1627 Rise of the South China Sea

Chapter 592 The situation in Fujian

Although it was quickly determined that Ning Qi would be the leader of the mission, the task of forming the mission could not be completed by him alone.For security reasons, the military is still the main force for this mission, and the ships and personnel dispatched will be mainly from the military.In addition, considering whether there is such a large-scale opportunity to go to Fujian, the executive committee also hopes to use this opportunity to complete more project investigations, so the commercial, immigration, mining and security intelligence agencies must also free up manpower to join them .In addition, the logistics, medical, shipping and other departments responsible for support must also make corresponding arrangements.Although it is only a mission and not an expeditionary force, it is also mobilizing the whole body. There are too many departments to coordinate and too much preparation work to be done.

As for the fleet for the mission to Fujian, the military quickly decided on the lineup.At present, the situation in the Qiongzhou Strait has calmed down. The "Prestige Signal" hybrid warship stationed near the capital of Qiongzhou will serve as the flagship of the mission, and two more "Explorer-class" warships will be sent as frigates.The Shengli Port Naval Base will send another four warships to Qiongzhou Strait to take over the local maritime defense.

Although this lineup is far inferior to the task force that went south to the Abina Islands to fight, but as a mission fleet, it can already be regarded as exceeding the specification.In addition to the three warships, two supply ships will also set off with the warships from the Qiongzhou Strait.On the Sanya side, the "Lightning" catamaran and an "expedition-class" sailboat will be dispatched to carry members of the mission.

Although the military has only dispatched three combat ships, it is no less important than launching an expeditionary campaign.In addition to using the "Prestige Signal" as a big killer, the staffing is also not stingy.

Roger and Shi Diwen, former members of the North American Gang who just announced their job transfer at the annual meeting last month, will participate in the operation on behalf of the navy this time, but Roger's task is to take over the local defense in the Qiongbei Strait, while Shi Diwen will As the captain of the "Prestige Signal", he will visit Fujian together with the mission.Accompanying them is their old partner Dr. Morgan, who will participate in this visit as the mission's medical adviser.Of course, if necessary, he can also re-use his second professional sniper to provide powerful firepower output for possible armed actions.

After Wang Tom and Qiao Zhiya successively became officials, several other members of the North American gang also began to change their minds.The original intention of the few of them to participate in the time-traveling operation was to seek excitement, and after they got here, apart from a few large-scale military operations, they seemed to be continuing to work on the work before the time-traveling, and the quality of life It's not as good as traveling through the time and space before, and this is obviously not the state of life they want.

So after Qiao Zhiya, Luo Jie and Shi Diwen, who are workshop directors in Tiandu Industrial Zone, also submitted an application for transfer to the executive committee, hoping to be transferred from the production department to the foreign affairs department. For example, they already have part-time jobs The military or the shipping sector.

Because of Wang Tom's relationship, the military naturally knew their movements in advance, and at this time, they also cooperated with the executive committee to name dignitaries-the navy's recent military expansion plan just needs a large number of professional command talents, such as the North American gang. A guy who knows both military and navigation immediately became a favorite.The most important thing is that Roger and Shi Diwen used to be senior technicians specializing in machinery, and they also personally participated in the research and development and manufacturing of marine steam engines. They joined the navy to command hybrid warships, and they can take care of everything from command operations to technical support Come down, it is simply the most suitable candidate.

Considering my wishes and the military's arguments, the executive committee finally approved the transfer of personnel, and transferred the two people from their posts in the Ministry of Industry to resume their posts in the military.The only one who is dissatisfied with this is probably Beks. If these two people are transferred, he will have to find two more people to fill the vacancy. In the time-traveling group where there is a shortage of talents, there is still a certain gap between the strength of the substitute and the main candidate. , Their transfer will inevitably affect the technical force reserve of the industrial sector.

Although Roger did not have a hybrid warship to command in this task assignment, the third "Majesty-class" warship ordered by the military has basically been finalized and he will be the captain.This also means that in the not-too-distant future, there will also be a naval fleet with hybrid warships as the core flagship for him to command.

In addition to them, the military has long coveted the remaining two doctors of the North American Gang. However, there are too few professional western medicine doctors in the time travel group. In addition to providing medical insurance for hundreds of time travelers, they also have to Constantly train new recruits and strengthen the medical team under Dahai Han's rule, and this goal is obviously not something that can be achieved in a short period of time.Even though the military has always wanted to transfer them to be full-time military doctors, they still cannot obtain the approval of the executive committee.

Moreover, Johnson with his family did not plan to fight around like the others. He just wanted to settle down in Sanya and raise his two daughters safely.But the old Morgan, who has been single until now, can't stay idle. Whenever there is a military operation, he will go to the Military Commission to inquire about the news. Whenever he has the opportunity, he wants to go to sea with the militia.This time, he fulfilled his wish and finally had a chance to travel far away.

Relevant departments spent a week making corresponding preparations. On May 5, this improvised mission fleet departed from Shengli Port, while the warship fleet departing from the Qiongbei Strait will be in Hainan Island. Meet it near Beishi Island in the northeast corner.

At noon the next day, the two teams successfully rendezvoused at a predetermined location at sea, and then sailed towards the Pearl River Estuary.Before the fleet goes to Fujian, it will also conduct a replenishment at Nangang, Hong Kong Island Town, to ensure that there is no need to find another replenishment point for the hundreds of miles on the way.

While Sanya held a meeting to confirm the mission's visit, Guangzhou was not idle.After receiving the decision of the Executive Committee, the Guangzhou Office also took action. On the one hand, Xu Xinsu's people should be notified immediately so that he can send the news back to Zhangzhou as soon as possible; , to provide on-board navigation for incoming fleets.

On May 5, the mission fleet arrived at Zhennan Port.This fleet of seven ships did not call at the commercial port, but at the military port on Ap Lei Chau Island.Mariko from Guangzhou Office specially rushed over from Guangzhou and had a brief meeting with Ning Qi and others.

Last time Xu Xinsu made a special trip to Guangzhou to buy weapons and warships. At that time, Maliko was the one who received him in Guangzhou. He was also one of the few people who had direct face-to-face contact with Xu Xinsu.Therefore, before the mission went to Fujian, this meeting was specially arranged, and Maiko provided some first-hand information to Ning Qi and others.

"Xu Xinsu is a very realistic person. If placed in our era, he would also have the opportunity to become a successful businessman." Maiko introduced to Ning Qi: "For him, the benefits that are within reach are better than those that cannot be achieved in a short period of time." The fulfilled promise is more important, no matter how good we promise him, it is actually nothing compared to the money piled up in front of his eyes.”

"You mean, in order to achieve the truce conditions, the Dutch should have offered him a good price?" Ning Qi asked.

Maiko nodded and said: "We have inquired through some channels these days. The Dutch should have agreed to them and gave Xu Xinsu more preferential terms on the Japan and Ryukyu routes."

"Do you know the specific content?" Ning Qi asked.

Maiko shook his head helplessly and said: "I'm sorry, our people are not so powerful yet. But I guess these so-called preferential conditions should also be related to Shibazhi, otherwise the truce agreement does not need Shibazhi to come forward Let's talk."

"Probably let Shibazhi stop the harassing war on these important waterways!" Ning Qi nodded in understanding.

Based on the location of Shibazhi, it is indeed more convenient to intercept and kill merchant ships departing from Zhangzhou and Quanzhou to Ryukyu Japan at sea.However, Xu Xinsu's maritime armed force is not strong enough to provide full armed escort for these routes, so Shibazhi's attitude will directly affect Xu Xinsu's income in this trade direction.The Dutch took this as one of the negotiating conditions, and it was quite accurate to grasp Xu Xinsu's pulse.

"Then what do you think of Xu Xinsu's political attitude?" Ning Qi continued to ask.

Maliko responded: "I only had contact with him for two or three days. To be honest, it is difficult to see him through in such a short period of time. But I think the conflict of interest between him and Shibazhi cannot be resolved by a truce , their existence is a natural threat to each other, just like the existence of the Dutch will threaten our future development. I think even if an armistice agreement can be reached, it will only be temporary. If the power of the two is enough to start another war, then the flames of war between them will be reignited again."

Ning Qi said: "But the problem now is that we don't know what conditions they will reach a truce agreement, and whether it will be time-sensitive. Moreover, Xu Xinsu concealed this matter from us. The attitude he showed This is what the executive committee is most worried about. If we lose control of Xu Xinsu, it means that we will have to spend double our energy to support another person who can replace him. What Lao Yan means is that we can even Support Shibazhi, but I think this is a bit too capricious and easy to be criticized."

"There are many hills in Shibazhi, so it's not that easy to support." Mariko has lived in Guangzhou for a long time, and the news he got is naturally much better than that in Sanya: "The eighteen leaders of this group of pirates, think about who listens to whom. Even if Zheng Zhilong is the strongest, others may not be convinced of him. Especially in the past two years, Shibazhi has repeatedly fought and failed in Fujian coastal areas, and Zheng Zhilong's prestige is not as good as before. Some key decisions, he is now It may not be possible to be the master.”

"You're right. It's true that when there are too many people in charge, it's easy to mess up." Ning Qi nodded deeply and said, "There are only nine members of the Standing Committee of the Executive Committee, and they are still representatives elected by everyone. When the Standing Committee is held, they often quarrel. There is no way to unify opinions. There are hundreds of large and small bills voted on every year, and few of them can be passed or rejected by unanimous votes."

"At least the executive committee can discuss in a civilized manner. Do you think those pirates who are licking their blood can sit down and communicate so slowly?" Maiko said sarcastically: "It is said that after Zheng Zhilong accepted the recruitment in history, the first The first thing is to lead troops to kill my former sworn brothers."

"You're right." When it comes to this period of history, Ning Qi does understand a little better: "Eighteen Zhi basically killed each other in the later stage. Li Kuiqi killed Yang Tiansheng and Chen Zhongji, but he himself was killed Zheng Zhilong was killed. There were also brothers Liu Xiang, Zhong Bin, Yang Liu and Yang Qi, all of whom were killed by Zheng Zhilong. And Zheng Zhilong's younger brother, Zheng Zhihu, was also captured and sunk in the sea while fighting Liu Xiang. What else? Bin and Guo Huaiyi later simply took refuge in the Dutch and became their lackeys. The only ones who really went on the right path were Shi Daxuan, Hong Xu, and Gan Hui who later assisted Zheng Chenggong."

Speaking of this, Ning Qi changed the subject: "But having said that, the current situation is very different from the original history. Zheng Zhilong failed to kill Xu Xinsu as scheduled, so he did not have the opportunity to be recruited by Fujian governor Xiong Wencan, and Under external pressure, their original internal conflicts are not so easy to erupt."

"After all, they have to form a group to resist the current Xu Xinsu." Maliko continued: "We have provided military support to Fujian for three years. According to what we know, Xu Xinsu now has at least 3000 armed forces. The level has reached the early equipment level of the Haihan Militia, and the combat training they have received is basically what they have learned from the military officer study abroad class in Shengli Port. Their combat effectiveness can definitely be regarded as an elite soldier in Fujian. Eighteen Zhi will launch a large-scale attack on the vicinity of Zhangzhou and Quanzhou every three to six months, but the results of the past few years have not been as good as the previous year, and you can understand the reason."

"The stronger the stronger, the weaker the weaker." Ning Qi nodded in understanding.

In the final analysis, the war between Xu Xinsu Group and Shibazhi is a battle for resources, including land resources, business resources, population resources and so on.With Xu Xinsu's backing on the mainland, he already has a huge advantage, and even if he loses, he can be replenished quickly.And Shibazhi settled in Penghu and Taiwan Island, with a limited population base, and its war resources were far inferior to those on the mainland. As long as it suffered a few consecutive defeats, its strength would deflate as quickly as a leaking balloon.It is already a miracle that Shibazhi can survive two or three years of losing battles without disbanding.

(End of this chapter)