Chapter 114, Invasion from the Sea
In January of the sixth year of Chongzhen, on the stormy East China Sea, a large-scale fleet was cutting through the waves, blowing out billowing black smoke and heading north against the wind. The blue-and-white five-star flag representing the Chinese-American Republic and the red-bottomed star-ring flag representing the Chinese Alliance are fluttering on the masts of these warships.
They are a fleet of "Americans" from the other side of the world, and every plank is taken from the most authentic North American oak.
——Five 1,500-ton "cruisers", five 900-ton "frigates", twelve 3,000-ton steam-sail hybrid armed transport ships... Based on the East Asian ocean in this era, According to the standard, every ship among them is a staggering super ship.
In addition, there are some three-masted ships, two-masted ships and single-masted speedboats without steam engines. Due to the unfavorable wind direction, they are temporarily stranded at the Kasumigaura military port in the rear, preparing to carry supplies and baggage after the main fleet seizes the forward port base. Catch up and help fight.
However, despite having such a powerful combat force, Major General Sun Yang, commander of the Chinese-American Republic Expeditionary Fleet, was still in a bad mood.
He was seen wearing a military coat, staring at the military map on the table, his brows furrowed. On the map, three eye-catching red arrows mark the three key targets of the "Global Chinese Travelers Alliance"'s mainland strategy in 1633 AD - Jiangnan, Liaodong and Lingnan.
Among them, whether it was the Liaodong strategy launched from Vladivostok or the Lingnan strategy launched from Hainan Island, tens of thousands of army troops were mobilized with the goal of destroying the army and destroying the country and sweeping across several provinces. He, Sun Yang, was the only one in charge of the strategy for the Jiangnan route, but only had a mere 5,000 land troops. Moreover, they were composed of Japanese "security forces", Li mountain infantry, black mercenaries, etc. Major General Sun Yang regarded them as "miscellaneous" troops. "Army" is the main force...with such a sparse force, naturally It is not enough to capture any big cities - although Major General Sun Yang can easily defeat any Ming Dynasty official army in the field with his tactics and equipment that are beyond the times, but to ensure the occupation, armed forces must be stationed everywhere. , As a result, the military strength is not enough.
Therefore, the task assigned by General Huangshi to Major General Sun Yang was relatively "easy". It was to imitate the tactics of the British fleet during the First Opium War, first seize Zhoushan Island as an advance base, and then wait for opportunities to harass various places along the southeastern coast without asking for help. Occupy a city or a place, just to increase their presence, in order to intimidate the landlords and gentry in Jiangsu and Zhejiang, thereby retaliating against the Donglin Party's "stupid and reckless act" of actively forcing the rebel Funing Army and provoking the war in the southeast last year.
Moreover, the British fleet during the Opium War had to penetrate deep into the Yangtze River, bombard Zhenjiang and Nanjing, and cut off water transportation to intimidate the Qing court. Today's General Sun Yang can save even this task, and only needs to learn from the Japanese pirates' repeated tossing on the coastline - now that Beijing in the Ming Empire has fallen long ago, water transportation naturally no longer exists, and Sun Yang's small force It’s not enough to occupy the city of Nanjing, so let’s forget about it!
In addition, Premier Qi of the Chinese American Republic also gave Sun Yang a side task, which was to take the opportunity to find ways to recruit more people from the densely populated southeastern provinces to enrich the country - the North American Great Plains are so vast and empty, Even if you can get millions of people in one breath, you can cram it into it.
In response, Major General Sun Yang, who wanted to make a name for himself in his homeland in the East, suddenly felt that his sadness was flowing backwards.
——Such overqualification and underutilization... This is obviously being squeezed out!
The powerful and gorgeous expedition fleet was actually thrown into Jiangnan, a secondary battlefield that only played a diversionary role. What is this if not exclusion?
But after the initial depression and sadness, Major General Sun Yang still cheered up and figured out how to arrange his troops in an exquisite manner so that he could more efficiently use the scattered troops he had at hand. The most dazzling performance was achieved on the Jiangnan battlefield...
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At the same time, at the front of the Chinese-American Republic Expeditionary Fleet, on the "Hangzhou" serving as the pilot ship, the heroic female Captain Li Huamei was in a very happy mood, so much so that while turning the steering wheel, she hummed a song from "Australian" "The "new song" "Penghu Bay" I learned there...
——At this time, the "Hangzhou" under Li Huamei's feet was no longer the original single-masted ship with only more than 150 tons, but was replaced by a steel-framed wooden hull steam ship with 1100 tons. -The sailing hybrid fast ship is better than the old "Hangzhou" in terms of speed, firepower and seaworthiness. Much more powerful... Just like a real knight will love a good horse and spend a lot of money for it. For a senior navigator who has been riding the waves since childhood and making the sea his home, there is really nothing in this world that can compare to getting a good horse. A fine ship is even more exciting.
In addition to the new "Hangzhou" at her feet, which can reach a maximum speed of twenty knots, Li Huamei also received a rather impressive captain's outfit. Although it is strange that those "Australians" would put a black eyepatch on a person with intact eyes, Li Huamei is still very satisfied with the other components of this captain's outfit - decorated with a silver skull cap badge European style three-cornered hat, red and black inlaid with gold lace A coat, a chest-baring purple-red tight-fitting leather armor with a short skirt, a Western stabbing sword with honeysuckle leaves wrapped around the handle, a high-power antique monocular telescope with night vision effect, steel-clad sturdy boots that can break wooden boards with one kick, There is also a nine-tailed whip that makes a crisp sound when waved...
Nowadays, Captain Li Huamei has long thrown away the straw hat and sunglasses that an unknown traveler gave her before. She dresses up like one of those sexy female pirates in Hollywood movies every day, swinging her long whip and swinging around on the deck. All the sailors were drooling and admiring.
What makes Li Huamei even more happy is that in the past year, she has not only been "successful in her career", but she has also gained a lot emotionally. She fell in love at first sight with Engineer Qi Feng of Lingao Construction Company, and soon the two parties became friends. It was a hot fight... Unfortunately, with the new "Hangzhou" "'s launch and service, the short leisure time was gone forever. The shipping tasks assigned to Li Huamei by her superiors began to become increasingly heavy. As a result, she had very few opportunities to meet Qi Feng. She could only rely on letters full of sea breeze. Letters of breath, conveying heartfelt messages to each other across a long distance.
A few days ago, the Hangzhou was ordered to go to Kaohsiung Port to wait. It happened that Qi Feng was also making a construction plan in Kaohsiung Port, and then he and Li Huamei had another long-lost sweet date. Unexpectedly, just one day after the two got together, Li Huamei suddenly received an emergency order to lift anchor and go out. Although after such a long period of training, Li Huamei has adapted to such sudden changes, but every time she and Qi Feng parted, she still had a new love. She felt very uncomfortable... However, her duty as a captain prevented her from showing her weakness in front of the sailors. Therefore, Li Huamei had to open the photo box hanging on her necklace from time to time, and then stared blankly at the innocent smile of Engineer Qi Feng on the small photo...
A few years ago, when she was powerful and high-spirited at sea, Li Huamei once thought that men were just boring animals. But now that she is about to turn twenty-seven in the blink of an eye, she is already an out-and-out leftover woman in this time and space. Every time she saw those girls who were more than ten years younger than herself, actually married and even gave birth to children one by one, Li Huamei's heart was filled with unspeakable sadness.
"...I really want to have a child...When a woman reaches this age, it is indeed time for her to have a family!" Li Huamei turned the steering wheel slightly while thinking wildly, "...How about waiting until the fight is over? After returning from this battle, let’s get married to Brother Feng”
Li Huamei murmured to herself, and at the same time, relying on the "Kun people's customs" she learned while chatting with several "female cadres", she imagined the romantic scene of Qi Feng holding flowers and rings, kneeling on one knee in front of her to propose... ...A shy blush appeared on her weather-beaten cheeks...
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When Captain Li Huamei, who was proud of both love and career, unknowingly raised the legendary "death flag" for later generations. In a cabin below the deck of the Hangzhou, Captain Zhen Huan, who is now proud in his career but frustrated in love, is silently polishing his sword.
In the past year or so, this former young master of Li Zhai has made great achievements in Taiwan and has been trained into an excellent officer.
——With the Lingao Senate taking control of Taiwan, the agricultural development of the Tainan Plain entered a new stage. Large areas of fertile land sleeping in the wilderness were developed as immigrant farms. More foreign slaves were organized to open up wasteland further inland. But this also aroused even more violent anger and resistance among Taiwan's indigenous people... In order to deal with the increasing number of slave escapes and indigenous attacks, Zhen Huan's Li-Miao Mountain Infantry Battalion was transferred to Kaohsiung, and in the tropics Demonstrated amazing combat effectiveness in jungle and mountain combat.
——Although these ethnic minority compatriots on Hainan Island are not qualified workers and farmers, they are excellent hunters and warriors. They have been accustomed to walking through the mountains and tracking prey since they were young. , more adapted to the wild tropical jungle than Han farmers. After joining the army, the quality of these soldiers was further improved due to the adequate nutrition of the diet, the efforts of the doctors to cure malaria, and the distribution of rifles, grenades, crossbows and the famous Gurkha dog-leg scimitar. The range has increased, and the combat capability has become stronger.
In the first month of fighting in Taiwan, the number of Li and Miao soldiers who killed natives and captured escaped slaves exceeded the total number of Japanese security forces in the past two months. However, the number of non-combat attrition was far lower than that of other troops. . Second Lieutenant Zhen Huan, who was still the company commander at the time, gave full play to his hunting talent in the battle. He was not content with passively repelling the attacks of the natives, but often took the initiative to ambush the local natives. Starting from the third month, no Taiwanese natives dared to move near the reclamation team. After some time, almost all the nearby native villages were cleaned up by Zhen Huan and his men.
In the last six months of his stay in Taiwan, although he was promoted to captain, it was a very boring time to face Huan Lai - because he worked too hard in the mopping up operations some time ago, from the Kaohsiung Port to the Castle of Relanjia. In the vast land, there is no native village that dares to be hostile to the reclamation team, and the matter of catching escaped slaves is not challenging, and there is no need for him, a captain, to lead the team personally. Although the beloved girl Fenda was also transferred to a hospital in Kaohsiung, she has been avoiding him, and she cannot leave the team at will. The only thing that cheered him up was that he had a fight with a group of newly arrived Japanese security forces and was punished... but at least he won.
This mission to fight in the south of the Yangtze River was obtained by Zhen Huan on his own initiative. He had had enough of boring days and was eagerly looking forward to fighting, looking forward to seeing the wider world outside, and seeing more wonders that were different from his hometown. Scenery... During these days in the army, he has greatly broadened his horizons. Thinking about it now, back then, my family's focus on fighting for power and profit in that village of several hundred people was a waste of life. It's ridiculous that his family is so enthusiastic and complacent in order to rule such a small territory. It can only be described as a frog in a well.
He had long heard about the water town of Jiangnan that he was going to this time. It was said that it was the richest and most prosperous place in the world... Maybe he could bring back some silk handkerchiefs embroidered with beautiful flowers. , to make his girl happy?
Zhen Huan was thinking this while shivering because of the cold wind blowing in through the porthole - during the Little Ice Age in the late Ming Dynasty, the East China Sea was already very cold in winter, which made him, a tropical mountain dweller, very uncomfortable. In addition, for Li hunters like them, seasickness is inevitable.
Although the cotton coat given above is very warm, the weather is still too cold and everyone is not used to it. So everyone was lazy during the deck exercises every morning and afternoon. And after the exercise, everyone was forced to eat a raw carrot. The Japanese gnawed it with gusto, but Zhenhuan and the other tattooed Li warriors couldn't get used to it... They gave everyone raw carrots to eat. The female chief said that this was to prevent everyone from suffering from "vitamin deficiency". But another male captain on the ship, who was also forced to chew raw carrots, often muttered that, not to mention that the voyage from Taiwan to Zhoushan was only a few days, even if he had to take vitamin supplements, he would just rely on the soup in the dinner. Onions are enough.
When he thought of the thick soup for dinner, Zhen Huan's face became even worse - he didn't know if the chef on the "Hangzhou" was a miser, but the pot of onion and potato soup every night tasted really bad, not even a little bit There was no fat or meat, let alone any spices... This made Captain Zhen Huan couldn't help but miss the wonderful enjoyment of drinking iced black tea and rum every day in Kaohsiung Port, and eating spicy roasted venison and seafood hot pot every now and then.
I hope that after landing, I can get some good things to improve my food... Just as he was thinking this, he suddenly heard someone on the deck blowing a loud brass horn, and then there was a loud shouting in various languages with southern and northern accents. There was a sound, as if something big had happened.
So, Zhen Huan lowered his head and thought for a while, then put away the sharpened sword, wrapped himself tightly in his woolen military uniform, put on his cotton coat, and tied a scarf, then squeezed out of the cabin door in a bloated suit, and then groped through the long and narrow door. Walking along the walkway, I bumped into someone a few times, and then slowly made my way to the deck. Then, he saw those Fujian and Guangdong sailors, Japanese short men, and dark-skinned ghosts from mysterious distant places, all swarming on the side of the ship, pointing towards the distance - as the morning sea fog gradually dissipated , a few looming little black spots suddenly appeared on the sea
The first goal of this Jiangnan strategy, the Zhoushan Islands, is finally in sight.