At that moment, someone asked: "I heard that this time I went to Fujian to fight with Eighteen Zhi, has Cao Touer fought with the people of Eighteen Zhi before?"

"When I followed the chief to fight Eighteen Zhi at the mouth of the Pearl River, you guys didn't even know which way the gate of Victory Fort was opened" Lao Cao couldn't help but show off his qualifications again: "The first battle I fought after I joined the militia was in Guangdong, and I thought that Liu Xiang was also a hegemon on the coast of Guangdong at the beginning, and even the Daming Sailors didn't dare to take advantage of it, and they relied on their strength to attack Wanshan Port with a fleet. Hehe, Lao Cao, it was only at that time that I saw the power of my own artillery for the first time, almost half of the fleet brought by Liu Xiang was left in Wanshan Port, and the rest of the ships were bitten by us all the way to Chaozhou Mansion, and it was a big fate for him to escape that time."

"The battle of Wanshan Port has been more than three years ago, and now that there are majestic cannonboats, it should be easier to fight Eighteen Zhi," someone asked very loudly.

"Of course," Lao Cao said, reaching into his pocket and taking out his cigarette roll, and someone next to him immediately took out a match for him. Lao Cao took two sips, and then continued: "There are a lot of cannons on this Blue Shark, but it's not even half of the majestic class, you think about how fierce the majestic class was when it opened fire, but it was a pity that the navy couldn't participate in the battle of the red-haired people in Fujian last year. ”

"It would be nice if I could serve on a majestic gunboat in the future," the sailors all showed envy in their eyes. The "Blue Shark" often acts as a frigate for the main battleship of the "Majesty Class" in the fleet during training on weekdays, so these sailors have seen the majesty of the "Majesty Class" more than once at close range, and the huge hull, tall mast, dense gunboats, and mysterious power propulsion devices on board are all reasons for the sailors to yearn for it. And if you can serve on the flagships of the various fleets of the Navy, it is also a very face-saving thing to say it.

"There must be a chance, but you have to work hard yourself" Lao Cao spat out a puff of smoke and said: "As long as you have more than one year of military experience, you can sign up for the selection." You guys are also coming soon, and there is less than half a year to qualify. But if you can make a difference in this mission, then maybe dingdian novel, os; There is also a chance to get special approval from the leaders. ”

After Lao Cao finished speaking, the sailors around him were all shining in their eyes when they heard it, and they secretly calculated the length of their service in their hearts. The requirements for sailors on flagships are much higher than those of ordinary warships, and the limit is not only the number of years of enlistment, but also professional skills, background and so on. Only those who are loyal to the Executive Committee and have strong professional skills have the opportunity to be selected to serve on the flagship.

"Cao Tou'er, the flag is on the flagship, let's slow down and wait for the troop carrier behind. "Someone came and reported.

"Don't stand stupidly, do things" Lao Cao stood up, rolled the unfinished half of the cigarette on the mast, extinguished it, put it back in his coat pocket, and then began to instruct the sailors to adjust the sails.

Due to the relatively large scale of the fleet on this trip, and many of the ships during this trip were traditional Fuchuan and Guang ships, and their speed was slower than that of the Haihan warships, so the entire fleet could only slow down the speed of its progress. It was four days before the expeditionary force arrived at Zhennan Harbor in the southern part of Hong Kong Island.

At this time, Zhennan Port had been completely put under military control, civilian institutions had been completely evacuated from here, and all civilian ships were prohibited from sailing into the bay between Ap Lei Chau and Hong Kong Island. After the fleet docks at Zhennan Port, it will get a short rest for the day. The army and navy units that had already been mobilized here will join the fleet and march eastward together.

On 7 April, the flotilla, which had been expanded to sixty-two vessels, pulled anchor from the port of Zhennan, rounded Wong Jute Kok south, and then maintained a distance of about twenty nautical miles from the coast and headed northeast. The sea ships encountered along the way all looked sideways at this huge fleet of ships flying red and blue Haihan flags, and gave way one after another. Fortunately, these maritime merchants also knew that the Haihan had never plundered civilians, so even if they were shocked, no one would flee for their lives out of fear.

On April 11, the vanguard of the fleet sailed through Nanao Island and entered the waters of Fujian. The Fujian Navy Division also sent five warships here to welcome and guide the arrival of the Haihan fleet.

Since the Executive Committee decided to adjust its strategy towards Shibazhi in the hope of exerting pressure on it to abandon Penghu on its own initiative through various means, the large force did not choose the night time when it entered the waters near Kinmen, as it had done for several fleets, but drove into Weitou Bay during the day, without shying away from proclaiming force.

Xu Xinsu, the general soldier of Fujian, who had rushed to Kinmen Island to meet the Haihan fleet, and the civil and military officials of Zhangquan Prefecture could not help but be dumbfounded when they saw this huge fleet. The prefect of Zhangzhou said in a low voice: "This official finally understands why this Haihan insisted on asking the wharf on Kinmen Island to be expanded again and again, and it turned out that they would send so many warships."

The prefect of Quanzhou next to him also responded: "It seems that the Haihan people are the elite this time, and the overall situation can be determined."

The three main warships of the "majestic class" sent by Haihan to Fujian to participate in the war were all in this huge fleet, and although some local Ming officials had seen the "prestige signal" that visited Penghu with the embassy last year, three such large warships appeared at the same time this time, and the visual impact was also greatly greater than the previous one. Some of the generals who watched the battle with Xu Xinsu last year still remember how the "Wei Signal" at that time single-handedly defeated the fleet deployed by Shibazhi on Nanri Island. Now there were three of these invincible gunboats in their minds at once, and just seeing these ships was enough to make them full of confidence in the victory of this battle.

In addition to the three flagships, there are a total of 30 combat ships of two smaller classes, and the "exploration-class" warships, which are regarded as the treasures of the Fujian Navy Division, are only responsible for reconnaissance and escort tasks on the periphery of the Haihan fleet, which makes a group of officers of the Fujian Navy Division look at it very covetously.

"My lord, General Yan of the Haihan People's Regiment has arrived. ”

After Xu Xinsu heard the report of his subordinates, he got up and greeted: "Everyone, General Yan of Haihan has landed on the shore, please go with this official to greet him." ”

Haihan's attention to this expedition is something that Xu Xinsu can personally feel. This time, not only did a huge combat fleet and a large army unit be sent from Sanya, but even the leaders of the Haihan militia personally went to Fujian, and Xu Xinsu did not dare to put on a show, so he specially brought the civil and military officials and cronies of the two prefectures to Kinmen Island to greet the arrival of Yan Chujie and the Haihan troops.

"I haven't seen you for a long time, General Yan is still so majestic, and I've worked hard along the way," Xu Xinsu said loudly while still far away.

"Lord Xu is polite, everyone is working for Daming, and the hard work or something will be seen," Yan Chujie responded with a smile. In this kind of public occasion, he knows very well what kind of attitude he should adopt in order to make these Ming officials get by on face.

Sure enough, after Xu Xinsu heard this, the expression on his face became much brighter: "Thanks to the people of Haihan who understand the righteousness and are willing to serve the country, the officials and the people of Fujian are very grateful."

"Lord Xu loves the people like a son, and takes care of our Haihan family, so of course we will not be ambiguous when we can contribute. Besides, these eighteen Zhi are indeed hateful, and destroying them is also doing the right thing for heaven, Lord Xu is promoted, we get rich, and we have always been happy to do it. Yan Chujie is also a time-tested mouth cannon, and he has been in a high position in the past few years, so he will not fall behind when communicating with an old fritter like Xu Xinsu.

The welcome ceremony on the pier and the reception banquet that followed were just routine links, and the real discussion of business had to wait until the next day's combat preparation meeting.

In fact, the two sides have communicated many times before this, and Wang Tom came to Fujian in advance in order to coordinate the operational arrangements between the two armies. However, because of the clues recently revealed by Shibazhi, Haihan's strategy has been adjusted, which also requires further communication with the Fujian side, otherwise one wants to fight and the other wants to release, it will be easy to have problems.

"What is the latest trend of Eighteen Zhi, can it be determined that they are really ready to give up Penghu and flee" Tao Donglai quickly introduced the topic after the meeting began: "After determining this dian, we can discuss the next response measures." ”

"According to the information sent back two days ago, the eighteen zhi have not yet strengthened the Penghu base, and in addition, a small fleet has recently returned to Penghu from other places, and it is said that this fleet went to Ryukyu. Xu Jiaqi responded: "We suspect that Eighteen Zhi has the intention of moving to the Ryukyus, but there is no conclusive evidence at present. In addition, the news spread in Zhejiang has also played a role, and the governor of Zhejiang has issued a document a few days ago, asking whether the news that Shibazhi will attack the coastal areas of Zhejiang in the near future is true. ”

"Presumably, Lord Xu has already given Zhejiang a satisfactory answer," Yan Chujie looked at Xu Xinsu and asked.

Xu Xinsu bowed slightly: "This matter is naturally true, even the pirate confessions of where they attacked first and then attacked were sent to Zhejiang, I believe that after a few days, the coastal islands of Zhejiang will inevitably have a lot of chickens and dogs." ”

Yan Chujie smiled slightly, even if Xu Xinsu didn't say it in detail, he could roughly imagine what kind of action the Zhejiang government would take after receiving such a reply. And this kind of news is estimated to soon reach the ears of the spies planted by Eighteen Zhi in the local area, and then feed back to Zheng Zhilong. Even if Zheng Zhilong originally had the idea of going to the coastal area of Zhejiang to occupy the island, he would probably reconsider it after knowing the movement there.

Xu Xinsu continued: "The day before yesterday, you proposed to start a war in a hurry, and the chance of success in encircling and suppressing Shibazhi is not great, and you intend to drive it out of Penghu, and this official thinks it is also feasible. However, this Zheng Zhilong has always been cunning, and there is no conclusive evidence to prove that Eighteen Zhi will take the initiative to give up Penghu, maybe he will be tricky and want to lead us to send troops early. I don't know what General Yan thinks."

Yan Chujie responded: "Of course, we also thought of this possibility, so we still transferred troops according to the original battle plan. Regardless of whether Eighteen Zhi escapes or not, we are ready for a big battle. If we escape, we will take driving as our main strategy, and if we do not escape, we will destroy their ships as much as possible and cut off their escape routes. ”

Xu Xinsu said: "What are you worried about now?"

"The main thing is the adaptation and logistical replenishment of the troops. Yan Chujie explained: "Among the militia troops who came to Fujian to participate in the war this time, there are not many soldiers from Fujian. ”

Xu Xinsu said: "If this kind of situation happens, it will indeed affect the combat power. In addition, the rice, vegetables, and vegetables supplied to you, including the newly built reservoir on Kinmen Island, are all inspected by special personnel, so as to ensure that there is no problem in eating and drinking. ”

"Lord Xu has a heart" Yan Chujie thanked first, and then continued: "As for logistics and supply, we originally hoped to use three months to transport the combat materials to the Kinmen base in advance, but due to the emergency situation in Penghu, the war materials we have transported are only about half of the plan. This means that if the fighting lasts longer or the intensity of the fighting exceeds the original plan, then we may lead to a truce due to insufficient ammunition or other supplies. ”

"General Wang has also mentioned this matter to this official before, and this official has a solution, I don't know if General Yan can hear it," Xu Xinsu responded.

"Lord Xu, please speak. ”

"Within two days, this officer can mobilize a fleet of 100 sea-going ships in Zhangquan and Quanzhou, and on the same day he will go south to Sanya to transport the materials needed for your army's battle. Xu Xinsu threw out his plan: "If one trip cannot be completed, then within ten days after the departure of this fleet, this official can also organize another fleet of the same size to go south." Perhaps the ten days between the two fleets of ships transporting supplies between the two places should solve the problem that your army fears."

This solution can only be described as "simple and crude", but Yan Chujie has to admit that Xu Xinsu's proposal can completely solve the supply problem that Haihan is worried about, at least in terms of transportation capacity. And the size of a hundred sea ships is not needed at all, it is enough to cut it by half. If the Haihan militia has not been able to take Penghu by the time the supplies are exhausted, then don't fight it anymore as soon as possible, and the militia can't afford to lose this person