1627 Rise of the South China Sea

Chapter 600
Although the Shengli Port Shipyard is already facing a situation where its production capacity cannot meet the orders, Beks, Yue Zhiyun and others decided to do marketing first, and then talk about getting the orders in their hands.As for when the delivery will be made, some additional clauses can be added to the ship purchase contract to extend the shipbuilding time. Anyway, the potential customers of these warships are not concerned about the price and delivery time, but whether Haihan can go abroad. Sell.As long as the purchase license can be obtained, whether it is Annan or Fujian, those in power who are eager to strengthen their own arms will immediately pay for it. Even if the price of this high-end product is high, they will grit their teeth and order a few ships first.

Of course, economic benefits are not the only considerations of the high-level officials. Selling intermediate warships with higher technical content to the Fujian military will further strengthen the local Ming army's dependence on Haihan military aid. There are many parts and components on the "expedition-class" warship that can only be manufactured in Sanya, and some high-tech maintenance and repairs can only be completed in Haihan's shipyard. It is also impossible to break away from Haihan's technical support.

However, on this occasion, Ning Qi will not discuss in detail the technical specifications, performance parameters, and specific quotations of the ship, etc. It is enough to disclose the information that Haihan intends to sell this new type of warship to Fujian.The most important thing is to let these people present understand that the premise of Haihan's sale of this new type of warship is that the Fujian military will continue to use troops against Shibazhi instead of choosing an armistice and peace talks.

Of course, if we only provide new warships to the Fujian military, it will be a bit like a distant water that cannot quench our thirst. Therefore, Haihan has prepared other measures to motivate the Fujian military.Ning Qi continued: "In addition, we plan to send a certain number of military advisers to Fujian within this year to assist Mr. Xu in suppressing the bandits."

Xu Xinsu was immediately refreshed when he heard the words, and quickly asked, "I wonder how many of these... military advisers you will send?"

Fujian is no stranger to the term "Military Advisor". After buying guns from Haihan, they sent several officers with the title of "Military Advisor" to Zhangzhou to help the Ming army deploy Artillery positions, training soldiers in the use of these imported weapons.During this period, when encountering Shibazhi's attack, military advisers will also assist in commanding operations on the front line.

Ning Qi gestured with his index finger, Xu Xinsu said, "100 people?"

Ning Qi shook his head and said, "It's a battalion."

"A battalion!" Xu Xinsu couldn't help being surprised.He sent many officers to Sanya to study abroad. He knows roughly how many people there are in a battalion of the Haihan military system. According to the three-three formation, it is roughly 500 people. If it is a special reinforced battalion, all four-four formations , the number of people can be increased by more than one-third, and there will be specialized artillery units.

If the Haihan people only send a hundred or so people, it is obvious that these people are scattered to various strongholds in Fujian to command the construction of fortifications and train combat skills.But if an entire battalion of troops is sent, it is very likely that they intend to directly intervene in combat.

Sure enough, Ning Qi went on to say: "Considering the limited number of elite troops under Mr. Xu, our military advisers will also participate in the battle when the situation requires it. But our armed personnel will only participate in the attack on Shibazhi. As for the other military missions of the Ming army, we don’t care about it.”

After a while of silence, Xu Xinsu asked: "Then among the military advisers sent by your side, is there a naval division?"

"Yes." Ning Qi nodded and said, "In fact, what we plan to send to Fujian is an amphibious combat force, which can take both water and land operations into consideration."

The amphibious combat force that Ning Qi mentioned actually involved some resolutions on the adjustment of the garrison at the fourth anniversary meeting.At that time, the Executive Committee believed that the domestic situation in Annan had calmed down, and it would be overkill to continue to deploy a large number of elite troops in Annan.The entire territory of Hainan Island has also been brought under the control of Haihan, and there is no plan to use a large number of troops in the near future.Therefore, the direction of Haihan's external expansion has become the main consideration for the deployment of troops in the fourth year.

The plan of the executive committee is nothing more than two directions, one is going south, and the other is going north.In the South China Sea, Haihan has been unable to continue to expand southward after successfully capturing the Abuna Islands. The Abuna Islands will be the southernmost point of Haihan's territory for a foreseeable period of time in the future.At least until Cam Ranh Port in the Indochina Peninsula is built and stationed, Haihan may use the Abunar Islands as a springboard to continue marching south.

As for the direction to the north, after taking the Pearl River Estuary and controlling the main throat waterway of Guangdong Maritime Trade, the Executive Committee has no intention of continuing to expand inland at this time. Lose the current tacit understanding and peace.Going north along the coastline and extending Haihan's trade route to the Taiwan Strait or even further north has become a common goal within the Executive Committee.

However, the war in the Taiwan Strait has not yet ended, and this approach actually means that Haihan may need to directly intervene in the war between the Fujian Ming Army and Shibazhi.However, Haihan's current military strength does not seem to be enough to support a large-scale battle on an unfamiliar battlefield two thousand miles away from the base camp. He can only send a small number of elite troops into Fujian to assist the Ming army under Xu Xinsu's command to attack Shibazhi.

When the military proposed this kind of deployment, there was no news of the armistice and peace talks in Fujian. Therefore, there were some controversial voices within Haihan over this slightly radical and risky approach.However, after the news that Xu Xinsu planned to negotiate peace with Shibazhi came back to Sanya, the Executive Committee quickly unified their views and believed that it was necessary to take all feasible measures to urge the Fujian Ming army to continue to use troops against Shibazhi, including sending a small number of Combat troops went to Fujian, including.

Both the executive committee and the military believe that as long as Haihan directly participates in the war, no matter how deep the participation is, the peace talks will no longer be decided by Xu Xinsu alone, and this is probably the most effective way to stop the peace talks way.On the other hand, sending only a small number of troops will not arouse Fujian's unnecessary vigilance towards Haihan.

Ning Qi said the words clearly, in addition to telling these people present, it was also to deter some people who had unstable thoughts.From the debate about war and peace just now, he has seen that the people under Xu Xinsu's command are not monolithic, some want to continue fighting, and some want to negotiate peace.As for whether these people who want to negotiate peace are out of public or selfish intentions, it is hard to say.But no matter what the reason is, Ning Qi knows that the most effective deterrent is not verbal threats, but the actual Haihan militia stationed in Fujian with guns and live ammunition.He had already met many such bright people in Hainan Island, and he could yell loudly, but when the Haihan militia came to him, his knees softened faster than anyone else.

Xu Xinsu continued to ask: "Then I wonder which general you plan to send to Fujian to preside over the overall situation?"

Ning Qi replied: "The Haihan executive committee attaches great importance to the war in Fujian. After careful consideration and repeated discussions, we decided to send Colonel Qian Tiandun, a general of the Haihan militia, to carry out this task."

As soon as Ning Qi announced this candidate, everyone present who had a little knowledge of Haihan's military situation all exclaimed in low voices.Among the Haihan militia, the most famous high-level figures are also well-known in the Fujian army.Although none of these soldiers had met Qian Tiandun, they had already known about his achievements.

Qian Tiandun was the first military attache sent by Haihan after he settled down in Sanya, and he successfully trained an elite army for Haihan in the northern part of Annan.The huge role this army played in the Annan Civil War made Qian Tiandun the only person who was able to hold a senior position in the Military Commission while he was overseas.If one excludes Tao Donglai, who has regular part-time positions in almost every department, then besides Yan Chujie and Wang Tom, Qian Tiandun has basically been able to rank third in the militia army.And the Annan Field Army he personally trained is also known as the most powerful force in the militia army.

Almost all Fujian military officers who have been to Sanya to study abroad have learned the few battles Qian Tiandun commanded in the Annan Civil War in the battle case analysis class of Shengli Port Military Academy, and a considerable part of the course on individual combat skills has also indicated that Compiled by Qian Tiandun.It can be said that these Ming army officers who have received Haihan military training can basically be regarded as half of Qian Tiandun's disciples.

But they knew very little about Qian Tiandun. Apart from knowing that he had been leading troops in Annan, they had no more personal information.In the minds of these officers, Qian Tiandun was also a figure similar to legends. They never thought that such a figure would come to Fujian to lead troops one day, and even fight with him on the battlefield.

Ning Qi was very satisfied with the effect of this news, and then said: "However, because Colonel Qian Tiandun is still serving in the distant Annan, it will take some time to complete the transfer of the local military affairs."

Of course Xu Xinsu was very aware of Qian Tiandun's position in the Haihan Army, and immediately responded respectfully: "Since the executive committee attaches so much importance to it, then Xu will sweep the couch to greet him, and wait for General Qian to come to Fujian!"

Qian Tiandun's transfer this time was actually not only because of the changes in the situation in Fujian. On the one hand, the executive committee was considering Annan's foreseeable peaceful situation in the next few years, and there was no need to station elite personnel and troops there; On the one hand, Qian Tiandun has been stationed abroad for more than three years, and he is also a general leading troops. The executive committee is worried that if he is stationed for too long, his influence in Annan will gradually solidify, and even some bad things will happen. Changes, after all, what the executive committee wants is generals who can recruit and fight well, not warlords who rule places.Perhaps Qian Tiandun himself will not have these wishes, but over time, the surrounding environment may also play a catalytic role in this trend.

In order to avoid such a situation, the most effective way is to transfer Qian Tiandun's seat.But it seems like a waste of talents for a senior officer like him with rich experience in leading troops to go back to Hainan Island to sit in the office.After consulting Qian Tiandun himself, the executive committee decided to transfer his post from Annan to Fujian.As for his troops, in addition to a battalion stationed in the southern Ambuna Islands, the Military Commission allowed him to bring another reinforced battalion to be transferred to Fujian to perform stationing tasks with him.As for Annan's local defense, it will be taken over by troops stationed in Hainan Island, and the command will be temporarily taken over by Feng Annan, Qian Tiandun's colleague.

In fact, the Annan garrison and the Hainan Island garrison conduct small-scale defense changes almost every year, so this kind of transfer has accumulated a lot of practical experience, and the operation will not be very complicated.However, the special feature of this transfer is that the scale is slightly larger, the scope of the transfer is much larger than before, and more people are involved-although there is only one reinforced battalion following Qian Tiandun's transfer. to Fujian, but the family members of these people will have the opportunity to emigrate to Hainan Island, and the number of related people may be close to 3000.In the consciousness of these Annan-born naturalized people, only by immigrating to Hainan Island can they be regarded as truly joining the Haihan nationality. For many of them, this is a moment they have been waiting for for a long time.

If it is the usual routine defense change, such a large-scale military transfer will definitely be opposed by civilian officials. After all, the money required to transfer troops across the sea will not be a small amount.But this time the executive committee passed the plan of redeploying troops very smoothly. On the one hand, it was because of the trend of the situation in Fujian.

Ning Qi smiled slightly and said: "Master Xu is too polite. However, regarding the mobilization of the militia army this time, there are some things that require the cooperation of the Fujian side, such as arranging ships to transport military supplies, and supply arrangements along the way. The station behind the border, etc., have to be taken care of by Mr. Xu and everyone."

Of course Xu Xinsu understood the implication, and immediately expressed his opinion: "Mr. Ning, don't worry, we will bear the deployment expenses of the troops led by General Qian and all expenses after arriving in Fujian."

On the sea route from Annan to Fujian, Haihan's supply points are probably much more than what Xu Xinsu can provide. At least in the Qiongzhou Strait and the Pearl River Estuary, Haihan has already designated it as his own power. There is no need for Fujian to send people all the way to organize supplies.What Ning Qi said was actually to hope that the Fujian side could bear the cost of troop mobilization, and Xu Xinsu was also very conscious, and immediately agreed.

This amount of money is definitely not a small amount, but if the presence of the Haihan militia can help the Fujian military accelerate the defeat or even wipe out Shibazhi, then it will cost an extra 10 taels of silver in the next year or two. Xu Xinsu thinks this price is worth it.

(End of this chapter)