1627 Rise of the South China Sea

Chapter 2227
This year, Haihan teamed up with Fujian to launch a cross-sea expedition against the Hirado Domain. The main purpose was actually to wipe out the remnants of Shibazhi hiding in the area.

No matter how hard the Hirado Clan can do it, it is just a local tyrant living in a corner of Japan after all, and it is the Shibazhi Remnant Party that has been haunting Hai Han and causing trouble for Hai Han, which made Hai Han so afraid that he had to carry out military operations against the area. The real reason for the blow.

The grievances between Shibazhi, Haihan State, and Fujian Xu family have a long history, and it is impossible to resolve them. The Shibazhi remnants who were forced to leave Japan have never given up their plans to retaliate against Haihan. A series of gun-related incidents has fully proved that Shibazhi tried to make a comeback in Hirado, and colluded with anti-Haihan forces in various places to cause trouble. Of course, Haihan cannot sit back and watch this unfavorable situation continue to develop.

This year, Haihan's conquest against Hirado eliminated the leaders of the Shibazhi who were hiding in the local area, such as Gao Hongfu, Lu Yuanlong, Wei Zhi, and Wen Jianyi, and the harvest was quite fruitful.It's just that the key figures, Tagawasuke and his adopted son Tagawa Qizaemon escaped by chance, which still left troubles for this operation.

The reappearance of Tagawasuke in Hirado will inevitably affect Zhoushan, the Haihan ruled area closest to Hirado.It is impossible for Shi Diwen to pretend to be deaf to such important news, but at present, apart from sending people to the local area as soon as possible to collect more information, it seems that there is no other means available for the time being.

As a local official, although Shi Diwen has the military and political power in his hands, he does not have the power to independently decide to send troops when encountering such a situation. He must first report the situation to Sanya, and the executive committee and the Ministry of National Defense will jointly decide whether to use military means. to deal with.

After the staff meeting in Zhoushan ended, Shi Diwen sent a telegram back to Sanya, informing him in detail of the information he had so far, and asked the executive committee for instructions on the next step.

"Shi Diwen's focus is wrong!"

In Sanya Victory Fort, after reading the content of the telegram sent back by Shi Diwen, Tao Donglai said to Yan Chujie who was sitting opposite him: "There is a distance of [-] miles between Zhoushan and Hirado. There are East China Sea Fleet and An infantry battalion has been stationed for a long time, so there is no need to worry about what kind of waves Hirado's gang can afford! Could it be that we have another cross-sea expedition for the sake of one Tagawa?"

Yan Chujie said: "In terms of military strength, the Hirado Clan is indeed not worth fighting for us now. What do you think we need to pay attention to, Lao Tao?"

"The arsenal of the Hirado Clan and the ordnance technology they possess." Tao Donglai said calmly, "This is what really threatens us, and we cannot let it spread."

The ordnance industry and shipbuilding technology mastered by the Hirado clan came from the Eighteen Chiyo Party, and the technology of making guns and artillery weapons came from the Spaniards.Although there is still a clear gap in performance between locally manufactured weapons and Haihan, the fact that standard weapons can be produced in large quantities is already a red flag.

The reason why the Hirado clan has grown rapidly in recent years, and even slowly expanded its influence to the coast of the mainland, besides relying on the huge wealth obtained from the local trade environment, is another very important reason is that the Eighteen Shiba led To Hirado's military and seamanship.These advanced technologies greatly enhanced the armed strength of the Hirado Clan, and gave them the confidence to negotiate terms and cooperate with forces at home and abroad in Japan, and even gave them the illusion that they could fight Haihan.

Of course, the illusion is an illusion after all. The consequence of provoking Haihan is that Hirado's business for many years was completely destroyed by the war, and it was almost completely wiped out by the Haihan Expeditionary Force.Even if the Hirado clan can repeat the good luck of the previous few years, it is still no match for the military conquest from Haihan.

But if these technologies flow from the Hirado domain to some stronger hostile forces, the troubles that will be caused may not be so easy to solve.

The Eighteen Zhiyu Party attached to the Hirado Clan only because the local area can provide them with an environment to make a comeback, but now the Hirado Clan is in a very bleak situation after suffering a military attack, and the prospect of the Eighteen Zhiyu Party wanting to take advantage of revenge is also increasing The more slim, under such circumstances, there is indeed the possibility that the Eighteenth Zhiyu Party will find another way out.

"Old Tao, what do you mean, we have to prevent Shibazhi from leaving Hirado to develop elsewhere?" Yan Chujie seemed to have understood Tao Donglai's thoughts.

Tao Donglai nodded and said, "Especially the north side!"

The raid on the Liaodong front before the end of last year caused Haihan to lose a patrol team in an ambush by the Qing army's musketeers.And this matter has attracted the military's great attention, and at the beginning of this year, the Marine Corps went deep into the enemy-occupied area and wiped out the musketeer team.

Subsequent investigations revealed that the weapons and training of the musketeers belonging to the Qing army were provided by the Hirado clan, which was one of the reasons why the Haihan senior officials made up their minds to launch a cross-sea conquest against the Hirado clan.

Moreover, after the Hirado War, judging from the weapons transaction records found in Tagawasuke’s home, the number of weapons they sold to the Qing army was more than the number of equipment that eliminated the Musketeers, which means that the Qing army may return at any time. Another musketeer team was shown, which made the Liaodong front line tighten the range of activities of the patrol team after receiving this information, and actively kept a safe distance from the actual control area of ​​​​the Qing army.

Considering that the Hirado clan and the Qing army had already established a secret cooperative relationship before that, the arms deal was probably only one of their cooperation projects. If Shibazhi wanted to find another backer, then fleeing to the Qing would be a big deal for them. Said it might be a good way out.

Although Haihan has achieved complete command of the sea on the east coast of the Liaodong Peninsula, and will even send a small group of troops to land on occasions to attack and plunder the areas controlled by the Qing army, it is necessary to completely block access to the areas controlled by the Qing from the sea. channel is still unlikely to be realized.

What's more, if you want to enter the area ruled by the Qing Dynasty from the direction of Japan, you don't necessarily have to go through the direction of the Liaodong Peninsula. You can go northward from the east coast of the Korean Peninsula from the sea, land near the northern border of North Korea, and enter the Qing Dynasty through the mountains.Although the itinerary of this route alternates between sea and land, it is more troublesome, but it will not be interfered by the Haihan Navy, and the safety is more guaranteed.

Yan Chujie reminded: "Old Tao, even if we deploy several times more naval power in the north, it is impossible to completely block the sea route from Japan to the Liaodong area. Moreover, with the current capabilities of the navy, it is impossible for the entire fleet to Long patrols at sea."

Tao Donglai nodded and said, "Of course I understand the truth. If we can't prevent the worst from happening, then we must first prepare for it."

"You mean that the Qing army will be equipped with a large number of firearms in the future?" Yan Chujie's expression also became serious.

"Some things, even we can't prevent it from happening." Tao Donglai said: "Actually, I couldn't find the other party's musket production workshop in Hirado before, so I already had a bad feeling. I think Shibazhi's People will no longer just sit and wait in Hirado, and will definitely try to continue to cause trouble for us."

For Haihan, the most difficult enemy at present is the Qing army in Liaodong.Since the area occupied by Haihan in Liaodong is too far away from the mainland of Hainan, the scale of the troops deployed there is almost the upper limit that supplies can support, and the role of the navy with the greatest advantage is relatively limited in the local area, so it is difficult to Rely on the limited garrison in the Jinzhou area to realize the strategy of Liaodong.

The current confrontation between the two sides near the Jinzhou Isthmus is a dynamic balance formed after many fights over the past few years. If one of the two parties wants to break this balance, it must obtain a significant improvement in strength.

If the Qing army, which has superior military strength, suddenly obtains a large number of advanced standard weapons in terms of weapons and equipment, then this balance may be broken, endangering the stability of the Jinzhou area.

Of course, there are Zhifu Island Base and Datongjiang Base near Liaodong, which can guarantee that Jinzhou will have reinforcements and retreat routes, and there is no need to worry about the situation getting out of control in a short time.

But if we look at it from a long-term perspective, as long as the Qing Dynasty obtains the manufacturing technology of advanced standard firearms, then the balance of strength between the warring parties will inevitably change slowly, and the pressure that the Jinzhou garrison will face will also increase. Not a good thing for Han.

Yan Chujie, who is in charge of the Haihan, land and sea armies, can naturally think of such consequences, and immediately sighed: "You are right, there are many things that we cannot do... Then if there are signs in Liaodong , we can only try to increase troops to Jinzhou to consolidate the defense line."

Tao Donglai said: "I think some preparatory work can be started now, such as reporting relevant information to Jinzhou, strengthening the fortifications and bunkers on the Jinzhou defense line, and deploying more artillery units from the south to the area. The region...prevents troubles before they happen, so you don’t have to wait until something really happens to rush around.”

"You are right, these preparations must be deployed as soon as possible." Yan Chujie agreed with this, but then asked another question: "Should I sound the alarm for Daming?"

Tao Donglai thought for a moment, then nodded and said: "You arrange a time, let's meet with that Ambassador Fei Tsexian and tell him the general situation."

The Golden State Defense Line is currently the military base with the highest latitude under Haihan rule, but its significance is not only a symbol of the country's northern border, but also an important weight to maintain the regional military balance.It was with this small place that Haihan held back a considerable part of the main force of the Qing Dynasty, preventing them from attacking Daming in the west and North Korea in the east by land.

If the Qing army were allowed to act freely without any scruples, it is estimated that they would have invested tens of thousands more troops to attack North Korea last year. In that case, even if Haihan intervened, it would be even more difficult to prevent the Qing army from going south .

And Daming is not much better. The Qing army beats the pass every year, and the resistance that the Ming can make is still relying on a small number of fortified cities to defend, leaving a large open area for the Qing army to plunder.If the Qing army hadn't taken care of the rear and the Haihan army might jump out to make trouble at any time, I'm afraid they would have driven straight in and started to occupy Daming City.

Out of the standpoint of an ally, Tao Donglai thought it was still necessary to remind Daming so that they could prepare in advance for possible future wars.Of course, with the self-willed style of the Ming court, even if they are reminded, they may not be able to listen to it, even if they listen to it, they may not be able to put it down, and take measures according to Hai Han's suggestion.

Fei Cexian has been doing well in the past half a year. Although the arrival of the son of the Joseon Dynasty last year made him feel very inconvenient for a while, but the appearance of the son of the king has decreased greatly since he entered school. When Fei Cexian felt inconvenienced on diplomatic occasions And then much less.

The North Koreans are also very knowledgeable, and the embassy built chose the place farthest from the Daming embassy in the designated area.In this way, there will be less time for everyone to meet, and embarrassing situations can be avoided as much as possible.

Fei Cexian's daily work is to look at the various news released by Haihan officials through newspapers and other channels, and then verify them with folk rumors, make detailed records of major events, add his own interpretation, It was written as a memorial once every half a month and sent back to the imperial court.

As for the contacts with ambassadors from other countries in the embassy area, Fei Cexian is actually a bit difficult, because most of these countries that have established embassies in Sanya treat Haihan similarly to North Korea, and regard Haihan as their ally or trading partner , and this role has been played by Daming for the past 200 years.

Although these countries are still in awe of Ming Dynasty, their diplomatic relations are obviously not as close as they are with Haihan.And whenever he listens to envoys from various countries talking about the various trade agreements or military alliances signed with Haihan, it makes Fei Cexian feel uncomfortable. commercial relations, or reached military cooperation with Haihan in order to seek asylum.

Although Daming acquiesced to the many areas that Haihan used military means to occupy from south to north on its own coastline, in Fei Cexian's view, it was just that the heavenly court did not care about gains and losses with this small country.The internal and external troubles that Daming is facing will eventually be resolved, and when the time comes to turn around and deal with Haihan, it will naturally slowly regain those lost coastal lands.

As for Qiongzhou Island, it may be difficult to take it back by military means. After all, the armed fleet of the Haihan people is there. No matter how illiterate Fei Cexian is, he knows that it will be difficult to defeat it with the Ming Navy. These sea monsters.

But as long as the trade route between Daming and Qiongzhou Island is cut off, Haihan's maritime trade will no longer be able to continue, and its national strength will inevitably be greatly damaged.If the Haihan people are willing to humbly ask Daming to allow them to temporarily settle down in Qiongzhou Island and open a few ports for them to do business, then it is not impossible to negotiate.

(End of this chapter)