1627 Rise of the South China Sea

Chapter 795
Among the maritime powers in the South China Sea, only the Spaniards have not directly dealt with Haihan.The information they have about Haihan is basically hearsay from various folk channels, some of which are exalted or belittled, and the objective credibility is not high.But the Spaniards have always regarded themselves as a superior country in Europe, just like Daming's status in the Far East, and they simply disdain to collect detailed information on such a local force.To be honest, if it wasn't for the existence of Dayuan Port that hindered the trading channel between Manila and Daming, they wouldn't even pay attention to the Dutch.

The high-ranking gentlemen don't care much about Hai Han's movements, so don't expect a commoner like Jose to care about such things.Jose's knowledge of Hai Han basically comes from the merchants and sailors of Ming Dynasty.Regardless of whether these people have a cooperative relationship with Haihan or not, most of them are in awe of him, and they don't talk too much about Haihan in front of outsiders. The information that Jose can learn is basically superficial. .

Before that, Jose only knew that Haihan had great influence in Fuguang and Guangxi provinces of Daming, and that the private armed forces under his command seemed to be quite powerful, because the Dutch in the south had once stumbled in his hands.But none of these things had anything to do with Spain directly, at least not before he was taken captive here.

As Jose's vigilance gradually decreased, Jin Ming's question became more and more blunt: "How is the defense of the two castles in Chicken Coop and Danshui? How many soldiers are stationed? How many cannons are each equipped with?"

Although Jose felt that these questions were inappropriate, thinking about the threats he had received before, he still felt that keeping himself alive was more important now.After all, even if I tried my best to keep these answers in my stomach, no one in El Salvador would be grateful to me for this.If the news of his death came back, the first thing the authorities would do would probably be to confiscate the blacksmith shop, and no one would care about the life and death of a small blacksmith.

Compared with the Netherlands, which has not risen for a long time, the old maritime empire Spain has richer operational experience in the construction and operation of overseas colonial strongholds. The two strongholds they built in the northern part of Taiwan Island have a relatively complete defense system. Professional armies were established, and all were equipped with a certain amount of long-range firepower.

According to what Jose explained, only the new Danshui stronghold was equipped with eight 12-pounder cannons and four 3-pounder cannons, and two hundred soldiers and about one thousand immigrants were stationed—most of them belonged to the Spain then immigrated here to the Nanyang aborigines.The reason why Jose knows these situations so well is precisely because of his special status.Most of the shells used by these artillery in the Danshui stronghold were cast locally, and it was José who did the work.As for the daily repair and maintenance of artillery and guns, it is basically within the scope of his work. Even if he doesn't ask deliberately, Jose will know the relevant military information of the stronghold very well.Jin Ming was determined to bring Jose back to Penghu, and it was precisely this factor that was taken into account, and the subsequent progress also fully demonstrated that Jin Ming's adventure was very valuable.

The city of El Salvador, which has been in operation for a longer period of time, is stronger in terms of defense than the Danshui stronghold, with as many as 12 14-pound guns, 3 small 8-pound guns, and two 24-pound cannons.In addition, the Spanish armed fleet based in Jilong Port also had six warships equipped with more than forty artillery pieces.There are about 500 members of the Spanish Army, about 300 members of the Navy, and about 300 members of the Mixed Confederation Army composed of various ethnic groups, with a total strength of over 3000.As for the ordinary people in the local area, there are only about [-] people.

To maintain a garrison with such a high population ratio in overseas strongholds, even the wealthy Haihan would not have it easy.Due to the short development time after Haihan took over Penghu, the resident population is not large, and the proportion of the local garrison is already quite high.But if the population of the immigration base is included, the proportion of the garrison is actually only 2000%, which is far lower than the Spanish population structure of Jilonggang.Moreover, the Penghu base has adjacent Fujian that can continuously import supplies, while the Spaniards in Jilonggang can only count on irregular logistical supplies from Manila, more than [-] miles away.Such a high proportion of the army must be difficult to maintain only by local output. It is no wonder that the Spaniards will reduce the size of the army and military expenditure stationed on Taiwan Island later.

From the perspective of the size of the garrison alone, the Spaniard's investment in deploying defensive forces is undoubtedly much stronger than that of the Dutch counterparts in the south.It is no wonder that the Dutch established a stronghold on Taiwan Island more than two years ago, but they have not been able to expel their opponents from the island.If you want to head-on, the Dutch's armed forces in Dayuan Port alone will definitely not be able to conquer the Spanish stronghold. Even if they know it is a thorn in their eyes, the Dutch can only bear to pretend to turn a blind eye.After Haihan intervened in Fujian affairs, the Dutch didn't even bother to deal with the conflicts with the Spaniards. After all, the two sides remained peaceful for most of the time, and Haihan was obviously not such an easy target.

But the Spaniards probably haven't developed a similar level of wariness towards Haihan. Even the senior management among them knows some of Haihan's achievements in recent years. Before the Dutchman was beaten, he didn't really regard Haihan as an evenly matched opponent.

Jin Ming asked military-related questions several times upside down to confirm that the data that Jose uttered was the same every time, so as to avoid being fooled by him with improvised information.And Jose, as a blacksmith, can only really learn military information to this extent. If he wants to ask him about the combat style of a certain commander, he probably won't be able to ask one, two, three.

Of course, Jose's intelligence value is not only reflected in the military aspect. Du Rong and Jin Ming intend to take advantage of such a hard-won Spanish job, and take out all the information he knows.This will greatly help Haihan understand the actual situation of Spanish society in this era, as well as his attitude towards dealing with Spaniards in the future.

"Good job!" Qian Tiandun patted Jin Ming's shoulder vigorously before leaving, and he couldn't help feeling flattered by this small gesture.

"Serve the executive committee!" Jin Ming stood at attention reflexively, and responded loudly.

For the military, the appearance of Jose is undoubtedly a huge windfall. It might take a lot of time and energy to collect intelligence, but Jose has already obtained first-hand information.This will definitely play a very important role in the military's next plan to deal with the Spaniards.

Gao Qiaonan received a notice from Qian Tiandun to summon him on the training ground, and after handing over the matter at hand to his adjutant, Gao Qiaonan hurried to Qian Tiandun's office to report.

"Come and take a closer look with me, and see what kind of method is better to attack this place." Qian Tiandun beckoned Gao Qiaonan to the desk to check the map spread out on the desk.

This map is a [-]:[-] satellite image of the northern part of Taiwan Island. On the map, you can clearly see the estuary of the Tamsui River, as well as Yangming Mountain and Guanyin Mountain on the east and west banks of the Tamsui River.

"Today, the Ministry of Security sent a Spaniard. According to his account, besides Jilong Port, there is also a Spanish stronghold at this location." Qian Tiandun said, pointing his finger at the river bank near the mouth of the Tamsui River: "Here is a castle called Santo Domingo. There are about ten cannons and two or three hundred troops."

"What does the general mean...we want to attack here?" Gao Qiaonan has been following Qian Tiandun for several years, and he is very familiar with his style of work.Taking out a map so suddenly for tactical deduction, it is obvious that he has already been tempted by this place.

Qian Tiandun nodded and said: "That's right, Taipei is no better than Dayuan Port. We can temporarily let the Dutch go, but the Taipei area is the target area that we must take directly. As for this credit, I don't want to give it to others. "

"I understand!" Takahashi Nan rubbed his hands excitedly.For him, there is really no pleasure in fighting the original armed natives of Taiwan Island with militiamen armed to the teeth.In contrast, a powerful opponent like Spain would be more interesting.

Gao Qiaonan examined the map carefully, and then asked, "General, how far is this castle from the river bank?"

"It's only a distance of 200-[-] meters. It depends on the tidal influence of the specific time period. But we can get more detailed information, and this link is not a problem." Qian Tiandun replied.

The city of Santo Domingo is just over one kilometer away from the coastline of the estuary, and the tides of the sea also have a certain impact on the docks outside the city.Normally docked ships will not be affected much, but if it is to perform military missions such as landing operations, then such uncontrollable factors must be taken into consideration.Otherwise, it would be very embarrassing for the navy to find out that it cannot rely on it when it reaches the shore.

Gao Qiaonan estimated the scale of the map in his mind, and then said: "The river here is at least three miles wide, and the Majestic-class warship with the largest tonnage can also easily change direction on the river. I think it is possible for the fleet to directly face the river from the river. The castle was suppressed to cover the landing of the infantry."

Among Haihan's amphibious operations subjects, shipboard artillery covering infantry landing is the most basic content, and the special warfare battalion has practiced this tactic many times without exception.However, there is a necessary prerequisite for using this tactic, that is, the range of the shipboard artillery is far enough, otherwise, if it can only hit a distance of 200 meters, then the landing force will not be able to fully deploy the formation, and the fire support will not be good. It became a firepower coverage of one's own troops.The contemporary ship-borne artillery generally has a relatively short range. This is because there is no way to guarantee the accuracy of shooting at sea. The long range alone may not improve the hit rate. On the contrary, the cost of the artillery will be greatly increased. On the other hand The reason is that the artillery deck space on the ship is limited. If the gun body is too large, it will be more difficult to deploy and operate in a narrow space.

Therefore, it is unrealistic to expect those naval guns that can only fire within 20 meters or even shorter distances at sea to provide land fire support. This kind of tactic can only be used by the Haihan militia with huge technological advantages in weapons. Play.When the Spaniards built this stronghold, they probably did not expect that there would be people in this world who would use this method of warfare to attack China.At this distance, Shanghai Han's warships could anchor on the shore and bombard the castle in a relatively stable posture.For a big ship like the Majesty class, the number of artillery on one side is more than the total number of artillery on the defensive side. The bombardment of more than [-] artillery pieces is enough to form a barrage on the castle, and this does not include the artillery fire of the army landing. It can suppress the opponent more effectively in terms of firepower.

"Keep talking." Qian Tiandun affirmed his subordinate with his eyes, and encouraged him to continue to express his thoughts.The Haihan Militia currently does not lack grassroots soldiers, but there is still a gap in the demand for senior commanding talents. Large-scale battles often require the traversers to personally command to the company and platoon level.Now the number of troops participating in the battle is limited, so the problem is not too big. If tens of thousands of troops are needed to fight in the Central Plains in the future, will it be necessary to rely entirely on the traversers to command the grassroots combat units at that time?Obviously, cultivating naturalized civilian officers is the real solution, and Qian Tiandun is also very happy to take advantage of this opportunity to exercise his trusted officers' ability to deduce the battle situation.

"As long as the army can land smoothly, the next thing will be easy." Takahashi Minami continued: "The range and accuracy of the army's artillery must far exceed that of the Spaniards. The 24-pound army artillery should It can also blast open the gate of the castle without much effort. I can't think of any better way out for the defenders than to surrender."

"Then what if the defensive force in the city increases, or if reinforcements from land arrive on the outskirts?" Qian Tiandun planned to test Gaoqiao South.

"Then give up the siege for the time being, and implement the tactics of encircling the point and attacking reinforcements." Gao Qiaonan immediately responded: "The terrain in this area is very flat, and the reinforcements must either enter the city and defend it, or they can only retreat far enough to be safe." Go up the distance and watch us blow up the castle bit by bit. Of course, if they plan to come up to block the holes, then I don't mind killing more."

Qian Tiandun said with a smile: "I will give you this map for the time being, and you can go back and make a more detailed battle plan for me. I will give you five days, and the combat time should not exceed two days, and the number of troops invested should not exceed what is currently in Penghu. Two-thirds of the military strength, and a corresponding logistics supply plan must be attached. Can it be done?"

"Complete the task resolutely!" Gao Qiaonan responded loudly without hesitation.

(End of this chapter)