Chapter 1148 Dengzhou Prefecture’s reaction
For Haihan, the construction of a military base and immigrant transfer camp on Zhifu Island, as well as the mining of copper mines in Fushan County, are decisions made by the executive committee after long-term studies, and a large number of personnel have been invested in this. and funds, and made long-term preparations. As the saying goes, there is no turning back when the bow is fired. Haihan's actions on the Jiaodong Peninsula were full of determination and there was no room for error. If someone wants to jump out and try to stop Haihan's actions, whether it is bandits or the Ming Dynasty's official army, they are all the same to Haihan, and they are stumbling blocks that must be removed.
Although Haihan has been trying hard to build a good relationship with the local government since he landed, trying to control the local area by buying it with benefits and then gradually evacuating it, it seems that the effect of this approach is still relatively limited. Dengzhou City The civil and military officials did not buy into Haihan's overtures. What they wanted more was direct benefits, such as a newly excavated copper mine.
Although Haihan did not want to initiate a war in Dengzhou, if the local government showed too much hostility, Haihan would not shy away from using war to resolve disputes of interest. This time the Ming army dispatched troops, it can be said that the divisions were famous, but both sides had to compete based on their own abilities. The Ming army, which lacked preparation, obviously suffered a big loss.
Of the more than 1,000 people from Guo Xingning's army who went on this expedition, only about half were able to return to Dengzhou City with good skills. Moreover, most of the various weapons and supplies they brought with them during the expedition were lost during the hasty retreat. It can be regarded as the heaviest loss suffered by the local garrison in Dengzhou during the execution of its mission after the Denglai Rebellion.
The Qishan Qianhu Office, which was supposed to be in Fushan County to coordinate its actions, had already been defeated and withdrew before Guo Xingning's troops even had time to learn about the fighting situation at the Fushan Copper Mine. However, this saved the Ming army stationed there from a disaster. Otherwise, given the location of Qishansuo, they could only launch an offensive on Zhifu Island nearby. The result might be even more tragic than what happened to Guo Xingning's troops. Qian Tiandun couldn't say that After being ordered to go down, the Haihan army simply uprooted the city in Qishan.
Guo Xingning's defeat and escape back to Dengzhou City will inevitably expose part of Haihan's military strength, and it is probably unlikely that the Dengzhou government will just stop and pretend that nothing happened. The most likely situation that will occur next is naturally that the Dengzhou garrison will gather again, with more complete preparations and more troops, to launch an attack on the Haihan institutional facilities in Fushan County.
"If I were to command the Ming army, I would mobilize the troops of Dasong Guard, Jinghai Guard, Weihai Guard, and Chengshan Guard from the entire Dengzhou territory to lay siege to Fushan County." Chen Yixin pointed to the map and asked Morgan and Tian Yeyou, Gao Qiaonan and others explained their thoughts: "If they can mobilize tens of thousands of troops to besiege Fushan County, then we really can only temporarily abandon the Fushan Copper Mine and shrink the control area back to the Zhifu Island line."
"This is unlikely." Morgan shook his head and said: "I don't believe that these local guards have enough troops to cooperate with the instructions of the Dengzhou government. I heard that the establishment of Qishan Qianhu Station is only about half, and the rest are The situation of the health center should not be much better. Besides, the entire Dengzhou is short of food. Can they prepare enough food and grass to fight a protracted war with us in the short term? "
Tian Yeyou said: "What Xiao Chen means should be the worst plan, right?"
Chen Yixin nodded and said: "That's what I mean. If the Ming army wants to implement such a combat plan, there are indeed problems that Uncle Morgan just mentioned. The most important thing is that they should have no time to act before winter."< br>
Although the first snow this winter only fell for one day and then stopped, judging from the gloomy sky, I am afraid that this snow just kicked off the cooling wave. If the Dengzhou garrison wants to make a comeback, it will be difficult for them to go out before the next snow comes. If we still need to mobilize the garrison troops from various guard posts, the time will have to be delayed by at least ten days and a half. If the Ming army did not want to stay in the field fighting during the coldest months of the year, they would most likely postpone their retaliation until after the beginning of next spring.
Of course, by that time, the strength comparison between the two sides will definitely change again. As the military base on Zhifu Island is gradually improving, Haihan is determined to increase the number of troops deployed here next year in order to prepare for the march into Liaodong. When the time comes, it will be ten times more difficult for the Ming army to drive Haihan out of Dengzhou than it is now.
Tian Yeyou asked: "What new instructions does the Zhifu Island headquarters have now?"
Chen Yixin responded: "There is no better way for the time being. We can only strengthen surveillance in the direction of Dengzhou. Fortunately, it is not too far from Zhifu Island. If there is any situation, you can ask for help on the island immediately. Reinforcements will arrive on the same day." Come here.”
Tian Yeyou said: "Since you all said that there will be no more wars in the near future, I will arrange for the construction site to resume work as soon as possible. Before the heavy snow starts to fall, we can still grab a few days of construction time."
It is not only the various infrastructure projects in the mining area that need to be rushed, but also a large amount of winter supplies that need to be transported to the mining area before the heavy snow closes the roads. At least two companies of troops and hundreds of workers need to spend this winter in the mining area. The firewood needed for heating and keeping out the cold can be purchased nearby, but the coal, winter clothing, and food needed for the season must be transferred from the Zhifu Island base as soon as possible. Ship it here.
However, compared with the health centers in Dengzhou, the treatment at Fushan Copper Mine is already very good. For example, Weihaiwei and Chengshanwei to the west of Fushan County have various health centers under their jurisdiction. They are now facing the problem of inconvenient transportation of winter supplies. The reason is also very simple. The coastal area of Fushan County currently controlled by Haihan is right between Dengzhou City and these two strongholds. The official road from Dengzhou City to Weihaiwei and Chengshanwei also has to go from Fushan County. pass through.
In the yamen of Dengzhou Prefecture, the prefect Chen Zhongsheng, the Shandong Dusi commander Liao Jie, and Chen Zhongsheng's brother-in-law Zheng Fan had just listened to the description of the battle process by Guo Xingning, who had fled in panic from Fushan County. What makes them most embarrassed now is not the losses in this battle and the failure of the plan to capture the copper mine, but how to ensure the safety of the material transportation channels between Dengzhou City and Weihaiwei and Chengshanwei.
Considering that the relationship between the two parties is currently deteriorating, if the Dengzhou government wants to safely transport winter supplies to these two places, it will be difficult to bypass the territory controlled by Haihan, and safety will naturally not be guaranteed. But if left unchecked, the Ming troops stationed in these places will have a very difficult winter. If there are too many non-combat casualties due to the cold climate, it will be difficult for relevant officials up and down Dengzhou to raise their heads. Crossover.
Chen Zhongsheng said with a gloomy face: "The Haihan people are so brave, which we didn't expect before taking action. Mr. Liao, you previously guaranteed that you could defeat your opponent easily, but now it's like this, what should you do?"
Chen Zhongsheng did not have a strong dislike for the Haihan people. Last time, Zhang Pucheng, the magistrate of Fushan County, escorted Wanmeng, the bandit leader of the Wanjia Army, to Dengzhou City. He also greatly praised Haihan for assisting the government in suppressing the bandits and tacitly approved the Haihan people to settle there. The practice of building settlements. But because his brother-in-law Zheng Fan and the military personnel had made a guarantee that the Haihan people could be forced to give up the copper mines only by using force, without the need for the state government to pay military expenses, and the subsequent benefits would be very generous. . Chen Zhongsheng did not know the strength of Haihan, so he believed what Zheng and Liao said. He believed that the Haihan people were just a group of foreign armed merchants and would not offend the local government because of an unexploited mineral deposit. So he issued an official document in the name of the prefect of Dengzhou, asking Haihan to evacuate the area where the copper mine was located, and then agreed to the military sending troops to Fushan County to expel the Haihan people. However, they did not expect that the results that Zheng and Liao had vowed to do did not happen at all. The Haihan people actually adopted an extremely tough attitude and defeated Guo Xingning's troops.
Although Chen Zhongsheng has not suffered any personal losses, he has realized that this reckless decision may be kicked on the iron plate. Thinking that the Haihan people had fought against the local snake Wanjiajun in Dengzhou when they first arrived, they must be very confident in their own strength, and the Ming army who stepped on the door this time was more like delivering food, although Guo Xingning claimed to have killed him in the battle. There are hundreds of enemies, but Chen Zhongsheng doesn't believe it at all - you have killed hundreds of enemies, but your troops did not collapse before the enemy collapsed?
The purpose of Chen Zhongsheng's question is also very clear. This idea was first proposed by your military. If you mess up now, don't think of dragging me into taking the blame. If the military couldn't solve the problem, he wouldn't mind asking the governor for a copy.
Liao Jie can be a third-grade military attache. In addition to his military abilities, he is also good at observing people's emotions. He can still understand what Chen Zhongsheng's words mean. He is also angry about the losses suffered by Guo Xingning in Fushan County, but he must not vent his anger on his friends in the same camp at this time. After all, everyone needs to work together to clean up this mess.
Liao Jie immediately responded: "The Haihan people are stubborn and wanton, which is indeed beyond my imagination. In my opinion, this time Guo Master's horse failed, it is not necessarily because of how powerful the Haihan people are, it should be Guo The adults are too generous and not sufficiently prepared.”
Guo Xingning was secretly unhappy after hearing this. He originally wanted to apply for more troops, but Liao Jie believed that the Haihan people would not take force to resist, and any additional troops would only increase consumption. If he could have sent out more men and horses, he would not have been easily cut off by the Haihan people, forcing him to choose to withdraw from the battlefield from the mountainous area. When Liao Jie said this now, he obviously wanted to put all the blame on Guo Xingning.
However, Liao Jie also took into account Guo Xingning's mood and changed the subject: "Master Guo led the army on an expedition, and after stepping into the Haihan trap, he was able to fight hard for two days. It is not easy. There is no credit but hard work. For the current plan, one is how to adjust the strategy to deal with the Haihan people, and the other is to solve the supply and transportation problem of Chengshanwei and Weihaiwei.”
Zheng Fan interrupted: "My lords, since the Haihan people control the land route, why not switch to the water route? It only takes two days to sail from Dengzhou Shuicheng to the farthest Chengshanwei, and sea navigation is not greatly affected by snowfall, so why bother to take the risk? Going overland?”
"Zheng Fan, you don't know something. The land route is the second most terrifying thing about the Haihan people, and the water route is their strongest area." When talking about this topic, Liao Jie had to give Zheng Fan some knowledge about the power of his opponent: "The Haihan people made their fortune from the sea. They used controlling maritime trade routes as their main means of making money along the southern coast. All the merchant pirates who competed with them were wiped out, and their methods were extremely cruel. According to the information that Qishan found, Haihan There are dozens of warships docked in Zhifu Bay, and they even took the time to go to Tangpi Island and negotiated cooperation with Shen Shikui. It is conceivable that the scope of their activities is huge. The Haihan people may already be in the waters near Dengzhou City. Ships are deployed to monitor the navy's movements, and it is not easy to avoid their eyes and ears and send the cargo to the east. "
Zheng Fan was still unwilling to give in: "There are several clippers below, and even if the Haihan people find them, they may not be able to catch up."
Liao Jie shook his head and said: "My brother is on duty in the south. According to what he said in his letter, the Haihan warships sailed at a speed far beyond the Ming Dynasty's sailing ships. All the naval forces along the southern coast were impressed. The Fujian Navy even spent huge sums of money , the Han people in Shanghai purchased several warships to increase their strength. Although your fast ships are not bad, they may not have an advantage against the warships of the Han people in Shanghai. However, if you insist on giving it a try, I will not. Object.”
Zheng Fan shut his mouth after hearing this. No matter whether the Haihan people's warships were really as fast as rumored, there was no need for him to bet his fortune. The purpose of his taking the initiative to participate in this matter was to seek greater benefits, but now he found that the Ming army was not that effective, so it was natural to carry out risk control. The military expenses and food supplies for thousands of people were already very difficult. If If you take a few more boats to get in later, it will be a big loss.
Chen Zhongsheng said with a straight face: "We can't go there by land or water, so what should we do? Do we just have to watch the soldiers of Chengshan Guard and Weihai Guard starve?"
Liao Jie said: "I'm afraid it's inevitable to be hungry, but I won't be hungry all winter."
"Then Master Liao has a solution?" Chen Zhongsheng asked.
Liao Jie said solemnly: "It can't be said to be a solution, it's just a word. Zhifu Bay will freeze in winter, and Haihan warships are almost all large ships. They certainly can't spend the winter in the harbor. I estimate that there will be another ten days and a half. , when the sea water first freezes, the Haihan warship will turn around and go south for the winter. By then, we will not have to worry about being intercepted halfway while transporting supplies from the sea.”
Chen Zhongsheng was speechless after hearing Liao Jie's approach. Liao Jie's active show of weakness already showed the military's attitude. If the military is still determined to fight Haihan on land, it has no intention of fighting Haihan at sea. Thoughts. But thinking about the situation in Dengzhou, it is indeed very helpless. The navy is still in the process of post-war reconstruction and has no ability to fight its opponents. What else can it do if it doesn't hide in a humble manner.
(End of chapter)