Chapter 1354 I have to guard against
According to the prior agreement with Zheng Ai, Zheng Ai will try his best to send news back to Dengzhou regardless of whether the operation succeeds or not. For this reason, Zheng Ai also specially carried several fireworks used in the military to send messages and warnings, in order to send a signal to a distant place after confirming the results of the operation, and personnel lurking in the distance would take the news out of the Haihan occupied area. Then the message was quickly sent back to Dengzhou City via the courier waiting in Guxian Town. In this way, even if the operation fails, Dengzhou City still has time to take some preparation measures.
But no fireworks appeared in the sky above Majiazhuang for the entire day, and if Zheng Ai and others had not taken action, they would have made their return trip before nightfall at the latest. Neither of these two things happened, which can only point to one result - Zheng Ai and others took action, but were quickly suppressed by Haihan, and even the fireworks that reported the news did not find a chance to be released.
Although this result was not beyond Liao Jie's expectations, disappointment was inevitable, and he did not expect that Zheng Ai and others would not even get the chance to issue a warning. It seems that it must be the fault of both parties. The difference in combat power is too great. But what Liao Jie never expected was that Haihan had been paying attention to this matter for more than a month. He had already figured out Zheng Ai's route in advance, and had set a trap in Majiazhuang waiting for him to fall into his trap. Under such circumstances, if Zheng Ai and others could still be allowed to set off fireworks to report the news, it would appear that the Haihan Army was too incompetent.
Liao Jie dismissed the messenger with a gloomy look, and then ordered the reconnaissance cavalry to be deployed to the front line of Guxian Town to closely monitor the movements of the Haihan people in the direction of Fushan County. Although he still insisted that the Haihan people would not attack Dengzhou City in retaliation, necessary early warning measures must be put in place.
As for the life and death of Zheng Ai and others, if Liao Jie were to choose an ending, he would probably prefer that all the people in the team had died, because only in this way could they keep their identities secret and avoid Haihan. In this way, the war will be burned towards Dengzhou City. However, Liao Jie didn't take any chances. Since the operation had failed, the next situation had to be considered for the worst.
While Liao Jie was nervous in Dengzhou City, the Zhifu Island headquarters was also holding a meeting to discuss the next response measures. All the time-travelers, including Chen Yixin, returned to Zhifu Island the day after the incident and listened to Chen Yixin's report on the ins and outs of the incident.
Just as the officials in Dengzhou City thought, the senior officials of Haihan did not intend to make a big fuss over this. Starting a war at this juncture would not bring much practical benefit to Haihan. Moreover, before winter begins this year, the military hopes to join forces with the Pidao Ming Army to conduct another clearing operation against the Houjin armed forces in the coastal areas of the Liaodong Peninsula, so as to clear the way for the march to Liaodong after the beginning of next spring.
"At present, both the army and the navy have begun to assemble in the Zhoushan Islands in Zhejiang. After winter, the Northern Fleet will still go south as last year. General Shi Diwen and I have already discussed that we will conduct several amphibious operations exercises in the Zhoushan Islands this winter. , to warm up for next year's spring offensive." Wang Tang. Mu introduced to everyone: "So this round of clearing up the Liaodong Peninsula before winter is very important, and it requires the full cooperation of all departments. At this time, we may not be able to spare our hands and feet to deal with the master of this incident. The messenger takes revenge.”
When Tom Wang said the second half, he kept looking at Chen Yixin. It was obvious that he gave a special explanation because of Chen Yixin's personal feelings. In fact, Wang Tom had previously thought of taking the fleet to show force near Dengzhou City, but Qian Tiandun objected to this, so he did not persist. And from the overall perspective, it is indeed inappropriate to change the original task arrangement for this incident at this time.
Naturally, Chen Yixin would not go against Wang Tom at this time. In fact, before he returned to Zhifu Island, he had already received Qian Tiandun's instructions to keep him consistent with the military leaders during the meeting in order to make subsequent mission arrangements. . As for whether to immediately retaliate against the Dengzhou Ming Army, Chen Yixin is not in a hurry. Anyway, now that he has the assassin alive, he can have real evidence whenever he wants to fall out with Dengzhou City.
"I have no objection. I will obey the command's arrangements." Chen Yixin expressed his attitude calmly. In fact, the team of assassins sent by Dengzhou had no chance of harming him. Instead, they allowed him to gain a little limelight in the process of commanding this operation. The so-called retaliatory measures actually depend more on whether Haihan has the possibility to profit from it. As for Chen Yixin, there is nothing personally offended by the other party.
"Releasing some news later to let Dengzhou know that we are preparing for war will be enough to make them nervous for a while." Qian Tiandun's opinion was obviously much more mature, and he solved the current problem in one sentence.
Since it was the Dengzhou Ming Army who planned this assassination operation, they must be prepared for the consequences of failure. As long as Haihan made a slight gesture of going to war, the guilty Ming Army would definitely have a greater reaction. Taking this opportunity to sneak into the Dengzhou Ming army and make them nervous for ten days and a half is a relatively safe way of revenge.
"I'm afraid just spreading the news is not enough. Let me add some firewood!" The person who answered the call was Harugong, the commander of the cavalry battalion.
Since winter is about to enter, taking into account safety and supply issues, his cavalry troops will not go to the Liaodong Peninsula with the Northern Fleet and will definitely stay in Fushan County. However, since the Dengzhou Ming Army took the initiative to send an errand to his door, he did not hesitate to use this opportunity to make a fuss, and by the way, it was used as training for his opponent's cavalry troops. Although the establishment of the cavalry battalion is not large, it is obviously easier for the cavalry to achieve the goal than the infantry in order to create a lot of excitement.
Harugong's initiative to request a battle was quickly approved unanimously. If the purpose was to frighten the Ming army rather than engage in battle with it, then the cavalry was indeed the most suitable unit to perform such a task. As long as they don't leave too far from Haihan's control area, the cavalry's supply won't be a big problem. In fact, the cavalry battalion has already practiced this. The solution is to have the cavalry battalion advance along the coastline, and the ships transporting grain and grass supplies can follow simultaneously at sea. This can increase the scope of the cavalry battalion's activities a lot, and even can be used if necessary. Withdraw the cavalry by sea.
In the case that the Dengzhou Ming army lacks maritime weapons, such a tactic does not need to worry too much about being taken back from the sea by the opponent, so the risk is relatively low. The distance from Fushan County to Dengzhou City is only over a hundred miles, and just dispatching a few hundred cavalry is enough to put Dengzhou City into a state of panic.
Two days later, more than two hundred Haihan armed cavalry took a boat from Zhifu Island to land on the coast near Guxian Town, and then went directly into the town to raid the shop of Zheng Ai, a building materials merchant. There is no garrison in the town in ancient times, only a small number of armed militiamen. However, most of these people look after the homes and courtyards of the town's landlords and gentry, and will not organize to fight against the Haihan people. Moreover, the Haihan cavalry arrived suddenly and there were no soldiers at all. Give them time to react. The first reaction of the people in the town is to close their doors, and they will never try to stand out at this time.
However, as the town to the west of Fushan County and the closest to the Haihan occupied area, there are many merchants in the town who have dealt with Haihan and maintained trade relations. When they saw that the Haihan people did not plunder the town, they became very upset. Courage slowly walked out and asked Haihan Cavalry why they came. Soon notices stamped with the seal of "Haihan Office in Shandong" were posted everywhere in the town, which stated the reason why Haihan raided Zheng Ai's shop - colluding with the rebellious party and assassinating Haihan officials. As for what type of rogue party Zheng Ai was colluding with, and why the matter was not handled by the Fushan County Government, there was no mention of it in the notice. The notice stated that the Haihan Cavalry was dispatched this time only to arrest relevant persons involved in the case, and would not cause any infringement on innocent people, which can be regarded as a calming effect.
Of course, nothing valuable could be found in Zheng Ai's shop, but Harugong was not in a hurry to leave. Instead, he waited at the door of the shop, waiting for his men to tear the shop into pieces, leaving dust and smoke everywhere. overflow. He just wanted to let the people of Guxian Town and the Ming army spies who were peeping in the dark know that Haihan's attitude towards this matter would not be easily tolerated. As for the way the notice was written, it was only intentionally left with room to avoid falling out directly with the Dengzhou government.
This house raid lasted for half a day. At first, everyone in Guxian Town was in fear, but later on, more and more people came out of their homes and gathered near the shops to watch the excitement. However, almost no one in the local people knows Zheng Ai's true identity. They can only lament the determination of the Haihan people and Boss Zheng's ignorance of current affairs - why do you take such desperate risks and do irrational things when doing business with the Haihan people is such a profitable business? things.
After Harugong was convinced that this action had achieved the expected effect, he ordered the team to withdraw. The cavalry abandoned the shops that had turned into rubble and left the ancient town in groups. As for whether the Haihan Cavalry seized money or anything else from the store, bystanders had no idea.
Not far from Guxian Town, the Haihan Cavalry stopped at the edge of a forest. Harugong held a telescope and looked at the official road from Guxian Town to Jijia Town in the north, as if he was waiting for something. Sure enough, a moment later, a fast horse rushed out of the town and headed north along the official road.
Harugong put down the telescope and smiled contemptuously. He just wanted to send the town's spies back to Dengzhou to report the news so that the Dengzhou Ming Army would get the news as soon as possible. Otherwise, it would be a waste of expression if the Dengzhou Ming Army was still confused after he finished his actions.
The next day, Haihan cavalry also appeared near Jijia Town, which is more than 20 miles away from Guxian Town. However, this time the Haihan cavalry did not rush directly into the town to take action. He paused on the road for a long time, then quietly disappeared into the wilderness.
"The Haihan Cavalry is still sixty miles away from Dengzhou City. Sir, we have to come up with a countermeasure. We can't just wait for them to attack the city, right?" Shangguanye couldn't sit still after hearing the news of the scout cavalry's report. Well, hurry up and come to Liao Jie to discuss countermeasures. He was stationed in Qishansuo for a period of time last year and had a close look at the methods of the Haihan people. He was not transferred back to Dengzhou until the end of the year. After Qishan left, he quickly followed the steps of the Fushan County government and turned a blind eye to Haihan's actions in Fushan County.
"Why are you panic? The scouts reported only two or three hundred Haihan cavalry. What can such a small number of people do? Is it possible for a few hundred cavalry to capture Dengzhou City?" Liao Jie scolded with a stern face: "Dengzhou City With thousands of troops stationed there, why can’t they cope with such a small scene?”
Shangguanye said: "The Haihan cavalry may not dare to come to Dengzhou City to cause trouble, but they have already left the area controlled by Haihan. This will inevitably cause panic among the people, and they must be on guard! If there is chaos in Dengzhou, Lord Chen will definitely The responsibility is put on the adults..."
"Master Chen is dedicated to serving the public good. Is he the kind of person you said?" Liao Jie immediately denied it, but his tone changed slightly: "...but it is me who maintains the peace of Dengzhou. It is the responsibility of the Ming army to do this! ”
Liao Jie and the prefect Chen Zhongsheng were inseparable in appearance. Most civil and military officials in Dengzhou knew about this. Shangguanye, as Liao Jie's confidant, naturally knew the relationship between the two and naturally wanted to remind his superiors. Of course, Liao Jie would not reveal anything in front of his subordinates, but he could use other means to express his attitude - he could not be caught by Chen Zhongsheng because of this matter.
Although Liao Jie did not dare to take the initiative to provoke the Haihan Army, but now that the Haihan Cavalry had entered the territory of Dengzhou, if there were no countermeasures, then he could have handed over his official seal of commanding Qianshi as soon as possible. But he was also very concerned about the combat effectiveness of the Haihan cavalry. If the Ming cavalry was released too far and they collided head-on with the opponent and an armed conflict occurred, no matter who won or lost, the consequences would be extremely serious.
"I've ordered that the reconnaissance cavalry be stationed 30 miles east and south of Dengzhou City. If there is any enemy situation, report it immediately. Don't fight the enemy without authorization!" Liao Jie thought for a while and issued a relatively conservative order. He believed that Haihan's purpose of sending cavalry was to harass, not to launch a destructive attack. Otherwise, there would be no need to be so reserved in Guxian Town and Jijia Town. At this stage, avoiding another direct conflict with Haihan is the first condition for stabilizing the overall situation. As long as there are no mistakes in Dengzhou City, Chen Zhongsheng should not be able to accuse himself.
The cavalry led by Harugong did not stop outside Jijia Town, but continued to slowly advance northwest along the coastline. On the sea about two or three nautical miles away from the coast, a small fleet consisting of four supply ships, four comprehensive transport ships and two armed warships are also moving simultaneously. If the cavalry encounters a large Ming army on land, the four transport ships will be the cavalry battalion's retreat. But before that, Harugong will continue to lead the team forward. If the Ming army does not come to stop him, then he will advance to the gate of Dengzhou City.
(End of chapter)