Chapter 621: Naval Exercise

Although no detailed statistics had been compiled yet, judging from the scene before him, Zhu Youxiao felt that ten or six or seven out of every ten shells just fired had hit their targets.

Though many of those ships couldn't move, and even those that could moved very slowly, this hit rate still pleased Zhu Youxiao greatly — after all, this era had no precision guidance.

Even against an opposing navy head-on, there would certainly be no problem. In this era, you couldn't run fast even if you wanted to, and dodging shells wasn't that easy.

In actual combat, he estimated they could still hit three or four out of ten. That would be a remarkable achievement.

In naval warfare, wanting a single shell to hit a single enemy was simply impossible.

Zhu Youxiao had once heard of an engagement where both sides exchanged fierce fire, expending over seven thousand rounds of ammunition, and the result was only one man lightly wounded — that battle situation was simply surreal.

Given the defensive capability of current warships against the power of Great Ming artillery, it was basically one shell per enemy. Even against a great fleet like the Spanish Armada, a single volley would be enough to sink them.

The Great Ming's artillery now didn't fire solid shot, nor ordinary explosive shells, but genuine gunpowder warheads that exploded on impact.

The cannons had long range and tremendous power — truly extraordinary. Under such circumstances, a fleet like the Great Ming's could defeat many enemies.

Moreover, Zhu Youxiao believed that after several practical exercises and a few real battles, this army would improve further. That was why he had chosen to strike at Japan at this time.

On the one hand, it was to vent a grievance; on the other, taking Japanese territory served other purposes — they could also seize its resources, and finally, they could train their troops.

The newly formed Imperial Navy of the Great Ming was well trained and well equipped, but it had never seen real combat, and that was not good.

Under such circumstances, he needed to find an opponent for the Imperial Navy.

That opponent couldn't be too strong, nor too weak — Japan was a good opponent, and that was how the idea of striking Japan had come about.

It was the result of comprehensive deliberation.

Once the Great Ming took Japan, Joseon, lying between the Great Ming and Japan, would sooner or later also belong to the Great Ming — eventually both its people and its land would bear the surname Zhu. A good thing.

After the ship targets had been destroyed, the warships swiftly closed in on the shore, and then the broadside cannons opened fire once more.

This time they bombarded targets on land, and rocket projectiles were also deployed.

Compared to mobile rocket launcher vehicles, the rocket launchers mounted on warships were far more powerful. Since there was no need to worry about payload, they were equipped with larger rockets.

Larger rockets meant longer range and stronger explosive power.

The facts proved exactly that.

Amid piercing shrieks, the rockets spiraled toward the coast, followed by earth-shaking explosions that filled the sky.

The entire coastline was shrouded in smoke, flames leaping skyward, explosions sounding from every direction — nothing could be seen clearly except the dirt being blasted into the air.

Watching this scene, Yi Wang's eyes went wide.

Yi Wang couldn't help recalling something — back when the Great Ming fought Japan in Joseon, the Japanese had built a fortress on Joseon's easternmost tip near Japan and held out there.

With artillery like this, taking that fortress would have been a matter of one barrage.

In fact, the Wanli reign had seen seven full years of fighting in Joseon, seven years of war against the Japanese. The national strength accumulated by Toyotomi Hideyoshi, Tokugawa Ieyasu, and their generation was completely spent in that war.

History had also proven that event's impact was enormous — from that time on, Japan never recovered its vitality. Only until the Meiji Restoration did Japan gain the ability to rise again.

For the Great Ming, that war's damage had also been very great. Combined with the other two fronts of fighting, the Three Great Campaigns of the Wanli reign were actually impossible not to fight.

But the result of fighting them was that the national strength accumulated from the opening of maritime trade in the Longqing era through Zhang Juzheng's reforms was drained completely, and the elite generals and troops of Liaodong were lost almost entirely — even Deng Zhilong died in battle.

The consequence was the great rout of the Ming army at the Battle of Sarhu.

Zhu Youxiao remembered that matter deeply. Though he felt helpless about it, some things simply couldn't be helped.

If the Great Ming hadn't supported Joseon that time, Joseon would truly have been destroyed. After all, Joseon's king had already fled to the banks of the Yalu River to beg the Great Ming for aid directly, even submitting a state letter requesting annexation into the Great Ming.

Though Joseon's later descendants refused to acknowledge it, it had truly happened.

This time, Zhu Youxiao would not be so soft-hearted.

In fact, if the Wanli Emperor had been ruthless that time, Joseon would have belonged to the Great Ming. But the Wanli Emperor prattled on about benevolence, righteousness, and morality and all that nonsense, and in the end it didn't get done.

Zhu Youxiao would not let this opportunity slip this time. Since Joseon kept jumping around, then he would take it in and not let them jump anymore.

By now, the warships had finished their bombardment, and the coastline was already a scene of devastation.

At this moment, countless small boats were lowered from the warships, and soldiers began riding them swiftly toward the coastline.

They moved extremely fast, charging forward as a white line.

After these soldiers rushed ashore, they simply abandoned their boats on the beach and charged rapidly inland.

Through his telescope, Zhu Youxiao could see these soldiers — some of them were even carrying mortars, and they quickly set up mortar positions on the shore.

Others carried machine guns and, once ashore, found positions and set up machine gun emplacements.

The rest charged forward with rifles, working the bolts rapidly while simulating several shots.

Some pulled out grenades and hurled them forward.

For a moment, explosions rang out all along the coastline.

They didn't bother with any formation — all fought dispersed, helmets on their heads, light leather armor on their bodies. Clearly, what they pursued was speed.

These were the Imperial Navy's marines, whose purpose, plainly put, was seizing beaches and fighting on land.

In this era, coordination between infantry and navy had always been a problem, and transferring the Great Ming's land troops to train with the navy was too costly and too difficult — better to let them form their own unit.

Judging by the results now, it was working well — these men had strong offensive power.

Of course, that was directly related to the Great Ming's equipment. After all, Zhu Youxiao had invested no less effort here than in the Imperial Guard Corps.

Over these years, Zhu Youxiao had poured so much money into military equipment while spending little on his own daily pleasures. Never mind rebuilding palaces — he had even halted construction of his own mausoleum.

Where did all that money go?

It had all been used by Zhu Youxiao to build the army — this military was forged with real gold and silver.

Now, seeing the Imperial Navy possess such weapons and such offensive power, Zhu Youxiao was very satisfied.

Glancing at Qi Yuanbi beside him, Zhu Youxiao said with a smile, "You've done well, performed admirably — you haven't disappointed Us."

"We're about done here, so let's head back. There will be rewards for everyone once we return. Besides the rewards, the soldiers who took part in the exercise will get meat to eat and wine to drink."

"Thank you, Your Majesty." Qi Yuanbi said hurriedly, a brilliant smile on his face, and inwardly he finally breathed a sigh of relief.

After days of hard work, His Majesty had enjoyed the show, liked it, and given his praise — that was the best possible outcome.

Zhu Youxiao's gaze turned to Yi Wang beside him, and he asked with a smile, "What do you think?"

"Astonishing!" Yi Wang hurriedly said: "I never imagined the Imperial Navy of the Great Ming could be this powerful—their firearms are truly formidable! I had never even conceived of such a thing; today my eyes have truly been opened!"

"Good, then." Zhu Youxiao handed the telescope in his hand to Qi Yuangong and said: "That settles it, let's head back. Today we'll celebrate in grand style—plenty of wine and meat."

"Yes, Your Majesty." Yi Wang acknowledged.

In truth, Zhu Youxiao had no intention of discussing anything else with him. He needed to give him some time to digest what he had seen today—that would make their subsequent negotiations easier.

After returning to Tianjin, naturally a grand banquet was laid out.

The evening's celebration was quite jovial, with plenty of wine and meat. As for who footed the bill—of course it was Zhu Youxiao; he wouldn't let anyone else pay.

Being the Emperor meant being the one to throw money around.

After eating and drinking his fill, Zhu Youxiao was slightly tipsy. He said nothing more and went straight to his room to rest.

The next day, Zhu Youxiao rose very late.

He had drunk a fair amount the night before, though not to the point of drunkenness. At that level of intoxication, one's desires run high, so he had gone to sleep quite late.

Zhu Youxiao had spent half the night at games with Noble Consort Yuan and Noble Consort Tian, and this morning he had barely managed to get up.

He slept until the sun was high in the sky, and only when the drunkenness had fully worn off did Zhu Youxiao begin to feel the discomfort in his body.

If it had been just one thing alone, there might not have been much of a problem—but with the two combined, the hangover was rather unpleasant.

Splashing some cool water on his face, Zhu Youxiao finally felt considerably more refreshed.

Tossing the towel in his hand to Wei Chao, who was attending at his side, Zhu Youxiao said expressionlessly: "After breakfast, go fetch Yi Wang. At this point, there are some matters that are due to be discussed."

"Yes, Your Highness." Wei Chao acknowledged respectfully, then turned to arrange the meal.

He had drunk a good deal last night and stayed up half the night—he was long since famished. Having risen late this morning, Zhu Youxiao's stomach was completely empty, and a rumbling sound came from his throat. He needed to eat right away.

After breakfast, Zhu Youxiao summoned Liu Xian and prepared to meet with Yi Wang.

"Your Majesty, your servant is a bit worried." Liu Xian looked at Zhu Youxiao and said with some concern: "Even if Yi Wang agrees now, what if the King of Joseon doesn't? If the King of Joseon later refuses to acknowledge it, wouldn't all our talks have been for nothing?"

Zhu Youxiao glanced at Liu Xian and spoke the harshest words in the most casual tone: "If he dares to do such a thing, then I dare to replace the King of Joseon with a new one."

"I think Yi Wang would be quite suitable. Since he's the one who agreed to it, once he sits upon the king's throne, it will be his word that counts."