1627 Rise of the South China Sea

Chapter 1421 Mission
In recent years, in the process of opening up overseas colonies, it is rare to send so many non-military personnel to go to new colonies thousands of miles away at one time.Even a local official like Zhang Guang, who is already in charge of Yacheng County, has to temporarily resume his profession and put aside his job to perform this long-distance field errand.

Of course, Zhang Guang himself is not necessarily opposed to this errand. After all, he has never been out of Hainan Island after crossing, and has been living in Yacheng.Nowadays, it is rare to have the opportunity to go out on business to see the wonderful rivers and mountains of this time and space. To a certain extent, you can enjoy this errand to and from Liaodong as a public travel.Although this journey could only be done by slowly swaying to the north in a sea boat, Sheng was served by servants throughout the whole journey. That kind of honorable treatment was not something that a small person before crossing could enjoy.

At present, these people are already on their way from Zhoushan to the north. How much role they can play in Liaodong depends on how they cooperate locally.Although the executive committee can also be commanded remotely through the radio, due to the difference in the degree of information mastery, it is generally rare to directly intervene in the local affairs of the colony, not to mention that the name of the executive committee member Baix is ​​already among the personnel going north this time, so he can have full power. Represent the Executive Committee to handle some emergencies.

While the executive committee was meeting to discuss the affairs of Liaodong, the parties were sitting around on a certain sailboat sailing in the East China Sea, discussing the arrangements after going north, and at the same time thinking about it.

As the highest-ranking leader in the team that went to Liaodong this time, Baix naturally became the center of this group of people.And the weapons and equipment he personally escorted to Liaodong this time became a hot topic of discussion.

"Mr. Bai, I heard that a lot of new artillery has been brought to the front line this time. If it is easy to use, will it be equipped in batches? Can you give priority to equipping the Liaodong garrison? You know, that place borders the Houjin site. If Being robbed by us is a thorn in the eye, I don’t know how many battles we have to fight in a year, and I can’t do it without ordering the treasures of Zhenshan…” Shaxi said, he couldn’t stop when he opened his mouth, he was appointed by the executive committee for the Liaodong colony Of course, the chief administrative officer is most concerned about the local defense.

"I'm afraid you want to be beautiful!" Liu Shanxia, ​​who is next to him, shook his head and retorted: "Those wild boar skins are not very good at making guns. Do you need to use the most advanced weapons to hit them? In my opinion, these new weapons are even necessary. It must be the priority to equip troops in the direction of the South China Sea. The competitors over there are all Western countries, and they must be suppressed in terms of weapon performance.”

"Although the Western countries' armed level is close to our country's, they dare not fight us!" Shaxi said that he would not easily admit defeat, and immediately raised his objection: "You count, Portugal and the Netherlands. , Spain, among these countries that have entered the Far East, which of these countries dares to stand up and fight against us? Of course, the best weapons should be deployed where they are really needed, but do we have opponents in the South China Sea now?”

Portugal had suffered enough in Annan seven years ago, and since then has taken the initiative to establish diplomatic relations with Haihan.The two sides have maintained close political and economic exchanges for several years, and there has been no military conflict.Today, Portugal has become Haihan's most reliable partner in the Western world. Haihan obtains trade routes connecting the Western world and intelligence of other Western colonial countries through Portugal; The ports provided by Northeast Asia have made maritime trade prosperous, and from time to time, they can use the power of Haihan to suppress those competitors who also come from Europe.

As for the Netherlands, they were intimidated by Haihan's force and had to bow their heads in order to keep their game qualifications in the Far East.Although the Dutch are not as docile and reliable as the Portuguese, in terms of the current international situation, they are indeed unlikely to jump out and have a hard time with Haihan.After all, the Netherlands does not have many advantages in front of Portugal as a competitor, not to mention that the other party hugged Haihan's thigh early on. If they do not have a good relationship with Haihan, then the Netherlands will probably only be able to guard the front line of Java Island. After living, don't even think about reaching out to Northeast Asia, which is obviously an unacceptable situation.

The diehard Spain has never had any intention of reconciling with Haihan, and even sent an armed fleet from Manila to attempt a sneak attack on Sanya last year.However, after being severely beaten by Haihan, Manila seems to have died down.Haihan was intent on concentrating resources to get things done in Liaodong first, and was unwilling to rush to break up with Spain, and he did not declare war or protest to the Manila authorities, but quietly exposed the matter.Of course, the mentality of the Manila side may not be so relaxed. Haihan said neither fight nor no fight, but it is clear that this beam has been forged, and it is just to see when it will be resolved.As for taking the initiative to fight Haihan again, even if the Governor of Manila has this idea, he has no enough strength to implement it.

Liu Shanxia reminded: "Don't forget that another group of British people appeared in the South China Sea last year, and they are not vegetarians."

"You mean the group of British soldiers who were beaten by Roger and vomited blood on Xingdao?" Shaxi stretched out a finger and shook it gently: "Obviously the British are not ready to go to war with us at all, you Overestimating their strength. Roger can take them out with a battalion, and it's not even a threat to us."

Liu Shanxia snorted, but did not argue with Sha Xi any more. Perhaps he had realized that it was obviously very difficult to refute Sha Xi with his own eloquence.

However, after Sha Xi gained the upper hand, he did not pursue Liu Shanxia, ​​but turned back to Bai Kesi: "Mr. Bai, do you think what I said makes sense? Someone like Hou Jin can be ruthless. , it is most suitable for practicing new weapons and new tactics. You have to equip this weapon elsewhere. Maybe it will not be useful for a year or a half, and only in Liaodong can you pull out the Houjin army at any time and shoot a target. Yes, look how convenient it is!"

Bai Kesi smiled and said, "Are you in charge of civil affairs or diplomacy? You actually think more than me! Let's just say that the finalization test of new weapons will not be carried out only in Liaodong, and mass production will not be launched in the near future. What can be achieved. As for mass equipment, I am afraid it will be more difficult in two or three years, so don't think too much, think about it for nothing. "

The weapons that Haihan Ordnance will send to the Liaodong battlefield for testing this time are mainly artillery. The trial-produced rear-loaded rifled guns have relatively high requirements on materials and processes, and it is still difficult to achieve the quantity with the existing processing capacity of Haihan. Produce.The copper-made shells also consume a considerable amount of copper. At the current stage of Haihan's industrial development, there are many places where copper is needed. It is undoubtedly a low-cost option to use it to make weapons and ammunition.Under the circumstance that Haihan's existing weapons are already capable of suppressing contemporary enemies, there is really no need to put expensive advanced weapons into use.

Of course, in line with the ordnance research and development principles of production generation, trial production generation, pre-research generation, and exploration generation, the development of new weapons will not stop.There are a large number of weapon drawings and design plans in the Haihan database, so a lot of work in the process of weapon research and development can be saved. As more and more resources are controlled by Haihan, the process of industrialization is getting faster and faster. Difficulties in manufacturing technology will be gradually overcome. When more advanced weapons are gradually mass-produced, it will be much easier for Haihan to push the enemy flat on the battlefield than it is now.

The performance of these weapons in high-latitude areas will naturally be recorded by Haihan Ordnance as a reference for future design improvements.But even if the military wants to equip these advanced equipment that is still in the experimental stage, it must first pass the level of the Executive Committee.As for plans like Sha Xi, even if he speaks righteously, it is basically impossible to get the support of the Executive Committee. After all, the Executive Committee needs to consider more comprehensive and long-term things, and Sha Xi is only from the perspective of personal preference. Just look at the problem.

Sha Xi disapproved and said: "How can this be a vain idea? Let Haihan grow and develop is the mission of each of us. Although I am not engaged in the weapons industry, I am always qualified to give advice, right?"

Bai Kesi replied: "Speaking of the mission, you should take advantage of the time on the road to think about it, and how to carry out the work after arriving in the local area, don't use your mind on irrelevant places."

At this time, Zhang Guang interjected: "I heard that you applied for a transfer yourself? Why don't you leave a job that you can enjoy, and go to Liaodong to be a polished commander?"

Sha Xi rolled his eyes and said, "Guangdong has been bought up and down by us, so it's not interesting to stay there. I want to change to a challenging environment. Although this place in Liaodong is far away, But fortunately, the foundation is clean. In the future, the local area will be naturalized people, so there will not be so many messy people mixed in, and many things will be easier to carry out."

Hearing this, Bai Kesi couldn't help but glance at Sha Xi. Seeing that his expression didn't seem to be as joking as before, he couldn't help but move slightly.Haihan has been operating in Guangdong for several years, and the trade channels and contacts have been controlled quite freely, but it is still impossible to avoid the reality of cohabiting and working with the people of the Ming Dynasty.Such a situation will of course bring a lot of resistance to Haihan's governance, and Shaxi obviously can't stand such a situation, so he wants to find a place with simple social components, and follow his own ideas with peace of mind. Governance.

And Zhang Guang obviously couldn't understand Sha Xi's choice, shook his head and said: "Mixed living is the norm, the situation in the Liaodong Peninsula is just an example. Don't look at your fighting spirit now, maybe you will find it when you get there. The leaders of the occupied territories have a lot of trouble."

"I'm not afraid of trouble." Sha Xi was not moved by Zhang Guang's words, and still stubbornly insisted on his own opinion: "Old Zhang, you have been in the ravine of Yacheng for too long, and you are so hard to be motivated. Gone."

Zhang Guang couldn't help laughing and crying: "Not everyone wants to be a big man, I'm used to the life in Yacheng, is this a sign of lack of self-motivation? Trying to make my life more comfortable should be a meaningful insistence, right? It is my mission to manage the county of Yacheng well!"

"When the war in Liaodong is over, the Lushun side... should also set up an administrative county, right?" When Sha Xi heard this, the thoughts in his mind had skipped the argument just now and thought of another question: "Then I I will be the county magistrate like you in the future, do you have any tricks that you can teach me?"

Zhang Guang didn't expect Sha Xi to make such a big turn. He didn't react for a while, and asked in confusion, "The trick? What trick?"

"It's the political trick to manage a county." Sha Xi explained: "Just now, Mr. Bai said that I should think about the work on the road. You are the only local official on this ship, so I can only ask you for advice."

Zhang Guangxin said that you were still arguing with me one minute, but changed your attitude the next minute. This change of face from the front to the back is really fast enough.But he actually wronged Sha Xi a little bit. This person is purely talkative and has a relatively high jump in thinking, and he is not a capricious person.

However, Zhang Guang is an honest person. Although he complained about Sha Xi in his heart, he still shared his experience and experience in ruling Yacheng County for several years for Sha Xi's reference.But he also knows that Sha Xi is not ignorant of administrative affairs. After working in the Guangzhou Office for so many years, he has left Sha Xi's footprints from Hong Kong to Guangzhou. Even if he has never eaten pork, he has always seen pigs running, so his story It's just so far, Shaxi's brain is flexible, and he can naturally understand the key.

The only civil affairs official on the ship who did not participate in the discussion was Gao Huan from the Ministry of Agriculture, but it was not because he was cold and unwilling to participate in the discussion, but because he was too busy, so he had to organize and bring it out from Sanya during the voyage. A large amount of grain seeds, and formulate agricultural development and planting plans, these things alone have made him unable to escape, he can only work overtime in the cabin, far less than the other uncles.

Seven days after setting off from Zhejiang, the fleet sailed into the Shandong waters.The appearance of this huge fleet once again triggered small riots in coastal prefectures and counties, and urgent reports were sent to Jinan House one after another.This can't help reminiscent of Haihan's conflict with Dengzhou officials before the winter, so this huge fleet heading north is logically understood as Haihan's upcoming retaliatory measures in Shandong, otherwise it seems impossible to explain why Haihan wanted to bring in so many armed ships from the south with great fanfare.

Under the careful surveillance of the coastal states, the northbound fleet arrived at Zhifu Island in mid-February, which made those who thought Haihan was about to attack Shandong even more convinced of the war that would break out next.

(End of this chapter)