Daming pirates

Although in the past two years, Sea Wolf's ships had begun to appear frequently on the northbound waterway, the number of ships at that time was limited and the size of the fleet was not very large. At most, it was only Yu Xiaotian's order to go north to Denglaiping.

During the more than half a year of chaos, the activities of the Seawolf fleet at sea were relatively intensive.

However, after the Denglai Rebellion was put down, although Sea Wolf ships still often appeared along the northern coast, the number was not very large, and they only occasionally encountered large-scale fleets operating together.

However, it has basically not happened in the past two years that such a long period of time, such a large number of sea wolf fleets, and such a large-scale Sea Wolf fleet have continued to go north and then turned back from the north.

Therefore, those who were concerned paid more attention and secretly speculated that there might be some movement in the Yu family army. However, few people thought that Yu Xiaotian would go north to plot a rebellion.

Starting from September of the 11th year, Sea Wolf's fleet was assembled, including some mothballed ships, which were also put into use. Even some sailors from fishing boats were recruited on board to start a very large-scale campaign.

transportation.

Large amounts of food, weapons, ammunition, armor, tents, quilts, cotton-padded clothes, boots and other supplies were continuously loaded onto ships and shipped to the north. A large number of army soldiers and horses were also shipped to the north.

.

The entire Sea Wolf war machine was at full capacity at this time. Groups of militiamen began to be recruited into the regular army, and the army's strength began to expand at an accelerated pace.

One after another, new military camps were organized by the Yu Jiajun in various places. Not only on the island of Taiwan, but also in Fujian, many places directly controlled by the Yu Jiajun had already become the jurisdiction of the Yu Jiajun. At this time, all townships

Each village has already accepted Yu Xiaotian's control. According to Yu Xiaotian's method in Taiwan, militiamen have been organized in each local village.

A group of these militiamen were ordered to join the Yu Jiajun Army. They were organized into new camps and began to undergo intense training.

Workers in major military factories have also switched to two shifts, with each shift working for six hours, working at full capacity day and night to produce various weapons, ammunition and armor.

Including quilt factories and some workshops specializing in making sails, during this period, they were also operating at full capacity, recruiting many women who were idle at home to work in the workshops, and continuously producing various military uniforms, gloves, cotton-padded clothes,

Cotton boots and other military supplies, and also took on the task of weaving some pieces of armor into armor.

Yu Xiaotian has always adhered to the creed of providing the best equipment to his soldiers and generals as much as possible, so he has never been stingy in arming his soldiers and generals. As long as he can take out things in large quantities, he will not hesitate.

He is not stingy in equipping his soldiers and generals.

This is also an important reason why the Yu Jiajun is different from other officers and soldiers. As for the officers and soldiers of the Ming Dynasty, there are almost no generals who do not drink the blood of their soldiers. They try every means to deduct anything that can be deducted from their officers and soldiers in order to line their own pockets. In addition to treating

Their soldiers will be more generous and will equip them with better equipment and armor. Ordinary officers and soldiers can't even get a decent military uniform. I don't know what year and month the mandarin duck war jackets they wear are from.

It's an old thing and it's completely worn out.

Most of the weapons are old ones that are shoddily made and cut corners. In addition, due to lack of maintenance, they are rusty and even the armor pieces inside some cotton armors are rotten. Every time you poke a hole, they have no protective effect at all.

But looking back at the Yu Jiajun, the navy's warships are all new, and the military uniforms are issued with a set of spring and summer uniforms for at least two years. Those in the north can also get winter cold-proof cotton coats, and even cotton coats. Officers serving in the north,

They were even issued sheepskin fur coats. Not to mention weapons, the navy was equipped with thousands of cannons of various types, and each ship, including merchant ships, was issued at least dozens of long and short guns.

As for the Army, as required, a set of spring and summer military uniforms is issued every two years. Soldiers stationed in northern Shandong and Jeju Island are also issued cotton boots and cotton coats, as well as quilts and felt pads to prevent moisture and cold.

Once the clothes are damaged beyond repair during combat or training, you can temporarily apply for new military uniforms. Army officers in the north are also issued sheepskin coats to protect them from freezing in winter.

As for weapons and equipment, Yu Jiajun's army can be said to have the most advanced weapons in the world. In addition to being equipped with many cannons, their most powerful weapons are the Langya Type 1 and Type 2 rifles they use. In addition,

Basically all elite battalions are issued breastplates and helmets.

With this level of equipment, even Guan Ning's army was not so luxurious when looking at the Ming Dynasty, which made people jealous just looking at it.

However, the side effect is a sharp increase in logistical pressure. For this reason, many factories below the Sea Wolf Group have to serve the military. On average, one soldier needs several workers to ensure the supply of various military supplies for them.

Over the years, Yu Xiaotian has spared no effort to continuously increase investment in industry. Many products were actually produced and had no use at the time, but they were stored. So when Yu Xiaotian decided to send troops to Gyeonggi, people from all over the sea wolf

In the warehouse, various material reserves are piled up like mountains.

Even so, Yu Xiaotian ordered the navy and merchant fleet to begin transporting a large amount of supplies to the north after September, and temporarily stored them in Yangma Island, Fushansuo, Lingshan Island, Zhifu Island, Changdao and other places.

To ensure the needs of the large-scale military operations he will launch in the north in the future.

In the past three months, the Sea Wolf Group has delivered nearly a thousand ships to Shandong, transporting hundreds of thousands of tons of various materials. This scale of transportation is absolutely jaw-dropping in this era. In the past three months, the Sea Wolf Group has

The total amount of materials transported north by sea was many times greater than the total amount of materials transported north by water through the Daming Canal for the whole year. If Chongzhen knew about this, he would probably vomit blood on the spot.

The Ming Dynasty has been troubled by water transportation problems in recent years, which has always given Chongzhen a headache, because water transportation involves the interests of too many people, from high-ranking officials in the court to the lowest boatmen on the canal, there are millions of people who have to deal with water transportation.

To get a piece of the pie, you have to rely on water transportation.

Every year, the grain transported north through the canal, if one stone of grain is transported to the capital, two stones of grain or more will be consumed on the way. This is undoubtedly a huge burden for the Ming Dynasty's finances, which are not well-off. There were some knowledgeable people in the past.

People have already been clamoring for sea transportation instead of water transportation, and transporting food and supplies directly to Tianjin via sea. This will reduce the huge financial waste of the Ming Dynasty every year.

However, Chongzhen was always worried that if the ship was put on the sea, it would probably encounter strong winds and cause too much material to be blown away. In addition, such calls greatly affected the interests of those powerful people who wanted to make money from water transportation, and they were always killed. Even if Chongzhen wanted to change sea transportation to water transportation, he would not be able to implement it with so many people resisting.

But Yu Xiaotian's Sea Wolf Group is different from the Ming Dynasty. They started from the sea and have been eating from the sea. They know the sea better than anyone else, and they know the temper of the sea better than anyone else. , and with Yu Xiaotian's efforts, they mastered the most advanced navigation technology in the world, built the largest stern ship in the Ming Dynasty, and trained some of the best sailors in the Ming Dynasty, who can even be said to be the best in the world.

In the eyes of others, such an almost impossible task of long-distance transportation of large-scale military supplies is not a difficult task in the eyes of the Sea Wolf Group. They don’t even have to devote all their efforts and just allocate some ships to do this. Such transportation tasks can be completed without seriously affecting the transportation capacity of other major commercial routes. Therefore, this is also the reason why Yu Xiaotian dared to start directly in the north.

By December, Seawolf's overall troop deployment and material preparations were basically in place. At this time, three infantry battalions and one artillery battalion had landed at Fushan Station alone, almost reaching an Brigade strength size.

In addition, just in Fushan Institute, the Sea Wolf Group has stockpiled hundreds of thousands of stones of food. This much food is enough to feed many people for a long time.

Of course, it is not that no one noticed that Sea Wolf suddenly sent troops and supplies to Shandong on such a large scale, even if Sea Wolf blocked Fushansuo, Zhifu Island, Yangma Island and other surrounding areas within a radius of dozens of miles. , but it can't hide everyone's eyes. The local officials are still vaguely aware that people from Yu Xiaotian's side have recently sent a large number of supplies and even troops to the north.

A caring person could vaguely feel something, and his heart could not help but twitch, and he even wanted to remind the current court to pay attention to this matter and make preparations in advance.

But the time chosen by Yu Xiaotian was very suitable. Just when he was dispatching troops and generals to the north and transporting a large amount of supplies, it was also the time when the slave-building army was raging in places such as Beizhili and Shandong. .

The entire capital was flooded with emergency documents and military reports sent to the capital every day by officials from all over the country, so much so that all the information about the changes in the family army sent by Shandong to the capital was drowned in this large number of slave-building armies. among things.

At this time, the big guys in the government and the opposition were almost all focusing on the issue of Jiannu going south. Any irrelevant matters were automatically blocked by them. No one paid attention to what was happening in other places, even the Central Plains Congress. The matter of suppressing the militia was no longer taken seriously at this time.

Therefore, no one in the capital expected that Yu Xiaotian would choose this time to show off his cards to the Ming Dynasty. They also did not expect that within just a few months, Yu Xiaotian would have gone to Shandong in person to take charge of Fushan Institute, and More than 30,000 soldiers and horses of the Yu Jiajun were mobilized and stationed in various places along the coast of Denglai, Shandong.

Such a large-scale mobilization of troops, although it cannot be said that Sea Wolf has used all his strength, can be regarded as a test for Xiaotian.