1627 Rise of the South China Sea

Chapter 1798 Oppressive Reconnaissance

Although the Qing army was good at fighting on horseback, they could only stare blankly at the armed fleet sailing into the Yalu River. The bows and arrows equipped by the cavalry had a short range and could not hurt the warships in the middle of the river. They had to be careful to keep the distance Out of the range of the Haihan rifle.After several attempts and suffering, these Qing troops stopped trying to attack warships with bows and arrows, and retreated from a distance to watch the fleet continue to march upstream.

Naturally, the coalition forces would not continue to waste ammunition for these shrimps. Seeing that the cavalry on the shore retreated knowingly, they stopped shooting at them.In addition, Tom Wang did not intend to use the heavy weapons on the ship before the appearance of a large number of enemy troops.

The speed of the Qing army passing news on land must be faster than that of the fleet going upstream, so when the fleet sailed fifty miles into the Yalu River, the Qing army cavalry that appeared near the river bank became more orderly and less panicked than before.Wang Tom thought that the headquarters of the Qing army had received the news, and began to make corresponding deployments.

As for whether the leading Fujian navy will be attacked by the Qing army, Wang Tom is not afraid. Anyway, the Fujian navy has a lot of actual combat experience. The tactics that the Qing army can use may hardly pose a real threat to them.But as soon as this idea appeared, the fleet ahead sent a signal of an attack.

Regarding the attack methods that the Qing army might launch on the Yalu River, Wang Tom discussed with the officers at the combat preparation meeting before departure, and believed that the Qing army, which lacked an organized surface armed force, would probably find it difficult to gather enough warships to fight head-on. For a duel, the most likely method is to use a small boat with firelights to lower it from the upper reaches, try to disrupt the formation of the United Fleet with a fire attack, and then fish in troubled waters.

However, this method must prepare a large number of small boats full of firelights upstream in advance, and even if the Qing army collected all the large and small ships on the entire Yalu River, they would definitely give priority to them as vehicles for crossing the river and would not use them. Do this method of not knowing when it will be activated.Even if the Qing army really desperately used this extraordinary method, at most it would only cause a little trouble for the Fujian Navy, and it would be difficult to affect the main force of the fleet that kept a safe distance from it.

The method of launching an attack from the river bank is nothing more than the use of long-range firepower. With the military technology level of the Qing army, the heavy weapons that can be used are nothing more than artillery and catapults. Gadgets like soil rockets that have been handed down in the Ming Dynasty have a greater deterrent effect than actual combat effects.There was no cannon sound from the front, so artillery or other explosive firearms could basically be ruled out. Perhaps the slingshots with simple principles and low cost were the means by which the Qing army launched an offensive against the Fujian navy warships.

The actual situation soon confirmed Wang Tom's judgment. The Qing army set up several catapults on the river bank at the bend of the river ahead, and was projecting stone bombs about the size of a human head at the navy warship.

The battle site chosen by the Qing army was undoubtedly brainwashed. Not only is the river narrow, but ships on the river need to travel a longer distance to pass through this area, which means that there will be more attacks from the catapults on the shore. Chance.

However, compared with the naval guns of the Fujian Navy, although the range of the catapults used by the Qing army is basically not at a disadvantage, there is a clear gap in attack efficiency, accuracy and shooting power. The nearest one was six or seven meters away from the naval warship.

Xu Yuzhuo didn't panic in the face of the sudden attack from the river bank. This situation was expected in advance. Before he set off, he had obtained the permission to fire freely from Wang Tom, and immediately ordered the artillery to be in place immediately to launch a counterattack. , and at the same time send an attack signal to the rear, so that the Haihan Navy can be on alert in advance.

The Fujian Navy is also worthy of being a combat force built according to the Haihan Navy model. It reacted very quickly. Before the catapults on the shore launched the second round of offensive, they fired artillery and launched a counterattack on the shore.

Compared with the Haihan warships, the number of guns on the warships of the Fujian Navy is not large, and there are only about five guns on one side of the ship. However, after the ten warships are in formation, the intensity of the firepower output is still considerable.More than a dozen shells hit the area where the catapult was located, causing chaos in the enemy's position.However, the Qing army on the shore quickly adjusted and fired a second round of stone bullets.

In this round of attacks after a brief adjustment, the accuracy has improved. Two stone bullets hit the target, one tore a hole in the sail and flew into the water, and the other hit the side of the ship It bounced into the water and caused no casualties.However, the second round of shelling from the Fujian Navy achieved more results. Several shells directly hit the target, and the broken catapults flew out, injuring many people.

The Qing army found that this way of fighting was also not worth the loss, and quickly ordered to retreat, giving up continuing to fight with the warships on the river.Xu Yuzhuo was a little disappointed about this, he wished that the Qing army could form an attack on the shore, so that he could show more in front of the Haihan people.Now after two rounds of bombardment, the enemy army ran away again, obviously not intending to fight recklessly with the coalition fleet.

Wang Tom had a panoramic view of the brief artillery battle through the telescope. Regarding this round of offensive launched by the Qing army, he understood it as a tentative attack. Once it was confirmed that the fleet that penetrated the Yalu River had relatively strong firepower , He took the initiative to withdraw from the river bank and leave the battlefield.But whether the Qing army will arrange larger-scale catapults or even artillery positions upstream can only be confirmed after visiting.

However, what surprised the coalition fleet was that during the next voyage, the Qing army did not deploy any blocking means on the shore, and even the cavalry team that followed the fleet gradually decreased from nearly a thousand to sporadic. Count the rides.This makes people have an illusion that the Qing army did not have any large garrison strongholds in the upper reaches of the Yalu River, so these cavalry on the shore did not follow.

But Wang Tom thought that this was just a suspicious strategy of the Qing army, and deliberately created such a scene to make his side think that the upstream area had no value for continued reconnaissance.However, the headquarters has passed all kinds of information and signs, and concluded that the Jiulian City area is the best choice for the Qing army to gather troops. If Huang Taiji really intends to attack North Korea, there must be signs of large troops stationed near Jiulian City. Tom will definitely have to go to the local area to see it with his own eyes before he can draw the final conclusion.

However, there are obviously a lot of Qing cavalry around here, so Wang Tom can't easily put the marines on the shore.Although it is difficult for the Qing cavalry to break through the fire cover provided by the warships as long as the marines have their backs against the river, but as long as there are a large number of enemy cavalry around, the marines have to stop and form a formation to fight, and the speed of the march will definitely be increased because of this. Affected.

Seeing that the twilight was approaching, the distance to the target was still thirty or forty miles away. The United Fleet was not familiar with the hydrological conditions of the Yalu River, so advancing in the dark was obviously not the best policy.Wang Tom then ordered to stay on the North Korean side of the east bank at a place slightly wider in front of the river, and stay there for one night before continuing tomorrow.

Although the width of the river is not more than a few miles, after the two previous confrontations, I believe that the Qing army will not be too interested in crossing the river at night to attack.If there are fewer people sent, it's just death in vain. If there are too many people sent, there must be a lot of noise. I'm afraid they will be discovered before they cross the river.

After docking, Tom Wang ordered someone to send Xu Yuzhuo to confirm the exact location of the fleet.The maps held by the Haihan Navy are all from the time and space 400 years later. There are still some differences between the actual terrain along the Yalu River and the map, and some places need to be corrected. However, Jiulian City is located at the confluence of the Kui River and the Yalu River. North Shore, this destination is definitely not wrong.

"For the rest of the voyage, the river surface may be relatively narrow, and there will be terrain such as sandbars and reefs in the center of the river. The Qing army may also use the terrain here to display some special attack methods. You must be careful. Tom Wang told Xu Yuzhuo: "If you encounter an enemy, no matter how strong the enemy army is, don't rush to pursue it, and fight steadily. Remember that we are here to find out the progress of the Qing army's assembly, not to solve the problem with a single battle. .”

The Qing army has not shown a strong willingness to attack so far. Wang Tom believes that there may be two reasons. One is that the Qing army did not have a large number of troops stationed in this area, and the scale of the offensive it can launch is naturally limited; It is the Qing army that is unwilling to launch a confrontation with Haihan at this time and place, because once the troops gathered nearby are discovered by Haihan, in fact, the entire intention of the next battle will be exposed. It is not a good thing for Huang Taiji who took North Korea away.

Xu Yuzhuo said: "The Qing army is good at swords and bows but weaker than water warfare. As long as we fix the fighting environment on the river, I believe it will be difficult for the Qing army to threaten us. But this effect is also mutual. If we don't If they go ashore, they won't be able to put enough pressure on the Qing army, they can hide their troops in Jiulian City so that we won't find out."

Wang Tom said: "Because of the possibility of the Qing army stationing troops in Jiulian City, we need to be more stable. Our fleet has a total of more than 2000 people, and we have enough supplies for more than half a month. Collecting food nearby can block this section of the river for a long time. But if the Qing army is already in progress or is about to be completed, how long can the [-] troops wait here? The food eaten every day is tens of thousands of catties. There is no land for grain production, and the supplies probably have to be transported from Shenyang through mountains and rivers. We can afford it, but the Qing army can't. They either choose to be a coward, or they have to use all their strength to force us away."

"The oppression we want to impose on the opponent is not just a direct attack method such as gunfire and bombardment. It also puts pressure on its logistical support and forces it to adjust its original deployment until more information is exposed. A means of oppressive reconnaissance."

Xu Yuzhuo nodded, and continued to ask: "Since our fleet is capable of blocking the Yalu River and can maintain it for a period of time, why not order all the troops stationed on Jianghua Island to go north, so that we can be more confident in blocking the river?" .”

Wang Tom explained: "Even if all the troops are transferred to the Yalu River, the river we can blockade will increase by dozens of miles at most, but it will expose our full strength prematurely. There is another thing you need to understand, The purpose of our aid to North Korea is to save North Korea so that it will not be destroyed, but if we successfully block the Qing army in the Yalu River, and the Koreans do not feel the pressure of the war from the beginning to the end, then what is the significance of our aid to North Korea? ?”

Xu Yuzhuo opened his mouth slightly when he heard it, and then nodded emphatically to express that he understood what Wang Tom meant: "The North Koreans are hurt, and the importance of our aid to North Korea will be highlighted!"

Wang Tom said: "Whether you Fujianese, Portuguese, or Annan people, you must have a good record on the Korean battlefield, so you can negotiate terms with them in the future, right? If the Qing army did not set foot in North Korea, then How are you going to prove your strength?"

Naturally, these words of Wang Tom cannot be heard by North Koreans. From the very beginning, Wang Tom did not intend to place the decisive battle on the Yalu River, but wanted to use the Qing army as a weight to ask North Korea for more benefits to Haihan. conditions of.But for now, Tom Wang's most wanted naval base has not found an ideal location in this area at all.

Although it is a little unkind to be a rescuer of North Korea who moved from overseas with great difficulty, Wang Tom has been in a high position for many years and has a clear understanding of international relations. A country like North Korea can only become a country for thousands of years vassals of powerful states.Since North Korea needs a suzerain state in the traditional sense, and Ming Dynasty has shown signs of decline in recent years, it is undoubtedly the most appropriate to be replaced by Haihan.The worse the situation in North Korea is, the easier it will be for Haihan to take over the position of suzerain in the future.

Anyway, what the North Koreans want is to keep Guozuo and not be destroyed by the Qing Dynasty. Tom Wang believes that there is still a great chance to realize this.As long as North Korea can fully implement the plan formulated by Haihan, even if it cannot defeat the Qing army on the frontal battlefield, it can still force the Qing army to cease fighting and retreat by other means.

The life-saving strategy that Wang Tom found for North Korea was to control the supplies of the Qing army.One is to control the natural moat of the Yalu River, and the other is to realize the strong walls and clear the fields in advance in North Korea, so that the Qing army cannot collect food on the spot. Once the front line is stretched, the supply problem will naturally drag down the Qing army's offensive.

If the Jiulian City area was the Qing army's chosen troop assembly point, then there must be several food storage places nearby to support the Qing army's offensive after crossing the south of the Yangtze River.But now that the coalition fleet appeared on this section of the river, even if the Qing army crossed the south of the Yangtze River in the future, they would still have to station heavy troops in Jiulian City to protect the granary, which would invisibly reduce the strength of the troops entering the dynasty.

Since the situation of this war is theoretically partially controllable, then Tom Wang has the spare power to fight for more interests for Haihan during this period.

(End of this chapter)