Chapter 1406 Winter Reconnaissance
With his experience, Morgan can diagnose the conditions of most patients, but there is really not much he can do about treatment. The medical treatments he has mastered are based on chemically synthesized drugs and various advanced medical devices, but in this time and space, he cannot have such conditions. Even if there are any remaining medicines that I brought with me when I traveled, they have expired. I can only rely on Chinese herbal medicine to work.
Although Morgan has been supplementing his theoretical knowledge of traditional Chinese medicine in recent years, there are still many prescriptions and treatment methods that are difficult for him to understand and master. Therefore, when he came to Liaodong this time, he also brought several highly paid doctors from Shandong. , to make up for their own shortcomings in treatment methods.
However, after Morgan saw the isolation measures at Fort Port Arthur on the spot, he still gave Gao Qiaonan and the local military doctors a relatively high evaluation. They strictly followed the measures Morgan had previously arranged through telegrams to isolate the confirmed patients, effectively slowing down the spread of the disease. The speed of the spread of the epidemic. Judging from the current situation, Morgan is still relatively optimistic about controlling the epidemic. However, there are no immediate and effective drugs for this kind of influenza epidemic. It may take some time to completely eliminate the epidemic.
Affected by this, the special operations battalion had suspended a series of forward reconnaissance plans that were supposed to be carried out in winter. This was one of the things Morgan came to Lushun to ask about. After arranging the treatment measures, Morgan told Takahashi Minami to put the epidemic aside for a while and find a quiet place to chat.
As the supreme commander before Morgan arrived, Takahashi Minami certainly had his own suite in Fort Arthur, with the back room for living and the outer room for work. However, before Morgan arrived, he moved to the barracks on his own and packed up the suite for Morgan to stay temporarily. Morgan's luggage had been delivered by the orderly before, and at this time, Takahashi Minami personally brought Morgan over.
"The conditions here in Lushun Fort are difficult. I hope the chief doesn't mind." After entering the house, Gao Qiaonan rubbed his hands in embarrassment and said: "Hou Jin destroyed most of the houses in the fort before leaving. This suite is already The best place.”
Morgan looked up at the roof. The broken tiles on it were covered with straw mats, but it could still be seen that the house had been damaged to a certain extent when Haihan took over. The furniture in the house is all made of logs, and the style is thick and bulky. It has not even been varnished, so it has a quite original flavor. Compared with Zhifu Island, this environment is indeed much worse. After all, after more than a year of construction there, the living facilities have become close to normal colonial standards, and after private business, many people who purchased goods in Shandong have lived there. Supplies are also continuously delivered to the occupied areas and provided for the use of the traversers who pay attention to details.
However, as Takahashi Nan said, in an environment like Fort Arthur, even if you want to be picky, you have no choice. The local area does not have the conditions to build a house specially for Morgan's arrival. No matter whether he is satisfied or not, he has to accept it. Of course, Morgan himself is not that picky, otherwise he would not have left Sanya and gone north to lead the troops. After briefly looking at the furnishings in the house, Morgan invited Takahashi Nan to sit down and talk about business.
"Although the reconnaissance operation has stopped, I think you still have some methods left outside. Give me a rough idea."
In addition to the epidemic, Morgan is of course most concerned about Houjin, Haihan’s main rival in the Liaodong Peninsula. Although they had clearly taken the initiative in a series of confrontations at the end of last year, the Haihan military did not think that this record was enough to hurt Hou Jin. The other party maintained restraint in last year's confrontation, largely because it still focused its foreign war on Ming's side. Although the Haihan Army has strong combat power, it is ultimately small and the area it can control is therefore limited. The opponent obviously understands this very well. After trying a counterattack, they decisively withdrew their troops and retreated to Jinzhou. Defenses were deployed along the isthmus.
Neither side wanted to continue fighting in the cold winter, which required too much logistical equipment. Even the Haihan Army, which had always been known for its mobility, was unwilling to take the risk of launching a winter offensive. Then it will take some time for the Jin army to deploy troops and generals, summarize previous experiences and lessons, and prepare for military operations after the beginning of spring. Therefore, although the two sides did not engage in any form of armistice negotiations, they unanimously withdrew their main forces and maintained a strange tacit understanding.
The Haihan side had already planned a spring offensive, so they still arranged a large number of reconnaissance operations in the cold winter. If it hadn't been for the sudden outbreak of the epidemic, the special operations battalion would have been performing relevant tasks at this time. But Morgan knew that even if the reconnaissance mission was suspended, Takahashi Minami probably would not recall all the troops, and peripheral security must still be deployed.
Sure enough, Gao Qiaonan immediately responded: "The forty miles northeast of Fort Lushun are almost entirely mountainous, and the terrain is very unfavorable for the movement of large forces for both the enemy and us. But in order to prevent small groups of enemy troops from sneaking in, I still Several small teams have been deployed at the traffic passes in the mountainous areas to serve as security guards. However, due to the limited troop strength, I have not arranged any more arrangements. If the epidemic in Fort Lushun can be controlled as soon as possible, I would like to arrange one or two before the beginning of spring. A larger reconnaissance operation."
Morgan continued to ask noncommittally: "On how many days do teams in mountainous areas usually change?"
"Usually it takes two and a half to three days, depending on the weather conditions. The shift changes of several teams have been staggered, and at least two teams will be kept on duty outside." Takahashi Minami immediately introduced: "But when winter begins, the rain begins After the snow, I didn’t meet Hou Jin’s scouts in the mountains anymore. I think they had suffered enough in the previous battles in the mountains!”
After Haihan captured Lushun with lightning speed last year, Hou Jin quickly organized troops to go south from the Jinzhou Isthmus in an attempt to retake control of the Lushun area. Haihan, who was at a disadvantage in terms of military strength, divided his troops and landed at Dalian Bay to feign an attack on the Jinzhou Isthmus. On the other hand, he set up a position in the mountainous area northeast of Lushun Fort and engaged in a mountain battle with the Jin army for a period of time. Relying on experience in mountain warfare and weapons and equipment with excellent performance, the special operations battalion and the cavalry battalion worked together and successfully held off enemies several times their own size in the mountainous areas. It was not until the Jin army retreated that they could no longer see the walls of Lushun Fort.
Morgan added: "According to the information you have, how many troops does Hou Jin still have in the area south of the Jinzhou Isthmus?"
Gao Qiaonan frowned and said: "There are less than a thousand people, about 30% of the cavalry, stationed in several villages. But this was the situation half a month ago. The reconnaissance operation has been stopped recently, and I don't know if there will be any changes. But even if the other party arranges a patrol team, they probably won’t take the initiative to enter the mountainous area.”
Takahashi Minami said this quite confidently, and it seemed that he was full of confidence in the deterrent power of his own troops. As the commander of the Haihan Army's ace unit, it is not surprising that he has such pride.
Morgan did not express any doubts about this, and just said softly: "When the snow stops, let's go to the north for a walk." Takahashi Nan's eyes flashed, and he subconsciously responded: "Is the chief going to go to the line of fire in person? This is too dangerous. ! ”
"No matter how dangerous it is, you have to go. This is one of my missions in Liaodong." Morgan explained: "I brought a team of snipers here. In recent months, there has been no better practical training ground than here."
Gao Qiaonan was once again shocked. Of course he knew how rare snipers were in the Haihan Army. Last year, the attack on Lushun and the feint attack on the Jinzhou Isthmus had snipers involved, but they were only one or two groups. And Morgan brought a whole team of snipers here this time, obviously intending to use combat as training and have a good time in Liaodong.
Before Takahashi Minami came to his senses, Morgan continued: "You should be very clear that the deployment of snipers is top-secret military information, so this news must not be spread to outsiders. Do you understand?"
"Understood!" Takahashi Nan immediately stood up and saluted with a military salute, and replied loudly. This is not just a matter of sniper deployment, but more importantly, Morgan is going to the front line to participate in the operation. This kind of news must not be leaked, otherwise if the enemy learns of Morgan's movements, the consequences will be disastrous. Judging from the tone of Morgan's words, it is obvious that this will not be an open military operation. There will probably only be a small group of troops cooperating with the sniper operations led by him, and the risks faced are not small.
Of course, half of the reason why Morgan arranged such an operation was to train his snipers. After all, in addition to year-round target practice, practical experience on the battlefield is also very important for improving the combat level of snipers. What's more, the geographical environment like Liaodong is almost blank in the past training and combat experience of snipers. Morgan believes that it is necessary for his elites to spend more time here to adapt to the environment and prepare for future combat operations. .
The other half of the reason is that the special operations battalion stationed here has stopped reconnaissance operations due to the epidemic. In order not to delay the combat mission after the beginning of spring, Morgan plans to personally lead his trainee subordinates to Liaodong to complete this mission. Of course, this was partly because he was itchy after not personally participating in a combat mission for a long time and wanted to take advantage of this opportunity to have fun. Although Qian Tiandun and others were somewhat disapproving of this, they did not deliberately stop him. As long as they did not go deep into enemy-occupied areas, scattered enemies would certainly not be able to threaten Morgan, who was fully armed and accompanied by a team of elite soldiers.
Said to be a team of snipers, there are actually only twelve people, but this is already the entire sniper force of the Haihan Army in the area north of the Yangtze River. Among them were veterans who had participated in several battles, as well as students who were still training under Morgan. Based on past training experience, Morgan knew that this arrangement of old people leading new ones was the most scientific and reasonable arrangement. However, this time it was not just an ordinary simulated combat training, but real combat training. He also had to fight twelve Be careful and deal with the enemy carefully.
Very few outsiders know the details of the Haihan Sniper Troopers, a special unit. However, as long as they suffer several losses on the battlefield, they will notice the Haihan Army's combat methods. The Houjin Army was no exception. In last year's battle, the Houjin Army was no longer alone in being killed and injured by snipers at ultra-long distances. This made them realize that the Haihan Army had mastered some kind of long-distance precision strike weapon. On the battlefield, the protection of generals is even more careful.
This situation has been reported to Morgan by the snipers who participated in the previous war, so he also wanted to go to the front line to observe in person the activity characteristics and combat methods of the Jin Army. Although I have read a lot of written reports, seeing is believing. Many things still need to be witnessed with your own eyes before you can come up with corresponding countermeasures. Moreover, Morgan also hopes that through contact with the Houjin Cavalry, he can gradually sort out the tactics of how snipers deal with cluster cavalry - this was probably a relatively unpopular research field in the time and space before he came, at least he himself was in I didn't learn targeted tactics during my time in the army.
Of course, the reconnaissance operations in the Liaodong area will definitely require the full cooperation of the special operations battalion. They have been here for two months and are much more familiar with the nearby environment than the snipers who have just arrived. Some of them have also fought against the Jin Army. Experience can be used as a reference, so as soon as Morgan arrived at Port Arthur to arrange the medical matters, he summoned Gao Qiaonan alone and explained his plan to him.
Morgan was not Gao Qiaonan's direct supervisor, but Qian Tiandun had sent a telegram in advance, asking Gao Qiaonan to obey Morgan's command and cooperate fully. Gao Qiaonan had not figured out the meaning of this order at first, but after Morgan's showdown, he Already understood.
In another camp not far away, Liu Shang and others, led by Sun Zhen, entered a large marching tent. This was their temporary barracks. This kind of canvas tent naturally doesn't have much warmth at all, it can just block the wind and snow. There was a small coal stove in the tent, and a chimney was specially built to lead to the outdoors.
"The stove can boil water, but don't boil the snow water outside for drinking. The military doctor said it is unhygienic. It's okay to boil it for washing your face and feet. Someone will go to the nearby river to get ice for the drinking water, and it will be delivered every day. You guys are here Take a basin to hold it, break it into pieces and put it in a pot when burning." Although Sun Zhen looked rude, he patiently explained the living arrangements here to Liu Shang and others: "The epidemic is severe recently, please don't go out if you have nothing to do. In the barracks, meals will be delivered to the room every day, and any instructions will be conveyed by someone.”
Liu Shang said in shock: "Then we come here just waiting with nothing to do?"
Sun Zhen waved his hand and said: "Everyone's tasks will be arranged by the above. If Director Liu feels bored, then write home letters for the soldiers first!"
For the Haihan Kingdom, whose homeland is located in the South China Sea, it is nothing more than a distant frontier, and one of the main spiritual sustenances of the border guards is probably the letters home that convey information across thousands of miles. Ordinary soldiers naturally cannot enjoy the convenience of sending letters via telegraph, so paper letters are still the main way for these soldiers to keep in touch with their relatives at home.
(End of chapter)