In the spring of Chongzhen's tenth year, the climate was still very cold and cold.

In Qingdao in the first month, bursts of cold wind continue to pass by. The frozen sea, wrinkled by the cold wind, spread out in all directions. The military flags of the naval base "were all blown by the cold wind and rolled up on the flagpoles." The sentries at various posts had their cheeks blown red by the cold wind, "as if they were ripe apples."

In the bitter cold wind, the first shipyard and naval base of the Tiger Ben Army were in full swing. At the First Shipyard, workers were working overtime to build warships, large and small. Some of the workers were so busy that they were sweating all over, and they simply took off their cotton clothes and wore only red sè short coats, climbing up and down on the boat, which was breathtaking. On the side of the naval base, the sea trials of the Dragon God ship are also in full swing. On the high mast, the sail operators of the Tiger Army Navy constantly change the direction and height of the sails to test the adaptability of all links as much as possible. During the repeated commissioning, they were also covered in sweat.

In this sea trial, the navy dispatched the best captains and the best sailors. Huang Shijun, Mao Huihui, Zhang Xuehai, Zhang Shenggao, Wang Chenglin, Ling Sishao and other six captains were fortunate to become the first batch of test captains of the Longshen ship. If there are no accidents, they will also be the first-generation captains of the Dragon God Ship.

Piloting such a behemoth as the Dragon God Ship for sea trials" feelings are naturally self-evident. Especially Huang Shijun, who is burdened with a sea of blood and hatred, "He is bent on killing back to Japan and avenge his relatives." Now that the Dragon God Ship of the Tiger Army Navy has been launched, he is one step closer to the goal of revenge.

In mid-February, braving the cold wind, "Zhang Zhun came to the No. 1 Shipyard, and after inspecting the circle," he learned about the production of various types of warships, and then came to the adjacent naval base. The purpose of his arrival, of course, was to preside over the commissioning ceremony of the Dragon God Ship.

After a month of sea trials, all aspects of the Dragon God ship basically meet the requirements and can be officially put into service. The reason why they are said to be basically compliant is that they are the first samples to be built, and there is still a lot to be improved.

Xue Zhidie's design is always gradually improved in the continuous actual construction and actual use, the more the design is carried out, the more the battleship is built later, the better the xìng can be. The saber ship is the best example of this. The first sabertooth ships to enter service "had a lot of problems, especially in actual battles, which only showed themselves.

Most of the warships, when designed, existed as a theory. Whether it really works well or not must be tested in battle" to be confirmed. Many unforeseen problems only arise in the battle of Jīlie. These problems were "perfectly solved" in the subsequent construction. The newly launched saber tooth ship" is much easier to operate than the first batch of launches.

These six dragon god ships "have not yet experienced the test of battle", and obviously there are still many shortcomings. However, compared to the sabertooth ship, "it is already quite powerful." The six dragon god ships docked in the harbor one by one, and the huge body "completely compared to the sword tooth ship." Fools can see that these two types of warships are not on the same level at all.

In fact, the most eye-catching thing about the Dragon God Ship is not its huge body, but the sixteen red-coated cannons. This is the main force of the Dragon God Ship's naval battle, and it is also the most formidable part of it. The location of the red-coat cannon installation, which is in the middle of the side of the ship on both sides of the dragon god ship, is recognized as the most flexible position for shelling.

The three-masted gunboats owned by the Zheng family's fleet "were also equipped with redcoat cannons. However, for structural reasons, the redcoat cannons of the three-masted gunboats were mounted on the bow and stern. These two places are cramped, and it is impossible to install too many artillery. Therefore, the three-masted gunboat sounds mighty, but in fact, the number of red-coated cannons is only four.

Moreover, due to the horns, "the redcoat cannon and other cannons cannot be fired in the same direction."

In other words, it is impossible to concentrate all the firepower on the same target. This was the biggest fatal point of the three-masted gunboat. The accuracy of artillery in naval warfare was very low, and the accuracy of hitting could only be strengthened by concentrating all the artillery and firing at the same target. If you can't do this, you will have a congenital deficiency in the hit rate.

The Dragon God Ship of the Tiger Ben Army is different. All of its guns "are on the side and can be bombarded at the same target until it is eliminated." After several tests, Zhang Zhun could basically conclude that if all the guns of the Dragon God Ship used grapeshot shells, it would be a devastating blow to targets within a distance of 500 meters.

In addition to the sixteen red-coated cannons, each dragon god ship was also equipped with forty flying dragon cannons, which made its total number of cannons reach an astonishing number of sixty-four. Such a number of artillery pieces is absolutely second to none among the warships in East Asia. The three-masted gunboats of the Zheng family's fleet, all the guns combined, did not reach sixty "Knock knock!" ”

"Knock knock!"

"Knock knock!"

When demonstrating the power of the artillery, all the artillery fired together, and a large number of shells were thrown out like raindrops, and then fell fiercely around the target, which was indeed very ferocious. Under the fire of the redcoat cannons, the stones used as targets were cracked.

After field tests, "the maximum range of these redcoat cannons" exceeded 500 meters, and when grapeshotills were fired, the range was also about 1,500 meters. Compared to the average redcoat cannon, its stats don't look very out-of-the-box. However, its rate of fire has been greatly improved, reaching the level of shots per minute.

Such a rate of fire was quite fast for a cannon at that time. A normal redcoat cannon "takes almost more than two minutes to fire a single shell." One can imagine what kind of performance the redcoat cannon will have after doubling the rate of fire. In naval battles, as a rule, whoever can "pour the most shells on the opposing ship" will be the most likely winner in the end.

Basically, in the naval battle of Jīlie, the distance from which both sides fired their cannons was within 500 meters. The range and rate of fire of the redcoat cannon "ensured that before entering the range of five hundred meters" it would be able to inflict a certain wound on the enemy ship and have a certain effect on the morale of the enemy. This is "very important. The battleship that entered the battleship with bruises all over its body must not have much combat effectiveness itself, and maybe, it will also affect the morale of other fellow warships.

These red-coated cannons installed on the Dragon God Ship are the latest crystallization of the foundry's latest technology, and they are the latest achievements after combining the technical wood provided by the British. In order to get to the secret of the production of the Tiger Ben Mirror as soon as possible, Saiviala finally gave in and told Sun Qinkai the technical points of the new artillery.

While observing the artillery firing, Saviara stood beside Zhang Zhun and said proudly: "Brigadier General, I have given you all the most advanced artillery technology in Britain. When will you be able to give me your tiger cardiac manufacturing technology? ”

Zhang Zhun said quietly: "I know I will repay you." ”

Sai Via smiled and said, "It's pretty much the same. ”

Zhang Zhun subconsciously looked at Xu Zhengming beside him. To tell the British about the manufacturing technology of the Tiger Bentong, the Tiger Army had to master the manufacturing technology of breech guns. To make breech guns, you have to invent thundermercury. Xu Zhengming's task is really a long way to go!

In fact, Xu Zhengming's work has made some progress. He found a lot of alchemy Taoists from different ways, gathered together to discuss, and then according to Zhang Zhun's prompts, he repeatedly experimented. After unremitting efforts, they vaguely seemed to have touched the periphery of a little bit of thunder.

However, it is not easy to get the real mine mercury out. However, Zhang Zhun suddenly found that "the possibility of finding a substitute cannot be ruled out." Originally, thundermercury is not the only item that can be used to make breech guns, there are many items that can replace it, only because it was the first to be invented and the cost is low, it will be widely popularized.

If something else had been "manufactured" before the invention of thunder mercury, and had xìng energy similar to that of thunder mercury, it would certainly have been used to make breech guns as well. If Xu Zhengming and the others really found a replacement, Zhang Zhun didn't mind the price, and they would have to make a batch of breech guns to try.

Far away......

According to Zhang Zhun's arrangement, the arrangement of the six dragon god ships is two for each fleet to be used as the capital ship. The fleet composed of two dragon god ships, plus more than a dozen saber ships, can basically perform relatively important combat missions. If large merchant ships with three or five ships "specialize in carrying strategic goods, they can float on the surface of the sea" for at least half a year.

"Half a year ......", Zhang Zhun calculated silently and nodded thoughtfully.

The naval fleet has been adrift at sea for half a year, and it can already do a lot of things. At the very least, there is no problem going back and forth to Japan, and there is no problem going back and forth to Taiwan." This means that from now on, the Huben Navy fleet already has the ability to go out to the South Seas. This is definitely a qualitative leap for the Tiger Ben Navy.

A very large prerequisite for the occupation of Taiwan by the Tiger Army "is to have a large enough naval fleet to engage the enemy's fleet for a long time around Taiwan, consume the main force of the enemy's fleet, and then protect the Huben Army Marines ashore." According to Zhang Zhun's estimate, this cannot be done "without two or three years".

Except for the launch of six dragon god ships, in the first month, there was nothing special about the Tiger Ben Army. The time was fast approaching February. The weather in February is still quite cold, the north wind is still howling, and the snow is constantly falling. But compared to the first month, it has improved a lot. This means that everything that was originally frozen will begin to slowly melt.

The first to make a move, of course, was Li Yan's army. In order to conquer Kaifeng City, Li Yan didn't know how long it had been planning. Under the command of Li Yan, Li Yan's army tried to attack Kaifeng City. After being trapped for a winter, the morale of the defenders of Kaifeng City has been greatly reduced, and the combat effectiveness has also been greatly weakened. On the contrary, Li Yan's army has reached 100,000 people.

However, after the battle was launched, the situation was not as optimistic as Li Yan had imagined. In several days of continuous fighting, the attack of Li Yan's army was repulsed by the defenders of Kaifeng, and the casualties were still relatively large, "Two or three thousand people were killed." Such a battle situation was something that Li Yan, Niu Jinxing, Song Xiance and others could no longer have expected.

The defeat in the battle gave Li Yan a great blow and a great lesson. He began to realize that it was not very difficult to pull up a team by himself. However, it is quite difficult to form a fighting force into a team that has been pulled up.

100,000 people seems like a lot, but in fact, most of them are not beaten, and they will collapse at the first touch. When fighting a tough battle, "the soldiers did not hold out to the end, and the dagger collapsed first." Especially in the unfavorable situation, most of the soldiers stupidly followed the others and ran backwards, the officers couldn't control it, and finally even the officers ran away, Li Yan had no choice but to humbly ask Zhang Zhun for advice. Now he understands very well that "the rise of the Tiger Ben Army is really not easy." In terms of leading troops, "it is indeed too far from Zhang Zhun." His own method of leading troops is a bit similar to the Shaanxi Rebel Army, but there are a lot of people", but it is not used.

"100,000 people ......", Zhang Zhun couldn't help but shake his head.

In just three or four months, Li Yan's army actually pulled up 100,000 people, such a number really made Zhang Zhun speechless. It's really easy to pull a strong man this year. Hungry people everywhere, refugees everywhere, as long as they raise their arms and shout, as long as they can provide food, countless people will come to join them.

But the combat effectiveness of these people is really worrying. Men, women, and children are crowded together: "What fighting power can you expect from them?" The lessons of the Wenxiang Sect are the lessons of the former Shaanxi rebel army, and facts have repeatedly proved that the rabble will always have no combat effectiveness. A sword has to be forged over and over again before it can become a sword, and so does the army. Only by eliminating the weak and retaining the strong can the army be truly strong.

Zhang Zhun had to tell Li Yan that the soldiers are expensive but not expensive, and "recruiting so many people is of no use except for wasting food in vain." He suggested that Li Yan should compress a large number of soldiers, and as long as the best handful of people were released, the others would be released.

For this reason, Li Yan finally decided to compress the number of soldiers to about 5,000 people, only the most elite and the most capable of fighting. The rest of the people were put into cultivation and production. After a radical transformation, "the number of Li Yan's army has been greatly reduced, but the combat effectiveness has been improved, and it has begun to compete with the official army for Kaifeng again."

At the same time as Li Yan's army, there were also officials and soldiers of the imperial court. At the beginning of February, Hong Chengchou led his army into Shanxi and "stationed in the area of Taiyuan and Jingchengguan, and some of the troops even went out to the area of Linfen and Yuncheng." Some of the officers and troops entered Sichuan, and then went south to Huguang and entered the Xyang area. In Guanzhong, Shaanxi, the number of troops left by the official army is quite small.

In the eyes of the Tiger Army, the purpose of the official army entering Shanxi is nothing more than two. The first is to pose a threat to Luoyang from the north, pinning down Luoyang's Huben cavalry and preventing them from running around. The second "is to prevent the Tiger Ben Army from entering Shanxi." If the Tiger Army enters Shaanxi and the imperial court wants to retreat, there will be no way to retreat.

It is said that if the imperial court retreats, it can only retreat through the roads of Shanxi, Shaanxi, Sichuan, and Huguang, and finally retreat to Nanjing" or retreat directly to Lingnan. Shandong, Henan, and North Zhili have all been blocked by the Tiger Army, and it will not work at all. At present, Shandong, Henan, and Beizhili are all members of the Tiger Army, and the canal has also been completely cut off by the Tiger Army.

By February of the tenth year of Chongzhen, the maintenance of the official army in Beijing "was already quite difficult." Because of the relationship between the Tiger Army, the Beijing Division was completely unable to receive the Cao Yun from Jiangnan, and all material supplies were "almost cut off." The only way to get supplies is to buy them at a high price. Without the transfer of high potential, the "Tiger Ben Army directly sold food and materials to the Beijing Division, and directly obtained huge profits.

It can be said that the current Jingshi, with food and clothing, is all from the Tiger Army. The food reserves of the three battalions of the Beijing Division "have long been exhausted." As long as the Tiger Ben Army stops supplying supplies, it will not take half a month, and the Beijing Division will not be able to bear it. Therefore, for the Tiger Army, it is really not very difficult to take the Beijing Division.

The reason why the Tiger Ben Army has not stopped supplying materials to the Beijing Division is mainly due to high profits. A hundred catties of sweet potatoes can be sold for a maximum of fifty yuan in Shandong, but when you go to Beijing, you can sell them for five taels of silver. With such profits, who wants to let go? I don't know if others are willing, anyway, Zhang Zhun himself is absolutely unwilling.

It was through such a robbery transaction that the silver in the pockets of the powerful people of the capital division continued to flow into the pockets of the Tiger Ben Army. Through this trade, the "Tiger Ben Army extorted more than 500,000 taels of silver from the hands of the magnates of the capital division every month. If it weren't for the fact that he didn't have so much income, where would Zhang Zhun dare to build a second shipyard and prepare to build so many warships? Where do you dare to go to war on all sides?

Of course, the silver of the magnates of the Jingshi is also limited. There will also be times when they can't afford high prices. In fact, after this winter has passed, many powerful people can no longer bear it. When they can't bear it, they can only let go.

To let go means to give up the Jingshi and run to other places.

It is estimated that at this time, there are already many, many people who suggested that Emperor Chongzhen move the capital, or asked to send the crown prince to Nanjing to supervise the country. If they don't move the capital, they will most likely die in the Jingshi. According to intelligence, "even the cabinet could not help but enter into some informal discussions, but no resolution was reached."

In fact, the biggest difficulty in moving the capital still comes from Chongzhen. Emperor Chongzhen would not agree to move the capital, and with his xìng style, he would definitely defend the capital and the country. His greatest possibility is to send the crown prince to Nanjing to supervise the country, and then live and die with Jingshi himself.

The Tartars also had a new move in the direction of Quang Ninh City. Intelligence shows that "after the snow slowly melted, the Tartar cavalry in Quang Ninh City was very active, as if there was a tendency to counterattack the Tiger Army." That's right, the Tartars do have signs of fighting back.

However, Zhang Zhun didn't pay attention to the Tartars' counterattack at all. At this time, it is impossible for the Tartars to come to an Ardennes counterattack. If the Tartars really launched a counterattack, Zhang Zhun would welcome it very much!

The strength of the Tiger Ben Army in Liaoxi is quite powerful "three cavalry battalions plus one Qinglong Legion" and the letter battalion stationed in Ningyuan City, which is more than 10,000 people. If the Tartars want to fight back, they must first think clearly about what their Quang Ninh City will do if the counterattack fails.

Without enough living force, the Tartars would definitely not be able to hold the city of Quang Ninh. Therefore, Zhang Zhun estimated that "the signs of the Tartars' counterattack are false." In order to prevent the Tiger Ben Army from attacking Quang Ninh City, the Tartars will create such an illusion.

Since it is an illusion, then the Tiger Ben army does not need to pay attention to it, what to do or what to do, and there is no need to change the plan and time of launching an attack on Quang Ninh City. In short, the plan to recover Shenyang within two years cannot be changed.

In Phoenix, the Chinese and North Korean coalition forces also set off early and attacked in the direction of Liaoyang. However, it is expected that the difficulties will be great. The difficulty is mainly manifested in the need to cross the remaining veins of Changbai Mountain. In fact, every time the Tartar crosses the mountain of the remaining veins of Changbai Mountain. "It's not easy. What's more, the number of the Sino-Korean coalition forces is quite large, and the logistical pressure is relatively large.

In southern Liaoning, the Tiger Ben army is continuing to accumulate troops to confront the Tartars of Gaizhouwei. With the gradual warming of the weather, the amount of ice floe in Bohai Bay has decreased, and the safety factor of ship passage has been greatly improved. A large number of merchant ships traveled between Dengzhou City and Jinzhouwei, transporting a large number of people and materials.

In fact, for the huge southern Liaoning region, the strength of troops is not the most important. Here is not the main direction of attack on the Tartars, as long as Yue Tuo is contained. The main purpose of the Tiger Army is to develop production as soon as possible and stabilize this area.

In fact, under the attack of the two iron pincers of the Tiger Ben Army, the Tartars no longer have the ability to launch a counterattack against Liaonan, no matter what the Tiger Ben Army does here, Yue Tuo can only just watch. At this time, he would never dare to leave Gaizhouwei.

On the fifteenth day of the first lunar month, Zhang Zhun officially appointed Yang Tinglin as the prefect of Liaoyang Prefecture and sent him to Fuzhou Wei to preside over the overall internal affairs work. At the same time, the special "Juntian Order" for the eastern Liaodong region was also officially announced on the same day. This special "Juntian Order" raised the upper limit of land that people in eastern Liaodong could own "to 100 mu."

In the spring of Chongzhen's tenth year, the sea was not very calm. In fact, the danger that Zhang Zhun is most worried about comes from the sea. In the past winter, "Zheng Chenggong didn't show up, which is definitely not a good thing." The later Zheng Chenggong appears, the more adequate his preparations will be. Then, when he arrives, the stronger the combat effectiveness, the greater the pressure on the Tiger Warrior Navy.

Sure enough, on February 25, Zhang Zhun received a report that Zheng Chenggong led a huge fleet to the north. Once again, the Tiger Navy will be put to the test.

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