1627 Rise of the South China Sea

Chapter 1792 Go to North Korea

In the past, the Zhejiang Ming Army would naturally hold activities such as military exercises occasionally.The naval fleet sailing in formation on the Qiantang River outside Hangzhou was inspected by senior officials. It was also an event that Zhejiang people liked to see, but compared with the scale of the Haihan military exercise seen today, the officials will inevitably be confused. I feel that the military exercises I have seen in the past are a bit of a joke.Fully displaying attack methods like the Haihan Fleet, so that viewers can realize the true strength of an army, seems to be what military exercises should be like.

Of course, if the Haihan people really have any malicious intentions, and the fleet that launched the exercise in Hangzhou Bay just now is determined to rush into the Qiantang River to cause trouble, then the more than 20 warships assembled by the Zhejiang Metropolitan Command and Envoys in advance on the upper river should not be able to stop it. Most of the Haihan people will become cannon fodder under the firepower of the opponent.

Fortunately, the Haihan people really didn't seem to have any idea of ​​overstepping the rules. After the rounds of bombardment near Yehuangpan Island ended, they closed their team and left Hangzhou Bay to go north.The officials who had their hearts hanging in the air finally breathed a sigh of relief, and began to praise the prefect of Ningbo, Qu Yutong, for his merits in negotiating with Haihan, and he single-handedly ensured the stability and peace of Zhejiang.

Most of the Zhejiang officials affirmed Qu Yutong's mediation role in this incident, thinking that if he hadn't communicated with the Haihan people in time, even if the Haihan people had no bad intentions, this military exercise would have caused the The social order in Zhejiang was in chaos.The various news released by the Ningbo government quickly calmed down the public, and invited officials from various state governments to observe and supervise the Haihan military exercise, which indeed effectively played a role in calming people's hearts.Even if some people have other ideas about Qu Yutong's prefect position, they have to admit that if they were themselves, they might not be able to handle things as properly as Qu Yutong.

Of course, it is not that no one has doubts about the origin of Haihan's military exercise, and even associates this suspicion with Qu Yutong, thinking that there is actually a reason why the Ningbo government can respond to Haihan's military exercise so quickly. Suspected of cooperating in trouble.But there was no actual evidence for this suspicion, and it was impossible to explain the direct benefits to Qu Yutong, so this doubt was quickly buried in the continuous praise.

The statement that was quickly accepted by the public still came from the Ningbo government office, saying that the reason why Haihan arranged military exercises at this juncture was that a group of troops happened to be going to the north to change defenses, and there were warships from several other countries accompanying them. So I decided to arrange this exercise in Hangzhou Bay so that this multinational force can have better coordinated combat capabilities.

The reason why the exercise location was arranged in Hangzhou Bay was also given by the Zhoushan authorities. On the one hand, it was because it was relatively close to Dinghai Port in Zhoushan. It was convenient for Haihan to clean up the sea area in advance to prevent private ships from entering by mistake. It was also in consideration of making it easier for officials from nearby Linhai prefectures and counties to go out to watch the military exercise, and the invitation of these officials was precisely to avoid unnecessary misunderstandings due to the military exercise near the coast of Daming.The reason Haihan gave was high-sounding, and the way he did it was impossible to find fault with. Although it was suspected of being disrespectful without consulting the Zhejiang government beforehand, no one would dare to accuse Haihan of this crime. Otherwise, would the Haihan people be punished?
As far as the Zhejiang government is concerned, as long as there is peace, Haihan's minor problems will be over.As for the destination of this huge Haihan fleet after going north, most officials will not be overly concerned. Even if there is any trouble after that, it is not Zhejiang's trouble, so there is no need to worry about being blamed.

Not to mention these outsiders, even the vast majority of Haihan's northbound troops were notified after leaving Hangzhou Bay. The destination of the fleet was not Liaodong or Shandong, but North Korea, which was separated from Ming by the Yellow Sea. It is possible that they will be stationed in North Korea for a period of time to carry out some special combat missions.

As for who the opponent is, the Fleet Command still hasn't released more detailed information, but this can't be hidden from those who are interested. Most of the troops going north this time have served in the north, and they have a relatively good understanding of the international situation in Northeast Asia. It's not hard to guess who else in the region could be a worthy match for Haihan.

Ming and North Korea successively established diplomatic relations with Haihan last year, and North Korea even secretly concluded a military alliance agreement with Haihan.And the common enemy of the Ming Dynasty, North Korea, and Haihan is the Qing Dynasty, which occupies the Liaodong area.He had fought against this opponent several times in Jinzhou before, and the Haihan army basically took the initiative, but because of limited troops, they could no longer continue to advance the front line northward, so they could only maintain a long-term confrontation with them on the Jinzhou Isthmus front.

However, the enemy army, which has been given a buffer time, has not rested in the past year. It has built a large number of earth and stone bunkers on its defense line, and gradually connected these bunkers with section after section of defensive walls, forming a formation several miles deep. The densely fortified area, and stationed heavy troops in it, and even deployed a lot of artillery brought to Liaodong by the Ming rebels.Even the Haihan army with heavy firepower, if they want to deal with this line of defense, it will not be easy to take it in a while.

Immediately, some people speculated that the Ministry of National Defense might want to try to open up a second battlefield outside Jinzhou, launch an offensive against the Qing Dynasty from North Korea, use North Korea as the rear, and reduce the pressure on logistics supplies.However, this possibility quickly elicited rebuttals, arguing that the Ministry of National Defense did not need to divide its forces while taking the initiative, and that it would be easier to achieve results by concentrating its forces on the Liaodong Peninsula, which was far more suitable for a rapid advance of the front than the continuous mountainous area on the North Korean border.

Regarding the war in Liaodong, these troops who had previously performed combat missions in the local area naturally had the most say, but for the newly joined foreign troops, the far north was still a completely unfamiliar area.Zheng Ting, Xi Mang, and Xu Yuzhuo recently spent more time on the flagship of Haihan than on their own ship. Tom Wang had to reserve a cabin for the three of them on the flagship to arrange accommodation for them. Be able to familiarize yourself with the sea and land maps of the Yellow Sea region as soon as possible so that you can play your due level in the next battle.

The three generals were very shocked by the level of detail of the maps in Haihan's hands. They really couldn't understand why Haihan was able to grasp the maps of North Korea and the Qing Dynasty, but this also seemed to confirm Haihan's situation from the side. How did the Han Dynasty achieve consecutive victories in the wars launched in this unfamiliar area of ​​Liaodong?

Wang Tom promised them without hesitation that the map in his hand was even more detailed than the official maps of the two countries, which gave the generals of the coalition a little more confidence in the future war.

However, the North Korean diplomat who boarded the ship from Zhoushan to join the fleet did not know such details. This official named Kim Sangjiu was a diplomatic envoy stationed in Zhoushan last year, mainly in charge of business work.The trade between North Korea and Haihan and Daming Jiangsu and Zhejiang regions is basically completed in Zhoushan Dinghai Port, and Jin Shangjiu handles the money and goods delivery here on behalf of North Korean officials. It is a relatively easy and lucrative job.

This time, Li Xi invited Haihan rescuers from Sanya to go north. Before that, he also informed Jin Shangjiu, who was stationed in Zhoushan, through Haihan's official radio station, and asked him to go north with the Haihan fleet as a guide.After Jin Shangjiu saw the fleet in Dinghai Port, he was so excited that tears filled his eyes, saying that North Korea might be saved by this.Before setting off from Zhoushan, Jin Shangjiu also personally pledged a hundred bolts of gauze produced in Suzhou Prefecture as military supplies for the support soldiers.

Although Jin Sangjiu also lives on the flagship of the fleet, because he is not a military attache, he is generally not arranged to participate in the operation preparation meeting held by the coalition command. Only when certain decisions related to North Korea are made during the meeting inform him.Although Jin Shangjiu was somewhat dissatisfied with this, he did not dare to question Wang Tom, for fear of offending the "savior" who had been hired so hard.

Of course, Wang Tom made such an arrangement on purpose, and found a reason to exclude Jin Shangjiu, so that the generals could have less scruples when formulating combat plans.There are actually some subtle differences between Tom Wang's thinking and the purpose of the Executive Committee when sending troops to North Korea this time.The executive committee had already prepared for the worst, and wanted to delay the fall of North Korea by sending troops, but what Wang Tom considered was more from a military point of view, how to make good use of the limited troops at hand to form a negative impact on the Qing army. Relatively large impact.

To do this, Wang Tom can't think too much about the feelings of the North Koreans.What he needs is North Korea’s obedience and secure logistical support. As for what the war will turn this country into, and whether North Korean troops should be used as cannon fodder if necessary, these arrangements are naturally the less the North Koreans know about, the better. .Not to mention Jin Shangjiu, after arriving in North Korea, Wang Tom also plans to do the same, and just continue to let the North Koreans obey their orders.

Now that there are dozens of warships from the Annan, Portugal, and Fujian navy in the fleet, Wang Tom can command a lot more sea maneuvering forces, and the tactics he can use are naturally more abundant.According to the continuous intelligence received from the north on the way, Tom Wang also adjusted the action plan originally formulated in Sanya. Since the Qing army has not moved south to invade North Korea, the time left for his own action will be more generous than expected. You can plan in detail whether you can snipe the Qing army near the North Korean border-this is definitely much less difficult than stopping the Qing army in North Korea.

In addition to Portugal, almost all the senior officers of the Annan and Fujian naval divisions have received military training from Haihan. They are also familiar with conventional tactics in environments such as harassment, seizing islands and defending islands, and blocking river estuaries. Therefore, they can generally grasp the intentions of General Haihan relatively quickly in the combat preparation meeting, and can raise some questions and suggestions.

And Simao from Portugal is more bitter. Although he also understands Chinese and even fought side by side with Haihan Navy for a period of time during the Battle of Manila, in terms of the degree of integration into Haihan's tactical system, he is better than Haihan in any case. There will be no "direct line" generals like Zheng Ting and Xu Yuzhuo.For the many tactical arrangements listed by Wang Tom at the meeting, those two can understand at one point, but Simao needs to ask Wang Tom to give a more detailed explanation before he can slowly digest it, and the progress is far behind the other two.

Simao is also very distressed about this. The combat environment in the north this time is very different from the last time he fought the Spaniards in the South China Sea. The combat operations will not be limited to a specific area like the Manila battle. The entire Yellow Sea and Bohai Sea may be attacked. become a battlefield.The tactics needed are also very different. The Qing army may not have any well-organized maritime armed forces to fight against, but the strength and mobility of its army cannot be compared with the coalition forces that went north this time. of.If the troops going to North Korea to serve as reinforcements want to gain something, they must be very flexible in their tactics, not the offensive and defensive battles around a city like Manila.

Simao has no doubts about the combat capability of the Haihan Army, but if the troops under his command cannot keep up with the rhythm of the Haihan Army, or cannot match the combat intentions of the Haihan Army well, it may become a hindrance on the battlefield. Existence, this is an unacceptable situation for him.But judging from the current situation, it may be difficult for the Portuguese fleet to integrate into Haihan's combat system like the other two fleets, and it is likely to be assigned to complete some less urgent tasks, such as transporting logistics for combat troops. Class errands.

But this is not the purpose of Simao leading his troops to the north. After the Battle of Manila, Portugal must once again prove to Haihan that it has the ability to become Haihan's most reliable partner in a larger area. It is necessary to allow Portugal Establish new trade routes in Northeast Asia.But if this fleet has traveled thousands of miles to North Korea, just to serve as a logistics supply fleet, then it is self-evident what attitude the Haihan Executive Committee will have towards Portugal's request for a new route after the war.

So Simao was holding back his energy, not wanting Tom Wang to underestimate his troops.Fortunately, the Portuguese were very brave and decisive in the Battle of Manila before, which left a very deep impression on Wang Tom and other generals, so although Simao showed various discomforts at the combat preparation meeting on the way north, Wang Tom and others still Showed enough patience and trust, and did not rush to adjust the combat missions that the Portuguese fleet was originally responsible for.

On the afternoon of the third day after leaving Hangzhou Bay, the vanguard of the Northward Fleet had entered the waters of Jeju Island at the southern tip of the Korean Peninsula.However, the local area of ​​Jeju Island does not seem to have been notified. After discovering this huge fleet, the fishing and merchant ships in the offshore chose to return to Hong Kong quickly to avoid the limelight.

(End of this chapter)