In the flagship restaurant.

Ma Yinglong then reported: "Another 18 people were injured, most of them were caused by problems when launching rockets... Those things can fly around if you don't handle them properly, and some can even fly onto our own ships. Alas, how come nothing happened when we launched rockets last time?"

"The time we fought Jiangchuan City, the wind was favorable. Yesterday, we fought against the wind. That's the difference." Young Master Zhao took the handkerchief and wiped his mouth, saying, "In short, be careful when the wind is strong in the future. Otherwise, you might hurt yourself."

Zhao Shizhen seemed to suddenly think of something. He stopped eating, picked up his pile of manuscript paper, put it on his knees and started drawing with concentration.

The three of them knew that he had a new inspiration, so they didn't disturb him and continued talking to themselves.

"As for ammunition, the ships consumed too much last night, using three times more shells than last time. The five supply ships were emptied, and the average ammunition reserve of each ship has only recovered to 70%. There are less than a thousand rockets left." Ma Yinglong said with some embarrassment: "In addition, 32 guns have deformed barrels, and they will probably have to be rebuilt. You can imagine how fierce the artillery fire was last night."

"But if it weren't for this, we wouldn't be able to keep those two Western ships." Wang Rulong explained awkwardly, "We will save our cannons in the future."

"Don't worry." Zhao Hao smiled and shook his head, "The next batch of supplies should have arrived at the base by now."

“Really?!” The two cheered in surprise, “That’s great! We’ll send a supply ship back today!”

Young Master Zhao smiled and nodded. He had deeply realized how wonderful it was to have the support of the world's largest economy. Especially in wartime, that kind of strong support was unimaginable for other countries.

It has been less than a year since he formulated the First Five-Year Plan last year, but Jiangnan Group's military manufacturing capabilities have already improved to a considerable level.

In a top-secret report submitted to him by the Strategic Decision-making Committee, he was told that the group could cast one hundred bronze cannons and produce five thousand kilograms of granular gunpowder every month... and the goal that Mr. Zhao originally gave them was to produce one ton of gunpowder and two hundred bronze cannons annually by the end of the First Five-Year Plan.

He had far exceeded his goal.

Because Mr. Zhao did not expect the war against Japan to come so soon, and naturally did not expect to confront the Portuguese so early. In his plan, he should work hard to improve his internal strength during the 15th period, improve production standards and manufacturing processes, rather than blindly pursue output.

Gunpowder has a shelf life, especially in Jiangnan, where it may get damp after a summer. So Zhao Hao only ordered a very low quantity. If we can't go out to sea, is it a rebellion to use so much gunpowder to build so many cannons?

But plans cannot keep up with changes, and opportunities must be seized when they come. Jiangnan Group temporarily switched to a wartime state, and its production capacity was concentrated on the military industry. The energy it released was naturally amazing, and it could not be considered normal.

The strategic committee also reported to him that if necessary, the production could be doubled. Only the precious land of Jiangnan could have such great power.

However, Zhao Hao deduced the scale of the war and told them that they only needed to maintain their current production.

~~

After explaining his own situation, Ma Yinglong continued:

"As for the enemy, all three ships surrendered. The Duke of Goa was the most seriously damaged. The deck was burned black and the bow was leaking. They had to get their sailors back and it took a lot of rescue work to control it. As for the Oriental Beauty, because there was no rocket attack and the hull was low, the situation was much better and there was almost no damage."

"That's good, that's good." Young Master Zhao breathed a sigh of relief and said with a smile, "I'm glad my beauty is fine."

"Since you are so obsessed with it, how dare we hurt it?" Ma Yinglong said with a smile, "It has been cleaned and tied up, waiting for you to visit!"

"Really?" Zhao Hao couldn't help but asked happily, "Can I go up now?"

"Any time!"

“Let’s go together. This kind of thing is more fun when we’re together!” Zhao Hao wished he could grow wings and fly over there.

"Yes, sir. Let's also study carefully how charming this oriental beauty is to make you so obsessed!" Wang Rulong said in a muffled voice.

"Well, study it from the inside out, inch by inch." Ma Yinglong also laughed.

Then there was a clicking sound outside the door. The guard went out to check immediately and came back to report that it was Miss Qiaoqiao who accidentally dropped the soup bowl.

"Is no one hurt?" Zhao Hao raised his voice and asked with concern.

"No, no..." Qiaoqiao's crying voice came from outside the door, gradually fading away.

"Are you so upset about breaking a bowl?" Zhao Hao glanced at the guard. "Are you really not hurt?"

"Really not." The guard shook his head.

"That's good." Zhao Hao nodded and said to Ma Yinglong, "You continue."

"There was another large ship that crashed behind us, but it was not damaged at all." Ma Yinglong then reported, "That ship was loaded with gold and silver. Together with the gold stored on the two Western ships, there were a total of 120,000 taels of silver and 8,000 taels of gold."

"Hey, I've made a lot of money this time!" Wang Rulong was very happy. He made a lot of money this time and his pressure was relieved.

"Well, not bad." Zhao Hao was also very happy. He knew that the Nanman trade was very profitable, but he didn't expect it to be so profitable. Of course, it would be faster to rob them before they came, and the cost of the fleet would be recovered in one go. He said excitedly: "Let's go back to Jiangchuan City and take a look. Didn't those Tang people say that there is a silver cellar under the castle? The Yujiu family followed the Wufeng ship owner to engage in smuggling back then. There must be tens of thousands of taels in it, right?"

"Okay." Wang Rulong nodded and took note of it.

Although the garrison strictly prohibits officers and soldiers from privately keeping spoils of war, violators, no matter how much, will be expelled from the police force and sentenced to life hard labor.

But according to the regulations, all the captured goods must be turned over to the public, and then the group will distribute them according to the "2:1:1" principle. That is, the "distributable profits" after deducting the costs will be divided into four parts. Two parts belong to the group, one part belongs to the garrison, and one part is distributed as a special bonus to the soldiers who participated in the war according to their merits and ranks... This work is also the responsibility of the police commissioners.

"In addition, a total of 103 enemies were eliminated. 788 people were captured, including 134 red-haired people, 635 Kunlun slaves, 11 Japanese, and 8 Han people." Ma Yinglong then reported: "Among the prisoners, there are 123 wounded, including 28 seriously injured."

"Don't refuse to treat them properly just because they were once enemies." Young Master Zhao instructed with a compassionate look on his face: "Change your mindset. They are now the group's valuable assets."

"Yes." Ma Yinglong responded quickly. In fact, Zhao Hao didn't need to say anything, he had already ordered the ship's doctor to do his best to treat every prisoner. Anyone who had seen the two large sailing ships would admit that the Portuguese's shipbuilding and shipbuilding skills were better than those of the Ming Dynasty, and naturally they would understand how valuable those skilled crew members were.

It is no exaggeration to say that the iteration of the coast guard fleet depends on these captives.

~~

Over there, Qiaoqiao returned to the small kitchen in a daze again.

Ma Xianglan was still watching the stove for her... There was no other way. According to the rules on the ship, someone had to be present when using fire.

"What's wrong now?" Seeing that she was more stimulated than yesterday, Sister Ma asked.

"It's getting more and more outrageous..." Qiaoqiao burst into tears and said, "The young master has been completely led astray by them. They actually, actually want to ruin other girls together!"

"Ah?" Ma Xianglan's jaw almost dropped into the stove, and she asked hurriedly, "Are you talking about that oriental beauty?"

"If not her, who else could make the young master miss her so much?" Qiaoqiao's eyes were dull. She felt that she could not accept such a thing.

"Hehe, what did you hear?" Ma Xianglan didn't keep her in suspense this time and smiled at her, "That oriental beauty is not a human."

“Why are you so…” Qiaoqiao bit her bloodless lips and said, “No matter if she is from our Ming Dynasty or not, she is still a woman with a miserable life.”

"The Oriental Beauty is a large sailing ship, a Portuguese warship." Ma Xianglan said with a smile, "Why are you jealous of someone else? Why be jealous of a ship man... oh no, a ship girl."

"Really?" Qiaoqiao opened her mouth slightly in disbelief. "Oriental beauty... is she a boat?"

"No, look." Ma Xianglan pulled out a ship sketch from a folder beside her and handed it to her, saying, "It's this black Western ship."

Qiaoqiao blinked in shock, and saw the five eye-catching words "Oriental Beauty" written on the blank space of the drawing.

After a while, she ran out of the kitchen and compared the sketch in her hand to see the captured galleon. Although it had two broken masts, it was undoubtedly a ship.

At this time, she saw Zhao Hao and others boarding the Oriental Princess in a small boat, and now she completely understood what "on" meant.

"This, this..." Qiaoqiao covered her hot little face and wished she could jump into the sea to cool down.

It's so embarrassing that I'm jealous of a ship girl...

~~

Mr. Zhao finally boarded the galleon he had been dreaming of. As for the large caravel with its deck covered with illegal structures, he didn't even bother to take a look at it.

Compared to the bloated middle-aged woman-like Goa Governor, the most significant feature of this oriental beauty is its slimness. It has no forecastle and lowered the poop, almost shrinking it into the hull, greatly lowering the center of gravity of the ship.

Compared with the Ming Dynasty's warships, its biggest feature is that the cabin is wider at the bottom and narrower at the top, which further lowers the center of gravity in order to withstand multiple layers of artillery fire.

Standing on the upper deck, looking at the various auxiliary riggings and listening to the captives explaining their uses, Wang Rulong couldn't help but secretly call himself lucky. Fortunately, the young master foresaw the situation and ordered the fleet to head straight for Futianpu, blocking the two Western ships in the harbor with an absolute advantage in force.

Futianpu was less than two miles wide, and the deep-water channel suitable for Western ships was less than 500 meters wide. This severely limited the maneuvering range of Western ships, leaving them passively vulnerable.

If the two sides met in the open ocean, the other side would only need to rely on the several times more sails on this ship and the superb sail-handling technology to achieve faster and more flexible maneuvering capabilities.

He couldn't even imagine what kind of outcome would be waiting for his fleet.

The young master's words "Learn the skills from the barbarians in order to defeat them" finally woke me up.