1627 Rise of the South China Sea

Chapter 1984
He Xi's speculation is more radical and bold than Yan Chujie's conclusion. He believes that no matter whether the mastermind is Spanish or not, there must be other forces involved, so that the opponent can distribute these special weapons in such a large geographical range.

If it's just Spain, then Haihan doesn't need to worry too much. After all, judging from the records of many fights in the past few years, he has always been firmly on top of the opponent, and he doesn't worry about the Spaniards making troubles in the South China Sea.But if the Spaniards get some kind of help to expand their influence from the South China Sea to Northeast Asia, then it is not a small problem that can be ignored for Haihan.

"Other forces? Old He, can you be more specific?" Ning Qi asked curiously.

He Xidao: "At present, we have not obtained actual evidence, but the holders of these weapons are obviously the most suspected people. The Qing army, the salt merchants, and the masterminds behind the plan to attack the son of Joseon. There is no doubt that these forces are related to The weapon suppliers are all in direct contact, and there are even people who are providing them with tactical training. You can think about what kind of stakes will bring them together."

"It's a position." Tao Donglai responded: "A position that is hostile to us! The forces that can obtain these weapons from overseas are either enemies on the battlefield or have direct conflicts of interest with us. With these weapons After that, people who were afraid to challenge us now have more confidence to express their position."

Tao Donglai's words clarified another common point of these current incidents, that is, the positions of the parties holding special weapons. Although the reasons for these forces' participation are certainly different, their common enemy is Haihan , and may even include Haihan's important allies.Perhaps one of the concrete manifestations of this position is that the son of Joseon became the target of the attack.

"What you say makes sense, but there is still a lack of evidence."

After listening for a while, Gu Kai expressed his opinion on the discussion: "I'm not saying that Lao He made a big fuss, but before the Ministry of Security investigated the case in Danzhou, I heard that it used the resources of the entire Danzhou to pretend to be the son of the Joseon Dynasty. The atmosphere of the visit lures snakes out of the hole. Of course, the final result was satisfactory. The bad guys were wiped out, and the son of Joseon was safe and sound after changing the itinerary. But after so much effort, I heard that so far the real behind-the-scenes has not been found out Black hands. Should we consider investigating the case in Danzhou first, and then infer any potential connection with what happened in other places?"

Regarding the operation of the Ministry of Security in Danzhou, the Executive Committee actually has different opinions. It is important to solve the case and arrest people, but the Ministry of Security requires all public and private institutions in Danzhou to cooperate in order to solve the case, which will make people feel that it is beyond the bounds suspect.In other words, there is no clear legal regulation on which level of local government the Ministry of Security can command. When encountering special circumstances like the arrest of Xue Zheng and his gang this time, it will inevitably cause some controversy.

Although Danzhou Mayor Zhang Xin has no objection to this, and has given the Ministry of Security the greatest support for the investigation within the scope of authority, after this matter is reported to the Executive Committee, senior officials like Gu Kai will still respond to it. The rationality of the case-handling procedures was questioned.

It's not that Gu Kai intentionally seeks to trouble the Ministry of Security. His worry is also justified. After all, the Ministry of Security itself is a privileged organization that is only responsible to the Executive Committee. Its external operations are subject to too little supervision, and it is almost entirely dependent on the executors. own professionalism and loyalty.But if there is someone in the Ministry of Security with ulterior motives or impulsive good deeds who intends to create chaos, it will easily make the local government at a loss due to lack of supervision.

He Xi responded: "The investigation of the case in Danzhou is indeed not over yet, but since some of the evidence can be linked to what happened in other places, it should be considered to join the investigation. As for your mention of Danzhou The arrest work has used too many resources, this situation does exist, we are also sorting out relevant information, and will submit an explanatory report to the executive committee later.”

He Xi would not debate with Gu Kai whether it was necessary for Zhang Qianzhi to take those unconventional measures in Danzhou. He understood what the other party meant, but he did not want to affect the existing operational privileges of the Ministry of Security.So he officially put this issue aside. As for the subsequent report to the executive committee, he can try to polish it slowly at that time, and maybe the case will become clearer by then. If the evidence obtained later can prove He Xi Therefore, the focus of the Executive Committee's attention will no longer be on the case-handling procedures.

Although He Xi doesn't like these power struggles in the officialdom, he also knows that as long as he continues to be in charge of the privileged department of the Ministry of Security, he will have to continue to face these annoying "trivial matters".He is not a master of intrigue, but it is his specialty to figure out people's hearts, so he can usually calmly deal with the occasional "pricks" from other officials and departments.

Tao Donglai raised his hand and tapped on the table lightly: "As for whether the investigation by the Ministry of Security in Danzhou complies with the procedures, I think this issue can be discussed later. The focus now is what Lao Yan and Lao He just talked about. The special situation in these places. I think, out of careful consideration, we need to consider some worse situations in advance, such as the possibilities listed by Lao He just now, so that we can calmly deal with various situations in the follow-up investigation. kind of emergency."

Tao Donglai's statement was obviously on the side of the Military Intelligence Bureau and the Ministry of Security, and usually his statement would have the final word, and today was no exception.The meeting immediately set the tone. The gun-related cases that occurred in the three places must be quickly followed up and investigated, and more manpower and resources must be invested to ensure that the situation will not deteriorate further.

Tao Donglai's worries about the situation are not unfounded. Although the use of firearms found in these places is not on a large scale, the group caught in Danzhou even only had a handgun, but Haihan himself It is to rely on armed forces to start a business. Naturally, as long as the firearms and ammunition are in place, it is not so difficult to train musketeers. If professional officers can be trained, it is only a matter of time before an organized musketeer unit appears.

Of course, training alone is definitely not enough to cultivate truly combative troops, after all, it has to be honed by actual combat.The small groups of Musketeers that appeared in Jiangsu, Zhejiang and Liaodong were considered by the Military Intelligence Bureau to be trying actual combat to verify the feasibility of this fighting method.But once this tactic has achieved good results, there may be a situation that Haihan doesn't want to see in the future.

However, this is only an extreme situation. In fact, to establish an organized unit that uses firearms, the number of firearms and ammunition required is not small.And if the armed forces were too small, it would be difficult for Haihan to pose a real threat.At the beginning, the colonial armed forces of Portugal, the Netherlands, Spain, and the United Kingdom were all equipped with guns and artillery, but because of their limited forces, they could not rely on their superiority to bridge the gap in weapon performance, so they became Haihans one after another. The army's men were defeated.

Although these Western countries’ colonies in East Asia also have some small arsenals, their production capacity is difficult to support the combat needs of large troops. In fact, a considerable part of the weapons used by the local armed forces comes from distant Europe, not locally.If it is necessary to arm another foreign army outside the colony, the difficulty will naturally increase exponentially.

However, this cannot completely eliminate the possibility of transferring weapon manufacturing technology, especially if a big money owner like a Jiangsu and Zhejiang salt merchant wants to buy the gun manufacturing technology at a sky-high price, supplemented by some other cooperation conditions, then It may also tempt the Western colonists who have mastered technology.As for the Qing Dynasty, although it is far away in a place of bitter cold, it can only produce more resources than salt merchants, and its position is that it will never die with Haihan. For Haihan's Western competitors, this is of course an extreme situation. Good support object.

If the Qing Dynasty mastered the manufacturing technology of flintlock guns, even if its performance is ordinary and its lethality is average, it is only a usable musket. If it uses resources to manufacture and equip troops in large quantities, it will be true for Haihan, which has a limited garrison in Liaodong. would be a great threat.Even if they took [-] steps back and the Qing army focused its firearms forces on Daming instead of the Liaodong Peninsula, it would be an extremely bad situation.If you master Western artillery manufacturing technology, it will be even worse.

After the meeting ended, several urgent telegrams were sent from Fort Shengli, asking Haihan to pay attention to the movement of militias in the nearby areas in all the occupied areas along the coast of Daming, especially the private militias in the form of various militias. If it is found that it is equipped with standard muskets in batches, the Ministry of Security and the Military Intelligence Bureau must be notified immediately for follow-up investigation.

Even in the Fuguang area, which has been thoroughly infiltrated by Haihan, the Executive Committee still dare not be careless. After all, in addition to many vested interests in these areas who are close to Shanghai and Han and then get rich and get promoted, there are also many Because of Haihan's appearance, there are many unlucky people who have declined in their family or lost their jobs. There are many people who admire Haihan and want to hug their thighs, but there are also many people who hate Haihan.If these people were given the opportunity to confront Hai Han with force, then many people would jump out and take the risk.

In addition, Shandong is also an area with very large hidden dangers.Although the territory of Fushan County actually controlled by Haihan has been relatively peaceful, the chaos caused by the Denglai Rebellion to Shandong is still continuing, and there are still some armed bandits on the Shandong Peninsula.During the occupation of Fushan County, Haihan confronted the Dengzhou garrison several times, and dealt with a group of disobedient landlords and gentry, and the local hatred value cannot be ignored.

After making such statistics, everyone in the executive committee couldn't help but feel that there was a lot of danger. In recent years, Haihan's development has been smooth, and they haven't felt this way for a long time.

"Look, the people in Fort Victory are starting to get impatient!" Qian Tiandun came to Wang Tom with the telegram he had just received, and informed him of the latest decision of Fort Victory.

Tom Wang took the telegram and read it carefully, smiled and said: "Fort Victory is worried about the large-scale deployment of firearms by the Qing army, which is not so easy to do, even if they have the technology to manufacture weapons, they don't have that level of production! "

"But with this telegram, it is indeed easier for us to operate here." Qian Tiandun replied: "The Executive Committee has authorized us to take military actions according to the situation, so we don't have to stick to small-scale reconnaissance , when necessary, troops can be dispatched to attract the opponent's attention."

"After all, you still can't wait to fight!" Tom Wang and Qian Tiandun have worked together for many years, and they can know each other's true thoughts when they hear it.The reconnaissance operation a few days ago was won over by the navy. Qian Tiandun must not be reconciled to this. After all, how can the navy enjoy such an interesting thing as fighting the Qing army?
Qian Tiandun said solemnly: "There is only one opponent in Northeast Asia. They can only be used for training. There is no choice. The troops have been resting here for a long time, and it is time to move and move their muscles."

Qian Tiandun is actually not particularly concerned about how many new muskets are equipped in the Qing army's formation, and whether there are heavy weapons such as artillery. He also knows that the Qing army cannot deploy these advanced weapons and equipment on a large scale in a short period of time. The purpose of the operation is mainly to confirm the specific situation of the weapons of the Qing army, and there is no need to specifically ask Victory Fort for this kind of operation.But if it is a large-scale attack, they must first report the combat plan, and then implement it after obtaining approval.But now that the executive committee authorizes them to decide whether to take military action on their own, things will be much easier.

Both Datongjiang base and Jinzhou have a large amount of ammunition and weapon storage, which is enough to support large-scale operations. Both North Korea and Shandong can provide food, medicinal materials and other military supplies to the front line, and can complete the preparations for war in a very short period of time.Whether launching an offensive from the direction of Jinzhou or North Korea, it is not too difficult for Haihan.

If it is only for training, it is not enough to start such a large-scale war. Therefore, whether or not evidence of the use of new weapons by the Qing army will be a decisive factor for Haihan to use military strikes. It's called eliminating hidden dangers.

Of course, in the eyes of senior generals like Qian Tiandun and Wang Tom, whether they can truly confirm the use of new weapons by the Qing army is not a necessary condition for whether to start a war. The main consideration is how to maximize the combat effect.If there is no real benefit, but you have to bear the risk of losing troops and generals, then there is no need to go to war.

"Wait a minute, news of the Marine Corps' reconnaissance operation has come back, and then consider the next step." Wang Tom is not opposed to choosing an opportunity to teach the Qing army again, but he has more factors to consider. At this time, the Liaodong area It is already winter, and it is not a good time to launch large-scale combat operations.

(End of this chapter)