prosperous age

"Turn around, let's go back."

After carefully observing the port of Pegu through a telescope, Yu Dayou issued the order to return.

The sailors on the deck began to get busy. Some of them climbed up the mast directly and cooperated with the people below to adjust the sails.

Here we are sailing with the wind, so it is naturally easy to control. We only need to control the windward side of the sail to make the Fu ship sail on the sea.

Now we have to go against the wind to return, but of course this is not impossible.

Although the Dafu ships or the sea vessels of this era were all sailing ships, they were not limited to sailing with the wind, otherwise there would not be idioms such as "breaking through the waves against the wind" in the past.

The key to sailing against the wind and waves is to adjust the angle of the sail and the direction of the boat, and to utilize the principles of fluid mechanics.

When a sailboat faces the wind, in order to move forward, a series of measures need to be taken to effectively utilize the wind power.

First, adjust the angle of the sail so that the sail receives enough wind force, and at the same time turn to the windward angle of about 45°, so that the sail will receive enough wind force and the sailboat can move forward into the wind.

This method of utilizing wind power is based on Bernoulli's principle, that is, the side with lower gas flow velocity produces a lateral pressure on the side with higher flow velocity. This force is static pressure, which enables the sailboat to move forward when sailing against the wind.

In addition, in order to better control the direction and speed of the boat, the center of gravity of the sail needs to be adjusted so that the hull has only a very small sideways force when sailing against the wind, so that most of the force is biased towards moving forward.

This adjustment may include slacking the sail a little, lowering the angle a few degrees, or improving the boat's motion by moving weight, such as centralizing the bow weight to the center of the boat and as low as possible.

These measures can help sailboats use wind more effectively and move forward in windward conditions.

In general, the principles and techniques of sailing against the wind and waves involve adjusting the angle of the sails, controlling the direction of the boat, and utilizing the principles of fluid mechanics. Through these measures, the sailboat can effectively utilize wind power and move forward under windward conditions.

The people on Yu Dayou's ship are all experienced sailors, so they can control the ship well without his personal supervision.

Then, the Dafu ship drew a perfect circle on the sea and headed west.

Yu Dayou had already climbed up to the stern platform at this time. He took a last look at Pegu Harbor through a telescope and memorized the terrain he had observed again.

When he was observing Pegu Port again, in a sentry post near the port, several Burmese soldiers wearing simple leather armor were also observing the merchant ship in the distance.

"Sir, it looks like that ship is leaving. It won't dock."

"should be."

"Do you want to catch up and check the situation?"

“It’s just a merchant ship, not worth sending anyone out to sea.

Besides, there is a patrol warship on the sea, we should be able to encounter it if we go in this direction."

"Your Excellency is right. You see this ship is heading west. I think it is a merchant ship going to Dagon. It has deviated from its course and ended up in Pegu."

"Then he should also stop at the shore to rest. Besides, Pegu Port is more prosperous than Dagon."

They were Burmese soldiers guarding the port. The garrison officer and his two captains were patrolling here and happened to see Yu Dayou's boat coming and leaving, and a conversation ensued.

The Andaman Sea, also called the Gulf of Martaban in the north, is a small area that is home to Myanmar's three major ports.

To the east is the Port of Mawlamyine, to the west is the Port of Dagon, and to the north is the Port of Bago. In that era, there was no marine positioning system, and if a ship deviated slightly, it might really end up at the wrong port.

This kind of thing has happened before.

However, such lost ships usually choose to dock at the nearest shore.

After all, trade is everywhere, and they are all important sea trade ports in Myanmar.

Regarding Yu Dayou's departure on the boat, several small military leaders of the Burmese army just discussed it in a low voice for a while and didn't think about anything else.

They never thought that the Ming army would come from the southern sea and stab the Burmese in the back.

Sailing against the wind, the ship's speed was not as fast as when it came. It took Yu Dayou twice as long to finally meet up with the main force of the Ming navy.

"Contact Wang Zhao and others and ask them to come to my boat to discuss. Go quickly."

Yu Dayou quickly issued an order to summon his deputy generals, guerrillas and other generals. The purpose of the summons was naturally to formulate a plan for the next step of capturing Pegu.

Although he already had an attack plan in his mind, he still had to consult with others and arrange the attack route.

The boat was put into the water, and his personal soldiers boarded the boat and rowed to notify the generals. Yu Dayou just returned to the cabin and sat quietly waiting.

During this time, Yu Dayou reviewed the attack plan in his mind and felt that there would be no problem, so he waited patiently.

The generals of the South China Sea Navy usually have their own ships, so naturally they are not together.

However, these ships were all hung with the generals' unique markings, so people who were familiar with them could naturally recognize who the commander on board was at a glance.

However, after all, we are on the sea, and it is somewhat inconvenient for ships to travel between each other, so it still takes quite some time to summon the generals.

So Yu Dayou asked people to prepare pen and ink. He roughly marked the map of Pegu Port on a piece of white paper, preparing to explain it to the generals later.

What comes out of your mouth is not as easy to understand as a simple map.

Soon, Lieutenant General Wang Shike arrived first, and soon other generals also boarded the ship and walked into the cabin.

When everyone arrived, Yu Dayou pointed to the map on the table in the middle and said, "This is the map of Pegu Port that I drew after my observation today. I want to force a landing at the port, and then send troops from here to attack Pegu City.

According to the information we have now, there are only three to four hundred Burmese troops guarding the port, while in the city of Pegu ten miles away, there should be about two thousand defenders.

As long as our army acts quickly and does not give the defenders in the city a chance to be alert, the army can land.

In the subsequent infantry battles, everyone will naturally know how to fight."

There were no pure naval military officers among the Ming army's naval commanders. All of them were transferred from the garrisons. Some of them had followed Yu Dayou in his early years of fighting in the south and the north and had a good impression of him, so they were transferred into the army after obtaining consent.

Others were in charge of the navy in the garrison and had some experience, so they were noticed by Yu Dayou and recruited into his service.

But no matter what, fighting land battles is their forte, and naval battles are just their part-time job.

When everyone heard Yu Dayou say that he didn't intend to intervene in Lu Zhan and let them fight on their own, they burst into laughter.

"Each department has already had a rule. After I land with my men, the navy commander Wang Zhao will be in charge of commanding and blocking the nearby sea routes. No ships are allowed to leave."

Yu Dayou continued to say that this was also to block the news.

Mawlamyine in the east and Dagon in the west are both large territories of Myanmar. If they knew about the arrival of the Ming army by sea, it would be troublesome to organize troops to come to the rescue.

"Leave four gunboats behind, and the remaining two will follow the small-sized Fuzhou ships into the Pegu River to attack the Toungoo city."

In fact, these things had already been preliminarily discussed in Jiugang, and now it is just a matter of implementing the final decision.

So, everyone had no objection.

Those officers who were assigned to stay behind in the navy naturally looked dejected, while the officers who received the order to go ashore were eager to get going.

The surprise attack on Toungoo, the capital of Burma, was a remarkable achievement. If it went well, they would be ranked high in the list of merits and the imperial court would reward them generously. Well, after a year at sea, it was for this achievement and the subsequent rewards.

"Myanmar is rebellious, and I have been ordered to suppress the rebellion. The news can be released now.

At this moment, the war has already broken out in Yunnan, and the main force of the Burmese army has entered the southwest. This is the opportunity for our South China Sea Navy to make a name for itself.

Landing in Pegu, capturing Toungoo City, and the extraordinary feat of the war against Burma were all attributed to our navy."

In the following time, Yu Dayou encouraged his generals. In fact, there was no need to boost morale, as his generals were all eager to fight.

"After dawn tomorrow, six gunboats and the first landing craft, led by Wang Shike, will bombard the Burmese outposts east of the harbor to cover the landing of the infantry.

Remember, bring those falconets with you. In the Battle of Luzon, you will all know the importance of artillery in war.

If the enemy counterattacks, just bombard them with artillery fire."

As soon as Yu Dayou finished speaking, Wang Shike suddenly stood up, clasped his hands together and said, "I will take your order."

Afterwards, Yu Dayou began to assign tasks to other people, which were nothing more than the second and third waves of landing ships.

Wang Shike’s main task was to occupy the port and stabilize the landing point. This was considered the first battle and also the first achievement that the Ming army valued most.

After the generals left and returned to their respective ships, the news naturally spread.

In fact, when they were in Jiugang, it had already been quietly spread among the army that the purpose of this voyage was to attack Burma. As for why they attacked Burma, they didn't understand, but that was what the news said.

After leaving the old port, they didn't know where to go, they just followed the general's orders and boarded the ship.

And today, they finally learned the truth from their respective generals, that is, the Burmese Xuanwei Office was in rebellion and launched an attack on Yunnan.

In fact, Yu Dayou was not sure whether the war had already started in Yunnan at this time, but the certain news was that the Burmese army attacked the Mengyang Xuanwei Office, which was already considered a rebellion.

The Yunnan government could not sit idly by. Not only was Mengyang adjacent to the Ming Dynasty, it was also the last barrier between the Ming Dynasty and the Toungoo Dynasty.

But no matter what, the navy has reached Pegu, and war is inevitable.

Now, even if war had not broken out in Yunnan, the Ming-Myanmar war was inevitable.

Many people did not sleep well that night.

In the navy, there are many people who are eager to gain military merit through war, but there are also many who are worried about their own safety.

This place is thousands of miles away from the Ming Dynasty anyway. Although the land seems not far, they are a navy after all, and they know how far they have traveled.

The next day, when the sun rose, the navy soldiers began to eat.

After a short rest, the fleet began to divide into several teams under the command of their respective generals, and was organized according to attack waves.

When the first wave of attacking ships hoisted their sails and sailed north with the wind, the war horn had already sounded in the South China Sea Navy fleet.

Yu Dayou's ship followed behind Wang Shike's fleet. Although the plan had been made, he still had to watch and flexibly adjust the battle plan according to the actual progress.

Although the few hundred people in the port could not cause much obstacle to the Ming army's landing.

In the sentry post on the shore, two Burmese soldiers who had gotten up for the night looked towards the sea in fear. Dozens of warships were sailing towards them, and they looked murderous. They were definitely not coming to Pegu to do business.

The south of Myanmar has always been peaceful, and Myanmar has almost never encountered any threats from the sea, so for the troops stationed on the coast, it is a place to retire.

It's so comfortable.

Even if those blond-haired and blue-eyed guys who seem difficult to deal with come to Pegu, they have to behave themselves and not dare to cross the line in the slightest.

So, when I left the barracks this morning and saw the fleet on the sea, I naturally panicked.

After a long time, I came to my senses when I felt a wet and cold feeling in my crotch.

Without caring about the embarrassment, the two soldiers turned around and rushed to the barracks to find their captain.

Although the Myanmar army has stationed troops at the port, this army usually has nothing to do.

The merchants can handle the port matters themselves, and as for the safety of their goods, there is no need for the army to protect their goods.

Therefore, although there are garrisons, it is actually almost the same as having no troops at all, because the Burmese troops here do not arrange night guards at all.

This is also the reason why the Ming army appeared after dawn and frightened them into panic.

Yu Dayou didn't even dare to think about a night attack.

Are you kidding? They are going to land.

Although the navy officers and soldiers were much better off than those in the north where vitamin deficiency caused many people to suffer from night blindness, this was not a reason to support the South China Sea navy in launching a night attack.

The risk is too great.

Although the darkness can protect them, it also restricts them.

Compared with the Burmese army, Yu Dayou believed that his men had absolute firepower advantage.

Yes, at this time, the Ming army had a clear advantage in the number of firearms equipment, whether it was facing the armies of neighboring vassal states or the most elite armies of Western European countries.

Although Europeans developed a large number of advanced firearms, the number of equipment was obviously insufficient. In their armies, firearms only accounted for 30 to 40 percent, and many soldiers still relied on spears to fight.

To be precise, in terms of the proportion of firearms, perhaps it was slightly higher than that of the Ming army at that time, but the absolute number was definitely not reached.

Because, except for Spain and Portugal in Europe, which gained wealth by using leading navigation technology, they did not have a strong industrial base for weapons manufacturing and it was difficult for them to mass-produce various types of firearms to equip the entire army.

Relatively speaking, although the industrial level of the Ming army did not exceed that of Europe, its population advantage was there, and the number of firearms produced was far greater than that of European countries.

Now that they were in the East, they could not possibly invest a large number of soldiers and resources here, so the Ming army had a huge advantage in the East at this time, and even after a hundred years, they would still have an absolute advantage.

At this time in Europe, the development direction of firearms was not quite off track. They abandoned the fast-firing falconets and instead developed muzzle-loading cannons with a slower firing rate but a longer range.

After all, the European population is there and the army is limited, so pursuing range and accuracy becomes their choice.

But in the Ming Dynasty, it doesn’t matter whether the weapons are accurate or not. As long as there are enough of them, the enemies can be killed by piling up.

In Wei Guangde's opinion, there seemed to be nothing wrong with pushing the cannons into range under sporadic artillery fire.

The British lobster soldiers were able to bear casualties and fire at close range to kill the enemy, so there was no reason why the Ming soldiers couldn't do the same.

Therefore, cannons were rarely equipped in the north, and almost all of them were handed over to the navy, and only the navy was really useful.

What he vigorously developed was naturally the Portuguese weapon, which was considered backward by Europeans.

Quantity is king.

"Boom boom boom" (End of this chapter)