Chapter 864 Post-War Cleanup
Linde has been following his two brothers on Liuheng Island for several years, and has experienced a lot of fighting and killing. In yesterday's battle, he killed two people with his own hands. The scene of desperate fighting faced him. It's not new. But after he saw the way the Haihan militia fought, he still inevitably felt fear.
This was not an evenly matched battle, but a completely one-sided massacre. Even though the Haisha Gang included the Musketeers, which had given Linde a headache, they still had no chance to play a role against the Haihan Militia. He failed to catch it and was completely crushed by his opponent from the moment the battle started.
The panicked musketeers saw that the people standing in front kept falling, and they even lost the courage to shoot, so they ran back immediately. Probably in their combat experience, this was the first time they encountered such a scene where they were pushed to the ground and rubbed hard by their opponents from the very beginning. They didn't know how to deal with it other than running away quickly.
The skirmishers on the left and right were even more unprepared. They were all still waiting for their own musketeers to open up the situation. They didn't expect to be attacked by their opponents first. When they fought against the Sanlin Gang yesterday, their opponents only had sporadic muskets and bows as long-range attack methods. Unexpectedly, they replaced their guns with cannons overnight, and relied on the powerful firepower to suppress their own side.
Seeing the men and horses of Haisha Gang falling in rows like harvested rice in the distance, Lin De couldn't help but shuddered. He knew that if his elder brother Lin Xing hadn't resolutely chosen to join Haihan from the beginning, Lu, it is very likely that he is facing Haihan muskets and cannons at this time. Compared with the Haisha Gang, the Sanlin Gang lacks long-range attack methods, so it really has only a dead end against the Shanghai Han Militia.
Seeing the Haihan soldiers lining up in a neat formation to attack, Linde couldn't help but compare them with the group of people under his command. One was orderly, and the other was a mess, professional army and civilian armed forces. The gap in combat effectiveness is also completely exposed at this level. If Linde still had some doubts about the combat effectiveness of the Haihan Militia before, now he has been completely convinced by the facts before him. Not to mention the Haisha Gang on Liuheng Island, even the officials of Ningbo Prefecture Even if the army comes, they probably won't be able to deal with these wolf-like and tiger-like Haihan soldiers. No wonder the Haihan people dared to go from Fujian to Zhejiang to take action with confidence. Indeed, they have real abilities and cannot accept it.
After Gomez confirmed that there were Haihan people participating in the battle in the fortifications ahead, the Haisha Gang quickly lost the will to continue fighting, abandoned hundreds of corpses, and hurriedly retreated. The Haihan militia behind the defense line was not in a hurry to pursue, because Gao Qiaonan had just received notification from the headquarters that the troops responsible for outflanking the Haisha Gang's retreat had also arrived at a place only five miles away. The Haisha Gang was now heading towards After retreating, the only result is to run into the large army coming up from behind.
"Send someone to count the results of the battle." Takahashi Minami put down the telescope and ordered.
"Such trivial matters will be left to the younger brother's people. The Haihan Army men can just rest." Lin De immediately answered the words and took over the job from Gao Qiaonan. At the same time, he did not forget to order his men to go to the rear and do more. Bring more meat and drinks to comfort the Haihan militia who have just finished a big battle.
Just as the coalition command expected, the Haisha Gang was caught off guard and suffered a heavy blow, and was immediately in chaos. Hundreds of people withdrew from the front line in a chaotic manner, only to find that the Haihan militia also appeared in their rear, and they seemed to have more troops than their own. The few pirates who tried to put up a stubborn resistance were already shot down by volleys of guns before they could even reach the Haihan army.
"You have been surrounded by the Haihan militia. Immediately abandon your weapons and surrender, put your hands behind your head and lie on the ground. Anyone who escapes or disobeys will be killed without mercy!" A mechanical and indifferent voice sounded repeatedly on the battlefield, and several Hainanese The Han soldiers held huge iron trumpets and shouted loudly in the direction of the Haisha Gang.
When someone starts to follow the instructions and lie down on the ground out of fear, they immediately lead the people next to them who want to live to do the same - everyone standing will become a living target of the Haihan militia, and only lying on the ground can be effective Avoid the stray bullets flying in the air. If you want to survive, you have to get down first.
There are also some people who are unwilling to be captured and flee to the mountains in the southwest. For them, no matter what the final result is, they can at least survive for a while by escaping into the mountains and forests, retaining a glimmer of hope of escaping. However, the Haihan Militia did not immediately arrange a pursuit. The coalition forces had already controlled the main fresh water sources on the island and the surrounding villages. Even if these people fled into the mountains and forests, it would be difficult for them to survive for a long time without supplies. In the end, they would have to go back and forth on their own. Walking out of the mountains and forests means falling into a trap. There are no Haihan civilians on Liuheng Island, and the military is collectively stationed at several major ports. This small group of fish that have slipped through the net have no way to escape, and it is difficult to cause any more trouble to Haihan if they stay on the island.
By noon, the coalition forces had initially completed the inventory of Haisha Gang prisoners. Li Luotou, the leader of the Haisha Gang, died in the rebellion with two fatal gunshot wounds. However, it is impossible to verify who specifically made this contribution. The second master, Motegi Shinobu, was nowhere to be seen. According to the prisoner's account, he escaped into the mountains and forests during the chaos. There were about thirty or forty Japanese Japanese pirates who fled with him, almost all of whom were killed by Motegi Shinobu.
Gomez, the third leader, was the only leader of the Haisha Gang who was captured alive. In fact, when he realized that the situation was over, he had already given up on escaping or struggling to his death. Being able to live well at sea by licking blood from the edge of a knife, turning to the wind can be regarded as one of his must-have life-saving tricks. For Gomez, there is nothing wrong with surrendering to the strong. When he came here, he had thought about establishing his own family and becoming the king of the mountain. In the end, he chose to succumb to Li Luotou and Motegi Shinobu. , working as the third boss in the Haisha Gang. Since the Haihan people gave the Haisha Gang a chance to surrender in a situation where their combat power was completely crushed, it meant that they did not intend to kill them all. Surrendering had a much greater chance of saving lives than resisting to the end. Under such circumstances, Gomez not only took the lead in lying on the ground, but also ordered all remaining men to abandon their weapons and surrender, and to stop making unnecessary resistance.
After an inventory, after two consecutive battles, a total of more than 1,400 Haisha Gang members were captured. Most of them were family members of the Haisha Gang who were kidnapped and fled. In fact, less than half of them were actual combatants. The number of casualties among the Haisha Gang was more than 300, which was nearly a hundred times higher than the battle losses of the coalition forces, fully reflecting the strength gap between the two sides. The Lin brothers also felt a little relieved when they heard the news. They had lost more than 200 people in the battles yesterday evening and night, and they were heartbroken. If the Haihan militia had not arrived in time to take over the defense line today, the number of casualties would probably not be less than yesterday, and they may not be able to hold this key line of defense.
By evening, several groups of people had basically cleared the southern area of Liuheng Island. Except for the mountainous areas, there were still scattered people fleeing. It could be declared that the Haisha Gang had been completely destroyed. This once famous armed force in the East China Sea has become the target of the Haihan Militia in Zhoushan. When the three Lin brothers heard the news, they couldn't help but feel a little emotional. They had been fighting openly and covertly with the Haisha Gang on Liuheng Island for more than a year or two. They had used both civil and military methods, but neither could completely defeat the other. There is reluctance, but there is no choice but to maintain this North-South confrontation. But as soon as the Haihan people came, they completely defeated the Haisha Gang in just two days. They were so dead that few people could escape from the island. The efforts of the Sanlin Gang for several years could not withstand the unreasonable force of the Haihan Militia. This made the Lin brothers admire and feel a little discouraged - they knew that even if they struggled all their lives, they would probably be defeated. Unable to manage the Sanlin Gang to a situation like Haihan's, the powerful enemy who deliberately tried to suppress it was probably not even a stumbling block in the eyes of the Haihan people, and they were easily dealt with in two days. The only advantage the Sanlin Gang had over the Haisha Gang was that they stood early and resolutely, otherwise among the people lying on the ground and surrendering at this time, there might be three of their brothers among them.
Contrary to the speed of counting prisoners of war, only a small part of the counting of various properties captured in this battle has been carried out. As one of the main trading ports in the southern part of the Zhoushan Islands, there are indeed a lot of various commodities on the Haisha Gang. There are more than 50 cargo owners captured by the coalition forces on the island alone, and more than ten countries are involved. In terms of international trade objects alone, the prosperity of this place is comparable to that of Sanya Port on Hainan Island. This also shows from the side that the international trade resources that Haihan can control after taking control of this area will be quite abundant.
From the several secret bank vaults of the Haisha Gang on the island and the bank transport vehicle captured by the main force of the final annihilation of the Haisha Gang, the coalition forces seized more than one million taels of cash, most of which was packed in boxes. of silver ingots, silver coins and gold bars, gold ingots, etc. At present, the coalition forces have not yet had time to conduct comprehensive searches of several locations of the Haisha Gang. The command headquarters is optimistic that many valuable items can be found in these places.
The wealth of the Haisha Gang was basically in line with the expectations of the headquarters. However, seeing the mountains of gold and silver, the leading party members not only swallowed their saliva, but also were a little surprised by the financial resources of the Haisha Gang. The Lin brothers have been neighbors with the Haisha Gang for so many years, and they have always believed that the other party is superior in force, and its financial resources should be much inferior to the Sanlin Gang. After all, in terms of the scale of trade operations, the Sanlin Gang is generally recognized to be stronger than the Haisha Gang. , the trade volume is also much higher, but if the Sanlin Gang is required to come up with such a huge amount of cash, it may not be possible for a while.
According to the pre-agreed distribution plan, the Haihan Militia as the main force of this operation will receive 70% of the proceeds, and the accompanying Fujian Ming Army will receive 30%. Of the 70% of Gui Haihan's income, half will be allocated by the Executive Committee to the military as special military expenses. Just from the current seizures on the Haisha Gang's territory, the military could get enough to start building another "Dignity-class" battleship, and this only took two days.
"There are at least five or six families as rich as the Haisha Gang in the Zhoushan Islands!" Shi Diwen looked at the soldiers who were busy carrying the silver boxes aboard the ship, and said to Qian Tiandun excitedly: "Such a lot of money to send If we go back, who else will come out to speak against us in the future?”
Qian Tiandun smiled and said: "Even if you move back with gold and silver mountains, the naysayers will still be able to sing. Even if the naysayers shut up now, others will jump in to take over. Where there are people, there will be differences of opinion. , although we can win the battle every time, there will always be people who don’t like this way of fighting and killing, and there will definitely be objections.”
"Civil officials are doing bad things!" Shi Diwen actually understood that what Qian Tiandun said was the real situation. The more brilliant the military's record was, the more it would scare the anti-war faction. It is indeed a bit unrealistic to expect that military exploits can completely silence the anti-war faction.
"Everyone has his own responsibility." Qian Tiandun wanted to see political matters more thoroughly: "Power always needs to be restricted. If there are no restrictions, it will easily go to extremes. Although I am a soldier , but I don’t want Haihan to become a complete military regime. This is a normal phenomenon. In the past few years, when the military wants to use force, even if there are objections, it will be carried out. In the end, the committee will still comply with the military’s wishes, and that’s not enough.”
"That's what I say, but we still want our army to conquer more areas as soon as possible!" Shi Diwen sighed: "You and I are already in our early thirties. We are now in our prime and have a full budget. At most, we can still do Twenty or thirty years. If we continue to expand at the current rate, it will be good to control the western Pacific region east of the Indian Ocean.”
"It's hard to say." Qian Tiandun had a different view on this: "Our current development speed is limited, and a large part of the reason is that it is restricted by population. When the population reaches a certain scale, our navigation industry will also experience a blowout. Development. Both the population engaged in sailing and our shipbuilding and navigation technology will be greatly improved. When our steam-powered ships have the ability to cross the ocean, the scope of activities will also expand accordingly... You are an expert in this area. , I won’t do anything in front of you.”
Qian Tiandun raised his hand and pointed to the sea to the north: "If we can complete the integration of the Zhoushan Islands waters in the first half of the year, then in the second half of the year we can continue to extend the route north to the Jiaodong Peninsula and strive to establish a new stronghold there next year. , further control the maritime trade channels in Northeast Asia.”
Shi Diwen responded: "It depends on how much support the Executive Committee can give the military. To achieve what you said, the navy needs at least two additional fleets."
(End of chapter)