knife

Chapter 614 Seamless Cooperation
Yao Dali volunteered to be the vanguard officer of the entire fleet.

In fact, when the two naval forces were first merged, Director Wang was still somewhat uneasy.

Because Yao Dali came from outside the Great Wall, in terms of lineage, he was a direct subordinate general of the Beiting Protectorate, and his relationship with Li Dachui was much deeper than his own.

Besides, Yao Dali is older than him.

Although the area outside the Great Wall has never been known for its navy, the two had previously clashed in the waters of Zigui and Badong, and Wang Dao knew that his opponent's naval skills were not bad.

Moreover, the hundreds of warships the enemy brought were superior in performance to the warships under his command.

Don't underestimate this advantage.
In naval warfare, the superior performance of a ship can sometimes determine victory or defeat in an instant.

To give an analogy, if two ships are clashing, and one is faster and has a smaller turning radius, then it is very likely that the other ship will have already rammed into you halfway through your turn.

Just this little thing could take your life.

Wang Dao humbly invited Yao Dali to serve as the commander of this naval force.

Director Wang still vividly remembers Yao Dali's expression at that time.

The naval commander from beyond the Great Wall looked at Wang Dao as if he were a monster. "General Wang, the appointment of military commanders is a very serious matter. Once the order is given, we have no choice but to carry it out resolutely. How can we accept it privately? You don't want your head, but I, Yao, still want to live and make a name for myself!"

These words left Director Wang speechless.

I was just being polite, okay?

He thought the other person was still angry.

But later collaborations proved that he was overthinking things.

Yao Dali didn't have much respect for their commander, but he carried out orders without any discount.

Over time, Wang Dao learned about the military system of the Beiting Protectorate, as well as its related manuals and military laws, from Yao Dali.

A well-organized army

A general without discipline.

After learning all this, Director Wang was finally completely relieved.

With this foundation, their collaboration gradually improved.

Of course, Director Wang is still very grateful to Yao Dali.

Sometimes rules are rules, and reality is reality. If Yao Dali really wanted to make things difficult for Director Wang, there was really nothing he could do.

The Empress Dowager had privately instructed them that they must keep a low profile.

From now on, I will be working under Li Dachui. Maintaining good relations with these veteran generals from beyond the Great Wall will be of great benefit to me.

Therefore, he always granted Yao Dali's requests.

Yao Dali is actually quite content.

Back in the Northeast, although he was in charge of the navy, there were really no battles to fight. He was more of a transport captain, and the happiest thing was when he occasionally had the chance to suppress river bandits.

He also went to Xuanwu Prefecture, leading a large group of people to study shipbuilding for a period of time. However, after only one or two voyages, Yao Dali realized that it wasn't his area of ​​expertise. At sea, no matter how diligent and hardworking he was, he couldn't compare to Cai Ming and Cai Tianci, or even the leaders of experienced long-distance voyages, or even the pirates who had been routed by the Beiting navy. His focus should be on inland waterways.

Upon arriving in Shu, he quickly assembled a powerful fleet. Ambitious, he easily captured Zigui and Badong in his first battle after leaving Shu, and then encountered Wang Dao in Yiling.

After that battle, Yao Dali realized that his practical experience was really lacking. If his warships hadn't far outperformed their opponents, he would have suffered a crushing defeat in the Battle of Yiling.

Fortunately, the Danyang coup occurred, and Wang Dao hurriedly returned. The two never fought again, and when they met again, they had become comrades-in-arms.

Yao Dali is a very ambitious person.
Therefore, he humbly sought advice from Director Wang on his experience and techniques in naval warfare.
Wang Dao, wanting to cultivate good relations with the generals outside the Great Wall, was generous in sharing his knowledge.
Wang Dao thought Yao Dali was Li Dachui's trusted general, but Yao Dali knew his own situation and knew that he was not Li Dachui's direct subordinate.

It was simply that there were no generals skilled in inland river warfare outside the Great Wall, so he was choosing the tallest among the short.

I was fortunate enough to be one of the winners.
But if you don't strive to grow,

I will soon be eliminated.

Having arrived in the interior of China and in the south, Yao Dali had clearly felt the pressure.

There are countless people skilled in naval warfare!

Having an early advantage doesn't mean you can stay ahead.

If you can't even seize the opportunity of being in a favorable position, it will be extremely difficult to recover once you've been suppressed.

Now that Director Wang, a man with a family tradition of scholarship, is willing to impart all his knowledge to me, wouldn't I be incredibly stupid not to study hard?

You should know that knowledge like this is generally not passed on to outsiders.

However, Yao Dali also discovered a shortcoming of the Chu navy: its understanding of waterways was limited to certain generals.

The results of the groundwork he had done during his two years in Sichuan, when presented to Director Wang, indeed took him quite a surprise.

A thick stack of maps clearly depicts the hydrological and geographical data of the entire river.
Looking through these maps, Director Wang was extremely surprised.

He was naturally aware of this. The Wang family had passed down their knowledge of the great river for generations, and they knew it inside and out. However, this was the foundation of their family's confidence. Now, Yao Dali had brought it out, and after a quick glance, he found that Yao Dali knew more about it than he did.

And that's not all. Yao Dali also brought out weather data from previous years, as well as the impact of the weather on the Yangtze River. Individually, these data may not seem special, but when put together, they become extremely important information.

The Beiting Protectorate has always valued collecting, organizing, and analyzing data. The Zhiqiu Academy has a statistics department and a specialized cartography department, so they are very familiar with these tasks.

This is what it means to combine two good things into one good thing!
Having seen these things, Director Wang no longer had any intention of hiding the naval combat techniques, because combat techniques can be discovered through trial and error. On the contrary, what Yao Dali had brought out was more valuable.

With such detailed information and more advanced warships, the Shu Commandery's navy will have a powerful navy in the future, even without our own resources.

The two commanders cooperated sincerely, without any selfish motives of their own. Even if their subordinates wanted to cause trouble, they were quickly suppressed. Although the two naval forces had only been truly merged for less than two months, their combat strength had already been roughly formed.

In Wang Dao's words, as long as they fight one more battle and win it, their navy will be able to dominate the Yangtze River and have no rivals.

Yao Dali stood at the bow of the boat, his hand on his sword, watching the waves crashing against the bow and splashing high. The cry of an eagle came from the sky. Looking up, he saw the eagle circling above his head. Watching the eagle's flight path, Yao Dali chuckled.

"Pass down the order: the enemy vanguard is at most five miles away from us. Prepare for battle! A victory in the first battle will greatly boost morale."

(End of this chapter)