1627 Rise of the South China Sea

While the northern battlefield started, the southern battlefield in the Jiangsu and Zhejiang regions also began to ignite the flames of war.

The Haihan army in the East China Sea region was divided into two groups, land and water. After gathering in Hangzhou and Huzhou along the way, they went north along the west bank of Taihu Lake and entered Changzhou Mansion, approaching Yingtian Mansion where Nanjing City is located.

The waterway starts from Zhoushan Port and goes upstream along the Yangtze River, with the same goal of Nanjing City.

At present, the Ming Dynasty's control area in the Jiangsu and Zhejiang regions is centered on Nanjing City, but most of the state capitals adjacent to it, as long as they are located in the coastal areas, have already fallen under Haihan's control.

Once Nanjing is lost again, Ming's influence in Jiangsu and Zhejiang will suffer a severe blow, and it is very likely that it will completely lose control of the lower reaches of the Yangtze River.

After the assassination incident in Hangzhou was exposed, Daming also knew that once Haihan declared war, Nanjing would definitely become one of the targets of Haihan's attack. He had ordered troops from Fengyang, Chuzhou, Luzhou and other places to rush to Nanjing to help Nanjing, hoping to take advantage of the force To deter the Haihan army.

Regardless of whether such measures can stop the Haihan army, it is impossible to hide the actions of troops from all over the country, which has inevitably caused great panic among the people.

All kinds of rumors about the war between the two countries quickly spread in the area controlled by Daming.Although there are different views on this war, there is one point that almost all classes and camps agree on, that is, Yingtian Mansion, where Nanjing City is located, will definitely become the main battlefield of the confrontation between the two countries.

And the direct impact of this is that the people in Yingtian Mansion began to flee early.And after the wave of refugees began to appear in Yingtianfu, it quickly led to a chain reaction in the surrounding states.

As a result, mass panic broke out in the entire southern Jiangsu area in just a few days. Tens of thousands of people left their homes with their families, trying to escape the area that was about to become a battlefield ahead of time.

It is worth mentioning that the refugees did not flee only to the hinterland of Ming Dynasty. Quite a few people chose to flee to the East China Sea region under the control of Haihan.

The Haihan army going north and the refugee tide going south are walking towards each other on the official road at the same time.The two sides passed by very peacefully and continued to move towards their destination. It can be said to be an extremely rare scene.

Simao was very puzzled by the scene before him. In his opinion, it is inevitable that the people in the war zone flee when the two countries are fighting each other, but it is unreasonable for thousands of refugees to flee directly to the enemy country.

He asked Shi Diwen his question, but Shi Diwen asked him to ask these fleeing people to find the answer to the question by himself.

With Simao's Chinese proficiency, this suggestion is not difficult for him.After stopping to ask many refugees, he finally had a deeper understanding of the scene in front of him.

For ordinary people, the number one problem to be solved in order to avoid war is to go to a place that is relatively safe and will not be easily affected by the flames of war.

The safest solution seems to be to flee to the deserted mountains and wild mountains. This kind of place has no occupation value, the possibility of becoming a battlefield is extremely low, and it is the least likely to be affected by the flames of war.But as time goes by, food and housing will become a huge problem.If it is not a last resort, most people will not choose this option.

Another option is to flee to the rear hinterland or a big city with strong defenses.However, Haihan launched an army to crusade against Daming this time. Everyone knows that Nanjing City is likely to become a battlefield. If you want to be safe, you must at least escape to the north bank of the Yangtze River.

But even if that is done, the flames of war may continue to spread to the north, and the north of the Yangtze River is not an absolute safe zone.

According to the experience of fighting Haihan in the past, the Ming army did not have any impressive record, otherwise it would not have been swallowed up by Haihan so much territory.Therefore, many people are not optimistic about the prospects of the Ming army in this battle. Once a defeat occurs, the rear may become the front line overnight.

Instead of waiting until the situation is bad and continuing to flee, it is better to choose to go to a safe place from the beginning.

And where Jiangsu and Zhejiang can maintain peace and not be affected by the flames of war, it is naturally the East China Sea region under the rule of Haihan.

Anyone with a discerning eye knows that the Ming army on the defensive may not be able to defend their one-acre three-point land, and they are simply unable to attack the Haihan-controlled area.And Haihan has always been very tolerant of taking in the people of Ming Dynasty, and has very complete containment measures, so there is no need to worry about starving and dying on the street.

Simão believes that this concept of refugees is likely to be influenced by certain propaganda methods.These rumors can be widely disseminated among the people of Ming Dynasty, and it is hard to say whether Haihan's propaganda organization is operating in it.

But no matter what, it is clear that tens of thousands of people have chosen to believe such a statement, using the Haihan-controlled area as a destination to escape the war.

And after these refugees go to the East China Sea region, a considerable number of them will definitely get a livelihood in the local area, settle down there, and then gradually evolve into the citizens of Haihan.It can be said that before the battle started, Haihan had already harvested a large number of people.

Simao couldn't help but think that if Haihan wins this war, which is of course a situation with a high probability, then more people from Daming will voluntarily move to the Haihan controlled area to settle down.

After all, people have the instinct to seek advantages and avoid disadvantages. Compared with the strong national power shown by Haihan, how many people will always be loyal to an old and twilight empire?

Simao looked at the army and refugees going north and south at the same time on the official road. Isn't this the best embodiment of the ebb and flow of national power between the two countries?
It may be a special kind of luck to be able to witness the gradual end of an empire as an audience.

"Master Simao, we should go."

Hearing the adjutant's reminder, Simao recovered from his contemplation.

This time, the Haihan army also brought a group of foreign military observers with them as always, and Simao was one of them.

Simao has long been familiar with this task, and would chat with Shi Diwen every now and then during the march to learn more about Haihan's battle plan.

Just stopped to chat with these refugees for a long time, Shi Diwen is already several miles away, and Simao must catch up as soon as possible.

He was not Shi Diwen's follower, but he didn't want to miss every military order issued from Shi Diwen.

Simao has always believed in a point of view. If you want to understand an army, you must first understand the commander.In recent years, Simao seldom went out with the Haihan Army, and it was rare to have the opportunity to see a senior general like Shi Diwen commanding operations, which would help him understand the current situation of the Haihan Army.

Simao knew that if Portugal had to face the powerful Haihan army on the battlefield in the future, his own experience and experience might become an important reference for the trend of the battle.