Southern Ming: A boy soldier at the beginning, supporting the world

Chapter 223: A Brief Discussion on Water Warfare
After sending Zhongzheng Yingli out of the country, Danchu felt relieved. He changed to a navy warship at Wutunso and went up the Xunjiang River back to Nanning.

It is September now, and the weather is getting cooler. The breeze from the river brings the aroma of rice. There are many good fields on both sides of the Xunjiang River. The late rice is about to mature, and the heavy rice ears bend the rice stalks. Many tenant farmers are busy in the fields.

In the distance, the green mountains are towering, endless and eternal.

This year, Guangxi had too much rain, and floods occurred in the Youjiang River Basin and the Beiliu River Basin. Xunjiang River is the main stream of the West River, and the flood disaster was not serious, but there was a reduction in grain production.

“When a country prospers, its people suffer; when a country perishes, its people suffer.” A line from a Yuan dynasty song came to Danchu’s mind, and he could not help but recite it softly: “The peaks and ridges are like gathering, the waves are like raging, the mountains and rivers are within the Tongguan Road…”

He looked solemn and his eyes were deep, as if he was worried about the people of the world.

Yu Houji, the left assistant general, was standing nearby and said, "Marshal Jue, if we don't take the beautiful scenery on both sides of the Xun River now, when will we take it?"

The war in Huguang was over, and the grain station in Zhaoping was also closed. Danchu ordered He Yun to stay in Zhaoping and summoned Yu Houji to accompany him to Nanning.

Chen Bangfu is entrenched in Xunzhou, which is located between Nanning and Zhaoping. He is like a thorn in the throat and will not be happy until he is removed.

"No hurry," Danchu said without hesitation, "The Red Army has been fighting for half a year and has traveled thousands of miles. I am also very tired. Let's rest first. When the Loyalty Camp settles down in Liuzhou, it won't be too late for us to deal with Chen Bangfu."

"I heard that in order to curry favor with Sun Kewang, Chen Bangfu sent people to falsely confer the title of King of Qin on Sun Kewang. I wonder if this is true or not?" Ruan Tingfeng, the commander of the navy, also became interested and asked.

"Although there is no real evidence, it must be true." Danchu asserted: "Once this matter is clear, we can use the excuse that Chen Bangfu deceived the emperor and forged the imperial edict and send troops to attack the old thief."

"We have a legitimate reason to attack, and we will definitely capture Xunzhou." Yu Houji said with a smile.

"Marshal, the navy has volunteered to be the vanguard in the fight against the bandits."

In the Battle of Wutunso, the navy flag became famous in one battle, defeating the Chen Bangfu navy with a smaller force, and Nguyen Dinh Phong's confidence increased.

Danchu smiled and said, "No problem, I'll grant your request. I have been leading the land forces to fight in Huguang for the past six months, and I haven't paid much attention to the navy. Unexpectedly, the navy lived up to everyone's expectations and made a great success, making the whole army take notice."

"It was all thanks to the great talent and foresight of the commander-in-chief that he personally designed the Long Dragon, Crab, and Three-Ban warships and established the naval camp system, which led to the great victory of the Five Garrisons. I was just following the commander-in-chief's teachings and meticulously executing his military orders."

Yu Houji also nodded and smiled. Ruan Tingfeng had his own way of leading troops in battles. What was rare was that he was also modest and prudent, had great commanding talent, and was grateful and loyal to Danchu.

Where can we find such a talented naval commander?
Thinking back to the beginning, Cen Danchu went against all odds and promoted Ruan Tingfeng from a civilian to the naval commander, which shocked the entire army. Yu Houji, who was far away in Zhaoping, wrote a letter to dissuade him, suggesting that a reliable and capable person be selected from the land army to lead the naval. Thinking back now, all these were unnecessary worries.

"Our military system must summarize gains and losses after the war, carry forward strengths and improve weaknesses. In your opinion, what are the strengths of our navy? And what weaknesses need to be improved?" Dan Chu stared at Ruan Tingfeng and asked.

Ruan Tingfeng had heard that Danchu liked to test his generals. Generals with real talent and knowledge would often stand out, while those without real talent and knowledge would often be blushed and exposed. He was a thoughtful person and had already thought about the problem. He immediately asked someone to take out some manuscripts and said, "Marshal, I have prepared a manuscript a few days ago, please take a look."

What a pleasant surprise. Danchu and Yu Houji looked at each other and smiled, saying, "Not bad, not bad."

"The navy often uses wind and water power, so officers and soldiers don't have to ride horses or walk. I have a lot of free time on the ship, so I can write a few articles."

Danchu took the manuscript paper and saw the title in large characters: "A Preliminary Discussion on the Water Battle of Wutunso". The content was easy to understand, concise and clear. It first briefly described the process and results of the Battle of Wutunso, and then summarized the gains and losses and put forward suggestions.

"Well. Your thoughts are clear and every sentence is insightful." Danchu praised, and then said regretfully: "However, the Red Army has limited financial resources and the navy costs a lot of money. We have to do what we can. Some things can be done now, and some will have to wait until the future. Pick a few urgent, practical and feasible issues and tell us about them."

"Yes," Ruan Tingfeng replied, and after a moment's hesitation, he said, "The advantage of water conservancy lies in firepower and speed. The fierce firepower depends entirely on the ship's guns. The speed of navigation depends entirely on the sailors.

"The Sanban ship is small and has the fastest speed. It can go deep into rivers and harbors. When fighting, it often rushes to the front. But the Sanban's firepower is too weak. Although it can get ahead of the enemy, it is not enough to destroy the enemy ship. It must rely on the long dragon and fast crab.

"The Kuaixie carried the same guns as the Changlong, but was longer, heavier, and had more sailors. The original intention of this design was to increase the speed of the Kuaixie. However, the result was contrary to expectations, and the Kuaixie's speed was actually slower than that of the Changlong, because the increase in the number of sailors also increased the size of the ship.

"A long dragon, not counting the guns, costs 380 taels of silver, 70 taels less than a fast crab, not counting the additional cost of sailors and oarsmen. Therefore, I suggest abandoning the fast crab and using only the long dragon and the three-board.

"In addition, although the firepower of the Longlong is fierce, it is heavy and difficult to turn around, and it is easy to be attacked by the enemy. It is necessary to have a three-piece ship to support it at any time. At present, the first battalion of the navy is composed of one Longlong, one Kuaixie, nine three-piece ships, and a number of baggage ships, with 380 sailors.

"Nine small three-pan boats are not enough to support two large long-dragon ships. It would be better to change it to one long-dragon and nine three-pan boats per battalion. The number of baggage ships and sailors will also be reduced, and the total number of sailors can be reduced to 300. This seems more reasonable."

Oh no! Danchu suddenly remembered that the Hunan Navy also abandoned the Kuaixie in the later period and only used the Changlong and Sanban warships.

Ruan Dinh Phong was really good at finding the problem so quickly. The boat was small and easy to turn around. The Red Army Navy was newly built not long ago, so if the problem was found, it should be corrected immediately.

"Very good," Danchu said happily, "Knowledge and action are one. Only by experiencing it personally can one know the truth. Let's do as you say. Abolish the fast crab boats and change the navy battalion system. Each battalion will have one long dragon and nine three-board ships, a total of ten warships."

In this way, each navy ship has only 1,200 people. This is also in line with the law of the navy. At the same level, the scale of the navy is always much smaller than that of the land army.

Ruan Tingfeng continued, "There is another suggestion, which is not urgent but very necessary. Guangxi has many large rivers, and the transportation of supplies relies heavily on water transportation. I think it would be a good idea to organize another naval brigade to transport supplies and troops to improve efficiency."

The importance of water transport is self-evident. The target naval unit has three naval battalions and one baggage battalion, but the baggage battalion can only meet the needs of the unit and has limited support capabilities. It is necessary to add a special water transport unit.

Although the Red Army was not well-off financially, Danchu accepted Nguyen Dinh Phong's proposal.

(End of this chapter)