As for the losses of the British, some say that only a few sailors were slightly wounded, and none really died, while others say that one sailor fell into the water and died, in short, the real casualties were pitiful.

From this aspect, we can see how big the gap between the naval divisions of the Qing army and the navies of the contemporary powers is.

"After the victory of this battle, how will Li Shuai use his troops?" asked Wang Jiuxuan with a curious expression.

Li Xian nodded secretly, knowing that the drama was coming.

On the surface, this banquet was a summary of the naval battle, but in fact it was a discussion of the next operational strategy, or more precisely, a discussion on how to divide the spoils in the next step.

Sanyuanguan and other allies came to help in the war, and the Mixed Yuan Sect actually paid almost no price, not that the Mixed Yuan Sect was unwilling to give monetary compensation to the allies, but these allies politely said that this war was purely to help the Mixed Yuan Sect, and they were resolutely unwilling to collect any money for the sake of opposing the great cause of the Qing Dynasty.

In this world, there is no such thing as truly free help, and these sects are unwilling to accept compensation, naturally because they want to be bigger.

Compared with the tens of thousands or hundreds of thousands of dollars donated by the Mixed Yuan Sect, these allies hope to get a base and a territory in Fujian or Zhejiang.

Of course, at this time, knowing that the Qing court was not stiff when it was dead, and there was still a considerable amount of strength, and it was not easy to seize Fujian without damage by relying on the strength of the Mixed Yuan Sect alone, most people's minds have changed.

"The next step is naturally to turn fiction into reality, turn the feint attack on Ningbo into a real attack, occupy Ningbo, and then seize Hangzhou as a base for the army. ”

Li Xian replied after a deep sigh, this strategy is actually clear at a glance, with the ability of these people present, even if he doesn't say it, others can guess it.

Mixed Yuanzong first wanted to occupy Putian and then seize Fujian, but after discovering that the Qing court and the Yiren Hall had arranged heavy troops here, Li Xian decided to move north, occupy Hangzhou, and then pass through Zhejiang.

After gaining almost complete sea supremacy, the Huaxia Army was able to implement such a leapfrog tactic.

If the Inhuman Palace wants to support the war in Zhejiang, it will inevitably carry out a large number of troop deployments, and it will be possible for the Huaxia Army to find its main force from all kinds of clues to annihilate.

Moreover, the Inhuman Hall has a lot of caves and blessed lands, and if you want to defend it, you have to divide the troops and station, so Li Xian doesn't believe that the Inhuman Hall can also arrange a huge force like Xianrendu in Zhejiang.

"Avoiding the real is false, it is originally the way of the art of war, and Li Shuai's move is deeply in line with the essence of the art of war.

I just don't know if Li Shuai has passed through Zhejiang, so what will Dinghai do?" asked Wang Jiuxuan.

"Dinghai is isolated overseas, and it is very close to Ningbo and Hangzhou Bay, so it is naturally our forward base.

Our next step is to build Dinghai into an important military port, and many materials transported to land can be transshipped through this island.

Hmm, Brother Wang asked about Dinghai, I don't know what to learn?"

"I think the location of Dinghai is very critical, not only is it an important base for this attack on Ningbo and Hangzhou, but even if we occupy Zhejiang in the future, it will also be a good place to radiate the entire region and strengthen our influence.

I hope that our Sanyuanguan can send troops to assist in the defense and jointly enhance the defense capability of Dinghai Island. ”

"If that's the case, that's a good thing. ”

Li Xian nodded in agreement, but there was something strange in his heart.

Dinghai is actually the Zhoushan Islands in later generations, which itself is just a small island with few resources, and now there are about 30,000 residents on the island.

In general, Dinghai is only a special geographical location, and its own value is not large, if Wang Jiuxuan wants to seek benefits for the Sanyuan Temple, he can want a bigger and richer state capital, and he should not pay too much attention to such a small county-level place.

According to the strength of the three-element concept and the relationship with the Mixed Yuan Sect, it is to Wenzhou and Taizhou and other wealthy state capitals, and most of the Mixed Yuan Sect agrees, even Ningbo and Jiaxing are not impossible to consider.

However, thinking of the particularity of Dinghai's geographical location, Li Xian's heart suddenly moved, and he understood the reason why Sanyuanguan paid attention to Dinghai.

"Brother Wang cares about Dinghai, in addition to military reasons, another point is that he wants to start trade with foreigners and Japan. Li Xian said Wang Jiuxuan's little Jiujiu in one sentence.

"I remember that Li Shuai used to talk about military strategy to everyone, saying that politics is the continuation of the economy, and war is the continuation of politics, which impressed me deeply.

Dinghai is strategically located between Shanghai, Hangzhou, Dayuan Island and Japan, making it an excellent place for the development of maritime trade.

I do not seek any privileges in Dinghai, but only hope that Dinghai can be used as a port for transshipment of goods, so that trade with Shanghai and Japan can be carried out. Wang Jiuxuan said with a sigh.

Li Xian nodded, understanding what Wang Jiuxuan meant.

What many people don't know is that after the Opium War, in addition to taking Hong Kong, Britain also led troops to occupy Dinghai, and the reason is exactly the same as what Wang Jiuxuan said, and it is also because Dinghai is in the middle of these four places, which is suitable for being a transshipment port, and more suitable for stationing the navy to control the mouth of the Yangtze River and a large coastline.

In Li Xian's original history, the Qing court took a lot of effort to get Dinghai back from the British through various agreements in 1846, and in this time and space, it was recaptured by Li Xian's navy, which formed another layer of cause and effect with the British.

"The economy is the top priority of our governance, and it is also the key to defeating the Qing court and recovering the whole country. ”

Li Xian said a bunch of clichés, but he agreed that Sanyuanguan would assist in the defense of Dinghai, and at the same time rely on Dinghai to carry out trade.

"If this is the case, we will also be able to help. Qin Rigang couldn't help but be overjoyed when he heard that Li Xian did not object to Sanyuanguan's use of Dinghai for sea trade, and hurriedly said.

"So is our Huashan faction. Yue Bufan, the head of the Huashan faction, also hurriedly said.

"Then thank you allies for your help. Li Xian said politely, raising a glass to these allies.

Wang Jiuxuan asked about the matter of Dinghai, on the surface he was just sending troops to assist in defense, but secretly he asked whether he could use Dinghai for maritime trade, and the deeper meaning was naturally to ask the Mixed Yuan Sect whether their allies could participate in the trade of the north and the trade of Japan, and find a market for dumping goods and a source of raw materials for their own forces.

This Northern Expedition was mainly supported by the Mixed Yuan Sect, which had previously invested a lot of resources and also controlled Dayuan Island, if the Mixed Yuan Sect wanted to rely on these advantages and seize all the benefits of northern trade, other forces actually had not much to think of.