Chapter 1115 Cruise in Liaodong
Seeing that Pan Yan was speechless and didn't know how to answer, Wang Tom didn't say anything to refute him. In fact, it's not that he didn't expect the possibility that Pan Yan mentioned, he just deliberately wanted to continue to frustrate Pan Yan's energy. After the preliminary interrogation of the former Ming army soldiers captured yesterday, most of them were not too obsessed with the choice of returning to Shandong, because they would probably be punished for treason after returning. This is what they were willing to do after arriving in Liaodong. One of the reasons for fighting for Houjin.
Wang Tom's idea is actually very simple. Since these people can fight for Hou Jin, of course they can also become weapons in Haihan's hands after being trained. In particular, these naval soldiers who are familiar with the conditions of the Bohai Sea and the Yellow Sea are indeed of great use value to the Haihan Navy from the south. If there is a chance to recruit these people, Wang Tom is still happy to try it.
After sailing in the bay for about an hour, the fleet arrived near Monk Island in the north of the bay. The lookout soldiers on the flagship mast sent a message that an unknown number of sailboats were found docked on the coast ahead. Judging from the shape of the hulls, they should be the former Dengzhou Navy's group that was taken to Liaodong by the rebels. Warship.
"It seems that your colleagues are very low vigilance!" Wang Tom confirmed the identities of these warships through the telescope. At the same time, he could also see many figures rushing onto the ship. They must have discovered the arrival of the uninvited guests. A hasty reaction made only later.
Pan Yan's face turned red and he quickly defended: "General Wang, this is because the gold thieves are usually very strictly controlled. Without their permission, we cannot board the ship and go to sea, let alone conduct daily patrols. If we are in Dengzhou, There must be patrol boats in important waterways, and they must have noticed the intrusion by outsiders.”
Wang Tom said: "These barbarians don't know how to fight at sea. The Dengzhou Navy was handed over to them. It's like a secret. Forget it, since they are all Han people, let's let it go this time and not fight with them." Head-to-head confrontation.”
When Pan Yan heard that Wang Tom was willing to evade, he quickly thanked him. In this case, Wang Tom did not order an active attack, which shows that there is still room for mediation in this matter, and his former comrades did not die in vain for Hou Jin.
The Haihan fleet changed direction about two thousand meters away from the dock where the local warships docked, and slowly sailed towards the east coast of the harbor. Before these warships could sail out from the dock, the distance between the two sides had already widened to the point where it was difficult for the latter to catch up.
Pan Yan took the initiative to report to Wang Tom: "The Jinzhou Acropolis occupied by the gold thieves is about ten miles north of the dock just now. If the general wants to attack this place in the future, I am willing to lead the horse for you. .”
Tom Wang nodded and said: "If you perform well, I will naturally give you opportunities in the future. As long as there are talents, I will not have too many here."
When the Haihan fleet began to turn around and sail southward out of the harbor, the opponent's warships slowly emerged from the sea. However, the distance between the two sides had widened. With the speed of the Ming army's warships, it was difficult to catch up. . Wang Tom only left one single-masted reconnaissance boat with a light hull and the fastest speed behind, in order to find out the number and approximate lineup of warships stationed here. The large force met the logistics ship staying here outside Jinzhou Bay, and then continued to sail northeast along the coastline.
About twenty nautical miles away from Jinzhou Bay is the Changshan Islands, which consists of more than 200 islands, with a total area of about 170 square kilometers. After the Ming Dynasty lost Liaodong, because Hou Jin was not good at naval warfare, the control of these islands was once in the hands of the Ming army.
Speaking of Changdao Islands, we have to mention Shang Kexi. Shang Kexi was born in Haizhou, Liaodong. After the Later Jin invaded Liaoshen, his father and son joined the Ming army one after another. In 1623, Shang Kexi joined the navy. The next year, he went to Pi Island to join his father, and then joined Mao Wenlong's command. Shang Kexi was highly appreciated by Mao Wenlong, who adopted him as his adopted son and gave him the name Mao Yongxi.
Shang Kexi's father, the Dongjiang guerrilla Shang Xueli, died in Louzishan in a battle with the Later Jin Army soon after. Mao Wenlong transferred the troops led by his father to his command. Later, when Mao Wenlong was executed by Yuan Chonghuan in 1629, Shang Kexi is already the commander guarding the Changshan Islands. He has tens of thousands of soldiers and civilians under his command, and he can be considered a moderate local official.
Afterwards, Huang Long, the general of the Dongjiang River, took over Pidao. He encountered Geng Zhongyu and Wang Yingyuan who launched a mutiny and was detained on the island. After hearing the news, Shang Ke led his troops back to Pidao to suppress the mutiny and supported Huang Long to regain his position. Therefore he was promoted to guerrilla.
In 1633, Shang Kexi was promoted to deputy general for his meritorious service in suppressing the rebellion in Lushun. However, in the same year, Kong Youde led the Hou Jin soldiers to capture Lushun. Huanglong was defeated and committed suicide. Shang Kexi's family members who stayed in Lushun also committed suicide by drowning. After Huang Long's death, Shen Shikui took over the post of Dongjiang Commander-in-Chief. Because Shang Kexi had taken away the military power from Shen Shikui when he suppressed the mutiny, Shen Shikui had always held a grudge against him and intended to retaliate against him. However, this matter was revealed by Shang Kexi. His subordinate Xu Erxian learned that Shen Shikui's plan to lure Shang Kexi back to Pidao for arrest failed to be implemented.
Afterwards, Shang Kexi sent Xu Erxian, Ban Zhifu and other subordinates to Shenyang to have secret contacts with Hou Jin. After obtaining Huang Taiji's promise of reuse, on the first day of the first lunar month in 1634, he took all his generals, soldiers, civilians and military supplies to defect. Houjin. When Shang Kexi arrived in Shengjing, Huang Taiji went out of the city thirty miles to greet him, and gave Shang Kexi a very high evaluation and many awards. The Ming Dynasty's deputy general stationed at the Changshan Islands suddenly transformed into the chief military officer of the Later Jin Army.
After Shang Kexi invested in gold, the Ming army on Pi Island had no time to take care of this place. Later Jin believed that this place was useless and the garrison troops were of no use. It would only waste military expenses and food and grass in vain, so he simply gave up occupying the Changshan Islands. This place has become a no-man's land.
However, Pan Yan did not know about the news about Kong Youde's rebels fleeing to Liaodong. They, the Han surrendered troops, were strictly restricted in their space of movement and the level of information they had access to, and they did not have a clear understanding of the changes in the external situation. . Pan Yan didn't know that Master Shang, who was guarding Guanglu Island at the time, had defected to Hou Jin. When he was approaching Guanglu Island, he was still explaining to Wang Tom the various heroic deeds of Shang Kexi in fighting against Hou Jin.
Wang Tom had read this historical record before, and he knew very well that Shang Kexi's life trajectory took a 180-degree turn after Huang Long's death. In two years, he would be named King Zhishun by Huang Taiji, and then replace the Qing Dynasty. Conquering the world, relying on his military exploits through mountains of corpses and seas of blood, he was finally named King Pingnan by Shunzhi. Although Shang Kexi rebelled against the Ming Dynasty partly out of self-preservation, which was excusable, he later showed no mercy when he killed the Han people in the south, and he could be called a genuine butcher. In 1650, Shang Kexi led troops to attack Guangzhou. After the city was broken, one-fifth of the population of Guangzhou, which had a population of about 400,000 at the time, was massacred. The methods were also very spicy. Wang Tom didn't have a good impression of Shang Kexi, so he coldly interrupted Pan Yan's explanation: "The Lord Shang you are talking about brought the people on these islands to Houjin at the beginning of this year, and now he lives in Haihai. Zhou, serving for Empress Jinhuang Taiji.”
When Pan Yan heard this, he felt unbelievable: "This... how is this possible? When Kong Youde's rebels first arrived in Liaodong last year, Master Shang led troops to pursue them and vowed to kill Kong Youde before he gave up. How could he surrender after a few months? Gold thief? ”
Tom Wang was too lazy to explain the inside story to him, and just said calmly: "We will arrive at Guanglu Island soon. Whether what I said is the truth, you will know later when you follow me to the island to see."
Guanglu Island is located in the west of Changshan Islands, less than ten nautical miles away from the mainland, and has a land area of more than 30 square kilometers. It is the largest island in Changshan Islands. The island has fertile soil and the most abundant freshwater resources among the Chang Son Islands, making it a livable place in the sea. At the beginning, most of the food consumed by the troops stationed in Changshan Islands in Dongjiang Town was produced locally, and the situation was much better than that of Pi Island, which had more people and less land.
There is a natural harbor with an area of about one square kilometer on the southeast coast of Guanglu Island. In the past, one of the main headquarters of the Ming Navy troops stationed on the Changshan Islands was located here. When the Haihan fleet slowly sails in here, you can still see the well-preserved trestles and dock facilities on the coast. But as Wang Tom said, all the residents of this place have moved to the interior of Liaodong. Today, except for groups of seabirds rising and falling freely, no one can be seen on the beach at all.
Pan Yan looked at the deserted harbor stupidly, unable to believe that this was the truth. Since the establishment of Dongjiang Town, Guanglu Island has been one of the forward bases for the Ming army to launch counterattacks on the Liaodong Peninsula. Many times, the land and sea armies were assembled here before heading to the land. Although Hou Jin had a headache from this place, it was a thorn in his side. exists, but because he is not good at naval warfare, he cannot attack across the sea. When Pan Yan came here before, the island was a very lively scene, which was in huge contrast to the desolation in front of him.
After the fleet docked at the port, Wang Tom sent out reconnaissance cavalry to investigate the nearby area. At the same time, he ordered people to find nearby water sources to replenish the fleet's fresh water consumption as soon as possible. Especially for this flagship equipped with a steam engine, the consumption of fresh water every time mechanical power is used is not a small amount.
Because Shang Ke's troops were only evacuated from the island at the beginning of the year, the houses and various facilities here are still relatively well preserved. The sailors soon found two wells on the pier that were specially used to replenish fresh water for the ships. A simple rocker pumping device was installed at the wellheads, which could quickly pump up the water from the well and transfer it directly to the ship through a long wooden water tank. on board.
Wang Tom casually walked into a nearby house and saw that it was empty. Thick spider webs had formed on the beams and corners of the house, and there was not even a single piece of furniture in the room. Apparently, the owner had left the house as a piece of furniture. All the land was moved away. From the traces of fireworks left on the stove, it is not difficult for Wang Tom to imagine that this place was once full of life.
Wang Tom walked out of the house. Several teams of men who searched nearby houses had returned and found nothing of value. It seemed that the men and horses that were quite gratified walked calmly when they evacuated here, taking away everything they could. , leaving only an empty island. On the nearby slopes, you can still see a series of long terraces cultivated by the islanders according to the terrain. It seems that the legend that this island is rich in food should be true. The terraced fields cover most of the hillside densely, but they have been abandoned for such a long time. The fields are already overgrown with grass and shrubs. From a distance, they are divided by field ridges, and they look like flowers and trees planted deliberately.
For such a large island, as long as agricultural construction can keep up, not to mention tens of thousands of people, even several times more can successfully support it. Haihan originally started by occupying the island, and he is an expert in the planning and utilization of the island. Wang Tom looked at the situation on the island, and combined with his own knowledge, he can roughly judge the development value of the island. . However, what Haihan currently lacks is not the technology and funds to develop the island, but the most basic factor - labor force.
To carry out secondary development of such an island, the initial labor force required is probably in the thousands. Although Haihan's immigration recruitment activities in the area near Zhifu Island are currently going smoothly, the recruitment progress is difficult to meet the needs of continuing to open colonies overseas. If Haihan plans to develop Guanglu Island, then the source of the population may have to fall in the direction of Liaodong. However, Haihan was not familiar with the customs and customs of Liaodong. If this matter could be assisted by Pidao, the process might be a little faster.
"General Wang, this Guanglu Island is connected from the Jinzhou Guard down to the Dingliao Right Guard. If you advance, you can attack the inland, and if you retreat, you can go to Pi Island or Shandong. There is no need for a villain to explain the benefits of occupying it. The general also You can definitely think of it." Pan Yan followed Tom Wang and saw his thoughtful look on his face, so he quickly advised him to take the opportunity to occupy this place.
Wang Tom came back from his thoughts and responded with a smile: "It is easy to occupy, but you must have enough labor force to cultivate food on the island to be stationed for a long time. Shang Kexi took all the people here away, Where will I find people to settle here now?”
Pan Yan responded: "This matter is not difficult. There are at least hundreds of thousands of Han people in Liaodong, and most of them are working as slaves for gold thieves. As long as we try to provide a way out for these people, they will definitely rush to join us." . However, General Wang is an outsider and probably doesn’t know much about the situation in Liaodong. If the Dongjiang Army can help, it will be more effective.”
"You have thought of getting together with me." Seeing that Pan Yan's suggestion was to discuss cooperation with the Dongjiang Army first, Wang Tom became more determined. There is no difference in occupying this uninhabited island a few days earlier or later, but if the Dongjiang Army can be persuaded to cooperate with him as soon as possible, then Haihan may officially enter this area much earlier.
(End of chapter)