On this day, the sun is warm, the breeze is refreshing, Li Yong looked at the first upgraded Admiral, his heart was excited, he couldn't help but feel good, the black chirping new ship's bottom base exuded a metallic luster in the sun, and there were a thousand navy standing on the ship, crowded to the brim, they were all straight, standing proudly, their faces were full of excitement, waiting to witness the historic moment.

"Master Hou, everything is ready, whether to test the ship, please instruct."

A deep voice rang out.

"Ignition~"

Li Yong shouted, swallowing mountains and rivers, the excitement on his face did not diminish at all, if he succeeded, he would lead the navy into the age of steam engines, the age of great navigation, and rewrite history, what kind of glory is this?

"Ignition~"

The captain of the Admiral gave the order loudly, and the onlookers of the Imperial Shipyard couldn't help but come forward, staring at the behemoth in front of them, looking at the new warship that they had worked so hard to get for so long, whether it was successful or not, just look at it, everyone looked at the Admiral with a responsible mood, a pair of eyes looked at the Admiral without blinking, for fear of missing something, the sailors at the bottom of the cabin received an order to put coal into the steam engine boiler according to Li Yong's teaching, ignite and burn, they also had doubts in their hearts, There was also some anticipation, and it didn't take long for the water in the steam engine to be grilled, generating steam, and the steam was converted into kinetic energy.

"Poof~"

The entire hull of the huge New Admiral shook, sending waves of water across the dockyard.

"Moved?"

Everyone looked at this scene incredulously, their eyes widened, Li Yong was also nervous, it took time and effort for more than half a year, if it didn't work, he would be busy in vain, he hurriedly stepped forward, his sharp eyes stared at the two huge propellers behind the Admiral, the propeller suddenly moved in Li Yong's expectant gaze, slowly rotated, gradually accelerated, rolled up countless splashes, gave birth to huge power, and pushed the Admiral forward.

"It's moving, it's really moving."

"Incredible, incredible."

"Is it really possible?"

"We succeeded~"

Countless people exclaimed and cheered, as if they had seen a miracle, "Whew~" Li Yong breathed a long sigh of relief, and his heart was completely put down.

"Admiral, the ship is gone."

On the deck, Zheng Dahai shouted excitedly.

"Let's go, go up and have a look."

Li Yong shouted, and then rushed up quickly, and took the guards to the new admiral, the director of the Imperial Shipyard and some technicians also jumped up excitedly, Li Yong came to the deck, grabbed the thick cable with one hand, and ordered with high spirits.

"Let's go, go around the sea a few times and try the effect."

Everyone was originally a little worried, after all, it was the upgraded Admiral who made the bottom iron casting, and the addition of the steam engine, which they had never seen before, so the first time they sat down, it was inevitable that they had no bottom in their hearts, in case it turned over, it was not a joke, seeing Li Yong and they all came up, the navy, including Zheng Dahai, suddenly felt at ease, the new admiral began to accelerate, sailed out of the dock, and then rushed into the sea, the workers who were watching in the shipyard followed one after another, shouting excitedly, they were all involved in the construction, and there was honor, soon, The new admiral chopped through the waves and rushed into the depths of the sea, faster and faster, Zheng Dahai shouted excitedly. "Admiral, this thing is faster than our original ship or even a clipper, and stable, great, it doesn't need a sail to sail to travel, it's simply a fairy technique, unheard of, Admiral, you won't be a fairy descending to earth, right?"

"Guess?"

Li Yong said with a smile.

"Surely, everything the admiral does is incredible, no one can do it, it must be a god descending to earth, with this battleship, the pirates are a fart, exterminate them, hahaha!"

Zheng Dahai was excited.

"Dangdangdang......" A warning bell suddenly rang.

"Something has been found ahead."

The observer in charge of the observation suddenly shouted, and everyone followed the sound, a ship was coming from the east, and the boats coming from the north and south directions might be fishing boats and merchant ships, but the east side was the direction where the Japanese were located, Li Yong's eyes were fixed, and the staff officer on the admiral said.

"It's not slow, could it be a pirate's reconnaissance clipper?"

"It's possible, the pirates suffered huge losses in the last World War, and they didn't escape a single person, they came to reconnoiter the situation in our Huating County, and they were ready to sneak attack us here?"

"Sure, let's catch up and see, shall we?"

The officers of the navy became excited one by one, and they all looked at Li Yong, who also had the heart to try the performance limit of the upgraded Admiral, so he gave an order.

"Set sail."

"Set sail~"

The soldiers in charge of the sails on deck shouted excitedly, and the huge sails were lowered, blown by the sea breeze, and immediately filled, forming a driving force, which, together with the propulsion of the steam engine, increased in speed again, and the huge Admiral rushed forward, making a large splash.

"So fast!"

Everyone exclaimed, standing unsteadily, staggering, fortunately, the ship is all old sailors, there is no problem, but those technicians are different, they support each other to stand firm, everyone adapted to the speed, the new admiral sailors faced the sea breeze, felt this unparalleled speed, one by one laughed excitedly, and suddenly morale soared, Li Yong carefully felt the speed, the speed is about fifty miles per hour, this speed is nothing on land, but it is very rare at sea, He knew that the steam engine alone could not be achieved, mainly because of the bonus of the sails, and the ship in front of him soon discovered the abnormality, and he turned around and wanted to run, and his appearance became more and more suspicious, it was obviously a fast ship, but at the moment it was ridiculous in the eyes of the navy, Zheng Dahai shouted excitedly.

"It's too slow, how about rushing up and knocking them over?"

"Are you sure it's a pirate?"

Li Yong asked rhetorically, Zheng Dahai observed for a moment, and said in a firm tone.

"Look at their sails, a dogskin plaster-like sign, and whether they hang the unique flag of our maritime yamen, they are definitely pirates, according to the information we have gathered, the pirates on Danluo Island have a name, called Amaterasu, and the icon used is this dogskin plaster, which should be the same as the wave of pirates you attacked last time."

"Bump into it."

Li Yong no longer talked nonsense, he also saw the other party's sail in the telescope, and there was a symbol of the same sign as the dog skin plaster flag of the Japanese country in later generations, there was a steering rod on the upgraded ship, and the gear wrench connected to the steam engine could be used to adjust the gear to correct the direction, and the person responsible for controlling the direction was naturally our old captain Zheng Dahai, he had already learned to control, coupled with rich driving skills, it can be said that he was the first person to choose for sea trials, Zheng Dahai heard the order and decisively pulled the steering stick, and the propeller began to tilt, Pushing the new admiral to change direction, the new admiral quickly rushed over, the waves on the sea surface were smashed by the admiral's iron hull, the whole ship was a momentum like a rainbow, everyone on board was excited, soon, the distance between the two sides was shortened, you can see many people on the clipper boat are paddling shirtless, their faces are panicked, shouting what, but where can manpower compare to the machine? The distance between the two sides is getting closer and closer, and you can clearly see the hideous expressions of everyone on the fast boat, hear the unwilling roar, some people are holding knives and screaming, a posture of preparing to move, and some people are holding bows and arrows, aiming over, the admiral who is on trial has not yet loaded the unloaded guns back, so the battleship cannot carry out long-range artillery attacks, Li Yong picked up a horn made of iron pieces and shouted.

"Lay down your arms, get down on your knees and surrender."

Not only did the people on the clipper not do it, but they became more and more crazy, and even the paddlers drew their swords and prepared to fight, Li Yong was amused, put down the horn and said.

"If you don't understand Lao Tzu's words, it must be a pirate who crashed into it."

"Hahaha~"

Everyone on board laughed excitedly, giving birth to the illusion that an adult was beating a child.

"Knock knock knock ......" fast ship, several feather arrows flew over, landed on the Admiral, the admiral's base is made of molten iron poured together, extremely strong, those feather arrows were all ejected without exception, unscathed, this scene made everyone more and more excited.

"Bump~"

All the people on the ship got up and shouted, shouting happily, just like watching a football game in later generations, once upon a time, the sea was the world of pirates, everyone could only look at the ocean and sigh, and then Li Yong's combined fleet appeared, and the pirates were basically wiped out by him, but because of the conspiracy and trickery of the roar to the sky, taking advantage of the gap between the upgrading of the combined fleet's warships and the coastline is too long, etc., the pirates of the Japanese country continued to exploit the loopholes, so that all of them lost face, and now they can finally take revenge, So they felt relieved, and they exclaimed for joy, and after holding it for so long, they finally let those people know that there is only one overlord on this sea, and that is their combined fleet.

"Knock~"

The huge Admiral rushed straight over, knocked over the clipper directly, and crushed it, and the screams on the clipper ship rang out, accompanied by the breaking of the clipper's planks, but the Admiral continued to move forward.

"It's broken, the ship is broken."

"Hahaha, pirate? Go to hell. ”

"Come on, these brutes have today."

Everyone has a blood feud with pirates to a greater or lesser extent, whether it is from the Wa Kingdom or there, anyway, pirates are pirates, and everyone shouted excitedly when they saw this scene.

"Collect the sails and stop moving."

Li Yong ordered loudly, he was also very excited in his heart, the success of the collision means that the troop carrier has withstood the test, and it can continue to upgrade the remaining battleships when it goes back to check that it is safe, as long as the hundred warships of the combined fleet are in hand, he has the confidence to sweep all the enemies in the sea, the huge sails of the Admiral are quickly put away with the help of pulleys, and the steam maneuver energy in the cabin is also cut off, the Admiral turns around under the action of inertia, and slowly comes to the sinking position of the clipper, and those pirates on the sea are still paddling desperately, But in the vast sea, no one will rescue and die, Li Yong shouted loudly to the sea,

"Who can understand Lao Tzu's words, squeak, spare him from death."

What responded to him was just a wah-wow strange scream, he didn't know what to say, the language was not understood, and the translator stayed with Liu Renliang and didn't bring it back, but he still understood the scolding of the Japanese Kou, and now the identity can be completely determined, Li Yong had murderous intentions, and said lightly to Zheng Dahai beside him.

"Kill them all, and find a translator to teach you Japanese when you go back, it's too inconvenient to not be able to communicate."

"Huh?"

Several major naval officers and Zheng Dahai had a bitter face.

"Ah what? Others don't have a chance to learn yet, this is a great thing, only when you learn can you make more great achievements, I will learn with you, all the navy must learn, who can't learn, expelled from the navy, Zheng Dahai, you take the lead in learning together, the time is set at night, anyway, there is nothing to do at night. ”

Li Yong said and looked at Zheng Dahai.

"Do you still want to learn Japanese language? Well......"

Zheng Dahai also had a bitter face, many of them didn't like to study since they were children, and they didn't have the money to study, if it weren't for Li Yong, they didn't almost participate in the navy, and they also got the opportunity to learn in the naval officer academy, they also finally learned the knowledge that naval officers want to learn, and now they learn the language, they are terrible to think about, more than three hours later, the new admiral returned to the imperial shipyard in Huating County, Li Yong led the navy and shipyard technicians who were on this trial voyage to get off the ship, Chatted with the workers who were not able to participate in the sea, after reviewing the effect of the new warship, Li Yong gave them a speech to encourage them, which was to announce the success of the new warship, and when he returned to the villa in the middle of the mountain, it was already dusk, the new admiral returned to the dock to replenish fuel, overhaul, and after the technicians and workers did not find anything abnormal, they immediately reported the latest situation to Li Yong, and Li Yong, who received the report, was completely relieved, and he celebrated with several wives that night. The next day, Li Yong led everyone in the Imperial Shipyard to devote themselves to the upgrading again, with the first experience, the latter ones are much simpler, mainly now there are only three admiral-class warships of the United Fleet, nine battle-class ships, the amount of work is not very large, not to mention that this upgrade is mainly to recast the bottom of the ship and add a steam engine to do power, there is no other technical difficulty, but in this era is already a thing beyond the times, the hull base is poured from the mold, without any finishing, and there is no condition for finishing, A few days can be poured one, and then there is the internal partition, the installation of steam engines and transmissions, etc., before you know it, another month has passed, and a letter came from the Chang'an Intelligence Bureau, the letter was written by the old bachelor in code, after Zheng Liwan's translation, the content said that the imperial court was discussing the issue of collecting taxes on all their industries in Chang'an, but this trick has been used, it is not new, and the wolf outside the outdoor staff does not know how many waves have been replaced, and the letter also mentioned that someone in the court impeached Li Yong for too many industrial workers, resulting in no one planting fertile land, Ask him to reduce his staff, the Tang Dynasty is based on agriculture, farming is the fundamental plan, and it is a great threat to attack Li Yong with no one to cultivate, Li Yong feels that Li Er is becoming more and more unable to understand him, and the back of the letter is a summary of Chang'an's business, after Li Yong finished reading the long letter, Zheng Liwan destroyed the letter directly, Li Yong looked in the direction of the Imperial Shipyard through the glass of the floor-to-ceiling window, although he couldn't see that the workers in the shipyard were busy in full swing, his sharp eyes crossed the Imperial Shipyard and threw it into the sea, There are six battleships that have been upgraded, like six steel monsters sleeping, and once they awaken, they will be shocked.

"Liwan, I'm going to get ready to get rid of those damn pirates of the Wa Kingdom, they've already reached us with their claws."

Five days later, Huating County was as usual, the Imperial shipyard was jingling inside, and the outer area of a few hundred meters was guarded by naval soldiers.

"Coming back?"

Liu Renliang, who was directing the troops to land, rushed up quickly.

"I just arrived, and I was in such a hurry to summon us to return home, are you going to start it?"

"There are all kinds of signs that Chang'an is afraid that something is going to happen, and we can't wait any longer, so let's prepare to send troops, take Danzhou Road, and find evidence."

Li Yong said in a deep voice.

"Chang'an."

Liu Renliang was stunned, suddenly thought of something, and then said.

"I said how calm it was during this time, no one came up to harass, it turned out that they knew that they couldn't fight, and put the battlefield on the court, this is not good in the open, in secret, the family has the same old way of playing, but we only have six ships, okay?"

"The original plan was to upgrade all twelve ships and then set off, now six ships are a bit less, but time does not wait for anyone, and then wait for the remaining six ships for a month, I can't afford to wait, continue to upgrade while fighting, when you leave, have you arranged to continue to concentrate on salt refining over there, making money is also equally important, although those people do not master the core secrets, but they also know some of our secrets, you arrange for other people to send them to Huating County, and arrange people to practice salt, and they can't be caught by others, in case of leakage."

Li Yong said with a straight face.

"Okay, I'll arrange it."

Li Yong nodded and continued to admonish.

"We only have a total of six upgraded ships available now, and the Coast Guard and the Black Pearl Pirates will make it a little harder for them, and we must guard a few of our key defensive places, and we can't let them take advantage of the loopholes."

"Yes."

Liu Renliang nodded and said.

Li Yong said to Zheng Dahai beside him.

"This time, let every ship on the expedition be full, and all the marines will go out together, and the remaining personnel will definitely do a good job in the defense of the base and Huating County, and let the logistics support troops hurry up to load the supplies, coal, fresh water and food onto the ship, let's go."

Zheng Dahai agreed, and then made arrangements with Liu Renliang, the upgraded general-level full number of personnel is 500 people, and the battle rank is 300 people, because the steam engine and various materials have increased the counterweight of the battleship several times, there is not much room for maneuver, and any more will affect the combat and navigation safety, this number is the result of Li Yong's countless calculations. Two admiral-class and four battle-class and temporarily requisitioned Princess No. 2 ships as supply ships, this time there are more than 3,000 people who can go out in total, and there is no definite information on the number of troops, although at present, Li Yong's side has an absolute advantage, but he knows that it is not so simple to yell at those guys in the sky, what is the actual situation, he doesn't know, but so what? It's over, the Navy Command ordered one by one, everyone moved, the logistics department support troops began to carry the materials of the material depot to the ship according to the list, after the list of personnel for the expedition was determined, they began to do a good job of equipment before the expedition, and the entire naval base entered a state of combat readiness, in the corresponding process, everything was in order at the naval base, and the next afternoon, everything was ready for the naval base, and the participants began to board the ship in an orderly manner, and the six new warships slowly left without getting the order to go out under the gaze of their comrades, and went straight to the east, Six new warships and the second ship of the Princess adopt the three-three-one formation, Xishan and Huating are the heads, responsible for opening the way, two battle-class palaces, the other two left and right arch guards, and the two admiral-class ships in the middle, they are sandwiched between the huge Princess No. 2 ship, which is loaded with coal and other materials from all the warships, plus the No. 2 Princess No. 2 ship has not been upgraded, and the power is more than many upgraded warships, Li Yong is in charge of commanding on this ship, During this time, all the navies in addition to learning the Japanese language is to study the improved naval battle tactics, on the deck of the princess No. 2 ship, Li Yong stood with his hands in his hands, his body swayed with the waves, but his feet seemed to take root, not moving half a step, because of the princess No. 2 ship, the fleet did not go fast, and when the night suddenly blew a strong wind, the waves surged, more than one meter high, the fleet rose and fell with the waves, but the problem was not big, after an hour, the sea returned to calm, the dark clouds dispersed, the moon was in the sky, and the stars were dotted, Everyone is familiar with the climate on the sea that changes when it comes to change, and they don't think it's strange, it's just that those recruits are vomiting dead and alive, Li Yong asked people to send a signal with an oil lamp to ask about the situation of the ships, the recruits are well-trained, but the training at sea is only about the last few months, and then the ships sent a signal, saying that some soldiers are dizzy and vomiting, but the problem is not big, seasickness, it is difficult to resist, can only stiffen, just get used to it, the fleet continues to move forward, like a ghost under the moonlight, the next morning, according to the chart, I can't find where I am now, As they hadn't traveled the route either, he was about to ask the captive's dogleg interpreter when he heard the sentry shouting from the mast.

"Report, Xishan and Huating sent signals, and a large number of sea vessels were found ahead."

"Sea vessels?"

Li Yong picked up the binoculars and looked in the direction pointed by the sentry, how could a large number of sea ships come over, could it be that the pirates came to attack again? There is no reason, if you want to sneak attack a long time ago, why wait until now, is it a merchant ship? I couldn't help but look at the pale face of the guard chief calf who vomited at himself and asked.

"Mavericks, do we have a large number of merchant ships to and from this route?"

"I haven't heard of it, maybe I do, I don't know a lot about Jiangnan."

"Order, battle formation, ready for battle."

Li Yong shouted, the sentry quickly played the flag, passed the order to all the warships, and the six new warships that got the order quickly turned into a one, two, and three formations, pulling away from each other, like a sharp arrow rushing forward, the three behind, Li Yong's ship was in the center, responsible for commanding, and the ships on both sides were responsible for protection, and the battleships behind also quickly became, lined up in two columns, like two war dragons rushing forward, this formation has an advantage, only need to be responsible for one side of the enemy, similar to back-to-back battles, but there is also a disadvantage, each fights, Unable to respond to each other, support, however, the six new warships are equipped with artillery, and the enemy who can be hit by long-range attacks has no power to fight back, invisibly, the six battleships are like a sharp arrow rushing forward, the momentum is like a rainbow, on the deck, Li Yong held a telescope to observe, at this time he is as enthusiastic as all the navies, the two sides are getting closer and closer, the attack formation of the other party and the combined fleet is different, the coming sea ships slowly unfold, vaguely crescent-shaped, like a military formation slowly moving forward, This formation is the pirate's favorite way to attack, once close, can quickly surround one of the ships, like a shark to bite the target, and then attack the other, one by one, the ship is different from the war horse flexible, also different from the foot combat, the formation is elongated, there is no way to encircle in time, quickly, and it is impossible to concentrate forces to jump ship to fight, unfortunately, this time they met Li Yong's combined fleet, or the upgraded new warship, looking at the countless sea ships that are slowly sailing, Li Yong roughly counted, there must be hundreds, There was a strong murderous aura in the sky above the fleet, not like a caravan, and then asked.

"Report Observations."

"Report, there are countless soldiers on the other side's ship, unlike merchant ships, and they are not flying pirate flags, and their identities are unknown."

The person sitting on the mast in charge of observation replied loudly.

"No pirate flags?"

Li Yong was a little surprised, it was not a pirate, nor a merchant ship, what was it, could it be a Japanese navy? Thinking of this, Li Yong's heart sank, and then ordered.

"Herald the No. 1 ship, ask for identity."

The No. 1 ship is actually the Xishan that is the one that takes the lead, in order to facilitate the command, each one is numbered, and the one where Li Yong is located is the zero ship.

After a while, the observation post shouted,

"Report, the signal has been given, and the other party does not respond."