Chapter 330: Sea Forces
"Well, it is said that the Li Sheng Dynasty sent out tens of thousands of naval forces and more than a hundred warships, but in the end only a dozen small boats returned!"

"It was also because of this defeat that the Li Sheng Dynasty was in turmoil. Since the year before last, many rebels have emerged in the Li Sheng Dynasty. The Li royal family has been defeated in battle after battle and has almost lost half of its territory. But I don't know what the situation is now!"

Sun Cheng said.

He had been staying in Tenglongwei for the past six months and knew little about the changes in the external situation. Naturally, he had no idea what was going on in the Lisheng Dynasty over the past six months.

Yang Zhengshan nodded slightly, "Sure enough, the world outside is very exciting, pirates, dynasties, rebels, haha, it's really lively!"

Sun Cheng laughed and said, "If you want to talk about excitement, the Southeast Sea is the most lively!"

As he spoke, he unfolded the lower part of the chart, revealing the southeast waters of Dayong.

Yang Zhengshan had seen the nautical charts around Dayong and had many impressions of the southeastern waters of Dayong, the biggest of which was the large number of islands.

The northeastern waters of Dayong are mainly dominated by the Li Sheng Dynasty and the De Sheng Dynasty. There are also many islands, but most of them are offshore islands close to the coast.

But the situation is different in the southeastern waters of Dayong. Large and small islands are connected together, like countless stars in the night sky.

“Sir, this is the Lu Sheng Dynasty, this is the Annan Dynasty, and this is the Jinlong Dynasty!”

The Lu Sheng Dynasty and the Jin Long Dynasty were both located in the southeastern waters of Dayong. The territories of the two dynasties were like two beans sitting next to Dayong.

The Annan Dynasty was not an island dynasty, but a land dynasty located in the south of Dayong. It had a long coastline and could be considered a dynasty in the southeastern waters of Dayong.

"In addition to the three dynasties in the southeastern sea area, there are also Xingyue Island, Shenmu Island, Dihuo Island, Jiuxing Island, etc. These large islands have their own forces. They are not pirates, but they regard themselves as sects. However, they are secretly connected with many pirates, and even many pirates are supported by them behind the scenes!"

"Xingyue Island, also known as Xingyue Sect, has many connections with the Lvsheng Dynasty. It is said that Xingyue Sect has always wanted to replace the Lvsheng Dynasty and establish its own dynasty!"

Yang Zhengshan opened his mouth slightly. He naturally knew the Xingyue Sect. After all, he had dealt with the Yuhengxing Hall of the Xingyue Sect before.

He didn't expect that the Xingyue Sect had such great ambitions and actually wanted to establish its own dynasty.

"Apart from these sects, the rest are pirates and merchants. The relationship between pirates and merchants is so complicated that it is difficult to sort it out."

"There are hundreds of pirates entrenched on this densely populated island. The strong ones have tens of thousands of people, who are both merchants and pirates, while the weak ones may only have a few hundred people. They are extremely cruel!"

Sun Cheng said slowly.

After listening to this, Yang Zhengshan couldn't help but sigh: "No wonder the court has been unable to eliminate the threat of pirates. How can we eliminate it?"

Sun Cheng showed a bitter look, "How difficult is it to eliminate the threat of pirates?"

"Your Excellency may not know that some pirates may be supported by these dynasties. A hundred years ago, during the reign of Emperor Dezong, there were more than a dozen pirates landing and causing trouble along the southeast coast of Darong every year!"

"In order to quell the pirate rebellion, Emperor Dezong built 67 cities along the coast, set up nearly 100 garrisons and inspection offices, and organized a 100,000-man navy! It took him ten years to suppress the pirate rebellion!"

"However, in order to quell the pirate rebellion, our national strength was greatly damaged. The 100,000-man navy soon became abandoned because it lost the support of the court. Until now, our navy can only be trapped in the near sea and has no strength for expeditions!"

Sun Cheng shook his head with some regret.

Darong has been passed down for more than 300 years, and the country's strength has fluctuated, and it has also experienced many crises.

By now, there were many rotten and decayed parts inside Dayong. Emperor Chengping was like a paperhanger, patching up the gaps and preventing such a big ship from sinking.

In fact, the more Yang Zhengshan learned about Darong’s history, the more he felt that Emperor Taiping had a difficult life.

What was Darong's situation when Emperor Chengping ascended the throne?

At court, because Emperor Chengping came to the throne illegitimately, the situation was turbulent and full of crises. It took Emperor Chengping several years to gain control of the situation at court.

On the northern border, the Hu tribe was eyeing it covetously. The Donghai Hu tribe and the Wuliang Hu tribe invaded for years. It was not until the Battle of Black Cloud Mountain that the Donghai Hu tribe was severely damaged and the northern border became peaceful.

It took ten years to quell the rebellion of the chieftains in the southwest of Dayong.

Pirates are rampant in the southeastern waters and often harass coastal areas.

In recent years, natural disasters have occurred frequently in Dayong, including severe drought in Chongshan Town, severe drought in Hengshan Prefecture, severe flood in Kuizhou Prefecture, etc.

With all these things happening one by one, if there was a new emperor, Darong might have been in chaos now. Only Emperor Chengping was able to stabilize the political situation and patch up the Darong Dynasty.

……

For the next two days, Yang Zhengshan stayed on the boat, either asking Sun Cheng about the distribution of forces at sea or observing Yu Tonghai's naval training.

This time the navy went out to sea not just to transport goods or escort merchant ships, but also for training.

Therefore, during the voyage, the navy officers and soldiers were not idle. They kept changing their formations and coordinating with each other according to Yu Tonghai's command.

The main ship issued orders through flag signals, drums, and horns, and the surrounding warships changed directions and formations according to the orders, and coordinated with each other.

This is a test for every captain of a ship, because it is relatively troublesome to transmit messages on the sea. Sometimes the transmitted messages are not very accurate, and many times the captain needs to understand the main ship's orders according to his own ideas.

At the same time, you must observe the friendly ships around you to make sure there will be no collision and that you can cooperate well.

For these, the captains of Tenglongwei are almost all novices. Although they have gone through a period of study and training near the coast, they still need to practice slowly after entering the deep sea.

Yang Zhengshan stood behind Yu Tonghai, looking at the warships in different changing formations. He could see that the soldiers' operations seemed a bit clumsy and flustered.

The most important thing is that many warships in the rear cannot receive orders. "What should we do if the warships in the rear cannot receive orders when the wind and waves are strong?" Yang Zhengshan suddenly asked.

Yu Tonghai said helplessly: "Then the captain can only make the decision and act freely!"

Whether it is flag signals or drum beats or trumpet sounds, they will not be very accurate in conveying information.

If it were on land, we could send a messenger over, but on the sea, we can't send someone to swim over. As for sending a small boat over, that won't work either because of the timeliness.

Once the battle begins, the situation on the battlefield changes rapidly. By the time the small boat delivers the order, it is unknown what the battle situation has become.

Yang Zhengshan frowned and looked up at the clear sky.

He was the one who set the sailing date, so it was naturally the day with the best weather. However, his weather sensing was also limited in range. Yang Zhengshan had not specifically verified the range of his weather sensing, but he knew that the range should not be small, probably several hundred miles in radius.

The weather is clear at this time, and the warships in the rear cannot see the orders issued by the main ship. What if the wind is strong and the waves are high?

Conveying orders level by level?

It doesn’t work either!
Because a navy does not have a hierarchical system. Except for the main ship, all other ships are almost of the same level.

The reason is simple. Various ships have different functions and they need to perform different tasks during combat.

For example, the patrol ships are all scouts in the front, the Haicang ships are acting as frigates around the main ship, and the distribution of the eagle ships is much wider, some need to warn on the periphery, and some need to guard around the main ship.

Gradual communication is not acceptable.

Yang Zhengshan frowned and continued to observe. Suddenly, he saw Yu Tonghai raise his hands to shield his eyes from the sunlight, with a look of surprise.

"Don't you have a telescope?"

"Telescope? What is that?" Yu Tonghai asked in confusion.

Yang Zhengshan held his forehead with his hand. He felt something was wrong. He always felt that there was something missing in Yu Tonghai's hand, but he couldn't remember it for a while. It was only when Yu Tonghai blocked the sunlight with his hands that he remembered it.

There is no telescope!

"It's something that allows people to see farther!" said Yang Zhengshan.

Yu Tonghai shook his head blankly, "What is that?"

Yang Zhengshan thought about it and said helplessly: "Forget it, let's talk about it later!"

The principle of telescope manufacturing is simple, but the glass lenses are a bit troublesome to make.

He knew that the main material for firing glass was quartz sand, and there were many auxiliary materials such as soda ash, soda, lime, etc.

Firing glass should not be difficult, but making glass with high transparency is a bit difficult.

Yang Zhengshan thought that he could find someone to test it out when he got back. This matter needed to be tested slowly and there was no need to be impatient.

……

After sailing for three days and two nights, the fleet arrived near the coast of Songhe Prefecture in the evening of the third day.

Nothing unexpected happened during the voyage. Yang Zhengshan wanted to see the pirates in this world, but he was disappointed. They did not encounter any pirates at all.

Dayong's Jiangnan refers to several prefectures including Suzhou Prefecture, Hangzhou Prefecture, Sangzhou Prefecture, Haizhou Prefecture, and Songhe Prefecture.

Among them, Songhe Prefecture is located in the southernmost part and is considered the most inconspicuous prefecture in Jiangnan.

However, the destination of their voyage this time is Songhe Prefecture.

After entering the sea near Songhe Prefecture, Sun Cheng took a dozen guards and went ashore on a small boat.

At about midnight, Sun Cheng came back on a small boat, and Luo Shang came back with him.

"Greetings, sir!" After Luo Shang boarded the Dafu ship, she saw Yang Zhengshan and immediately showed a happy smile.

Yang Zhengshan nodded slightly, "When will we dock?"

"Tonight is fine!" Luo Shang pointed to the southwest and said, "The dock I bought is over there, not far from here!"

Although these warships and merchant ships all belong to the Tenglong Guard, Yang Zhengshan cannot take these ships to those big ports openly.

It's not that he can't lead troops out of the country without permission. The navy is different from the land army. It is normal for the navy to conduct exercises at sea. Whether Dayong has a clear demarcation of the sea areas or not, it doesn't matter if they go far away. However, if there are major losses, that is another issue.

Yang Zhengshan mainly didn't want to deal with the Maritime Customs. If he went to those big ports, he would definitely not be able to escape the questioning of the Maritime Customs, so it would be better not to go to avoid more trouble.

Under Luo Shang's leadership, they soon arrived at a bay.

This bay is not big and is surrounded by small hills. The so-called dock is also very small. Merchant ships can dock there, but large ships certainly cannot.

However, this place is hidden. Although the Dafu ship cannot dock, it can enter the bay. Once it enters the bay, it is difficult to be discovered from the surroundings.

(End of this chapter)