"There is nothing we can do about this. The country is the foundation. Only by stabilizing the country can our expansion be a source of water and a tree with roots." Li Xiao walked to the huge map hanging on the wall and looked at it.

!

This map was mapped by Li Hao and his troops with great painstaking efforts. Especially the Northwest and Sichuan generations were particularly careful in surveying and mapping. Li Hao even read the county annals and population books of the local counties and used colors to map them.

Distinguish between cities with large and small populations.

"Nie Dahai is in Guangxi to exterminate the remnants of the Yang family. This place is located among hundreds of thousands of mountains and has always been easy to defend and difficult to attack. There is no other way. I have equipped Nie Dahai with thirty airships. It is estimated that if he wants to completely wipe out the banditry, he will have to

A year or two years.

Now the six provinces in the south of the Yangtze River have been completely annexed, and the remaining ones are Yunnan and Guizhou. These places have high mountains and long roads, and the chieftains have been acting on behalf of the imperial court for hundreds of years. Some even started to manage the local areas during the Three Kingdoms period. They want to completely

It's very difficult to take it back.

To the north, we have developed to the extreme. Along the Xing'an Mountains is the last place suitable for human habitation. The remaining places have winter for half of the year, and the crop production cycle is extremely short. The gains of large-scale cultivation in that place outweigh the losses. Our Ming Dynasty, too

Only a few hundred thousand people live there. The main business is leather goods, wild ginseng, timber and other local products. The annual tax and output are very limited.

If the land is really valuable for farming, you need to go to the Nenjiang River, Songhua River, and Mudanjiang River basins. Black soil is the most suitable for producing soybeans, and soybeans are a treasure. Although they cannot be eaten directly, they can be used to extract oil. The urban population is increasing

There are more and more soybean oil consumed every year.

The residue left over from the oil extraction can be used as feed. Do you know how many people there are in Ming Dynasty?"

"The number calculated last year was 233 million!"

"Then how many livestock and poultry do we have in Ming Dynasty?"

"Uh...!" Li Xiuke couldn't answer. Who cares how many livestock and poultry there are in Ming Dynasty?

"More than three billion eighty-seven million. This includes large livestock such as pigs, cattle, sheep, horses, mules, and donkeys, as well as poultry such as chickens, ducks, and geese. But no matter what, these are still three billion eighty-seven million."

There are more than seven million mouths. They also need to eat. Think about how much food has to be filled into these mouths every year?"

Li Xiu felt a pain in his head! This man had just had enough to eat. Could it be that he also wanted the animals to have enough to eat? Let the animals eat grain?

"Animals do not necessarily eat food, but they always need to eat. It is these animals that provide us with meat every year. Let me make it clear to the people that their bodies are getting stronger year by year. If nothing else, how much meat does your navy purchase every year?

Canned food? Do you think the meat was created out of thin air, rather than after the animals were slaughtered?"

"Brother! I'm leading the troops, these...!"

"Without domestic leadership in science and technology, culture, and industry, your navy would be useless. Instead of ironclad ships, just build a few wooden sailing ships to float on the sea. If you want to go south or north, you have to wait for the trade winds. Otherwise, you have to follow Lao Niu.

Like a car, it slowly arches forward.

No matter how far your navy sails, your roots are at home. Without domestic support, you are nothing."

"No! I know, big brother. I will definitely understand these things well when I go back." Seeing Li Xiao angry, Li Xiu quickly bowed and apologized. I can't afford to offend the irritable big brother!

"I'm also upset, no one talks to me. You just need to understand these things, you don't need to read them. In the past two days, I've just been very upset." Li Xiao saw Li Xiu bowing and felt helpless.

He slapped Li Xiu on the shoulder. He was so angry that he could only vent his anger on his younger brothers. If it were any other person, he would have scared that person to death.

"In the final analysis, it is not up to Wu Sangui to cause trouble. The resources we currently have cannot allow us to occupy India."

"I don't want to occupy India. It's a country with a population of 100 million and we can't control it at all. I just want to drive Wu Sangui out of India so that India will no longer become a threat to the sea. Then we will go to the territory of Persia and the Arabs.

Go up and pump the oil back out.

The development of Ming Dynasty requires oil, as much oil as the sea." Li Xiao was pacing as he spoke, like a tiger trapped in a cage.

"Brother, in this case let's use that thing. There's no need to regret such a good thing!" Li Xiu's eyes immediately lit up. This was a good opportunity to encourage Li Xiao to use that special weapon.

"You mean... that thing? That thing of yours is too sinister, I'm afraid...!"

"Brother, on the battlefield, it doesn't matter whether it's sinister or not. As long as it can kill the enemy, it's a good thing. Anyway, I don't think it's a big deal. In a war, I always care about this and that, so how can I win a big victory? What do you think?"

"Hmm...!" Li Xiao was still hesitating.

"Brother, it's better to use that thing. At least let us test its combat effectiveness. It would be a pity to keep it in the warehouse."

"Okay! To use this thing, you must use it in large quantities together to be effective, and you must choose a weather with no wind."

"I understand. When this thing was first made last year, Mr. Yu told us a long time ago, so don't worry." After Li Xiu finished speaking, he jumped out happily like a rabbit.

"I haven't finished speaking yet!" Li Xiao shouted, but Li Xiu ran out long ago.

"Pandora's box has been opened!" Li Xiao looked at the blue sky and sighed. He knew that from now on, the war has entered a period where all means are necessary. God knows, how many evil things will happen.

Wu Sangui has been in a good mood recently. As expected, George convinced the Queen of England and the Houses of Parliament. In other words, it was the ship of gold that convinced them. England began to continue to provide support to India. The most exciting thing is that six

A fleet of ironclads set out from Liverpool for India in February.

This is simply a timely help. What Wu Sangui lacks most now is maritime power. With the help of mines and coastal artillery, the fleet in Mumbai Port can only barely hold on. But it is different when six ironclad ships join, thirteen ironclad ships.

The formed fleet is fully capable of engaging in a large-scale naval battle with the Ming Navy.

From now on, the maritime blockade will be completely broken, and the Port of Mumbai will be full of life again.

Another good news is that Dr. Newton has developed a reliable anti-aircraft rocket. When launched, these rockets scurry around like wasps. As long as one hits the airship and explodes, it can blow a hole in the airship.

The airships that kept leaking air could only choose to return. Several airships had already fallen into the sea and were silent when they were forced to return. Two more airships fell on the land. The engines on the airships were a treasure for Dr. Newton, and he is conducting in-depth research.

, it is said that the 7788 has been imitated. However, due to problems with the craftsmanship and tools, mass production is not yet possible.

What made Wu Sangui even more delighted was that an almost intact Maxim heavy machine gun was found in the wreckage.

Dr. Franklin admires this perfect mechanical structure very much. Now he has led someone to make a one-to-one copy. When I asked last time, he said that the prototype gun can be manufactured next month. The batch can be produced in three months at the latest.

Production.

I have long been envious of the Ming Army’s rapid-fire weapons. Having this weapon makes it much easier to deal with the Persians and Turks. It will also be very effective against the Ming Army’s beachhead attacks!

In short, everything is developing in a good direction. Wu Sangui firmly believes that as long as he survives this year, the Ming Dynasty will be helpless. After another two years of rest and recovery, it will not be a problem to recapture Ceylon Island.

From Ceylon Island, he fought step by step to Xinjiapo, and then from Xinjiapo to the Ming Dynasty. Wu Sangui was already imagining what it would be like when he returned to his hometown with an army.

On May 1st, the weather was cool. There was almost no wind over the city of Mumbai. The sky was blue and blue, and black smoke was rising out of the huge chimneys of the Mumbai Steel Plant. The black smoke shot up almost straight into the sky.

At dusk, the island of Ceylon began to become lively. Fifteen of the latest airships were loaded with bombs and filled with maximum fuel. The journey to be sailed this time was very long, and I was afraid there was no way to come back without filling up the fuel. Even

In order to add more fuel, the machine guns and some unnecessary weapons on the airship were removed. There were only four 500-pound bombs on the entire airship.

This time, the target of the airship attack was Mumbai.

Almost at the same time, two large warships anchored on the west coast of India also began to put down small boats. A marine battalion under Zuo Liangyu quietly landed in the dark of night.

Scar was the first group to wash up on the beach in a small boat. What they wanted to capture was a small town called Udupu. They also wanted to capture this town without disturbing people as much as possible.

Pre-war intelligence showed that the town had a population of 700.

Seven hundred people is also called a town? Dao Scar feels that there are more people in any village in Liaodong than here.

The waves kept washing on the beach. Scar was holding an Aka rifle in his hand and wearing the latest camouflage uniform. Even the helmet on his head was covered with a layer of camouflage lining.

About five or six hundred meters away was the small town of Uduup. The reason why this town was captured was because there was a dock in this small town. Scar felt that this battle was an overkill.

The advance platoon quickly occupied the beachhead position. In addition to being equipped with Aka rifles, they were also equipped with another weapon, a pure steel crossbow arrow. The crossbow string was made of steel wire rope, and it was extremely powerful within fifty meters.

Scar and his men hid on the beach. The most important thing in this battle was concealment. They couldn't alert the nearby Indians, at least they couldn't alert them now.

Two young Indians came to the beach laughing while running. It was obvious that they were a couple. The man was talking to the woman, making the woman "chuck" and "chuck" in joy.

The cruelest smile appeared on the corner of Scar's mouth. "Squeak" "squeak" Scar imitated a mouse cry. Following the cry, more than twenty crossbow arrows were fired at the man and woman like wasps.

The sound of crossbow arrows entering flesh came one after another. They were all trained masters, and their shots were almost flawless within thirty meters. What's more, the current distance should be only about twenty meters. The two guys threw away the steel crossbows, drew out their bayonets and ran to the still squirming

Next to the two men, the bayonet passed through their throats like lightning. From the beginning to the end, the two men only let out a exclamation and a small scream.

The body was dragged into the bushes on the beach, and soon the second and third groups of marines landed on the beach.

Here, the Marines shot and killed several more children playing on the beach.

After the entire Marine Battalion landed, Scar immediately commanded the Marines to rush into the town.

Chen Tieying commanded the airship, and after crossing the Indian continent, it flew along the west coast of India. As Chen Fu's most beloved grandson and Chen Laohu's youngest son, Chen Tieying was the pride of the younger generation of the Chen family.

I love airships and flying so much. Chen Tieying feels that the name his father gave him is so appropriate. He is an iron eagle flying in the sky!

At eleven o'clock at midnight, we should have arrived at our destination. Chen Tieying looked at the oil tank that was gradually bottoming out, and his heart began to beat. This was a very risky operation, and he would not be able to go back if it went slightly wrong.

Finally, he saw four large triangles burning on the ground in the distance. This was a signal indicating the target!

Scar watched one airship after another land on the Udupu dock. Many pipes were immediately stretched out from the parked oil tanker and began to inject oil into the airship.

This is only the first time to refuel, and the airship will have to refuel again when it comes back. However, with the backward communication methods of the Indians, it is estimated that Mumbai, thousands of miles away, does not know that a small port of its own has been occupied.

The refueling lasted for a full hour, and all airships were filled with fuel again. The biggest advantage of airships is that they do not need a dedicated airport, let alone a runway. The fully fueled airships immediately took off and continued along the coastline towards Mumbai.

flight.

In the dark night, it was difficult to tell which city was below, but they could clearly distinguish the coastline. According to pre-calculation, five hours later, that is, at five o'clock in the morning, they should be able to see the city of Mumbai.

Chen Tieying stared at his watch nervously and anxiously, constantly looking at the coastline below. He moved forward strictly according to the planned speed!

Lights are strictly controlled during the flight, and no signals are allowed to be sent between boats.

This was Chen Tieying's first air raid on Mumbai. Of course, this was also the Ming Dynasty's first air raid on Mumbai. For this air raid, the Marine Corps had to temporarily capture a small port for oil supplies.

Finally, the sky turned white, and Chen Tieying's watch pointed to the five o'clock position. In the morning light, a huge city appeared on the coastline. The city was very large, and you could even see people who got up early walking through the streets.

.
Chapter completed!