After breakfast, Zhao Hao’s squadron was also about to set out to join the main force in Tamsui.

Mei Nan went to the dock to see them off. Perhaps because Lin Feng had just left, she looked particularly sad. "Are we going to separate now?"

"I received news yesterday that the Japanese pirates in Tamsui have been wiped out. I have to go over there to check out the situation." Zhao Hao said with a smile, "I will take Miss Mei to Jiangnan when I come back."

Mei Nan gestured to Zhao Hao to bend down and present a hibiscus wreath to the envoy of God according to the Ryukyu Shinto ritual.

When the flower crown was gently placed on his head, Mei Nan suddenly whispered in Zhao Hao's ear: "Next time we go to the sky together, you won't be taking advantage of me..."

Master Zhao was stunned.

Oh oh oh…

~~

The next day, Zhao Hao arrived in Tamsui with the squadron.

The Datun Mountain, which is composed of more than ten volcanic cones, is particularly conspicuous. When you see it, you know you have arrived in Tamsui.

After exchanging flag signals, the patrolling speedboat sent out a welcome signal and led the fleet into the Tamsui River.

The huge southbound fleet was neatly moored on the river, which was more than a mile wide, so that the fresh water from the Tamsui River could "drown" the marine life parasitic on the bottom of the ship. Wooden warships could only sail for three or four months at most before they had to enter the port for maintenance. First, the hull was not well sealed, and water seepage was common, so the gaps in the deck had to be refilled with adhesive. Second, the shipworms and barnacles parasitic on the bottom of the ship would drill holes in the bottom of the ship if they were not cleaned in the dry dock in time. After a long time, it was impossible to repair it, and the only thing to do was to replace the ship planks.

However, if conditions permit, the ship can be driven into fresh water for a bath frequently to extend its cruising time. In addition, the police officers follow the regulations and perform maintenance seriously on weekdays, so the warships of the Coast Guard Fleet can even last half a year before entering the port for maintenance.

Of course, this is also related to the Ming Dynasty’s unique watertight compartment design, which makes leakage no longer fatal.

The Zhenwo was moored at the field dock. Jin Ke, Wang Rulong and Ma Yinglong had been waiting on the temporary wooden pier for a long time.

"Comrades, thank you for your hard work." Young Master Zhao walked down the gangway with a smile on his face and waved to his three generals.

The three of them were stunned, but Ma Yinglong was the quickest to react and saluted, "Thank you for your hard work, young master."

"It's not hard, it's not hard." Zhao Hao laughed and returned the greeting to the three people and asked, "How is it? Is it going smoothly?"

"It went very smoothly." Wang Rulong pointed to the broad Tamsui River. "This place is not like Jilong, a good military port. The broad river is unobstructed. Our warships sailed in along the river mouth and bombarded the Japanese pirates. Then we sent out the Marines to harvest the pirates. Only a few unlucky ones were injured, and we completely wiped out the Japanese pirates and rescued another 3,000 people."

"Very good!" Zhao Hao nodded. He knew that they would not let him down.

Ma Yinglong presented another battle statistics. He thought that this was a new branch base of the Japanese pirates and that there wouldn't be much to gain. Unexpectedly, it was almost the same as Keelung. It seems that relying on the mainland is enough. No wonder the Japanese pirates' leader moved to Tamsui to take charge.

"By the way, have you caught their leader?" Zhao Hao asked casually as he looked at the list with satisfaction.

"We caught him. The Japanese guy's name is Kazuo Kawakami. He wanted to commit caesarean section but couldn't find anyone to perform the operation, so he didn't die." Jin Ke said with a smile.

"Wow, that's quite sophisticated." Zhao Hao asked with a smile, "How was the interrogation?"

"He confessed everything. According to his confession, it was the Portuguese who were behind this, and the Wuyang Trading House was the one who handled this." Jin Ke replied in a deep voice: "We also found letters between him and the Wuyang Trading House, as well as IOUs from the Portuguese from his residence."

"IOU?" Zhao Hao asked curiously, "Is there still a balance to be paid?"

"It's not money, it's cannons." Jin Ke said with an excited smile, "Kawakami Kazuo said that Portugal promised to give them 40 cast iron long snake cannons to build artillery batteries after the deal was done. But it is said that the production capacity of the Bugalao Cannon Factory is tight, so they only gave them 20 cannons for the two artillery batteries in Keelung, and they still owe them the ones in Tamsui."

"Great, selling artillery to the Japanese pirates!" Young Master Zhao clapped his hands and laughed, "Law-abiding Portuguese friends, be prepared to pay the price."

~~

After the routine condolences to the wounded and lunch with the officers and soldiers, Master Zhao presided over a high-level commanders' meeting in the afternoon and deployed the next phase of the battle plan to them - the fleet was divided into two groups, one group led by Jin Ke, and they would fight southward along the west coast of Taiwan to wipe out the pirates entrenched in Taiwan!

The northwest of Taiwan is not affected by the Black Water Channel, is relatively easy to reach, and is not harassed by government troops. Many sea masters choose to build their nests here. They usually stir up trouble on the coastal routes of Fujian and Guangdong, and hide from the limelight when they see the situation is not good. If Master Zhao wants to manage Taiwan, he must first eliminate them.

The other route, led by Wang Rulong, will take the route from Tamsui to Fuzhou, and clear out the pirates entrenched along the coast of Fujian from north to south. In the past two years, the Penghu, Yuegang, and Fuzhou stations of Jiangnan Trading Company have been collecting information on the sea owners along the coast of Fujian and Guangdong. Tang Baolu will follow Wang Rulong's fleet and be responsible for intelligence guidance.

Obviously, the combat pressure along this route was much greater, so the three new battleships and two-thirds of the medium-sized ships were assigned to Wang Rulong's Eastern Fleet. Jin Ke's side was fighting along the coast of Taiwan, so naturally they mainly used small ships and speedboats. The Zhenwo and five medium-sized ships were incorporated into the Western Fleet, firstly to prevent unexpected events, and secondly to intimidate the indigenous people with huge warships and leave them with the impression of being invincible.

The final meeting point of the two sides was set at Qing'ao Bay on Nan'ao Island. If nothing unexpected happened, the Western Fleet would arrive first and support Wang Rulong's Eastern Fleet if necessary.

The reason why the fleet was divided was that Wang Rulong proposed it in view of the fact that the large-scale fleet was slow in action and not as flexible and maneuverable as the sea lords of Fujian and Guangdong.

He believed that the number of people and ships in a maritime war was completely meaningless when there was a generation gap in weapons and equipment and in organizational command. This has been fully demonstrated in all the operations of the Coast Guard Fleet.

Two years ago, the Portuguese used a caravel to repel Zeng Yiben's huge fleet. Also two years ago, a Portuguese ship faced a siege of up to 200 ships from Aceh in Malacca without losing the upper hand.

Therefore, with three new large sailing ships in place, if you still don't have the confidence to divide your forces, it would be better to go back to Jeju Island directly and not embarrass yourself.

After careful consideration, Zhao Hao agreed to Wang Rulong's slightly risky suggestion.

Naval warfare is a game for the brave. How can you play it without a sense of adventure?

~~

After deciding on the next phase of the battle plan, Zhao Hao stopped asking about the actions of the Coast Guard. Compared to fighting pirates, he preferred to manage Taiwan Island.

The next day, Zhao Hao and Fatty Tang boarded a paddleboat requisitioned from Ryukyu and sailed upstream along the Tamsui River, going deep inland to inspect the situation on both sides of the river.

The Danshui River is surrounded by beautiful mountains and rivers, plains and hills, and villages and farmlands can be seen from time to time. That is the home of the Ketagalan people, who live in villages and communities, fishing, hunting and farming.

However, the villages we saw at that time were all abandoned and the land was barren, all thanks to the Japanese. In order to avoid the burning, killing and looting of the Japanese pirates, the Ketagalan people were forced to abandon their homes and move deep into the basin. Many of the villages that attended the meeting that day were in this situation.

"It's so convenient to have such a river!" When Tang Youde learned that the broad and abundant Tamsui River meanders through the entire Taipei Basin, and its tributary, the Keelung River, reaches Keelung, and its tributary, the Dahan River, reaches Taoyuan, closely connecting most of northern Taiwan, he couldn't help but exclaim in admiration.

"That's right. This is the most important inland waterway in Taiwan." Zhao Hao nodded with a smile. Why was Tainan developed first in Daiqing, but the provincial capital was eventually placed in Taipei? This river, which is accessible to sailboats throughout the territory, has made great contributions. The rise of Banqiao, Xindian and Taipei City in the Monga era all relied on the help of Tamsui River water transportation.

The so-called Monga is the central part of the Taipei Basin, the part within the "J"-shaped bend of the Tamsui River. It has fertile land and is well connected. It is naturally the center of northern Taiwan and the future location of Taipei City.

Zhao Hao had a very important purpose for this trip, which was to inspect the Monga area and see whether to develop it in the order of central blasting and spreading out in all directions, or to develop it honestly from the downstream along the Tamsui River.

After sailing for forty miles, they arrived at a three-way river estuary. Looking at the sharp turn of the river ahead, Zhao Hao estimated that they had arrived at Monga.

Looking at the densely packed abandoned villages and farmlands in the bend, Zhao Hao thought that it seemed that no one was stupid and they all knew that this was a good place. In fact, "艋舺" means canoe in the language of the Ketagalan people. This place has been a place for villages to barter for many years. Before the Japanese pirates came, they would come here to trade on special market days in their canoes.

The paddle boat docked at the sandbar in the middle of the river. The police officers transported the hot air balloon components to the sandbar, quickly assembled them, and after a thorough inspection, they sent the Young Master and Mr. Tang into the sky.

After flying up, I could see much more clearly. I saw the southwest tributary of the Sancha River flowing through a long hilly valley and into a wide plain. Obviously, that was the Dahan River heading to Taoyuan.

Then this place will naturally be the future location of Taipei City.

"This is a good place for Feng Shui, sir. Although the conditions in Danshui are good, the land that can be reclaimed is limited. Why not put the management committee here?" Tang Youde had sharp eyes and saw the advantages of this place. "It's very convenient here."

"Yeah." Zhao Hao nodded slowly and asked with a smile, "But this is also where the Ketagalan people gather. Can you handle it?"

"That's perfect." Fatty Tang patted his chest and said, "I'm not bragging, I'm the best at dealing with local tyrants. I can make sure that leader of the gang calls you daddy."

"Go to hell, I don't care." Zhao Hao cursed with a smile, "But it's true. When I went to the countryside to collect silk, I saw your boss Tang's style."

"Hehe, it happened many years ago, young master still remembers it." Tang Youde was flattered and said, "But there is really no difference between the heads of these villages and the heads of those silk societies."

"Haha, okay." Zhao Hao smiled and nodded, "You are the chairman and you have the final say on where to put the management committee."

ps. No more tonight. I wish you all a happy holiday, and I will update seriously.