New Shun 1730

This kind of pre-war mobilization of the "rise and fall" of the officer class, for these soldiers at this time, is really like drinking and chatting in the city, not listening to "The Little Widow Going to the Grave", but someone is singing music with the skills of Yin Shang Ke Yu and Za Yi Liu Zheng.

Zhao Lisheng asked boldly: "Sir, we heard these days... If we fight well, we may be able to retire early? Is this true?"

The officer said seriously, bowed to the north and said: "We are soldiers for the emperor. If we fight well and the emperor shows mercy, we can retire early. Besides, who dares to say this? At this time of loyalty to the country, don't think about retiring early, you should think about eating official wages and royal food, and you should be worthy of the emperor."

Zhao Lisheng didn't dare to say more, and retreated.

When there was no one around, Ergou teased, "You really are a lifer, always thinking about going home to farm?"

"You don't want to?"

Ergou shook his head and said, "It's not interesting. Eating royal food, receiving military pay, spending money when you have it, getting drunk when you have wine. Isn't this life pretty good? Go to India today, go to Myanmar tomorrow, and who knows where to go the day after tomorrow. It's much more interesting than farming."

As he said that, he took out a piece of yellow paper from his arms, on which were densely written some strange words, handed it to Zhao Lisheng and said, "I'll give you a bullet-avoiding talisman."

With the expansion of Dashun in recent years and the development of the tertiary industry aimed at military pay, many characteristic industries have emerged around the Dashun military camp.

The consecrated amulets are all old-fashioned.

Now Dashun has also caught up with the era of queuing for execution, and many strange things have emerged.

What new things such as bullet-avoiding talismans, artillery shells around the body spell, and volley guns are endless.

Soldiers are all just hanging their heads on their belts to get by. Although they don't believe in this crap at all, they can't help but get a bunch of it before every expedition.

This is not so serious for engineers, but it is quite serious for cavalry. Many cavalry will mutter a "shotgun dispersal spell" before charging.

On the contrary, the artillery, which was the most superstitious a hundred years ago and had to worship the artillery god before the war, has become the least believing branch of the army with the progress of metallurgical technology in the Dashun War in recent years.

On the other hand, because of the emergence of four-pound cannon shotgun and grenade shells, the cavalry, who were the least believing in this thing a hundred years ago, have become the most believing in this thing in the army at this time.

Zhao Lisheng took the bullet-proof talisman, took out a small brass hanging box from his neck, and stuffed the bullet-proof talisman into it.

The two men went to join the soldiers who were burning yellow paper for blessings, burned two pieces of yellow paper, and kowtowed to the east, which was considered to be the real completion of the preparations for boarding the ship.

After boarding the ship, the fleet set sail, and the days were not so painful.

This time, it can be seen that the court really spent a lot of money.

Not only were they equipped with woolen uniforms and boots, but there was even a storyteller on each ship.

These combat engineers also experienced the feeling of a thousand years in the pot without time.

When they got up in the morning, they were not sailors, so they didn't have to brush the deck, stack hammocks, or tie bulletproof soft fences.

Breakfast was usually oil tea noodles, a spoonful of pickled lard, and half a lemon.

After breakfast, they began to gather together to listen to storytelling.

There would be dry biscuits, dried meat, and onions for lunch.

After lunch, they continued to listen to storytelling.

The evening was more upscale, with two catties of sugarcane wine mixed with water, a lemon or orange, four ounces of peanuts, a piece of bacon or dried salted fish, and two sugar biscuits per person.

Such boring days were repeated day after day, but fortunately this time the court spent a lot of money, and we could listen to storytelling on the way, which finally made it easier to endure.

I don’t know how long I walked, but one day I heard the storyteller talking about the key point.

"But after Yingcheng was broken, Shen Baoxu fled to Yiling Mountain to hide. When he heard that Wu Yuan dug up the grave and whipped the corpse, he wrote a letter to Wu Yuan. As mentioned before, they were childhood friends. When Wu Yuan fled, he told Shen Baoxu that he would definitely destroy the State of Chu. Shen Baoxu said that day: Mianzhi, do a good job! You have your filial piety, I have my loyalty. If you destroy Chu, I will revive Chu. Let's talk about our own things. This is called..."

When it came to the key point, an officer was heard standing at the narrow stairs of the cabin, whistling and shouting: "Stop! Stop! Get ready, get moving, we are about to dock!"

"It's autumn outside, put on your new uniforms and check your packages."

It's March or April now, but the officer said it's autumn outside. Although they know that the four seasons are reversed in the south, it's the first time they feel such weather, and the soldiers are also curious.

It's definitely not cold to squeeze in the stuffy cabin. Since it is autumn, the temperature is probably not high enough for snow.

Soldiers began to open their packages, put on their shorts, and change into military uniforms.

I don't know who took the lead in cheering, and Ergou next to him also shouted and cursed: "I would rather go to war than take a ship again!"

…………

Beyond the transport ship, the port was busy. The forts and fortresses standing at the Cape of Good Hope were not theoretically the farthest forts of Dashun. After all, Dashun actually had a small number of garrisons in Amsterdam, but they were all there in the name of company employees.

In fact, the farthest fortress and fortress in the true sense was here.

April was the autumn of the Cape of Good Hope, and the weather was a bit chilly, with the temperature around ten degrees.

This batch of arriving fleets had already completed a division when they were in Mauritius.

In view of the destruction of the British Indian Squadron, the French Mauritian Fleet was also liberated. Dashun's fleet sailed to the Western Ocean and of course left six cruisers in Mauritius.

Two of these six cruisers were tasked with hunting down any possible British merchant ships. Make sure not a single British merchant ship in the direction of India slips away.

The remaining four ships are heading to the Pirate Bay of Madagascar to find suitable candidates to lead the ships from the pirates who lost the "volume" in the Caribbean. They will go to South America to look for opportunities and use Suriname as a supply base to look for opportunities to hijack ships.

Cruise ships are not available to pirates. If anyone wants to be a pirate with a cruise ship, it will basically be equipped with a pirate king.

These pirates had not been dealing with Dashun for a day. They had tried to find the Swedish East India Company to sell the stolen goods before. Dashun had communicated with him when Mantou went to Gothenburg to deliver Swedish prisoners of war.

Pirates, there is no trust to speak of, but the trading companies in Dashun are all chartered companies, and Dashun, as the source of goods and production, is different from those European companies - such as the British company, maybe this ship will be fully loaded with goods in November, then The ship will not be fully stocked until the New Year.

The merchant fleets here in Dashun are all in groups, and there will be some escort ships for military training. Therefore, this is the greatest trust between the pirates and the pirates. The pirates are not stupid and have nothing to do. Why hijack a ship with a convoy?

Although most of the pirates in Madagascar are losers in the Caribbean pirate area, some are more foresighted and feel that life in the Caribbean is not easy, so they should come here to open up a new era and rob Indian ships.

In any case, although Dashun has charts provided by France and its own surveying and mapping charts, as well as the only French lunar-angle regiment with two longitude methods in the world at this time, it can deal with some special sea conditions. , I still need some help from some veterans.

They have never been to Suriname. How to rob it once they get there, what routes the British usually take, etc., they all need help from the veteran.

The price is also very fair, 1.8% of the total value of all loot, which is the standard market price of a pirate navigator.

These four ships going to South America were going to rob the Nanhai Company, or in other words, they were going to help Dashun seize the Nanhai Company's smuggling market. After the explosion of the previous bubble, the South Sea Company did not completely cease to exist. It was just in the hands of the East India Company in a disguised form of shareholding.

Another one is to get familiar with the venue in advance.

The secret order received by the squadron commander actually also included Portugal, and Dashun was likely to declare war on Portugal as well. Once war is declared on Portugal, Dashun will also intercept Portuguese merchant ships, and then find ways to burn some Portuguese ports in South America, if there is a chance.

Because when the Portuguese fled from Ceylon, they took cinnamon to South America. This made Emperor Dashun very unhappy because it seriously affected his income.

Although Dashun has implemented a price reduction policy for spices in recent years, contrary to the Dutch's policy of hoarding goods and creating artificial scarcity, it has suppressed the spice industry in South America. With its labor cost advantage, a large number of spice hills in South America have gone bankrupt.

But Portugal still has some spice industry, so this time it declares war on Portugal, firstly so that there will be no more competitors in Southeast Asia and India; secondly, it also uses the power of Spain to destroy Portugal's spice industry.

Basically, there is not much competition between Dashun and Spain in terms of trade goods. In the past few years, the Industrial Revolution broke out in Dashun. Mexican carmine was also a dye that Dashun urgently needed. As for Mexican silk, Dashun didn't pay attention at all. It couldn't compete at all.

Of course, it is easy for Portugal. If it does not have a large local area, Portugal will have little fighting power. The capital had just experienced a rare earthquake, and the Enlightenment and the Jesuits inside had started an inquisition against each other. With the little power in East Timor and Goa, they just managed to get South American spices before the war.

Dashun's strategy is also very clear. It is to use thunderous means to capture Gibraltar, directly drag Spain into the water, and start a war.

As long as Spain chooses to go to war, the situation in the Atlantic Ocean will instantly improve - Havana is Spain's largest shipbuilding base, and there are high-quality Cuban cedar that can be used as ship material.

The main fleet was in Europe to scare the British fleet into shrinking. Based in Havana, the attacking cruise ship could completely destroy the British colonial economy within half a year.

It can even be said that if Dashun can capture Gibraltar today, Spain will directly go to war tomorrow.

Now it seems that the situation is very good.

After the division of troops, the commander of the squadron quickly received the good news from the clipper coming from the north at the Cape of Good Hope:

Two months ago, Dashun's main fleet encountered the British Mediterranean Fleet in Gibraltar.

There was a battle between the two sides, and one battleship and two cruisers were sunk on the Dashun side, and five more battleships were seriously damaged.

HMS Namur, the flagship of the British Mediterranean Fleet, was sunk and Admiral Edward Bosken was shot dead by Dashun's mast gunners. Two battleships were captured and three wounded.

The ratio of battle losses on both sides was almost one to one. Because the tactics of the two sides are almost the same.

In terms of morale, Dashun is a newborn calf who is not afraid of tigers. They have never fought a large-scale naval battle, so they are not afraid of anything.

The British side is quite confident. Because they have fought a lot, their morale is not low.

The newborn calf is full of confidence, and the morale is the same.

In terms of tactics, although Dashun learned from France in warship design and sailor system.

But in fact, the tactical system and strategic system are completely different from France.

Let's take a simple example: France knows that its navy is the second in Europe, so the French naval system is mainly based on hitting masts and grabbing downwind.

If it wins, then the enemy ship with a broken mast can't run away.

If it loses, the enemy ship's mast is broken, and it turns around and runs away, and it is downwind, and it runs very fast.

Moreover, since it is the second navy in Europe, unless I gamble on a decisive battle, otherwise, as long as I squat in the port and my army is not dead, then the enemy's main fleet will not dare to show off everywhere. Therefore, everything is for survival, survival is everything, and being alive is the highest strategic existence.

Dashun is just the opposite.

Fighting at home is a crushing situation, needless to say.

In the ocean battle, we have to seize the windward direction, and all the guns are aimed at the waterline. We don't have the heart to fire the specialized guns facing the mast.

If we win, then there is no need to mention it.

If we lose, it's okay, no one can hit Dagukou, but the European wolves are looking around, as long as the power of one family is weakened, the others will surround us.

Moreover, if the mast is broken, many places can be repaired.

If we work towards the waterline shipboard, if we are seriously injured, we have to return to a large base with a dock to repair it, and the maneuverability at sea will be reduced.

Therefore, the strategy of the Dashun Navy is different from that of France, which is all for survival and survival is victory. Instead, fighting is victory, and exchanging is a big victory, because I have a lot of blood, and after bleeding the world's first navy, the second, third, fourth, and fifth behind will surround us like sharks.

In this encounter, although Dashun suffered similar losses to Britain. However, this means that the French Brest Fleet, which was divided by Britain, the French Toulon Fleet, and the main fleet of Dashun can meet in Brest.

The tactical losses were far less important than the meeting of the Toulon and Brest fleets.