After finishing speaking, the cabinet minister told the comparison of the strength of the two naval divisions of the imperial court and the tiger and leopard army.

"Your Majesty, my lords...... Although the Imperial Navy had been defeated by the Haw Par Army two years earlier, it had lost more than 50 ships. However, compared with all the sailors of the imperial court, the sailors stationed in Tianjin back then cannot be called the main force of the sailors......"

"Therefore, the defeat and losses of two years ago did not reach the point of breaking the muscles and bones for the imperial court sailors......

"According to the latest statistics, all the naval warships of the imperial court combined, there are at least five hundred...... And the number of warships of the Haw Par Army Naval Division is only a hundred when it is full......"

"When intercepting the warships used by the Haw Par Army for smuggling, if the Haw Par Army sailors really dare to take the initiative to provoke. The imperial court can completely mobilize the main force of the naval division to fight a war of annihilation against the tiger and leopard army and naval division, and completely wipe them out on the sea......"

At this time, Emperor Chongzhen was directly moved. Facing the minister, he asked rhetorically with a stern face......

"In other words, if a naval battle breaks out between the two armies, it must be the imperial court that wins in the end, and there will be no accidents......"

"Yes, Your Majesty...... The old minister is willing to use his head to vouch for the final victory of the imperial court......"

The minister's affirmative answer was like a reassuring pill, directly eliminating the last bit of worry in Chongzhen's heart.

Then, at the instigation of the minister, Chongzhen, who had regained his self-confidence, decided without thinking about it: "In this case, I have decided to dispatch the main force of the sailors to intercept the Tiger and Leopard Army warships transporting smuggled salt...... In case of resistance, destroy it directly ......"

On the sea not far from the mouth of the Yangtze River. A huge warship with a displacement of more than a thousand tons. Riding the wind and waves. Slowly drive towards the mouth of the Yangtze River.

As for the provenance of this warship, there is no doubt that the fleet of the Bohai Sea Division of the Tiger and Leopard Army.

At this moment, this warship is transporting 200,000 catties of sea salt to the mouth of the Yangtze River for delivery.

As the warship got closer and closer to the mouth of the Yangtze River, the hundreds of soldiers on the warship became more and more nervous.

After all, the mouth of the Yangtze River is still in the area controlled by the imperial court...... One is not good. The entire warship is likely to be ambushed by the imperial navy......

I was really afraid of anything, just when the captain took all the officers of the warship to the bow of the ship and observed every move in the surrounding seas. The piercing alarm sounded directly on the lookout.

Then, the sound of the observation post reached their ears: "Enemy situation...... Three warships appeared in front of us, and they were rapidly surrounding us, and we were still five miles away......"

"Can you see the identity of the other party and the size of the warship...... the captain frowned, and subconsciously asked.

Didn't make the captain wait too long. The voice of the observation post reached the captain's ears again: "It's the imperial court sailor...... All three warships had a displacement of more than a thousand tons...... There is also a fortune ship that reaches 1,500 tons ......"

Hear here. If it is not clear about the intention of the imperial navy warship, then Gao Ming, the captain of the major, will be a hundred times.

Therefore, as soon as the report of the observation post was finished, Gao Ming said with a gloomy face: "The three warships of the imperial court are half-surrounding us, and their purpose is very obvious, if we can't capture us, we will destroy us......"

"I won't say much more...... I only tell you that before we go, the commander will tell us clearly...... In the event of an attack, we will resolutely counterattack and play the prestige of our Haw Par Army Naval Division......"

"Now, I order, all the officers and men on the ship are in place and ready for battle...... As soon as the three warships of the imperial navy are within the range of the naval guns, they will immediately fire at me...... In particular, the two main guns on the deck will strive to knock out the opponent's fortune ship with the largest displacement with one shot, so that the other side can have a good taste of the power of our new Haw Par Army......"

In order to save his head, and also to win the Haw Par Army Sailor. The cabinet ministers who once made a lot of nonsense in front of Emperor Chongzhen can be described as a hard work.

Among the several major sailors in the imperial court, as long as they could take the warships, they were all thrown over by him.

Then, a group of three warships cruised along the coast of the south of the Yangtze River to eliminate a Haw Par Army naval division warship that had entered the waters south of the Yangtze River.

Of course, when the imperial court concentrated all the main forces of the naval division, ready to deliver a fatal blow to the Haw Par Army. After a year of development, the Haw Par Army Naval Division, although there was not much increase in the number of warships. However, the quality of the warship has changed dramatically.

Among all the changes, there are two most obvious, and Wei Zheng directly advanced the development direction of the warships of later generations by more than a hundred years according to his own memory, and used them on the naval warships being built by the Haw Par Army......

On the surface, the warship in front of him is not much different from before......

Not really...... Because, many of the key parts of the warship in front of him, especially the keel of the warship, have been replaced without steel. Even if it can't be replaced all, it is wrapped with a layer of iron......

If it weren't for the limited steel production of the Haw Par Army, this warship that used a lot of steel would have been directly turned into an iron-hulled warship......

Of course, even if it does not really become an iron-hulled warship for later generations, the ability of this warship to withstand blows is more than twice as high......"

An ordinary warship of the same size, if it is hit by twenty flowering shells, will be destroyed even if it does not hit the ammunition depot. And the warship in front of him, as long as it did not hit the ammunition depot and withstood fifty flowering shells, there was no problem at all......

More importantly, the ammunition depot, which was filled with a large amount of gunpowder and flowering shells, was all wrapped in a thick layer of iron sheet for safety. Ordinary artillery shells do not threaten the safety of ammunition depots at all.

The stronger the ship became, the stronger the recoil of the artillery fire that the ship could withstand.

In this way, the caliber of naval guns that can be equipped with a warship can become larger.

Compared to the artillery used by the army, the caliber of the naval gun is thicker and the barrel has become longer......

As a result, the smallest caliber naval guns on the warship surpassed the cannons used by the army in terms of power and range.

The power and range of the naval guns increased, coupled with Wei Zheng's understanding of later navies.

Wei Zheng, who was clear about the direction of the future development of the navy, directly set the direction of the development and training of the naval division on the artillery bombardment.

Not only that, but because the warship was stronger, two naval guns of the largest caliber were specially arranged on the bow deck of the warship.

Because of the wide field of vision, in naval battles, in addition to the direct rear blocked by the sails, these two main naval guns can provide strong naval artillery fire support for the other three directions at any time......

As for the other naval guns, they were still arranged on both sides of the second deck of the warship because of the influence of the sails of the warship......

After the captain's clever military order was spread on the warship, hundreds of soldiers who had not fought for more than a year rushed to their combat positions as if they had suddenly been beaten with chicken blood.

As a result, the warship, which had been calm just a moment ago, immediately became lively. (To be continued......)