1627 Rise of the South China Sea

Chapter 2627
The next morning, Zhu Zian's cargo fleet arrived in Zhoushan waters smoothly.

Although Shi Chengwu and others had introduced the situation of Dinghai Port in advance the night before, when the fleet sailed into the harbor from the Luotoumen channel, Zhu Zian couldn't help being shocked by the scene before him.

The ten-mile-long coastal port area is far beyond Zhu Zian's previous imagination.The largest seaport he had ever seen before was Lushun Port in Liaodong, but compared to the Dinghai Port in front of him, it was at least four or five times smaller in size.At this time, within the range of eyesight, there are probably thousands of ships, large and small, which shows the prosperity of maritime trade here.Only at this time did he really understand why Dinghai Port in Zhoushan was dubbed the "No. [-] Port in the East China Sea".

Of course, Zhu Zian, like all those who visited Dinghai Port for the first time, was quickly attracted by the densely packed warships docked on the nearby pier.According to Shi Chengwu's introduction yesterday, Dinghai Port is the home port base of the Haihan East China Sea Fleet, and it is also the most important military base of Haihan in the East China Sea. The number of warships seen now can fully confirm what Shi Chengwu said Not empty.

At this time, there was no need for others to explain, Zhu Zi'an instantly understood why Haihan was able to firmly control the coastal areas of Jiangsu and Zhejiang, and even the downstream basins of major rivers such as the Yangtze River and Qiantang River, in his own hands.

"If I had such a huge naval fleet in Ming Dynasty, maybe Jiangsu and Zhejiang would not have fallen..." Zhu Zian couldn't help but have such a thought in his mind.

But he immediately suppressed this dangerous idea. It's not that Daming has tried to use force to resist Haihan's expansion. It's just that there is still a vast territory and depth on land as a natural barrier. It was a one-sided situation, and the Daming Navy never played its due role.

During his stay in Hangzhou, Zhu Zian also read the local local chronicles, and learned that as early as 20 years ago, Haihan's armed fleet had broken into the Qiantang River and reached the city of Hangzhou, forcing the then Zhejiang chief envoy to grant him the right to trade.At that time, although there were several naval forces in Zhejiang, they were completely powerless to resist the actions of the Haihan Army. They could only watch Haihan's armed fleet come and go freely on the Qiantang River.Moreover, since that turmoil, the navy in Zhejiang has existed in name only, and has never played its due role again.

Of course, the situation in Shandong, where he used to be, is not much better in this regard.The Denglai navy was originally a powerful maritime force in the northern area of ​​the Ming Dynasty, but some of them were coerced by Kong Youde to go to Liaodong to join the Manchus when Kong Youde launched the Denglai Rebellion, and the other part was stationed on the overseas Phi Islands and became a lone army, and was finally subdued by Haihan.The few remaining people had no resistance when Haihan entered Shandong. They could only watch helplessly as the Haihan people established a stronghold in Dengzhou, gradually expanded their control area from Shandong Peninsula to Liaodong Peninsula, and finally controlled both the Yellow Sea and the Bohai Sea. All under control.

When Zhu Zian went to Lushun Port last time, he also saw part of the warships of the Northern Fleet there, but in terms of the number and scale, Zhu Zian believed that they would definitely not be able to keep up with the warships docked in Dinghai Port.It's no wonder that when Shi Chengwu talked about the East China Sea Fleet to himself, his pride has been overflowing.

But what Zhu Zian didn't know was that the warships docked at Dinghai Port recently were not only owned by the East China Sea Fleet.In addition to the fleet brought back by Wang Anguo, there are also a large number of naval forces from other places who go south and north to change defenses. After all, between Fujian and Shandong, there is only such a large naval base as Dinghai Port, and the surrounding areas are rich in resources. It is rich, so most of the naval forces passing through the East China Sea will choose this place for rest and replenishment.

The port dispatched a guiding ship early on to lead the fleet to a dock that vacated berths in advance for berthing.Although preparations have been made, there are only eight berths at this terminal, and the entire fleet has more than 20 ships, so the berthing process took some time.And the ship that Zhu Zian and others were on was at the end of the fleet, and by the time they finished docking, it was already past noon.

Although he only stayed on the boat for more than a day, Zhu Zian couldn't help but feel as if his feet were stepping on cotton when he set foot on land again.Until he went to the officer's mess hall in the naval base and sat at the dining table preparing to eat, he still felt that his body was shaking involuntarily, as if his body had gone ashore, but his soul was still on board.

Seeing that everyone at the same table didn't show any discomfort at all, Zhu Zian could only hold back.After all, among this group of people, he was the only one who rarely took a boat, and the others were much more adaptable to going to sea than him.

Shi Chengwu and Wang Anguo wanted to integrate the joint fleet for this trip in Zhoushan, and the next work was very complicated. They expected to stay here for at least five to seven days before setting off again.

The supplies Wang Anguo purchased and the immigrants he recruited on his return to China have basically arrived in Zhoushan. At present, the main tasks are to complete the relevant acceptance, statistics and shipment work. Master some basic sailing knowledge and skills.After all, the next voyage is thousands of miles away. During this period, these immigrants can't just eat and drink, but also have to do some work within their ability on board.

In addition, Wang Anguo also has to inspect and accept several ships previously ordered at Zhoushan Shipyard.Although these ships had been sailing for several days before they arrived in Zhoushan, the final handover had to be signed by Wang Anguo himself after verifying his integrity.

And Shi Chengwu's task was no simpler than Wang Anguo's. He had to inspect the replacement troops in Zhoushan to confirm that their preparations had met the requirements.In addition, since there are many maritime military exercises arranged for this trip, the officers have to be convened in advance to hold a combat preparation meeting to discuss the content of the exercise.

The missions of Tao Hongfang and others going north this time were basically concentrated in the Hangzhou area. Regardless of the degree of completion, they have now left Hangzhou, and these missions will automatically end.This time when they came to Zhoushan again, they all had nothing to do, so they could spend a few days at ease.

Ha Jianyi has come to Zhoushan for the third time recently, and he is far more familiar with the local area than his peers.So on the way here, he has already volunteered to take over the job of a guide, and plans to take advantage of the rest time of these few days to take his friends around the island and make up for the regret that they came too hastily last time .

As a clerk, Zhu Zian was supposed to stay in the army and obey the command of Shi Chengwu and Wang Anguo, but Shi Wang and his next work involved military secrets, and Zhu Zian was obviously not qualified to have access to this information, so he was temporarily banned. He was assigned to the team of Tao Hongfang and others, and followed them during his stay in Zhoushan.

(End of this chapter)