“I want to entrust you with the establishment of the Mingzhou Navy. What do you think?”
Originally, this task should have been given to Li Bao, as he was the most suitable. However, with Li Bao currently occupied, Han Mo found himself short of suitable candidates.
Looking around, it seemed only Han Shizhong was available. At this moment, he had no choice but to push Han Shizhong into the role.
“Navy…”
Upon hearing Han Mo’s words, Han Shizhong scratched his head in confusion. Although he had indeed trained a new force during the Mingzhou defense battle, their performance had been quite good in the end.
Whether it was defending the city or launching an offensive outside the city, their performance had been commendable.
However, naval warfare was entirely different from land warfare. He was hesitant about this completely unfamiliar domain.
“What? Do you have any concerns?”
Seeing his hesitant look, Han Mo asked with a smile.
“It’s not that I have concerns, it’s just that I’ve never studied naval warfare. I can barely handle water battles, but when it comes to sea combat…”
Han Shizhong said, scratching his head a bit sheepishly.
“You don’t need to worry about that. It’s actually not as complicated as you think. Naval combat is even simpler than land combat. This is just preliminary preparation. You just need to select personnel and conduct basic training. For the specific training, I’ll have Li Bao select an elite from the Quanzhou Navy to assist you in training them!”
Compared to Han Shizhong himself, Han Mo had more confidence in him.
After all, in land battles, it was about the quality of soldiers and the general’s strategy.
But in naval warfare, it was more about the superiority of equipment.
Larger ships defeated smaller ships, superior weapons defeated inferior weapons, and more men defeated fewer men. After all, at sea, unless in special circumstances, the disparity in forces was clear at a glance.
And in this regard, the Great Song Dynasty undoubtedly held the greatest advantage.
The most important point was the Great Song Dynasty’s superb shipbuilding technology.
Not to mention the warships of their Quanzhou Navy, even the merchant ships captured from the Pu family all utilized the watertight compartment design.
Next was the use of long-range weapons. Han Mo had originally intended to obtain the manufacturing blueprints for the Thunderbolt Cannon from the Armaments Bureau through Liang Shicheng and borrow a group of reliable gunpowder craftsmen.
However, he never expected that this seemingly simple matter would be impossible even for Liang Shicheng.
Although the emperor was incompetent at this time, and Liang Shicheng held considerable power, the control over gunpowder weapons remained extremely strict.
This result, to some extent, affected Han Mo’s subsequent plans, but Han Mo himself did not take it too much to heart.
If he couldn’t get the manufacturing blueprints, he could analyze them himself and create them from scratch.
Of course, Han Mo also understood that it was indeed difficult and somewhat taboo to do such things within the Great Song Dynasty, but he had never intended to stay confined within the Great Song Dynasty the entire time.
Even without using gunpowder for the time being, other weapons produced by the Great Song could still dominate the seas.
The eight-oxen crossbows originally used for siege warfare would still be supreme weapons at sea.
After all, compared to the Great Song Dynasty’s ships, the ships produced by those small Southeast Asian countries were nowhere near comparable in size or quality.
The reason the Pu family could roam the seas was partly due to their own strength, and partly due to the Great Song Dynasty’s advanced shipbuilding technology.
The naval ships of those Southeast Asian countries were not even half the size of their merchant ships. If they encountered each other at sea, they wouldn't have to do anything; simply ramming them head-on would be enough to send the other side to a watery grave.
“I’m just afraid of not doing this well and delaying Brother’s important matters…”
“Don’t worry, if I say you can do it, you can definitely do it. Didn’t you do a great job in Mingzhou? And at this moment, there seems to be no one more suitable than you in Mingzhou. You are so familiar with General Wang, so just consult with him on any matters. I will also write a letter to Li Yueyang, and Lord Li will cooperate with you then!”
“Yes!”
Hearing this, Han Shizhong’s worried heart finally settled.
“Alright, you go prepare first. If there’s nothing important, you should set off first thing tomorrow morning!”
After patting Han Shizhong’s shoulder, Han Mo said with a smile.
“Yes!”
After bowing to Han Mo again, Han Shizhong turned and walked out.
After all this hustle and bustle, he finally had some temporary peace. Sitting alone in his study, looking at the sea charts he had collected from various places, Han Mo fell into deep thought again.
The training of the navy would take time, and the refitting of warships would also take time. At this moment, he could only pray that heaven would give him more time.
However, at this very moment, thousands of miles away in Bai Gou, Hebei, within the Liao army camp.
Yelü Dashi was also looking at the map before him. Although the Liao army held a certain advantage on the battlefield, it was not easy to quickly defeat the Song army.
After all, they were old rivals. The generals of the Song court were indeed corrupt, and the court was rife with infighting.
But how much better was Daliang internally?
At the beginning of this year, the second son of Emperor Tianzuo of Liao, Prince Jin, who was the most capable among his four sons, and his mother, Consort Wen, who was most favored by the emperor, aroused the suspicion of Consort Yuan.
Consort Yuan and her brother, the Grand Chancellor of Liao, Xiao Fengxian, conspired to falsely accuse Consort Yuan and her brother-in-law Yelü Yushu of rebellion, which ultimately led to Consort Wen being granted death, and Yelü Yushu fleeing to the Jin Kingdom.
With Yelü Yushu’s defection, the Jin people were directly made aware of the truth about the corruption within the Liao Dynasty.
Although they had won the battle, what made Yelü Dashi despair was that the Jin people at this moment were already close to the Central Capital of Liao…
“Lin Ya, it’s late at night, you should get some rest…”
As he looked at the map, feeling despondent, the old servant of the household quietly approached him and said softly.
“Has there been any news from His Majesty?”
After a long sigh, Yelü Dashi asked again.
“I have sent people to guard the camp entrance. If there is any news, you will be notified immediately! Judging by the time, His Majesty should have already escaped to Yuanyangluo by now. It is estimated that in three to five days, there should be news…”
Seeing the worried expression on his face, the old servant said softly.
“Hahaha, the soldiers of our Liao are still fighting bravely, yet the Emperor of Liao has already fled to the ancestral land. How laughable this is, how tragic this is!”