1627 Rise of the South China Sea

Chapter 2143
Jeju Island is located between China, Japan and North Korea, but because it has no natural harbor and is not suitable for stationing large armed fleets, it has never been regarded as a strategic maritime location by various countries.Before the arrival of the Haihan people, Seogwipo was just a little-known small fishing port in the south of Jeju Island. Most of the local people made their living from fishing and agriculture. They never thought that their peaceful hometown would be transformed into A busy military base.

At the request of the Haihan military, all the people within a radius of [-] miles of Seogwipo received a call-up order from the government, and each household must send young and strong men to serve as civilian husbands according to their head.Even a family without a man has to be headed by a woman, who goes to the Haihan camp near the port to do logistical work such as laundry, cooking, and medical care.

The entire Seogwipo area has a population of only about [-], and about one-third of them were temporarily recruited by the government to provide services for the army that went to Hirado, Japan.A large number of laborers were forced to do hard labor, which greatly affected local production activities, but the government did not plan to reduce or exempt taxes for this, which inevitably caused complaints from the people.

The North Korean court hopes to strengthen diplomatic relations with Haehan through military cooperation, but due to various considerations, it is inconvenient to directly send troops to participate in this war, so it can only express its attitude by providing logistical support.But for the local people in Seogwipo, whether it is the Haihan army, the Ming army, or the Japanese in the east, the war between them should have nothing to do with them, but why Seogwipo will be involved for no reason and become one of them? One side's temporary base, this is really difficult for them to understand.

Yin Changxing is one of those who hold this view. His family is very close to Seogwipo Port, and his family has been fishing for generations.Prior to this, Yin Changxing had also heard rumors that the northern barbarians invaded, and Haihan sent troops to assist North Korea to retreat from the enemy. But according to the official statement, the barbarians were finally defeated. Wasn’t it just the mighty king who let the foreign army come to make some military exploits? ?
He couldn't understand why the Haihan people are going to fight Japan today, why Jeju Mu has to borrow land, collect food, and recruit peasants in such a hurry, as if he wants to do cattle and horses for the Haihan people.The Master Shepherd personally came to Seogwipo to sit in town, lest any details might go wrong.It wasn't until the Haihan fleet came to Seogwipo that Yin Changxing finally changed his mind.

For the first time in their lives, the people of Seogwipo saw so many large warships, and any one of them was much larger than the official ship of Jeju Mu Mushi.Many people, including Yin Changxing, can't help but think of a question: Does our country also have such mighty large warships?

The answer, of course, is no. North Korea’s plank boats and turtle boats are not like this at all. They don’t have such a huge hull, and they don’t have the artillery equipped with Haihan warships.Although the Haihan soldiers who got off these warships were not wearing armor, they were full of murderous looks, which made Yin Changxing, who was watching the excitement at the pier, feel an indescribable sense of fear.

The Haihan army set up a large number of tents near the coast as a temporary garrison, and after Yin Changxing was conscripted to do hard labor, he was responsible for delivering various supplies, mainly food, to the Haihan army camp every day. What trouble.Only a few days later, the army set out from Seogwipo.

Yin Changxing thought that his hard labor was over, but things were far from as simple as he thought.Only a few days later, the government asked all the conscripted civilians to return to work, ready to receive prisoners of war and wounded brought back from the front.

However, the situation soon changed again. It is said that there are too many prisoners of war to be sent back from the front line, and there is no suitable institution in Seogwipo to hold prisoners of war. He decided to take all the prisoners of war to two uninhabited islands off the coast of Seogwipo.

Yin Changxing's errand remained the same, he was still in charge of delivering food, but the object of his service had changed from the Haihan army to the Japanese prisoners of war.When Yin Changxing and his companions rowed a boat to send food to the small island where the prisoners of war were held, he was really taken aback by the situation on the island. He never thought that there would be so many people on this small island outside the port, densely packed Together, it is like a school of fish pulled out of the water by a fishing net.

But the food they sent to the island was only two big baskets of rice balls. Yin Changxing estimated based on his own standards that the amount of these rice balls should be enough for seventy or eighty people.But the number of prisoners seen in front of them was about ten times as many as this number, and there was only this one meal a day, so many of them must be starving.

Yin Changxing was a little worried that such a small amount of food would lead to looting, but the Haihan soldiers on board did not seem nervous.When they were about to reach the coast of the island, several Haihan soldiers raised their rifles, pointed at the prisoners on the island who were eager to try, and began to shout at them.

Yin Changxing didn't quite understand what the Haihan soldiers were saying, but he could see that the Japanese captives on the island were extremely afraid of these Haihan soldiers. Even though there might be a hundred times difference in numbers between the two sides, these captives still slowly retreated to a little bit. Farther away, there was no attempt to confront the Haihan soldiers.

Under the command of Haihan soldiers, these captives started to form a long line in a very cooperative manner, ready to receive their food quota.

Yin Changxing knew that the rice balls brought to the island would not be enough for so many people, so he hesitated about how to distribute them.The Haihan soldier next to him saw his confusion, so he picked up a rice ball from the basket, broke off a small ball the size of a finger, and signaled that it was a serving for one person.

In Yin Changxing's view, this little food is basically just enough to fit between his teeth, and he seems to understand why these captives can hardly resist—these guys should have been starved like this after they were captured. He had already lost the strength to resist.

In fact, the captives also tried to fight for food before, but as long as there is a situation of disobedience, the food provided for the day will be halved, and the perpetrators will be executed in public.After a few days, almost all those who dared to challenge the rules were dead, and those who were alive had suffered enough. Whoever wanted to jump out to make trouble when distributing food would not even need Haihan soldiers to do it. People will tear him alive.

Of course, just as Yin Changxing thought, after being starved for a few days, people simply don’t have the energy to do some strenuous movements. They can get very little food now, and only by moving as little as possible can they effectively reduce consumption.And Haihan also needs to keep these captives in a relatively weak physical state, so that it is easy to manage and transport, and when they are transported to the distribution place, they will be restored to normal food supply, so that they can have Sufficient physical strength to engage in labor.

Haihan soldiers drew a line on the beach with a bayonet inserted into the muzzle of their guns, and then asked Yin Changxing and others to start distributing food where the line was drawn.After receiving the food, the captives consciously went to the other side of the line, and were not allowed to step back until the food was distributed, so as not to fish in troubled waters.

Although the method is stupid, it is simple and easy to implement.The prisoners carefully took the small ball of rice in Yin Changxing's hand, put it in his mouth and chewed it slowly, then walked slowly to the other side of the line, found a place to sit down and did not move.They know that the next meal may have to wait until this time tomorrow, and any extra movement during this period will consume their limited physical energy. The more they move, the faster they will die.

However, not everyone expected to hang their lives on such a small amount of food. When Yin Changxing finished distributing the food and returned to the boat to return to the port, he saw some people had slowly stood up and walked towards the shore.On the beach and among the reefs, there must be some food that can satisfy their hunger temporarily. Only then did Yin Changxing recall why the Haihan people only distributed such a small amount of food to the captives.

Yin Changxing was not born during the Imjin Japanese Invasion, but he also heard from the elders in his family about the Japanese invasion of Korea.The two countries were originally feuds, so Yin Changxing naturally didn't have much sympathy for these prisoners.However, he was a little curious, how much enmity the Haihan people had with Japan, and would deliberately send troops from far away to attack Japan.

After delivering meals to the prisoners for two days, Yin Changxing got a new job, probably because of his better performance, to run errands for a foreign businessman who had just arrived in Hong Kong.In his opinion, this is indeed good news, and it is definitely much better than dealing with captives. If he is lucky, he may even be able to get some rewards.

What makes Yin Changxing even more happy is that this Han master named Yu Chengli can speak a little Korean, so that he will not be reprimanded by the vicious Haihan soldiers from time to time because he did not understand the order when delivering meals to the prisoners. One pass.

But Yu Chengli was not happy at all, he was even a little angry, because the Haihan people did not fully abide by the promise they made to him in Hirado, and sent himself and all his belongings directly to Zhoushan, Zhejiang by warship, but sent them to the West Guipo is a poor village.

According to the explanation given by the Haihan people, the plan has changed because Haihan must rush out all the personnel and supplies from Hirado Island as soon as possible, so the warships that were originally scheduled to escort merchants from various countries to Zhoushan had to return to Hirado first. Continue to carry out the task, but Yu Chengli can only temporarily stay in Jeju Island for a while, wait for Haihan to evacuate Hirado first, and then send the merchants to Zhoushan according to the original plan.

There is nothing wrong with such an approach. Of course, the Haihan Army must prioritize its own interests, and everything in wartime must be based on military orders. How can it take into account the needs of these foreign businessmen? It is already considered to be able to keep the plan and postpone the implementation. Not bad.

Of course, Yu Chengli didn't dare to express his grievances to the Haihan people. Although he lost the local real estate, it would be considered good to be able to come out of Hirado Island safely in such a time of chaos. Han people argue about treatment.

It’s just that the conditions in Seogwipo are really difficult. Businessmen like Yu Chengli will definitely not be able to enjoy the treatment of the Haihan Army, and the local government does not have enough reception capacity, so they can only temporarily place them near the port in a hurry. in the farmhouse.So Yu Chengli and the few followers who left Hirado with him this time lived in Yin Changxing's house.

Although Yu Chengli disliked the fishy smell of this country fisherman's house, he still had a place to stay, and he had to rely on this North Korean fisherman for food and lodging during his stay in Seogwipo, so he didn't dare to be too picky, otherwise If he offends the fisherman and the other party comes forward and drives him out, is it possible that he can move to the Haihan barracks?

Fortunately, when he left Hirado, most of Yu Chengli's belongings were shipped out, so he took some silver taels to Yin Changxing for the living expenses of his group.Yu Chengli himself was not a stingy person, so the amount he gave was far beyond the local price level.

Yin Changxing didn't expect that he would make a fortune right after he got the job. The money rewarded by the businessman was more than the annual income of the whole family. Naturally, he didn't dare to neglect at the moment, so he gave up all the three principal rooms in his family to him. Yu Chengli and his subordinates lived together, and his family packed up and moved into the kitchen and woodshed.Fortunately, the weather is already warm at this time, so there is no need to worry about freezing without sleeping on the kang.

A few days later, the Haihan warship brought in a large number of Japanese again, this time not prisoners of war, but ordinary civilians.But at this time, Seogwipo's receiving capacity has already exploded, and the government can't arrange food and accommodation for so many immigrants. They can only temporarily resettle them near the coast, hoping that the transfer plan Haihan said can be implemented as soon as possible.

Yu Chengli has a special status, so he was not banned. He heard that a large number of Japanese people were transported here, and he specially asked Gonzalez to go to the resettlement place of these immigrants.As expected, the local situation is as expected. The government has been unable to provide enough food for so many people, and there are no tents for them to live in, so the vast majority of people are in a state of lack of food and clothing.

Yu Chengli and Gonzalez have stayed in Hirado for many years, and they can be considered to have some affection for the local people, and they can't bear it when they see this.After summing up, the two decided to buy some food from the local people's homes, cook a big pot of porridge and donate it to these immigrants, trying to help them tide over the current difficulties.

The Haihan Army also acquiesced in their kind deeds. The current food shortage is not the fault of the Haihan Army, because there was no plan to relocate all the population of Hirado Island before the war, and there was no preparation when raising food and grass. An extra share for several days consumed by thousands of people.The existing local food reserves must give priority to the consumption of the Haihan army itself, and it is difficult to allocate more to relieve these immigrants.

Of course, this situation of food shortage will not last long, and the ships dispatched by Haihan from various places to Seogwipo will bring enough food.Besides, even if there is no food supply, you will not starve to death if you rely on the sea to eat the sea in a short period of time, so the military can be roughly sure that it will not cause a large-scale famine here, as long as it survives the current few days.

(End of this chapter)