Yang Zhen inspected the Longwangmiao Shipyard in Jinzhou Bay, and his mood became slightly heavy. He already knew that the idea of ​​quickly building a powerful navy was unrealistic.

Therefore, before leaving, he had to repeatedly ask Xiangping Bo Shen Zhixiang to keep an eye on the shipyard and complete all the sixty unfinished warships of 200 materials as soon as possible, and then concentrate all manpower and material resources to start building a batch of 400 materials.

Warship.

A two-hundred-material warship can only hold one heavy Hongyi cannon at most.

In addition to this, at best it can only install a few more small cannons.

Such a warship has no rivals in the current Liaohai Sea, but it cannot really go to the ocean beyond the Liaohai Sea.

In comparison, a warship worth 400 materials is barely passable.

If a 200-material warship can install a heavy red barbarian cannon on the bow, then a 400-material warship can at least install three or five cannons on both sides of the ship.

If a warship worth 400 materials can be equipped with six to ten heavy red barbarian cannons, it can be regarded as a capable large gunship.

Such gunboats are certainly not as good as the main gunboats of the Spanish, English, and Dutch that roamed the oceans in this era, but they can be considered at the forefront of the East Asian seas in this era.

equipment.

It should be said that although it is less than the previous one, it is more than enough than the lower one.

And once you have an absolute advantage in quantity and scale, you can still fight against the main gunboats of Western colonists such as the Spanish and Dutch who were active in the East Asian waters in this era.

Of course, Yang did not have much time to spend on specific matters such as shipbuilding and cannon casting. After he laid out his ideas, these matters would fall on Shen Zhixiang's shoulders.

As for himself, after inspecting the Jinzhou Shipyard, he boarded the fleet of Yuan Jin and others at the dock of the shipyard at the mouth of the Beida River, and set off north to Fuzhou City.

Including some grenadier reserves that came to Jinzhou Bay with the ship this time, as well as a large amount of ammunition and ordnance, they also went with them.

There is no need to transport these people and goods south to Lushunkou.

Nowadays, Fuzhou City is the front line of Jinhai Town, so manpower and material resources naturally have to be heavily invested in Fuzhou City.

Following Yang Zhen, of course, there were also Zhang Chen and the men from the Artillery Battalion of the Advance Army for the Eastern Expedition, who had already boarded the ship and were waiting, as well as the two naval battalions of Hu Changhai and Gao Chengyou who were assisting in guarding Jinhai North Road.

As for Qiu Zhenhai, Yu Liangtai and others, they took the remaining supplies and equipment, as well as Fang Guangchen and his followers, and headed south back to Lushunkou.

Jinhai South Road, where Lushunkou is located, is backed by Denglai, so there is currently no security threat.

However, the Iron Works, Gun Factory and Ammunition Factory of the Associate Camp Office located in the northern city of Lushun by Yang Zhen and Zhang Degui still needed a large amount of iron, nitrate, sulfur, coal and other materials.

These relative shortages of materials cannot be solved on the spot at the southern end of the Liaodong Peninsula.

Yang Zhen didn't know whether there were a large number of such mineral deposits at the southern end of the Liaodong Peninsula, and neither did Wang Shoutang and Wang Shen.

These people have been active on the ground in western Liaoning. As craftsmen who have been engaged in iron smelting and blacksmithing in western Liaoning for generations, they are very familiar with various iron mines in western Liaoning.

But after arriving in the current Liaodong Peninsula, everything has to be explored, searched, and surveyed from scratch. How can we meet the needs of Lushunkou in a short time?

Fortunately, after arriving at Lushunkou, sea routes extend in all directions, and this geographical advantage immediately became apparent.

Although there are not many iron ore and coal mines at the southern end of the Liaodong Peninsula and it is difficult to dig mines by yourself, the coal and iron resources in the Denglai area and the Yongping Prefecture area behind Shanhaiguan are not very rich.

If it is transported by land, it will not only be time-consuming and laborious, but the transportation volume will not be large enough, and the traveling roads will also be very unsafe and very uneconomical.

But if it is transported by sea, it will be much easier and more convenient to transport coal, iron, nitrate and sulfur materials.

It can be said that all the problems and defects of land transportation have been overcome by sea transportation.

Correspondingly, the Shanhaiguan Military Department where Fang Yizao was stationed happened to have the power to purchase and dispatch coal, iron, nitrate, sulfur, and even gunpowder and other military supplies in the Yongping Prefecture area.

As soon as Yang Zhen and Fang Guangchen mentioned that Jinhai Town needed to go to Yongping Mansion to purchase various supplies, and that they would pay with real gold and silver in cash, Fang Guangchen immediately agreed with a pat on his chest.

Seeing him like this, Yang Zhen was naturally not polite, and immediately asked him to follow Qiu Zhenhai and his fleet back to Lushun first, and then go to Zhang Degui to discuss crossing the sea to Yongping Prefecture to purchase coal and iron resources.

At the same time, Yang Zhen did not forget to tell Qiu Zhenhai and Yu Liangtai to send people as soon as possible to occupy the islands abandoned by Denglai Navy on the route to Dengzhou.

These islands are not only the gateway to the south of Jinhai Town, but also relay stations for future recruitment from Denglai to the Liaodong Peninsula for settlement. They need to be occupied in advance and operated.

After Yang Zhen had arranged these things one by one, the rest was left to others to carry out. At this time, there was no need for him to stay in Lushunkou or Jinzhou City.

He promised Hong Chengchou, Chu Xianzhang and others that if the Manchu Tatars attacked Jinhai Town in February, then Jinhai Town would attack the Manchu Tatars northward in February.

The reason why he made such a promise at that time was because he believed that the Manchu Tatars would definitely not be indifferent to Yang Zhen's massive move to defend Jinhaizhen.

However, now that February has entered the middle of February, there has been no warning of the Manchu Tatar attack in Fuzhou City.

However, thinking about this matter and the various promises he had made to Emperor Chongzhen, Yang Zhen was still prepared to fulfill his promise, otherwise the premise of the existence of Jinhai Town and its development and growth relying on the support of Emperor Chongzhen would be questioned.

The establishment of Jinhai Town, its future existence, and its continuous development and growth in the future have a prerequisite, which is to contain the Donglu's westward advance through continuous harassment from the north, and finally cooperate with the east and west to attack and destroy the Donglu.

If Yang Zhen cannot do this, or fails to do so, then he will face the various accusations and impeachments faced by Mao Wenlong and others.

Although to this day, Yang Zhen led his troops out of Liaoxi, just like a fish jumping over a dragon's gate, or even a dragon returning to the sea, and he no longer needs to care about Emperor Chongzhen's attitude, he still does not want to bear the reputation of being self-respecting by supporting captives or self-respecting by supporting troops.

Moreover, for Yang Zhen, there is no doubt that the Manchu Tatars will come to attack him and sweep him away. The only question is when.

In this case, instead of waiting until the Manchu Tatars have adjusted and are fully prepared to attack you, it is better to wait until they have not launched an attack and launch the attack first.

Doing so seems to be too risky, but in fact Yang Zhen has his own considerations.

On the evening of February 11, the 13th year of Chongzhen, Yang Zhen and his party followed the fleet heading to Fuzhou. Taking advantage of the rising tide at sunset, they sailed upstream from the Beixunkou area and entered the channel of the Fuzhou River.

middle.

In the evening of that day, Yang Zhen and his party landed at the Fuzhou River Pier not far from Yingen Gate, the south gate of Fuzhou City.

The generals in Fuzhou City, headed by Zu Keyong, Lu Pinqi, Xu Changyong, Li Lu, and Hu Dabao, had already received the news. At this time, they gathered on the dock with torches to welcome the arrival of Yang Zhen and Yuan Jin.

"Captain, I have been ordered to stay behind, but fortunately my order has been fulfilled. Fuzhou City is safe and sound. Today, Li Lu and others from humble posts are here to welcome the Governor, and I would like to return my orders to the Governor!"

Yang Zhen got off the boat and came to the pier. Zu Keyong and others who were waiting here knelt down on one knee and knelt on the ground. Among them, Li Lu, who was not the highest position but had the most special status, said this to Yang Zhen first.

A few words.

Seeing this, Yang Zhen hurriedly walked forward, bent down and helped Li Lu up, and then smiled and said to Li Lu and everyone: "As long as Fuzhou City is safe and sound, our Jinhai Town can stay on the Liaonan Peninsula."

The successful transfer of the defense will come later. Li Lu, you are doing a good job. At the same time, I also thank you for your hard work. Please excuse me quickly and get up, everyone!"

Since November last year, the Manchu Tatar army has not gone south to attack Fuzhou City. This situation is indeed something Yang Zhen had not thought of before.

Although he later learned the main reason behind this incident from Zu Dashou, Yang Zhen was still a little surprised by the current result.

It seems that Yang Zhen still underestimated the serious blow to the Manchu Tatars in the Songshan Defense Battle last October!

But Yang Zhen helped Li Lu up, patted him on the shoulder, and said to him, "You are great," and everything else was left unsaid.

When the people who were welcoming him heard what Yang Zhen said, they all humbled themselves and didn't dare to take it seriously. Then they surrounded Yang Zhen with joy and laughter as they walked towards the south gate of Fuzhou City not far away.

Except for the various garrison troops and horses under Yang Zhen's command, there are no longer any family members of the Tatars garrisoning various banners and their servants in Fuzhou City.

There is quite a lot of space in the city, and there are many vacant houses and places, enough to house the large number of people including the musketry battalion and grenadiers that Yang Zhen brought this time.

Moreover, as the troops, ammunition and supplies brought by Yang Zhen entered the city, the number of people from all walks of life gathered in Fuzhou City exceeded 5,500 in one fell swoop.

Among them, there are more than 1,300 people from the Zu Keyong tribe affiliated to Jinhai East Road, and more than 1,200 people from the Lu Pinqi tribe affiliated to Jinhai North Road.

Li Lu's original grenadiers, as well as some of the grenadier reserves that Yang Zhen brought to him this time to stay in Songshan, totaled six sentries and more than 1,800 people.

In addition to the 300 men from Hu Dabao's sentry who had been stationed in Fuzhou City, and the 900 musketeers from the three sentries brought by Zhang Chen with Yang Zhen, it was enough for Yang Zhen to rely on Fuzhou City to attack the enemy.

North launched a small-scale attack.

"Everyone, since November last year, we have successively occupied Fuzhou City, Jinzhou City, and Lushunkou. It has been more than three months now, but the Manchu Tatars have remained stationary and have not launched a large-scale attack. What can you do?

Do you know the reason?"
Chapter completed!