1627 Rise of the South China Sea

Chapter 1051 Heading to Hangzhou
According to the official establishment of Ming Dynasty, the garrison of Ningbo Mansion is actually divided into four guards, but among them, Ningbo Guards are stationed in Fucheng and rarely go out for action, while most of Ding Haiwei's jurisdiction is in Zhoushan Islands, due to the civilian armed forces in this area The power has been in a dominant position for nearly a century. The official guard system has long existed in name only, but the official positions of several thousand households have been retained. On the one hand, this official position can also be sold to armed smugglers in the Zhoushan Islands to facilitate their daily operations.

The leaders of the Haisha Gang and the Zhoushan Ship Gang, who were suppressed by Haihan last year, actually had official positions bought with money, similar to the deputy position of Shiqianhu.However, this kind of empty position can only scare ordinary people, but it has no deterrent effect on Haihan, an external armed force that does not obey the laws of Ming Dynasty at all.But the smugglers have the military official position as a cover, and many behaviors that were originally invisible can be carried out in a grandiose manner.

For Haihan, the two garrisons of Changguowei and Guanhaiwei that can really pose a military threat to themselves are mainly the two garrisons of Changguowei and Guanhaiwei. Dinghaiwei only exists in theory.At this moment, Gong Shiqi brought it up, and Gao Qiaonan realized that there was indeed such a garrison establishment in Ningbo Mansion that had been neglected.If you pretend to be under the rule of Dinghaiwei and rely on money donations to test thousands of households, as long as you don't take the initiative to go to the Zhejiang Dusi Yamen to show off, then the possibility of being exposed is indeed very small.

Gong Shiqi went on to say: "As for your murderous aura, it's also easy to explain. Who is good at smuggling people who have been doing smuggling business at sea all year round? Armed maritime merchants are merchants on the front and pirates on the back. The seamen of the Zhoushan Islands Shang, no one’s background is clean.”

Takahashi Minami was right when he thought about it, as long as he had a suitable identity, his military qualities could be reasonably explained.Although this official position is false, it is more than enough to meet the checkpoints for entering and leaving Hangzhou.

After the topic came to an end, the two continued to review the candidates.After interviewing these dozens of candidates, it was already midnight. Takahashi Minami wanted to stay with Gong Shiqi for a supper, but Gong Shiqi refused, saying that there were still many things to do tomorrow, so he had to go back early to rest Just keep your spirits up.

The next day, personnel screening and other preparations continued simultaneously.For this operation, the Ministry of Security should prepare relevant personnel identification, clothing, medicine, tools, weapons and other personal items, as well as the most important command and contact system for distribution arrangements, so as to ensure that these personnel can maintain a unified pace of action during the operation in Hangzhou .

After the list of personnel participating in the operation is determined, the Ministry of Security will also invite practitioners from related industries to conduct short-term training for these personnel.In Hao Wanqing's words, "Even if you are a driver, you have to look good", which puts forward higher requirements for the disguise of the identities of the participants.Of course, this requirement is not only to ensure the success of the operation, but also to provide better protection for the personal safety of the participants.

On June 15, the list of personnel to participate in the operation was basically confirmed. The field team of the Ministry of Security will dispatch 18 people including Gong Shiqi, plus three people who have already lurked in Hangzhou, a total of 35 people.The military will dispatch [-] people including Gao Qiaonan, ten of them are from the Special Operations Battalion, and the rest are from other troops. Except for Gao Qiaonan, all of them are from Zhejiang.

At this time, Gong Shiqi discovered that Gao Qiaonan still had an obvious loophole, which was his accent.Although Gao Qiaonan has served in Haihan for many years and can already speak fluent Chinese, he learned standard Haihan Mandarin, which is more inclined to the accent of the northern Central Plains, which is still significantly different from the dialects of the Jiangsu and Zhejiang generations.

It must be too late to learn slowly. Fortunately, Gao Qiaonan has been in Zhoushan for a year, and he can understand most of the general Jiangsu and Zhejiang accents. There will be no major problems in ordinary communication with others.After much deliberation, Gong Shiqi added another one to Gaoqiaonan's profile - he was born in Yongping Mansion, Hebei Province.In this way, he found a more reasonable explanation for his northern accent.The Zhoushan Archipelago was originally a mixed place, not only people from all over the Ming Dynasty, but also Westerners from Far Eastern countries and even Europe. It is not uncommon for them to be born in North China.

The 53 people who have been selected are the core personnel who directly participated in the operation, but they are not all the personnel who will be involved in this operation. During the period, the crew who sailed for them between Hangzhou and Zhoushan were also from the navy. There are also some personnel in relevant departments to participate in different degrees at various stages of the operation, and the scale of personnel used for this is more than [-] people.

The group of people who will sneak into Hangzhou will be divided into multiple independent action teams under the guise of various identities such as crew members, buddies, porters, wandering monks, businessmen, and military officers of the Ming Dynasty.The personnel of the military and the Ministry of Security were also mixed according to the actual situation, and the personnel of these two identities were not completely distinguished.

The leading figures in charge of commanding and coordinating operations on the front line were Gong Shiqi and Gao Qiaonan.Gong Shiqi's alias was Gong Qi, and he pretended to be a sea merchant who came to Hangzhou from the Lingnan area to purchase goods, while Gao Qiaonan's pseudonym was Qiao Nan, and he pretended to be a Qianhu under the Dinghaiwei of Ningbo Prefecture. His other identity was from Zhoushan A maritime merchant engaged in the smuggling trade in the archipelago.

These two identities are more convenient to appear in front of the public with a group of servants, so as not to arouse suspicion.Among the more than 50 people who entered Hangzhou, half of them will follow the two of them and obey their orders at any time.

Originally, Wang Tom considered whether to distribute a set of radio stations to the operatives and let them bring them into the city of Hangzhou to facilitate communication with the base and transmit information, but Gao Qiaonan and Gong Shiqiu both voluntarily rejected this somewhat risky arrangement. .The existing radio station must be installed at a high place when it is used, otherwise the transmission distance will be very limited, and it will be easily exposed when used in the densely populated city of Hangzhou.

As for weapons, the Ministry of National Defense has given great support this time, and all the personnel involved in the operation have been distributed with revolving cap pistols.This five-shot revolver is currently only issued to officers above the company level in the army. Although there are still many shortcomings in performance, it is still much more advanced than the single-shot firecrackers of this era.The firepower output level of several armed personnel equipped with this kind of pistol at close range can be said to be no less than the rotational shooting tactics of an infantry platoon.

This time, Gao Qiaonan also saw all kinds of special service equipment equipped by the field team of the Ministry of Security, all kinds of drugs and poisons used for assassination and kidnapping, syringes that can shoot flying needles, nets with barbs, and flying over eaves and walls. Seven or eight large wooden boxes were scattered here and there for pickling hooks, rope ladders, etc.

"Bringing so many things, just these few boxes of medicine, I'm afraid it's enough for you to knock down half of the people in Hangzhou Mansion?" Gao Qiaonan looked at the equipment that was being packed, and couldn't help but joked to Gong Shiqi.

Gong Shiqi said with a smile: "It's really that easy. We don't need to bother Battalion Commander Gaoqiao to move out. We just loaded a boat with drugs and went to the upper reaches of the Qiantang River to sprinkle them into the river. If you are lost, wouldn't it be nice to enter the city and take away the person you want to arrest?"

After the two finished speaking, they couldn't help but looked at each other and smiled.Before that, they each performed many arduous tasks, but this trip to Hangzhou is a new challenge for them.The risk of action is great, but success or failure has a greater impact on Haihan. Although there is no complete assurance of success at present, and many details need to be planned slowly after arriving in Hangzhou, these two are determined people. After arriving at the mission, I made up my mind to make some achievements in Hangzhou, so that the northward strategy planned by the high-level can proceed smoothly.

After the candidates were confirmed, Gong Shiqi and Gao Qiaonan took these people for a week of special training on Zhoushan Island. get acquainted.Of course, during this period, everyone, including Gong Shiqi and Gao Qiaonan, changed their names to each other, so as not to inadvertently show their flaws after going to Hangzhou.

Hao Wanqing and Qian Tiandun also spared time these few days to give guidance to the training ground.Although they will not go to the front line to command the battle in person, their nervous mood will not be much relieved than these subordinates who are about to go to Hangzhou.

On June [-], Zhoushan received a telegram from Sanya, stating that the second batch of materials and personnel needed for the northbound operation had departed from Sanya.This batch of supplies is mainly a variety of building materials and living supplies, including the cotton-padded jackets and quilts needed by the people who went north to spend the winter in the Jiaodong Peninsula, and nearly [-] ships of clean coal and grain.Due to the slow post-war reconstruction progress of the Jiaodong Peninsula, local supplies including food are quite lacking, so more than half of the supplies needed by the personnel going north have to be transported from the south, and this situation will last at least three days. Five months later, after the northward troops consolidated the control area and reorganized the production of materials, the supply pressure was expected to be relieved to a certain extent.

As for the second batch of personnel rushing to Zhoushan, Zhejiang Province, in addition to the first battalion of new troops who came to replace the existing garrison, there are also non-military personnel who will accompany the large force to the north, including civil affairs cadres, businessmen, doctors, and people from various industries. Professional craftsmen and so on.Although the number of these people is not many, they are an indispensable force for Haihan to establish a base in the north.

Most of this fleet are heavy-laden cargo ships, and they will be resupplied in Hong Kong and Penghu on the way, and some materials and personnel will be loaded, so the speed of traveling northward will not be too fast. According to the estimate of the Ministry of Shipping, at least 20 It will arrive in Zhoushan in a few days.But when this fleet arrives in Zhoushan and settles down, it's basically time for the large troops to go north.Otherwise, with such a team of thousands of people piled up on Zhoushan Island, there would be no return for the huge daily expenses, and it would definitely be a very bad deal for Hai Han.

This means that the time left for the joint action team to go to Hangzhou to complete the task is only about 20 days.If the operation does not go well, then the base in Zhoushan will probably become as crowded as a refugee camp this summer.If it is delayed for too long, it will even make it impossible to implement the northward action within the year, and it is impossible for the executive committee in Sanya to understand the difficulties faced by the Zhejiang garrison. After the military expenditure, the responsibility for mission failure can only be counted on the military. Even the military leaders such as Wang Tom, Qian Tiandun, and Shi Diwen can hardly bear this result.

At this time, Tom Wang brought everyone some good news. He personally went to the local shipyard in Zhoushan to work as a supervisor, and spent five days installing a radio station on a lucky ship that was about to be sent to Hangzhou. After the joint action team goes to Hangzhou, the ship can berth at the wharf in Hangzhou Bay and report the status of Hangzhou City to Dinghai Port regularly.

Of course, it didn't take so long just to install the radio station. The construction period of the past few days was mainly used for camouflaging the antenna.Wang Tom ordered the craftsmen to carve a groove on the mast, pull the antenna up along the groove, then use glue to mix wood chips, fill the groove to fix the whip-shaped antenna, and then paint the outside to make it old and polish it. If you don't get close and touch it with your hands, it's hard to find the little hands and feet that have moved on the mast.

Wang Tom spent another day debugging the invisible antenna with a standing wave meter. In this way, the radio station can be hidden in the bottom cabin, and the communication personnel use hand-cranked generators and batteries to supplement power, and can communicate with the radio station 24 hours a day. The Zhoushan base camp got in touch, and it was difficult for the outside world to discover the secrets on this spy ship.The ground wave signal sent by the short-wave radio station on the ship can travel about [-] kilometers along the coast. Under normal weather conditions, there will be no problem in transmitting messages between Hangzhou and Zhoushan.

"The craftsmanship is good!" After Qian Tiandun and Shi Diwen went to the dock for acceptance, they were full of praise for Wang Tom's transformation results.

Tom Wang himself is quite satisfied with this work: "In the future, as long as it is a place where ships are accessible, we can make similar spy ships, and we don't have to worry about the timeliness of information."

"Don't wait for the future, this operation will come in handy!" Qian Tiandun couldn't hide his excitement: "With this boat, we can get information feedback from Hangzhou City every day, and release it to the frontline personnel. This is much better than waiting for news in Zhoushan with fear."

With the preparation of various projects, the departure time of the joint action team finally arrived.On June [-], a fleet of four ships left the port before the morning fog cleared and headed towards Hangzhou Bay.

(End of this chapter)