Traveling through the late Ming Dynasty to promote Chinese civilization

Chapter 178 Wang Qinian

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Hearing Li Fei's words, Liu Ye finally came to his senses: "Huh? You're done? That was very well said!"

"Since we're going to join forces with Zheng Zhilong to deal with Liu Xiang first, how can I get Zheng Zhilong to acknowledge my strength and be willing to join forces with me?" Liu Ye asked. "I currently have less than ten warships and only a little over a thousand sailors, which is not even a fraction of his strength."

Li Fei analyzed, "General, there's no need to underestimate yourself. With just one warship, you can easily take on ten Liu Xiangs. As for how to join forces with Zheng Zhilong, that's a bit tricky. If we take the initiative to approach him, he'll look down on us, but conversely, he's unlikely to come to us on his own initiative."

"Alliance must be based on equality, otherwise it will only benefit others. Let's prepare for both possibilities. It would be good if we could join forces to deal with Liu Xiang, but we should also be prepared to deal with Liu Xiang alone." Liu Ye decided, "No matter which path we take, the shipyard and arsenal must operate at full capacity to speed up production. In addition, we need to add gun emplacements to the Bofu Wharf to prepare for defense against enemy invasion."

Liang Xiaoming replied, "Mingzi, don't worry about that. The army's equipment is complete, and the arsenal's production capacity has been completely shifted to the navy. The fortifications are also fine; the bamboo-reinforced cement fortifications are enough to knock out the teeth of any invading enemy. However, the coastal defense guns need to be recast. 12-pound guns are far from enough; at least 24-pound guns are needed. I'll go back and think about it carefully."

Li Fei reminded him, "I noticed that neither Bofu Port nor Lingao County has city walls. Can artillery emplacements alone stop an attack?"

Gao Jie replied, "If the cement fortifications were equipped with 24-pound cannons, then none of the pirates in this area would be able to land on Bofu's docks. Their ships would be torn to shreds by the cannons, and their soldiers would be blasted into mincemeat!"

Li Fei pressed further: "What if the enemy doesn't land at Bofu Port, but instead lands from somewhere else?"

Everyone laughed. Shi Ying explained, "I can't guarantee anything about naval warfare, but when it comes to land warfare, the Qiongzhou Battalion is not afraid of anyone. Let alone the fact that pirates have no fighting power after they have traveled a long distance ashore, even if they are real soldiers, before the Qiongzhou Battalion was pacified, a thousand of them could fight ten thousand, and they were all the most elite soldiers in Guangdong."

Li Feicheng suddenly realized: "I overlooked something. The Qiongzhou Camp was able to defeat the government troops, so naturally they wouldn't be afraid of a few pirates who come ashore." No wonder Lingao didn't build city walls; the Qiongzhou Camp had the confidence to do so.

Seeing that Liu Ye was in a good mood, Liang Dong mustered up his courage and asked, "Master... no, General... General, since you have spoken so wisely, please be merciful and release me?"

Liu Ye asked with a smile, "Let me ask you, if we let you go, would you go back to Liu Xiang's side and continue working as her subordinate?"

Liang Dong stammered, not daring to tell the truth: "I was confused for a moment before, but I will naturally turn over a new leaf and never be a pirate again."

Seeing his timid and hesitant appearance, Liu Ye changed his approach: "Then tell me, if you say you ran back, will Liu Xiang suspect you?"

Liang Dong shook his head: "Liu Xiang has more than 10,000 men under his command, so why would he care about a small fry like me? One less of me won't make a difference, and one more of me won't make a difference either. If I say that I escaped from the general, no one will doubt me."