1627 Rise of the South China Sea

Chapter 320 Dong Yanyun's Borrowing Plan
The procurement items and procurement scope given by "Haihan Military Industry" made the buyers who came here excitedly frustrated.Ammunition, they can actually make it themselves. If it weren't for the consideration that the two sides would need to deal with the arms trade for a long time in the future, who would spend so much money to buy high-priced ammunition from the Haihan people?

Of course, even the pickiest buyers can’t deny that in terms of ammunition manufacturing process and use effect, Haihan’s original ammunition is indeed much better than the counterfeit products imitated by buyers themselves.Using the same amount of propellant, the range of the original product is nearly a quarter longer than that of the counterfeit product, and such a distance is enough for the warring parties to decide between life and death.

As for the artillery, Haihan’s original fire tube is indispensable. With this thing, you don’t have to consider the shooting error caused by the ignition delay of the fuse when firing the gun, and you don’t have to worry about the damp fuse being extinguished halfway. Things like falling out happened.As long as this thing has been used, the artillerymen are unwilling to use the old-fashioned fuse again, and the buyers have to hold their noses to bear the high price offered by the Haihan people.Moreover, the fire tube is sold together with the original propellant pack and cast iron shells. If you want to buy a fire tube, you have to buy a certain amount of ammunition first. Even if the buyers are not very willing, they can only obediently pay for it.

After repeatedly confirming that artillery cannot be purchased at present, the North Vietnamese mission resentfully ordered [-] matchlock guns and a batch of ammunition.But for the time being, they can only owe this money in the form of a loan. After all, the follow-up expenses of the battle two months ago have not been settled yet, and now they really can't come up with enough cash to buy the arms of the Haihan people.Years of war and the huge trade deficit with the Traversing Group have made the North Vietnamese regime, which has controlled thousands of miles of territory, be in a weak position in this transaction of unequal strength between the two sides.

Although the current North Vietnamese regime has achieved a certain degree of victory in the civil war and has taken the initiative, those in power are also very aware that the current favorable situation is inseparable from the support of the Haihan people. Some things that they know will suffer, they can only choose with closed eyes accept.For example, the crossing group's stronghold in Annan has developed from the original black soil port to the current three ports. The control area has basically covered the coastline of North Vietnam, and the permanent military force will continue to increase within the year.

Looking at the black faces of all the North Vietnamese missions, Yan Chujie, the military representative, comforted him and said, "My lord, it is not weapons that determine the outcome of a war, but people, and a well-trained army is the key to success." Your hope of unifying Annan, as for more sophisticated weapons, is just to make this process smoother."

Zheng Zuo sighed: "I don't know the truth of what General Yan said? It's just that the training period of this firearms unit lasts for several months. If you want to form a considerable combat power, you must train as many soldiers as possible at a time. Now your side Not enough weapons can be provided, and the speed of our formation has to be slowed down."

"It's not a big problem to be slow." Yan Chujie said with a smile: "Your country and our side are brothers and sisters. As long as your side needs to fight, we can organize another expeditionary force at any time to help you attack the South Vietnamese rebels."

"It's...it's better not to dispatch your army frequently." Zheng Zuo quickly declined Yan Chujie's "good intentions".

The North Vietnam, which was desperate last time, hired the Haihan militia to fight across the sea regardless of the consequences. Although they won the battle in the end, the economy suffered a lot because of this, and they had to pay Haihan Fang an expensive military expenditure.After the war, some high-level figures in North Vietnam believed that if the money from hiring the Haihan militia was used to buy arms, then North Vietnam alone had a great chance of defeating its opponents on the frontal battlefield.There is nothing wrong with thinking this way, but these people ignore that even if they could spend so much money at that time, Haihan did not have enough weapons to sell; even if Haihan had so many weapons in his inventory, the Haihan people Considering the long-term interests, they may not be willing to meet their purchase requirements; even if they were sold, the situation at that time did not have enough time for North Vietnam to train a firearms unit.

Although there were still some objections in Annan's country as to whether the Haihan militia should be hired to fight across the sea at that time, there is a point of view that all parties agree on - unless it is a last resort, you can no longer spend money to hire the Haihan militia to fight .Although it is said that fighting is money, the military expenditure of the Haihan Militia is no longer the level of spending money, but burning money. In less than a month of fighting, the military expenditure of the North Vietnamese military for more than half a year has been burned, and it is still owed. A pile of debt.Although South Vietnam lost this game, at most it was just a muscle injury, not to the point of breaking bones. The two sides will still have to fight in the next few years. Preparations for selling iron to pay for military expenses.

Of course, for this problem, Haihan's side also provided a solution early on - if the money is not enough, then use food, manpower, and various resources that North Vietnam can sell to offset the price.If even these are not enough, there is an ultimate solution - ceding land, even directly exchanging land for arms or other forms of military assistance can be discussed, the executive committee will not dislike too many colonies under its rule.

Naturally, those in power in North Vietnam would not accept this kind of trick now, and they worked hard to organize the army and civilians to fight against the rebels in the south. Could it be that they wanted to give the Haihan people bit by bit the territory they won?Even though Haihan Fang has hinted several times that as long as the territory is ceded, the arms price can be "appropriately adjusted", North Vietnam has always insisted on this aspect and has not let go.

Although Dong Yanyun, the emissary sent by Fujian, already knew about Haihan's superiority in armaments and weapons, this was the first time he heard that the Haihan people sent their militia across the sea to fight in Annan, and they won a complete victory .Judging by the polite attitude of the North Vietnamese envoys, they must have been convinced by the Haihan militia's performance on the battlefield.

Compared with the cautiousness of the North Vietnamese envoy, Dong Yanyun's confidence was much stronger.Before coming to Shengli Port this time, he had already received a secret letter from Xu Xinsu to send his horse to Guangzhou, and he had obtained extremely high authority to act.Xu Xinsu allowed Dong Yanyun to decide whether to implement as long as it was a useful measure to defeat the "Eighteen Zhi".As for the money, there is no upper limit for Dong Yanyun at all—as a super big merchant who controls most of the export trade along the coast of Fujian, the wealth under Xu Xinsu's name is not at the level of ordinary rich merchants, and the annual income is as much as hundreds of dollars. In two ways, in terms of economic strength alone, it far exceeds the other dozen or so shareholders of "Qiong Lianfa", and even the Time Travel Group is not its opponent.

If the "Eighteen Zhi" can be defeated by spending money, then Xu Xinsu probably would not hesitate to use a considerable part of his silver inventory as a weapon.As long as the stumbling block of "Eighteen Zhi" is gone, the entire coastal area of ​​Fujian, including the Taiwan Strait area, as well as the waterways to Ryukyu and Japan, will all return to Xu Xinsu's hands. At that time, Jianyinku may not be able to keep up The speed at which money is deposited into the account.

After watching the military exercise the day before, Dong Yanyun felt like a cat scratching his head.Although it was just a military exercise, when Dong Yanyun was in Fujian, he had seen the officers and soldiers of his lord who were turned into pirates, and he had also seen the real officers and soldiers of the Ming Dynasty. It is not as good as the militia practiced by the Haihan people.Relying on fierce artillery fire and a complete combat command system, the Haihan people completed the landing operations with ease. Dong Yanyun thought that if the defenders were their own troops, their performance would probably not be as good as those targets destroyed by the Haihan militia during the exercise. where to go.

If it weren't for the fact that the Haihan militia had so little manpower, Dong Yanyun would have thought that these guys were planning to rebel in Yazhou.Fortunately, at present, it seems that the Haihan people have no plans in this regard, and the relationship with Yazhou officials can be described as very harmonious.I heard that Zhang Tongpan, who came to Shengli Port this time, will take over the post of governor of Yazhou within this year. Judging from the attitude of the Haihan people towards him, it should also be related to wearing a pair of pants.Therefore, Dong Yanyun didn't quite understand what the Haihan people wanted to do with such a powerful private army before. It wasn't until today on this private occasion that he realized that the Haihan militia had already been on the real battlefield, and it was Being invited to go abroad to fight is completely different from ordinary folk training.

Dong Yanyun has never witnessed the strength of Annan's army, but he is a well-informed scholar. He knows that the Yuan and Ming dynasties made many southern expeditions to Annan and ended in failure. The Ming army died in Annan's battle. There were tens of thousands of soldiers, and finally had to withdraw their troops angrily, acknowledging Annan's independence in disguise.In terms of historical performance, the strength of Annan's army is probably not inferior to that of the Ming army. In order to win the civil war, the Annan people actually found the Haihan people, not to mention buying weapons and borrowing mercenaries. The combat power of the Han militia is quite recognized.

A very bold idea came to Dong Yanyun's mind: If the Annan people can hire them, so can I. After buying so many arms, why can't they hire an army to go to Fujian to help them fight?
While the North Vietnamese mission was inspecting the musket samples, Dong Yanyun quietly pulled Yan Chujie aside and asked, "General Yan, may I ask if it is true that you sent militiamen to fight in Annan?"

Yan Chujie said vaguely: "We just sent some military advisers to provide some strategic planning for the North Vietnamese army's operations as a reference. The specific combat tasks are still completed by the North Vietnamese army."

Dong Yanyun said: "Why did General Yan lie to me? You should be able to find out about this militia group's expedition in Shengli Harbor just by asking, right?"

Seeing that he couldn't get around, Yan Chujie simply asked directly, "Then what does Boss Dong have in mind?"

Dong Yanyun said: "I just want to inquire about how we can invite your militia group to fight in Fujian."

"Fujian?" Although Yan Chujie was always serious, he couldn't help but feel a little moved after hearing Dong Yanyun's words: "Boss Dong means..."

"Since your militia can go to Annan to fight, they must also go to Fujian?" Dong Yanyun twisted the beard on his chin and said unhurriedly: "General Yan must also know that my lord has been working hard to wipe out the '[-]' in recent years." Zhi', but the gang of pirates headed by Zheng Yiguan is also quite powerful and has been fighting stubbornly. If you can get your help, I believe that the defeat of the 'Eighteen Zhi' is just around the corner!"

Yan Chujie thought to himself, you think I don't know about the fighting situation in Fujian, if it wasn't for "Fu Ruifeng" who deliberately let "Fu Ruifeng" sell weapons to you since last year, the person who is now stubbornly resisting should be Xu Xinsu, right?

Seeing that Yan Chujie was silent, Dong Yanyun thought that he was waiting for him to offer a condition, so he continued: "We can bear all the military expenditures of your militia, including the post-war pensions and rewards. If Yan Chujie The general has some additional requirements, that's easy to discuss."

Dong Yanyun deliberately emphasized the pronunciation of the word "extra", reminding Yan Chujie not to miss the point.Yan Chujie was secretly amused, and thought to himself, do you think this Haihan militia is my private army, Yan Chujie?If I buy it, I can pull the troops to Fujian to fight?
Yan Chujie coughed dryly and said, "Boss Dong, things are not as simple as you think. Our militia group went to Annan, which was a decision made after the executive committee met and discussed. In our case, what the military chief says doesn't matter, everything The decision of the Executive Committee shall prevail!"

"Then how can we get the Executive Committee to agree to this matter? I would like to ask General Yan to enlighten me." Dong Yanyun continued to ask.

"With all due respect, I don't think the executive committee will agree to such a thing as going to Fujian to fight." Yan Chujie said lightly, puncturing Dong Yanyun's fantasy.

Dong Yanyun frowned, and emphasized again: "If it is an expense, then everything is negotiable."

"It's not about money." Yan Chujie shook his head and said, "We sent troops to Annan because there are three ports belonging to us in Annan, there are thousands of naturalized people working for the executive committee, and there are people who are closely related to us. Interests exist. For us, Annan cannot be ignored and must be protected.”

Yan Chujie didn't finish his sentence, but Dong Yanyun had already understood what he meant.Annan has Haihan's interests, so he sent troops to help North Vietnam at the request.The situation in Fujian is completely different. Although the two parties have established a trade relationship now, and Dong Yanyun has also invested in "Qiong Lianfa" on behalf of Xu Xinsu Group, but to be serious, apart from Xu Xinsu, the current customer The Han side does not have any real interests in Fujian.

It is true that Xu Xinsu is rich, but sometimes money is not everything. It is indeed not easy for a master like Haihan who is also rich and powerful to use money to hire them to do things.After figuring this out, Dong Yanyun felt that if someone found Xu Xinsu and said that he was hired to send troops to fight in Qiongzhou Island, Xu Xinsu might beat him out as a lunatic.Of course, I will definitely not be treated as a lunatic by the Haihan people, but it is indeed a bit hasty to ask the Haihan people to send troops with money.

Dong Yanyun cupped his hands to Yan Chujie, bent slightly and said, "I was being rude just now! But is there really no possibility of turning around this matter?"

"Well..." Yan Chujie stroked the stubble of his chin and fell into deep thought.

It would be a lie to say that Yan Chujie was not moved at all.After the Annan Campaign, the morale of the entire militia was at its peak. After receiving the benefits brought by the war dividend, the soldiers were no longer as resistant to combat missions as they were before their first battle.The gains from just a few battles and the post-war rewards together are even more than the income of working in the field for a year or two. After returning, many militiamen began to ask when there would be new combat missions.And the Executive Committee, which also received the dividends of the war, is no longer as resistant to taking the initiative to start a war as before. After all, this overseas battle has fully proved that the actual combat effectiveness of the Haihan Militia is still trustworthy. Given this opportunity for actual combat, let these militiamen practice hard on the battlefield for a year or two, and their combat level will far exceed that of the contemporary army.

But the goal of Fujian is indeed too far for the current Haihan militia. The straight-line voyage from Shengli Port to Zhongzuo, the base of Xu Xinsu Group, has exceeded 600 nautical miles. For a certain voyage, route safety is a huge issue.The Haihan militia's combat method is extremely dependent on logistical support, ranging from long guns and short cannons to small daily utensils, almost all rely on the supply of Victory Port to maintain combat capabilities.

When we went to Annan to fight last time, the military and police department organized a huge fleet of more than a dozen ships to transport supplies and personnel, in order to extend the combat cycle and reduce the dependence on supplies for the troops fighting across the sea as much as possible.At that time, the main battlefield was less than [-] nautical miles away from the base camp, and the difficulty of logistical supplies from the sea was not at the same level as that of Fujian, which was three times that.Moreover, before dispatching troops to Annan, the combat cycle planned by the military and police department was to resolve the battle within one month, but if troops were dispatched to Fujian, how long would the combat cycle take?If the combat period is long, supplies will have to be transported thousands of miles from the base camp during the combat process. This is not an easy task for the current shipping capacity that is still tight in the Shipping Department.

Compared with another more serious problem, distance is a trivial matter.During the voyage between Shengli Port and Fujian, nearly half of the waters are currently under the control of "Eighteen Zhis"—from the west of Hong Kong's Fotangmen Strait, it can be regarded as entering the "Eighteen Zhis". "The sphere of influence of Liu Xiang, the pirate leader under his banner.If the Haihan Militia wants to fight in Fujian, it must first face this maritime threat.Even if the two sides will not meet at sea in the early stage, the sea supply line may be cut off by the opponent after the war. This is definitely a threat that cannot be ignored for the Haihan militia.

Just face to face with "Eighteen Zhi" at sea?Even Yan Chujie can only think about this kind of thought occasionally in his heart, and will not really say it, because doing so is tantamount to sending meat to the chopping block.Although the militia already has a few warships and is starting to form a naval force, but relying on this limited surface power to fight a sea battle with a group of pirates who have been rampant in the China Sea for many years, the strength is indeed too far away a little bit.

(End of this chapter)