1627 Rise of the South China Sea

Chapter 2112
When the main force of the coalition forces had arrived on Hirado Island, the battle on Fukue Island was still going on more than 100 miles away.As the largest and most livable island among the Five Islands, the population of Fukue Island is probably more than the coalition forces expected, and the armed forces deployed by the Hirado clan on the island are far more than when the Ming army first landed on the island. It's just the group of people I met.

Although the strength of the Ming army is far superior to that of its opponents, fighting in unfamiliar areas still greatly limits their performance.The coastal plains where people live on the island are quite far apart, and the Ming army can only reach the follow-up operation site by boat, which makes their combat efficiency seriously lower than the operation plan. The area cleared in one day Less than half of what was expected.

And the armed resisters on the island did not leave the Ming army a chance to confront them head-on, and they often retreated quickly after engaging in battle and evacuated to the inland areas.The Ming army did not dare to advance in such an environment, so they could only wipe out the villages and towns on the island one by one, but the effect was not ideal.The militants would not stay in the villages and towns to fight the Ming army, and capturing a group of old and weak women and children was of little value to the Ming army.

They interrogated some of the people, and some of the insiders said that the armed personnel who are currently operating on the island were transferred from Hirado recently, while most of the youths from Fukue Island had been transferred away a few days ago local.

It seems that the Hirado Clan also knew that they could not provide reliable shelter for the people on the island during the war, so they simply transferred the young and strong people away from here, so as not to be easily wiped out when they attacked from other places.The armed personnel transferred to Fukue Island from other places do not have to worry about the life and death of the people on the island and the loss of property during the war. They can do everything possible to delay the actions of foreign enemies on Fukue Island. Consider the life and death of the people on the island after being captured by the enemy.

This made the Ming army's idea of ​​using the people on the island as hostages to coerce the resisters to surrender came to nothing. Even if they were determined to kill all the islanders, those people hiding in the forest would still not come out and surrender.

Of course, strengthening the wall and clearing the field is also an option, but this measure may not be able to play a significant role in the short term.According to the public, these armed men began to transport various survival materials, including food, to the mountains a few days ago. Even if the Ming army could immediately blockade the populated areas on the island, it is unlikely that those armed men would be able to do so within ten days. Within half a month, he was starved to death in the mountains.

Because they have not been able to fight head-on with the armed personnel on the island, less than 50 enemies were killed by the Ming army on the island that day.The commander conducted a surprise interrogation of several armed men captured during the battle, and learned that there were at least three or four hundred armed men lurking on the island.

On the frontal battlefield, about a stick of incense would be enough to deal with this enemy, but the problem is that the Ming army can't catch the opponent who is hiding in Tibet, and there is no good way to force the opponent to show up.If you enter the mountain forest to track, there is a risk of an ambush.

And the opponents are not indigenous islanders who have no combat effectiveness, but armed personnel who have received formal military training and are equipped with a certain number of muskets.These people have very clear combat objectives and targeted strategies, and they are not easy enemies to deal with.Before the battle, the Ming army wanted a quick battle to deal with the enemies on Fukue Island, but now it seems that the battle on the island will not end in a short time, and it doesn't even matter whether they can go to Hirado Island to participate in the follow-up combat operations. It's easy to say.

The Allied Forces believed that there would be no problem with the Ming Army being responsible for clearing Fujiang Island. Therefore, the Haihan Army did not deploy limited radio stations on Fujiang Island, and it was difficult to communicate the battle situation on the island to the Allied Forces Command in the first place.The commander of the Ming army could only inform the Haihan scout ship accompanying them of the current progress before dark, and it would send the news to Hirado Island tomorrow morning.

Of course, the news sent to Hirado Island was not a request for help from the headquarters, but a normal report of the battle situation.But it's not hard to imagine Xu Yuzhuo's mood after receiving the news. He originally wanted to get a good start to prove his strength to his allies, but the current progress on Fujiang Island is obviously not enough to play such a role.

The only good news is that the main ports on Fukue Island are currently controlled by coalition warships. For the time being, no ships can go out to sea from these small ports. It is equivalent to separating the two battlefields of Fukue Island and Hirado Island. It is difficult for the military to continue to communicate with each other in a convenient way, and then they can only fight on their own.

At this time, in the bay called Shiki Bay at the southern end of Hirado Island, the coalition fleet has already set up a large military tent on the coast as a temporary headquarters. Qian Tiandun and Shi Diwen are chairing a combat preparation meeting to discuss the details of tomorrow's operation.

Although the attack on Hirado Port had to be postponed for one night due to objective reasons, the headquarters believed that there was no need to make major changes to the original plan of action, and the original plan would still be carried out tomorrow.

"The East Route Army is under my command, responsible for attacking Hirado Port and blocking the Hirado Strait. The West Route Army is under the joint command of General Qian and General Xu, and the Fujian Navy will cover General Qian's troops to land in Boxiang Bay on the west side. All the bays along the coast must be dispatched to check to ensure that there are no omissions, and if the main force of the opponent's fleet is found, then the opponent should be eliminated at sea first."

Referring to the map of Hirado Island, Shi Diwen briefly explained tomorrow's combat arrangements to the generals and officers present, and then began to explain the details of the operation and answer questions from commanders at all levels.

The missions of the east and west routes have their own priorities. The east route army is responsible for attacking Hirado Port to attract the attention of the enemy, while the actual landing troops are placed on the west coast. After landing, the special forces will cut off the Hirado Port area leading to the south The route, and then combined with the fleet at sea to clear the key areas at the northern end of the island.

At present, what makes the generals a little bit worried is the extent of the opponent's shore defense capabilities, because the existing intelligence clearly indicates that the opponent already has a certain number of artillery.Especially for the western front forces that need to implement amphibious landing operations, some officers believe that if they are attacked by the enemy's coastal defense artillery, the troop carrier full of soldiers from the Special Operations Regiment may be really dangerous.

As for how to achieve landing in the face of fierce enemy resistance, Takahashi Minami got up and explained his thoughts: "The shore fire defense is dead, and the key is to deal with the opponent's armed ships. Since the plan is to let the eastern front attract firepower, Then the eastern front will be the first to put pressure on Hirado Port, and the western front will stay on the sidelines. If the opponent deploys warships in Boxiang Bay, they may not be able to stay after the emergency on the eastern front. As long as they dare to show up, let General Xu The naval fleet is ready to fight. After solving the surface armed forces, even if there is shore fire defense deployed locally, it will not be of much use. At most, we can adjust the landing site slightly to avoid the range of shore fire defense.”

Gao Qiaonan's opinion was also supported by Qian Tiandun: "Landing warfare and anti-landing warfare are the strengths of the Special Operations Group. I believe that as long as General Xu's fleet can provide cover, we will follow the original plan in Boxiang Bay. Logging in will be no problem."

Xu Yuzhuo responded immediately: "Don't worry, General Qian, I will fight to the death to protect the friendly troops ashore, and it will never affect the battle plan!"

After the big plan is determined, the next step is for the commanders of each department to return to the camp to deploy the details of the operations to the officers under them.Those who participated in this operation were not newbies, and there was no need for the generals to guide them on how to do it. They just took orders and prepared for tomorrow's battle.

The only thing that worries the coalition command is that the search of the Goto Islands and the southern part of Hirado Island has not found any traces of the enemy's armed fleet. After this night, the possibility of the enemy fleet continuing to stay in the port is actually very small, and tomorrow's search of various ports on the coast of Hirado Island may not be able to find the target.

And an armed fleet whose whereabouts are unknown at sea actually poses a far greater threat to the coalition forces than the so-called coastal firepower.Because behind the warships, there are dozens of troop carriers and supply ships. These ships have limited self-defense capabilities at sea. Before destroying the opponent's armed fleet, the coalition forces must allocate some warships to protect them. Row.

In the early morning of the next day, before dawn, all coalition forces had begun to hoist sail and anchor. The Eastern Route Army set off first, and the warships left Shiki Bay one after another, heading north from the southern tip of the island along the east coast of Hirado Island.

Of course, Shi Diwen is also very aware of the importance of finding the enemy fleet, so he also observed the coast very carefully during the process of going north.Although the fleet sent a group of scout ships to search the coastline after arriving at Hirado Island yesterday, the East China Sea Fleet still conducted a second investigation very cautiously to prevent the enemy from deploying the fleet in the dark last night. to near.

But the opponent seemed to be more cautious than he expected. He walked [-] to [-] miles north without even a fishing boat, let alone a warship.

The East China Sea Fleet advanced smoothly to the narrowest point of the Hirado Strait, which is only one mile wide from Kyushu to the east, and after passing this narrowest point, you can see Hirado Port.

"General, a signal has been sent ahead, but no trace of the enemy fleet has been found yet."

After Shi Diwen heard the report, he nodded and said: "Since the other party does not show his face, we will proceed according to the original plan! The fleet will blockade Hirado Port first. If there is any resistance, fire directly without asking for instructions, and strike resolutely!"

With the size of Hirado Port, the East China Sea Fleet only needs two or three warships to block the access channel, and Shi Diwen does not intend to waste any more time playing the game of courtesy first and then soldiers with the opponent, and directly uses strong ships and guns as a signal to declare war.

At this time, Qian Tiandun also received the news from the scout ship from Fujiang Island.He was not too surprised by the progress of the Ming army's operations on the island. After all, in terms of the local environment, as long as the opponent is determined to fight guerrilla warfare on the island, it will be difficult for the Ming army's landing troops to complete the clearing in a short time. Actions also make sense.

What really caught Qian Tiandun's attention was another piece of news.According to the news confessed by the captives captured on the island, the Hirado domain has undergone a major change a few days ago. The domain lord Matsuura was attacked by foreign assassins, and all his family were killed in the sea of ​​flames.After the Matsuura family was killed, the most powerful retainer in the feudal clan, the Tagawa clan, immediately took over the power, and reorganized and expanded the feudal army.

Qian Tiandun doesn't quite believe the theory of being attacked by assassins. He intuitively believes that Tian Chuan's family should be behind this abnormal power alternation. Murdered Matsuura.

The change of power in the Hirado Clan was originally not directly related to Hai Han, but according to the information obtained before, it was the Tian Chuan family who provided direct protection for the Shiba Zhiyu Party, and the descendants of Zheng Zhilong were even adopted by the Tian Chuan family. , was designated as the next Patriarch.Now that the Tagawa Clan has successfully seized power, the next patriarch will be promoted to the next vassal lord. At that time, the Remnant Party of the Eighteen Zhizhi will use some means to change that Odagawa back to Zheng's surname, and the Hirado clan will become the Zheng family's world.

Qian Tiandun quickly figured out the cause and effect. Although he came to the conclusion half-guessed, it was not far from the truth.

As for whether such a change of power can stop the military attack launched by the coalition forces this time, Qian Tiandun believes that the answer is no.Although the Tagawa Clan succeeded in seizing power, the time they had mastered the Hirado Domain was still too short to integrate various resources, and the time left for them to prepare for the war was even more limited.Even if they will make some targeted deployments for Haihan's arrival, Qian Tiandun believes that the strength difference between the two sides is too great. No matter how hard the Hirado clan struggles, it will be difficult to change the final result of the battle.

Two hours after the East Route Army set off first, the West Route Fleet with the Fujian Navy as the main force also left Zhiki Bay one after another.This period of delay is the buffer time for the West Route Army. When the East Route Army launches its attack at Hirado Port, there will be enough time for the Hirado Domain to respond. The West Route Army will strike later and land on the west coast.

To Shi Diwen's surprise, when the two warships of the East China Sea Fleet tentatively approached Honghu Port, it was the defender who opened fire first.However, the shelling from the shore was more like a warning. The two shells landed on the sea about a hundred feet away from the Haihan warship.

In the narrow Hirado Port, all the ships can be seen at a glance. There is no enemy fleet that the East China Sea Fleet expected. The few sailing ships that are scattered here and there are ordinary merchant ships that are not equipped with heavy weapons.

Since Shi Diwen had previously given the order to engage in battle freely, even though the shelling from the shore had not yet posed a real threat, the two warships sailing to the entrance of Hirado Port immediately responded by firing.

But the response from Haihan was not so reserved. Several shells flew towards the direction where the shells were fired just now, and hit the port wharf mercilessly.After observing the deck with a telescope, the captain found several cannons lined up on the pier.Judging from the gun positions erected by these artillery, the defenders should have done a lot of preparations for this exchange of fire.

(End of this chapter)