April 2 of the first year of Daming Ankang.

Port Norfolk, Virginia, Kingdom of America.

A large fleet cruises in and around the bay where Norfolk is located.

The battleship Canton of the Ming Navy docked at the dock of Norfolk Military Harbor.

The Canton was the lead ship of the last traditional battleship of the Ming Dynasty.

The full load displacement is 20,000 tons, and the maximum speed is 20 knots.

It has two twin 300-mm naval guns and four twin 240-mm secondary main guns.

Sixteen 160-mm secondary guns, sixteen 80-mm secondary guns, two sets of quadruple torpedo tubes.

Before Zhu Jingyuan's new battleship was built, he was currently the strongest battleship in the world.

Nelson and Wellesley, the two commanders of the British Navy and Army, with officers from the British Navy and Army, stood on the dock and watched the fleet, with mixed feelings.

Until a year ago, the ship and its commanders had been the most cautious and serious enemies.

Now you have to welcome them into your harbor and invite them to help you deter your enemies.

And the officers and sailors around looked at the battleship on the dock, with a little envy and fear in their eyes.

The capital ships of the British Navy, previously built, had a full load displacement of less than 17 thousand tons.

Even the warships built by the Ming Navy with the mentality of enough are larger than the British ships.

After the Guangdong came to a stop, the gangway was lowered, and two groups of guards first disembarked to open the way to inspect the scene.

Admiral Zheng Haiping, the governor of the Northern Yinzhou Fleet of the Ming Navy, came out of the cabin with a group of naval and army officers.

Nelson, as the master of the counterpoint, immediately went up with two guards to meet him.

This is not the first time the two sides have met, but it is the first time that they have met as friendly forces.

In the past, it was a relationship that directly wanted to send all the opposing fleets to the bottom of the sea.

When we meet now, it is like an old friend reunited, and they all greet each other with a smile.

"General Zheng is here, Norfolk is shining, welcome, welcome ......"

"General Nelson is polite, and Zheng also has a rare opportunity to enjoy the scene of Norfolk."

Seeing that the two seemed to be very cordial, the officers and soldiers at all levels around them also became excited.

The scene inexplicably erupted in cheers.

When Zheng Haiping heard the voice, he smiled and waved around, and immediately another cheer rang out.

Smiling hard, Nelson introduced Wellesley, Virginia's acting governor, William Cabell, to the group into Norfolk Harbor, the seat of the provisional Virginia government.

Both sides had serious matters to discuss, and immediately became serious when they arrived at the barracks.

Nelson, Wellesley, and Cabell took turns explaining what they were currently controlling.

Zheng Anping was an admiral, and Nelson spoke first:

"Our fleet of cruisers is still blocking the entrance to the Chesapeake Bay, controlling the sea supremacy in the Gulf.

"The fleet controlled by the north appeared around, but after the notice from the Ming Dynasty was issued, the other party did not attack."

Zheng Anping nodded slightly:

"The Daming North Yinzhou Fleet I brought can take over the prevention and control of the waters around the Fokker and Chesapeake Peninsula.

"As long as Bonaparte and Adams hadn't had their brains in the water, they wouldn't have attacked the Ming fleet at this time.

"Your fleet has worked hard for so many days, you can rest......"

Nelson was at once saying:

"It's not hard, our fleet will continue to patrol the entrance to the bay, and the Ming fleet can cooperate with the patrol in turn."

Nelson didn't want to give control of the Gulf to the Ming Dynasty, God knows what the Ming would do after the war.

Zheng Haiping glared at Nelson, seemingly a little unhappy, but he didn't argue here:

"It's still a time to compete, and since your men can withstand it, let's continue patrolling.

"The fleets of our two sides should still command and dispatch each other, patrol the current sea area separately, and not interfere with each other.

"How's it going on the Army side? Are there any of your soldiers on this peninsula to the north? ”

Wellesley immediately spoke:

"Several cities around Norfolk, primarily Suffolk City, and Williamsburg, northwest of Newport News, have each built two relatively well-established defensive lines......

"Our troops deployed in the upper reaches of the James River succeeded in stopping the offensive trend of Napoleon's troops.

"Napoleon's forces had been forced to abandon their plan to continue their rapid assault on Norfolk and Newport News, and Napoleon's forces began to build defensive lines in their place."

An army officer beside Zheng Haiping, a major general in charge of the tasks accepted on Long Island and the Chesapeake Peninsula, Mu Yongfu directly asked Wellesley after hearing this:

"What do you want in Richmond, the Dongyi Peninsula, which is your Chesapeake Peninsula, at the southernmost point I remember that there are two counties that belong to Virginia, and they are still there?"

The Ming court decided to set up the Dongyi vassal state on the Chesapeake Peninsula and Long Island region, and there was no vassal king for the time being.

The Chesapeake Peninsula, which sounded uncomfortable, was also renamed the Dongyi Peninsula by the Ministry of Rites.

The Chesapeake Bay on the inner side of the Dongyi Peninsula is also named the Dongyi Inner Bay, and the Delaware Bay outside the peninsula is named the Dongyi Outer Bay.

The name of Long Island is a paraphrase, which is relatively easy to understand and conforms to the shape of Long Island, so it continues to be used.

Mu Yongfu is a descendant of Mu Tianbo, the Duke of Qianguo, that is, the descendant of Emperor Zhu Yuanzhang, the Taizu of the Ming Dynasty, and the son of Emperor Zhu Yuanzhang of Qianning.

Mu Yongfu, who was born in Mu Wangfu, is the top veteran nobleman in Daming and the top nobleman in the world.

Mu Yongfu is still the son of the contemporary Qianguo Gong, although he is not the eldest son, but the Ming Dynasty is inherited to see the assessment and not the order.

Therefore, if Mu Yongfu behaves well, he will have a chance to inherit the title.

After Wellesley learned of Mu Yongfu's identity, his expression became extremely serious and serious:

"We're sorry, but we've lost contact with Richmond, and it's likely that Richmond has been lost.

"The two southernmost counties of the Chesapeake Peninsula have also been taken over by northerners."

Mu Yongfu suddenly said with some disgust:

"Richmond is besieged, and it makes sense if you can't hold it, what are the two southernmost counties of the Dongyi Peninsula?

"In such an important place, don't you have a special arrangement for troops to be stationed?

"Even if the Army can't think of it, can't the Navy think of its importance?"

Wellesley and Nelson looked a little embarrassed, because this result was in a way permissive to the two.

So the two of them were sincere on the surface, but they apologized together without emotion in their hearts:

"I'm sorry, Your Excellency, we couldn't hold the peninsula ......"

Mu Yongfu flattened his mouth:

"What's the use of saying sorry now? Forget it, I'm not going to argue with you.

"Yanping Guogong, there is no point for me to stay here, so I will leave first.

"I'm going to have to deal directly with the French and the American North."

Zheng Haiping understood what Mu Yongfu meant, nodded lightly and commanded:

"Qiu Lianggong, you take a cruiser and send General Mu away, and Mr. Ruan Yuan will also go directly."

Qiu Lianggong was the rear admiral in charge of this task, and of course he was not surprised by this task that had been arranged long ago.

Ruan Yuan is the right chief of the Dongyi State who is in charge of the civil affairs of the Dongyi Peninsula, and it is also a position that has been arranged for a long time.

The purpose of the two men coming ashore was to meet Nelson, Wellesley, Cabell and others.

You may have to deal with each other often in the future, so getting to know each other in advance can avoid unnecessary troubles in the future.

Qiu Lianggong and Ruan Yuan got up at the same time, bowed to Zheng Haiping and said goodbye, and left the conference room with Mu Yongfu.

Qiu Lianggong's fleet did not dock directly and cruising outside the port of Norfolk.

The landing force to which Mu Yongfu belonged also remained on the ship and did not come down.

Several officials and staff members under Ruan Yuan also stayed on the ship.

The three heads returned directly to the ship, and the fleet set off directly.

Turn back again, leave the inner bay of Dongyi, follow the coastline of the peninsula to the north, and enter the outer bay of Dongyi.

Guided by several American pilots, we made our way north along the fjord to the deepest part of the fjord.

The northeastern corner of the Dongyi Peninsula meets the mainland, and the northernmost part of Delaware is the ready-made Newcastle.

There are three states on the Dongyi Peninsula, and the southernmost corner belongs to Virginia.

The Northeast region belongs to Delaware, and the western and central territories belong to Maryland.

The area on the western side of the peninsula on the western side of the mainland belongs to Cecil County in the state of Lizhou.

Cecil County's administrative center is home to a small town called Elkton with fewer than 2,000 residents.

On the western side of the peninsula on the mainland border, it belongs to Newcastle County, Delaware.

The administrative center of Newcastle County is called Wilmington, which can also be translated as Wellington, or Wilmington.

The name is of British origin and is widely used in the British colonies, with several Wilmingtons in the United States and Canada.

With a population of over 40,000, Wilmington, Delaware, is a figure that may seem completely inconspicuous in modern times, but it is currently the largest town in the entire state of Delaware and home to the state capital.

During the American Revolution, Wilmington was occupied by British forces, so Delaware moved its capital to Dover in the interior of the South, and did not move back after the Revolutionary War.

Now the whole of Delaware was invited by Adams and Napoleon to join the Northern Bloc directly, so there was no war on the mainland, so the capital remained in Wilmington.

Regarding the handover of the Dongyi Peninsula, there are some detailed questions that need to be discussed with relevant personnel in Wilmington.

The key is the issue of Wilmington itself.

The city of Wilmington, strictly speaking, is not part of the Dongyi Peninsula, and the city is actually outside the peninsula.

But at least half of Newcastle County, to which Wilmington belongs, is located on the peninsula.

The situation is similar in the opposite county of Cecil, which is partly outside the peninsula.

There is no clear way to divide these areas outside the peninsula.

In the case of a rather urgent time, Zhu Jingyuan, British and French officials, as well as Napoleon, did not think so carefully.

After Mu Yongfu, Qiu Lianggong, and Ruan Yuan received the task, they realized that this problem might exist during the internal discussion before the mission.

Therefore, the three of them immediately learned about the local situation through the personnel of the American side and the personnel channels of the West Factory, and then first made a general analysis.

If the Ming Dynasty had been given the full counties of Newcastle and Cecil, including their lands off the peninsula, then the largest town on the Dongyi Peninsula would have been Wilmington.

If you don't want these lands, demarcated directly from the geographical limits of the peninsula, then the largest towns...... No one knows which is the largest town, but there are only about 2,000 people at most.

The settlements on the entire Dongyi Peninsula are generally one or two thousand, or even only a few hundred or dozens of people.

The entire peninsula covers an area of more than 14,000 square kilometers, with a total population of about 320,000 and an average population density of 22 people per square kilometer, which is similar to that of Inner Mongolia in Zhu Jingyuan's previous life.

Moreover, the population of Inner Mongolia still tends to be concentrated, and the people on this Dongyi Peninsula are almost evenly dispersed.

Major General Mu Yongfu believes:

"If our goal is to hold the peninsula for a long time as conveniently as possible, then we should use geographical boundaries as the boundary, so that our future land defense line will be as short as possible.

"If the goal of the Ming Dynasty is to use this peninsula as a base to attack and expand the land, then the land of these two counties outside the peninsula should be obtained as much as possible.

"In this way, our usual garrison troops, as well as the subsequent offensive troops, do not have to be limited to the peninsula.

"This will increase the enemy's defensive area, and it will be convenient for our troops to break through after the defense line is lengthened."

Rear Admiral Qiu Lianggong added:

"My view is that you can't choose the narrowest physical boundaries, and it's better to take all the jurisdictions of the two counties.

"I propose that in the narrowest place, use the existing bays and rivers to build a canal to connect the inner and outer Dongyi bays, so as to facilitate the movement of the navy and the arming of two lines.

"It's better to have a certain distance from the border so that we can protect the canal on both sides of the canal."

The right long history of the Dongyi court sighed and said:

"Two generals, the question now is if Tessie is allowed to accept the demarcation of the jurisdiction, not the demarcation of the geographical boundary."

Qiu Lianggong laughed:

"It depends on Mr. Ruan's skills, just like His Royal Highness the Prince of Great Food did at the Western Ocean Cape, let these Xiyi voluntarily hand over the land we need."

Ruan Yuan sighed as if he was not sure:

"I hope that we can solve this negotiation by ourselves, and I hope that there is no need for His Royal Highness Prince Dashi to come forward."

Qiu Lianggong's fleet slowed down and entered the Waidongyi Bay in the early morning of the next day.

In the bay there is a patrol fleet of northern America, all low-class cruisers.

The officers and men of the fleet had been informed that the Ming fleet would enter the bay and go to Wilmington for negotiations.

Now that I suddenly saw Daming's fleet breaking in, I was still a little nervous and flustered, and asked about the situation here with a flag.

Qiu Lianggong asked people to respond to them normally, and then he led the main fleet to stay in the bay to prevent all kinds of emergencies.

Let the fleet led by two armored cruisers carry Nguyen Yuan and Mu Vinh Phuc and the escort officers and men into the bay.

In the afternoon of the same day, Nguyen Yuan's fleet entered the mouth of the Delaware River and slowly sailed into the Wilmington Wharf.

Ruan Yuan and Mu Yongfu came to the bow of the boat and looked at the dock that was getting closer and closer, but gradually found that the dock at this time was full of people, a scene of crowds.

"Is this the whole town coming out......"