Chapter 2624

The Jiangsu and Zhejiang regions are densely covered with rivers, and water transportation is one of the most convenient modes of transportation. The Beijing-Hangzhou Canal and Qiantang River adjacent to Hangzhou are the main arteries of the water transportation network in this region. Countless ships pass through them every day, constantly transporting large amounts of materials and

People are sent to various places.

The Beijing-Hangzhou Canal intersects with the Qiantang River in the east of Hangzhou City. This estuary is also one of the busiest water transportation arteries in Hangzhou. However, early this morning, the official traffic control was implemented at the estuary. The Beijing-Hangzhou Canal is only allowed to go out but not in. All plans

Ships that transfer from the Qiantang River to the Beijing-Hangzhou Canal must stop on the Qiantang River to wait for release notice. To this end, the government also dispatched several ships to direct civilian ships at the mouth of the river to dock first on the north bank of the Qiantang River.

In fact, this was not the first time that this happened, so most civilian ships followed the instructions and docked at the shore. Occasionally, a few uninformed ships wanted to go into the canal, but they were immediately blocked by official ships.

The reason for implementing traffic control is very simple. The water channel at the mouth of the river is narrow. If an important person enters the Qiantang River by boat through the canal, in order to avoid being squeezed by civilian boats and unable to move, boats on the Qiantang River will be temporarily prohibited from entering the canal to protect the waterway.

Smooth.

After waiting for more than an hour, a fleet flying the Haihan flag finally slowly sailed out of the Beijing-Hangzhou Canal and entered the Qiantang River. The first one was an expedition-class sailing warship. If you are a little familiar with Haihan naval ships,

People can immediately deduce from the conspicuous chimney that this ship is also equipped with a steam propulsion system, and this is at least an improved model after the expedition-class Type C. It is also an advanced warship rarely seen in the East China Sea Fleet.

What followed were more than twenty heavy-loaded cargo sailing ships. This kind of Yugong-class cargo sailing ship is not a rare thing. It can often be seen on the Qiantang River. It is famous for its large cargo capacity and good seaworthiness.

.However, the ships sailing into the Qiantang River at this time had crenels for artillery on their sides. They were obviously not ordinary civilian ships, but comprehensive supply ships affiliated with the military. And judging from their water lines, they were obviously loaded.

A lot of goods.

It is not common for such a large military transport fleet to appear in the Beijing-Hangzhou Canal. The ship owners who were previously dissatisfied with the traffic control of the waterway automatically shut up when they saw such a sight. If they sailed into the canal rashly, they would not

Be careful to block the way of this fleet, I'm afraid you will be charged with "delaying military aircraft" or something like that.

Behind this transport fleet were two expedition-class warships, which showed how much the military attached importance to it.

It was not until this long fleet of ships all sailed into the Qiantang River that the official ships at the river mouth raised their flags and restored normal traffic order at the mouth of the Beijing-Hangzhou Canal.

"Next, we will go to Dinghai Port to rendezvous with the fleet there, and then set off to the next destination. When we arrive at Dinghai Port, we will arrange to transfer to a larger ship with better conditions." After the fleet sailed into the Qiantang River,

, Wang Anguo announced the next itinerary to everyone.

Their group was currently on one of the battleships at the end of the fleet, and used it as the temporary command post of the fleet. According to the standards of the navy, the equipment on this ship can be considered advanced, except for steam

In addition to the propulsion system, there are also breech-loading naval guns and short-wave radio stations. Its combat capabilities are certainly superior among warships of the same level.

Although Tao Hongfang and others are not affiliated with the navy, they are no strangers to naval warships. They have had many opportunities to board warships of all sizes since childhood, and they also took them many times on their way to Hangzhou.

Warships, so they didn’t have any objections to Wang Anguo’s arrangements.

Among them, only Zhu Zian was riding the Haihan warship for the first time. Everything on the ship felt extremely novel, but he had to maintain a reserved attitude to avoid being looked down upon by nobles like Haihan.

Zhu Zian had heard many rumors about Haihan's maritime armed forces over the years. He knew that Haihan was founded on sea power, and its naval fleet was invincible in all countries. Its strength was far superior to that of the Ming Navy. In fact, he was sensible.

By that time, Haihan had actually controlled most of the Ming Dynasty's coastline, and Shandong's Denglai Navy had long existed in name only. However, its scope of activities had always been limited to Jinan Prefecture, so there was little opportunity to truly come into contact with the Haihan Navy.

When he traveled from Shandong to Liaodong to meet Chen Yixin, he actually saw the warships of the Haihan Navy from a distance in Dengzhou and Lushun. However, because of his sensitive status at that time, he was arranged to take civilian ships to and from Liaodong. To this day

Today, I finally had the honor to board the Haihan warship in person.

Zhu Zian has very little knowledge about ships. Based on his observations, he estimated that the ship he was on was about a thousand materials, which was definitely considered a first-class ship in the northern region. In his early years,

I have seen some information about the Southern Navy. The large warships listed are often only four- to five-hundred-year-old ships. Their displacement and hull size are much smaller than the Haihan warships currently on board.

Of course, there were not no large warships in the history of the Ming Dynasty. According to historical records, Zheng He even built a large treasure ship with five thousand materials when he went to the West. However, such giant ships were quickly lost after Zheng He's era.

Construction craftsmanship can only exist in historical materials.

However, although the expedition-class warship has a powerful appearance, its design purpose is to ensure the combat effectiveness of the ship as much as possible, so the crew's comfort is not fully considered. The living space is very narrow, so

Even military officers are no exception. Even if these people are all nobles, they can only suffer for a while before arriving in Zhoushan.

Starting from Hangzhou, you go downstream, so the journey on the Qiantang River is much faster than when you came here. Even if this fleet is mainly composed of slower cargo sailing ships, it only takes one day and one night to reach Zhoushan.

The harbor.

Fortunately, the official ship that carried Tao Hongfang and others from the South China Sea to Zhejiang has rushed to Zhoushan Dinghai Port to stand by. The living conditions on that ship are much better than those on the warship. At that time, they can choose to transfer to

On official ships, or on the flagship that serves as the fleet command center.

But Zhu Zian cannot choose freely like others. As a clerk of the mission, one of his tasks is to keep continuous records of the mission's daily activities, so he must also follow the actions of the chief and deputy envoys. And Shi Cheng

Obviously, Wu and Wang Anguo would not choose a business ship with superior conditions just for the sake of enjoyment. At that time, Zhu Zian would have no choice but to stay with them on the flagship the whole time.

However, this was a satisfactory arrangement for Zhu Zian, who was full of curiosity. He could just use the time during his mission to gain an in-depth understanding of the equipment level of the Haihan Navy.
Chapter completed!