On the mountain road from Lechang to Chenzhou, a group of strong people pushed oak wood with wheels and walked the winding mountain road. Pen @ fun @ pavilion wWw. ｂｉｑUｇE。 ｉｎｆｏ

These timbers are very long, the short ones are more than three zhang, and the long ones are more than ten zhang long, and they are bundled together by a number of wooden planks, and they are erected on a frame with wheels, and they are tied sturdily, and they are pushed by the people and pushed on the mountain road.

Yaoshan from Lechang to Chenzhou is the watershed of the Yangtze River and the Pearl River, and is the branch of the Nanling. After the ships of the Ming army arrived in Lechang, the infantry and baggage soldiers crossed the Nanling and entered Hunan, because they were lightly armed through the Nanling, walking along the Wushui River and the stream upstream, it was not too difficult to walk.

But now it is a very huge undertaking to send so much timber over.

Originally, it was planned to wait for the completion of the Lingqu, and then transport oak to Hengzhou through the Lingqu to build ships. However, it is expected that the Lingqu will not be completed until around April next year in the lunar calendar, and there are still nearly five months to go, and the expected water battle at Dongting Lake in Yuezhou will start in May and June. Therefore, it is too late to wait until the Ling Canal is completed, and then transport the wood.

The wood used to build the ships was made of oak dismantled from salvaged Dutch warships, which were strong and durable, and could not hurt the wood chips if hit by shells, and had good fire resistance.

The more than 20,000 people hired by Wang Xinyu moved quickly, and the oak timber was transported upstream through the Pearl River, and after being sent to Lechang, the timber was moved ashore and walked over the mountain road. In just about twenty days, the first batch of oak timber was sent to Chenzhou. The timber is sent to the edge of the water, thrown into the water, and flows downstream.

The timber that went down the river drifted to the mouth of the Leihe River in Hengzhou, and was fished ashore by the people who guarded there.

A total of oak dismantled from eight Dutch cruisers was delivered, and according to Wang Xinyu's plan, 32 ships with a displacement of 150 tons were built.

With a displacement of only one hundred and fifty tons, the tonnage of these vehicles and ships was not very large, with only two decks, the upper gun deck, in which twelve twelve-pounder short-barreled Karen guns were installed, and a total of thirty-six gunners. The lower level is the sailor's deck. Inside the sailor's deck were sixty sailors who were responsible for pedaling. In front of the wheelhouse of the vehicle and ship, there are two long-barreled eight-pounder guns that can be rotated, which have a long range and high accuracy, and are mainly used for long-distance shooting.

Together with the ship's commander, the helmsman, and other sailors, there were one hundred and twenty-six sailors on board.

The reason why the main artillery is a short-barreled Karen gun is because the tonnage of the vehicle and ship is small, and the length and width ratio of this vehicle and ship is large, using an eight-to-one length-to-width ratio, the hull is slender, and the speed is particularly fast. Above the gun deck is a light deck, which is mainly used to shelter the gun deck from the wind and rain, so that the vehicles and ships can fire their guns on rainy days. There are also some sailors on the light deck, mainly used to throw cables, do chores, and also take on the task of extinguishing fires during war.

The shell of the chariot and ship was made of sturdy oak, which was not easily penetrated by the small cannons of the Qing army's sailors, and the Karen cannon was hidden in the cannon door to block the attacks of bows and arrows and birds.

The short-barreled Cullen has a short range, but is fast to reload, allowing it to fire shells again in a short time. In this era, a cannon with a short range is not a disadvantage, and a cannon with a long range is not very accurate, and it may not be able to hit the target if it is fired at the opponent at a long distance, so it is better to hit it closer.

The most important thing for vehicles and ships is not long-range attack power and accuracy, but high mobility, high protection, and fierce firepower at close range.

The weight of the short-barreled Cullen cannon is also light, the weight of the twelve-pound cannon is only more than 300 catties, and if it is replaced by a long-barreled cannon, the weight of the twelve-pound cannon will exceed 2,000 catties. The light weight of the cannon also reduces the weight of the ship, which can put more weight on the protective force, and also increases the speed of the ship.

The power of the vehicle and ship mainly depends on the paddle wheel, and there are two paddle wheels on the left and right, but there is a thick wooden cover on the outside of the paddle wheel, which can prevent the paddle wheel from being damaged by the Qing army's shelling, causing the ship to lose power.

In addition to the use of pedal paddle wheels, vehicles and ships also have sails, there are three masts that are not very high, when there is wind, they can also sail with the help of the wind, but the mast is not high, the sail area is small, and the speed is very slow when sailing purely with the help of the wind, only three to four knots.

The vegetal boat has a shallow draft, the bow is pointed, and the whole boat is almost like a blade floating on the water, with very little resistance. Of course, this kind of ship naturally cannot sail in strong winds and waves, and can only sail in inland rivers with calm winds.

In wartime, sixty sailors pedal with all their might, and the speed of the ship could reach twelve knots, which is already a very high speed on an inland river.

At that time, there were 32 vehicles and ships, plus 26 Portuguese and British-built river schooners captured from the Burmese through the Ling Canal, more than 100 centipede clippers, more than 100 small river gunboats, and more than 1,000 small boats, which had surpassed the Hunan naval division of the Qing army in terms of strength.

On the banks of the Hengzhou River, where tens of thousands of craftsmen are concentrated, large-scale shipbuilding is about to begin. In addition to the oak transported, the Ming army would also transport some small timber through the Ling Canal to provide for the construction of small boats.

The Ming army spies have already obtained information that the Admiral of the Hunan Navy Division of the Qing Army, who is about to come to Hunan to take office, is Shi Lang! In order to prevent Shi Lang from taking the initiative to attack, he led the Hunan Navy Division from Dongting Lake into the Xiangjiang River, and the Ming army built a fort by the Changsha River, erected more than 300 army guns of various kinds on it, and also put eight hexagonal rifled guns on the Changsha Fort.

In the Xiangjiang River in Changsha, the Ming army also laid mines, as long as Shi Lang dared to take risks and brought the sailor to trouble the Ming army's sailor, then only the fort and mines were needed to make Shi Lang suffer heavy losses, and Shi Lang would not be given the opportunity to meet the Ming army's sailor, and the Ming army's sailor was hiding behind.

"Our army's sharp weapons have not been successfully built, and we will never attack easily! If Shi Lang wants to attack, then let him fight with the sailors and our forts! Wang Xinyu pointed to the map and said. Wang Xinyu is also very clear about Liu Guoxuan's level. It is undeniable that Liu Guoxuan is a famous sailor, but he is not Shi Lang's opponent.

It's almost the Chinese New Year again, and the decisive battle of Huguang will start in at least half a year, and both sides are preparing. The New Year is definitely going to be over. Not long ago, Zheng Yun gave birth to a son to Wang Xinyu. Before the Chinese New Year, she brought her daughter and son, as well as her sister and nephew to Changsha.

Pan Ying and Qian Zhiyu also came to Changsha to prepare for a good year together.

After the New Year, it has been three years since Qian Qianyi left, that is, Qian Zhiyu has been filial piety for three years, and he can get married this year.

Wang Xinyu planned to marry Qian Zhiyu and Pan Ying together and marry at the same time. Miss Pan is the daughter of the major shareholder of Nanyang Company, and marrying her is equivalent to a closer relationship with Pan Liu, which is of great significance for controlling the company's shares.

As for Wu Sangui's plan to send his granddaughter over, but he hasn't sent it yet. Wu Sangui only sent a letter, saying that his granddaughter was young, and he would send his granddaughter to Changsha after the New Year.

"You go back and ask your prince, do you want to rebel against the Qing Dynasty? Liangguang is already ours, and Huguang is about to be taken by us! Sichuan is also under our control, if his old man does not rebel, there will be a lone army left in Yunnan, and there will be no place to get grain and grass at that time. Wang Xinyu said to the envoy.

The envoy replied: "The prince's son is still in the capital, and in addition, there are many eyeliners installed by the imperial court in Guizhou. But please rest assured, as long as the New Year is over, the prince will definitely pull the flag and rebel! ”

In fact, Wu Sangui couldn't sit still for a long time, the decisive battle between the Ming army and the Qing army in Huguang was imminent, and there were only two choices in front of Wu Sangui: the first was to pull the flag against the Qing Dynasty and follow the Ming army; The second is to lead the troops to kill Yungui, stab the knife in the back of the Ming army, and relieve the siege of the Huguang Qing army.

If Wu Sangui really wanted to lead his troops to kill Yungui and stab him in the back from the Ming army, Wang Xinyu would not be afraid of him at all. Wu Sangui wants to lead his troops out of Yungui, there are nothing more than three roads: one is to take Sichuan, that road is very dangerous, the mountains are high and steep, the road is difficult, the Ming army and the loyal battalion in Sichuan only need to control a few passes, Wu Sangui can't fly even if he has wings. The second way is to take Guangxi, which is now the rear, and the strength of the Ming army is relatively empty. However, once Wu Sangui went down the river and entered Guangxi, the Ming army could immediately mobilize troops to encircle and annihilate Wu Sangui with the power of the naval division.

Therefore, Wu Sangui really wanted to stab the Ming army in the back, and the only way left was to take Hunan out.

But if you want to go to Hunan and Izuyungui, the Xiangjiang River is controlled by the Ming army, and Wu Sangui can't even cross the river, so how can you attack? The Ming army only needed to hold a few county seats, and it would exhaust Wu Sangui's grain and grass.

Wu Sangui is not a reckless person, this person has been more cautious all his life. In real history, if he hadn't been forced to a dead end by Kang Mazi, it would have been impossible to rebel. Wu Sangui's envoy also saw that the Ming army had sharp firearms and neat military appearance, and at first glance it was an invincible elite army, and Wu Sangui would definitely not come to touch a full bag.

Moreover, Wu Sangui's group of people are not the kind of people who are determined to follow the Qing court to the black, and many people are only loyal to Wu Sangui, not to the Qing court. As long as Wang Xinyu did not persecute Wu Sangui to the death, those people would also instigate Wu Sangui to oppose the Qing Dynasty, instead of attacking the Ming army.

As soon as Wu Sangui's envoy was sent away, a spy from the Heaven and Earth Society came to report: "Shi Lang has arrived in Yuezhou!" This time, the Qing court sealed more than a dozen generals in one go, and many of them were Zheng Zhilong's old subordinates. ”

"Shi Lang is finally here! But it's okay, we've strengthened our defenses. If Shi Lang's dog thief really dares to attack Changsha, then let him taste the power of our fort! Wang Xinyu sneered.

In the lower reaches of the Xiangjiang River, more than a dozen Qing army clippers were rowing in the direction of Changsha, and Shi Lang was on one of the clippers.

"Junmen, you won't really go to Changsha, will you?" Yang Fu watched the ship sail all the way south, and broke out in a cold sweat.

"Where is the puppet Ming in the Xiangjiang River, what big ship does it have?" Shi Lang sneered, "Don't worry, we won't fight Changsha, let's test the strength of the thief sailor!" (To be continued.) )