Just as the 3rd Division and 1st Brigade of the National Defense Force were marching towards Guangdong, Luo Jian began to have the idea of recovering Taiwan.

When Luo Jian arranged for the soldiers who had been reduced from the Ming army to the sulphur ball, he had already thought of Dongfan (Taiwan Island, the official name of Taiwan in the Ming Dynasty, renamed Taiwan after the Manchu Dynasty, hereinafter referred to as Taiwan. The island of Taiwan was actually occupied by the Dutch East India Company, and in history, Zheng Chenggong was going to recover Taiwan in a few years, and now that he and others are here, he has to advance this time by a few years.

In order to solve the Taiwan issue, it is necessary to use the navy, and although the Nanjing government now has four warships, although the combat effectiveness is much higher than that of the warships of this era, the number is still too small, and if there is something in several directions, it will not be able to cope with it at all, so the Guazhou shipyard is still working overtime.

The Guazhou shipyard was not affected by the Qing attack, and the downtime was very short, and after the Qing soldiers were annihilated, the factory was quickly opened.

At present, the "Yue Fei" under construction is much larger than the "Wei Qing" and "Huo Quai", and it is mainly prepared for ocean voyages.

The demand for rubber for the development of industry in Yangzhou is becoming more and more urgent, and at this time rubber is only available in South America, Luo Jian has sent people to make preparations in this regard, and when the "Yue Fei" is launched, he will immediately prepare to go to South America.

Although Luo Jian really wants to let the ironclad ship come out in advance, but there are still many difficulties, mainly because the steel production is seriously insufficient, the Nanjing steelmaking plant is under construction, and it may take more than half a year to put it into production, and the production capacity of the Guazhou and Wuhu steelmaking plants is limited, and the production of military industry and steam engines alone is basically exhausted.

Secondly, the problem of preventing seawater erosion is still a big problem, Luo Jian and Liu Weimin checked the information, and there is no content in this area in the computer, and they have to explore it slowly.

Although it cannot be manufactured now, Luo Jian has arranged for the Guazhou shipyard to start research in this area, and according to Xiao Liu's optimistic estimate, there should be no problem in solving it in two or three years.

In order to solve the Taiwan issue, with the current strength of the provisional government, of course, it is not a problem, but it has maintained relatively good trade relations with the Dutch East India Company some time ago, and the domestic problems are more urgent, so this is not taken into account.

The provisional government has gradually stabilized, and the problems of Zhejiang, Jiangxi, and Fujian provinces have been basically resolved, and Luo Jian is ready to wait for the battle between Guangxi and Guangxi to immediately start recovering Taiwan.

In order to transport the Wehrmacht to Guangzhou, Zheng Zhilong mobilized almost all the ships he could mobilize that could sail on the sea, and a large fleet of nearly 2,000 ships set off from Fuzhou in a mighty way, frightening some small pirates along the way, and the sea navigation along the coast was much safer.

On the third day of the departure of Zheng Zhilong's fleet, the fleet led by Zheng Chenggong also rushed to Fuzhou from Hangzhou Bay and began to transport Yan Yingyuan's artillery units.

Yan Yingyuan was worried that without artillery fire support, the three divisions would suffer, and kept urging Zheng Chenggong along the way, and Zheng Chenggong had to order the fleet to move forward at full speed.

Zheng Chenggong's fleet was full of steamships, and of course the speed far exceeded Zheng Zhilong's fleet, and he actually caught up with the large fleet on the fifth day after Liu Zhaoji and their departure, and at this time it was not far from Guangzhou.

Zheng Chenggong's father and son finally met for the first time in more than two years.

The father and son met on the deck of the "Huo Quai", Zheng Chenggong was afraid that his father would have another dissenting heart, and Zheng Zhilong would be shocked, so he was specially asked to pick him up.

"Zheng Sen has seen his father!" Zheng Chenggong did not kneel, but saluted Zheng Zhilong.

Zheng Zhilong didn't blame Zheng Chenggong for not taking the initiative to visit, he had long wanted to meet the legendary "Wei Qing" and "Huo Quai".

"Sen'er, I haven't seen you for more than two years, but you've grown up! Now it's out too! Zheng Zhilong looked at Zheng Chenggong, who was wearing the new navy uniform of the National Defense Force, and was very emotional.

Seeing that Zheng Zhilong's gaze stayed on him for a while before turning to the ship, Zheng Chenggong knew that his father was extremely interested in this battleship.

"Father, but you're very interested in the 'Huo Quai'? Wait for Sen'er to take her father to watch. ”

"Sen'er, hurry up and lead the way." Zheng Zhilong couldn't wait for a long time.

Watching all the way, Zheng Zhilong kept sighing.

If he had really made up his mind to attack the fleet in Yangzhou at that time, I was afraid that he would suffer a big loss, and the Nanjing Provisional Government would not be able to tolerate itself now, and the battleship "Huo Quai" would not be able to cope with it by itself.

The key is that people are too fast, they can fight if they want to, they can run when they want to, and the firepower on the ship is so strong that their biggest warship may not be able to withstand a few shots, and they can't even see the shadow of others if they want to run.

I also heard Zheng Chenggong introduce that Yangzhou was building a "Yue Fei" that was bigger and more powerful than the "Huo Quai", and Zheng Zhilong completely lost his dissent.

"Father, when the war between Fujian and Guangxi is over, the provisional government will reorganize the Ming army in Fujian and Liangguang, what is my father's plan to do?"

Zheng Chenggong wondered what his father, who started as a pirate, would have if he was cut off from his sea fortune.

"Sen'er, my father wants to know why the Metropolitan Governor is so important to you?" Zheng Zhilong asked a word that didn't fit the line.

"This Zheng Sen didn't know that the Metropolitan Governor found me directly in the Guozijian in Nanjing, as if the Metropolitan Governor was going for me, and when he left, he picked me up and Gu Jiang, who is now the editor-in-chief of Yangzhou Weekly, away."

Hearing Zheng Chenggong's answer, Zheng Zhilong was skeptical, he really couldn't figure out why the governor would take a fancy to his son, could it be that he started to fight the idea of the Fujian Navy Master at that time?

"Father, one more thing, it seems that the Metropolitan Governor knows everything about you and me, even my mother is Japanese."

"Sen'er, if your father asks you a word, you have to tell the truth. Did the Metropolitan Governor value you because of the Fujian Sailors? Zheng Zhilong couldn't hold it back, so he asked.

"Father, don't be angry, child." When Zheng Chenggong heard this, he said with a smile.

"That's it, why am I angry?" Zheng Zhilong said angrily.

"My father's Fujian sailor, now I can't even look down on children, do you think the governor will take a fancy to him?" Zheng Chenggong said with some hesitation.

This sentence directly blocked what Zheng Zhilong wanted to say.

"Father, do you think that the Fujian Navy Division is still a force to be reckoned with now that there are many warships?" Zheng Chenggong didn't let him speak anymore, and then said.

"Isn't that so?" Zheng Zhilong said with some reserve.

"Father, please listen to me in detail, since the Governor of Dadu led the Yangzhou army, when did the Yangzhou army not win more with less? In the most recent case, more than 50,000 Qing soldiers were annihilated with more than 30,000 people, including 10,000 Qing cavalry. Take the sea as an example, with the current development speed of the provisional government, how long does my father think it will be before he can surpass the Fujian Navy? ”

Here Zheng Chenggong saved face for Zheng Zhilong, and if the provisional government attacked from both land and sea, Zheng Zhilong's fall was inevitable.

"It's... Allow your father to think about it. ”

Zheng Zhilong didn't speak for a long time, and Zheng Chenggong was not in a hurry, just looked at him with a smile.

"Do you know how the Provisional Government will place him as a father?" Zheng Zhilong thought for a long time before asking.

"I don't know this child, but in the child's opinion, with the rapid development of Nanjing like Yangzhou in the future, the sea transportation will also undergo great changes, and there will be more and more steam ships in the future, and these ships going to sea by my father will be slowly eliminated, which my father can recognize?"

"These steamships have a large load capacity and fast speed, and these sailing ships of the father must not be able to compare, I am afraid it will take some time to eliminate them, right?"

"Hehe, if my father has time to go to Yangzhou to have a look, I will know, it won't be long at all." Zheng Chenggong still smiled.

"In your opinion, where is the way out for the father? Is it time to let my father unload his armor and return to the field? My father is only 45 years old this year. Zheng Zhilong said with a frown.

"As far as the child knows, the Provisional Government is about to establish the Admiralty, I wonder if my father would like to serve in it?"

Zheng Chenggong's words are actually what Luo Jian meant, Zheng Zhilong, as Zheng Chenggong's father, made Luo Jian think a lot about how to place it.

"Admiralty? What's the matter? Zheng Zhilong asked suspiciously.

"Most of the services in charge of naval operations are the navy, and the Admiralty is specifically responsible for the construction, training, and operations of the navy." Zheng Chenggong copied Luo Jian's words and replied to Zheng Zhilong.

"What about my father's business?" Zheng Zhilong still can't lose his money.

"Will my father's money be used up in this life?" Zheng Chenggong asked unceremoniously.

Zheng Zhilong was not angry, but lowered his head and thought about it, and only after a long time did he raise his head and say to Zheng Chenggong:

"Sen'er, listen to you for your father, but so many brothers who follow me have to be arranged." Zheng Zhilong finally made up his mind.

"Please rest assured that my father will not treat these people badly."

"After this war, my father will go to Nanjing, and I will also go to meet the governor of Dadu, whom you admire so much."

Zheng Chenggong only relieved himself at this time, and finally completed the task assigned by the Metropolitan Governor, and his father also had a better home, which can be described as killing two birds with one stone.

Zheng Zhilong took a thorough look at the "Huo Quai", and the more he looked at it, the more frightened he became, stroking the main guns on the ship, and did not speak for a long time.

The fleet arrived at the port of Guangzhou on the seventh day, at this time the Qing soldiers were besieging the city of Guangzhou, and in the case that the Qing army's artillery had not arrived, Gu Yuanjing, the political envoy of Guangdong, led the soldiers and civilians of Guangzhou to hold on for seven days.

The fact that Guangzhou has not lost is not so much that the military and people of Guangzhou have held on strongly, but that God has helped a lot.

Stimulated by the Yangzhou army, the Qing soldiers at this time paid more attention to the use of artillery than at any time in history, Hong Chengchou marched to Liangguang this time, since he would not bring less red-coated cannons, and when attacking Shaozhou City, he used red-coated cannons to collapse the city wall to capture Shaozhou.

But since the Qing army captured Shaozhou, the continuous rain has never stopped, which makes the transportation of red-coated cannons extremely difficult, Hong Chengchou really can't wait, and led the infantry army to the city of Guangzhou to start the siege.

It is extremely difficult for the Qing soldiers to attack the city without artillery, and the number of Ming troops in the city of Guangzhou is also forty or fifty thousand, plus the people in the city who participate in the defense of the city, I am afraid that there are no less than 100,000, and the Qing soldiers have lost nearly 10,000 people in the past seven or eight days, but they have never been able to capture the city of Guangzhou, which is tall and strong.

The continuous rain made the roads muddy, and the actions of the Wehrmacht were extremely difficult, so Liu Zhaoji simply led the 3rd Division and the artillery brigade into the city of Guangzhou.

The terrain of Guangzhou City facing the sea made it impossible for the Qing soldiers to besiege the city, which made Guangzhou's maritime communication with the outside world never interrupted, and of course there was no shortage of supplies, not to mention that now there is a large amount of grain and grass materials transported by Zheng Zhilong from Fujian.

It was as if God was going to help the Wehrmacht, and the day after the Wehrmacht was stationed in Guangzhou, the weather became clear.

The arrival of the three main combat divisions of the Yangzhou Army made Hong Chengchou's strategic attempt to capture Guangzhou no longer realizable, and whether to fight or retreat became a difficult problem directly faced by Hong Chengchou.