Although Haihan and Fujian have relatively close military cooperation, the control over arms exports has never been relaxed. From artillery warships to rifle bullets, all arms orders must first be examined by the Military Commission and the Executive Committee, and only then can the "Haihan Ordnance Industry" sign a sales agreement with the Fujian side. Among the relevant control measures, the control of ammunition and gun spare parts is undoubtedly the strictest, which is also the main means for Haihan to control the situation in Fujian.

Although Fujian also tries to imitate manufacturing, some key processes are not mastered by craftsmen in this era, so whether it is the accuracy and durability of spare parts, or the quality of gunpowder, Fujian local production has a more obvious gap with the original manufacturer, and this gap will also intuitively affect the accuracy, range and maintenance of weapons in terms of weapon performance. Although the equipment level of Xu Xinsu's troops is already quite good, their ability to continue fighting is extremely limited, and this inevitably affects their peacetime training. In order to save ammunition and reduce the wear and tear of weapons, the army here rarely conducts live-fire training, and its combat effectiveness and combat experience are indeed not comparable to those of the Haihan militia.

If you want to explore this issue in depth, both sides will inevitably be embarrassed, so Shi Diwen did not continue to ask about it, but took the initiative to change the topic: "Now the troops under your command are according to the Ming army, or according to our Haihan?"

"In order to facilitate the command, they have all been changed to the Haihan establishment. Xu Yuzhuo replied honestly: "All the officers who led the troops in the Zhongzuo Institute have gone to Shengli Port to study and study, and they are also familiar with the Haihan military system. If it were based on the previous establishment, some operational tactics would be difficult to implement. ”

The current number of registered soldiers is 1,240, but the actual size of the garrison is slightly higher than the number on paper. According to the Haihan establishment, two battalions of the army are stationed on the island, plus logistics personnel, with a total strength of about 1,500 people. In wartime, two more battalions will be transferred from Zhangzhou to supplement the troops, so that the combat strength here will reach more than 2,000 people.

With all the guns and fortified cities to defend, it is indeed difficult for the army of this time and space to capture this place. Like a pirate-level armed force, Shi Diwen estimated that it would take four to five times as many troops to be able to break through the defense line and attack the city.

In order to confirm his guess, Shi Diwen asked, "When Eighteen Zhi came to attack here, how many troops did they use at most?

Xu Yu replied: "The most time was at the beginning of last year, when it was estimated that five or six thousand enemies were attacking from the sea. At that time, the enemy had already hit the western wall, but in the end it was repulsed by our troops. In that battle, which lasted for two days, our army killed more than 1,400 people and sank and damaged more than 10 enemy ships, which was the most successful battle since the battle with Shibazhi. ”

Shi Diwen nodded and continued to ask, "How is the equipment and combat level of the army under the command of Eighteen Zhi?"

"If it is based on the ordinary guard army, the elite under the command of Eighteen Zhi is slightly stronger. Xu Yu said with a clumsy face: "Eighteen Zhi is also the master who is willing to spend money, but most of the firearms they are equipped with are not purchased uniformly, including Western-style firearms purchased from the red-haired people and the Francophone people, and some of them are from the guards, and there are some private firearms that are difficult to unify. ”

"If the types of firearms cannot be unified, then the logistical pressure will be great when fighting a war. As a key member of the military, Shi Diwen naturally understands the importance of equipping the army with standard weapons.

In an army like the Haihan Militia, the standard ammunition used in warfare can be used across the same type of weapon, which is extremely important to provide combat efficiency for the troops. Otherwise, the logistics department will have to toss the quartermaster crazy just by providing ammunition of various sizes and calibers.

Even if the proportion of firearms in the eighteen Zhi is higher than that of the ordinary Daming Guard, it is definitely still a big step behind the troops uniformly equipped with Haihan weapons in the center and left. Even if they were all the same arquebuses, the Ming army of the same model would have clearly gained an advantage in the engagement. As for the performance gap between the artillery, the gap is even greater, if there is a slight difference in the caliber of each gun, then the shells cannot be universalized, and it will definitely become a big trouble for the gunner in combat.

Xu Yuzhuo nodded yes, and then continued: "As for the combat level, the students think that it is also uneven. Of course, there are some small elites among them, but most of them have not received professional military training, and when they fight, they just rush forward in a swarm at the command of orders, and there is no various tactical cooperation that the instructors of Haihan have emphasized before, and in our opinion, it is just a plate of scattered sand. ”

The situation that Xu Yuzhuo said is basically consistent with the situation in Haihan's hands. Eighteen Zhi did have a large armed force under him, but its strength was not commensurate with the scale. Although there are as many as 20,000 or 30,000 people who can participate in the battle, only about 12 of the troops that can really be put on the table and can be called combat-effective. The vast majority of armed personnel are just ordinary people who have been issued with weapons, and can only be used as cannon fodder in the face of modern armies that use firearms on a large scale.

Of course, the most terrifying thing about the Eighteen Zhi is not their influence on land, but their control at sea. Even a maritime merchant like Xu Xinsu, who controlled many ports along the coast of Fujian, could hardly compete head-on with Shibazhi, who had thousands of sea ships, at sea, and had to choose the strategy of sticking to the coastal area to confront, which was one of the important reasons why Xu Xinsu began to want to order warships from Haihan two or three years ago. After all, if you want to turn passive into active, you must add armed forces at sea, and the warships built locally in Fujian have no advantage in terms of quantity or quality.

Shi Diwen asked, "What about the strength of the sailors stationed in the local area?"

Xu Yuzhuo smiled bitterly: "It is roughly similar to the sailors of Guangdong, there are ships, but the combat power is limited." And in order to avoid unnecessary losses, most of the time you can only stay in the port. ”

"Is it dangerous for the sailor warship to go to sea?" Shi Diwen couldn't believe his ears. Before coming here, he thought that even if the sailors of Fujian could not defeat Shibazhi on the frontal battlefield, they could at least carry out some disturbance warfare, set up ambushes at sea, and fight those scattered pirate ships should not be a big problem. I didn't expect Xu Yuzhuo to say such frustrating words.

"Eighteen Zhi's current strategy has changed from the previous two years, and they know that they can't defeat us on land, so they have shifted the battlefield to the sea. Since the second half of last year, the route from Zhangzhou and Quanzhou to Ryukyu and Japan has been almost blocked by them, and few ships can arrive safely. Xu Yuchou's tone was full of obvious helplessness and unwillingness: "When the sailor's boat goes out, he doesn't dare to leave the coast too far, otherwise once it is intercepted by Shibazhi's boat, it will be difficult to escape." This year we have already lost three boats, almost a hundred sailors. ”

When Shi Diwen heard this, he probably understood why the Fujian side was willing to negotiate peace with Eighteen Zhi, who seemed to be already at a disadvantage. It was true that the Eighteen Zhi had suffered heavy losses in the previous few years, but when they finally realized the importance of battlefield selection, the situation began to change. The change from land to sea made the strength of the Fujian Ming army begin to change from strong to weak, and the Fujian sailors, who lacked strong warships, have even begun to become passive. A large part of Xu Xinsu's family background comes from maritime trade, and the northeast Asian route was blocked by Shibazhi, which was indeed an extremely heavy blow to Xu Xinsu and the interest groups behind him.

However, with the strength of the Fujian Ming army alone, it was not possible to break through the blockade network of Shibazhi at sea, and the help that Haihan could give in this regard was extremely limited. At present, several officers of the Fujian Navy Division are also being trained in Sanya, but it is estimated that the time will have to be delayed until the end of the year until the formation of the fleet and the formation of a certain combat effectiveness. And this half a year's precious time means a loss of hundreds of thousands, or even millions of taels of silver, for the maritime trade under Xu Xinsu's name.

Of course, Shi Diwen did not have any sympathetic thoughts, he knew very well the attitude of the Executive Committee towards the situation in Fujian - whether it was Shibazhi or Xu Xinsu, they were all pawns in the process of Haihan's foreign expansion. Eighteen Zhi is an unstable factor on the southeast coast of the mainland, which will be eliminated sooner or later, and the outcome of the Fujian military forces will largely depend on whether they can cooperate with the various plans of the Haihan in the future. If Xu Xinsu insists on going his own way, then the Executive Committee will probably terminate the cooperative relationship between the two sides at an appropriate time, and include the other party in the list of hostile forces, and then look for another person in Fujian who can support to replace Xu Xinsu's role.

"If I'm not mistaken, the Victory Harbor Shipyard has already handed over two 'Exploration-class' warships to you in the first half of this year, right?" Shi Diwen asked, "Are these two ships coming in handy now?"

Xu Yuzhuo nodded and said, "These two ships are nearby at this time. Your ships are indeed powerful, and you have damaged several pirate ships during your voyage. It's just that the number is too small to form an effective strike force, and if the number of ships encountering the enemy at sea is a little higher, it can still only retreat. However, the advantage is that the speed is fast enough, but there is no need to worry about being chased and intercepted by the other party. ”

However, it took a long time for the Fujian side to get the sales agreement from the executive committee after many activities in Shengli Harbor, and it cost a lot of money, and the two ships were equipped with guns and spent more than 30,000 taels of silver. Of course, this pit was not jumped in vain, Haihan still provided the Fujian side with free training services for sailors, and also gave training places for eight naval division officers to teach them the skills of using this Haihan-style warship to fight at sea.

As Xu Yuzhuo said, although the warships of the Haihan are powerful, it is indeed difficult for the two ships to change the current shape of the sea. Even if these two ships have outstanding combat performance, they have to face the opponent's double-digit ships at sea, and the Fujian Navy Division can only choose to retreat. This is not entirely cowardice, but considering the cost-effectiveness of the war losses of both sides. It can be said that it is not much cost to die a shipload of pirates on the side of Eighteen Zhi, but even if a few sailors die on the side of the sailor, it is a big loss, after all, these sailors are sent all the way to Sanya for training in order to control these two advanced warships. How much money to spend is still secondary, the key is that the reserve of personnel is limited, and the training period is long, if the battle damage is too large, it will be difficult to replenish enough crew in a short time, which will directly affect the combat capability of the naval division.

Of course, Xu Xinsu was not satisfied with buying a few of these warships with the smallest tonnage in the Haihan Navy, and he had already set his sights on the larger "Expedition-class" warships, but at present, the Haihan Executive Committee did not plan to open up the foreign arms sales of "Expedition-class" warships, but only gave a so-called "theoretical price" like fishing -- the export price of one "Expedition-class" warship was probably equivalent to nearly two "Exploration-class" warships.

Even Xu Xinsu, a wealthy man who is not short of money, is a little frightened after seeing this price, if he wants to mix these two warships to build a fleet with outstanding scale, the silver invested in the early stage is simply astronomical for the Fujian military, and it will definitely not work to expect the imperial court to allocate funds. Of course, even if Haihan's side immediately lifted the sales ban, Xu Xinsu immediately took out the money to place an order, and waited until all the ships of this fleet were delivered in place, and then formed combat effectiveness, and it is estimated that it will be the second half of next year at the earliest, or even later.

As for the "Majesty-class" warship that appeared in Fujian waters this time, no one in the Fujian military has dared to inquire about the price yet. Because everyone knows very well that even if they ask the price, there will probably be no real results. Not to mention that the Haihan people will not sell this kind of big warship, even if they do, the price is estimated to be unacceptably high.

Shi Diwen continued to ask, "How many ships are you ordering?"

Xu Yu said: "There are eight in total, and at least six of them will be handed over to us this year." After the eight ships are gathered, a few supply ships and communication ships will probably be enough to form a combat fleet. ”

In addition to receiving orders from Fujian, the Shengli Port Shipyard also received shipbuilding orders from Annan, and the number of the first batch was also eight "exploration-class" warships. At the same time, the shipyard also has to continue shipbuilding for the Haihan military and the Ministry of Shipping, and with the production capacity that Shi Diwen understands, it is estimated that it is difficult to take care of so many orders.