparations for the Eastern Expedition, Yang Tiancheng not only checked the specific strategies of the two men on the spot, but also began to write his own impressions, and planned to compile them into a book, so as to guide the generals and soldiers of the entire Tiance Army at all levels to keep up with the tactical and strategic revolution brought about by this technology in the future. To be honest, Yang Tiancheng felt that this was the biggest gain of his southward trip, and the navy had unconsciously relied on its own technology to bring about a huge tactical revolution that had been ahead of the army. Moreover, Yang Tiancheng felt more and more that the level of technology and knowledge required by the navy was higher than that of the army. As a result, Yang Tiancheng also became the first contemporary person after Li Xuanqing to realize the high level of technology and knowledge of the navy, which even Guo Chongtao, the helmsman of the navy, was not aware of.

"Minister, the Admiralty is already consolidating the various types of ships and supplies that are needed at the moment, and in three days we will start to set off for the stream." When Guo Chongtao came to find Yang Tiancheng, he couldn't help but be a little curious when he saw that the other party was writing hard, he came to ask Yang Tiancheng whether he would follow the fleet to the front line to command this Eastern Expedition campaign.

"Very well, since you're ready, I won't say more. When I came, the emperor explained that Liuqiu is the first sea barrier to protect our Datang mainland, so you not only want to take this big island, but also use it as your own sea base, so that we can prepare for our march into the depths of the ocean in the future, and you must maintain the security of the place before the cabinet sends someone to take over, understand? Yang Tiancheng knew what Guo Chongtao was going to ask, so after explaining this, he shook his head and said: "I'm just here to check your preparations, since you are ready, I won't interfere with your specific command, I am waiting in Chang'an for the good news of your victory." ”

"Please rest assured that Chongtao will live up to the trust." Guo Chongtao solemnly gave a military salute to Yang Tiancheng.

Yang Tiancheng nodded when he saw Guo Chongtao's movements, and after telling some other things, he left Shantou on an official boat in the afternoon and went north to Hangzhou, and then transferred to the Grand Canal and returned to the Chang'an base camp. Guo Chongtao and Chen Yu set off from Shantou on March 30, the fourth year of the Apocalypse, and dozens of large and small warships rode the wind and waves towards the big island of Liuqiu. The three Izumo-class battleships were led by Luo Dahai as the vanguard, and under the billowing smoke, they pulled out white tracks above the sea and left the formation. After the flagship Izumo led the remaining four Izumo-class battleships as the Chinese army, the Rokuso-Fuxing-class battleships served as guerrilla ships around a total of thirty-nine transport ships and troop carriers, blowing horns from time to time to relay the latest news to Izumo.

Except for the two Izumo-class warships stationed on the Japanese side, all the main warships of the Beiyang Fleet were transferred, and the two Izumo-class ships currently in place in the Nanyang Fleet are naturally among them, and since the army is still in the process of recovering the country, most of the annual military expenditure is given to the army, so it can be said that Guo Chongtao has taken out almost all of his family resources, and even the Fuxing-class of the coast guard has been pulled over to carry out the task of escorting and covering the landing. However, after the Eastern Crusade, Li Xuanqing and the Tang Empire began to gradually increase their investment in the navy and the sea, and while the Tianjin Shipyard was building a large number of newer ships of larger tonnage, Dalian also accelerated the construction of third-generation warships. This has led to the development of the shipbuilding industry along the entire southeast coast. At least five years after the Apocalypse, Zhang Qiang began to build a new shipyard at the mouth of the Yangtze River, driving the entire shipbuilding industry to move south. The shipbuilding industry of the Zhang family also obtained some technical drawings through the difficult transfer of the imperial shipbuilding industry, and began to gradually join this booming industry.

After a short stop at Penghu, the Crusade fleet continued to set off towards the landing point in the northern part of Liuqiu. After Xuan Yingwei provided the general layout and garrison point of Qian Biao at this time, he began to place the landing point near Tamsui City in the later generations. However, at this time, Tamsui City has not yet taken shape, it is just an ordinary small fishing village by the river, the mouth of the Tamsui River, the reason why it was chosen here is because it is close to the Tamsui River, there is enough fresh water supply, and Qian Biao basically does not have many troops in the north of the entire Liuqiu, which is equivalent to minimizing the risk and difficulty of landing. Moreover, at present, the transport ships and landing ships of the Tiance Army have all been changed into iron-hulled powered ships, and the requirements for landing sites are gradually increasing.

"Chen Shuai, you can arrive near the Tamsui River at noon tomorrow, and then the Izumo-class battleships will arrange interception lines on both sides of the landing site to prevent the other side from sending a fleet to hinder the marines from rushing to the beach. In the evening, Chen Yu took a clipper to Izumo to discuss the specific matters of tomorrow's landing with Guo Chongtao, Guo Chongtao compared the intelligence report sent by Xuan Yingwei before: "Although Qian Biao does not have many troops on the Tamsui side, there should still be certain preparations, so it is difficult to guarantee that they will not arrange blocking fortifications near the estuary, and in the entire northern part of Liuqiu, only the estuary of the Tamsui River is suitable for us to land on the beach." I think Qian Biao didn't expect anything else in the past two years, they should have been prepared for the previous battle of Penghu, the strength of our ironclad battleships. ”

"Although the Marine Corps has been equipped with new rifles, your own combat power is not as good as that of the Army Corps, and the most important thing is that mortars should be given priority to the Northwest Army, so the entire Marine Corps only has a mere fifty mortars, so the Fuxing class can shoot at close range to provide continuous fire cover when landing and rushing to the beach." Since the Marine Corps is responsible for the first wave of beaching and establishing tidal flat positions, it is convenient for the follow-up army units to quickly go ashore. Therefore, Chen Yu was deeply worried about the firepower of the Marine Corps, and when he saw Guo Chongtao placing the Fuxing-class near the landing site, he immediately nodded and said, "The Fuxing-class can indeed help the landing force, but are you sure that with seven Izumo-class, you can resist the opponent's wooden sailing ships?" It is actually very difficult for such a large fleet of ours to hide from the other party, especially at night, they must have a way to pass on the news, so it is difficult to avoid a naval battle tomorrow, I think Qian Biao should have a certain restraint for your ironclad warships. ”

"I know, but please rest assured Chen Shuai, the Izumo-class battleship is our main warship at present, and it is also the warship with the largest number of equipment in the Datang Navy for a period of time in the future, and its own combat power is not something that a mere wooden sailing ship can resist, even if they launch a decisive assault, it is impossible to stop the defense line formed by the Izumo-class. Therefore, please ask Chen Shuai to command the landing operation at that time, and please leave it to me at sea. Guo Chongtao has specialized in the navy for the past two years, and he knows the performance of his warships well, so he said with a smile: "Our ironclad battleships are definitely not something that the other party can resist by virtue of numbers." ”

"In that case, then I don't have anything to advise." Chen Fan didn't say anything when he saw that Guo Chongtao was so confident, and the ironclad ship fighting the wooden sailing ship belonged to the technical generation, so it was no wonder that Guo Chongtao was so confident, and the new tactics of the navy's tests in the past two years were basically to give full play to his own technological advantages. This is also the reason for the slow construction of the third-generation warship, Li Xuanqing learned that Guo Chongtao's side gradually excavated the Izumo-class combat power after the original urgency for the manufacture of the warship, even if at this time the Dalian shipyard has begun to move the third-generation warship into the laboratory to prepare to build a full-scale model for testing, there is no urging. The Izumo-class has a displacement of 2,000 tons and is equipped with weapons, except for the cruising range, which is basically invincible in this era, and it is inappropriate to maintain the rapid replacement of naval warships at a time when domestic economic development is in urgent need of funds and resources.

"I heard that your navy has formed a joint expedition with the Xu family, preparing to go to the southeast sea area of Liuqiu, preparing to explore new sea areas?" Although Chen Yu has liked landing operations in the past two years and knows the navy very well, he is not as clear about naval warfare as Guo Chongtao, a family member. However, Chen Yu is very interested in the expedition team of the Xu family that appeared recently, and he talked about it with Xu Xingxia for a while, but now Xu Xingxia basically runs all over the country all year round, and then he personally takes the fleet to the sea, and it is rare to see him a few times a year.

"When Xu Xingxia went to meet the emperor a few years ago, he heard that the queen gave him a sea chart, saying that there was an archipelago in the southeast of Liuqiu, and that there was actually a large long island chain between Japan and Liuqiu, so he moved his mind to find out, but although the Xu family was outstanding in the voyage, they wanted to get the support of the navy when they went out to explore, and it was best to send warships to accompany the escort. I had planned to coordinate the Coast Guard to send a Fuxing-class ship to follow their fleet, but it was stopped just in time for the Great Battle. Hearing Chen Yu suddenly ask about this matter, Guo Chongtao was stunned for a moment and then nodded: "However, when we start from the east of Liuqiu, we should be much closer, and when the time comes, we can improve the nautical chart while exploring, and we can also prepare for the future navy." ”