PS: The second update is here! Ask for collections, ask for recommendation tickets and dream tickets!

"Ladies and gentlemen, the Flying Fish Army's army has now expanded to 8 infantry battalions! In addition, the army will continue to expand its strength, expanding the total strength to about 12 infantry battalions! When the time comes, we will have the strength to unify the whole of Mindanao! At the same time, in a month's time, the army will launch further encirclement and suppression of the indigenous people of Mindanao to ensure the safety of the Chinese in the entire Mindanao! Long Yufei announced to everyone at the meeting of the senior management of Flying Fish!

"Command, expand to 12 infantry battalions, plus the artillery battalion to be established, then the total strength of the Flying Fish Army will reach tens of thousands! Isn't that too much? Minister of Political Affairs Li Decheng said with a frown. There are only 70,000 or 80,000 Chinese in the entire island of Mindanao, and although most of them have joined the Flying Fish Company, Long Yufei's plan to expand the army still makes people feel that this is simply a reckless force.

"12 infantry battalions plus an artillery battalion, in fact, not much! Now we have exterminated the indigenous people of northern Mindanao, but this is only a small part of the indigenous people of Mindanao. In the hinterland of central Mindanao, there are still many indigenous tribes, and we need more troops to completely eradicate these indigenous people. In addition, the Maguindanao Sultanate and Buayan Sultanate in the south, and the Sulu Sultanate in the west, will be our next targets, which requires us to ensure strong military strength. As for the problem that too many troops will lead to a shortage of labor, I think, this is not a problem at all! As we exterminate more and more indigenous tribes, we acquire more and more slaves. According to statistics, there are now more than 50,000 slaves owned by the Flying Fish Company, and we use slaves on a large scale whether it is mining, farming, or road construction. As the battle continues, we'll also get more slaves! Therefore, the problem of labor shortage will definitely not arise! Long Yufei said resolutely.

For Long Yufei's statement, everyone agreed. From the current point of view, the flying fish company is indeed still developing rapidly. Although the number of troops is also increasing, as Long Yufei said, with more and more slaves, the Flying Fish Company will not have a labor shortage.

"Since everyone has no objections, the next phase of the Exocet's operation will start in a month! This time, we will completely destroy the indigenous people of Mindanao. Long Yufei said. He was convinced that when the total strength of the Exoces Army was expanded to 12 infantry battalions, it would already have the strength to wipe out the indigenous forces of the entire Mindanao, and the unification of the whole of Mindanao would no longer be delusional, and it would very likely be achieved in the next one to two years.

"Yes, Commander, the Flying Fish Army will ensure the completion of this combat operation and completely exterminate the natives!" Niu Meng, the commander of the First Brigade of the Flying Fish Army, replied. Now, all of the Exocets are under the command of the First Brigade. However, after the final completion of the expansion, Long Yufei planned to divide it into two brigades, each with six infantry battalions and one artillery battalion, plus the troops directly under the brigade headquarters, the total strength of each brigade was about 6,000 people.

"Next, I want to make an important point! There is no doubt that the Flying Fish Army is now the most powerful in Mindanao, and even in the entire South Seas region, it is definitely second to none. But in terms of the Navy, we are much, much worse. Therefore, in the future, we will increase our investment in the navy. A truly powerful navy will be built! Long Yufei said.

"Are you going to build a navy? I agree! There are many islands in the South Seas, and without a strong navy, it will not work at all! Minister of State Lee Tak Sung was the first to stand up in support. As an old pirate, he was full of affection for the navy. Many old people on Flying Fish Island also stubbornly believe that the foundation of Flying Fish Island is still on the sea. Even though the Exocet's army has grown to its current size, they still believe that this is the real manhood to dominate the sea!

"Commander, I also support the creation of a navy! There are many people in the Flying Fish Army who know how to steer ships, and if the navy needs it, I can go to the navy too! Niu Meng, the commander of the First Brigade, also jumped out. Although he is now the number two in the Exocet, he is still a pirate at heart, still yearning to cross the sea, and still very nostalgic for the days when the wind and rain came and went.

"More on that later! The most important thing for us now is to build the warships that the Navy needs! Without warships, everything is in vain! The shipyard of the Flying Fish company needs to be further expanded in order to be able to produce warships! Long Yufei said.

"Commander, we haven't built warships, and we don't have the relevant skills, I'm afraid it will be very difficult!" Liu Mingde said with some worry!

"It doesn't matter, I've already designed a warship that can be built with our existing conditions! Mindanao has vast forests with many trees that can be used to build sea boats. As for the workers who build warships, on the one hand, we can train and train ourselves, and on the other hand, we can also recruit them from other places, not as good as Manila, there are many Chinese shipyards! Long Yufei said.

"A warship designed by the commander? That's great, let's open our eyes first! Niu Meng said excitedly.

Afterwards, Long Yufei unfolded his design drawings on the table in the conference room. Everyone immediately gathered around, and when they saw the simple and smooth warship on the drawings, they couldn't help but let out a sigh of admiration. Although it is not certain how effective this warship is, this warship is definitely beautiful.

Long Yufei introduced to everyone: "This warship, I named it the 'Shark-class' cruiser. The 'Shark class' cruiser is 64 meters long, 6.2 meters wide, has a draft of 3.2 meters and a displacement of 1,200 tons. The battleship has three main masts, and the bow of the ship is designed with flying scissors, which helps to reduce the drag of the battleship when sailing. Theoretically, the maximum speed of the battleship could reach more than 14 knots when the wind was going well. A big cut beyond the current Western warships. The armament of the battleship mainly consisted of two 105-mm naval guns in the bow, two 105-mm naval guns in the stern, and four 75-mm naval guns on each side! This allowed the ship to hit 8 cannons when firing from both sides, and 105mm guns when pursuing or retreating! ”

"Commander, this 'shark-class' cruiser is good-looking, and its displacement is not small, but the guns on board are not too few! In terms of displacement, this is already equivalent to a fourth-class battleship of the Western Navy, and compared with a third-class battleship, it is not much different. But the Western battleships of the third rank had a total of 64 guns, and the battleships of the fourth rank also had more than 50 guns. The 'Shark-class' cruiser only has a total of 12 guns, and even a sixth-tier battleship can't catch up! Niu Meng asked.

"Compared to the number of artillery, or even the number of warships, we can never compare with the Western Navy! The only thing we can rely on is the performance of the battleship and the artillery! The Shark-class cruisers carry a small number of guns, which makes the ships much faster, far more than the ships of the Western Navy, and we can escape with the advantage of speed, even if we are not their opponents. In addition, our naval guns are more powerful than those of Western navies. For example, the battleships of the third rank of the British Navy were generally armed with 74 guns, including 28 32-pounder, 28 18-pounder and 18 9-pounder. However, these guns were breech-loading guns with a range of up to three thousand meters, and when attacking warships on the sea, they used spherical solid shells. And our 75-mm naval guns and 105-mm naval guns will have a maximum range of 6 kilometers, and the effective range will also be more than 3,000 meters. Cannonballs filled with a lot of gunpowder are also far more powerful than their solid shells! As long as we can control the combat distance to about 3,000 meters, relying on the high speed, we can send the British Navy's third-class battleships to the bottom of the sea almost unscathed! Long Yufei explained!

Long Yufei's explanation made everyone feel very reasonable. To be exact, such a tactic is a bit helpless. Rely on the speed of the battleship and the range of the guns to fight the enemy where it is out of reach. If you encounter too many enemies, you can slip away at high speed. Such a tactic is enough to make any enemy commander collapse. However, this is also the right tactic for the pirates.

"I think the 'Shark-class' cruiser designed by the control is very good. The number of warships and artillery we fight is always no match for the Westerners, and we have to find a way from other aspects! Zhao Yi, Minister of Logistics of the Flying Fish Army, said.

Subsequently, other senior executives of Feiyu Company also expressed their approval of Long Yufei's design. In fact, most of the high-level officials don't know much about the Navy's warships, but listening to Long Yufei's explanation, it seems to make sense, so they naturally won't object!

"Well, the construction of the 'Shark-class' cruiser, start as soon as possible! First of all, two ships will be built, and I hope to be able to complete them in half a year. Among all the Chinese in Flying Fish City, those who know how to build ships must come to the captain and participate in the construction of warships. Once experience has been gained, more 'Shark-class' cruisers will be built in the future. It is tentatively estimated that we will have at least 12 'Shark-class' cruisers before we can have the power to protect ourselves! If the Western powers are to be defeated, this number needs to be doubled! Long Yufei said.

In fact, the 'Shark-class' cruiser, a wind-powered sail battleship, was not unappreciated by Long Yufei. He hoped that in the future, the main naval force of the Exocet Army would be the kind of ironclad ships that were clad in iron armor, had thick gun muzzles, and were powered by steam engines! As for the battleship, I don't dare to think about it yet!