1627 Rise of the South China Sea

Chapter 597
Although Haihan has relatively close military cooperation with Fujian, the control over arms exports has never been relaxed.From large artillery warships to small rifle bullets, all armament orders must first pass the double review of the Military Commission and the Executive Committee before "Haihan Ordnance Industry" can sign a sales agreement with Fujian.Among the relevant control measures, the control of ammunition and gun spare parts is undoubtedly the most stringent. This is also the main means for Haihan to control the situation in Fujian.

Although Fujian is also trying to imitate manufacturing, some key craftsmanship are not mastered by craftsmen of this era. Therefore, whether it is the precision and durability of spare parts or the quality of gunpowder, the local production in Fujian is the same as the original factory. There is a relatively obvious gap in the production, and this gap will also be intuitively reflected in the performance of the weapon, affecting the accuracy, range and maintenance of the weapon.Although the troops under Xu Xinsu's command were well equipped, their ability to continue fighting was extremely limited, and this inevitably affected their usual training.In order to save ammunition and reduce the loss of weapons, the army here rarely conducts live ammunition training, and the combat effectiveness and combat experience cannot be compared with the Haihan militia.

If you want to discuss this issue in depth, both sides will inevitably experience embarrassment, so Shi Diwen didn't continue to ask about it, but took the initiative to change the topic: "Is the troops under your command organized according to the Ming army, or According to our Haihan's establishment?"

"In order to facilitate the command, they have been changed to the Haihan system." Xu Yuzhuo replied honestly: "All the Haihan weapons are installed on the left side of the center, and almost all the officers who lead the troops in the center left also go to Shengli Port. I have studied abroad, and I am familiar with the Haihan military system. If it is based on the previous system, some combat tactics will not be easy to implement.”

The current registered establishment of Zhongzuo City is 1240 people, but the actual size of the garrison is slightly higher than the data on paper.According to the establishment of Haihan, there are two battalions of the army stationed on the island, plus logistics personnel, the total strength is about 1500 people.During the war, two battalions will be transferred from Zhangzhou to supplement the troops, so that the combat strength here will reach more than 2000.

The guns are ready and the city can be defended. It is really difficult for the army in this time and space to capture this place.Like a pirate-level armed force, Shi Diwen estimated that it would take four to five times as many troops to break through the defense line and enter the city.

In order to confirm his guess, Shi Diwen asked: "When Shibazhi came to attack here, how many troops did you use at most? How was the result?"

Xu Yuzhuo replied: "The most time was at the beginning of last year. It is estimated that five or six thousand enemies attacked from the sea. At that time, the enemy had already attacked the western city wall, but in the end they were repulsed by our army. That battle lasted for two years. In just one day, our army beheaded more than [-] men, sunk and injured more than ten enemy ships, and this was the most successful battle since the battle with Shibazhi."

Shi Diwen nodded and continued to ask: "How is the equipment and combat level of the army under Shibazhi?"

"If the ordinary guard army is used as the standard, the elites under Shibazhi's command are slightly stronger." Xu Yuzhuo said seriously: "Shibazhi is also a master who is willing to spend money, but most of the firearms they equip are not purchased uniformly. There are western-style firearms purchased from the red-haired man and the Frang machine man, some flowed out from the guard army, and some privately-made firearms, the models are difficult to unify."

"If the types of firearms cannot be unified, then the logistical pressure will be great during the war." As an important member of the military, Shi Diwen naturally understands the importance of standard weapons in the army.

The standard ammunition used in wars can be shared among the same type of weapons, which is extremely important for improving the combat efficiency of troops.Otherwise, the logistics department would have to drive the quartermaster crazy just to provide ammunition of various sizes and calibers.

Even if Shibazhi's firearms ratio is higher than that of the ordinary Daming Guards, it is still far behind the Zhongzuo troops equipped with Haihan weapons.Even if they are all the same arquebus, the Ming army with the same model will obviously gain an advantage in the battle.As for the gap in the performance of the artillery, if there is a slight difference in the caliber of each artillery, then the shells cannot be used universally, and it will definitely become a big trouble for the gunners during combat.

Xu Yuzhuo nodded and said yes, and then continued: "As for the level of combat, the students think it is uneven. Although there are some small elites among them, most of them have not received professional military training. When fighting, they just listen to orders and swarm It’s just rushing forward, without the various tactical cooperation that Haihan’s instructors have emphasized before, it’s just a mess in our opinion.”

The situation Xu Yuzhuo said was basically consistent with what Hai Han had grasped.Shibazhi's subordinates indeed have a large-scale armed force, but its strength is not commensurate with the scale.Although there are as many as 3 to [-] people who can participate in combat, the troops that can really be called on the stage and can be called combat effectiveness probably only account for one-tenth of them.The vast majority of armed personnel are just ordinary people who have been issued with weapons, and they can only be cannon fodder in front of the modern army that uses firearms on a large scale.

Of course, the most terrifying thing about Shibazhi is not their influence on land, but their control at sea.Even a big merchant like Xu Xinsu, who controlled many ports along the coast of Fujian, would find it difficult to contend head-on with Shibazhi, which owns thousands of ships, and had to choose the strategy of sticking to the coastal areas to fight, and this also It was one of the important reasons why Xu Xinsu wanted to order warships from Haihan two or three years ago.After all, if you want to turn passive into active, you must add armed forces at sea, and the warships built locally in Fujian have no advantage in terms of quantity or quality.

Shi Diwen asked: "What about the strength of the navy stationed here?"

Xu Yuzhuo smiled wryly and said: "It is roughly similar to the navy in Guangdong. There are ships, but their combat power is limited. And in order to avoid unnecessary losses, they can only stay in the port most of the time."

"Is it dangerous for naval warships to go to sea?" Shi Diwen couldn't believe his ears.Before coming here, he thought that even if the navy in Fujian could not defeat Shibazhi on the frontal battlefield, at least they could carry out some harassing warfare, setting up ambushes at sea, and beating those scattered pirate ships should not be a big problem.Unexpectedly, Xu Yuzhuo would say such dejected words.

"Shibazhi's current strategy has changed from the previous two years. They knew that they could not beat us on land, so they shifted the battlefield to the sea. Since the second half of last year, the route from Zhangzhou to Quanzhou to Ryukyu and Japan has almost Being banned by them, very few boats can arrive safely." Xu Yuzhuo's tone was full of obvious helplessness and unwillingness: "Navy's boats go out, and they dare not leave the coast too far, otherwise once they are caught by Shibazhi's boat, If it is intercepted, it will be difficult to escape. This year we have lost three ships and nearly a hundred sailors."

When Shi Diwen heard this, he probably understood why Fujian was willing to negotiate peace with Shibazhi, who seemed to be at a disadvantage.Shibazhi did suffer heavy losses in the battles in the past few years, but when they finally realized the importance of battlefield selection, this situation began to change.The change from land to sea made the strength of the Fujian Ming army begin to change from strong to weak, and the Fujian navy, which lacked powerful warships, even began to become passive.And a large part of Xu Xinsu's wealth comes from maritime trade, and the route to Northeast Asia was blocked by Shibazhi, which was indeed an extremely heavy blow to Xu Xinsu and the interest groups behind him.

But relying on the strength of the Fujian Ming army alone, it is still unable to break through the blockade of Shibazhi at sea. The help Haihan can give in this regard is extremely limited, and the ordered warships are being handed over one after another. , but to form a useful combat power, it will take a period of adaptation.At present, several officers of the Fujian Navy are undergoing training in Sanya, but it is estimated that the time will be delayed until the end of the year until the fleet is formed and a certain combat effectiveness is formed.And these six months of precious time meant a loss of hundreds of thousands, or even millions of taels, to Xu Xinsu's maritime trade.

Of course, understanding is understanding, but Shi Diwen did not have any sympathetic thoughts. He is very clear about the executive committee's attitude towards the situation in Fujian-whether it is Shibazhi or Xu Xinsu, it is Haihan's external expansion process. piece.Shibazhi is an unstable factor on the southeast coast of the mainland, and it will be eliminated sooner or later, and the result of the Fujian military forces depends largely on whether they can cooperate with Haihan's various plans in the future .If Xu Xinsu insists on going his own way, then the executive committee will probably terminate the cooperative relationship between the two parties at an appropriate time, and include the other party in the list of hostile forces, and then find another person in Fujian that can be supported to replace Xu Xinsu's role .

"If I remember correctly, in the first half of this year, Shengli Port Shipyard has already handed over two 'Exploration Class' warships to you?" Shi Diwen asked: "Are these two ships coming in handy now? "

Xu Yuzhuo nodded and said: "These two ships are nearby at this time. The warships you built are indeed powerful, and they also damaged several pirate ships during the voyage. It's just that the number is too small to form an effective strike force. There are a little more ships on the sea, so you can only retreat. But the advantage is that the speed is fast enough, so you don’t have to worry about being caught up and killed by the opponent.”

However, it took Fujian a long time for these two "exploration-class" warships. After many activities in Shengli Port, it got the sales agreement from the Executive Committee, and it cost a lot of money. The two ships Even the boat and the gun cost more than 3 taels of silver.Of course, this pit was not for nothing. Haihan still provided free training services for the crew and sailors to Fujian, and also gave training places for eight naval officers to teach them how to use this Haihan-style warship on the sea. The skill of combat.

As Xu Yuzhuo said, although Haihan's warships are powerful, it is indeed difficult for the two ships to change the current situation at sea.Even if these two ships have excellent combat performance, but at sea they have to face the opponent's double-digit sea-going ships, and the Fujian navy can only choose to retreat.This is not entirely cowardice, but considering the cost-effectiveness of the battle losses of both sides.It can be said that there is not much cost to kill a ship of pirates on Shibazhi's side, but even if a few sailors die on the navy's side, it will be a great loss. After all, these sailors are sent to Sanya for training to control These two advanced warships.How much money is spent is secondary. The key is that the personnel reserve is limited and the training period is long. If the battle damage is too large, it will be difficult to replenish enough crew members in a short period of time, which will directly affect the combat capability of the navy.

Of course, Xu Xinsu was not satisfied with buying a few warships with the smallest tonnage in the Haihan Navy's establishment. He had already set his sights on the larger "expedition-class" warships. However, the current Haihan Executive Committee There is no plan to let go of the foreign military sales of "expedition-class" warships, but a so-called "theoretical price" is given like fishing - the export price of an "expedition-class" warship is roughly equivalent to nearly two "Explorer class" warship.

Even a rich man like Xu Xinsu, who is not short of money, was a little terrified after seeing the price. If he wanted to mix these two kinds of warships into a large-scale fleet, the money invested in the early stage would be nothing to the Fujian military. With astronomical figures, it is definitely not feasible to count on the imperial court to allocate funds. The most ideal situation is that the Ministry of War takes the small head, and Xu Xinsu subsidizes the big head out of his own pocket.Of course, even if Haihan immediately released the sales ban, Xu Xinsu immediately placed an order with money. He has to wait until all the ships of this fleet are delivered and then form a combat force. It is estimated that the fastest will be the second half of next year, or even Even later.

As for the "Majestic-class" battleship that appeared in Fujian waters this time, no one in the Fujian military has dared to inquire about the price yet.Because everyone knows very well that even if they ask the price, there will probably not be any practical results.Not to mention that the Haihan people don't know how to sell this kind of big ship, even if they could, the price would probably be unacceptably high.

Shi Diwen continued to ask: "How many ships did you order?"

Xu Yuzhuo said: "There are eight ships in total, and at least six of them will be handed over to us within this year. After the eight ships are assembled, a few supply ships and communication ships will probably be enough to form a combat fleet."

Shi Diwen thought that it might not be possible to hand over six ships this year. In addition to the order from Fujian, the Shengli Port Shipyard also received the shipbuilding order from Annan, and the number of the first batch was also eight "exploration ships" class" warships.At the same time, the shipyard had to continue to build ships for the Haihan military and the Ministry of Shipping. Based on Shi Diwen's production capacity, it was estimated that it would be difficult to take care of so many orders.

(End of this chapter)