Chapter 334: Landing Exercise

Ke Tu said the main warship Canglang had a rated capacity of 3000 people; Xie Yuan nodded, looking at it, it really wasn't small, three thousand seemed reasonable. He just didn't know which shipwright could build a ship of this size.

Ke Tu then spoke of speed, but he had no concept of it.

Ke Tu said that the two main guns aboard Canglang could strike directly from the shore to a point 3000 meters inland, capable of destroying any city within that coastal range; Xie Yuan silently calculated how far 3000 meters was, and then he was shocked.

The Academy had some unique units of measurement that had not yet been promoted to the public; during the time when the Northern Border Prince's mansion was still called the Prince You's mansion, they had deliberately promoted them, but with little effect.

The people of Youzhou were almost illiterate; compared to 'mi' (meter), they were more familiar with 'chi' (Chinese foot). If you sold cloth by the meter, they would instantly be unable to calculate.

Xie Yuan himself silently converted meters to chi, then exchanged a glance with his disciple, his expression strange.

Is this possible?!

If it could really strike that far, some coastal cities, and even going up the Yangtze River along its course, cities on both banks would fall within the strike range.

The Youzhou army wouldn't even need to land.

This is terrifying, a thousand times worse than the southern water bandits!

Xie Yuan couldn't help but think further; it seemed that as long as the Great King wished, the southern route—Fuyang Commandery, Bohai Commandery, Jiaodong, Langya, and even farther Guangling and Kuaiji—would be as easy as reaching into a bag and taking something out.

Ke Tu brushed it aside in a single stroke, then began to talk about assault ships and landing ships.

Only then did everyone realize that those variously sized ships had different functions.

Some were specially assigned to fire suppression, while others had shallow drafts, able to dock at any shore, facilitating marines landing to fight.

The professionalism of the Great King's fleet was so advanced it left these people dazed.

Has the outside world really developed to this extent? Even the Academy's students couldn't feel smug; how could they not understand?

After Ke Tu finished speaking, the Great King also said a couple of sentences.

The central idea is simply this: we still rely on buying ready-made warships now, but in the future the Northern Border must produce its own warships.

"My goal to achieve this cannot rely on those old shipwrights by the sea; it rests on you—students of the Northern Border Academy who have studied the investigation of things and chemistry!"

Veteran shipwrights are merely your assistants; building warships depends on scientific knowledge. No matter what field of study, it must be applied in life—not just memorizing the law of gravity at the Academy, even if you master the investigation of things. Knowledge that cannot be applied to practice is worthless.

You are already fortunate to have existing textbooks to learn from, standing on the shoulders of pioneers.

The world is in troubled times, precisely when talent is needed; will you spread your wings like a great roc rising with the wind to achieve great deeds, or will you huddle in the Northern Border, living peacefully? You need to think carefully.

Xie Yuan glanced several times at the Great King; there was meaning behind his words.

Everyone from the Academy could board the ship, but there were too many civilians on site, so only some representatives could be allowed to board and go out to sea.

The Great King led Xie Yuan to board Canglang first; regardless of him or his several disciples, all came from scholar families, and could be considered the most knowledgeable group of the Jin dynasty. Yet once aboard Canglang, they felt they had less insight than a farmer who digs soil all day.

This is a completely unfamiliar world.

Even at the dock one could see Canglang's length, height, and the pavilions on it; only when truly inside could one more directly feel how astonishingly huge this colossus is.

Xie Yuan looked at the deck planks, seeing no seams, and the feel underfoot was not like wood.

Towering masts, four-story deckhouses; a person standing below feels utterly tiny, and the sensation of looking up from below is similar to standing outside Youzhou City and gazing up at its city walls and gate towers.

And this ship is meant to run at sea.

Looking again at the bow and both sides of the hull, where cannons and crossbow launchers are arranged, Xie Yuan secretly felt alarmed.

Immediately, the soldiers on deck demanded they stand firm and hold on; Canglang was about to weigh anchor and set sail.

Wei Ke supported his 'disabled brother' and escorted him into the Great King's private quarters; although the view there was open, he was reluctant to leave those weapons outside.

When the ship started, he didn't pay attention; Canglang slowly moved out of its berth, turned around, and at Ke Tu's command directly accelerated, heading north with the wind.

Wei Ke, a true inland landlubber, as soon as the ship sped up began to feel dizzy; the world spun, making walking difficult.

The Great King laughed hysterically, sending people to drag his elder cousin back again. He looked like a monarch, but the moment the ship set off he turned into a bronze statue.

"Elder cousin, from now on you can only command land forces in battle."

"Yue—!"

Wei Ke was on his last breath, while Wei Shen, who had been stabbed in the leg, was still more lively than him.

The two lively rascals, full of astonishing vitality, surrounded the poor seasick person, forming a strong circle of onlookers; but Zhao Bao couldn't stand it and drove them away, which was infuriating to watch.

As the ship sped up, screams echoed from the lower deck; the Youzhou people had ridden boats before, but none had ever been on one this fast.

Xie Yuan was talking with his disciple when the ship accelerated; several people hurriedly helped each other stay upright.

Lu Xin opened his mouth wide, "... This, this speed?" Is that reasonable?

His home is beside a tributary of the Yangtze; all the boats he had seen combined weren't as big as today's, yet this ship could actually go that fast?

This is no ordinary ship; needless to say its volume is huge, and it even has a row of pavilions on top!

Whatever the Great King produces, there's no question of reasonableness; Canglang sailed north all the way with a following wind, very fast. Xie Yuan stood at the stern, watching the fleet arrayed in a fan formation behind him, lost in thought.

The Great King's impressive sea fleet sailed north with the wind; by noon they had sighted the northern part of Youzhou.

This place originally belonged to the Liaodong Xianbei, but now the Great King has incorporated it into the Northern Border's map as the land connecting Liaodong Commandery and Youzhou.

The Great King stood at the bow, waved his hand grandly, and said, "Attack!"

The two main guns first aimed at the selected strike target on the coastline and fired; two booming thunderclaps, the mountain cliff at the edge of the horizon was directly blown apart, rolling boulders fell into the water, splashing up towering waves.

This is the main gun of the warship, and it's not even in the same league as those few cannons taken off the city gates of Youzhou.

As Canglang approached the shore, fire‑powder crossbows and bolt‑shooting crossbows rained down like rain; once this firepower was unleashed, the thousand people on deck breathed easier.

The stones were all flattened flat—what about people…

It wasn't over yet; when the warship was still some distance from the shore, it slowed and came to a gentle stop, then the assault ship moved forward to cover the landing ship as it headed straight for the coastline.

The assault ship's cannons, fire‑powder crossbows, and bolt‑shooting crossbows all fired together, almost completely blasting that reef area to pieces!

The assault ship pressed forward; the landing ship surged directly onto the coastline, lowering countless small boats to quickly pass through the beach shallows, and the over a thousand soldiers it carried soon all landed on the shore.

The entire body of students and civilians aboard Canglang stared agape, yet even this the Great King was not satisfied.

He lowered his binoculars, "Even if they had fished before, these people could still tell they'd had no landing training at all!" It was utter chaos, fumbling and dragging.

With two thousand people on board, only he thought that way; everyone else was already dumbfounded.

Ke Tu nodded beside him, "Your Highness, rest assured. These troops arrived only yesterday; today they received only a verbal briefing, and this is their first practical attempt. With more practice they will surely improve, and next month Your Highness can come again for an inspection."

The Great King hurriedly waved his hand upon hearing it.

He almost shook his hand into a windmill, saying, "No need, no need, I, the Great King, believe you! Next time you don't need to do the full drill—just practice landing! Do you know how much silver just got blown away?"

Last night he had just secretly replenished the fleet's stores, and the purse that had just filled up immediately shrank by half; the Great King worried half the night.

When it comes to money, the impoverished Great King can't pretend at all.

Ketu: ……

Changli, listening intently beside them with blood boiling: ……

Hot blood is hard to cool unless money is brought up.