1627 Rise of the South China Sea

Chapter 699 Pre-War Layout
At the beginning of the new year in 1632, Victory Port, Luhuitou Army Base.

"It's so unfavorable to line up! Look at the back of your head in front of you, don't go east! Zhang! West! Look!" Gu Wei reprimanded the bewildered recruit with a loud voice, spraying the unlucky guy all over his face with saliva.

The winter conscription in Hainan Island in 1631 was over, and young people who signed up for military service from various states and counties arrived in Shengli Port to report and enter the camp in succession.The objects that Gu Wei reprimanded were more than 40 recruits who had just arrived here after a one-day boat ride from Lingshui.

Most of these young people are not natives of Hainan Island, but immigrants introduced from the mainland in the past one or two years.For the people of this era, joining the army is not a very good choice. The Daming guard system has long since collapsed to the point that it is difficult to maintain. Without any scruples, Yulingang was chosen as the landing site.However, for the immigrants introduced in the past two years, joining the army is a shortcut for them to obtain Haihan naturalization, which is a necessary condition.

Compared with the early days of its establishment, the Haihan Civil Affairs Department today has stricter definitions and treatment differences for naturalization. If immigrants do not have the patience to wait for the inspection period ranging from three months to one year, the fastest way to naturalization is to soldier.On the walls of the village committees in every resettlement village, there are uniform recruitment slogans such as "one person enlists in the army, the whole family is naturalized". Such treatment is indeed very attractive to immigrants who are eager to take root locally. .Moreover, the salaries of the soldiers of the Haihan Militia are not low, and they are slightly better than traditional occupations such as farming and work. From an economic point of view, it is also a good way to make a living.

In addition, these immigrants have all seen the Haihan militia during the process of coming to Hainan Island from the mainland. The militia soldiers who are well-dressed, armed with live ammunition and strict military discipline left a completely different impression on the young immigrants among the Ming Dynasty's army. Shanghai Han's unique propaganda methods have turned the Hai Han militia into a majestic image of the Salvation Army, which is indeed extremely attractive to passionate young people.For example, the current team of recruits from Lingshui are all from the same immigrant village, and the current total population of this village is less than 800 people, about half of whom are young and strong men, and more than one-tenth of them have signed up for the army. In the Haihan jurisdiction where the recruitment system is adopted, it is already quite a good result.

Of course, it is not an easy task to turn these young people who have not received any military training at all into soldiers who are not afraid of sacrifice.They need to complete two months of basic training at the Luhuitou Army Camp before proceeding to the next step of arming assignment.For example, artillery, snipers, scouts, engineers and other professional arms that have higher requirements for skills have to be further selected from these personnel who have completed recruit training, and then carry out professional training. The training cycle is longer than that of recruit training. Much longer.

However, for Gu Wei, who is in charge of training recruits in the Haihan Army, bringing these recruits is simply more troublesome than going to the battlefield himself.Many people can't even distinguish between left and right when they enlist in the army, and they need to keep yelling or even shooting in order to make these people understand their instructions.

The reason for the distraction of these recruits today is not only because they are not familiar with the military training instructions, but also because the regular army of the Haihan militia that is gathering in front of them makes it difficult for them to concentrate on executing the orders of the commander.

Next to the training ground for new recruits is a standard 400-meter runway sports field. At this time, three army companies and various combat equipment and supplies have gathered on this field. Yan Chujie, the top leader of the Haihan military, is In front of the soldiers, they were given pre-departure training.For the recruits who had just entered the camp, it was the first time they saw the Haihan militia marching out of the garrison in an organized manner. This formation really made them feel both novel and shocked, and at the same time a little envious.Because it is said that the destination of this troop will be Hong Kong Island at the mouth of the Pearl River, and according to the regulations of the military, this kind of troop stationed in other places can also enjoy additional allowances and subsidies, which can support at least one more person every month up.

"Report to the chief, the villain has a problem and ask for advice!" Someone in the team raised his hand and said loudly.

Gu Wei looked back and saw that it was a young man with a fair complexion, so he walked over and stood in front of him: "Ask!"

"When the villain joined the army, the military master who recruited said that he could be stationed in Fujian in the future. I wonder if there is really such an arrangement?" asked the young man.

"Are you from Fujian?" Gu Wei heard him speak with a relatively obvious southern Fujian accent, and guessed his purpose for asking this question.

"The villain was born in Putian, Fujian, and he voted for Haihan alone, so that he could return to Fujian one day and avenge his family!" The young man replied bitterly.

"Revenge?" Gu Weiyi shook his head when he heard this, and said, "If you join the army because of personal grievances, then I suggest you put away such thoughts earlier, this army will not make you brave and ruthless personal preference."

"The villain's family of seventeen was slaughtered by pirate Shibazhi last year. Only the villain escaped by chance, and the government couldn't bring the real culprit to justice. The villain heard that the Haihan militia and Shibazhi were not far away. Those who came to Qiongzhou Island specially for thousands of miles to join the army will be fulfilled by the chief!" As the young man said, he fell to his knees and fell to the ground, which caught Gu Wei by surprise.

There are indeed a lot of people killed by Shibazhi in the coastal areas of Fujian. Although in the past two years, with the change of the war situation, the number of large-scale attacks by Shibazhi on the main coastal ports of Fujian has become less and less, but they still organize small-scale attacks from time to time. looting operations.On the one hand, it is to rob the people's property and food, and on the other hand, it will also rob the population, and transport them to Penghu and the west coast of Taiwan for reclamation, so as to make up for the shortcomings of Shibazhi's own insufficient food production.

When Gu Wei heard such a reason, it was not easy to reprimand this young man. After all, there were so many recruits on the scene, and his attitude would probably affect how these recruits felt about the Haihan Militia as a group.

Gu Wei thought for a while and said: "Since it is the revenge of destroying the family, it is really a different matter. What's your name?"

"The villain's original surname is Gu. After the accident at home, the original name has been discarded. Now the single name is a word of Qiu, to remind myself not to forget about revenge!" The young man answered, but still fell on the ground without moving.

"Gu Chou?" Gu Wei said in a deep voice: "After two months, if you can successfully complete the recruit training assessment, I will make the decision and recommend you to serve in Fujian. Maybe you will have the opportunity to avenge your family on the battlefield. what do you think?"

"Thank you, Chief!" That Gu Chou kowtowed three times on the ground, then got up and said: "The villain can't wait to go to Fujian tomorrow and lay down his life for the militia!"

"You should be a scholar, right?" Gu Wei looked at the young man's appearance and said, "I give you two months to let you learn how to kill the enemy, so that you won't be able to avenge yourself on the battlefield in the future, and you will die in vain. That's not worth it!"

Gu Qiu bowed his head and replied: "The chief has taught you the right lesson. The villain has spent a few years studying in vain, but he has forgotten this basic truth. From now on, the villain must train well, and please don't forget to promise the villain. !"

Situations like Gu Qiu's are not uncommon in the Haihan army. During the chaos in Guangdong two years ago, many of the immigrants Haihan brought in from the mainland were victims of banditry and their families were ruined. .Among them, quite a few young men chose to join the army in order to realize their desire to avenge their families.Therefore, Gu Wei still has some experience in dealing with the ideological crux of this kind of people. As long as it is used properly, it can boost morale to a certain extent and increase the cohesion of the troops to the recruits.

"Stand at attention! Turn right!" Gu Wei ordered loudly.

The reactions of the recruits were still uneven, Gu Wei scolded and used his feet to make two or three of the soldiers who turned in the wrong direction realize their mistake.After everyone turned in the right direction, Gu Wei also walked to the side of the team and shouted: "Salute!"

The recruits learned this movement very quickly, and they raised their right hands to the side of their heads in unison to salute.Opposite them were militia troops marching out of the camp in four columns.After they leave the camp, they will board the ship directly at the pier on the Luhuitou Peninsula, and then head to Hong Kong Island.

But what the recruits don't know is that this militia force is not going to rotate the colleagues stationed there, but will be stationed there temporarily for one to two months, and then go directly to Fujian to prepare for the next stage of military operations .

The reason for stationing on Hong Kong Island for a period of time is mainly to avoid large-scale military transfers from attracting the attention of Shibazhi, and transferring the participating troops to Fujian in stages and batches can not only deceive people's eyes and ears , It can also allow the troops to have more time to adapt to the local climate, diet and other environmental conditions in Fujian, and make as much preparation as possible before going to war.

Except for the army base on the Luhuitou Peninsula, small-scale troop movements like this are going on all over Hainan Island.The action plan of the Military Commission is to arrange as many combat-experienced troops as possible to participate in the military operations in Fujian within this year, and some of the recruits who joined the army last year will take on the important task of guarding Hainan Island during the war.As for the new recruits who have just entered the barracks to report, they will probably be able to serve in the local area in a decent manner when the war starts.

At the same time, the Hong Kong island town of Nangang.

The port town, which was originally full of traffic, has now become quiet as the merchants have moved and evacuated.At present, all merchants have moved their shops to Causeway Bay in the north. There is a trade zone under the auspices of the Ministry of Commerce. trading port.

The shops, warehouses, hotels and other facilities in Zhennan Port, which belong to many commercial firms, are also undergoing orderly renovation. The militia has already requisitioned all the local real estate. After renovation, these buildings will be used as barracks and warehouses for the troops. use.The scale of the garrison at Zhennan Port and Ap Lei Chau will soon break through the previous record. In the first quarter of 1632, the Military Commission planned to mobilize two reinforcement battalions from the mainland and an army consisting of fifteen ships. The formed fleet is deployed here, and the garrison is estimated to reach 3000 people.

In order to allow the troops to be stationed smoothly, the Guangdong office has also become busy from top to bottom.Except for food that can be shipped from Hainan Island, most other daily necessities need to be purchased nearby in the mainland to save costs.Fortunately, Haihan's purchases have always been bulk transactions, and no one would have noticed anything special about the recent purchase list issued by the Guangzhou Office.

At the Pearl River Wharf outside Guangzhou, several merchant ships under the Haihan Shipping Department transported various materials purchased to Zhennan Port once a week.In addition, there are dozens of partner merchant ships that shuttle between Sanya and Zhennan Port in different batches, secretly transporting combat materials to Zhennan Port that even the crew do not know the contents of.

On February 1632, 2, the fourth day of the first month of the fifth year of Chongzhen in the Ming Dynasty, Lichun.

The Haihan exclusive pier on the west side of Kinmen Island ushered in a fleet without any flags or identification marks. After the fleet docked, all the young and strong men came down from the boat, and everyone carried A large canvas marching rucksack.This is the first batch of participating troops to arrive at Kinmen Island. It consists of an amphibious combat company and an artillery company, with a total of more than [-] people.With the arrival of this troop, it also symbolized the official opening of Haihan's combat plan against Penghu.In the next two or three months, there will be at least two or three reorganized and reinforced battalions of the army and more than two naval fleets arriving here.At that time, after rest and reorganization, the military will find a period with better sea conditions to launch a battle against the old nest of Shibazhi in Penghu.

In addition to Haihan's participating troops, the Fujian government is also secretly dispatching elite troops from the province to concentrate in Zhangquan and Quanzhou.Although the fighting power of the Ming government army is not comparable to that of the Haihan militia, but as a coordinated allied force, the Fujian government will also send at least 3000 troops to participate in this battle, and Xu Xinsu also sees this attack on Shibazhi It was a rare opportunity. After all, only in such actual combat can our troops learn the essence of the Haihan people's combat thinking to the maximum extent.Xu Xinsu even started to set up a military observation group as early as last year, including almost all the young talents in the army under him, and waited for these young officers to be sent to the Haihan militia army when the war started, so that they could learn the sea skills closely. How the Han commanded operations and responded to various situations on the battlefield.After such a battle is fought, it is probably more effective than their going to Sanya to study abroad for a few months.

(End of this chapter)