Late July.

Xujiazhuang, Harbour City, military R&D department.

There is a big piece of good news.

After a delay of half a year, the 75mm caliber tube-retractable rapid-fire cannon was finally successfully developed, creating a cannon with qualified quality and reliable performance, and adding a sharp weapon to Xujiazhuang.

Weapons performance test site in the north of the city.

Rumble!

Rumble!

Rumble!

In just one minute, in the high-velocity mode, the cannon, named the "Rapid Extinguishing Cannon", fired 15 high-explosive shells, blowing up a target set on a hill 8.5 kilometers ahead.

It's amazing.

"Yes, very good."

Xu Yuan put down the binoculars and nodded again and again.

"Owner, our gun has fully reached the set performance indicators, and even exceeded, successfully controlled the weight of the gun within one ton, only 892 kilograms, which is very suitable for naval warships, and as long as the gun wheel device is added, the army can also use it, it is a universal artillery, as for the power, accuracy, range, etc., it is much stronger than the 80mm mortar, and it is an invincible weapon!"

Qian Shuangfu, the chief engineer in charge of the development of the gun, introduced on the side.

It's not easy, for him, the chief engineer, the research and development of this gun is much more difficult than mortars, such as the casting of qualified barrels, the research and development of hydraulic stationing and re-entry mechanisms, and the research and development of artillery shell delay fuzes, etc., which are all 'high-tech' for him.

Although there are various reference materials, material formulas, and specific technological processes provided by the owner, they play a very important role.

But in fact, the process of hand-making is very different from technical data.

There will be more troubles and problems encountered, and even there is no reference, so you can only continue to trial and error and explore.

The postponement of the finalization is also a matter of course.

Fortunately, all the technical problems were finally solved and this qualified "Rapid Extinguishing Cannon" was created.

In fact, the object of reference for this "rapid extinguishing gun" is the M1897 75mm gun in modern society, also known as the "75 Miss Cannon".

Although this is a Miss in the Gun, it is not a Miss to provoke.

Extremely fast rate of fire.

Considerable power.

Accurate hit rate.

Lightweight and easy-to-carry weight.

As well as artillery shells with a slightly smaller caliber, but can be carried in large quantities, the pressure on logistics is less, and the consumption of resources is not great.

It is the preferred weapon suitable for equipping naval warships, and it will be much better than mortars, and if the Marine Corps encounters a battle on land, it can also directly disassemble this naval gun, put it on the gun mount, and drag it to the shore for use, bombarding and killing opponents in any solid defense facilities, which can be called a dual-purpose gun.

In the late Ming Dynasty, a relatively backward time and space with a relatively backward level of science and technology, this "Rapid Extinguishing Cannon", like the previous mortars, is an invincible super artifact in the world, and no weapon can challenge it.

However, in the history of modern society, the French pinned high hopes on the '75 Miss Cannon', did not realize the good wish of 'conquering the world and defeating the old enemy', but after the outbreak of World War I, it was hit by the German 105mm gun and 150mm cannon to burst the hammer, and the advantage of fast rate of fire was not brought into play at all, and it was extinguished by a larger caliber artillery at a greater distance.

Of course, Xu Yuan also likes thicker and bigger guys, but the cost is too high, it is too expensive to use, and I can't afford to play it for the time being, Miss 75 is enough at present, and it can be used for more than 20 years, and the R&D team can continue to develop larger artillery, but the actual equipment is mainly mortars + rapid extinguishing guns, unless there is a more difficult opponent to deal with in the future, and then show the big guy.

"Well, you R&D personnel have worked hard, reward 200,000 silver dollars, everyone have a good rest and relax for a few days." Xu Yuandao, he saw that many R&D personnel were tired, presumably in order to complete the project, often working overtime.

"Don't worry, owner, wait for us to complete the manufacturing task of twenty sample guns and deliver them to the 'Yaowu' battleship, and then have a good rest for a few days."

Qian Shuangfu shook his head and said, you must know that in order to get new equipment, the captain and crew of the 'Yaowu' are urging and looking forward to it almost every day, and they can't wait to live in the artillery casting workshop, and there is nothing they can do.

Fortunately, they have already built twelve doors, and there are still eight doors left, and they can be completed in a few days of overtime.

"Okay, don't work too hard, you have to pay attention to your body."

Xu Yuan shook his head secretly, a little helpless, although the Chinese nation is diligent and hardworking, there is a shortcoming that has been criticized and resented by countless people, that is, it is too rolled, known as the king of volumes, and it is an enemy all over the world, but he has never understood why foreigners hate themselves so much, obviously there is no injustice and no hatred, and the cooperation is happy, why is the hatred suddenly distorted into that?

The reason can be found in Qian Shuangfu and others, in the case of almost no external pressure, they all consciously and voluntarily work overtime, unwilling to be better to themselves, put the needs of others before their own needs, and all of them are dedicated and responsible.

Of course, it is not good to lose this spirit of involution, one by one the Buddha is lying flat, careless and irresponsible, and how can I get it if I fish and be lazy every day? Therefore, Xu Yuan would rather them roll up a little more, and they must not be three-brother, the prince of the Middle East, the indigenous of Africa, and the welfare of Europe and the United States, then it will be completely finished.

……

July 25th.

Harbour City, the Third Fishing Flotilla is back.

Two electric fishing boats, 18 low-powered ordinary fishing boats, and an accompanying "Haike 20" refrigerated cargo ship, all returned safely.

However, the third fishing fleet, which went to the Tsushima fishery to fish, brought back less than half of its catch.

Two other ordinary fishing boats were visibly damaged, showing signs of artillery fire, and there was a whining cry from the boat, and after docking, the bodies of two fishermen were lifted.

The whole Harbour City exploded that day.

Many admirals who got the news rushed to Xu Yuan in a swarm, and they were extremely angry one by one.

"Owner, our fishing boat has been attacked!"

"They were fishing in the Tsushima Sea, but they were suddenly surrounded and attacked by the North Korean Busa Marine, and our unarmed fishermen were caught off guard, so we had to stop fishing and return immediately, but the Busa Mariners were still in hot pursuit!"

"Owner, our fishing boat was damaged twice, two fishermen were killed, and seven were injured.

"It's too much deception, the Tsushima Sea is a public area, and the wind and waves are quite strong, except for our fishing boats, no other boat dares to fish here, but our fishing boats went to fish a few times, and they were coveted by the Busa water masters, and were attacked for no reason, and even had the purpose of looting and robbing the boats, which is a blatant violation of our property, and also killed and injured many fishermen, we can't bear it, this must not be tolerated!"

"Owner, let's send out our naval warships, with only three or five warships, we can sweep away the Busa Landscape Division, avenge the fishermen, and defend our fishing rights!"

Hearing so many voices of excitement.

Knowing the causes and consequences of the attack on the fishermen, Xu Yuan was also very angry, but not to the extent of enthusiasm.

After thinking about it carefully, I realized that the fishing fleet of Harbour City was able to go so far to fish in the Tsushima Sea, which was almost at the doorstep of North Korea and Japan, right?

The reason is also very simple, the fishery resources within 300 kilometers of the Harbour City are limited, it is impossible to fish indefinitely, the upper limit of fishing in a year is about 500,000 tons, overfishing, will lead to a significant decline in fishery resources in the coming year, and even difficult to recover.

That's why Harbour City has set up three fleets of mid- and inshore fishing vessels to fish 400 to 500 kilometres away.

They are the No. 1 Yellow Sea Fishing Ground Fleet, the No. 2 Zhoushan Fishing Ground Fleet, and the No. 3 North Korean Fishing Ground Fleet.

It's just that I didn't expect that in order to catch more fish, the third fishing fleet ran to a place as far away as the Tsushima Strait, after all, this sea area is extremely rich in fishery resources.

But even so.

This is not a reason for the Busa Landscape Division to violently attack the 3rd Fishing Fleet.

It also led to the death and injury of fishermen in Xujiazhuang!

Unforgivable!

There can be no excusation, and severe punishment must be imposed.

However, if it is just out of anger and pure revenge, and then the Busa Shui Master is rotten, it is cool and cool, it is a good breath, but it is meaningless, and it does not bring substantial benefits and benefits, but instead causes greater confrontation and leads to no peace.

So Xu Yuan looked at the map for a moment, and his eyes fell on Jeju Island, which is only 500 kilometers away from Harbour City.

"I Have a Catalogue of Ghosts and Gods"

The area of this island is 1,825 square kilometers, plus the surrounding two dozen small islands, in Chinese legends, it is the so-called Penglai Xiandao.

As for the resources on the island, there are no important resources, because the climate is humid and warm, the soil is fertile, the terrain is relatively flat, and there are many high-quality pastures, which are very suitable for animal husbandry, and there is no problem in raising more than 100,000 head of cattle, sheep and horses.

Of course, the most important thing is that Jeju Island is located in a very critical location, it is located in the zone between the Ming Dynasty, North Korea, and Japan, and the shortest distance from North Korea is less than 100 kilometers, and the shortest distance from the main island of Japan is 200 kilometers.

For example, if the 3rd Fishing Fleet encounters an attack at the Tsushima Fishing Grounds, it can arrive as quickly as possible, or send warships to accompany the fishing guards, and no force will dare to provoke it!

After thinking about it, Xu Yuan said: "Direct retaliation is the next policy, we first published a report in the "Oriental Times", accusing the barbaric behavior of the Busa Landscape Masters, introducing the tragic experience of our fishermen, and provoking the anger of our public opinion. ”

"The next step, in the name of protecting the fishermen, formulate a plan to take Jeju Island, and then take military action, take this island, recruit workers, and build a 'fishing port'. In short, in order to protect our fishermen, we will defeat as many provocations as they dare to come, and we will never allow the tragedy of fishermen being killed to happen again. ”

"As for the Busa Landscape Master who caused the accident, even if we don't hit them hard, the Korean monarchs and ministers who have suffered a big loss will probably not let them go."

Listen to Xu Yuan.

All the admirals nodded their heads in agreement, but in order to compete for the opportunity to go to Jeju Island, they immediately tore each other apart and made a fuss.

……

On July 27, the headline on the front page of the Oriental Times, "Our fisherman was killed for no reason, how barbaric is the master of the Busa landscape", coupled with the tragic situation of the dead and injured fishermen, caused countless anger and scolding in the Ming Dynasty, and the envoys from North Korea in the capital were almost beaten.

July 29, morning.

In the harbor of Harbour City, the twentieth 'Swift Extinguishing Cannon', which had just been manufactured in the military factory, was hoisted onto the battleship 'Yaowu' and carefully mounted on the reserved side gun emplacements.

"Set sail!"

Captain Zuo Xianfu gave an order.

The three-cylinder steam engine immediately increased its horsepower, hastened out of the harbor, and pursued the fleet of twenty-five steam ships (including five ironclad warships and twenty sea-freight ships, all loaded with men and supplies) that had left the port half an hour earlier.