Chapter 337 Yangtze Estuary

After recent years of construction, the navy has now taken shape. However, the combat power of the navy is definitely not as strong as that of the army.

Even with the same armor and equipment, the navy relies more on warships. The quality of warships cannot surpass the times, and the combat effectiveness of the navy cannot surpass the times.

No matter how sophisticated the armor and equipment are made of gold-yuan alloy, people will still die after the ship is destroyed.

In Ying Yi's mind, the importance of the navy is not inferior to that of the army. But if there is no breakthrough in shipbuilding technology, it will be difficult for the navy's combat effectiveness to reach the level Ying Yi desires.

For this reason, Yingyi, the two prefectures of Denglai and Denglai, planned to build it as the first shipbuilding center - a shipbuilding industry for metal warships based on high-quality materials such as gold and yuan alloy. But this is not a breakthrough that can be achieved in a short period of time - in the original history, metal-shell warships only developed significantly after the emergence of steam engines.

In Yingyi, the steam engine was too inefficient. And it is not in line with Daxia, which takes Yuan Qi's plan as the foundation and development direction of civilization.

As a power source, Ying Yi has a better choice, which is Yuan Qi, the Bafang Pagoda. However, it will definitely not be possible to use Yuan Qi as an energy source and integrate it with warships in a short time.

So the navy's warships are still old-fashioned.

In terms of technology, the shipbuilding industry during the Ming Dynasty was no worse than Western shipbuilding technology at this time. In terms of construction technology for giant warships, it even surpassed Western civilization at this time.

But the navy’s first opponent is not Western civilization at this time. But Zheng Zhilong.

Zheng Zhilong, who started out as a pirate, has great power on the sea. There are thousands of warships and tens of thousands of people. They are experts at sea. Compared with the technology of naval warfare, Ying Yi's newly built navy is probably still far behind.

Now Zheng Zhilong has pulled his fleet from the Fujian waters to the Yangtze River, as if he was making peace with the old officials of the previous dynasty, which is destined to make Ying Yi attack him.

In fact, even if Zheng Zhilong did not make peace with the old ministers of the previous dynasty, Ying Yi would not let him go. This person has too much power on the sea. He relies on himself to be tyrannical and listens to orders rather than propaganda. This is intolerable.

While there were movements in the Liaodong Theater and the Northwest Theater, the navy stationed in Denglai also frequently began to mobilize southward.

Yangzhou Prefecture, Jiangdu.

Wang Yuan, the king of the mansion, was patrolling the high ground by the river.

Wang Yuan has been in charge of Yangzhou Prefecture for more than three months. He was originally a student from Beijing and a native of Baoding. The king of Xia swept across Hebei Province, and he was recruited as an official. Because of his outstanding ability, he was appointed as the county magistrate. After the battle at Shanhaiguan, because of his ability to care for the people and his outstanding humanitarian achievements, he was promoted to the king of Yangzhou Prefecture and took office three months ago.

After taking office, Wang Yuan appeased the people, encouraged mulberry farming, and streamlined commerce. He worked conscientiously until Zheng Zhilong's navy reached the Yangtze River.

Yangzhou is across the river from Zhenjiang Prefecture, Changzhou Prefecture, and Suzhou Prefecture, and Nanjing Yingtian Prefecture is to the west of Zhenjiang. After Zheng Zhilong's navy arrived at the Yangtze River, it harassed the north of the Yangtze River for months, especially Yangzhou, which made Wang Yuan extremely angry.

This situation was relieved after the Jiangnan Theater Division was stationed in Jiangbei, confronted with Nanjing Yingtian, and the Yangtze River Front was established.

Subsequently, the Jiangnan War Zone sent a letter requesting the local governments along the river to cooperate with the Jiangnan War Zone in building forts along the river. Jiangdu, the seat of Yangzhou Prefecture, was one of the key points.

Wang Yuan attached great importance to this and went to the riverside to take command in person.

"Jiangdu is on the waterfront, and the bandit navy can reach it directly. The hidden dangers are very serious. Now there are forts along the river. If the bandits come again, we must give him some trouble."

Wang Yuan, dressed in a smart brocade robe, was walking on the construction site on the highlands along the river. All you see are workers and craftsmen, all in full swing.

"I'm afraid you won't be able to do what you want." The director of the Civil Affairs Department of Yangzhou Prefecture said with a smile: "Since moving from the Jiangnan war zone to the river, the water bandits have suffered several big losses. How dare they come to the north of the Yangtze River to harass them?"

Wang Yuan twisted his beard and chuckled: "It doesn't matter if you come or not. There are forts guarding the river, so the people can feel at ease. This is better than anything else."

The construction of forts along the river seemed to be to defend against Zheng Zhilong's naval attack, but Wang Yuan also knew the deeper reason - he had received a message from the Ministry of National Security at noon, asking him to prepare for the arrival of the Shandong Navy at night ——The ultimate purpose of the forts along the Yangtze River in the north of the Yangtze River is to cooperate with the Shandong Navy to block the Zheng Zhilong Navy in the mouth of the Yangtze River and destroy it in one go!

Zheng Zhilong's navy is very good at naval battles. If it is on a wide sea surface, Zheng Zhilong's navy's combat effectiveness is at its peak and cannot be easily defeated. But now Zheng Zhilong has made peace with the old officials of Yingtian Mansion and pulled the navy to the Yangtze River. For Ying Yi, this is an excellent opportunity.

In the narrow mouth of the Yangtze River, with the assistance of the forts set up on the north bank, there is a greater chance of annihilating Zheng Zhilong's navy in one fell swoop.

After returning from his inspection on the riverside, Wang Yuan was ready to welcome the navy. At night, Wang Yuan and a certain general from the Jiangnan Theater stationed in Jiangdu went to Tongzhou to meet the Zheng Wu Naval Command.

Zheng Wu commanded his troops from Denglai, went south along the coastline, bypassed the Shandong Peninsula, passed through Huai'an and Yangzhou, and entered the Yangtze River Estuary.

Things are not calm at the Yangtze Estuary. Zheng Zhilong left a navy with fifty warships stationed on Chongming Island. However, the situation here has long been clearly known. Even the enemy's military deployment on Chongming Island was clear to Zheng Wu - the forces composed of the old officials of Yingtian in Nanjing were like a sieve, leaking air from all sides. What's more, there are countless people who are looking forward to surrendering. If you ask a little, you will know everything.

The navy left by Zheng Zhilong on Chongming Island was headed by his son Zheng Sen. Zheng Sen, also known as Mingyan or Damu, was the original national hero Zheng Chenggong in history.

Zheng Sen had just turned 20 and had studied with celebrities in Yingtian. After Zheng Zhilong led his troops to Nanjing and saw that he and Guan deserved more experience, he gave him a thousand men and fifty warships to garrison on Chongming Island.

Zheng Sen can be said to have a family background - he has been exposed to water fighting since he was a child and has abilities far beyond those of ordinary people.

Of course, Zheng Zhilong drove Zheng Sen away from Nanjing not just because he believed in his son's ability, but his purpose was not that simple. Nanjing is now a big whirlpool. Zheng Sen is the eldest son of Zheng Zhilong, and Zheng Zhilong is now the supporter of Nanjing's old ministers. It is inevitable that Zheng Sen will be plotted, so Zheng Zhilong drives him away.

But unfortunately, Zheng Zhilong miscalculated. He originally thought that by placing Zheng Sen on Chongming Island, no matter what happened to Yingtian, Zheng Sen could directly go to sea from Chongming Island and escape from danger. But he didn't know that Ying Yi had already formed a navy.

How should I put it, in the intelligence system of Nanjing's old ministers, at least half of them were from the Ministry of National Security of Yingyi.

Zheng Zhilong didn't know that Shandong had a naval force with a war zone establishment of 48,000 people. Therefore, he did not know that Chongming Island was in the first danger sequence.

Of course, this time the navy did not come out in full force. There are only 800 warships and 24,000 men. But dealing with Zheng Sen on Chongming Island was effortless.