Chapter 855 Preparing for War
Not surprisingly, Zhao Cheng found information about Haihan products here. Glassware, rum, soap and other products were all listed for sale. However, the types of Haihan products seen here were significantly less than those in Fuguang. , and the supply quantity is not large, and the price remains high.
For example, there are a wide variety of Haihan glass stationery on the market in Guangdong, but here only have the most basic styles, and the price is more than twice as high as in Guangdong. The price of glass mirrors is even more outrageous. The price of a five-inch round mirror is a full one hundred taels higher than the FOB price in Shengli Port. The huge profits are comparable to when Haihan first put glass mirrors on the market. The situation is good, but the quantity of this batch of goods is too small, and the total price is less than 3,000 taels of silver.
But for the smugglers who come here to purchase goods, the price is not the primary factor they consider. Whether the goods sell well or not is the last word. The supply of goods here is not stable, and most of the Haihan goods are intermittent. So as long as someone thinks they can resell this batch of goods, they will eat it in this market without hesitation. The two of them observed it for a while, and sure enough, several people saw the information about Haihan's cargo and immediately copied it and went to go through the formalities. After a while, a man came out of the inner courtyard and took off the wooden signs one by one with the information about Haihan's goods. Xu Ke stepped forward and asked, saying that all these batches of goods had been sold.
"This money should all be pocketed by us Haihan!" Zhao Cheng clenched his fists and thought to himself: "Haihan has never entered Zhejiang, but he has enriched these smugglers. What a pity! If it can be done by business The annual turnover is more than one million, and the navy can probably benefit from it by building a few more warships.”
Haihan's current trade strategy in Fuzhou and Guangzhou is to use a variety of commercial marketing methods and control the sea as a guarantee. On the one hand, it controls the market by controlling large agents such as Li Jifeng and Xu Xinsu in the two provinces, and on the other hand, it uses powerful maritime armed forces. To ensure Haihan’s voice and control in maritime trade. This operation method has been proven to be feasible and stable in Fuzhou and Guangdong provinces, and the annual trade income brought to Haihan is also very considerable. In the future, Haihan will probably continue to promote and use it here after entering Zhejiang.
The two of them stayed in the exchange for more than an hour and had a good look at the trading content and methods before they came out and found another place to eat. In order to facilitate conversation, Xu Ke specially requested a private room. The waiter handed over the menu. Zhao Cheng flipped through it casually and found that the menu was similar to the one in Sanya. The appearance of the dishes was drawn with colored ink, supplemented by simple illustrations. The text introduction made me even more suspicious that the person in charge of this place had followed Haihan's approach.
The number of merchants from the Ming Dynasty who have visited Sanya in the past few years has ranged from ten thousand to several thousand, many of whom came from other areas besides Fuguang. There are also many thoughtful people who, after seeing various business techniques in areas under Haihan's rule, will Some of the easy-to-imitate content was copied back. Tips like this for drawing illustrations on menus are not too difficult to implement. It just costs more to hire an artist.
The prices of the dishes in this restaurant are not cheaper than those in Haisha Gang, but the finished products delivered are slightly better. Although it is not yet "value for money", at least the price/performance ratio is better than the previous day.
After the two of them finished eating, they walked around the pier again, but still didn't encounter the heads of the Sanlin Gang. There is neither a fortified city nor a coastal defense fort in this place. The only defensive facility is a camp in the east mountain col. However, the stone wall, which is only a little over ten feet long, does not have much defensive power in Zhao Cheng's opinion. The army's 12-pound The cannon is enough to destroy it, but it's just better than nothing. As for the observed personal equipment of pirates, they are still mainly cold weapons such as spears, spears, knives and bows, and it is also difficult to cause any trouble for the coalition forces.
What Zhao Cheng is really worried about is that the pirate lairs at the north and south ends of Liuheng Island have large areas of mountainous and hilly terrain. Although the altitude at the top is only one or two hundred meters, this complex situation will definitely give rise to the post-war situation. The crackdown brought a lot of trouble. The coalition forces have limited forces and do not want to waste too much time on Liuheng Island. After all, this place is only the southern gateway to the entire Zhoushan Islands, and there are a lot of islands behind it waiting for the coalition forces to occupy. If the delay on Liuheng Island is too long, firstly, it will affect the implementation of the original battle plan, secondly, it will give local pirates more breathing time to organize resistance, and thirdly, it may give Ningbo officials time to intervene in the matter. of space and time.
Although the coalition forces had already considered the possibility of local government intervention here before setting off, in principle they would try their best to avoid conflicts with the officials. After all, Haihan still had to deal with the government if it wanted to expand its trade network in Zhejiang. , if showing off your muscles to scare people can achieve the effect, you don’t need to pin them to the ground and beat them up. Therefore, the coalition's plan is to eliminate various civilian armed forces in the waters of the Zhoushan Islands as quickly as possible, and to use force to frighten the Ningbo government so that it does not dare to intervene easily.
That afternoon, Xu Ke and his party left the Shuangyu Waterway and continued to go north along the coastline of Liuheng Island. The sailboat rounded the northernmost Donglangzui Cape and then turned southeast to scout the northeastern coastline of Liuheng Island that had not yet been visited. The coastal terrain here is relatively flat, mostly tidal flats, and does not have good port conditions. Only some fishing boats are active here.
However, when the boat walked into the waterway formed between the eastern end of Liuheng Island and the neighboring Wonsan Island, they found that there were multiple docks built on the coasts on both sides. The outer reaches of this sea area are sheltered by islands such as Liangtan Island and Yuanshan Island, forming a rather large haven. If you hadn't walked around Liuheng Island in such a circle, it would be easy to overlook this place.
Xu Ke sighed: "There are too many cornered places like this in the Zhoushan Islands. It is really difficult to check them all one by one."
Zhao Cheng also agreed with this: "The coalition fleet only has about a hundred combat ships. It is indeed not easy to clear such a large area of sea. However, the leaders have great hands and eyes, and they will definitely find a way to solve it."
Seeing that his face was very determined, Xu Ke couldn't help but ask: "Why do you trust your boss Haihan so much? I always feel that the people of Haihan are like omnipotent gods and Buddhas in your minds."
Zhao Cheng said seriously: "Yes, in our hearts, the leaders are really like gods and Buddhas. Boss Xu, if you have a chance in the future, you can go to Qiongzhou Island to see the conditions there. Wait until you understand The leaders will definitely have the same view as us after their actions in the local area. "Of course, Haihan's group of time travelers are not magical gods and Buddhas, they just use knowledge and technology that are hundreds of years beyond this era. In a short period of time, achievements that may have taken dozens to hundreds of years to be achieved in the course of history were achieved, and these incredible measures can easily be regarded as "miracles" in the eyes of ordinary people in this era. In addition, Shanghai Han has specialized brainwashing and propaganda methods in this field. Over time, it has formed a superior and sacred image among the naturalized people. Not to mention worshiping the chiefs as saints, there are also many fanatical believers who are willing to sacrifice their lives for Haihan and the chiefs.
Xu Ke has never been to the area controlled by Haihan, so it is naturally difficult for him to experience such an ideological atmosphere. However, in these days, he has seen that these former Ming people and now naturalized residents of Haihan hold Haihan people in such high esteem that even Imperial military attaches like Xu Yuzhuo also followed the Haihan people's lead and completely obeyed the arrangements of the Haihan people in terms of combat plans. He really wanted to find an opportunity to go to Sanya, which was rumored to be the first port in the South China Sea, after the incident in Zhejiang was over. , to see if the Haihan people are really magical and omnipotent, and to see if those legendary large iron ships and iron cars really exist.
After completing the reconnaissance mission around Liuheng Island, the boat Xu Ke and his party took went south overnight and returned to Shipu Port. That night, Xu Ke and Zhao Cheng, who were tired from the journey, reported the results of their trip to the headquarters. The information they collected locally were details that were difficult to reflect on the combat map, and even Ma Ling's previous confession had many details that were not mentioned. Of course, Ma Ling may not have concealed it intentionally. Unless Xu Ke and Zhao Cheng deliberately investigated many things, it would be difficult for ordinary people to detect the hidden secrets. For example, if there were no knowledgeable people like Zhao Cheng in the exchange institutions in the area controlled by the Sanlin Gang, Xu Ke would not be surprised except that he would not be able to understand the capabilities of such a structure in bulk trade. real effect.
From a military perspective, the private armed forces on Liuheng Island do not pose much of a threat in terms of defense strength. Whether at sea or on land, the coalition forces can easily defeat them with well-trained professional soldiers and high-performance weapons and equipment. Defeating the opponent, the only thing that worries the headquarters is that the battlefield area is too large. It is difficult for the coalition forces to rely on raids to completely clear out the armed personnel on the island at once. Once time prolongs, the situation is likely to produce unexpected changes. This will affect subsequent combat plans.
But no matter what difficulties there are, attacking Liuheng Island is already on the line. Combat materials, personnel, and ships are all in place, waiting for the coalition command to come up with a specific action plan.
Ma Ling felt like he was sitting on the crater of a volcano these two days. Although he had temporarily obtained preferential treatment from the Haihan people by expressing his stance and was not imprisoned on an uninhabited island in the harbor like other people in Shipu Suo, he also knew that he was facing the sea. The intelligence information revealed by the Han people has a great impact, and it is very likely that he will be implicated later. On this day, the Haihan people made a new request to him. In the next attack on Liuheng Island, he must also go out with the army, act as a guide, and assist the coalition forces in identifying the bandit leader on the island after the war. The only good thing is that Ma Ling does not have to appear in public, he only needs to point out the direction and goals for the attackers in the fleet. Although Ma Ling was unwilling to be driven by the Haihan people, at this time, he was living under someone else's roof and it was important to save his life, so he could only reluctantly agree.
After the coalition fleet was stationed at Shipu Port for a few days, the blockade measures gradually lost their effectiveness, and the news slowly spread in the surrounding areas. The sudden arrival of the Haihan people was indeed a big stimulus to the local people. Many people did not know what kind of armed force the Haihan people were, so in the first few days, many people asked for help after hearing the news. Either leave Shipu Port by boat, or flee by land into the mountains to the north, and the emotions of the people left behind are also extremely unstable.
Fortunately, the Haihan Militia had more experience in dealing with such scenes. They took several surrendered Ming army officers to various villages to appease the people, and used real money to hire people to work as civilian husbands in the dock area outside Shipu Guards Station—— This combined fleet has more than 100 ships and more than 3,000 people. It also requires a lot of logistics personnel. Most of them must be recruited from the local area.
The people saw that the Shipu Guardhouse still carried the banner of the Ming Dynasty, but only imprisoned some people who colluded with pirates. Now that they could get money for work, they gradually became stable. As for why the newly arrived Haihan fleet wanted to block the port, they also gave a very clear answer - to prevent pirates from taking advantage of the situation and sneaking into Shipasuo City.
But just as the coalition command suspected, there were also pirate spies in Shipu Port. A few days later, someone rowed out of Shipu Port at night and reported the news to the north.
The first one to get the news was not the Haisha Gang who was closer to Shipu Port, but the Sanlin Gang who was a little further away. However, in addition to being able to report the origin of this fleet, the spy who sent the letter had no clear information to provide about its organization, strength, number of ships, or purpose of coming here, so the actual reference value is very limited.
After the three Lin brothers learned the news, they took it seriously and called the messenger to repeatedly interrogate the details. However, except for the certain information that "the Haihan fleet captured Shipu Suo City in half a day", the other links were quite vague. . The Lin brothers attached great importance to the messenger's statement that there were "thousand-material battleships" in the Haihan fleet, because the eldest of the three brothers, Lin Xing, had indeed been to Sanya two years ago and had seen it in the Victory Port. Passing the huge mountain-like Haihan iron ship, as well as the rows of Haihan warships docked on the east coast of Victory Port. Lin Xing has a deeper understanding of the maritime armed strength of the Haihan people than others.
"The Haihan people have always used the occupation of offshore islands and reefs as a way to expand their territory, and they have done this along the coasts of Fuzhou and Guangdong. If the Haihan fleet really goes north to Zhejiang, it will definitely choose a suitable place to settle down." Lin Xing said to the two The younger brother analyzed: “I just don’t know if the place they chose is Shipu Port or if they have other plans.”
"The place at Shipu Port is where the imperial guardhouse is located. Even if the Haihan people are bold enough to occupy it, they still won't be able to stay if the imperial court wants to liquidate it in the future, right?" Lin De, the second oldest, was skeptical about this.
"If the Haihan people want to do something with peace of mind, the court may not be able to do anything." Lin Xing shook his head and sighed: "The Haihan people are not the same as you and me. The game they are playing is much bigger."
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(End of chapter)