Volume 5: Overlord of the Sea Chapter 577 Ocean Losses
On the coast of the sea east of Tanzhou, several huge but somewhat dilapidated ships quietly sailed from the endless sea further east...
After receiving the news from the maritime patrol team, Jiang Wan, the governor of Tanzhou East Road, immediately led his men to the seaside at full speed!
Because the Wei navy and smuggling ships often approach Danzhou, maritime patrols have been arranged around Danzhou, but there are relatively few patrols in the east.
However, this time no enemy ships from Wei were found, but traces of the Chu naval fleet were discovered!
Although it looked a bit miserable, what appeared before him was indeed a fleet with the Chu Navy flag...
Even though he was far away overseas, Jiang Wan could understand how important this far-flung navy was to the State of Chu under the current circumstances!
In fact, because he was far away overseas, Jiang Wan paid more attention to this matter than to the situation in Hanzhong and Xichuan.
While rushing to greet them, Jiang Wan also immediately ordered the Governor-General's maritime patrol force to block the surrounding seas with all their strength, and also block the news...
Both the size of the fleet and the time of return were far from the previous "best estimate".
This made Jiang Wan feel uneasy, fearing that the navy would suffer losses in the expansion!
If this is true, then Jiang Wan needs to suppress the news as much as possible, first take care of the returning navy to recuperate in Tanzhou, and send the letter back to Nanjing by fast boat.
This is to prevent other princes who are interested in the sea from getting informed of the news and exposing their true strength.
Even if the navy suffered little damage, an ambush or surprise attack would be a good idea. It is always better to be careful...
When Jiang Wan arrived at the shore, he saw a "flashy" figure from afar. His heart, which had been tense, sank instantly - who else could be so "flashy" dressed up but Governor Gan?
"Your humble servant Jiang Wan respectfully welcomes Commander Gan back to Chu!" Jiang Wan hurriedly stepped forward and said.
The place under your feet now is one of the overseas territories of the Chu State. Although there is no port for Gan Ning to dock directly, and he has to go down by small boat, there are already many fertile fields and city buildings... Returning here means "returning to Chu" !
"Hahaha, Xiao Jiang, you have built Danzhou very well. I was worried before that there wouldn't even be a place to rest and reorganize, and I would go back and make a fool of myself. Very good, very good. Let me have a good rest for two days and then go back to report to the king." Gan Ning said, patting Jiang Wan on the shoulder.
Gan Ning has always been like this, with both his bold and awkward personality being just right. For a moment, Jiang Wan didn't know whether Gan Ning was hinting that the navy had suffered heavy losses and asking him to cooperate with him in acting so as not to show his weakness, or whether he was really just relaxing...
Without knowing or making random guesses, Jiang Wan directly sent people to "block off" the scene while guiding Gan Ning and some of the main naval generals who had already landed to a nearby coastal town to rest.
At the same time, on the way, Jiang Wan whispered the current situation to Gan Ning.
After hearing this, Gan Ning was still chatting and laughing calmly, which made Jiang Wan realize that something was wrong - with Gan Ning's temperament, if there was nothing unusual, shouldn't he have threatened to destroy the Wei navy at this time?
When they arrived at the governor's mansion, which was simple but well-equipped, Jiang Wan prepared a welcoming banquet and invited Gan Ning to join. Jiang Wan found that Gan Ning, apart from instructing him to prepare welcoming food for his brothers on and off the ship, went straight to the table without any intention of making any arrangements for the navy.
This was obviously not an oversight. Jiang Wan also learned from various reports that the navy under Gan Ning, even without Gan Ning's direct orders, was still "calmly" replenishing supplies, resting, and celebrating to a limited extent...
Even though they had finally returned to the territory adjacent to Chu after several years, they did not seem to be indulgent at all. This was very different from Jiang Wan's impression of a "pioneering navy" that was fearless and had a strong maritime character!
Gan Ning's personality is undoubtedly very flamboyant, and the navy, especially the pioneering navy, also needs a courageous and combative character.
After all, the conditions and military system of the State of Chu are not like those of other princes, where men can be recruited to form an army. Without courage, they will not join the navy.
And now... rather than being "calm", it is better to say that the sharp side is hidden!
Jiang Wan was already convinced that something catastrophic must have happened to the navy in the past three or four years...
From beginning to end, Gan Ning ate and drank as usual, and even...he kept his bad mouth as usual. After hearing that Zhang Chunhua had also become a princess, he joked, "It's a pity that Xiao Jiang you are not a woman."
Later, when the banquet was about to end and Jiang Wan was the only one left, the two of them talked about some serious matters!
Gan Ning did not explain the reason, but only talked about the current situation - the navy that has returned now has a total of more than 8,000 people, and the wine and meat that Jiang Wan had prepared as rewards for the soldiers were not false.
It is said that when Gan Ning left, he took away 25,000 navy soldiers, which can be said to be half of the 50,000 most elite soldiers of the navy at that time. In addition, there were 30,000 pioneering troops. The fleet was very powerful.
And now even if the pioneering army is stationed overseas and a part of the navy is left behind, there should be 20,000 talents normally. This is why the Chu State had high hopes for the "missing" navy before.
Gan Ning did not tell Jiang Wan in detail, but in the secret letter to Bai Tu, he reported the key points in the encrypted part...
Gan Ning's journey to the Golden State was relatively peaceful and smooth. He also discovered some small islands that could supply fresh water, which he recorded. Later, he came into contact with the Mayan civilization in the Golden State as he wished, and the two sides had some exchanges. Gan Ning brought back a lot of crops and wild rubber trees that Bai Tu needed.
Then the pioneering army and a small part of the navy stayed in Huangjin Province, and Gan Ning led 20,000 people back.
However, on the return trip, we unfortunately encountered a strong wind at sea...
If it is an ironclad ship, which weighs 20,000 tons and is now a super battleship that is a city on the sea, the rage of the ocean will be difficult to shake!
However, when Gan Ning went to sea, in order to develop "more efficiently", a large part of the funds was used on railways. Gan Ning's fleet did not have large armored ships, only second-class armored cruisers.
Even Gan Ning’s flagships - two 5,000-ton cruisers - will be fine as long as they don’t encounter a catastrophic storm .
And just as unfortunately, Gan Ning encountered a catastrophic-level gale at sea.
Although most of the iron warships were fine, the other auxiliary wooden ships were completely destroyed.
After a lot of ups and downs, Gan Ning also deviated quite a bit from his direction, and then... by coincidence, he discovered the "Hawaii" that he had never encountered before, which was named "Wangchu" by Gan Ning.
After a violent storm, nearly 5,000 of the 20,000 elite naval soldiers were killed in the sea, but they were basically Ji-made soldiers - even if human warriors fell into the water, most of them had time to return to the flagship or main ship.
However, as a result, almost all the wooden ships were destroyed, and even one of the flagships was temporarily stranded due to a malfunction after docking, and more materials needed to be brought in to repair it.
Because of the loss of ships and supplies, Gan Ning had to leave a small number of human warriors and most of the Ji-made soldiers in "Wangchu" - fortunately, "Wangchu" was large enough, and after initial exploration, it was expected that these people would be able to be fed.
The wooden boats that didn't sink, as well as some iron boats, were also left in Wangchu for use in fishing and sea patrols. Gan Ning only brought back 8,000 people, and only one flagship...
