"Your ironclad ship will be sent to Europe and incorporated into the Fourth Fleet. After arriving in London, you will follow the command of the commander of the Fourth Fleet." Nelson announced their next mission in the face of the officers and soldiers of the ironclad ship General Fubo.

The captain of General Fubo is Zheng Zhilong's third brother, Zheng Zhibao. The three brothers of Zheng Zhilong are the commander of the Beiyang Fleet, and the other Zheng Zhihu is the leader of the San Francisco Bay Area with the North American expedition team. Zheng Zhibao has also taken office as the captain of the ironclad ship of General Fubo, which can be said to be quite valued by Chu Yun.

Navy officers and soldiers including Zheng Zhibao were deeply surprised to hear that their group would be sent to the West and included in the formation of the Fourth Fleet.

Many of them speculated that the ironclad ship of General Fubo, who was located, would be incorporated into the Zhili Fleet that guarded the capital, but they did not expect that it would be the fourth fleet farthest from the capital.

"What are we doing in the West?" Zheng Zhibao asked on behalf of the officers and soldiers of the Fourth Fleet.

"Be prepared to fight at any time! Several countries in Europe are fighting. The mission of your General Fubo is exactly the same as that of the Fourth Fleet. That is to protect the interests of our local merchants and merchant ships, and to wait for the orders from the capital to deliver London at any time!" Nelson said.

"Yes!" The officers and soldiers of the Iron Craft were surprised, but after hearing the minister's tone, it was a foregone conclusion that they were divided into the Fourth Fleet. Their warship needed to be dispatched to the city of London in the Western British Kingdom and become the first Iron Craft in Europe.

"The Fourth Fleet had five ships returning to the mainland with the fleet of Western trading companies, and their ships were parked in Lushunwei. You are ready to go to London City, and our Admiralty will provide two large sailing ships dedicated to transporting coal to provide supplies for your navigation. The ports of the Mughal Empire also have our factories, and there should be coal trade in the local area, and you can get some supplies along the way."

"Before you prepare to go to Europe, your ironclad ships can have a brief exchange with the officers and soldiers of the other five sailing warships of the Fourth Fleet. After all, you will be organized by the Fourth Fleet in the future." Nelson reminded.

"As for order..." Zheng Zhibao took a deep breath. They were about to go to Europe shortly after they practiced.

Ocean navigation and possible naval battles are the best training for the ironclad ships newly joined the Navy.

After conveying the ownership of General Fubo, Nelson went to the Logistics Office of the Admiral Department, and the Logistics Office dispatched two supply ships to supply General Fubo.

At present, the only ironclad ship has become the favorite of the Navy. Everyone regards it as a treasure. It is not an exaggeration to everyone's opinion to have two special sailing ships as its exclusive supply ships.

If Chu Yun knew the Navy's little thoughts, he would definitely laugh at them for being useless.

Since the first ironclad ship can be produced, as long as the national strength is stable, it can continuously produce more and stronger ironclad ships like dumplings.

The reason why more ironclad ships have not been built one after another is mainly because there is no demand yet.

"We are going to Weihaiwei, where there are warships of the Fourth Fleet. As the minister said, we should contact the people of the Fourth Fleet before heading to the West." Zheng Zhibao said.

On the deck of the General Fubo's ironclad ship, a young man in an intern naval uniform was cleaning the deck.

"Li Dingguo, clear the deck later. Our ship is ready to go to sea!"

A group of formal soldiers returned to the deck and saw several trainee soldiers who were still cleaning the deck, so they said.

"Where do you go?" asked the trainee soldier named Li Dingguo, who was stationed in a mop.

"Weihaiwei!" said the navy soldier with good relations with Li Dingguo.

"Second Lieutenant Chen, what are we going to Lushun Wei to do? It is the garrison of the Fourth Fleet. Could it be that our ironclad ship was incorporated into the Fourth Fleet?" Li Dingguo, a trainee soldier, asked in surprise.

"Yes, the minister decided to place our ironclad ship into the Fourth Fleet and will go to the West soon. Have you heard of the West? It's the West where the Sanbao father-in-law went. But the West we are going to is farther away than the places where the Sanbao father-in-law has been." said a low-level naval officer called Lieutenant Chen.

"Fourth Fleet? Aren't our ironclad ships placed under the command of the Zhili Fleet?" Li Dingguo and other intern naval soldiers who were not yet informed of the news were puzzled.

"Where can we make the decisions of the top leaders? I believe they have made such arrangements after careful consideration. You should go quickly to help count the supplies needed to go out to sea. We are ready to leave. When you arrive at Lushun Guard, you have a lot of time to clean the deck." said Erectile Chen.

The trainee soldiers on the General Fubo, including Li Dingguo, looked at each other in a row, put down their chores and turned to prepare the supplies to go to sea.

The Admiralty has expanded rapidly in the past decade, from the summoned sail battleships to now owning four fleets, with more than 50 sail battleships and frigates, and nearly 100 military supply ships.

Due to the expansion of the Navy Department, the number of naval soldiers was seriously insufficient, and the naval talents trained by the Navy Military Academy could not meet the needs in a short period of time. Most of them were used as reserve naval officers. Therefore, the Navy Department also directly recruited many new soldiers through physical fitness assessment.

Most of these naval soldiers recruited through physical fitness assessment are a group of young people between the ages of 16 and 20. They first have to start with trainee soldiers, and after a period of study and observation, they can become formal naval soldiers and enter the establishment of the Navy Department. Although naval soldiers recruited in this way are inevitably of varying quality, the soldiers are the fastest.

Li Dingguo was once a prisoner captured by the Jiuzhou Army when he wiped out Zhang Xianzhong, one of the leaders of the Shaanxi peasant army. He passed the physical fitness assessment not long ago. Because of his excellent performance in the physical fitness assessment, he was sent to the ironclad ship as a trainee soldier.

Li Dingguo, who was originally the pillar of the Southern Ming Dynasty, had a great change in his fate since he was a very young man because of Chu Yun's arrival - he joined the Navy headquarters of the Jiuzhou Army as a naval trainee soldier.

The General Fubo ironclad ship went to Lushun Wei to meet with five sailing warships anchored in the Fourth Fleet of Lushun Wei.

When the ironclad ship was mobilized, the 18 large sailing ships returned to the country successfully loaded with a large amount of cargo, and purchased three large sailing ships from the shipyard to replenish the ships lost due to the oceans, and prepared to set out again for Europe.
Chapter completed!