When he really rowed the ship and approached the big ship, Zhang Jingyi could deeply feel the shock brought by this ironclad ship.

The huge steel hull is really like an impregnable wall across the ocean.

The length of the ship is fifty zhang, and the width is five zhang.

Such a volume is actually much more majestic than the wooden ships of this era.

Like a giant on the sea.

Of course, in fact, it is said that it is an ironclad ship, but it is not completely cast of steel.

On the one hand, it is limited by cost! On the other hand, if it is all ironclad, the hull of the ship is too heavy, and the steam engine used today really does not have such a huge horsepower to propel.

So...... The keel was made of steel, and the hull was made of the best wood, and the iron armor was wrapped around this wood.

Of course, even if it is only wrapped in iron armor, this huge ship is enough to withstand the artillery attack of this era.

The addition of wood greatly reduces the weight of the ship, and at the same time, the ship's 1 horizontal reciprocating steam engine and 10 coal-fired boilers can provide 2,700 horsepower.

Of course, this is nothing in the future, you know, even an ordinary car often has more than a hundred horsepower, the huge steam engine, and ten boilers, but only the power of a dozen or twenty cars.

Fortunately...... This is in the water, and this power is enough for the ship to sail at a speed of thirty-nine miles every hour.

The ship's steel armor belt is an inch thick, and the inner lining is two inches thick, which can completely ensure that in today's world, no guns can be wounded.

In addition, there were 420 sailors on board, divided into three shifts, and the ships were driven in shifts.

Of course, the most powerful thing about this ship is its firepower.

When he made up his mind to build such a ship, Zhang Jingyi actually had another layer of thought.

Yellow powder has appeared, and the kind of large-area grenades, or flowering bombs, have become popular on land.

But when it was on board, there was a huge problem, because the power of the cannon was too great.

And the power is great, which means that the recoil is also extremely large, and ordinary wooden ships simply cannot withstand the recoil of such artillery.

Not only in the process of shelling, irreversible damage to the hull of the ship, but most importantly, in the process of shooting, the ship will shake violently in the sea, which leads to almost no accuracy in the process of firing.

However, this ship is equipped with a large number of heavy guns on both sides and in front and rear, a full 49 pieces, these heavy guns, the caliber is not small, the power is also huge, but the stable hull can ensure that the ship in the process of shelling, to maintain a fairly stable.

Zhang Jingyi ascended to the deck excitedly.

A dry water teachers and students came to visit.

Zhang Jingyi was in a good mood today, and smiled at them kindly: "Hard work." ”

These three words, although simple, are very encouraging.

In fact, before the ship was launched, they began to practice day and night.

After the sea trials were launched, because of the urgency of time, Zhang Jingyi asked them to be able to form a preliminary combat effectiveness within two months.

Therefore, these sailors and students practiced almost day and night, and they were mentally exhausted to the extreme.

After all, consumption at sea and on land are completely different.

The turbulence at sea is indescribable, and the mental pressure is also enormous.

Fortunately, the biggest advantage of the Donglin Army is that it has strong endurance, and listening to Zhang Jing's hard work at this time has made many people feel a lot more comfortable.

After all, in this era, the concept of superiority and humility is extremely important, and Zhang Jingyi, a county king, is a person like a teacher, a heart-warming word, the effect is doubled.

At this time, Zhang Jing thought of something, and then said, "Are the coal and supplies loaded?" ”

Liang Wenwu, the officer of the sailor training team, that is, the captain of this ship, stood up.

This Liang Wenwu was in the first teaching team at the beginning, and he made many achievements, and then sent to Lushun to learn the method of the sailor.

Fortunately, although all this is from scratch, there is a good phenomenon in the Donglin Army, that is, the order is forbidden.

Therefore, although many places need to be run-in, the big guys are working together, and it is quite smooth.

After this sea trial, almost every sailor and student is familiar with their position.

On ships, from the boiler chief, to the chief engineer, to the gun chief, and then to the commander, although the division of labor is different, most of them are technical positions, and Liang Wenwu needs to master them.

At this time, Liang Wenwu stood up and said, "Everything is ready." ”

"Ready to go." Zhang Jing looked at him with a sharp light, and said in a deep voice: "I'll wait all the way to the south." Target Ryukyu ......"

In fact...... The order had long been given in secret.

Almost everyone knows their destination.

Zhang Jingyi didn't go looking for pirates to fight this time.

Instead, he smashed the Yellow Dragon.

With such a huge Europa Combined Fleet, it is not easy to harass the entire Daming coast.

After all, there are too many people, and the fleet is too large.

Want to constantly harass the attack, then ...... It is necessary to have a dedicated base.

On the one hand, Ryukyu is close to Penghu and is almost deeply embedded in the hinterland of the Ming Dynasty.

If it is set up in Luzon or Sumatra, or if it is controlled by the Netherlands, because of the long distance, it is difficult to supply on the one hand, and on the other hand, it is necessary to cross an ocean.

And going straight through the ocean is extremely dangerous for the fleet of this era, because once it encounters a typhoon, the consequences are unimaginable.

The Ryukyus, on the other hand, were the treasure islands of the later countries, close to Fujian, and could travel along the entire coast of the Ming Dynasty as long as they crossed the strait.

Therefore...... The main base of the combined fleet must be in the Ryukyus.

Ryukyu that place, originally under the jurisdiction of the Ming Penghu Inspection Division, from the Qin and Han dynasties, there were a large number of Han people migrated past, to the Song Dynasty, then began to set up an administrative agency, since the Ming Dynasty, because of the policy of forbidding the sea, although it still belongs to the jurisdiction of the Ming Patrol Division, but because of the elimination of the migration of ordinary people, but let the Dutch people see the opportunity, so together with the Spaniards, landed on Ryukyu Island, established a stronghold, and stole here.

In Zhang Jingyi's view, in order to solve the countless attacks and harassment problems of the combined fleet, the first thing to solve is to directly cut off their rear supplies.

And the best way to cut off supplies is to take Ryukyu Island directly.

In this way, this overwhelming fleet has completely cut off its own back road.

Think about it...... What does it mean that the vast majority of the fleet, with its rations and supplies on board, could not make it to Luzon or Wajima?

Of course...... For the Combined Fleet, the Ryukyus were very stable, on the one hand, they themselves controlled the sea dominance, and the Ming fleet, once out at sea, could be discovered at any time, and then besieged by countless ships.

On the other hand, the Ryukyus themselves were fortified with numerous forts, and there were many returning fleets anchored.

Da Ming was too busy to take care of himself, how could he dare to go to Ryukyu to die?

Zhang Jingyi wanted to give it a try.

The...... He used this ironclad as his main ship.

Accompanied by Zhang San's thirty carefully selected ships in Tianjinwei.

In this way, a fleet is formed.

The ironclad ships are mainly responsible for opening the road and fighting, and the thirty ships are mainly responsible for transporting troops.

As a result, the personnel dispatched included more than 1,300 sailors and students, as well as the officer training team led by Li Dingguo, and the first training team, with more than 5,730 personnel.

At this time, an order was given.

The massive ironclad ships were the first to set off.

Immediately afterward, the rest of the fleet followed.

In the sparkling waves, the mighty fleet started to move south.

Just standing on this deck, Zhang Jingyi still felt the pitfalls of the ironclad ships of this era.

Although the hull of the ship is much more stable than that of a wooden boat with sails.

Can...... The huge smell of burning coal, mixed with the loud noise of the boiler, especially in this cabin, was the feeling...... It's almost like spitting out all your bile.

At this time, he really felt the difficulty of those sailors and students.

Then, he accompanied Liang Wenwu to inspect the gun room, gunpowder room, engine room, and dining room one by one, and then ...... is a miserable face every day, staying in this uncomfortable environment, and fighting against this 'ironclad ship'.

So many times, Zhang Jingyi wanted to get off the ship and go to other sailboats, but this idea was quickly dispelled, after all, it might be bad for morale, so he had to endure it all the time.

At this time, in the combat compartment.

The Brocade Guard had already prepared a map of the Ryukyus, which marked the northern part of the Ryukyus, numerous strongholds in Spain, and in addition, a large number of strongholds and fortresses in the southern Netherlands.

It has to be said that Spain is fine, and in the Netherlands in the southern Ryukyus, the Dutch people obviously want to use the whole of Ryukyu as a springboard for them to go deep into the mainland, so they spend countless manpower and material resources to operate.

After setting up forts, they plundered the land, killed and enslaved the local natives and Han people, and cultivated sugar cane in large quantities to make sugarcane. In addition to this, a large number of ports were built, so that the main base of the entire combined fleet was within the control of the Netherlands.

In addition to building fortresses, they also deployed a large number of troops, at first just to guard against the resistance of the Han people and the Turen, and at the same time to guard against the Ming official army of the Penghu Inspection Division, but now ...... Because of this expedition, the number of troops here has doubled.

Even...... The Spanish also recruited a large number of natives from Luzon and Sumatra to assist the Dutch in their defense.

It can be said that for this battle, these people almost took out the coffin.

Obviously, people are here to do a big job.