1627 Rise of the South China Sea

Chapter 1502
As Kim Sang-Hyun was worried, he brought Rod-Hyun into the palace and failed to persuade the indecisive King Li Yu immediately, but quickly summoned the opposition of the Lord and Pai Cui Ming-gil.

The "harmony" advocated by Cui Mingji is not to surrender blindly, but to avoid armed conflict with other countries as much as possible.This low-key strategy is not because he is very peace-loving, but has a relatively clear understanding of North Korea's armed strength. After all, North Korea has hardly achieved any decent victories in its independent foreign wars. If it is not for the protection of Ming Dynasty, It has probably been destroyed several times.Cui Mingji realized that this situation could not continue, so he advocated avoiding armed conflicts with other countries as much as possible.

According to Luo Xian, the Haihan army is a powerful presence that can crush Houjin on the Liaodong battlefield, and hopes to form an ally with North Korea.However, the Haihan Kingdom did not send envoys to contact North Korea through normal diplomatic channels, but sent a fully armed fleet directly. Cui Mingji thought this was unusual, so he asked the Haihan fleet not to enter the Han River, only The generals or envoys can lead a few subordinates into Seoul, so as not to be taken by the ulterior motives of the Haihan people to break the city.

Cui Mingji's concerns are not unreasonable. After all, the North Korean army's defense capabilities are limited. If the Haihan Army is as powerful as Luo Xian's description, then the risk of its army approaching Seoul is too great.For security reasons, he could not agree to the plan proposed by Kim Sang-heon's faction to let the Haehan Fleet enter the Han River.

However, Kim Sang-Hyun’s views are somewhat different. He believes in the cause and effect of what Rod-Hyun said. He believes that the purpose of Haihan’s visit is not to invade, but to fully demonstrate its force to North Korea, in order to subdue the Korean government and opposition in the shortest possible time, and then form what Haihan needs. anti-gold coalition.

Kim Sang Hun believes that peace cannot be achieved by praying, and it needs to be proactive.It is impossible to expect such evil neighbors as Hou Jin to come to their senses one day, and they can only count on strong aid to resolve this foreign trouble for North Korea.In the past, the object that North Korea was relying on was naturally Daming, but now Daming is also unable to protect himself, and has no time to take care of it. Not only can it not help North Korea, even North Korea can only pretend not to know about the tribute to Houjin.

And Haihan is not a country in this region. No matter what purpose they fought with Hou Jin, the result is objectively beneficial to North Korea.In line with the diplomatic principle of close friendship and close attack, North Korea should also have a good relationship with Haehan.Of course, Kim Sang-hun automatically ignored the national strength required for the strategy of distant diplomacy and close attack, and forcibly placed North Korea on an equal footing with Haehan to look at this issue.

One side advocated that the Haihan Fleet from afar should be given a chance to show force, while the other side believed that it was too risky to allow the Haihan Fleet to approach Seoul.However, when King Li Yu asked Cui Mingji how to ensure that the Haihan Fleet could stay on Ganghwa Island, he couldn't help but hesitate to come up with a specific plan. After all, the North Korean naval force was weak, and the largest ship was only three About a hundred guesses, where can it compete with the kind of artillery giant ship that Luo Xian described.

In the end, King Li Yu chose the conservative side of Cui Mingji, but found a balance and asked Jin Shangxian to draft a diplomatic letter to make his own demands.However, although Kim Sang-Hyun tried his best to be careful in his wording, there was no way to compromise on asking the Haehan Fleet to give up entering the Han River.

Having stayed in Liaodong for such a long time, Luo Xian naturally knew the behavior of the Haihan people. If this thing is sent to Jianghua Island, seven or eight out of ten will be thrown away by the other party as waste paper.But in front of these big men, he was very soft-spoken, and he was not qualified to give advice at all, so he could only let it be arranged.He originally wanted to try to apply again to negotiate with the Haihan people, but Cui Mingji decisively rejected the request, on the grounds that he needed to stay in Seoul and continue to provide information about Haihan.

Of course, Luo Xian understood that this was just an excuse, and Cui Mingji was preventing Hepai from getting in touch with Haehan through him.For the first time, Luo Xian also felt that this kind of intrigue in domestic politics was so childish and ridiculous. In the face of an absolutely powerful armed force like Haihan, these calculations were simply wasted effort.It's just that he knew that even if he said it, the big men in front of him would not believe it. After all, before seeing it with his own eyes, who could imagine that there is such an existence in the world as the Haihan Army?

But even Luo Xian could not have imagined that after receiving the letter from Seoul, the Haihan Army immediately pulled out of camp and sailed into the waters of the Han River.This was inconsistent with the information he had received beforehand. At that time, the Haihan people told him that they would negotiate with the North Korean official well and obtain permission before letting the fleet sail into the Han River. Luo Xian also believed that he had won a great deal for North Korea. Swing space.However, Tom Wang did not intend to fully respect this agreement, and started the backup plan without hesitation.

The Hangang River is formed by the confluence of the Namhangang River originating from Daedeoksan Mountain and the Bukhangang River originating from Mt. Kumgang in Gyeonggi-do. After flowing through Seoul, it flows into the Yellow Sea at Ganghwa Bay.Throughout the dynasties of Korean history, the Han River basin was a region where rulers scrambled to control, as it was the starting point of the maritime trade route to China.After entering the reign of the Li Dynasty, the Han River became the main channel for the capital to communicate with the outside world.

The Haihan Fleet sailed on the river without encountering any obstacles. Although it was upstream, it still maintained an average speed of about four knots thanks to the advanced sailing design on the ship.Although these warships are designed to fight at sea, the river surface several miles wide like the lower reaches of the Han River can fully meet the sailing needs of warships.Moreover, Tom Wang sent a clipper into the Han River the day before. In addition to guarding against the troops that North Korea may send from the waterway, another important task is to inspect the waterway of the Han River from Seoul to the sea.

Of course, the information provided by Luo Xian before this is also very important. After all, it is difficult to find out the conditions of the waterway in such unfamiliar waters as the Han River in a short period of time. The two fast ships entering the Han River also The main purpose is to verify whether the conditions of the Han River provided by Luo Xian are true.

The Haihan Fleet has been smooth sailing to the river surface less than ten miles away from Seoul, and finally aroused the vigilance of the North Korean side.Along the river began to set off fireworks warning signals to indicate the invasion of foreign enemies.However, the Haihan Fleet obviously did not regard this reaction as a threat, and continued to move upstream in a leisurely manner.

After traveling for a few more miles, a few sailboats with North Korean military flags finally appeared on the river, but their tonnage was much lower than that of the Haihan warships.Tom Wang ordered the deck guns to remove the gun coats, all the portholes of the lower guns were opened, and all personnel entered the fighting position.Although these North Korean sailboats were not enough to threaten the safety of the Haihan Fleet, Wang Tom still demanded that the fleet enter a state of combat, and if the other party showed hostility, he would decisively use artillery bombardment to warn.

In fact, Haihan also has rich experience in fighting in rivers and waters.In the early years of the Annan Civil War, Haihan's few warships at that time entered the control area of ​​the southern court from the sea, and went deep into the inland river to fight many raids.Last year, Haihan took advantage of the Hangzhou fire to deliberately create tension. The Haihan fleet entered the Qiantang River from Hangzhou Bay and went straight to the bottom of Hangzhou to block the river surface. It was also an extremely sharp water armed action.

Although the environment of the waters of the Han River is relatively unfamiliar, the river surface is wide, the waterway is deep, and the surface armed forces of North Korea are really weak, so Wang Tom can struttingly lead the fleet into this waters.

Seeing that the North Korean sailboats continued to sail towards this side, the bow gun of the leading ship "Majesty" fired first, and the shells fell into the water about ten meters away from the other ship, splashing a splash of water, and then the ships were almost at the same time. Turning around in a moment, he turned to the north bank of the Han River, obviously frightened by this artillery bombardment.

"Ignore them and move on!" Tom Wang gave an order very decisively.

At this time, Seoul finally got the news that a foreign armed fleet was going upstream from the Han River and was about to arrive in Seoul.According to the description in the sighting report, the red and blue flags were uniformly hung on the masts of this fleet, which was obviously the Haihan fleet mentioned by Luo Xian.

"Didn't you say that the Haihan people will not take action at will?" Jin Shangxian was also anxious when he heard the news. Although he supported Luo Xian's proposition, if the Haihan people really took the initiative to come to Seoul to use force, the nature of the matter would change. .

Luo Xian was naturally more excited than him. He did not expect that the Haihan people would break the contract. Whether this action beyond his expectations was to come to Seoul to show force or to take further military measures, he had no idea what would happen next. What's up.But Luo Xian knew that if he wanted to save his life, he had to try his best to prevent an out-of-control armed conflict between the two countries. Once the war broke out, he, the only insider, would likely be treated as a traitor from Litong foreign countries.

"Master Jin, the purpose of the Haihan people is not to attack Seoul. Please Lord Jin quickly give an order to restrain the defenders, do not engage in any form of war with the Haihan people, and don't even show hostility too obviously, so as not to cause unnecessary damage to the opponent. Misunderstanding!" Luo Luo knelt down in front of Jin Shangxian and pleaded with him: "The lower official is willing to guarantee his life, and the Haihan people have no malicious intentions."

In fact, Jin Sangxian regretted listening to Luodexian's words earlier and took him to the palace to meet the king. Now the situation is on the verge of getting out of control, and I'm afraid that the king will not trust him any more.But as a high-ranking official, he also knew that the more he did, the more he would try to save himself. If Haihan really used force, it would prove that all his previous views were wrong, and he would no longer need to be involved in the officialdom.Therefore, although Luo Xian's remarks are unpleasant, they are indeed the measures that he must take now.Armed conflict must be stopped first, and then there can be a chance to resolve the problem through negotiations.

"This is the capital of North Korea!" Tom Wang looked at the city not far from the river bank through a telescope, and couldn't help but sigh.

It has been more than 240 years since the city was designated as the capital by the Lee Dynasty of North Korea. During this period, it has been repaired and expanded many times. The entire city wall is nearly [-] miles long. Just looking at the appearance of the city tower, it can be considered majestic, at least it can be regarded as the building of a general city in the Ming Dynasty. level, but the city wall is very low, at most the level of Daming County.In Seoul, there are Heungren Gate, Sungrye Gate, Dunui Gate, and Sujing Gate according to the southeast, northwest, and four smaller gates of Guangxi Gate, Huihua Gate, Zhaode Gate and Zhangyi Gate. On the four corners, there are a total of four big four small eight city gates.There is also a small river named Kaichuan, which is called Qingxichuan in later generations, passing through the city from west to east, and is responsible for discharging urban domestic sewage.

However, from Tom Wang's point of view, the outside of the city did not make full use of the water source of the Han River to build a large moat, which was a major failure in defense.The city wall is short and there are no defensive fortifications within the moat. It is no wonder that Houjin did not take much effort when he attacked. The princes and nobles in the city have already abandoned the city and fled. Even the Koreans themselves understand that this The city cannot be held in battle.

Shen Zhixiang has dealt with North Korea a lot, and he can roughly think of Wang Tom's feelings when he saw Seoul, and explained next to him: "The North Korean state is a vassal state, and it cannot be overstepped in the regulation of the city wall. In addition, its engineering ability is poor, and it even burns bricks and stones. It’s all a problem. It’s a huge burden to build such a city wall that surrounds the entire city. So they can only build the city wall shorter to reduce the amount of work when there is no urgent need for defense.”

Tom Wang asked back, "Don't North Koreans even know how to burn bricks?"

"North Korea's brick-burning technology is extremely poor, and the houses where the people live are mostly thatched and mud-brick walls. Moreover, the firing of city wall bricks is different from ordinary bricks, and some skills are still required." Shen Zhixiang explained: "If the chief has the opportunity to go there in the future If you walk around the city walls of Seoul, you will find that almost all of their city walls are made of stones, and only the battlements are made of bricks."

"That's backward enough!" Tom Wang couldn't help muttering, and he looked down on North Korea's military strength a little bit in his heart.This kind of city water level is placed in front of the Haihan Army, and it is estimated that it will take one or two hours to break the city.Even if the Marine Corps is not equipped with large-caliber siege guns, it should not be difficult to break through such a low city wall.

Liu Shang also saw the scene of Seoul in the binoculars. He did not look down on North Korea’s fortifications. Whether a country is strong or not can’t be judged simply from the height of the city walls. Sanya, the capital of Haihan and Han, is not far from the Victory Fort. There are no city walls, but what kind of army can invade Sanya?Just listening to Shen Zhixiang say that North Korea is not even perfect in brick-burning technology, Liu Shang couldn't help but have a similar idea to Wang Tom.How can such a backward country compete with Haihan?

(End of this chapter)