Chapter 1143 Dilemma
Guo Xingning was riding on his horse with a gloomy expression, looking at several riders in gray clothes standing on the slope in the distance. Since the Ming army he led arrived at Jijia Town, these men in gray have been haunting the vicinity of the army, obviously monitoring their movements. According to the intelligence we have, these people should be affiliated with the Haihan Army stationed in Fushan County. It is not an exaggeration to describe them as unscrupulous for daring to act so brazenly in front of the Ming Army in broad daylight. Even the Wanjiajun, who used to be the local overlord in this area, would usually stay away when the Ming army was dispatched. How could they dare to make such a provocative move easily.
Guo Xingning also ordered his cavalry several times to drive away these exploration horses, but the effect was really not good. As soon as the cavalry came out, Haihan's exploration horses turned around and evacuated. There was a distance of two or three miles between the two sides, so it was difficult to catch up with each other. But as soon as his troops retreated, Haihan Tanma would appear within sight again, which really made him sick.
Guo Xingning also tried to quietly separate a part of the reconnaissance cavalry before setting off early in the morning, staying away from the large group of people, in order to force Haihan's reconnaissance horse to go farther away. However, the opponents gathered and dispersed at times, often gathering suddenly at a certain node and forcing the scouts they had sent back. Marching from Dengzhou City to Fushan County, the two sides have been fighting in the air, but the Haihan people obviously have the upper hand, because the Ming army really has no way to completely block the opponent's reconnaissance measures. It can be said that their own strength and direction of action have been Exposed in advance.
For this operation to Fushan County, if Liao Jie had not insisted on sending troops, Guo Xingning would not have wanted to go into this muddy water at this time. Although the three of them had previously agreed to deal with the Haihan people who had settled in Fushan County, after Shangguanye arrived at the Qishan Qianhu Station, the news they sent back showed that the matter was far more difficult than they imagined. So simple and easy.
Before Shangguan Ye went to Fushan County, almost all their knowledge of Haihan came from the fragments of letters sent by Liao Jie's brother Liao Xun from Zhejiang, although Liao Xun also mentioned in the letter that "Haihan Army" "The ship is strong and the artillery is powerful, and it is invincible" and "I have been fighting in southern Xinjiang for several years and have never heard of a defeat." However, Liao Xun's news also came from hearsay, and there was no confrontation with the Haihan Army on the battlefield. experience, so the military information he provided is hardly convincing.
It is how the Haihan people are good at amassing money and how they spend money like water. This information makes the three people from the Dengzhou military very concerned. They subconsciously regarded Haihan as a fat sheep that could be slaughtered for a fortune, but intentionally or unintentionally ignored that Haihan also had a strong army built with money. They had never seen the battles of Haihan's army, and they did not think that the descriptions mentioned by Liao Xun were real. They only believed that Haihan used money to open roads so that he could have unimpeded access to the southern coastal states. So at first Liao Jie sent Shangguan Ye to Qishan Qianhu Station and did not equip him with many troops. As a result, Shangguan Ye was dumbfounded when he arrived there. Haihan had at least a thousand armed personnel stationed in Zhifu Bay. He couldn't even get to Zhifu Island with this small number of troops, and there was no way to start.
After the information collected by Shangguanye from Fushan County was sent back to Dengzhou City, Liao Jie still insisted that the Haihan people were just bluffing. After all, sending troops to fight the bandits and fighting the official army were completely different things. Since they wanted to settle in Dengzhou, they There should be no confrontation with the government. But Guo Xingning felt that things were not that simple. Haihan had deployed amphibious and land forces in Zhifu Bay, and they were unwilling to suffer losses. Even if they were directly threatened with force, they might not be willing to submit.
Guo Xingning suggested that Liao Jie find another way to contact the Haihan people first to see if there are other ways to get Haihan to take the initiative to buy the right to settle in Dengzhou. In this way, the two sides can avoid a head-on conflict and can also gain benefits from the Haihan people. This should be an acceptable result for both parties. But at this juncture, news came out that Haihan had discovered a copper mine in Fushan County.
It stands to reason that it is inconvenient for the local garrison to interfere in government affairs. What's more, Liao Jie, Guo Xingning and others were transferred to Dengzhou from other places during the Denglai Rebellion. But coincidentally, Zheng Fan, who was most interested in this matter, had friendships with civil and military officials. He believed that the military must come forward as a guarantee in order to successfully take over the Fushan Copper Mine from the Haihan people, so he came to find out Liao Jie discussed the matter.
Zheng Fan's understanding of Haihan was far less than that of Liao Jie and others. He simply believed that the Haihan people were just a group of foreign armed merchants, so the plan he gave was simple and crude. First, the Dengzhou government office issued an official document instructing the Haihan people to surrender. If the other party refuses to obey, the military will come forward to expel the Haihan people by force and reclaim the mining area.
Chen Zhongsheng, the current governor of Dengzhou, is Zheng Fan's brother-in-law, so it is not too difficult for him to get the government side. Zheng Fan wants to recruit the military to join in, just to add an extra layer of insurance to this plan. Of course, this dirty work was not in vain. Zheng Fan promised Liao Jie that as long as the military was willing to participate, he would convince Chen Zhongsheng to give the military a share of the profits from this copper mine. share.
Liao Jie was still very cautious at first, because no one knew the prospect of mining this copper mine. If he found out after grabbing it that the copper mine buried underground was only a shallow layer, and the investment in mining was more than the profit, then what would happen? The military is busy in vain. But Zheng Fan assured himself that the copper mine that the Haihan people were exploring was by no means a small vein, because he had sent people to sneak into the construction site a few days ago and confirmed that the Haihan people's high-profile actions there were not fake. A large mineral vein was indeed discovered. In order to mine this place, the Haihan people have even organized hundreds of workers to start building roads and houses in the area and preparing to open a mine. With the shrewdness shown by the Haihan people in the past, it is obviously impossible for them to go into such a big loss-making business with their heads down.
At the same time, Zheng Fan also expressed that he could advance part of the military expenses and supplies needed for military operations in the name of donation, so that even if the subsequent mining of the mine did not go smoothly enough, at least the military would not have to pay back.
Liao Jie was quickly persuaded by Zheng Fan. This method of profit distribution was equivalent to taking shares in the mine. If it was managed well, there would be stable income in the next few years. The task that the military needs to undertake is probably to send troops to expel the Haihan people from this area. In Liao Jie's opinion, this should not be a too difficult task, and he did not even really realize that such an action would entail risk.
But Guo Xingning had already vaguely smelled something bad before setting off, because at the same time as the news about the Fushan Copper Mine broke out, there was another less exciting rumor spreading in Dengzhou City, that is, the Haihan Army The leader of the Wanjia Army who had escaped before was captured in the mountainous area of Fushan County, and the rest of the party was captured. The location where the battle took place is said to be very close to the location of the Fushan Copper Mine.
What Guo Xingning cares about is not the decisiveness of the Haihan Army in wiping out the remnants of bandits, but the purpose of their mobilizing troops to do this. Based on Haihan's businessman nature, Guo Xingning was convinced that in addition to maintaining local security, their actions must have a deeper purpose that was beneficial to themselves. This battle site is very close to the Fushan Copper Mine. Combined with the timing of these two seemingly unrelated events, Guo Xingning believes that this is not a coincidence, but Haihan deliberately clears the way for the mining of this copper mine. obstacle. How did the Haihan people learn that there were copper mines in the area controlled by Wanjiajun? Guo Xingning believed that this might be a secret used by the bandits previously captured by Haihan to save their lives. The reaction of the Haihan people in driving out the Wanjia army seemed to reflect the value of this copper mine and Haihan's determination to exploit this vein. The official documents sent by the Dengzhou Prefecture have fallen silent and there is no response. Guo Xingning believes that the silence of the Haihan people has shown a negative attitude. Even if they send troops to Fushan, they may not be able to force Haihan to give in. On the contrary, it may intensify the conflict and make it worse. The situation got out of hand.
Guo Xingning informed Liao Jie of his thoughts and expressed his concerns, but he could not provide any evidence for these speculations, nor could he prove that the Haihan people had any intention to fight with force, so Liao Jie did not accept him in the end. statement. Winter is approaching now. If no action is taken, the roads will be blocked by heavy snow in winter and it will be inconvenient for the troops to go out. This delay may be delayed until the beginning of next spring.
Things changed later. Neither Liao Jie nor Zheng Fan had the patience to wait any longer. Therefore, Liao Jie insisted on his opinion and handed over the task of going to Fushan to expel the Haihan people to Guo Xingning. He hoped that Guo Xingning could personally fight the Haihan people and overturn his wrong ideas with facts.
Guo Xingning was reluctant to get this task, but he also knew that the people Liao Jie trusted the most were him and Shangguan Ye. Now Shangguanye has been stationed in Fushan County for more than half a month, and he has tried his best to detect Haihan's deployment and movements. Now the time has come to take action. If Guo Xingning can't do it, who else can do it? No matter how reluctant he is, he can only do it. On the scalp.
Liao Jie's request to Guo Xingning was to resolve the war quickly and try not to drag the war into winter. As long as the Haihan people gave up the mines and returned to Zhifu Island, there was no need to kill them all. Keep this fat sheep, and you can slowly think of other tricks to squeeze out the oil in the future. Guo Xingning could only take chances, hoping that his previous thoughts were just misjudgments and that the Haihan people would not have the courage to confront the imperial officers and soldiers head-on.
But after marching into Fushan County, Guo Xingning discovered that this luck might have come to nothing. The Haihan people were already ready to fight before the Ming army left Dengzhou City. Otherwise, there is no way to explain why Haihan Tanma appeared in the area near the army not long after the Ming army departed from the station. Haihan was not unprepared for the arrival of the Ming army. It was conceivable that they should have made corresponding arrangements in the area where the copper mine was located. It would be difficult for him to successfully complete his mission this time.
But Guo Xingning did not panic because of this. Although he had long believed that the Haihan people would not easily follow the order of Dengzhou Prefecture to give up the copper mines, he did not really think that the strength of the Haihan army could compete with the Ming army. From the beginning to the end, he believed that this was just a group of armed maritime merchants, and did not regard the Haihan Army as a true professional army.
The troops led by Guo Xingning were all his direct descendants brought from Yanzhou Prefecture. They had participated in the counter-insurgency battle in Dengzhou before, and they were all veterans with battle experience. When sending troops to Fushan County this time, Liao Jie also specially allocated a few Folang machine guns for Guo Xingning to facilitate transportation. With nearly one-third of the musketeers in the original battalion, Guo Xingning was quite confident in defeating Haihan.
It's just that the Haihan army is like a fly that can't be driven away along the way, which is really annoying. Guo Xingning can't help but worry that if the Haihan army is as slippery as the Wanjia army and refuses to fight head-on, it will be very troublesome to deal with it. . Previously, the Dengzhou garrison did not want to get involved in a very troublesome public security war, so they turned a blind eye to the existence of Wanjiajun. The Haihan Army is only stronger than the Wanjia Army. If a similar situation happens, it will become a big trouble.
But Guo Xingning didn't realize that his troubles actually started the moment he stepped into Fushan County. When he was about ten miles away from his destination, Guo Xingning received a report from the people behind him, saying that an unknown number of Haihan armed personnel suddenly appeared in the area east of Guxian Town, and blocked the way to Dengzhou City with roadblocks. official way.
The Haihan people hesitated to take action for a long time, and waited until the Ming army passed Guxian Town before taking action. This action was obviously to cut off Guo Xingning's retreat, and it already showed full hostility. Although it is not only the official road that can pass between this place and Dengzhou City, the subsequent combat materials needed by the Ming army need to be transported through the official road. Now this transportation trunk line is cut off by the Haihan army, and the Ming army's combat cycle and radius will also be significantly affected by this.
Logically speaking, marching and fighting would not be unprepared for this kind of thing, but Guo Xingning had never regarded his opponent as a real army before, so naturally he did not think that the opponent would take any measures to counter him, and he did not expect that the opponent would be there at all. Before the war begins, take action to cut off your own retreat.
As a result, the situation of Guo Xingning's group is a bit embarrassing. If they continue to march forward, the Haihan people may have deployed a defense line in front waiting for them to hit them. If they turn around to deal with the Haihan people in the rear, then this is very likely. It will turn into another farce of chasing flies, and they will evacuate before the Ming army arrives. Guo Xingning's men and horses were limited, and he did not dare to easily divide his troops in the wild. He was now in a dilemma.
(End of chapter)