Chapter 1332 is desperate
Judging from the social atmosphere of Haihan's challenge to the Spanish fleet at home, Liu Shang believes that the people of Haihan did not feel much panic about the outbreak of the war, but regarded this as an opportunity to demonstrate national power. Not only did they not flee, but they Many people actively participated in the preparation and watching activities. The Haihan Navy and the coastal defense forts worked together to defeat the invading enemy fleet in full view of the public. This performance greatly encouraged the people. Liu Shang even saw young students organizing petitions. Requesting an official expedition to the home base of the Spanish fleet to retaliate with military means.
If Liu Shang still had the mentality of a melon-eater when he first heard about the enemy invasion, he would take a look at the loopholes in Haihan's defense line and provide some help for the Ming army to regain this place in the future. But after witnessing the battle with his own eyes, Liu Shang already understood where Haihan's confidence lies. A fleet as powerful as Spain's was already defeated and fled without even touching the soil of Port of Victory. If the Ming Navy were to confront the Haihan Navy in its position, I am afraid that even the main force would have fled the battlefield. The chances are very slim, right?
Liu Shang suddenly felt that the Guangdong and Guangxi officials had left Haihan's various behaviors indifferent over the years, perhaps not just because they were short-handed, but because they knew that military means were not only useless to Haihan, but could easily irritate him. its rebound. Sanya can prevent foreign invasion, but many cities in Guangdong and Guangxi cannot.
Before Liu Shang came to Hainan Island, he also went to Guangzhou City to see Haihan's local operations. In addition to the piece of land on the edge of the Pearl River east of Guangzhou City, Haihan is now building a new business on the sandbank on the south bank of the Pearl River opposite Guangzhou City. A port town called Haizhu Town was built. The Haihan people built a two-mile-long dock on the river bank, as well as supporting facilities such as business inns and warehouses. These docks have undoubtedly become the designated stopping points for various commercial firms, shipping companies and other institutions under Haihan's name. Although it is separated from Guangzhou City by a river, it has not affected Haizhu Town's rapid prosperity in just one or two years.
Of course, what Haihan sent here through shipping was not only a variety of goods, but also a variety of people with different functions. Among these people were not only merchants, but also many intelligence officers with similar identities to Liu Shang, as well as a considerable number of paramilitary personnel.
The escort agency "Golden Shield" co-founded by Haihan and Guangdong businessman Li Jifeng has been in operation for several years. The geographical scope of the business has expanded beyond the Guangdong and Guangxi regions, and has also been established in Guizhou, Hunan, Jiangxi and other places. Trade routes and freight channels were established, and a large number of branches were built in various places. Golden Shield Escort employs a large number of armed personnel in a legal name, and a considerable proportion of them are even equipped with standard muskets provided by Haihan.
As far as Liu Shang knew, the officials of Guangdong and Guangxi were not unaware of these situations, but they deliberately pretended to be deaf and turned a blind eye. It can be said that they allowed Haihan to do whatever he wanted. According to statistics from the intelligence department, the number of armed personnel deployed by Golden Shield Escort along the Pearl River alone is about two thousand. If these people were organized, they would be the strength of two reinforced infantry battalions. If necessary, Liu Shang believed that they would only need half a day to prepare before launching an attack on Guangzhou City.
At that time, Liu Shang did not think that Haihan's small actions could really threaten Guangzhou's city defense security. He just felt that the local government's inaction was a serious dereliction of duty. However, thinking back on it at this time, he couldn't help but break out in a cold sweat. . If these armed personnel have the combat effectiveness of the Haihan Army, or these so-called escorts are simply another identity of the Haihan Army, then even if the two thousand Haihan Army will not be able to attack Guangzhou City for a while, it will be enough to block the inside. The defenders could not leave the city.
In such an environment where Haihan is monitored face to face, any action taken by the officials of Guangdong and Guangxi near Guangzhou will be leaked, and they dare not make any attempt to expel Haihan by force. It is only normal.
Similar doubts about Ming's military strength became more and more frequent, and Liu Shang also felt less and less confident about his mission to lurk in Haihan. The longer he stayed, the clearer he became that what he was doing now was mostly useless. Personal power could not narrow the strength gap between the two countries, and the information collected through intelligence methods would not help Ming use political, economic or It is military means to deal with Haihan, a difficult opponent.
In the comparison of strength between the two countries, except for land area and population, Liu Shang cannot see that Ming has any other advantages. Although Ming claims to have a standing army of two million, it is really divided into the Guangdong and Guangxi regions and can fight wars. The army does not even have 100,000 troops. The troops that can be mobilized for mobile operations in various coastal areas may not even be able to raise 20,000 troops. Based on the strength comparison between the two armies, if Haihan were to launch an offensive against Guangdong and Guangxi, the 20,000 Ming army would definitely not be able to withstand it. As for recapturing Hainan Island, I am afraid that if all the troops capable of fighting in Guangdong and Guangxi are gathered together, it will not be enough to fill the gun holes - not to mention that even if an army of 100,000 is gathered, there will be no ships that can transport the army to Hainan in a short time. Go to the island.
Liu Shang sighed and continued reading the special issue he had not yet finished. Haihan officially characterized the battle as a fight against foreign invasion, rather than a "fight against piracy" as claimed before the war began. The article defined Spain, which was raising troops to attack Sanya, as an "evil country" and listed it as an unwelcome trade object, and called on its citizens and allies to stop all trade with the Spanish, especially the Manila authorities. Of course, this trade blockade is not a mandatory method, but with the appeal that Haihan officials have in the region, Liu Shang has no doubt that this statement will be interpreted as an official decree by people from all walks of life.
In the future, it is estimated that not many people will dare to go against the official will of Haihan and continue to secretly trade with the Spanish in Manila. It is not difficult for anyone with a little brain to think that since Haihan was able to get early warning a few days before the arrival of the Spanish fleet and prepare for war in advance, it must be someone in Manila who sent a warning message in advance. If you go to do business in Manila, you will probably be blacklisted by the Ministry of Commerce.
This informal trade ban will definitely have a certain negative impact on Haihan's foreign trade income, but Liu Shang also knows that Haihan people are extremely shrewd in business and will definitely not do business at a loss. If he dares to adopt such a method, then there is a possibility. Calculated in advance. Even if they suffer a loss, the Spanish in Manila will definitely suffer a greater loss.
But in Liu Shang's view, perhaps this is just the beginning of Haihan's revenge measures. If he just imposes a trade blockade, it probably won't relieve Haihan. There will definitely be other means to force the opponent to bow his head. Liu Shang really hopes that Haihan will fight hard, use all his elite troops, and go to Manila to fight the Spaniards to the death, but for now, there seems to be no sign of continuing the war. Both fleets of the Haihan Navy have returned to their base in Victory Port. It is said that several ships have been sent to the dock for repairs, and the soldiers have begun to lift combat readiness in batches. It seems that they will not fight again in the near future.
Moreover, the newspaper quoted senior military officials as saying that Haihan's operation was a "self-defense counterattack" with the purpose of repelling the enemy's attack. As for attacking Manila or even eliminating the Spanish presence in this area, the newspaper didn't mention it at all. Based on the official propaganda methods of Haihan that Liu Shang knows, if there is to be a war next, it will probably be the same as before. Before the war begins, rumors will be released to the society, proactively leading the direction of public opinion, and avoiding suspicion among the people due to opaque information. It can also prevent anyone from inciting public sentiment and creating chaos to the greatest extent.
Liu Shang directly skipped the large amount of space devoted to praising the combat effectiveness of the Haihan Army. This was not because he still had serious objections to the Haihan Army, but because he witnessed with his own eyes the entirety of the Haihan Army's defeat of the Spanish fleet. The process, simply describing the battle during this period in words was too pale, and he was not interested in spending time to relive this fierce naval battle through words. What Liu Shang is really interested in is content such as official statements. These brief descriptions can easily be ignored. However, Liu Shang has spent more time working in the publicity department recently, and has gradually understood Haihan's publicity techniques, which are often This seemingly inconspicuous information will indicate the future development direction of the situation. However, before Liu Shang could finish reading this special issue, he received a new task: to go to the immigration camp on the Luhuitou Peninsula to explain the battle process to the new immigrants. This job was tailor-made for him, and Liu Shang naturally couldn't refuse it, so he rushed to the immigration camp together with several other publicity personnel who had been notified.
When Liu Shang first arrived in Sanya, he actually stayed here for a few days. Now that he has returned to his old place, he already feels like he has returned home. He is now an official performing tasks on behalf of the Youth League. The immigration officer who used to yell at him now has a humble face, following behind him step by step, introducing various facilities in the immigration camp. , it seems that the other party no longer recognizes that the official in front of him is an ordinary immigrant who walked out of here a few months ago. Of course, even if he recognized it, he would probably pretend not to know.
Liu Shang did not intend to laugh at the snobbishness of these lower-level officials. Whether in Haihan or Ming Dynasty, such a situation was not uncommon in official circles, but it was just a normal reaction of the lower-level officials.
After a brief visit to the immigration camp, the management staff gathered together the more than 400 immigrants who would be resettled in various places on Hainan Island in the near future, and staff from the publicity department gave them lectures. Of course, the content is not only about the war the day before yesterday, but also about many rules about the work and life of new immigrants, which need to be explained and emphasized to them again.
Liu Shang was queued to the last stage to take the stage, so he took a seat aside and drank tea while waiting for other colleagues to finish their presentations. His position was at a 45-degree angle to the hundreds of immigrants sitting on the ground, and he could just observe the changes in their expressions while listening to the lecture. Liu Shang has performed similar tasks several times during his trip around the island, and has accumulated a certain amount of experience. In addition, he also has previous experience of storytelling in teahouses, so he can easily tell from the changes in the audience's expressions whether they are right or not. Interested in what I've heard so far.
After Liu Shang's eyes swept over the faces of the people in the front rows, he suddenly felt that someone was watching him somewhere, and this person seemed to be among the immigrants. After scanning the crowd several times, he finally found the source - a middle-aged man in gray clothes holding his head with one hand. He seemed to be absent-minded, but his eyes were always locked on him.
Although this person looked ordinary, Liu Shang's heart beat faster when he saw this person, because he had known this person before coming to Hainan Island. To be precise, they were colleagues who worked together.
When Liu Shang first took over this task, he was not the only candidate. As far as he knew, at least five to six people were included in the dispatch plan. However, he set off alone and did not know about the other candidates. Whether he was also sent to lurk in the Haihan controlled area. However, Liao Yuan and others who had entered Sanya before were not the same batch of infiltrators as him.
The face he saw in front of him was something Liu Shang had seen once before when he was interviewing for this task. He didn't know this person's name, but he should be an expert transferred from a branch somewhere. This person should have appeared at this time and at least one batch later than Liu Shang. And this person obviously recognized Liu Shang's identity from the moment they met, so he kept staring at him.
According to the plan, Liu Shang's only contact while lurking in Haihan was Liao Yuan. If other intelligence personnel wanted to establish contact with Liu Shang, they should do so through Liao Yuan. But now that Liao Yuanren is not in Sanya, Liu Shang has met a new colleague who recognizes him. This is a bit strange.
Logically speaking, Liu Shang cannot take the initiative to look for other lurkers in the local area, but this special situation of encountering each other by chance and getting to know each other was unplanned. Of course Liu Shang could pretend not to recognize the other party, but he felt an inexplicable worry in his heart - in addition to Liao Yuan, this was another risk that would expose his identity.
When Liu Shang comes to the stage to give a speech, according to the rules, he must first explain his identity and position, and this will undoubtedly give the handle to that person. If he comes back to ask for some help, will he help or not? Liu Shang knew nothing about his identity, and his own identity could not be kept secret. This passive feeling was really difficult for him to accept.
(End of chapter)