Late Ming sea owl

Chapter 349 Freshwater Defense
The General Security Bureau was responsible for the defense of the homeland, and its headquarters was located in Guandu City. The Iron Kingdom's palace was also next to Guandu City. Soon, Shan Sinan and Wu Lang arrived at the Guandu Palace one after another.

Since the sixth year of Tianqi, Wu Lang has been working hard to learn Chinese. Today, he can not only speak fluent Cantonese, but also recognize simple Chinese characters, and no longer needs a translator.

Lin Hai briefly explained the current situation to the two men, and then said to Wu Lang: "I need you to gather all the young and strong men in the Iron Country, and at the same time collect all the canoes in the Iron Country. You must also relocate the elderly, the weak, the women and the children on both sides of the Tamsui River to the east of Guandu City as soon as possible. Before the enemy is completely defeated, the rations of the soldiers and civilians of the Iron Country will be provided free of charge by the company."

The Iron Country currently has a total population of 30,000, including approximately 10,000 young and middle-aged men, of which 1,500 are full-time standing troops. Their daily routines are either fighting or training.

They trained in the Mandarin Duck Formation and joined forces with the Huiyou Company to march into Yilan, Taoyuan, Hsinchu and Miaoli several times to wipe out the local Kavalan and Dawkas. Wulang also led his troops alone many times into the Snow Mountain Range and the northern part of the Central Mountain Range to capture Atayal people and sell them as slaves to the company.

The combat effectiveness of this army can be said to be quite good. They have no firearms and are particularly good at cold weapon combat, which can make up for the weaknesses of the peasant soldiers.

In addition to this standing army, the other young and strong men in the Iron Country were also excellent hunters. Although their equipment was very simple, mainly single bamboo bows and short spears that were not necessarily iron, they could still be used in an emergency, at least better than mobilizing the farmers of the Gold River Country to go to the battlefield.

Wu Lang nodded in agreement, but then he heard Shan Sinan ask from the side: "Boss, aren't we defending at the mouth of the Tamsui River?"

The reason he asked this was because Lin Hai said that he wanted to relocate the indigenous people along the Tamsui River to the east of Guandu City, that is, the Keelung River Basin. At present, the villages of the Iron Country are all in the hills along the Tamsui River and Keelung River. The two plains of Yilan and Wanhua are already full of Han immigrants.

"Of course we have to defend the mouth of the Tamsui River, but we don't have to hold on to it to the death. We must make full use of the depth of the battlefield and build multiple land and water defense lines between the mouth of the Tamsui River and Guandu City, and wear down the enemy troops layer by layer..."

Lin Hai gestured on the map as he spoke. He finally pointed at Guandu City with a wooden stick and said, "Our bottom line is here. We must not let the enemy army capture Guandu City."

Guandu City is located at the confluence of the Keelung River and the Tamsui River. Wanhua is not far to the south, and all the way to Keelung to the east. It can be said to be a transportation hub in the Taipei area, and naturally a military stronghold that cannot be lost.

For this reason, one of the first tasks after the establishment of the Engineering Bureau was to rebuild Guandu City. This former bamboo city has now become a towering stone city.

However, for the sake of cost saving and adapting to local conditions, Guandu Stone City did not adopt the bastion plan with a huge amount of earthwork, nor did it adopt the construction model of rammed earth and bricks. Instead, it was directly built with stones, and the city walls were both high and thin.

This is because Lin Hai has not envisioned a scenario where a foreign enemy would launch a large-scale cross-sea expedition. In his opinion, this possibility is much lower than the possibility of the Iron Country launching a collective rebellion.

After all, the Western colonists had very limited manpower available, and although the local Asian forces, including the Ming Dynasty, were numerous and powerful, it was difficult for them to pass the Navy Department, let alone reach Guandu.

Therefore, the main function of Guandu City is to deter possible rebellions on the island. The towering city walls can bring a stronger visual shock. For the natives, this is an insurmountable natural barrier.

After all, they had neither artillery nor large catapults like the Huihui cannon, and they didn't even have ladders, so they could only climb up with simple ladders and grappling hooks.

As for why the city walls are so thin, on the one hand, it is of course to save costs, and on the other hand, it also has practical military significance. The thinner the city walls, the easier it is to defend, and it will be more difficult for the first attackers to expand their victory.

However, this tall and thin stone city is very vulnerable to heavy artillery. Lin Hai emphasized: "Guandu City is the last line of defense, but you must try your best to defend the front line, especially to prevent the enemy army from transporting heavy artillery to Guandu City."

Shan Sinan said thoughtfully: "In other words, in addition to the land defense line, the water defense line is also crucial."

Lin Hai nodded and said, "Of course, both land and water defense lines are indispensable. If the enemy ships can come and go freely on the Tamsui River, then it is meaningless to stop the enemy army on land. They can completely bypass Guandu City."

"General Manager, should we deploy some of the navy to Tamsui?" Shan Sinan had a headache. Although he had been to the battlefield when he was young, he had no experience in military command. After joining Huiyou Company, he focused more on civil affairs, and Feng Yidao was mainly responsible for the military affairs of the Security Department.

"The navy cannot be moved, and most of the navy's warships are not very useful in inland rivers." Lin Hai shook his head when he heard this. This is why he wanted to transfer Zheng Tingqiu to be in charge of Tamsui's defense. Among the company's senior executives, only he and Shibi have the most experience in inland river warfare.

However, Zheng Tingqiu is not good at land warfare, and Shan Sinan is unreliable in this regard, so He Ying needs to be transferred over to join the two of them. In comparison, the defense of Yilan is simpler. After all, the Lanyang River has no shipping capacity, and the enemy cannot advance by water. Sending Wu Guoyi over is enough to take charge of the overall situation. Shan Sinan heard Lin Hai say that the navy could not move, and he was a little anxious: "General Manager, without the navy, how can the Tamsui River be defended?"

"There are a large number of civilian ships in the Tamsui defense zone, and there are tens of thousands of canoes from the Iron Country. The enemy army coming across the sea must be mainly equipped with large ships, and they are no match for us in inland river warfare." Lin Hai was full of confidence. Inland rivers have always been dominated by sampans and paddle boats, not to mention that Guandu is still upstream, and the south wind season occupies the upper wind position, so the use of fire attack tactics can also have a good effect.

Shan Sinan still felt unsure, so he immediately suggested: "We can also stop the enemy troops at the mouth of the Tamsui River. The two artillery batteries at the mouth of the river can block the waterway..."

"You don't have to worry about the water defense. When Deputy Commander Zheng arrives, he will be fully responsible for this matter." Lin Hai waved his hand to interrupt Shan Sinan, and then explained, "The two artillery positions at the river mouth may not be able to be defended. I will transfer all the heavy artillery to Keelung..."

There is a fort on each of the Wuligang and Baliben Mountains on both sides of the Tamsui River estuary. The garrisoned gunners belong to the General Security Administration. There are a total of more than 20 heavy artillery pieces on the two forts for blocking the waterway, and dozens of wrought iron cannons for self-defense.

However, these two forts are not bastions, but rectangular brick cities with barracks for artillerymen, similar to the Yanniangxie Fort set up by the Ming army at Humen at the mouth of the Pearl River.

To put it bluntly, these were just two earthen walls. As long as the enemy was willing to risk their lives to pile up heads, they wouldn't be able to hold out for long. In this way, Lin Hai couldn't leave the heavy artillery that was difficult to move at the mouth of the Tamsui River, and it would most likely be captured by the enemy.

In this case, it would be better to simply transfer all the heavy artillery to Keelung. After all, Keelung's military strength is even tighter, and the technology of iron mold casting cannons has just been mastered. After the two cruisers of the Navy Department were launched, the heavy naval guns available were not enough.

To put it bluntly, Lin Hai had never considered the possibility of a large-scale land battle on the mainland, which was a mistake. If bastions had been built on both sides of the Tamsui River, the Tamsui defense zone would have been basically safe, and Lin Hai could have transferred more troops to Keelung.

But now, he can only concentrate most of his troops in Tamsui and Yilan. Apart from the Navy, he can hardly rely on any other troops in Keelung.

"I need to transfer 500 Iron Country's standing troops to Keelung..." Lin Hai then said to Wu Lang, "Please pick the bravest general and set off with me the day after tomorrow."

"Boss, I will personally accompany you to Keelung." Although Wu Lang did not join the club's company, he was used to calling the boss as everyone else.

"No, you have to stay in Guandu to guard your palace. You are more needed here than in Keelung." Lin Hai rejected Wu Lang. The Iron Country has now entered a slave society. All members of the standing army are slave owners. Their family interests are deeply tied to member companies, so their reliability is more guaranteed.

But other young and strong natives were not necessarily reliable, especially the Kavalan people who migrated from Yilan, who had a lower social status. If they turned against them at the last minute, it would be a big trouble. Therefore, Lin Hai had to let Wulang, the local king, stay in Guandu to better control this temporarily recruited indigenous army.

Lin Hai explained some other matters to Shan Sinan and Wu Lang, and then ordered them to act separately immediately and deploy the defense of Tamsui according to his instructions.

That afternoon, the second group of messengers sent by Yang Lu finally arrived and told Lin Hai that the military and civilians in Penghu had been safely evacuated. Feng Yidao and Waizui also led the Wanggang garrison to Beigang. At present, there were no enemy ships near Beigang.

After receiving the news from Beigang, Lin Hai felt relieved. At this time, his trusted follower reminded him: "General, since Penghu has been lost, should we report the military situation to Fujian?"

Lin Hai then remembered that he was still the Penghu guerrilla general of the Ming Dynasty. After the garrison was lost, he should report to his superiors, so he quickly replied: "Prepare a report for me, saying that Li Kuiqi has linked up with various pirates and seduced the red-haired people to invade Penghu. The number of pirates is no less than 20,000 or 30,000. I led my troops to fight bloody battles with the pirates for a day and a night, but in the end we were outnumbered and had to temporarily retreat from Penghu to preserve our strength..."

After his confidant drafted the Haotang report, Lin Hai took out the Penghu guerrilla seal to stamp it. This was a forged official seal, and the real one was in Yang Lu's possession...

"Immediately take the route to Haitan and personally deliver the report to the Fujian Governor's Office."

"General, if Governor Xiong asks you why you are stranded overseas, how should I answer?"

"Just say that I am borrowing troops from overseas, and within three months I will defeat the enemy army, capture Li Kuiqi and the leader of the Red Barbarians alive, and present them to the army!"

(End of this chapter)