Time Travel to 1859: The Iron-Blooded Soldier King

It is not easy to salvage the foreign warships.

The British flagship had already taken in a lot of water and began to tilt. Liu Ye sent out more than a dozen ships in succession, sent people over, and tied thick cables to the warship. There were no large ships in Dagukou, so it could only be towed by some civilian ships. Even so, it was not easy for more than a dozen civilian ships to tow the warship to the beach.

Fortunately, there was no shortage of horses in Dagukou at that time. Senggelinqin also brought a cavalry and used all the war horses. It was not until the early morning of the next day that the warship was towed to the seaside.

When everyone boarded the warship, they saw that it was in a mess. The violent explosion had left the warship in ruins. Even if they wanted to repair it, it would be impossible. After all, China now does not have such outstanding industrial technology or outstanding technicians.

Liu Ye whispered, "Your Highness, there are still many firearms left behind by the British army on this warship, including many foreign rifles, cannons, and ammunition. These are all very useful..."

Senggelinqin understood what Liu Ye meant. He wanted to quickly clear out all the usable weapons and use them for his own purposes. Senggelinqin was a veteran and was no stranger to Western weapons. He knew how powerful their firearms were. Regardless of anything else, he quickly packed them up and would talk about how to use them later.

Senggelinqin shouted, "He Zhengqing, immediately order everyone to sort out all the items on the warship and register them all!"

He Zhengqing quickly agreed and ordered his men to tidy up the warships. Liu Ye, standing by, called out, "Brother, pay attention! Tell the men to be careful not to damage the guns. All ammunition must be properly stored..."

While Senggelinqin and Liu Ye were talking, He Zhengqing hurried over and shouted, "Your Highness, Your Highness, great joy!"

Senggelinqin was startled and asked, "He Zhengqing, what's the great news?"

He Zhengqing smiled and said, "Your Highness, we found over 900 guns on the warship, including three boxes of unopened new guns, totaling 360 guns. They are all high-quality guns used by foreigners!"

Senggelinqin was delighted. With more than 900 guns, he could directly arm two battalions. Once he had two battalions of elite troops, the combat effectiveness of his troops would increase greatly!

He Zhengqing continued, "Not only guns, but we also found ammunition. Over 70 boxes, each containing 2,000 rounds. That's over 100,000 rounds of ammunition! My goodness, the entire Dagukou area only has less than 50,000 rounds of ammunition! We've made a fortune!"

Senggelinqin laughed and said, "Good, good! We have gained a lot. This battle was worth it. This is an unparalleled achievement!"

It is a bit of an exaggeration to say that it is an unparalleled achievement. However, since the Opium War, the imperial court has clashed with the great powers many times, but has never had the upper hand and has been defeated repeatedly. Although this battle cost the lives of an admiral and a lieutenant general, five of the enemy's warships were sunk and the enemy's flagship was captured. It was definitely a great victory, not to mention that hundreds of the enemy were killed or captured and so many guns and ammunition were seized.

Liu Ye, standing by, laughed and said, "Your Highness, not only are there guns here, we've also made some gains at the South Fort. If you add it up, the number of usable guns we've captured is probably no less than 1,300. If we collect the ammunition of those 500 foreign soldiers, they probably have tens of thousands of rounds on them. This is truly a windfall. By the way, Big Brother, what about the cannons on the battleships?"

This is the key point. Liu Ye has just had a quick inspection of the warship. Although it was seriously damaged, it is not impossible to repair it. If the damage to the artillery is not too serious, then the warship can definitely be restored to its combat effectiveness in the future!

He Zhengqing shook his head helplessly and replied, "Forget about the cannons. This flagship was equipped with eight cannons, but only one is intact now. The flagship fired about ten rounds in the battle, and the other cannons were damaged. However, there are still quite a few shells, hundreds of them!"

Liu Ye was a little disappointed. If this flagship was really repaired, it would be of great help to Tianjin's offshore defense. Unfortunately, it became a bubble. Without these eight cannons, it would be like a tiger without claws. Even a wolf could eat him.

However, one should not be too greedy, this is already a big victory.

Senggelinqin, who was standing by, saw Liu Ye asking about the artillery and asked, "Why, Liu Ye, do you have any ideas?"

Liu Ye quickly replied, "Your Highness, if the artillery on the battleship hadn't been damaged, we could have directly repaired the battleship and restored its combat effectiveness. In that case, we would have a world-class battleship, which would undoubtedly be of great help to our coastal defense. However, now that all the artillery has been destroyed, it is too difficult to repair it..."

Senggelinqin raised his eyebrows and asked, "Liu Ye, can this warship really play such a big role?"

Liu Ye replied, "Your Highness, its greatest use is that it can patrol the sea. Once it discovers an enemy situation, it can quickly notify our coastal defenses to prepare for battle. Moreover, it has eight cannons. Such firepower is enough to match our two artillery battalions. Especially the foreign artillery, which has a long range, great power, and accurate trajectory. Its combat effectiveness far exceeds that of our Qing Dynasty artillery..."

Senggelinqin asked: "Then why can't we repair it now?"

Liu Ye smiled bitterly and said, "It's not impossible to repair it, but the cost is extremely huge. Repairing the battleship, and then adding seven cannons and enough shells, without 200,000 taels of silver, there is no hope at all. Moreover, we need foreigners to provide technology to repair the battleship, and we don't have such talents in our country. In this case, I'm afraid we will have to add more than 100,000 taels of silver. Moreover, a battleship needs to be equipped with a certain number of small ships for assistance to play its greatest role, which requires hundreds of thousands of taels of silver. We also need one or two thousand elite naval forces stationed on the battleship, and the annual patrol and training funds are not a small amount..."

Senggelinqin's forehead suddenly showed countless black lines. Damn, if Liu Ye keeps adding to the money like this, I'm afraid it will cost a million taels of silver. Where can I go to buy a million taels of silver? This is a dream. The treasury is so empty now that it can run away!

Senggelinqin said angrily, "You've given me such a difficult problem. I'm afraid you have to pay a million taels. Where can I get it for you? You're just dreaming! Think about it more realistically!"

hey-hey……

Liu Ye laughed awkwardly.