The Song Dynasty on the Sand Table

Chapter 437 Let's go, let's attack the Jin Kingdom
Yue Wenxuan left Gong Erniangzi to guard Shouchun, while he himself, along with Yang Tian, ​​Yang Xiao, and his subordinates, headed east.

As we traveled through vast swathes of Northern Song territory, we saw thriving commerce, peaceful and prosperous people, and everything seemed wonderful.

Yang Tian's soldiers were all envious...

But they immediately realized that once they joined the Northern Song Dynasty, their families would be able to enjoy such a life. Hey, no need to be envious!
Soon, they arrived at the Dafeng Naval Academy on the coast of Yancheng.

(P.S.: The area marked by the dotted line in the image did not exist as land during the Northern Song Dynasty. Modern-day Dafeng County was submerged at that time. Therefore, the Dafeng Naval School in the book was located on the coast of Yancheng; the protagonist simply named it Dafeng, not that it was actually located in Dafeng. Please do not get confused!)

After several years of operation, Dafeng Naval School now has a considerable number of students. The original batch of students, including Li Bao, have already "graduated," and those still studying there are newly recruited naval officers.

Not far from the Dafeng Naval Academy, there are two other large building complexes.

One is Dafeng Shipyard, which is mainly responsible for building large ships.

Another example is the Northern Song Dynasty naval base, which was deliberately placed next to the naval academy to facilitate the officers' schooling.

Yang Tian glanced at the naval base from afar and saw a huge three-masted sailing ship leave the base and head out to sea. The strange triangular sail puzzled Yang Tian, ​​and he couldn't help but point at the ship and say, "Young Master Yue, why is that ship's sail so soft? Can it catch the wind like that?"

Yue Wenxuan said, "Of course it can! Soft sails are not as good as hard sails in weak winds, but because of their flexible nature, they can adapt to changes in wind direction more flexibly. Especially when facing strong winds, soft sails can quickly adjust their shape to adapt to changes in wind force, allowing the sailboat to remain stable in storms and waves. Hard sails, on the other hand, are easily broken in a strong storm. So, soft sails have many advantages when sailing on the ocean."

Yang Tian: "I see."

Yue Wenxuan: "Our Northern Song Dynasty navy must learn both rigid sails and flexible sails. Rigid sails are used for missions in coastal waters, while flexible sails are used for long voyages."

At this moment, Yang Tian was also looking carefully. He then discovered that the three-masted sailing ship with soft sails was actually more than ten zhang long, and there was a tall "superstructure" on the ship. It was obviously used for boarding battles. The soldiers on the ship could occupy the superstructure and shoot down on the enemy ship from a high position.

Yang Tian couldn't help but exclaim, "This ship is amazing!"

Yue Wenxuan smiled: Isn't that obvious? This is a Spanish galleon that was once the dominant force at sea.

It was made by Yue Wenxuan using plastic figures created by Spanish shipbuilders.

At first, he didn't know where to find such craftsmen. Then, he had a flash of inspiration, opened the game "Uncharted Waters," took a screenshot of the shipbuilding master, and gave it to Cai Xinzi to make a figurine. That's how he got it sorted out.

Using this method, he also managed to win over shipbuilders from the Ming Dynasty's hard-hulled sailing ships, Dutch galleons, and even Japanese ironclad ships and Korean turtle ships. However, the latter two types of ships were overhyped in the game, with distorted attributes, and he didn't know if they would be "weakened" in the sandbox, so he didn't build them randomly.

After the Spanish galleon set sail, it was heading out to sea when it suddenly seemed to have discovered something, turned around, and headed towards Yue Wenxuan's direction.

As the boat docked at the shore, a sprightly middle-aged man jumped out from the deck. It was Li Bao, who waved vigorously at Yue Wenxuan: "Young Master Yue, what brings you here?"

Yue Wenxuan said, "I've brought you some new comrades-in-arms. Come and meet them. This is Yang Tian, ​​a former general of the Chu Kingdom. He has five thousand elite soldiers under his command, all of whom are experts in naval warfare." Upon hearing this, Li Bao's eyes lit up. He grabbed a rope and jumped off the boat. He was quite agile on the boat, rappelling down like a monkey with elegant and graceful movements. After landing in the water, he swung his arms and quickly swam to the shore, running over soaking wet.

Upon reaching Yang Tian, ​​he looked him over from left to right, a look of delight spreading across his face: "Hahaha, what a fierce general! Brother Yang, this is exactly the kind of person I've been waiting for. Our Northern Song navy has too few men, and we've never been able to accomplish anything significant. Now that you've joined us, it's like adding wings to a tiger! Hahahaha! With an extra five thousand elite soldiers, what are we waiting for? Come on, brother, come with me, let's sail across the sea to attack the Jin Kingdom and seize Dalian and Lushun."

His words startled Yang Tian. What a madman! He wanted to attack the Jin Dynasty already? And where was Dalian? Where was Lushun?

Yang Tian didn't even know where these two places were.

Yue Wenxuan laughed and said, "Li Bao! Don't scare the newcomers. They are just inland waterway naval forces and haven't received any maritime training yet. You want to drag them across the sea to fight as soon as they arrive? That's going too far."

Li Bao felt extremely embarrassed and scratched his head: "Oh dear, sorry, I was just too excited. The navy has always been short-handed. I've wanted to do something big but never had the chance. I've been waiting for this opportunity, and finally, fresh blood has arrived. I'm a little excited, please don't mind."

After saying that, he quickly pulled Yang Tian and said, "It's not good that you haven't received any sea training yet. Let's start training right now. Let's get ready quickly so we can go fight Dalian and Lushun. Come on, come with me, I'll take you to ride a sea boat."

Yang Tian was both amused and exasperated: "This..."

Li Bao was too enthusiastic, which startled him; it felt like he had entered a den of thieves.

Yue Wenxuan laughed and scolded, "Don't just drag people into training! The training method depends on how the naval academy arranges it."

Li Bao: "I've memorized Teacher Zheng's training methods perfectly. It's the same if I teach in his place. There are several substitute teachers at the school now, all of whom are Teacher Zheng's disciples teaching in his place. Isn't it the same whether they teach or I teach?"

That makes some sense, so Yue Wenxuan decided not to interfere.

Li Bao happily pulled Yang Tian aboard the Spanish galleon and said to Yang Tian's soldiers, "This ship can carry another hundred soldiers. Anyone want to come aboard and experience sailing?"

Yang Tian's men actually sent out a hundred brave sailors who swam alongside Li Bao and quickly reached the side of the Spanish ship's large sails...

Floating on the water, looking up at this huge ship, it was truly tall and imposing, towering over ordinary riverboats by more than a head or two. It was as if a city stood right in front of me.

The sailors on the ship threw down rope ladders, and the Manichaean sailors easily climbed onto the ship using the ropes.

The sea was calm, much like the waters of an inland river. The sailors hadn't yet grasped the terror of the ocean. Once aboard, they were quite confident, jumping and hopping on the deck, laughing and saying, "So ocean-going ships are just a bit bigger, not much different from riverboats."

"Almost?" Li Bao chuckled mischievously. "Let's go, let's experience the sea."

(End of this chapter)