1627 Rise of the South China Sea

Chapter 3870

According to information gathered by the Security Department before the operation, although the Ming army stationed in Ganzhou Prefecture was not of one mind with Prefect Xiang Chunfu, its combat effectiveness was limited and it did not receive support from the prefectural city, so it would be difficult for it to organize a decent resistance.

However, the actual situation differed significantly from the intelligence. The resistance actions of the local garrison in several counties bordering Ganzhou Prefecture and Fuzhou did not seem like a hasty response; there was evidence that the local area had made prior preparations.

The 1st Battalion of the 2nd Division of the Army, which set out from Huizhou Prefecture in Guangdong, had its first target as Dingnan County, the southernmost part of Ganzhou Prefecture. However, when the vanguard cavalry arrived at the county town, they found that the south gate of the town, which faced Huizhou, had been completely blocked by stones. The city walls were piled with defensive supplies such as rolling stones and logs, and there was almost no human habitation within several miles outside the city, indicating a scorched-earth policy.

These defensive measures must have required a large workforce to complete, and would certainly have taken more than a day or two. It seems that Dingnan County received the alert no later than when the Second Division of the Army set out from Huizhou, which allowed them to complete such deployments in time.

This shows that the Ming Dynasty's intelligence and military systems were not so dilapidated as to be completely rendered useless. At least the Ganzhou Prefecture was still functioning normally, keenly aware of the Haihan Army's gathering movements in the surrounding areas, and taking corresponding defensive measures.

Having made such arrangements, the officials in charge of Dingnan County clearly did not intend to surrender at the first sign of trouble. Even though they knew they were no match for Haihan, they still chose to organize troops to resist.

In order to reduce unnecessary casualties in the siege, the front-line commanders could only wait for the arrival of more heavy equipment before starting the battle. During this period, they could only put pressure on the defenders through methods such as persuasion and sniping, but the effect was not ideal.

Thus, the small county town of Dingnan held off the Haihan army for a full four days. It wasn't until four days later, when heavy artillery arrived at the front lines, that the Haihan army was able to breach the county town with the help of long-range firepower, opening up a route to continue their northward advance.

Similar situations occurred in several other border counties, greatly affecting Haihan's progress in taking over Ganzhou Prefecture.

Things had come to this point, which was a clear dereliction of duty by the Ministry of Security. Zhang Qianzhi had no choice but to bite the bullet and immediately dismiss the heads of the security departments in Huizhou, Guangdong and Tingzhou, Fujian, with himself and Gong Shiqi temporarily filling in.

At the same time, the Fujian military intelligence department, which was responsible for reconnaissance against the enemy, was also severely reprimanded by Xu Yuzhuo. The early military intelligence reconnaissance failed to predict that the enemy's will to resist was so strong, so much so that the Third Army Division led by Xu Yuzhuo's son, Xu Kaiyuan, was blocked outside Ruijin County.

Even though Xu Yuxing, the head of the military intelligence department, was Xu Yuzhuo's older brother, he could not defend himself for making such a serious mistake and could only bear the corresponding responsibility.

Fortunately, Fujian was well prepared for the battle and quickly transported a large number of artillery pieces to the front line at any cost, allowing Xu Kaiyuan, who was leading the army, to break through the city quickly.

It is said that in order to quickly transport these heavy equipment to the battlefield, as many as a hundred mules and horses died of exhaustion along the way. However, this extra cost was not borne by the Fujian government; it was ultimately paid out of his own pocket by Xu Yuxing, the head of military intelligence, to make up for his mistakes in intelligence work.

After the city fell, Xu Kaiyuan immediately interrogated the captured Ming officials, trying to find out who the higher-ups were behind them, and whether Prefect Xiang Chunfu was involved. But the result was disappointing. Although the neighboring counties of Haihan were indeed exchanging information and determined to resist the Haihan invasion together, in reality they were fighting their own battles because the higher-ups did not provide them with any further assistance or reinforcements.

In other words, the resistance in these counties was all spontaneous, and there was no situation that Hai Han had feared. As for Prefect Xiang Chunfu, the civil and military officials unanimously agreed that he was oblivious to the emperor's favor and ignorant of the people's plight, simply hanging in mid-air, knowing nothing.

Therefore, it seems that Xiang Chunfu's earlier report to Haihan that he had the situation in Ganzhou under control was simply a charade to deceive the State Security Department. Ironically, the State Security Department was completely unaware of the numerous inaccuracies in Xiang Chunfu's report.

Zhang Qianzhi was furious when he learned of this news. The Security Department originally wanted to report Ganzhou as the first victory of the Infiltrator Plan to the Executive Committee. He Xi even hoped that this achievement would become Zhang Qianzhi's reliance for taking over the Security Department. However, Xiang Chunfu almost ruined the entire plan.

As for credit, the Security Department not only failed to achieve anything this time, but may also be held accountable by the Executive Committee for negligence, and the consequences will have to be borne by Zhang Qianzhi, the trainee minister.

In the past two or three years, He Xi and the entire security department have invested a lot in this infiltration plan, with the goal of successfully taking Ganzhou. However, at the last minute, this unexpected problem arose.

On the other hand, in Jiujiang, Shi Chengwu took less than a year from planning to execution. Although he used a lot of resources during the preparation period and even persuaded the Ming ambassador to Hangzhou to pave the way for the operation, the final result was quite ideal. He took over the entire Jiujiang Prefecture with almost no trouble.

The direct consequence of the setback in the Ganzhou operation was a significant delay in the overall progress. The original plan was to take over Ganzhou two or three days earlier than Jiujiang, thereby drawing Nanchang's attention and reducing resistance to the Jiujiang operation. However, the actual situation was a reversal of roles between the two locations, with Jiujiang, which was captured first, attracting more attention from Nanchang.

Fortunately, the Haihan army did not underestimate their enemy. Although they encountered some difficulties in the early stages, they ultimately overwhelmed their opponents with their superior strength and captured these counties relatively smoothly.

The Haihan Army then marched straight in, and upon hearing that all the border towns along the way had fallen, the people lost the will to continue resisting, and no organized resistance action occurred.

As agreed before the operation, the two armies from Fuzhou and Guangzhou arrived at Ganzhou city on the same day. Knowing he had committed a grave offense, Xiang Chunfu was already waiting at the city gate, trembling as he surrendered to the Haihan army.

However, the military cannot arbitrarily deal with Xiang Chunfu, because according to the organization, he is still an undercover agent belonging to the Ministry of Security, and the Ministry of Security must determine his merits and demerits and rewards and punishments.

Zhang Qianzhi arrived in Ganzhou with the headquarters of the Second Division of the Army, but he couldn't deal with Xiang Chunfu right now, because there were still many aspects in the process of taking over Ganzhou that required Xiang Chunfu's full cooperation.

Therefore, upon meeting Xiang Chunfu, Zhang Qianzhi did not immediately reprimand him. Instead, he instructed him to report to the soon-to-be-established Ganzhou Management Committee and cooperate with its arrangements. As for the matter concerning the Ministry of Security, he would address it after Ganzhou resumed normal operations.