1627 Rise of the South China Sea

Chapter 1070: Cavalry's Weaknesses

Judging from the information we have now, the Ming army stationed within a radius of 500 miles of Zhifu Island is at most [-] people. Even if the local civilian armed forces are added, it will not exceed a thousand. The possibility of using cavalry to go into battle is actually very small.Of course, as the strongest land mobile armed force of this era, Qian Tiandun will not deny the necessity of cavalry, and the plains in Jiaodong area are vast. Has an irreplaceable advantage.However, in the early days of going north, this elite force, whose military budget is higher than that of a battalion, can only perform simple tasks such as investigation, surveillance, and summons, and will not have the opportunity to play the leading role on the battlefield for the time being.

But Qian Tiandun also understood that the Ministry of National Defense did not hesitate to spend huge sums of money to send this small-scale cavalry unit to Jiaodong Peninsula by sea, not just for the purpose of letting it fight friendly troops and finish the job.Taking advantage of the fact that the current opponents that need to be faced are not too strong, let the cavalry adapt to the climate in the northern region earlier, practice some field combat routines, and prepare for the future cavalry expansion. This is the real purpose of mobilizing thousands of miles to deploy troops .

After Harugong got off the boat and greeted everyone, he returned to the side of the boat, commanded the soldiers and dock workers to build a springboard, and carefully pulled the horses off the boat one by one.These war horses bumped thousands of miles all the way on the sea, and their mental state was obviously not very good. Some of them even showed signs of weakness in their feet when they stepped off the springboard, which made Haru Gong, who loves horses like his life, very distressed.

"This old man... Serving horses is like serving his son!" Tom Wang watched Harugong running back and forth on the pier and yelling and commanding, and couldn't help but joked: "Taking cattle is better than us leading soldiers. Fighting is still tense."

Sun Changmi said: "That's pretty good. Didn't you see that when he made a request to our shipping department before departure, the horse transport ship should not only pay attention to ventilation, but also ensure enough space for the horses. It is easy to clean and clean, and he has been watching us modify the boat according to his requirements. In addition, he has to stop at the shore from time to time on the way to supplement fresh fodder for these horses. These horses eat at least [-] times more food than humans along the way, and they are old Ha, what kind of nutrition should be paid attention to, and the daily feeding is freshly prepared feed. Just transporting these horses and the various feeds required takes up six boats. Here, look at the unloaded horses from the ship next to it. The sacks, piled up like a mountain, are full of beans for the horses."

"It seems that our time to go north may have to be postponed for a few days." Qian Tiandun said thoughtfully: "If these horses are not in good condition, Lao Ha probably won't be able to go north with peace of mind."

It will take several days to sail from Zhoushan to the destination of Jiaodong Peninsula. If these horses are not in better physical condition, it is estimated that the recovery period will be longer after going to the local area.A short rest here in Zhoushan is also a very necessary recovery measure for Harukon's cavalry battalion.Only in this way, the itinerary of the entire large army may be affected.

According to the original plan, within three to five days of the fleet's arrival in Zhoushan, the original troops stationed on the island will complete the defense handover with the newly arrived friendly troops, and then the huge fleet will depart from Zhoushan and head north.But whether this arrangement can be implemented on time, now there is another variable because of the cavalry battalion. If Harukon thinks that the state of the horse is not enough to withstand the toss brought by this voyage, then he will definitely not let his subordinates reluctantly hit the road.

Regarding the arrival of this cavalry unit, the local garrison in Zhoushan, with the special warfare battalion as the main body, is also full of curiosity.The special warfare battalion stationed overseas all the year round and the cavalry unit stationed on Hainan Island have not had any intersection in the past. Watching the tall horses come down to the pier, I can't help but feel a little envious of the scenery of the friendly army.However, as the ace army recognized by Haihan, the soldiers of the special warfare battalion still maintained a basic reserve, and did not move over to watch at close range.

In order to meet the short transit period of this cavalry unit on Zhoushan Island, the island had already organized and built several stables half a month ago, and basic disinfection treatment had been done in advance.At that time, merchants from Ming Dynasty who entered and left the port area thought that the Haihan people would start trading livestock. Many people thought this was a business opportunity and asked the Ministry of Commerce about it.

After hearing what Qian Tiandun and others said, Sun Changmi just shook his head with a smile and said: "Old Ha will definitely pick out a lot of problems after he has visited the stables. When you find something wrong, it is best to take corrective measures immediately.”

Sure enough, Harukon did not disappoint. After looking at the stables prepared locally, he immediately gave seven or eight suggestions for rectification.Tom Wang couldn't help smiling bitterly: "Old Ha, your horses are indeed treasures, but they are only here for a temporary stopover. Do you want to make it so complicated?"

Harukon said seriously: "Tom, I didn't mean to be picky. Think about it, our warhorses are currently bred in Hainan Island. If they want to be transported to the north in the future, they have to be transported here in Zhoushan. Now that it has been built Then don’t treat it as a temporary facility anymore. We can effectively reduce possible losses by spending more time on these fixed facilities, don’t you think that’s the reason?”

Tom Wang knew that Harugong would definitely not be able to argue in this professional field, so he could only pull Qian Tiandun out as a shield at the moment: "You are right, Lao Qian quickly arrange workers for him."

Therefore, at the request of Harugong, the original scheduled departure in early July was postponed and adjusted to the middle of the month, so that these horses could continue to set foot on Zhoushan after recovering a little bit of vitality. journey.And in this way, the defense handover of the troops stationed on the island is not so urgent, and can be carried out step by step and calmly.

According to the arrangement of the Ministry of National Defense, Shi Diwen will stay in Zhoushan as a military representative and guard this important sea base for Haihan.The generals leading the army to the north are Navy Commander Wang Tom, Qian Tiandun who is in charge of commanding the army, and the cavalry battalion independently commanded by Harugong. In addition, as Qian Tiandun's adjutant, Chen Yixin will also go to Shandong with the large force.Hao Wanqing is currently the only civil official, and the tasks he shoulders are relatively complicated. In addition to intelligence collection, he also has to take care of Haihan's diplomatic, immigration, business and other affairs in the early stage of his settlement in Shandong. It is equivalent to one person holding several positions .

Since he was not in a hurry to set off right now, Hao Wanqing summoned everyone and informed them of the progress of the trial of the three Ming officials who had been captured back to Zhoushan Island.The confessions of these three people are not limited to the military and intelligence security, but also involve immigration, trade, shipping and other fields that Haihan is most concerned about.

"According to what they said, we have reported our actions to the Jinyiwei Nanbei Town Fusi and the Ministry of War many times. The reason why the superiors have not responded is that these yamen are busy dealing with the civil strife in the north, and they are temporarily unable to come out. Deal with these disputes in the south." Hao Wanqing introduced to everyone: "But we are still not sure what kind of views the relevant yamen of the Ming Dynasty have on Haihan, and whether it will affect our actions after we go to the north."

"Although we don't have to worry too much about Ming's use of force against us, if the local government tightens immigration and trade policies, it will still have a relatively large impact on us." Wang Tom also expressed concern about this.

"If this is the case, we can only rely on strong ships and powerful guns to open the gate of Daming." Shi Diwen shrugged: "After all, we are taking the imperialist route now, and we want to forcibly obtain resources and markets from Daming. Only the most direct means can be used."

The way Shi Diwen said was simple and rude, but everyone here knew the reason why Hai Han couldn't break up with Daming for the time being, so no one took what he said seriously.

"These people... don't have any way to save the situation?" Sun Changmi asked: "If they can be saved, they might still be able to save their own lives."

Hao Wanqing said: "It's not easy to restore, our action this time is only to temporarily solve the main hidden dangers in the Zhejiang area, but it is impossible to eliminate the voices against us, after all, after we took control of the maritime trade in the coastal areas of Daming, we have smashed a lot There is no way to reconcile this kind of conflict of interests. Now we have arrested Liao Xun, but in the future there will be Zhang Xun and Li Xun coming from other places. To be honest, this is still a solution to the symptoms, not the root cause. As for the three Personally, whether to kill or keep depends on the meaning of the headquarters. Personally, I think it doesn’t matter whether they kill or not, the key is to get all the valuable information in their minds.”

"Then at least we should deal with their accomplices as much as possible?" Qian Tiandun said: "Even if there will still be people in Jiangsu and Zhejiang official circles who will come out to oppose us in the future, at least they can be clean for a while."

"Gong Shiqi is currently working on this." Hao Wanqing nodded and said, "However, due to the mysterious disappearance of the three of Liao Xun, all states and governments are currently investigating very strictly, so the actions that the field team can take now are very limited. Too risky."

"Will Gong Shiqi go north with you?" Qian Tiandun asked.

"If he doesn't follow me, then I will be completely useless." Hao Wanqing smiled wryly, "You also know that I didn't bring many people with me when I came from Sanya."

When Hao Wanqing was in Sanya, he was mainly engaged in office work and rarely went out for action. Although he also had people like Gong Shiqi who were in charge of field work under his command, there was almost no such relationship as He Xi and Gong Shiqi. My confidant, so when I went north, I didn't bring many people out. Except for the personal guards, there were only two or three civilians who followed him to learn intelligence analysis.Fortunately, He Xi specially reserved a general like Gong Shiqi for him to dispatch, otherwise he really would not be able to start working there immediately after he went to the north.Of course, before that, the Ministry of Security may not even be able to crack the unfavorable situation in Zhejiang, making it difficult for the Northward plan to come true.

Wang Tom asked: "Then when the field team of your Ministry of Security will act alone or continue to cooperate with our military?"

Hao Wanqing said: "Let's cooperate. It's best to let Lao Ha's cavalry battalion join in to enhance mobility."

Haru Gong said: "If it is to go out to perform scouting missions, my men are more than capable. Although they are cavalry, their daily training is also in accordance with the standards of scouts."

"Your people can only walk in the wild on horseback. If you want to cross the city or town, you still have to send someone to walk on foot. This is not easy to reveal your identity." Hao Wanqing does not want others to replace the functions of the security department. It's a question of competence. If the cavalry can complete the intelligence collection work of the field team, what's the use of the security department?

"Just borrow a few horses for Minister Hao at that time!" Tom Wang hurriedly smoothed things over, but when the people around him heard this, they knew that this was not appropriate.

Sure enough, Harugong immediately shook his head and rejected the proposal: "War horses are paired with one person and one horse, so you can't borrow them easily. And if Minister Hao's people are not familiar with the temperament of horses, they may go out to carry out missions for a few days. Bad. It's not that I'm stingy, if you really want to borrow it, I can pick up a few pack horses for you."

"The pack horse is also fine." Hao Wanqing didn't pick anything, and didn't give Harugong a chance to go back on his word, so he agreed first.

The pack horses in the cavalry battalion are not the same as the pack horses used by the logistics and logistics troops. The main task is not to carry heavy equipment and materials, but to serve as the usual mounts for the cavalry, and the precious war horses are often only used in wartime. man's responsibility.Cavalry spend more time on pack horses than on war horses.Of course, if there are enough high-quality war horses, the arrangement of one person and two horses can make the two horses ride in turns, and the burden will be more balanced.

Harugong laughed dumbfounded and said, "Good Hao Wanqing, you have treated my cavalry battalion as fat! You will cut me off if you do anything!"

"Don't dare dare!" Hao Wanqing argued solemnly: "This is also a work requirement, and it is not my personal selfishness."

But the actual situation was not as optimistic as they thought at this time. On the day after the meeting, sporadic illnesses began to appear among the horses who had just arrived in Zhoushan.Harukon thought it was just a sign that the horses were not acclimatized to the local climate and forage, but he didn't dare to be careless at all. In order to avoid the possibility of spreading the disease, all the horses found to be in abnormal conditions were brought out and raised separately, and One-on-one with personnel for continuous observation.

There is no professional veterinarian in the crossing group, and the horses in the cavalry battalion are all taken care of by Harugong’s past experience in raising horses. Harugong actually has no unique secret recipe for the sickness of the horses. He can only prescribe better food. , expecting the horse to slowly heal itself by eating and resting.

(End of this chapter)