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Gu Rong had been active in the East China Sea and the Yellow Sea for a long time. According to him, there are still some places suitable for ambushes on the sea.
In theory, the boundless ocean is navigable everywhere, but this is not the case in reality.
If you don't follow a fixed route, sailing in unfamiliar waters is a very dangerous thing. Reefs, storms, complex ocean currents and other factors can easily cause the ship to be destroyed and people to die.
Even if you don't encounter these, it is easy to get lost in the vast ocean, or be unable to find fresh water and food supplies in time, and die of thirst or starvation.
Therefore, when sailing on the sea, people usually follow a fixed route. Since the route is fixed, it is much easier to ambush the enemy.
It is said that according to what Gu said, if the Zheng family fleet went north, it would be easy to ambush them off the coast of Zhoushan.
"King Qin, it would be better if we could lure the Zheng family's fleet to circle around in the sea and then ambush them when their supplies run out."
"Okay, let's think about this matter first and make a more detailed battle plan."
After the meeting that night, Qin Mu pondered for most of the night, so much so that he felt a little tired when he woke up the next day.
Early in the morning, he sent someone to inform the North Sea Fleet to which Di Zhongxing belonged to cooperate with these actions.
Although the Daqin Navy is now divided into the East China Sea Fleet and the North Sea Fleet, its main activities are in the East China Sea and the Yellow Sea. The North Sea Fleet's current home port is temporarily located in Chongming Island, and its activities are centered around the Yangtze River estuary.
In the early morning, the water in February was still very cold. Qin Mu, who was a little exhausted due to lack of rest, took off his coat on the shore and dived into the cold sea water. Li Shi and others tried to persuade him but failed, so a group of guards had to jump into the water as well.
No one expected that this move would draw enthusiastic cheers from the navy soldiers, "Long live the King of Qin!" "Long live the King of Qin!" Many guys who were still bandits screamed and jumped into the sea. For a while, the harbor was like dumplings being cooked, and the water was boiling.
Qin Mu couldn't understand why these guys were so excited. He went into the sea to sober up.
Later, I found out that the first training item of the day that Gu Rong set for the soldiers was swimming. What a coincidence that Qin Mu was the first to go into the sea today. The soldiers thought that Qin Mu was personally leading them in training
Think about it, Qin Mu, as the king of a country, not only eats from the same pot as them and sleeps in the same ordinary barracks, but also takes them to the sea for training. How can he not be excited
After Qin Mu and the soldiers had a good swim, they went ashore to change their clothes, and then went out to sea with the fleet to watch their training.
A total of 129 warships of various sizes were dispatched, including 4 800-ton Fuzhou ships and 18 400-ton Fuzhou ships. Although the other bluff ships, eagle ships, and sand ships were not equipped with artillery, many of them were 200-ton, two-masted, 60 to 70 feet long, and 10 feet wide.
More than a hundred warships gathered on the sea, their white sails like clouds. It was a spectacular sight, with seagulls flying in the sky, the wind blowing and the clouds moving, and the sea with endless blue waves. The bows of the ships plowed out white waves.
Qin Mu stood on the tall flagship, holding a telescope and watching Gu Rong command the fleet training. There were three sets of communication methods between the ships: drums, flags, and lights. During the day, drums and flags were usually used together, which was very lively.
Qin Mu is a layman when it comes to naval battles, especially those in the sailing age. As the saying goes, laymen watch the excitement while experts watch the details. He came here just to watch the excitement.
Gu Rong and his team practiced a lot of subjects, including "T-shaped" grabbing, "battle line", "zigzag", wolf pack tactics, divide and conquer, etc.
Qin Mu had a little understanding of the tactic of seizing the "T-shaped horizontal head".
Before artillery was used in naval battles, the actual battle in naval battles was the vertical line under the letter "T". The bow of one's own warship was aimed at the side of the enemy ship, and the ram of the bow hit the hull of the enemy ship, and then approached the enemy ship for hand-to-hand combat. This was the most common and effective way of fighting before the advent of artillery.
After the artillery was used on warships, the situation changed. The artillery was arranged on both sides of the warship. Only when facing the enemy from the side, the artillery on one side could exert its maximum power and fire at full force. When the bow was facing the enemy ship, its own artillery could hardly shoot at the enemy.
Therefore, when the fleets are fighting, they should try their best to occupy the horizontal line on the "T" and strive to aim their sides at the enemy's bow, so that the two fleets fighting each other form a "T-shaped horizontal head".
A general rookie may think that when grabbing the T-shaped horizontal head, the warships of the team are lined up in a straight line, but this is actually a big mistake;
In a real naval battle, the troops will never line up in a straight line, but instead move in an arc, passing through the top of the enemy in a half-quarter circle. This way, you can truly concentrate the most firepower to quickly cover the enemy.
The problem is that everyone knows that it is important to seize the "T-shaped horizontal head". Others will not wait stupidly for you to grab the horizontal head, so how to grab the T-shaped horizontal head is the key.
This involves a series of factors such as wind direction, ocean currents, sailing and steering. Only by being able to adapt to circumstances and make full use of all favorable conditions to make your speed faster than that of the opponent can you grab the T-shaped crosshead.
Under Gu Rong's command, with drums beating, the fleets chased each other lively on the sea for a long time. After practicing various formations and tactics, they finally practiced live-fire shooting.
As the saying goes, a cannon shot is worth a fortune.
Live-fire shooting is extremely expensive, but in order to quickly improve the navy's combat effectiveness, Qin Mu invested a huge amount of money. Now the fleet's daily training includes live-fire shooting, with two shells per gun as the quota, every day.
In today's live-fire exercise, a reef in the sea was used as the target. Four 800-ton Fuzhou ships and 18 400-ton Fuzhou ships equipped with artillery passed by the reef one mile away in turn, with each artillery firing two shots in succession.
For a moment, the sea roared and filled with smoke. The seagulls in the sky fled in panic and disappeared. Tongues of fire spurted out and bullets whistled towards the reefs.
Qin Mu observed carefully with a telescope and found that among the ten shells, at most one fell within thirty meters of the reef, and none hit the reef directly. Some even hit the reef one or two hundred meters away.
Such shooting accuracy made Gu Rong look a little embarrassed. When Qin Mu looked at him, he immediately pleaded guilty and said, "I am incompetent. Please punish me, King Qin."
To be honest, Qin Mu was also a little disappointed. He had invested so much money to have the entire fleet practice live-fire shooting every day. It was not only the shells that cost money, but the gun barrels also had a lifespan. If they were fired too many times, the gun barrels would have to be scrapped.
But he wisely did not show his disappointment. The fleet had just been formed and was like a child. More encouragement was better than more criticism.
He said calmly, "Knowing shame is close to courage. After knowing your own shortcomings, as long as you face them calmly and strengthen your training, I believe that next time I come, I will definitely see more accurate live ammunition shooting."
"King Qin, I..." Gu Rong knelt down on one knee in front of Qin Mu, choking with sobs, "King Qin's mind is broader than the sea. I... have failed your high expectations today, and I will die a thousand times. The next time King Qin comes, if I don't improve, I will definitely be beheaded to apologize."
"Get up, don't forget that you are the commander of the entire fleet now."
"Yes, King Qin!"
Qin Mu vaguely remembered that he had read a statement before, saying that the British Navy at that time had a regulation that during combat, the fleet had to get within a distance of about 300 meters before it could open fire.
If this is true, then it means that the British Navy's shooting accuracy is not much better at a distance of 300 meters. Now that the East China Sea Fleet is firing at a distance of one mile, it should be a good result to achieve such a result.
Now the artillery accuracy of the Qin Army is very high, but the army is not the same as the navy. The wind and waves at sea will cause the ship to sway, and this alone will have a great impact on the shooting accuracy.
Thinking of this, Qin Mu's disappointment faded. Maybe the East China Sea Fleet's shooting accuracy was not much worse than others. And because the fleet had only been established for two or three months, there was still room for improvement in technology. This was hope.
Qin Mu stayed in Shuangyu Port for only one or two days. On the third day, he returned to Ningbo City and began to make plans to lure the snake out of its hole.
The key to the Zheng family lies in the navy. If the Zheng family navy can be severely damaged, Fujian will fall without a fight. However, it is not easy to defeat the strong with the weak. Qin Mu is extremely cautious about this plan... ... ...
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ps: I ask for recommendation votes, ask for recommendation votes again, and ask for recommendation votes again. Maybe it’s because Haozi asked for few recommendation votes in the past, and everyone voted few times. Hey, brothers, please give me all the recommendation votes.
.(To be continued..)
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