Chapter 835 Action Plan
With the current strength of the Haihan Army, not to mention these East China Sea pirates who have primitive equipment and very little combat capabilities and experience, even the Netherlands and Spain, the Western powers that are conducting global colonization in this era, have already joined the Haihan Militia. The arrogant head was lowered in front of him. Surrender has been done by the Portuguese, the Dutch, and the Spaniards have surrendered twice in a row recently. It is really not a strange thing for Haihan.
According to the description in the secret letter by Xu Ke and another lurker, the pirates in the Zhoushan Islands may be weaker than Haihan's previously expected strength level. Although these pirates can survive by relying on various hidden interests with local officials and powerful people, they are different from the Shiba Zhi that was rampant in Fujian in the past few years. Most of the time, they are only reached by some powerful figures. A tool for personal purposes, not an armed force like Shibazhi that is powerful enough to affect the situation of one party. In order to prevent these "tools" from becoming too large and difficult to control, the armed level of the Zhoushan Islands pirate gangs has been consciously manipulated and controlled.
Although Qian Tiandun spoke loudly, Xu Xinsu, who understood the situation, would not think there was anything wrong with his statement. As long as Haihan could use his lightning power to clear out one or two powerful pirate dens at the beginning, the rest would be There is a real chance that pirate gangs will catch wind of this.
If such a situation occurs, it is of course ideal. The Haihan military has always followed the elite route of using limited troops to complete various combat tasks. It can invest less troops and the saved military expenditures can be used in other tasks. aspects - such as replacing the army with the latest field artillery, or increasing the construction cost of one or two warships for the navy.
Xu Xinsu also knew that Qian Tiandun's statement was not a big show, but that the Haihan Army always controlled the dispatched troops more accurately, so he tentatively asked: "Then I will dispatch three thousand troops from your army." Basics, prepare the food and grass supplies needed for a month of combat, what does General Qian think?”
The amount of food and grass supplies required for three thousand men to fight for a month is not a small amount, not to mention that these supplies have to be transported from Fujian to Zhejiang, which will inevitably increase the cost. Xu Xinsu's statement undoubtedly represents the Fujian government, or the Xu family, in taking over this matter, and her sincerity is quite high. Qian Tiandun understood what Xu Xinsu meant, and immediately responded: "Master Xu is so polite! I don't think it's better than this. We will provide 2,000 people for the establishment of 3,000 people, and Master Xu will send another thousand people to join. How about that?"
Qian Tiandun knew that Xu Xinsu was willing to spend money to prepare food and grass supplies for the Haihan Army and be responsible for the logistics supply. It was not without purpose, so he took the initiative to help him.
Xu Xinsu pretended to decline and said: "If it affects your army's battle plan, wouldn't it be a sin?"
Qian Tiandun smiled and said: "Master Xu, please don't be polite. Your army has cooperated with our army many times before, and we have always cooperated very well. I am very confident about the strength of your army."
Although the Haihan military attaches great importance to the piracy problem in the Zhoushan Islands, considering the opponent's limited strength, it does not plan to send a large number of troops to carry out the cleanup mission. The two thousand people are Qian Tiandun, Shi Diwen, Chen Yixin, Gao Qiaonan and others. The conclusion reached after discussing together. Since Xu Xinsu now takes the initiative to sell well, Qian Tiandun will do a favor so that Xu Xinsu's people can participate in the next military operation in Zhejiang.
Shi Diwen did not forget to remind him: "It will definitely be okay for Mr. Xu's subordinates to participate in the operation, but their identities probably need to be concealed, so as not to cause extraneous problems and bring inconvenience to Mr. Xu."
Although Xu Xinsu was the commander-in-chief of Fujian Province, it was obviously against the rules to dispatch troops to Zhejiang waters to conduct military operations without notifying the Zhejiang government and obtaining the consent of the Ministry of War. When the time comes, Zhejiang will submit a copy to the imperial court. No matter whether Xu Xinsu goes to fight pirates or not, the reason is not on Xu Xinsu's side. Although the imperial court and the Ministry of War may not be able to do anything against Xu Xinsu, a local tyrant, they should reprimand him in the next article. Xu Xinsu, that was also a very embarrassing thing for him. What's more, Xu Xinsu didn't want to offend the Zhejiang officialdom in the open. After all, he wanted to do business in this area in the future.
Xu Xinsu thanked him and said: "General Shi's words make sense. How about I pretend that my men and horses are temporarily pretending to be your army? As for battlefield command, it will naturally be a burden to all the generals!"
As long as there is an opportunity to cooperate with the Haihan Militia, Xu Xinsu will always find ways to send his most elite troops to participate in the operation. However, it is not always possible to get the opportunity to fight on the front line. Most of the time, it can only be assigned the task of assisting defense or even covering logistical supplies. In addition, the Haihan Militia's combat speed is very fast, and the battle is often resolved within two or three days. The troops sent by Xu Xinsu to participate in the war sometimes did not even wait for a chance to play, and the war was over, and the training effect they could play was not very great.
This time the Haihan people decided to take action in Zhoushan, and Xu Xinsu thought this was a good opportunity to train troops. Haihan's current northernmost garrison is Jilong Port in Taipei, but the main force is still stationed in Penghu. Xu Xinsu also knows the approximate size of the Haihan garrison and has an estimate of the number of combat troops it can dispatch. It was proposed to subsidize the grain and grass supplies needed for three thousand people to fight. The calculation was that Haihan could not send so many troops to fight in Zhejiang, and the vacant troops could be naturally filled by the Fujian Ming Army.
Even if Shi Diwen didn't remind him, Xu Xinsu would not make the stupid mistake he mentioned. After all, Xu Xinsu has been in the officialdom for six or seven years. Xu Xinsu has a clear mind about what he can and cannot do, and what taboos are taboo in the bureaucracy. Xu Xinsu knew that Shi Diwen was handing him a ladder, so she got off the ladder and immediately expressed her willingness to hand over the command of the participating troops to the Haihan military.
The elite troops under Xu Xinsu are basically organized and trained according to the methods established by the Haihan military. The organization, combat system and tactics are all in line with Haihan. The Haihan militia takes over the command, so there is no need to worry about lack of military orders. Or problems such as the command system being unable to connect. If senior Haihan officers directly conduct battlefield command, they will definitely learn much more combat skills than usual theoretical training or military exercises. As long as he can learn real skills, Xu Xinsu believes that it is worthwhile to spend more money, because he believes that Haihan's successful model has fully demonstrated the importance of armed force. The Xu family wants to establish a firm foundation in the southeast of the Ming Dynasty in the future. Even if it develops into a local separatist force like Haihan, a powerful armed force is absolutely indispensable.
However, since the Shibazhi and Hongmao people were driven away in the southeast, there is currently no war to speak of, and it is difficult to have the opportunity to train in actual combat. If Xu Xinsu wants to strengthen his troops, he can only look outside the province. Even if he has to pay more expenses and take greater risks, Xu Xinsu believes that these costs are worth it - of course, the premise is that there is sea escorted by the Han militia.
Xu Xinsu's proposal was also expected by the Haihan military, so after a few words of humility, they agreed to Xu Xinsu's request. Finally, Xu Xinsu called her bodyguard in: "Go and bring in the gifts I prepared for the leaders of Haihan!"
After the guard officer left, Xu Xinsu took the initiative to explain: "It is the sixth anniversary of Haihan's arrival in the Ming Dynasty. I have nothing to express, so I can only prepare a small gift to express my concern! Don't mind if this gift is too big. Shabby! ”
Qian Tiandun even said he didn't dare, but in his heart he thought that Xu Xinsu would give gifts at this juncture in previous years, but it had nothing to do with being shabby. One year during the anniversary celebration, he sent an envoy to Sanya to watch the ceremony and brought three shiploads of two hundred cattle. After a while, Xu Xinsu's men came in carrying a plaque. Xu Xinsu stood up and took off the cloth on the plaque, and introduced to Qian Tiandun and others: "The words 'Exhibiting Ambition' on this plaque are made of pure gold. I hope everyone at Haihan can achieve their goals this year.”
This plaque is more than five feet wide and about two feet high. The four large golden characters on it are inlaid on the black back panel, which looks particularly eye-catching. This gold lettering is not pasted with gold foil, but solid gold lettering. Judging from the strokes and the size of the characters, I'm afraid each character weighs one or two pounds. If these gifts are all shabby, then many people may not be able to take out the gifts they have prepared.
After Qian Tiandun was polite, he accepted it on behalf of the executive committee. He knew that if he didn't accept this gift, Xu Xinsu would probably not feel at ease.
After the military's action plan was put in writing and submitted to the Executive Committee, the response received was that it would not take action until after the anniversary. It was obviously impossible for the personnel stationed in Penghu to rush back to Sanya to participate in the military parade at this juncture, so they only held a simple celebration ceremony at the base. Of course, feeding the soldiers who are about to go to the battlefield again is also one of the essential activities.
On April 3, Haihan's participating troops, including 500 Ming troops who had come from Zhangzhou and had changed their uniforms, began to assemble at Magong Port in Penghu. There were approximately 2,800 armed personnel participating in this mission, but including the civilians responsible for the logistics, the total number had already exceeded 3,000.
In addition to combat ships, troopships and supply ships, there is also a merchant fleet that will set off with the armed fleet this time. The purpose is to provide a reason for the armed fleet that follows, as long as the pirates in Zhoushan dare to Take action, and Haihan can rush over with lightning speed to improve his record.
On April 5, the merchant fleet used as bait left the port and headed north. Of course, although this fleet is just a decoy, for safety reasons, at least a dozen militia soldiers are arranged on each ship and equipped with corresponding weapons.
The regular army did not set off until at least three hours after the bait left. All the ships in this fleet were produced by Haihan, and their speed was definitely faster than before. About five hours after the fleet left Magong Port, it had already caught up with the fleet that had set off first at sea.
The first stop of the fleet was Nanri Island. This place had been included in the restricted area by Shibazhi earlier. However, with the help of Haihan, not only did this place be snatched away from Zheng Zhilong, but also Many fortifications were built on the island. The reason for stopping here is not only to replenish water and food, but also about 500 Ming troops who have changed their clothes to join the team from here.
Xu Xinsu also followed the Haihan fleet here, but he would not follow all the way to Zhoushan. After handing over his private army to the Haihan people here, Xu Xinsu took the initiative to say goodbye to Haihan: "My old sons of the Xu family , it’s up to the leaders to take care of them.”
The voyage from Nanri Island to the destination Zhoushan Islands off Ningbo is more than 300 nautical miles. If the Haihan warship alone is not delayed for too long on the way, it will take about two days and two nights to arrive. In order not to alert the enemy too early, the Haihan fleet's route will keep a certain distance from the coast, and try to avoid being discovered by fishermen, merchant ships or others near the coast. The merchant fleet, on the other hand, stretched its formation very wide, trying to focus the attention of others on its own side, so as to better cover up the whereabouts of the Haihan fleet.
On April 7, the merchant fleet encountered the first unlucky person in this operation in Wenzhou - two pirate ships discovered a lone Haihan merchant ship and immediately swarmed it. Unfortunately, they underestimated their opponents and overestimated themselves. The merchant ship circled on the sea and fled towards the east sea. The two pirate ships followed slowly, keeping a reasonable distance.
However, after they sailed out to sea and followed for more than an hour, the situation finally changed. There is a huge cyclone on the sea level in the distance, which causes the sea conditions to fluctuate greatly, making it difficult to choose a reasonable direction.
While they were hesitating, two "exploration-class" warships from the Haihan fleet had already appeared behind them.
"Send the order, raise the flag, and prepare for battle!" Shi Diwen did not dare to be careless and immediately ordered the preparations to begin.
The whole battle process was simply lackluster. It only took thirty seconds to eliminate one of the pirate ships. Fortunately, a cannonball hit the mast and immediately split it into two parts. The other pirate ship saw that the situation was not good and planned to escape. However, when the Haihan warship got close to it, the other pirate ship had no chance to escape.
Through interrogation, it was determined that the two pirates were just a small gang nearby. They were unlucky. When they came out for the first time after spring, they encountered this fleet disguised as bait. The pirates had become prisoners before they even understood what had happened, and they had no idea what the origin of the armed force that captured them was.
(End of chapter)