Chapter 701 Unwilling to Accept the Challenge
Taking advantage of the opportunity to purchase bulk supplies, they purchased weapons and equipment in the Ming Dynasty. This method was slightly beyond the expectations of the coalition forces. There is no doubt that all these standard equipment from the Ming army are contraband. Under the current civil strife in the Ming Dynasty, it is easy to charge those who hide weapons with treason. However, Shibazhi probably doesn't care about a few more charges on his head. After all, they have been at war with the Fujian government for several years, and the contents related to rebellion in the "Da Ming Law" have already been committed.
Just for the crime of possessing a large amount of privately owned ordnance, the entire fleet could be punished by the government, and the minimum sentence would be exile. As for the shipowners and cargo owners, that would basically be the fate of Qiu Hou Wenzhan. As soon as Xu Yuzhuo announced the charges, this group of Jiangsu and Zhejiang maritime merchants immediately chose to confess honestly and revealed the entire transaction. So on the way back to the station, the coalition forces already had first-hand intelligence information.
Shibazhi still has many connections and trade channels in Jiangsu and Zhejiang. Several merchants who organized fleets to transport supplies to Penghu this time have had business dealings with Shibazhi for several years, and some were even Zheng Zhilong’s former owners. Li Dan's trading partner. After the Fujian government began to control scarce supplies last year, Shibazhi had to use all its connections in Jiangsu and Zhejiang. In addition to purchasing supplies, it also purchased some old equipment idle in the warehouses of the Ming army at high prices.
Although these things are not a big killer in the eyes of the coalition forces, they are urgently needed war preparation materials for the current Shibazhi. The batch of weapons and equipment intercepted this time alone cost Shibazhi nearly one hundred thousand taels of silver.
As for which army in Jiangsu and Zhejiang made this arms deal with Shibazhi, it is not convenient for the Fujian government to intervene directly. Even if Xu Xinsu is the local bully in Fujian, he cannot dictate the garrison of other provinces.
This time the goods were intercepted, Shibazhi suffered the most, because the Fujian government's control measures had also spread to Jiangsu and Zhejiang. Shibazhi had already paid a high price when purchasing these materials, and it had to be paid first. 70%, and the remaining 30% will be paid after the goods arrive in Penghu. However, when it was intercepted by the coalition forces, both property and goods were lost, and the economic losses were not small.
"What is General Xu going to do with these maritime merchants after they are escorted back?" After interrogating the prisoners, Xie Li finally had time to sit down and discuss with Xu Yuzhuo how to deal with them.
Xu Yuzhuo smiled and said: "I don't intend to punish them. I will let them go after we return. However, the goods on the ship are stolen and must be kept."
"Just let them go like this?" Xie Li asked with some confusion: "Let them go with the people and the boat?"
"Are we still going to keep them if we don't let them go?" Xu Yuzhuo put down his tea cup and looked at Xie Lida: "Does General Xie disapprove of the way I handle this?"
"I don't dare, I just don't understand the purpose of doing this." Xie Li responded.
Xu Yuzhuo nodded and said: "Actually, the reason is not complicated, for two reasons. First, these maritime merchants each have some background relationships, and dealing with them is just a matter of one sentence, but to sort out the subsequent interest disputes, there is no way So easy. We are only responsible for intercepting supplies to Shibazhi, and we are not intending to offend the officials in Jiangsu and Zhejiang, right?"
Xie Li responded thoughtfully: "I see...then what's the second reason?"
"The second reason is that after releasing these people, let them tell people in the Jiangsu and Zhejiang business circles not to try to do business with Shibazhi again, so as to serve as a warning." Xu Yuzhuo explained: "After this kind of news spreads, it will further increase the difficulty for Shibazhi to purchase materials in Jiangsu and Zhejiang. You should have heard the prices quoted by those merchants just now. They are two or three times more expensive than those on the Fujian market. Wait for these gangs After people go back, the price will continue to rise. If Shibazhi wants to buy supplies, he will have to spend a lot of money.”
"General Xu is brilliant!" Xie Li suddenly realized.
Although Xie Li is a senior officer in the navy and is good at commanding fleets to perform combat missions, he comes from a civilian background and knows little about the operating rules of shopping malls and officialdom. As for Xu Yuzhuo, who was born in a maritime merchant family and had been exposed to it since childhood, his mind was indeed much more flexible when dealing with such matters. And these two people are lucky enough to work together, so they can learn from each other's strengths and complement each other's weaknesses.
Considering the need for confidentiality, the combined fleet escorted the captured fleet directly to Zhongzuo Station without docking at Kinmen Island, which is closer to the sea. As Xu Yuzhuo said, after confiscating all the goods on board, the ordinary merchant ships and personnel in the fleet were released. For these maritime merchants, apart from being slightly frightened, they had no actual losses. After all, 70% of the payment for the goods had been collected before departure. Even if all the goods on the ship had been confiscated by the Fujian government, in fact, they were still Profitable.
Qian Tiandun did not interfere with Xu Yuzhuo's handling of the matter. During this period, he was busy formulating a combat plan to attack Penghu based on the satellite maps provided by the base camp.
Just before the return of the combined fleet, Haihan Navy Commander Wang Tom had secretly arrived at the Kinmen Island base. His arrival also symbolizes that Haihan's combat command center has been transferred from the Sanya base camp to the Kinmen Island base, and the combat plan against Penghu has begun to enter the second stage.
An entire naval fleet arrived with Tom Wang, including a "Dignity-class" main gunboat, four "Exploration-class" warships, four "Exploration-class" warships, and six ships responsible for logistics supplies. Including the naval units already stationed locally, the total number of ships has exceeded twenty, and this is also the largest period of Haihan Navy's garrison on the coast of Fujian so far.
Of course, this is not all the naval power that will be used in the Haihan combat plan. Before the war begins, at least one fleet will arrive in Fujian to join the war. If the situation in the South China Sea slows down, the Military Commission is likely to concentrate three of the four existing fleets in Fujian to perform combat missions, leaving only one fleet to look after the home base. This was also done to expand the coalition's advantages at sea as much as possible so as to clear obstacles for the implementation of the landing battle in Penghu.
March 17, Kinmen Island base.
Xu Jiaqi trotted all the way to the coalition headquarters. After entering the room, he reported urgently to Qian Tiandun and Wang Tom who were studying the map: "General Qian, General Wang, there is urgent military information sent from the center left!"
At present, Xu Xinsu has set up the command center of the Ming Army at the Zhongzuo Station adjacent to Kinmen Island, so almost all the orders of the Ming Army are sent from the Zhongzuo Station.
Qian Tiandun took the secret letter from Xu Jiaqi. There was a wax seal with Xu Xinsu's personal seal on the seal, which showed that the secret letter was drafted by Xu Xinsu himself, and its importance is self-evident.
Qian Tiandun opened it and read it briefly, frowning and handed it to Wang Tom next to him. After Wang Tom read it quickly, his expression changed, and he asked Xu Jiaqi: "Do you know the content of this letter?" "This letter is for the two generals to open and read, and the latter does not know about it." Xu Jiaqi was honest. Answered matter-of-factly.
"It doesn't matter if I tell you now." Wang Tom handed the secret letter to Xu Jiaqi and motioned for him to take a look as well.
Xu Jiaqi glanced twice and said in shock: "Shibazhi is planning to run away?"
The content of Xu Xinsu's secret letter was sent out by the spy lurking on Penghu Island. The content was that Shiba Zhi was recently reorganizing various materials in stock, but it did not further strengthen the various places on Penghu Island. Instead, the fortress spent a lot of manpower and material resources to repair and maintain the ships. Even the dilapidated ships that had been stranded on the coast for a year or two were repaired.
Although the spy did not explain the purpose of Shibazhi's actions in the secret report, after the intelligence was sent back, the top brass of the Ming army quickly thought of the possible reason - either Shibazhi planned to rely on the number of ships at sea. Advantage, fight to the death with the coalition forces in the naval battle, or they just plan to clear out Penghu and move to other places.
If Zheng Zhilong is really stupid enough to plan to rely on his large number of ships to suppress the current Haihan Combined Fleet, then Xu Xinsu may really wake up from his sleep laughing. Now the gap in strength between the two sides at sea can no longer be made up by the number of ships participating in the war. Even if Zheng Zhilong could dispatch thousands of ships at once, most of them would only become cannon fodder in naval battles. At most, they would be able to delay the coalition fleet's attack on Penghu, and would be unlikely to change the situation of the war.
Compared to a desperate fight to the death, Xu Xinsu and his staff believe that Shibazhi's recent movements are more likely to be an attempt to flee. For a group of pirates, survival is obviously the most important thing. As long as they can leave the Fujian Navy's sphere of influence, with the strength of Shiba Zhi, it is indeed difficult for anyone to suppress them at sea.
However, Xu Xinsu's spies stationed in Penghu were not high enough and had no access to the high-level insider information of Shiba Zhi. Based on these information alone, it was impossible to guess when Shiba Zhi planned to flee or where he planned to stay. And if these conditions are not implemented, no matter how powerful the combined fleet is, it will not be able to block both ends of the Taiwan Strait to block the escape route of the Shibazhi.
"It's embarrassing that Shibazhi doesn't want to accept the challenge." Wang Tom couldn't help complaining: "The ship has arrived, the soldiers have arrived, and the battle plan has been formulated to a great extent, and you actually said no to me. Accept the move?”
Qian Tiandun was calmer and asked Xu Jiaqi: "When Master Xu sent this secret letter, did you have any other instructions?"
Xu Jiaqi shook his head and said: "I don't have any special instructions. I just said that everything is subject to your army's decision."
"Master Xu is passing the responsibility to us!" Wang Tom responded: "We are guest troops. I think it is better for Master Xu to make the decision."
Wang Tom didn't say clearly what decision he wanted to make, but Xu Jiaqi understood what he meant. Now that Shibazhi has expressed its willingness to move away from Penghu, which means that they do not want to engage in a head-on battle with the coalition forces, the next step is to advance the plan to attack Penghu to avoid taking action too late and letting Shibazhi escape. Or should we wait and wait for the situation? Change, give Shibazhi a chance to escape?
If Shibazhi really plans to move away from Penghu, then the result of waiting may indeed be that Shibazhi successfully evacuates before the coalition forces take action. Such consequences are not too bad for the coalition forces, at least they can save money. By spending a lot of money on combat military expenditures, the coalition forces can avoid casualties and battle losses. But the problem is that for both Xu Xinsu and Haihan, the existence of Shibazhi is always a hidden danger. No one can guarantee that this pirate will completely give up fighting against them after leaving Penghu. Unless this problem is solved, it may be difficult for both sides of the coalition to feel completely at ease.
However, it is currently impossible to determine when Shibazhi intends to evacuate. If we simply rely on the spies in Penghu, if the information cannot be sent back in time, the coalition forces may miss the opportunity and allow Shibazhi to evacuate from Penghu intact. Walk. And if the battle plan is forcibly advanced, and the two armies are currently unable to complete the planned troop mobilization and deployment, acting rashly will definitely affect the effectiveness of the battle, and the commanders of the two armies participating in the war will also have to bear greater pressure.
Wang Tom does not want to attack Penghu in advance, because with the navy ships currently in place, even blockading Magong Port in Penghu is not enough, and it cannot reach the planned scale of the navy's participation in the war. Although self-protection is safe, the combat effectiveness will be extremely limited. Therefore, even if he knew that taking action in advance would ensure that Shibazhi would stay, he still would not take the initiative to make this suggestion.
Another reason is that the Fujian government had already taken the initiative to bear the expenses of attacking Penghu before the war. Of course, the financial sponsor of this money was not just the Fujian government. The bulk of the money came from the Maritime Group headed by Xu Xinsu. If Xu Xinsu planned to naturally regain Penghu after the withdrawal of Shibazhi, then there is no doubt that a large amount of money can be saved. If Haihan asks for action in advance, Xu Xinsu may not be willing to cooperate.
Xu Jiaqi naturally thought of the reason why Wang Tom said this, but his authority was not enough to bargain with the Haihan people on this strategic decision, so he could only say that he would go back to the Zhongzuo Station to ask Xu Xinsu for instructions.
After Xu Jiaqi left, Qian Tiandun said: "Do you think it is better to fight or not to fight?"
Tom Wang smiled and said: "It depends on whether you stand from the standpoint of the military or the executive committee."
"How do you say this?" Qian Tiandun asked in confusion.
Wang Tom responded: "From the military's point of view, every battle has military merit. Our strength is obviously superior. Even if we take action in advance, we will not suffer any losses. It is nothing more than the difference in merit. Of course it is It’s better to fight.”
"What about the position of the executive committee?"
"Let them leave. No matter where they go, we will have the opportunity to chase them all the way. Wherever they escape, our army can chase them." Wang Tom explained with a smile.
(End of chapter)