He Hou smiled slightly: "These six masts are not used to hang sails, the power of the five-tooth warship is not only to carry many people, but also to be a giant in water warfare, after going to sea, those masts are hung with a thousand pounds of large iron balls, if the enemy ship approaches, try to catch or hit, then quickly put down the mast, smash the thousand catties of big iron balls, the smaller enemy ships will be directly sunk, the larger enemy ships will also pierce the deck or collapse the upper buildings, the end is an extremely powerful naval weapon." ”

Everyone was stunned when they heard this, and Wang Shichong smiled and said: "With this warship, the Goguryeo navy is not worried, He Shaofu, according to the current construction speed, all the ships are launched into the sea, can it be completed in twenty days?" ”

He Chou glanced at the shipbuilding platform in the distance, and said: "Actually, the shipbuilding can't use this kind of freshly cut mahogany, to make a big ship in the sea, the wood should be soaked in water for a year or two, and the water is almost expanded, so that it can be used to make the hull, otherwise the wood will swell up when it encounters the water, and it may be supported to the rivets connected to the ship's board, and if the ship disintegrates when it reaches the middle of the sea, it will be over." ”

Wang Shichong was nervous for a while, he also went to junior high school in his later life, he knew the truth of the heat, swelling and cold contraction of the Dao, and also knew that the wood of the Dao was swollen when it met the water, and when he heard He Chou say this, his face changed slightly: "He Shaofu, why didn't you say it earlier?" This ship has already been built so much, it's too late to talk about it now!"

He Chou waved his hand: "I took this problem into account when building a ship, and it is impossible for Gao Servant to give us two years to slowly soak the wood we need in the seawater, so this time we can only think of other ways, except for wrapping more copper skin on the bottom and hull of the boat." I also left some gaps between the woods when I was designing the drawings. At that time, more shipwrights will be arranged on the ship to accompany the army. Seeing that the wood of the hull is swollen so much, we have to loosen some of the wooden rivets, so that it is not a big problem, but in this way, dozens of more shipwrights will be brought on board every day, which requires us to build more Wuya warships and Huanglong warships. ”

Wang Shichong shook his head: "Then according to our current number, how many sergeants can be loaded to cross the sea?" ”

He Chou pondered for a moment and said, "In twenty days, we can have one hundred and twenty five-tooth warships. Each of them could carry 150 soldiers and 50 boatmen, which could carry 18,000 soldiers together, while the Yellow Dragon warship could carry 70 soldiers and 30 boatmen, and 300 warships could carry 21,000 soldiers, which could add up to nearly 40,000 soldiers. ”

Wang Shichong's brows tightened, and he sighed: "I was originally going to be able to transport 60,000 people, because the war horse still needs space." In this way, less than 40,000 infantry could be transported across the sea. With such a force, coupled with the lack of war horses, not to mention the lack of heavy cavalry, I am afraid that I will not be able to get up with the surprise effect of being able to cavalry assault and capture Pyongyang City in one fell swoop. ”

He Chou shook his head: "Fighting is the business of your generals, I am a craftsman, this time I am only responsible for completing the specified warship in the agreed time with quality and quantity, I can't risk the destruction of the ship because I want to load some more people, Wang Yuan, you also know that the wind and waves on the North Sea are very strong, and the storms are frequent in June and July. ”

Wang Shichong also knows that the sea is full of dangers, the sea that may have been calm an hour ago may set off monstrous waves in the blink of an eye, there are no satellites in this era, there is no weather and wave forecast, whether you can cross the sea safely depends entirely on luck, he himself also knows that many business groups in Ludao often lose 30,000 to 40,000 ships a year when they run this business, so the international trade between Goguryeo and the Great Sui has to earn three to four times the price difference, and the sought-after goods like Korean ginseng can be sold at a high price of more than ten times.

In any case, this army must be dispatched, in the past few months, Gao Xi has been sitting in Zhuo County, dispatching the logistics supply of the entire army, and all items are given priority to the supply of this marine, and a lot of the mahogany of the ships built are cut down and transferred from the mountains of Bingzhou and Jizhou.

Wang Shichong gritted his teeth and said: "In this case, this matter still needs to be discussed with General Zhou, who is the commander of the naval army, as soon as possible, to see if he can accept the reality of crossing the sea with only 40,000 infantry without war horses." ”

The atmosphere of the conversation became heavier for a while, everyone was silent, and without the interest just now, Wang Shiwei interjected: "Then can you bring less food and put 10,000 military horses on a flat-bottomed sand boat?" These 100 big sand boats can carry more than half a year's worth of military supplies, and if they carry less than three months, they should be able to dismount. ”

Wang Shichong's eyes lit up, this is a way, but this is tantamount to a shipwreck, three months of military rations are only enough to go back and forth from the expected landing point of Nampo Port to the next city of Pyongyang, if you can't quickly solve the battle and quickly conquer Pyongyang, then there will be no military rations to come back, to take such a huge risk, I don't know if Zhou Luohu is willing to do it, and I don't know if Dao Gao Xi can agree.

After all, the Marine Corps is a surprise assault, speed is the first, if there is no high mobility of cavalry, within 20 days, while the main force of Goguryeo is holding the army in the Liaodong area, directly under the city of Pyongyang, relying only on the two legs of 40,000 infantry, I am afraid that when the city of Pyongyang is under the city, Goguryeo has already mobilized tens of thousands of second-line troops to defend the city.

Wang Shichong's eyes flashed with green light, he began to think about how to avoid this expedition, this crusade was completely Yang Jian's will, although Gao Xi tried his best this time, but obviously did not approve of this expedition, just talk about personnel, Wang Shichong's feeling about this expedition was worse than the last Ningzhou expedition, he began to secretly pray to the heavens, Yang Jian's feverish brain can calm down, it is best to cancel this expedition, it is really not good, he came up with a reason not to go to sea with the army, That's the first thing.

Zhang Jincheng's voice came from a distance: "Outside the king, outside the king, the messenger from the high servant is here, and it is in the camp, please go over immediately." ”

Wang Shichong's heart moved, the messenger had just come five days ago, and it was not yet time to communicate once every ten days, and now he sent someone to come, obviously there was something to discuss, he turned his head and saluted He Chou, Yu Wenkai and others: "Two, I will go to accept Gao Servant's instructions first, and then talk to you in detail when I come back, He Shaofu, what you just said still needs to be informed to General Zhou as soon as possible, and a compromise transportation method should be discussed." ”

He Chou nodded: "Definitely, I have also hurried to urge in the past few days, and strive to catch ten more Wuya battleships out." ”

Wang Shichong gave a few instructions to Wang Huawei, and after letting him accompany He Chou and Yu Wenkai, he rode a horse and followed Zhang Jincheng towards his camp, this time his residence was not in the city, but was located in the camp of Zhou Luohu's sailors, which was only three or four miles away from this shipbuilding place, and it was convenient for him to come to inspect the construction site every day, and it was much more convenient to discuss military tactics with Zhou Luohu.

When Wang Shichong returned to his tent, a man of medium stature and dressed as a civil official had his back to him, standing with his hands in his hands, and was looking at a map on the case in Wang Shichong's tent. ”

Pei Shiju smiled and turned around: "What? Why can't I send a message? ”

Since Wang Shichong and Pei Shiju met the last side two years ago, the two of them have been separated in the past two years, Pei Shiju has been circling in the Western Regions, while Wang Shichong is the southern expedition and the northern expedition, non-stop, today's side is also the first official meeting between the two in more than a year, no wonder Wang Shichong was pleasantly surprised.

Wang Shichong enthusiastically took Pei Shiju's hand and said with a smile: "Why, could it be that you were also sent here to cross the sea with the navy on an expedition." (To be continued......)