Chapter 520 Occupying Fucheng
"It seems that we arrived too fast. The pressure in this city is not big enough!" Looking at a table of delicious food, Wang Tom couldn't help but sigh.
Yan Chujie shook his head and said: "That's not necessarily the case. People in the government are not all drunkards. People in the office said that food control has been implemented in the city since the day of the siege. Now ordinary people in the city must not be able to eat. We have all this food in front of us.”
After the Haihan militia opened the east city gate and entered Qiongzhou Fucheng, the government temporarily acquired a house in the city and handed it over to the militia as a headquarters. After that, several cooks were sent to transport several carts of ingredients and cooked a sumptuous banquet for the stationed Haihan officers. However, probably to avoid suspicion, several senior local officials did not rush to visit except for meeting the person in charge of Haihan when they entered the city.
This kind of reaction from the government was also expected by the military. Although Haihan also had a certain influence in the northern area of Qiongzhou Island, it was not so big as in Yazhou that the government took the initiative to curry favor. Moreover, the Haihan Militia is a private armed force, and it is taboo to station in the city. If the government is too enthusiastic about this, it will appear unreasonable.
Although military control has been implemented in the city after the siege of Fucheng, it is obvious that because the siege did not last long, the material supply in the city was not greatly affected. Before entering the city, the militia asked the government for food supplies for 4,000 people, and they quickly I got a positive answer.
"We have good food and drink here, but I don't know what the situation is like at Qian Tiandun's side. They pushed it all the way from Danzhou and it was all a field battle. They must be very tired these days." Wang Tom said while eating.
"Qian Tiandun is not as miserable as you think!" Yan Chujie shook his head and said, "He doesn't have to walk on his own. Even if he doesn't have a car, he still rides on a horse. I heard that after they surrounded Fucheng, they occupied a landowner in the west. The manor serves as a command center. Do you think he can live outside in the open? It’s not like he was just starting out. He is now the commander of a war zone and has thousands of people under his command. How can he suffer such hardship?”
Wang Tom was stunned at first, then he laughed and said: "That's right. How we are living now, Qian Tiandun should be the same."
Senior officers like Yan Chujie, Wang Tom, and Qian Tiandun have a very good living standard in this era. They are served by orderlies when eating and dressing, and there are special carriages for them to ride when they go out. Even if they go to war, they have to pay for all aspects of food, clothing, housing and transportation. The protection is also quite comprehensive. Travelers have a lot of requirements for the details of life. To be honest, their living standards while commanding operations outside are much higher than those of their contemporaries.
However, the good wine and food provided by the government could not bribe these Haihan soldiers. After a feast, Yan Chujie began to direct the next actions.
According to the combat plan formulated by the staff department, when the Haihan militia stationed in Qiongzhou Fucheng, it announced the official start of the process of Haihan taking over the northern region. Corresponding arrangements were made in the request made by the militia army to the government before entering the city. The three city gates and all key areas and transportation nodes in the city had personnel stationed by the militia army. Their mission is to completely gain military control of Qiongzhou City tonight.
At eight o'clock in the evening, according to the scheduled time, militia troops from all over the city began to mobilize at the same time. In the name of "eliminating pirates and spies," they required all guardsmen to disarm immediately and wait for arrangements. The guardsmen were dumbfounded as the militiamen who had just been sitting around eating together suddenly pointed their guns at them, completely confused as to what was going on. Only a handful of people realized the intention of the militia army and tried to resist. However, they were immediately suppressed by the militia army on charges of "spies".
The leading party who had been placed in the guard army in advance began to lead the way at this time: "The pirates came all the way from Danzhou, and Fucheng didn't even receive an early warning. It turns out there is an insider!" "What! I'm dignified. There is a traitor in the Ming Guard Army! ""Liu Erdan, Liu Erdan, I didn't expect that you, a thick-eyed guy, actually betrayed the imperial court!"
For two parties with a completely unbalanced amount of information, the weaker party can easily be biased by the information deliberately spread by the other party. This is the case for the Guard Army who lack understanding of pirates. As long as a few people set the pace in the middle, many people who blindly follow the trend will immediately join in. The Haihan Militia's forcible disarmament did not trigger any major conflicts. After those who led the resistance were suppressed, the remaining people basically chose to obey.
Qian Tiandun and Yan Chujie were stationed in the south and north of the city respectively, commanding the operations that night. The armed clearing of the city gates and transportation thoroughfares went relatively smoothly. There was no large-scale resistance from the garrison troops. The militia did not even fire a shot, and they were able to successfully capture the three city gates and the north-south, east-west, and north-south gates. Two avenues run through the city.
However, when cleaning up various government offices in the north of the city, the militia army finally encountered some minor troubles and had to use force to defeat a group of Ming troops who tried to resist. When the officials who heard the gunshots tried to find out what had happened, they discovered that they had been placed under house arrest by the militia troops without a sound, and could not even leave their own yards.
The militia troops did not stop all night long. The people in the city heard the footsteps of the militia troops coming and going in the streets all night, and occasionally there were bursts of gunshots. Many people huddled in their beds and were so frightened. He stayed awake all night, fearing that the next moment the rioters outside would break into his home.
The suppression operation lasted until it was dark and finally came to an end. Red-eyed Tom Wang and Yan Chujie met in a restaurant in the middle of the city to have breakfast and report the results of last night's operation.
"You're lucky, you got drawn to the south of the city. These grandsons in the north of the city have been struggling all night!" Yan Chujie stretched himself out slowly and said angrily: "I arrested more than 200 people in the north of the city in one night. There was no room for them in the cells, so we had to temporarily commandeer a yard and lock up the people first.”
Wang Tom smiled and said: "Don't find it troublesome. The troubles for your Army are still to come! Last night I took the time to read the report sent by Qian Tiandun. Just within the hundred or so miles around Fucheng, there are many large and small There are two to three hundred landlords, and I won’t complain until I go back to check the land!”
"Who says otherwise!" Yan Chujie, who has always been known for his perseverance and courage, also showed a troubled look on his face: "The land acquisition will definitely cause a lot of disputes. If anything happens, our militia will have to step in to suppress it. This job is not easy to do... Putting aside this, Fucheng is basically under control now. I think we can contact Qian Tiandun today to start gradually handing over the control area.”
Wang Tom nodded and said: "Then I will contact him later. What should we do if we arrest those local officials?" Yan Chujie said: "According to the arrangement of the executive committee, all grassroots staff will be temporarily retained. As for the senior officials who hold the seal, ...I will arrange to escort them to the river later and hand them over to your people.”
According to the pre-plan, after taking control of the capital of Qiongzhou, the militia army will gather all the senior officials here and secretly send them to Sanya for imprisonment to prevent them from organizing some resistance measures on the spot. . As for how long these people will be imprisoned, it depends on the progress of their ideological transformation and the general trend of the situation between Haihan and Ming Dynasty.
The navy's combat mission has come to an end at this time. Although they will continue to maintain the blockade of the Qiongzhou Strait, the military believes that Guangdong has no possibility of sending a large number of warships to Qiongzhou Island in a short period of time. However, Wang Tom planned to take advantage of this unique opportunity to hold military exercises in the Qiongzhou Strait to practice the fleet's cooperative combat capabilities.
From October 20th to 23rd, a total of nearly 3,000 troops from the militia army were stationed in and around Qiongzhou City, and carried out multiple "city-wide suppression of pirate spies" activities. More than 50 people were involved in these days. They were killed in the crackdown - of course there were no members of the Haihan Militia among them, they were basically members of the Ming army who tried to resist.
Before the people in the city fully understood the direction of the situation, dozens of local senior officials had been secretly escorted out of the city, put on a sailboat parked on the Nandu River, and then sent all the way to Sanya. And the control of Qiongzhou Fucheng also completely changed hands, from Ming Dynasty to Haihan. After three consecutive days of lockdown, people in the city were finally free to take to the streets to see the notices posted by the Haihan Vigilante Group.
At the gate of the government office, a group of people were watching the notice on the peace of the people posted on the wall. A scholar stood at the front, shaking his head and saying: "...In order to quell the banditry, the current public security jurisdiction of Qiongzhou Fucheng is temporarily under the jurisdiction of the Haihan Civil Group. , all civil affairs affairs are undertaken by the Fucheng Provisional Management Committee..."
Someone in the crowd asked aloud: "What kind of yamen is this Provisional Management Committee? Why haven't I heard of it before?"
Someone explained in a low voice: "This management committee is an yamen created by the Haihan people. Their ports and terminals are all managed by this yamen, so it has great power!"
Someone else asked: "Then is it the Ming Dynasty or Haihan that calls the shots in this city now?"
When I asked this question, no one responded immediately. Although this notice states that the new Yamen of Haihan people will temporarily take charge of local government affairs, the big seal stamped below is still the prefect of Qiongzhou. No one dares to make false claims on this issue - there were many arrests in the city a few days ago. There are so few people, who knows how many of them are real spies and how many of them are just wrong words.
However, the person who asked the question obviously did not intend to stop there. Seeing that no one around him answered, he said to himself: "Where the Haihan people are in charge, everyone has food and clothing, and there is no need to worry about pirates coming. I think it is better than the one in Daming." It’s much better! It wouldn’t be a bad thing if this place was taken over by Haihan!”
People like this who lead the crowd of onlookers can be found almost everywhere where notices are posted. The Executive Committee attached great importance to post-occupation propaganda work. It held several preparatory meetings for this purpose and mobilized capable personnel from various departments to coordinate actions. The executive committee's request is to make the public's view of Haihan tend to be more positive within a short period of time after occupying the northern region. Especially regarding the matter of Haihan replacing Daming and implementing management authority in the northern region, the executive committee hopes to allow the people to accept the reality in the calmest way possible.
This matter is naturally not easy to carry out, so Haihan must install a large number of mouthpieces among the people and use these people disguised as ordinary people to speak out and influence the people around him. No one on the Executive Committee dares to vouch for how effective this relatively primitive navy can be, but it is undoubtedly one of the best ways to influence public opinion, and the cost is extremely low, and there are no technical barriers to operation.
Within three to five days, the local people may not realize that the disappearance of the Ming Dynasty government means this, but as time goes by, they will definitely gradually become aware of the changes in the environment. After all, the various social rules formulated by Haihan are still the same as those of the Ming Dynasty. There is a clear difference. If the people can be made aware of the irreversible fact that control has changed hands as early as possible, then they may be able to face the various social changes that follow more easily.
On the evening of the 23rd, Yan Chujie, on behalf of the Haihan Executive Committee, hosted a banquet for some gentry in the city. Although this is not a Hongmen Banquet, Yan Chujie arranged this occasion with the intention of warning these people.
After drinking for three rounds, Yan Chujie stood up and tapped the edge of the bowl gently with his chopsticks, and the room immediately became quiet.
"Everyone, this time the pirates invaded Qiongzhou Island and attacked Danzhou, Lingao, Chengmai, Dingbei, Wenchang and other cities. Only one place in the northern part of Qiongzhou Island, Qiongzhou Fucheng, was still intact. I had something to say. It's not my place to say, but when things have developed to this point, I have to stand up and say something!" Yan Chujie looked around at the crowd and said in a deep voice: "Thousands of pirates attacked Qiongzhou Island a few months ago. When there was news, what did the local government do? Apart from letting the navy fleet in Qiongzhou Fucheng deliver food, what other meaningful things did Danzhou do? All the counties and cities are surrendering without a fight. What are the officials and soldiers of the Ming Dynasty doing? If they can't protect the people under their rule, what's the point of having you and me spend money to support them?"
Yan Chujie's words were so serious that no one at the tables dared to speak to him. If a person has money and soldiers, even if he makes some arrogant remarks about government affairs, no one can do anything to him. But these people here are all ordinary people. If the wrong thing is spread, they will definitely be held accountable.
Yan Chujie continued: "If I, Haihan, had not volunteered to fight, then this Qiongzhou capital would have been lost long ago!"
(End of chapter)