In the tenth year of Chongzhen, on the morning of October 20th.
Xujiazhuang, Harbor City, Outer Harbor Terminal.
An extremely grand naval expedition ceremony was held. The owner of the village, Xu Yuan, was rarely present in person, and many news reporters came. It also attracted the attention and attention of many people in the Ming Dynasty, including ordinary businessmen and people.
There was strong interest in the expedition, and the whole country was talking about it for several days.
Because this was an important military conquest initiated by Xujiazhuang and had been prepared for several months, it even made the Xujiajun army drool with envy.
As for the codename of the operation, it was called "Operation Global Expedition."
The duration of this operation may be about a year and a half, and the total voyage is expected to be more than 40,000 nautical miles.
There are sixteen steam-armored battleships.
There are twenty-two fully loaded steam supply ships with a displacement of 5,000 tons, which will carry enough coal, food, fresh water, weapons and ammunition, medicines, maintenance parts and other supplies.
There are more than 6,000 crew members and sailors.
There are officers and soldiers of the 5th Marine Brigade, 5,000 people.
There are technicians, experts, engineers, doctors, more than a thousand people.
As well as three thousand soldiers to lead the way.
That is to say, Xujiazhuang alone sent a total of 38 large steam ships and more than 15,000 personnel, which was equivalent to sending nearly half of the Xujiazhuang navy. It can be said that a lot of money was invested.
There are three main purposes.
First, sweep away the Western colonial strongholds in the Indian Ocean region, and counterattack to Europe, attack the mainland of Spain, England, and the Netherlands, severely punish them, and demonstrate the strength of Xujiazhuang.
Second, conduct a circumnavigation, establish at least twenty supply and telegraph contact points, support Portugal's independence, and become a qualified puppet force.
Finally, investigate the distribution of mineral resources, animal resources, and plant resources around the world, investigate the colonization of the American continent, and understand the living conditions of the Indians, etc.
In short, this "Global Expedition" has many and arduous tasks to be completed, and the dangers and risks faced are not small. Even if they are fully prepared, 10 to 20% of the personnel may never come back.
The cost of life.
But it would be impossible not to carry out this expedition, otherwise Xujiazhuang would be considered too weak, making it difficult to deter opponents, and even more difficult to understand the situation in every corner of the planet, which would be detrimental to Xujiazhuang's future external colonization operations.
Therefore, even if there are greater risks, it is still very necessary.
Xu Yuan delivered a mobilization speech:
"Gentlemen, in this world, the strong are respected and the weak are concubines. Although we love peace and just want to live our own small lives, external challengers do not allow it. Western colonists who are extremely greedy for wealth and resources do not allow it.
Allowed, and those aliens who believe in various evil religions want to force their outdated, arrogant, and unreasonable things into our minds and make us believe in their gods. Is this possible?
?If there really is a god in this world, our ancestors have believed in it for a long time. How could they create so many miracles with their own hands? The so-called god is just bullshit, invisible and intangible, and very...
Shit, if we really want to believe it, we only believe in ourselves. The combined strength of our Chinese nation is as powerful as the gods!"
"Now, go on an expedition, use your steps to measure the vastness of this world, bring hope to the poor people, bring true civilization to the backward tribes, bring justice to the evil and arrogant countries.
Strike, to bring hope of victory to the enslaved and massacred native Americans. Of course, you must also write down the coordinates of resources worth developing, extremely fertile land, so that we can go and develop it in the future. We are not doing charity.
, we need to get what we want so that our children and grandchildren can live a better life."
"Sacrifice, although you have made adequate preparations for this expedition, storms, diseases, wars, and accidents may take away your lives at any time. You need to be prepared to never return, but don't worry, your families
You will receive good care, and your efforts will be recognized. Those who sacrificed their lives for whatever reason will be buried in the Heroes Cemetery and enjoy the eternal incense, not to mention feeling confused, painful and shaken. The cause you are doing is absolutely
It is just and correct, and will be written into the history books as a pioneer, praised and affirmed by future generations. Each of you is a hero of the Chinese nation."
"Let's go, I wish you a safe and well-laden return!"
"Woo~"
"Woooooo~"
The exciting and passionate mobilization for the expedition ended. This huge expedition fleet blew its whistle, formed a column, and headed south at a speed of about fifteen knots.
The flagship 'Triumph' sailing at the front, in the captain's command room.
Xu Huoqing, the commander-in-chief of the expedition fleet, was still immersed in the speech of the village owner just now. He didn't come out for a long time. He closed his eyes and couldn't help but sigh: "The village owner said it well, teach the evil civilization a lesson and take away
Their resources and mines will bring civilization and enlightenment to the backward indigenous people, and they will also find ways to save some savages who are on the verge of extinction, punish evil and promote good, kill the rich and give to the poor, and do justice for heaven. None of us are just.
Who is the righteous party? As for the resources around the world, after our survey and marking, although our descendants will enjoy most of these resources in the future, in the end, we only occupy a few tens or hundreds of points.
It’s just that most of the land and resources still belong to the indigenous people, and as long as they cooperate with us, they can drink a lot of soup and their lives are greatly improved. They have no reason to be hostile to us, but must be grateful."
Fleet Commander Zuo Xianfu shook his head and said: "There is no need for so many twists and turns. We develop the resources of those wild places because we value those savages! It brings them huge opportunities and gives them the opportunity to enter civilization.
In this world, if it were replaced by Western colonists, the number of people would have been killed long ago. But after all, we have a bottom line and don’t want to be so desperate. After all, the owner of the village has said that the resources of this planet are limited and will last for a few hundred years at most.
It will be exhausted. We must continue to develop technology, enter the sea of stars, and obtain endless resources in the universe. Our mission will be completed. The resources borrowed from the savages will be returned and compensated to them.
It’s not free plunder.”
Zhang Fugui, commander of the 5th Marine Brigade standing aside, nodded repeatedly: "That's right, it's just a temporary loan to concentrate a lot of idle resources. Let us develop Xujiazhuang first, then drive the development of Ming Dynasty, and then drive the development of the surrounding areas of Ming Dynasty, and finally
Our original intention of driving the development of the entire world will not change. Only when we go far enough and open up a path can the world go further, so we are indeed just and correct."
Xu Huoqing held his chin and muttered to himself: Why are you thinking so much? Just complete your mission in a down-to-earth manner. As long as you successfully complete this bad ball expedition and minimize the loss of personnel, when you return, you will be safe.
There is no problem in leaving a name in history. As for driving backward civilizations to progress together, that is the mission of future generations. They are growing barbarically at this stage and are in the primary stage of development, so they don’t need to worry so much.
October 22nd.
When the fleet passed Quanzhou, Fujian, the Zheng Group also sent four steam warships and took the initiative to apply to join the expedition fleet. They also wanted to contribute to this global expedition. The Zheng family currently owns a total of steam ships.
There are only eight ships, which means half of them are deployed at once.
But the senior officials of the Zheng family still don't want to miss this opportunity. Even if they get 1% of the world's resources, the Zheng family will make a fortune. They must participate anyway.
"Okay, the Zheng family battleships can join the formation, but they have to keep up. We won't wait if they fall behind."
Xu Huoqing thought for a while, with a hint of disgust on his face, and agreed to join the Zheng family's warships. Although these four warships were also steam-powered, they were obviously out of date, and their weapons and equipment were also very backward. They could only follow suit.
However, the owner of the village has given instructions in advance, allowing some reliable allies to be brought as assistants. In this case, just think of bringing a dog.
soon.
Command via semaphore.
The four steam warships of the Zheng family - Cailong, Feibao, Fuyun, and Glory - joined the formation and followed at the end of the fleet.
Aboard the Cailong.
Captain Zheng Cai's face showed a smile of happiness and satisfaction this time, and even shed tears of excitement, which made him wipe them away again and again, unable to stop them.
"Brother, why are you crying?" Zheng Lian next to him was very surprised and thought to himself: I'm just being a dog for Xujiazhuang. I didn't even reward the bones. I just gave him a chance to show off. Is this what it is? Do you want to be like this?
exaggerate?
"No, no, I'm just, I'm just a little excited. Calculating the time, I've been waiting for five or six years. I finally waited for this opportunity. I barely caught up with Xujiazhuang and was lucky enough to participate in this action.
No matter whether I can achieve good performance or not, at least my sons and grandsons, my descendants of Zheng Cai, will be proud of me. In their eyes, I am a great hero, that's enough, that's enough."
Zheng Cai said with emotion.
"I think it is more important and practical to make more money for my children and grandchildren." Zheng Liandao said that he does not have such a big consciousness and structure. What he wants most is profit.
"There will be, there will definitely be these. Believe me, this time, even if we are just following behind to do odd jobs, we will be able to return with a full load. As long as we work hard, Xujiazhuang will never let us down." Zheng Cai said with confidence.
