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"Enzo, Wu Zhixiang, Yang Wei, Yang Bang, you have shown admirable courage and outstanding seafaring skills in your expeditions, and I award you the Order of the Southern Cross of the First Class on behalf of the Jincheng government."

Shou Zhi shook hands with each of the four members of the expedition and hung beautiful bronze medals on their chests.

It was already August, and after the Enzo returned to Batavia in June, it took more than a month to find a merchant ship to return home.

"Thank you, sir." Yang Bang said, "Sir, we have prepared some gifts for you. ”

Orderly turned to look at the secretary.

Lynch: "It's a specimen of some animals and plants. ”

Shou Xuan smiled, "Thank you so much. ”

It was now known to the people of Jincheng that the archons were fond of collecting specimens of plants and animals, especially those rare goods from the South Seas. Many people have speculated whether the order wanted to open a natural history museum.

"Sit down." Orderly is interested in their expedition and has some questions to discuss with them. After the medal was over, Lynch poured his wine, and he opened Enzo's nautical report and cursoryly flipped a few pages.

"You're saying that Tasman eventually gave up exploring Australia's east coast?"

"Yes, sir. Because he almost ran aground on the way, the officers' council voted to make the decision to return home. ”

The Tasman still didn't discover the Torres Strait, but they did discover Tasmania and New Zealand (Nieuzealand), and it was a great sailing expedition.

"You said in your report that the land in the north of New Zealand is very livable."

Enzo: "Yes, sir. Known by the indigenous people as 'Ayilomowe', the plains and river valleys are fertile and more densely populated than the southern areas. We think that crops and fruits will grow well there, and that diligent people will live a prosperous life there. ”

Yang Wei said: "There are also fish and shrimp." The bay where we stayed had a lot of fish and shrimp. I caught a big lobster, the best lobster I've ever eaten in my life. ”

Wu Zhixiang recalled, "I used to be very close to a samurai from Shimayi, who wore a whalebone ornament on his chest. Since the bay is rich in fish and shrimp, I don't think there will be a shortage of whales. ”

"New Zealand is indeed a rich land with abundant produce." Shouxu said: "What is your most direct feeling about this 'land rising from the sea'? ”

The four of them almost said in unison: "Mountain." ”

Enzo fell into the memory, "A high mountain that suddenly rises from the sea, the peaks are covered with snow. I've been to many places and I've never seen so many mountains. ”

Shou Zhi smiled, "Because of the high mountains, you said in your report that the Tasman thought it was a continent. ”

"We've been sailing the west coast of New Zealand and haven't seen the east coast, which Tasman thinks is the new continent."

Shou Xuan shook his head, "Gentlemen, New Zealand is not a continent, it is two islands, and if you go a little further, you will pass through a strait (Cook Strait). ”

Several people looked at each other, they didn't know why Shou Ling was so sure.

"When I was in Batavia, I heard that the East India Commission was not happy with the Tasman voyage and that they would send the Tasman to explore Australia again next year," Enzo said. ”

Order's eyebrows raised, "Where do they want to go next time?" ”

"Then explore the north of Australia, then south to 'Hautman's Hope.'"

Shou Xiang nodded, closed the report, and looked at the specific contents in order later, and said to the four of them, "Gentlemen, we will not participate in the next Dutch expedition to Australia. Later we will go ourselves. ”

Wu Zhixiang said: "Indeed, it is not interesting to explore with the Dutch. ”

Orderly raised his glass. Jincheng has now made distilled spirits, both whisky and Chinese baijiu. The raw materials of whisky need to be imported, and the price is very expensive. Except for the new aristocrats, not many people drank. Most of the Chinese liquor on the market is made from various grains.

Shou Xuan asked the four of them, "What are your plans for the future?" ”

Enzo immediately stood up, "Sir, I hope to serve in the Navy. ”

"Sit down, sit down." Shou Xuan waved his hand and asked the other three, "What about you?" ”

Lao Wu and the Yang brothers glanced at each other, "We have discussed, and we still hope to serve together." ”

Shou Xuan said: "Enzo, you have proven that you are capable of being the captain of the ship, how about giving you a notification ship?" ”

A smile appeared on Enzo's face, although the dhow was small, but this was the first time Enzo had his own warship. "Thank you, sir."

Shou returned to his desk and scribbled a few lines. The orderly calligraphy is not good, and he still uses a quill pen. The office stationery, paper, ink and pens used by the Jincheng government are all contracted by an immigrant Chinese businessman, and the quality of the products is okay.

Shou ordered to hand the warrant to Lynch, "Take our warriors to the Ministry of Defense to report and ask them to arrange a notification ship." ”

Several sloops on the slipway have been launched recently, loaded with eight four-pounder guns, and are undergoing sea trials in the Jincheng Inland Sea.

Seeing off the expedition members, Shou Xiang called Tichy, "Arrange for me to go to the army headquarters in the afternoon." ”

Shou Xuan is now devoting almost all of his energy to the offensive against Jinla in the dry season, which will be the first general mobilization after the founding of Jincheng. According to the plan for the first half of the year, Hollane expanded the army to 3,000 people, and the main source of recruits was Chinese young people who had newly immigrated last year. The Chinese who came to Nanyang to work hard were not very interested in becoming soldiers, and they were more willing to pay a sum of money to exempt themselves from the responsibility of service. It took four months for Holren to gather more than 1,000 recruits, and the salaries and weapons and equipment were all paid by the Chinese.

The arsenal is producing weapons at full capacity, because there are not many qualified craftsmen, and the speed of barrel making is very slow, only 100 barrels can be produced per month, and according to the current progress, it is estimated that the production of weapons will not be completed until before the troops are dispatched.

The Army's firepower was a 4-pounder iron cannon, which the military was not satisfied with. The weight of the iron cannon was too heavy, the 4-pounder gun belonged to the light gun, and mobility was an important indicator. The army wants bronze cannons more, tin is not a problem, Jincheng can produce it on its own. The army could manufacture artillery with a small amount of imported copper, and the cost was unacceptable for the time being. Only after the output of Taipei's Jinguashi copper mine comes up, can the army be equipped with bronze cannons.

According to the general standard of artillery equipment, 24 guns per 1,000 people can achieve a more appropriate balance between mobility and firepower, but because there is not enough horses, it can only rely on ox carts to pull artillery, and the army now has no campaign mobility to speak of. Since the mobility of field operations is not taken into account, the firepower prepared by the army for this dispatch actually exceeded the standard. The brigade had a total of 10 4-pounder guns. In addition, a separate battalion of heavy artillery with 4 9-pounder guns and 4 16-pounder siege guns was formed. These 9-pound guns were all obsolete from the Navy and replaced with Army gun mounts.

In addition to these cannons and long guns, the army also has 8 light mortars and 4 5-inch howitzers. They are all new products, because of the short double diameter, the difficulty of casting is much less than that of cannons.

The firepower of the entire army brigade greatly exceeded the normal level, and the baggage was amazing. Holren said that this kind of army appeared in Europe, and could only rely on fortress defense, not field warfare. When the army moved, it would be a large battalion of oxcarts, which was very uncomfortable for the officers from Europe.

The cavalry will also be dispatched this time, and after two years of Walter's efforts, the cavalry of the army now has a certain size. Walter intended to dispatch 60 heavy cavalry armed with half-body armor and 120 light cavalry. The heavy cavalry used Katiawa horses, which were imported from India, and the light cavalry used Siamese Rome. Both Burma and Siam had cavalry units and had a high status in the army, with 1,200 cavalry dispatched by Burma when they first conquered Ayutthaya. It's just that there are too few horse breeds adapted to the southern climate, and there are not many cavalry. There are only two types of cavalry in Jincheng at present, war horses with a trunk length of more than 4 feet 10 are used as armored cavalry, and horses with a trunk of more than 4 feet 7 are used as light cavalry. Walter's criteria for choosing war horses were very strict, which was why the number of cavalry was slow to rise. According to a reasonable ratio, 3,000 infantry should be accompanied by 600 cavalry, which is a more appropriate proportion. Shou order sighed, Ma Zheng is not something that can be established in a few days, and it will take more than ten years to establish a horse government system from scratch to take shape. Orderly intends to suggest to Walter that the standard of war horses be lowered by a notch. Horses with torsos about 4 feet 5 inches long were also included in the formation, and the physical standards of the cavalry were also lowered by one notch to form a reconnaissance cavalry.

Originally, there was an officer who suggested equipping elephants like the countries of the South Seas, but they were sprayed back by Holren. There are elephants in Jincheng, which are used in tin mines and lumberyards. But the cost of equipping elephants in the army is too high, and the combat effectiveness of elephants is very questionable under artillery attack.

At the Army Command, the Order listened to Westheim's report on the Army. The army of more than 3,000 people is a heavy burden on Jincheng, and the fact that the army can be expanded to such a large size is completely the result of the orderly force and the rejection of public opinion. The army must be of value in this expedition to Chenla. Holren and the others are also fully aware of this, and among the top echelons of the Golden City, Orderliness is almost the only supporter of the Army.

Holren asked Order, "When are we going to send troops?" ”

"At the beginning of September, you still have a month, how many troops can you send by then?" ”

Westheim said: "We have to leave some troops in the country to defend, and we can send 2,500 men." ”

Shou Xuan knew that the army had done its best, but 2,500 men were not enough, so he thought for a moment and said, "I can inform the leaders of the Mon, Viet and Mindanao." ”

"Mobilize them now?"

Shou Xuan said: "Yes, tell them that the captured booty belongs to the tribe, and the government will not take a cut this time, and encourage them to mobilize more tribesmen." ”

The plan of Shou Zhi and Holren's was to take the army field troops as the core, and then mobilize the armed young people in the territory, and pay for the looted spoils, which was the inspiration he got from Jianzhou during his trip to northern China. These temporarily mobilized armies will fight in the name of volunteer battalions.

Walter hesitated: "Mobilize the volunteer battalion now, I'm afraid it will leak." ”

A smile appeared on the corner of Shou Order's mouth, "Don't worry, there's no need to keep it secret now." The Song Galo Commander of Siam had already begun to mobilize in his territory, and Chenla knew that we were going to invade. ”

Even if there are many recruits in the Jincheng Army, the combat effectiveness exceeds that of Zhenla. The trouble is that they are not familiar with the local terrain and climate, and even if they win a field battle, it is difficult for too few troops to pull the net around to get more loot. Therefore, the army of Siam was very important for the maintenance of order.

"How many troops can Siam produce?" Holren wanted to know more about the allies' armies.

"The main force of the king of Parasadong has always been used against the Burmese, and this time only the eastern army mobilized by Song Jialuo is estimated to be around 10,000."

Westheim: "How effective are the Siamese people?" ”

"Only half of the people are standing troops, and the rest are also temporarily mobilized armies."

"There are more than 10,000 troops," Westheim said, "and it still looks a little insufficient." ”

"Songgalo Dashou has also invited the king of Nanzhang (Laos), and we have one more ally this time." r

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