The Ming Dynasty did not revolutionize

Chapter 48: Appointment and Setting Sail
January 1779, the 3rd year of the reign of Emperor Xianning of the Ming Dynasty (March 8, in the Western calendar) was the day when the Ming Dynasty's North American fleet set sail.

The North American fleet consisted of 64 battleships of various classes, 128 secondary cruisers and auxiliary warships, and 160 official and civilian armed merchant ships.

Finally, there were thirty steam paddle steamers, ready for special traffic around the battlefield.

Normally, it would sail with the large fleet using sail power, and when necessary, it would turn on the steam engine to accelerate. It was responsible for reconnaissance, and the transmission of messages, personnel, and supplies.

Excluding the sailors who operated the ships, the fleet carried a total of 30,000 Ming Dynasty land army soldiers.

There were also large quantities of military supplies, including clothing, food, alcohol, coal, artillery, guns, gunpowder, percussion caps, and 10,000 bicycles.

In addition to being used by the Ming army itself, a large portion of these supplies were also brought back to the Americans.

The industrial base in the United States at that time was very poor. Not only was there a serious shortage of gunpowder and guns, but the Continental Army did not even have enough warm clothing.

Now the Ming Dynasty must also bring some back to them when they go there.

There have been several times in history when the Continental Army was almost disbanded in the middle of a battle because the Continental Congress was unable to pay the military salaries.

It was not until after the war that the Continental Congress really stopped giving out money and the Continental Army was disbanded.

The North American fleet was too large, so it was generally divided into three parts, setting off from Yingtian, Zhoushan and Malacca.

The core command personnel and the supply fleet will depart directly from Yingtianfu Wharf.

On the morning of the day the fleet set sail, the Ming royal family and high-ranking court officials arranged for representatives to come to the dock to see them off.

Including the Emperor of the Ming Dynasty, the Crown Prince of the Ming Dynasty, the King of Wu of the Ming Dynasty and other close relatives of the royal family in Beijing.

The commanders-general of the Five Military Commanderies, the grand secretaries of the cabinet, the ministers of various ministries of the imperial court, and the main officials of the Honglu Temple.

French Foreign Minister Gravier and American Kingdom's special envoy Adams also came to the dock.

Before the emperor came out, the people on the scene found their places to stand one after another, and then began to talk and express their feelings about the huge fleet on the river.

As diplomats, Gravier and Adams both stood beside the Minister of Rites.

Adams looked up at the river, seeing the fleet that covered the sky and the sun, and couldn't help but sigh:

"This...it turns out that there are so many ships out there that three hundred can form such a large fleet, it seems like there is no end in sight."

Gravier, who was standing next to Adams, couldn't help but frown after hearing this, thinking that these beggars from North America were really ignorant.

Although he had never seen what it looked like to have 300 warships together, there were definitely more than 300 ships in front of him.

Moreover, although the Yangtze River has abundant water flow, it is only an inland river after all. The largest warships should not be here, but in the military port outside the Ming Dynasty.

As expected, the Minister of Honglu Temple of the Ming Dynasty explained to Adams:

“This is only part of the fleet, with a total of just over a hundred ships, and none of the largest battleships.

“Most of them are large merchant ships organized by the imperial court and civilian organizations, mainly responsible for assisting in the transportation of various military supplies and commodities.

"However, the senior generals who command the army will set out from the capital on board the ship, and the main fleet will wait for the rendezvous in Zhoushan and Malacca."

Adams suddenly realized and was even more shocked:
"There are only a hundred ships? And not even the largest ship? How big would the entire fleet be?"

The Minister of Rites said with a smile:
"If Mr. Adams wants to see it, he can follow the fleet to Malacca, where the Grand Fleet will finally meet up."

Adams did want to go, but his more important task was to maintain his relationship with the Ming royal family.

And establish good relations with His Royal Highness the King of Wu of the Ming Dynasty, who is also the future King of America, in advance.

When I want to get a noble title in the future, can I get a discount or even get it for free?
The key point is that the inventions of His Majesty the King are too valuable, and the agency rights must be obtained and implemented no matter what.

Being able to continue to serve as His Majesty the King's attorney in the future would definitely be a career that would bring both money and fame.

So although Adams was eager to do so, he ultimately did not accept the suggestion.

The group chatted for a while, and then someone in the front reminded them that the emperor was coming, and everyone immediately shut up.

The Ming Emperor Zhu Zhonglin, with the Crown Prince Zhu Jiancan and the Prince of Wu Zhu Jianxuan, came to the dock together.

The Crown Prince and the Prince of Wu stopped beside the representatives of the royal family, and the Emperor of the Ming Dynasty stepped onto the large platform built in the middle of the pier.

Then, four generals in second-rank military uniforms boarded the platform together: Qin Nanxing, deputy admiral of the navy of the Ming Front Army Governor's Office, and Lin Yongping, deputy admiral of the navy of the Ming Left Army Governor's Office.

Li Anbang, deputy governor of the Ming Dynasty's front army governor's office, and Zhang Beining, deputy governor of the Ming Dynasty's left army governor's office.

The four of them saluted the Ming Emperor together, stood at attention and placed their right fists against their left chests.

This is how ancient military generals greeted each other. Originally, they would make a sound by hitting the armor on their chest with their fists, but now there is no sound if they are not wearing armor.

The rank of the Deputy Governor of the Five Military Governor's Office is defaulted to the second rank, with an open number of positions, and is filled by young, strong and experienced military generals.

Some were assigned a fixed post to guard a region, while others had no fixed post and were responsible for studying tactics on weekdays and receiving orders to go into battle when war came.

Under the watchful eyes of representatives of the Ming Dynasty's royal family, generals of the Five Military Governorates, grand secretaries of the cabinet, ministers of various court departments, and a large number of senior military officers.

The Emperor of the Ming Dynasty bestowed four appointment edicts, four military seals, four command swords and four general flags to the four men.

The four men served respectively as the admiral and chief of staff of the Ming Dynasty's North American Fleet, and the governor and chief of staff of the Ming Dynasty's North American Expeditionary Force.

After receiving the order, the four men saluted the emperor again together, and all the officers below followed suit.

After the simple appointment ceremony, the four turned around and walked down the platform together, leading the senior generals below to board the ship one by one.

The Ming Emperor left the dock with his clan members, officials, and generals.

The Ming Dynasty's North American fleet also set sail one after another.

The key to the North American War should be the navy. As long as the navies of Ming, France and Spain play their role, they can quickly defeat the main fleet of Britain.

If the British army in North America loses support, its defeat in North America will only be a matter of time.

In order to ensure that war preparations were as thorough as possible and to achieve the greatest possible surprise effect, the Ming Dynasty would not immediately show hostility towards Britain.

Now they will just start restricting merchant ships preparing to go to the UK to trade.

According to the plan, the Ming Emperor would officially declare war on Britain six months later, in August 1779.

Only then would they begin to capture and detain British merchant ships near the Ming mainland.

The Ming Dynasty was already preparing a guard corps for King Wu and organizing a large number of ships to transport personnel and supplies to Australia.

Moreover, the organization is growing in size, sending more and more troops and armed immigrants.

Therefore, when the Ming Dynasty organized the North American fleet and expeditionary force, it basically did not arouse special vigilance from other maritime forces.

However, once the Ming Dynasty's main fleet sets sail, especially after heading west into the Indian Ocean, it will soon attract the attention of intelligence personnel from other forces.

When the fleet passed the Cape of Good Hope and entered the Atlantic Ocean, except for the French and Spanish who knew the news in advance, other European colonial countries must have been furious after receiving the news.

If there were specialized intelligence personnel who could go through the Red Sea, cross the Isthmus of Suez and enter the Mediterranean, they should be able to deliver the news to Europe before the Ming army went around the Cape of Good Hope.

But at the same time, the Spanish’s primary goal is to capture Gibraltar. The French and Spanish will definitely fight with Britain near Gibraltar, which should directly block the route to Gibraltar.

Considering the overall speed of information transmission in this era, by the time the British received the exact news and began to doubt the purpose of the Ming fleet, the Ming fleet should have entered the North Atlantic.

Moreover, the Ming fleet does not need to go directly to Europe. Its first target will definitely be the British fleet in America.

So no matter how cautious you are, you must keep it secret until you are discovered.

Even though he was furious, Daming would definitely continue to act until his real purpose was confirmed.

They traveled to Europe under the pretext of doing official business for the Ming Dynasty court.

…………

Today's two chapters are a bit boring because I have a lot of things to do at home and don't have time to write.

I am out of habit again and have run out of drafts for one chapter, so now I can only know the plot about two hours ahead of everyone else.

I'm so sorry.

(End of this chapter)