Chapter 289 Tianjin Military Exercise (1)

Bohai Bay, Tanggu Salt Works, but a few days to build a high platform, at this time, behind the high platform on both sides crowded with the Spanish fleet to watch the military exercises of the Spanish fleet of scholars, gentry, Yin merchants and local people. Although it was only April, the sun was already a little scorching, but fortunately, it was windy on the beach, so it didn't feel very hot.

On the sea not far away, the Spanish fleet has already lined up, Kangxi has not yet arrived, and everyone knows that the show is not yet the beginning, and they have pointed to the large and small warships and whispered, such a huge Western fleet, the vast majority of people are seeing it for the first time, that is, they feel novel, and they are full of expectations for the next military exercise.

Many maritime merchants from the south had heard of the Spanish fleet's defeat of the Guangdong naval division in the first battle of the Wanshan Islands, and naturally they would not let go of this opportunity to show their knowledge, so they told the brilliant results of the Spanish fleet in that war.

Just when everyone was talking, suddenly heard a gong sound, followed by the soldiers of the brigade drove over, at a glance at this situation, everyone naturally knew that Kangxi had arrived, and immediately fell silent, and soon, a team of leading honor guards drove over, and immediately there were eunuchs shouting all the way: "The emperor has arrived, everyone is waiting to kneel to welcome!" ”

Immediately, the seaside knelt down, everyone bowed their heads, not daring to make the slightest move, in this case, the gentleman with experience in driving knew that the slightest mistake would cause endless trouble.

Kangxi led the kings, Baylor, Beizi, Gong, civil and military ministers to come slowly, along the way, the sound of long live was endless, ascending the high platform, Kangxi looked around, and saw that the gentry and people who took over were divided in an orderly manner, and there were navies to maintain order, and the high platform was guarded by guards and pro-military camps and other soldiers, and he was greatly satisfied, and went straight to the throne, and the accompanying princes and ministers of civil and military affairs sat down in turn.

After all the subordinates took their places, Kangxi said to Yinzhen with a smile: "The sun is poisonous, the gentry have been waiting for a long time, let's start." ”

"Son's Honor." Yinzhen bowed in response, and then hurriedly walked to the side of the high platform, and ordered loudly: "The fleet exercise begins!" ”

Immediately, there were flag-whispering soldiers waving the order flag.

When Yande received the order on the battleship, he immediately gave a loud order: "The exercise begins, hoist the sails!" ”

The huge sail was quickly raised, the huge battleship was like wearing a battle armor, and it was immediately majestic, and the whole fleet set sail slowly under the command of the former fleet commander Angel, and after a little exercise of the formation formation at sea, the fleet drew an arc, and the bow of the ship galloped straight to the high platform where Kangxi was, and when it stopped, all the battleships had been connected end to end, lined up in a battle line, and the gun doors on one side were also opened, revealing the muzzle of the black hole.

Kangxi and all the princes and ministers had almost never seen real Western warships, let alone naval battles in the Western Ocean, and they all raised the telescopes they had collected to take a closer look and look at the rows of black holes.

"Boom boom", the sound of the cannon like a muffled thunder rang out suddenly, like a thunderstorm in the clear sky, and someone was blowing up the thunder cannon in the stuffy jar, although it was already prepared, but the momentum of this thousand cannons was beyond everyone's expectations, although it was far away, it was still a shock to the eardrums of a group of people buzzing and painful, and everyone who was shocked trembled in their hearts, and many people were pale and trembled.

With the sound of cannons, large and small lead bullets whistled out, and suddenly an impermeable metal storm was formed, and the four main warships of the Tianjin Navy Division, which were used as target ships four hundred yards away, were hit with sawdust flying and riddled with holes, and the missing shells hit a dense column of water on the sea surface of about 1,000 yards, and everyone was shocked and amazed, a salvo of the Spanish fleet was so powerful that it was so terrifying, which they could not imagine before! ..., many people's eyes showed a look of horror, the naval battle was too terrifying, this is a land battle that is simply incomparable, before everyone could marvel, the rumbling cannon sound rang out again, and a dense rain of bullets visible to the naked eye flew out.

A group of princes who had never experienced and seen a naval battle, and the ministers of civil and military affairs were all pale, no one expected that the Spanish fleet would have such a terrifying power and momentum, looking at the four slowly sinking ships and the broken wooden planks floating on the face, they were all afraid for a while, fortunately there was a navy of the fourteenth elder brother, otherwise the naval division of the Qing Dynasty would be vulnerable in front of the Spanish fleet, and the fiasco of the Guangdong naval division was a living example.

The elder brothers have different expressions, a few neutral elder brothers are surprised and envious, the tenth elder brother is shouting loudly, with an excited face, the fifteenth and sixteenth two are happy, and the eighth is shocked, the old fourteen has such a powerful navy in his hands, and there is absolutely no problem in conquering Japan and the South Seas.

Seeing the missed cannonballs hitting a series of high water columns on the sea in the distance, Kangxi's face suddenly became gloomy, he had received a secret fold from several members of the Fujian Navy Division before leaving Beijing, and he had some understanding of the details of the Penghu naval battle, Yinzhen fought in Penghu, in order to stabilize his position and boost morale, he had always stood on the bow of the ship to personally command the shooting with the Spanish fleet, he knew, originally, he didn't care, at this time he saw that the Spanish fleet artillery salvo was so powerful, and couldn't help but glance at Yinzhen in fear, The old fourteen turned out to be so desperate on the battlefield!

Thinking of this, Kangxi said in a deep voice: "Yinzhen, it is reported that in the Battle of Penghu, you took the lead and stood on the bow of the ship to personally command the shooting against the Spanish fleet, but is there such a thing?" ”

Seeing that Kangxi's face was not good, Yinzhen knew that Kangxi was frightened by the artillery salvo of the Spanish fleet, and there were not so many warships shooting at that time, but he didn't dare to tell the difference, after all, Kangxi was worried about his safety, he hurriedly knelt down and said: "Back to the emperor Ama, the navy has just gone through the battle formation, and as soon as the battle is in chaos, the sons have no choice but to stand on the bow of the ship to stabilize the morale of the army and stimulate morale. ”

Although the princes, princes and military ministers were watching the military exercise, they were always paying attention to Kangxi's actions, and when they heard this conversation, they were all shocked, the fourteenth elder brother was actually standing at the bow of the ship and commanding the Spanish fleet? How much courage does that take? Thinking of the situation where the bullets fell like rain just now, everyone was full of emotion, and the fourteenth elder brother was really fateful.

After listening to Yinzhen's explanation, Kangxi still said with a calm face: "A navy, I lost the beginning, lost and fought again, fight a few more battles, and it will be honed, thousands of troops are easy to get, one will be hard to find, you, I can't afford to lose, I must think about everything in the future." ”

"The ministers know their mistakes, and they will not dare to worry Huang Ama again." Yinzhen's heart was warm, and he hurriedly replied.

A group of princes, princes Baylor, and ministers of civil and military affairs have turned the river and the sea in their hearts, Kangxi's words can be said to be heavy, it is precisely when the abolition of the prince and the establishment of the new prince are faced, does Kangxi's words have another deep meaning?

Lao Ba's heart is even more cold, what do you mean, you can't afford to lose? Has Kangxi already tacitly agreed in his heart that he is the old fourteen?

Kangxi looked at the sea, saw that the Spanish fleet was slowly withdrawing, and couldn't help but sigh secretly, the navy's tactics have completely changed, and the onboard battle has been completely eliminated, no wonder the Guangdong naval division will be so defeated, under such a dense artillery strike, there is no possibility of receiving the side of the melee at all! It was strange to be undefeated, and after a while, he asked: "What is the range of Spanish artillery?" ..., Yinzhen hurriedly bowed down and replied: "Back to Huang Ama, the range of a thirty-pounder cannon can reach more than two thousand yards, and a twelve-pound cannon can reach fifteen hundred yards, however, the hit rate is very low, and the Spanish fleet is still within four hundred yards as the effective range. ”

"What about the current artillery of the Navy?" Kangxi then asked.

"Between eight hundred yards and a thousand yards." Yinzhen said cautiously: "At present, the Qing Navy has an advantage in artillery, but it can't last for a few years, the Penghu War has spread, if it stagnates, in about five years, the Westerners will catch up and surpass us." ”

"Huh?" Kangxi was slightly surprised, "Why are you so sure?" ”

"Back to the Emperor Ama." Yinzhen bowed down and said: "Westerners are aggressive, and the people they rely on are warships, firearms, for warships and artillery, Western countries have been making unremitting improvements, from the warships and artillery of the Spanish fleet, it is not difficult to see how much progress they have made over the years, the current naval artillery improvement, is nothing more than the principle of rifled guns for artillery, and there is nothing unique, Westerners will know what the reason is when they hear it, and they will soon be able to imitate it."

In addition, the Westerners have far surpassed us in mathematics, physics, chemistry and other miscellaneous sciences, and they have begun to use these miscellaneous studies for the study of artillery and gunpowder, but we have been staggered in this regard, Erchen expects that in just a few decades, Westerners will surpass us, because we lack talents, miscellaneous professionals, the world's talented people are reading the Four Books and Five Classics, this is the most worrying place for Erchen. ”

As soon as Kangxi heard this, he knew that Yinzhen was going around in a circle to fight for Dai Zi and other craftsmen engaged in artillery, ironmaking, and shipbuilding, but the matter was too involved, and it could even be said that it was so big that it shook the country's capital, and he really hesitated, Yinzhen's words were indeed reasonable, if he hadn't taken Dai Zi from Liaodong to Shanghai and improved the artillery, just this small Spanish fleet would be enough to give him a headache, and after thinking for a while, he said: "Be prepared for danger in times of peace, although it is a cliché, but it is also the words of the old man to seek the country, Go back and write a detailed excerpt. ”

Hearing that Kangxi's tone was relaxed, Yinzhen was overjoyed, and hurriedly bowed down and said, "Erchen respects the order." ”