1627 Rise of the South China Sea

Chapter 1805 Naval Base
If the plan planned by Haihan can be perfectly implemented, then the main combat faction led by Kim Sang-heon will become the main force in North Korea's official circles, suppressing all voices for peace talks, and North Korea's political ideas will also follow. Develop in a more favorable direction for Haihan.Haehan collects the money, Kim Sangheon takes power, and both sides benefit from it. It does seem like an excellent deal.

However, for Haihan, there is a great test, that is, it is necessary to control the situation of victory on the Korean peninsula. It is necessary to let the Qing army enter North Korea to coerce it to obey its own arrangements, and not to let it do whatever it wants in North Korea. The North Koreans couldn't bear it and surrendered directly, and had to repel their offensive when necessary to ensure that Kim Sang-heon could establish sufficient authority in the court.

This is completely different from Haihan’s original idea when he decided to aid North Korea. At that time, the Ministry of National Defense believed that dealing with the North Korean issue must be prepared for the worst, that is, North Korea would collapse under the offensive of the Qing army, as in history. That quickly retreated to the front line of Seoul.In the worst case, Haihan probably only had time to take over his princes and ministers to form a government-in-exile. If the battle situation was a little better, he might be able to rely on the Han River to build a line of defense and form a confrontation with the Qing army.

However, the Haihan army actually arrived in North Korea before the Qing army took action, so they had more buffer time to arrange countermeasures and seek greater benefits from the chaos.Only in this way, the Haihan army who came to the Korean peninsula had to take greater risks and engage in long-term circles and battles with the Qing army.

Wang Tom is also very satisfied with the progress Qian Tiandun has made in Jianghua Island. The situation is moving in the direction he planned. After the first wave of offensives, they took the initiative to evacuate this area and give up the passage to the south to see if the Qing army would choose to invade North Korea without any scruples.

But for Wang Tom, there is still an unresolved issue, and that is the garrison of the United Fleet.As far as the terrain and environment are concerned, the Yalu River Basin is not an ideal choice. The river here is relatively narrow, and there are no natural harbors to use. Once a war starts, the entire Yalu River Basin will be within the attack range of the Qing army. Not ideal.

In fact, there is no candidate location on the northwest coast of the Korean Peninsula that can really meet Wang Tom's requirements, and Haihan's battle plan must have a naval base near the key area of ​​the Yalu River, so he can only retreat to the next best thing. , chose the mouth of the Datong River about [-] nautical miles south of the mouth of the Yalu River as the fleet's long-term garrison.

However, when the fleet went north, Wang Tom sent a ship to explore that place, and it is still a barren place. If you want to develop and build a naval base, the amount of engineering required is really not small.Although the proposal to build a seaport has been submitted to the North Korean side, with the efficiency of the North Koreans, Tom Wang is very worried that he may not be able to see the construction of the port after the war ends.Therefore, he also specifically told Qian Tiandun earlier that the construction and long-term use of this port should be put forward as the conditions for trading with the North Koreans, and he must urge the other party to handle this matter as soon as possible.

Although Qian Tiandun also handed over this matter to Jin Shangxian, given that Jin Shangxian is currently dealing with too many complicated matters, how long will it take to arrange the construction of a real dedicated port and supporting facilities for the Haihan Fleet in the local area? Base facilities, I am afraid that no one can explain clearly.At this time, the Haihan generals couldn't help but miss the country's operational efficiency. As long as the executive committee made a decision and determined the priority of the task, the speed of starting work would not exceed five days.But when they first arrived at Jianghua Island, they had already raised this point with the North Koreans, and now Qian Tiandun clearly emphasized it again, but still could not get a definite arrangement.

After the Qing army in Jiulian City suffered a moderate defeat in the night attack, they fell silent again and did not send troops to fight again.However, Wang Tom also noticed that the cavalry of the Qing army began to appear outside Jiulian City again, but they were all far away and showed no intention of launching an attack.However, the Marine Corps stationed on the shore did not dare to be careless about this. There were people at each outpost holding binoculars to keep an eye on the enemy's movements.

In the previous night attack, several sentries deployed by the Marine Corps for covert surveillance outside the position were almost wiped out, which shows that the Marine Corps is still not adaptable enough in this unfamiliar environment. Tom has adjusted his strategy. He no longer sends sentries outside the position, but strengthens the surveillance on the dock position and warships.

As for the defense at night, Wang Tom did not give up the outer area of ​​the position. He ordered the engineers to deploy several tripwires made of thin wires about [-] meters away from the pier position after nightfall. Land mines in the soil.The purpose of this deployment is mainly for early warning, so there is no need to lay too many mines. The fuze of each mine can be connected to several trip wires. As long as it is connected to one of them, it can cause an explosion. Covers a large area.

This kind of early warning method is naturally new to the Qing army, and it is completely unexpected that there will be such an agency on the ground. If you want to sneak into the dark to launch a sneak attack on the dock position, you will be recruited [-]% of the time.

Jin Shangjiu, who was sent to Yizhou to urge food, did not go well. In fact, there was only Weihua Island between Yizhou Government and Jiulian City, and the straight-line distance was only ten miles. Tom Wang sent him there. I thought that half a day would be enough, but I didn't expect to return from the local area until after dark, and the things I brought back were extremely limited, only less than two thousand catties of grain and a small amount of livestock, poultry, vegetables and fruits, even if it is described as shabby.

"Master Jin has worked hard." Tom Wang didn't get angry after reading the list submitted by Jin Shangjiu, but just thanked him lightly.

However, Jin Shangjiu and Wang Tom have been together for several days, so it can be seen that this uncle is very dissatisfied with his work results, and he quickly explained: "General Wang, the local grain depots in Yizhou do not have much food, so we only If we can gather these supplies, I have already ordered people to buy grain in Yizhou, I believe there will be news in a few days!"

Wang Tom said: "Really? Your country is about to fight, and the granary on the front line has not prepared enough food. I would like to ask Mr. Jin, is your country doing this on purpose, and is planning to starve them to death after the Qing army invades?"

"This..." Of course, Jin Shangjiu could hear that Tom Wang was not joking with himself, but blamed North Korea for its poor preparations for the war.To be honest, the grain and grass recruited from Yizhou was indeed too little, and there was a big gap with his own expectations, but he didn't think much about it at the time, but urged the local officials to organize as much grain and grass as possible to transport to the front line.But at this moment, after hearing Wang Tom's words, Jin Shangjiu also felt that this matter was a bit unreasonable-as a frontier government and a frontier military garrison, how could there be so little food storage? This is obviously an unreasonable situation.

Tom Wang went on to say: "Master Jin, don't you think that this Yizhou is so close to Jiulian City, and neither did they find that the Qing army was building a wharf to cross the river, nor did they have enough food reserves? These two things cannot be justified anyway. ? I suspect that someone is deliberately making such an arrangement, with the purpose of obstructing our army from assisting your country to resist the Qing army!"

Jin Shangjiu didn't dare to respond immediately. If the possibility that Tom Wang said was real, it might involve many figures in the officialdom, and there might be some big figures behind him that he couldn't touch.Anti-war voices in North Korea have always existed, and some officials believe that Ming Dynasty is already unreliable, and they should assess the situation and seek refuge with their strong neighbors to avoid the disaster of war.

Of course, Jin Shangjiu must be on the side of the main combat faction, otherwise he would not have been appointed as a military observer and came to the front line with the coalition fleet.But if he had to go out and find out the cause of this kind of thing, he would still feel that his weight was not enough, and he might cause trouble to himself.

Wang Tom seemed to have anticipated his thoughts, and continued to persuade: "If Mr. Jin feels that it is difficult to handle, I think it can be done. You should immediately write a report to explain the situation in Yizhou, and arrange a ship to be sent to the south tomorrow morning. Going is faster than going by land. I believe that after the dignitaries in the court know the situation on the front line, they should give a clear opinion on how to deal with it."

Jin Shangjiu said: "I only stayed in Yizhou for half a day, and I have limited knowledge. What if the local officials are wronged?"

Wang Tom said: "Wronged? The officials in Yizhou are either collaborating with the enemy or seriously dereliction of duty. With these two possibilities, if you think they have been wronged, what can you think of to clear their charges? Mr. Jin, what do you want?" Get one thing clear, if our army is in a disadvantageous position in the process of fighting against the Qing Dynasty, the first unlucky one is not our Haihan, but your country!"

Jin Shangjiu swallowed a mouthful of saliva, realizing that what Wang Tom said was indeed reasonable. If the Haihan army felt that the situation was unfavorable, they could pat their ass and leave, but could North Korea withdraw?

Wang Tom continued to persuade: "In fact, we have notified Mr. Jin Shangxian about the situation in Yizhou. He will definitely take action in the near future. If Mr. Jin is willing to provide some assistance, it will surely be more effective."

It was only then that Jin Shangjiu realized that the direction of this matter would not change because of his own choice. The Haihan people had already made arrangements with Jin Shangxian. Whether or not he provided information would at most affect the development of this matter. That's all for speed.Of course, if you cooperate with the Haihan people, you should be able to leave a good impression on Jin Shangxian, and maybe the opportunity for promotion in the future will also come from this.

"Okay, then I'll write the memorial here!" Jin Shangjiu made a decisive decision this time.

Wang Tom finally had a little smile on his face: "Master Jin is a smart person, I think our future cooperation will be very pleasant!"

After Jin Shangjiu's memorial was sent to the rear, how Jin Shangxian would make use of it to make a big fuss is not what Tom Wang needs to worry about now.But he does need the North Koreans to be more efficient, otherwise, after the fleet withdraws from the Yalu River, there will be no support point nearby.

The next day, a lucky boat belonging to the Fujian Navy turned around and left here.Wang Tom didn't want the main force of his fleet to perform primary tasks such as delivering letters, so he handed it over to Xu Yuzhuo's troops.

The silent confrontation between the wharf position and Jiulian City continued, Tom Wang felt in a trance as if he had returned to the battlefield of the Jinzhou Isthmus, where the Haihan army and the Qing army were also caught in a long-term confrontation.Azig seemed to have made up his mind not to confront Haihan head-on again, and there was no sign of going to fight at all.And Wang Tom is not in a hurry about this. He needs to buy more time for the rear to take action. It is best for him to lead the fleet to evacuate the area after he is ready for war.

Jin Shangxian, who returned to the capital, was not idle. According to Qian Tiandun's instructions, Jin Shangxian began to use his strength to promote the achievements of the Haihan Army in Yizhou and the Yizhou frontier army's indifference during this period.Kim Sang-heon told King Li Ji that the dereliction of duty of the frontier army is very serious, and adjustments must be made to the generals of the frontier army and local officials in Uiju as soon as possible, otherwise the frontier defense may be defeated.

On the other hand, Jin Shangxian did not forget Qian Tiandun's repeated request, and quickly recruited a group of craftsmen to send to Ganghwa Island, and the Haihan people took them to the mouth of the Datong River they designated for on-the-spot investigation, and planned to start construction of the sea as soon as possible. The ports and bases needed for the Han fleet.

The location chosen by Haehan was Nampo, a trading port on the west coast of Korea in later generations.This place is located on the north bank of the lower reaches of the Datong River, about thirty miles from the mouth of the river.However, this place is currently only a small fishing village with more than 20 households, and it doesn't even have an official name.

Wang Tom chose this place as the naval base, and he was the tallest among the dwarfs. He had no choice but to choose it. Except that the river was relatively open and the river bank was suitable for building a wharf, there were basically no other advantages.The only thing worth mentioning is that the latitude of this place is exactly the same as that of Lushun Port across the entire Yellow Sea, so the land and sea troops who have been stationed in the Liaodong area should not have any adaptability problems when stationed here.

The most populated area near this place is the city of Pyongyang, which is nearly a hundred miles away. If the North Korean government wants to preside over the construction of the port, they can only recruit civilians from Pyongyang to complete the project.But this has to mention the efficiency of North Korea's work again. It doesn't take three to five or seven days. It must be difficult for Pyongyang to recruit enough labor to send to this place.And considering the remote environment here, temporary housing and supporting facilities will have to be repaired for the civilians first, and then the construction of the port project will start, and nearby lumber mills and quarries will have to be built to provide building materials for this project. , there will be no real progress at all for a while.

(End of this chapter)