Towering as high as the city walls, the huge warships slowly sailed across the river, dwarfing the ships along the way.

The people along the coast also went to the riverside one after another, vying to see the demeanor of these giant ships, and the pride of the proud people of the kingdom spontaneously arose, and they set up incense cases to pray for the fleet, wishing them a safe and triumphant victory.

Not only in Nanjing, Zhenjiang, the area where Boss Zhu started, but also in the lower reaches of the Yangtze River, the people in Changzhou, Suzhou, and Nantong were even more enthusiastic, and they drove small boats close to the fleet, and carried baskets of roast chicken, bacon, soju, brown sugar and other labor supplies with bamboo poles to the officers and soldiers on the deck.

In the Jiangnan region, where relations with the imperial court were tense, such a scene was rare. The common people are full of complaints about Boss Zhu, it's not bad if you don't throw rotten eggs, and give you back to Lao Jun?

But this time it's different. After half a year of preparation time, the people of Jiangnan have long known that this time it was His Royal Highness the King of Chu who took Wang Shi to fight the Japanese and avenge them.

Since the beginning of the Yuan Dynasty, the people of Jiangnan have suffered greatly from the Japanese plague, but the Yuan Dynasty has suffered heavy losses after two defeats in the Japanese invasion, and the Yuan Dynasty can no longer afford to attack Japan. And the Yuan Dynasty was rapidly corrupted, who cares whether the Han people live or die? Sitting back and watching the pirates burn, kill and loot, they were indifferent at all.

It was only in this dynasty that the situation improved. With the protection of the Ming army, the people of Jiangnan lived a peaceful life. But only a thousand days to be a thief, how can there be a thousand days to prevent thieves? The Ming army adopted a coastal defense strategy, and no matter how tightly defended it was, it would still be exploited by the Japanese from time to time to take advantage of the loopholes.

Therefore, the officials and people of Jiangnan have always heard endless calls for attacking Japan and never suffering from Japan, but the minister has always used the lessons of the Yuan Dynasty as a reason to dissuade Emperor Hongwu from attacking Japan. The people of Jiangnan waited until the fourteenth year of Hongwu to finally wait for this day, and the enthusiasm that broke out can be imagined.

He was full of high hopes for His Royal Highness the King of Chu, who had not been seen for many years, and the riverside was full of banners wishing His Highness victory......

This made Zhu, the general of the conquest who stood on the stern of the flagship, feel a lot of pressure.

"If this battle is not fought well, I will not have the face to see Jiangdong's father." The sixth sighed and said to the two Hou masters on the side: "It's all up to the two." ”

"Your Highness rest assured," Yu Tongyuan, the Marquis of Nan'an, who had not appeared for a long time, grew three long beards, and stood beside His Highness. When the sixth child first saw him, he was completely like two people. He said with confidence:

"Over the years, the water preparation master has already been reborn. The soldiers have been holding back their strength all these years, just to take the initiative to attack, and also to spread the wilderness on the territory of Japan, and completely lose the name of the 'Woshui Division'. ”

"Quilt Quilt Diver?" Wang Bi had just been transferred back from the northwest and had not heard of this yet.

"It's that the imperial court has always only allowed coastal defense, and is not allowed to go overseas to pursue." Yu Tongyuan explained: "So once the Japanese invaders are far away, we can only look at the ocean and sigh, and there is no way. It was laughed at by the common people, saying that we are not preparing for the water division at all, but the 'water division of the bed' who dare not leave the hot quilt nest. ”

"My cousin has always been against attacking Japan." The sixth said lightly: "It's this time, I took a lot of effort to convince him." ”

"Li Taibao has been in charge of the Metropolitan Governor's Mansion for many years, and he is extremely cautious about combat, for fear that there will be any mistakes and he will not be able to explain to the emperor." Wang Bi said softly: "Now that it is divided into the Governor's Mansion of the Five Armies, he doesn't have so much pressure." ”

"By the way, how did His Highness convince him?" Wang Bi asked curiously, he knew that Li Wenzhong seemed to be soft, but he was actually a very stubborn person, once he recognized the matter, let alone the sixth child, it would be difficult for even the emperor to convince him.

"Physical persuasion." The sixth man patted the railing of the giant ship under him: "I invited him to see our newly built treasure ship, and invited him to watch a drill on the ship, and he didn't say anything." ”

"I see." Wang Bi couldn't help laughing. He could fully understand Li Wenzhong's feelings, because when he saw the twelve 2,000-material treasure ships and the 24 1,500-material treasure ships in the conquest fleet, he was shocked and did not come back to his senses.

Imagine how terrifying it must have been when a sloop in a sloop was seen flying dozens of forty or fifty-meter-long ships all over the world.

What's even more terrifying is that under the firm giant ship heavy artillery doctrine of His Royal Highness the Sea King, all the newly built warships with more than 1,000 materials have been redesigned.

For better handling, the new ships have a more streamlined size and significantly lower stern and bow heights. The deck height was greatly raised, and the cabins on the lower deck were completely opened, so that the battleship had a double deck.

On the upper and lower decks, all guns were installed. The number of guns on such a two-thousand-material treasure ship reached a staggering fifty.

There were also forty-two guns on the 1,500-ship. Even the guns of the Qianyuan battleship reached thirty, and the firepower was completely different from the original battle of Bird and Flower Island.

Of course, the cost of building these huge ships and heavy artillery is also extremely terrifying, and ninety percent of the huge income of the Prime Minister's Haizheng Yamen in recent years has been smashed into it.

This is still a large amount of timber that can be purchased by themselves, and there are also Jiangnan merchants who actively subscribe to the bonds of the city, so that the finances of the Haizheng Yamen are not bankrupt.

Now is the time to verify whether the huge investment of the sixth child is worth it!

~~

Two days later, the fleet arrived at Chongming Island, where it completed its final replenishment, brought the battleship to full load, and then sailed into the ocean.

A few days after the fleet traveled eastward, the color of the sea became significantly darker, and Yu Tongyuan reported to the king of Chu that the fleet had entered the Black Water Ocean and would be able to reach Japan in five days downstream.

"Is it so close?" Marquis Dingyuan said in disbelief: "You can get to Japan in less than ten days?" In such a short period of time, the army could not leave the province on land. ”

"You can't be wrong, this route has been used for hundreds of years, and you can drift to Japan without having to operate a boat." Yu Tongyuan said firmly: "This is still a north wind, if it is a south wind, a single boat will be smooth, and you can reach Japan in three days at the earliest." ”

"This ship is non-stop day and night, and it doesn't take physical effort, but it can't be compared to the army that sleeps at night." The sixth laughed: "So once you come to the ship on horseback, you will find that the world is many times bigger than before." ”

"Really?" Wang Bi looked around, there was a vast water surface in all directions, if it was him, he would have to be scared to death.

"That's right." The sixth nodded and said, "So the worries of you and those uncles are superfluous. There are endless worlds to conquer! ”

"Ahead, that's our first stop." He looked firmly ahead, and announced in a deep voice: "We must conquer them and never suffer for China!" ”

(End of chapter)