Fang Xie knew why Zheng Qiu had been avoiding the battle until now, and he also knew why the soldiers of the Navy had not even fired a feathered arrow or a single bullet. Because Zheng Qiu's avoidance of the war is caused by his inner fear of war.
Fang Jie also knew that Zheng Qiu had never been a person who was afraid of war before, as long as he was on the big river, Zheng Qiu was never afraid of anyone.
This time Zheng Qiu was still not afraid, but worried.
Zheng Qiu looked at Fang Jie with some fear, trying to explain, but couldn't find the words. He led two naval divisions to transport the troops of Chen Dingnan and Chen Qianshan, but they had to stop in Ninghai. They were about a thousand miles ahead of Fang Xie, but they just waited until Fang Xie arrived.
"Afraid of damaging the warship?"
"Afraid of losing face? Loss of morale?"
"Afraid of losing the prestige of the Black Banner Army?"
Fang Jie asked four questions in a row.
Zheng Qiu opened his mouth and nodded heavily.
"My subordinates have been observing the warships of the Opru Empire for many days. They are indeed more reasonable than our warships. The cooperation between their gunboats is also much smoother than that of our navy warships. Our warships are equipped with The number of cannons is less than one-third, so it is inevitable to suffer a loss if you go head-to-head."
Fang Jie understood him, and Zheng Qiu opened up the conversation: "My subordinates have been observing these days. The foreign navy's warship coordination is based on actual combat drills, while our warship coordination is still at the level of expectations. When we were in the Xuanwu Lake Water Village, we did not have much real shooting, but we all hit fixed targets. In actual combat, with the control ability of our navy soldiers, it is not bad if one of the three cannons can hit one of them."
"However, the enemy will not give us the chance to hit one shot after three shots."
Zheng Qiudao: "The subordinates are not afraid of war. The subordinates are just afraid of losing the warship in vain. I'm sorry for the master's preparations. Without a complete preparation, the subordinates dare not attack rashly. The warships of the foreign navy The number of artillery configurations is far greater than ours, and they also know better than us when to fire the guns."
Fang Jie nodded: "How long will it take you to come up with a perfect plan?"
Zheng Qiu shook his head: "This subordinate doesn't know, but even if the lord orders this battle to be fought, this subordinate cannot guarantee victory."
Fang Jie didn't say anything. After being silent for a while, he turned to Andrew and asked, "What do you think?"
Andrew came with Zheng Qiu's fleet this time, and he was also aggrieved after arriving in Ninghai. The enemy who had clearly destroyed his motherland blocked the waterway of the river not far ahead, but he just couldn't fight through it quickly. This feeling is really uncomfortable.
"I think... General Zheng is right."
Andrew took a deep breath, and said in fluent Chinese: "I have been observing the warships of the Opru Empire. Before I arrived in Ninghai, I had imagined the appearance of enemy warships countless times in my mind, and I thought I had already put I have done everything that can be done, but after seeing the enemy's warships, I realized that it is still a bit worse to build a car behind closed doors."
Andrew said: "If we are facing the original fleet of the Principality of Ross, our navy can crush the opponent. The fleet of the Principality of Ross does not have many warships, and it is far less large than our warships, and the power of the artillery is not as powerful as ours. Great... But, the warships of the Opru Empire are really more reasonable."
He looked at Fang Jie and said: "On the one hand, there is a navy that has just been established, and on the other hand, there is a fleet that has conquered countless countries on the ocean. If this battle starts rashly, I feel that the chances of winning are not on our side."
"That means not to fight?"
Fang asked.
Andrew shook his head quickly: "It seems that the number of warships in the Opru Empire fleet is far less than ours, but the leader must be an experienced general, and the formation of ships he has arranged on the water has already exerted his strength To the extreme. Although the number is small, if they just intercept us, they will not suffer."
"The minister sent someone to test it."
Zheng Qiu said next to him: "The range of the artillery on the ships of the Opru Empire is almost as far as ours, but the enemy is defending and we are attacking. When the warship faces the enemy directly, the main gun on the bow is obviously not powerful enough. If you fire a cannon while sailing, you can imagine the low hit rate. If you want to shoot at the enemy, you have to turn the bow of the ship after entering the range, and fire at the enemy with the cannon on the side of the ship. When our warships turn around and line up, the enemy's artillery can fire at least two rounds... "
He looked at Fang Jie and said seriously: "Two shots per cannon per ship is already a fatal blow to our warship."
"so."
Andrew said: "The admiral of the Opru Empire must be an experienced person. He just puts out the defensive formation, and we have nothing to do, no... there is nothing to do on the premise of exerting the power of the warship."
"but!"
He looked at Fang Jie eagerly: "If my lord can order those practitioners to attack, it will buy time for our sailors. As long as the practitioners get close to those big ships and destroy some of them, our warships will be weakened." Complete the turn in the resistance."
"How many ships does the enemy have?"
Fang asked.
"No less than three hundred and sixty."
Zheng Qiu replied: "They are all sea-going ships, and the enemies are all coming from far away. Small boats can't go at all, so all the ships intercepting on the river are big ships."
Three hundred and sixty large ships.
Fang Jie felt a little wrinkled in his heart, this number of seagoing ships could completely seal off the waterway of the Yangtze River.
"Chen Dingnan, Chen Qianshan!"
Fang Xie ordered: "The two of you immediately lead your troops to land and rush to Phoenix Terrace to join Nalan Dingdong. Sanjinhou's men and horses have already left Shanhaiguan. After you join Nalan Dingdong, you can join Sanjinhou Echoing each other from a distance, one south and one north, whether it is to foreigners or to the Mu family, it is a shock."
"Here!"
Chen Dingnan and Chen Qianshan clasped their fists at the same time: "I take orders!"
"Go."
Fang Xie instructed: "You two are not as familiar with the terrain and the battle situation as Nalan, so don't think that you are an old leader who can control tactics long ago. Listen to Nalan."
"Here!"
The two agreed again, then turned and left to mobilize the troops.
…
…
"No matter what happens to the navy, the brigade must rush to the Phoenix Terrace to join Nalan. This battle has been fought for long enough. If it continues, reinforcements from the Opru Empire will come from the other side of the ocean." Come over in batches, and our people, after gradually adapting to the war, will no longer be filled with righteous indignation like they did at the beginning."
Fang Jie said in a soft but heavy tone: "This has nothing to do with any nationality. For example, when the Duchy of Ross, Andrew's hometown, was first invaded by the Opru Empire, the resistance must have been extremely strong. But after a few years, the Duchy of Ross The people have begun to get used to their new identity... the people of the Principality of Hurons."
"The last thing I want to see."
Fang Jie said slowly: "It is our people and the enemy walking on the street face to face, no one looks at the other, as if they have merged with each other..."
Zheng Qiu had a look of shame on his face: "It's because I didn't think enough."
"No."
Fang Jie shook his head: "As a navy general, you are doing your duty."
He turned his head and said: "Let your navy get out of the way. I'm going to take a big dragon boat to see what the foreign navy looks like, and let the foreigners see what our navy looks like."
Zheng Qiu hastily ordered the Navy's fleet to move to both sides to make way for Fang Jie's fleet.
The admiral of the Opru Empire was named Susis, and he was a standard young man from the noble family of the Opru Empire. Tomorrow, he will not be twenty-eight years old. This young man, who had already been appreciated by Emperor Leman at a young age, was predicted by the nobles of the Opru Empire that if nothing else happened, he would become the commander of the navy when he was forty years old.
For an empire that has maintained foreign aggression and expansion for a long time, it is obvious how high the status of the commander of the navy is.
Yes, he is young.
But under Lehmann's account, there are many generals who are younger than him and who are also highly valued. So Susis didn't think his age was an advantage. He always thought that his ability was what Emperor Leman valued.
"Honorable Duke."
His admiral De Morens poured a glass of red wine for Susis, looked at the red sun that was about to fall on the river in the distance, and said: "My lord is just setting up the battle like this, so that those Han people can't do anything. You are right, when it comes to naval warfare, the experience of the Han people is simply zero, not even as good as the weak Chu navy."
"Don't underestimate the Han people."
Suzys has a high nose, broad forehead, deep sunken eye sockets, and those blue eyes are also very energetic. It seems that he is definitely worthy of the word "beautiful man" in the Opulu Empire. This is a young man who is deliberately not arrogant, but arrogant to the core.
He inherited his father's dukedom and has become the master of the Bird of Paradise family.
The big families of the Opuru Empire all have their own family flowers, and the family flower of the Susis family is a bird of paradise that was originally a specialty of the Opuru Empire. After conquering an extremely backward tribe with his companions, he made a flower of that tribe's specialty.
Yes, the history of the Suzys family is not very long.
Yes, the flower symbolizes aggression and conquest for the Susis family.
Yes, the ancestors of Susis gradually made their fortunes by conquering that indigenous area and gaining huge wealth. Although they do not belong to the real big family of the Opru Empire, the Bird of Paradise family also has a huge family on the other side of the ocean. influence.
"This Han Chinese navy is different. Didn't you notice Demorens? Not only did they install artillery, but the location of the artillery was very reasonable."
Suthis said: "I have to suspect that someone who does not belong to this place is helping them."
"Nine times out of ten, they are from that old guy's territory."
De Mollens said: "After Hullens won the fiefdom, he was sent here before he had time to manage it... the people in that place are rude and barbaric."
"My lord duke!"
Someone shouted outside: "Please come out and have a look! Opposite...the opposite is coming...a monster!"
Suthis was taken aback for a moment, then stood up, walked out of the room and boarded the deck, and then he saw the warship that the soldiers used the word monster to describe when they shouted.
That's right!
This is a monster!
"Han people... always make things in such a random way!"
Suzys found himself angry, perhaps out of jealousy and fear
That huge warship looked really ferocious, with a domineering force that could crush everything exuded from its huge body. It looked down on Suthis like a king of beasts from the distant sky.
Of course, the young man in black standing on the forehead of the monster was looking down on Suthis.