Aspirations for Nation and Beauty Chapter 7: Ding Ding Chapter 17 Simple Diary

On October 29, 699 in the Gregorian calendar of the mainland, Ling Tianfang, the commander of the Western Xinjiang military affairs who stayed in the Kingdom of Milan for 6 days, boarded a boat and went southward from Taranto Hong Kong, passing Mahad along the shoreline of the Great Eastern Ocean. The waters of the two Principalities and Andako directly sailed to the Great Nanyang, preparing to go to Xijiang to obtain a foothold in the middle of the Great Nanyang, Ludao in the middle of the Mawen Islands, and inspect the construction of the Ludao military port.

Just when the entire northern continent has entered the deep autumn season, it seems that there is not much autumn feeling in the part of the Great Eastern Ocean that enters the northern waters of the Great Southern Ocean. It looks even more antique. In fact, the ship is not very old, but only three years old. It's just that it has been bumped in the wind and waves for a long time, which also makes the ship a bit more vicissitudes.

This is an ordinary-looking medium-sized single-masted passenger ship. It is only more than 20 meters long, and there are no more than two floors on the side. The guests are booked, and there are only a few guests on the ship, but the charter fee is quite a bit, which makes the owner of the shipyard very happy. These yellow people who seem to be from the Tanghe Empire in the north seem to be very rich. When negotiating the rent, there was no haggling at all, which was quite refreshing.

Departing from Taranto to Lu Island in the Mawen Islands, although the journey is a little farther, the sea route is relatively quiet. Unlike going north, you have to worry about the attacks of those wandering bandits in the Wodi, and the south is the Three Kingdoms Generally speaking, the Japanese would not dare to come here to act wildly within the patrol range of the alliance navy, and further south is the territory of the Nanyang Alliance. Although the Nanyang Alliance navy does not have much time to come out to patrol. But the armed merchant ships that come and go frequently can be seen everywhere, and the Japanese also dare not show their faces in these places.

It's a bit strange for the owner of the ship to be where this group of people go. Although the owner of Nalu Island knows the location based on the nautical chart and sailing experience, as far as he knows, it is a deserted island with not many people inhabited, at most it is a place where people make a living by fishing, but it is said that in Southeast Asia The people of the alliance assigned that island to the people of Tanghe, who were developing the island. I don't know if these people from Tanghe also went for the development. Are people in Tanghe too rich to even be interested in these little-known islands? I really don’t know what they think.

Slightly push open the porthole. Open the porthole, a ray of sunlight poured in, and the slightly warm air flowed in, making Ling Tian feel a little more relaxed. He closed the pages of the book, and took out a stack of papers from the book bag he carried with him. A delicate writing brush was also pulled out by hand at any time. Ling Tianfang didn't like the traditional writing brushes of Tanghe people, but the writing brushes were also competent for him. When dealing with official duties, he still used writing brushes more often. But when making his own personal records such as writing a diary, he prefers brushes from the Western Continent.

Sit at the desk behind the porthole. Ling Tianfang raised his head and looked at the blue sea in a daze. After a while, he seemed to remember something and began to bow his head and write quickly.

"This Jiaqiu named Alfred Thayer Mahan is indeed a natural genius. He can write such a strange book, so it is not an exaggeration to say that it is a strange book. I dare to assert that the entire Eastern Continent can There will be no more than five people who read this book. I don’t know how His Royal Highness the King of Thailand got this book. If everyone accepts the viewpoint of this book, then we are too far away from his paratroopers.”

Reflecting his head and contemplating for a while, Ling Tianfang lowered his head again and continued to work on a regular basis every day: "The concept of sea power often only stays in a certain corner of our words or thoughts, and even more It is used as a relatively fashionable term. Not many people really understand the meaning of this word. Even after reading this book, I can only say that I have a vague concept, but I am very pleased. At least I know that I have entered the threshold of a new era. In the Eastern Continent, I believe that very few people have crossed this threshold, and even fewer people have truly realized the importance of sea power and started to take action , but His Royal Highness should be one of them.”

"Although many people still cannot systematically understand the meaning of sea power, it does not mean that they ignore the importance of sea power in reality. At least our neighbors, the Japanese, the Milanese, and the Mahads and That's the way it is with the Andarcos, and even someone in the Nanyang Alliance is aware of it."

"I am very envious of the acuity of the Milanese. Perhaps it was the excessive arrogance of the Japanese in the Great East that stimulated them. The naval power of the Milanese has improved rapidly. Although their numbers may not have increased much, but Apparently, their warships and their weapons are already being upgraded. It is said that they have overcome the huge recoil impact of catapults, and breakthroughs have been made in the development of fire-resistant coatings. I have not been able to Seeing their most advanced warships, they said that they have begun to absorb the advantages of sailing ships from the Western Continent to improve the sail shape and the number of masts. I don't know what impact this improvement will have on the speed and flexibility of the warships. "

"More importantly, I heard that they are still experimenting with a weapon similar to the dragon cannon developed by us in Xijiang for use on the ship. If this weapon is produced and used in practice, it will be a disaster. A revolution that is enough to subvert the entire naval war, I just don't want to believe this, but the reality tells me that we have to think about things worse, maybe the scholars and experts in our technology department should also consider moving the dragon cannon to the warship If we can really solve the technical problems that are plaguing us now, then the fire crossbow, the stone tools and the boarding battle will all be buried in history. I hope that the Military Intelligence Bureau will provide me with this report on Milan The information that people have developed new weapons is wrong, but I know this is probably deceiving myself.”

After writing this, Ling Tianfang couldn't help but put down his pen again and sighed. The strength of the Milan sea cucumber army has improved so quickly. It turns out that the expansion of the power of the Japanese may have overwhelmed the Milan people. Looking at it now Although the Japanese people have greatly expanded the size of the navy, the Milanese are constantly improving in technology, one is increasing in quantity, and the other is improving in kneading. By the way, it seems that the Tanghe people, who are also the masters of the Great East, are not a good thing, but the strength of the Milanese navy is still more useful to their own side for a long time. Ling Yufang believes that Xijiang still needs to maintain a relatively good relationship with the Triple Alliance.

"The increase in the military power of the Milanese is not only reflected in the navy. The military intelligence bureau reflects that their army power is also expanding. The strength of the three legions seems to be unable to meet the security needs of the Milanese. It seems that His Majesty King Louis seems to have plans to expand another legion army. I don’t know whether it is the threat of the Machihans that makes them feel uneasy or our land power is too strong to make them faintly uneasy? Even Mahad and Andako All countries have the idea of ​​greatly increasing the defense budget, can the Triple Alliance and us really form a stable strategic alliance?"

"This trip to Milan is indeed very rewarding. This does not simply mean that the alliance we have reached with the Milanese will continue. I think my ideas and opinions have also been greatly shaken by the Milan trip. The wealth of Milan is unimaginable. Even in the extremely powerful period of the Jiangnan area of ​​the empire, I guess it is roughly the same as the current Milan. The Milanese have made full use of their advantages in navigation. There are as many as six ports along the coast of the mainland. The two port cities in the northern Pearl Islands, their entire country’s economy can be said to be based on shipping trade. However, the long coastline of our empire~IndoMTL.com~ has only six ports, and the efficiency is extremely low. It cannot but be said that our ideas in this regard are far behind those of the Milanese.”

"Looking at the number of merchants from the western continent in Naples, I can imagine how developed the trade economy of the Milanese is, from Yuhang to Rui to Naples, from Naples to Taranto and then to Now I am sailing on this boat in the sea, the ships that come and go freely sailing almost never completely disappear from my sight, there will always be one or a few sails in a corner of the seaside sky, and these ships The flag of San Marco of the Kingdom of Milan is almost flying, and the others are also the flag of Andaco or Mahadeh, and the flag of our Tanghe Empire is almost rare. These businessmen from all over the mainland have provided a huge amount of money for Milan's finances , and also supported the powerful navy and ever-expanding army of the Liulan people.”

"Why do these businessmen from all over the world prefer to hang the flag of Milan? Nothing else, because the Milan Navy has considerable influence in both the Great Eastern Ocean and the Southern Ocean. It can give businessmen They have a sense of security, which is a symbol of sea power. Only when merchants believe that a regime can protect them with absolute security can the regime’s sea power be fully reflected. I think so, maybe this is a bit superficial , but I plan to read this book again - "The Influence of Sea Power on History".

November 3, 699, Jiangshan Beauty, Chapter 2, Swallowing Thousands of Miles, Chapter 7, Dingding, Section 17, Simple Diary