Southern Ming: A boy soldier at the beginning, supporting the world

Chapter 172: Naval Exercises
On March 16, Cen Danchu was inspecting the navy at Bashizhai. Bashizhai is located on the north bank of Bashijiang River and the south bank of Yujiang River, with the remnant of Daming Mountain to the north, and the terrain is dangerous. The Ming Dynasty set up a patrol office and a water and land post here.

In order to establish a navy, the Red Army requisitioned the Inspection Office and water and land post stations, and used Bachizhai as the Red Army navy base.

Since the establishment of the navy began in December last year, Danchu has invested a lot of energy in this regard, personally designing warships and reviewing the organization. Three months later, the Red Army Navy has taken shape.

At present, the navy is tentatively named "Red Army Navy", and there is a navy. The navy also has a camp office, which has three navy battalions and one auxiliary battalion. The entire navy has about 1,800 people, including about 1,200 combat soldiers and about 600 auxiliary soldiers.

The number of auxiliary troops in the navy is larger than that of the land force because the navy also has a navy base located in Bashizhai, named "Yongning" navy base. The base has a shipyard and a ship repair yard, which can provide the navy with services for repairing and building warships.

The Red Army attached great importance to logistics and implemented a major reform in this area: all grain stations were abolished, and a unified grain station was set up for the entire army, which was managed by the Logistics Bureau of the Camp Office and was responsible for the unified supply and distribution of grain and fodder.

A grain station is a place where grain and grass are stored and transported. The location is relatively fixed. During wartime, the grain stations of various regiments rush to transport grain and grass, which easily aggravates the shortage of grain and grass supply. As the various regiments gradually mature, there is no need to set up grain stations repeatedly.

Danchu had been to the navy base many times and was familiar with the place. As he approached the Ba Chi Village, he saw the navy officers and soldiers practicing formations. Boats were in short supply, so the navy camps marked out the ground as boats, and the officers and soldiers sat on the ground to practice, focusing on flags and changing formations. Although they were on land, they were very serious.

Ruan Dinh Phong, the commander of the navy, came forward and said, "Marshal, the navy is practicing formations today."

Danchu was very interested and asked, "What are the common formations used by naval forces in combat?"

After three months of getting along, Ruan Tingfeng was already full of admiration for Dan Chu, and said, "There are mainly horizontal formations, vertical formations, and diagonal formations. The horizontal formation is the Goose Formation, which is divided into single-layer Goose Formation and multi-layer Goose Formation. The vertical formation is the Fish Formation, which is divided into single-line Fish Formation and multi-line Fish Formation. The diagonal formations are various echelons and azimuth formations, including the Eagle Formation, the Swallow Scissors Formation, the Horn Formation, the Deer Horn Formation, etc."

"What formation do the Neijiang navy usually use when fighting?"

"The Neijiang River is narrow, so we usually use columns. However, it is difficult to command a naval battle. Once the battle begins, it is often a melee, and it is difficult to maintain formation."

The water is unimpeded, and the formation of the navy is much more flexible than that of the land army. For example, the army rarely uses columns in combat. This is because it is difficult to command a column. If the army does not have strict discipline and the soldiers are not strictly trained, it is impossible to use a column easily.

Danchu had a deep understanding of this and said with a smile: "Yu Dayou once discussed naval warfare and believed that the victory of the navy was nothing more than 'big ships beat small ships, big guns beat small guns, many ships beat few ships, and many guns beat few guns'. This is probably the case, right?"

"The Marshal is wise."

Danchu sighed, "It's the same with the Lu army. Before the battle, the soldiers are nervous and the formation is very strict. Once the two armies advance to 50 steps, the superiority can be roughly determined. If one side wavers, the whole army will be defeated, and the other side will take advantage of the victory to pursue and the formation will be completely broken.

"I heard that during the Yuan Dynasty, the Mongols did not pay much attention to formations in battle. Whenever a battle came, they would often send troops to charge the enemy. If the enemy formed a spear-foot formation, the Mongols would not charge into the formation, but would instead penetrate deep into the enemy and run around in all directions.

"The enemy army often panicked and fled. Otherwise, the Mongolian army would send cavalry to harass them again and again. The enemy army could not bear the harassment and would often be defeated if they sent cavalry to fight. Once the cavalry was defeated, the infantry also collapsed.

"With this tactic, the Mongolian army was able to conquer the Central Plains, destroy more than 40 countries, and occupy the most vast territory in history. Today's Eight Banners have surpassed the Mongolian army in terms of infantry and cavalry tactics.

"On the contrary, the Eight Banners lack naval forces. I want to train naval forces because I want to use my strengths to attack their weaknesses."

He has lofty ambitions and a far-sighted vision. This is a wise leader. Ruan Tingfeng said solemnly: "The commander-in-chief has a far-sighted vision and a way to destroy the enemy. The Ming Dynasty has a bright future."

The third version, Changlong and Kuaixie warships have been successfully trial-produced and are now being tested in the water.

Danchu's main purpose of this trip was to check the warships. When he arrived at the Yu River, six warships were already on standby, including one Longlong, one Kuaixie, and four Sanban.

Guangxi is a mountainous region with many giant trees and many rivers, which facilitate the transportation of logs. Since ancient times, there have been many shipyards and shipbuilding craftsmen. The Red Army's Yongning Shipyard was established not long ago, but it has been on the right track and is stepping up shipbuilding.

"Come aboard and take a look."

Today the navy is conducting a small exercise, with the six existing new ships participating.

Danchu boarded the Changlong and saw that the hull had been recently painted and still smelled of tung oil and raw lacquer. The sails were ready, traditional hard sails that could sail against the wind. There were six guns, one at the bow and one at the stern, and two on each side. There were sixteen rowers, four oarsmen, one rudderman, one poleman, and six gunners on both sides of the ship, exactly as planned. There were also flag bearers, drummers, etc.

"Yes, let's weigh anchor." Danchu smiled, and Ruan Tingfeng breathed a sigh of relief. The Red Army Navy custom-made the Changlong as the ship for the battalion officers, equivalent to the flagship of a battalion.

With a cannon shot, the long dragon raised the red flag. Each boat raised its sails and pulled anchor one by one, and slowly sailed down. With favorable wind and water, the oarsmen and rowers did not need to row, simulating a normal military march.

Soon, Nguyen Dinh Phong ordered the ships to form a horizontal formation. The long dragon changed its flags again, and each ship raised its flag in turn to indicate its response. The oarsmen and rowers began to row with all their strength, and the navy changed its formation to a horizontal formation, from left to right, it was three-ban, three-ban, long dragon, three-ban, fast crab, and three-ban.

After two years of traveling through time, Danchu has become an expert in military affairs. After watching the navy's exercises, he realized that the navy is more complicated than the land army, with many flags, expensive warships, complex arms, and close coordination.

It takes ten years for the army and a hundred years for the navy. It is true.

A navy ship of 1,800 men was more expensive than an infantry ship of 3,000 men. Naval officers were selected from the entire army, and gunners, oarsmen, and rowers also had to be selected. Shipyards, shipyards, warships, artillery, and even lacquer, tung oil, sails, and cables all cost a lot of money.

Seeing the navy taking shape, Danchu felt that all the early investment was worth it.

"The river narrows and becomes two lines of fish in formation!"

The oarsmen and rowers rowed hard again, and the horizontal team changed into a vertical team. The long dragon was on the left, the fast crab was on the right, and there was a three-board boat in front and behind.

"Enemy ship spotted!"

A cannon sounded, a yellow and a red flag were raised on the long dragon, war drums sounded, and a target ship appeared in front.

The Kuaixie and Sanban ships were faster and took the lead in attacking. The rowers and oarsmen swung their oars vigorously, and the warships moved quickly on the river.

The long dragon boat was slow and was in the rear, with a three-board boat left as guard.

The three-board ship is small and flexible, with a fast speed, and is often used for assault. The long dragon and fast crab ships are large and heavy, with strong firepower, and are often used for attacking. The three must work closely together to defeat the enemy.

"Boom!" The third ship opened fire first.

Danchu looked through the telescope and found that the Sanban ship was not shaking obviously. This ship was equipped with two guns, one at the bow and one at the stern. When the front gun fired, the recoil drove the ship forward, and the Sanban ship rushed forward instead.

On the battlefield, this acceleration is a very good thing for the navy, and it can also boost morale invisibly.

Looking at the long dragon boat we were on, there was a main gun at the front and back, with a larger caliber, and two small guns on each side, with a smaller caliber.

Soon, the target ship was destroyed and the sailors cheered.

Nguyen Dinh Phong ordered the team to withdraw, the boatman changed the sails, and the rowers and oarsmen took turns rowing the boat, sailing against the wind and current.

"Very good." Danchu praised: "How is the shipbuilding speed? When can the warships be equipped?"

"By the end of this month, we will have a battalion of eleven warships. Three months later, we will have a full complement of warships. All the artillery will be the mountain-splitting cannons cast by the Jinxiu Ironware Bureau, mainly equipped with solid bullets and grapeshot, which will be ready in two months."

The war situation in Huguang is deteriorating, and three months is too long.

A cavalryman galloped along the northern bank of the Yu River. There were two horses for each man, which was the standard configuration for the communications soldiers of the camp office.

A three-ship came ashore to meet the call, and the signalman, breathless, delivered an urgent secret letter.

Qu Shisi’s manifesto has arrived!

(End of this chapter)