Chapter 1156 The fleet returns south
Hou Jin was unwilling to bring out the limited naval force to confront Haihan's navy. On the one hand, it was because they had not yet figured out Haihan's path. They did not know the origin and purpose of this armed force, and they did not know where Haihan would be. time to launch the next attack; on the other hand, after the last loss at Port Arthur, Hou Jin had not yet figured out a reasonable strategy for fighting an armed fleet equipped with a large number of artillery. Dispersing the limited naval fleet to multiple locations on the coast of the Liaodong Peninsula can be regarded as a helpless response.
This method may seem clumsy, but it does play a role in preserving strength at this moment. The Haihan Navy's timetable for going south has entered a countdown, and it is impossible to go around to the west coast of the Liaodong Peninsula to kill the Houjin Navy. The remnant.
However, when Wang Tom came, he also knew that with just one or two such raids, it was unlikely that the Houjin Navy could be completely wiped out, and that it would be so damaged that it would be unable to launch attacks on the Dongjiang Town territory and Zhifu Island this winter. , it is considered that the strategic goal has been achieved. After the spring of next year, Haihan will launch a continuous military strike in Liaodong, and then it will be the real end of the Houjin Navy.
Today's battle in Jinzhou Bay was not too fierce. The Haihan Fleet had a clear advantage throughout the whole process, but some warships had already consumed more than half of their ammunition stocks and had to be transferred overnight from the comprehensive supply ship accompanying the fleet. supplies. When Wang Tom was commanding this battle, he did not order to limit the firepower output intensity of his ships, so the ammunition consumption was much higher than usual training.
Early the next morning, the fleet weighed anchor and headed south, heading straight for the next target, Lushunkou. Because they had already made a trip two months ago, this time they visited the old place again, and the Haihan fleet reached the port mouth with familiarity. At that time, the two sides had a close confrontation almost face to face in the narrow channel of Laohuwei Peninsula, but now no traces of that battle can be seen.
Out of caution, Wang Tom still sent people to land from the Laohuwei Peninsula first and go to the commanding heights to conduct reconnaissance of the situation in the harbor to prevent Hou Jin from playing tricks inside. However, after the last heavy setback, Houjin probably temporarily abandoned the harbor. The soldiers who landed did not find any signs of ship activity in the bay.
The Haihan fleet sailed into Lushunkou unimpeded and made a generous circle in the harbor. Of course, the Houjin Army in the Zhongzuo City of Jinzhou on the north shore of the harbor also discovered this swaggering fleet, but they had already seen the power of the Haihan Fleet last time, and they were still adopting a defensive strategy. And Wang Tom also knew that there were a lot of cavalry in the Houjin Army stationed locally. If a small group of soldiers were sent to land, they would probably suffer a big loss in mobility. Therefore, he was very cautious and did not choose to launch operations on land. After making a circle to confirm that the Jin army did not deploy combat ships here, he decisively ordered to leave the port and go south.
During the return trip, Wang Tom also did not forget to stop by the Miaodao Islands at the junction of the Yellow Sea and the Bohai Sea to confirm that these islands were still uninhabited and had not been occupied by anyone from the Ming Dynasty or the Hou Jin Dynasty.
After returning to Zhifu Island, Wang Tom allowed two days for the fleet to rest and replenish the fleet before heading south. After he leads the team to leave Shandong, the maritime armed forces here will be reduced to a level close to zero. Only a small number of fishing boats and passenger and cargo sailing ships will continue to stay near Zhifu Port, while all combat ships will return to Zhejiang to carry out necessary maintenance during the winter. If the Shengli Port Shipyard in Sanya, Hainan has newly developed ship equipment, it will be sent to Zhoushan at this time, and the local shipyard will modify the existing ships.
Prior to this, Wang Tom also summoned all senior military commanders and held a one-day meeting on Zhifu Island. The main content was to deploy winter defense measures to make up for the vacancy after the navy left.
Although Wang Tom was to lead the fleet out of Zhifu Port as commander, Morgan had already arrived in Shandong before. Together with Qian Tiandun, Chen Yixin, and Harugong, the number of generals leading the army was still maintained at the level of four. . Among them, Qian Tiandun and Morgan stayed on Zhifu Island, Harugong led the cavalry to station near Fushan County, and Chen Yixin continued to guard the Fushan Copper Mine and assisted Tian Yeyou in completing the infrastructure projects before mining in winter.
Judging from Haihan's current strength and composition of troops in Zhifu Island and Fushan County, it should be easy to deal with the small-scale harassment of the Ming army in Dengzhou. In addition, the semi-permanent defenses on the sandbank between Zhifu Island and the mainland have been basically completed. Personnel on the mainland can return to Zhifu Island when necessary to shrink the defense line to the minimum combat radius. With the Ming Army's current level of armament and combat capabilities, even if it sends several times more troops, it is unlikely to break through the Haihan Army's firepower network. Attacking Zhifu Island from land is basically an impossible goal for the enemy.
For Haihan, the only defensive loophole currently comes from the sea. The gap left after the navy moves south can only be filled by the army. Fortunately, the north coast of Zhifu Island is mostly covered with cliffs, and it is almost impossible for large forces to come from the north to the sea. Launch an offensive against Zhifu Island. If you want to attack Zhifu Island from the sea, you can only use the harbors on the east and west sides as entry points. When attacking from the sea to the land, Haihan's defensive advantages are even more obvious. If you want to try this operation, you must first Be prepared to be called upon by coastal defense artillery.
In addition, dozens of trainees selected from Dongjiang Town also arrived at the Zhifu Island base in two batches. Haihan has trained a large number of armed personnel for Annan, Champa, Daming and other countries in the past few years, and the relevant training content is also very comprehensive. Strong pertinence, there is already a relatively mature operating model on how to train an auxiliary armed force that can cooperate with the Haihan Army in military operations.
The army officers among them will receive a winter military training here, mainly learning how to use firecrackers and artillery and related tactics, as well as some common routines of the Haihan Army. After the beginning of spring, Haihan will provide a batch of "advanced" standard weapons to Dongjiang Town to enhance its combat capabilities. Naval officers like Pan Yan will go south to Zhejiang with the fleet and receive training at Dinghai Port in Zhoushan.
In addition to redeploying defenses, formulating emergency plans, and arranging training plans, Wang Tom's trip south this time will also take away more than 2,000 immigrants temporarily living on Zhifu Island, so a group of civilian ships will also go south with the fleet. After this group of immigrants was transported away, there were only about 1,200 immigrants left under Haihan's control in the local area, almost all of them young and capable people. They were divided in half between Zhifu Island and Fushan Copper Mine. these labor forces.
While the military was holding a meeting, another heavy snowfall fell. The snowfall this time was heavier than the intermittent snowfalls in the previous days, and the temperature also dropped a lot. For most of the Haihan soldiers who came from the south, even if they put on thick winter clothes, it is still difficult to fully adapt to the cold weather.
Haihan had already built a large area of warm barracks on Zhifu Island before, so it was not stressful for the garrison and the people to spend the winter on the island. What is more difficult is the Fushan Copper Mine area, which has just started construction. Although it is built according to the standards of Zhifu Island barracks, the construction period is too short, and the number of built barracks is not enough to accommodate the existing garrison and migrant workers. We have no choice but to Under this situation, the only option is to increase the living density and cram two to three times more people into a barracks.
Fortunately, there is no pressure on the food, clothing, heating fuel and other materials needed for the winter. The relevant preparation and transportation work have been planned long before coming to Shandong, and the degree of controllability and implementation are far better than that of the copper mine. Construction progress of infrastructure projects. Most of the roads from the Fushan Copper Mine to the seaside have been built, and Zhifu Island can also replenish supplies and personnel to the local area when necessary. Although the local living conditions are slightly difficult, at least there will not be a shortage of supplies.
On December 20, the Haihan North Sea Fleet led by Wang Tom slowly set sail from Zhifu Bay. A large number of warships sailed out of the harbor in batches, and the scene was spectacular. If those gentlemen in Dengzhou City had seen this scene, they might have given up some of their unrealistic ideas without hesitation.
"Oh, I'm so envious!" Sun Zhen couldn't help but sigh as he watched the sailors on the ship excitedly waving their hands to say goodbye on the dock.
Wang Jinmin glanced at him sideways and said, "What are you envious of? Before I returned to Shandong, I was thinking about coming back. Now that I'm back, you feel like you can't stay anymore?" Sun Zhen responded, "I didn't find my family when I came back. This is Dengzhou." What else is there to worry about? In terms of living standards, this place is far inferior to Sanya, Penghu and Zhoushan..."
Wang Jinmin didn't wait for him to finish, then interrupted him and said: "Then I will give you dozens of acres of land in Fushan County, give you a wife, and let you retire on the spot and go back to live your life. Do you still want to go back to the south?"
Sun Zhen glared and said: "If we want such a good thing, why should I go to the south?"
Wang Jinmin smiled and said: "Isn't that what it is? If you think life is difficult, it's not because the restrictions in the army are too strict."
"You can't say this casually!" Sun Zhen quickly denied: "My loyalty to the Executive Committee is as good as heaven and earth, and I will never have any second thoughts! Wherever the leader asks me to be, I will be there! I am just saying that I am envious. For a moment, I don’t have any other ideas!”
"What are you afraid of when we two brothers talk? Could it be that I will snitch on you?" Wang Jinmin also felt a little funny about Sun Zhen's caution: "But your special operations battalion will probably be moved next year, right?"
Sun Zhen nodded, looked around to see if there was anyone else, and lowered his voice and said: "The news I heard is that he will probably be transferred to Liaodong next year."
"Going to hunt the wild boar skins at Lushunkou? What a good thing!" Wang Jinmin said with envy: "It's a pity that our cavalry can't do anything to fight against Lushun, so I can only cheer for you!"
Sun Zhendao: "The place we are going to may not be Lushunkou. The higher-up plan is to launch a raid on the coastline of the Liaodong Peninsula to disrupt the military deployment of the Jin Army. I heard that the Army also adopted similar tactics during the battle in Annan. . As for whether you are part of the cavalry, it depends on whether your commander can let you go."
"Then it seems that the focus of the Ministry of National Defense next year will be on Liaodong!" After listening to what Sun Zhen said, Wang Jinmin also had a rough guess about the military deployment in the coming year.
For these Haihan soldiers who were born in the North, they had already known that they would eventually return to the north to fulfill their mission. Although Haihan's plan for Liaodong is only a high-level secret, they, the grassroots officers, are not ignorant of it. From the daily training content, material preparation and other details, we can basically infer the next goals and direction of the Ministry of National Defense. . From a personal emotional point of view, as long as they are not sent to attack the Ming Dynasty's city, they will basically not have any psychological burden. Going to Liaodong to fight Hou Jin will undoubtedly alleviate the external military pressure faced by Ming Dynasty, and they are more willing to accept combat missions of this nature.
Sun Zhen continued: "However, if we want to occupy Lushunkou, we will probably send more troops here next year. If we don't find a way to open up wasteland and cultivate land locally, it will probably be more troublesome to just rely on shipping from the south. After all, it is still difficult to The addition of Dongjiang Town, I heard, is a huge burden, with tens of thousands of mouths waiting for food on the island.”
"Then it's not something we can worry about. The chiefs will definitely think it through." Wang Jinmin lowered his voice and said, "I heard some news in Fushan County recently. There is a big local landowner who wants to marry the chief. If this talks Once it’s done, the land matter will probably be easier to deal with.”
Sun Zhen was also very interested in this gossip news, and immediately asked: "Which chief is being favored?"
"Who else can it be? Chief Chen! He is young and promising, holds a high position, and is still single. In the eyes of those landlords, he is probably not a piece of fat." When Wang Jinmin said this, he also specially warned: "Can you tell me this news? Don’t go around saying it, I can’t afford to slander the chief.”
"Don't worry, I can't bear this crime." Sun Zhen nodded understandingly to show his understanding.
In fact, they were not the only ones in the Haihan camp who knew that a local squire had proposed marriage to Chen Yixin. At least it was not a secret among the troops led by Chen Yixin. Although the status of travelers in the Haihan social system is high, it does not prevent ordinary people from exploring some of their private life situations and discussing them privately. This kind of voyeuristic desire for celebrities is a natural habit of most people. It cannot be stopped no matter what dynasty or generation it is in, and it is the same in Haihan society. Even in the military with strict rules and regulations, there are still many people who are interested in the gossips of the leaders.
However, the client himself was not so relaxed and happy. Chen Yixin had received his third matchmaker visit this month, which made him feel a little overwhelmed. Dealing with these smooth-talking matchmakers is much more difficult than dealing with enemies on the battlefield.
(End of chapter)