Chapter 1381 Preparation Period
The two senior officials only explained the current situation to the point. Liu Shang was still satisfied with what he heard. After the banquet started, he was still thinking about the information he just heard in his mind. Seeing his distracted look, Su Yu took the initiative and asked, "What's wrong? Are you planning to apply to open up wasteland in Liaodong?"
Liu Shang came back to his senses and responded with a smile: "It's almost unbearable cold in Shandong, how can I still have the courage to go to Liaodong! I was just thinking that the executive committee never suffers from the decision-making, even if it starts a war, it will I have already thought about how to get my capital back.”
Su Yu said seriously: "It goes without saying that the Executive Committee is wise. Our country has never lost money when launching a foreign war. Therefore, although the battle with Hou Jin in Liaodong was quite expensive, Victory Fort was reviewing it at the beginning. When it came to the war budget, all departments approved it unanimously without any obstacles.”
The campaign to attack Liaodong has been gradually launched since Haihan established a foothold in Shandong. Several offensives have been launched during the year, but this battle encountered by the cadre team heading north was the largest. The preparations related to the battle had naturally been in progress a long time ago. At that time, Liu Shang had not even arrived at Hainan Island. After listening to Su Yu's description, he thought that if the six departments of the Ming Dynasty could be so united and call on the whole country to support the war against Hou Jin, maybe the situation on the northern front would not be as tight as it is now.
Liu Shangdao: "The Executive Committee is far-sighted and can actually judge that the Ming Dynasty is in danger. Could it be that the Ministry of Security sent a large number of people to sneak into the Ming Dynasty to make this judgment."
Su Yu is not from the Ministry of Security, but he has become very close to the Ministry of Security recently because of the immigration case. Although Liu Shang did not intend to inquire about any confidential information, he also habitually wanted to know more information, even if it was just a few words.
Su Yu was silent for a moment before responding: "I don't know the inside story about this, but with the staffing of the Security Department, I'm afraid it won't be able to make such a big noise. The Security Department only has a few dozen people in the Shandong base. The chiefs are already in charge. If they want to deploy an intelligence network in the Ming Dynasty, how big a battle will it take? In my opinion, the chiefs probably have some special information channels!”
Liu Shang nodded slowly and said: "That makes sense. Given the extraordinary abilities of the leaders, there may be other ways to collect this information!"
There are too many things in the country of Haihan that cannot be explained by common sense, and they will ultimately be attributed to the extraordinary abilities of the leaders - the true origins of this group of people have always been an unsolved mystery. Liu Shang has not been with Haihan for a long time, but he is already used to classifying unexplainable phenomena here, and there seems to be nothing wrong with this.
Of course, no matter how hard they tried, they could not imagine that the leaders they regarded as gods did not have any special intelligence channels, but had already known the development trend of this period of history. They even knew exactly which year, month and day Emperor Chongzhen was hanged at Meishan, and naturally they also had control over the course of the war between the Later Jin Dynasty and the Ming Dynasty. The development of Haihan indeed requires the peace of the Ming Dynasty, so we cannot sit back and watch Hou Jin defeat this fading empire step by step. Action must be taken to contain Hou Jin.
However, the history controlled by the time travelers has been more or less changed due to their appearance in this time and space. Especially after Haihan intervened in the war between the Jin Dynasty and the Ming Dynasty, the development trajectory of the entire history will definitely change. There is a deviation from the original direction, so no one knows how much of these historical facts that have not yet happened will be realized and how much will be changed. Even if the time-travelers have great eyes and hands, they cannot completely predict the changes in the international situation that will occur after marching into Liaodong.
At the celebration banquet, the theme naturally returns to the word "celebration". Although the Army's military exploits during this expedition were even greater, the special operations battalion as the main force remained in Lushun and did not return. Only the cavalry battalion was withdrawn to Lushun due to weather conditions, and most of the troops followed the naval fleet. Shandong. So when the military exploits were announced, most of the people involved in the army were not present.
Liu Shang listened carefully and found that the results this time were not that exaggerated. However, he killed hundreds of enemies and captured a few prisoners. In a country-to-country war, it was only a small-to-medium-scale battle. It seemed that the troops stationed in Lushun by Houjin were also small. Extremely limited, that's why they were unable to withstand Haihan's large-scale crusade. Of course, the amount of troops put into the battle by both sides was not the focus of this battle. The military claimed that the use of footwork to defeat cavalry was what made Liu Shang sigh.
Even people who don't live in the north have heard about the power of the Hou Jin cavalry. After all, even the Mongols, who are famous for their horseback race, have been severely suppressed by the Hou Jin army in recent years. The most feared unit in the battle between the Ming Dynasty and Hou Jin Dynasty was the Hou Jin cavalry, which came and went like the wind and had flexible tactics. The Guan Ning cavalry used by the Ming Dynasty to guard the northern border had some decent results in the early years. However, since the deaths of Mao Wenlong and Yuan Chonghuan, this elite army has gradually shown decline, and now they no longer dare to fight easily. As for the infantry of the Ming Dynasty, it was even worse. They had basically given up fighting the Jin army in the wild environment, and spent most of their time guarding the fortresses in western Liaoning.
How the infantry defeated the Houjin cavalry in a field environment, Liu Shang definitely couldn't figure it out out of thin air based on the military's brief performance report. But he also knew that the Haihan Army would never exaggerate too much about its achievements. A victory was a victory. They would not fabricate a battle situation like infantry versus cavalry to deceive superiors and subordinates to gain military exploits. He must have some special tactics or weapons. Only when it is used in combat can such unreasonable results appear.
Liu Shang's guess was actually very close to the truth. However, in this situation, he could not immediately find relevant personnel for verification. He could only silently write down this question first, and then try to find out the truth of the matter later. His current identity is a political officer and he is also responsible for propaganda tasks. Therefore, he can use official business as a reason to ask the military about this matter, which is quite convenient. At this time, he was really grateful to Yu Xiaobao for giving him such a convenient official status, otherwise he would not even have the opportunity to get involved in such important military and political affairs.
As the protagonist of the celebration banquet, the main event naturally focused on the Navy. But in fact, the naval fleet did not directly engage the enemy in this combat operation. Most of the time it only took on the tasks of landing cover and transporting personnel and materials. Only during the later stage of the feint attack on the Jinzhou Isthmus, the Marine Corps came ashore to engage in a two-day confrontation with the Hou Jin Army.
However, compared with the performance of the special operations battalion in Lushunkou, the performance of the Marine Corps in the Golden State Isthmus was not that outstanding, and was even a little passive for a time. If the Houjin garrison had not misjudged the situation and launched an offensive for two consecutive days, allowing the Marines to rely on the positions built in the abandoned fishing village to counterattack, it would not have been so easy for Haihan to create the illusion of a feint attack locally. If we really want the two companies of the Marine Corps to march out to attack the Jinzhou Isthmus, they will most likely be trapped in the wild by the Houjin Cavalry. However, they do not have the combat effectiveness of a special operations battalion. The situation then will be It's really bad.
Therefore, although the navy was the protagonist at the celebration banquet, the military achievements announced were somewhat understated. With the Army's record of success ahead, it's really not easy for the Navy to brag about itself. Moreover, the Navy suffered dozens of casualties during this expedition. The aftermath alone would keep them busy. Not only did they have to pay pensions to the families of these victims, but they also had to prepare materials one by one to claim credit for them. Although this is also a manifestation of combat bravery, in the face of the Army's extremely low battle damage figures, there is no need to brag about such casualties. The groups and individuals commended by the military at the celebration banquet will not be rewarded immediately. Their military exploits must be reported to Sanya and reviewed by the Ministry of National Defense and the Executive Committee before being finalized. Although this trip was carried out by telegraph, it would take at least two weeks to complete all the procedures.
After announcing the battle achievements, the next step is to let go and eat and drink. Regardless of the results of the troops returning from the front line, it is something worthy of celebration if they can return from the battlefield intact and alive. Moreover, during the battle, the spirit was very high, and the food and accommodation conditions were extremely difficult. After returning to Shandong, it finally became much more relaxed.
Liu Shang saw that the navy was particularly relaxed. Many officers took off their coats, rolled up their sleeves, and began to drink and have fun with the soldiers. He couldn't help but feel a little strange at the moment. Haihan had always had strict military discipline, but he was having so much fun at this celebration banquet. ?
As if seeing his doubts, Su Yu took the initiative to explain to him: "The navy will rest for a day tomorrow and will set off again the day after tomorrow. That's why the leaders will give them such great freedom."
Liu Shang said in shock: "Will we continue to fight?"
"That's not the case." Su Yu shook his head and said, "It's already winter, and the coasts in many places in the north will gradually begin to freeze. Therefore, the naval fleet will choose to go south in winter and spend the winter in Zhoushan, Zhejiang, and by the way, the shipyards there will complete the ship. The fleet will not return to Shandong until next spring.”
"So according to this, it was arranged in the same way last year? Then there must be a group of immigrants going south together, right?" Liu Shang drew inferences and immediately thought of why Su Yu knew the navy's itinerary.
Su Yu nodded and said: "The last fleet of immigrants going south after winter all went with the fleet, so the navy also took on the task of escorting them. Regarding the departure time of the last batch of fleet going south this year, The Navy has notified our Ministry of Civil Affairs in advance.”
"That's it." Liu Shang understood completely after hearing the explanation.
The Haihan Navy returns to the south every winter to spend the winter, and then returns to the north when the spring flowers bloom and the seaport thaws. On the one hand, it is for the safety of the ships, and on the other hand, it can also greatly reduce the material consumption in the Shandong controlled area in winter. Moreover, when the navy returns to the south, it can continue to conduct daily training at sea in winter without having to rest for several months due to sea conditions. This is still very important in maintaining the combat effectiveness of the troops.
"Since the special operations battalion has gone to Liaodong to station, and the navy has returned to the south to rest, then there will be nothing going on in Shandong this winter, right?" Liu Shang quickly thought of the current situation in Shandong. The main combat troops will not be here this winter. Locally, it looks like we can have a relatively leisurely winter.
Su Yu shook his head and said: "It's not that easy. This winter is for the troops to rest, not for us. You have also heard from the leaders that there will be large-scale military operations in Liaodong after the spring of next year. This year, the entire Winter is the preparation period, and there are many things to be busy with. Just the amount of supplies that need to be transported to Lushun through Shandong.”
What Su Yu said is true. The winter that has arrived is definitely not an easy season for civil affairs, transportation, construction and other logistics departments. Taking Su Yu's civil affairs department as an example, in addition to organizing a group of immigrants to go south, it also has to select a group of people to settle in Lushun in the near future, assist the military in building infrastructure there, accept Han refugees who fled south, and in The fields near Lushun Fort will be reclaimed in the spring of next year to try to make the local food self-sufficient as soon as possible and reduce the pressure of transporting supplies across the sea.
As for the transportation department, this winter it is necessary to organize the transportation of a large amount of combat supplies from the south and then transfer them to Liaodong. Most of the supplies will be transported to the front before the start of the spring offensive, so that the military will be relaxed when it leaves for Liaodong. many. Of course, during this process, the shipping department also needs to connect well with the military, and relevant personnel are also very busy during this period.
The construction department probably has the heaviest task. In addition to the never-ending construction of various infrastructures, they also have to assist the garrison in Liaodong in building residential buildings and roads leading to Port Arthur this winter. The construction speed of this kind of winter project will be very slow and it will also be an extremely difficult test for the construction workers.
The political work department where Liu Shang works is relatively relaxed. There is not so much physical work to do. Most of it is errands that take a lot of time to write promotional materials. However, Liu Shang himself had other ideas. He planned to find an opportunity to chat with senior military officials to see if he could temporarily link his work to the military. When the war starts next year, the military will definitely need political workers, and he can also take this opportunity to gain more access to the inside story of Haihan's military.
Although collecting this information may not give him a chance to send it back to the Ming Dynasty, Liu Shang always felt that if he didn't do something, he would really be sorry for the opportunity to go north to Shandong. Although coming here was not what he wanted, he had already made up his mind to settle down as he came. Since he was going to stay here for a long time, it would never hurt to know more about the inside story.
(End of chapter)