There is currently no city in Tianjin. There is only a salt drying field and a canal transport terminal. It is specifically responsible for transporting grain from the south and north from here through the North Canal to Zhongdu, which is the later Beijing area. It was one of the capitals during the Jin Dynasty. After being occupied by Mongolia, it was still an important town in the north. It is a great town, and Hong Tao likes important towns, especially important towns near the sea, river, and river. Destroying a major town is more effective than burning ten small ports. Moreover, the waterways here are well connected, and the boat can be traced back to the vicinity of Zhongdu. If the disaster is caused, the Mongolian senior executives will definitely not sit idly by. How could they know that Hong Tao's sea boat cannot pass through the North Canal?

However, it is much more difficult to harm the Caoyun Wharf and warehouse than to attack Shizikou and Jinzhou. It is not that the Mongolian army here is so powerful, but that the Caoyun Wharf is still forty or fifty kilometers away from the coastline and needs to go upstream along the Haihe River. Hong Tao is a little vague. Although the Haihe River is much wider and deeper than later generations, it is still a river. Not to mention that the Jinhe River cannot enter, it is not convenient for the Jiaosha-class warship to enter, and it is not easy to turn around anytime and anywhere. Once the enemy knows it in advance, after the warship enters, block the river channel behind him with something, so don't come back.

Go or not? This is a big problem!

Hong Tao wanted to go, but he was unwilling to take too much risk. What should he do? So he neutralized for a while, and he still had to go, but he didn't go. He asked Ci Qing to lead three Jiaosha-class warships and two salmon-class cargo ships to follow the river, find the canal port, and return after burning. Where is the canal port, just ask the local fishermen who were captured by the Langya Marine Corps. It is said that they have to go up a hundred miles, which is about fifty kilometers.

"Remember my words! Go quickly and go back quickly! Don't delay for a quarter of an hour. Don't be greedy, as you won't be able to chew it. I asked the marines in Langya to cover you along the river. If there are too many enemies, turn around immediately. When there are fewer enemies, you can retreat. If there are fewer enemies, lead them to the nearest place first, and then use naval guns to solve it. Whenever you want to pursue more gains, think about Weng Ya. If the person is gone, all the gains are nonsense..." Before leaving, Hong Tao called mercy to his flagship. He made another advice, and then watched him jump onto the boat excitedly and return to his own warship. He is young. A newborn calf is not afraid of tigers. Even if he is sensible, he is still a child. He is excited when he hears leading the army.

"Sir, why don't I let my father's cavalry go with me?" Mercy has become the commander of the fleet. Although it is temporary, it is also the commander. This made Swan very envious. He is even greater than Mercy. He only got into a temporary captain. He was unwilling to accept it.

"There are water everywhere, and there are rivers and swamps everywhere. Your father's heavy armored cavalry will kill yourself without the enemy. Don't get tired of getting up with me. Go and ask your father if he has thought about the suggestion I made!" The child will grow up after all. It's useless to worry. Life and death are fate and wealth in the sky. Looking at the sail shadows of mercy and their departure, Hong Tao took back his mind and began to think about what advantages he could take. After these days of war, he felt more and more that the Mamluks were easy to use, and it would be best to take them back. In that way, he would not pay his salary, and it would be useless!!!

Unfortunately, Hong Tao's thief was not successful this time. Swan's father was only willing to regard Hong Tao as king, but he was unwilling to let the Mamluks completely incorporate into the Jinhewan system. His reason was very simple. The Mamluks could not abide by the rules of Jinhewan! Although they are not a nation, they have a history of nearly a hundred years and have always lived like this and fought. When the profession of mercenaries has become a culture of their own. They don't like the taste of big pie for their ideals. On the contrary, they are more willing to fight for rewards and live a life they think is comfortable.

"Oh... it's really unreasonable to say, okay, don't add it if you don't add it." Hong Tao didn't want to force Swan's father to join Jinhewan, that would be meaningless. For his core team, Hong Tao hopes that they all agree with their own ideas. It's not sweet to force melons, and it's awkward to everyone get together, so why bother to join together?

However, it was not without gains. Swan's father was not a fool. Since Hong Tao made this request, it would definitely be inappropriate for him not to pay a little price. Helping Jinhewan train the army is the reward he gave to Hong Tao. He can help Jinhewan train some cavalry, and his combat ability is definitely not as strong as the Mamluks, but it is much better than the Marines. Hong Tao actually didn't want his subordinates to be all those **** machines. It would be good to improve the combat level of some Marines. It doesn't matter if he can't beat Mongolian cavalry, and it can also bully the army that bullys other countries.

Waiting and unknown are always the most annoying. Since the arrival of Mercy and the fleet, Hong Tao has started to turn on the deck of the Jinhe River. Ten hours have passed, but no movement; twenty hours have passed, but no movement! Thirty hours have passed, but no movement is still there! Thirty hours have passed, but the mouth of Haihe River is still quiet.

According to Hong Tao's calculations, the Jiaosha-class warships took advantage of the strong north wind and headed west along the Haihe River. Even if they were countercurrent, their speed would not be too slow. There were always three or four knots per hour. A distance of more than fifty kilometers was enough. On the return journey, they were downstream and faster. With a few hours of shelling and setting fire time, thirty hours should be about the same. However, the merciful fleet has not returned yet, and Hong Tao was a little unstoppable. He regretted letting a child take risks as the commander of the fleet. No matter whether he encountered any trouble, he had to go and see it.

"Shengfan, No. 1 is the leading ship and enter the Haihe River!" The draught of the salmon-class cargo ship is relatively small. Hong Tao plans to use it as a water diversion ship and take the Jinhe River upstream from the Haihe River to meet the merciful attack fleet.

In fact, the waterway in the Haihe River is in good condition. As long as you don’t get rashly close to the two sides, the water depth and width in the middle of the river are enough, it’s just that a big ship like the Jinhe River turns around is a big problem. Although Hong Tao was anxious, he was not too anxious to lose his mind. He just entered the mouth of Haihe River and stopped moving forward, but directed the crew to start practicing the technique of how to turn around in the narrow channel.

What method should I turn around? The traditional method is definitely not possible. The width of the river surface is not enough, so the Jinhe River will turn around by relying on sails, which means the turning radius is not enough. However, Hong Tao has a principled feasible method to try. If it succeeds, if it enters the river channel in the future, the Jinhewan warships will have an additional life-saving ability. What method? It is actually very simple, which is to use the power of iron anchors and water flow.

First, put down the iron anchor at the stern, then hang the sails, let the crosswind and countercurrent forces add up, blowing the hull backwards. When the anchor chain is straightened and the anchor is completely grasped at the bottom of the river, the movement of the stern is blocked, and the bow can continue to move, so naturally the head is adjusted. This experiment wasted more than an hour and the effect was good. The Jinhe River lost its head twice as it wished. The side effect was that it lost an iron anchor, which was probably stuck on the huge rock at the bottom of the river and could not be pulled up again. Compared with the safety of a giant ship, losing an iron anchor is nothing, even if it is turned around and one at a time can be lost. There are spares on the ship, cut off the anchor chain and replace it with a new anchor.

"Sir, our ship is back!" After getting the new invention, the three ships continued to go upstream. After walking less than two kilometers, the lookout hand suddenly made a new discovery and passed it down in the flag language.

"How far?" Hong Tao was not ecstatic when he heard the news. His thief-hearted eyes came back again, and various possibilities emerged in his mind. For example, the ship of Mercy was captured by the enemy. The enemy used their warships to flow down to find him, and once he got close, he would hit him, and then use the battle to solve himself.

This situation cannot be said to be impossible. Hong Tao does not think from the bottom of his heart that there are many people in the world who can withstand the threat of death. If there is a sin that cannot die, Hong Tao believes that there is not even one person. If he is caught by the enemy, don’t wait for the punishment and confess immediately. At most, he will find an opportunity to settle the matter. Faced with the severe torture and force confession, he will feel sore in his bones, let alone suffer.

"About eight kilometers! I can't see clearly yet, and there are trees in the middle!" Soon, Cile asked clearly what the lookout hand saw.

"Change on the spot! Loading bullets on both sides, ready to fight!" Hong Tao did not hesitate at all, and immediately ordered his three ships to enter the escape mode. Once the opponent is really a warship controlled by the enemy, firing a gun on his ship is not difficult. The gunners are also humans. They can't ask them to die rather than surrender, so they should think about the retreat. As long as they can go back alive, their revenge will be avenged sooner or later.

"Sir, there is only one No. 2... It issued a flag saying, saying it was... overloaded..." The Jinhe had just dropped its head halfway, and its hull was still crossing the waterway. Mercy reported the latest situation again.

"Overload? What is Mercy doing? Could it be that he went to rob the Mongolian grains! This naughty child, like his father, is a thing that costs money and lives! Keep turning around and prepare for shelling!" Hong Tao wanted to catch Mercy and pour five buckets of water in a row! He said it well when he left, and then ran away after setting fire. What's the result? Or he disobeyed the order, even the cargo ship was overloaded, what's there to load? Don't ask, it must be grain, grain!

Hong Tao guessed nothing wrong. The cargo ship was indeed full of sacks, full of shelled millet and wheat, and the waterline was too heavy to see. The ships in Jinhewan used a lot of materials, and even if they were overloaded, it was fine. As long as they didn't catch up with the strong winds and waves, they could drive as usual. It was getting more stable and the center of gravity was lowered. After asking the captain on the cargo ship, Hong Tao felt relieved. It was merciful that they were not at risk. The Mongolian army guarding the grain warehouse was broken up in one round of artillery. Now he was forcing the prisoners to load food on the dock of the trough ship, and he would probably be able to keep up soon. (To be continued.)

ps:ps: It’s the New Year. As a storyteller, there is only one red envelope that can be sent, which is to tell a little more! This chapter is my New Year’s greetings to everyone, from New Year’s Eve to the seventh day of the lunar month, every day at noon... And those friends overseas, who miss their relatives much during the festival. I wish you good health, smooth work, and a lot of hard work outside... Turn longing into motivation!!!
Chapter completed!