At the beginning of February, the ice in the Bohai Sea had not yet melted, but this did not affect the navigation of the land and water camps.

Because the Bohai Sea could not sail in winter, the water and land battalion moved part of it to Changshan Island in Dengzhou, so that it could continue training and sailing in the East China Sea, which was not frozen. The current Dengzhou can be said to be the territory of the water and land camp, as long as you don't enter Dengzhou City.

Since Dong Qinghai became the commander of the Dengzhou battalion, a large number of officers brought from the water and land battalions were immediately placed, and after half a year of integration, today's Dengzhou battalion is completely different from other guards in the Ming Dynasty. The first is to dismantle the soldiers, nine out of ten of the original guards could not meet the standards in Dong Qinghai's heart, so they were simply demolished and rebuilt. And the soldiers who were laid off turned into the tuntian soldiers in the guardhouse. When Dong Qinghai first came, although the Dengzhou battalion had been vacated and all the officers inside had been dismissed, there were still many soldiers in the Dengzhou battalion. Even some people looked at Dong Qinghai as young, and it was not the locals who wanted to give him a dismount. Unexpectedly, Dong Qinghai came directly to an assessment, and all those who did not meet the standards were discharged and returned to the field, and the actual number of more than 1,300 soldiers registered was only in the early 800s, but in the end, there were less than 100 people left by Dong Qinghai. Such a drastic action was not stopped by someone who could be on the stage, so everyone couldn't help but pay attention to Dong Qinghai, a person who was parachuted in, this Dengzhou camp was very evil.

The Dengzhou camp was nominally owned by a lot of land, so Dong Qinghai ordered to organize people belonging to the Weisho to open up the wasteland and farm together to learn from the experience of Huangzhuang. In this way, a large amount of labor is digested. The population under the jurisdiction of the Dengzhou battalion was as high as 110,000, but it could not even support 1,300 people. The soldiers who were retired used to live a hard life, but now they don't have to go to the battlefield, as long as they can work, they have a guaranteed salary of two taels of silver every month, where can they find such a good thing? So the entire Dengzhou camp changed so steadily. As for those who did not work well, they were all dismissed in less than a month, and they could only stay at home and live on three thousand silver a month. Among the 110,000 people, Dong Qinghai re-recruited more than 800 people, making the Dengzhou camp return to the number of 1,000 people, these people are all pink newcomers, young, good health, courage, bloody, and most importantly, have not been polluted, and are easy to manage. Regardless of the perception of Dong Qinghai by the people below, whether good or bad, Dong Qinghai has already established himself here, and the Dengzhou camp has also been firmly branded as a water and land battalion.

After half a year of training, the sailors of the land and water battalion finally became familiar with the new sailing ship and began their first voyage on the first day of February. During this period of time, the sailors of the land and water battalions have suffered hardships, especially the sail operators, who can be said to have lived a miserable life, almost being beaten and scolded every day, and some people have not even eaten and slept directly when they return to the barracks, which shows how hard the training is.

The reason for this was the new warship used for training, which later became known as the Galen galleon. Galen sailed from the 16th to the 18th centuries when it dominated the Age of Discovery, and its superiority is self-evident. Zhu Houwei built such a new type of warship based on the Galen sailing ship that later cut off the superstructure, combined with the shipbuilding technology of the Ming Dynasty.

It is Zhu Yuan who went to sea to train and lead the team today, and since Wu Yiheng was transferred to the capital, the big leader of the Tianjin water and land battalion has become Zhu Yuan. The ship that went to sea today is the largest sea vessel to enter the water in the second half of last year, with a displacement of 800 tons. Zhu Houzhao gave him a name, called the mighty general, Zhu Houwei complained a lot, because the name is not very good, and a cricket and a fighting raised by Zhu Houzhao are called this name.

The ship is 50 meters long and 16 meters wide, with a total of three decks. The use of watertight chamber technology unique to the East adds safety to the ship's long voyage, and the bottom deck and keel are also thicker and more resistant to waves. The endurance of the vessel is very strong, and it can sail for three months with a crew of three hundred. There were four masts, three of which were eighteen meters high, and then there were the sails that the sailors hated.

The sails of the ships are the soft sails used, that is, the sails of the West. Unlike the Daming sail, he has no bracing, and the cost of the soft sail is higher, like the sail of this mighty general, the cost is nearly eight thousand taels of silver, which is not counting the labor. Not only that, but more people are needed to operate than hardsails, and more than 40 sail operators are needed. Although it has such shortcomings, Zhu Houwei still chose it, because if you want to really sail in the future, soft sail is the most suitable. The most important point is that hardsails cannot be made large and cannot be used on large boats. Although there have been treasure ships before, according to the investigation and the boatwrights of the Longjiang Shipyard, the speed of the treasure ship is not fast. As a battleship, speed is very important, otherwise it will be an embarrassing situation that you can't escape and can't catch up.

After half a year of testing, this new sailboat can basically maintain a speed of eight knots, and the fastest can exceed ten knots. In addition to the speed of the ship, the most important link is the firepower. On the two decks of the ship, there were thirty-six guns on the left and right sides, and on the top deck there were also bow and stern guns. In addition to the ear ears, crosshairs, gun carriages and other equipment that come with each gun, each gun is also fully equipped. Not only does it make the cannon fire more accurate, but it also reduces the recoil of the cannon fire, reducing the damage the ship takes.

The guns on the ship are divided into two types, one is the shock cannon, made of iron, two meters and a half long, with a caliber of 12.7 centimeters, weighing 340 kilograms, an effective firing range of 2,500 meters, and a maximum firing range of 4,000 meters. The weight of the shells could reach 5.97 kg. The other is called the Pioneer Cannon, which is also made of all-iron with a length of 2.3 meters, a caliber of 11.7 centimeters, a weight of 300 kilograms, an effective firing range of 2,000 meters, a maximum firing range of 3,500 meters, and a shell weight of 5.44 kilograms. Although it cannot be compared with the artillery of later generations, in this era, it is undoubtedly the best in China and the West, making it difficult for others to compare.

This time, the destination was Ongjin-gun, which was on the edge of Lee's Joseon, and Lee's navy was mainly concentrated in Gangwon Province, so as long as it did not land, it would not cause tension in Korea.

The first voyage is not too far away, starting from Changshan Island to reach Wengjin County is less than 500 kilometers, and at the speed of a mighty general, it can be reached in two days.

Even after half a year of training, it is still inevitable to make mistakes when going to sea on a new warship, and as soon as the ship left the port, there was a constant shouting and scolding from the ship, "Ma San, who told you to lower the sails, and you don't know what kind of wind is blowing now?" How do you usually practice? "Jiang Chun, which sail did I let you put it?" What do you have in your head that I don't understand? Pig brains? ”

The noisy sound on the ship did not affect Zhu Yuan's good mood, on the upper deck of the ship, the position of the stern is the captain's room, which is above the deck, and the three sides of the room are also equipped with glass, providing Zhu Yuan with a good view.

The ship's adjutant was called Ma Sheng, who was about the same age as Zhu Yuan, and was the first batch of soldiers to come in from the land and water battalion. He is not tall and is only about 1.65 meters, his complexion is slightly dark, and he has obvious marks on his skin due to the sea breeze blowing for a long time. Serving Zhu Yuan a cup of tea, Zhu Yuan took it, took a sip, and continued to smile at the busy scene on the deck in front. Ma Sheng looked at the captain's room and saw that there were only the two of them, so he asked softly, "Head, how big are the sailors of our land and water battalion going to be, there are so many ships launched this year and next year, and the trained sailors are still recruiting, how many people do we need?" ”

Zhu Yuan turned his head and glanced at her, and said indifferently, "You don't care what you do so much, anyway, as long as you do things well, you can be the captain sooner or later." "Zhu Yuan's impression of Ma Sheng is not bad or bad, he is relatively smart, outgoing, and seems to be able to get along with anyone, and sometimes he will be cautious and look for shortcuts. However, he can also endure hardships and is very self-motivated. When he first entered the land and water battalion, he could not read a single word, but later he not only had a good combat level, but also made great progress in cultural classes. After arriving in Tianjin, he began to learn navigation knowledge, and he learned very quickly, and then he became an adjutant.

The weather in February was still very cold, and there were no birds on the sea, and there were no fish on the sea, but the clear blue sky and pure white clouds still made Zhu Yuan feel comfortable. After the initial hectic set, the wind did not change much, and the sail driver did not need to be too busy. Near noon the next day, the lookout above the mast suddenly shouted, "See land, see land." Zhu Yuan walked out of the captain's room, nodded and smiled, this voyage was almost half completed.

The lookout did not come down, but continued to observe, and suddenly, he shouted again, "Captain, there is a fleet of ships in the southeast, with three ships, one large, two small, and the distance is about five nautical miles. As soon as the words fell, everyone on the deck began to become serious. Zhu Yuan asked calmly, "What kind of ship is it, but it belongs to North Korea?" The lookout immediately picked up the single-hole telescope again and said, "It's too far away to see." ”

Zhu Yuan pondered for a few seconds, but still said calmly: "All the staff are ready for battle." "Yes," everyone replied loudly, and then began to take their places, and the deck, which had been a little crowded and cluttered, became organized. Regardless of whether the enemy came or not, Zhu Yuan was still very satisfied with the crew's reaction.

Zhu Yuan looked at Ma Sheng beside him and asked, "What do you think is the matter with the boat there?" Ma Sheng thought for a moment, "It's either a North Korean ship or a smuggling ship." It is unlikely that they will be coars. Zhu Yuan came to be interested, "How can it not be a wolf?" Ma Sheng said, "At this time, the people are not rich, what can they grab." And to the east, in addition to the barren Ongjin County, further east is Incheon, although the North Korean naval division is not strong, but there is Seoul nearby, there are many armies around, if the Japanese go ashore, maybe they don't grab anything and there is a danger of being encircled and suppressed. It's not a good landing spot. Zhu Yuan nodded, stood at the bow of the ship with a telescope, and looked at the position of the fleet in the distance.