Chapter 727 Special Military Operation to Save Japan (Fourth Update, Please Subscribe)
Why can't other generals take his place?
This is because at the strategic and even political level, this war to conquer Japan, no, it should be said that it is the "Special Military Operation to Save Japan" is extremely important.
It is not just because the 400,000 samurai in Japan are the best cannon fodder for the Ming Dynasty to colonize Africa, or even in future battles for hegemony.
Rather, it was because interrupting Japan's rise and then incorporating it into the Ming Dynasty was necessary for the Ming Dynasty to rule the Pacific.
After all, there can only be one strong power in the Pacific Ocean, and that is Ming. Japan...is a thing of the past.
Well, the same will be true for the United States in the future.
In terms of specific tactics, Emperor Zhu had no intention of getting involved.
Perhaps, Emperor Julius showed his military talent in the expeditions to Araucania and France, but in fact he himself knew better than anyone that his victory was entirely based on the crushing military technology.
It feels good to crush someone with technology for a while, and it feels good to crush them all the time.
If the technical levels of both sides were similar, if Emperor Zhu were really asked to lead the troops, he would most likely be only at the level of a half-dead battalion commander.
Of course, people should not belittle themselves. After all, Emperor Zhu lived in the 21st century, a time of information explosion. He did not spend all day reading Korean comics, pornographic books and Japanese action movies. He would occasionally cultivate his sentiments and read some military history.
Although I can't say that I'm familiar with military books, I do have some understanding of modern warfare.
So over the past few years, he has been steadfastly following his own path - a path that has been proven successful by bloody experience in another world.
The magazine rifles, machine guns, breech-loading guns, air strikes by airships, crude armored vehicles on the ground, and now tanks, all of these were successfully cheated with the direct participation and support of Emperor Zhu. Keeping the Ming Dynasty ahead in military technology was the core task that Emperor Zhu had always been thinking about.
However, those who do not plan for the future will inevitably have immediate worries. Although the Ming Dynasty was ahead in military technology, Emperor Zhu was still clearly aware of its own weaknesses. After all, the Ming Dynasty's army had only been established for more than ten years. Even in the past thirteen years, by introducing military experts from Prussia and other countries and building a modern army through military education, this army still lacked experience.
To make up for the lack of experience, one way is to practice new tactics through a large number of exercises, and the other, of course, is to be influenced by war.
Therefore, Emperor Zhu would not participate in tactics and leave it to his subordinates to execute, but he had to personally take charge of strategic and political work.
Occupy Japan.
How can it be called an occupation? It was clearly a rescue. It rescued the Japanese people from the dire straits of civil war.
Be sure to remember this.
But no matter what action it is, this is definitely not the first step for Ming Dynasty to return to East Asia. It should be said that it is the first step for Ming Dynasty to conquer the world!
So you must not go wrong.
Therefore, after five years, Emperor Zhu once again led the army to fight in person.
Although the Ming Dynasty's naval fleet was not large, it was divided into two main fleets - the Pacific Fleet and the Atlantic Fleet, with at most an African squadron and an East Asian squadron.
Faced with such a vast sea area, the Ming Dynasty had only six main ships - two "Friendship" class and four Nanhua class. Although the two British-made "Tianlong" class and the two domestically-made Shanxi class were the founding ships of the Ming Navy and had powerful firepower, they had lagged behind the times in performance and had withdrawn from the main force position.
The main cruisers of the navy now are four cutting-edge "Linhai-class" cruisers. The "Linhai-class" with a displacement of 5,000 tons can be regarded as a miniaturized "Nanhua-class". The inclined turrets, ram bow, central ironclad fort, and the main ship structure are basically the same as the "Nanhua-class", with two twin Kruger 254mm turrets as main guns, six 120mm caliber secondary guns, six 30mm automatic Gatling guns, plus five 400mm torpedo tubes, giving it extremely strong combat effectiveness, and the 200mm waterline armor belt makes it no less than a battleship.
In the World Naval Yearbook of 1873, it was called a "second-class ironclad ship", but in the Ming Dynasty's naval sequence, it was a cruiser. The reason for this was that it was actually equipped with the same power as the Nanhua class - two advanced triple-expansion reciprocating steam engines, with an ultra-strong power of 10,000 horsepower, allowing it to reach a designed speed of 19 knots, and during the public trial, its maximum speed reached 20 knots under strong pressure ventilation.
"This is the 'Linhai Class'!"
In the Linhai naval port, standing on the bridge of the Linhai, Emperor Zhu said with emotion.
"Those who run faster than him don't have as powerful a gun as him, and those with more powerful guns don't run as fast as him..."
When Emperor Zhu said this, the corners of his lips raised slightly. In fact, when designing the "Linhai-class" armored cruiser, Emperor Zhu directly participated in the design. Taking into account the limited size of the Ming Dynasty's navy, he preferred battleships to cruisers. After all, battleships play a leading role in the main decisive battle. However, the Ming Dynasty's extensive interests in North America, the Pacific and Africa require that the Ming Dynasty must have a cruiser with strong seaworthiness and high speed.
Faced with two completely different requirements, Emperor Zhu directly drew on the experience of later generations and came up with the concept of "battlecruiser".
Compared with the armor and artillery of the second level of battleships, but with power comparable to or even higher than that of battleships, due to lack of experience, the engineers of the Nanhua Shipyard directly took out the drawings of the "Nanhua Class" after sufficient research. After all, the design of the Nanhua Class itself is a 254mm main gun. All that is needed is to reduce the armor thickness and enhance the seaworthiness, which can basically meet the requirements.
Finally, the Linhai-class armored cruiser was born. As soon as it was launched, it immediately attracted the attention of various countries. Russia took the lead in ordering two ships, and the Austro-Hungarian Empire also showed great interest. Countries are really interested in this kind of warship with unique performance. After all, its armor and artillery are very powerful.
Now the "Linhai" has become the flagship of Emperor Zhu Yuanzhang, because battleships such as the "Nanhua" and the "Zhenyuan" sailed into Ryukyu last year. Now the battleships of the Pacific Fleet, except for the "Tongmeng", are only the "Linhai" and its sister ship "Taiyuan" of the same class. Although the "Tongmeng" has a larger tonnage, Emperor Zhu Yuanzhang still decided to support domestic products - to use the "Linhai" as the royal ship.
"Your Majesty, the fleet is ready to depart at any time."
Standing beside His Majesty is Li Fengzhi, the naval colonel who once relied on a training ship to bring Ryukyu back to the embrace of the Ming Dynasty. He is the deputy commander of the Ming Dynasty's Pacific Fleet and will be in charge of Emperor Zhu's trip to Japan this time.
"Um!"
Nodding slightly, Emperor Zhu said.
"Let's go!"
Following the order of Emperor Zhu, the armored cruisers "Linhai" and "Taiyuan" and the equally cutting-edge protected cruisers "Taishan" and "Nanhai" as well as the immigrant ships "Anping" and "Chengde" weighed anchor. As the two warships slowly sailed out of Linhai, salutes roared from the Linhai Fortress to see off the emperor and the expeditionary army...
(End of this chapter)
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