The modified biplane could carry a load of 500 kilograms, and the internal cargo space was much larger. It could be used as a bomber plane to play the game of 'Heavenly Maiden Scattering Flowers'. With Flat Hair piloting the plane, there was a soldier in charge of throwing the bombs. In one breath, he could throw dozens of five kilograms worth of explosives.
Before the explosives even hit the ground, the Kennu soldiers on the ground were already in a mess. Many of them were thinking, 'Aiyo, these Han are really powerful. They are definitely here to throw stones.' But it didn't matter, they just had to avoid them.
When the 'stones' landed on the ground, each of them blasted a large hole in the ground, blowing up all the people and objects around the hole. Many of the Kennu soldiers were cursing in their hearts as they were thrown into chaos. They knew that the things the Han threw were definitely not good. As expected, they would explode when thrown!
In a few seconds, Mangurtai had fled a hundred meters away. When he turned around, he saw that the frontline he had set up had been blown to smithereens. The smoke and dust from the explosives filled the air, obscuring the vision of many people and causing even more chaos. When he saw this, he felt as if his heart was weeping blood, thinking that his thousands of elite soldiers were going to be finished.
The biplane streaked across the sky in an arc and flew away.
Flustered and exasperated, Mangurtai returned to the frontline and found that not many people had been killed. The few hundred kilograms of explosives had only killed slightly more than a hundred people, and one of the cannons had been destroyed. The cannons in the cannons had been blown askew, but it was not a problem to fix them. This bit of damage was still bearable.
After a closer inspection, it was mainly because the fortifications made from the frozen earth parapet had provided a good protection. In addition, the ground was hard, so the explosion did not blow up much soil and debris. The power of the explosives had shot up into the sky, so the secondary damage was very low. Apart from the unlucky soldiers who happened to be in the area where the explosives landed, the others only felt a strong gust of wind blow over their heads, scaring them to death.
"Parapet, parapet, it's good to have a parapet." Feeling lucky, Mangurtai heaved a sigh of relief. He immediately had a deep understanding of the purpose of the fortifications, and immediately ordered, "Let the slaves build more frozen earth walls, cover the cannons, lay them with wood, and cover them with soil and water."
After Zhou Qingfeng sent out Flat Feather, he soon discovered that the rate of hitting the target was extremely low by randomly throwing explosives at him. The explosives were also ineffective against the sturdy fortifications made of frozen soil. As long as the Kennu hid behind the parapet, only a few of them would be killed.
Zhou Qingfeng observed the cannons at Shanhai Pass for a long time and realized that his bombing had forced the Kennu soldiers to cover their cannons. He couldn't help but scratch his head. The explosives were quite effective against unprotected targets, but not so effective against these protected targets.
"Continue to fire. Aim and destroy the enemy's cannons." Zhou Qingfeng ordered the artillerymen on the wall.
It wasn't that the Longsong Cannons on the wall were inaccurate, but they couldn't hit the only shooting hole in the enemy's cannons 1,500 meters away. The hole was only about a meter wide, and a slight deviation would only hit the parapet of the cannons made of frozen soil. Although the accuracy of the Kennu cannons was even worse, Shanhai Pass was too big a target. If they were to shoot at each other, the Revolutionary Army would be at a disadvantage.
"I have to think of another way." Zhou Qingfeng left the wall and saw Xu Bing walking towards him with a solemn expression. "What happened on your side?"
"Two pieces of news." Xu Bing was always concise when she was serious. "One is that the 12th Infantry Brigade and two Militia Brigades from Tianjin arrived at Shanhai Pass by sea yesterday. According to what you said, they will arrive in the morning and after resupplying in the afternoon, they will set off again for Suizhong County in Liaoxi Corridor to intercept Mangurtai's retreat. This will take about two days. The other news … "
Xu Bing handed Zhou Qingfeng a copy of the manuscript. Judging from the paper used and the title of the manuscript, it was the highest level of telepathic communication from Shandong. Zhou Qingfeng thought it was the fake Ming court in the south who wanted to rebel, but upon closer inspection, it turned out to be an ultimatum. The sender was' Sir Thomas Roy, Consul General of the Dutch East India Company in Batavia '.
This thing was written in both Chinese and Dutch, and it looked very formal. Xu Bing said coldly, "Your previous worries and speculations were right."
Zhou Qingfeng furrowed his brows. The letter was addressed to 'General Zhou, the leader of the Revolutionary Army of the Eastern Country'. It started with a bunch of nonsense and only revealed its true meaning at the end.
It probably said that Sir Roy had led a huge fleet from the south and was entrusted by the King of the Jin Kingdom, Nurhachi. He wanted to mediate the war between the 'Revolutionary Army' and the Jin Kingdom, and hoped that the 'Revolutionary Army' would open Tianjin and other ports for foreign trade.
"Following the example set by Guangdong, opening up a prosperous commercial area in the north for Dutch merchant ships to dock and repair, and allowing Dutch missionaries to preach freely?" Zhou Qingfeng directly threw the letter away when he saw this. He asked Xu Bing with a face full of anger, "Where did this letter come from?"
Xu Bing, however, picked up the letter and put it away properly.
"This was sent by Li Shuwei from Shandong. An armed merchant ship of the Dutch suddenly appeared in Weihai, Shandong, and handed this letter to our local official. The official who received the letter was an idiot. He didn't care about it at first and didn't report it to us. It wasn't until a huge fleet appeared at the junction of the Yellow Sea and Bohai Sea that the official realized the seriousness of the problem.
At present, we don't know the situation on the sea, and we don't know how many enemies there are, so we must send biplanes out to investigate. In addition, I've already notified Zhao Ze in Jinzhou. He's rushing to the Jinzhou Shipyard to organize the navy to search for this group of uninvited Dutch.
I'm very worried that this Western fleet will directly enter the Bohai Sea Bay. They may attack Tianjin, or they may attack our troop carriers on the sea, and they may even intercept our sea communication lines. Our naval strength is still too weak. "
As the saying goes, 'ten years of land, 100 years of navy.' The navy's requirements for the quality of personnel were too high. The current 'Revolutionary Army's naval strength had just been established not long ago. Zhou Qingfeng could not train many sailors and officers even if he had the blessed cave. There were not many warships either.
However, the worst situation that he had expected would not happen until the 'Revolutionary Army' was ready.
Zhou Qingfeng took a deep breath with a gloomy face. However, before he could speak, Xu Bing rushed to say, "You're the commander, don't think about solving everything by yourself. Just stay in Shanhai Pass. Let Zhao Ze deal with this matter, let the navy deal with it. "
At present, fire phoenix and ice emperor were responsible for defense in the sea cover line, and He Zhuo was in the grassland. In addition to being responsible for the machinery factory, Zhao Ze also took care of the Dandong front line. The people in the time-travel team also had their own duties, and no one could leave. At present, only Zhu Chengxiu of the navy could be sent to the battlefield. This navy commander had always been in the position of 'there is no great general in Chuan Zhong, so Liao Hua is the vanguard', and she rarely had the opportunity to show her face.
Zhou Qingfeng also knew that he couldn't do everything, and many things had to be done by the people under him. After listening to Xu Bing's advice, he sighed and said, "Then I don't care about anything?"
"With our current strength, experiencing some setbacks will only make us grow better. You should stay in the capital to prepare for the founding ceremony. "Xu Bing said.
Zhou Qingfeng smiled bitterly, "Well, I'll let it go, I'll let it go, and give my men room to grow. Even Mangurtai outside Shanhai Pass, I won't think about it. Let's see how Gao Daniu deals with it. As for that Sir Roy … "
"Who knows where this clown came from?" Zhou Qingfeng's eyes were cold. He could tolerate other things, but he couldn't tolerate the fleet from the West. "Tell Zhu Chengxiu that I want to wipe out this Roy's fleet. If he can't complete the task, he can't do it. "After that, Uncle Zhou waved his hand and went back to his office angrily.
Uncle Zhou waved his hand, but the clown in his mouth was commanding the fleet to move forward in a zigzag pattern on the sea. These days, there was occasional south wind, and most of the time, it was north wind. After setting off from Song Jiang Mansion, Sir Roy ran for five days to the open sea of Shandong. He soon saw a steamship sailing on the sea.
A standard transport ship that ran the route from Lushun to Pyongyang was sailing on the sea at a speed of eight knots. When the lookout reported the situation, Sir Roy was extremely shocked. This meant that the offshore transport ship he saw before was not the highest level of shipbuilding by the Revolutionary Army.
The wreckage of the blown up steam engine was on the Amsterdam. Several carpenters on board could not understand it after studying it. At most, they said that the steel used to make this machine was very high-quality, far exceeding the current European smelting level. There were also some parts that were extremely precise, especially the crankshaft parts that fit perfectly. It was hard to imagine how this was made.
Sir Roy was silent about the carpenters on board. With the lookout's reminder, he climbed to the mast himself and looked at the steamship about two or three nautical miles away. The ship did not have any sails, and even the mast was very short, but it was moving fast with black smoke.
"The speed is about eight knots, and the key is that it's not going with the wind at all." After Sir Roy estimated the speed of the ship, he put down the telescope in his hand. He sighed a few times, but it was even more determined in his heart that the Dutch should obtain this magical machine. No matter the cost, they must obtain it.
After re-evaluating the opponent's strength, Sir Roy wrote a letter to the leader of the Revolutionary Army in what he thought was a very 'friendly' tone. After he praised the general who dominated the East, he put forward his suggestion in a 'euphemistic' manner. He felt that he only needed a piece of land to do business, repair, and preach. It was very appropriate and not excessive. The Eastern General Zhou should generously agree.
Fan Wencheng who was on board expressed strong opposition, but unfortunately, his opposition was ineffective.
The letter was sent to Weihai by an armed merchant ship, requesting to be handed over to the commander of the Revolutionary Army. Sir Roy expressed that he hoped to stop at Weihai to get supplies and wait for General Zhou's reply.
However, the Revolutionary Army officials in Weihai refused this request without hesitation. However, when Sir Roy's seven large ships and dozens of 'small boats' appeared, the officials panicked again. This caused Sir Roy to feel that he could not communicate with these stupid natives, so he decided to go directly to Tianjin, hoping to open a direct route to the north of this big country.
Throughout Sir Roy's decision-making process, he and the other captains accompanying him had never thought about the possibility of being rejected or even aroused resentment. The Western colonists had been running rampant in the Far East for too long, so long that they did not feel that they would fail.
The sailing fleet sailed slowly on the sea. They were about to enter the Bohai Sea through the Laotieshan waterway south of Lushun. Fan Wencheng, who was on the ship, breathed a sigh of relief after he understood Sir Roy's decision. "These Tessie guys don't know anything at all. If they barge in like this, they will definitely anger the Revolutionary Army. By then, both sides will definitely fight when they meet."
Looking at the huge fleet sailing on the sea in a mighty manner, Fan Wencheng had a strong confidence in what might happen next. "The Daming Sea has never seen such a large ship of the Tessie people before. Coupled with the ships gathered by the Jiangnan court and sea merchants, they will definitely heavily injure the Revolutionary Army as long as they reach Tianjin. In that case, I won't let you down, Khan. "
Fan Wencheng was filled with emotions while Sir Roy was also filled with hope. The morale of the entire fleet was high, hoping to reach the country paved with gold in Marco Polo's Travels and recreate the glory of the Spanish occupation of the Inca Empire.
Right at this moment, the fleet's lookout suddenly shouted on the mast, "Sir Roy, there's a large ship coming from the north! It's very fast! It looks like a warship!"
A large warship with a very fast speed?
Sir Roy was stunned for a few seconds before he heard an extremely strong whistle coming from the distant sea. A beautiful warship with a streamlined appearance and painted white shot out of the fog on the sea level and fiercely pounced on the Amsterdam.
That's right, there's only one f * cking ship!
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