On December 21, Li Zhi returned to Tianjin.

Standing on the wharf of Dagu Port, a port in Tianjin, Li Zhi frowned as he looked at the many people watching the bustle near the wharf.

There is only a 100-meter gap between the military port and the civilian port, and many people stand on the berths of the civilian port and look at the warships on this side. The tall ironclad battleship obviously made the people very curious.

Li Zhi said unhappily: "In the future, the distance between the warship and the civilian berth will be widened, at least three hundred meters." “

The port chief in charge of the management of the wharf turned pale and quickly replied, "Yes... Yes, my lord, I'll do it. “

He no longer accompanied Li Zhi, but went to re-plan the berth.

Li Zhi took a closer look at the ironclad ships lined up on the berth.

"How many ironclads can we dispatch this time?"

Navy Commander Lu Hu replied: "Lord Wang, in addition to leaving fifteen ironclad ships to patrol various places and maintain basic sea supremacy, we can also dispatch forty ironclad ships to attack Batavia. ”

"Today's ironclad ships have been upgraded, according to the words of the prince, they are all new ships with a displacement of 700 tons."

Li Zhi nodded and walked forward on the dock for some distance. Seeing the gangway of an ironclad ship placed on the dock, Li Zhi walked onto an ironclad ship.

As soon as I got on the boat, I saw many navy soldiers in white uniforms chatting on the boat. At this time, it was not a state of combat readiness, and the demeanor of the soldiers was relaxed.

However, seeing the commander Lu Hu and the captain of the fleet, Shi Dingping, escorting a man wearing a four-clawed golden dragon robe onto the ship, the soldiers immediately realized that this must be the prince. Unexpectedly, they saw the legendary prince with their own eyes, and the sailors were so excited that they immediately raised their hands and saluted.

Li Zhi returned the salute to the soldiers and walked directly to the lower artillery deck.

One by one, iron-core copper cannons were placed on the gun carriages, covering the decks of the second and third tiers.

Li Zhi asked, "How many gun emplacements does this ship have?" ”

Lu Hu smiled and replied proudly: "Lord Wang, now our new ironclad ships have forty-two gun emplacements per ship. There was one gun emplacement in the bow and stern, eighteen gun emplacements on the second deck, and twenty-two gun emplacements on the third deck. ”

"These guns were all twenty-four pounder front-loading rifled guns with conical flowering shells. If the forty ironclad ships of the entire fleet fired a salvo, one broadside shot would be a salvo of eight hundred guns. ”

"Lord Wang, eight hundred doors!"

A salvo of 800 artillery pieces is indeed a bit terrifying.

Li Zhi nodded and continued to walk to the lower deck.

Lu Hu hurriedly said, "Lord Wang, the boiler deck below is dirty. ”

Li Zhi shook his head and said, "Go down and have a look!" “

The boiler deck on the ground floor was indeed more oily than the place above, and the space was more cramped and cramped. However, at this time, the steam engine boiler was not turned on, and only a few maintenance personnel were slowly maintaining the machine, and the temperature was not very high.

Li Zhi looked at the coal pile on the side of the boiler and asked, "Where did the coal come from?" “

Lu Hu replied: "Back to the prince, it is the refined coal transported from Shanxi that is burned, and now the pressure of the steam engine has gone up, and the fire power of burning ordinary coal is not enough, and the pressure of the boiler is not enough." “

Li Zhi asked again: "The steam engine has been replaced?" “

Lu Hu replied, "Yes, my lord." After the technological progress of the steam engine factory, we were given priority to change the machine, and the steam engine was changed three years ago, although the ironclad ship became a 700-ton ship, but the steam engine horsepower was greater, and the speed went up. Now our ship can drive eleven knots at full speed. “

Li Zhi looked around and said, "The hygiene of the boiler deck needs to be strengthened. The navy uses the most advanced weapons, but it needs to be used well. “

Lu Hu's face sank, and he quickly stood up and saluted, and said, "What the prince taught is that we must correct it!" “

Li Zhi walked to the side of the boiler, opened the combustion chamber and looked at it, and said, "Is the battle plan for attacking Batavia ready?" “

Lu Hu saluted again and said, "Back to the prince, we have already made a battle plan. If six Dutch battleships attacked, we would sink them in the open sea. If the enemy does not attack, we will take control of the sea power, cover the landing of the army on the island of Java, and attack the fortress of Batavia. “

Li Zhi nodded when he heard this plan.

####

Kuhn looked at Wu Yingxiong, who was kneeling down respectfully, and his face was very gloomy.

"Li Zhi is going to attack Batavia?"

The interpreter translated the governor's words to Wu Yingxiong, Wu Yingxiong nodded, looked up and said, "Your Excellency the governor, it's like this. I am afraid that in two months, after the New Year of the Han people, Li Zhi's fleet will go south. ”

Wu Yingxiong is now in Batavia as the intelligence chief of the Ming Kingdom of the Dutch.

Because Wu Sangui's old subordinates fled to various parts of the Ming Dynasty, these people became Wu Yingxiong's natural eyeliner, so Wu Yingxiong could know the information of various parts of the Ming Dynasty through letters. For the Dutch, who could not penetrate into the Ming Dynasty because of their skin color, the information provided by Wu Yingxiong, although there was a time lag, was a rare source of consultation for them.

You must know that the Jiangbei Army, which originally provided intelligence to the Dutch, has been destroyed, and the intelligence sources of the Dutch are becoming less and less. And Li Zhi of the Ming Dynasty was the number one enemy of the Netherlands. After one war after another over the years, Li Zhi and the Dutch have become mortal enemies.

Kuhn's adjutant had a grim face and said, "Governor, we have 3,000 soldiers in Batavia, 274 coastal defense heavy artillery, and we have 30,000 Malay native soldiers, we can meet Li Zhi's challenge!" “

The Dutch translator looked at the adjutant, but did not translate his words to Wu Yingxiong.

Kuhn looked at the adjutant and sneered.

He looked at the translator and said, "How can three thousand soldiers fight Li Zhi?" Those Malay native soldiers were vulnerable, and they were no match for the Tiger Army. “

The adjutant's face turned pale and he said, "Then what should I do?" Governor, we have ruled in Batavia for thirty-three years, and here we have built strong bastions, tall barracks, spacious docks. We have a few thousand Han Chinese slaves here, and more than seventy Malay chiefs from the nearby islands have submitted to us. “

Kuhn sighed and said, "Sean Kang, it's time to go, it's time for us to leave the Far East." “

The adjutant panicked and said, "Governor, we don't want the Far East?" “

Kuhn shook his head and said, "We only have three thousand men in the Far East, six warships, how can we be Li Zhi's opponents?" We went back to Europe and reworked our plan to contain Li Zhi. “

The adjutant's face turned even paler, and he looked out the window at the city of Batavia, speechless.

Kuhn looked at Wu Yingxiong, who was kneeling on the ground, and said, "Wu Yingxiong, three thousand of us are going to India on a mission. In four months, we will have a large force in Europe returning to Batavia. I'll give you a task. You led 30,000 Malay soldiers to hold out in Batavia, waiting for our European reinforcements! “

The Dutch translator duly restarted the translation and relayed Kuhn's words to Wu Yingxiong.