Ming Dynasty: Ask Zhu Yuanzhang to abdicate at the beginning

Chapter 168: The real famous general! The real artifact!
Zhu Yunhuan walked to the bow of the ship, took out the newly made telescope of the Ming Dynasty Manufacturing Bureau, and looked at the Japanese pirates' camp.

Glass was invented as early as the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period.

But after that, glass was not taken seriously in China.

Instead, he added all his skill points to porcelain making.

After Zhu Yunhuan established the Ming Manufacturing Bureau, a large amount of silver was invested, countless craftsmen joined in, and the glass smelting technology also made great progress.

Colorless transparent glass is the most important new product.

Convex and concave mirrors followed naturally, and the telescope appeared.

The Ming Navy that set out on this expedition was equipped with a large number of telescopes.

After taking a closer look, Zhu Yunhuan handed the telescope to Zhu Neng and Zhang Fu.

They both looked at it for a while, and Zhu Neng was shocked and said, "What kind of magical thing is this? It's like a clairvoyant."

"This is the telescope. It is a divine device that His Royal Highness the Crown Prince ordered the Ming Manufacturing Bureau to make."

Ma He had seen this thing when he was studying at the Daming Military Academy, and he explained it immediately.

"His Royal Highness the Crown Prince has created many divine artifacts, and this is just one of them." Ma He was full of admiration and pride.

"Your Highness the Crown Prince is truly a god." Zhang Fu exclaimed sincerely.

He had heard so many rumors about the Crown Prince that his ears were callused.

I used to think it was mostly bragging.

It’s just like the legend of Emperor Hongwu published in the Ming Daily.

It was written so miraculously that ordinary people believed in it.

But Zhang Fu, a smart general since childhood, naturally had enough discernment to know that many of them were exaggerations.

It is only to publicize the emperor's wisdom and bravery to the people, so as to establish higher prestige among the people and maintain the rule of the Ming Dynasty.

Based on this, he certainly believed that the many rumors about the Crown Prince were also true.

Is a teenager really as powerful as the legend says?

Zhang Fu doesn’t believe it!
But in the past few days, after witnessing with my own eyes the Ming Dynasty naval fleet built by His Royal Highness the Crown Prince and all the various magical things, I realized that the rumors were not exaggerated, but rather underestimated His Royal Highness the Crown Prince's abilities.

The Crown Prince's ability is far more than what is said in the rumors.
For a time, Zhang Fu, like Ma He, developed a strong admiration for Zhu Yunhuan.

Although he is young, he has a very high opinion of himself and does not submit to others.

But when facing the crown prince, he felt himself to be extremely stupid.

Zhu Yunxi smiled faintly.

In fact, he did not invent the telescope.

At best, he told the craftsmen about the existence of such a thing and its general principles.

As for how to make colorless and transparent glass and convex mirrors, it was all the work of the craftsmen of the Ming Manufacturing Bureau who finally made them after countless repeated attempts, constantly summarizing their experience, and improving their craftsmanship.

In other words, Zhu Yunhuan just told them that there was a treasure on a mountain a thousand miles away.

But how you get this thousand miles away is your own business.

If Zhu Yunhuan really made it himself, it might take him ten or twenty years to complete it.

However, facing Ma He and others, Zhu Yunhuan was too lazy to give too much explanation.

Let them misunderstand.

This feeling of being "misunderstood" is pretty good!

"What do you think of the Japanese pirates' camp? Can you see anything special about it?" Zhu Yunhuan asked.

The reason he asked this was because he looked at it for a long time and couldn't see anything.

The book says that an experienced general can tell the enemy's strengths and weaknesses, advantages and disadvantages... just by observing the enemy's camp, and thus gain insight into the enemy's specific situation.

The book also gives a rough description of how it should be viewed.

Zhu Yunhuan had also read those books.

But when it came to actual practice, I found myself completely clueless.

It's written too simply in the book.

The reality is not like that at all.

There are many things whose answers cannot be found in books.

He observed for a long time but found nothing that could be strictly compared with what was recorded in the book.

Only then did he remember that Zhu Neng and Zhang Fu were both experienced generals and might be able to see some clues.

"According to my observation, there are about three thousand Japanese pirates on the island," Zhu Neng said first.

"It should be between 2,800 and 3,300," Zhang Fu added.

Can you see this?

Are you so accurate?

Zhu Yunhuan was shocked and asked, "Why do you think so?"

Zhang Fu and Zhu Neng quickly gave the basis for their analysis.

From the number of sentries in the camp, the distribution of houses, and even the people who come out for activities... and so on.

They even elaborated on the combat proficiency of the Japanese pirates, the strength of their camps, their offensive and defensive weaknesses, and how to deploy an attack in order to most easily break through while minimizing their own casualties.

Zhu Yunhuan felt as if he was listening to a divine book and his eyes were suddenly opened.

Generals who have been tested on the battlefield are different.

He secretly thanked himself for bringing both of them out.

It was really the right thing to bring.

After saying this, Zhang Fu and Zhu Neng both looked at Zhu Yunhuan eagerly.

The two of them never expected that the Crown Prince in front of them didn't see anything, and they thought that the reason why His Royal Highness asked was to test them.

With the ability of His Royal Highness the Crown Prince, he must have seen more.

While the two hoped that their opinions would be affirmed by His Royal Highness the Crown Prince, they also wondered if the Crown Prince would give them more guidance.
Unexpectedly, Zhu Yunhuan did not comment at all on what they said. After all, he himself had no idea, so how could he judge whether they were right or wrong?
I think both of them make sense, so they should be right.

Then he smiled and asked, "How many generals in the Yanshan army can easily see the enemy's strengths and weaknesses like you two?"

Zhang Fu hesitated for a moment and did not answer immediately.

Zhu Neng was a straightforward person. He said in a careless manner, "How can ordinary generals have such abilities? They are just a bunch of useless trash."

Zhu Yunhuan breathed a sigh of relief.

If any general had such ability, it would be too outrageous.

It made him look like an idiot.

Zhu Neng and Zhang Fu Neng left their names in history and climbed up step by step with their military achievements. Naturally, they were not comparable to ordinary generals.

Both of them are in their twenties now, and they actually have all the abilities they should have.

All that is needed is a chance to make military achievements.

Zhang Fu continued, "Without His Royal Highness the Crown Prince's telescope, I would not be able to observe so carefully. Based on a cursory observation from a distance, I can only see that the number of Japanese pirates is between one thousand and five thousand, and I cannot see the weaknesses of the camp at all."

"The reason I can see it so clearly is entirely due to the artifact provided by His Royal Highness the Crown Prince."

Zhu Neng also said quickly: "Yes, it's all thanks to His Royal Highness the Crown Prince's magic weapon, otherwise we can only see it clearly from a close distance."

In later generations, due to air pollution, there was a large amount of dust and various particles in the air, and visibility was not high.

Even with the most advanced telescope, things that are too far away are still very blurry.

In this era, there is little air pollution, the sky is extremely clear, and visibility is extremely high, so the power of telescopes can be truly brought into play. "Your Highness, this group of Japanese pirates is not weak. It must be the Japanese pirates' nest along the Zhejiang coast. With our limited military strength, it will be difficult to wipe them out."

Zhang Fu suggested: "We have many warships, and they are all large ships. The Japanese pirates' small boats can only fight with us at sea."

"It would be better to surround the Japanese pirates first, cut off their sea route, and then send people to Zhejiang to dispatch a large army to encircle and suppress them."

Don’t think that there are only 3,000 Japanese pirates.

In fact, three thousand Japanese pirates was already a very large number.

Historically, during the Jiajing period, there were more than fifty Japanese pirates who roamed across the three provinces of Zhejiang, Jiangsu and Anhui, burning, killing and looting along the way, and finally reached the city of Nanjing.

There was also an incident in which more than seventy Japanese pirates also crossed three provinces, wreaked havoc in more than twenty counties, and killed and injured four to five thousand people before they were wiped out.

Of course, the most important reason for this was that in the middle and late Ming Dynasty, the government was corrupt, the military was lax, and the soldiers were unwilling to fight.

But from this we can also see how powerful the Japanese pirates are!
There is another reason for this, that is, the Ming Dynasty’s army was half farming and half fighting.

In peacetime, they serve as civilians; in wartime, they serve as soldiers.

In the final analysis, they are just a group of peasants who took up arms.

The weapons are all broken and tattered.

The only ones who can really fight are the few personal soldiers around the generals.

But the Japanese pirates are different.

Every Japanese pirate, whether they are real Japanese pirates from Japan or bandits mixed in with them, are real professional robbers.

Killing is commonplace for them.

There are no old, weak or sick people among them; they are all strong and strong men.

Because it is difficult for the old, weak, sick and disabled to become robbers, they can only withdraw on their own, or simply be killed by their former companions.

A group of dozens of professional robbers like this would be very powerful.

The yamen runners in ordinary counties really can't stop them.

Of course, the combat effectiveness of the army in the early Ming Dynasty was far from comparable to that in the middle and late periods.

However, there were a large number of old, weak, sick and disabled soldiers in the garrisons, and they were half farming and half fighting.

Except for the Ming army on the northern border, which is still the elite among the elite, the south has been at peace for more than 20 years, and many garrison soldiers have focused their energy on farming rather than fighting.

The Japanese pirates are purely elite troops, and most of them are real fighters.

Three thousand Japanese pirates are actually equivalent to tens of thousands of troops.

The Ming navy led by Zhu Yunhuan was composed entirely of new troops.

Zhang Fu was always worried.

Can a newly trained army do well if it has not been tested in the blood and fire of the battlefield?
Based on this, for the sake of safety, he proposed the suggestion of besieging but not attacking.

Anyway, looking at the map, Wengshan County is not far from the mainland, so encircling the Japanese pirates is like catching a turtle in a jar.

Once the army arrives, are you still afraid that we won’t be able to wipe out these Japanese pirates?
Zhu Neng disagreed.

"Speed is of the essence in war. The Japanese pirates don't know our army is here, so they are unprepared."

"Now is the time to launch a charge against the Japanese pirates and wipe them out completely."

"Zhu Neng is willing to be the vanguard, lead the brave soldiers, take the lead in going ashore and fight the Japanese pirates to the death."

He has always been known for his daring and fighting spirit, and now he is even more eager to try and show his bravery in front of His Royal Highness the Crown Prince.

Zhu Yunhuan turned to look at Ma He and asked, "What do you think?"

"I think we can surround the Japanese pirates and then bombard them with artillery!" Ma He said, "I have carefully observed that the Japanese pirates have no artillery and are unable to fight back against our long-range artillery attacks."

"If we bombard the city with artillery for a few days and nights, it will be easy to attack again."

Unlike Zhu Neng and Zhang Fu who had just arrived in Jinling City from the north and immediately joined the expedition.

Ma He, who had studied and received training at the Ming Military Academy, was well aware of the power of the Ming Navy's naval guns.

Zhu Neng and Zhang Fu looked suspicious.

In their view, the greatest power of cannons is to intimidate the enemy's horses.

When the war horses are frightened, they will fall into chaos.

Then take the opportunity to launch an attack and you will get unexpected results.

If we really rely on cannons to kill, how many people can we kill by throwing a few solid bullets?
But the Japanese pirates occupied the islands and had no horses.

As long as you don't lose your composure, the damage you can cause will be limited.

The Japanese pirates are all desperate criminals, there is no way they will be scared off by a few cannon shots.

Zhu Neng clasped his hands and said, "I think that if we really want to use artillery attack, we should launch the attack immediately after the bombardment and not delay for too long."

"You must know that the first push is strong, the second is weak, and the third is exhausted!"

Zhu Yunhuan laughed loudly: "It's not that troublesome. The blood of my Ming soldiers cannot be wasted on these Japanese pirates."

He ordered, "Send an order, have all the ships line up, aim at different areas, and fire together after I give the order."

The flag officer immediately began to spread the message.

At this time, the role of complex flag signals and complete coding rules is reflected.

The instructions to adjust the position of each warship and assign different attack areas to them are very detailed and complex.

If there are no corresponding flag signals, we can only send a small boat down to transmit the message manually.

The three of them had different suggestions.

But Zhu Yunhuan was not going to accept anyone's advice.

Judging from the enemy's strength through the camp, he was indeed not as good as Zhang Fu and Zhu Neng.

However, Zhu Yunhuan knew best the combat effectiveness of the navy that he had built himself, and how to maximize the combat effectiveness of this navy.

Today, we will let them see what a real artillery battle is.

What a powerful navy!
Give them a little spiritual shock.

Only then can he grow into an excellent naval general in the future.

The warships adjusted quickly, and relying on the special features of the triangular sails, they were very flexible in the sea and could move forward and backward freely.

But Zhu Neng and Zhang Fu beside them both showed surprise and looked very nervous.

Both of them are knowledgeable about war.

In their view, since they came from afar, they could either surround them or launch an attack immediately.

With the behavior of His Royal Highness the Crown Prince, neither besieging nor attacking, wasting huge amounts of time adjusting the warship formations at sea, doesn't this give the Japanese pirates more time to prepare for the battle?
From a military perspective, this is undoubtedly a taboo.

Is there any such way of using troops in the world?
But what His Royal Highness the Crown Prince had done before shocked the two of them.

Although Zhu Neng and Zhang Fu were both puzzled and anxious at this moment, they did not say anything to dissuade him.

I will just wait quietly to see how His Royal Highness the Crown Prince will command the battle.

When all the warships are ready, they will aim their guns at their respective areas of responsibility.

Zhu Yunhuan gave the order: "Start bombardment!"

boom!
boom!
boom!
With an order.

In an instant, thousands of cannons fired.

……

(End of this chapter)