The sailor sank an unidentified armed ship at sea?

This news aroused Jiang Chuan's interest, and he was even more attracted to him than the capture of Gao and his party by the Sailor Master.

"You can tell me the specific things." Jiang Chuan stopped the centurion again.

The centurion said in a deep voice: "Your Highness, the last general is not very clear about the specific circumstances of this matter. I just heard that at that time, after leaving Shanhai Harbor and driving south along the coastline for half a day, he encountered a suspicious ship near the mouth of the river. At that time, the sailor waved the flag and shouted to order the ship to be inspected, but the ship opened fire on the sailor. The sailors then returned fire and sank the ship. The more detailed picture will not be clear. ”

Jiang Chuan knew that he was just a messenger and couldn't ask too many details, so he asked him to go down and rest.

He paced back and forth in the courtyard, thinking for a long time, pondering that there were two possibilities for this matter. The first is that it's a pirate ship.

There have always been pirates along the coast of the Ming Dynasty, and there are many Ming pirates even in the Japanese pirates.

When pirates usually act, they will first send the vanguard to patrol the waterway, and once they find a passing merchant ship, they will go back to report the large army to come and move.

It is highly likely that this ship is a pirate scout ship.

The second possibility is naturally the Japanese Bandits.

According to the news that Bai Jinxiu just said, there are Japanese robbers in Yuezhou and Wuzhou, and the base camp of these Japanese robbers is on the sea. Now that I heard that Li Zicheng's grain, grass and other materials were hoarded in Jinan and transported through the canal, it is very likely that the Japanese will pay attention to these grains, grasses and goods.

Since it was found near the mouth of the sea, it is very likely that the advance ship sent by these Japanese invaders intended to enter the canal from the mouth of the great river against the current, and it is likely that there will be the main force of the Japanese invaders in the future.

Once the advance ship has made a clear inquiry, the follow-up main force will also hear the news.

After thinking about it, these two scenarios are the most likely.

I didn't expect the sailor to make a contribution just after entering the water, which is really a coincidence. But the only concern now is not knowing the battlefield strength of these potential enemies.

The warships of the naval division are ordinary armed transport ships, although each one is equipped with twenty guns, but these are small cannons, the range is short, the power is small, and the accuracy is almost good, and the main function is actually to transport troops and carry baggage, etc., so the solidity of the hull is inferior to the real warship.

Such a sailor has an advantage when it comes to merchant ships or armed merchant ships of about the same tonnage, but it is at a disadvantage if it encounters those real battlefields.

Of course, as a sailor produced by the base, the biggest advantage is that the speed of the warship launch is unparalleled. Even if I can't beat you alone, I can use my numerical advantage and perform wolf pack tactics.

If the enemy loses a warship, it will not be made up in a short time, but the sailors of the Jiang Jiajun can do it, and three ships are launched every day, so they can quickly make up for the loss.

Although it is not known what the upper limit of warship production is, the current number limit and manufacturing speed are enough to deal with these pirates or pirates.

Thinking about these things, Jiang Chuan put his mind at ease and put this matter aside for the time being.

He called the Chinese army's great Sima Li Jian and asked him to send someone to Bai Mu to give an order, asking him to leave half of his men and horses to patrol the canal with the sailors, intercept the heavy grain and grass ships of the Dashun army transported from Jiangnan, and then escort Gao and others back to Tianjin Wei with the other half of the men.

In addition, a group of heralds was sent to Shanhai Harbor, and the remaining sailors were ordered to patrol the sea near Shanhai Harbor after they were launched, and if they found unknown ships, they would display their flags and let them be inspected.

If they refuse to accept the inspection, they can be sunk immediately.

In addition, another group of people was sent to Shanhaiguan to deliver a message to Hu Zongxian, informing him of the progress of the war, and at the same time, preparing them to accept prisoners.

Now there are more than 100,000 prisoners of the Dashun army in Jiang Chuan's hands. If these people were not resettled in time, the Jiang family army would not be able to continue to move forward.

Li Jian received the order and quickly went down to make arrangements.

Jiang Chuan thought about it, and asked Leopard Lingzi and Yang Chuliu to find Di Qing, Bai Shan and Shanjia, and now it was time to discuss the next task.

After a short time, the three of them arrived one after another, Jiang Chuan first said that the sailor had made meritorious contributions, and the Gao family and others were captured, and the three of them were also overjoyed.

"Lord, the Gao family has been captured, how does the lord plan to deal with the Gao family and others?" Di Qing asked.

"The Gao clan took the initiative to surrender, and Bai Mu had already promised to save their lives, so do it. This king has already sent someone to order Bai Mu, asking him to bring someone to bring Gao and the others back tomorrow. I'll talk about the rest when I get back. Jiang Chuan said in a deep voice.

When the others saw Jiang Chuan say this, they didn't say more, but began to discuss the next action goal.

"Lord, now that Li Zicheng's South Road army has been defeated, and Tianjin Wei has also fallen into our hands, Li Zicheng's remaining West Route Army may not be able to continue to besiege the capital." Bai Shan said in a deep voice.

"Yes, if it is not bad, Li Zicheng lost his troops, his wife fell into our hands, and his strength was greatly reduced, it was when morale was low, not only was he weak, but I am afraid he had no intention of attacking the capital. The last general thought that Li Zicheng was afraid that he would quickly withdraw his troops and withdraw to Shaanzhou to preserve his strength in order to make a comeback. Di Qing nodded and continued.

"Since this is the case, then there is nothing to discuss, let's take the troops to the capital, and let the little emperor be grateful to the lord when the time comes." Shanjia said loudly.

Jiang Chuan pondered for a while and said, "Li Zicheng is no longer afraid. Your analysis is reasonable, as long as Li Zicheng has a clear mind, he also knows that at this time he has lost the strength and the best opportunity to besiege the capital. If he is smart, it is best to withdraw the troops and return to Shaanzhou at present. After all, Shaanzhou is his old nest, and it is also a place of four stops, easy to defend and difficult to attack, which is very suitable for him to lick his wounds and regain strength. ”

"There are two problems that need to be solved now, and if these two problems are not solved, we will not be able to go to the capital with peace of mind." Jiang Chuan paused for a moment and said in a deep voice.

Di Qing and the three of them glanced at each other, and Bai Shan spoke: "Is the lord worried about the issue of prisoners, and the fact that Jinan Mansion is still in the hands of the Dashun army?" ”

Jiang Chuan nodded: "Yes, our advance speed is too fast, and the Dashun army is defeated faster, and as a result, the number of prisoners now has exceeded our current strength." If these captives are not disposed of as soon as possible, the amount of food consumed every day alone will be astronomical. ”