1627 Rise of the South China Sea

Chapter 2124
Among the fleet of the Fujian Navy that went to Japan this time, more than ten ships are exploration-class and expedition-class export-oriented warships that have been purchased from Haihan over the years. These powerful and fast warships are serving in the Fujian Navy. Since then, he has been serving as the main combat force, and has performed well in previous combat operations, winning a lot of military exploits for Xu Yuzhuo.

Xu Yuzhuo hoped that this attack on Hirado would still continue the previous record of the Fujian Navy, but judging from the current progress, it is not too smooth.This is not because of how strong the opponent is, but because the current battle situation is basically one-sided. The Fujian Navy has never had the opportunity to really let go of the fight.

Today, I finally waited for the Hirado Navy to show up, but the cunning opponent did not plunge into Boxiang Bay. It is easy to come in and difficult to get out. The Hirado Navy may not even have a chance to turn around, and they will be swarmed. The Fujian Navy was blocked in the bay and caught a turtle in an urn.

But the other party just showed his head, and immediately shrank back when he saw that the situation was not good. This made Xu Yuzhuo who had not had time to complete the deployment can only shout a pity.However, he also noticed that the two ships sent by the opponent to explore the way were both Chinese-style warships mentioned in the intelligence, and the one hidden behind them was most likely the main force of the Hirado Navy.

It's a pity that the distance between the two sides was too far when they discovered each other, and the warships of the Fujian Navy would not be able to catch up with the two ships for a while, and the Wei Neng, which was sent by the Haihan Navy to the west coast to help in the battle, was approaching Boxiang Fishing Port at this juncture. Xu Yuzhuo could only watch helplessly as the two boats fled away as if they were flying away.

Qian Tiandun only got the news around noon, and he had already moved the temporary headquarters in Boxiang Fishing Port to near the defense line of Ono Village.There is an official road leading to the city of Hirado, and it is very close to the east coast of Hirado Island, which makes it easier for him to command the special operation group's combat operations on land.The west coast is completely handed over to Xu Yuzhuo. Anyway, Boxiang Bay and Gujiang Bay in the northern part of Hirado Island, which are most convenient for going to sea, have been blocked by the Fujian Navy. Escaped from Hirado Island by sea.

Qian Tiandun was not surprised by the cautiousness of the Hirado navy, because today another navy fleet appeared in the north of the Hirado Strait earlier, and it also tried to Get out of the fight.It's just that this fleet was unlucky. What they ran into was the East China Sea Fleet that had already entered the combat position, and Shi Diwen was determined to take this fleet to sacrifice the flag, so he immediately dispatched two flagships to pursue at full speed. It was the fleet of Japanese warships that tried their best to escape, and eventually suffered heavy casualties.

According to the battle report sent back by Shi Diwen before this, the East China Sea Fleet damaged and sank a total of [-] enemy ships in this one-sided pursuit battle, captured three ships, and only two enemy ships escaped the battlefield by chance.However, the command ship of the Hirado Navy failed to escape. A total of more than [-] people were captured in this battle, including the commander Shota Ishimura.

Regarding the results of the battle on the Eastern Front, Qian Tiandun has already sent someone to send the news to Xu Yuzhuo, but he can imagine that Xu Yuzhuo was depressed by the news. The uninhabited shipyard covered the landing of the Special Operations Group in Boxiang Bay, and there was no record of success at all.

On the other hand, the Haihan army not only performed well in the offensive against Hirado Island, but also landed from the west. Cut and encircled the northern area of ​​Toshima, and repelled several tentative counterattacks by the Hirado Army in the process.

In comparison between the two, Xu Jiajun inevitably seemed a bit ineffective.Although from a strategic point of view, it is also a very important task for the Fujian navy to be responsible for blocking the west coast of Hirado Island, but the Haihan army has been fighting the enemy for two consecutive days, but the navy has not even fired a single shot. After all, Xu Yuzhuo definitely couldn't accept that the expeditionary force he led had only such an outsider's performance on the battlefield.

But Qian Tiandun can't care about carefully considering the feelings of his allies at the moment. Since the Hirado clan chose to shrink the defense line instead of taking the initiative to break through, what he has to do is to further tighten the encirclement circle, continue to advance the front line north, and actively seek cooperation with them. Enemy armies engaged.

For Shi Diwen, who fought a big victory in the morning, there is joy and sorrow coexisting at the moment. The joy is naturally that he successfully won the fleet of the Hirado Navy, but the worry is that this fleet is not the Hirado Navy. The main force of the army, although the opponent has suffered heavy losses, it seems that it has not yet reached the point where the muscles and bones are broken. The navy still has to continue to beware of the sneak attack that the opponent may launch at any time.

In addition, how to detain the hundreds of prisoners captured in the battle today is also a rather troublesome issue. The place temporarily occupied by the Haihan Army in the local area does not have an environment suitable for concentrating a large number of prisoners. Release is not a viable option for Shi Diwen.

Before finding a better detention environment, Shi Diwen could only order all these sailors to be detained in the cabins of the three Anzhai boats. Only a few military officers such as Shimura Shota were detained separately, so as to facilitate the detention. It launched an arraignment.

After the battle, several warships that attacked returned to the Hirado Strait, but because the pursuit just now was not small, these warships did not immediately join the ranks of bombarding Hirado Port, but first Sail south into a relatively open sea area, and then transfer materials with the supply ship.

Although the two Majestic-class battleships are majestic in battle, their combat methods also have shortcomings, that is, they are quite dependent on logistical material support, such as coal, fresh water, ammunition, etc., all of which must be carried out according to the amount consumed in previous battles. Replenish.If the materials cannot be replenished in time, the combat effectiveness will inevitably be greatly reduced.

But at this time, the East China Sea Fleet has completely controlled the waters off the east coast of Hirado Island, so there is no need to worry that the enemy will seize this time to raid the warships that are being replenished.And Shi Diwen also took advantage of this time to immediately interrogate the captured commander Shota Ishimura.

In view of the cowardice shown by the opponent in the previous fight, Shi Diwen thought that this person should not have a firm stand, so he did not choose to fight the opponent out of wits, but prepared to use simple and rude methods to make the opponent submit .

"If you cooperate with us, I will protect you from death and give you freedom. If you want to be a hero and prove your loyalty to the Hirado clan, then I will also fulfill you. I will execute you before the sun goes down today, and I will be a With all your subordinates executing the execution, some of your subordinates may take the initiative to cooperate with us, what do you think?" After Shi Diwen finished speaking, he signaled the translator to explain his words to Shimura Shota.

Shota Ishimura did not express his opinion immediately after hearing this, but Shi Diwen noticed that his face had turned pale, and it was obvious that he had been greatly impacted by this arrangement.

"I don't have much time for you to think about it slowly. If you refuse to speak, then I will give this chance of survival to your deputy. We have captured hundreds of people and come back, and there will always be someone who is willing to speak." Shi Diwen stood up from the chair and said, "You'd better make a decision right away, my patience is limited."

Of course, Shimura Shota will not doubt whether Shi Diwen can do what he says. Now that the power of life and death is in the hands of the other party, he ordered him not to mention his own life, and even killed the hundreds of people who were captured together. It is not surprising.He also wants to bargain with the other party, but that also requires sufficient capital, and now he is not sure how much the other party already knows, and what kind of information he intends to dig out from his mouth, so it is impossible to talk about terms, but instead It is possible to expose its shortcomings, or make the other party lose patience completely.

Although Shota Ishimura is loyal to Tian Chuansuke, he does not want to be executed by his opponent as a prisoner in this battle. He believes that he has fallen into such a situation not because of lack of strength, but because of Wei Zhi. The navy's warships are evenly distributed, so that their own team can also have a few decent warships, at least they can have a chance to escape from the battlefield without being captured by the opponent.

Now that it is clear that he was used as a victim, Ishimura Shota believes that this is the fundamental reason why he has no chance to show his strength. If he is executed by the Haihan people because of this, it is really unjust.

"I'm cooperating with you, but I want to get out of here alive!" Shimura Shoutai thought for a while, and finally succumbed to Shi Diwen's threat.Save your own life first, as for what to do after the war is over, that will be discussed at that time.

There are actually two main things that Shi Diwen needs to know, one is the combat plan of the Hirado Navy, and the other is the location of its secret station outside Hirado Island.The first thing is of course not something that ordinary people can know, and only a commander like Ishimura Shouta will know the details, so for Hai Han, he still has relatively high intelligence value.

But the battle plan that Shimura Shota has mastered is limited to the part that Wei Zhi disclosed to himself.He knew that Wei Zhi would lead a team to the west coast to look for fighter planes, but Wei Zhi had not given him any clear information about what tactics would be used and where the attack target would be.Of course, it wasn't entirely because Wei Zhi wanted to hide it from him on purpose, but because the enemy's activities on the west coast were unknown, it was naturally difficult to formulate a detailed combat plan in advance, so he could only take a step-by-step look at the action.

As for the hiding place of the Hirado Navy, there is really nothing to hide, because all the captured people have this information, no matter how tightly Ishimura Shota bites his mouth, others will still confess.But Shota Ishimura also knew that Wei Zhi would not stay on Shanda Island anymore. After all, as long as the navy attacked and joined the war, that location would no longer be a military secret.

However, under Shi Diwen's repeated questioning, Ishimura Shota found another valuable information, that is, the commander of the navy, Wei Zhi, had quietly picked up Tagawa's mother and son from Hirado Island last night and sent them to the Hiding in a secret place somewhere in Kyushu.As for where this place is, not to mention Ishimura Shota, even Wei Zhi doesn't know the exact location, he is only responsible for sending Tagawa mother and son to a certain local fishing port, where someone else will arrange the next itinerary.

This is also the handover method specially arranged by Tagawasuke to ensure the personal safety of Tagawa mother and son in the critical period.Although it was a guarantee measure, it really came in handy. If not, the hiding place might have been spread through the mouths of Wei Zhi and Ishimura Shota, and finally the people of Haihan followed the clues to find the doorman and arrest him.

This news made Shi Diwen feel a little bit of frustration. This time Haihan went to Japan to fight with great fanfare. Of course, the purpose is to wipe out the opponents, especially the Eighteenth Zhiyu Party and descendants, which Haihan is working hard to eliminate. object.

Through the reconnaissance of Hirado by Yuan Zhi and Amakusa Shiro before the war, Haihan has already obtained information about Tagawa Qizaemon, and listed him as one of the targets that must be captured.For this reason, the relevant departments also specially asked Amakusa Shiro to cooperate with the painter to draw several portraits of Tagawa Qizaemon in advance, so that the various troops can jointly arrest this person after they break through Hirado.

But I didn't expect Tagawasuke to be so vigilant. The coalition fleet had just started to use its means on Hirado Island, and he had already sent Tagawa mother and son out overnight to escape.Now all the arrangements that Haihan made in advance were all in vain. If he wanted to find out the mother and son again, he had to go to Kyushu Island to search slowly, or he had to wait until the city of Hirado was breached to capture Tagawasuke alive. After that, the client was interrogated directly.

But no matter which solution it is, it will be very difficult in Shi Diwen's view.Kyushu Island is not a small place like Hirado Island. It has a land area of ​​more than 3 square kilometers and is slightly larger than Hainan Island. Hyuga, Satsuma, and Osumi are nine countries, and the Hirado Domain is only one of the territories of the Hizen Kingdom.

To search and arrest two people in such a large and unfamiliar area, it may mean that the coalition forces have to fight a big battle with these countries on Kyushu Island first.Even if the military strength of the coalition forces is sufficient to defeat these small countries, the materials and time consumed will put a great pressure on the logistics supplies of the coalition forces.And once the opponent has a buffer time, the war is likely to be further escalated. The opponent has changed from the Hirado domain to the entire country of Japan. By then, Haihan's original intention of launching this war will be farther and farther away.

It seems even more difficult to expect to know the whereabouts of Tagawa Qizaemon through the interrogation of Tagawasuke.It is obvious that Tagawasuke hopes to keep this adopted son, so that even if the Hirado Domain is defeated or even Tagawasuke dies in battle, the Hirado Domain will still have the backbone to make a comeback in the future.Under such a premise, even if Shi Diwen tried his best to threaten Tian Chuansuke with death, it would be impossible for him to submit.

(End of this chapter)