Volume 2: Soaring! The Overlord of the Region Chapter 305: King Kaitai's Strategy
"Yu Shuai, Li Shuai, I have a different idea from you two just now."
"oh?"
After Li Guozhu, Yan Siqi and Yu Zigao joined forces, the Ming Dynasty had 20 Beizhili-class ships (1,200 tons), 80 Jinling-class ships, and more than 20 Fuzhou ships with a capacity of more than 3,000 tons (700 tons). In addition, there were more than 300 auxiliary ships of various types.
Of course, Zhu Youdong had no money to buy new ships for Funing Town, but he still made some repairs. So, at this time, although the hulls of Yu Zigao's 20 Fuchuan warships were still the same, the guns on them were replaced with new guns produced in Fangshan. Each ship had 40 115mm and 20 90mm guns.
"General Yu, according to the observations of the Suzhou, the Siamese pirates and the Spanish have already joined forces. Their main forces include 40 Beizhili-class ships and 100 Jinling-class ships. We are basically on par with them in terms of secondary battleships, but we are half as many as them in terms of first-class battleships. Therefore, I think that after the three of us join forces, we must fight, but we still need to think carefully about how to fight."
"Well, what Yan Shuai said makes sense. So, does Yan Shuai have a successful case?"
"On my way here from the South China Sea, I worked out a plan with the ship's staff. I would like to ask Marshal Yu for advice."
"Hahaha..." Yan Siqi's words sound much better than Li Guozhu's bluntness! Yu Zigao nodded with satisfaction: "I dare not. My warships and my men are unable to keep up with the situation. Please help me, General Yan."
"General Yu, you are too modest. Now that a powerful enemy has invaded, it is time we need seniors like General Yu to lead younger generations like us to defend the country against the enemy together." Yan Siqi still humbly raised Yu Zigao's hand and waved to the staff officer behind him, who then placed a large nautical chart on the command table.
"General Yu, General Li, please look, although the Zhaoqing Town I just took over has a lot of vacancies and the warships are too old to be used, but last year His Highness asked them to investigate the water conditions in the South China Sea, and they went there seriously."
Yan Siqi's finger slowly moved to Hainan Island: "Now, although the Siamese thieves have successfully landed in my Qiongzhou Prefecture with the help of the Spaniards and obtained a large forward base close to my Ming mainland. However, they have restricted themselves. This fleet is only valuable when it moves. If it is locked in the port for some reason, it will really become a fleet of existence as Your Highness said."
"Well, Yan Shuai, please continue."
"Yes, you two. The national strength of our Ming Dynasty is far superior to that of Siam. It's just that in recent years, Your Highness has been busy rectifying domestic affairs and has invested less in our navy. But now, our Changsha Shipyard has begun to operate at full capacity. If nothing else, in at most half a month, we will have ten new Beizhili-class ships ready for use, and they will join the fleet after a simple sea trial. By then, we will have the strength to fight the enemy head-on. Not to mention that Your Highness has also asked the Ministry of Revenue to pay for the Ministry of Industry to build a new shipyard in Tianjin. In short, time is on the side of our Ming Dynasty."
"General Yan, what you said makes sense. But..." Yu Zigao spread his hands, "Although Qiongzhou Prefecture is a remote place, it is a prefecture directly under the jurisdiction of the Ming Dynasty. The fact that we were attacked at this moment and the Siamese landed is enough for the imperial censors to impeach us. If we avoid the enemy and do not fight at this time... It is possible that we will be forced to leave before the new ships are built. I am not arrogant, but in my opinion, the green hands of the Ming Royal Naval Academy are still very young. If the three of us leave, the newcomers may very likely destroy such a large fleet!"
After Yu Zigao said this pitifully, Yan Siqi and Li Guozhu looked at each other and smiled.
"General Yu, please be at ease. Your Highness is now the regent, and your Highness has a soft spot for you, haha..."
Hey, of course I know that you two are the secret servants of His Highness, and your backers are very strong. But I am not!
"General Yu, don't worry about the impeachment. But in order to make things easier for the Crown Prince, I still have to do something."
"Oh~ So what does Yan Shuai mean?"
"Please look, both of you." Yan Siqi pointed his finger at Hainan Island again. "Go northeast from Qiongzhou Island to the mouth of . The hydrological conditions here are extremely complex, and in some places the reefs are less than one meter from the water surface. The Siamese people have just arrived and it is impossible for them to figure it out. Moreover, there are sea breezes, river breezes, and mountain breezes here, and the wind direction is extremely chaotic, which is not suitable for operating complex soft sails. Therefore, what I mean is to ask Marshal Yu to lead the Funing Town Fleet to station at the mouth of the Pearl River, which can not only protect Guangzhou, but also deter the Portuguese in Macau. Moreover, Xiong Zhijun has already led Kunming Town to Guangzhou. This Kunming Town does not have much else, but it has a lot of cannons. If the fleet of the Siamese thieves dares to enter the mouth of the Pearl River, I am afraid that they will be annihilated!"
"Okay! If those Siamese thieves dare to come, I will let them know that although the warships in Funing Town are a bit old, they can still kill people as long as the terrain is suitable!"
"Hahaha, Yu Shuai is still strong despite his old age. Then, next up, Brother Guozhu."
"Um?"
"There are two tasks. Choose one first."
"Can you tell me what it is first?"
"Haha, with Brother Guozhu's ability, are you afraid that he can't guess it? Next, of course, you and I will split up our forces. One way is mainly the Beizhili class, heading east to find and intercept the Spanish treasure fleet. The other way is mainly the Jinling class, taking advantage of the small size and high speed of the ships to harass and attack the Siamese shipping lines!"
"Wonderful! The fleet that invaded Qiongzhou Prefecture this time is so large, the Spanish must be involved. Since they dare to send a fleet to deal with this, they will definitely not take care of the other side! Zhenquan, this matter is settled, I will be lazy. I will not play hide-and-seek with the Siamese in the South China Sea, I don't have the patience and meticulousness. Therefore, I will lead the Beizhili-class main fleet to the waters near Luzon!"
"Brother Guozhu!" Hearing Li Guozhu's casual words, Yan Siqi was really moved: Yes, fighting guerrilla warfare with an inferior fleet in the South China Sea seems to be full of crises on the surface. But in fact, the enemy's fleet has been locked down to a large extent because Hainan Island has not been able to send out many warships. And playing hide-and-seek in the vast ocean? Didn't both he and Li Guozhu do this in their early years?
But it was hard to say whether they would go to Luzon to capture the treasure fleet: did they think the Spanish would participate? But what if Siam was so strong? Moreover, Li Guozhu had been training the navy in China for many years, and Yan Siqi was stationed in Osaka. In short, the two were completely unfamiliar with the water conditions in the Luzon area. It was not easy to lead the main expedition this time.
However, Li Guozhu had experienced the Battle of Osaka and was the only commander in the Ming Dynasty who had experience in commanding a large fleet of new-style sailboats. Therefore, Li Guozhu was the most suitable person to go to Luzon.
"That's it, guys. According to my estimation, we will get ten Beizhili-class ships within a month, and thirty within three months. Therefore, we need to bring reliable communication ships for easy communication. And the place of communication." His finger moved away from Hainan Island, and then gradually moved to the northeast: "It's here, Taiwan!"
