From the beginning of the departure, Zhang Zhansheng, a second lieutenant of the Imperial Navy, has been standing on the bow of the iron-hulled gunboat and looking around.

Now the sun is full, and in order to prevent glare, he has to wear navy-style brown sunglasses.

He could see the waterfowl hovering in the sky on both sides of the Hai River, and they must have been disturbed by the sound of the two-masted sailing ship.

There is also the smell of soot wafting from the river------ they are the same as their own treasures, no matter where they go, they leave a sound and a smell.

Behind the iron-hulled gunboat were seven barges carrying a Marine company of personnel and equipment.

This prevents the gunboat from reaching top speed, and of course, now is not the time to ask for speed.

Theoretically, in just twenty hours, they would be able to reach a large barracks of Tatar defense troops stationed here!

Second Lieutenant Zhang Zhansheng silently recited the hydrological situation here again in his heart, and felt that there was nothing missing------ right, plus the time of waiting for the sailboat to add coal and water, at dawn tomorrow, they could arrive at their destination on time!

Thinking of this, he happily patted the side of the iron plate ship, and the victory was about to be achieved!

At this time, the iron door in the engine room opened, and the clatter of the diesel engine suddenly increased several times, and the smell of diesel seemed to increase.

His chief engineer came out.

"Report to the captain! The No. 123 diesel engines are running normally, and if necessary, the load can be increased! ”

Captain Zhang Zhansheng thought for a moment and said, "Let's maintain the current speed, we can't go too far beyond the sailboat------

The sails of the sailing ships could already be seen not far away, and it was a matter of time to surpass them.

The only people on the gunboats who did not wear military uniforms were the engineer squads, who always wore dark blue cotton and linen coveralls.

The engineers seem to have oil stains and the smell of diesel all the time------ but they are the most respected jobs on board.

The dormitories they sleep in are a little larger and more comfortable than the others.

Both the Navy and the Army need diesel engines, but the Army people complain that one gunboat in the Navy is equal to three ironclad combat vehicles in the Army at once!

The people in the navy replied softly and left the other party speechless, can you three ironclad chariots advance with a company of personnel and equipment?!

In fact, ten ironclad chariots can't ------

It's because this war broke out too quickly, even if there are two more years, there is no need for the two sides to fight for equipment!

This result, in turn, put a lot of pressure on the Imperial Navy, and they had to achieve greater results than their opponents in this battle.

Eighteen two-masted galleons watched as two iron-hulled gunboats overtook them with a long convoy of barges.

And they can only go up and down in the waves that are set off.

The Marines on both sides greeted each other excitedly, but the sailors on both ships just looked at each other calmly.

Masted sailboats, motorized sailboats, iron-hulled diesel-engine ships------ the shipbuilding technology of the empire is rapidly improving!

The tonnage of the sailing ship was larger, and it was not as bumpy in the sea as the iron-hulled gunboats; The iron-hulled gunboats sailed fast, but they were like fish in water on rivers and lakes.

The chief engineer and captain Zhang Zhansheng held the side of the ship side by side to observe each other's sailboats------ to be honest, Captain Zhang Zhansheng liked the smell of diesel on each other's bodies.

The chief engineer said: "Hehe, sooner or later, this kind of engine sailboat will be eliminated!" ”

Captain Zhang Zhansheng smiled and said, "What you said makes sense! But how long do you estimate it will take?! ”

"Ten years! When I was seaworthy, I heard from the technicians at the shipyard that in ten years at most, we would produce large diesel engines! ”

Captain Zhang Zhansheng gritted his teeth and thought to himself, no wonder his father and mother still have to go to any university by themselves------ there is still a lot of knowledge to learn.

After two hours of travel, they had thrown the sailboats out of the way, keeping them at a distance of about twelve or thirteen kilometers.

At this time, their observers watched the figure of the stormtrooper from the shore------ their team was marching rapidly, and the figure appeared and disappeared in the woods.

The clatter of iron-hulled gunboats also attracted their attention.

The observers on the gunboat saw that an officer in the stormtrooper group was looking at them with a telescope, and both sides couldn't help but wave!

The radio receiver on the iron-hulled gunboat reported to Captain Zhang Zhansheng that the Dagukou Advance Base had just received new information that the Tatar military camps stationed in the southeast and southwest of the Dadu area had already set out two batches of men and horses, and there should be less than 1,000 men left!

Zhang Zhansheng was overjoyed, and immediately asked the signalman to send a flag message to the stormtrooping brigade, boldly move forward, and strive not to let a Tatar escape!

Let the capital not notice the slightest change, it's best to serve them even with the pot!!

The Imperial Army, which was heading north, was fighting beautifully, and it must have frightened the Tatars.

Captain Zhang Zhansheng immediately wanted to revise his previous battle plan: let a part of the marines go directly to the shore, and the joint assault group directly go to encircle and annihilate the remnants of the enemy in the barracks, and then strive to completely control the surrounding area and prevent the Tatars in the Dadu area from getting any news.

And it was possible to reduce the burden on the iron-hulled gunboats, accelerate at full speed, and reduce the speed and the sound of diesel engines when they reached the area of the enemy's barracks, and the Tatars never liked water, their barracks were far from the river banks.

The iron-hulled gunboats were not yet equipped with spark wireless transmitters, only receiving equipment, so they could not consult their superiors------ but according to military regulations, they had the power to change the original battle plan at the opportune time.

Captain Zhang Zhansheng immediately summoned the captain of the No. 02 iron-hulled gunboat and two company commanders of the Marine Corps from the assault boat, and the four of them began to discuss intensively.

The original battle plan was a very steady way of playing, and the new way of playing of Crown Prince Zhang Zhansheng was a bit risky, but the results were great.

The other three people were all persuaded by Crown Prince Zhang Zhansheng, even if the other party was more numerous, they would not be the opponent of one assault brigade and two Marine Corps companies!

And it is better to be heavy and do not use heavy weapons, and a rifle and a bayonet may solve the problem.

The co-signing of four people changed the style of play.

The men of the Stormtrooper Group temporarily stopped and helped the Marines ashore.

The iron-hulled gunboat slowly dragged the barge closer to the river, and the stormtrooper team on the shore took the cable thrown at them and desperately pulled the barge directly to the shore.

In just one hour, the personnel and corresponding equipment of the two companies were all on the north bank.

The two iron-hulled gunboats finally loosened their ties, and they thrust forward like two sharp arrows.

The Stormtroopers were on land with the Marines, and they could take a shortcut to the Tatar barracks, so the iron-hulled gunboats had to pick up speed and get to the banks of the river there in time.

They are the last fire fortress for the landers, providing two to three kilometers of fire cover for the landed side.

There are three 12-centimeter direct-fire guns on the left and right of each iron-hulled gunboat, and all of them are high-explosive shells, and there are gun emplacements on the side of the ship that can be equipped with ten mortars------ if the two iron-hulled gunboats fire collectively, they will definitely form a fire cover at a distance of three kilometers!

PS: Thank you for the support of Australian Lao Wu and QANT.