1627 Rise of the South China Sea

Chapter 644 Take Over Defense
"The Dutch are not Annan's old-style army. Many of them had combat experience on the European battlefield before they came to the Far East. They are not so easy to deal with. The Portuguese have been defeated by them in the Far East these years, and their colonies have continued. Being robbed is an excellent proof." Qian Tiandun was not particularly surprised when he heard the result: "What about Mu Xiabo's post-war report?"

The combat plan for going south to capture the Abunna Islands was jointly planned and formulated by the Annan Military Region and the Military Commission's Staff Department, and the person who carried out the mission was also recommended by Qian Tiandun.Although Qian Tiandun is not directly responsible for the trend of the local war situation, if Mu Xiabo's performance is not good, then his face will not be good.

"Mu Xiabai submitted an application to the Executive Committee for assistance, but it was not a request to increase the garrison, but to ask the headquarters to send engineering personnel to help them improve the fortifications. In addition, he asked for an increase in the supply reserves on the island." Ning Qi introduced: "Mu Xiabo thinks that the Dutch will not stop there, so for a period of time to come, Abunna Island will become the southernmost battlefield within our control."

"I think it is more accurate to say that the training ground is more accurate. The special local environment is destined to prevent the opponent from investing too much troops, so it is almost impossible for them to eat our defenders by virtue of their strength. Even if they make a comeback, they will just accompany us It’s just training.” Qian Tiandun’s tone seemed more relaxed: “Compared with enemies who are not good at fighting with hot weapons, opponents at the level of the East India Company are more valuable in training. I suggest that the Executive Committee let Annan The militia army is stationed in the local area in rotation, and through combat to improve actual combat capabilities."

Ning Qi shook his head, raised two fingers and said: "There are two problems. First, the military expenditure for the long-term war is not a small amount. The expenditure is too large, which is not in line with our original intention of capturing Ambuna Island. Second, according to the What you said is stationed in rotation, so there will be many people involved in the battle, and it will be difficult to keep the secret if more people know about it, and don’t forget that it is a group of pirates who control Abunna Island now.”

"These two problems are actually not a problem." Qian Tiandun responded immediately: "We just need to stick to the Ambuna Island, and the East India Company has to organize a fleet to launch an expedition from Batavia. I remember correctly In other words, the voyage between these two places is more than [-] nautical miles, and it will take at least a week for the Dutch fleet to reach the place, but the consumption on the way probably exceeds the cost of our battle. The military expenditure is very worthwhile. Wasn’t one of our original intentions to capture the Abunar Islands also to interfere with the Dutch sea routes? Now this effect has been well realized, and Abunar Island can give them The bloodletting is done slowly, and at the same time, they will not have more energy to pay attention to Fujian."

"Let's talk about the second question. I think this year we can find a suitable time to publicly take over Ambuna Island from the so-called pirates in the name of Haihan. After all, we can't keep playing this drama. As for How to do it, I think you civil servants should be better at it, so I won’t point fingers here.”

The model of Haihan sending troops to occupy Anbuna Island was originally an imitation of the "Liaoyuan Plan" implemented in Qiongbei earlier. First, a troop was sent to occupy the area under the guise of being a pirate, and then the Haihan militia used the army of justice. Flag, take this place from the pirates.Of course, after taking it, the ownership will not be returned to the original owner, but the loot will naturally become Haihan's jurisdiction.Under the operation of this kind of thinking, the Qiongbei region has changed its flag and become Haihan's. The small Anbuna Island is naturally much less difficult to operate.

The difficulty in completing this plan is not the change of flag, but the right timing and how to inform the Dutch East India Company of Batavia of the news.If it is done well, perhaps the East India Company will retreat in the face of difficulties and will not continue to launch military operations against Abuna Island.

Ning Qi smiled wryly and said, "You're so smart about throwing the blame, then the Dutch will not stop doing it, so the blame belongs to the diplomatic department?"

"Don't say whose fault it is. It's common sense. We all work together to help Haihan!" Qian Tiandun worked as a local official for a few years, so he naturally learned how to be an official.

"Speaking of which, you will go to Nanri Island to complete the handover in two days, and I will go back with the mission fleet, and I will rely on you to watch over Fujian. If there is anything unclear, you can ask the palace in Zhangzhou Ask your father and son, they are more familiar with the local situation in Fujian. In addition, Xu Xinsu’s fourth son, Xu Yuzhuo, is the naval officer who went to sea to meet you today. He had studied in Shengli Port for a while before, and his political attitude should be It is more inclined to our side. Xu Xinsu will generally let him be responsible for communicating with us, and if there is a chance, he can win over him a lot. I won’t go into details about the reasons, you know.”

Qian Tiandun nodded, he naturally understood the way in the middle.During his garrison in Annan, Haihan also consciously selected some of Annan's young officers for key training and support.The common feature of these Annan officers is that they have systematically received military training and indoctrination from Haihan, and they have a friendly and even dependent attitude towards Haihan, and they themselves have a certain background. It can be guaranteed that they can have more opportunities to climb up in Annan's officialdom.Both the Executive Committee and the Military Commission believe that these young military officers, with the support of Haihan, will be able to drive and influence the country to maintain a pro-Haihan political attitude in the next few years after they enter the high-level political circle in Annan.

For example, Zheng Ting, who is currently the commander of the First Division of the Annan Protectorate, is one of the first batch of officers trained by the Haihan military system for the Annan military.In addition to going to the Shengli Port Military Academy many times for further study, he has also worked with the Haihan militia on several occasions, observing the combat experience of the militia army on the front line.His father, Zheng Bai, is the current Secretary of the Ministry of War in Annan, and he is also related to Zheng Bing, the Qing capital king who holds the power in Annan, and he has a bright future.And Haihan hopes to support him to a higher position. It is best to take over Annan's military seal in 20 years. This will help to maintain the long-term alliance between Haihan and Annan. keep it up.

And similar routines can be copied here in Fujian, especially Xu Yuzhuo's background and personal conditions are worthy of the military's focus and training.Qian Tiandun has been in Annan for so long, and he is no stranger to the operation methods in the middle.

On July 7th, after a short rest, Qian Tiandun led the Haihan fleet to leave Zhongzuo Station and continue northward to Nanri Island off the coast of Putian. Conduct defense transfers.

Shi Diwen was not idle during this period of time, commanding thousands of laborers sent by the Fujian government to repair and strengthen the city defenses of the port docks and Nanri Village.Although the fortifications here are far from being as strong as Fort Victory, they are already much better than the defenses on Anbuna Island in the South China Sea.

"Don't be too polite to the Ming army here, they are lazy guys!" Shi Diwen did not forget to remind Qian Tiandun when the handover was completed.

Qian Tiandun nodded, thanking Shi Diwen for his kind reminder.Although the defense here is dominated by the Haihan militia, Xu Xinsu still insists on deploying a thousand infantry on the island.It's not that Xu Xinsu is worried about the strength of the Haihan militia, but he hopes to take this opportunity to learn more advanced military skills from the Haihan people.

Although Fujian sends dozens of military officers to Shengli Port, Qiongzhou Island every year to study and study abroad, Xu Xinsu will not be stingy with this expense, but the problem is that the Haihan military academy has a lot of restrictions on the number of students, even if he wants to spend more It is impossible to send more money to more people.This time, the Haihan people sent regular troops to Fujian for a long-term garrison. Xu Xinsu believed that this was a good learning opportunity, so that the middle and senior officers under him had the opportunity to see how the Haihan people deployed their defenses and conducted daily military training.As for how much you can learn in the end, that is a matter of talent.

Of course, Xu Xinsu is a businessman himself, and he also knows that there is no such thing as free money in this world. If you send someone to learn something by yourself, if you don't pay the tuition fee, you will definitely not learn any real skills.Therefore, Xu Xinsu also sent some benefits to the Haihan Mission very wisely, and at the same time sent a battalion of elite officers and soldiers to Nanri Island to live next to the Haihan Militia, so that Shi Diwen could give pointers to their daily training. .

In Xu Xinsu's eyes, these soldiers were considered the elite of Fujian, but they were still far behind the requirements of the Haihan Militia. After all, their past training level and corresponding treatment could not be compared with the Haihan Militia.And Shi Diwen also knew very well that Qian Tiandun's strength in training the special warfare battalion in Annan was more exaggerated than that of the ordinary Haihan militia. During Qian Tiandun's stay here, these Ming troops would probably suffer a lot.

At the same time as Qian Tiandun's troops arrived here, there was also a batch of supplies specially sent by the Fujian government, mainly various livestock.This is not Xu Xinsu's own idea, but Haihan's request.The food supply of the Haihan Garrison has never been short of meat, and it is more troublesome to obtain stable supplies from the outside world in a relatively closed environment like Nanri Island, so the logistics department plans to feed some poultry on the island by itself , and even reclaimed fields to grow some fruits and vegetables to subsidize the daily consumption of the garrison.

This kind of treatment makes the Ming army stationed next to them a little greedy. They usually train with the Haihan militia, and the general content is similar.However, Haihan soldiers eat white rice after training, and they can eat meat for at least one meal a day, while the food of the Ming army is far from reaching this level. Being able to manage their fill is basically considered a pretty good salary. up.As for meat, it's not bad if you can get some meat every now and then.

However, the difference in food will be indirectly reflected in the physical fitness. In addition, the training intensity of the Haihan militia has always been relatively high. Not to mention the daily exercises, it is almost a small training session every three days, and a big training session every five days.Haihan's food level ensured that the soldiers could keep up with such training intensity, but it was a huge obstacle for the Ming army.Physical consumption cannot be replenished in a timely and effective manner from food intake, which can only cause continuous overdraft of the body. Therefore, soldiers of the Ming army who became exhausted and fell ill began to appear on a large scale.

As a result, the troops of the Ming Army who trained with the Haihan Militia fell rapidly from the initial full-staffed state, and the number of participants in the training became less and less. Before Qian Tiandun came to Nanri Island to take over, he was still with the Haihan Militia every day. Basically, only officers and soldiers with better living conditions are left for training.

Of course, it is hard to say how many of them are really unable to continue training due to physical reasons. Anyway, there must be some cases of deliberately pretending to be sick and lazy.Although there are certain objective reasons, Shi Diwen still has a bad impression of these Ming soldiers, because these people have regarded serving as soldiers more as a profession of eating and dying, and lack the necessary skills that an army should have. He has the spirit and spirit, and does not have the consciousness to defend his family and the country.From a spiritual perspective, the gap between the Ming army and the Haihan militia is much larger than weapons and tactics, and this is also a major reason for the gap in combat effectiveness between the two sides.

For Haihan soldiers, being able to join the militia as a soldier is actually a pretty good way out. Not only can they maintain their own livelihood, but they can also seek better treatment for their families.Under the rule of Haihan, whether it is naturalization, enrollment, recruitment, property purchase, relatives who have served in the militia, or people who have served in the militia, they will receive many preferential conditions.Veterans who have returned from the militia and returned to their hometowns have corresponding work arrangements, so there is no need to worry that one day they will lose their food if they take off their skin.Even if you die in battle, there will be a special department responsible for taking care of the aftermath and family members, and the pension level is much higher than that of the Ming army.

Another very important point is that Haihan is in a period of rapid development, and the promotion speed is very fast by virtue of military merits. The first batch of veterans who enlisted in the army in 1627 have not yet been discharged. The minimum military rank is platoon leader, and most of them are company commanders. Lead thousands of soldiers.For ordinary soldiers, this is a living example that can stimulate them to make progress, because these people were just like them four or five years ago, just a bunch of farmers who just put down their hoes, fishermen who abandoned fishing to join the army, abandoned Hunters who have lost their lives in the mountains and forests, and even down-and-out literati who have repeatedly failed in examinations.In the system of the Haihan Militia, these people of civilian origin can be provided with a relatively fair promotion channel, so that they can have the opportunity to gradually change from ordinary people to prominent military officers.

(End of this chapter)