"Boom! Rumble! Rumble! After the smoke cleared, several officers rode their horses to observe the impact point.

This is a training ground on the outskirts of Henghai Port, which belongs to the Navy and currently has more than 1,000 men and men stationed in the Second Marine Battalion directly under the Admiralty. The department has infantry, artillery, and engineering troops, and no cavalry and baggage troops, but it is equipped with a field hospital and a gun repair shop, which is still different from the establishment of the army.

The artillery of the 2nd Marine Battalion is undergoing routine military training. These guys, who had been transferred from naval gunners, were relaxed at the moment, waiting for the officers to go and test the shooting effect, and I believe it would not be bad. They have reason to be so confident, because they have been fighting artillery on rough seas for so long, and when they get to a stable land, with a little adaptation, they will soon become a skilled artilleryman.

And in fact, it's pretty much the same. After several trainers dismounted to inspect it, they found that the impact point was very accurate, similar to the results observed by the telescope observed by the observation post on the watchtower next to it. The artillery brothers of the Marine battalion were very proficient in their business, and they were obviously much better than those "infantrymen who were out of tune".

"Battalion Commander Zhou, the artillery brothers of the second battalion train hard and their business is pure, and they will definitely be the sharpest sword in our hands in the future!" Lieutenant Colonel Ding Zhen, commander of the Cape Verde Squadron of the First Fleet of the Navy, looked at the potholed ground and said with a smile on his face.

The "Battalion Commander Zhou" standing beside him was named Zhou Bo, a naval major, and the commander of the Second Marine Battalion who had just been airborne. Yes, you heard it right, he is Zhou Bo, a military police officer in the former army system, and the younger brother of Zhou Yafu, the commander of the 1st Marine Battalion of the Navy. Because of his reckless planning of the attack on Father Ramos, Zhou Bo was demoted several levels by the War Department and assigned to serve on New Huaxia Island. Later, I don't know what the reason was, maybe it was the persuasion of his brother, or maybe he also had a lot of resentment in his heart, in short, Zhou Bo quickly got on the line with the navy, and then was ordered by the joint staff headquarters controlled by the navy for many years to be transferred to the commander of the second marine battalion of the navy, officially separated from the army, and became a member of the navy.

The two brothers of the Zhou family served as the commanders of two marine battalions at the same time, which is also a good story, although the army has cursed these two "traitors" I don't know how many times.

"I've also figured out the situation in the Second Marine Battalion these days. The level of artillery is certainly okay, but the infantry, which is the main force, is still a little poor. Marching, camping, scouting, shooting, stabbing and other basic skills are lacking, especially those mercenaries from the Old Continent, who have outdated concepts, deep habits, and poor military discipline, which is really a bit worrying. After hearing this, Major Zhou Bo smiled bitterly and said, "It will take another year or two to practice well." ”

Born in the army, he has undergone a complete and systematic education, and his vision is also good, so he can naturally see the true level of this so-called marine battalion. In his opinion, the 2nd Marine Battalion, which was full of mercenaries and Xinding, was not much better than the local militia security regiment, and even far inferior in terms of discipline. With such a force, it is naturally possible to fight a war against the wind and a war for public order, but if it is a battle against the wind or a battle against the wind, I am afraid that it will have to kneel.

Therefore, he plans to perform several "surgeries" on this unit, but he has not had time to take over for a long time. In addition, the deputy battalion commander who had been robbed of his position had a very high prestige in the battalion and had many different opinions on his measures to reform and improve combat effectiveness, so this matter was put to the back of the list, and it is still the same as before.

"I'm afraid it won't take so long for you, Camp Commander Zhou." Lieutenant Colonel Ding Zhen waved his hand when he heard this, and said, "As you know, the situation on the European continent is becoming more and more tense, and a big war may break out at any time. Once this war breaks out, it will definitely involve the interests of our country, especially the Italian peninsula and the Black Sea region, which are the most chaotic. I can't hide it, brother, the superiors have recently intended to move your department, you must be mentally prepared for this, don't be caught off guard when the time comes. ”

Zhou Bo was silent after hearing this, and after a while, he smiled and said, "The children don't have this blessing, it seems that they are going to go to the battlefield to fight and practice at the same time." But this is also normal, men in the army, should have the courage to face difficulties and face strong enemies. The Army has always used whether or not a soldier dares to fight at close range as a test of whether a soldier has enough courage, and I think our Marine Battalion must do the same. Yes, if you move, you can move, it's a mule or a horse, just go out and walk two laps, and what remains after being eliminated from the battlefield is the real seed! ”

Zhou Bo vaguely knew where the "moving and moving" mentioned by Ding Zhen just now was going, wasn't it the Black Sea, normal! Because according to the information currently available, the huge Russian Empire joined the alliance formed by Austria, Poland and other countries, and the possibility of scolding the Ottoman Empire is becoming more and more likely, and the people on the east coast cannot help but be frightened.

As we all know, there have always been only two directions of Russian expansion. One was to attack Poland or Sweden to the west, in order to recover the Baltic Sea coastal ports that had been cut off by Sweden - that time made Russia a de facto landlocked country until the opening of the White Sea ports of St. Nicholas and Arkhangelsk: the other direction was naturally to the south, that is, to attack the Crimean Khanate and its suzerain, the Ottoman Empire, and push the border to the Black Sea coast.

It should be said that the Russians have no priority in either direction, and they can expand in either direction, as long as there is an outlet to the sea, although the westward strategy seems to be a little more important. However, since the Poles elected a new king, Jan Sobiesky, and the chaos in the country has been somewhat curbed, the Russians are less likely to move westward on their own, unless they can contact the Swedes to flank Poland, which is obviously somewhat difficult. In addition, the Poles also showed high tactical literacy and outstanding combat effectiveness in the Battle of Vienna, and their prestige in the Catholic world was greatly increased, which deepened the Russians' fear of westward expansion into Poland, believing that the opportunity to attack Poland on three fronts with more than 100,000 troops led by Emperor Alexei III was gone.

And since the westward expansion is not successful, then it seems that there is only south! What's more, the Russians have not given up their coveting of thousands of miles of fertile Ukraine for many years, which can be seen from the fact that tens of thousands of Russian troops have always been stationed in eastern Ukraine. It just so happened that this time the Ottoman Empire suffered a crushing defeat under the city of Vienna, losing countless soldiers, horses, equipment, money and food, and more importantly, the morale of the army dropped by more than one level, which was a good opportunity for the Russians to forge ahead!

Although for the time being, the Ottomans seem to have eased up a bit and have a tendency to bottom out, in the final analysis, the main force is still dragged in the Balkans by the Austrians and Poles, and there are only a few second-line local troops on the northern shore of the Black Sea, and the number is very limited. This kind of God-given opportunity, if you can't grasp it, then it's a fart! As a result, the regent Princess Sophia, under the prodding of the Polish and Austrian envoys, soon made the decision to join its alliance and jointly deal with the Ottoman Empire!

And attacking the Ottoman Empire is easy, but don't forget about its client state Crimean Khanate! Although the population of this country is not very large, its combat effectiveness is definitely not to be underestimated. Because of the relationship between physique and tradition, it seems that it is not impossible for this country to mobilize more than 80,000 infantry and cavalry to fight for a year and a half in a state of limit, which dooms a small-scale Russian army to achieve nothing on the northern shore of the Black Sea. If you want to conquer the northern shore of the Black Sea and gain a foothold, about 150,000 men and horses are indispensable, plus more than 50,000 Eastern Ukrainian Cossacks under the control of the Russian army, so you can have a little chance of winning.

Therefore, since the beginning of this year, the Russians have been recruiting sergeants, hoarding supplies, renovating roads, and collecting means of transportation throughout the country, as if they were expanding their armaments for war. Such a large preparation for war is naturally impossible to hide from those who have a heart, not to mention that there are not a few businessmen flowing between the two countries, and no one knows how many spies are mixed among them, so it is natural for the news to spread to the south.

The Great Khan of Grei in Crimea was the first to learn of the news, and then immediately informed the generals of the Ottoman garrisons in Azov, Sudak, Kaffa and other places, telling them to strengthen their vigilance and prepare for the outbreak of war. At the same time, the Great Khan of Gelei also began mobilization in the country. In accordance with the mobilization system designed with the help of the East Coasters, they began to mobilize on a small scale first in order to minimize the vitality of the people. Unless they get the news that the main forces of the Russian army are stationed in eastern Ukraine on a large scale, they will start large-scale mobilization, and the Tatar light cavalry, which has terrified tens of millions of people in Poland, Russia, Moldavia and other places, will also open their hideous minions.

In addition, the Great Khan of Gelai also sent people to the Haji trading post run by the people on the east coast to ask for help: all the help in terms of materials, personnel, and diplomacy. The Haji merchant station did not dare to slack off, and immediately transmitted the news to Cádiz and Viana through the Istanbul embassy, and handed it over to the two highest civil and military officials of the East Coast Republic stationed in Europe for review, and at the same time copied a copy to Huaiyuan Island and Cape Verde Islands, so that the commanders of the two detachments knew it in their hearts.

Lieutenant Colonel Ding Zhen, as the commander of the Cape Verde detachment, actually still has a lot of autonomy. The Admiralty's instructions to him clearly protected the country's overseas interests in the Mediterranean and Black Seas, so it was not uncommon for him to set his sights on the Crimean Khanate. He was really worried, worried that the Tatars would not be able to withstand the siege of a large Russian army of more than 100,000 or even 200,000 - there was no doubt that if this battle broke out, the cavalry of the Crimean Khan would definitely be the main force of the battle, and the Turks would really not be able to draw troops - so he wondered whether to transfer the marine battalion commanded by Zhou Bo to support it.

Of course, the East Coast people can deploy more troops than the Second Marine Battalion, in fact, the Portuguese garrison is the main force, and it can even be expected that the Kingdom of Portugal will organize a mercenary force of 3,000 people to be commanded by the East Coast people.

Of course, whether this mixed army, totaling several thousand troops, will clash with the Russians depends on the opinion of the plenipotentiary envoy to Europe, Gao Wengang. If he thinks that the direct involvement of the East Coast Army will lead to a face-to-face with the Russian Empire and lead to heavy economic losses, then he will also veto it - without the consent of the plenipotentiary envoy to Europe, Lieutenant Colonel Mao Jun of the Portuguese garrison will not be able to send troops to fight without authorization.

But in any case, the preservation of the Crimean Khanate and the Black Sea trade came first. If the Tatars were really defeated and fought in a mess, then the people on the east coast could only bite the bullet no matter how reluctant they were, and even fooled the Venetians and other Italian friends to send troops to help in the war, vowing to block the Russians back, even if they tore their faces and lost the entire Russian market.

"It's also a good way to train with battle." Lieutenant Colonel Ding Zhen took off his military hat, looked at the undulating sea in the distance, and said: "Our navy has also added a lot of new ships, and the number of recruits is also very large, so it is not bad to go out for exercise." ”

"No, as soon as our 2nd Marine Battalion leaves, this Cape Verde will be guarded by your fleet. Now there are coal mines and ship repair factories on Henghai Island, farms and orchards on Jianchang Island, pastures on Nankang Island, and salt farms on Dongzhang Island. Major Zhou Bo said: "Besides, on the Black Sea, the weak navy of the Ottoman Empire is enough, and the Russians have no foothold in the Black Sea, and you have little room to play if you go, so it is better to stay at home honestly." ”

"What's more, now the French are not restless, and they are attacking everywhere, and they are also making big things. Compared to the Black Sea, I'm afraid the Western Mediterranean needs your help more. The Republic of Genoy is our traditional ally, and the French Eastern Fleet has pushed them enough, and you should have gone to support them a long time ago. Gao Wengang's envoy is a little indecisive, and he has never made up his mind to recruit you over, but it's hard to say what will happen later, maybe he will ask you to come over one day. Finally, Major Zhou Bo reminded again.

Lieutenant Colonel Ding Zhen naturally understood what he said, and the Republic of Geno* Asia could not afford to lose, and sea support was inevitable, and the question was when to leave for the north. But whether they say anything or not, it depends on the opinion of Gao Wengang's envoy, if he can't make up his mind, their Cape Verde detachment will still have to stay here and wait.