Chapter 94 Preparation for the expedition
It can be said that most of the places along the way are the richest places in the Ming Dynasty, such as Wenzhou, Taizhou, Ningbo, Jiaxing, Songjiang, Suzhou, Yangzhou and Huai'an. It can be said that the places are rich and do not extortery. It is really sorry for himself. Some prefectures and counties along the way will definitely be eaten by Yu Xiaotian. If the fleet arrives temporarily and informs them to prepare materials, it will definitely take a lot of time and waste time in this regard.
A large number of soldiers will live on the ship and live in a small space for a long time, which will have a great impact on them psychologically and physiologically. After arriving at the place, there is still a problem that needs to be adjusted, followed by the war. In order to get some supplies and money, it is not cost-effective to delay for a long time on the way.
He doesn't care about the two-month time limit in this imperial edict. From Fujian to Jiaodong Peninsula, it's a long way and can't walk for two months. It's very normal. That's what the court said. At that time, he missed the construction period. In fact, the court didn't do much about him.
Now, in the past years, it was as easy for the court to kill a general as a chicken. Now the Ming Dynasty presses the gourd and floats everywhere. As long as the generals have soldiers and generals, the court still does not dare to do anything to them. Like Zu Dashou, he first killed his own people in Dalinghe City and surrendered to Jian. Slave, then made a fraudulent surrender, ran back to Jinzhou and then led the troops to continue to work. The sound of the court shouting for killing had long been overturned, but Chongzhen still dared not take care of Zu Dashou, which was actually the reason.
What's more, Yu Xiaotian now has tens of thousands of soldiers on hand, and outside the Ming Dynasty, he still occupies a territory and can leave. No one can do anything about him. Although Chongzhen said harshly in the imperial edict, no matter how hard Yu Xiaotian toss, Chongzhen actually has nothing about him.
In fact, many warlord families have appeared at the end of the Ming Dynasty. They have begun to take care of themselves and no longer listen to the orders of the imperial court. However, Chongzhen really dares to kill people with knives, but there are very few. Those who really killed the generals and vice generals are actually all fighting for their old capital and become light commanders. Kill it without scruples.
With Yu Xiaotian's order, the Sea Wolf Group became lively again. This is the first time since the establishment of the Sea Wolf has mobilized a large number of armed forces at such a long distance to carry out long-range operations. It is undoubtedly a huge test for the Sea Wolf Group.
Yu Xiaotian was actually preparing for this a long time ago, but when it comes to use, how the war machine he built with one hand works depends on his actions this time.
If 8,000 people carry about 200 people according to the standards of Daming warships in this era, a No. 2 lucky boat can carry about 200 people and 400 sand boats, that is, about 300 people. If you load these people alone, you need at least 40 No. 2 lucky boats.
But Yu Xiaotian will not let his men suffer this kind of grievance. 200 people can indeed be stuffed into the No. 2 lucky boat, but after these 200 people are stuffed in, the lucky boat becomes a can of sardines, and there is no place to sleep, let alone activities.
There are many sailors and soldiers on the lucky ship itself. This time, as a transportation task, there is no need to board all of them on the ship, but at least 50 people are required to operate the ship. Otherwise, the long-distance voyage will make the crew very hard. Especially this time, when it goes north, it goes up against the wind. As long as the ship enters Frequent steering and adjusting the sails can sail against the wind. It is not the kind of ship equipped with engines in later generations. It is enough to start the engine and sail directly towards the target, so the physical consumption of the crew will be very large, and naturally the personnel will not be missing.
The more than 200 people are stuffed into the hull, which is really aggrieved. Moreover, these 200 people have to eat, drink and sleep on the ship on the way. They can't get off the ship. If the density in the cabin is too large, it will definitely have a huge impact on the psychological and physiological aspects of the personnel.
Therefore, Yu Xiaotian was reluctant to bear such grievances and ordered a ship to carry up to 150 people, and a larger cargo ship could carry more people.
Now Yu Xiaotian's hand is not only the No. 2 lucky boat. Over the years, he has started to build at least 100 large ships with more than 700 to 800 materials. These ships have become the main force of his freight. They have been running back and forth on various commercial roads all year round to make more profits for him.
In addition, after Yu Xiaotian's efforts, he ordered the dismantling of two 400-ton armed merchant ships captured by the Dutch and Spaniards, asked his men to draw a large number of drawings based on the dismantled ships, and let the craftsmen use these two ships to learn Western shipbuilding techniques and the linear and manufacturing technology of ships. .
To put it bluntly, it is reverse imitation. The year before last, the first imitation Western-style Galen ship had been successfully launched for trial, so he ordered to continue manufacturing. Of course, it was necessary to carry out some transformation and enlarge the hull. Last year, the first 800-ton ship had been built and was being tested. After that, it can basically meet the requirements.
In just three or four years, Yu Xiaotian has basically mastered the manufacturing technology of the most advanced large sea warships in the West so far. In the next step, he has planned to build a larger Western-style sailboat to prepare for the future hegemony in the sea.
And Yu Xiaotian has sent more than 1,700 sailors and soldiers. As explorers, he sent them to drive five self-built Western-style Galen ships, loaded with a large number of supplies. Starting from Taiwan, according to the route he planned, equipped with the best weapons, three of which sailed to the Americas to look for the West. The places occupied by the Banya and the Dutch, built their bridgeheads, and prepared in advance for the future colonization and occupation of a large number of colonies.
The other two sailed to Australia according to the route he gave. Now Australia is still a landless place. Except for the indigenous people on land in Australia, they have not been discovered by Western European maritime powers and occupied as their colonies. Of course, Yu Xiaotian will not miss the opportunity to let Westerners give such a good place. Take it.
You should know that Australia has too many mineral deposits. For the Chinese people in the future, it seems that China's products are very rich at present. In fact, the natural mineral resources that China lacks are almost insufficient except coal mines. Later generations have been cheated by those foreigners. Now that he has been given this opportunity, he will naturally not give up.
Another reason is that he has found a way out for how to face the current problems in China after unifying China in the future, that is, a large number of immigrants.
Isn't it a small ice age in the north, with continuous droughts and people living? The war will definitely consume a lot of people, but there must be a lot of human resources. He is not going to engage in land state ownership. Private ownership will definitely continue. So what about a large number of landless people?
Well, there is a lot of land in the colony. As long as you go, there is no problem for everyone to give you hundreds of mu. The strong desire of Chinese farmers for land is obvious to all. As long as there is land, these Chinese people are not as fond of land as people think. Even if they are in love with land, their thirst for land, It will make them dare to take risks.
Isn't that what Europe does? People without assets and land are called by the state to emigrate to colonize. After immigration, they will expand and gradually control more colonies. Who can compare with China's rich human resources in this era?
Although it's a little late in the Americas now, it can't be said that it's too late. As long as they are strong enough and have enough warships, can they do better than the Chinese people by adding up the whole Europe with their production capacity and population?
So although it has not reached that point yet, we must also plan ahead. First, send people to explore the road and find a feasible route to lay the foundation for a large number of immigrants in the future.
Although he doesn't have enough energy to do this now, he still has the strength. First, he sent people to explore the way. Through such continuous sending personnel to explore, he first trained a large number of future captains and first mates. Once he completes the great cause of competing in the Central Plains, he can immediately start construction. The batch of ships moved a large number of ships to his pre-selected colonies. At that time, the colony will continue to transfuse blood and obtain high profits.
If he does it, then the next century will be the world of the real Chinese people. Even if there are many places that may be independent in the future, the blood relationship will still make the Chinese people stand on the top of the world. For the former mother country and suzerain country, China's hidden interests are still It will be very big.
Of course, this is another topic. What Yu Xiaotian wants to do now is to put a wedge in the north and do a good job in this battle of Denglai.
At present, the Seawolf fleet, even if it is not calculated as the power of this part of the warship of the Daming Marine Division, is a piece of cake just by relying on the various armed merchant ships and cargo ships in the hands of the commercial department of the Seawolf Group to transport 7,000 or 8,000 people.
And they have many large ships. Even according to his requirements, low-density loaders only need more than 50 large ships to complete this transportation task. In addition, even if they add ships that need to transport a large amount of materials, they only need the capacity of no more than 100 large ships, which is enough to complete this. Sub-mission.
In fact, these ships have already been transferred to the Weitouwan area, which is still pumped out without seriously affecting the normal commercial capacity of the sea wolf. Even if more ships are used, he can easily do it.
These ships have taken various disinfection measures in advance and are ready to welcome people to board the ship. In addition, all kinds of ammunition materials, food, weapons and other things have already been prepared to stop in Weitou Bay. They are all ready to stop.
(Dizzy, I can hardly sit still! You can't walk without supporting the wall! It's worse than drinking! Lie down quickly, lying down seems to be a little more comfortable!)