1627 Rise of the South China Sea

Chapter 3871

Although the advance into Ganzhou was not as smooth as expected, the two armies from Fuzhou and Guangzhou eventually captured Ganzhou, which can be considered as barely achieving their goal.

However, this meant there was basically nothing to report in the battle report. Instead, the participating troops had to explain to the executive committee why the operation was severely delayed, causing the army to enter Ganzhou Prefecture seven or eight days later than planned.

Knowing that the Ministry of Security owed the military a huge favor, Zhang Qianzhi tried his best to defend the military in his separate report to the Executive Committee, calling the Ming army's resistance on the border an "accident" and downplaying the mistakes in the preparations. Instead, he emphasized the heroic performance of the Haihan Army in the subsequent siege and suppression of the Ming army.

Zhang Qianzhi wasn't sure if such a statement would be approved by the Executive Committee, but given his authority, this was all he could do to speak favorably of the military.

However, regardless of how the submitted report described it, the twists and turns that occurred during the capture of Ganzhou did indeed shake the Executive Committee's resolve.

Originally, Yan Chujie, representing the military, proposed that if they could successfully capture Jiujiang and Ganzhou and plunge the Jiangxi government into panic and chaos, they should consider pressing their advantage and advancing into the heart of Jiangxi from both the north and south, taking advantage of the situation to quickly seize more areas.

Yan Chujie's plan is based on the premise that the Ming Dynasty cannot organize effective resistance in Jiangxi, and that Haihan can achieve its objectives with its current level of preparedness and troop deployment. Otherwise, if a protracted war breaks out, the advance into Jiangxi will be forced to be delayed, requiring more troops and resources, which would necessitate a different plan.

Yan Chujie's idea was somewhat similar to when Haihan took over Guangdong and Guangxi and Jiangsu and Zhejiang. Many prefectures under the control of the Ming Dynasty did not organize effective resistance and were easily captured by Haihan.

However, this approach did not seem to work ideally in Jiangxi, especially with the spontaneous resistance movements organized by various counties in Ganzhou. This made the Executive Committee worry whether they would encounter similar situations if they continued to advance into the heart of Jiangxi.

These local armed forces, with virtually no support, are unlikely to defeat the Haihan Army on the main battlefield. However, the resistance and trouble they cause force the Haihan Army entering the region to revise its battle plans. At the same time, they also have certain effects on the morale and will to resist of the people of the Ming Dynasty that the Executive Committee does not want to see.

After receiving the report from the rear, Ning Zijing and Ha Jianyi assumed that the operation in the south was not going smoothly and did not think much about its impact on Jiujiang. However, another telegram soon arrived from Ganzhou, forcing them to reassess the current situation in Jiangxi.

This telegram was jointly drafted by the military commanders of Fuzhou and Guangzhou. Its main message was that Jiujiang should act in sync with Ganzhou and take the initiative to attack central Jiangxi, seizing more territory while the situation was favorable.

After reading the telegram, Ning Zijing did not immediately express his opinion, but first sought Ha Jianyi's opinion.

As a military commander, Ha Jianyi immediately saw through the intentions of the people in Ganzhou: "They ran into trouble in the process of occupying Ganzhou and have no outstanding achievements, so they hope to prolong the war so that they won't have made a wasted trip."

Ning Zijing asked in surprise, "Would the Executive Committee agree to doing this without authorization?" Ha Jianyi replied, "When a general is in the field, he may disobey the emperor's orders. If we really have such a plan, we can naturally find a way to deal with the Executive Committee. For example, if the Ming army takes the initiative to provoke us, or if we discover that the other side is carrying out a large-scale gathering in a certain place, we certainly cannot sit idly by in these situations. Taking the initiative to attack would be justifiable."

Ning Zijing asked, "Then what do you mean by dragging us into this?"

Ha Jianyi said, "The purpose is to launch a pincer attack from the north and south, responding remotely, to put greater pressure on the defending forces in Jiangxi. In addition, if we are willing to cooperate, the Executive Committee will probably be more likely to approve their battle plan."

Ning Zijing said, “But our troops stationed in Jiujiang are limited and scattered, and we are not prepared for large-scale operations. The decree announced a few days ago to reduce taxes and allow the people to recuperate. The notice has barely been posted and the ink is not yet dry, and we are already announcing war. Wouldn’t the decree become a joke?”

Ha Jianyi said, "If we really want to take action, perhaps we can request more assistance from Nanjing. Shi Chengwu will be back in the next couple of days, and we can hear his opinion then."

Although Ha Jianyi did not say it explicitly, he was clearly tempted, but did not discuss how to deal with the credibility issue mentioned by Ning Zijing.

Ning Zijing understood Ha Jianyi's meaning, and sighed inwardly. Ha Jianyi and Shi Chengwu were both military officers, so they were naturally on the same page and wished for more battles. Whether this would cause new chaos in Jiujiang, which had just regained its peace, or damage the credibility of the newly established management committee, was clearly not something they cared about as much as he did.

Shi Chengwu led his fleet to patrol and deploy defenses in the upper reaches of the Yangtze River to prevent the Ming army from launching a counterattack against Jiujiang from the river. At the same time, he took this opportunity to collect hydrological and environmental data on the upper reaches of the river in preparation for future operations upstream.

Although this trip did not involve any battles with the Ming army, the journey took several days, during which they ate and slept on the ship and had to be constantly on guard against Ming army attacks, making it quite arduous.

However, when he returned and heard about the situation in Ganzhou, his attitude was clearly in line with Ha Jianyi's: "If the plan proposed by Ganzhou is feasible, then I think we might as well give it a try. It would also save the troops transferred from Nanjing from having to travel back and forth."

If things remain peaceful in Jiujiang, Shi Chengwu's troops from Nanjing will gradually return to their bases, and he will obviously be somewhat unwilling to end his operations in Jiujiang just like that. However, if he has the opportunity to stay in Jiujiang and continue fighting, personally leading a new round of military operations, Shi Chengwu would be very willing to undertake this more challenging task.

Ning Zijing knew he couldn't possibly sway these two like-minded individuals, but as a civil official, he still had to fulfill his responsibility and give them a warning.

"Are you familiar with the military commander in Ganzhou? We don't want the two sides to communicate remotely without understanding each other, which would prevent us from achieving the expected cooperation results."

Hearing Ning Zijing's reminder, Shi Chengwu smiled and said, "I can't say we're familiar with each other, but we've had some dealings with each other. The one leading the troops in Fujian is Xu Kaiyuan, and the one leading the troops in Guangdong is You Zhiyuan. They were my juniors when I was studying at the Army Academy. These two are quite capable; they didn't get these positions just because of their backgrounds."