Chapter 896 Catching a Turtle in a Urn
Before the arrival of the Haihan people, Ma Yue's living standard was quite good. Jiangsu and Zhejiang are originally rich places, and Jiaxing is a famous land of plenty in eastern Zhejiang. Although the army relies on farming to make a living, it relies on the mountains and the sea to eat. With such a good place, Ma Yue can't be poor even if he wants to. Go down.
Hainingwei has two health centers under its jurisdiction, Zhapu and Kanpu, and these two places happen to be the two largest and most prosperous seaports in Jiaxing. These two ports alone can bring tens of thousands of taels to Hainingwei every year. Income of silver. Of course, the money is not enjoyed by Ma Yue alone. The big shots above have to manage it, and the people below have to appease him. The two or three dollars he can receive in his pocket are probably as high as the sky.
After the Haihan people took over Zhoushan, the direct impact on Jiaxing was not great, but there was a decrease in port passenger flow for about ten days. However, since Haihan organized the investment fair, a large number of merchants have poured into Hangzhou Bay. Jiaxing's two ports have also become distribution centers for outbound passenger flow, and the business has basically returned to its usual prosperity. But Ma Yue was not satisfied with this situation because he realized that both the Zhoushan Islands and the East China Sea were leaving Ming Dynasty's control. The Haihan people's gameplay is completely different from that of the previous smugglers. They do not rely on the Ming Dynasty government, and if they have money and soldiers, they will not take the initiative to bow to the government.
Since Haihan focused most of his energy on Ningbo after occupying Zhoushan, Hainingwei, which is across the Hangzhou Bay, did not receive many direct benefits from Haihan. Therefore, Ma Yue's view of Haihan is not like that of Yan Guowei and Yan Guowei. Huang Tao and others are so relaxed and friendly. Moreover, he was very worried that Haihan would continue to clean up the northern islands of Zhoushan Archipelago after freeing up his hands. Ma Teng's few troops would definitely not be able to stop Haihan's offensive. Among the losses that would occur by then, Ma Yue would not be able to stop them. The portion is inside.
But Ma Yue is not a fool. The fact that Ningbo's guards did not move shows that the Haihan people are not easy to deal with, not to mention that the Haining guards do not have enough strength to launch large-scale naval operations. Although Ma Yue was worried about the arrival of the Haihan people, he could only wait and see the situation change temporarily and did not dare to act rashly.
It wasn't until Yu Pingfeng and others secretly came to Haining to lobby him that Ma Yue seemed to see hope of changing the situation. Among these three people, Yu Pingfeng is in charge of military affairs, Guo Zheng is in charge of criminal proceedings, and Liao Xun is in charge of intelligence. They seem to be a very reliable combination. And Ma Yue had soldiers under his command and people in the East China Sea, so it was perfect for him to be responsible for the specific actions. The two sides hit it off almost immediately, and soon it was decided that Ma Yuelai would organize and implement the interception and killing operation at sea planned by Yu Pingfeng and others.
Although Ma Yue is a guard commander, because there has been no war in the East China Sea in recent years, he actually has no actual combat experience in his career, and he lacks the professional ability to plan and command large-scale combat operations. This is why Gong One of the main reasons why Seventeen went to Zhapu Port in Jiaxing and easily obtained relevant information. Although he knew that the Haihan people were difficult to deal with, he lacked a clear understanding of the specific powerful method. The shortcomings in intelligence collection exposed the flaws of this already flawed plan early, and trying to use the Qushan Island pirates who already lacked the will to fight as a means to deal with Haihan was even more wrong. Ma Yue's arrangement forced Ma Teng, the owner of Qushan Island, to take the initiative to ask for surrender on Zhoushan Island. At the same time, he was completely exposed, but he did not yet know that he was in such a dangerous situation.
The news sent by Ma Teng gave Ma Yue hope of making a fortune. Without even informing his allies in Hangzhou, he organized a group of confidants and sailed two modified fortune ships out to sea.
According to the agreement with Ma Teng, the two parties will meet and rendezvous near Dayangshan Island northwest of Qushan Island, and then stay here to guard the target merchant ship heading north from Zhoushan to Yangzhou Prefecture in the north.
Dayangshan Island is located outside Hangzhou Bay, about 60 nautical miles from Hainingwei. The island covers an area of about four square kilometers, with gentle terrain in the northeast and connected peaks in the south, with the highest point over 200 meters above sea level. There are three large yellow croaker fishing seasons in the waters near Dayangshan Island in the first half of each year. At that time, fishermen from the coasts of Jiangsu and Zhejiang will rush to catch fish there. There were patrol officers and soldiers stationed on Dayangshan Island during the Song and Yuan dynasties. It was only after the Ming Dynasty that the island returned to its wild state due to the rise of Japanese pirates in the East China Sea and the imperial court's implementation of a sea ban.
There are many islands and reefs near Dayangshan Island, and many of them have fresh water sources. It is easier for ships to dock for supplies or hide their tracks here. On the route from Zhoushan back to the Jianghuai area, this is also a must-stop place. When Ma Yue set out for his destination, he never thought that this was a trap set by Ma Teng and his enemies.
On the morning of June 29, after a night of sailing, the two ships led by Ma Yue arrived at their destination in the waters near Dayangshan Island, and saw Ma Teng's ship at the Key'ao beach in the north of the island as promised. However, seeing that Ma Teng only brought one ship to the battle, Ma Yue was a little unhappy. Originally, he wanted to use Ma Teng's men and horses as tools, but now the situation seems to have been reversed, and he has to Played the main position in the action. Ma Yue figured that the 50-50 split previously discussed with Ma Teng was a bit uneconomical, and this ratio would have to be renegotiated later.
Fortunately, Ma Teng is a good person. Ma Yue hasn't mentioned this yet. Ma Teng expressed his attitude first, saying that he can take less from the seizure this time. After all, the commander has personally sent out the work. Doesn't this mean that it is a bit unfair? It doesn't make sense.
While Ma Yue was overjoyed, he also noticed that Ma Teng's men were all strong men, who seemed to be much more energetic than his own soldiers. He was secretly surprised that Ma Teng was huddled on Qushan Island, but he actually brought out a group of men. Batch elite soldiers. How could he have guessed that the people Ma Teng brought with him were all Haihan militiamen, not pirates from Qushan Island at all. Qian Tiandun was worried about letting Ma Teng and Ma Yue join forces, so he simply replaced all his men. If Ma Teng is dishonest, the special forces following him will take his life at any time.
Ma Yue was still a little worried that if the target traveled quickly day and night and passed here overnight, there would be no way to intercept it. But Ma Teng beat his chest and vowed that this situation would not happen: "The villain has already inquired and understood that the two ships will set off from Dinghai Port in Zhoushan to the north tomorrow morning. Calculating the distance, they will arrive at lunch time. Here. When the time comes, the adults will be in charge of one boat, and the villain will be in charge of another boat. Attack them separately. Don't let them slip away. Once you succeed, you can directly sail the boat to Qushan Island and capture it without anyone noticing. The deal is over! Once the items are seized and counted, your share will be sent to Jiaxing.”
Ma Yue was happy to hear this and couldn't help but praise: "I didn't realize that your boy is so good at doing things before. It's not bad. After I force the Han people to retreat and get this Zhoushan Island back, I will make a decision and let you go to Zhoushan." The island group holds the overall situation! ”
Ma Teng thought to himself that it was a shame that you could force the Haihan people back, but he thanked him profusely and ordered people to send supplies so that Ma Yue's men could rest here for a day. Ma Yue was not fooled. After discussing various signals and measures for maritime operations with Ma Teng, he rested peacefully.
At midnight that day, several troop transport ships commanded by Shi Diwen quietly docked from the east side of the island. A company of army troops quietly landed on the coast in the dark and marched in the dark to the predetermined location.
Early the next morning, the drowsy sentry suddenly discovered that the Qushan Island ship docked on the shore had disappeared without a trace. When Ma Yue received the news and hurriedly came to the beach to check the situation, he found that it was not just a missing boat. There were two strange-looking sailing boats on the sea less than a hundred feet away from the shore. Coming through the waves. There was a two-color flag of half red and blue flying on the top of the masts of the two ships. When Ma Yue was wondering, one of his men who knew what he was doing screamed: "It's the Haihan people! It's the Haihan people!" Why are the Haihan people here? Fighting at the critical moment, Ma Yue didn't understand the mystery for a while. But he was not too panicked, and reprimanded loudly: "Why panic! We are the Ming army, and this is the Ming sea territory. Quickly wave the flag to show your identity!"
One of his subordinates responded: "Sir, we came out without flags this time..."
Ma Yue then remembered that in order to ensure that his identity would not be discovered, the two ships did not carry anything that could be used to identify themselves. Not only did they have no flags, but all the weapons used by the people were changed. The reason was that the guards were equipped with The weapon has official markings engraved on it.
"That's okay, the Haihan people may not be here for us." Ma Yue could only comfort himself, but he actually realized in his heart that the appearance of the Haihan people here and now might not be a coincidence, and things didn't seem to be that way. Simple.
What completely shattered Ma Yue's hopes was the appearance of a Haihan army behind the camp. Someone even shouted with a tin trumpet: "People on the beach immediately put down their weapons and kneel down to surrender, otherwise they will be killed without mercy!"
Before Ma Yue could give the order, the panicked Ming soldiers began to rush towards the two boats parked on the shore. That was their only hope of leaving the island. The reason why they did not choose to fight with the Haihan soldiers on the shore and retreat directly was because they all saw the muskets in the hands of these Haihan soldiers. The Ming army was originally equipped with similar weapons, but in order to completely hide their identity, they all replaced them with cold weapons before going to sea this time. These Ming soldiers were not pirates and bandits with no knowledge at all. They knew very well the lethality of muskets and had no intention of trying to attack the Haihan musket array with their flesh and blood.
However, the sea was not an ideal escape route. The two Haihan ships displayed their side guns and launched a round of approach bombardment at the two immobile sailing ships on the beach. Because the distance was too close, some shells penetrated through one side of the ship and directly passed through the inside of the ship to open up the other side of the ship. The flying broken boards also injured several civilians who had just ran to the side of the ship. military. Before the Ming army trying to escape got on the ship, several transparent holes had been punched out of the ship's hull by Haihan's artillery fire.
The situation on the shore was not much better. After only two warnings, the Haihan soldiers opened fire under the command of the copper whistle, and screams suddenly broke out on the unsheltered beach.
Ma Yue lay trembling on the ground, cursing Ma Teng in his heart for pushing him to death. If he hasn't figured out what happened by this time, he's really hopeless. Of course, even if he is now sure that Ma Teng betrayed him, he cannot change the current situation of being surrounded and suppressed by the Haihan militia. Although the dozens of confidants he took out to sea this time were elites in the military, they were powerless to fight back in the current situation. And here is an isolated island in the sea. There is no place to escape. Either resist until death, or you can only be captured without mercy.
Ma Yue chose the latter. When he realized that the two ships he had brought had no chance of sailing away from the coast, he decisively chose to surrender. But when two Haihan soldiers came to tie him up with cowhide ropes, he still tried to put up a final resistance: "I am Ma Yue, the commander of the Haining Guard. Do you bold and crazy people want to challenge the Ming Dynasty?"< br>
However, the only response he received was two heavy blows from the butt of the gun, one to the shoulder and one to the back. The pain caused him to immediately fall to the ground. Immediately, he felt a big foot on his back, and then his hands were twisted behind his back and tied tightly. Hai Hanbing grabbed both of his arms and used force to lift him up from the ground. When Ma Yue was about to continue to defend his dignity with words, someone had already pinched his chin and stuffed a ball of rags with the smell of sea into his mouth. He could only whine and was speechless.
Ma Yue led a group of fifty-five people out to sea, and none of them, including himself, could escape the siege. Seven of them were killed in the brief confrontation, and about a dozen others were injured with varying degrees of severity. Apart from the consumption of ammunition, there were no casualties on the Haihan side. This battle can be regarded as a complete victory.
Since the fighting broke out in the early morning and ended just after tea time, there was not much movement. Although the Haihan warship fired a round of cannons, it was more than twenty nautical miles away from the nearest coast, so no one would notice it at all.
After a brief search of the two ships carried by the Ming army, Shi Diwen ordered them to be towed away from the shore and then scuttled in the sea. The crew of this ship, whether alive or dead, were all transported to the Haihan warship. In addition, a platoon was left to eliminate all traces of combat on the coast. By three o'clock in the morning, the place had returned to its usual tranquility, and it was impossible to tell that a small-scale battle had broken out here two hours ago.
Since Ma Yue only explained his destination and combat objectives to the confidants who followed him out to sea before setting off, he and his group of men have now become silently missing persons with nowhere to be found.
(End of chapter)