1627 Rise of the South China Sea

Chapter 2451
Of course, the battle plan Tom Wang mentioned was only on paper. If Haihan really wanted to fight a national war-level war in Liaodong, the resources needed to prepare for the war in the early stage would also be astronomical.It is not difficult for the Haihan army to land in Gaizhou, but the 300-mile land route from Gaizhou to Shenyang will not be as easy as Wang Tom said, and it can be pushed all the way within three or four days.In this process, Haihan will not only consume ammunition and supplies, but also pay the lives of many soldiers.

For Haihan, there was really no need to fight to the death with the Manchus unless it was a last resort. There were large areas in the south that were easier to develop and govern, and there was no need to invest limited resources in the bitter cold north.Besides, if Manqing is really wiped out, the one who will benefit the most will not be Haihan, but Daming, who reaps the benefits of being a fisherman. The executive committee will not formulate such a strategy of sacrificing oneself for others.

But such a battle plan is of course very attractive in front of Yang Sichang. If the three countries join forces to attack the Manchu territory from the east, south and west at the same time, there is indeed a chance to defeat the Manchu.Of course, the premise is that Haihan must invest enough troops, otherwise, with the strength of Ming and North Korea, I am afraid that they will only be taken care of by the Qing army.

Yang Sichang actually hoped that the battle plan Wang Tom mentioned was not just to threaten the Manchu Qing to accept the terms of reconciliation, but a plan that could be actually put into practice, so that Daming would have the opportunity to complete his work in one battle.But rationality told him that it might not be that simple for the shrewd Haihan people to take the initiative to throw out such a plan that is obviously beneficial to Daming.

Yang Sichang said: "Then your country's battle plan, is it just a verbal threat, or will it really be implemented after the peace talks fail?"

Tao Donglai said with a smile: "If Manqing can be convinced that we will implement this battle plan, then there is no need to implement it."

Tao Donglai's words were a bit convoluted, but Yang Sichang understood his meaning immediately. If Manqing believed that this plan was true, he would not take the risk of going to war, but would choose to accept the existing reconciliation conditions.After all, the Haihan people were still unwilling to start a full-scale war, which made Yang Sichang a little disappointed.

Tao Donglai continued: "Master Yang, don't be disappointed. The present compromise is just to recharge your energy. When the time is right in the future, it won't be too late to take revenge on Man Qing."

Yang Sichang quickly adjusted his emotions and responded: "Master Tao is right, so I don't know how to proceed with the next negotiation?"

Tao Donglai said: "Master Yang only needs to act according to the plan and cooperate well."

Negotiations continued the next day.Shang Kexi, with red eyes, walked into the conference room, and found that the atmosphere was a bit different today. The representatives from the other three countries were already seated, and the three high-ranking officials from Haihan were all present today. The meaning of the tribunal.

After Shang Kexi sat down, Tao Donglai took the initiative to start the conversation: "Sir Shang, this meeting has been going on for more than ten days, but it seems that it has been stuck in your country, which made it impossible to reach the final agreement. We discussed it , think it is necessary to make your country aware of the seriousness of the situation."

When Shang Kexi heard that the three countries had "discussed", he secretly thought something was wrong, it was obvious that they were going to join forces to deal with him.But he was not sure what the other party's intentions were, so he responded forcefully: "It's not our country's unilateral responsibility that we can't reach an agreement, right? This Mr. Yang has been refusing to let go for so many days. Why didn't Mr. Tao persuade him?" He backed down a step?"

Tao Donglai did not respond to his question, and said to himself: "If your country is not willing to settle peacefully, then we can only be forced to use force. The wars and chaos caused by that time will be caused by the monks of your country." responsibility!"

Shang Kexi was really irritated, and said with a dark face: "Master Tao is very arrogant, even if you have the power of the Three Kingdoms, you may not be our opponent!"

What Tao Donglai was waiting for was Shang Kexi's harsh words, and immediately said to Wang Tom: "Then show Master Shang our solution by force."

Tom Wang stood up, went to the wall and opened the map to start explaining.The battle plan he described was basically the same as what he said to Yang Sichang last night, the difference was mainly in the addition of attacks from east and west directions.

On the eastern front, the North Korean army acted as the main force, crossing the river from Uiju to attack the Manchu and Qing towns in the lower reaches of the Yalu River.But there is no big city in this area, and there are four hundred miles of mountains between Shenyang and Shenyang. Fighting here will not even encounter the main force of the Qing army, so the difficulty of this task is more suitable for the North Korean army.Anyway, Haihan didn't expect the North Korean army to go through the hundreds of miles of mountainous area to attack the city of Shenyang, and handing over the Eastern Front to the North Koreans would give them a sense of participation.

The west route is in charge of the Ming army. According to Wang Tom's explanation, Ming will gather 30 troops on the west front and send troops from Shanhaiguan, Yongping Prefecture.If the Qing army transferred its main force to the South Road to intercept the Haihan army who had landed in Gaizhou, then the Ming army could take advantage of the gap and attack Shenyang.

"Even if you make a three-way attack, I, Daqing, can split up and block the attack, and I won't let you succeed!" After listening to Wang Tom's explanation, Shang Kexi felt a little flustered in his heart, but he didn't give in at all.

The North Korean army's combat power is limited, and the front line is located in a remote mountainous area, so it can't threaten Shenyang at all, and it can be ignored for Shang Kexi. The 30 Ming army sounds a bit scary, and the terrain west of Jinzhou is open, so it must be guarded against. At least 10,000+ troops must be prepared to intercept on the western front.

It was Haihan who really worried Shang Kexi. If Haihan invested heavily in the southern line, the Qing army might not be able to stop the opponent. Thinking back to when the Haihan army attacked Jinzhou, they pushed all the way from Lushun to the Jinzhou defense line. In North Korea, it was pushed from the Datong River to the Yalu River in one breath. Its strength and ferocity in combat made many Qing army generals still turn pale.

As if seeing through Shang Kexi's plan, Wang Tom continued: "I'm not afraid to tell Mr. Shang that our country is going to dispatch [-] rifle infantry, [-] artillery, [-] cavalry, and [-] navy, totaling [-] troops. If your country feels If you can withstand this wave of offensive, then you might as well give it a try!"

Qian Tiandun also said at this time: "In order to let Lord Shang have a reference for comparison, let me tell you another old story... the year before last, when we fought against the Qing army in North Korea, our country only invested [-] troops on the banks of the Datong River. I think Mr. Shang should still remember the results of the battle at that time."

After crossing the river, the Qing army went down several cities and reached the front line of the Datong River without much effort, but encountered strong resistance from the Haihan army here, and the [-] Qing army could not break through the Haihan army's position in the hail of bullets. In the end, he had to give up his plan to conquer North Korea in despair.At that time, the high-level Qing army estimated that at least [-] to [-] Haihan troops had assembled on the front line of the Datong River, but they did not expect that the actual strength was much smaller.Although it is not ruled out that Qian Tiandun deliberately underreported the strength of his troops to provide misleading information, the gap in combat effectiveness between the two armies does exist objectively. As far as the offensive and defensive positions are concerned, the Haihan Army can indeed rely on its superior weapons and equipment and a complete positional structure. When facing the Qing army, one against ten.

But fortunately, Haihan was limited by objective conditions, and it has been unable to deploy more troops in the direction of Liaodong. Therefore, although Man Qing was afraid of the combat power of Haihan army and avoided confronting it head-on, he did not think that Haihan would really fight against it. Threatening its own dominance in the Liaodong region.

But if Haihan really invested more troops in Liaodong, and wanted to fight a head-to-head national war with the Manchu Qing, what would happen?According to the comparison of the strength of the last match in North Korea, to resist the offensive of the [-] Haihan army, the Manchu Qing would have to prepare ten times the strength to be considered a bit confident, but the problem is that the current national strength of the Manchu Qing is simply not enough. It is impossible to organize such a large-scale armed force.Unless all the old, young, women and children are brought to the battlefield, but if we do that, the Qing Dynasty will have collapsed before the war starts.

Of course, Shang Kexi didn't know how many troops Haihan had, and he couldn't be sure whether Haihan really had the courage to invest heavily in Liaodong, but this matter was related to the fate of the country, and he didn't dare to make a decision to gamble on it.

Tom Wang hit the rails while it was hot: "If Mr. Shang feels that this is not sincere enough, then our country can also organize a multinational coalition force to join the war. Annan and Champa in the direction of the South China Sea, as well as Portugal and the Netherlands from the west, many countries will be willing to send troops. Participate in the military operations organized by our country. I heard that your country also invited officers from a certain western country to train the Qing army, so I must have told your country how the city of Manila in the South China Sea was breached by the multinational coalition forces, right?"

It is no secret that the Qing army invited the Spaniards to train musketeers, and the capture of the city of Manila by the multinational coalition led by Haihan was a painful experience for the Spaniards.Although the significance of the multinational coalition is just icing on the cake, not the main force on the battlefield, the effect of deterring opponents is first-class.Three countries are not enough, so let's add a bunch more. Anyway, Haihan has enough chips, and Man Qing, who is located in the north, can't figure out the military strength of these Haihan's allies.

Shang Kexi has already said the harsh words before, and it would be embarrassing to be subdued now, and said with a gloomy face: "I thought the Golden State Conference was held for the purpose of peace talks among all countries, but I didn't expect that your country actually wanted to use this occasion to declare war!"

Tao Donglai said: "It's not a declaration of war, but I think Mr. Shang has not understood the current situation, so I want to help Mr. Shang see the situation earlier and make the right decision."

Shang Kexi said: "In Master Tao's opinion, what is the correct decision?"

Tao Donglai said: "Give up the unrealistic conditions, despite signing a formal peace agreement with our three countries."

Shang Kexi shook his head and said: "The conditions proposed by Daming are absolutely impossible to realize. Even if I agree in Jinzhou, I will not be able to pay the emperor after returning."

Although Shang Kexi still did not agree to make concessions, there was an obvious loosening of words.Tao Donglai continued: "How about taking a step back from both sides? Following the agreement reached with our country, Shanhaiguan will be used as the boundary, and the inside of the pass will be the territory of the Ming Dynasty. A buffer zone of [-] miles will be set up outside it. Neither side is allowed to garrison troops in this area. As for the claim for compensation, the two countries cancel it together.”

Shang Kexi said: "Isn't this just to make our country retreat a hundred miles from the control area? Then our country will suffer a big loss!"

Tao Donglai shook his head and said: "That's not the case. Doing so can win precious peace for your country and avoid a war of annihilation."

Shang Ke said angrily: "Do you want to fight if you don't agree?"

Tao Donglai said: "We all believe that if we cannot achieve peaceful coexistence, it is better to solve the problem once and for all than to confront the Qing army in Liaodong year after year. Of course, we will not choose this solution unless it is a last resort. , After all, peace is the most important thing!"

Tao Donglai had a smile on his face when he spoke, but Shang Kexi felt like falling into an ice cave when he heard these words. He knew that the other party must have made a plan long ago and waited for the time to come Make this move.The reason why he has been holding back for the past ten days is probably also observing his own strategy, making sure that he has no other cards to play, and only then did he show his true colors.

Looking back on the negotiation process these days, Shang Kexi found that it didn't take too long for him to reach an agreement with Haihan and North Korea, presumably the other party had already arranged for Daming to hold him back.If the negotiation is successful, none of the other three countries will suffer, and there is no need to worry about the invasion of the Qing army in the future.If the negotiation fails, the three countries will send troops to attack the Qing Dynasty together. Although there are risks, there is also a great opportunity to solve the problem in one fell swoop.From this point of view, no matter what the final result of this meeting is, the opponent will gain and lose.

Yang Sichang was also very moved. He knew that if he negotiated with the Qing Dynasty by himself, it would be impossible to get a satisfactory result anyway, but the effect of the Haihan people's action was indeed different. It seemed that Shang Kexi had been bluffed.

When Wang Tom explained the plan to him yesterday, he didn't mention the details of military strength, but today he suddenly added this aspect.Yang Sichang didn't know whether Haihan was capable of deploying 30 troops in Liaodong, but it would take several months or even longer to complete the mobilization of troops and supplies if Daming wanted to concentrate [-] troops to the north, and the cost would be huge It is simply impossible to estimate.And if you really want to do it later, you will have to spend at least a million taels of silver.For such a big move, the Ming treasury may not be able to last for too long. If it cannot be resolved quickly, it is very likely that both sides will suffer in the end.

But if Da Ming and Man Qing fight to the death, will Hai Han be left with a chance to make a profit?You must know that if you land from Dagu Port in Bohai Bay, the distance to the capital is almost the same as the distance between Gaizhou and Shenyang City, which is about [-] miles. If the Haihan Army is capable of attacking Shenyang, it means They have the ability to attack the capital.

It is said to be a peace negotiation, but if Haihan intends to use this to provoke the Qing army to go to war, so what?The Qing army couldn't beat Haihan, so naturally they could only find soft persimmons in the end, and Daming happened to be the soft persimmons that were already ripe and within reach.

In just a moment, many weird thoughts flashed through Yang Sichang's mind.He didn't know if his thoughts were unfounded worries, but at this moment, he really felt the danger and fear of people like Hai Han, which was no less than that of the generals of the Qing army sitting opposite.

(End of this chapter)