open sea

Chapter 683 Armament
It is approaching the day when the emperor will visit the Beiyang Parade in person, and it is also approaching the sailing date of the Eastern Fleet.

More and more imperial guards are stationed in Beiyang, and everything in the military mansion is also entering the final stage of preparation.

In the end, this word will always bring people an endless sense of ritual.

For example, when Chen Mu stepped into the military conference room, the military officers and civil servants belonging to Beiyang on both sides of the long oval table, and even the five Jinshi who were 'promoted' to Asia as county magistrates stood upright and solemn.

When he walked to the main seat, the two rows of military officers and civil servants clasped fists at the same time. After Chen Mu returned the salute, they put them down together. They pulled the chair and sat down with the same two movements, as if they had been rehearsed in advance.

They had indeed rehearsed, and as a precautionary measure, what if the emperor wanted to enter their military council room to speak to the officers when he reviewed the infantry two days ago?

"This is about the last military meeting I waited at the Beiyang Military Mansion before sailing, and you guys don't count."

Chen Mu said and smiled at Ye Mengxiong and Huang Cheng. Ye Mengxiong not only has experience in local governance, but also has made a lot of achievements in the affairs of the Beiyang Branch of the Ministry of Household Affairs. Like his ambition, he does have good military skills talent.

The most important thing is that he has a very good conduct. It is really rare for such a fat job in Beiyang to keep himself clean.

After Chen Mu leaves, he will temporarily act as the chief minister of the Beiyang Branch of the Ministry of Household Affairs, and take charge of Beiyang military training with the assistance of the chief of the Military Bureau.

The rules of military training have been formulated, and there are rules to follow for the rotation of new and old officers, recruiting new soldiers, purchasing military horses, and purchasing ordnance.

The most important thing is that within two years, Chen Mu does not want others to get involved in Beiyang.

As for two years later, he didn't think about it. Two years later, Beiyang will have a relatively firm foothold in Asia and make achievements, and Beiyang will not be chaotic by then.

Chen Mu only took Xu Zhenming from the Ministry of Industry as the head of the branch of the Sixth Department in Beiyang, and everyone else would stay in Beiyang.

"The day after tomorrow will be the grand parade. The parade rules and regulations of the land and navy divisions have already been rehearsed. As long as you show your skills, you will be able to win the applause of the whole house and add luster to the Eastern Expedition."

"On the second day, the Land Division parade, and on the third day, His Majesty boarded the ship, and after the fleet parade, they set sail for Jinzhouwei in turn. Chen will not say much about this."

"How are the fleets and fleets prepared?"

When Chen Mu asked about the military affairs, Zhao Shizhen got up, took Ye Mengxiong's official documents and presented them to the commander as he passed by.

Ye Mengxiong said: "The Eastern Expedition will be divided into five fleets to set sail in sequence. Except for the Chinese army, the flagships of the four naval fleets in the front, back, left and right are all Liujia ships, with an average rate of five fleets, five with five hundred big sharks, and five Two hundred small sharks, six grain boats, six horse boats, and eight baggage boats."

"Each navy fleet carried [-] to [-] sea and land flag troops, with craftsmen, materials, utensils, cotton clothes and bedding, and food and grass for June."

If their voyage is fast, it will be three months, and if it is slow, it will be four months. The extra two months of food and grass is to prevent the ministries from getting lost or the food ship drifting away, and to increase the possibility of survival on the long voyage.

"Each small fleet has a large shark, a small shark, a grain boat, a horse boat, and a baggage boat. The five small fleets belong to the flagship straight grain boat, a horse boat, and three baggage boats."

"And each cabin is equipped with water and food. Even if a single ship loses contact with the small fleet, the small fleet loses contact with the large fleet, and the large fleet loses contact with the Chinese army, try to ensure that it can reach Asia safely."

Ye Mengxiong paused after finishing speaking, and after Chen Mu nodded, he added: "The officer boarded each ship for the third time yesterday to check the luggage, and compared each ship with the list."

Chen Mu looked at the establishment of each fleet on the official document in front of him. The front, rear, left, and right fleets of the four armies all had the same establishment. In addition to the [-] households and craftsmen in the first phase of Beiyang, there were also a group of officers on board who came from Nanyang. Five thousand households.

The five thousand households in the current Eastern Fleet, from commanders to small flags, preachers, and flag drums, are all even-numbered.
Originally, officers were divided into principal and deputy positions. Now the double officer position means that as long as there are enough reserves, one thousand-household officer can be quickly reorganized into two to four thousand-household officers.

Among the cargo of official documents, Chen Mu looked at the spearhead, matchlock blunderbuss, and gunpowder bullet reserves, and nodded with satisfaction. These two most important armaments are the capital to expand the army with locals in Asia in the future.

In terms of the total force plan for the fleet's eastward expedition, the final number was close to [-].

There are 600 people in the Chinese army, divided into three giant ships of 200 materials and three Liujia ships. The crew are more than [-] soldiers from Chen Mu's family and more than [-] new graduates from the lecture hall.

The Red Sea ship was relegated to the role of escort ship, and its flagship position was replaced by a new two thousand warship sent by Nanyang Shipyard. The name of the ship was simply called the Great Wall of the Sea.

Wherever they go, there is the frontier of the empire.

Receiving Chen Mu's agreement, Ye Mengxiong continued: "When the fleet sets sail, everything in the Beiyang school will continue as usual. There will be four officers specially appointed to recruit soldiers, buy horses, manage food, and supervise warehouses. Soldiers and supplies will be sent to Asia twice a year."

"When the commander-in-chief travels eastward to the four thousand li hundred households and when he lands in Asia, he can order the returning luggage ships to carry letters to Beiyang. All the luggage needed for the letters returning from the four thousand li will be sent to the second phase of the flag army in the summer of the coming year. Come to Asia together."

"The request contained in the letter sent back from the west coast of Asia will arrive in Hong Kong with the third phase of the Banner Army at the end of next year and the beginning of the next year. However, the military government does not yet know where Dongyang will set up camp. It needs to be sent back after the commander arrives. information."

After Ye Mengxiong finished speaking, Chen Mu motioned him to sit down, looked at Yang Tingxiang who had just come back from Beiyang Shipyard to participate in the grand parade, and said, "How is your new ship designed?"

Hearing Chen Mu's question, Yang Tingxiang shook his head in embarrassment, cupped his hands and said, "Back to Commander, I made three designs in my humble position, and all the ship models have been built, but in terms of performance, it is not as good as the military warships." Significantly improved."

"The only thing I got was that I spent a lot of time testing the differences in the strength, toughness, corrosion resistance and other parameters of the ship's materials, and the influence of the thickness of the ship's structure on the ship. The data are kept in the Beiyang Shipyard and the Research Institute. I ordered a copy, and seeing that the battle is imminent, I hope that the craftsmen of the shipyard can build better warships in the future."

"This is not a waste of effort, it is very useful, at least it will make the materials used in shipbuilding clearer in the future, and the structure can be slightly changed according to the purpose."

Chen Mu encouraged Yang Tingxiang, and then continued: "Since you have these materials, you also bring a copy, and then draw a few master craftsmen such as sailmakers and shipwrights from the Beiyang Shipyard, and bring [-] apprentices together. Join your ex-military fleet."

"We also want to build a shipyard when we go to Asia. It depends on you to set up a shelf with these people."

The captain of the former fleet is still Chen Mu's old partner Deng Zilong. Yang Tingxiang has the experience of returning from Spain. There are only so many people. duty.

"The road on the sea is very long. You belong to the Chinese army before you reach the [-] li hundred households. When His Majesty parades the navy, you board the Great Wall ship. On the way, you need to design a lighter, faster and easier-to-manufacture offshore boat. boat."

Chen Mu stood up and said to everyone: "That's it, everything is over, I will wait for His Majesty to read it, and set off for the Asia of the Ming Empire!"

　This volume is coming to an end, let's go to Asia tomorrow.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)