On February 2, this extremely auspicious day, the high-spirited Zheng Sen came to Jining, the base camp of the Ming army.

The day when the navy will go south is coming, and the deputy generals Wu Yun, Yu Dahu, Weng Zhiqi and Zheng Sen's uncle and nephew are gathered together, it doesn't matter if they don't know each other, they will naturally be familiar with how to divide labor and how to coordinate the army.

Wu Yun's task seems to be the most arduous, he has to lead the infantry to land and take Shanhaiguan at all costs, while Yu Dahu, Weng Zhiqi and Zheng Sen are relatively easy, the three of them can cooperate to transport soldiers and supplies at sea, and the two-day sea voyage is not difficult. Somewhat surprisingly, Zhou Huchen added a cavalry team, and the guerrilla general Zhang Dengke would also lead 5,000 cavalry to accompany him.

On February 16 of the second year of Hongguang, the canal was completely opened. Jining, the city of Caoyun, is in a state of hustle and bustle, and with the addition of a fleet from Huai'an, the huge fleet that had been silent for a winter awakens. The operation began, and in order to hide the information as much as possible, the banks of the canal began to be blocked by soldiers.

Zheng Sen was now in the same boat as his fourth uncle, Zhenhai General Zheng Hongkui, while the other Fujian naval army, led by the general soldier Zheng Cai, remained in Jining. This is Zheng Sen's first time with the army, although Zheng Zhilong has a wide range of soldiers at sea, and Zheng Sen has also seen the fleet go to sea in Fujian many times, but this is the first time he has seen a huge fleet of such a scale in his life. Thousands of huge warships set sail slowly, and the scale is astonishing and pleasing to the eye. This trip is full of hope, as for the battle, Zheng Sen is looking forward to it too much, and he, the son of the dragon on the sea, finally has the opportunity to make a contribution.

The only way for thousands of giant boats to rush to the sea in Jining is to first go to Jinan, and then take the Yellow River eastward to enter the East China Sea (Bohai Sea was formerly known as the East China Sea). Due to the successive droughts and the dry season, the river was very shallow, so in order to prevent the ships from running aground, the speed of the whole fleet was not too fast. Despite this, some sections of the river were so shallow that soldiers had to be sent to dredge the water, which was still somewhat biting

On the 22nd of February, the huge fleet finally saw the sea, and entered the sea with huge boats at the mouth of the river. The surface of the sea soon formed a beautiful long array of giant ships.

"Fourth uncle, what kind of ship is that ahead? It's beautiful, but I've never seen a boat like this. Zheng Sen pointed to the outermost ships in front of him, which were too long, and they felt a little weird.

Zheng Hongkui had already seen those super-long boats, which were a little weird, but in fact, he had never seen such boats. Since Zheng Sen asked, Zheng Hongkui could only answer vaguely: "It seems to be a Canton ship, but it is longer than a Canton ship, and the sails on it are somewhat similar to the sails of the Xiyi people." It seems that there are artillery on the deck, then it should be artillery, there are too many guns on this ship! This ship should be a gunboat, a very fast gunboat, it seems that this kind of gunboat has good combat power! ”

"That should be my brother Binghan's gunboat, I have heard him mention that this kind of gunboat is extremely fast, and the firepower is strong, even the large gunboat of the Xiyi people is not an opponent, Binghan said that it is difficult to build. There are not many such ships. Zheng Sen heard Zhou Huchen say that he had a new type of gunboat, and it was an extremely powerful gunboat, it seemed that these too narrow ships in front of him should be.

"More powerful than the large gunboats of the Xiyi?" Zheng Hongkui was a little unconvinced, although these long gunboats looked like they should be fast. The firepower is also full, but it is still too small compared to the giant gunboats of the Xiyi people, and the strong ships and guns are a concept, Zheng Hongkui does not believe this statement.

Zheng Sen hesitated slightly. He should know that the large gunboats of the Xiyi people are indeed very powerful, and his father Zheng Zhilong has been imitating these Xiyi people's shipbuilding methods, and has also purchased and introduced some. In addition to the huge advantage of ships and numbers. In fact, Zheng Zhilong was able to dominate the sea and occupy a favorable geographical position, and the Xiyi people were very powerful, which has to be admitted. But at the same time, the number of Xiyi people, the number of gunboats, and the long distance determined that they were not Zheng Zhilong's opponents.

Although there are doubts, Zheng Sen is still full of confidence in Zhou Huchen: "My Huzi brother is a hero of the world, and the characters who can gallop the Central Plains will never say anything, since Xiaohu said so, it should be right, although this gunboat looks not too big, but fighting at sea does not rely on speed and the power of artillery?" I think this gunboat is definitely on par with the large gunboats of the Bisiyi! The combat effectiveness will even surpass those barbarians. ”

"That's what Fusong called Dongchangbo! It seems that I can get the opportunity to make meritorious contributions, and the relationship is good! "Fu Song is Zheng Sen's nickname, as his uncle Zheng Hongkui can call Zheng Sen a nickname, but Zheng Sen also calls Zhou Huchen's nickname Zheng Hongkui feels a little incredible. Who is Zhou Huchen? When the first horse of the dynasty, the earl, and the invincible commander of the Northern Expedition commander in the world, the titles on his head were all admired by people, and his nephew actually called him so.

"Brothers with all the same heart! Although it is not a friend of eight worships, but it is better than a friend of eight worships, you can talk about everything, my little tiger brother is worth a friend, a dignified husband! The nephew didn't intersect with Xiaohu because of his high position, but because he could talk about it, because he could have a heart-to-heart relationship. Zheng Sen is very proud, and it also shows that his relationship with Zhou Huchen is very iron, can he not be proud to be able to become a brother with the world-famous Zhou Huchen?

"What a good thing! Being Zhou Dashuai's brother is Fusong's blessing, if this surprise attack on Shanhaiguan is completed, we will definitely be famous all over the world! ”

Zheng Sen has been smart since he was a child, it doesn't matter how much is true or how false his words are, the important thing is that Zheng Hongkui knows that he has this relationship with Zhou Huchen, and with this relationship, Fujian's navy can be taken care of, and he can get benefits by virtue of Zhou Huchen's power. This time the dispatch of troops was originally a kind of helplessness, and it was not in vain to get some military merits.

"Since the fourth uncle is also interested in Xiaohu's gunboat, how about we go up and have a look?" Zheng Sen was very curious about Zhou Huchen's gunboat, because Zhou Huchen's statement was too tempting, and such a gunboat must be visited.

"Then wave the flag, and our uncle and nephew will go to see Dongchangbo's gunboat." Not long after going to sea, there is still a long way to go to the goal, as the commander of the army at sea, Zheng Hongkui is also full of curiosity about this new gunboat, and also wants to take the opportunity to see what Zhou Huchen's new gunboat looks like

Shanhaiguan was in the territory of Yongping Province, which belonged to Shandong Province at this time, and the best landing place near Yongping Province was near Qinhuangdao (not today's Qinhuangdao City). Qinhuangdao is named after Qin Shi Huang, the first emperor of China, who visited here in 215 BC and sent people into the sea to seek immortals.

There is a lonely mountain in the south of Shanhaiguan, which is independent of the sea, surrounded by water, and is commonly called Qinhuangdao......

Qinhuangdao City is located in the hilly area and piedmont plain area in the eastern section of Yanshan Mountains, with high terrain in the north and low in the south, forming the northern mountainous area, low mountain hilly area, intermountain basin area, alluvial plain area, and coastal area.

Qinhuangdao is called a port city, but unfortunately, there is no decent port in Qinhuangdao now, and it is not a port city, and this coastal area is of course the landing site. Due to the many reefs along the coast, everyone is not familiar with the geography near Qinhuangdao, so the choice of this landing site is full of danger.

Countless ship shadows slowly show their shadows in front of the coastline, the giant ship is very small in the contrast of the boundless ocean, the blue sky and the long coastline, but this small liliang will bring a new pattern and a new era once it lands this time.

This is the era of vast land and sparse population, there are no boats or people on the seaside near Qinhuangdao, several villages are far away from the seaside, and there are people who can be seen faintly in the clairmill mirror at the edge of the village.

It is not the era of coastal defense, and for the people of this era, the northern sea is not the focus of defense, especially when the Qing army is extremely lacking.

Zheng Hongkui put down the clairvoyant mirror in his hand, and with his own experience, he stretched out his hand and pointed to a huge white sandy beach: "It is estimated that there is no reef here, but the sea water is not deep enough, so it is better to let the ship run aground and land in this area!" (To be continued......)