As soon as Jiang Qin entered the big tent, he clenched his fists and said: "The 80,000 soldiers of the navy army please march westward, I hope Your Majesty will give permission!" ”

Liu Xin has always attached great importance to the construction of the navy, and the strength of the army has grown from 10,000 to 80,000 today, and the number of large and small ships has reached more than 1,000, divided into three fleets and two marines. And that's not even counting several bases and shipyards. The First Fleet has only 10,000 men, mainly responsible for the defense, public security, and search and rescue work in the Yangtze River Valley. The Second and Third Fleets, on the other hand, have grown into a true navy, and although they do not yet have the capability to go to sea, they have no problem fighting in the near seas.

In recent years, although the imperial court has invested more and more in the navy, the navy has not really participated in any major battles, and its only contribution may be to block the waterways of the Yangtze River in Liu Xin's campaign to unify the Han Dynasty and ensure the tranquility of the south of the Yangtze River.

However, the Han Navy is not useless at all. In their daily training, they moved farther and farther away from the coastline, drew many nautical charts, and incorporated Yizhou and Yazhou, which later became Taiwan and Hainan, into the territory of the Han Dynasty. Not only that, but north of Yizhou, there are a series of islands, some uninhabited, some inhabited by some indigenous people. These islands are now under the rule of the Han Dynasty. Liu Xin and Ma Yun studied the charts and concluded that these islands were actually the Diaoyu Islands and the Ryukyu Islands in later generations, and that they should be able to reach Japan further north.

Liu Xin and Ma Yun from later generations are well aware of the importance of the ocean, so Liu Xin has great ambitions in conquering the sea, and he has a long-term plan in mind that has never been made public for a span of 30 years.

The first decade was to let the Han navy go from the inland to the sea, gradually familiarize themselves with the surrounding sea conditions, create ships suitable for the ocean, and then divide the troops into two routes, one way north to control Japan, and all the way south to control the Philippines, Malaysia, and Indonesian islands. In Liu Xin's impression, these islands are either uninhabited, or they are some uncivilized primitive tribes, which are not difficult to deal with.

The second decade was to build larger ships that would allow the navy to go further along the coastline, skirting the Indian subcontinent to Africa, and then continuing until it had turned around the whole of Africa and into the Mediterranean.

The goal of the third decade was to organize a fleet to Oceania and the Americas. This should be considered a great adventure, the future is uncertain, but once it is successful, the rewards are also very huge. Not to mention that the vast land of Oceania and the Americas will be included in the territory of Dahan, the high-quality iron ore in Australia alone, and the corn, pepper, and tomato crops in the Americas are enough to make Liu Xin excited.

The three 10-year plans are interlinked and progressive. The first 10-year plan was to develop ocean-going capabilities and create a true navy. The second ten-year plan is to open up the Maritime Silk Road, and only when there are more spontaneous maritime fleets from the people, will those newly opened territories not be isolated overseas, and will they maintain long-term and close ties with the mainland. The third decade is to lay a solid foundation for the development of the Han Dynasty hundreds or even thousands of years later.

In fact, the goals of the first 10-year plan are nearing completion. The navy already had a certain amount of ocean-going capabilities, and if it weren't for Caracalla's massacre of Han merchants, Liu Xin would have been ready to organize a fleet to attack Japan and Luzon. Although the Han Dynasty was rich, it was not able to support two wars at the same time, so Liu Xin had to put this matter aside and concentrate on dealing with the powerful Great Qin.

When the news of the slaughter of more than 20,000 Han merchants in the Great Qin Empire spread all over the country, the soldiers of the navy were also extremely indignant. In particular, Gan Ning, the governor of the navy, and Zhou Tai, the deputy governor of the navy, have not fought a battle happily for many years, and when they heard that Liu Xin was preparing for the westward expedition, they would rather recruit those old troops under Cao Cao and Yuan Shao to go into battle, and there was nothing to do with the navy, so they couldn't hold back and immediately sent Jiang Qin to petition Liu Xin.

Jiang Qin also held back the fire in his belly, and rushed to Chang'an with a few personal soldiers day and night, but was told that Liu Xin had set off for many days. Jiang Qin refused to delay, hurried his horse, and chased all the way to the Uzberi fortress, but he was only one day later than Liu Xin.

"Nonsense!" Liu Xin said angrily, "From Chang'an to Daqin, in the meantime, in addition to the grassland is the desert, what is the use of the navy?" You go back and tell Gan Ning and Zhou Tai that they can train well, and I can use them for myself! ”

Jiang Qin saw that Liu Xin had rejected his request, and said anxiously: "Your Majesty, this is the unanimous request of all the officers and men of the Navy Army, I hope Your Majesty ......"

Liu Xin glared at him fiercely, and said in a deep voice: "Do you want to resist the decree?" ”

Although Liu Xin divided most of the power to the cabinet and the six ministries, he still held the control of the army firmly in his hands, and Liu Xin had to personally sign orders for the appointment, dismissal, promotion, and punishment of officers and men in the army. Liu Xin will only ask them to prohibit orders and prohibit them when facing the soldiers of the army, not to disobey, and to ensure his absolute authority. As for the ordinary subjects, Liu Xin would instead encourage them to express their different opinions, and even raise objections to the decrees he had already issued. In Liu Xin's words, this is called differential treatment, and it is the unity of power and power.

Jiang Qin was born recklessly, had a rough personality, and was not good at words, and when he saw Liu Xin angry, he was stunned and speechless.

Seeing it on the side, he smiled and reassured: "Actually, this expedition to the west would have had the opportunity for your navy to show its strengths. The territory of the Great Qin Empire is surrounded by a sea, but it's a pity that your warships can't drive there, if you wait to build ships on the spot, I'm afraid the war is over......"

"Wait!" Liu Xin's heart suddenly moved, waved his hand and said, "Jiang Qin, I have a heavy task entrusted to your navy, which is extremely dangerous. You go back and tell Gan Ning and Zhou Tai to pick a fleet and follow the coastline all the way to the southwest, and eventually you will reach a continent. It is a wild land, and the local villagers drink blood and have a complexion like charcoal, and this place is called Africa. Circle along the coastline of Africa, and you can finally reach the rear of Daqin! ”

Everyone was surprised and asked, "How does Your Majesty know about this?" ”

Liu Xin pretended to be mysterious and said: "The secret of heaven must not be revealed. ”

Fu Zhu laughed: "It must be the Golden Armor God who gave a dream to His Majesty again." ”

In fact, Liu Xin didn't expect the navy to arrive in Daqin before the end of the war, after all, it was an unfamiliar sea route, and he didn't know much about the navigation ability of the Han navy. In the original plan, Liu Xin planned to let the navy set off at the same time with the merchant ships, but now it can't be done, so he can only let the sailors be a pathfinder.

After explaining the matter of the navy, Liu Xin summoned the three armies and said loudly: "Soldiers, Dawan has broken the covenant and aided in the abuse, which is unbearable!" I want to ask Dawan first, and then conquer Daqin, so as to set an example. Soldiers, raise your spirits, let's set off overnight and rush to Guishan City for breakfast! ”

"Kill! Kill! Kill! The three armies shouted in unison, and the sky shook.

At this time, under Guishan City, Xu Huang had already personally sounded the war drums. The agreed hour has arrived, but there is not a trace of surrender in Guishan City. The follow-up infantry brigade has arrived, and the siege equipment such as trebuchets, ladders, and chariots are all ready. Xu Huang didn't know how to do a woman's kindness, and the siege battle started immediately.

In the loud sound of "boom, boom, boom", countless stones mixed with a sharp whistle went straight to Guishan City. This time, the trebuchet was approaching the attack, and the stone rain did not just fall on the head of Guishan City, but covered the entire outer city of Guishan. There were screams on the top of the city, and the people hiding in the city were not spared. Huge rocks fell from the sky, smashed through roofs, and smashed houses. For a time, the soldiers and civilians in the city were killed and wounded.

This was only a prelude to the Han army's attack, and soon, Shi Yu stopped. Hundreds of ladders and rushing carts, under the cover of shields and crossbows, "creaked" towards Guishan City. There is no moat outside the city of Guishan, and these siege equipment can reach the city directly.

The ladder of the Han army is more than a zhang higher than the wall of Guishan City, and in the battle on the ladder, the crossbowmen of the Han army are condescending, and waves of arrows rain are splashed on the head of Guishan City. Many Dawan soldiers who had just recovered from the horror of the trebuchet attack and were carrying bows and arrows to stop the Han army's attack were shot into hedgehogs in the blink of an eye. In fact, the ladder also had a springboard that could be used directly on the city, but it was no longer needed, because the Han army's chariots were modified to no longer only hit the city gates, but the city gates were attacked along with the city walls.

Dozens of rushing cars lined up and slammed into the outer walls of Guishan City. Most of the exterior walls of Guishan Castle are made of rammed earth, and only a small amount of bluestone is used at the base of the wall. In the slamming impact of the Han army's rushing car, the entire Guishan City seemed to begin to tremble, and the defending soldiers were all panicked.

With his scimitar in both hands, Artike hurried to the city, shouting desperately for the soldiers to stay at their posts. Seeing the cowering soldiers, Artiker was unceremonious, and went up with a knife. His eyes were red, and he was already angry to the extreme, just before a pillar of incense, he had just received the bad news, his second son Gehr was seriously injured, and he was already dying. The white-haired person sends the black-haired person, there is nothing more cruel in the world, even if he sits firmly in the position of King Dawan, what is the use!

Suddenly, Artices felt a limp under his feet, and then he heard an earth-shattering thud, and Artice's body fell to the ground like a scale. Before he could exclaim, countless pieces of rammed earth swooped down. The walls of Guishan City finally could not withstand the impact of the Han army's rushing cars, and collapsed with a bang.