Warrior in Turbulent Han Dynasty

Xu Jun's fleet sailed along the coast of Japan, crossed Iki Island in the east of Tsushima Island in early September, and entered the waters of Kitakyushu. Han Tong, the commander of the Jiaolong Army, was appointed as the commander of the fleet.

This is the first large-scale sea expedition of the Central Plains Dynasty! The imperial court has made a lot of preparations for several months, but it is obviously inexperienced.

Some Han Chinese, Koreans and a few Japanese businessmen who are familiar with the East China Sea all said that there may be typhoons here in summer and autumn! Now it is the end of autumn, Han Tong can only hope for luck, the typhoon season is over... because the imperial court really can't wait for winter, the situation of Xu Jun in Iwami Fort is unknown, and if he doesn't reinforce him, he can only sit back and watch his death!

The fleet is composed of more than 100 large and small ships, carrying about 6,000 new officers and soldiers of the Jiaolong Army, most of whom are from the former Southern Tang National Water Army (the Southern Tang troops were first surrendered under Liu Renzhan, and the military power of the generals has been gradually recovered in the past two years, and the Southern Tang Army has been organized into the Guard).

The experience of these navy troops is limited to fighting on rivers such as the Yangtze River and the Huai River, but compared with most of the soldiers from the Central Plains, they are more water-permeable and adaptable to swaying ships; therefore, the imperial court abandoned the inclusion of the Imperial Army as the Jiaolong Army, and incorporated the guards from the Southern Tang Dynasty into the Forbidden Army (the Jiaolong Army is the Imperial Army).

The composition of the ships is relatively complex, half of the ships are light boats (combination of large food ships and Central Plains sharp-bottomed ships), and the other half are Korean ships and sharp-bottomed merchant ships purchased and requisitioned as much as possible. Among them, there are only three big ships, the Mulan Ship!

Since last year, the imperial court has been building a large number of warships in the Jiangning Shipyard, but due to the size of the dock and the scarcity of craftsmen, the construction speed is slow. Working day and night, dozens of light boats and three Mulan ships have only recently been built... The Mulan ship is mainly constrained by the lack of large docks.

Han Tong's ship is a large Mulan ship with more than 3,000 materials (displacement is about 300 to 400 tons), with a crew of nearly 200 people and 24 thousand-jin bronze cannons, divided into two layers of naval guns on the left and right sides.

The three large ships are the main warships of the fleet, and dozens of light boats are also warships; the Goryeo ships and sharp-bottomed merchant ships are difficult to be the main warships, mainly transporting supplies and soldiers, and can also engage in close combat on board.

Light boats carry 30 to 50 people as a capital, and a team of ten. The highest general on board is a general (the number of navy troops is different from that of ordinary troops). The hull is too thin to use the main copper cannon... But there are always ways.

The gun body is made of iron, and the "inner tank" is made of copper. After the gun is fired, the inner tank can be replaced immediately and fired again. Therefore, the rate of fire is much higher than that of copper cannons... It's just that the technology is limited, and the fit and sealing are not very good, so the range is very short, and the power is far inferior to that of copper cannons. The mother and child guns are light in weight, each weighing less than a hundred catties, so it is no problem to put them on a light boat.

Lu Duosun, envoy of the Hakka Province, who is also the supervisor of the Jiaolong Army, is on the flagship. He is in the middle cabin. There are winds and waves on the sea, and even a large ship is swaying. Lu Duosun is a little unaccustomed to the sea, especially when he reads and writes, his head feels dizzy and he feels like vomiting.

He steadied himself, and quickly wrote a line on the paper: On the sixth day of September, the Kuroshio is heading north and the wind is southeast.

The Kuroshio Current is a warm current, the flow of water in the ocean. Because the ocean current is dark in color, it is called the Kuroshio Current.

Lu Duosun felt that it was difficult to write, so he immediately put down the brush, opened the bamboo curtain on the window, and immediately saw Han Baiyan in armor standing on the bow deck with his legs spread apart, his body was very stable with the shaking of the ship.

The sea breeze blew Han Tong's red cloak, and it rattled in the wind like a banner. He had stood there motionless for a long time.

Han Yanyan is not good at making friends and talking with people, but Lu Duoxun can feel that his heart is like the turbulence of the waves... This is an unknown pioneer, and sometimes Lu Duoxun is very crazy and radical when he thinks about it. Thousands of soldiers and a fleet of supplies that consume a huge amount of the national treasury are on their first long journey. The risks involved are indescribable.

On the vast sea here, all the rules are different from the familiar land.

Perhaps, only Guo Shao can have the courage to make such a decision, and only the founding king has such power and prestige.

The last meeting before leaving Beijing came to Ludoxun's mind again, Guo Shao's fiery eyes and expectant eyes, he said it would be possible, the world is always afraid to take the first step on the road that no one has walked!

There is also a compass on the table next to Ludosun, which is similar to a Feng Shui tool. This thing can point out the right direction...but it is easy to make mistakes by relying on this thing alone. Donghai Military Mansion has two other methods to assist the route:

First, try to rely on the land and coast as a reference. The method is to take a few Koreans and Japanese as guides so that they can communicate with each other, and send people to the shore to inquire about the place to find out the approximate location.

Second, rely on a civil servant of the Sitianjian.

Just as Lu Duosun was thinking about this, a civil servant with gray temples walked in. Lu Duosun greeted him politely with his hands clasped in his hands, "Can the high supervisor still withstand the wind and waves at sea?"

"It's good, it's good." Gao Shouzhen, whose official position is supervisor, said calmly.

From the Tang Dynasty to the Xu Dynasty, civil servants were basically low-ranking officials, but there was an exception for one kind of official, and that was the official of the Sitianjian. People like Gao Shouzhen, once they enter Sitianjian, can no longer serve in other yamen, nor can they resign at will; the sources of officials are mostly hereditary... probably this kind of civil servants who can observe the sky make the royal family feel that they have mysterious abilities.

Gao Shouzhen has a talent. In addition to being able to revise the calendar and observe the sky at night, he is very familiar with the stars. It can observe the direction and altitude of various stars with eyes, so as to estimate the position.

Xu Jun used several methods, and tried to drive as close to the land as possible to ensure his course.

At this time, Han Tong from outside the cabin also came in, and the three civil and military officers greeted each other and sat down separately. Lu Duosun took the lead and said: "The Kuroshio is heading north, and the southerly wind is blowing. If the Japanese army intercepts the fleet in front, it will be very beneficial to us."

After hearing this, Han Tong nodded with a straight face: "Jun Lu is right."

Lu Duosun's title of military supervisor is only dispatched. In fact, his most important official positions are cabinet assistant minister and Hakka provincial envoy... and the supervisor is always talking about it, as if he is a person who monitors and complains at any time, and he is divided at once. Han Tong is an annoying person, that's how it is, any random sentence is always inexplicably unpleasant!

Han Tong said casually: "The marching formation is nothing more than that. Before the battle, try to make the time, place and people beneficial to yourself, and then use the strong to attack the weak."

Gao Shouzhen seldom talked, but at this moment he calmly stroked his beard and said, "No wonder General Han is not as famous as Shi Qianfeng."

Han Tong didn't think so, and said: "But the commander is worried that the Japanese army will not want to fight against me when the wind is against the current. They have at least two methods. One is to hide the main force in the Shimonoseki waterway of Kitakyushu (the strait between Kitakyushu and Honshu); wait for my main force to go north, then go out of the waterway, and pursue from the upper wind and upper water direction. The second is to detour around Kyushu Island and pursue our fleet from the south.

Although the sea is vast, the fleet does not sail randomly, and generally has a relatively fixed offshore route, otherwise, there may be more risks such as hidden reefs, loss of direction, unknown weather changes, etc. Therefore, there are traces to intercept and search for large fleets in the Sea of ​​Japan.

Lu Doxun said: "If the Japanese army gets out of the way, they can only sit back and watch our troops approach the reinforcement Iwami Fort."

Han Tong shook his head and said: "No! At this time, the naval battle is the decisive place, not the length of time. If the Japanese army can defeat our fleet, the fall of Iwami Fort is only a matter of time; otherwise, no one can stop Daxu from punishing the Japanese country!"

After hearing this, Lu Duosun murmured, "What does General Han mean by saying that the Japanese army will not find the long distance troublesome, and will not care about the priority of the fighter?"

Han Tong frowned and said, "From my opinion, this is indeed a wise move. If you want to defeat your opponent, how can you be in a hurry? You must try your best to benefit yourself!"

... However, Han Tong is only a military commander, so guessing about other things is often inaccurate. Guessed wrong again this time.

A few days later, in the early morning, near the sea near Japan, someone suddenly entered the cabin and reported: "An enemy ship is found in the north!"

Han Tongcai just woke up, and when he heard the news, he immediately asked, "How many ships are there?"

The visitor said: "Not sure, there is fog on the sea!"

Han Tong immediately said: "Quick drum, the whole army is preparing for battle!"

"Decree!"

Not long after, there was a rush of drumming outside, and soon this rhythmic drumming seemed to be contagious, and the drums were beating on the warships around, and the drums rang together for a while, and the atmosphere suddenly intensified.

Han Tong took the helmet from the soldiers and put it on, fastened the leather buckle, walked onto the deck, and then climbed up the wooden ladder to the ship's building at the stern. The soldiers on the deck moved faster, shouting and shouting.

Han Tong rested his palm on the carved wooden railing and looked at the scene in front of him. The surface of the vast undulating sea was shrouded in a layer of mist surging in the wind, and there were indeed dark shadows of ships looming in the distance.

"Order the ships to slow down, with the warships in front and the baggage in the rear, and straighten out the formation!" Han Tong gave another order.

The triangular red flag on the flagship changed its quantity and shape, and the messenger blew his horn to alert other ships. It was the first time for Daxu to form a large-scale battle formation at sea. He absorbed some military orders from the original Huben Army to pass on rules and military laws, and semaphore was one of them; but for the time being, he could only issue simple military orders such as attack, retreat, and wait in formation.

Normally, there is no need for military orders, and all ships will keep a good distance from the flagship. Han Tong's flagship is very eye-catching. One has a large hull, and the other has a dragon-shaped flag with a yellow dragon pattern on it, and the words "Da Xu" are written on it.

While waiting for the armies to prepare for the battle, Han Tong kept an eye on the movements of the enemy ships ahead. He was really puzzled: Is it really the main force of the Japanese navy? The opponent's general was too happy, and he simply went up to fight for his life. Such an opponent really made Han Tong feel more at ease, anyway, he was harder than a fist!