1627 Rise of the South China Sea

Chapter 907 Getting Ready
Haihan is based on the sea, and it pays attention to "sea control" from top to bottom. Therefore, maritime transportation and trade are also the fastest-growing and most stable categories of Haihan's many business fields.The lucky ones who made their fortunes by sea transportation also appeared in endlessly in the area under the rule of Haihan. The Ming Dynasty general Luo Shengdong, the maritime merchant Zhan Gui and others who were engaged in this industry in the early days can be regarded as extremely wealthy in the South China Sea area. businessman.If you want to make a fortune in the social system of Haihan, shipping and trading is indeed the most stable way.Liu Qiye, Qi Chuanjiang, and Li Maozai are either employees or have joined the Haihan system for a long time, and they are very clear about the way in the middle. It is rare to have this kind of opportunity to be able to operate. Don't want to miss it.

Of course, since Li Maozai and Qi Chuanjiang are currently in public positions, it is definitely not convenient for them to come forward, so Liu Qiye has to do it for them.The three agreed that Li Maozai and Qi Chuanjiang would contribute the money, and Liu Qiye would contribute, and the income would be divided into thirds and divided equally.

In late August, the militia garrison in Jilonggang suddenly began to strengthen the local defenses. The cordon that was originally set up only two miles outside the harbor was expanded to five miles, which means that there are more armed checkpoints on the outside. Therefore, the number of troops put into defense has more than doubled than before.At sea, the frequency and scope of patrols have also been increased. Even Yonaguni Island, which is 80 nautical miles away from Jilong Port, has been included in the patrol range.

The indigenous tribes living in the mountains and dense forests should not be worthy of such a big fight by the militia. Li Maozai thinks that it is very likely that the chief executive from above will come to Jilonggang for "inspection work" in the near future, and it will only happen out of security considerations. Such an arrangement.Sure enough, a few days after the Militia Army changed its defense strategy, a huge fleet led by a "majestic class" warship arrived at Jilong Port.And when Li Maozai saw the arrival of this fleet, he knew that this was probably going to attack the Eighteen Zhiyu Party on Miyako Island in the east.

As the temporary local official in charge, Tian Yeyou rushed from the mining area to the Jilong Port Wharf to welcome Wang Tom and his party who came all the way from Sanya.This time the operation will be directed by Wang Tom himself, and Yan Chujie, who originally wanted to come to Taiwan to experience the war addiction, because it happened to coincide with the annual joint military exercise between Haihan and Annan, he had to give up going north and choose to go south.

This year, the joint military exercise between the two sides is located at the Cam Ranh Bay base that has just been opened, which can be regarded as a sign that the military base is officially put into use.The joint fleet will start from Cam Ranh Bay and go all the way south to Ambuna Island controlled by Haihan. On the way, the two armies will practice various maritime combat subjects together, and will perform amphibious landing and anti-landing tactics with the local garrison on Abunna Island.This is probably the largest sea joint military exercise since the cooperation between the two sides. It is said that Annan's side will be led by Prince Zheng Zuo, and Haihan's side will naturally have to send someone of similar status. This task falls to Yan Chujie. on the head.

In the fleet brought by Wang Tom this time, apart from a Majestic-class warship as the flagship, there are more than 2000 warships of various types, and almost the same number of logistics ships.The strength of the land and water armies assembled in Jilonggang has exceeded [-].Most of them are from the local garrisons in Fujian, and more than [-]% of the troops in the Penghu base will participate in this operation.

"The Military Commission intends to complete its work this time, and there will be no more fish that slip through the net." At the welcome banquet, Tom Wang readily confessed to Tian Yeyou.This operation will take Jilong Port as the starting point and the main supply point, and it will inevitably require local cooperation and support. Therefore, Tom Wang must inform Tian Yeyou of the arrangement and purpose of this operation, so that the two sides can maintain a good relationship during the mission. tacit cooperation.

Tian Yeyou said: "Even if Zheng Zhilong can still run, there is no place for him to run, and the islands further north are not so easy to snatch."

From the east of Yonaguni Island, a series of islands including Miyako Island belong to the territory of the Ryukyu Kingdom. Shibazhi was able to seize Miyako Island at that time, mainly because the Ryukyu Kingdom had very few armed forces stationed there. There is no resistance to the sudden thousands of pirates.After Shibazhi took over the area, the Ryukyu Kingdom did not try to counterattack, but at this time the Ryukyu Kingdom was under the control of the Japanese Satsuma Domain, and most of the small domestic troops were disarmed. The remaining force is not enough to expel Shibazhi on Miyako Island.

However, with the strength of Shibazhi, it is difficult to attack Okinawa Island, where the capital of the Ryukyu Kingdom is located.Moreover, Shibazhi's occupation of the territory of the Ryukyu Kingdom also offended the Japanese Satsuma Domain. Even if they crossed Ryukyu and continued northward, it would be difficult to find a place for them to settle down, so Tian Yeyou said this.

Wang Tom said: "No one can let him run away again, and we don't have so much energy to invest in these pirates. Only by solving this hidden danger can we open a sea route from the south to Japan with peace of mind. .”

Tian Yeyou asked: "I heard that Zhoushan has sent a fleet to Japan for investigation. Are you planning to open two routes?"

Wang Tom nodded and said: "There is no conflict. The route in Zhoushan is based on the Jiangsu and Zhejiang regions, and our route to Japan through the Ryukyu Islands is based on the two provinces of Fuzhou and Guangxi. Each has its own business projects. .But there is no obstacle between Zhoushan and Japan, and the flight distance is much shorter than that from Taiwan.”

Tian Yeyou is actually not particularly concerned about how to arrange the trade routes to Japan. He is just the temporary manager of Taipei Jilong Port. After the gold mine here is on track, he will probably not stay here any longer. up.He doesn't have much interest in politics either, and he can't wait to finish his work here and return to Sanya to enjoy the blessings.However, since the executive committee has a plan to open a route to Japan in Taipei, Jilong Port will definitely carry some commercial functions in the future, and the current port construction plan probably needs to make some corresponding adjustments.

"Aside from providing logistical supplies, is there anything else I can do for you?" Tian Yeyou asked proactively.

Wang Tom smiled and said, "I suggest you prepare a batch of ships in advance, and return the spoils and prisoners after the battle is over."

"Then we can only recruit civilian ships." Tian Yeyou responded: "Most of the ships here are warships of your military, and they are not very useful for pulling goods and people. However, there are not many local civilian ships, so it is estimated that they will be recruited temporarily. difficult."

"There is no way to do this." Wang Tom is also very helpless about this: "This kind of thing can't be notified in advance, otherwise it may leak. In short, as much as you have, you can call as much as you want, and the freight subsidy can be relaxed. "

"I'll do my best!" Tian Yeyou didn't dare to reassure him. After all, this is only a small port for non-trading purposes. Except for a small number of cargo ships that regularly transport supplies from Fuzhou and Penghu, there are very few other private ships visit.Tian Yeyou reckons that the number of ten or eight ships that can be collected for the military at the start of the war is almost at the upper limit. When the time comes, you will know that the military will definitely leave this matter to themselves, and it will definitely be a time-consuming and labor-intensive trouble. thing.

Of course, not everyone will feel headaches about the upcoming military operations like Tian Yeyou. Li Maozai and others are very supportive of the military's decision to requisition all civilian ships in the port. The few ships hired by Liu Qiye from Fuzhou Just at this point in time, the card came to Jilonggang, and it naturally became the target of the military's requisition.Now as long as this battle is over, the three of them will be able to take advantage of the general situation to make a small fortune from the war.

On August 29, all Haihan's participating troops arrived at Jilonggang.Of course, the Ming Army Military Observer Group from Fujian, as well as some of the elite naval forces directly under Xu Xinsu, were also indispensable.This action is related to Xu Xinsu's old friend, so it is absolutely necessary to send someone to participate in the whole process.It is not Hai Han who is most anxious about eliminating Shibazhi, but Xu Xinsu and the interest groups behind him. If Zheng Zhilong is not arrested, Xu Xinsu will not be at ease.This time Haihan organized the attack on Miyako Island, Xu Xinsu also paid out of his pocket to sponsor the military expenses as always, so Haihan would definitely not refuse his small request to send people to participate in the operation.

After a three-day rest, the Haihan troops set off on September 200st. After sailing out of the harbor, the fleet turned eastward and sailed to Miyako Island, [-] nautical miles away.

Compared with the attack on Penghu a year ago, this operation is much less difficult. After Shibazhi was expelled from Penghu, his strength was greatly damaged, and because the space for activities was compressed, he failed to recover after more than a year. The past situation, on the contrary, became more and more difficult.

Compared with the past when the sea merchants sent their money to seek asylum, the current situation of Shibazhi who retreated to Miyako Island can only be described as miserable.Now that their territory is no longer on any major trade route, even if they want to rob merchant ships at sea, they have to rely on luck. When they are unlucky, they may not be able to encounter a single prey in ten days and a half months.Purchasing all kinds of living supplies is also more troublesome than in the past. Both Fujian and Zhejiang know that Shibazhi lost to the East China Sea, and it is difficult to have a chance to make a comeback, so fewer and fewer people are willing to help them. Individuals are still willing to sell grain to them, but the prices are astonishingly high. It is clear that they want to take the opportunity to squeeze out the little value left by Shibazhi.

Of course, it wasn't that no one thought about fighting back, but there wasn't much room for tricks in fighting, let alone the opponent was the Haihan militia.Penghu didn't dare to think about it anymore. Zheng Zhilong also sent people disguised as fishermen to investigate in the Taipei area to see if there was any opportunity to take advantage of the two new strongholds opened by Haihan in the area, but the information he got was that the Haihan people were Both ports have built a large number of coastal defense forts, and it may take a huge price to launch an attack from the sea.

In the match between the two sides in Penghu last year, Shibazhi was already beaten by the huge power of the Haihan artillery, and the several death squads sent to intercept the Haihan fleet never returned. It was exposed that the opposition within Shibazhi was very loud, and most people thought it was pointless to attack the Taipei area, because even if they could snatch these two small ports from the Haihan people, it would be difficult to stay there for a long time to resist Haihan's counterattack.Shibazhi did have a lot of guns and artillery in the past, and some of them even came from Haihan, but at this stage, the ammunition has been exhausted, and there is no way to replenish it on Miyako Island. Reckless fight is tantamount to death.

Those with conservative opinions hope that Zheng Zhilong can turn his attention to the north and find a place to settle on the coast of Zhejiang by cooperating with Zhejiang pirates and maritime merchants.But this idea is still in the stage of discussion, and the Haihan people have already sent a fleet north to Zhoushan, blocking people and killing Buddhas along the way. It took only two months to clean up the civilian armed forces in the coastal areas of Zhejiang. One pass, and won Zhoushan, an important maritime hub.

When Zheng Zhilong got the news, he could only cry bitterly. The Haihan people controlled Zhoushan, which means that the area between the Fujian Strait and Zhejiang Zhoushan will also be included in the control of the Haihan Fleet. If Shibazhi moves to Zhejiang The coast is undoubtedly a self-inflicted move.Haihan's move basically cut off Shibazhi's only retreat.

For Zheng Zhilong personally, another possible way out is to flee north to Hirado, Japan.After all, it was the place where he made his fortune, and his personal relationship with the Matsuura family who was in charge of the local area had always been good, and there were some fields and manors in Hirado. If he chose to go to Hirado, he could at least be a small landlord there.But Zheng Zhilong is really not willing to give up everything he has now, and give up the opportunity to avenge the Haihan people, and he always feels that the Haihan people will not stop there. Even if he can escape to Hirado, the Haihan people may chase him at any time .

Zheng Zhilong's sixth sense is indeed correct. After the situation in Zhoushan stabilized, Haihan immediately sent a fleet to Japan for investigation. If Zheng Zhilong had fled to Hirado at that time, the armed men brought by Chen Yixin would have to stage a show there. A kidnapping has taken place.

Although Haihan's actions of dispatching troops in the Jilonggang area were concealed, they were not without traces.Shibazhi has always deployed ships in the waters to the east of Taiwan Island, and from time to time, it will look for opportunities to approach the Taipei area for investigation. Recently, the Haihan warship suddenly expanded its patrol area to Yonaguni Island, 80 nautical miles east of Jilong Port. , which inevitably aroused Zheng Zhilong's vigilance.On the same day that Wang Tom arrived at Jilong Port, Zheng Zhilong also ordered all personnel on the island to prepare for war, and sent twice as many ships to the waters near Taipei to check for any changes in the Haihan people.He knew very well that if the Haihan people sent troops to hunt them down again this time, Shibazhi would have no choice but to fight to the death on Miyako Island.

(End of this chapter)