Hou Fangyu smiled and said, "Can Hong Butang know how the army of the Ten Kings was defeated in the Battle of Shanyang?" ”

"The Battle of Sanyo?" Hong Chengchou said, "Although the headquarters did not participate in person, I have heard of it, and it is said that it is because of the scheming of the Ming general Yan Yingyuan, which is difficult to guard. ”

Hou Fangyu asked again: "Does Hong Butang know what conspiracies and tricks Yan Yingyuan used?" ”

"That's a lot." Hong Chengchou frowned and said, "It's mainly a fire attack, and then there's a fraudulent surrender, oh yes, and blowing up the ice of the canal, and I will be reimbursed for thousands of elite ...... in the Qing Dynasty."

Speaking of this, Hong Chengchou's voice suddenly stopped.

Wang Fuchen, Geng Jimao and a few others who reacted quickly also reacted at once.

Into the thief! Geng Jimao secretly scolded in his heart, the surname Hou is really insidious enough, can you imagine this?

The look on Hong Chengchou's face suddenly became serious: "Hou joins the army and says, blow up the ice?" Bury gunpowder in advance, wait for the arrival of the Nanming army, and then blow up the ice and bury it in the sea? ”

"Yes, yes." Hou Fangyu asked with a smile, "Does Hong Butang think it's okay?" ”

Hong Chengchou was still seriously thinking about the feasibility of blowing up the ice, but those generals couldn't help it.

If the generals of the Ming Dynasty are at the bottom of the chain of contempt, then on the side of the Manchu Qing Dynasty, those at the bottom of the chain of contempt are eunuchs.

Therefore, generals like Xia Longshan and Wang Fuchen instinctively refuted it.

"Exploding the ice? You said it's light, how to fry it? How much to fry? Blew up the entire North Sea? ”

"That is, how much gunpowder do we have? How many acres of ice can be fried? Do you know where the Ming army came from? As soon as the upper and lower mouths touched, he dared to say that hundreds of thousands of troops of Nanming would be buried at the bottom of the sea. ”

"Lord Ministry, don't listen to his nonsense."

Dorgon trusted Hou Fangyu, but these generals weren't used to him.

Hou Fangyu was half angry, but he had no choice but to take the generals, because he could only monitor Hong Chengchou, but the generals of the Eight Banners Han Army and the Green Battalion were not under his control.

Hong Chengchou was seriously thinking about the feasibility of blowing up the ice.

Not sure where the Ming army came from? This is not a problem at all.

If the Ming army really stepped on the ice, there was not much room for choice, it was nothing more than a few rivers such as the Wei River, the Chao River and the Sha River, because the march from the ice could use the ice climbing plow to transport the heavy red-coated cannons and baggage, which could reduce the consumption of grain and straw and speed up the march.

So they only needed to bury gunpowder in a few estuaries of the river.

And this year's temperature is slightly higher than in previous years, the ice in the North Sea is also thinner than in previous years, coupled with the heavy pressure of hundreds of thousands or even hundreds of thousands of Ming soldiers and horses, and hundreds or even thousands of red-coated cannons, in view of the above points, it doesn't take too much gunpowder to blow up the sea ice layer.

At best, 2,000 explosive points, 100,000 catties of gunpowder are enough.

If you don't feel that it is enough insurance, there is no problem with adding another 100,000 catties of gunpowder.

With only 200,000 catties of gunpowder, the Qing Dynasty can still get it, and it will not affect the next battle, and the musket team of the Eight Banners Han Army and the artillery of the Green Battalion still have enough gunpowder available.

The most critical issue is the timing of the Ming army's attack.

If the Ming army waited until after the beginning of spring to attack, then the gunpowder would be blind.

Hou Fangyu seemed to have guessed what Hong Chengchou was thinking, and immediately continued: "Don't worry about Hong Butang, the lower officials dare to assert that Chongzhen will definitely launch the Northern Expedition before the year. ”

"Why is Hou Senjun so sure?" Hong Chengchou asked.

"Because Chongzhen is an acute child." Hou Fangyu said, "If Nanming is really ready, Chongzhen will never delay until the beginning of next spring to launch the Northern Expedition, but will definitely launch the Northern Expedition immediately!" ”

After a pause, he said: "What's more, even if Chongzhen doesn't launch the Northern Expedition a year ago, it's nothing, it's a big deal to take back the gunpowder before the ice thaws in the spring, as long as these hundreds of thousands of catties of gunpowder are sealed in wooden barrels and wrapped in oiled paper, they will not be damp, and they can still be used by our Qing soldiers." ”

Hearing this, Hong Chengchou did not hesitate.

Indeed, as Hou Fangyu said, it is always possible to give it a try.

"Hou joins the army, this matter will be supervised by you personally." After Hong Chengchou finished speaking, his eyes turned to Geng Zhongming, and said, "King Jingnan, you will lead the right battalion of the Eight Banners Han Army to co-organize, and it must be done within half a month." ”

"Huh!" Hou Fangyu and Geng Zhongming were listed at the same time and promised.

……

At this time, it was on the Baishui Ocean at the mouth of the Yangtze River.

A large fleet of ships almost obscured the White Water Ocean, and was heading north with full sails.

In this Northern Expedition, in addition to more than 400 large and small warships of the naval division, the Daming General Chamber of Commerce also collected more than 1,000 sand ships or ocean-covering ships from maritime merchants.

With so many ships, you can carry three towns and all the weapons and baggage at once.

Therefore, the first batch of Ming troops who went out with Chongzhen this time had a total of three towns.

It should be noted that all three towns and platforms have reinforced artillery units.

What do you mean? This means that the artillery brigades under the jurisdiction of these three towns have changed from one to two.

In other words, the actual strength of each town is not just more than 25,000 people, but more than 30,000 people.

Many of the new army soldiers and even soldiers are still going to sea for the first time, so they are all amazed that the sailing ship can sail against the wind, how did this happen?

Chongzhen smiled and said to Zheng Zhilong beside him: "Duke Min, the soldiers are praising you." ”

"What is there to brag about sailing against the wind, but who wouldn't beg for a living at sea?" Zheng Zhilong shook his head and said, "What's more, the soft sail of the Franco machine man is more suitable for sailing against the wind than our hard sail. ”

"Is Min Guogong saying that the sailboat of the Francophile is faster than ours?" Zhang Huangyan asked in surprise.

"Yes, the Franc and the Red Fur Ships are indeed faster than ours." Zheng Zhilong said with deep understanding, "When we were in Nanyang, we suffered a lot of losses. ”

"Zheng Qing, this will soon be improved." Chongzhen waved his hand and said, "It won't be long before the warships of our Daming Navy Division can get rid of the sails and rely on the steam engine to propulsion, and then they will no longer be subject to the change of wind power on the ocean, and they can sail even in windless areas, and the speed is several times faster than that of sailboats!" ”

Chongzhen: This is painting a big pie, and a steam engine ship is faster than a sailing ship, that's for sure.

But to say that early steam-engine ships could be several times faster than sailing ships is to brag and impossible.

After a pause, Chongzhen said again: "In addition to the speed of the Daming warship equipped with a steam engine, it can also be equipped with iron plates on both sides of the warship to strengthen the defense. ”

"In the future naval battle, only our Ming warships will be able to bombard the Xiyi warships."

"Xiyi's naval guns, I'm afraid it will be difficult to penetrate the side armor of my Daming warship, in a word, the date of my Daming Navy Division reigning in the world again is not far away!"

"Holy Lord, the minister can't wait!"

Rao is Zheng Zhilong is already in his forties and is used to seeing big scenes, and at this moment, he can't help but be provoked by these big cakes painted by Chongzhen, not to mention those scholars, who can't wait to join the sailor immediately.

Lu Xiangguan, the son of King Qin, who was born as a Jinshi, asked: "Holy Lord, is it too late for the minister to transfer to the water division now?" ”

Lu Xiangguan, Lu Xiangtong and Lu Xiangsheng are all cousins of the same clan, and in another time and space, the two brothers led their clansmen to raise troops after the Qing soldiers went south, and they died for the country.

It's just that Lu Xiangguan's ability to command troops is obviously not as good as his cousin Lu Xiangtong, and it is even more incomparable with his cousin Lu Xiangsheng.

Barely a middle-class person.

"Of course it's time." Zheng Zhilong was overjoyed when he heard this.

"You people from the Shizi Battalion, if you want to join the water division at any time, my father welcomes you."

Zheng Zhilong didn't look down on the Qinwang Shizi of the Shizi Camp before, but now he has changed one hundred and eighty degrees.

The reason is also very simple, this group of Qinwang scholars led by Xu Yingwei and Yan Yingyuan are really capable of fighting.

"Grandpa, it's too much." Xu Yingwei's face fell, "How can anyone dig the corner of our new army in person?" The soldiers of the Shizi battalion are not enough for our new army. ”

The new army of the Ming Dynasty was organized into 11 towns at once.

The commanders, brigade commanders, battalion officers, generals, and even staff officers of these towns and platforms must be filled by the soldiers of the Shizi battalion.

The 11 towns need a total of 33 people in the general town and deputy general town, a total of 132 brigade commanders and deputy brigade commanders, a total of 396 battalion officers and deputy battalion officers, and a total of 1,980 general and deputy commanders.

That's already 2,541 people, nearly half of the Shizi battalion.

In addition, each Zhentai headquarters, brigade headquarters and battalion headquarters need a certain number of staff officers, and the staff officers of the Zhentai Headquarters are as many as dozens of people, thanks to the fact that the first batch of students of Guozijian has graduated before the end of the year, otherwise, Chongzhen really can't find a sufficient number of officers to organize these 11 towns.

Therefore, the scholars in the Shizi camp are really in demand now.

Even Huang Zongxi's Supervision Department and Zhang Huangyan's Secret Investigation Department have been transferred to the department.

Therefore, Xu Yingwei is really not talking to Zheng Zhilong, but really has an opinion about him.

Zheng Zhilong was also a little unhappy when he heard this, and said in his heart, "You are a descendant as old as my son, what qualifications do you have to fill garlic cloves in front of your own country? But being angry is angry, and I don't want to quarrel with anyone.

At that moment, Zheng Zhilong turned his face away and no longer paid attention to Xu Yingwei.

Chongzhen couldn't cry or laugh when he saw this, and said in his heart that the Ming sailors and the army would not become incompatible, right? It would be very embarrassing if it turned into a navy red deer and an army red deer in the end.

In the event of overseas colonization in the future, the army and navy will tear each other down, and it is possible that it will cause misery.

At that moment, Chongzhen smiled and said to Xu Yingwei: "Youzhen, the Northern Expedition is imminent, and the Shizi Battalion will definitely give priority to guaranteeing the new army, so you don't have to worry about the Fujian Guild digging the corner of the new army." ”

Xu Yingwei felt a little embarrassed, and immediately scratched his head and said: "Holy Lord, Fang Caichen also has rudeness, in fact, it is still okay to give one hundred and ten scholars to the water master." ”

"Let's talk about this matter after the Northern Expedition is over." Chongzhen waved his hand, then turned around and said to Zheng Zhilong again, "Zheng Qing, this matter is because I was not careful and ignored your sailors. ”

】

[Thank you Bodhi for the 100,000 grand prize]