Chapter 1081 Escape and clear your name
In Haihan's northward operation, war is not the command's preferred response method. If there is room for choice, Haihan will try to avoid a direct armed conflict with the local Ming army. However, the current situation It was Weihaiwei who had regarded the transiting Haihan fleet as a potential threat and sent a joint investigation notice to all the guards on the adjacent coast, including Qishan. Once the Qishan Institute discovered that the Yantai Mountain outpost had fallen, the nature of the matter could no longer be explained by "misunderstanding."
Of course, there are actually some ways to save the current situation. For example, Haihan used the trick he used in Hainan and Zhejiang, using the excuse of "assisting the government to kill pirates" to send armed forces to forcibly occupy the land and not move away. When he went north to Zhejiang to attack Shipu Port, Haihan once claimed that he was assisting the government in suppressing bandits after capturing Shipu Qianhusuo City, and coerced Shipu Suo Qianhu Ma Ling into accepting such an arrangement, and also threw the blame to Haihan's intended target was the Zhoushan Boat Gang.
But now if you want to use this routine again, there is a difficult problem to solve, which is where this "bandit" came from. In the early years when this trick was used in Qiongbei, special operations battalions were sent to act as pirates. In the early stage, they also defeated the Daming Navy stationed in Qiongbei and captured most of Qiongbei's cities, including Danzhou, creating a A real sense of urgency. Afterwards, Haihan also performed a full set of dramas and staged a complete offensive and defensive battle in Qiongbei. The Guangdong officials knew that there was fraud, but afterwards they were unable to produce any actual evidence to overturn Haihan's statement.
The subsequent military operations at Shipu Port in Zhejiang also had the Zhoushan Boat Gang as an actual person to blame, which made the entire plan reasonable. However, Zhifu Bay currently does not have many people settling here. The appearance of pirates is extremely unreasonable, so it is probably difficult for this old trick to be used here.
If Takahashi Nan directly used force to push back the troops sent by Qishan, the headquarters would not worry about the combat effectiveness of the company he led, but in this case, it might not end well later.
"This means that if we want to temporarily block Zhifu Bay, we will inevitably conflict with Qishan, right?" Harugong had already realized the crux of the problem and asked it directly.
Tom Wang nodded and said: "That's right, so we need to make a choice now."
Chen Yixin said: "Whether we fight head-on with Qishan Institute now, our movements in Zhifu Bay will be exposed, right? Even if Gaoqiao Nan guards the fortress of Yantai Mountain, Qishan Institute will find a way to enter this area from the sea. Unless we are determined to wipe out all the Ming navy in Shandong Peninsula, it will only be a matter of time before they discover that this place has changed.”
Tom Wang asked: "Then what is your attitude?"
Chen Yixin said: "I think we should deal with the current situation in a peaceful way as much as possible. The practical effect of occupying Yantai Mountain is very limited for us, and it is impossible to completely hide our whereabouts through this method. It is better to hide the situation there." After the place was cleaned up, it was returned to the Ming army and the relationship was cleared. We were just southern businessmen who came to Shandong to set up a business store and provide relief to the victims. As for what happened in Yantai Mountain, it had nothing to do with us. "
"I agree with Xiao Chen." Sun Changmi also added: "In a battle with the Ming army, there will be no suspense about the outcome, but considering that we will be stationed here for a long time, it actually doesn't matter if we have a stalemate with the local government. The advantage is that it is better to clear the name early to avoid difficulties in carrying out local work in the future.”
The work Sun Changmi mentioned naturally refers to the business, trade and immigration functions that Haihan's overseas strongholds will have, and these related matters often require certain cooperation from local governments to facilitate their development. Although it is not difficult for the Haihan troops heading north to knock out the garrison of several garrison posts, once a large-scale armed conflict occurs, it will easily cause irreversible damage to Haihan's reputation in this area. At that time, the people thought that Haihan was another rebel army, so they would not dare to take the initiative to defect to Zhifu Island.
"You don't need to ask me. I am leading cavalry. Whether the Ming army blocks or not, it doesn't have much impact on my people." Harugong was very proud and did not directly express his position on this issue. Although the size of the cavalry battalion is not large, it may indeed be regarded as an armed force with the strongest mobility and combat effectiveness in Dengzhou. At present, the Ming army has not even restored the guard army to full strength. In the short term, There was not enough cavalry to be gathered within time to target and restrict Haihan's cavalry battalion. From this point of view, Harugong's judgment is very accurate, and he is notoriously deaf to outside affairs. Whether other departments will be affected by this is not something that he needs to consider.
At this time, Qian Tiandun and Hao Wanqing, who had gone to climb Laoye Mountain early in the morning, also came back. After listening to the briefing, Hao Wanqing decisively sided with Chen Yixin: "My people haven't started to send out yet. If this If we are against the Ming army and the local government, my people will be in trouble if they go out to take action. If the military feels it is necessary to fight, it would be best to find a way to delay it for another two days until I send out the people. "< br>
"What do you think, old money?" Wang Tom naturally would not ignore the existence of Qian Tiandun. After all, the army part of this northward force is mainly composed of the special operations battalion commanded by Qian Tiandun, and a company currently stationed in Yantai is People in the special operations camp, Qian Tiandun's opinions will directly affect the direction of this matter.
Qian Tiandun had led soldiers outside for so many years and had fought many battles. He also had a deeper understanding of the significance and role of war than others. After sorting out his thoughts, he said calmly: "Actually, How to decide? Just think about the purpose of our coming to Shandong. Will destroying the Ming army in Qishan Institute be more beneficial or harmful to us? Will solving the problem we are facing now? ? I don’t think I need to analyze it in detail, you all know it by heart. War is a means to solve the problem, but if you know that this method cannot solve the problem, is it necessary to use this thankless method? "
Tom Wang smiled and said: "I really didn't expect that the person with the most military exploits among us would actually describe the use of force as thankless. To be honest, I thought you would definitely insist on using force to suppress the opponent."
Qian Tiandun shook his head and said: "There is no point in fighting this kind of battle. It is better to think about how to appease Qishansuo's emotions and not let the local officials become too hostile to us."
Now that most people's opinions have been unified, Wang Tom did not put forward any other opinions and let Qian Tiandun be responsible for directing the next actions. Qian Tiandun immediately wrote a warrant, and then called his soldiers to immediately deliver the warrant to Yantai Mountain on the south bank of Zhifu Bay.
The pier of Yantai Mountain is like a stone steamer under direct sunlight. It is hot and stuffy. There is no room for people inside. Even the Ming army stationed here is not willing to be on duty inside. Gao Qiaonan led a company to be stationed on Yantai Mountain, but the barracks could not accommodate more than a hundred people. Fortunately, most of the people in the special operations camp were from the south, and they could withstand heat and sun. Under the shade of the trees, large and small arbors were set up with tent cloth, which was not too difficult.
When Qian Tiandun's soldiers arrived with the warrant, Gao Qiaonan was taking a nap on the ground under the pergola. After reading the warrant, he immediately ordered the entire army to assemble and ordered several prisoners to be escorted out of the barracks. . "I'm sorry, everyone, but I have to trouble you to come with us." Takahashi Nan did not explain the details, waved his hand and ordered: "Take them to Zhifu Island."
Zheng Laoqi and others originally hoped that the so-called Jinyiwei Baihu would fulfill their promise and free themselves, but they did not expect that they would be escorted to another place. Zheng Laoqi was shocked and said: "Master Liao, when will the promise you made yesterday be fulfilled?"
Takahashi Nan said vaguely: "When you get to Zhifu Island, you will naturally know."
Zheng Laoqi thought to himself that all the people on Zhifu Island had already escaped, so what was the purpose of taking us to Zhifu Island? While he was still puzzled, a person next to him bumped his shoulder hard and said: "Tou Zheng, look... look over at Zhifu Island..."
Zheng Laoqi turned his head and looked around, and was immediately surprised. There were many sailboats parked densely in the bay on the south coast of Zhifu Island. Two of them were quite large. Although they were separated by Zhifu Bay, they could still see the general shape of the hulls clearly. , according to the proportion, the hull length of these two large ships is probably more than ten or twenty feet, which can be regarded as the largest sea ship he has ever seen in his life. In the past, there were several big fortune ships in Dengzhou Water City. Compared with these two big ships, they looked relatively petite.
"This... this is the legendary treasure ship built by the three treasure eunuchs!" Zheng Laoqi couldn't help but mutter to himself about this phenomenon that could not be explained by common sense. When he was young, he had heard from his military seniors that during the Yongle period, the Three Treasures eunuchs had built huge treasure ships in order to sail to the West. It was said that the length of the hulls reached twenty feet, but such treasure ships had never appeared in history before. Now The Ming Dynasty has been unable to be built due to various reasons. But today's rumored big ship seemed to correspond to the astonishing sight he saw. Apart from that, Zheng Laoqi couldn't think of any other more reasonable explanation. There is no way that there is a second country in this world. Build such a large warship.
"You are very knowledgeable!" Takahashi Nan also happened to hear Zheng Laoqi's words to himself. Of course, he would not explain the difference between the Haihan warship and the treasure ship of the Sanbao eunuch.
Zheng Laoqi suddenly looked at Gao Qiaonan with expectant eyes, and said something: "Sir, this fleet...could it be that the emperor is on a patrol?"
Takahashi Nan almost couldn't help but spit on his face. He could actually associate Haihan's northward fleet with such a completely unrelated matter. He really admired Zheng Laoqi's imagination. But since this guy had misunderstood the origin of the fleet, he simply acted it out and pretended to be mysterious: "You must not make random guesses about military and national affairs!"
When Zheng Laoqi saw Gao Qiaonan's expression, he was even more certain of his suspicion. This team of strangely dressed Jin Yiwei must be the real imperial guards in the imperial city! Otherwise, where would they have come from with so many new-style firecrackers that they had never seen before, and such a huge fleet docked in Zhifu Bay? Not to mention Dengzhou Prefecture, no one in Shandong could put on such a grand display. Only big shots from Beijing could have such a big battle.
At this time, Zheng Laoqi still did not doubt the identity of Gao Qiaonan and others. In his eyes, he only saw this group of people who had strict military discipline and were not just a ragtag group of civilians, but elite troops with extremely high levels of training and equipment. He had been a soldier in Dengzhou Prefecture for thirty years, and probably only the soldiers under the previous commander-in-chief could perform like this. And the terrible thing is that this group of people speak with accents that are obviously very close to those in Hebei and the capital. Zheng Laoqi doesn't think they are from the south at all. In addition, Gao Qiaonan previously claimed to be Jinyiwei, which made Zheng Laoqi subconsciously think that they are from the south. Consciously linking his identity with the capital, he came to the conclusion that "the emperor went on a tour", which sounds ridiculous, but when you think about it carefully, it makes people laugh or cry.
In this way, Zheng Laoqi's resistance to Gao Qiaonan and others was inexplicably reduced. Thinking about it this morning when he fell ill, didn't the Jinyiwei officer ask the doctor to give him an acupuncture treatment? The emperor is pro-military, so he still has rules when it comes to doing things. Locking up his group is probably just to prevent the news from leaking out. On the other hand, if I continue to cause trouble, wouldn't I be suspected of committing rebellion? But as for how big the crime was, Zheng Laoqi, whose official position was only a small flag, couldn't understand it and didn't dare to think about it in detail.
"Sir, I am willing to cooperate and go to Zhifu Island." Zheng Laoqi thought he had figured out the cause and effect, and immediately expressed his position.
Takahashi Nan smiled and said: "Okay, if you have such a correct attitude, it will be easier in the future."
Zheng Laoqi didn't know what he meant, but it didn't sound like it was a bad thing, so he quickly responded: "Thank you, sir, for your appreciation!"
The order Takahashi Minami received was to escort all the prisoners back to Zhifu Island and then clean up the traces here. Although there was no further mission statement, Takahashi Nan could imagine that the headquarters' intention was to put aside the incident of the Ming army's disappearance in Yantai Mountain so that it could have peaceful contact with the local government in the future. Even if these prisoners save their lives, in order to keep the secret of Zhifu Bay, it is probably impossible for them to return to Qishansuo City in the future. According to Haihan's usual practice, these captives will definitely not stay on Zhifu Island for a long time. Most of them will be sent back to the south with immigrants and supplies, and then sent to an overseas enclave in the South China Sea for colonization.
But fortunately, at least their lives were saved. If the command of the headquarters was only to clean up the traces and then withdraw, then Takahashi Minami would probably order the corpses of all the prisoners to be destroyed without hesitation.
(End of chapter)