1627 Rise of the South China Sea

Chapter 1799 Nine Linked City

When it first received the North Koreans' request for help, the Ministry of National Defense once thought that it might not be too late to send troops to prevent the Qing army from invading North Korea, and there might even be an extreme situation where the country would choose to surrender to the enemy before the reinforcements arrived in North Korea.Therefore, the combat plan formulated by the Ministry of National Defense at that time was based on the premise that the Qing army had invaded North Korea, to ensure that the North Korean ruler could be rescued in time as the bottom line, and did not take control of the Korean war situation as one of the options.Besides, given the scale of troops that Haihan could send to North Korea, the Ministry of National Defense did not dare to have such a rash idea.

But after the coalition fleet arrived in North Korea, Wang Tom found that although the preparations for the war here were not satisfactory, fortunately, the Qing army hadn't done anything yet, and there was still a certain buffer time for the coalition forces to adjust their strategies.Wang Tom believes that judging from the current situation, the crisis facing North Korea is not irreversible, and there is even a chance to gain more benefits for Haihan from it.And the degree of control over the natural moat of the Yalu River may become a key to adjusting the Korean war situation.

Xu Yuzhuo was a little bit behind-the-scenes about the twisted intestines in the belly of the Haihan people, but the Fujian Navy was in the same camp as Haihan, and he had trained under Wang Tom, so he would naturally think that this kind of favor was beneficial to Haihan. The choice makes sense.As for North Korea's final choice of Daming or Haihan as the suzerain, Xu Yuzhuo has no grievances. In comparison, Haihan, who has a close relationship with the Xu family, is much closer than the Zhu family who ruled Ming Dynasty. He personally prefers North Korea. Falling to the Haihan side, it will be much easier for Fujian to conduct trade with North Korea through Haihan matchmaking in the future.

Before setting off from Jianghua Island, Xu Yuzhuo had been warned by Wang Tom that tens of thousands of Qing troops might be gathering in the upper reaches of the Yalu River, and they must not be careless in the process of carrying out their missions.However, Xu Yuzhuo believes that the disparity in military strength will not cause too much trouble to our own side, because the gap in equipment between the coalition fleet is huge, and it cannot be made up by military strength at all. The helpless performance of the enemy cavalry on the river bank before This is also confirmed.So even though he knew that the enemy might have gathered heavy troops upstream, Xu Yuzhuo still didn't feel much nervous. Even if the situation was not good for him, he could still return to the sea by the same route. For the Qing army, the sea was almost impossible to set foot on. restricted area.

This night's preparation meeting was mainly to unify the strategic awareness of the commanders. As for various possible emergencies, there were actually plans for filing in advance.But Wang Tom didn't want to spend too much time on the Yalu River with long nights and dreams. After tomorrow's reconnaissance activities were over, he planned to lead the fleet back to sea before making further plans.

As expected, the night was safe and sound, and the Qing army probably had self-knowledge and did not try to launch a surprise attack at night.Early the next morning, the combined fleet docked on the North Korean side of the river set sail again and headed upstream.

On the opposite bank of the river, there were Qing army rangers waiting early, and they seemed worried, so they kept watch all night to prevent the Haihan people from sneaking ashore in the dark.Seeing the warships of the United Fleet leaving the river bank, these rangers whistled a few times, then retreated from the river bank to a further place, probably also to be wary of the ship shooting them coldly.

In the next few bays of the river, there were no more ambushes from the Qing army. It seemed that the other party had already clearly known that the temporary deployment positions could not stop the fleet's actions at all, and decisively gave up useless means.Wang Tom was a little curious about how the Qing army planned to deal with the fleet that had already hit their faces.

"My lord, it's Weihua Island now."

When Xu Yuzhuo heard the report from his subordinates, he used his binoculars to look at the river in front of him. A few miles away, he could see that the river upstream was divided into two, and there seemed to be a rather large island in the middle.

Weihua Island is one of the largest islands in the Yalu River. According to the information obtained by the Haihan military, the area of ​​this island has reached about [-] square kilometers.To the south is the Yalu River, and to the north is the river after the confluence of the Yalu River and the Kui River.

This island has been regarded as an important place in history that is closely related to the beginning of the Joseon Dynasty. Instead of being ordered to attack Liaodong, he sent his troops south to go straight to Kaesong, the capital of Koryo, abolished the king of Koryo, executed ministers who were pro-Yuan, and proclaimed himself king in 1388.Two years later, Li Chenggui moved his capital from Kaesong to Seoul, which is the Li Dynasty that has continued to this day.

When Li Chenggui made an incident, it was on this Weihua Island, and today's North Korea also came from a bold decision made by Li Chenggui more than 200 years ago.Therefore, this place has special significance for North Korea. However, North Korea has not yet deployed a garrison on Weihua Island. There are only a small number of North Korean people living on the island. The islands of the Kui River are probably the first to bear the brunt.

According to the information provided by North Korea, the seat of Uiju is near the river bank on the north side of Wihwa Island, and there are no more than a thousand troops stationed there.If war broke out on the border, such a small number of troops would probably only be able to resist symbolically at the beginning, and the coalition forces would not pin their hopes of resisting the Qing army on the North Korean border guards.

By the time the coalition fleet arrived at the mouth of the Yalu River, there had been no news that Weihua Island had been captured by the Qing army. With the Qing army setting up an ambush, they safely entered the direction of the Kui River - Jiulian City is located on the north bank of the confluence of the Kui River and the Yalu River.

About two hours later, a signal flare was fired from the deck of the Fujian Navy warship of the vanguard, which exploded in mid-air and released red fireworks, which could be seen for several miles.This move was to convey the pre-agreed information to the main force of the fleet at the rear through signal flares - a dock facility of an unusual scale was discovered on the river bank.

One of the results of Wang Tom's discussion with the officers last night was that if the Qing army gathered a large force near Jiulian City, it was very likely that this section of the river would be chosen as the way to cross the river and enter North Korea.The barracks of the army on the shore can be built in the inland area out of sight of the river, and the ferry can also be hidden in a more hidden tributary upstream, but there is one project that must Completed ahead of schedule, that is the terminal facilities.

This is a hurdle that cannot be circumvented no matter what. If people and materials want to pass through the Yalu River quickly, there must be an efficient port and relatively complete wharf facilities.Whether a pier on the river bank is an ordinary fishing port or a special military pier can be distinguished at a glance.

Of course, if it was Haihan who carried out the plan for crossing the river, it would not be without deception. For example, in a relatively short period of time, a pontoon bridge was built at the narrowest part of the river, so that people and horses could cross the river directly from the bridge. This will save you a lot of trouble.It's just that the Qing army, which is not good at water warfare and lacks ships, should not have such technical strength at present, so it can only choose the traditional transportation mode of ferries to complete the army crossing the river.

The discovery of the leading troops can basically confirm the predictions of Wang Tom and other generals in advance. The Qing army built dock facilities beyond the normal scale in this section of the river in advance. The most reasonable explanation is probably that the Qing army will carry out crossing operations here. up.

However, the North Korean side did not provide Haihan with this key information beforehand, which made Tom Wang a little confused.It stands to reason that the place where the Qing army built the wharf is just across the river from Weihua Island. If the North Korean side does a little reconnaissance work, it is not difficult to get such detailed information, but the North Koreans either ignore the importance of these intelligence information Sex, or deliberately concealing something from Hai Han.In either case, Wang Tom couldn't understand it.

About half an hour later, the wharf facilities on the river bank also came into Wang Tom's eyes. He didn't even need to use a telescope to see the trestles, cranes and warehouses on the bank, extending upstream along the river bank , at least about a mile in range.Given the tense relationship between the Qing Dynasty and North Korea, building a wharf of this size on the border would obviously not be for civil or commercial use.

But what is a little strange is that this is obviously a large riverside wharf that can accommodate hundreds of boats, but the entire wharf area is empty, and not even a sampan can be seen on the shore.The only reasonable explanation is that the Qing army has moved all ships away from this place in advance. The reason is self-evident, of course, to avoid the coalition fleet that swaggered into the Yalu River yesterday.

With the experience and lessons of the previous two years, the Qing army knew very well what the consequences of fighting the Haihan warships on the water would be, so they should have made a wise decision to move all the ships upstream to avoid the Haihan warships. .As for these dock facilities that cannot be moved, Haihan can only let Haihan do as he pleases. Fortunately, rebuilding will always be much faster than rebuilding the ship.

Seeing this posture, Tom Wang understood what the Qing army was up to.This kind of scene of avoiding and not fighting has actually been encountered several times in previous naval raids on the Liaodong Peninsula.Tom Wang will not simply think that this is a manifestation of the Qing army's fear of war. This is actually a choice to preserve strength. If the Qing army deploys all ships at this time to fight head-on with the United Fleet, the result will definitely still be one-sided. In such a situation, losing a batch of ships in vain will also affect their combat plan.

If you continue to search for these hidden ships upstream, you may indeed be able to find them in a day or two, but if you go too far inland, even if you have the advantage of equipment, the risks that the fleet needs to bear will gradually increase.

Now that it can be basically confirmed that this is one of the places selected by the Qing army to cross the river, Tom Wang decided not to go upstream for this reconnaissance activity.However, how many Qing troops had assembled in Jiulian City, Wang Tom planned to explore again.

"Closer slowly to the pier. If there is an attack from the Qing army on the shore, immediately open fire to counterattack!" Wang Tom quickly issued an order to let the fleet dock here and send the marines to land.

There was no solid bunker at this riverside wharf. The Qing army knew how powerful it was, so they did not set up formations here. The warships of the United Fleet approached the riverbank one after another, but they did not encounter any resistance.To be precise, I didn't even see a person on the pier, as if I had arrived at a deserted and abandoned port.

But Wang Tom is already holding a telescope to observe the Jiulian City Castle in the distance. Although it is only a fortress built on the border, this place has been continuously renovated and expanded in several dynasties. small town level.Under the city wall, there is water introduced from the Kui River as a moat, and behind it is a continuous mountain range, and it is not a problem to hide tens of thousands of troops.

Jiulian City is less than two miles away from the river. Wang Tom sent the marines ashore to try to attack Jiulian City, put more pressure on the Qing army, and expose the troops gathered here.

Several troop carriers carrying the landing team successfully docked, and the soldiers took control of this section of the dock area without any effort.Under Wang Tom's order, the engineers began to load explosives at some key locations. This trip cannot be in vain. Before leaving, they must leave some souvenirs for the Qing army.

After the three infantry companies of the Marine Corps landed, they first searched the warehouses near the pier, but basically found nothing. These warehouses were either empty, or they only stored some materials such as ship boards and logs, and even food. Didn't see a single one.

After Wang Tom received the report, he believed that the Qing army should not be able to evacuate these warehouses overnight. It seems that most of the food and other combat supplies have not yet fully arrived in Jiulian City, so these warehouses have not yet entered the final state of combat readiness. .

Although the Qing army retreated again and again, Tom Wang did not carelessly ordered to attack Jiulian City immediately. After carefully observing the city defenses, he found that there were many artillery on the top of Jiulian City, far exceeding the level that a border stronghold should have.He judged that this should be the weapon brought here by the Qing army when it went south to assemble and was preparing to enter North Korea. After the alarm was sent back yesterday, the Qing army deployed these big guys to the top of the city to prevent Haihan from being here. Landing and siege.

If it was just an ordinary city, Wang Tom must have ordered it to be fought. Although the Marine Corps is equipped with a small number of artillery, it is still capable of fighting small and medium-sized fortresses.However, Jiulian City is where the Qing army gathers. There are thousands of cavalrymen seen yesterday. If the marines are allowed to advance to the city and launch an offensive, they will be out of the fire cover from the river. Wang Tom is also a little worried The opponent will release a large number of cavalry to block the retreat of the marines.There may be tens of thousands of cavalry hiding behind the Jiulian City. If the opponent decides to take the Marine Corps regardless of losses, then no matter how the Marine Corps can fight, these hundreds of people will not be able to withstand the charge of the large cavalry force after all.

(End of this chapter)