1627 Rise of the South China Sea

Chapter 582 Disparity in Maritime Strength
In addition to the appropriation of the imperial court, where will the income of the army come from?Li Jin didn't have a good solution for this. His understanding was limited to the more "traditional" methods of reselling military supplies on empty pay and soldiers' blood, but such methods can only fatten the army. Pockets have no effect on improving the combat capability of the troops, and it is obviously not the method Zhang Xin said.

From Li Jin's point of view, he couldn't imagine an operation method to gain profits by launching foreign wars. After all, the wars Da Ming participated in in recent years did not have too many impressive records, and he often suffered huge losses, so it was impossible to talk about it. If there is any income, the imperial court collects more and more taxes from the people for the war every year.

Li Jin wanted to continue asking, but Zhang Xin obviously had no interest in discussing this issue with him anymore, so he ordered, "Come here, send General Li back to his residence!"

Zhang Xin was in a hurry to send Li Jin away because he had just received a telegram from the executive committee to discuss something important with the military.After three months of preparations, the executive committee believed that the time was right to go south to seize the Natuna Islands, and was ready to start the battle plan.

After the end of the Qiongbei War last year, the Executive Committee and the Military Commission selected the Natuna Islands in the South China Sea for the next step. The reconnaissance fleet led by Wang Tom successfully completed the Natuna Islands in January this year. The reconnaissance of the Tuna Islands and the surrounding waters, and also got in touch with the spies of the Ministry of Security lurking on the island, and obtained first-hand intelligence information.

However, after Wang Tom and Lin Nan returned from Nanyang, they did not get much rest time. After just over a month, they met again in Qiongbei Danzhou to participate in the investigation of the rebellion case here.Now Zhao Ye, one of the main criminals, has not been captured yet, and the executive committee has ordered the main navy fleet currently stationed in the Qiongzhou Strait to complete supplies at Danzhou Bay and be ready to go at any time.As for what materials this fleet needs to replenish in Danzhou, Zhang Xin must first communicate with the military.

"I'm really working hard. I haven't taken half of my vacation yet, so I'm going to be busy again." Tom Wang complained, but his expression was eager to try.

Haihan is going to cross the sea to attack the Natuna Islands in the South China Sea. This combat mission can be said to be the main force of the navy, and it is reasonable for Wang Tom, the commander of the navy, to personally lead the army to the south.The defense of the Natuna Islands is not strong. It can be said that this southward battle is an opportunity to improve the record. Of course, Wang Tom, who wants to become a famous general, will not give up playing for his vacation.

Zhang Xin naturally understood Wang Tom's mentality, and shook his head helplessly: "Commander Wang, don't post it, I know you are a busy person, hurry up and count the supplies needed by the military, and I can give them to you here." organize supplies."

Tom Wang nodded and said, "I'll get it done as soon as possible, and I'll give you the list tomorrow at the latest!"

At the same time that Danzhou was notified, the naval fleet located in the Qiongzhou Strait was also redeploying.One of the two "Majestic-class" hybrid warships will serve as the flagship of the Southern Expedition Fleet, leading part of the Navy's warships to go south, while the other will continue to sit in the Qiongzhou Strait in case the situation changes.

In view of the situation obtained from the previous reconnaissance, the scale of the Southern Expedition fleet organized by the Military Commission is not too exaggerated. There is one "Majestic Class", two "Explorer Class", four "Explorer Class", a total of seven combat ships , In addition, there are four "Explorer-class" modified troop carriers and logistics supply ships. The entire fleet has a total of eleven ships, and there are thousands of combat personnel and crew members.It is indeed not a big problem for such a fleet to attack Natuna Island, which does not even have coastal defense forts.

But this is not all of the southward fleet. According to the plan of the Military Commission, the Annan Military Region will also dispatch a part of the army. Their task is to be responsible for the long-term garrison there after the fleet captures the main island of the Natuna Islands.

According to the previous plan of the Military Commission, the Navy will not display the banner of Haihan in the process of attacking Natuna Island, but occupy this area in the name of pirates, and replicate Qiongbei's approach in Nanyang again.This is mainly to avoid direct conflict with the Dutch in the short term. After all, Haihan’s several ports in the south of Annan are still in the construction stage, and it will not be able to deploy a large number of naval forces near Natuna Island in the near future. The island itself also lacks a good natural harbor to station the naval fleet. Therefore, the Military Commission currently only sets the goal of actually controlling the strategic node of Natuna Island, and does not intend to immediately use it as a springboard to compete with the Dutch for control of key positions in the South China Sea Channel. .

To achieve this goal, the Annan Militia Army, whose main source of troops is Annan, is obviously more suitable for stationing there, so that at least the details of the island's armed forces will not be easily exposed in front of the Dutch.Even if the Dutch noticed something was wrong, Haihan could push it away and buy more time for his military deployment in Nanyang.

On March 3, some ships of the Southern Expedition Fleet mobilized from the Qiongzhou Strait arrived in Danzhou Bay and began to load supplies.The fleet that blocked the Qiongzhou Strait did not consume too much ammunition in the past few months, so there were not many supplies that needed to be transported all the way from the base camp.The only supply that needs to be transported in large quantities across the sea is probably the anthracite coal produced in the Black Earth Port. Among the four supply ships arranged by the fleet, one is dedicated to transporting coal, fresh water, ammunition and weapon spare parts to the "Majestic" battleship. consumables.

Although the "Majesty" is equipped with the most advanced propulsion system in the world in this era, due to the limitations of materials and processes for manufacturing steam boilers, its service life and maintenance methods are relatively limited, and the boilers used for a long time The amount of fresh water that needs to be consumed is by no means a small amount, so this ship is actually powered by sails in most cases, and steam propulsion will only really come in handy during the limited combat time.

During the docking of the fleet in Danzhou Bay, Li Jin, unwilling to be lonely, naturally did not let go of this opportunity to inquire about Haihan's military strength. He made a special trip to Danzhou Bay almost every day, in order to have a closer look at the sea. The uniqueness of the Haihan warship.

Tom Wang can probably guess what this guy is thinking, but he doesn't care about it, just like the Haihan army, the advantages of the navy are not something that a few Ming officers can go back to imitate. ——Da Ming If he had this ability, how could he have been unable to settle the pirate forces on the southeast coast all these years?

"General Wang, I would like to ask, how did Haihan build such a powerful navy?" After watching the excitement for two days, Li Jin finally couldn't help it, and wanted to ask Tom Wang to clarify his doubts in person.

Tom Wang smiled and said, "Didn't Director Zhang explain your question a few days ago?"

Li Jin scratched his head and said, "So this is also a question of money?"

"Of course it's a matter of money." Tom Wang nodded and said, "The money spent on building this fleet should be more than the entire Guangdong Navy."

"It's so expensive!" Li Jin was taken aback. Although the combat power of the Guangdong Navy is relatively poor, the money is not low. Even if it is an ordinary warship of two or three hundred materials, it still costs two to three thousand taels of silver. Yes, and the entire Guangdong Navy's ships add up to hundreds of ships, large and small.When Tom Wang said this, wouldn't this fleet be worth at least two or three hundred thousand taels of silver?

Seeing his unbelieving expression, Tom Wang pointed to an "Explorer-class" warship nearby on the pier and said, "This is the smallest displacement "Explorer-class" warship in our Haihan Navy. The big blessing boats are similar, but the cost is much higher. Look at the main mast on the ship, is it much higher than the lucky boats you have seen before?"

"That's true. When I first saw it, I wanted to ask, isn't it afraid that the mast will break when the wind is so high? Or is it that the wind and waves will affect the balance of the ship?" Li Jin immediately asked.

Wang Tom laughed and said, "The two questions you asked were already thought of when we designed this ship, so we used some special techniques to manufacture the mast. If the shipyard of Daming built such a tall mast, It is very likely that the problem you are worried about will appear, but the mast on our ship will definitely not. This mast alone is worth at least 1000 taels of silver!"

During the mast manufacturing process, the hollow metal long tube is used to reduce weight and strengthen toughness. This process is simple to say, but the actual manufacturing technology is indeed beyond the grasp of the current Daming Shipyard.Of course, Wang Tom's quotation is also slightly exaggerated. Even the cost of the mainmast of the largest "Majestic-class" warship is only about the price he said, and the specification of the mast is two times thicker than that of the "Explorer-class". It is more than twice as high, a full third higher, and the manufacturing process is much more difficult.

Li Jin was secretly startled when he heard this. Although he didn't know the truth of Wang Tom's words, judging from the achievements of the Haihan Navy in naval battles in recent years, their warships should have great advantages in terms of performance. A taller mast can hang larger sails, obtain greater thrust and higher speed, so Wang Tom's words are probably true in all likelihood. After all, this can reasonably explain why the Haihan Navy has been established since its establishment. There has never been a defeat.

Wang Tom pointed to the row of gun windows clearly visible on the side of the ship and said: "This kind of warship is generally equipped with about ten cannons, and each cannon counts as 500 taels of silver. This is another 5000 taels, just one mast. Including the guns on the ship, this is 6000 taels. The whole ship is fully loaded, and the cost is at least this amount.”

As Tom Wang spoke, he stretched out a finger and shook it in front of Li Jin's eyes. Li Jin swallowed and said, "One... 1 taels?"

Wang Tom nodded: "Don't think it's expensive, it's just the most basic cost. For example, we require the installation of a stainless steel ram at the bow, further reinforcement of the hull to the keel, installation of a steering wheel drive system for easy steering, and so on. There is still a lot of money. Adding in the cost of training crew sailors, combat gunners, and musketeers, a ship will cost about [-] yuan!"

"Hiss..." Li Jin couldn't help but gasped.Although he is not a member of the navy, he still knows a thing or two about the situation of the navy. Like a general state-level water village, the warships equipped with the sailors can't sell for 2 taels of silver.And the smallest class of warships in the Haihan fleet needs this number, how can the combat effectiveness be equal.

The data Tom Wang mentioned is of course bragging without paying taxes. In fact, the "Explorer Class" is the first model to be developed and built after crossing. Due to the maturity of the technology and the number of construction orders, the current cost is already quite low. Yes, the export model started at the end of last year, but the asking price is around 1 taels, including the equipped monkey version of the artillery.Both Annan and Fujian have already placed orders at the Sanya Shipyard. According to the words of Yue Zhiyun of the Ministry of Shipping, a large part of the construction funds for the military's third "Majestic-class" warship this year has to come from the export war. The profit of the boat is gone.

Of course, Li Jin, a newcomer general, couldn't understand these inside stories. After listening to it, he also silently calculated that the smallest warship would cost 10 to [-] taels, and the largest ship would cost [-] taels. Well, this man surnamed Wang said that this fleet can beat the entire Guangdong navy, but he is not bragging!

Wang Tom went on to say: "Don't think that after the ship is built, it will cost no money. As long as these ships are floating on the water, they will spend money every moment. If you want to go on a long voyage, it will cost money like water."

"Then...how much will it cost?" Li Jin didn't have a clear idea about it.

"Well, for example..." Tom Wang pointed to the stern of the ship and said, "As wide as the stern waves are, you can spread them with copper coins. As far as you sail on the sea, you can spread them with copper coins. A lot of money!"

"This is indeed more expensive than the army on land!" Li Jin couldn't figure out how much it was, anyway, it was much bigger than what he could count, and he had nothing else to say except sigh.

But there is still a question in his mind that has not been explained: "How can you afford such a huge fleet?"

"Director Zhang said that the other day, big investment brings big benefits!" Tom Wang replied with a smile: "If the army can only spend money but not bring benefits, then who will keep throwing money into it? Uh, By the way, I forgot about Daming."

Regarding Tom Wang's joke, Li Jin could only pretend not to hear it. He himself was a general who had led soldiers, so of course he knew the current situation of the Ming army.Except for a small number of elite troops directly commanded by the imperial court, almost all the local guards have rotted their roots, and there is no combat effectiveness at all. It is not as effective as the militia organized by the local gentry.

As for the comparison with the super-standard "civilians" like the Haihan militia, let alone the difference in strength between the two sides is indeed too far.

(End of this chapter)