1627 Rise of the South China Sea

Chapter 2104
If it weren't for the consideration that most of the elite troops under his command would go out to participate in this military operation against the Hirado Domain, and that someone must sit in the rear of Fujian to ensure stability and provide logistical support for the army going out, then the commander of the army probably wouldn't be Xu Yuzhuo. Instead, Xu Xinsu personally led the troops to the expedition.

And Xu Yuzhuo came north to Zhoushan to meet with Shi Diwen in advance this time, and also brought some personal requests from Xu Xinsu: "My father hopes that this operation can completely eradicate the Eighteenth Zhiyu Party and all related personnel, and don't stay like before. future trouble."

"I'm afraid this will be difficult." Shi Diwen replied calmly: "Even if we can have enough troops to surround Hirado Island from the sea before the war, it is difficult to guarantee that no one will escape. You know It's too close to Kyushu, and people with good water skills can even swim directly from Hirado to Kyushu. Unless we can get the Tokugawa shogunate to help us catch people, it will be difficult to achieve the effect Master Xu requested."

In fact, not to mention asking the Tokugawa shogunate for help, Shi Diwen's premise is difficult to achieve. Hirado Island covers an area of ​​more than 160 square kilometers. To encircle such an island from the sea, one or two hundred ships are far from enough.The narrowest part of the Hirado Strait is even less than one mile. It is indeed difficult to prevent people from fleeing to the Kyushu region to the east after the war.

Both Haihan and Fujian will send heavy troops to participate in this operation. From a strategic point of view, it is not difficult to defeat the Hirado Clan militarily. It is beyond the reach of human beings, and it is difficult to achieve even if additional troops are sent.

Xu Yuzhuo said: "My father also knows that there are many difficulties in it, but my Fujian navy will definitely fight with all our strength and try not to leave the opponent with a chance to escape."

Shi Diwen didn't understand the intention of the other party's determination, but he would not be affected by this simple aggressive method, and shifted the topic to the current material preparation and logistical support.

"We have preliminarily stored tens of thousands of catties of grain, a batch of medicinal materials, medical supplies, and spare weapon parts for maintenance in this port. When the naval fleet arrives here, they can be shipped immediately. If General Xu needs anything else, you might as well It is also very fast to organize procurement from Ningbo Prefecture nearby.”

Shi Diwen didn't take the initiative to mention the cost of the process, but Xu Yuzhuo couldn't be ignorant, and immediately said that he would bear the cost of purchasing related materials.The Fujian Xu family relies a lot on Haihan. Of course, Haihan can't pay for these expenses for themselves. Even if the navy fleet will ship food and supplies from Fujian on its own, it may not use the supplies officially purchased by Haihan. You also have to spend money to buy these materials.

However, this is not the first time that the two sides have jointly dispatched troops overseas, and they have some experience in coordinating supplies. Therefore, the generals of both sides only need to express their attitudes on this issue, and the rest of the specific connection work will be carried out by the quartermaster.

The real point of discussion between the two sides is the combat plan for this operation.Two five-foot-square maps have been hung on the wall of this conference room. One is a map of the East China Sea. On this map, it has been clearly marked that the distance from Dinghai Port to the Wudao Islands is [-] miles. .On the other map are the Goto Islands, Hirado Island, and the west coast of Kyushu. The map has also marked many target locations including Hirado Port in red.

It is not the first time that Xu Yuzhuo has seen such a very detailed map in the war preparation meeting led by Haihan. Apart from admiration, he has always wanted to understand how such a precise map was made.After all, even if Haihan sent people to survey and map the site, it was impossible to draw such a detailed map in such a short period of time.

However, this is one of Haihan's most important military secrets, and Shi Diwen will naturally not explain the origin of these maps to him.The purpose of displaying these detailed maps in front of the allies is also to enable the allies to better obey the combat plan formulated by Haihan and clarify the goals and tasks assigned to them.

"The voyage from Zhoushan to Hirado is as long as 500 miles. If the combat lasts for a long time, this will put a lot of pressure on our logistics supplies. So before that, we have already finalized a relative distance from the destination. The nearest supply port." Shi Diwen said here and pointed to the west of the Wudao Islands: "Seogwipo Port in the south of Jeju Island has been temporarily requisitioned by our army as the main supply for this operation. Port. This port is only [-] miles away from the Goto Islands and more than [-] miles away from Hirado Island. It only takes about four days for a supply ship to go back and forth, which can basically meet the combat needs. Our army has already begun to transport various Combat supplies, the North Sea Fleet heading south from the Korean peninsula will first go to Seogwipo to wait for orders, and we will coordinate operations after we set off from Zhoushan."

It is a major feature of the Haihan army to fight overseas that it is necessary to arrange the logistics and supplies properly before going on an expedition. Xu Yuzhuo is no stranger to this.He looked at the location of Seogwipo in the direction Shi Diwen pointed, and it was indeed much closer than going from Zhoushan Island.North Korea's willingness to contribute the local area as a temporary military port is probably the result of Haihan's pressure on it.

"Will North Korea...will send troops to participate in this operation?" Since North Korea was mentioned, Xu Yuzhuo also asked by the way.Of course, he did not have any hope for North Korea to send troops. He had already seen the combat effectiveness of the North Korean army in the war to aid North Korea last year.

Sure enough, Shi Diwen shook his head and said: "North Korea suffered heavy losses last year, and now it is temporarily unable to deploy troops to fight overseas, so they are only responsible for providing ports and some supplies for this operation, and will not directly participate in front-line combat missions. "

Hearing Shi Diwen's explanation, Xu Yuzhuo breathed a sigh of relief. If the North Koreans also go with them, he might have to be distracted from taking care of them, which would affect his family's combat effectiveness.

Shi Diwen continued: "At present, our army's reconnaissance force has discovered at least one harbor suspected of being a secret stronghold of Shibazhi in the Wudao Islands. Several docks where warships are being built have been discovered there. So we are going to attack At the same time as Hirado, part of the troops will be assigned to take down this local stronghold."

Xu Yuzhuo knew it after hearing the string song, and asked, "Then how about giving this place to my sailor?"

Shi Diwen said: "The harbor is narrow, and the naval fleet may not be able to launch a large-scale attack, so my personal suggestion is to deploy some warships to block the channel in and out of the harbor, and then send your infantry to go ashore to wipe out the locals. enemy."

There are more than 1000 musket infantry fighting with the Fujian Navy this time. Under normal circumstances, it should be more than enough to use such troops to clear the local strongholds.And according to the information sent back by the reconnaissance force, there is no shore defense such as a fort in that place, so the infantry should not be under much pressure to complete the landing there.

In order to reassure Xu Yuzhuo about this arrangement, Shi Diwen added: "When launching the landing, our army will also send warships to provide cover to ensure that the infantry can go ashore safely."

Xu Yuzhuo has seen the landing operations of the Haihan Army more than once, and he also has some understanding of the tactics of using ship-borne artillery to cover the landing of infantry. If there are Haihan warships providing fire cover from the shore, the safety of the landing will be natural. will also increase.

Of course, this is actually just an insurance measure for stability. In fact, neither Shi Diwen nor Xu Yuzhuo thinks that the local enemy can carry out anti-landing defense deployment in advance. armed men would be easier.Even if the opponent has a certain number of muskets in their hands, they are only civilian armed forces after all, and it is difficult to compete with well-trained professional troops on the frontal battlefield.

Haihan's battle plan still takes Hirado Island as the primary target, but the secret strongholds on the Wudao Islands must also be wiped out as soon as possible. Xu Yuzhuo has no objection to this arrangement.

Shi Diwen then pointed to Hirado Island Road: "According to what we have so far, the targets on Hirado Island are mainly concentrated in the northern part of the island, so we plan to divide our troops into two groups, cutting off Hirado Island from the east along the way. The main channel of the strait, and the other way is to land from the west at Gujiang Bay and Boxiang Bay west of Hirado Clan, cutting off their retreat."

"Then what is the mission of my naval fleet?" Seeing that the main event had finally come to the fore, Xu Yuzhuo asked eagerly.

"Go north along the east coast of Hirado Island, cut off the Hirado Strait, and ensure that no sails in Hirado Port can go out to sea!" Shi Diwen gave the task Xu Yuzhuo expected.

In view of the actual situation of Hirado Island, the coalition forces probably could only form an encirclement circle in the northern part of the island as much as possible, and implement a multi-point combat method, block the waterway from the east, attack Hirado Port, and sneak through Chencang from the west to implement the landing.Then attack left and right, bring all the most important prosperous areas on Hirado Island under control, and then slowly wipe out the enemies in Hirado Castle.

However, the combat plan is a unilateral plan after all. What difficulties will be encountered during the specific implementation, what degree of resistance will be encountered, and there are too many situations that cannot be predicted at present, so they must fully discuss the plan now. Avoid some unfavorable factors as much as possible.

The combat mission that Shi Diwen explained was just two or three sentences, but how to implement it requires the two armies to study it carefully.Moreover, this task does not mean that the Haihan Army will not participate in the operations on the Eastern Front when it is handed over to the Fujian Navy.

If Haihan's combat process is followed, it may even be necessary to make a battlefield sand table for tactical deduction, but this time Sanya's request is to make a quick decision and try to solve Japan's hidden dangers before summer, so it is too late to make a sand table. The general staff officers can only use the map at hand to formulate a detailed action plan.

This process is not as enjoyable as killing the enemy on the battlefield, but rather boring. Everyone has to calculate in detail the amount of troops required for each combat link, the approximate time and supplies that will be consumed, and the remedial measures and alternatives in case of emergencies. In short, there are many details that need to be discussed, and the part of the cooperation between the two militaries has to be repeatedly confirmed.

This is also one of the main reasons why Xu Yuzhuo brought his command team to meet up ahead of time. It takes a lot of time and energy to discuss the battle plan. It would be too stressful to discuss the battle plan with Haihan after the big troops set off. .

This combat meeting lasted for several hours, and when it came to an end, the moon was already shining brightly, and it was midnight.

Shi Diwen was sympathetic to everyone's hard work, and had already asked the kitchen to prepare a late-night snack. Xu Yuzhuo asked while eating: "I forgot to ask the general, who is the leader of the troops going south from North Korea?"

"General Qian is the operational commander of the troops in the north." Shi Diwen told frankly: "His special operations group will also participate in this mission."

"The rich general led the army to attack. It seems that this time the landing operation on the island should be relatively easy." After hearing this, Xu Yuzhuo did not forget to say a few words of flattery.

Xu Yuzhuo is no stranger to the strength of Qian Tiandun and his special forces.In terms of field combat capability in the forested area alone, it should be regarded as the strongest combat force he has ever seen, and they have excellent records in both defending the city and attacking fortifications.According to the available information, most of Hirado Island is covered with mountainous and dense forests, which is a perfect fit for Qian Tiandun's troops.

The Ministry of National Defense believes that although this combat mission is launched from the sea, considering the opponent's limited armed forces, the decisive battle should still be carried out on land, and the navy is mainly responsible for the tasks of transportation, delivery and blockade, so the army It would be more reasonable to serve as the main offensive force.

It is precisely because of the opinion of the Ministry of National Defense that Wang Tom is in charge of dispatching logistics at the rear this time and assisting Qian Tiandun.Of course, if the situation is not going well, Wang Tom will lead the reserve force to help in time, but this possibility should not be great. After all, there is still a big gap between the strength of the opponent and the special operations group, and there is almost no chance of a comeback.

On the second day after Xu Yuzhuo arrived at Zhujiajian Island, several warships from the Datongjiang base arrived at Seogwipo. Not only the Haihan soldiers with live ammunition, but also the special envoy sent by the Korean court informed the local Officials, this place has been temporarily taken over by the Haihan military.

This notice really made the local officials a little confused. They just sent off a Haihan military fleet a few days ago. There was even a son of Shen Jingzhen, the military judge in the fleet. Used as a temporary supply port.But I didn't expect that just a few days later, the imperial court issued a new order to directly allocate this place to the Haihan people.

(End of this chapter)