Chapter 310 Navy Division Military Exercise

At this time, Li Cunhuan was in the Lutai Army, which was a special area, equivalent to a county, similar to a certain military region. That is, near Tianjin, but the coastal alluvial plain has not yet been finalized, and the terrain is very different from the modern terrain.

Also came along with the commander of the Lulong Water Army, Han Mengyin, the military envoy of the Lutai Army, Zhong Kuang, the miscellaneous master of the new Zuo Shilang of the Ministry of Industry, Jiang Xuanhui, the privy envoy, Yelu Abaoji, the left Shilang of the Military Department, Gao Siji, the new general of the Shence Army, Zhu Jin, the new Imperial Forest Army, and Zhao Chao, the chief of the ordnance superintendent.

The reason why there are so many people is because Li Cunhuan wants to patrol the navy.

Up to now, Yelu Abaoji, Zhu Jin and others don't quite understand why Li Cunhuan attaches so much importance to the navy, but Li Cunhuan often prevaricates about protecting maritime trade routes. However, it has to be said that the maritime trade route is an important pillar of Lulong, especially in foreign trade. Because the quality of coins in Ben, Bohai and other countries is too poor, Tongbao copper coins of the Tang Dynasty are commonly used.

And the money in ancient times was a very lucrative profit, and the fact that many people minted copper coins privately reflected the profits of copper coins. A copper coin weighs one penny, and ten coins are equal to one tael. The other copper coin is not entirely minted in copper. Seven parts copper, two parts lead, one part iron and other alloys. And in Lulong, forty copper coins can buy a stone of wheat. In general, one acre of land has an annual output of only one stone, and good land is only two buckets more. From here, you can see the profit of copper coins. If you cast it casually, you can top a farmer's income for a year a day.

Therefore, on the one hand, Li Cunhuan vigorously cracked down on the private minting of copper coins, strengthened the control of copper mines, increased the quality of his own copper coins, and made the Imperial Bank not accept inferior private coins, which controlled the amount of Lu Long's private coins has always been small. At the same time, he sold copper coins and cloth to the Ben and Bohai Seas. And it is said that this is rich in copper, gold, silver and other minerals, so it will naturally go to Li Cunhuan's pocket.

In Bohai and other places, Li Cunhuan exported iron tools, copper coins, and scriptures, and brought back a boatload of livestock, coarse cloth, copper ingots, and grain. In addition, it is mentioned here that Bohai exports 400,000 horses of coarse cloth and 100,000 horses of various silk silks every year, and the handicraft is not generally developed. Every year, foreign trade creates 800,000 yuan for Li Cunhuan, which also makes no one object.

And most of the people who came with Li Cunhuan were also the first time to see the Lu Long Navy built by Li Cunhuan with a lot of money. After all, Li Cunhuan has always dominated the north with cavalry and infantry all these years. That is, when supporting Wang Shifan at the beginning, the navy played a little role. Usually not many people pay attention to this low-key water army.

However, when they saw the tall warship, they couldn't help but feel excited.

Zhao Chao introduced Li Cunhuan and others on the side. I saw Zhao Chao pointing to the only giant-level sea ship in the port, and said proudly: "Your Highness, this sea ship is transformed on the basis of the 'Cangbo' in the Taizong era, with a total length of 23 zhang, which is three zhang longer than the traditional Cangbo, and more than eight zhang at its widest point. This ship is made by Dengzhou No. 2 Shipyard! The whole body is coated with tung oil, and it will not be corroded by seawater for 30 years. It could carry five thousand stone of grain or eight hundred soldiers, plus eighty-seven sailors. And the wind can be said to travel 300 miles! The Xiaohai Kun class, weighing 3,800 hus, is the largest sea vessel in Lulong at present. ”

"How many ships are there?" Zhu Jin on the side asked coldly.

Zhao Chao spread out his palms and made a blank gesture.

Han Mengyin, the commander of the Lu Long Navy on one side, coughed and said, "Let's answer from the lower officials!" Supervisor Zhao is only dealing with the matter of the ordnance superintendent, as for how many ships to build, it depends on the order. This ship has been built, and although there is a record for that army, there may be time to pay attention to this! In the Lu Long Naval Army, there are now a total of eight small sea kun warships! In addition, there were four small sea kun warships on the Dengju naval division, and six small sea kun warships on the East China Sea Division (stationed in the Korean area). ”

When Zhu Jin heard this, he touched his chin with his left hand and muttered: "Eight, four, six, eighteen, eight hundred soldiers, ten thousand...... Four thousand four hundred! ”

Zhu Jin couldn't help but be slightly taken aback, at first glance it was nothing, but there were eighteen small sea kun battleships, but if these battleships were all loaded with soldiers, there would be fourteen thousand four hundred people. Add in 14,500 sailors, and that's 16,000. If 16,000 people are killed behind the enemy, I am afraid that it will not set off an ordinary big wave. The most important thing, including Zhu Jin, still doesn't know that the navy under Li Cunhuan is so powerful, and even Yang Xingmi has been mentioned, I'm afraid that Li Cunhuan will beat Yang Xingmi, and Yang Xingmi will be caught off guard, and he will definitely lose a large amount of land in the early stage. Zhu Jin himself estimated that Yang Xingmi might not be able to keep the Huainan area at least, and he had to retreat to the Yangtze River, anyway, the coastal area was Qian Biao's territory, and with Qian Biao resisting, Yang Xingmi could take a breath.

Zhu Jin sighed: "Your Highness has this army, and Huaishui is estimated to be much different from nothing, and the capture of Huainan is just to see when His Highness will send troops!" ”

When Li Cunhuan heard this, he smiled and didn't say anything.

On the contrary, Zhao Chao on the side smiled disdainfully, "General Zhu also underestimated our Lu Long Navy too much, right!?" If this is the case, the lower officials are embarrassed to invite His Royal Highness and the generals to watch the army! ”

Zhao Chao didn't wait for Zhu Jin to speak, and pointed to the three battleships lined up side by side on the side of the Xiaohai Kun battleship.

Zhu Jin looked up, only to see that the two ends of this battleship were cocked, only a little smaller than the small sea kun battleship, twenty zhang long, about seven zhang wide, with a total of six small bed crossbows on both sides of the three-masted bow, two ballistas on the back, and the bow of the ship was like a giant spear-like ramming horn. There is also a row of wood pulp on both sides.

Zhao Chao said proudly: "This ship is a two-thousand-class Shenwu-class battleship, which requires forty-two sailors to operate, and another one hundred and twenty soldiers. The ordnance you put on is not as simple as you see! ”

Li Cunhuan smiled and said, "Then let's start the military exercise!" Truth emerges from practice. ”

"Yes!" The person who answered was Han Mengyin, and his voice carried a trace of pride and excitement that could not be concealed.

With the flags raised, the three Shenwu-class warships slowly slid their oars out of the harbor. Han Mengyin made a gesture of please, and took Li Cunhuan and others to the Lutai Army Lighthouse to observe with a single clairvoyant.

I saw that the Shenwu-class battleship left the harbor and appeared in the offshore waters, and I saw that there was a sea ship that was on the verge of being abandoned, and the scale was about 500 hundred.

There are sailors on the ship, and when the sails are adjusted, they immediately jump into the water, and there is a small boat nearby to pick up people. Because the angle of the sail has been fixed, although there is no one on the sea, the speed is still not slow because the wind is downwind and the wind is not weak. Li Cunhuan estimated that it should be about 20 miles from time to time, but the ship was a little shaky.

The three Shenwu-class warships were moving forward at a rapid pace, not only with their sails, but also with their oars, and the speed was estimated to be thirty miles per hour. Pull out a long white wave on the clear blue sea. However, Li Cunhuan observed that the speed of the Shenwu-class battleship was not slow, but it did not shake much, and it looked very stable.

Li Cunhuan couldn't help asking, "Is there something added to this Shenwu-class battleship?" Although the wind and waves in the Liaohai Sea are not big now, compared with the sea ships in front, the sea ships are much more stable. ”

"Your Highness, such a big ship is naturally much more stable!" Zhu Jin, who was on the side, said without looking back, and continued to focus on the monocular clairvoyant to observe the warship.

Hearing this, Zhao Chao smiled, and said proudly: "Your Highness really has good eyesight, this Shenwu-class battleship has just been added with a shake reduction keel, which is more stable for the ship's operation!" Even if you encounter a force 7 wind at sea, you can sail without danger! ”

(Note: The Tang Dynasty already had wind ratings, which were divided into eight levels.) ）

Hearing this, Li Cunhuan nodded, and asked, "Then what is a shake keel?" ”

When Zhao Chao heard this, his eyes lit up and he gushed endlessly: "The mystery is that under water, at the interface of the seventh and eighth sections of the port and left sides, there is a semicircular long log on the left and right, two feet and eight inches long, with a maximum thickness of three inches, and four inches and three minutes close to the hull plate......"

"Stop! Stop! Li Cunhuan couldn't be rude, and hurriedly interrupted Zhao Chao's dizzying professional introduction, and said with a wry smile: "Where does this king understand when you say this technical surname, but this king now roughly understands, that is, there is a wooden plank like wings on the left and right under the horizontal line, is it not a balanced battleship?" ”

"His Royal Highness is still smart, and he can be understood at once!" Zhao Chao complimented.

"Your Highness, look!" Yelu Abaoji on the side suddenly called Li Cunhuan and hurriedly greeted.

Li Cunhuan also picked up clairvoyance, but his binoculars were clearer and farther than Yelu Abaoji. I saw a spear shoot out, but this spear was not like an ordinary bed crossbow, and there was a string of straight lines that continued to elongate in mid-air.

Li Cunhuan took a closer look and found that not all Shenwu-class warships projected this spear, Shenwu A and Shenwu B were sandwiched left and right, and the two ships were similar to V-shaped, sandwiching the simulated enemy ship in the middle. Shenwu Bing is in the back, I don't know why he didn't attack it.

I saw that in just a moment, the three spears shot by Shenwu Jia and Shenwu B had already pierced into the sea ship of the simulated enemy, as if six iron chains were trapping the sea ship. The ships are still moving, but they are much slower.

Zhao Chao explained on the side: "The spear shot out has four barbs, and the rope is also soaked with tung oil, and the knife and gun can't be cut with one knife, even if you use the axe to chop with all your strength, it will take four times to break the rope." ”

At this time, Shenwu Bing made a beautiful turn and passed by the sea boat, when the two sides approached, several long bamboo poles stretched out, and it was estimated that there was an iron hook at the top of the bamboo pole, which steadily hooked the tail of the sea boat. At this time, the long iron plate on one side of Shenwu Yi fell violently, and the other end was like an eagle's beak, firmly hooking the enemy's shipside. More than a dozen soldiers in full gear quickly crossed the long iron plate.

Zhao Chao explained again. "There is a fixed gangplank on the left and right sides of the ship, made of hardwood, and then reported with iron sheets, which can be lowered or retracted. In fact, there are two other tactics, one is just too consuming fierce fire oil so there is no practice, that is, when two warships lock the enemy with special spears, the other throws fierce fire oil, no more. It only takes five rounds to turn a man into a fireship. The other is to ram the enemy with ramming. Moreover, the bed crossbow of the Shenwu-class battleship can shoot not only spears with ropes, but also spears without ropes, which is powerful. ”

Speaking of this, Han Mengyin immediately said with a flattering face: "Your Highness, are you adding a few Shenwu-class warships to the Lu Long Navy this year?" ”

When Li Cunhuan heard this, he burst out laughing. Pointing at Han Mengyin, he said with a smile: "This king said how did you find this king to come to the parade, it turned out that you wanted to buy a warship!" However, this Shenwu-class battleship is good. Add an order of 20 ships this year, and it is estimated that it may be used next year! ”

When Han Mengyin heard this, he said happily: "Your Highness! Do you want to fight Huainan Yang Xingmi or Wu Yue Qian Bi? ”

When Li Cunhuan heard this, he smiled but did not say anything. did not answer Han Mengyin's words.

Zhu Jin on the side couldn't help but be excited when he heard this, if he wanted to fight Yang Xingmi, wouldn't it mean that Li Cunhuan would attack Zhu Wen soon? Now in August, after the autumn harvest in September, isn't it time to move troops? When Zhu Jin thought of this, he immediately showed a fierce gaze, not only at Zhu Wen, but also at his soldiers. Xindao, no matter what, I have to train those guys to be able to go to the battlefield, otherwise His Highness will take me out to battle, and I won't do much if I bring fewer soldiers and horses.

Poor Guards and a group of recruits didn't know a hint from Li Cunhuan, causing them to usher in an unprecedented month and a half of darkness like hell.

Followed by the sea falcon ship with the largest base of Lulong's naval army, the sea falcon ship was not equipped with a bed crossbow, but a ballista was installed at the bow position, and there was no ramming angle, mainly relying on soldiers to engage in broadside combat and crossbow fire, but unlike ordinary sea ships, sea falcon ships can not only fight at sea, but also can fight like inland rivers, which is an all-weather warship.

Then there were new steamers, the steamwheel-class warships. The battleship needs eight people to step on the operation, and the front part of the battleship is a hook-like ramming angle, and the front end of the ship can be detached when the ship hits the enemy. At the moment, the front end is filled with flammable materials, which are usually ignited in advance, but can burn enemies in a matter of moments.

There are also ships that specialize in ramming, called the Swordfish class, and the battleship needs to be trampled by ten people. The front part of the battleship is wrapped with an iron plate, which is covered with copper skin, which is resistant to seawater corrosion, and can also be protected from enemy fire attacks, bows and crossbows and arrows. The ship has a half-man high female wall, which prevents the enemy from engaging in broadside battles. The bow of the ship is a sharp big saw, and the ships below 300 are basically killed in seconds. Even if it is a Shenwu-level two-thousand-year-old sea ship, there are still a lot of dangers. If you concentrate five or six Swordfish-class ships, the Shenwu-class battleships will also be more auspicious. The only regret is that it can't go too far to the sea, and the sea also requires the Xiaohai Kun-class battleship to be locked with iron cables to prevent it from being blown over by the wind and waves, and only break away from the iron cables during the battle.

However, it has dazzled Li Cunhuan and others, Li Cunhuan is okay, after all, he knows a little bit in his heart. Yelu Abaoji, Zhu Jin and others were dazzled, and they couldn't imagine that the water battle was so wonderful and skillful.

(To be continued)