April 23, Qingzhou Fucheng.

Early in the morning, a graduation ceremony was held in the auditorium of the Huangming Military Academy.

Yan Jizu, the governor of Shandong, and Shi Kefa, the prefect of Jinan, both came to attend the graduation ceremony, and Shi Kefa presided over it.

In the auditorium, Zheng Chenggong, Zheng Zhihu, Zheng Zhibao, Zheng Hongkui, Zheng Zhipeng, Gan Hui, Chen Hui, Zheng Xing, Zheng Ming, Yang Geng, Zheng Cai, Shi Daxuan, Shi Lang, Hong Xu and others were all present.

At this time, everyone was excited, the original half-year study has ended early, although the time has been reduced a lot, but Zheng Chenggong and a group of Zheng army generals have benefited a lot, during this period of day and night study, everyone seems to have pushed open a door, and saw a new world that has never been seen before: it turns out that war can still be fought like this!

In front of the auditorium, Yan Jizu and Shi Kefa sat on the stage, Zheng Chenggong, Zheng Zhihu and others sat under the stage, and Shi Kefa presided over the ceremony.

Shi Kefa first said some official words, and then announced the academic achievements of Zheng Chenggong, Zheng Zhihu, Shi Daxuan and others in the academy, affirming the hard work of everyone, and at the same time hoping that after entering the army, everyone can bravely kill the enemy, apply the knowledge they have learned to the battlefield, and defend the country for the court and the people of the world.

Today's Shi Kefa is doing a good job in Jinan Mansion, especially after understanding the connotation of the new deal, under the guidance of Yan Jizu, Shi Kefa's ability to govern has also been greatly improved.

After Shi Kefa finished speaking, he said: "Next, please ask Yan Futai to speak." ”

Zheng Chenggong and the others hurriedly applauded and welcomed according to the tradition of the college, Yan Jizu smiled and waved his hand, and said: "Today's graduation ceremony is not many people, the scale is not large, but it is of great significance!" ”

"After you leave the academy, you will be appointed to lead the troops in the National Defense Force and the new water division, and you will be the generals of the Ming Dynasty in the future. And the first battle you have learned to join the army will be the battle of going north to recover Liaodong! ”

This news, Zheng Chenggong and others heard this news for the first time, and when they heard that they would have the opportunity to participate in the war to recover Liaodong, everyone was enthusiastic.

Even Zheng Zhihu, Zheng Zhibao and others, who were still full of nostalgia for the time when they controlled Fujian before, were also excited at this time, this is a great opportunity to leave a name in history, so many people in the Zheng family will definitely be able to get a lot of military exploits, and the power of the Zheng family in the court will be greatly increased at that time, which is much stronger than being the emperor in Fujian!

Yan Jizu looked at everyone's excited expressions, nodded with satisfaction, and said: "In this war, the imperial court has mobilized all the troops of the National Defense Army, a full 800,000 elite army, you can catch up with such a grand event, even Benfu is quite blushing!" ”

"You know, as soon as the imperial court ordered the transfer of troops, many generals of the garrisons in various places wrote to the imperial court, asking for a war. For example, Li Dingguo, the chief military officer of Huguang, Lu Daqi, the chief military officer of Zhejiang, Mu Tianbo, the chief military officer of Yunnan, and Li Yan, the chief military officer of Guangxi, all quarreled to go to war with the army, but the imperial court was no longer able or necessary to mobilize troops and horses, so the Ministry of National Defense did not agree. Benfu heard that many people were in tears because they couldn't play. ”

Everyone laughed when they heard this, and at the same time cherished this opportunity even more, and held back their strength to get a good result.

Later, Yan Jizu did not sell it, and directly took out more than a dozen official letters of appointment from the Ministry of National Defense, and began to read out the appointments one by one.

And Zheng Chenggong and the others were very excited, and they stood up one after another at this time, waiting for their names to be called with serious expressions.

"Zheng Chenggong was appointed as the chief officer of the 15th Army of the National Defense Army, Zheng Zhihu was appointed as the deputy chief soldier of the 15th Army of the National Defense Army, Zheng Zhibao was appointed as the general of the left battalion of the 15th Army, and Gan Hui was appointed as the general of the right battalion of the 15th Army."

Zheng Chenggong, Zheng Zhihu, Zheng Zhibao, and Gan Hui all got up to receive orders and took over the appointment of the Ministry of National Defense from Yan Jizu.

At this time, the 5,000 Iron Man Army, the 3,000 Black Slave Musket Team, and the 2,500 White Slave Heavy Armor Soldiers were all retained by Liu Yan's special order, and they were all integrated into the 15th Army of the National Defense Army.

According to the establishment of the Ministry of National Defense, the Iron Man Army will serve as the direct corps of the 15th Army Headquarters, the Black Slave Musket Corps will serve as the escort of the chief officer, and the white slave heavy armor will serve as the escort of the deputy general soldier.

"Chen Hui was appointed as the chief officer of the 16th Army of the National Defense Army, Zheng Xing was appointed as the deputy chief of the 16th Army of the National Defense Army, Zheng Hongkui was appointed as the general of the left battalion of the 16th Army, and Zheng Ming was appointed as the general of the right battalion of the 16th Army."

Chen Hui, Zheng Hongkui, Zheng Xing, and Zheng Ming also stepped forward to receive their appointments, and the faces of the four were all smiles, and now that nearly 50,000 national defense troops were in the hands of a few people, several people were very excited in their hearts.

"Shi Daxuan was appointed as the chief officer of the Beiyang Fleet of the Ming Navy, Shi Lang was appointed as the general of the first detachment of the Beiyang Fleet, Zheng Zhipeng was appointed as the general of the second detachment of the Beiyang Fleet, Yang Geng was appointed as the general of the third detachment of the Beiyang Fleet, Zheng Cai was appointed as the general of the fourth detachment of the Beiyang Fleet, and Hong Xu was appointed as the general of the fifth detachment of the Beiyang Fleet."

Shi Daxuan and Shi Lang were mainly attacking the navy in the Huangming Military Academy, and at this time, the six of them stepped forward to receive their appointments.

Now, with the establishment of the Admiralty, Liu Yan also ordered the naval divisions in Daming to be unified into the navy, and according to the structure of the fleet, detachment, detachment, and single ship, the reorganization was carried out from the new, and the old ships were eliminated.

After the Zheng family's more than 3,000 warships of various types were reorganized, they were also reduced to more than 1,000, and among the remaining warships, the old ones were all eliminated, and those that could still be used were assigned to the rest of the Ming Dynasty to be mixed with the local naval warships.

At present, the Admiralty presided over by Zheng Zhilong has set up three fleets: Beiyang, Nanyang, and Dongyang, of which the Beiyang Fleet is the strongest, stationed in Tianjinwei and Lingshanwei, Shandong.

The Oriental Fleet is stationed in Fujian and Taiwan, and the Nanyang Fleet is stationed in Guangdong and Hainan.

According to the establishment set by the Admiralty, the Beiyang Fleet led by Shi Daxuan consisted of five warship detachments, one transport detachment, and one supply detachment, and each detachment had five warship detachments, one transport detachment, and one supply detachment, and each detachment was composed of 20 warships.

The entire Beiyang Fleet has a total of 1,078 ships of various types, more than 32,000 officers and men who can be used for naval and land battles, and there are also a different number of sailors on each ship.

At this time, everyone's appointments have been issued, Yan Jizu looked at everyone and said: "Early tomorrow morning, there will be a special carriage and horse sent by the Ministry of Defense waiting at the gate of the academy. ”

"The 15th Army and the 16th Army of the National Defense Force have arrived at Tianjin Wei to assemble, and the Beiyang Navy is still assembled in Lingshanwei.

The crowd took orders.

In the blink of an eye, three carriages had been parked at the gate of the Huangming Military Academy, Yan Jizu and Shi Kefa sent Zheng Chenggong and others out, and many gentlemen and students from the academy also came out to see off Zheng Chenggong and others.

"This time in the army, you must govern the army with all your heart, and lead the army to fight in the future, so as to make meritorious contributions to the country!"

The crowd took orders.

Zheng Chenggong said even more excitedly: "Lord Futai and Lord Prefect, please rest assured, we will kill the enemy and serve the country, and live up to our mission!" ”

A few days later, Zheng Chenggong, Zheng Zhihu, Zheng Zhibao, and Gan Hui arrived outside the Tianjin Acropolis, at this time the 15th Army of the National Defense Army was stationed ten miles north of the city, and the four entered the barracks and handed over the letter of appointment to the Ministry of National Defense who was temporarily in charge of the troops and horses in the camp, and then several people took over the military power of the 15th Army.

On the same day, Zheng Chenggong ordered to convene thousands of generals and officers in the army to discuss matters in the big tent of the Chinese army.

In the big tent, Zheng Chenggong looked at many of the generals who came to discuss the matter, all of whom were the grassroots generals of the original Zheng Army, which shows that this time the various departments of the Zheng Army were reorganized, and the imperial court did not take the opportunity to suppress the Zheng Army's people, but gave everyone a chance to get ahead.

In this regard, Zheng Chenggong, Zheng Zhihu, Zheng Zhibao, and Gan Hui were moved in their hearts, and their sense of identity with the imperial court increased a lot again.

"The Ministry of National Defense has issued a mobilization order, our army will conduct training in Tianjinwei, and be ready to go out at any time, and the officers and men of all departments will conduct drills with the goal of actual combat from today onwards, and they must not slack off!"

"Order!"

Then the generals dispersed, Zheng Chenggong, Zheng Zhihu, Zheng Zhibao, and Gan Hui said: "In the past few days, everyone will familiarize themselves with the camp first, and control the soldiers and horses as soon as possible, and I will go to the Tianjin Acropolis." ”

At this time, the imperial court had allocated several batches of money and grain to the Tianjin Acropolis, and the Tianjin Acropolis had also been changed to Zhili Prefecture, under the jurisdiction of Jinghai, Wuqing, and Qingxian counties. This time, Zheng Chenggong prepared to enter the city to submit an official document to Zhizhou, and asked Zhizhou to arrange for the people to prepare the supplies of the 15th Army, and the army may go out at any time, and the materials accompanying the army should also be loaded and transported away at any time.

"Don't worry, the town is there, there will be no problem with us in the camp."

On the same day, Zheng Chenggong took more than a dozen guards to ride horses to the Tianjin Acropolis.

Tianjin Acropolis is located in the lower reaches of the Haihe River, east of the Bohai Sea, north of the Yanshan Mountain, the Haihe River through the city and meandering into the sea, known as the "river and sea to rush" and "the gateway of Jifu".

In the second year of the Ming Dynasty, Zhu Di, the king of Yan, crossed the Grand Canal and went south to compete for the throne. After Zhu Di became the emperor, in order to commemorate the "Battle of Jingyan", the word Tianjin means the place where the Son of Heaven crossed, and is also known as Jingu, Jinmen, etc. Tianjin began with the opening of the Grand Canal in the Sui Dynasty. At the intersection of the South Canal and the North Canal, the current Jingang Bridge Sancha River Estuary, known as "Sanhui Haikou" in history, is the earliest birthplace of Tianjin. After the middle of the Tang Dynasty, Tianjin became a land and water wharf for transporting grain and silk from the south to the north. The Jin Dynasty set up "Zhigu Village" in Zhigu, and the Yuan Dynasty set up "Haijin Town", which was an important military town and a grain transshipment center.

In the Ming Dynasty, Tianjin as a military location, in the southwest of the Sancha estuary of the small Zhigu area, Tianjin began to build a city and set up a guard, called Tianjin Wei, and later added Tianjin Left Guard and Tianjin Right Guard.

Today's Tianjin Acropolis is already a prosperous business place, there are many people in the city, and there are many businessmen from the south to the north, Zheng Chenggong saw the streets and alleys where people came and went, and said to the guards around him with a smile: "Tianjin is prosperous, and its name is well deserved!" ”

It didn't take long for Zheng Chenggong and others to come to the Zhizhou Yamen and meet Chen Hui, the chief officer of the 16th Army of the National Defense Army, who had just come out of it.

"Meet the little general!"

Zheng Chenggong grabbed Chen Hui and said with a smile: "Now that we are all the chief officers of the National Defense Force, we are no longer the generals of the Zheng Army, so we don't have to pay attention to these things." ”

Chen Hui said with a smile: "I just can't forget Lord Shangshu's kindness to me." ”

After a few pleasantries, Zheng Chenggong asked, "General Chen is also here to ask about supplies?" ”

"Yes."

Chen Hui said: "Nazhizhou was also selected from a new-style school, I heard that he graduated from Shandong Taoism in Jinan Prefecture, and he did things very neatly, and the little general would know when he went." ”

"That's good."

"By the way, I don't know if the little general has heard of it."

"What?"

Chen Hui looked left and right, and then said in a low voice: "I heard that the Ministry of Military Intelligence and the Ministry of Defense have sent a large number of sharp sentries out of the customs to investigate the enemy's situation, saying that there are thousands of people!" ”

Zheng Chenggong was shocked, and it seemed that the day of going out of the customs would not be too far away.

"I just don't know what news I can get this time."

Zheng Chenggong said with a smile: "The 800,000 elite waterways of the National Dynasty are advancing together and attacking in three ways, even if the Manchu Qing Dynasty has Da Luo Jinxian here, there is only one way to be defeated!" ”

Chen Hui also agreed, but still said: "I just heard that the Manchu Qing Dynasty is also fighting in arms and has also built firearms, but I am afraid that although this battle is sure to be won, there will be some twists and turns." ”

Zheng Chenggong said magnificently: "My Wang Shi will fight the evil with righteousness, and he will definitely be invincible, even if the Manchu army is strong, it will just survive!" ”