Traveling through the late Ming Dynasty to promote Chinese civilization

Chapter 216 Sitting on the mountain and watching the tiger fight

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Yan Guang asked, "Is there any government jurisdiction over the island? Are there any soldiers stationed there?"

Li Fei calmly said, "I used to stop at this island many times when I was carrying goods to Japan, so I am very familiar with this place. There are not many local fishermen on Nan'ao Island, but there are soldiers stationed here. There is a deputy commander of Nan'ao. Because the island is under the jurisdiction of Guangdong and Fujian provinces, the troops on the island are divided into two battalions, one in Guangdong and one in Fujian. The garrison commander on the island is very good at embezzling salaries. He doesn't have many soldiers under his command. Merchant ships have to give him some tribute. He can stop here however he wants, and the soldiers don't care. Whether we are going there or returning, our fleet can stop here and resupply."

Liu Ye listened intently, his face beaming. Regardless of his own thoughts on the mystery of Li Fei's origins, Li Fei's nautical experience and intelligence on the geography and hydrology along the route were enough to offset all negative factors. Besides Li Fei, who else in the Qiongzhou camp would know about a transit point off the coast of Shantou used to attack Zhongzuosuo? The strategic location of this place was so important that it could influence the future course of the naval struggle with Zheng Zhilong's group.

Yan Guang naturally grasped the key point and clapped his hands in approval: "Great! With such a place, our attack on Zhongzuo Suo will be much easier."

Gao Jie walked to the map, examined it carefully, and nodded, saying, "This location is excellent. It ensures that we won't be discovered by Zheng Yiguan, and it also ensures that we can reach the designated battlefield in the shortest possible time. I can't think of a better place." He turned to Li Fei and gave him a thumbs up, then made a request to Liu Ye, "When we attack Zheng Yiguan's stronghold, I must bring Li Fei along. Let him be my guide on my ship and provide advice for my command."

“No problem,” Liu Ye asked Li Fei. “Are you still the captain of the ‘Bofu’?”

Li Fei replied, "Yes, General."

"Did you hear your superior's request? When you attack Zhongzuo, you will serve as Gao Jie's advisor. If this operation is successful, I will promote you from captain of the Wuxiang-class to captain of the Wuyi-class when you return."

The Wuyi-class warship is currently the largest warship launched by the Qiongzhou Camp Navy. Li Fei has not been with the Qiongzhou Camp for very long, and he missed the naval attack operation in the Battle of Bofu, so he lacks sufficient combat experience. His qualifications as the captain of the Wuyi-class warship are clearly insufficient. Now that Liu Ye has personally promised him this position, it is equivalent to a step up, a leap as great as a centurion being promoted to a commander.

Anyone else would have been moved to tears and overwhelmed with emotion, but Li Fei remained calm and composed, replying, "Thank you, General."

Liu Ye was in a good mood. He stood up and said to everyone, "The basic framework of this operation has been finalized. Now there are only some details that need to be finalized. You can handle those. I've given this operation a name: 'Operation Tiger Fight'."

Liang Xiaoming couldn't help but complain, "This name doesn't sound very impressive."

Yan Guang was adept at understanding Liu Ye's meaning and asked, "Is the name 'General' derived from 'sitting on the mountain watching the tigers fight'?"

Liu Ye laughed and said, "Hehe, Mr. Yan understands me best. Our goal this time is to provoke the Dutch and Zheng Zhilong into a fight, so we can sit back and watch the tigers fight."

After they had all finished speaking, Sun Yuanhua said solemnly, "The attack on Zhongzuo is no small matter. If it succeeds, all will be well. But if it is exposed, we will have completely offended Zheng Zhilong. We must make thorough preparations to avoid his retaliation."

Everyone tensed; this was something they had to be wary of.

Upon hearing this, Liu Ye became serious: "Mr. Sun is right. We can't be too optimistic. We need to be prepared for failure." If their identities are exposed, it means they will have to confront Zheng Zhilong head-on. Compared to his massive fleet, the Qiongzhou Camp Navy is too small to be a match for him.

He asked Gao Jie, "How many warships have been delivered to the navy, and how many of them are ready for combat?"

Gao Jie replied: "There are ten 500-ton warships that have been officially delivered to the navy and are fully equipped with guns, and eight of them are fully equipped and manned and ready for naval combat; in addition, there are thirteen 280-ton patrol ships, all of which can be dispatched."

"It's still too few; we need to speed up the construction of new warships," Liu Ye murmured.

The shipyard manager was absent from this meeting. Liang Xiaoming, who was familiar with the shipyard's progress, explained on his behalf: "All the docks are operational, and manpower and timber are sufficient. There are only two factors restricting the speed of warship construction: funding and time. Currently, the 1,000-ton and 1,500-ton warships have consumed a considerable portion of the budget—most of which is spent on their naval guns—so trying to accelerate the production of 500-ton warships under these circumstances is like trying to conjure money out of thin air. In addition, the larger the warship, the longer it takes to build. This cannot be rushed unless you are not afraid that the ship will leak as soon as it leaves port."

The issue of funding is a recurring problem. Relying solely on the Wan Hua Lou (a type of brothel) and liquor businesses is insufficient to support the simultaneous expansion of both the army and navy, especially the navy, which has always been a money pit, capable of swallowing tens of thousands of taels of silver with little effect. In the current situation, cost-cutting is not an option; the only solution is to find ways to increase revenue. Hopefully, the money shops in Guangzhou can achieve the desired effect and provide valuable cash flow.

As for the speed of building the new warships, although Liu Ye wished they could be launched tomorrow, he also knew the consequences of blindly pursuing progress without considering objective laws, and would not demand a shortened construction period. Warships with a displacement of 1,000 tons or even 1,500 tons are precious assets. If, due to human error, they leak and require major repairs or are even scrapped after only a few shots, it would be a complete waste of resources.

"If we could defeat Zheng Zhilong and become the maritime overlord, we could make a fortune just collecting protection money from merchant ships," Liu Ye lamented. "Unfortunately, without sufficient funds, we can't expand our navy, and without eliminating Zheng Zhilong, we can't become the overlord and collect money. It's a vicious cycle. We can only solve this problem when the money shops in Guangzhou raise enough funds to leverage the raw silk market in Jiangnan and pull off a few big heists."

Sun Yuanhua said, "Whether the raw silk deal goes through or not is another matter. We have to take things one step at a time. Let's focus on the present. Should we tamper with the warships sent to attack Zhongzuo to make them look similar to the Hongmao's hull ships? These ships will inevitably run into Zheng Zhilong's men again in the future, so we can't let anyone suspect anything."

Gao Jie said, "This shouldn't be difficult. The Dutch armed merchant ships are also galleons, and their ship types are generally similar to ours. Unless the Dutch themselves try to distinguish them, it will be difficult to tell them apart. When we hang the East India Company and the Dutch flags on them, I guarantee that none of Zheng Yiguan's men will be able to tell them apart."