The sun has risen high.

The sky was so clear that there was not even a trace of clouds to be seen, and the wind seemed to be absent; The heavy snow of the previous day has melted, and the earth has returned to its earthy yellow.

However, it was still cold, and the snow-white jade lion kept snorting, spewing out thick white gas; Its bowl-sized hooves were digging at the grass-roots ground under its feet from time to time, and it seemed a little irritated.

Chu Fan, who was on the horse, sensed this, and reached out to touch the long neck of the jade lion to appease it, but his eyes stayed on the cavalry battalion that was slowly approaching.

That's also the reason for the irritability of the jade lion on the review platform - three hundred knights in half-body armor lined up in a neat phalanx every 50 columns, passing through the gap between the review stand and the three infantry battalions lined up.

The momentum of the cavalry is certainly not comparable to the infantry battalion that walked by in unison just now, and in the sound of snorts one after another, the silent knights on horseback and the high erected horse lances give people a huge sense of intimidation - especially the first row of the cavalry battalion, when all equipped with stamped steel plate armor and helmets, looks more like an active steel monster!

This first batch of stamping helmets has a completely different shape from the common iron scarf of the Ming Dynasty - the helmet as a whole is a small cylinder with a pointed cone at the top; The face is simply cut into three slits in the shape of "Ya" for observation and breathing; Like the half-body armor on his body, the helmet has almost no decoration, not even the usual red tassel on the top of the head.

Compared with the simple and practical armor on their bodies, the cavalry had a much richer arsenal - the main battle weapon was a well-made horse lance; On the belt of the bust, a short fire gun 30 cm long was hung, and its accompanying bullet pouch and tong; In addition to the short firecracker, a 1.5-meter-long Japanese sword was hung from his waist, which was purchased from the Kato family, and grenades were of course indispensable, two per person. It was a miniature version of the cavalry, lighter and easier to throw farther.

In addition to standard weapons, those cavalry with special abilities also have exclusive weapons. For example, the powerful have heavy blades hanging from the hooks of their weapons - maces, maces, flails and even axes, and so on; Those who are excellent in bow and arrow skills are equipped with riding bows - most of these are descendants of the Song people; There are also those that are particularly flexible, equipped with special soft weapons such as three-section whips and chain guns.

The mighty cavalry team is over. The fiery red red dragon horse in the smoke and dust galloped in, and when he got to the school review platform, he pulled the reins of the horse, and the red dragon horse stood up, and immediately Liu Zhongwen did not wait for the red dragon horse to fall, jumped down in the wind, Tengteng got on the school review platform, knelt on one knee and said loudly, "Lord Qi, the first battalion of the cavalry army and the third battalion of the infantry army of the Fuliao Army have been assembled." Please instruct! ”

Chu Fan didn't get off the horse, and took the big flag from Doudou's hand next to him and said, "Liu Zhongwen listens to the order!" …… Today, there are bandits with big scars, causing trouble in the countryside and the people of fish and flesh! Raise the elite, and suppress it! ”

"Order!"

Liu Zhongwen clenched his fists heavily, got up and took the banner with both hands, and shouted in the wind, "Fuliao Army!" ”

More than 1,000 people from the four battalions under the stage responded in unison.

"Mighty! Mighty! Mighty! ”

The mountains roared and the tsunami shouted. Chu Fan observed Zheng Cai standing behind him out of the corner of his eye - this scene of awarding the flag and going out was thought up by Song Xiance. On the one hand, it is certainly to boost morale, and on the other hand, there is no lack of meaning to shock this Zheng family envoy.

Zheng Cai is a young man of twenty-four or five years old, with a soft smile on his thin long face that is always harmless to humans and animals; And the lips that were as thin as knives seemed to be reminiscent of a three-inch incorruptible tongue without speaking.

At this moment, he bowed slightly, looking at this stirring scene with that eternal smile, and seemed to be unmoved.

And only he knows. The horror in his heart is beyond words!

Once, he only had his distant uncle Zheng Zhilong in his eyes, who commanded tens of thousands of pirates at a young age, forcing the imperial court to recruit peace; resisted the Dutch, the overlord of the South Seas, and gradually pocketed the benefits of Japanese trade; Opened up the territory and gradually opened up the smoky Dayuan Island into a fertile land - such a person. Not to mention the hegemony of the East, even the top of Kyushu can ask about the importance!

Now, after more than ten days of entrenchment on Jeju Island, he no longer thinks that his uncle is the rightful overlord of the East!

Compared with his uncle, Chu Fan is young first of all - he is a full ten years younger than Zheng Zhilong!

People are younger than Zheng Zhilong, and they are no worse than Zheng Zhilong: Zheng Zhilong certainly commands tens of thousands of pirates, but Zheng Cai is like a mirror in his heart, most of the pirates under his uncle are rabble, and if it is advantageous, it will gather, and if it is not profitable, it will be dispersed! It's like Chu Fan here, although there are only dozens of ships and only a few thousand people, but he really does the order and prohibition, like an arm!

Especially Chu Fan's idea of separating the warships and merchant ships made Zheng Cai shocked by a stroke of genius - the merchant ships are dedicated to carrying cargo, and the warships are dedicated to combat, and the two perform their own duties, so how can the efficiency be doubled?

When he first arrived, Zheng Cai heard that the maiden voyage of the Chaoyang had struck the Galen ship, and thought that this was an exaggeration and deliberately said it to him; After he was invited to board the Chaoyang yesterday, he no longer dared to have the slightest doubt about this rumor.

It's fast! Firepower! Attack freely!

Zheng Cai couldn't help but worry about the future of his own fleet - even the Galen ship was beaten to the point that his nose and face were swollen, what should he do with his own hard sailing boats that were as slow as turtles crawling?

There is no need to compare with the sailors, and the performance of the land division of the Fuliao Army today makes Zheng Cai even more desperate, this strict and uniform formation, this outrageous weapon, and this immovable momentum like a mountain, where can be compared to those sailors who are like sheep herding in their own house - you know, even if the sailors directly led by Zheng Zhilong, it is difficult for them to discharge a decent formation, let alone let them stand still like a mountain for half an hour!

What made Zheng Cai even more desperate was the dazzling array of weapons of the Fuliao Army!

The first is the firecracker. The Zheng family's ships were also equipped with a lot of firearms, and most of them came from the Taixi countries; But first, the arquebus is troublesome to load, and secondly, the moisture prevention of sea combat cannot be solved, so when it comes to the critical moment of gang jumping, sailors still choose more convenient and simple weapons such as flying axes, spears and even hidden arrows; And the guns of the Fuliao army are not only much easier to load, but also solve the big problem of moisture-proof, which is going to be on the battlefield, a few volleys of guns, how many people can be left on the deck?

Then there's the ballista. The arrows that can explode and burn are okay, and how to pitch Zheng Cai can also understand it, but he just can't understand how the Fu Liao army can make such a big hammer turn freely - compared to those fixed bed crossbows on his side, this ballista that can turn can top ten guns!

The grenade made Zheng Cai even more crazy - think about it, the two ships haven't even thrown over, and this sweeping big thing has been thrown on your deck, can this battle still be fought?

"Brother Zhang Hua, the military is over, how about we talk about business?"

Just when Zheng Cai was thinking about it, he didn't notice that Chu Fan had dismounted at some point, and was looking at himself with a smile and asking. (To be continued.) )