The autumn wind blew open the half-covered hatch, and the sleeves of the three people standing in the cabin were hunting, but Zhang Shun and Xia Song's attention was obviously not here, the two of them were generally looking up at Ye Yingwu, and also at the map of Ye Yingwu's fingers. Pen "Fun" Pavilion www.biquge.info

There, the vast South Sea Frontier seemed to have an infinite attraction, and the two of them couldn't take their eyes off it at all. As a general in charge of the fleet, no one wants to really face the river on the Yangtze River every day without standing on tiptoe to see the river on the other side, the place where a good man is a hero should be the vast sea and sky, it is obvious that now Ye Yingwu wants to give them this opportunity.

Stretching out his hand and knocking on the map, Ye Yingwu said in a deep voice: "The Nanyang Fleet has been dispatched to find the Ilkhanate fleet, and even directly shelled the coastal ports of the Ilkhanate, so now the entire South Sea is empty, and the land division does not have the support of the navy, I am afraid it will be difficult to support it for too long, so I have mobilized a large number of ships to transport the Divine Guard from the north to the south, these transport fleets want the fleet to escort, these I have been handed over to the Eastern Fleet, but the South Seas still need to have warships to patrol to avoid any accidents." ”

Zhang Shun and Xia Song took a light breath, and they both saw each other's faces change.

Your Majesty is preparing for the worst, but then again, if he hadn't made such a plan, Ye Yingwu would not have used the inland water division of Zhenjiang Mansion.

The urgent transfer of manpower from the Zhenjiang Prefecture Naval Division to the south must not only be to escort the troop transport warships, but mainly to cover the back road of the South Seas. Obviously, Ye Yingwu was ready for the defeat of the land division in Nanyang, and the purpose of sending naval reinforcements was naturally to lock the retreat of the Nanyang land to the surrounding islands, so that the army could be withdrawn in time when the situation in the Nanyang collapsed, whether it was to Guangnan or to the islands in the Nanyang, it could be used as a springboard to fight back.

"As long as Your Majesty believes in the last general, the last general will absolutely guarantee the safety of Nanyang!" Zhang Shun said loudly, but he immediately showed a hesitant look, "But Your Majesty, from the Zhenjiang Mansion Naval Division to the south, we can stay in Nanjing even less······"

Ye Yingwu laughed, and raised his head slightly at Zhang Shun and Xia Song: "Let's discuss it with the two of you, one goes, one stays, and the other is not expensive, and it is useless to keep too many people, not to mention that the soldiers are in my hands, and a hundred people can also be commanded by a thousand." Now that the war in Nanyang is tense, there is no room for failure, you must also know the burden on your shoulders, I will hand over this back road of Nanyang to you, I hope you will not live up to my high hopes. ”

"The minister stayed behind to protect His Majesty and the city of Nanjing." Zhang Shun stood up and arched his hand.

However, Xia Song quickly stood up and interrupted him; "The minister thought that he couldn't let General Zhang stay, after all, the Zhenjiang Mansion Navy Division was going to fully support Nanyang on the surface, and His Majesty also wanted to lure the snake out of the hole and seduce those enemies in the shadows.

Ye Yingwu laughed, he knew that Zhang Shun and Xia Song were both thinking from his safety point of view, and they had no second thoughts.

Zhang Shun was born in poverty, it was Ye Yingwu who promoted him single-handedly, without Ye Yingwu, there would be no Zhang Shun today, and without Ye Yingwu, it is impossible for him to continue to move forward, so Zhang Shun's loyalty to Ye Yingwu is beyond doubt.

And Xia Song is the son of Xia Gui, the former general of the Song Dynasty and the pacification envoy of Huaixi, and also a subordinate of Zhang Shijie, the Huai system used to be the most powerful system in the former Song Dynasty, Li Tingzhi and Xia Gui in the Huai system were both generals in the former Song army, especially Li Tingzhi, who was the commander of the Huai system, maintained peace with Jia Nidao on the surface, so that the Huai system was rarely suppressed - of course, in secret, Li Tingzhi did not take Jia Yidao seriously at all, it was a typical yin and yang violation - With Li Tingzhi's death, although Ye Yingwu gave Huai Jun and Li Tingzhi a high-standard funeral, But everyone understands that the Huai faction, which was once a pillar of the military in the former Song Dynasty, has completely declined.

Since Li Tingzhi died in battle and the main force of the Huai army was lost, Xia Gui guarded Yangzhou, Huainan as the governor of Zhili Province, but everyone knows that Huainan, which has become the heart of the Ming Dynasty, is only left with the Xiang Army, Xia Gui, the governor of Zhili Province, is already an out-and-out commander of the light pole, and Xia Gui obviously knows that his career in this life is almost over, so he pins all his hopes on his son Xia Song.

After all, to be honest, Xia Song does not belong to the Huai system, but belongs to Zhang Shijie's sailor system, and he is an out-and-out follower of Long Yuanrong, so Xia Gui's father and son know very well that as long as they can hug Ye Yingwu's thighs, the influence of the Xia family in the army will not be weak.

Because he knew these two guys well, Ye Yingwu could rest assured that he would hand over the Zhenjiang Mansion Water Master to the two of them. Although Ye Yingwu is not a person who thinks about everything to the dark side, there is no reason for his personal guard army to be handed over to people who are not at ease.

Seeing Xia Song and Zhang Shun arguing, Ye Yingwu clapped his hands unhurriedly: "Okay, now I don't have the kung fu to watch the two of you quarrel, what Xia Qing's family said just now makes sense, but Xia Qing's family, you have commanded the two Huai Shui Divisions for a period of time, and there are also many sea ships in the two Huai Shui Divisions, I think that compared to Zhang Qing's family, you should be more suitable, after all, in the Nanyang War, what I need is to be foolproof no matter whether you advance or retreat." ”

Xia Song and Zhang Shun were stunned, neither of them was a fool, His Majesty had obviously made a decision, so there was nothing to argue about, and they also knew that Ye Yingwu had his own considerations, Xia Song opened his mouth, but he wanted to stop talking. And Zhang Shun also pulled his sleeve in time, Xia Song vaguely guessed that there must be a hidden secret behind this, and Zhang Shun's partner would definitely give him a reasonable explanation later, so he and Zhang Shun gave up their hands together.

"Stand down." Ye Yingwu waved his hand, turned around and continued to look at the map.

When he came out of the cabin, Zhang Shun stretched out his hand to interrupt Xia Song, who was opening his mouth, and said in a deep voice: "Changjin (Xia Song's words), Your Majesty also has Your Majesty's considerations, my brother is already in command of the Nanyang Fleet in Nanyang, if I go to Nanyang again, I'm afraid that even if Your Majesty has no opinion, there will be a lot of complaints in the court, so it is just right for you to stay, and you don't have to fight for this." ”

Xia Song suddenly understood, patted his head, he had been on the battlefield for a long time, and it seemed that his ability to ponder human feelings had regressed a lot.

As Zhang Shun said, before Ye Yingwu made a fortune, it is estimated that he would not care whether the Zhang brothers led the troops at the same time, but now after all, it is no longer just the command of an insignificant naval fleet, but the command of the most powerful naval fleet in the Ming Dynasty and the last support fleet that can be taken out, so even if Ye Yingwu trusts the Zhang brothers so much, it is impossible to hand them all over.

Let Xia Song pass, it is reasonable and reasonable.

"Don't let down Your Majesty, and don't embarrass our Zhenjiang Mansion Sailor." Zhang Shun smiled and patted Xia Song's shoulder, "You can rest assured, as long as XX is still alive, the defense of Nanjing City is as stable as Mount Tai." ”

Xia Song nodded solemnly and bowed his hand to Zhang Shunyi: "You must live up to your mission!" ”

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In the sea north of Cape Comorin, the sky was dark, and under the dark clouds that were getting closer, the sound of artillery roared.

"Put!" The heads of the warships and the ten generals shouted hoarsely, and the cannons trembled violently and then retreated sharply, the muzzles of the guns flashed, and the dull whistling sound exploded in everyone's ears, accompanied by the strong smell of gunpowder.

However, no one in the gun compartment paid attention to this, all the soldiers were shirtless and covered in sweat, and the guns let out an earth-shattering roar under their control, and the soldiers filled the barrels with gunpowder, and then carefully put in the shells. With another roar from the Commander and the Ten Generals, the muzzle of the cannon was pushed back out of the porthole, and the lit fuse was responsible for transmitting the rage to the gunpowder, which in turn sent the angry cannonball to the enemy.

The Ming warships lined up in an array on the sea surface fiercely bombarded the ships of the Ilkhanate Naval Division in front, and the shells fell on the sea, setting off one column of water after another, completely submerging the Ilkhanate Naval Fleet in this dense column of water, and countless splashes of water formed a layer of mist, and behind the mist, the explosions rose and fell one after another - obviously many shells smashed on the enemy's ships.

As the flag of attack was raised from the flagship, the long-awaited clippers formed a triangular array and rushed towards the two nearest ships of the Ilkhanate Naval Division.

The rising fog gradually dissipated, and the treasure ships of the Ming army turned their bows in turn, and followed the flying clippers to advance steadily, and the treasure ships continued to separate from the queue, turn sideways again and continue to fire, extending the artillery fire to the enemy's rear in the distance.

The Mongols apparently also discovered the movements of the Ming army, and the warships that were broken under the baptism of artillery fire barely crossed the hull - those sailors and generals of the Ilkhanate were not stupid, the previous warships were all facing the Ming warships with their bows, and the shape of the ships of the Ilkhanate was also somewhat similar to the flying clipper clipper, but it was not as sharp as the bow of the flying clipper, but this at least reduced the bomb area compared to turning the ship sideways,

Obviously, the Ilkhanate has long studied the elite and powerful Nanyang naval fleet of the Ming army.

However, artillery is artillery after all, and this new type of firearm, which has caused the Mongols to suffer a lot on land, can still show its power on the sea. Even if they tried every means to avoid the artillery fire, the warships of the Ilkhanate were more or less hit by shells, and even four or five warships were hit by too many bullets, and now only half of the hull is still on the sea, and more warships are also masts broken or shipbuildings collapsed, obviously the rampant solid cannonballs did not make them suffer.

Although the losses are not small, the sailors of the Ilkhanate are obviously not vegetarians, and of course they will not simply turn over the hull of the ship and use a long snake formation to block the surprise attack of the Ming army's flying clippers, after all, no one knows whether the treasure ships that are eyeing behind will be poured with artillery fire at any time, and then they will really be unable to eat and walk away.

Except for more than a dozen ships of the Ilkhanate Naval Division on the sea to defend the entrance to the bay backwards, the rest did not retreat but advanced, with both wings forward, and the middle warships were slightly behind, forming a pocket shape, a posture of wanting to swallow the Ming army's flying clipper ship formation in one gulp.

The Ilkhanate fleet on the north side also began to sail southward, constantly getting rid of the entanglement of another Ming army's flying clipper fast ship formation, and at the same time stabbing into the left flank of the Ming army's treasure ship, apparently intending to prevent the Ming army's treasure ship from following the flying clipper to attack forward.

The treasure ship of the Ming navy as the main force and the flying clipper as the vanguard have their own advantages and disadvantages, a small ship but fast speed, a large ship but difficult to operate flexibly, so the combination can make up for each other, but once used separately, it is easy to be broken by each other, so the Ilkhanate fleet is obviously with such an abacus, as long as it can be surrounded by the flying clipper ship formation and swallowed in one bite, then the remaining Ming treasure ships are difficult to block the collective assault of the Ilkhanate warships.

At that time, this arduous defensive battle is likely to turn into a total annihilation of the enemy.

This is the best choice for the Ilkhanates, and if they can defeat these sudden enemies in this place, then the entire situation in the South Seas will be turned upside down.

The warships of the Ilkhanate rushed towards the not wide gap in the middle of the Ming fleet against the howling sea wind, and they didn't know that at this moment, Ma Yan and the others, who were holding clairvoyance on the ship's floor, had a hideous smile on the corner of their mouths.

I have to say that the generals of the Ilkhanate Navy Division grasped this timing very accurately, but all their actions were based on the fact that the reaction of the Ming fleet was slower than theirs - after all, even if the Ming army was aware of it, it was long after the Ilkhanate fleet was launched, but they ignored the clairvoyance in the hands of Ma Yan and others.

Having clairvoyance means that the Ming generals who commanded the battle such as Ma Yan had a broader field of vision than the Ilkhanate generals, so when the Ilkhanate warships began to change formations and rushed towards this gap, Ma Yan and the others had already figured out their intentions, and it can even be said that Ma Yan prevented this hand when he ordered the flying clipper to attack forward - speaking of which, the Ming fleet only has this one weakness, if there is no way to find and protect it, Then he can pat his ass and jump straight off the boat.

"Boom!" The column of water was raised behind the side of the Ilkhanate fleet that was heading south against the wind, and the left wing of the Ming army, which was in a hurry to go south, was desperately catching up, and constantly bombarded with bow artillery, and the two fleets were getting closer and closer, and it was seen that the flying clipper was about to catch up with the Ilkhanate warship.

These clippers may be small but fast, moving through the crests and valleys of the waves, and the red dragon flags on the masts dance like wolves pounced on their prey on the prairie.

The fleet on the north side of the Ilkhanate naval division obviously realized that the enemy was also red-eyed, which further illustrates the importance of the gap they found, at the moment ten large and small warships stayed to meet the flying clipper squadron directly, while the rest of the main force continued to move south, if it was entangled by this desperate Ming fast fleet, then it was very likely to give the enemy enough time to miss the opportunity.

However, when the ships swooped down on the left side of the treasure ship, the eyes of the Ilkhanate soldiers on board widened. Not only because these mountain-like treasure ships of the Ming army gave them an insurmountable sense of fear, but also because in the gap between these huge and cumbersome treasure ships, the petite flying clippers rushed out like sharp arrows, and the gun windows on both sides of the ship were opened at the same time, and the swarthy gun muzzles were facing the Ilkhanate fleet, which was already at a loss.

"Fire!" On the treasure ship, Ma Yan personally lit a deck cannon on the ship's floor, and with this cannon sound, all the surrounding treasure ships and flying clippers released their anger. Ships swayed across the sea, and the light from the cannons tore through the dim sky, and even the dark clouds that were gradually pressing down on the surface of the sea took a few steps back in the light of the fire and the roar of the cannons.

The cannonballs crossed arcs in the sky and landed in front of and behind the warship, and the entire Ilkhanate fleet was shrouded in this artillery fire, and everyone, including the Ming army who was still fighting in the distance and the soldiers on the Ilkhanate warship, subconsciously held their breath.

The clippers hiding behind the treasure ships showed their hideous faces at this time, and the clippers cleaved the waves, shuttling in the rising water columns and deafening cannon sounds, and the guns in the bow, stern and hull of the ship were constantly aimed at the enemy and roared, completely tearing apart the enemy ships.

The bows and trebuchets of the Ilkhanate's warships returned pale and feeble, and in the midst of the fire, they were more like lambs to be slaughtered. There were constantly bullets and fires in warships, and the screams of the soldiers of the Ilkhanate made every Ming soldier feel a chill when they heard it.