Chapter 584: Fighting South
Of course, Xu Xinsu had to pay a considerable part of the benefits from controlling Fujian's coastal ports to Haihan as a fee to obtain Haihan's military support. It didn't take Tom Wang to say much about Li Jin, but he could also imagine how Haihan goods, which had always been very popular in the Guangzhou market, were sold in large quantities to the Fujian market through Xu Xinsu's network, earning considerable profits.
What Li Jin didn't know was that under the operation of Fujian, Haihan Products had already crossed the Fujian market and entered regions further north two years ago. Compared with the markets in Fuzhou and Guangzhou, the Jiangsu and Zhejiang areas in the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River have stronger purchasing power. The sales situation in the past two years has gradually approached that of Fuzhou and Guangzhou, and has become the main source of income from Haihan's export trade. One of the places.
But all these profits from the territory of the Ming Dynasty, according to Wang Tom's theory, all rely on the guarantee provided by the strong military strength of the Haihan Militia. Otherwise, Haihan's products would not be sold to the distant north of the Yangtze River. Even if you want to sell it to Guangdong, you have to ask the pirates at the Pearl River Estuary first if they agree.
Originally, if the Guangdong Navy was stronger, or had a few more visionary people like Fujian Xu Xinsu, it might be able to benefit from Haihan's success. However, the best opportunity has been missed, and now Haihan It does not require the cooperation of the Guangdong Navy to control the main waterways and ports on the Guangdong and Guangxi coastlines. Similar to the navy camp stationed on Hong Kong Island at the Pearl River Estuary, it is already facing a situation of being directly annexed by the Haihan militia. At this time, even if the navy takes the initiative to move up, it will probably only be able to attack from the Haihan side at most. I received some severance pay.
Li Jin had to admit that after understanding Haihan's operating model that combined military and trade, he felt even more disappointed. The Haihan people indeed applied this theory to great proficiency, but it was difficult to apply this successful example to the Ming Dynasty to enrich the Ming Dynasty's existing military strength. Li Jin is not a politician, but he also knows that the problem of Ming Dynasty is not just due to the weakness of military power. Changing the status quo is not something that the Ministry of War and the Ministry of War can do alone.
"Okay, I still have official business to deal with now. Let's discuss these issues with General Li another day!" Wang Tom chatted with Li Jin for a long time, and felt that the routine was almost complete, so he took the initiative to see the guest off: "Wait for me When you get back from this business trip, let’s invite General Li to go out to sea and have some fun together!”
So many warships were assembled in Danzhou Bay, and supplies were being shipped day and night. Li Jin was not blind, so he could naturally tell that the Haihan people were preparing for war, and immediately asked: "Can General Wang reveal this preparation?" Where to conquer? ”
Wang Tom laughed and said: "Don't worry, we are not fighting against the Ming Dynasty. We have never had this idea. Look, aren't the Ming Dynasty government offices on Qiongzhou Island all fine?"
Li Jinxin said that the Yamen was still there, but everything had become a decoration. It has been more than a month since he took office as Danzhou General, and his subordinates still only have four soldiers brought from the mainland. In terms of establishment, even the lowest-level Xiaoqi leader has more soldiers than he does now. If this situation were known to his former colleagues, they would probably laugh out loud - he spent thousands of taels of money to get a position, but in the end he came all the way to Danzhou to be a decoration.
After living in Danzhou for so long, Li Jin has actually understood who has the final say in the current Qiongzhou Island. This is true for a big city like Danzhou, not to mention Yazhou and other places in the south of Qiongzhou Island. From Wang Tom's confident remarks, Li Jin could also clearly feel that Haihan's control over Qiongzhou had surpassed that of the Ming Dynasty, and they still retained the existence of the Ming government. Maybe it was just what Wang Tom said, I just don’t want to start a war with Ming Dynasty over this.
March 30, 1631, February 28th, the fourth year of Chongzhen in the Ming Dynasty. On the eve of the fourth anniversary of the time travel, the task force commanded by Wang Tom left Danzhou Port and began to head south to perform combat missions in the remote Natuna Islands in the South China Sea.
On the day of departure, Li Jin also forced Yan Mingjun to Danzhou Port to watch the departure scene of the Haihan Navy. Due to the certain degree of confidentiality of this operation, neither the military nor the local government arranged a public farewell event. Only a few leading figures from the local management committee came to see the fleet off. The two Ming Dynasty officials were granted special permission and could observe the process as guests.
Although this fleet only has a dozen ships, and its scale is not very large, its revealed combat effectiveness is already very shocking. Yan Mingjun, who has been staying in Danzhou City recently without going out, after seeing these huge warships sailing out to sea, he couldn't help but shook his head and sighed: "With the combat power of the Haihan militia, I am afraid it will be difficult for our Ming Dynasty to regain it." Qiongzhou”
Li Jin responded: "As long as they don't continue to expand northward, they will be lucky. Fortunately, the news I heard recently is that this fleet is going south and will not go to war with the Ming Dynasty."
"It can be regarded as a blessing among misfortunes..." Yan Mingjun really couldn't be happy about Li Jin's "good news".
Li Jin was somewhat dissatisfied with Yan Mingjun's pessimistic attitude: "Brother Yan, I have talked with the Haihan people many times these days and found that they do not have much hostility towards the Ming Dynasty. On the contrary, they intend to support the Ming Dynasty in developing its military power. Their achievements in recent years have been brilliant." The Fujian navy is the Haihan people who are providing assistance behind the scenes. If they are willing to contribute to the imperial court, why worry about the troubles in the north? "
Yan Mingjun shook his head and said: "Are the Haihan people easy to get along with? They do everything as if they are doing business. If you take a feather from them, you will have to pay a corresponding price! Besides, the Haihan people now occupy Qiongzhou Island, if the imperial court knows the truth, how will it be willing to give up easily?”
"There's nothing we can do if we don't give up!" Li Jin shook his head and said: "Brother Yan has witnessed the strength of the Haihan Militia with his own eyes. How can the troops of Guangdong and Guangxi beat them? Besides, the imperial court probably can't spend the military funds to start a war in the south now, otherwise Last year, we no longer had to watch the Haihan people send militia groups to take over Qiongbei's defense. Instead of confronting them, we should think about how to use them to serve the Ming Dynasty."
"Haihan people will only work for money!" Yan Mingjun thought about this issue more thoroughly than Li Jin: "They have never paid attention to the imperial court. How about aiding the Fujian Navy? If Fujian doesn't take money , Will they provide free assistance? Brother Li, you have also contacted the Haihan people. These people have different accents and are obviously not from the same place. It is useless to talk to them about the interests of the country and the country. Yes, you can talk to Daming. They cooperated and used money, land, and population in exchange for their military assistance, but doing so was tantamount to drinking poison to quench their thirst. Even if their military strength could be strengthened, it would gradually be controlled by Haihan, and the speed at which they expanded their strength was much faster than that of the Ming Dynasty. Come to think of it, they have only been on Qiongzhou Island for four years! What about those ten or twenty years? Can Daming really restrain the ambitions of these people?" Li Jin sighed and shook his head to end the game. Discussion: "The Ming Dynasty can no longer control them."
After setting off from Danzhou, the fleet led by Wang Tom went straight south, bypassing Changhua, and headed for Annan-Da Nang. There the fleet will meet up with the field infantry battalion sent by the Annan Militia Group, and then continue to move south after completing the assembly. The voyage from Danzhou to the destination of the Natuna Islands is more than a thousand nautical miles. Taking into account the time required to stop for supplies on the way, Wang Tom estimates that the voyage will take twelve to fourteen days to complete. It will probably be almost a month before I return from the mission.
On April 1, the fleet arrived at Da Nang, Annam as scheduled. The first phase of the port terminal project here is nearing completion. Da Nang, with more than 3,000 residents, has already taken the shape of a seaport city. In the next two or three years, it will continue to recruit naturalized citizens from the local area to complete the port. The follow-up construction project of the wharf will be completed and built into the most important foreign trade port in the central part of the Indochina Peninsula. Of course, the so-called Annan foreign trade must and can only be controlled by Haihan.
Military use is not the main use of Da Nang. According to the Hai Han Military Commission's planning, the Do Son Peninsula in the Beibu Gulf and Cam Ranh Port in the south are ports specifically used for military purposes. However, this does not prevent Da Nang from temporarily serving as a military port. Before the arrival of the task force, the troop carrier carrying the Annam Militia Field Infantry Battalion had already arrived here in advance, and had a few days of brief rest and material supplies.
The officer leading the Annan militia is Mu Xiabai. He participated in the reconnaissance trip south last year and is relatively familiar with the situation on Natuna Island. After completing this combat mission, he will be stationed as the local leader. This will also be the farthest base for overseas travelers so far.
The task force only stayed in Da Nang for one day. After adding six troop carriers, it expanded to a fleet of seventeen ships and left Da Nang and continued to move south. However, since the troop carriers boarded by the Annan militia were all traditional Chinese sailing ships, their speed was reduced a lot. It took two and a half days to reach the next port of call, Cam Ranh Port, which is 300 nautical miles away from Da Nang.
Although the development and construction project of Cam Ranh Port was theoretically launched last year, due to insufficient labor, the progress of the project is relatively slow. So far, only a 200-meter-long standard pier, a dozen warehouses, and a small number of buildings have been completed. Civil facilities. The supplies that can be supplied here are relatively few, only fresh water, vegetables and fruits, poultry, livestock and meat are in short supply here. The only seven or eight pigs that can be put into slaughter in the local farm are all used by the fleet. They were requisitioned in the name of military supplies.
Continuing south from Cam Ranh Bay, there are no other supply points on the way, and it is still more than 500 nautical miles away from the destination. Even if everything goes well, it will take about four days to complete the journey.
Fortunately, the journey went smoothly and there was no bad weather. Eighty hours later, the fleet sailed into the waters of the Natuna Islands.
Of course, Wang Tom was not arrogant enough to let the troops who had bumped along the way immediately launch an attack on the harbor on the main island of Natuna. Instead, he chose to stop at the uninhabited island north of Natuna Island to rest. The voyage from here to the destination is about more than sixty nautical miles. There is no need to worry about being easily discovered by the opponent, and it is also convenient to plan the time to launch an attack.
While the fleet was resting on the uninhabited island, Wang Tom did not forget to send a fortune ship disguised as a merchant ship to the port of Natuna Island for supplies, and contacted the secret agent of the Ministry of Security stationed on the island to confirm the island for the last time. defense status.
The news sent back the next day made the officers who were still a little nervous heaved a sigh of relief. Perhaps they were paralyzed by the docility shown by the Han people on the island. The Dutch were obviously not very vigilant, and they were also I don’t think there is a possibility of large-scale attacks here. After all, there are no conditions for building a large port here, and the military value and development prospects are very limited. It is obviously unlikely that either the Portuguese or the Spanish will take a fancy to this sea area. place.
The Dutch armed personnel on the island are still in their early 100s, plus about the same number of militiamen, mainly equipped with cold weapons, which is almost all the defense force of Natuna Island. Apart from matchlocks, the only heavy weapons were a few six-pound cannons placed in small castles where the Dutch lived. This kind of weapon is obviously not enough in front of the ten 12-pound guns and two 24-pound guns specially prepared by the Haihan Militia for this battle.
In addition to the defense forces on land, the Dutch defense arrangements at sea are also very limited. There is only one armed merchant ship stationed here, and the firepower on the ship is also extremely limited. According to the reconnaissance results of the carpenter Li Dagui, this ship The few small-caliber artillery pieces on the ship were obviously not enough to pose a threat to the task force equipped with more than a hundred naval guns. In Wang Tom's words, if this kind of broken ship can fire a second round of shells in the battle, it will be a shame for the task force.
Of course, the Military Commission sent such a powerful fleet to carry out this mission, not entirely to crush the opponent when attacking Natuna Island. After all, based on previous intelligence, it was known that this port did not have shore defense artillery facilities. They were unable to stop the Haihan militia's landing operations. The reason for sending such a strong lineup is, firstly, to verify the reliability of the "Majesty-class" warships during long-distance operations, and to exercise the cooperation between warships and supply ships. Secondly, it is also to worry about the possibility of bad luck. The armed merchant fleet from this sea area to the Netherlands should be able to destroy the opponent in one fell swoop with this lineup.
There are detailed harbor plans and defense layouts, as well as statistical data on weapons, equipment and military strength. Coupled with the huge gap in strength between the two sides, the battle can be concluded in advance before it even starts. On April 12, the fleet hidden on the uninhabited island completed its rest and recuperation, sailed away from the station and continued southward, heading to its destination to begin its final combat mission.
(End of chapter)