Yin Feng's trip to the mainland incognito this time was announced to the outside world as a tour of Nanyang. Except for the earliest batch of old shareholders of the board of directors and the executives of the company's security department and the Chinese Army's Military Intelligence Department, no one else knew the specific schedule. The veteran camp staff of the Chinese Army Not many people in the Ministry and the Guards knew about it. Having learned the lesson of almost having an accident when he went to Hangzhou to hold a shareholder dividend meeting, Lin Xiao implemented a strict information blockade. Even the captains of the Xinxing and Sea Spirit waited for the ship to leave Taiwan. Only after arriving in Hong Kong did I know where to go.
In fact, these days there is an endless stream of businessmen from all over Fujian and Zhejiang, and people from aristocratic families come to see him. Most of them come to propose marriage to him. Since Zeng Qian's death, many people are concerned about the issue of his first wife's marriage. Leave Taiwan can avoid these people. He is also happy to have some peace and quiet.
The Xinxing sailed northward along the coast of Taiwan. When it was about to reach the mouth of Jingang Bay, the latest main battleship Dingyuan came to escort. It also brought three Fuchuan-type gunboats from the Second Fleet. This battleship was based on the design of the later Nelson era. The standard construction of a sail warship. Of course, many technologies and craftsmanship levels cannot be reached. The biggest feature of the Dingyuan is that a circle of iron sheets is nailed near the waterline. It can defend against shelling and fireship collisions. The name of the Dingyuan Of course it was named after Yin Feng. It is equipped with 110 cannons. Half of them are made of bronze, usually cast iron cannons. They can fire continuously faster. In addition, two 30-pound heavy cannons are installed on the bow and stern of the ship. The deck is densely covered with five Ten small-sized Folang machine guns. Used to deal with gang members in close combat during naval battles.
Chen Zhongji walked up to the bow of the ship: "Inform the owner. The Dingyuan has come to escort. Commander Mai personally leads the team."
Yin Feng laughed: "Okay. With the Dingyuan, the entire Ming Dynasty navy will be easy to handle. Send a signal and tell them to move forward at full speed. Try to reach the Shandong sea before the typhoon arrives."
According to the Ming Dynasty law, Yin Feng's visit to the mainland this time was leaving the flooded areas without permission. What's more, his status was between illegal and legal. It was very embarrassing. Therefore, he did not disembark in Fujian across the strait. Instead, he came from An unexpected place entered the area ruled by the Ming Dynasty.
His fleet sailed north from Taiwan and sailed smoothly to the Yellow Sea. Twelve days later, it docked at Jeju Island to rest. By the way, Yin Feng inspected the newly occupied territory.
The Kingdom of North Korea has also sent some fleets in recent years to carry some exiled prisoners and officials. However, once these people arrived on Jeju Island, they never returned. The Lee Dynasty of North Korea was puzzled and finally thought of sending a warship. The fleet came to inspect. Yi Sun-shin's turtle-shell ship was used for offshore operations and could not be driven to the open sea. Therefore, the turtle-shell ship that Fan Tao, the commander of the Northern Fleet-First Fleet, wanted to see did not appear. The turtle-shell ship was in the water. Yin Feng told them during class at the military academy.
Fan Tao's fleet's main base is Naha, Ryukyu. Jeju Island has fifteen three-masted gunboats and ten two-masted clippers of the Second Squadron. However, these ships are enough. North Korea has implemented a maritime ban like the Ming Dynasty. What people could come to Jeju Island were only a dozen sloops equipped with short-range French cannons, which were no match for the Second Squadron.
Just a few days before the arrival of Yin Feng's fleet, the Second Squadron, flying the flag of the Satsuma Shimazu family, met the Korean Kingdom's war fleet on the coastline north of Jeju Island and sank ten of them in one go. .Two ships were captured. Only one North Korean ship escaped.
The eastern part of Jeju Island is a large area of grassland suitable for grazing. The island has always been North Korea's main pasture. The 80,000-hectare pasture on the island is one of the best pastures in Asia. It is now the horse breeding base of the China United Company. Although the horses here cannot be used as war horses like the galloping horses on the grassland, they are still good for use as mounts for artillery carts, transport carriages and communication troops. Now, there is an additional prisoner of war camp on Jeju Island. Several hundred North Korean sailors were captured in the naval battle.
Fan Tao, a short man, stood upright on one side. Behind him, a group of sailors wearing blue navy uniforms stood at attention. Yin Feng landed on the coast of Jeju Island amidst the sound of conch trumpets and reviewed the sailors of the Navy's Northern Fleet.
In fact, Fan Tao and others did not know the destination of Yin Feng's trip. They thought that Yin Feng was here to inspect Jeju Island.
"What are you going to do with these prisoners?" Yin Feng inspected all the way. When he came to a prisoner of war camp in Seogwipo, he saw a group of Koreans who looked depressed.
"These North Koreans will be moved to Guam and West Borneo gold mines to work as coolies. There are already many of them there."
Yin Feng thought for a while. A trace of compassion in his heart was fleeting. He shook his head helplessly: Zhonghua Company has not turned against the Ming Dynasty yet, so it cannot enter North Korea with great fanfare. Therefore, the cover-up work of this kind of relocation of the population still has to be done. .
"Is there any reaction from North Korea?"
"We intend to put back a ship. It is estimated that they should also know about the Satsuma Shimazu family's occupation of Jeju Island by now."
Yin Feng smiled: "North Korea will definitely go to Japan to complain. And now the Japanese General Tokugawa is busy trying to kill the last descendants of the Toyotomi clan. I guess he has no time to talk to the Koreans. Haha. Let them make trouble. Commander Fan, have you explored the waterway from here to the Liaodong capital area?"
Fan Tao nodded and waved to call a sailor in blue and black belt: Generally, only needle masters who know how to read navigation charts and compasses can wear this kind of clothes.
"This is Wu Yue, the needle master of gunboat No. 1. He took the ship to Liaodong last month."
Yin Feng smiled and patted the acupuncture master on the shoulder and said: "Well done, Brother Wu. Today you will be placed under the direct control of the old camp. Tomorrow you will lead the way. We will go to Liaodong."
Fan Tao reacted first and exclaimed: "What, ship owner, you are going to Liaodong."
…
Yin Feng unexpectedly chose Liaodong as the first location of the inspection trip. This was something that many people could not figure out. Yin Feng wanted to see what the situation in Liaodong is like now; in three or four years, Nurhachi's Eight Banners Army It is about to sweep here. How China Company can join the chess game in the world under this situation really needs to be carefully considered. Most of the decision-makers of China Company simply do not believe that the small barbarian tribes in the Northeast will openly rebel. .And it can also stir up the situation across the country. I believe what Yin Feng said. Xu Hongji is one of them. He has traveled in the Northeast and has personal experience of the situation in the Northeast. There are also generals such as Zhao Tie and Mai De of the Chinese Army. They are motivated by Yin Feng. Blind reverence and belief.
Yin Feng's fleet, led by the Northern Fleet's needle division, arrived at the mouth of the Yalu River a few days later. The mouth of the river is wide, but there are no ships. There are only a few small single-masted fishing boats fishing there. I don't know which country they are from. fishing boat.
Xu Hongji, who has rich travel experience and a good understanding of the mountains and terrain of the Ming Dynasty, has now found his place. He stands next to Yin Feng, holding a rough hand-drawn map in his hand. Pointing to the mouth of the Yalu River, he said: "The waterway in Liaodong Dusi Transportation. There are two lines. One is the seaway from Lushunkou across the sea to Shandong. From Lushunkou across the sea to Dengzhou and Laizhou in Shandong. It is an important seaway from the northeast to the inland in the early days of the Republic of China: the grain and grass supplies in Shandong and Jiangnan. It was transported to Liaodong through this sea route. During the Hongwu period, our army also transported troops to the northeast through this sea route. From then on, various military supplies and food were transported to Liaodong through this sea route. It was not until the end of Hongwu that the Liaoxi passage was opened and Liaodong farmed. With the development of China, food has become self-sufficient, so this sea route was abandoned and not used."
In the mind of the anti-government element Xu Hongji, Yin Feng's trip had long been regarded as a strategic situation inspection before fighting for the world. Therefore, when he introduced Yin Feng to the terrain of Liaodong, everything was related to the war.
"How is the situation of the garrison here?" Yin Feng took a telescope and looked around at the mouth of the Yalu River.
Wu Yue, the pioneer of the path exploration, stood at attention and replied: "Last month I came to Liaodong to explore the path. I went deep into the Bohai Sea and reached the mouth of the Liaohe River. What I saw along the way was that the imperial navy's inspections were lax. The warships were no more than sloops and some flat-headed boats. They could not go out to the open sea. .There are no firearms. Even the smallest clipper in our navy is inferior."
"However, the mouth of the Yalu River here is shallow and the water channel is complicated. Our navy's large warships cannot travel." Wu Yue pointed to the mouth of the Yalu River and said: "The northern boundary is called Dadonggou. The shore is not suitable for landing, nor is it suitable for berthing large ships. .”
Xu Hongji made an excuse: "From here you can go up the river to Jiuliancheng. It is the last important pass from Liaodong to Korea."
Yin Feng muttered in his heart: "Dadonggou. The Battle of the Yellow Sea is here..."
"Ship owner, we..."
Yin Feng woke up and looked around. He saw everyone looking at him. He didn't know what to see in this empty sea area. He smiled and said: "Let's continue walking to the mouth of Bohai Sea. We can also reach Liaodong from there."
Xu Hongji nodded quickly, took out his map and said: "Another waterway transportation line in Liaodong Dusi is from Laomi Bay near Kaiyuan along the Liao River. It passes through Tielingwei, Changshan, Dongchangbao, Niuzhuangsao, until The Liaohe River Sandbank is also called Yingkou. From the mouth of the Liaohe River, you can cross the sea by sea to Dengzhou and Laizhou in Shandong. However, I heard that this sea route is far away and very risky. It is rarely used. In addition to Lushunkou, Liaodong Dusi has several other sea routes. The three seaports are Niuzhuang, Xiaolinghe and Liuzhouhe. In the early days of the Republic of China, grain and goods shipped from Denglai, Shandong were sometimes unloaded at these ports and then transferred to Liaoyang or Nuergandusi. But mainly Unload at Lushun**.”
Zeng Shan remained silent. Now he spoke: "The capital of Liaodong is guarding the capital. With so many of our ships entering the Bohai Sea like this, won't we be discovered?"
"There are imperial naval forces in Rongcheng, Shandong, and Lushunkou, Liaodong. But now they are just decorations." Xu Hongji said with a smile.
Wu Yue also said: "Last time we came to explore the way. We didn't encounter any naval ships along the way. This time we have more ships. It's better to be careful. Shipowner, let me explore the way ahead. .”
Yin Feng nodded: "I want to see what the Bohai Port, known as the maritime gateway of the capital, will look like."
Yin Feng's fleet includes the giant battleship Dingyuan, the multiple-modified dual-purpose ship Xinxing, the quasi-clipper Haihun, and three other gunboats. A large fleet wanders on the east coast of the Liaodong Peninsula. It took several days until we reached the mouth of the Bohai Sea, but we didn't encounter any Ming Dynasty ships.
"This is simply a defenseless situation." Yin Feng couldn't help but sigh.