As the most advanced and most powerful main warship of Haihan at present, the "Majesty class" plays a mainstay role in any existing fleet of Haihan. However, due to the long construction period of this large warship and the use of the steam propulsion system first, the daily operation and maintenance have high requirements for logistics, and not every stronghold of Haihan can deploy "Majestic-class" warships.

In the military zone of the Penghu Magong Port, a special pier has been built in advance for the arrival of the ship. Unlike other docks where ships docked, the docks here were equipped with large transport devices for rapid refueling and fresh water for warships, which could fill the ship's tanks for fresh water and coal in less than two hours. There are also six mechanics who are tasked with repairing and maintaining the ship's steam power system when the ship is not at sea.

Due to the huge difference between the traverser and the naturalized people in terms of culture and knowledge, it is extremely difficult to train these mechanics in this era, and it can be said that all of them can be regarded as the treasures of the Ministry of Industry and the Ministry of Shipping.

The arrival of this main warship also symbolizes that the naval units stationed in the Penghu-Taiwan region have finally formed a complete fleet formation. If this ship can arrive more than half a month in advance, and it is still in time to make its debut in the Battle of Taipei, the powerful ship-borne artillery fire can also make it easier for the Haihan Army to attack Jilong Harbor Sheliao Island.

After completing the establishment of the fleet, the Military Commission also specially transferred a cadre to take command, that is, Shi Diwen, who had been an envoy to Fujian in 1631. At that time, Shi Diwen, as a military attache of the mission, accompanied Ning Qi to Zhangzhou to meet Xu Xinsu and other high-ranking Fujian officials, and as a result, Shibazhi instigated an assassination operation in the city. Although the mission personnel were not injured, Shi Diwen still made full use of this opportunity, and in the name of revenge, he led the mission fleet to attack Nanri Island under the control of Shibazhi, and conquered this poisonous stronghold that had plagued the Ming army in Fujian for a long time in one fell swoop.

Nearly two months after Shi Diwen won the first battle of Haihan in Fujian, Qian Tiandun, who had been transferred, set off from Annan and took the special operations battalion to Fujian to take over the command of the local garrison. To be serious, for the position of commander of the Haihan troops stationed in Fujian, Shi Diwen can barely be regarded as Qian Tiandun's predecessor.

After leaving Fujian, Shi Diwen served as the commander of the Second Fleet in the navy, and also participated in the military operation of the Haihan attack on Penghu in 1632, and was one of the few senior generals in the Haihan army who was more familiar with the situation in Fujian. This time, when the Fujian fleet was completed, when the Central Military Commission considered the candidate for commander of the new fleet, it naturally listed Shi Diwen, who was familiar with the new fleet, as the first choice.

At present, Haihan's development strategy is to expand from the sea to the north and south, and the Anbuna Islands in the south are controlled by Roger, and the possibility of war breaking out in the near future is extremely small. The only opportunity to make meritorious contributions is in the north, after the formation of a chain layout on the southeast coast of the Ming Dynasty, the difficulty of advancing north is much smaller than the lack of strategic support points in the South China Sea, as an enterprising soldier, Shi Diwen naturally hopes to take this opportunity to make more achievements.

It is not the first time that Shi Diwen and Qian Tiandun have fought side by side, as early as the Annan Civil War, the two have had the experience of cooperating on many missions, and they can be regarded as old partners. After the two met, they naturally had some sighs, and after going around and around, they didn't expect to become partners in Fujian again. Compared with the previous cooperation in Annan, the current Haihan Army can really be said to be a shotgun for artillery, and the soldiers are strong and strong, so that these commanders can play more leeway.

On the same day, Qian Tiandun held a banquet for Shi Diwen, who came from afar, and the heads of various departments in Penghu were also present to accompany him. However, except for Qian Tiandun, everyone else is a naturalized cadre, and some things are not convenient to discuss at the wine table. After the banquet was over, Qian Tiandun invited Shi Diwen to his study again, and asked Luo Wudan to soak a pot of the high-grade Anxi Tieguanyin sent by the Xu family, and then began to talk about business.

"This time, Takahashi Nan was able to achieve such a result in Taipei, to be honest, did you sit in the rear and command remotely?" Shi Diwen asked as soon as he sat down.

Although many people had doubts about Qian Tiandun's bold arrangement before the war, Takahashi's performance in the process of commanding the operation did effectively shatter all kinds of rumors that were unfavorable to the military, and even military insiders like Shi Diwen still had a little doubt about Takahashi's performance. However, Takahashi Minami still stayed in the Chicken Coop Harbor at this time to preside over local affairs, and Shi Diwen couldn't find him to confirm his doubts in person.

Qian Tiandun shook his head with a smile and said, "I know that you guys can't trust Gao Qiao Nan, but don't forget how Gao Qiao Nan rose up step by step." With his current capabilities, it was more than enough to command a battle of this magnitude. Even if there is a small mistake in the command process, our superiority in weapons and equipment will be enough to make up for it. Of course, the battle plan was drawn up by me and Takahashi Minami, and I made a plan in advance to deal with the problems that I could consider, but I didn't expect that the resistance of the Spaniards was much lower than we expected, and the two strongholds did not spend too much effort to force the other side to surrender. ”

Shi Diwen asked: "It's just over there in the Tamsui River, I also heard that the Spaniards are not doing well there, but they have been building a city in Jilong Harbor for several years, and there is no shortage of troops or fortifications, so it stands to reason that they would not choose to surrender so soon? The Spaniards are really so greedy for life and afraid of death?"

"It's not entirely because they're greedy for life and afraid of death that they surrender. Qian Tiandun explained: "Takahashi Nan interrogated some prisoners of war after the war, and the main reason why the defenders of Jilong Harbor chose to surrender was that the ammunition and war materials in the city were not enough to fight themselves. ”

This answer surprised Shi Diwen, and he couldn't help but complain: "The Spaniards are so watery! I knew that we should have taken Taiwan in one go after taking Penghu last year, and we didn't have to wait for half a year." ”

Qian Tiandun said: "According to the news from the front, the Spanish city fortifications are actually doing a good job, with more than 20 artillery pieces deployed on the city walls, and there are a lot of armed men in the city who can participate in the battle. However, the defenders in the city probably had been peaceful for a long time, and they had no sense of resisting foreign enemies at all, and a lot of weapons and ammunition were secretly sold by the officers, and they were overwhelmed by our siege artillery. In addition, the previous battle at the mouth of the Tamsui River had already made some Spaniards feel uneasy, and their will to resist was not very strong. ”

"That's really a big bargain picked up by Takahashi Minami!" Shi Diwen heard this, and the doubts in his heart were basically relieved.

Qian Tiandun did not deny this: "Takahashi Nan is indeed a lucky general, and most of the response plans we made before the war did not come in handy at all, and we successfully took down Taipei." However, there are still remarkable details in his command process, and the results are not purely achieved by luck. ”

"Of course. "Shi Diwen is not a layman, and he doesn't really think that Takahashi Minami can get such a record based on luck alone. You must know that at the award ceremony at the anniversary celebration every year, Takahashi Minami is a regular visitor to the convention, and his military exploits are definitely among the best among the naturalized officers, and he can be promoted to his current position by himself fighting the battlefield, for this, the military high-level people are all positive. Otherwise, with Takahashi Minami's prisoner of war background, how could he have been promoted to the position of battalion commander in just a few years, and still be trusted enough to independently command the ace troops of the Haihan People's Regiment to fight abroad.

The battle that took place on the island of Taiwan did not consume too much energy and resources from the military, so Shi Diwen only asked a few simple questions, and then took the initiative to change the topic to other things: "Before I left, Mr. Yan talked to me, and the meaning of the executive committee was that I still hoped to establish relations with the Zhejiang government first, and then take action against the Zhoushan Islands." In this way, a part of the supply can be obtained nearby, and the pressure on logistics can be relieved. In addition, the Ministry of Industry and the Ministry of Commerce also hope to open up the arms market in Zhejiang through military contacts, and you know, the Executive Committee has always attached great importance to this area. ”

The arms trade has always been a key project for Haihan's export profits, and the early arms exports to Annam not only exchanged a large amount of capital and labor for Haihan, but more importantly, it opened up the market for Haihan in Annam, so that Haihan could obtain another stable source of income outside the Ming Dynasty. Later, the arms trade with the governments of Guangdong and Fujian provinces allowed Haihan to obtain many special treatments in the coastal areas of these two provinces, which completely exceeded the status of maritime merchants.

A considerable part of the revenue of the military industry is allocated to military spending, so the military has always fully supported the arms trade, and will also try to help promote Haihan's weapons and equipment during contact with friendly forces. Of course, it is difficult for any soldier who has seen the armed forces of the Haihan Dynasty to resist the temptation of these advanced equipment. Even if Haihan still has a limited purchase policy for some of these weapons and equipment, and the price that can be bought is expensive, it will still make the local government rush to it.

However, in the past two years, as Haihan has gradually controlled several major passages to the sea in Guangdong, and the coastal areas have become calm, the Ming army's urgency for updating weapons and equipment has been far less than in the first few years of the great chaos in the province, and the number of weapons purchased by the government has also plummeted. If it weren't for the high enough kickbacks from Haihan's side to handle them, the Guangdong government would probably have completely cut the arms purchase contracts from the budget.

The situation in Fujian was slightly better, after all, Xu Xinsu was rich and wealthy, unlike the Guangdong government, which needed to rely on military spending allocated by the imperial court. Even though Fujian's maritime frontier has become safer, he still buys it every year, and uses military purchase as a means to win over Haihan to maintain the cooperative relationship between the two sides.

However, for Haihan Military Industry, the amount of arms export orders in the past two years has tended to stagnate, and there has been no significant increase in either the quantity or the total price, which is not good news worth celebrating. There are only two ways to break this deadlock: one is to liberalize the sale of high-end weapons, and the other is to open up new markets.

It is obviously not advisable for Haihan to let go of the sale of high-end weapons, and there is an insurmountable performance generation gap between the exported weapons and the weapons installed at home, which is a strategy determined at the beginning of the crossing, so as to ensure that the weapons sold in large quantities will not cause backlash to Haihan itself. Even so, Haihan has always carefully controlled the quantity of heavy weapons such as artillery and warships, and has also implemented strict export controls on ammunition, spare parts and other supplies. If it is said that the sale of high-end weapons should be liberalized for the sake of economic interests, the members of the executive committee will probably not be confused about this, after all, armament is one of Haihan's important capitals, and the treasures of the housekeepers cannot easily fall into the hands of outsiders in any case.

As for opening up new markets, in fact, the relevant departments have not stopped making various attempts. In Nanyang, in addition to Annam, a big buyer, the southern tip of the Indochina Peninsula Champa is also a small customer, although it is not as rich as Xu Xinsu, but there are still six-figure transactions in a year. In addition, Portugal also took advantage of its colonial points in various parts of the South Seas to assist the Hai Han in selling arms to some local powers in the South Seas.

Mataran is one of Haihan's current customers, and after fully realizing the difference in strength between his army and the Dutch armed forces, the leaders of Mataran immediately spent a lot of money to buy heavy weapons, and the Portuguese, who had sold muskets and artillery to them, visited Mataran at the right time and recommended weapons from Haihan to them. Of course, the Portuguese only acted as brokers in the middle, and the dominant force was still on the side of the Haihan.

At present, due to the lack of suitable strategic support points in the South China Sea, Haihan can only stop at the Ambuna Islands for the time being. However, in response to the changes in the situation in the Nanyang region, Haihan did not give up his efforts to intervene, and it is also one of the strategies adopted by Haihan to slow down the development of Western colonizers through indigenous regimes such as the Madaran Kingdom. Supporting a local force to fight against Haihan's competitors is a familiar thing for Haihan, and has already achieved excellent results in Fujian, and Nanyang only needs to copy this method in the past, but the Fujian government has become a Matalan country, and the role of Shibazhi is replaced by Western colonists led by the Netherlands.