Rebirth of The Deer and the Cauldron, Wei Xiaobao Becomes a God

Right Prime Minister Li Yuansu sneered at Left Prime Minister Cui Jingwen and said, "Don't forget, we only have 200,000 soldiers and horses in Seoul! And the navy of the Capital Governor's Office is even less, not even enough for 200 ships! In the Kyoto Battle mentioned earlier, the Tiandi Alliance easily defeated the astonishing 700,000-strong army of the Tokugawa Army with only 300,000 troops! Think about it, when His Majesty the Emperor travels, he must be accompanied by at least 100,000 elite troops. So the question is, with our mere 200,000 troops, can we still compete with the 200,000 mighty army of the Tokugawa Army?"

……

It should be noted that the left and right leaders of Goryeo have always been at odds with each other and have been fighting openly and secretly for a long time.

In addition, although Li Yun was already a prince, he was a newly promoted person after all, and his power base was not yet solid. Therefore, when dealing with state affairs, he naturally had to rely on these two powerful ministers.

As expected, not long after, the court quickly split into two factions, and the two sides argued endlessly over whether to recruit troops and ships to consolidate Seoul.

For a moment, the entire court became extremely noisy and chaotic, everyone insisted on their own opinions, and no one was willing to give in...

In the end, neither side gained the upper hand, and the matter of gathering troops to consolidate Seoul's defenses came to nothing.

The next day, the sky was shrouded in hazy fog, and the chill of early winter permeated the entire coastline.

40 kilometers away from Seoul, at the mouth of the Han River, Incheon Pier, a long whistle broke the silence.

This sharp and piercing whistle was an unfamiliar sound that the soldiers of the Incheon Navy had never heard of before.

Due to the thick fog on the sea, the vision was obstructed. In order to deal with the possible threat, the war drums in the Incheon Navy Guard Camp began to roar. All officers and soldiers quickly boarded the warships and entered a state of alert.

The commander of this navy was Li Kunshan, the commander of the Incheon Navy. He was the fifth-generation great-grandson of Yi Sun-sin, a famous general of the Goryeo Navy. He was born into a navy family and, relying on family inheritance and his own efforts, he developed outstanding military talents.

He was a strict military commander, and his soldiers were in awe of him, and he also showed a style similar to that of his great-great-grandfather.

Recently, more than a hundred warships transferred from navies in other places have all been under the command of Li Kunshan.

The addition of these warships further enhanced the strength of the Incheon Navy and also placed a heavier burden on Li Kunshan's shoulders.

The military organization of North Korea follows the Wei Suo system of the Ming Dynasty in China. One Wei has 5600 soldiers and is under the jurisdiction of five thousand-man Suo.

The highest officer of a garrison was called a fifth-rank commander, and the head of a thousand-man garrison was a sixth-rank military commander. The soldiers under his command all came from hereditary military households.

The Incheon Navy Guard was affiliated with the fourth-rank Gyeonggi Governor-General's Office, which was responsible for managing the defense of Seoul and its surrounding areas.

The superior of the Governor's Office is the third-rank assistant minister of the Ministry of War, and the next level up is the second-rank minister of the Ministry of War.

Li Kunshan stared at the foggy deep sea, his heart full of doubts and uneasiness. He didn't know what kind of sharp and piercing sound would come from the depths of the vast ocean. The sound was high-pitched and persistent, and it seemed particularly deep and mysterious in the fog.

"Commander-in-chief, what is going on?" A captain who came from other places to reinforce could not help but ask.

Li Kunshan shook his head and replied, "I don't know what happened. This sound came out of nowhere and is unprecedented. We must remain highly alert at this moment and send a ship to find out the situation after the fog dissipates."

In this suffocating and tense atmosphere, the nerves of every member of the Incheon Navy were as tense as a fully drawn bowstring. They stood silently, waiting for the thick fog to dissipate, secretly preparing themselves to deal with any difficulties, dangers and crises that might come.

In this era, we already have the advanced technology of the mariner's compass. All we have to do is accurately mark the direction of the destination. As long as we are in deep sea areas without reefs, the ship can sail freely without deviating from its course, whether it is day or night.

Therefore, the Tiandi Navy traveled day and night and arrived at Incheon Port at dawn.

The sudden sound of the whistle was the routine operation of the Tiandi Army Navy's ships when they arrived at their destination - first releasing the huge steam pressure accumulated in the steam engine, then dropping the anchor and fixing the ship's position so that the ship can be moored steadily.

This whistle sound, which was common in the navy of heaven and earth, made the Goryeo navy panic, as if they were facing a powerful enemy.

The clock pointed to around eight in the morning. As the sun gradually rose, the thick fog over the sea gradually dissipated.

At this moment, three majestic ironclad ships and three magnificent treasure ships stood majestically on the rough sea like giants. Their figures were particularly eye-catching in the sunlight, exuding an awe-inspiring atmosphere.

Li Kunshan stood on the bow of the navy's largest 800-ton turtle ship, holding a telescope and looking into the distance. His eyes fell on the six huge ships anchored in the distance. He was stunned by the scene before him.

These ships not only flew the flags of Japan, but also the flags of the Ryukyu Kingdom, and an unfamiliar flag came into view.

The flag was blue on top and green on the bottom, with a giant golden dragon painted in the center. Such a unique symbol confused Li Kunshan.

Normally, a ship would only fly the flag of the country it belongs to, but he had never seen a ship flying the flags of three countries at the same time.

As the King's Grand Ceremony and the Martial Alliance Conference were about to be held, princes, nobles, and heroes from all over the country gathered in Seoul. Some of them chose to arrive by sea, but it was still difficult to tell whether these five huge ships were friends or enemies.

At Li Kunshan's command, a 500-ton turtle ship and two Fujian warships of the same size slowly sailed out of the port.

Although the Incheon Navy currently has nearly 200 warships of various sizes, most of them are old and dilapidated due to the lack of war in recent decades. These three warships are the Incheon Navy's flagship warships, and are at least 70% to 80% new.

Among the three warships, the leading turtle ship is not simple. It is a warship unique to the Goryeo Kingdom, and its inventor is Li Kunshan’s great-great-grandfather - Li Sun-sin!

The turtle ship is about 35 meters long, 11.8 meters wide and 5.2 meters high. There are ten oars on each side of the hull, and the mast can be erected or lowered. In addition, the top of the cabin and the sides of the ship are tightly wrapped with iron sheets, and the entire hull presents an oval shape, hence the name "turtle ship".

What's more amazing is that the turtle ship has more than 70 holes for placing guns or bows and arrows; the interior of the ship is divided into 26 rooms, including cabins, warehouses, etc. The surface of the iron armor is covered with densely packed knives and awl-shaped iron sticks, which is daunting.