Volume 2: Soaring! The Overlord of the Region Chapter 332: Ming Prepares to Counterattack (Part 3)
The meeting hall gradually fell into dispute because of Fang Congzhe's speech.
Now, even those who did not understand military affairs understood through the explanation and guidance of Ma Gui and others: the key to the current war is at sea! As long as the Ming fleet can defeat the combined fleet of the three countries, the whole situation will be saved.
Of course, the ratio of first-class warships of both sides was 20:50 before. Therefore, not to mention Zhu Youdong, even other senior officials did not ask the navy of the Ming Dynasty to fight a decisive battle. But now it is said that the Spanish Manila fleet has been lured away. And the Changsha shipyard has new ships. If Li Guozhu's fleet comes back. The ratio of the main battleships of the Ming Dynasty and the Japanese and Thai navies is 30:27 (Japan and Thailand suffered losses in the Chongmingsha offensive and defensive battle). In this way, the navy of the Ming Dynasty has an advantage.
Therefore, a group of officials led by the Minister of War Wang Xiangqian were inclined to launch a decisive battle as soon as possible.
In this faction, apart from Wang Xiangqian, the most aggressive one was the Minister of Revenue Xu Honggang.
There is no way. Although Wang Xiangqian and Xu Honggang often quarreled at State Council meetings, they had the same stance on this matter.
For the Minister of War, if the enemy came to his house to fire cannons and rob people, how could he face people in the future if he didn't fight back? And what about the Ministry of Revenue? The Ministry of Revenue's income would be greatly reduced if the maritime trade was cut off! Moreover, over time, the single event of the cut-off of maritime trade would affect the people's livelihood in the southeastern provinces and even the central and northwestern provinces!
There are those who support a quick war, and there are those who support a slow pace. This faction is naturally headed by the Prime Minister Fang Congzhe.
Fang Ge Lao's idea was very simple: Yes, Li Guozhu's fleet led the Spaniards away, but after you, Li Guozhu, came back, the Spaniards followed? It would still be 30:45, and the Ming Dynasty would still be at a disadvantage. Moreover, the crews of the ten new ships in Changsha Shipyard were not very familiar with the ships. If they fought, it was hard to say how much they could play. It was hard to say, and it would be 25:45 at that time.
As the Prime Minister, Lao Fang has more questions to think about than the two Shangshu. In his opinion, the size of the Ming Dynasty is much stronger than the two little thieves of Siam and Japan. As long as we slowly accumulate strength, at most one or two years, we will be able to defeat these two clowns. Is it necessary to seek a decisive battle so hastily?
The two factions had their own arguments at the meeting. When they were refuting each other's views, they did not forget to glance at the leader. However, His Royal Highness seemed to be lost in thought and had no intention of expressing his opinion.
Just when the group of old men were getting a little tired, there was a knock on the door outside the meeting room.
The door opened, and a messenger with three red flags on his back walked in: "Your Highness, an urgent report from Sun Zhijun, the Governor of Fujian and Zhejiang."
At this time, Zhu Youdong, who had closed his eyes at first and gently patted the armrest of the chair with one hand, stood up all of a sudden: "Bring it here for me to see!"
After quickly reading Sun Chengzong's report, Zhu Youdong's expression improved significantly: "Everyone, Mr. Sun came to report that on July 2 this year, that is, seventeen days ago, Li Guozhu's main fleet had entered Yuegang. At the same time, Yan Siqi and Yu Zigao's fleets had also gathered there. Mr. Sun said that on the day of sending the letter, these three generals had led all the fleets north to Chongmingsha, preparing to receive the new ships there.
In addition, Mr. Sun also said that Li Guozhu's fleet went south to Luzon and successfully intercepted the Spanish treasure fleet. Six Spanish escort warships, three cargo ships, and seven were captured. Our Huguang was slightly damaged, and the Chongqing and Kunming were moderately damaged. These seven cargo ships contained a large amount of spices, as well as silk, porcelain, tea, and various antibiotics that we sold. The total value was about 1.2 million silver dollars. "
As if to confirm Sun Chengzong's report, Zhu Youdong had just finished saying this when a messenger came in from outside the meeting room.
This was sent by Yuan Keli, the governor of Southeast China. What he said was roughly the same as what Sun Chengzong said.
Yuan Keli's messenger also attached Li Guozhu's report. Li Guozhu said that the minister, Yan Shuai and Yu Shuai had already received ten new Beizhili-class ships, and the existing ships had also entered the port for repair and maintenance. After the three of us discussed it, Your Highness asked us to give us another month, and then we are willing to go out to sea to find the enemy fleet to invite us to fight. At the same time, Li Guozhu also clearly pointed out that the sea area for the decisive battle should be between Taiwan and Ryukyu - this is the midpoint of the route between Japan and Thailand. If this is interrupted, the alliance between the two countries will lose its military significance.
"Your Highness, this is great! Let's prepare for a decisive battle at sea!"
"Your Highness, no! Although I am old, I read the Yanjing Daily every day. I know what this treasure fleet means to Spain. Marshal Li said that the goods on these seven cargo ships are worth 1.2 million, and that is the price of antibiotics and silk porcelain tea calculated according to the market price of our Ming Dynasty. In fact, these things will cost tens of millions to be shipped to Spain! After losing such a large amount of things, won't the Spaniards come to fight us to the death? Even so, we are still at a disadvantage in terms of warships!"
"Lord Fang! You won't fight when you are at a disadvantage? If that's the case, how did Taizu establish the country? How did Chengzu quell the rebellion?!"
"Humph! Of course, starting a business in the past was difficult, and we had to use the weak to defeat the strong. Today, the power of our Ming Dynasty is far greater than that of the Three Kingdoms. Why can't we be patient for now and crush them with our magnificent formation in the future?"
"Hahaha~~" After a hearty laugh, Zhu Youdong put his hands down, and the entire venue became quiet again.
"Before receiving the news from Li Guozhu, I had some ideas in mind, but I couldn't make up my mind for the time being. But now... um, Mr. Xu, how long does it take for my Ming shipyard to build a warship?"
"Your Highness, a 600-ton second-class battleship with a finalized design usually takes only five to six months to build with twenty craftsmen and sixty ordinary craftsmen. If you don't pay attention to details and rush the work, three months will be enough. A 1,200-ton first-class battleship usually takes eight to nine months, but if you rush the work, it can be shortened to five months."
"Well...how many slipways does my Changsha Shipyard have now? How many craftsmen? How many warships can be built at the same time? What about the Binhai Shipyard in Tianjin?"
"Changsha Shipyard has twelve slipways, four of which are used to build two-class warships, and two are used to build other auxiliary ships and repair ships. The shipyard currently has 320 craftsmen, more than 780 experienced craftsmen, and thousands of apprentices. Binhai Shipyard has the same number of slipways as Changsha Shipyard, but the number of craftsmen is only half of that of Changsha Shipyard."
After Xu Guangqi finished speaking, he thought for a moment and added, "Your Highness, what I just said was only the construction period. In fact, the most time-consuming part of shipbuilding is wood. At present, the wood for the two major shipyards in the Ming Dynasty mainly comes from southern Hubei and Liaodong. The former is transported through the Yangtze River, and the latter is transported by sea. After these woods arrive at the shipyard, they need to be shaped and dried. If you want a warship to have a service life of ten years, it will take three to six years for these woods to be transported to the shipyard before they can be used for warship construction.
Since His Highness left Nanjing to build the Changsha Shipyard, the batch of warships that were rushed out ten years ago have all been destroyed. This is because the wood was not thoroughly processed at that time before it was used to build the warships. Most of the warships in the hands of Li Shuai and Yan Shuai were built in the last three to five years, and the quality of this batch of wood is also the best. "
"Well, thank you Mr. Xu for clearing up my doubts." Zhu Youdong took a deep breath and said with a smile: "Everyone, I have a complete set of plans, and I would like to invite everyone to discuss them together."
