(The night before was added, what a loss.) I have a bad cold, and I have been dizzy for the past two days, so I can't stand everyone)

In late March, Fan Wenlan of Northern Yan was ordered to patrol Dengzhou and inspect the military equipment; On 28 March, the Jinghai Division's No. 1 newly organized task force, headed by a majestic Lin Zhengjun-class battleship, three Jinhai-class warships, and 12 frigates, sailed into Haizhou Harbor for the first time in its entirety and was displayed in front of the world.

In addition to the 12 new-style warships in the center, there is also an old-style warship fleet on both wings to protect the flanks, and the entire fleet has a total of 32 old and new warships and supply ships, with a full number of 8,000 soldiers, auxiliaries and sailors.

Although the new warships were moored in Haizhou Port many times before, when the new warships entered the port, the gun ports were closed with decks, and the whole looked like a merchant ship with one or two extra cabins; can't get closer, and it's actually difficult to arouse enough vigilance in Yanhu's secret room.

At this time, the new warships sailed into Haizhou Port in the form of formation, showing in front of the world, the new warships are still in the core position of the entire warship formation, and people who have a little heart can see that they are actually the main warships of the Huaidong Army.

In the past, the main fleet of the Jinghai Division rarely sailed into the main port of Haizhou in an orderly manner, and more often was stationed at the military port of Dongxilian Island, which was more than ten miles away.

On the day of 28 March, the Jinghai Navy Division fleet sailed into the main port of Haizhou in its entirety, and anyone with a little vision could guess that this was about to leave the port for a big fight, not to mention that there were new warships that had never been seen before; For a time, countless people poured into the wharf to watch the grand scene of the Jinghai Division's reorganization and departure from the port.

On the core wharf of the main port of Haizhou, there are many guards, blocking the crowd of onlookers from the periphery.

Yang Shi, deputy commander of the Jinghai Sea Division and concurrently leading the newly organized special task force division, will personally lead the first new fleet to fight the first battle.

Lin Lian, Song Fu, Gao Zongting, Sun Jingtang, and others sat on the high platform at the back, watching the entire fleet enter the harbor and conduct the final review of the first newly formed task force leaving the port for the battlefield.

The arrival of the fleet in an orderly and slow manner requires patience.

Lin Jian was not a little impatient, and looked sideways at Shi Fengtai, the supervisor of the Liandao Crossbow Field, who was standing a little behind, and asked, "Yan Yu used Wu Mancheng to make a flame-spraying crossbow, and he only broke through the leather armor twenty steps; When the Ordnance Supervisor first made the fire crossbow, he could also break the armor twenty steps away? ”

The detailed news of Beiyan's trial production of the Fuhuo crossbow was also quickly transmitted to Haizhou from the inner line of Yanjing a little earlier, and it became a fresh topic in Haizhou in the past two days.

"Master Song led us to build a bronze crossbow for the first time, and we could only shoot the enemy at twenty or thirty paces," Shi Fengtai said, "Wu Mancheng was called the Three Youths of Liaodong along with Fan Wenlan and Chen Fu in his early years, and he was able to know the secret of the fire crossbow from just a few words, and he tried to make a fire crossbow in March, which is indeed worthy of his reputation......"

Gao Zongting, Wu Qi, Ge Cunxin and others were not very nervous after learning the news of Beiyan's trial production of flame-spraying crossbows.

The gap to be crossed between a flame-spraying crossbow with a range of twenty or thirty paces and a scatter-fired crossbow with a range of 400 to 600 meters and a solid projectile range of 1,000 to 3,000 meters is too great.

Seven years ago, the Ordnance Superintendent first tried to produce a prototype of the fire crossbow, and the shooting distance reached 30 paces.

In addition to playing some role in defending the fortress, the fire crossbow that shoots at a distance of only 30 paces is far from being able to replace the position of the 100-step infantry bow and arm crossbow, the 150-step crossbow, and the 250-400 step bed crossbow on the battlefield of head-to-head confrontation.

It can be said that the flame spray drama in the palace of the former dynasty almost explained the principle of the fire crossbow, and the prototype of the fire crossbow was successfully trial-produced as early as seven or eight years ago.

However, even after the successful trial production of the fire crossbow, the resources invested by the military supervision and armament over the years were no less than fighting a battle of Jingxiang, which was nothing more than the development of more powerful gunpowder, the manufacture of chambers that can withstand stronger explosion pressure, the continuous improvement of the processing accuracy of chambers and projectiles, and the development of supporting aiming and field marching technology - the development of this series of technologies all depends on the overall development of Huaidong's technology system, which has been piled up with tens of thousands of people and more than ten years.

The Huaidong Army even preliminarily developed the tactics of ambushing fires and crossbows and water in the early stage of high-intensity and high-density drills, and trained the first batch of artillery commanders and qualified gunners.

The telescope was equipped to the brigade camp in advance, which can be said to be a preparation for the installation of ambush fire crossbows; In just six or seven years, the ignition device has updated three generations of technology, from the early fire rods, fire doors, fire ropes, until the equipment that uses flint to strike fire at this time, which can be regarded as barely satisfactory.

Even on the priority development of single-person ambush fire crossbows (muskets) and heavy ambush fire crossbows (artillery), there were disagreements within the Huaidong Army, and in the end, Lin Tie waved his hand and decided to give priority to the development of artillery.

The four-pound ambush fire crossbow, the bore weighs only 400 catties, equipped with a tractor, dragged by mules and horses, and can well follow the infantry brigade into the battlefield with complex terrain. The four-pound fire crossbow can fire 60 lead pellets at a time, and the barrage formed can effectively kill people and horses 300 meters away, at least in the early stage of limited resources, the development of artillery can significantly improve the combat power of the Huaidong Army.

Today, the Ordnance Supervision Artillery Factory can cast up to 80 light and heavy guns per month; In the past year, with the early production of artillery, there have been more than 1,200 light and heavy artillery pieces installed by the Huaidong Navy Division and the Army; Among them, two new task forces were equipped with 480 light and heavy artillery pieces.

In comparison, the Denghai Town Division is only equipped with three crossbow battalions, and there are less than 200 light and heavy artillery, which is already considered to be a small firepower; However, the seven town divisions of the Fengli and Huaiyang armies are only equipped with a total of 200 artillery pieces at present, and they only need to rely mainly on traditional combat weapons for combat.

At this time, hearing that Yan Yu had successfully tried to produce a flame-spraying crossbow that could shoot twenty paces of people, how could Gao Zongting and the others be indifferent?

"The Central Plains Dingkou is hundreds of millions, even if it is one in a thousand, we can also select thousands of talents, the key is that our brains must be open, not conservative and stubborn," Lin Jian smiled faintly, and said to Shi Fengtai, "The Northern Expedition is imminent, and the fire crossbow should be able to show its might, but you can't slack off, and strive to make the fire rifle also be equipped with the camp before the Western Expedition......" Speaking of this, Lin Jian frowned, and he felt that the words of the fire crossbow and the fire musket were very awkward, discussed with Gao Zongting and others: "This musket also sounds awkward, is it just called a musket; Can an ambush fire crossbow also be renamed artillery? ”

In the world, "cannon" is used as a "fire" solution, and Song Fu, Gao Zongting and others heard Lin Lian say the word "artillery", which is actually even more awkward. However, there is really nothing to argue about this kind of trivial matter, it is nothing more than to set a standard for the world to be called well, Lin Jian said so, and everyone praised it.

Lin Jian said to Shi Fengtai again: "You must hurry up the matter of muskets, otherwise the logistics of the western expedition will be under great pressure." ”

It is not an unpredictable thing to recover Yanjing and flee the remnants of Yanhu to the northwest, and it may not even be possible to annihilate Chen Zhihu's troops in the Weiping Plain, and the military headquarters must take into account the situation of going west and north, in the vast grasslands and deserts, and will face a severe logistical test at that time.

Only after the musket is loaded, the armor of the infantry brigade can be lightened, which can greatly reduce the pressure on logistics - for thousands of years, except for a few prosperous dynasties in the Central Plains, the vast majority of regimes are difficult to exercise effective control over the vast northwest area, and severe logistics problems are definitely one of the most critical factors.

At this time, Yang Shi led the staff officers and officers to march to the review stand in unison, and shouted an order: "The newly formed first task force of the Jinghai Division, the first task force is completely lined up in the port, please review the chief public, and instruct the military order to leave the port to fight......

Lin Jian replied in a loud voice: "I order the newly formed first task force of the Jinghai Division to leave Hong Kong to fight in front of the enemy, and hope that all the officers and men will fight bravely and serve the country......

Yang Shi turned to the staff generals, pulled out his command knife, and shouted in a deep voice: "Fight bravely and serve the country!" The staff officers and the surrounding soldiers all shouted in unison, and soon the warships outside the harbor also let out a loud whistle in response.

The crowd watching on the periphery of the pier heard the battle order issued, although they did not know exactly where this fleet would run, but it was undoubtedly the prelude to the war, and the people with transparent eyes immediately cheered: "The king division has gone on a northern expedition, and the king has a northern expedition ......

The pre-war review was very brief, Lin Jian signed the battle order on the spot, Yang Shi led the staff officers to board the flagship in a small boat, and then played the banner of requesting to leave the port and set sail, Lin Jian breathed a sigh of relief, and smiled with the people around him: "The battle of the Northern Expedition has just begun, isn't it a little deserted?" ”

Song Fu, Gao Zongting and the others all smiled.

In order to carry out the Northern Expedition, Lin Jian only summoned Song Fu, Sun Jingtang and others from Jiangning to Haizhou and temporarily incorporated them into the Northern Command, and there was no general mobilization for the Northern Expedition at all.

In the past, the continuous reinforcement of the Changhuai Army by the military headquarters only made the situation on the Hehuai defense line tense, but it was still difficult for the hinterland of Jianghuai to feel the tense atmosphere of the impending war -- of course, after the newly formed special task force First Fleet left Haizhou, Lin Jian quickly signed martial law, and from 1 April, he began to impose an indefinite curfew and martial law on Jiangning, Haizhou, Xuzhou, Shouzhou, and other cities, which really made the situation in the interior suddenly tense.

At the same time, many of the mobilizations signed earlier by Lin Jian also took effect on 1 April, and the garrisons in Haizhou, Luzhou, Shouzhou, Suizhou, and other places will formally form 16 newly formed brigades from 1 April, and they will be deployed to Nanyang, Xuzhou, Yizhou, Haizhou, and other close enemy defense lines to assist the main force in the battle. At the same time, the cantonments of Yijiang, Huangzhou, Jiangzhou, Yuanzhou, Shangrao, Chongzhou, Mingzhou, Jin'an, Quanzhou, and Yizhou formally formed 24 reserve brigades on 1 April, opening the prelude to the Northern Expedition as if they were being uprooted from the ground.

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Shaocheng County of Goryeo is located at the south mouth of the Han River, less than 100 miles away from Hanyang City, the capital of Goryeo, and guards the mouth of the Han River in the north, which is the veritable gateway to Hanyang.

Shaocheng is located in the heart of Hangang Bay, which is actually the city of Incheon in South Korea in later generations. In the sea area between the islands and the mainland, the reefs are intricate, the water is shallow and the difference between the sea and the sea is large. At low tide, large areas of the beach are exposed, and the navigable waterways are low-tide areas, making it easy for ships with deep drafts and unfamiliar waterways to run aground.

Although the Haidong Camp Army had the advantage of warships and was invincible in the East China Sea, it was not conducive to the complex hydrological situation along the Goryeo coast in the early days, and repeatedly broke through the Goryeo naval division in the coastal waters, and suffered a lot of losses, so that in the later stage, the Haidong Camp Army mainly blockaded the coastal areas of Goryeo, and rarely entered the island and reef area to engage in hand-to-hand combat with the Goryeo naval division, and landing raids and disturbances were rare.

Therefore, due to the unique hydrological and geographical conditions and the gateway situation, Shaocheng became the main port of the Goryeo naval division in the west of Hanyang City, protecting Hanyang and the Han River estuary from the attack of the Huaidong naval division.

In the seventh year of the Mandate of Heaven, Ye Ji Baishi led his troops to support Goryeo, and he was mainly stationed in Shaocheng.

In addition to shielding Hanyang from the western flank from the attack of the Haiyang Army and the Haidong Battalion to which Huaidong belonged, Ye Ji Baishi also intended to further control the Goryeo naval division in his own hands, even if something happened to Yanjing in the future, he would rush back to Yanjing from Shaocheng Haizhou much faster than by land.

On April 2, Shaocheng, Goryeo, did not yet feel the tense atmosphere of the approaching war.

Yanjing will be the secretary of the envoy to Shaocheng with a flame-spraying crossbow, and Ye Ji Baishi and the Goryeo Pinghuai Shui Master will urge the ministers to go to the school field in the west of the city to watch the flame-spraying crossbow shooting.

Yezier's envoy as a division officer went to the military exercises to test the flame-spraying crossbow, which was to ask the armies to be wary of the Huaidong Army's new weapons that might be newly equipped with battalion generals' fire-ambushing crossbows-watching the flame-spraying crossbows within twenty or thirty paces, firing scattered bullets and beating several human and horse puppets beyond recognition, urging the ministers and other Goryeo generals to smack their lips and shout in surprise: "This crossbow seems to have a short range, but it will have a miraculous effect when used to defend the city or water battles......

The urging minister can be called a famous general-level figure in Goryeo, and the Haidong marching camp army has repeatedly suffered losses in the coastal sea to fight with the Goryeo naval division, which is folded in the hands of the urging minister - the urging minister realized the gap between the Goryeo naval division and Huaidong on the warship, so he tried to avoid fighting in the open sea, but used the complex terrain of the offshore islands and reefs to lure the Huaidong naval division warships into the side to fight, and repeatedly succeeded.

The several large warships captured by Huaidong for the Goryeo naval division on the battlefield of Goryeo in the early days were also folded in the hands of the urging ministers, and they also supported the name of the famous sailors of the urging ministers in Goryeo.

Ye Ji Baishi thought to himself that he still had the ability to urge the ministers, this flame-spraying crossbow seemed to have a short range, but firing more than ten or twenty scattered grains at a time, the deck of the warship was relatively narrow, and seven or eight flame-spraying crossbows were fired at the same time, which could cover all the decks of the enemy ship when they were on the side, which was much more efficient than a team of crossbowmen shooting arrows at close range, after all, on a warship, even if there were more crossbowmen, they could not be lined up.

Thinking of this, Ye Ji Baishi regretted it a little. The principle of the flame crossbow is very simple, if the Goryeo people are asked to learn from the past, and the Goryeo sailors are asked to increase their power through this, I am afraid that it will be difficult to restrain it in the future.

Of course, Ye Ji Baishi didn't care much about the flame-spraying crossbow used in foot combat, the shooting distance of twenty or thirty steps was too short, although the projectile had a certain piercing power on the leather armor, but it could not penetrate the iron armor, nor could it shoot through the big shield, and the distance of twenty or thirty steps, the armor soldier with the big shield rushed up, and the flame-holding crossbow soldier would be killed.

"With a flame-spraying crossbow, you must first occupy the favorable terrain," Ye Ji Baishi didn't want to ask the ministers to specialize in the front, and also commented, "Therefore, there are cities and water battles that are useful, but foot battles are clumsy." Shao Cheng is vigilant here, not to lure the enemy out, and to tell them that they can't play any role......"

Urging the ministers frowned slightly, Goryeo regarded Northern Yan as the suzerain, Yeji Baishi was the eldest son of the Northern Yan Emperor, he led 20,000 horse infantry troops to help, Goryeo Prime Minister Zuo Jing quickly appointed him to take charge of the military affairs of the western front of Goryeo, and urged the ministers and other Goryeo generals to be subject to his control.

Ye Ji Baishi was known for his big temper in Yanjing, and he would not always have a good face for Ye Ji Luorong, Ye Ji Duodi and other princes and important ministers, how could he have a good temper for the ministers and other ministers of the country? However, Ye Ji Baishi is in power, especially in Shaocheng, the 20,000 horse infantry troops are loyal to Ye Ji Baishi's elite of the Fuqu Department, and the ministers and others can only accept him forbearantly.

Beiyan tried to produce a flame-spraying crossbow in three months, and Huaidong made a fire-spraying crossbow for three years, and the level of fire-spraying crossbow and flame-spraying crossbow was so high that it was naturally not the same.

The Urging Ministers were thinking about how the flame-spraying crossbow could be used in water warfare, but he was full of thoughts about the situation of the overboard battle, but he did not know that the appearance of artillery would completely revolutionize the tactics of naval warfare - at this time, the alarm bell rang abruptly for a long time, and the urgent alarm bell hit Ye Ji Baishi and the Urging Minister, causing them to have a palpitation in their hearts, but they saw wolf smoke rising from the direction of Hezu Island in the west, indicating that a large number of enemy ships were approaching from the western flank.

The urging minister and Ye Ji Baishi looked at each other in shock: there was no major movement in the naval division of the Haidong camp army in Asan, where did the large number of enemy ships come from? Could it be that the main fleet of the Jinghai Division in Haizhou is coming?