Liujiagang is the place where Zheng He set sail.
Zheng He sailed out to sea, but the pace of shipbuilding in Liujiagang never stopped.
Over the years, there have been twelve treasure ships from this dockyard, including the one given to Chen Kan by Zhu Di.
There were more than 240 lucky ships.
As for the small cruisers and warships, there are countless.
Zheng He took away three treasure ships, more than a hundred blessing ships, and hundreds of cruising warships.
The remaining treasure ships, except for one which was given to Chen Kan by Zhu Di, were all handed over to the navy for service.
This time, the Guanhai Guard, Shaoxing Guard and Fuyu Guard who accompanied Chen Kan to sea each had one ship.
At this time, three treasure ships were parked in the dock, and countless naval officers and craftsmen were undergoing maintenance.
For naval officers, warships are like cavalry horses, and they are their most loyal and closest partners.
This time we were going to the ocean, so of course we had to make up for all the loopholes beforehand.
Before Chen Kan arrived, all the naval officers and men of the Three Guards were controlled by Song Qing, commanded by Guanhaiwei.
Song Qing was the navy Qianhu who escorted Chen Kan to the criminal king Zhu Jixi.
In just a few years, Song Qing was promoted from Qianhu to the commander of Guanhaiwei, and now he has become the deputy commander in charge of an army of 15,000 people. The speed of promotion is not unsatisfactory.
But few people know that Song Qing is where he is today because of the deep friendship he formed with Chen Kan, who was still the imperial guard's governor on the ship.
Therefore, Song Qingming appeared to be a rising star in the army, but in fact he was a fan of Chen Kan.
But this time, Zhu Di boldly used Song Qing, a young man with no military exploits, to give him a chance to train for Chen Kan's sake.
Otherwise, there were so many battlefield veterans in the Ming Dynasty, and it would be impossible for him to get his turn.
"Report, Commander Jie, Marquis Jinghai has arrived in Guazhou, thirty miles away."
The leading scout kept reporting back to Song Qing about Chen Kan's distance.
Song Qing stood on the bow of a treasure ship, holding a telescope and looking at the upper reaches of the river.
After hearing the news from the scout, he stopped and said, "Probe again and report again!"
"Got the order!"
According to the military system of the Ming Dynasty, the supreme commander in wartime is called the commander-in-chief, and the deputy general is called the commander-in-chief.
In the Yongle Dynasty, there was no precedent for eunuchs to supervise the army, so the two commanders were the eldest in the army.
"Report, the Marquis is twenty miles away!"
The scout reported again, and a smile suddenly appeared on Song Qing's face: "Probe again, report again!"
After the scouts took the order and left, Song Qing ordered to the soldiers: "Come here, summon the generals from more than a thousand households in the army and follow me to meet the commander-in-chief!"
Soon, Shaoxing Guard Commander Tan Cong and Fuyu Guard Commander Dou Xing led their generals to quickly assemble.
Song Qing also recruited thousands of subordinates and commanded Tongzhi and many other senior generals.
The three of them gathered together and led more than 30 senior generals under their command out of the dock. They divided into two lines and waited quietly on the official road.
Not long after, a black line appeared in front of the generals.
The clatter of horse hooves sounded, a heavy sound that was extremely difficult to hear in Jiangnan.
"Drive~"
Chen Kan had no intention of cherishing horsepower.
This time Zhu Di asked him to go to sea, and even skipped mobilization before the war. What he wanted was a quick word.
So he wasn't going to waste time.
As the saying goes, rescuing people is like putting out fire. If he arrived one day late, a few more people in Zheng He's fleet might starve to death.
"Drive~"
Controlling the horse again to speed up, Chen Kan finally saw the tall mast in the dock in the distance.
This is not the first time Chen Kan has come to Liujiagang Pier. The last time he came, Chen Kan took away a treasure ship and the peerless warrior Cheng Feng.
But this time, what Chen Kan wanted to take away were three naval guards.
The navy of the Tang Dynasty set up guard stations based on place names. Each guard had five thousand-household stations, each of which had a full complement of 1,120 people, and ten hundred-house stations, each of which had 112 people. people.
There are two general banners under the hundred households, each with fifty people, and five small banners with ten people each.
A guard station has a full staff of 5,600 people, 600 of whom are in the management level. The highest commander is called the commander. Under the commander, there are commanders and commanders. The three people are in charge of the military training and daily affairs of the guard station. and logistical provisions.
There are also a number of civil servants, called experienced, who are mainly responsible for recording marching routes, battles, military reports, or recording military affairs for generals.
This time Chen Kan led 15,000 men on the expedition, including 24 officers at the Qianhu level and above.
These twenty-four people all have the right to consult on military aircraft.
Therefore, for Chen Kan, who has never had large-scale leadership experience, going overseas this time will be a very challenging thing.
But, it’s not a big problem!
This time, Chen Kan plans to have a one-word speech.
At most, he would only accept the advice of the three guards chiefs. As for the others, he only had to bow his head and obey orders.
Because this time going to sea is fundamentally different from his journey across the grassland.
When he traverses the grassland, he must consider every detail, because the grassland is full of enemies. If he is not careful, he and the two thousand soldiers under his command may die in the grassland.
Therefore, he needs to open up his voice and let all his subordinates work together to find out and fill in the gaps.
This time it was different. In the words of later Yunlongski, this was called a battle of wealth. How to fight a battle of wealth? Of course, it was with firepower coverage.
And above the sea, the enemy can be seen at a glance.
The mission is even more clear. It is that simple to break through the blockade of the Malacca Strait by Sumatra and Manchuria and rescue Zheng He.
Compared with the grassland, which had no destination and was only for destruction, this war had almost no technical content.
No matter how you plot, I will support you all the way.
"Xu~"
Chen Kan reined in the horse, and the horse immediately stood up.
The movements of the two hundred soldiers behind him were almost the same as those of Chen Kan. This was a tacit understanding that could only be found among elites who had fought for the rest of their lives.
Song Qing led Tan Cong and Dou Xing stood at the gate of the dock. They felt that the momentum of the two hundred people in front of them was greater than that of thousands of troops.
When the war horses neighed, even the three of them were capable generals in hundreds of battles, and they couldn't help but feel their breath stagnate.
The pressure brought by the elite cavalry will definitely impact the hearts of others with great force.
Not to mention the two hundred cavalrymen, both men and horses, like steel monsters.
Chen Kan raised his visor and looked condescendingly at the group of senior generals in front of him who were about to go on an expedition with him.
The soldiers behind him raised their visors at the same time, and their murderous intent was instantly directed towards the group of generals in front of them.
Many Qianhu, who are still young and grew up in the south, and have never seen the power of cavalry, can't help but fight between the two groups. If it weren't for the three generals at the front who withstood the pressure, they would have been prostrate on the ground at this moment. .
The atmosphere was silent for a moment. The leader, Song Qing, took a deep breath, then gave a military salute to Chen Kan who was on the horse, and shouted: "The last general, Song Qing, led the three generals to welcome the commander-in-chief!"
"Welcome to you, Marshal!"
The sound of armor clashing was loud, and more than twenty senior generals shouted loudly at the same time, although they could not compete with the killing intent poured out by Chen Kan's personal guards.
But the young general, who was originally fearful, now only felt heroic in his heart.
Chen Kan looked around at the generals and said calmly: "No courtesy."
"Thank you, Marshal!"
Chen Kan nodded slightly to Song Qing, who was standing at the front.
Then he ordered in a very soft voice but everyone could hear: "Send this command to the generals, beat the drums and order the troops!"
"Got the order!"
Song Qing raised his head, saluted Chen Kan again, and retreated to the side with a group of generals.
Chen Kan dismounted, and the guards behind him also dismounted.
Surrounded by everyone, Chen Kan slowly walked into the dock.
"Dong~"
"Dong~"
"Dong~"
The dull sound of war drums sounded like thunder on a sunny day.
The soldiers who heard the sound of the gathering drums stopped what they were doing at the same time.
Then he quickly returned to the cabin and started putting on his armor, and then headed towards the school grounds in an orderly manner.
The school yard in Liujiagang is actually an open space for shipbuilding.
When there is no war, this is a construction site for building treasure ships. Once there is a war, the ships under construction only need to be moved along the rolling logs to the edge, and it becomes a square large enough to accommodate tens of thousands of people.
Amidst the deafening sound of war drums, Chen Kan slowly walked to the temporary general-ordering platform set up on the north side of the square.
He was still wearing the armor that had accompanied him for three thousand miles on the grassland, and was soaked in blood and turned dark with red light.
Chen Kan sat on the general stage with a golden sword. Song Qing stood behind him as the deputy general, pointing the ground with the long sword in his hand. He and Zhang Dong, the commander of Chen Kan's personal guards who had returned from Nanjing, were on the left and right, like two A loyal demon guardian!
The three drums sounded, and the 15,000 people in the field had already assembled.
As the saying goes, once a person exceeds ten thousand, there are no boundaries.
Fifteen thousand people are all his supporters. This feeling can really make people feel excited and high-spirited.
Tan Cong and Dou Xing each took a step forward, bowed their hands to Chen Kan and said in salute: "Commander, the 5,600 Shaoxing Guards have assembled. Please review them, Commander-in-Chief."
"The 5,600 people of the Fuyu Guards have been assembled. Please review by the commander-in-chief."
After the two reported their numbers, they stood under the stage with their hands tied, waiting for Chen Kan's instructions.
Song Qing took a step forward, cupped his hands and said, "Commander, the 5,600 Guanhai Guards have assembled. Please review them, Commander-in-Chief."
Chen Kan nodded expressionlessly, his eyes constantly scanning back and forth among the army.
According to custom, when the army is recruiting troops, it is necessary to perform divination and offer sacrifices to the sky to seek blessings from the gods, and at the same time, living animals must be killed as sacrifices.
Most of the time, the living creatures killed for sacrifice to heaven are people who have committed capital crimes.
But Chen Kan didn't intend to kill people casually.
Therefore, pig sounds suddenly sounded on the school grounds.
In Chen Kan's opinion, since it is a sacrifice to God Haotian, a pig's head is definitely better than a human head.
After a while, two guards walked to the stage with trays in hand. One of them had a freshly cut pig head in his tray, and the other guard had a turtle shell in his tray.
The guard placed the pig's head on the incense table that had been prepared earlier, bowed and said, "Please give me a gift, Commander-in-Chief."
Seeing Chen Kan nod, another guard walked up to the general ordering platform and handed the turtle shell to Chen Kan.
