Chongming Island, at the mouth of the Yangtze River, is full of warships, masts like forests, and flags are displayed. Pen & Fun & Pavilion www.biquge.info huge warships are moored on the river, gongs and drums are noisy on the shore, firecrackers are roaring, and a group of officers and men of the Daming Nanyang Navy wearing white naval uniforms are lined up in a neat formation, and board the battleship along the gangway.

On the deck of the huge battleship Nanjing, Zhang Yukun and Zhang Huangyan stood side by side, looking at the admirals who were about to set out for the expedition. In this attack on Jiangning, the Ming army invested all the main forces of the navy and all the main forces of the marines, plus Zhang Huangyan's Zhejiang army to help, and Geng Jingzhong acted as an internal response, which can be said to be a must-win.

"General Zhang, you said that Geng Jingzhong child, can we rest assured of him?" Zhang Huangyan is still a little uneasy.

Zhang Yukun replied: "Actually, the last general doesn't have much bottom in his heart. However, our commander said that Geng Jingzhong is very reliable, and the last general believes that the judgment of the commander will not be wrong! ”

The low sound of the conch horn sounded, the shore salute was fired, and the auxiliary soldiers on the pier untied the cables. On the upper deck of the huge battleship Nanjing, the sailors retracted the cables, slowly turned the winches, and pulled up the anchor chains. Dozens of sailors standing under the mast pulled the ropes, and huge sails slowly rose along the mast.

Zhang Ashui, who was wearing a street white navy uniform, stood on the deck, and his mood was extremely excited at this time. From his name, it can be seen that Zhang Ashui was originally the son of a fisherman. However, the Qing court's ban on the sea and the prohibition of sails from entering the sea made a large number of fishermen lose their way to live.

Especially in Guangdong, Wu Liuqi, the commander of the Guangdong Navy Division, implemented the sea ban order more thoroughly, and I don't know how many fishermen who couldn't survive were cut off because they secretly went to sea. Zhang Ashui's parents, because they couldn't survive anymore, ventured to the beach to try to go out to sea to fish, but both were beheaded, leaving only 12-year-old Zhang Ashui and his 8-year-old sister to rely on each other. But they lost their source of livelihood, and it was only a matter of time before they starved to death.

Just when Zhang Ashui and his sister were about to starve to death, agents of the Heaven and Earth Society appeared and took the brother and sister to Qiongzhou.

Zhang Ah Shui has been familiar with water since he was a child, and when he came to Qiongzhou to recruit people at the Naval Academy, Zhang Ah Shui passed the exam and became a student at the Singapore Naval Academy.

Because the treatment of military cadets is quite good, not only can Zhang Ashui himself live a worry-free life from now on, but his sister has also been properly arranged, and she was arranged to study in a school founded by the army.

Zhang Ashui is most relieved of his sister, who has a life to rely on, so he can go to Singapore to complete his studies without worries.

At the Singapore Naval Academy, Zhang Ah Shui completed four years of study, and after graduation, he was fortunate to become a crew member on the battleship Nanjing, the flagship of the Ming Army! This is a good thing that many cadets and soldiers could never dream of! The battleship Nanking had the largest tonnage, the most luxurious equipment on board, the most comfortable living quarters, and because it was the flagship, the commander of the fleet could be seen every day, and as long as he performed well, the chances of promotion were much higher than on other ships.

The fleet pulls anchor and sets sail. At this time, the wind direction has changed from southeast to northwest, but the advantage of hard sails is that they can sail even against headwinds, so the Western-style warships of the Nanyang Navy have been replaced with Chinese-style hard sails. It's just that these hard sails are specially designed, and the area is much larger than that of ordinary lucky ships, and the sealing of the sail surface is much better.

A strong wind blows from the side front, blowing the sails loudly. Due to the principle of aerodynamics, the wind speed on one side of the sail is relatively fast, and the wind speed on the other side is slower, and the pressure difference created pushes the battleship to sail upstream.

At high tide, the water of the Yangtze River pours upstream under the action of the tide. Under the dual effect of the tide and the wind, the battleship slashed the waves with its huge bow and galloped upstream.

Attacking Nanjing, this is the most important war, once Nanjing is captured, the Ming Dynasty can be regarded as having an official national capital, so Zhang Huangyan attaches great importance to this expedition.

Although the fleet attacking Jiangning this time was an ocean-going fleet, the basic tactics of the inland river operation were still the same as those of the inland water division, with the main battleship placed in the back and small boats in front to open the way.

The river surface in the lower reaches of Jiangyin is spacious, and the water is particularly deep, so it is difficult for the Qing army to use their hands and feet in the river, and arrange underwater hidden piles, barrage ropes and other obstacles. However, after passing Guazhou, the river suddenly narrowed, and Guazhou is an island in the river, and the river surface around Guazhou is relatively narrow, and the Qing army may set up obstacles in Guazhou to intercept the Ming fleet.

Tongzhou River, this is Nantong Prefecture, that is, the Nantong River in later generations.

A fast sentry boat of the Qing army sailors was cruising slowly on the river, and the Qing sailors on the boat were rowing their oars listlessly, and the small boat was jolting on the river. The small boats of these Qing army sailors also bullied the fishing boats and merchant ships of the common people on weekdays, and if they encountered the Ming army warships, they had to flee for their lives.

The river surface in the area of Nantong Prefecture is not that there are no Ming warships to come, from the mouth of the Yangtze River to the river in the area of Jiangyin, in fact, it is the free activity area of the Ming Nanyang Navy, and the giant ships of the Ming army can come and go whenever they want, and they can enter and exit at will, as if they are as convenient as entering and leaving their own homes.

Several times the Ming warships entered the upstream to reconnoitre, and the ships of the Qing navy saw the Ming warships from a distance and fled without a trace.

On the fast sentry ship, the commander of the Qing army of the Green Battalion reminded the sleepy oarsmen: "Keep your eyes wide!" Grab a few more merchant fishing boats, and you can buy the Eight Flags special offerings when you go back! If you see Minggou's warship, run quickly! ”

Extortion of merchant ships and fishing boats was a sideline of the Qing army's sailors. Higher-ranking officers deducted military salaries, and these Qing soldiers wanted to smoke, and even wanted to taste the special offerings of the Eight Banners that could make people feel that they were immortals, and how could they afford to consume those luxury goods without extorting a little silver.

As for war, what do you use to fight people? The Ming army casually searched the warships and took them out, they were all as tall as mountains, and it was said that the ship's planks were as thick as the city walls, not to mention that the bows and arrows and birds could not penetrate them, and even the cannons could not penetrate those huge ships.

The sentinel boat cruises on the river, ready to catch a few fat sheep and slaughter them. However, the boat wandered around the river for a long time, and there was not a single fishing boat or merchant ship in sight. Maybe the common people were afraid of being blackmailed by the Qing army, and they didn't dare to come out.

Just when the eyes of those Qing soldiers widened and they searched for fishing boats and merchant ships on the river, someone suddenly shouted in horror: "Downstream! Look downstream! There are so many boats! Oh, my God! ”

The commander of the Qing army turned his head, his mouth opened wide at once, and he couldn't close it for a long time: he saw that dense black spots appeared on the surface of the river downstream, and they were heading upstream.