1627 Rise of the South China Sea

Chapter 2351
It has been more than half a year since the Haihan Fleet blocked the Hirado Strait last time, but the people here obviously haven't forgotten these enemies who almost razed Hirado Port to the ground.As soon as the fishermen saw the Majestic-class warship approaching from a distance, they recognized the identity of the person who came, and immediately fled to the nearby coast at the fastest speed.

Of course, these fishing boats will not make the Haihan Navy afraid. Even if the fishermen fled back to the shore to warn, there is no way to prevent these warships from freely shuttling in the strait.After sailing into the strait, Wang Tom ordered to slow down the speed in order to better observe the situation on Hirado Island.

Wang Tom is no stranger to the landforms and sea conditions here in the Hirado Strait. When the Haihan Army attacked Hirado in the first half of the year, he personally led the fleet to perform combat missions here.In the field of vision of the telescope, every section of the east coast of Hirado Island can be clearly seen. If there are large ships like warships docking here, then such searches cannot be avoided.

Moreover, Haihan's observation direction was not limited to Hirado Island, but also arranged for careful observation of the coast of Kyushu Island on the other side of the strait.In order to ensure that there will be no omissions, Tom Wang even sent a boat to the west coast of Hirado Island to investigate, to ensure that the two waters of Boxiang Bay and Gujiang Bay, where the Hirado navy once appeared, would not be missed.

Of course, the focus of this trip is still Hirado Port and its adjacent urban areas.In the fight in the first half of the year, the Haihan army captured the port and the city, shipped everything they could take away, and then set fire to almost all the buildings in the city and the port.

The Hirado Clan was able to develop in military strength before, and even dared to call Ban Haihan, mainly relying on the large amount of wealth brought by the transnational trading platform of Hirado Port, but the actions of the Haihan Army completely destroyed Hirado Port. Naturally, the trade activities here are unsustainable.

After being destroyed by the war, the Hirado Port could not continue to operate transnational trade, which directly caused the Hirado Clan to lose considerable economic benefits, and it became extremely difficult for the Tagawa clan to make a comeback.The scene observed by the Haihan Army from the near shore also confirmed this speculation.

The harbor of Hirado Port is empty, and merchant ships from all over the world are not moored as before. The burned dock warehouses are still ruins, and there is no sign of reconstruction.Although the urban area in the distance is not very clear, since the port has not been rebuilt, it must be difficult for other places to be better.

Tom Wang put down the binoculars in his hand, turned to the side and asked, "Shen Xueyi, I'm going to give you a task, are you willing to take it?"

Shen Xueyi guessed Wang Tom's intentions in advance, and immediately responded: "I wish to lead the team ashore to investigate!"

Wang Tom was very satisfied with Shen Xueyi's initiative to challenge the battle, nodded and said: "Okay, I will send a platoon of people to command you, and go ashore to check the situation in the urban area. Don't go too far inland, just confirm the reconstruction status of the urban area. Return to the port to report back."

The Marine Corps under Wang Tom's command is originally an elite unit of the Haihan Army. Of course, there is no need for a North Korean officer to command the battle. This is not so much handing over the operational command to Shen Xueyi, but more like sending a team of people to protect him. personal safety.After all, Shen Xueyi's identity is not an ordinary North Korean military officer, and Wang Tom doesn't want any accidents to happen to him during this trip.

But arranging Shen Xueyi to participate in this kind of action that is not too risky, on the one hand, can let Shen Xueyi see the way the elites of the Haihan Army carry out reconnaissance missions, and on the other hand, it is also intentional to show trust in Shen Xueyi, so that he can better Integrate into the Haihan Army.

In addition, if Shen Xueyi came out this trip, if Wang Tom really treated him as a military observer, only responsible for observing and not participating in operations, then Shen Xueyi would have nothing to gain after returning, so it is better to arrange some low-risk tasks for him on the way, let him brush After gaining experience, after returning to China, he will have the capital to go to his father, Shen Jingzhen, to ask for credit.

Shen Xueyi was also a smart person, so he naturally understood that Tom Wang's arrangement was purely to take care of him, but Tom Wang didn't point it out, and of course he wouldn't take the initiative to tell the truth. After receiving the order, he followed Tom Wang's subordinates to make preparations.

The battleship put down several small boats near the shore, and the sailors paddled the boats slowly approaching the Hirado Port wharf.It was the first time for Shen Xueyi to set foot on the land of Hirado Island, and what he saw gave him a more specific understanding of the combat effectiveness of the Haihan Army.

Although he had already noticed the ruins of the port when he was observing from the ship, it was only when he got closer to these ruins that he really felt how powerful it is to completely destroy such a large port. thing.

There are hundreds of acres of ruins next to the pier. From the remaining parts, it is not difficult to see that all these buildings were originally of the same regulation and size.These buildings are not residences, but are all warehouses on the docks for storing various goods.However, when the Haihan army evacuated here, basically all the warehouses were emptied, so the ruins of these burned warehouses were empty, and shrubs and grasses two feet high had sprouted in many places.

After Shen Xueyi landed, he followed the team through the ruins of the pier.The soldiers who landed with him seldom talked aloud, and most of the time they exchanged information with various gestures, but their actions were quite tacit. After landing, they began to march towards the west city without stopping.

The soldiers kept a distance of about ten feet between them, and checked the ruins along the way as they walked. There were also a few stragglers wandering twenty or thirty feet away from the team. Shen Xueyi could only catch a glimpse of their figures occasionally when they were among the ruins. Hide and show.

Regardless of the direction of the march or the formation maintained during the march, no one asked Shen Xueyi, the "commander", for instructions. This also confirmed his previous thinking that Tom Wang did not really want to hand over the reconnaissance operations after landing Give him command. The reason why he was appointed as the commander is purely to give him a reason to participate in the operation.

But Shen Xueyi felt that this was good, otherwise the soldiers would not know the generals, and the generals would not know the soldiers, and it would be easy to cause problems when commanding.Moreover, the team that Wang Tom sent out were obviously veterans, and they did not move too fast, but they quietly sorted out the ruins of the warehouse with an area of ​​hundreds of acres along the way, which shows that they are very interested in such a situation. The reconnaissance mission has a wealth of operational experience, and it is clear how to execute such a mission with little need for on-the-spot communication.

The officer leading the team walked in front of Shen Xueyi, and from time to time made hand signals to the left and right to issue action instructions. With him as the core, the whole team slowly marched towards the city.Although Shen Xueyi had been in the Haihan Army for a while, it was the first time he saw this way of commanding actions with gestures. Apart from the novelty, he couldn't help but want to understand the meaning of these gestures. After returning to the boat after the operation, I wanted to find an opportunity to ask for advice.

The entire port area was terribly silent, only the fragmentary footsteps of this group of people marching, it seemed that the place they were in was really a no-man's land.However, this made Shen Xueyi feel more relaxed. No one means that there is no possibility of recovery here, and there will be no danger.

But when they entered the urban area, they quickly found signs of people living.Although there are still pieces of fire ruins as far as the eye can see, the streets here have obviously been cleaned up, unlike the port that has maintained its original appearance after the fire.

The fire that engulfed the entire city before was indeed astonishingly powerful. Looking around, the city was also full of scorched earth and ruins.In order to rebuild such a large urban area, the required labor force will not be small.The people in Hirado City were all taken away by the Haihan Army in the last operation, and it will take at least several years for the Hirado Domain to relocate so many people from other places.

In fact, such a situation is also expected, but Tom Wang must come to verify it in person before he can rest assured.As long as the Hirado clan cannot recover to their original strength in a short period of time, then there is no need to worry too much about their ability to form new armed forces.

For safety reasons, the team did not enter the depths of the urban area, but they have already found some newly built shacks on the edge of the urban area in their vision. Perhaps the people who fled to the mountains and forests on the island returned after the war. To live in the city.But as long as the population here doesn't increase, the wasteland scene in front of us may last for a long time.

The team didn't stay in the urban area much, and soon set foot on the return journey.Shen Xueyi thought that he would go to those shacks to capture some prisoners and interrogate them, but it seemed that the leading officer had no such plan.

It wasn't until after boarding the boat that the officer took the initiative to explain to Shen Xueyi: "Our task is to confirm that there is no sign of a comeback in Hirado Castle, and we can arrest a few civilians here for interrogation, and there is nothing to be learned from the interrogation."

Shen Xueyi said: "Don't we need to track down the whereabouts of Tian Chuanjie and others?"

The officer said: "Since there is no organizational reconstruction here, it means that Tian Chuansuke has not returned here."

When Shen Xueyi thought about it, it really made sense.The territory of the Hirado Clan is not limited to the Hirado Island, and there is also a large area on Kyushu Island that belongs to the Hirado Clan.If Tagawasuke wants to revive, it may not be a good idea to choose Hirado Port. After all, it is too eye-catching. Once the Haihan Army knows the news of Hirado’s reconstruction, it may cause the last explosion in Hirado at any time. The battle is repeated again.

Looking at the status quo of Hirado Island, it seems that this area has become an abandoned area. The Tagawa family probably does not intend to invest resources to restore this place to its former prosperity.

Back on the flagship, Shen Xueyi reported to Wang Tom in detail what he had observed on the shore.

Tom Wang's judgment was the same as that of the officer leading the team. He believed that Tagawa had not returned to Hirado Island to organize reconstruction after the war. He should have chosen another place to start a new one. It would be meaningless to track down Tagawa on the island.As for the scattered residents on the island, it is not worth sending a large force to the island to clean up.

However, Tom Wang did not forget the actions of the North Korean army before, and joked to Shen Xueyi: "Look, if you went directly to Hirado Island before, we can save a lot of time and don't have to come here for a while." Circled."

Shen Xueyi's face blushed, and he didn't argue much at the moment, only saying that Tom Wang taught him the right thing.At that time, the Korean army was worried that they would encounter the troops of the Hirado clan when they landed on Hirado Island, so they chose a safe method and only cleared remote areas such as the Goto Islands.But what I saw on the island today is that Hirado Island is in ruins, and there is no sign of troops stationed at all. If you had the courage to attack Hirado Island at that time, there would be no risk at all, and you can brag about it after returning home. Fan.

You must know that the last time North Korea took the initiative to send troops to attack Japan, it has to be traced back to the "Jihai Eastern Expedition" more than 200 years ago, when King Sejong Lee of North Korea sent troops to attack Tsushima Island.Although the war launched by the North Korean army against the Hirado Domain was a raid of a looting nature, which was not comparable to the scale of the Jihai Eastern Expedition, it was the first time in 200 years. If they could set foot on Hirado Island, it would be enough to be defeated. It's in the history books.

But if the opportunity is missed, it will be gone, and it is inconvenient for Shen Xueyi to say clearly that the modification of the action plan is the intention of the king Li Yi.He is the person sent by the king to supervise the battle in the army, and this blame can only be carried by him.

Later in the day, warships heading for reconnaissance off the west coast of Hirado Island also rushed over to join up with the main force.The situation in the two bays on the west coast is similar to that of Hirado Port. The shipyards that were previously burned by the Haihan Army have been abandoned, and there are no signs of any large ships operating in the area.

There are indications that the destruction measures implemented by the Haihan Army on Hirado Port had indeed played their due role, so that more than half a year later, the local area still failed to enter the reconstruction stage.This may be because Tagawasuke is afraid that the Haihan army will make a comeback at some point, or maybe he has more energy than he wants, and he does not have enough resources and manpower to rebuild Hirado, but in any case, this situation is considered a problem for Haihan. good news.

Shen Xueyi asked: "Will the general continue to track down the whereabouts of Tian Chuansuke?"

Wang Tom shook his head and said: "Without Hirado Port, Tagawasuke is just a mediocre person, and we can't make any big waves. We are enough to delay in Hirado for a day, there is no need to waste time here anymore, let's continue on our way important."

Local tyrants like the Hirado clan, which relied on the trading port, rose easily, but declined very quickly after being suppressed.What's more, the Tokugawa shogunate has long disliked Hirado Port and wanted to replace it with Nagasaki Port directly under the jurisdiction of the shogunate. Hirado was burned to ruins by the Haihan army. Maybe the current shogun Tokugawa Iemitsu knew the news And clap your hands.The Hirado Clan wants to regain momentum, with Haihan outside and the shogunate constantly putting pressure on it, these two mountains are not so easy to climb.

(End of this chapter)