1627 Rise of the South China Sea

Chapter 2452
Only Tao Donglai and the three present knew that at this stage, Haihan had absolutely no ability to gather 5 combat troops in Liaodong.In fact, the current total strength of the Haihan Army is far from [-]. Even if troops from all over the country are assembled and transported to Liaodong, it will not reach the level that Wang Tom boasted.What's more, to transport such a large number of troops to the north to fight, the materials and transport capacity required are also unbearable for Haihan.

But even though it was just a trick on paper, the actual effect was very good. Shang Kexi's attitude was obviously much softened than before. After all, he was also a general who led troops to fight, and he knew exactly what it would mean for fifty thousand Haihan troops to appear in Liaodong.Even if the probability of this situation is not high, he dare not bet on the national security of Man Qing.

Haihan's biggest advantage in this negotiation is not military strength, but his control over intelligence information.The passage to the sea of ​​the Manchus in the east of Liaodong was basically completely blocked by Haihan. It was difficult to collect detailed military information about the opponent, and it was impossible to judge whether Haihan could complete the military deployment that Wang Tom said.However, Haihan can roughly judge the military strength of the Manchus at this stage based on historical materials and various intelligences, and then outline a targeted combat plan to deter the Manchus.

Of course, this kind of deterrence is based on the record of the Haihan army fighting against the Qing army over the years. Otherwise, let alone [-] Haihan army, even if the strength is doubled, it may not be able to scare the Qing army.If it were Kim Sang-heon of North Korea to brag about this bullshit, then Shang Kexi would probably just treat it as a joke, and maybe deliberately provoke him a few more words, using it as an excuse for the next military strike against North Korea.

Yang Sichang was also not sure whether Haihan was trying to scare the Manchus or whether he was really planning to take the opportunity to start a war, but he knew that if Daming did not cooperate with sending troops, it would not be easy for Haihan to deal with the Manqings. From Daming's standpoint, perhaps It is the smartest way to drive away tigers and eat wolves and try to make the two countries fight to the death.

However, the most urgent thing for Ming at the moment is to gain a breathing space for himself. Yang Sichang can only force the Manchu Qing to make concessions and reach a settlement only by cooperating with Haihan's strategy.So he did not hesitate to help, saying that Ming Dynasty was ready to go to war. If the talks in Jinzhou failed to reach an agreement, then Da Ming would devote all its power to a decisive battle with the Qing Dynasty.

"If 30 troops are not enough, then increase the number of troops until the Qing army can be defeated! My Ming Dynasty has a vast territory and has millions of soldiers. Could it not be enough for you!" A good hand, with a stern look, people will not doubt his position in the slightest.

In fact, it is gratifying to know about the military strength of Ming Dynasty. In terms of military strength, it is indeed quite a lot, but in terms of combat power, it is so-so. A considerable part of the guards in the country have the same combat power as militias, and cannot be regarded as regular troops.But if Daming is really determined to fight against Manqing for his national strength, then Manqing really can't take advantage of it, not to mention the Haihan Army is watching, and he may attack at any time.

Shang Kexi’s mission on this trip is to negotiate a peace, but if the terms of the settlement exceed the scope of his authorization, then he will not be able to make a decision in Golden State.So when the talks ended at noon that day, he took the initiative to ask Tao Donglai to suspend the negotiations for a few days, so that he could have enough time to ask the rear for instructions before making a final reply to the other three countries.

If they don't agree to the conditions, they will fight immediately. Haihan's tough attitude has left no room for Manqing to turn around. Let Shang Kexi ask for instructions from the rear, and this situation will not change.But Tao Donglai graciously agreed to Shang Kexi's request, saying that he could give him ten days to reply.Even though Shenyang is more than 700 miles away from Jinzhou, ten days is enough time for the courier to go back and forth.

Of course, Tao Donglai was so generous, except that the Manchus had no other trump cards, and the other was to allow time for the Haihan army to further put pressure on the Manchus during the days when the negotiations were suspended.

Yang Sichang heaved a sigh of relief, at least so far, Haihan has not shown any signs of betraying Daming, and the situation he was worried about when he came here has not appeared.However, he still wrote a memorial overnight, explaining the progress of the current negotiations, and sent someone across the sea to send him back to the capital. He believed that such news would put the Chongzhen Emperor, who was anxiously waiting in the Forbidden City, in a good mood.

However, Yang Sichang did not expect that although Haihan agreed to suspend the negotiations, he did not stop related actions.The next day, Tao Donglai invited him again to go out to sea for inspection.As for what the inspection target is, Tao Donglai didn't take the initiative to mention it, but just told him not to bring too many followers, and to control it within three people.

In fact, Yang Sichang could probably guess a little bit. He knew that most of the Haihan people wanted to show off their force. They all said that the Haihan navy was invincible, so it would be no harm to take this opportunity to take a look.

From Nanguanling Daying, we took a special car to a certain wharf in Dalian Bay, and then accompanied by Tao Donglai, we boarded a large ship docked on the shore.Yang Sichang was not surprised to find that the North Korean envoy Kim Sang-heon was also on board.But to his disappointment, this ship was not a warship, but Tao Donglai's personal boat.

"Because we have to go to sea for several days, the living conditions on the battleship are not very comfortable. I am worried that you will not live comfortably, so I arranged for you to take this ship." Tao Donglai briefly explained the reason.

However, Yang Sichang didn't quite believe this reason. He thought that such an arrangement should be just to prevent the leakage of various advanced technologies on the warship.And Jin Shangxian had already boarded the Haihan warship, so naturally he didn't have any complaints about such an arrangement, but thanked Tao Donglai for his thoughtfulness.

It wasn't until after unmooring and sailing that Yang Sichang noticed that there were more than [-] warships moored on the nearby coast with this ship. This was not an unusual scene.

As Minister of the Ministry of War, Yang Sichang was naturally aware of the situation of the Daming Navy. Compared with the huge warships like Haihan, the Daming Navy did seem a bit weak.The firepower deployed by a large battleship like the Majestic class can be equal to the total fleet of the Great Ming Navy.And the navy of the Manchu Qing Dynasty was almost all the Ming troops who defected from Shandong and Pidao. Naturally, they couldn't beat the large warships like Haihan. No wonder the entire Liaodong coast was given by Haihan in just a few years Got it under control.

The fleet did not display its firepower at sea as Yang Sichang thought, and soon sailed out of Dalian Bay, and then turned southwest.Only then did Tao Donglai inform them that they were now going to Lushun Port.

Although he didn't know why Haihan made such an arrangement, Yang Sichang didn't panic. Lushun Port was said to have been built into a heavily guarded military port by the Haihan people. Maybe he could collect some useful information if he visited it.

The voyage from Dalian Bay to Lushun Port is about a hundred miles, and they will not arrive in a short while. Tao Donglai asked everyone to go back to the cabin to rest, and then leave the cabin for activities when they arrive at the place.

The Haihan Fleet was sailing at an extremely fast speed, and it was already near Lushun Port before lunch time.The guests Yang Sichang and Jin Shangxian were also called to the deck to watch the situation at sea together with Tao Donglai and Wang Tom.However, the fleet did not sail into the harbor, but joined another fleet that had already left the port and waited here, and then continued to sail southwest.

Yang Sichang noticed that there were more than forty warships in the fleet at this time, and if supply ships were added, the number would almost double.Such a large scale should be the true strength of the Haihan Northern Fleet.

Sure enough, Tao Donglai took the initiative to introduce: "What you are seeing now is the main force of our northern fleet. The blockade and attack on the Liaodong coast in recent years are also the credit of this fleet."

Yang Sichang asked: "Then Master Tao must have asked us to watch the fleet drill here?"

Tao Donglai shook his head and said, "That's not true. We will go to another place with the fleet. But the place is a little farther away, and we won't be there until tomorrow."

Yang Sichang calculated the voyage silently in his heart, and he already had a preliminary judgment.But at present, he is still not sure whether the destination is as he expected. He has to look at the course for the next half day before he can know.

After the fleet sailed past the Laotie Mountain at the southernmost tip of Jinzhou, it circled along the coastline and headed north. This made Yang Sichang basically confirm his inference that the destination of the Haihan fleet should be the one they announced earlier. The landing site is located in Gaizhou on the west side of the Liaodong Peninsula.He was worried that Tao Donglai's destination was the Dagukou area on the west side of Bohai Bay, but now he was greatly relieved.

Gaizhou is not an administrative state in the traditional sense, but the abbreviation of Gaizhou Wei.According to the demarcation during the Hongwu period of the Ming Dynasty, Boluopu in the north, Bajiapu in the south, and Xiuyan in the east are all under the jurisdiction of Gaizhouwei. Its territory includes Gaizhou City, Xiongzhou City, Yongning Supervisor City and Fifty Walled Forts. Wait for nine castles.But now these places and fortresses have been occupied by the Manchu Qing, and Yang Sichang is not sure about the specific situation.

Seeing dozens of Haihan warships stretching for several miles on the sea, Yang Sichang suddenly had an idea. Could it be that the [-] troops claimed by the Haihan people had already arrived in the north, so they must first make a gesture of overwhelming the border. Once the Qing Dynasty refuses to accept the terms of reconciliation , the Haihan people will use force immediately.

However, he quickly overturned this idea. If the Haihan people really planned to raid Gaizhouwei, why bother to confess the battle plan to Shang Kexi in yesterday's negotiation.Going north to Gaizhou at this time should be to put pressure on the Manchu Qing, rather than really planning to go to war.

But even if they knew that Haihan would not go to war easily, seeing an armed fleet of this size cruising in the sea, no one would think it was a friendly gesture.When Man Qing discovered such a situation, he must have hurriedly mobilized troops to Gaizhou fortification.Otherwise, if Haihan seized Gaizhou, the main supply line between the Qing Dynasty and the Jinzhou front would be cut off.

The fleet traveled northward overnight, crossed Liaodong Bay from south to north that night, and arrived in the waters near Gaizhou the next morning.It has been a long time since Man Qing's own ships have been active in this area, so a fleet of this size is naturally very conspicuous when it appears in the offshore.But Wang Tom was afraid that he would not attract the attention of the shore, so he specially ordered the fleet to approach the coastline, making a gesture of landing here.Sure enough, smoke rose from the shore soon, using this primitive method to send a warning to the garrison points in the distance.

"They're starting to move, so let them be busy for a while." Tao Donglai was quite satisfied with the quick response on the shore, and deliberately exposed his whereabouts to let the other party know that Haihan's fleet was approaching the city. Manchu Qing refused the terms of the peace talks, and an all-out war could break out at any time.

Yang Sichang was only envious of such a scene. Although the Ming Dynasty also had a navy establishment, it no longer had the ability to carry out large-scale cross-sea landing operations, and it was even more impossible for the Manchu defenders to send out a signal for help in such a panic.

Kim Sang-heon had already started flattering and praising Hai Han, but he didn't encourage the Hai Han army to launch a landing.If we really do something at this juncture, then the previous half month of peace talks will be in vain.

Since the Qing army did not have a navy fleet, the Haihan Navy basically did not have to worry about safety issues when it came to activities here. Wang Tom also transferred several warships to guard near the mouth of the Liao River. On the one hand, he made a plan to go upstream. The posture, on the other hand, is to prevent the Qing army from sneaking out of the Liaohe River with civilian ships to attack.

Gaizhou is only about [-] miles away from Shenyang. It is a gratifying return. At this time, Gaizhou should not have arrived, so the news that the Haihan fleet is approaching Gaizhou should be sent back to Shenyang first, and the situation of the Jinzhou negotiations It will be more than half a day late to deliver to Shenyang.In this way, Man Qing felt that Hai Han did not want to endure the long tug-of-war of negotiations, and was ready to go to war.

But would Manchu choose to surrender because of this?In fact, Hai Han didn't have full confidence.Tao Donglai and others have never dealt with Huang Taiji directly, and the judgment of his behavior style can only rely on some historical records.Of course, the most important thing to rely on is that the Manchu Qing initiated the peace talks, which shows that Huang Taiji did not want to go to war with Haihan, and this should be one of the most fearful factors.

It has to be said that Man Qing's reaction was still very fast. In less than an hour, a cavalry team of about a hundred people appeared on the coast.It can be seen through the telescope that these cavalry are equipped with knives and bows, fully equipped, and can be ready for battle in such a short period of time. It can be seen that the Qing army stationed nearby is also well-trained.

The cavalrymen of the Qing army were shocked when they saw so many warships suddenly approaching the sea. However, Haihan did not take the initiative to launch an offensive, and the cavalrymen lingered all the time, and the two sides faced each other just like this.

(End of this chapter)