Chapter 1329 Confessions of Prisoners of War
"The military strength gap between Ming Dynasty and Haihan is probably as big as Spain!" Liu Shang couldn't help but have such a strange idea in his mind. Although he didn't want to admit the existence of this gap, the objective facts were right in front of him, and Liu Shang was not a person who would choose to escape reality.
If when he first arrived in Sanya, he still had the idea of secretly learning Haihan's key military technologies to narrow the military gap between the two countries, then at this moment, in the face of vivid examples, he has basically given up on such an idea. , after all, the gap between the two countries is so huge that it can no longer be changed by individual efforts. Moreover, Liu Shang has also been thinking about a very practical question recently. If everything he saw and heard in Haihan in the past two months was written down in a secret report and sent back, would the superiors think that he was crazy?
If he were himself not long ago, Liu Shang would not believe that there is an island country on the coast of the South China Sea that is more advanced and powerful than the Ming Dynasty. There are too many new things here that have not appeared in the Ming Dynasty, and many of them can even be described as unimaginable. describe. For things like steam engines and armored ships, Liu Shang didn't think that his boss, or his boss's boss, would be convinced of the power of these things through written descriptions. If you tell your superiors that you made the judgment "I'm sorry, we can't beat Haihan", I'm afraid you will be punished, right?
Liu Shang suddenly understood why there were always many unclear things in the reports sent back by intelligence personnel who had been lurking in Haihan before. Especially when it comes to the more subjective opinions on the comparison of strengths between the two sides, they are usually mentioned in a few words. Presumably the predecessors also felt that it is not appropriate to tell the truth in some situations, and telling the truth will only cause trouble. Now I seem to be in the same situation. Should I tell the truth truthfully, or should I follow the example of my predecessors who reported good news but not bad news?
However, Liu Shang soon had no time to worry about this problem. A new order had been sent from above, requiring him to report back to the Youth League immediately and participate in formulating follow-up publicity activities about the "Sanya Victory" with the staff of the Propaganda Department. plan. Haihan officials had vigorously publicized the Star Island Battle, which was thousands of miles away. This great victory was completed under the eyes of the people of Haihan, and it was natural that it would be written down in a colorful and colorful book. The reason Liu Shang was selected is also very simple. He once compiled a storyteller about the Battle of Star Island that was well received by the public. Later, he was temporarily recruited to serve in the propaganda department and his performance was very decent, so Yu Xiaobao named Liu Shang again. Shang, let him join this relatively time-limited task.
This publicity campaign is also different from publication platforms such as newspapers. Writers from various newspapers have already taken action immediately, striving to publish a "special issue" within a day or two to discuss this battle. Report. What Liu Shang and others have to do is to cooperate with the publication to promote a wave of publicity. This time, it should not only target the domestic people, but also take into account external publicity. It should let all countries that have established diplomatic relations with Haihan know that Spain this time A big mistake happened in front of Haihan's house.
The people set off firecrackers, served themselves two extra dishes for dinner, and went to bed in a happy mood. This was considered a simple celebration. However, on this night after the war, many people still had no time to rest in order to complete the follow-up finishing work.
The Security Department was one of the departments that really started to get busy after the battle. All prisoners of war collected by the military from the battlefield had to go through the intelligence agency for preliminary identification and registration. Depending on the personal situation of the prisoners of war, most of them will be sent to hard labor camps to serve in hard labor camps. Their performance in labor reform will determine whether they have a chance to regain a new life. A small number of prisoners of war with special identities or certain skills, such as officers, craftsmen, navigators, etc., will be held separately and processed separately.
Of course, before the prisoners of war are dealt with separately, the relevant departments will definitely arrange a grand victory parade in Sanya, escorting these unlucky ghosts to the streets to show the people the direct results of this war.
There are currently more than 700 prisoners of war detained in the Victory Port Naval Base. This is not a particularly large number in Haihan's wars over the years, but this is the first time Haihan has "resisted foreign invasion" since the founding of the country. The meaning of this war is different from previous battles to expand territory overseas.
Among the more than 700 prisoners of war, not all are Spanish. About half of them are a motley crew composed of Luzon natives, Chinese descendants, Malays, blacks, and sailors from other European countries. The rest The other half are the real Spaniards. The prisoners were divided into groups of ten and chained to their ankles with shackles to prevent them from escaping. There were many injuries among the prisoners of war, but those who were seriously injured could only resign themselves to their fate. The people Haihan sent to treat them were all interns from the medical department. It was inevitable that they would be careless when dealing with the wounds - of course, maybe these were The students did not want to treat the enemy's wounded soldiers properly and took the opportunity to vent their dissatisfaction.
The Ministry of Security temporarily borrowed a warehouse at the naval base as a venue for preliminary trials of prisoners of war. Dozens of tables were lined up in the warehouse, and behind each table sat two people, belonging to the security department and the military. There was an extra person sitting at a few tables, a Spanish translator temporarily recruited from various departments and civilians. Since the number of translators is extremely limited, the interrogation work of Spanish prisoners of war can only be concentrated. Anyway, the key figures among the prisoners of war are basically Spanish. It is not particularly important how much the confessions of other prisoners of war can be understood.
The Ministry of Security and the military already have relatively mature experience in interrogating large numbers of prisoners of war. First, they asked the prisoners to identify each other and identified several Spanish officers or captains among them. They then asked them to identify the sea captains. Special occupations such as craftsmen and navigators designated by the Han Dynasty. After it is basically confirmed that all people with special identities have been singled out, targeted interrogation and identity registration can be carried out to achieve twice the result with half the effort.
Among the Spanish personnel captured this time, there were only about ten officers and captains, and the flagships of both Spanish fleets successfully escaped, so the ranking of these commanders was not particularly high. The information that can be extracted from their mouths is of limited reference value to Haihan. After a night of hard work, the confession reports of these people were finally sorted out before dawn and sent to the desk of Security Minister He Xi.
Although He Xi is the head of the intelligence department, he didn't sleep the whole night like everyone else in the department. All the gains from the intelligence department must be summarized here. Although the people below have helped him filter out a lot of useless or low-value information, there are still many things that he needs to review personally.
Haihan's top priority was naturally to figure out the fundamental reason why the Spaniards launched a surprise attack on him at this point in time. Although the two sides had a lot of tension in the past, the Spaniard has been quiet in the past two years. Although there are some small moves under the table, they have not openly created too much trouble for Haihan with a hostile attitude. The previous report sent back by intelligence agents lurking in Manila stated that this was an action organized unilaterally by the Manila authorities. If it was just that, it would be fine. The Philippine colonies alone were not enough to truly threaten Haihan's safety, but He Xi still had to Other possible hidden dangers should be eliminated. What He Xi is worried about is that this action was personally ordered by Spain. In that case, the Spaniards may not stop because of this defeat, and may even launch a larger follow-up offensive. With Spain's strength, as long as it prepares for a period of time, it is not difficult to launch a cross-sea operation with tens of thousands of people in the Far East. And after learning this lesson, I'm afraid they won't be so reckless next time. . Although the Haihan navy is strong, it is ultimately limited by the number of combat ships. If Spain really feels at ease and organizes a large-scale attack, the navy can protect Sanya, but it may not be able to protect the entire Hainan Island.
Of course, there are other possibilities. Maybe the Spaniards secretly have other means that they have not used. For example, after the fleet invades Sanya, armed personnel lurking in the local area launch an attack to create a situation of cooperation from inside and outside, or serve as a leading party. , leading the landing Spanish troops to attack key areas in the local area. However, the Spaniards did not even get a chance to dock in the end. Even if they had any other arrangements in Sanya City, it was too late to launch them. The responsibility of the Ministry of Security is to eliminate these possibilities. If the Spaniards really arrange these methods locally, they must be eradicated as soon as possible without leaving any future troubles.
He Xi quickly browsed the confessions of several Spanish officers. In fact, he had personally participated in the trial of two of them just now, but to be honest, the information held by these low-level officers was limited and did not have much reference value. They only participated in this military operation in accordance with the arrangements of the Manila authorities. All they knew was the benefits they would gain from capturing Sanya and some of the tactics developed around capturing the port. They knew little about higher-level strategic considerations. .
He Xi did not have much doubt about the authenticity of these confessions. He had personally confirmed at the interrogation site that most of these so-called officers and captains were actually of poor quality. They were not standard Royal Navy soldiers, but armed men. Maritime merchants, privateer ship owners, retired veterans, etc. served as commanders. These people were thinking about Haihan's gold and silver mountains and seriously underestimated the difficulty of the battle. Moreover, these people don't seem to have much scheming at all. In He Xi's eyes, their little calculations are only at the level of pediatrics.
Many people even immediately asked the interrogators to demand ransom, because this was a very common behavior in wars in European countries. As long as both parties could negotiate a reasonable amount, the prisoners of war could regain their freedom. He Xi personally didn't dislike this. Anyway, these wealthy prisoners of war were not of much value, so it was a good thing to be able to make some profit. Besides, this kind of redemption was not uncommon in Haihan's past wars. Many British prisoners of war captured in the previous Battle of Star Island had already been clearly marked with a ransom fee from the British East India Company.
However, this time the Spaniards came and directly attacked Sanya, the capital of Haihan. The severity of this incident was not comparable to previous foreign wars. He Xi will not be responsible for negotiating ransoms with prisoners of war, but he can imagine Schneider gearing up at this time. Seizing this rare opportunity, it would be strange for him not to squeeze the oil and water out of the Spaniard's bones.
He Xi's mind returned to the confession report in front of him. If he was a senior official planning this battle, he probably would not inform these low-quality commanders of the detailed strategic plan. Most of these people have not received confidentiality training and do not have a clear understanding of what to say and what not to say. There is no need to use any means at all to interrogate them. Most of the required information can be obtained through clichés.
Although there is no valuable information, through the confessions of these people, He Xi can basically confirm that the offensive launched by the Manila authorities is a wave. Apart from the invading Spanish fleet, the Manila authorities have not prepared any follow-up attacks. offensive. This may be because the fleet size it can use is limited to this, or it may be a miscalculation of Haihan's defense strength and response methods. However, in He Xi's opinion, the former is more likely, because about half of the warships in the invading fleet belong to the American Fleet.
These large sailing ships belonging to the American colonies only come to Luzon once a year during the right season and do not stay in Manila Port for a long time. Judging from this detail, it seems that the timing of the Manila authorities' launch of the operation was to accommodate the schedule of the American fleet - after making a profit in Sanya, they returned to Manila to rest for a few days, and it happened to be the season to return to the American colonies.
If this inference is true, it will be clearer why He Xi believes that the Manila authorities would choose this time to plan this war. The Spaniards may not have given much thought to the situation on Haihan's side, but focused on their own troop gathering conditions. As long as the time is right and enough troops are gathered, they will launch a sneak attack. If the effect is ideal, they will try to occupy Sanya. , if not ideal, withdraw to Manila to avoid the limelight.
Of course, from the perspective of the Manila authorities, the probability of a successful sneak attack was quite high, so they were obviously unprepared when facing Haihan's response, and could even be said to be at a loss. If the fleet commander hadn't decisively issued the order to retreat, and there would have been another delay of a while and a half until Tao Donglai's fleet came back, then he would have been unable to leave even if he wanted to.
(End of chapter)