Chapter 403: The Horn of War

The sun was setting in the west, and the sunlight passed through the branches of the trees, casting spots of light on the warship. Read

Zhao Xu led Zhou Yi and the students down the river bank and came to the edge of the deep pit of the dry dock.

Here, a crossbeam was placed on the deck of the warship and the edge of the concrete wall.

At this moment, Zhou Yi and the students' eyes were straight.

Although they had trained in Pingcheng together, they were also not allowed to approach the ship department.

Now, seeing such a huge warship in front of them, the shock in their hearts was no less than seeing a meteor falling in front of them.

Thinking that this was the warship they were about to operate, everyone was even more excited and flushed.

Many students wanted to jump onto the warship and kiss the deck immediately.

Zhang Yazi was also among the students. He looked at the warship with admiration as if he saw Erya in the village.

"My God, even if this big baby hits it, it can smash the Goryeo warship into pieces." Zhang Yazi sighed.

The students around him learned a little about warships in the school.

Pointing to the small window-like place on the side of the warship, he said: "This warship is not used to hit the enemy, but to use cannons to hit the enemy's ship."

"Cannon?" Zhang Yazi felt that his brain was not enough.

The news about the cannon spread in the Battle of Yanguan.

He heard that one shot would kill the men and horses.

He didn't expect that this cannon could be installed on a warship.

Thinking of this, he became more and more excited.

"This thing is the mast. It has not been hung yet. After launching, it will be hung. It is the most difficult thing to operate on the warship." Zhao Xu passed through the crossbar and came to the deck, pointing to the three upright thick woods.

Zhou Yi nodded, his expression was like a student, listening humbly.

"The highest disc-like thing is the observation tower. When the warship is sailing, someone needs to be on it to keep an eye on the situation on the sea."

"This is the alarm bell. Once encountering the enemy, you can shake the alarm bell."

The deck of the sailing warship is basically flat.

After a brief introduction, he led Zhou Yi and others down the steps into the warship.

At this time, a strong smell of wood came to the nose.

"This is where the crew rests."

"This is the gun position." Zhao Xu introduced as he walked.

With his introduction, Zhou Yi and others had a general understanding of the structure of the warship.

Today, he did not expect the students to be completely familiar with the warship, but just let them open their eyes.

Soon, they will stay on the warship for training every day.

In the evening, everyone left the ship department.

Zhao Xu also ordered the county governor to prepare a yard in the city for lectures.

In the following time, he lectured every morning, taught them the longitude and latitude, and the calculation of triangle angles, and took them to the warship to simulate the operation of the sail in the afternoon.

In addition to the students, Zhou Yi also transferred the navy soldiers to train together.

After all, the generals need to master navigation technology, and the operation of the sails and the war require soldiers.

Four days later, the Arms Department delivered the first sextant. He simply went to the warship for on-site teaching, and at the same time urged the Arms Department to deliver the artillery for the warship to Pingcheng.

When the warship was completed, the artillery was put on board.

During this period, the Arms Department no longer delivered artillery to Chang Wei.

Because the number of artillery had long been sufficient.

So what has been manufactured is actually the naval artillery on the warship.

This kind of artillery is the same as the city defense artillery, which is a heavy artillery.

The contemporary red cannon is a copy of the Dutch naval artillery.

While Zhao Xu was training the navy, Chang Wei was not idle.

At this time, in a wilderness in Wu'an County, Zhongli led the cavalry to pretend to be the Northern Di cavalry to attack the chariot formation again and again.

They used crossbows instead of the Northern Di people's bows and arrows, but the arrows fired were without arrowheads.

Faced with the circular chariot formations, Zhongli was helpless.

In the end, he had to give up his warhorse and play the role of the Northern Di infantry in hand-to-hand combat.

But the flintlock soldiers in the chariot formation kept firing. When they were killed and wounded and attacked the chariot formation, they were faced with soldiers who had been waiting for a long time. They knocked them over with wooden sticks wrapped in cloth.

What was even more hateful was that the artillerymen also hid in the chariot formation. They pushed the artillery to the same level as the chariots and bombarded them through the gaps between the chariots.

During the charge, they were constantly judged to have lost personnel.

There were also cavalry in the chariot formation. Once they were defeated, the soldiers of the palace would open the iron chains and let the cavalry rush out to pursue.

"All killed!"

After another charge, the general who commanded the exercise shouted.

Hearing this, Zhongli said to Chang Wei: "General, let someone else play the role of Beidi. This battle cannot be fought."

Chang Wei patted Zhongli on the shoulder, "Keep holding on. No one else can play as well as you. After fighting for the past few days, I have accumulated a lot of experience, which will be very useful on the battlefield in the future."

Seeing that Zhongli still looked like he had no desire to live.

He said, "When we return to Yancheng, I will give you three jars of the royal palace wine."

Zhongli stood up immediately after hearing this, full of energy, "It's settled."

Chang Wei saw this and scolded with a smile, "You kid just want to blackmail me for the wine."

Zhongli just dodged Chang Wei's sweeping kick and ran away with a laugh.

Not long after, the horn sounded again, and Zhongli, acting as the Northern Di cavalry, rushed towards the chariot formation again.

The exercises of the infantry and cavalry and the training of the navy were in full swing, and the days passed by.

September 24, the 23rd year of Taihe.

Zhao Xu received the news from the capital.

The Northern Expedition Army will arrive on October 5.

The war will begin then.

"The warship can be launched." Zhao Xu said to Chen Shou after hearing the news.

At this moment, he was on the warship. Although the weather had turned cold, he was sweating all over.

There were several stoves burning charcoal on the ground of the dry dock, raising the temperature here very high.

"Yes, Your Highness."

Chen Shou was also waiting for this day. Although it was not perfect, the warship was finally going to be launched.

He immediately ordered people to clean up the dry dock and remove the stove.

Then he ordered people to open the gate valve facing the river, and the river water quickly poured in. As the water level rose, the warship continued to float up and finally flush with the river surface.

The same was true for other dry docks. One warship after another floated up from the ground of the dry dock.

Seeing Zhou Yi and the others were all excited, Zhao Xu said, "What are you waiting for? After so many days of drills, it's time for you to actually operate the warships."

Zhou Yi was just too excited and reacted immediately. He shouted, "Captains, the first mates are still on the crew, all in place."

The captains of the twelve warships were selected based on the results of the drills during this period.

They all mastered the proficient use of sextants and the identification of longitude and latitude charts.

At present, the only thing they lack is the actual experience of entering the sea.

But he is not too worried about this.

The Goryeo Navy is not necessarily stronger than them. Even if they are fighting each other, they have the advantage of crushing.

Looking at the busy naval soldiers, Zhao Xu cast his eyes to the north.

The horn of war has finally sounded.

Beidi wants to attack him from the sea this time, and he will make him die ugly.