1627 Rise of the South China Sea

Chapter 683
Qiao Zhiya was still attacked by the Li people on the way to lead his troops back. However, as the casualties increased, the Li people's offensive quickly changed from frenzied at the beginning to peripheral harassment, and they couldn't even get close to the 50 meters of the Haihan militia. within.This also caused the short-range and close-up weapons in the Li people's hands to basically lose their attacking effect, and the threats they could cause became extremely limited.It is more appropriate to say that it is not so much a battle as it is to delay the marching speed of the Haihan militia.

And Qiao Zhiya didn't want to fight at this time, after knowing what happened in the Shilu camp, he also quickly figured out the general cause and effect of this incident.All the escapes and ambushes that the other party made in the early stage were all aimed at drawing the main force of the militia stationed in Shilu out of the mining area, and then coerced thousands of prisoners to rebel together by launching riots in the mining area.

I have to say that this plan is actually quite feasible, because as long as the Shilu mining area moves fast enough to take down several major camps and the Shilu Station, the only passage leading to the outside world, then even if the militia troops enter the mountain After fighting back, he also faces the problem of conquering the fortresses such as the prison area and the military camp.However, because the Shilu garrison is located inland and there are no other threatening forces around, they are not equipped with heavy weapons at all. Although the soldiers are well equipped individually, it is obviously very difficult to fight a tough battle.

In addition, the troops responsible for the pursuit did not carry much supplies when they set off. If the Shilu camp fell, they would have to face huge logistical problems.Coupled with the fact that the thugs can capture many hostages in the camp, it is bound to put the militia in a dilemma.At that time, if we send people to the east to dig a few more parts of the railway, it will also be difficult for the Changhua militia to quickly reinforce them, at least it will be difficult to transport heavy artillery into Shilu.

If these conditions can be met, it is indeed feasible to organize an armed force to defend here based on the Shilu camp and thousands of prisoners.At least before the local supplies are exhausted, slowly plan the next course of action.

It's a pity that people's calculations are not as good as heaven's calculations. Although the first few steps went very smoothly, there were still many variables that the planners could not expect in the follow-up process.The number of prisoners coerced to participate in the riots was not as many as expected, and the attacks on prison areas, stations, and military camps where supplies for thousands of people were stored were also frustrated one after another, and no substantial results were achieved.Without weapons and supplies, just having a large number of people has no combat effectiveness at all. On the contrary, because the target is too large, it is easy to become the target of the militia in the counterattack.

Qiao Zhiya was most worried that the mining area could not cope with the prisoner riots, but he was relieved when he heard Gu Kai say on the radio that the militia had defeated the mob's offensive and that the main facilities of the mining area were still under his control.A fully armed company, plus strong fortifications, is enough to deal with mobs ten times their own size, who only have mining tools as weapons.Although there are many of these thugs, in front of a professional army like the militia, they are actually no different from chickens waiting to be slaughtered.

Almost at the same time, the Executive Committee as far away as Sanya had also been informed of the prisoner riots at the Shilu Iron Mine.However, due to the long distance, there is no way for Sanya to take effective assistance in a short time.Because Shi Lu claims to have basically controlled the situation, and Gu Kai, the executive committee member, is sitting in the local area, the executive committee believes that the most appropriate response is to call a quick response force and rush to the local area for assistance as soon as possible.

It's not that the executive committee doesn't trust the capabilities of the local garrison, but that the incident is so big that it is necessary to chase down all the people involved in order to avoid future troubles.In particular, the confessions obtained so far indicate that members of the Imperial Guards of the Ming Dynasty may have participated in the planning, which also led the Executive Committee to link it with the two assassinations in Danzhou in the first half of the year and the recent two assassinations in Danzhou, because the entire Qiongzhou Island is currently The fugitive Jinyiwei officer whose identity has been confirmed is only Zhao Ye who slipped through the net.The turmoil that occurred at the Shilu Iron Mine is most likely another masterpiece of his.

After the Danzhou assassination case was uncovered in March, the Ministry of Security has listed Zhao Ye as the number one dangerous person on Qiongzhou Island, and posted reward notices in various towns in Qiongnan and Qiongbei, encouraging the public to report and expose him .However, Zhao Ye seemed to disappear out of thin air, and there was no news about him in the next few months.Just when everyone thought that he had probably died silently somewhere in the wilderness, a second assassination broke out in Danzhou, which made the Ministry of Security once again focus on this lingering Jinyiwei. on the officer.Danzhou even declared martial law for this reason, and strictly interrogated people entering and leaving the city and port, hoping to capture this troublemaker as soon as possible.

However, Danzhou's big net doesn't seem to have caught him in. If the information obtained by Shi Lu is true, then the person behind the instigation of this riot is undoubtedly Zhao Ye.As for how he colluded with those Li Dongs in Qiongzhong Shenshan in the past six months, and drove the Li people to work for him, it is temporarily impossible to know.

If this person continues to escape, there is no telling how much trouble will arise in the future, so the executive committee has made up their minds this time, no matter how difficult it is, Zhao Ye must be hunted down and brought to justice—of course, it doesn’t matter if he lives or dies .

In view of the local environment, both the executive committee and the military believed that it would be a risky move to send the nearby militias deep into the mountains, because they were just ordinary combat troops and had not received specific targeted training.And it just so happened that Sanya has a unit that is very suitable for this errand, that is, the Annant War Battalion who had just returned from the defense of the Abunana Islands a month ago.

The militia troops formed by Haihan in Annan are basically built according to Qian Tiandun's combat ideas, with mountain field combat as the main training direction, and their combat capabilities in unconventional environments are stronger than ordinary militia troops.The First Annan Field Battalion brought out by Qian Tiandun himself has followed him to Fujian to station, and the Second Battalion is the army that was previously stationed in the Ambuna Islands.

After the formation of the army, Mu Xiabo will be in charge of the command. It has been confirmed before setting off on Ambuna Island that it will be transferred to Hainan Island as a whole after the mission is completed, and Mu Xiabo will recruit a group of new recruits from the local area. , plus a part of the militia group that changed defenses in Hainan Island in the past to form the new Annan Second Battalion, stationed in Cam Ranh Bay in the south of Annan.

For the personnel of this battalion, the transfer back to Hainan Island is undoubtedly a reflection of their status improvement, which means that they are no longer the former Overseas Corps, but the Haihan Militia in the true sense.Although the soldiers of this battalion have all obtained naturalization status, and many of them participated in the Liaoyuan Campaign last year, this is the first time they have truly stepped into Sanya, the core area of ​​Haihan power.

The military transferred this force back to Hainan Island, also taking into account the current actual needs.Although Haihan has completely occupied the left and right cities on the island, in fact, about half of the big island is not under Haihan's direct control, which is the inland mountainous area of ​​the island.Due to the closed environment, it is difficult for Haihan to achieve direct rule over the Qiongzhong Mountains in a short period of time, and the mountain people in these places lack sufficient awe of Haihan due to lack of information, and will not obey Haihan's assignment.The military hopes to build a quick-response force suitable for local conditions on the basis of the Annan militia to deal with various problems in the Qiongzhong mountainous area.

Of course, this is not something that can be accomplished overnight. Tactics and equipment must be improved according to the purpose of the operation, and the area and scale of deployment also need to be planned in more detail.However, before the military could bring this idea into the actual operation stage, something happened in the Shilu mining area.Compared with ordinary militia troops, the Annan Second Battalion, which has used mountains as its main training environment since its establishment, is obviously more suitable for the task of entering the mountains to chase down the remnants of the enemy, so the military immediately announced the cancellation of the second battalion's vacation status, and all personnel returned to the camp Prepare for war.

At the same time, the military has also strengthened its armed defense forces in the direction of Tiandu to prevent the Li people from Qiongzhong from going south to attack Sanya—although this possibility is very small, after all, Tiandu area has concentrated the current main industrial units. Fang still didn't dare to be careless about this.

After the decision was made, the senior military committee immediately summoned the acting battalion commander of the Annan Second Battalion, an officer of Annan descent, Ruan Xiangqian.Although Ruan Xiangqian has the surname Ruan, he is different from the brothers Ruan Jingwen and Ruan Jinggui who have defected to Haihan. He has no blood relationship with the Ruan family who used to be in power in Annan Nanfang, and he is a commoner with no background at all.During the civil war, he chose to flee to the north, and was collected by Haihan to Heitu Port.

For Ruan Xiangqian at that time, there were no more than two paths for the future. One was to be a miner in the Heitugang Coal Mine, and the other was to join the Haihan Militia as a soldier like most young adults.Although it cannot be said that being a miner has no future at all, compared with enlisting in the army, you can get Haihan naturalization, the income is more than double that of the miners, and there are many opportunities for promotion. Which path is more attractive to young people? Needless to say big.Ruan Xiangqian's family members were all separated during the war. For him, Haihan is a new student. For this reason, he even changed his name when he joined the army to show his determination.

Until last year, Ruan Xiangqian was still only a squad leader, but his outstanding performance in the Liaoyuan operation allowed him to be promoted to the rank of platoon leader.This year, the Military Commission sent his troops to the Abunna Islands, and Ruan Qianqian made military exploits in the battle to seize the island and defend the island one after another.After Mu Xiabo and Roger handed over the defense of the Abunna Islands, they appointed Ruan Qianqian as the acting battalion commander of the second battalion.

Although it was only an agency position, after returning to Sanya from the Abunna Islands, Ruan Xiangqian immediately got the admission notice of Shengli Port Military Academy.While his colleagues were enjoying their holidays, he had already received assault training in the military academy for more than half a month, which indicated that he would most likely become one of the first batch of naturalized civilian officers promoted to battalion commander.

As for the commander in the true sense, the Military Commission did not plan to be second-person. Although Qiao Zhiya, the military leader, had turned to government affairs in the past two years, it seemed that no one else in the military could surpass him in his familiarity with the local environment.After Annan's Second Battalion was transferred, it was a perfect arrangement for him to take over the command.

"The Military Commission's request for this operation is to eliminate all reactionary forces in the Qiongzhong area, and any copycats colluding with Jinyiwei must be cleaned up, do you understand?" Yan Chujie conveyed instructions to Ruan Xianchi with a serious face.

"Understood! The subordinates will do their best to complete the task!" Ruan Xiangqian responded loudly.

"In addition to the Annan Second Battalion, the executive committee has also arranged other teams to act with you this time." Seeing Ruan Xiangqian's puzzled look, Yan Chujie explained: "The local mountainous area is mainly populated by the Li and Miao ethnic groups. Seeing that you are not familiar with the local environment, the Military Commission specially transferred a company to help you."

The company Yan Chujie mentioned is indeed a bit special. It is one of the few militia groups formed locally in Hainan, with Li and Miao ethnic youth as the main source of troops.Among the more than 100 people in the company, more than [-] people are not of Han descent.The original intention of forming this company was to gradually bridge the century-old rift between the Li and Miao races.Judging from the effect after becoming an army, it has basically achieved the original intention of the military.The purpose of the military sending this company is not to fancy their combat effectiveness, but to hope that this company can act as an auxiliary role of guide during the operation and assist the Annan Second Battalion to complete the task.

In addition to military mobilization, the intervention of the Ministry of Security is also essential.After all, the matter of arresting the Jinyiwei officer has been handled by the Ministry of Security from the beginning to the end.Although the Ministry of Security has no definite information on Zhao Ye's whereabouts so far, only the Ministry of Security has the most personal information at present. To confirm Zhao Ye's identity, there must be relevant personnel present.

If Zhao Ye is really the planner of the Shilu riot, then the current deployment of the Ministry of Security in Danzhou can be said to have basically failed, and the concentration of so many important officials in the local area will not help.While the Executive Committee and the military were making preparations, the Ministry of Security had also called Danzhou, ordering Wang Baisuo and Zhang Qianzhi to stay there. Lin Nan and Li Qingyang immediately went south by boat to Changhua to obtain intelligence information nearby.After the follow-up combat troops rush over from Sanya, they will also cooperate with the troops to enter the mountainous area to carry out arrest operations.

Of course, like every military operation in the past, one link that cannot be ignored is logistical support.Going deep into the Qiongzhong Mountains has always been an unresolved problem for the Haihan military, the most important of which is supply.Most of the local areas are backward mountainous areas, and there is no established road network for fast transportation of bulk supplies.At most, the logistics supply will be shipped to Shilu, and the rest of the transportation line after entering the mountain will be more troublesome.

(End of this chapter)