Chapter 1003: Going out to sea

During the time when Zhou Xu's order was sent, the South Border Harbor Shipyard built another large ship.

However, the impact was not significant. Next, they followed the order and started building the Clippers with all their strength.

In addition, the emergence of enemies at sea also forced the Great Zhou’s naval forces to change their previous step-by-step expansion plan and begin to expand rapidly.

According to their original plan, they intended to proceed step by step. After the corresponding ships had been built, they would begin to recruit the required number of soldiers and train them.

The advantage of doing this is that it can save labor as much as possible.

After all, the labor force within their Great Zhou is relatively fixed at this stage. If you conscript them into the army, the number of internal laborers will be reduced.

But the situation is different now. The emergence of enemies at sea has brought them more sense of urgency, forcing Zhou Xu to start pursuing some efficiency.

The original naval force of 300 people was expanded to 1,000 people in one go, and more people would be recruited if there were not enough in the future.

It doesn’t matter if there are not enough ships for the time being. Many of the newly recruited soldiers still need to learn swimming and balancing bikes, and there is no rush to let them board the ship for sea training.

By the time they have completed the basic training, the harbor shipyard will surely have built more ships.

Under this premise, in order to improve shipbuilding efficiency, the manpower at the Harbor Shipyard has undoubtedly been further expanded to obtain more labor.

Just like that, Zhou Xu's order made the coastal fortress busy for the entire second half of the year.

At the end of the year, Zhou Xu received another report from the garrison in the southern border. After reading it, he became thoughtful.

Since then, the unidentified ship has not been seen again.

It is not difficult to see from this that the other party should be a little afraid of them, or they lack confidence and cannot figure out their background, so they dare not provoke them easily.

[Is it because of the number of ships? Or is there some other reason?]

Under the circumstances at that time, after all, the Great Zhou side directly dispatched three ships. If the opponent's number of ships was not as large as theirs, they would definitely not act rashly.

As for other reasons...

It’s not that Zhou Xu didn’t have any ideas at all.

Don't forget, there is a ruin of a city on the coast of the southern border.

The location of the city ruins is so close to the sea, it is impossible for the other party not to know that there is the sea next door.

Cities near the sea will inevitably develop the fishing industry and naturally have ships.

What if the original inhabitants of that city were not completely wiped out by the ratmen, but instead escaped by boat?

After escaping, he was unwilling to give up and wanted to take back the territory occupied by the rat people, so he came back to inquire about the situation...

Although there is no direct evidence between the two, it can be proved that the suspected Japanese ship that appeared on the sea and the city destroyed by the rat people are the same force.

But think about it from another perspective. Is it really such a coincidence in this world that the other party can find them in this vast ocean?

If the other party escaped from here, then everything would make sense.

As his thoughts raced, Zhou Xu picked up his pen and wrote down a new order.

In the early spring of next year, we will send out a fleet to begin searching for the enemy’s location!

By the time Bai Tu received this order, there was not much time left before the beginning of spring.

Fortunately, since the previous order was issued, the training of their Great Zhou Navy has never been slackened.

Now that I have received the order, the situation doesn’t seem that urgent. I can only say that I have been prepared for this a long time ago!

In the blink of an eye, the new year is here.

After the harbor shipyard expanded its scale and increased its workforce, its shipbuilding efficiency has become quite high.

Now their Great Zhou Navy already has a total of twelve speedboats and two large ships.

This scene, spread out on the sea, looks quite impressive.

Standing on the reviewing stand, Bai Tu is now full of vigor and vitality.

Starting from leading troops to support the southern border and defeating the rat people, he finally seized the opportunity and began to gradually show his abilities and was valued. Now he even directly commands their Great Zhou Navy and has completely made a name for himself.

Now their Great Zhou Navy has a fleet consisting of one large ship and six fast ships, divided into the First Fleet and the Second Fleet, forming two fleets to facilitate more flexible command and dispatch.

A simple search for the enemy operation naturally does not require the full deployment of their navy.

Bai Tu directly ordered the First Fleet to set sail to carry out the mission.

Here, it is worth mentioning that the large ship that serves as the main flagship of the First Fleet, in addition to transporting the supplies needed for the fleet's voyage, is also equipped with two pterosaur riders.

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As mentioned before, pterosaurs have limited physical strength, and if they can't find a place to rest at sea, they will be in big trouble.

This also largely limits the range of activities of pterosaur riders at sea, and they dare not fly too far.

But as long as they have the cooperation of their Great Zhou fleet, when the pterosaurs are tired of flying, they can directly land on the deck of the big ship to rest. The physical problem that has troubled the pterosaur riders will naturally be solved.

At the same time, this also allows the pterosaur rider's aerial reconnaissance capabilities to be more thoroughly utilized in subsequent operations.

Although they were able to lock on a rough location based on the direction in which the enemy ship fled, the sea was ultimately endless.

How long would it take for them to search with just a few ships? But with the assistance of two pterosaur riders, the situation would be completely different.

At sea, high-altitude reconnaissance is particularly useful because there are no obstacles to obstruct the pterosaur rider's vision.

Not to mention that what they are looking for is not a person or a ship, but an island!

Even if they are flying high in the sky, they can be easily seen, which is enough to greatly improve their reconnaissance efficiency.

In comparison, the status of the naval soldiers within the fleet is more worrying.

Although they had already conducted a lot of simulated training on life at sea in previous training, training is training, and there is still a little difference when it comes to practice.

This also means that the small situations that occur on the ship every day keep them basically busy.

Fortunately, as a general, Bai Tu was capable enough. He stabilized the situation in the midst of chaos and quickly accumulated experience at sea, which gradually improved his overall condition.

And just like that, five days passed.

The days at sea were undoubtedly boring. Many soldiers who had never had such an experience before were obviously affected in their mental state, but they were all able to remain calm.

Another day passed, and at this moment, with the setting sun, a pterosaur rider quickly landed on the deck of their main flagship.

"Report! We found an island ahead. There is a port on that island. There are many ships nearby. Among them is a 30-meter-class ship with a white flag and a red group. It is very similar to the one that appeared before!"

(End of this chapter)