The legend of the king of crossing

Chapter 302

As the host of this grand meeting, Ma Tingluan, the busiest Minister of Rites, asked: "Your Majesty, can the banquet begin?"

I smiled: "Okay, I've been busy for a long time, and I feel a little hungry, Ma Aiqing, let's start now."

"Yes, Your Majesty," Ma Tingluan looked quite tired, but he was in good spirits, and said loudly, "Dear colleagues, the feast bestowed by His Majesty is now beginning. Please enjoy it to your heart's content. The song and dance performance will be performed at the same time."

The performances during the banquet are mainly dancing and singing, and there are also various folk tricks such as puppet shows, shadow plays, and acrobatics occasionally. abundant.

In ancient times, the emperors (unknown emperors) and court officials were actually very hard-working. Last night, all the officials and I kept watch until the early morning. Today, we will come to attend the court meeting early this morning. Some officials who live a little far away don’t even dare to sleep. , came to wait outside the palace early, plus a morning of tossing, it is indeed not easy, especially there are many elderly ministers.

If, like some officials in the later generations, they sing and dance all night long, even if they forcefully get up early, they will be repaired by the emperor directly when their eyes are still dim.

The specifications of the imperial banquet are extremely high, and the menu is also in accordance with the proposal of the Ministry of Rites, but I have reduced a few dishes. My principle is that it is okay to eat well. After all, they are all important officials in the court. Can't be wasted.

Like the later generations, the Spring Festival in the Song Dynasty also had a seven-day long holiday. With the special approval of the king, it can often be extended to about ten days. The metropolis will return before the fifteenth day, but I dare not relax in the slightest. During this Spring Festival, in addition to convening some ministers to discuss matters, I plan to take a good look at the information of the Xianwen Pavilion, and I think I will gain something.

In the afternoon of the next day, I summoned Lu Xiufu, Li Beiyang, and Ouyang Jianqing in the Imperial Study Room. According to the plan, Li Beiyang will lead the last batch of expeditionary navy to set off on the morning of the third day of the Lunar New Year to wipe out the "One Piece" entrenched overseas. Zhang Xuan.

"Your Majesty, I will see you,"

"Excuse me," I pointed to the map on the table and said, "Li Aiqing, this is a coastal map, please tell me about Zhang Xuan's situation first."

"Yes, Your Majesty, there are hundreds of pirate gangs along the coast, and the number of them generally ranges from dozens to hundreds of people. The larger pirate gangs have seven or eight large ships that have been refitted, and the number can reach There are about a thousand people, and Zhang Xuan's group can be regarded as super-large pirates. According to the information obtained by the minister, Zhang Xuan has a total of fifteen large armed ships, equipped with weapons such as catapults, arrow crossbows, and hook guns. , is the main force along its rampant coast, and there are nearly [-] armed medium-sized ships, and countless small ships. "Li Beiyang, standing by the table, said to the map, "Your Majesty, please see that there are Nanji and Beiji Islands on the eastern sea not far from Wenzhou Mansion. This is one of their bases, and the other is near Ryukyu. The area around Kume Island and Chiwei Island is its main base,"

"Well, this Xuan's pirate ship is also somewhat similar to the equipment of my navy, and the number of people is beyond the reach of other pirate gangs. No wonder it can become the One Piece who dominates the coast,"

"Yes, Your Majesty, that's why this group of pirates can stay here for a long time,"

"Li Aiqing, what is the current equipment of our army?"

"Returning to Your Majesty, the most advanced long-range attack weapons of our army will be tested in actual combat this time. Although they are still the original rockets, artillery, fireballs, thunderbolt guns, etc., the ammunition used has been improved by the Gunpowder Department. The power of fireballs and cannonballs of the same size is about dozens of times that of the original ones. If it is a small ship, it only needs one fireball to destroy it. A medium-sized ship only needs ten shells to destroy it. Its heavy damage, even Zhang Xuan's large warship, can hardly block dozens of shells, "

"Very well, if our army's warships have real artillery, it will be called prestige,"

Li Beiyang said very yearningly: "Exactly, I estimate that if our army's warship is equipped with a magic weapon, it only needs to hit the entrance of the opponent's large warship with several consecutive cannonballs to make it lose its combat effectiveness. Thank you very much this time." Brothers from the Gunpowder Department, when I come back, I will definitely ask His Majesty for credit for the Gunpowder Department."

I don't understand naval warfare, so I asked with a smile, "Li Aiqing, how does our army conduct command at sea?"

"Your Majesty, there are two traditional ways of commanding the navy. One is to use the golden drum flag, which is similar to the army. The second way is to send order ships to command operations,"

"These two methods are recorded in the "Wu Jing Zongyao". The first method is affected by external factors such as weather and distance, and the second method is slow." I thought immediately, "If there is a telegram, it should How nice it is,"

"Yes, Your Majesty," Li Beiyang said, "Could it be that Your Majesty already has a good plan?"

Of course, Li Beiyang didn’t know that there would be such things as telephones in the future world, and no one could overcome the limitations of history. I shook my head and said, “No, Li Aiqing, tell me about our army’s tactics in naval battles. "

"Your Majesty, I have summed up my naval tactics over the years into seven. The first is throwing weapons during boarding battles. This is a combat method that has been used since the establishment of the Navy. The second is the use of firearms Application, with the advent of gunpowder, rockets and artillery have become the main weapons for long-distance attack. The third is mobility. Water warfare is based on warships. After all, it is not as flexible as soldiers on land. This requires adjusting firepower at any time according to the situation. The fourth is the cooperation of various warships. There are dozens of warships used by our navy, each with its own advantages and disadvantages. When fighting, it is necessary to make full use of various warships. The fifth point is to be familiar with the climate and currents at sea. This is the geographical advantage mentioned in the art of war. The sixth point refers to the formation of warship formations. There are currently more than ten types of formations in our navy. There are many, such as the one-character array, the arrow array, the goose crane fish array, etc. The seventh is a surprise attack, just like the land battle, a sudden attack, which catches the opponent by surprise, but this time the suppression is not a surprise attack."

I nodded and said, "Li Aiqing, there are quite a lot of water warfare methods."

"Yes, Your Majesty, any tactic has advantages and disadvantages, it depends on the timing of use, just like in the Three Kingdoms period, Cao Cao used iron chains to connect the ships, which can reduce the shaking of the warships and make the northern soldiers who are not good at water warfare get used to it, but This created an opportunity for the Sun-Liu allied forces to attack with fire,"

"That's right, Li Aiqing, let's talk about your battle plan this time."

"Your Majesty, my Great Song Navy will dispatch 500 people from the North Sea Fleet, 2000 people from the East China Sea Fleet, 500 people from the South China Sea Fleet, and 850 marines directly under the navy headquarters, including expedition personnel from the Beihai, South China Sea, and East China Sea Fleets. I have already arrived at the designated location, and tomorrow I will lead the Marine Corps to join them in a fast boat. According to His Majesty's instructions, this operation is to destroy pirates, and to train troops. After discussing with the Military Affairs Council, I will start from the north, south, west, and west. Attack the Nanji and Beiji Islands off the coast in one direction, and set aside the east. Chen and others estimated that Zhang Xuan and the pirates would flee eastward to the Kume Island area as before, and our army would chase them all the way without attacking. Take this opportunity to practice well, and when the pirates arrive at Kume Island, surround them and try to wipe them all out."

"With the superior strength of our army, we can destroy it smoothly, but if Zhang Xuan is still the same as before, and flees to Ryukyu if he can't fight, what will you do?"

Li Beiyang said: "Your Majesty, the minister will follow His Majesty's instructions a few days ago and take Ryukyu together,"

"Well, Junshi, Ouyang, what do you think?"

Ouyang Jianqing said: "Your Majesty, in the opinion of my ministers, I will inform Ryukyu first that I will arrest the bandits, and I hope they will cooperate."

I shook my head slightly and said, "Based on the relationship between Zhang Xuan and Ryukyu, I guess Ryukyu will not cooperate with my dynasty."

Ouyang Jianqing said without hesitation: "Your Majesty, according to His Majesty's will, take Ryukyu together."

Lu Xiufu also excitedly said: "Your Majesty, this is indeed a very good excuse. It is also in line with the style of my dynasty,"

The Ryukyu Islands officially became my country’s affiliated island country during the period of Zhu Yuanzhang in the Ming Dynasty. Before that, they were many autonomous islands, similar to independent tribes or loose associations. The larger islands include the Osumi Islands, the Tukara Islands, and the Amami Islands. Islands, Okinawa Islands, and Sakishima Islands. Around the time of the Southern and Northern Dynasties, the Xiongteng family, the rulers of Okinawa Island, conquered the Ryukyu Islands by force and established the ancient Ryukyu Kingdom. By the end of the Song Dynasty, the rulers of the ancient Ryukyu Kingdom had long since lost The control over other islands has returned to the earliest era of island autonomy.

The current ruler of Okinawa Island, Xiong Tengxiu, is unwilling to do this, and intends to unify the entire Ryukyu Island again. With the assistance of the pirate Zhang Xuan, Xiong Tengxiu obtained a large amount of military supplies such as weapons and armor from the Song Dynasty. As far as the island country is concerned, these sophisticated equipment have undoubtedly become a sharp weapon for Xiong Tengxiu to conquer the entire island. Zhudao, the [-] pirates under his command will definitely help him. In Xiong Tengxiu's view, only Zhang Xuan's fifteen large ships are not something people from other islands can compete with.

"Li Aiqing, your navy will go on an expedition during the new year, thank you all for your hard work."

"Your Majesty, if you can share your majesty's worries and make meritorious service for our court, you will only feel extremely honored and will not feel the slightest hardship,"

"Okay, very good," I praised while saying, "Junshi,"

Lu Xiufu didn't know why I called his name suddenly, and subconsciously replied: "The minister is here."