Chongzhen's domineering

Chapter 325 Strong Army and Mighty Horses, Spreading Prestige at Sea (Part 1)

In August, the capital city was still scorching hot, especially around noon, when the intense heat made the air seem distorted.

In this kind of weather, most people would normally choose to stay home and rest.

However, since we got the cooling fan, even the hottest weather doesn't affect our work anymore.

Countless people are busy working in the densely packed factories in the capital, while thousands of naval ships are conducting intense drills on the sea outside the Haihe River estuary and on the inner sea of ​​the Ming Dynasty.

At this moment, Zhu Jue was on the naval flagship.

This flagship is a Zhenyuan warship with a displacement of over 3,000 tons. However, the front of the three-story cabin has been modified. Not only has a command tower-like structure been added to the top, but the originally sealed cabin panels have also been replaced with glass windows, making the front, left, and right sides bright and clear.

Furthermore, the cabin was equipped with more than ten cooling fans. The whistling cool air circulated through the cabin, blowing away the heat and leaving only a cool atmosphere.

Around the flagship, hundreds of medium-sized Zhenyuan warships, small Zhenyuan warships, and over a thousand medium-sized Zhiyuan warships were already lined up in square formations, just like soldiers waiting to charge into battle.

Zhu Jue raised his binoculars and slowly scanned the area, feeling an overwhelming surge of pride.

The Ming Dynasty navy is about to display its might on the seas!
If these two thousand-plus warships charged forward, the Dutch, the current maritime superpower, would probably be quite startled.

He put down his binoculars, calmed his excited emotions, and then solemnly said, "Youzhen, let's try two rounds of broadside salvo, one round on each side, let them test their accuracy and power."

Upon hearing this, Zhu Youzhen couldn't help but excitedly begin to command. With a flurry of flags waving on the command platform atop the ship, more than two thousand warships quickly formed square formations and long lines, heading towards the flagship's front, towards the mountains near the port.

The target area had already been marked out with lime, and there were also many scraps and defective gun barrels from the sawing of ship planks placed in the target area to test the power of the shells.

Upon seeing this, Wang Zheng, Lu Xiangsheng, and the Zheng Zhilong brothers were all extremely excited.

That's like ten thousand cannons firing at once; the power is unimaginable.

Upon seeing this, the brothers Bi Maokang, Song Yingxing, and Song Yingsheng couldn't help but show a hint of heartache on their faces.

The shells for these cannons are all made of steel. Each shell weighs more than five pounds for a 500-pound cannon. Ten thousand shells would weigh more than fifty thousand pounds, and eighty thousand shells would weigh more than four hundred thousand pounds.
Moreover, the shells need to be ground and processed, the shell casings need to be machined, and the gunpowder needs to be loaded. The process is incredibly complicated.

If you include the cost of gunpowder and processing, a single cannonball would cost about one or two taels of silver.

That's seventy or eighty thousand shots in one go, which is equivalent to throwing tens of thousands of taels of silver into the water.

Before long, the leading medium-sized Zhenyuan warship opened fire. The huge column of warships quickly changed from a straight line to a semi-circle. The rows of gun ports at the top of the arc opened in unison, and the shells rained down on the target area amidst the continuous roar.

The medium-sized Zhenyuan warship is over twenty zhang long, and each deck can be equipped with twenty 500-jin cannons, so three decks can have sixty cannons, and each side has thirty cannons. A salvo from more than six hundred medium-sized Zhenyuan warships can fire nearly twenty thousand shells!

That thing, the shells were absolutely devastating. Ship planks were almost smashed into sawdust, branches and even trunks of trees were broken, and scrapped gun barrels were knocked askew, some even cracked.

At the very beginning, the accuracy of the medium-sized Zhenyuan warships seemed to be quite poor, with many shells hitting outside the target area.

However, after the warships behind adjusted their positions based on the impact points of the shells, the shells mostly landed in the middle of the target area. Nearly 20,000 shells were fired, leaving the entire target area in a mess.

Actually, this effect is already quite good. Whether it's enemy ships or enemy gun emplacements, they'll all be rendered useless after such a salvo.

Seeing this, Bi Maokang couldn't help but put down his binoculars and remind him, "Your Majesty, isn't that enough? After bombarding them like this, the enemy's warships should all be sunk, and the gun emplacements should be unable to fire any more shells."

What are you feeling sorry for?

As Zhu Jue scanned the area through his binoculars, he asked, "How many shells are currently in service with each cannon?"

Without hesitation, Bi Maokang replied, "Your Majesty, the number of cannon shells and musket bullets is the same; each cannon is equipped with twenty shells."

What's wrong with firing two rounds in a salvo?
These two rounds are actually only one round on each side, and all the cannons still have nineteen shells left.

Zhu Jue then asked, "Do you have any stockpiles of these shells?"

How do you say this?

Bi Maokang estimated, "Right now, we can only store a maximum of a hundred thousand shells in our warehouse. However, these shells are all for the newly manufactured artillery pieces." The current artillery production is over six hundred pieces per day, which means that we need to equip the newly manufactured artillery pieces with more than ten thousand shells every day.

Upon hearing this, Zhu Jue replied without hesitation, "Then after they finish firing their salvo, we'll replenish their shells. If these cannons run out of shells, they're no different from scrap metal."

"You need to increase the production of your shells. After all the warships are built, you should test them by firing a salvo from each side. If they go into battle without ever having been used, won't the soldiers be caught off guard and in a panic when war actually breaks out?"

After this, all warships should fire a salvo to test it out.
How many shells would that waste?
Fortunately, we have no shortage of steel or gunpowder at this time.

Upon hearing this, Bi Maokang was taken aback for a moment before nodding repeatedly and saying, "Your Majesty, I understand."

It took more than an hour for these two thousand warships to fire a single volley from their broadsides. The roar of cannons in the Ming Dynasty's inner sea lasted for an entire afternoon. By the time the two volleys were finished, the sun was almost setting.

Zhu Jue, still somewhat unsatisfied, gathered everyone around the command table in the middle and pointed to the map on the table, saying, "Look, the port, docks, and fortresses of Batavia are all divided into two sides, and it would take more than an hour for all our warships to fire a volley from both sides."

If we bombard them one by one, it will take at least four or five hours to wash these ports, docks, fortresses, and gun emplacements clean.

This is such a waste of time, and the time we're wasting is the time it takes them to reload ammunition. It takes four or five hours, and they don't even know how many rounds of ammunition they can reload.

They will have enough time to reload their ammunition, and our warships will take more shells, which will definitely result in heavy losses.

Therefore, we cannot simply line up in a long line and take turns firing in unison. We must divide our ships into eight groups and fire simultaneously. This way, a volley of broadside fire will only take about fifteen minutes, and we can also bombard their port docks and fortified batteries on both sides at the same time.

Upon hearing this, everyone nodded in agreement.

This test wasn't without its benefits; at least it revealed the problem of excessively long salvo firing time on the sides.

Zhu Jue raised his head again and slowly scanned the area before asking, "Youzhen, are you in such a hurry to be ennobled and granted a title?"

Ah!
What does this mean?
Zhu Youzhen was taken aback for a moment before quickly cupping his hands and saying, "Your Majesty, this humble general is only thinking about serving the country, fighting on the battlefield, and I haven't considered the issue of being ennobled or granted titles."

Well, it's good that you're not in a hurry.

Zhu Jue nodded slightly, then explained in detail: "This time we have deployed four or five thousand ships and as many as four or five hundred thousand troops."

It's not that I don't trust you, but the key issue is that you lack naval combat experience. I'm worried that you won't be able to command such a large force and ships all by yourself."

What does this mean?
Zhu Youzhen looked at the Zheng brothers and understood; he had no experience in naval warfare, but the Zheng brothers did.

He nodded quickly and said, "Your Majesty is wise. This humble general is indeed lacking in naval combat experience. This humble general still has a lot to learn."

Hmm, not bad. They didn't try to claim credit or vie for military power.

If you want to claim credit or even seize military power, then you will lose both credit and military power!
Zhu Jue nodded slightly, then said solemnly, "Zhilong, I'll have to trouble you to make this trip again."

In this battle, you will be the commander-in-chief, directing the overall operation. Youzhen will be the deputy commander, responsible for commanding all warships. Zhihu and Zhibao will have to settle for being assistant commanders, leading the small Zhiyuan merchant ships and soldiers to storm the port, docks, and fortified positions.

Should I take command?
This means they're giving me credit for conquering Java!
Upon hearing this, Zheng Zhilong was taken aback for a moment before quickly bowing and saying, "Thank you for your grace, Your Majesty."

Zhu Jue nodded slightly, then said earnestly, "Zhihu and Zhibao, the reason I sent you to lead troops to seize ports, docks, fortresses, and gun emplacements is because I value your bravery."

You should know that on the battlefield, the more afraid you are of death, the faster you will die. So don't hesitate; charge forward immediately when the time comes.”

We naturally know that.

Zheng Zhihu and Zheng Zhibao both nodded repeatedly and said, "Your subordinates understand."

This battle should be no problem for the experienced Zheng brothers.

Zhu Jue nodded slightly, then decisively said, "Alright, you all discuss it carefully, and we'll set off early tomorrow morning at 7:00 AM."

The generals immediately responded with a resounding roar.

(End of this chapter)