Chapter 1114 Plan Change
Wang Tom asked Pan Yan to be escorted down and held incommunicado. Then he summoned the main officers of the fleet to discuss changing the action plan. This operation to the north to Liaodong was originally based on terrain reconnaissance, waiting for opportunities to launch raids and harassment along the coast of the Liaodong Peninsula. However, now that he has received news about Pi Island halfway, Wang Tom believes that this is an opportunity to open another immigration channel for Haihan. , should be processed with priority. However, to go to Phi Island, they have to re-formulate the route and the corresponding material and personnel deployment plan. At the same time, they were informed of the Zhifu Bay Base Camp and asked them to check the relevant information about Phi Island as soon as possible so that they can make corresponding preparations.
Although the Haihan Fleet has not traveled from Lushunkou to Pidao before, the fleet has detailed charts of the relevant areas and Pan Yan, a former Dengzhou Navy officer who can serve as the navigator, has to complete this journey. A voyage of only a hundred nautical miles in a straight line is not difficult. The real uncertain factor is still on Phi Island. What is the current situation on the island? Will the military and civilians on the island be hostile to outsiders like Haihan? How to deal with local officials in power? These issues require careful attention by Wang Tom and his staff. Consider and prepare response plans in advance.
Wang Tom arranged a boat near the north bank to monitor the movements of Zhongzuo City. However, the Houjin Army in the city did not move rashly throughout the day. The city gates were still closed until sunset, and it seemed that they were not safe. I plan to take the initiative. Wang Tom did not relax his vigilance because of this. The Jin army was much more familiar with the local terrain and still needed to be wary of the other party launching night sneak attacks. Although this was unlikely, Wang Tom deployed a platoon of infantry as a night sentry at the point where the Tiger Tail Peninsula connected with the mainland. Its location is three or four miles away from the fleet's temporary camp. As long as it warns the enemy immediately after discovering the enemy's situation, the camp can have time to prepare for the battle.
Wang Tom's preventive measures really worked. After nightfall, the Hou Jin Army indeed arranged for some men to leave the city and take the overland route around the Laohwei Peninsula in an attempt to launch a night attack on the Haihan camp. However, it was not easy to march at night in the wilderness, and it was impossible to rush forward quickly on horseback. It was only in the middle of the night that we finally reached the Tiger Tail Peninsula. However, the Hou Jin Army probably did not expect that their opponents would place sentries several miles away from the camp. When they reached this area, they did not deliberately slow down to hide their whereabouts. As a result, they were discovered by Haihan's infantry platoon deployed here. .
The platoon leader who led the troops could not see how many men and horses the opponent had at night, so he immediately set off a warning firework into the sky. When the firework exploded in mid-air, it briefly illuminated the area, and then the Haihan soldiers took the opportunity to launch a round of shooting at the still stunned Houjin Army.
The light of the fireworks only lasted a few seconds before everything returned to darkness. It was unknown how many Houjin soldiers were shot in this round of shooting, but it created enough chaos and screams one after another. The Haihan Army did not take advantage of the enemy's chaos to continue their pursuit. The risk of fighting in such a dark environment was too great, and the results were not necessarily cost-effective. Therefore, they still followed the strategy formulated in advance and retreated decisively after completing the warning. Do not give the opponent a chance to close the fighting distance and engage in a melee.
The Hou Jin Army knew that their whereabouts had been exposed, and they did not know how many troops their opponents deployed in the dark. They did not dare to march in the dark at the moment. They hurriedly lit torches and gathered the chaotic troops to prevent the enemy from taking advantage of them. Random attacks. Niu Lu Zhangjing, who led the troops, briefly counted the casualties. In fact, there were not many losses. Only five people were shot. Two of them unfortunately hit critical parts and died on the spot. However, in the darkness, the soldiers crowded and trampled on each other, and seven or eight others were injured in the chaos.
When Zhang Jing saw that all the injuries suffered by the enemy were caused by fire, Zhang Jing was a little frightened. If he continued to advance, he was afraid that his opponent would have already deployed his position after receiving the early warning. Moreover, the Tiger tail peninsula is all hilly and mountainous, and cavalry cannot be used. Letting his men attack the fire gun position is tantamount to dying in vain. Leaving his team here is not the most fatal thing. If the opponent waits for dawn to attack Zhongzuo Suo City, it may be difficult to defend the city due to lack of troops. After hesitating for a moment, he chose to handle it safely and ordered the troops to withdraw back to the camp.
Haihan was naturally in a hurry after receiving the warning. However, after waiting for a long time, the opponent did not attack. Then the news sent back by the scouts said that the Hou Jin Army had quietly retreated.
"The Hou Jin Army is so cowardly?" Wang Tom, who was woken up from his sleep to supervise the battle, was a little surprised when he heard the news. The Hou Jin Army took the initiative to attack twice in the morning and night, and suffered two consecutive attacks at the hands of the Hai Han Army. After losing for the first time, he actually couldn't bear it and fought hard. This also somewhat subverted the image of the Jin Army in his mind that he could only be brave and aggressive. Although he looked down on his opponent verbally, Wang Tom also understood that from the commander's point of view, since the purpose of the night attack had been exposed early, it was a wise choice to decisively withdraw the troops. The fact that the opponent could make such a decision showed that his commander Have basic tactical literacy.
Naturally, Wang Tom would not send troops to pursue him in this desperate situation. He would only send troops to strengthen the perimeter vigilance to prevent his opponent from playing other tricks. However, from midnight to morning, nothing else happened. It seemed that the other party had really given up.
Wang Tom had already worked out the action plan and route to Pi Island with his officers the night before, and ordered everyone to break camp and leave after breakfast. As for the dozens of prisoners of war captured after the battle the day before yesterday, they were all stuffed into the cabin and would be slowly interrogated after returning to Zhifu Bay.
Pan Yan, a former Ming army officer who took the opportunity to defect to Haihan, was treated slightly better. Although the shackles and handcuffs were still on him, at least he did not have to be imprisoned in a dark, airtight and crowded cabin with his former companions. After spending the rest of the voyage, you can stand on the deck and use the information you know in your mind to win the favor of your new master.
Pan Yan thought about it all night but still couldn't figure out the origin of this "Haihan Kingdom". When he stepped onto the deck of the flagship, he quickly realized that this "Navy" was very different from the Dengzhou Navy where he served before. , not only the military uniforms and weapons are different, but the hull structure and sail system of this ship are also obviously different from the Ming warships he knows. It seems that it is not from the Ming Navy as he thought before. But one thing is undoubted, and that is the strength of this army. It is better to work with such a backer than to be forced by gold thieves to go against the Ming Dynasty in Lushunkou.
After the people who landed yesterday packed up and reboarded the ship, the Haihan fleet quietly sailed away from the coast one by one, leaving Lushun Port along the original route from the narrow waterway on the east side of Laohwei. Near the shore of this waterway, you can occasionally see one or two corpses washed ashore by the waves. They should all be the victims of yesterday's battle. But now that the Haihan fleet is eager to leave this place, it is impossible to stop and collect these remains.
Yesterday's naval battle was basically an overwhelming victory, but after yesterday's battle, the prisoners captured were all Ming troops who had been stationed in Dengzhou, and not a single living Houjin soldier was captured. Last night, the outpost troops had a brief confrontation with the enemy troops who carried out a night attack, and they withdrew without having time to check the results. The damage caused by the enemy troops was not clear, so there was no substantial gain to speak of. This result also made Wang Tom feel a little regretful. If we could catch one or two Hou Jin soldiers alive, we might have a clearer understanding of Hou Jin's troop deployment in the Liaodong region.
The new route planned by Tom Wang was not to draw a straight line between Lushunkou and Phi Island. After discussing with his subordinate officers last night, Wang Tom realized that he could actually take care of the reconnaissance mission on the way to Phi Island. , as long as you follow the east coast of the Liaodong Peninsula and make a slight circle to the northeast, spending an extra day or two on the way, you can at least complete the reconnaissance of the coastline outline and coastal islands, but you probably don’t have time to send the Marines ashore to do more detailed work. field trip.
For dozens of miles east of Lushunkou, the coast is almost all mountainous. It was not until Dalian Bay in later generations that there was terrain suitable for berthing ships. Of course, the place name Dalian did not exist in this era. It is more appropriate to call it Jinzhou Bay. There are only more than 20 nautical miles from Lushunkou to Jinzhou Bay. Although the fleet slowed down its speed, it only took less than half a day to reach the peninsula at the southern end of the bay. Sun Changmi and Yue Zhiyun of the Ministry of Transport both lived in Dalian for a long time before participating in the crossing. During this trip north, Wang Tom also saw many pictures of Dalian on Sun Changmi's laptop, so he It didn't take much effort to identify the bay near Laohu Beach. As shown on the map, after bypassing Laohutan, turn north and enter the waters of Jinzhou Bay.
The area of Jinzhou Bay is much larger than that of Lushun Port. The width of the bay entrance formed by the two peninsulas is more than ten kilometers. The sea area in the bay is nearly one hundred square kilometers, which is as big as more than a dozen Lushun Ports. . There are also several small natural harbors recessed inland along the long coastline. However, because the map in Wang Tom's hand came from hundreds of years later, the harbor has already seen many changes in the coastline caused by man-made construction, which is quite different from the current actual situation, so this kind of on-the-spot investigation is still necessary.
Wang Tom led the fleet into Jinzhou Bay, and the purpose was of course not just to examine the terrain here. After he knew that, the main force of the Jinshui Division was deployed in Jinzhou Bay, and he used this trip to see how big the enemy was. strength. According to prisoner of war Pan Yan, the size of the Ming Navy that was coerced by Kong Youde's rebels at that time was as many as four battalions. This battalion consisted of four Dafu ships, two Haicang ships, and four Cangshan ships, for a total of ten warships. The four battalions of warships combined are quite large.
Yesterday, we faced only four of the ships at Port Arthur. But if the main force is here in Jinzhou Bay, even if the Haihan fleet is equipped with advanced equipment, we have to deal with it carefully. After all, the Haihan fleet only consists of eight warships, one large, two medium, five small, plus four comprehensive supply ships and a reconnaissance boat. It would be very troublesome for the opponent to get entangled with its superior force.
After entering Jinzhou Bay, Wang Tom ordered everyone to enter a state of combat readiness. Several logistics ships with relatively poor self-protection capabilities did not follow the large forces into the harbor, but stayed near the large and small mountain islands outside the harbor to avoid any eventuality. During an armed conflict, it is too late to leave the battlefield.
The most nervous person at the moment is not the naval officer, but the prisoner of war Pan Yan. He hopes that Haihan will find the former Dengzhou Navy fleet here to prove that the information he provided is accurate and valuable, but if the two sides meet, , then there will inevitably be another fierce fight. Judging from yesterday's battle, the Haihan fleet, which has very powerful shipboard firepower, should still have the upper hand in the battle. He has many old friends in the navy, and he can't bear to see these men who were originally affiliated with the Ming Dynasty again. Just like this, it was damaged by Haihan's gun. Pan Yan hesitated again and again, but still made a request to the soldiers guarding him to see Wang Tom.
"Pan Yan, do you want me to let go of these navy soldiers who betrayed the Ming Dynasty?" Wang Tom was a little surprised after hearing Pan Yan's request. This guy didn't just think about self-protection in the current situation. Trying to intercede for his former colleagues and comrades is a bit of loyalty.
Pan Yan knelt on the deck and begged with his head lowered: "General Wang, we people did not intend to betray the Ming Dynasty, but we were forced by the situation. If we did not get on the ship, we would immediately become the victims of the rebels. We all have no choice but to come to Liaodong. It’s just to survive. Except for the few rebels from Liaodong, who wants to leave their hometown and stay in this useless place?”
Wang Tom said: "If I don't fight them, they will fight me under the coercion of Hou Jin Bing. Besides causing trouble to me, what else can they do? Can they choose to join us like you?"
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When Pan Yan heard that Wang Tom's tone had relaxed, he immediately responded: "If there is a chance, I am willing to act as a lobbyist for General Wang! There are many capable people in the Dengzhou Navy who are familiar with the sea conditions in Liaodong. If they can serve the general, His subordinates will definitely help the general put down the golden thieves!”
Tom Wang smiled and said: "If you want to be a lobbyist, then I have to capture the prisoners alive first. Isn't this more troublesome than killing them directly?"
Pan Yan said anxiously: "We can try to summon the personnel of the old navy in Dengzhou, and look for opportunities to cooperate inside and outside, and escape from the control of the gold thieves. When we go to sea, there are only a dozen gold thieves on a ship accompanying us to supervise the battle. As long as we are prepared in advance, there will be Chance to escape!”
Wang Tom said: "It's so lively. I didn't see your people yesterday looking for an opportunity to escape?"
"This..." Pan Yan thought to himself, how could he risk his own life for such a thing? If there was no good escape route, who would dare to offend those Houjin soldiers who did not regard the Han people as human beings.
(End of chapter)