Chapter 334 The Iron Armored Ship of the Yingxing

The next day, the conference room of the Central Military Command.

The elites of the Central Army gathered together. Chief of Staff Liu Rushi and Chief of Intelligence Liu Qingyan sat in the first place, the navy chief Huang Degong, Shi Lang, and the generals of the Central Army's infantry battalions and artillery battalions, a total of dozens of people sat in the left and right, quietly waiting for the arrival of Supreme Commander Wang Pu.

Suddenly, the sound of messy and heavy footsteps sounded outside the conference room.

"The prince is here..."

Accompanied by a loud trumpet, the two guards standing upright at the gate like a javelin quickly raised their rifles, and at the same time pushed the ground with their right leg, saluting the military salute to Wang Pu who was walking towards him. Almost at the same time, the officers waiting in the conference room stood up and turned their eyes to the door at the same time.

Wang Pu, dressed in military uniform, stepped straight in, walked to the rostrum, waved his hand and said calmly, "Sit all."

The officers sat down again with a solemn expression.

"I believe everyone knows the purpose of holding this meeting today." Wang Pu said this, turned his eyes to Liu Qingyan, and then said, "Now, President Liu is invited to briefly introduce to you all the information about Japan's political, military, economic and cultural aspects collected by the Intelligence Bureau over the past three years."

Liu Qingyan stood up and said, "Japan is the ancient Japanese country. After the Dahua Reform, there were written and civilized records. Its land area is about the size of three Zhejiang, with a population of about twice that of Zhejiang, with a population of about 15 million. Later, Emperor Hiromi was the nominal ruler of Japan, but the real power was in the hands of the shogun Tokugawa Iemitsu."

This is somewhat believed in the Ming Dynasty. Emperor Longwu of the Ming Dynasty was only the nominal supreme head, and the real power was in the hands of Wang Pu, the Supreme Commander of the Central Army.

Liu Qingyan continued: "Japan is not a truly centralized country. It has hundreds of princes of all sizes in its country. Each prince has independent political, economic and military power. The shogunate is Japan's largest prince, and its territory accounts for about one-quarter of the country. In addition, princes of all sizes must be controlled by the shogunate."

"There are hundreds of vassals of all sizes in Japan, and each vassal has the power to maintain an army. Some big vassals have tens of thousands of troops, while some small vassals have no army and have to rely on the protection of the vassals. The strongest military force is of course the Tokugawa Shogunate, which has 15,000 permanent troops. This army is like our Central Army, consisting of all professional soldiers, but in Japan, these soldiers are called samurai."

"Once Japan is attacked and the country is in danger, the shogunate can also convene more than 100,000 ft. In a few months, light infantry. If the troops of the princes from all over the country are gathered together, they can even form a huge army of more than 500,000. Of course, the combat effectiveness of such an army is not worth mentioning."

After listening to Liu Qingyan's explanation, Wang Pu continued: "Now, please ask the Chief of Staff to briefly introduce the plan for the war against Japan to everyone."

Liu Rushi stood up and said, "Since Japan is not bordered by the Ming Dynasty, the combat against Japan is limited by the naval transportation and logistics support capabilities. With the current transportation capacity and overseas logistics support capabilities of the Ming Dynasty Navy, it can only ensure cross-sea combat between five infantry battalions and two artillery battalions."

"With the powerful naval artillery firepower and the strength of the infantry battalion, it is not difficult to land in Japan and occupy some areas. However, it is unlikely to conquer the entire Japan with these five infantry battalions and two artillery battalions. After all, Japan has a population of up to 15 million, and the reserves are still sufficient."

"In view of this, the General Staff believes that the battle against Japan should be divided into three steps. First, concentrate superior forces to capture Edo with lightning speed and eliminate Japan's actual central government, Tokugawa Shogunate. In this way, the princes from all over the country will fall into a passive situation of fighting on their own due to the loss of unified command, thus becoming a mess of sand."

"Then they provoked a melee among the Japanese princes, used the huge profits of the slave trade to lure them into attacking each other, fundamentally weakening Japan's manpower and national strength. When Japan's national strength weakened to its limit, they finally gathered superior forces to sweep the four islands of Japan with the momentum of plowing the courtyard and sweeping the Japanese nation, completely destroying the Japanese nation."

"Report!"

As Liu Rushi finished speaking, a loud voice suddenly sounded outside the conference room.

Wang Pu suddenly looked up and said aloud: "Come in."

A young staff officer walked in with a folder in his hand and saluted: "Zhenhai Shipbuilding Bureau urgently handed over!"

"Zhenhai Shipbuilding Bureau?" Wang Pu murmured and said suddenly, "Remember!"

The young staff opened the folder and said loudly: "The large ironclad ship has been built and launched, and the trial was successful yesterday!"

As the young staff member finished speaking, thunderous cheers immediately sounded in the conference room. The trial of the large ironclad ship was successful. This was great news for the Ming Empire. With this large ironclad ship, not only will the strength of the Ming Navy improve by leaps and bounds, but the navy's maritime transportation capacity will be greatly improved!

"Okay, great!" Wang Pu couldn't help but feel excited and said fiercely, "The launch of the large iron armored ship was so timely. It happened to be in this battle against Japan. The little Japanese was really lucky. Then let them become the first victim of the Ming Dynasty's Iron Armored Navy!"

After being excited for a long time, Wang Pu realized that the young staff officer had not left yet, looking like he was eager to speak but stopped.

Wang Pu frowned and said, "What, is there any other news?"

The young consultant nodded and said with a tough bullet: "Director Song of the Academy of Military Sciences was overworked and died on the night the trial flight of the ironclad ship was successful."

"What did you say!?"

Wang Pu's face changed drastically. Song Yingxing's death was definitely a huge loss for the Ming Empire. If you could choose, Wang Pu would like to exchange the ten infantry battalions of the Central Army for Song Yingxing's life. Unfortunately, the ten infantry battalions of the Central Army could not be exchanged for Song Yingxing after all, and this great scientist passed away.

"Tell me the order..." Wang Pu ordered in a solemn tone, "Nanjing City and Yanziji Daying lowered half of the flag. All the people and all the soldiers of the Central Army must wear black veils, and then wrap Mr. Song's body with national flags and transport it back to Nanjing, and buried in the Purple Mountain Empire Heroes Cemetery, which will be admired by future generations forever."

"yes!"

The young adviser accepted the promise and took the order.

The officers in the conference room were also a little shocked. The half-mast was lowered in the capital and Yanziji camp, and it would be fine if all the soldiers of the Central Army wore black veils. The most shocking thing was that Wang Pu ordered the corpse of the national flag to be transported back to Nanjing, and then buried Song Yingxing in the Purple Mountain Empire Heroes Cemetery. What a grief?

The Ming Dynasty law clearly stipulates that only the highest head of the empire or the person who has made special contributions to the country and nation is qualified to wrap the body with the national flag after death and then be buried in the cemetery of the Heroes of the Purple Mountain Empire! In the eyes of these officers, Song Yingxing seemed not worthy of such a mourning, and only Wang Pu knew that Song Yingxing was completely worthy of such mourning behind her!

"In addition..." Wang Pu's majestic gaze slowly flew across everyone's faces and said word by word, "This newly built and launched large iron-clad ship is officially named "Yingxing" to commemorate Mr. Song's great contribution to the Imperial Technology and the Imperial Navy!"

Half a month later, Wang Pu led four infantry battalions and two artillery battalions to Zhenhai and met with Zhang Yanlin.

At this time, the Ming Navy had undergone a large-scale expansion and officially renamed the Imperial Navy Pacific Fleet. Huang Degong was appointed commander-in-chief of the fleet, with the first, second, third and fourth fleets under the jurisdiction of Yanziji, Nanjing, and Huang Degong was directly under the jurisdiction of Huang Degong. The second fleet was stationed in Quanzhou. The commander of the fleet was Shi Lang, the commander of the third fleet was stationed in Zhenhai, the commander of the fleet was Zhang Yanlin, the commander of the fourth fleet was stationed in Ningbo, and the commander of the fleet was Li Ang.

In this battle against Japan, in order to place four infantry battalions and two artillery battalions in Osaka, Japan, Wang Pu collected hundreds of large merchant ships, and even Dutch flatbed merchant ships anchored in ports such as Nanjing, Ningbo, and Wenzhou were forcibly requisitioned. In order to ensure safety, Wang Pu mobilized the third and fourth fleets to escort.

When Wang Pu arrived at Zhenhai Port, Zhang Yanlin had already been waiting at the port with all the officers and soldiers of the Third Fleet.

Unlike the Central Army, the military uniform of the Ming Navy was dark blue. From a distance, it looked like a deep blue ocean. However, Wang Pu didn't have much intention to inspect the officers and soldiers of the Third Fleet. At this time, Wang Pu's heart had already flown to the large ironclad ship parked in the harbor, which was the newly named "Yingxing".

After rushing to inspect the officers and soldiers of the Third Fleet, Zhang Yanlin tactfully welcomed Wang Pu to the third Fleet's flagship "Yingxing". Before he could board the gangway, the first thing that caught Wang Pu's eye was the iron armor covered on the hull of the "Yingxing". Zhang Yanlin introduced to Wang Pu very proudly: "Your Majesty, the surface of the Yingxing hull is covered with three layers of iron armor. No matter the distance, the rifle bullets cannot penetrate. The red cannons from the West from 500 meters away were unable to penetrate the iron armor, and could only make a dent."

The iron armor of the "Yingxing" can only withstand direct fire from the Red Cannon 500 meters away. If it is within 500 meters, these three layers of iron armor are obviously not enough to resist, but this is enough, because the "Yingxing" is equipped with twenty general naval guns, and the range of such general naval guns exceeds 10,000 meters. It was already sunk by the naval guns on the "Yingxing" long before the enemy ships entered the effective range of the Red Cannon.

Accompanied by Zhang Yanlin and more than a dozen naval officers, Wang Pu rushed to the deck of the "Yingxing".

Unlike other ships of the Ming Navy, the deck of the "Yingxing" is also covered with a thin layer of anti-slip iron plates. This is of course to prevent the enemy ship from getting close to fire. With the anti-slip iron plates on the deck and the armor on both sides, the entire iron armored ship has completely become a monster wrapped in steel, and it has been invincible before the battle.

Due to different driving forces, the structure of the "Yingxing" ironclad ship has also undergone significant changes compared with the pure wooden sailing ship. The most obvious one is the two huge chimneys erected high in the middle of the hull. The main mast, which was originally in this position, was forced to be cancelled, but the other eight masts were retained. After all, the coal reserves on the ship are limited, and steam power is generally only opened during combat, and it still has to be driven by wind.

In addition, the superstructure of the deck of the "Yingxing" has also changed similar to that of modern warships. The most obvious thing is the emergence of the bridge. The bridge has a command room, a cab and an open-air command post. If the two steam engines are the hearts of the "Yingxing", then the bridge is the brain of the "Yingxing".

Climbing the escalator to the bridge, just after visiting the command room, Wang Pu suddenly remembered that he had not seen Fang Yizhi and Stephen and other experts from the Military Academy. He couldn't help but ask: "Where are Dean Fang and Stephen? Didn't they conduct the final test work on the ship? Why didn't they see them?"

Zhang Yanlin hurriedly said: "In order to test several parameters, Mr. Fang and his team were busy until the second half of the night before going to bed. Half a month ago, the prince sent a special letter to take care of the diet, daily life and physical condition of the experts of the Military Academy, so they didn't dare to wake them up this time."

"Huh?" Wang Pu frowned, "Didn't you agree to work according to your schedule? Why did you keep them busy until the second half of the night?"

"Oh." Zhang Yanlin sighed and said helplessly, "I have advised you many times, but Mr. Fang and the others just refused to stop the work at hand. They said that this work cannot be interrupted. Once it is interrupted, all the previous efforts will be wasted. If you don't understand it, you can only follow them and ask the prince to punish you."

"Forget it this time." Wang Pu waved his hand and said helplessly, "No more examples."

After Song Yingxing died suddenly due to overwork, Wang Pu issued an order, strictly ordering the experts of the Academy of Military Sciences to strictly allocate their work and rest time. He also took special care of Zhang Yanlin, the commander of the Third Fleet, and asked him to keep abreast of the physical condition of the experts at any time so as not to happen again.

Speaking of which, Song Yingxing and Fang Yizhi and others have a very noble personality, and their sense of national pride and national honor are also too strong. For the sake of the country and the nation, they do not take personal lives seriously. This is very different from the world before Wang Pu traveled through time.

In that world, most of the so-called experts and professors are scumbags who seek fame and fortune. In their eyes, they only have material desires, greed and selfish desires, national interests and national interests are nothing in their eyes. For money and beauty, they can sell their souls and personality at any time.

As he was speaking, he entered the cab of the Yingxing.
Chapter completed!