The huge fleet cleaved the waves, and the sails ate enough to the wind, driving the warships faster than the galloping horses. It was a fleet of two large Sea Falcon-class warships, thirty warships of various types, and dozens of merchant ships, and the entire fleet stretched for miles long.

As the flagship, the Dingyuan is the first Haigull-class battleship of Haixing Shipyard and the flagship of Pan Motang. Since taking over this behemoth last year, Pan Motang has been going to sea with this warship non-stop, and for a sea veteran like him, how to fight such a large warship is also a new topic.

In the past, the pirate ships he led emphasized speed, and after chasing the prey, he stuck to it, and then climbed onto the opposing ship, and fought hand-to-hand. But this is obviously not the case with such a warship, the long-range strike capability he has, even if Pan Motang himself is frightened, he thinks that those warships of his own before, once they encounter a warship like the Sea Falcon-class, there is not much chance to get up at all, and they will be sunk and injured halfway, even if they get up, how can they climb? The design of the battleship itself takes this into account, and the unique design of the ship's side puts an end to this.

Dive into the sea and dig a hole? It's okay to deal with ordinary warships, but the Seafalcon-class warships use watertight cabins, each of which is partitioned, and it is impossible to sink him by digging holes.

In Pan Motang's view, such a battleship is a giant on the sea, an invincible one, with him, who can compete with him at sea?

However, what puzzled him was that when the ship was launched, Li Xiang personally came over to cut the ribbon, and at that time, Li Xiang stroked the side of the ship, but his face was very unhappy, but sighed for a long time, and seemed not satisfied.

Of course, Pan Motang didn't know that Li Ze at that time thought that if such a warship was equipped with dozens or hundreds of guns, then in this era, it would really be invincible in the world.

However, it is a pity that the development of gunpowder has lasted for many years, and until now, it is not much stronger than the second kick, and the iron-smelting and steel-making technology continues to improve, but it is still far from the level of being able to make cannon barrels.

Li Ze knows very well that these things cannot be rushed. Any scientific and technological progress requires a long period of technological accumulation, one step at a time, and there is no shortcut at all. If, in his lifetime, he could hear the roar of the cannons, he would be quite satisfied.

Li Ze has regrets, but Pan Motang is too satisfied.

Over the course of a year, he figured out the performance of the Dingyuan, and then under his suggestion, the weapons and equipment on the Sea Eagle underwent a new round of upgrades, and then practiced dozens of sets of coordinated offensive and defensive tactics with various different ships, and finally made this new fleet form a combat effectiveness.

And this year, the second Sea Falcon-class battleship, the Fuyuan, was finally launched.

This voyage was also a real sea trial of the Fuyuan, and by the time it returned, the officers and men on the Fuyuan had generally become accustomed to the control and combat of this warship.

Pan Motang stood on the bridge of the command ship, looking down at the entire fleet under his command, full of ambition, this is what life should be, seeing the current fleet, the hundreds of pirate ships he commanded before, there is no doubt that they are all garbage.

Thinking of the powerful subordinates under his command, he couldn't help but feel a little regretful, if they knew that it was today, would they regret leaving him in the first place?

Opportunities have been in front of everyone, but not everyone can grasp them.

On top of the high head, the lookout suddenly blew the sound of the horn, and Pan Motang was in high spirits, this is a warning that he has found a fleet in the distance, and this is not an ordinary merchant ship.

He really wants to have an eye-catching pirate team to tease him, and then let himself have a good time, and really test the combat effectiveness of his fleet in actual combat.

The sound of the trumpet continued to sound, and after a few moments, the whole fleet came alive, and the flags were waved and the horns were constantly sounded. The merchant ships in the fleet began to slow down and move closer to the middle, while the battleships accelerated to catch up.

Banzhu Xiang Kung Fu, centered on the two Haiyu-class warships Dingyuan and Fuyuan, quickly organized into two battle groups, guarding dozens of merchant ships in the center.

In fact, these merchant ships are not without the power to fight back, in Pan Motang's view, every sailor on a sea ship is a sailor, and if there are no brushes, it is impossible to survive until now.

Of course, with the Datang sailors here, they won't be able to play at all at the first time.

"Don't worry, it's not far from the port of Guangzhou, and there can't be pirates." Zhang Hui held a book in his hand and appeared leisurely beside Pan Motang, "Besides, that pirate team is so blind, dare to come to trouble such a large fleet?" ”

"The lookouts found an armed fleet!" Pan Motang said simply.

"I guess it should be the Lingnan sailor who came to greet us." Zhang replied.

"Whether it's or not, it's always necessary to be ready for battle." Pan Motang said.

"This is natural!" Zhang Hui smiled and said, "Isn't this a more effective demonstration?" ”

On the sea level, the vague shadow of a fleet finally appeared in Pan Motang's field of vision.

The banner above Diao's head was constantly waving, and the news of the opponent's fleet became clear little by little.

It is indeed the Lingnan Naval Division, with a total of twenty warships of various types.

It seems that they have really come to greet them.

The two sides quickly approached the center.

Xiang Zhen stood on top of the largest warship, looking at the Tang fleet in the distance, with both emotion and horror in his heart. When he went to Wuyi a few months ago, he saw the Datang fleet in Haixing Port, and at that time, except for one Haigull-class, he didn't see many other types of warships, but that already shocked him. And this time, in his eyes, there were two Sea Falcon-class warships and other warships of different types.

Any of these ships would be larger than the one he was riding on.

Unlike others who don't know much, Xiang Zhen knows better that the warships of the Tang Navy Division are fundamentally different from the warships of the Lingnan Navy Division, because the Lingnan Navy Division is generally not much different from the merchant ships, and is basically modified with merchant ships. And the purpose of Datang's warships from the beginning of their manufacture was to fight. The layout of the ship, the setting of weapons, had only one purpose, to serve the battle.

Now he already has the drawings of various warships of the Tang Dynasty Navy Division, and after returning to Lingnan, he immediately summoned the master craftsmen of several of the most powerful shipyards in Lingnan Jiezhen to study these drawings, and he wanted to be able to build the same warship in the shortest possible time.

But the replies of the masters made him frustrated.

Not to mention the technical reserves required for the manufacture of such warships, which can not be manufactured with drawings alone, and the reserves of materials alone cannot be reached now.

For the first time, the battleship of the Datang Navy Division adopted the technology of the keel.

Xiang Zhen received the reply that even if the materials were prepared and the experiment began from now on, it would be impossible to get the ship in at least a year.

This made Xiang Zhen very frustrated.

He had no other way but to encourage him and offer a higher reward.

After the two fleets exchanged flags at a distance of about two miles, Pan Motang finally issued an order to lift the battle alarm, and the Tang Navy Division resumed its navigational state, while the warships of the Lingnan Navy Division were divided into two and lined up in two rows above the sea, and Xiang Zhen's ship was heading towards Dingyuan.

The two warships slowly approached, and Xiang Zhen looked up at the battleship that was getting closer and stronger, and the sense of powerlessness in his heart was even stronger. Standing in his place, the word Dingyuan brushed out of the white paint looked unusually huge.

A springboard was put down from the Dingyuan, put on the Lingnan warship, Xiang Zhen tidied up his clothes, and took two servants to board the Dingyuan along the gangplank.

"I've seen Zhang Gong!" Seeing Zhang Hui for the first time, Xiang Zhen was also taken aback, he never expected that this time the person sent out by Wuyi to greet his relatives was actually Zhang Hui, one of the core trios of the imperial court. "Zhang Gong is here, Lingnan is home, and Peng is shining!"

"Young marshal!" Zhang Hui smiled and clasped his fists and saluted slightly: "Your Majesty, this is the first major event of the imperial court, and as the secretary of the Ministry of Rites, I should naturally do it myself." Come, come, let me introduce you to the entourage this time. ”

I have seen the officials who greeted the relatives one by one, basically all of them were officials from the Ministry of Rites, Xiang Zhen didn't care much, the only thing that made him quite vigilant was the Pan Motang who only had one arm and the other hand was equipped with an iron hook.

Above the sea, the bandit of the iron hook is still famous. Although he had long known from Han Qi that this person had become the commander of the Tang Naval Division, it was the first time he had seen a real person.

You must know that in the past, many merchant ships in Lingnan were planted in the hands of this pirate leader.

Seeing such a huge fleet, how could Xiang Zhen not understand that this was Li Ze showing him his strength, otherwise why would he have to send a fleet of such a scale?

For the battle with the other side at sea, at least for a year or two, there is no need to think about it. However, when he saw the dozens of merchant ships accompanying him, his eyes still shot an eager light.

That was the imperial court at the request of Lingnan to support their various types of armaments. Among them, there are large ordnance that he wants very much, such as large trebuchets, large crossbows, as well as crossbow machines, armor, and even hundreds of Mo knives.

These dozens of ships of ordnance are enough for Lingnan to arm an army of tens of thousands of people.

Of course, in return, when these dozens of merchant ships returned, they could not be empty, and would be filled with such materials as grain, medicinal herbs, tung oil, and the dowry of the Lingnan Lady.