1627 Rise of the South China Sea

Chapter 2350
Wang Tom did not despise the cautiousness shown by the North Koreans in this matter. After all, this country has been struggling to survive in the past. Almost all its neighbors have an overwhelming force advantage over it, and they were almost defeated by foreign enemies several times. Destroy the country.It will indeed take some time for him to change his mind and straighten his back, or even take the initiative to settle old scores with his old opponents.

But from another point of view, this may not be a bad thing. North Korea's own strength is insufficient and lacks self-confidence, so it will rely more on Haihan's support and assistance. Of course, it is also easier for Haihan to maintain a large enough influence in North Korea. .

After Wang Tom explained the questions that needed to be answered, he planned to leave Jianghua Island as soon as possible. As for the handover of Japanese prisoners, he could not take these people on the road, so he insisted on letting Shen Jingzhen arrange to send them to Datongjiang base.

Shen Jingzhen is very good, and he also prepared some rice, noodles, vegetables and fruits in Jianghua Island in advance, and provided them to Wang Tom's fleet as supplies.Although the quantity is not too much, there are not many local products in Ganghwa Island. Obviously, a lot of things were transported from Seoul, and it seems that some thought has been spent.

But Tom Wang can also think that an old fox like Shen Jingzhen will definitely not show his courtesy for nothing, and spend a lot of time to flatter this ass, and doing so is probably asking for something from himself.

Sure enough, Shen Jingzhen soon took the initiative to propose to Wang Tom, hoping to let his son Shen Xueyi also act with the Haihan Fleet.

"Master Shen, I remember that your son should have just returned from a mission in Japan, aren't you going to let him go home to rest for a few days? And you don't even know where we are going and what we are going to do, so you can rest assured Son follow us?" Tom Wang was a little bit dumbfounded when he heard Shen Jingzhen's request. He thought that Shen Jingzhen wanted to win Haihan's support so that his position in the court would be consolidated or even improved, but he didn't expect this old fox to lay the groundwork so much. The result was to pave the way for his son.

In the earlier coup in Seoul, Shen Jingzhen was the only high-ranking official who was completely out of the way. Therefore, after Li Yan took the throne, he also trusted him very much, and handed over the cleaning and reconstruction of the army to Shen Jingzhen.

Although his official career has been smooth sailing, Shen Jingzhen actually still regrets that he did not let his son Shen Xueyi go to Haihan Kingdom to study with his eldest son Li Yi last year, and thus lost the opportunity to become the king's direct confidant in vain.In the process of rebuilding the army, he couldn't give Shen Xueyi too much special care, so as not to be accused of nepotism.

After repeated consideration, Shen Jingzhen decided that the most appropriate way to get his son to take over was to win Haihan's approval and support.Shen Xueyi had participated in the reconnaissance phase of the Haihan army's attack on the Hirado clan before this, and he was already familiar with the Haihan generals.In the future, as long as he strives for more opportunities to cooperate with the Haihan Army, these qualifications will surely become the capital for Shen Xueyi's future promotion in the officialdom.

During the North Korean military attack on the Five Islands, Shen Xueyi was the military attache who represented the imperial court to supervise the battle.This was originally a great opportunity for Shen Xueyi to gain military exploits, but due to various considerations, North Korea discounted the action goals set by Haihan during the implementation, and the results obtained were not so satisfactory to Haihan, so Shen Jingzhen planned to use other methods. way to remedy.

It just so happened that there was news from the Datong River that another fleet of the Haihan Army was about to go south, and it was not a routine southward change of defense, but to carry out a secret military mission.Shen Jingzhen thinks this is an opportunity. If he can let his son follow the Haihan army to gain experience, learn skills, and get closer to the generals of Haihan, it will definitely be of great benefit to Shen Xueyi's future career development.

Shen Jingzhen replied: "To be able to learn some real skills from General Wang's side is an opportunity that many people can't ask for. How can I miss it easily. I just hope that the general will not despise the stupid dog."

According to the military cooperation agreement reached between the two countries, observers can be exchanged to participate in military operations initiated by the other party. This approach has also been well implemented in past cooperation.Whether North Korean officers went to the Haihan army to observe and learn, or Haihan sent people to serve as military advisors in the Korean army, the purpose was to enhance Haihan's influence in the Korean army, and quite good results were achieved.

Since this has become a tacitly feasible practice for both parties, it is reasonable for Shen Jingzhen to make such a request. If Wang Tom has no special reason, it is naturally inconvenient to refuse.What's more, Shen Xueyi has a special status. If he can completely become a senior official of the pro-Han faction, it will also affect Shen Jingzhen's future position. Tom Wang is definitely happy to see it.

Tom Wang nodded, and Shen Jingzhen immediately called Shen Xueyi in. It seemed that he had already prepared for this move.Tom Wang didn't say anything when he saw this, so he asked Shen Xueyi if he could leave immediately.

Shen Xueyi clasped his fists and said: "The general has an order, how dare I disobey it, so I will go to sea with the general!"

Since the Shen family and his son had made plans in advance, they must have prepared luggage for Shen Xueyi. Tom Wang asked this question on purpose, it was just a routine.

Tom Wang even verbally announced that Shen Xueyi joined the fleet as a military observer.Although this operation was kept secret during the preparation period, after the fleet mission was completed and returned, it would automatically leave the confidentiality period. Letting Shen Xueyi temporarily join the fleet as a military observer would not affect the next mission.

The fleet slowly left the port of Ganghwa Island and began to continue sailing south.All the way through Chungcheongnam-do, Jeollabuk-do, Jeollanam-do, and into the Jeju Strait.

Whether it is for the Haihan Fleet or Shen Xueyi, who joined temporarily, this place is no stranger. From here, sail four to five hundred miles southeast, and you will be the seat of the Japanese Hirado Clan.

Shen Xueyi can be considered a very patient person, and he finally asked Wang Tom about the fleet's next destination after arriving here.

"After crossing the Jeju Strait, we will go east, and after reaching the sea off Japan, we will head northeast along the coastline." Wang Tom explained the next voyage arrangement in simple language.

Shen Xueyi looked at the chart hanging on the bulkhead, and asked with some uncertainty: "Then our destination is...Ezodi?"

Wang Tom shook his head slowly and said: "Not necessarily...Ezo Land should go, maybe we will continue to go north after we get there."

Ezo is the ancient name of Hokkaido. At the end of the 16th century, the Matsumae clan established Fukuyama Castle locally, making Ezo a region directly under the shogunate, which was basically the northern end of Japan’s territory during this period.

Ezo is also a full two thousand miles away from the east coast of the Korean Peninsula, separated by the entire Sea of ​​Japan.For Shen Xueyi, it was just a geographical name, and he never thought that he would go to such an unreachable place one day.Of course, he didn't quite understand why Haihan was interested in such a remote place.

Shen Xueyi said: "I have heard that the Ezo land is very desolate. The Ainu people living there live by fishing and hunting. They make clothes from bird feathers and animal skins, and live in thatched huts. Their lives are very primitive. Why did General Wang plan to go there? kind of place?"

Wang Tom said: "You don't understand what I mean. Ezodi is just a stop in our itinerary, not the final destination. And the reason we went there is not to get anything from the local area, but to learn more about the unknown area. an act of exploration."

Shen Xueyi understood every word, but still didn't understand Tom Wang's meaning.If it wasn't for finding some precious things, would it be necessary to send thousands of people across the sea to such a distant place?

Looking at his expression, Tom Wang knew that Shen Xueyi hadn't understood the meaning of this action, so he patiently explained to him: "The sea chart you see is actually just a small part of the whole world. There are many unknowns in this world. The area is waiting for us to explore. To the north of Ezo, there is still a very vast area, with oceans, islands, land, and countless resources. These lands and resources currently have no real ownership. It depends on who has the ability to occupy these places in the future."

When Shen Xueyi heard this, he understood what Tom Wang meant.Haihan wants to find those areas that are not yet owned, and then take them as his own.But those places are already tens of thousands of miles away from Haihan Kingdom. Even if they are occupied, how to achieve effective rule and development is another problem that Shen Xueyi can't figure out.

Of course, it was difficult for Wang Tom to explain Haihan's grand goal to him. After all, there was a huge gap in the understanding of the world between the two sides, and it was impossible for Shen Xueyi to understand Haihan's way of expanding his sphere of influence.But that doesn't matter, as long as he can realize Haihan's strength in sailing.

Shen Xueyi looked at the chart, thought about what Tom Wang said just now, and finally couldn't help asking: "Then General Wang hasn't been there before? How did you draw this chart?"

Wang Tom laughed and said: "Our country has very powerful technology that can draw charts of the whole world, so no matter how far we go, we will have such charts as a reference for formulating routes. Although I have never been to shrimp It’s as far away as Yidi, but with such a chart, you don’t have to worry about getting lost at sea.”

Shen Xueyi was dumbfounded when he heard that, he actually didn't really believe that Haihan had such a powerful technique, but thinking about all the things since he came into contact with Haihan's army, he seemed to be verifying Wang Tom's statement.He remembered that when he went to scout the Hirado clan, he had seen the Haihan Army take out a detailed map of the area.And when the Haihan army sent troops to North Korea to fight against the Qing army earlier, the maps they used seemed to be more detailed than the maps drawn by North Korea itself.

Shen Xueyi thought about it again, Haihan Kingdom was thousands of miles away from North Korea, if it wasn't for his extraordinary ability in navigation, how could he send the army so far away from the mainland to fight.Even if Wang Tom was bragging, those maps and charts were not fake after all, which shows how good Hai Han is in this respect.

Shen Xueyi asked again: "Then since we are going to enter the coastal waters of Japan, will we have contact with the locals?"

Wang Tom shook his head and said: "We are not here to fight, and there is no need to have an armed conflict with Japan, so we will try our best to avoid trouble. Unless there is a need for supplies or shelter from storms, we will not take the initiative to rely on shore."

After hearing this answer, Shen Xueyi felt relieved, but at the same time was faintly disappointed.Although he basically confirmed that this fleet should not be performing combat missions before setting off on Jianghua Island, it would be a good arrangement in his opinion if he could teach the Japanese a lesson along the way.

Tom Wang pointed to the map and said, "The place we are going to next is the Hirado Domain."

Shen Xueyi's face changed slightly, and he thought to himself, could it be that Tom Wang was dissatisfied with the previous actions of the North Korean army, and wanted to verify the local situation in person.

Sure enough, Wang Tom continued: "Your actions only went to the Goto Islands before, and you failed to collect enough information on the current situation of Hirado Island, so this trip will stop by to see the situation of Hirado Island."

Judging from the situation when the Haihan army burned Hirado at the beginning, it would be difficult to restore Hirado Port to its previous state in just half a year, and it would take a long time to achieve it just to replenish the local population.It was originally intended for the North Koreans to provide intelligence information about the local situation through the attack, but it never occurred to the North Koreans to modify the action plan by themselves and never went to Hirado at all, so it was naturally difficult to confirm the local situation.

Since the North Koreans are unreliable, Wang Tom can only end in person.It just so happened that this trip was also passing by the Hirado Domain, so I simply went to confirm the local situation with my own eyes, so that I didn't have to worry about deviations in the process of collecting information.

However, due to the fact that there were more than ten comprehensive supply ships with relatively slow speeds in the fleet, it took another two days to reach the sea area north of the Goto Islands.

The fleet sailed slowly less than ten miles away from Ukushima, the northernmost of the Goto Islands. According to Shen Xueyi, the North Korean army had captured all the few residents on this island before, even if there were still people on the island who slipped through the net. The fish should be similar to the uninhabited island.

Fifty miles east of Ukushima is Hirado Island.Wang Tom didn't intend to deliberately hide his whereabouts. The Hirado navy had been wiped out in the last operation, and it was impossible to rebuild it in such a short period of time. Therefore, no one in the offshore area should be able to threaten the safety of the fleet.

It's just that the speed of the supply ship is slow, and it is not suitable for participating in reconnaissance operations. Tom Wang ordered four expedition-class warships to escort the supply ship to the northern waters. He personally led the flagship and two exploration-class warships to the Hirado Strait , to investigate the local conditions.

Some small fishing boats can already be seen on the sea near the shore in the strait, but when these fishing boats spotted the Majestic-class warship, they all ran away desperately, lest they be caught up by this evil star.

(End of this chapter)