Fukudaura.

Ma Yinglong directed the coast guard team members and worked hard for a whole morning before they completed tasks such as guarding prisoners, taking over ships, and counting supplies.

Wang Rulong, several captains, and several combat staff officers of the General Staff Office were busy formulating the next combat plan in the flagship conference room. The initial combat plan had already completed the most urgent item, capturing the galleon. There were also two other things they needed to accomplish: eliminating the Matsuura Party to establish its prestige and helping the Tamra Chamber of Commerce to monopolize trade with Japan.

In fact, these two things are inseparable. In the Age of Exploration, war and trade were like twins, always closely linked.

As the saying goes, "One shot of the cannon brings in a ton of gold." In a force like the Jiangnan Group, which is heavily influenced by mercantilism, it is easier to reach a consensus that a loss-making business should not be done, and this is especially true for war. If a war cannot bring positive returns, it is a harmful war and must be resolutely avoided.

The purpose of Mr. Zhao establishing a staff office in the garrison area is to carry out quantitative management of the war.

The task of the General Staff Office is to make plans for all wars and calculate the expenses and benefits of the entire campaign and each battle, so as to prevent the commander from getting too excited and blindly expanding the scale of the war, increasing the cost of the war and reducing the benefits of the war.

Of course, Zhao Hao also considered that the General Staff Office lacked experience in its early days, and it was easy to make random plans and be out of touch with reality. For example, blindly demanding to save ammunition, being too conservative or radical, would lead the fleet he had worked so hard to build into a ditch. So he first let Wang Rulong serve as the chief of staff and make plans for himself, so as not to tie his own hands or overestimate his own abilities, right?

As for the future, let's wait until the General Staff Office is up and running first...

~~

Mr. Zhao had a leisurely morning and took a nap. In fact, he had been very idle. Since he promised Wang Rulong not to give blind orders, he must keep his word. From the perspective of not causing trouble, Mr. Zhao is simply the best boss in the world.

He slept until 11:30, when Secretary Ma woke him up and told him to wash and dress. It was not until he came out of the bedroom and sat down at the dining table outside that he regained his energy.

There was still some time before dinner, and Master Zhao was drinking hot milk and chatting with his nephew. In order to ensure the growth of the master, Wang Rulong specially asked Brother Haier to raise a dairy cow on the flagship. The group depends on the master, and keeping him strong is a blessing for everyone.

The eldest nephew naturally also had milk to drink, but he was so busy writing and drawing that he had no time to drink milk at all.

"Are you going to improve the rocket?" Zhao Hao picked up a piece of manuscript paper and looked at the sketch on it.

"Yes, uncle." The eldest nephew came to Zhao Hao to determine the research direction. Although he felt that he had some talent in weapon design, he felt that compared with his respected uncle, it was like Mr. Wang meeting Wang Mazi, and they were far behind.

On the road of invention and creation with many detours, my uncle is the lighthouse when I am lost, and the guiding light for me!

Zhao Shizhen has become accustomed to asking his uncle whether it is right every time he has a new idea. This not only helps him avoid many detours, but also allows him to constantly gain crucial new inspiration.

"After watching these two battles, I feel that the Thunder God Rocket has great potential." Zhao Shizhen rubbed his hands and said: "This thing has a fast firing rate and is flexible and agile. If the range and accuracy can be improved, it will be a powerful supplement to artillery!"

"Hmm." Zhao Hao nodded with a smile. He was not surprised that Zhao Shizhen had such an opinion.

In another time and space, the British improved the Congreve rocket based on the Ming Dynasty's iron-cased rocket. Once it was equipped, it was widely used in the Napoleonic Wars and was very successful in several appearances.

Later, under the command of Congreve, the British Navy fired about 25,000 rockets at Copenhagen, almost burning the city to the ground and forcing Denmark to surrender. In the Battle of Leipzig in 1812, the British rocket artillery unit in the Swedish army used a fierce shooting to "scatter a group of French troops like an ant pile".

What makes the Chinese people gnashing their teeth and lamenting is that the British army also used this kind of rocket in large quantities in the two Opium Wars, attacking military camps and burning cities, which frightened the Qing army. In the Battle of Baliqiao, Senggelinqin's Mongolian cavalry was defeated by this kind of "red foreign firearms" that were flying and whistling with red tail flames... It can only be said that it is a crime that one brings trouble upon oneself, and it is what he deserves!

Such a powerful firearm would naturally attract the attention of a firearms genius like Zhao Shizhen who appears once every few hundred years.

Of course, the shortcomings of this rocket are also obvious - first, it has low accuracy and can hit the surface but not the specific points. Second, its trajectory is strange and once the wind direction changes, it may come back and hurt its own people. Therefore, it has never been able to shake the leading role of artillery, and when new artillery appeared, it quickly withdrew from the stage until Katyusha sang that moving song.

However, the flaws do not outweigh the merits. This thing is indeed a useful supplement to the current artillery. And the most important thing is that the Ming Dynasty has already developed a basically usable iron shell rocket. On this basis, it is not difficult to improve the Congreve rocket, which is simple to make, has low process requirements, and uses granulated black powder as power!

Even if we can't make explosive warheads for the time being due to gunpowder problems, wouldn't it be great to use sharp arrows to tear apart the sails and use the tail flames to burn houses?

"It's not difficult to increase the range. The key to this thing is balance." Zhao Hao looked at the blueprint in his hand and gave careful instructions: "Experiment repeatedly with the length of the arrow, tail fin, and balance bar to find the most suitable combination. Then think of a way to put it in a tube to increase the accuracy. But don't hold your hopes too high. This thing will always be a volume product."

Mr. Zhao added silently in his heart, in addition to a certain rabbit's precision-guided rocket launcher...

"Really?" Zhao Shizhen said with a little disappointment: "I thought I could use this thing to break into Kyoto and capture Oda City alive."

"Puff..." Zhao Hao almost spit up milk and coughed repeatedly, "You haven't forgotten yet?"

"Why else would I come to Japan?" Zhao Shizhen said seriously, "My nephew has always been aiming for this!"

"Ahem, you are really ambitious!" Young Master Zhao said with shame, "But first, Ah Shi is not in Kyoto; second, although she is still very young, she is already a mother." After a pause, he smiled strangely and said, "But her daughter is also very beautiful, why don't you wait a little longer?"

"No, I only want Oda City!" Zhao Shizhen said firmly: "Uncle, I will definitely make more powerful firearms to help you sweep across Japan and make them surrender them obediently!"

"Good, you have ambition." Zhao Hao exclaimed in praise, thinking that in a few years A-shi would become a widow, and then he would see if there would be a chance to help his eldest nephew get married.

However, he did not dare to tell his nephew that most Japanese noble ladies of that era had heavily powdered faces, bald eyebrows and black teeth. He hoped that Shizhen would not feel disillusioned by then.

At this time, Qiaoqiao started serving the dishes, and the two of them tacitly ended the topic.

~~

After a morning of discussion, the General Staff Office came up with a plan for the next step. As soon as the meeting was over, Wang Rulong ran to report to Mr. Zhao. If he was late, he would miss the meal.

But then he saw Ma Yinglong also hurriedly coming over with a cowhide briefcase on his back, and the two smiled at each other.

"please!"

"please!"

After reporting, the two went into the house to meet the young master.

"Haha, I knew you two would come and eat for free again." Zhao Hao couldn't help but laugh, pointing at the table full of sumptuous dishes and said, "Look, I specifically asked Sister Qiaoqiao to reward you well!"

The two of them were naturally very proud of having won the battle. They thanked the young master with a smile, and also thanked Miss Qiaoqiao politely, then happily sat down to eat.

Qiaoqiao was also very happy. This time she received unprecedented praise from senior police officers. She also found that when the young master ate with these hungry police officers, he would eat two more bowls every time. So she smiled and went to the kitchen to continue working with full energy.

"Have the police officers improved their meals at noon?" Zhao Hao asked with concern as he looked at the two men who were sweeping away everything in their path.

"Yes, ask the kitchen to cook rice and stew meat for everyone at noon and send them to their posts. We'll have a good meal at night when everyone has rested." Logistical support is also the responsibility of the Police Commissioner. Ma Yinglong is reliable, so Mr. Zhao doesn't have to worry if he says so.

~~

Wang Rulong and Ma Yinglong were indeed starving. They had only eaten a few bites of dry food since midnight. Why didn't they eat to their heart's content now that they had a meal?

After eating until he was about 70% full, Ma Yinglong poured out his food and reported the statistical results to Master Zhao.

"No one was killed in the battle last night, but two drowned." Ma Yinglong said, "One was a Marine. He slipped and fell into the water while boarding the sailboat. He drowned when he was fished out."

"Damn it, the red-haired devil's boat is too high." Wang Rulong chewed a piece of chicken bone fiercely and cursed: "It's like climbing Mount Huashan. It's so dark that nothing will happen."

"The other one was a sailor on the 208 ship. He was missing during the roll call after the battle. He must have fallen into the water as well." Ma Yinglong sighed and said, "This second-level police officer was even more miserable. He was nowhere to be found, alive or dead, and we didn't find him until dawn."

"Alas..." Young Master Zhao also sighed. The list of victims for his so-called ideals had become longer.

"Sir, stop nitpicking. This time we have already exceeded our expectations!" Wang Rulong, a veteran general who had been through many battles, naturally would not put on airs. He said casually, "According to the original estimate of the General Staff, at best, dozens of brothers would be killed in this battle."

"One is that the enemy didn't fire, and the other is that after all the bronze cannons were installed, firing cannons became much safer. Last night's cannons were fired so fiercely, but only two cannons exploded, and no one was injured!" As he said this, he stretched out his big bear-paw-like hand, patted Zhao Shizhen's back heavily, and laughed:

"You, the Cannon King, have made great contributions!"

Zhao Shizhen almost let him fall into the soup basin. He rubbed his back and smiled bitterly.

Young Master Zhao almost burst out laughing. Just for the title of eldest nephew, he had to find a few more Japanese women for him!

ps. I took my son to watch "My Hometown and Me" today. It was really good and worth the money. I highly recommend it. Also, I've only written half of the second update so far...