1627 Rise of the South China Sea

Chapter 702
Wang Tom's explanation is not his personal understanding, it is indeed a view held by many people in the executive committee.

With the strengthening of Haihan's military strength, Shibazhi is no longer Haihan's unrivaled opponent, and it is only a matter of time before this pirate force is resolved.But to choose to solve it once and for all, or to squeeze out its use value, there are two different voices in the executive committee.

Haihan's ultimate goal of expanding its sphere of influence to the north is of course not to stop at the Taiwan Strait. There are still large areas of sea in Northeast Asia waiting for travelers to conquer.Initiating external wars in this process is definitely the most frequently used method, but how to find a reason to explain internally and confidently start war externally is a matter that will test the executive committee's ability to govern.

The existence of Shibazhi undoubtedly provides an excellent idea to solve this problem. No matter where Shibazhi flees, Haihan can continue to pursue them in the name of justice—whether they can be completely eliminated is the second. , but it is certainly possible to send troops to more places overseas in a logical manner, so as to achieve the effect of expanding the sphere of influence.

Qian Tiandun has been stationed abroad for a long time, and he is a very pure soldier at heart. He has not considered these long-term plans as much as the Executive Committee, but with his mind, he has already understood most of what Wang Tom said. Can't help laughing: "Where does the executive committee plan to drive them?"

"If they choose to seek refuge with the Dutch or Spaniards on Taiwan Island, that would be the best result." Wang Tom analyzed: "The executive committee is still very interested in Taiwan Island, but the Dutch and Spaniards One south and one north, the best places have already been taken up, so it’s not very fun for us. We have to find a reason to let them move their buttocks to make room.”

"How likely do you think Zheng Zhilong is to join them?" Now that this topic was mentioned, Qian Tiandun thought about discussing it with Wang Tom.

"The Dutch probably don't dare to intervene." Tom Wang replied with a smile: "The East India Company has given us a formal reply at the end of the year, and will no longer maintain any form of communication with Shibazhi, including military affairs. Aid is included. The Dutch on Dayuan Island should have also been notified by Batavia. They also know how serious the consequences of violating the agreement are. I think they should not dare to play tricks. Shiba Zhi Even if you have the intention to seek refuge with the Dutch, it can only be the result of a hot face and a cold ass."

"Then the Annabuna Islands are also safe for the time being?" Qian Tiandun immediately thought of another stronghold in the South China Sea that made Haihan worry about him.

"Theoretically, that's true." Wang Tom nodded and said, "After we announced the control of the Abunana Islands, the Dutch acquiesced in our actual control over the local area, and only asked to retain the nominal condominium. right."

"This is asking for a fig leaf." Qian Tiandun sneered, "The Dutch have a good plan."

"In the end, the executive committee only agreed to allow Dutch merchant ships to dock at the local docks. As for the co-management rights...the Dutch think they have it, so let's take it as it is. Anyway, we don't recognize it." Tom Wang said about this matter , but also a look of disdain.

The Dutch want to keep their maritime route from Batavia to Northeast Asia safe, and there are only two options. One is to fight Haihan and regain the route relay point of Ambuna Island, and the other is to choose a compromise. Recognize Haihan's control of the area in exchange for peace.However, the East India Company had lost confidence in taking back the Abunna Islands by force, so it sent a mission to visit Sanya, trying to get Haihan to withdraw through negotiations.At that time, the Dutch mission dragged on in Sanya for more than a month. If Schneider and others hadn't lost their patience and finally threatened force, the Dutch mission would probably have continued the negotiations that were destined to fail to achieve the results they expected. drag on.

However, since the Dutch chose peace, the pressure Haihan faced in the South China Sea and Fujian has been reduced accordingly, and the naval combat ships previously deployed in the Cam Ranh Port in Annan can also be temporarily transferred to Fujian. Participated in the attack on the Penghu Islands.Of course, transferring the naval fleet from Annan to Fujian is not an easy job. On the way, it has to go to several ports and travel thousands of nautical miles. For the naval forces participating in the operation, it can be regarded as a rare long-distance armed training.

Qian Tiandun naturally thought of this, and asked, "Has the Annan Fleet's transfer order been issued?"

"The transfer order has been issued, but there is no departure yet, and the pre-war preparations are still being made. If we say that we want to start ahead of time, then the Annan fleet may not be in time." Tom Wang said regretfully.

Even though Haihan's warships outperformed contemporary sailing ships in terms of speed, it would still take a long time to complete such a long-distance voyage, and the fleet needed to prepare a lot of combat materials.When the Annan fleet rushed all the way from Cam Ranh Port to Fujian, it is estimated that it will be a month at the earliest.

"If you are in a hurry, Annan's troops can only be transferred to Sanya." Qian Tiandun immediately thought of another temporary solution.

Wang Tom nodded and said, "If you want to do it in advance, that's the only way to go."

The method Qian Tiandun said was to let Annan's fleet station in Sanya, and then let the fleet stationed in Sanya go directly to Fujian to participate in the war.In terms of fleet size, weaponry, staffing, etc., the fleet stationed in Sanya is undoubtedly the strongest, and the main function of this fleet is to protect the maritime safety of the base camp, and it was not originally among the troops that attacked Penghu.However, doing extraordinary things in extraordinary times seems to be the only way to ensure that more combat ships rush to Fujian to participate in the war.

"Speaking of business, do you think Shibazhi will get together with the Spaniard?" Qian Tiandun returned the topic to the previous discussion.

Wang Tom thought for a while and said: "It's unlikely. When Shibazhi cooperated with the Dutch before, they also cooperated with the Dutch to intercept the Spanish merchant ships and the Ming merchant ships that went to Manila for trade. The Spaniards should be I will not wait to see these pirates. Moreover, Spain has not established a foothold in northern Taiwan for a long time, and the number of armed personnel stationed there is estimated to be very limited. These [-] Zhi will bring tens of thousands of people to seek refuge. It is hard to say who will be the master at that time gone."

"It's true, Shibazhi started as a pirate after all, no one will let them in easily." Qian Tiandun also agrees with Wang Tom's speculation: "If the Dutch and the Spaniards don't accept They, then they probably can only continue to go north."

"There are only two roads left. Either find a large island on the coast of Jiangsu and Zhejiang, or go northeast to occupy a place in Ryukyu." Wang Tom knew the maritime situation in Northeast Asia quite well, and responded immediately Said: "Based on their strength, there is no navy in any province in Ming Dynasty that can survive. It is not too difficult to seize an island along the coast of Jiangsu and Zhejiang, but I think they are more likely to choose the direction of Ryukyu."

"Let's hear the reason."

"It's very simple. As long as Zheng Zhilong is not stupid, we can see the development trend of us going north along the coastline of Daming. If they settle in Jiangsu and Zhejiang, they will become targets again when we set foot in Jiangsu and Zhejiang. Do you want to continue to retreat north?" Tom Wang said eloquently, "There are two advantages to retreating in the direction of Ryukyu. One is that the Ryukyu Kingdom's military strength is not strong, and there is nothing they can do to get rid of these pirates. They can be more calm in Ryukyu. Choose a place to settle down, and you don’t have to worry about being chased away by the host. Second, Zheng Zhilong stayed in Japan in the early years, and he can still do business with the Japanese to make a living when he retreats to Ryukyu. When necessary, he can even bring his subordinates all the way to Japan. It will not be difficult for such an armed force with tens of thousands of people to gain a foothold in Japan."

"Hearing what you said, I really want to try to drive them towards Ryukyu!" Qian Tiandun's eyes lit up after hearing Tom Wang's opinion.

"You want to lay the foundation for a war with the Japanese in the future?" Tom Wang immediately guessed Qian Tiandun's intention.

Qian Tiandun did not deny this, and nodded in response: "There is no need to mobilize to fight Japan. As long as the time comes, the executive committee will definitely agree. If I can destroy Little Japan in my lifetime, it can be regarded as the completion of my participation in the time travel. A wish from time to time."

"If you think so, it will chill your servants, right?" Tom Wang joked.

"Gao Qiaonan no longer regards himself as a Japanese." Qian Tiandun shook his head with a smile and said, "Besides, he was born as a samurai. For him, the concept of nationality is very vague. His allegiance is to the executive committee, not the emperor or the shogun of Japan. If you don’t believe me, wait and see, we will attack Japan in the future, Takahashi Minami will definitely be the first batch of officers to call for battle.”

"In the final analysis, you trained well." Tom Wang saw that Qian Tiandun was serious, so he stopped joking about Gao Qiaonan: "Actually, my personal idea is to drive Shibazhi to the north, Mr. Tao and Mr. Yan also has the same meaning. Mr. Tao said that this is called driving away tigers and swallowing wolves, and let Shibazhi walk the road for us first, stepping on the road, and we will follow along all the way."

"You guy, so you've been testing me with words!" Qian Tiandun reacted after hearing him say this. Since Tao Donglai and Yan Chujie have already expressed their attitudes, it means that the high-level military has already expressed their attitude towards this. They reached a more consistent view, but Tom Wang kept going around without directly explaining, obviously trying to test his attitude.

Wang Tom laughed and said: "It's not that I don't trust you, it's just that the Military Commission wants to know your real views on the future development of the situation. After all, you are the commander who is on the front line. What you see and think may be similar to the situation at the base camp." There will be some differences. If you have a better idea for solving Shibazhi, the Military Commission will also seriously consider it."

Qian Tiandun said: "I will absolutely agree with the Military Commission regarding the future attack on Japan."

"Now that Shibazhi has shown his intention to abandon Penghu, we might as well think about whether it is possible to drive them northeast." Tom Wang asked, "Do you have any ideas?"

Qian Tiandun replied without hesitation: "First of all, we must stop them from relocating to the coast of Jiangsu and Zhejiang. I think the Fujian navy should step up patrols on the west side of the Taiwan Strait to create obstacles for Shibazhi to retreat to the mainland. .”

"Leave a channel on the east side of the strait and reserve an escape route for them." Wang Tom added.

Qian Tiandun continued: "Secondly, we can also think of ways in Zhejiang, such as publicizing the news that Shibazhi is about to attack a certain coastal place in the market, creating a tense atmosphere."

"What if the Zhejiang government doesn't accept the recruitment?" Tom Wang asked.

"It doesn't matter, Shibazhi has no way to determine whether the Zhejiang government has paid attention to this kind of news. After all, they can't afford to lose now. If they suffer setbacks in the target area, I'm afraid Shibazhi will have no way to move to the next target area. "Qian Tiandun analyzed: "They can only find soft persimmons now, what we have to do is to make Jiangsu and Zhejiang directions not look like soft persimmons."

"It's feasible." Tom Wang nodded, thinking about Qian Tiandun's solution in his mind.

Although the Fujian government has a very close relationship with Haihan, there is no way to directly influence the policy trends in Zhejiang, so it is unlikely to use official channels directly.But to disseminate news among the people, the difficulty is relatively much lower.In addition, Fujian has just intercepted a convoy of merchant ships from Jiangsu and Zhejiang. This incident can be used to spread rumors in the northern coastal area and artificially create a tense atmosphere.

However, this matter definitely cannot be done by Hai Han himself, most of the time he still has to rely on Xu Xinsu to complete it.But whether Xu Xinsu is willing to cooperate with this plan, it still needs to be discussed with him.

"Let's sort out the situation first, send a report back to the base camp, and see what the Executive Committee decides." Tom Wang pondered for a while, and decided to follow the standard handling channels and inform the Executive Committee first.

"Xu Xinsu also needs to make an appointment here. If he doesn't cooperate, it will be difficult for us to proceed to the next step." Qian Tiandun reminded.

"How about this, when the base camp makes a decision, we will have another interview with Xu Xinsu." Wang Tom said: "He should also understand our intentions. After all, it is not that we don't want to eliminate Shibazhi now, but that the situation has changed. , if we do it in advance, it will also increase our own operational risks. If Shibazhi can be forced to abandon Penghu automatically, then we and the Fujian government can save a lot of trouble."

The two did what they said, and sent a long telegram back to Sanya that day, informing in detail the latest changes in the situation in Fujian, and attached the specific implementation plan for driving away tigers and wolves they discussed.

(End of this chapter)