Chapter 1175 The troops are approaching the city
The peasant army dug up the Zhu family's ancestral graves in Henan. This was a great event for the entire Ming Dynasty. Emperor Chongzhen was furious and asked all parts of the country to send elite troops to the Central Plains to participate in the encirclement and suppression campaign. The land of Jiangsu and Zhejiang has always been prosperous, and there has been no war in recent years. Therefore, after the imperial court issued the order, the Zhejiang Dusi immediately mobilized elite troops from various state capitals, and the Zhejiang Dusi commander Huo Binsheng led them to Henan. As a result, the strength of the garrison troops remaining in various state capitals has been greatly reduced. Let alone organizing to resist the Haihan invasion, it may be difficult to even preserve their own strength.
Although Haihan's combat operations were infrequent after entering Zhejiang, the strength he displayed was enough to attract the attention of Zhejiang Dusi. Coupled with the reputation of the Shanghai-Han Army on the coast of Fuguang in the south, Zhejiang Dusi also knew that this opponent was not easy to provoke. Otherwise, Yu Pingfeng and others would not have been playing dirty tricks last year, but directly mobilized troops to go to Zhoushan to fight Haihan. When I heard that the main force of Haihan had left Zhoushan, the officials of Zhejiang Dusi were secretly relieved. However, they did not expect that because of such an unknown fire, the Haihan people would become angry and start a war.
Judging from the battle reports sent back from Ningbo Prefecture and Jiaxing Prefecture, the local garrison had almost no resistance to the incoming Haihan Army. Although the battle report claimed that "the three armies served their lives, and the formations killed several enemy soldiers," such a request was made while showing merit. The Hangzhou Prefecture sent reinforcements as soon as possible to repel the enemy, and almost all of its own warships were destroyed. The link between this was naturally very obvious.
Everyone knows that the Haihan Army is good at naval warfare. The navies of Fuzhou and Guangzhou even rely heavily on it. In the past few years, they have successively purchased many warships and weapons from the Haihan people. Even naval officers know how to do it. Received training in Haihan Army. Faced with such a strong opponent, Zhejiang Dusi was not confident enough to defeat the opponent at sea. Even if they sent troops to reinforce the area, they could only assist in land defense, and the role they could play was actually relatively limited.
This is actually the second one. The most critical point is that no one can determine the specific goals and scope of activities of the Haihan Army's armed invasion. They may just show off their force near Hangzhou Bay, but they may find that the Ming Army is unable to resist. After the situation, they will follow the Qiantang River and enter Hangzhou Prefecture to cause trouble. If the troops defending Hangzhou City are now sent to Jiaxing and other places for reinforcements, how should Haihan respond if he comes to Hangzhou by water?
In addition, the Zhejiang Ming Army did not have the mobilization efficiency of Haihan. Even if it was just a small-scale local war, it would not be able to pull out troops and start the war in a hurry. When the army in Hangzhou is ready to go out, it is hard to say whether the Haihan people are still active in Jiaxing.
Based on this current situation, the officials in Hangzhou city inevitably had serious differences. Some people believed that they should send troops immediately to give the Haihan people some color, or at least repel their offensive as soon as possible to save the face of the Ming Dynasty; others believed that Haihan's actions in Jiaxing and other places were just harassment, and perhaps his purpose was to divert the tiger away from the mountain, attract the main force of the Ming army to leave Hangzhou, and then launch an offensive by water. Moreover, given the current situation, it is also difficult to immediately send troops to assist Jiaxing and other places.
In the end, the opposition's opinions prevailed. After all, Hangzhou is the economic and cultural center of Zhejiang. Almost all important government offices are in Hangzhou. The security environment here is more important than in other coastal state capitals. The limited elite troops should be left alone. It is safer in Hangzhou city. As for the areas that have been harassed by Haihan, they can only reply to the local "defense and wait for rescue". After all, Haihan's troops are limited. Even if they can capture some places along the coast, they will not be able to occupy them for a long time. They will eventually retreat.
As long as the city is not lost, the current situation is still under control. There is no need to report to the court that it has been invaded by foreign countries, and there is no need to bear corresponding responsibilities. Now that the civil strife in the Ming Dynasty has not ended, if another large-scale war breaks out in Zhejiang, officials from the chief envoy to the next level will be held responsible. No one is willing to create some situations at this juncture that will make the current emperor unhappy. .
While officials in Hangzhou were still arguing over whether to send troops, the Haihan Army landed in Wuyuan Town, Haiyan County, Jiaxing Prefecture. This landing operation basically did not encounter any resistance, because the Haihan Navy had previously sunk all the combat ships subordinate to Qianhu at Kanpu and Zhapu on the pier, although it did not break through the two seaside ships. Thousands of households in the city, but it has already played a sufficient deterrent effect. Haihan boldly chose to land in Haiyan County, between the two Qianhu Stations, and the Ming army did not send any troops to stop him.
The Haihan Army landed in Wuyuan Town not to attack Haiyan County, but purely to show force in this specific area. The reason why this place was chosen is also very simple. There are no Ming troops stationed here, so there is no need to worry about the outbreak of a frontal armed conflict.
Compared with the Ming army who huddled in Qianhusuo City and avoided fighting, the local people were less nervous about the appearance of the Haihan army. Since the inexplicable death of Ma Yue, the commander of Haining Guards, at sea last year, Jiaxing Prefecture's ban on Haihan has been relaxed a lot, and Haihan's products can also be sold in Jiaxing Prefecture's market. Wuyuan Town itself is a seaside town, and there is no Ming army stationed there. Unsurprisingly, it has become a window for merchants from Jiaxing Prefecture to smuggle Haihan goods into the country. Many local people have given up their farming and fishing lifestyle and devoted themselves to this emerging industry. In profiteering industries.
Compared with the past way of living, the income from engaging in the smuggling trade is obviously much higher. Although most locals can only rely on real smugglers to do errands and menial work, the income level of these ordinary people is still higher than before. for promotion. This also makes the local people's view of Haihan more positive, and they are not disgusted with this group of "armed businessmen" entrenched in the Zhoushan Islands.
Although Haihan used force this time, the arson case in Hangzhou City had been spread intentionally by Haihan a few days before the war began. The people of Jiaxing Prefecture also knew that the Ming army in Hangzhou Prefecture was responsible for the attack on the sea. Han used a cunning trick to kill people, burn boats and steal property, which offended Hai Han severely. Nowadays, Haihan's retaliatory actions are objectively reasonable. Besides, Haihan's actions only target the Ming army and do not harm civilians, so there is nothing to worry about.
After the Haihan Army landed, most of the people just hid in their homes, and few chose to take refuge in the county with their families. The soldiers posted many notices to calm the people in the town, explaining that they were only here to retaliate against the "unkind and unjust" actions of the Ming army, but they would not inflict revenge on the people. The Haihan Army's landing operation did not last long, and they retreated to the ship after about two hours. However, because it was getting late, the fleet did not immediately leave for the next stop.
The huge fleet is docked at the seaside of Wuyuan Town, and local people who are walking out of their homes can clearly see this fleet. The real visual impact is more effective than 10,000 sentences of propaganda. The existence of this fleet is enough to let the people understand who is the master of Hangzhou Bay now.
The next day, the Haihan fleet entered the Qiantang River southward and stopped briefly at Xietang Town and Lihai Town in Shaoxing Prefecture on its south bank. Since Linshan Guard Commander Wei Shan secretly established an interest relationship with Haihan last year, Haihan did not encounter any resistance in his actions in Shaoxing Prefecture. In the end, he only symbolically blocked the entrance of the Cao'e River for half a day. Shanwei had enough reasons to report to Hangzhou.
Objectively speaking, Haihan's actions in Hangzhou were not radical. The fleet patrolled Ningbo, Jiaxing, and Shaoxing, but the actual use of force was only to bombard a bunch of unguarded wooden ships in Jiaxing Prefecture. There was no local government presence. The "fierce fighting" claimed in the document calling for help from Hangzhou. However, this did not prevent these local governments from continuing to request reinforcements from Hangzhou City. Whether they were really beaten or pretended to be beaten, they all seemed to be intentionally or unintentionally helping Haihan set up a trap.
If we analyze the situation only from these urgent official documents, then Haihan has occupied almost more than half of the area of the state capitals along the Hangzhou Bay, and it will soon be the city of Hangzhou's turn to be in danger. The panicked Zhejiang Dusi could only order the deployment of troops from the three adjacent inland capitals of Huzhou, Yanzhou, and Jinhua. However, this transfer was not to prepare troops to rush to the place where the accident occurred to rescue, but to concentrate them all in Hangzhou. The city was defended to prevent the daring Haihan people from attacking Hangzhou, and at least there were enough troops to build a defense line. Four days after the war began, the Haihan fleet finally approached the city of Hangzhou from the waterway. Although Zhejiang Dusi had already gathered all the naval forces in the upper reaches of the Qiantang River in a temporary way before this, this measure was difficult to have much effect when facing the powerful warships like Haihan. .
"Is this what Zhejiang Dusi is capable of?" Wang Tom looked at the dozens of Ming army warships on the Qiantang River with disdain, then turned back to Pan Yan and said: "What do you think we should do now?"
Pan Yan was one of the prisoners captured during the Haihan Fleet's first visit to the Liaodong Peninsula. Because General Shen Zhixiang of Pi Island vouched for him, he was able to escape and return to his old career and serve in the Ming Navy again. However, because of his experience of defecting to Liaodong, it was no longer possible for him to return to the Dengzhou Army. He could only go to Pi Island to work for Dongjiang Town. Haihan's military cooperation with Dongjiang Town included training naval officers for him. Pan Yan was also selected for his outstanding performance and went south to Zhejiang with the fleet.
Although Pan Yan was and still is serving in the Ming army, Wang Tom knew very well that he could no longer be of the same mind as the imperial court. There was no need to worry about him betraying Haihan's secret to the Ming Dynasty, so he also took him with him in this attack. Being around is considered part of the actual training.
Pan Yan had already seen the capabilities of the Haihan Navy twice during his stay in Liaodong, and he had long admired it. When Wang Tom took the initiative to ask a question, he didn't think much about it and answered honestly: "With these small boats, , is not enough to threaten our fleet. In my humble opinion, since the purpose of this trip is not to destroy the Ming navy, we should use artillery fire to clear the way and frighten the opponent if he does not know how to advance or retreat. "
Wang Tom probed: "When you saw us fighting the Ming army, didn't you feel a little shaken in your heart?"
Pan Yan said solemnly: "The humble position does not mean that one does not seek political power. Now that he is a cadet of the Haihan Navy, he should naturally stand on the side of the Haihan Fleet."
Tom Wang nodded slightly and said, "It would be great if you could have such an awareness."
Wang Tom quickly issued the order to start the war. The number of ships sent out by the two sides was not much different, but the displacement was more than an order of magnitude different. Not to mention the shipboard firepower, even if all the ships of the Ming army were added together, the firepower intensity was still far behind the flagship purchased by Haihan. The improvised Zhejiang Navy was obviously just a ragtag group with little combat experience. After Haihan's ship-based artillery began to rumble, several Ming warships quickly turned around and tried to leave the battlefield.
Obviously, Haihan's armed ships have long been famous, but these temporarily concentrated Zhejiang naval forces did not have a strong will to fight. They fled as soon as the opponent started to use artillery attacks. Within half an hour, except for a few ships that were injured and unable to move, almost all the other ships had escaped. Haihan did not pursue this active escape, but adjusted his formation and began to block the river.
In the revenge plan formulated by Haihan, the armed blockade of the Qiantang River waterway was one of the most important means. After cutting off this extremely important transportation line for Hangzhou, the operation of the entire city will be affected to a certain extent, and public resentment will also increase sharply. If the officials in the city cannot ensure the normal navigation of the Qiantang River, then the only people in the world who can do this are probably the Haihan people.
The Qiantang River here is about five miles wide. Even as strong as Haihan, it took nearly two hours to deploy the water blockade and start intercepting passing ships. If it is a civilian ship, in principle, they will be advised to return the way they came. If they really want to try to force their way in, they can only detain the ship first.
Before dark, Haihan seized a total of seven ships, but the number of ships that were successfully driven away was more than ten times that number, which shows how prosperous this waterway is. The news that Haihan troops were approaching the city had spread in Hangzhou. Some gentry began to worry about whether the government could properly respond to Haihan's offensive, because until now, the government has neither closed the arson case nor accepted Haihan's complaint. It was obvious that the other party was holding his breath.
Not only ordinary people inside and outside the city, but also people in the government were surprised by the sudden turn of the situation. No one expected that Haihan would really follow the waterway to the foot of Hangzhou City, and even the Qiantang River. The shipping line has also been blocked, and it is probably impossible to fight if they want to fight, but it would be too embarrassing to make peace with the opponent.
(End of chapter)