1627 Rise of the South China Sea

Chapter 2192
"The situation is urgent, and there is not much time left for us to prepare for the war, so from now on, all the people in Daijiazhuang will enter a state of emergency, and the third child and shopkeeper Yuan will jointly direct the preparations."

Dai Yingda succinctly set the tone for the current situation, and formally handed over the command of the armed forces to these two men.He didn't try to hold this privilege in his own hands, because he also knew that doing so would only make the preparations counterproductive.

Dai Yingda turned to Yuan Tao and said, "Master Yuan, Cheng Ye has some news about the situation of the rival Musketeers, which may be of help, why don't we listen to it together."

"Oh? Then ask Boss Yang for advice!" Although Yuan Tao didn't know where the news about Yang Chengye came from, the more information he had about his opponent, the better.

Yang Chengye replied: "I don't dare to be an advisor. I can get this information because I used to have a personal relationship with Lu Kangtai, who trained and commanded the musket team in the Shanshan Salt Merchant Secondary School Division. He would occasionally talk about this matter."

Yuan Tao said: "Lu Kangtai didn't shy away from this? Then he must think that Boss Yang doesn't understand this martial arts at all."

Yang Chengye said with a wry smile: "Exactly. Because I am a layman on this matter, if he adds some elements of bragging and exaggeration, I will not be able to tell the truth from the fake. So it has always been just a joke, and has not mentioned it to Master Dai. , so as not to hurt their own morale."

Yuan Tao said: "Boss Yang, but it's okay to say, whether it's true or not, I have my own way to distinguish."

At the end of last year, Haihan sent elite troops to Yangzhou for action, and the opponent at that time was Lu Kangtai.As for the strength of his Musketeers, Haihan has already assessed the strength of his team. Yuan Tao believes that it is not difficult to tell whether the news provided by Yang Chengye is true or not, and how credible it is.

Seeing Dai Yingda nodding slightly towards him, Yang Chengye said, "In this case, let me tell you the part I still remember..."

When Lu Kangtai talked about related topics before, in fact, most of the time he had the intention of showing off his force to Yang Chengye. He hoped to subtly influence Yang Chengye's confidence in Huizhou salt merchants in this way, so as to slowly draw him into the Shanxi salt industry. In the camp of merchants.But Yang Chengye has no interest in this field at all, most of the time he just goes in one ear and out the other, and doesn't take Lu Kangtai's showing off too seriously.

However, after listening to it more times, Yang Chengye still has a certain impression of certain information that Lu Kangtai mentioned repeatedly.For example, Lu Kangtai mentioned that the instructors who trained the musketeers for them were instructors from Spain, and their muskets were also purchased from overseas. These two channels that cannot be replicated by Huizhou salt merchants are enough in terms of combat effectiveness. Far ahead of competitors.

Although the Hui nationality salt merchants also trained some musketeers, their tactics were veterans from the Ming army, and the sources of muskets were even more diverse, and the weapon system could not be unified at all. Such a patchwork team, Of course, there is no advantage against Lu Kangtai's Musketeers.

Regarding this information, Yuan Tao already knew something about it, especially the source of the opponent's weapons, which had been verified after the attack on Hirado, and it was indeed produced by the military workshop of the Hirado Domain.Moreover, according to the sales records seized in Hirado, Shanshaan salt merchants spent a lot of money to purchase another batch of muskets at the beginning of this year, which was obviously used to rebuild the musketeers.As far as the part mentioned by Yang Chengye is concerned, it is indeed highly credible.

If it was just the information that Hai Han already knew basically, it would not be of great help, but Yang Chengye saw that everyone was listening carefully, so he mentioned other things.

Lu Kangtai seemed dissatisfied with the tactics taught by the Spaniards, thinking that it was too rigid, so he later introduced military training instructors from the Hirado Domain.Although Hirado's musketeer tactics also originated from Spain, it has been improved by the Hirado domain, which is more in line with the situation of musketeers in East Asia against other arms.

Regarding this point, Yuan Tao hadn't grasped it before, so he immediately asked further.But this questioning also brought up Yang Chengye's knowledge blind spot. He didn't know the difference between Hirado's musket tactics and the Spaniard's musket tactics, and he could only provide this information.

Seeing that the three members of the Dai family were obviously disappointed by this, Yuan Tao comforted: "It's okay, since I have this news, I will try to contact Zhoushan and see if the officers who have fought against the Musketeers of the Hirado Domain can provide us with some advice. what help."

Dai Chengrong said: "At this time, sending people back and forth to Zhoushan will take several days on the way. If the opponent starts ahead of time, we will suffer in vain."

Yuan Tao said with a smile: "I, Haihan, have the ability to send messages across thousands of miles. There is no need to send people back and forth to Zhoushan. If you hurry up, you can receive a reply within today."

"Message from thousands of miles! I thought it was just a folklore. I didn't think it was true. I didn't expect this kind of magic to exist in your country!" After all, Dai Chengrong was young, and after hearing Yuan Tao's answer, he couldn't hide the surprise on his face.

"This is not magic!" Yuan Tao said solemnly: "Our Haihan Kingdom calls it—science."

In fact, Yuan Tao didn't understand the principle of radio, but at least he had studied several times in the process of being promoted, so he wouldn't be as superficial as an ignorant commoner.Technologies that ordinary people cannot understand, such as radio, are all classified as "science" in Haihan.Those who are qualified to study "science" are mostly talented young people who have been screened in Haihan, and middle-aged people like Yuan Tao who are approaching their thirties are obviously not among them.

Dai Yingda sighed: "It is presumed that someone who can master science like Shopkeeper Yuan will definitely be able to achieve great success in Haihan Kingdom in the future."

Yuan Tao blushed, and he couldn't explain to them that he was not the one who came to Yangzhou to operate the radio this time, but someone else, so he could only skip this question for now.

As for the real key information about the opponent's musketeer formation and location, Yang Chengye knew nothing about it, and Lu Kangtai would not be so arrogant as to tell him such key information.Calculated in this way, among the several pieces of information provided by Yang Chengye, only the last one is of any value.

But Yuan Tao did not comment on the value of these pieces of information on the spot, he just thanked Yang Chengye for his support.Although he is very confident in the people who brought Yangzhou this time, if he can get better support and cooperation from Huizhou salt merchants, it will obviously greatly increase his chances of winning.Therefore, he should try his best to take care of the worldly people.

Yuan Tao's preparations for Daijiazhuang are mainly divided into three parts. The first is the increase and consolidation of fortifications. Relying on the existing fortifications can only roughly guard the gate of Daijiazhuang facing the north. The channel is very likely to break through these places where the defense is not strong enough.

Therefore, on the one hand, Yuan Tao needs to renovate the existing fortifications, and on the other hand, he needs to add light fortifications such as Luzhai Juma, which are low in production cost, short in construction period, and quick to deploy, and deploy barricades at the traffic nodes in Zhuangzi. If the defense line is lost, you can also retreat to the inside line to snipe the opponent.

The main purpose of doing this is to slow down the opponent's attacking rhythm. With sufficient ammunition and personnel on the Golden Shield side, the slower the opponent's attacking speed, the more calm the defender will be in dealing with it.

The second part is the redistribution of armed personnel.Yuan Tao didn't expect that all the people Daijiazhuang entrusted to him to command had the ability to use muskets to fight, and it was unlikely that he would teach them the musket tactics used by Hai Han in just a few days.Yuan Tao only hopes that these people can obey the command 100% during the war, and just don't get confused.

Speaking of which, this requirement seems a bit low, but he knew that the elites of the seven surnames would go to Zhoushan for training, and those who stayed in Daijiazhuang to overcome difficulties with Jindun should not be very strong .How to make good use of this group of people and play their best role also requires Yuan Tao to spend a lot of thought.

The third part is the arrangement of protected objects.According to the cooperation content negotiated by the two parties in Zhoushan, the protection objects of Jindun include the main members of the seven major surnames, but it is obviously not the best solution to solve the problem if they want to disperse to various manors to protect these target persons separately.

Therefore, Yuan Tao suggested that the leaders of the seven major surnames should be moved to Daijiazhuang as soon as possible for centralized protection.According to the information obtained by Yang Chengye, the opponent is likely to launch an offensive after ten days. During this period of time, these wealthy businessmen who wronged them to avoid the limelight in Daijiazhuang should not be too embarrassing for them.

Of course, it is not realistic for these people to live in Daijiazhuang for a long time, so they can only hope that Yang Chengye's information is accurate, so that the Huizhou salt merchants can hope to resolve the biggest threat from their opponents in the near future.

Dai Yingda fully supported Yuan Tao's opinion. Now that the Hui nationality salt merchants have entered the gambling table, they can only bet on Haihan's side.Taking a ten thousand step back, if the golden shield cannot be carried by then, then the Zhoushan authorities should not stand idly by, at least the backer they have found is relatively stable.

"I will send someone to notify the heads of the families to move to Daijiazhuang as soon as possible, and let them send their families to other places first, and return to Yangzhou after the matter subsides." Dai Yingda immediately made a decision to cooperate with Yuan Tao's plan. suggestion.

"If you feel uneasy, you can send your family to Zhoushan for a period of time, where you can get 100% protection and don't need to worry about safety issues." Yuan Tao simply gave a bolder suggestion.As for the expenses that will be incurred, Yuan Tao did not mention it. He believes that it will not be a problem for these rich salt merchants.

This suggestion is obviously more attractive. After all, it is the territory of Haihan people, and the laws and regulations of Haihan are enforced. Foreigners generally dare not cause trouble there.

"Then I will inform each family of this option and let them decide on their own." Dai Yingda still gave full cooperation.

None of these preparations could be completed in a short period of time. After Yuan Tao finished speaking, everyone briefly discussed the details, and then went about their own affairs.Only Dai Chengrong didn't leave, he was going to lead the team to Zhoushan soon, and he couldn't help much locally, but he really wanted to follow Yuan Tao before leaving to see how he coordinated and deployed Daijiazhuang's defense.

Yuan Tao's method is actually very simple, that is, point-to-point connection.Two of his leaders were connected with Dai Yingda's foreman who was in charge of dispatching craftsmen and preparing materials, and the other two were connected with Dai Yingfan's team leaders.In this way, there is a responsible person for each task, he only needs to ask about the progress, and then discuss specific issues with the Dai family brothers, and he does not need to personally do everything.

"The shopkeeper Yuan has a good plan, and I have been taught!" After watching Yuan Tao's deployment work, Dai Chengrong felt that he had learned something from it.

Yuan Tao said: "Actually, it's nothing special. I've done a lot of work outside, and practice makes perfect. When the young master goes to Zhoushan, he should also learn about the overall command."

Dai Chengrong asked: "Then these learnings, are they considered the 'science' mentioned by Shopkeeper Yuan earlier?"

Yuan Tao frowned, and replied uncertainly: "This... shouldn't be counted?"

He thought that these working methods were not uncommon. Haihan officials, whether civil or military, would receive relevant training when they were promoted. There was no threshold at all. It was really different from those difficult "sciences" that required screening of trainees.

After hearing this, Dai Chengrong was slightly disappointed. In his opinion, if he could learn one or two "sciences" in Zhoushan, it might give the Dai family a new boost in strength in the future.

The young man's city is not deep, and he can't hide things on his face. Yuan Tao guessed Dai Chengrong's thoughts at a glance, and immediately persuaded him: "Young master, if you want to learn from my Haihan science, it's not like there is no chance. It's just that this kind of advanced academics is not for everyone, and there are other selection conditions for students, I hope you can understand this."

Dai Chengrong heard Yuan Tao said that there is still a chance, so he hurriedly asked: "I don't know what the selection conditions are?"

Yuan Tao said with a smile: "First of all, you have to become a Haihan nationality. You are not a Haihan citizen, so let's stop talking about it. Young master, do you have such great determination?"

"Ah?" Dai Chengrong was indeed a little surprised when he heard this condition.

He originally thought that Haihan might set up various assessment conditions, just like the imperial examinations in the Ming Dynasty, selecting talents layer by layer, and finally selected a few smart people who are qualified to study "science", but he didn't expect that the first condition turned out to be Nationality, this is indeed going to dissuade many people.

However, Dai Chengrong is also a person who dares to think and do, but he did not back down, but continued to ask: "Then if I really become a Haihan nationality, what should I do?"

Yuan Tao saw that his question was serious, but it was beyond the scope of his knowledge, so he could only prevaricate: "I can't explain this matter in a few words. After you go to Zhoushan, you can go to the civil affairs department to inquire."

(End of this chapter)