Chapter 600: Dispatch troops and generals
Although the Shengli Port Shipyard is now facing a situation where its production capacity cannot meet orders, Bai Kesi, Yue Zhiyun and others decided to do marketing first and secure the orders first. As for when the delivery will be delivered, some additional clauses can be added to the ship purchase contract to extend the shipbuilding time. Anyway, what potential customers of these warships care most about now is not the price and delivery time, but whether Haihan can go overseas. Sell. As long as they can obtain purchase permission, whether it is Annan or Fujian, those in power who are eager to strengthen their own weapons will immediately spend money. Even if such high-end goods are expensive, they will grit their teeth and order a few ships first.
Of course, economic gains are not the only consideration for senior officials. Selling intermediate warships with higher technical content to the Fujian military will further strengthen the local Ming army's dependence on Haihan military aid. There are many parts and components on the "exploration-class" warship that can only be manufactured in Sanya, and some maintenance and repairs with high technical content can only be completed at Haihan's shipyard. If you want to buy this kind of warship and sail it stably for a long time, It is also impossible to break away from Haihan's technical support.
However, on this occasion, Ning Qi will not talk in detail about the technical specifications, performance parameters, specific quotations, etc. of the ship. It is enough to disclose to Fujian the information that Haihan intends to sell this new type of warship. The most important thing is to let everyone present understand that the premise for Haihan's sale of this new warship is that the Fujian military will continue to use troops against Shibazhi instead of choosing an armistice and peace talks.
Of course, just providing new warships to the Fujian military would be a bit far away, so Haihan has also prepared other measures to motivate the Fujian military. Ning Qi continued: "In addition, we are planning to dispatch a certain number of military advisors to Fujian within the year to assist Mr. Xu in suppressing bandits."
Xu Xinsu immediately perked up after hearing this and asked quickly: "I wonder how many of these... military advisers you will send?"
The term "military advisor" is not unfamiliar to Fujian. After purchasing guns and cannon from Haihan, it sent several officers with the title of "military advisor" to Zhangzhou to help the Ming army deploy artillery positions to train soldiers in the use of these imported weapons. During this period, when the Shibazhi attacks, military advisers will also be on the front line to assist in commanding operations.
Ning Qi stretched out his index finger and gestured, Xu Xinsu said: "One hundred people?"
Ning Qi shook his head and said: "It's a battalion."
"A battalion!" Xu Xinsu couldn't help being surprised. He has sent many officers to study abroad in Sanya. He knows roughly how many people there are in a battalion of the Haihan military system. According to the three-three establishment, it is roughly around 500 people. If it is a special reinforced battalion, it will all be four or four. The number of personnel can be increased by more than one-third, and a specialized artillery unit will be equipped.
If the Haihan people only sent a hundred or so people, it would obviously be to disperse these people to various strongholds in Fujian to command the construction of fortifications and train combat skills. But if an integrated battalion of troops is sent, it is very likely that they intend to directly intervene in the battle.
Sure enough, Ning Qi then said: "Considering that Mr. Xu has a limited number of elite troops, the military advisors we dispatch will also participate in combat when the situation requires it. But our armed personnel will only participate in the operation against Shibazhi. As for the other military tasks of the Ming army, they don’t care at all.”
Xu Xinsu was silent for a while and then asked: "Do you have a naval force among the military advisors you dispatched?"
"Yes." Ning Qi nodded and said: "In fact, what we plan to dispatch to Fujian is an amphibious combat unit, which can handle both land and water operations."
The amphibious operations force that Ning Qi mentioned actually related to some decisions regarding the adjustment of the garrison at the fourth anniversary meeting. At that time, the Executive Committee believed that the domestic situation in Annan had stabilized, and that continuing to deploy a large number of elite troops in Annan would be overkill. The entire Hainan Island has also been brought under Haihan's control, and there are no plans to use a large number of troops in the near future. Therefore, the direction of Haihan's external expansion has become the main consideration in the deployment of troops in the fourth year of time travel.
The plan of the executive committee is nothing more than two directions, one is to go south, and the other is to go north. In the South China Sea, after successfully conquering the Ambrosia Islands, Haihan has been unable to continue to expand southward in the near future. The Anpura Islands will be the southernmost point of Haihan's territory for a foreseeable period in the future. At least until the Cam Ranh Port in Indochina is built and garrisoned, Haihan will be able to use the Amborna Islands as a springboard to continue marching south.
To the north, after taking over the Pearl River Estuary and controlling the main throat waterway of Guangdong's maritime trade, the Executive Committee has no intention of continuing to expand inland at this time. Doing so is likely to create tensions between Haihan and the Guangdong government. Losing the current tacit understanding and peace. Going north along the coastline and extending the Haihan trade route to the Taiwan Strait and even further north has become a common goal within the Executive Committee.
But the war in the Taiwan Strait has not yet ended. This approach actually means that Haihan may need to directly intervene in the war between the Fujian Ming Army and the Shibazhi. Haihan's current military strength does not seem to be enough to support large-scale operations on an unfamiliar battlefield two thousand miles away from the base camp. He can only send a small number of elite troops into Fujian to assist the Ming army under Xu Xinsu in attacking Shibazhi.
At that time, when the military proposed this deployment, there was no news of armistice and peace talks in Fujian, so there was some controversy within Haihan about this slightly radical and risky approach. However, after the news that Xu Xinsu planned to negotiate peace with Shibazhi spread back to Sanya, the Executive Committee quickly came to a unified view and believed that it was necessary to take all feasible means to prompt the Fujian Ming Army to continue to use troops against Shibazhi, including sending a small number of troops to Shibazhi. The combat troops went to Fujian, including Fujian.
Both the Executive Committee and the military believe that as long as Haihan directly participates in the war, no matter how deep the involvement is, then Xu Xinsu alone can no longer have the final say on the peace talks, and this is probably the most effective way to stop the peace talks. method. On the other hand, sending only a small number of troops will not arouse unnecessary vigilance in Fujian towards Haihan.
Ning Qi spoke openly, not only to inform the people present, but also to frighten some people who had uneasy thoughts. From the debate about war and peace just now, he could see that the people under Xu Xinsu's command were not monolithic. Some wanted to continue fighting, while others wanted to negotiate peace. As for whether those who want to negotiate peace are motivated by public motives or selfish motives, it is difficult to say. But no matter what the reason was, Ning Qi knew that the most effective deterrent was not verbal threats, but the actual deployment of Haihan militiamen with guns and live ammunition in Fujian. He had seen many such Ming people in Hainan Island, and he could say they were enthusiastic, but when the Haihan militia actually arrived, his knees weakened faster than anyone else. Xu Xinsu continued to ask: "Then which general do you plan to send to Fujian to take charge of the overall situation?"
Ning Qi responded: "The Haihan Executive Committee attaches great importance to the war in Fujian. After careful consideration and repeated discussions, we decided to send Colonel Qian Tiandun, the general of the Haihan Militia, to carry out this task."
As soon as Ning Qi announced this candidate, everyone here who had a little knowledge of Haihan's military affairs all let out low-pitched exclamations. Among the Haihan Militia, the most famous senior figures are also well-known in the military in Fujian. Although none of these soldiers had met Qian Tiandun, they were already familiar with his achievements.
Qian Tiandun was the first military attache sent by Haihan after he settled in Sanya, and he successfully trained an elite army for Haihan in northern Annan. The huge role this unit played in the Annan Civil War made Qian Tiandun the only person overseas who could still hold a senior position in the Military Commission. If we exclude Tao Donglai, who has a routine part-time job in almost every department, then besides Yan Chujie and Wang Tom, Qian Tiandun has basically been ranked third in the militia army. The Annan Field Army, which he personally trained, is also known as the most powerful unit among the militia armies.
Almost all Fujian military officers who have gone to Sanya to study abroad have learned several battles that Qian Tiandun commanded in the Annan Civil War in the battle case analysis class of the Victory Port Military Academy, and a considerable part of the individual combat skills course has also been noted. It was compiled by Qian Tiandun. It can be said that these Ming army officers who have received military training from Haihan can basically be regarded as half of Qian Tiandun's disciples.
But they knew very little about Qian Tiandun. Apart from knowing that he had been leading troops in Annan, they had no more personal information. In the minds of these officers, Qian Tiandun was also a legendary figure. They never thought that such a figure would one day come to Fujian to lead troops, or even fight with them on the battlefield.
Ning Qi was very satisfied with the effect of the news, and then said: "However, because Colonel Qian Tiandun is still serving in the distant Annan, it will take some time to hand over local military affairs and complete this transfer."
Of course Xu Xinsu was very aware of Qian Tiandun's status in the Haihan Army, and she responded respectfully: "Since the Executive Committee attaches so much importance to it, then Xu will rush to welcome General Qian and wait for General Qian to come to Fujian!"< br>
Qian Tiandun's transfer was actually not just due to the changes in the situation in Fujian. On the one hand, the Executive Committee took into account the foreseeable peaceful situation in Annan in the next few years, and there was no need to station elite personnel and troops there; On the one hand, Qian Tiandun has been stationed abroad for more than three years, and he is also a general leading troops. The Executive Committee is worried that if he is stationed for too long, his local influence in Annan will gradually solidify, and even some bad things will happen. Change, after all, the Executive Committee wants generals who are good at fighting, not warlords who separatize local areas. Perhaps Qian Tiandun himself would not have these wishes, but over time, the surrounding environment may also play a certain catalytic role in this trend.
In order to avoid such a situation, the most effective way is to transfer Qian Tiandun's position. But for a senior officer like him who has rich experience in leading troops in combat, it seems like a waste of talent to be transferred back to Hainan Island to sit in an office. After consulting Qian Tiandun himself, the executive committee decided to transfer his duty area from Annan to Fujian. As for his troops, in addition to a battalion stationed in the Ambrosia Islands in the south, the Military Commission allowed him to bring another reinforced battalion to be mobilized with him to Fujian to perform garrison duties. As for Annan's local defense, it will be taken over by a separate force stationed in Hainan Island, and the command will be temporarily taken over by Qian Tiandun's colleague Feng Annan.
In fact, the Annan garrison and the Hainan Island garrison carry out small-scale defense changes almost every year. Therefore, this kind of mobilization has accumulated a lot of practical experience, and the operation is not very complicated. However, the special thing about this transfer is that the scale is slightly larger, the scope of the transfer is much larger than before, and more personnel are involved - although there is only one reinforced battalion of troops following Qian Tiandun's transfer to Fujian, but the family members of these personnel will be given the opportunity to immigrate to Hainan Island, and the number of relevant people may be close to 3,000. In the consciousness of these naturalized people of Annan origin, only by immigrating to Hainan Island can they truly become Hainan citizens. This is a moment that many of them have been waiting for a long time.
If it were a routine defense change, such a large-scale military transfer would definitely be opposed by civilian officials. After all, the money required to mobilize troops across the sea would not be a small amount. However, this time the Executive Committee passed the plan to redeploy the troops extremely smoothly. On the one hand, it was because of the situation in Fujian, and on the other hand, the military had long been reassured that it would hand over the debt to Fujian.
Ning Qi smiled slightly and said: "Master Xu is too kind. However, regarding the mobilization of the militia army, there are some things that require the cooperation of the Fujian side, such as arranging ships to transport military supplies and supply arrangements along the way. Your Excellency and everyone will have to worry about the location behind the border and so on.”
Of course Xu Xinsu understood the implication and immediately expressed her position: "Mr. Ning, don't worry, the departure expenses of the troops led by General Qian and all expenses after arriving in Fujian will be borne by us."
On the sea route from Annan to Fujian, Haihan's supply points are probably much more than what Xu Xinsu can provide. At least the Qiongzhou Strait and the Pearl River Estuary have been designated by Haihan as his own power. The scope does not require Fujian to send people all the way to organize supplies on the way. Ning Qi's statement was actually that he hoped that Fujian could bear the cost of troop mobilization, and Xu Xinsu was very conscious and immediately agreed.
This amount of money is definitely not a small amount, but if the presence of the Haihan militia can help the Fujian military accelerate the defeat or even annihilation of Shibazhi, then even if it costs an extra million taels of silver in the next year or two, Xu Xinsu believes that the price is worth it.
(End of chapter)