coastal landing, amphibious assault; sailed into the Yangtze River, or threatened Caoyun, or rendezvous with the Thirteen Families, and attacked Huguang. If the Marines are strong enough, they can even make even bigger moves in the North. For example, Shandong Yuqi, who has been in secret contact for a long time, can vigorously support, and the beacon of the uprising will deal a heavy blow to the Qing court.

Naval divisions, marines, under the strategy of pulling the north and fighting in the south, are becoming more and more important. Of course, if the Zheng family can abandon their selfishness and send troops to help the war, the shape of the war will be more optimistic. At least, Geng Jingzhong of Fujian could not resist the two-sided attack of the Ming army and the Zheng family.

The sunlight was a little dazzling, interrupting Zhu Yongxing's thoughts, and he casually took out a pair of sunglasses and put them on. The sea breeze is blowing, the seabirds are flying in the air, the blue sky is white clouds, the waves are undulating, if you don't have so much thought, it is very comfortable to lie down with a big umbrella on the deck.

It's a pity - Zhu Yongxing smiled slightly bitterly, looked at the scenery on the deck for a while, and then got up and walked into the cabin. After sitting on the table, Zhu Yongxing took off his sunglasses and took out a copy of the article to review it.

The government has been on the right track, which has made Zhu Yongxing relaxed, just listening to reports, checking important matters, has become a real leader, and a big leader.

The victory of the Eastern Crusade was a victory of material support, and in order to support the fighting of the Eastern Crusade, other troops had basically stopped issuing muskets, bullets, artillery, and ammunition. Although firearms are sharp, the consumption is also quite staggering, and relying on the current military industry, it can only barely ensure the continuous supply of a major campaign. In other words, the Ming army did not yet have the material base to attack from all sides, which had nothing to do with the number of troops.

The recovery of Guangdong will be greatly expanded in terms of manpower, material resources, finance, and taxation, but how long will it take to recover, and how much strength will be enhanced. Zhu Yongxing can only make a rough estimate based on previous numbers. In any case, victory is victory, and the arrival of the two vast and half means that the gap in strength between the Ming and Qing dynasties has been further shortened.

These guys, when they start fighting, they don't know how to save me. Zhu Yongxing looked at the number report on the front line and couldn't help but grin. It was now the sixth day of the end of the Battle of Xinhui. There is still a fortified city to overcome, and I don't know how much ammunition it will consume.

This is the characteristic of hot weapon warfare, if you replace it with broadswords and spears, of course, food and grass are still the top priority, and other materials will be greatly reduced. The logistical pressures also include the heavy weight of transportation. The Eastern Crusade could rely mostly on sea routes, and if it were to fight in the interior, I am afraid that it would face great difficulties.

According to the division method of the army in later generations, it can be roughly divided into cold weapons, mixed cold and hot weapons, hot weapons, mules and horses, semi-mules and horses, and motorized...... At present, the nature of the Ming army should be in the stage between mixing hot and cold weapons to an army with hot weapons. How easy is it to make the transition to mules and horses?

When it comes to mules and horses, it is not done by adding more mules and horses to the army. You must know that the People's Liberation Army (PLA) has gone through nearly 30 years of process from "on foot" to "mule and horse" in its entirety. Therefore, Zhu Yongxing's goal for the Ming army was to make the Ming army half mule and half mule and horse, that is, to make heavy weapons and materials rely on animal power to transport as much as possible, and the soldiers were still on foot. The cavalry units that should be attached to them were also reduced to a minimum, and could only serve as scouts and heralds.

It is this most rudimentary "mule-horseization". The Ming army could not achieve it immediately, financial resources were on the one hand, and how to gather enough mules and horses was a big difficulty. If all the people's mules and horses are concentrated, the efficiency of farming will inevitably decrease, and grain production will not be able to meet civilian and military needs. So. All that was left was the purchase of Tibetan and Mongolian horses, plus the Tibetan and Mongolian horses that were traded in the tea and horse market.

At the end of the day, it's back to finance and money. As long as you have money, you can buy what you don't have, and you can expand the scale of production.

Buy horses. Build docks, immigrate to Sichuan, build more factories, and expand the army...... Everywhere they reached out for money. Even if the sea trade is thriving, even if the treasury bonds and grain bonds are issued, even if Zhu Yongxing does his best, this day is also going by tightly.

After thinking about it for a long time, Zhu Yongxing put pen to paper and approved the full amount of funds for Sichuan immigration and army expansion. Thinking about it again, he made a revision in the amount of the additional Yazhou Arsenal. You can't become a fat man by eating in one bite, you can make ammunition, and you can make guns and cannons later!

The hatch knocked softly, Zhu Yongxing answered, and Duan Zhiying, the captain of the "Sea Dragon", walked in, and asked Zhu Yongxing if he wanted to rest on the shore, and he would soon arrive at Guangzhou Bay (now Zhanjiang). Carrying Zhu Yongxing, a noble prince, the fleet was not fast, and it was close to the coastline, trying to ensure safety first.

Zhu Yongxing groaned for a while, and ordered the fleet to continue moving, he is not so delicate, since he is not seasick, then hurry up and reach Guangzhou as much as possible!

Duan Zhiying passed the order, and was called into the cabin by Zhu Yongxing to answer his inquiry.

"In this naval battle, both the British and the French sent warships to help in the battle, in terms of tactics, what do you think of the South China Sea Fleet, or you personally?" Zhu Yongxing and Duan Zhiying are old acquaintances, and when they see each other for such a long time, they feel relieved to see that Duan Zhiying has become mature and stable, and even think of the beautiful Bai girl - Duan Wan'er.

Duan Zhiying sat on the stool respectfully, the original hairy boy had already understood the sophistication of human feelings, and after considering the wording, he said slowly: "According to the humble position, the British are more active in fighting than the French, and their ship handling skills and shooting skills are also better than the French. Because of this, the two are equipped with different artillery and have different tactics. ”

At sea, of course, the French can't do the British, Zhu Yongxing nodded, agreed with this judgment, and said with a smile: "Don't be restrained, just say whatever you want, be detailed." ”

Duan Zhiying thought for a while and said: "The British warships are equipped with more long guns, and they have an advantage in range, relying on ship handling skills and shooting skills, they seem to prefer to attack the enemy from a long distance. That is, always keeping a distance from enemy ships, they can hit the enemy, but the enemy often does not hurt them. For example, the French warships were equipped with the most cannons, which were more powerful than long guns, but they had to be closer to be effective. ”

Long range, low power; The range is short and powerful. The nature of artillery determines the tactical style of naval warfare, and it is really difficult to say which is better or worse. And. The tactics of the British demanded great skill and shooting skills, and they were also very ammunition-intensive. According to the artillery technology of the time, the ship was on the move, and it was not easy to hit from a distance.

After a pause, Duan Zhiying saw that Zhu Yongxing was thoughtful, so he continued: "The Xiyi ship is huge. There are many artillery, but there is also a way to restrain it. Just like the king of Yanping County, he fought more and attacked it with less, didn't he defeat the Dutch Navy? ”

Zhu Yongxing shook his head with a smile and said, "It's not the Dutch Navy, it's the Dutch East India Company, and it's only three or four ships." What about the Dutch Navy, the number of ships is not yet known. But the number of artillery pieces in possession is estimated at more than 10,000 pieces. ”

Duan Zhiying's mouth opened wide and repeated in disbelief: "Wanmen? This, how many ships do you have to have? ”

Zhu Yongxing smiled bitterly and did not answer directly. 1,000-ton ships, warships with more than 100 guns, 10,000 guns is still a very conservative number, which shows the huge size of the Xiyi Navy. In the First Anglo-Dutch War seven or eight years ago, almost 20,000 to 30,000 sailors were involved in each naval battle. 6000-8000 cannons. In just 15 months, from May 1652 to August 1653, the fleets of both sides fought as many battles as all the world's seas combined.

The gap is indeed there. But now is not the time to think about this, as long as Duan Zhiying and other admirals understand that the development of the navy has a long way to go, do not be blindly optimistic, and do not be complacent because of the victory in World War I.

"Xiyi has a strong navy and wants to come all the way to Asia. It's still not enough. Zhu Yongxing said slowly: "At present, we still have to focus on the civil war, the manufacture of ships should be fast, and for the time being, we must mainly meet the needs of the domestic war." If you talk about the largest, a hundred-ton battleship is enough; If you want to meet the river warfare, it should be less than 50 tons or smaller. It was also enough to defeat the Qing army. The key is to build more and build quickly. ”

River Warfare? Duan Zhiying withdrew his astonishment at the Xiyi Navy, pondered Zhu Yongxing's words, and asked tentatively: "Your Highness, are you going to establish the Yangtze River Naval Division?" ”

Zhu Yongxing smiled and nodded, appreciating Duan Zhiying's quick response, "The Yangtze River Water Division, plus the thirteen families, should be able to contain a large number of Qing troops and not be able to go south to participate in the war, right?" If the navy moves to the northern coast, our army's operations in the south will be smoother. ”

It seems that a major expansion of the water division is just around the corner. Duan Zhiying's thoughts began to fly, what if he was transferred to the Yangtze River Water Division?

Duan Zhiying left, Zhu Yongxing thought about it for a while, and finally ruthlessly made a revision on the allocation of funds for the construction of the dock.

In order to make naval warships in the era of sails durable, the most important thing is to use sufficiently dry wood, and the moisture in the wood should not exceed 20%, which often requires proper storage of wood for several years to dry. It takes at least three years, ideally six years, to build a ship in this way.

However, in the event of such an emergency as wartime, only under-dried timber and poor-quality timber could be used for shipbuilding, so that a ship could be built quickly. However, once the hull structure is closed, the wood that is not dry enough will gradually corrode, and the hull will be eroded by seawater for a long time, often exposed to storms, and the structural frame will easily loosen. Therefore, it is necessary to dock the ship on the dock regularly for overhaul, otherwise the loosening and corrosion may not be able to withstand the test of the storm, and the life of the whole ship will be reduced.

If the ship is built well, and with regular maintenance, it can easily survive 50 years. Therefore, it is essential for a fleet to have a dry dock for the regular maintenance of its own warships, and a dry dock for regular maintenance below the waterline can maintain a strong reserve fleet. If there is no dry dock, repairing a boat requires towing it off the surface or tilting it to one side on the water, which can only be used on smaller boats and is very dangerous.

Good shipbuilding and regular maintenance can extend the service life of a warship, which is important for a navy that wants to remain strong. Although this money is not a small amount, Zhu Yongxing is still ruthless and gives instructions to pay it.

…………… (To be continued......)