Chapter 1408 The Bitter Cold Land
The entire letter describes the situation at home, and there is no sensitive information in it. However, Liu Shang's specialty is collecting intelligence. From the fragmentary information in the letter, he still learned some of the current situation of Haihan society from the side, especially some information related to the military.
Haihan has always given excellent treatment to military personnel. In addition to preferential treatment in terms of naturalization, the conditions for retirement or casualty pensions are also very generous. For ace units like the special operations battalion, the wartime salary income of soldiers is even higher than that of civilian officials like Liu Shang. Coupled with various awards for military merit, soldiers can often save a sum of money when they retire. Considerable wealth.
The military service system currently implemented by Haihan is mainly based on recruitment. Ordinary troops can retire after serving for three years. However, special troops such as naval combat troops, special operations battalions, South China Sea special operations brigade, cavalry battalions, and snipers have long training cycles. , the overall investment is large, and you are exposed to more military secrets, so you will be required to serve in the military for at least five years before you can apply for retirement. Of course, special conditions such as injuries and illnesses are not included in this. When you retire, you will not only receive a retirement pension, but you will also be assigned a share of land, which is enough to ensure that soldiers can have a relatively stable source of living after retirement.
However, as long as they can get ahead during their service and have an official position, these soldiers will generally not choose to retire. After all, the salary of officers has been greatly improved compared to ordinary soldiers, and Haihan is constantly engaged in foreign wars. , it is not difficult for soldiers to climb up the ranks based on military merit. Being in a front-line unit such as a special operations battalion, there are quite a few opportunities to earn promotion capital for yourself on the battlefield.
Those who enter the special operations camp will almost always take Minami Takahashi as their example and goal. Although his rise to the top is partly due to the times that make him a hero, those who come after him do not pay too much attention to such details. Besides, the officers in the special operations battalion today all climb up from the ranks step by step. This is a fair promotion path for most people. Therefore, the withdrawal rate of the special operations battalion is quite low. Those who have served for more than five years Quite a lot indeed.
After Liu Shang finished reading the letter, the soldier got up and left with a lot of thanks, but Liu Shang estimated that he would immediately join the letter-writing queue after he went out. After reading seven or eight letters in this way, Sun Zhen went into the tent and chased the people away, asking the remaining soldiers to come tomorrow and letting Liu Shang and others rest early.
Liu Shang had drunk some wine earlier and was a little tired after using his brain so much, so he washed up and went to bed to rest.
The north and south gates of Lushun Fort are closed at night, so there is no need to worry about wild animals coming in at night, and there is no safety problem if you live in a tent. However, the thermal insulation performance of this tent is too poor. Although there is a small charcoal stove that stays on all night, it still feels cold when lying on the bed, and it takes a long time to slowly warm up.
Liu Shang was lying on the bed, listening to the snoring of everyone in the tent, and couldn't help but admire how these guys could fall asleep quickly in such a cold place. He was born in the south. When he was in Shandong, he already felt that the local climate was difficult to adapt to. After coming to Liaodong, he deeply understood what the word "winter" means in the north. The living environment in Lushun is far inferior to that in Shandong. In addition to the good food, the infrastructure is too rudimentary, and even winter heating is not well solved. It is no wonder that epidemics occur in the middle of winter.
Although he followed the arrangement and came to the snowy Liaodong from Sanya, to be honest, Liu Shang still didn't understand why Haihan had to spend a lot of resources to attack the Liaodong area. Although the Executive Committee stated that it wanted to help the Ming Dynasty and rescue the Han people in Liaodong who were bullied and enslaved by the Jin Dynasty, Liu Shangke did not believe that the Haihan people, who put profit first in everything, could be so kind and would go to the Ming Dynasty without openly asking for help. Send troops to fight in bitter and cold places thousands of miles away. What's more, judging from the current attitude of the Shandong government, they are not necessarily willing to accept Haihan, an uninvited guest, to help them resist foreign enemies. This is quite like putting a hot face on a cold butt.
Liu Shang believed that the Hou Jin Kingdom, which was not good at navigation, could not threaten Haihan, which had become a maritime hegemon in the south, and there was no direct conflict of interest between the two. If the purpose of marching into Liaodong is to benefit the Han population in Liaodong, then the Shen family in Pi Dao can be supported as an agent. Haihan has already had successful experience in this kind of thing in Fujian, and it should not be replicated again. It would be too difficult.
If it were for the land in Liaodong, Liu Shang thought it would be even more unnecessary. He realized a truth after his trip around Hainan Island. Haihan did not lack food, only people. Occupying too much land would have a negative impact on the current Hainan Island. It did not have much practical significance for the Han Dynasty. On the contrary, it was easy to weaken the dominance because the control area was too dispersed. The land in Liaodong is in a state where construction and farming are impossible for several months every year, which is not a good thing for Haihan who pays attention to infrastructure.
Liu Shang's vision limited the height at which he looked at the problem. Naturally, he did not expect that what Haihan's high-level officials were interested in was not a city and a pond, but a strategic layout that would influence the situation in the entire Northeast Asia region in a few years. In fact, the Han people in Liaodong and the land are not the primary issues considered by the Haihan Executive Committee. Using Liaodong and Shandong to form a clampdown on the Bohai Sea and the Yellow Sea, and establishing a bridgehead to control the Northeast Asian coast after occupying strategic locations, these are more important. The ambitious goal is the main reason why Haihan took military actions in this area. Even though it may take many years to achieve this situation, Haihan senior officials will continue to promote military and colonial operations in the Liaodong region.
Liu Shang did not have such a grand map in his mind, and he did not understand that Haihan wanted not only the Liaodong Peninsula, but also the vast sea area adjacent to it. Haihan did not trust his agents to complete these matters, just like Haihan supported Xu Xinsu in Fujian, but he still spent a lot of time clearing out Taiwan Island and Penghu as his own. Haihan will never hand over control of strategically important areas and sea areas to others.
Of course, in addition to considerations of geographical strategic location, another important reason is political considerations. Haihan, who has mastered the historical process, does not want the Ming Dynasty to fall under the iron heel of the Later Jin Dynasty, and the Han government will control the mainland. This has special meaning for the time travelers who are in charge of Haihan. But Liu Shang doesn't know and can't understand this special emotion, so he will probably never understand why Haihan did such a seemingly unreasonable thing.
While Liu Shang was lying on the bed, Morgan was gathering Gao Qiaonan and other officers for a meeting to discuss how to launch a reconnaissance operation against the Golden State Isthmus area in the near future.
The purpose of Morgan bringing the sniper team to Lushun was to use combat as training, and to hone his subordinates who lacked combat experience in the Northland on a real battlefield, including himself. For the Haihan Army, the experience of fighting in this area is still extremely lacking. Even if the Haihan Army seems to have the upper hand in several previous confrontations, it does not mean that the troops have adapted to the environment here.
In fact, not long after the battle with Houjin ended, epidemics began to appear in the special operations battalion staying in Lushun. If the war continued for another ten days and a half, it would be difficult to predict the direction of the situation. The Hou Jin Army's ability to adapt to the Liaodong region was far superior to that of Haihan. Although it was a bit stunned by Haihan's three-axe attack in the previous confrontation, it did not lose its ability to counterattack. If the Haihan Army cannot summarize an effective combat method as soon as possible, then the offensive after the beginning of spring may not be able to proceed smoothly.
There are several fire pits lit in the conference room to keep the indoor temperature at a relatively warm level. Morgan had already taken off his heavy coat and stood in front of the map of the Liaodong Peninsula to explain his plan to the officers.
"... You have been exploring this mountainous area northeast of Lushun Fort for two months. You must be very familiar with the terrain and environment, so I plan to lead the sniper team to adapt to the mountainous area for a period of time, and then see if it depends on the situation. Continue to move north. Battalion Commander Takahashi, it should be okay if you send me some experts who are familiar with the terrain, right?”
Takahashi Minami felt Morgan's gaze, and quickly stood up and responded: "I will fully cooperate with the leader!" Morgan gestured for Takahashi Minami to sit down, and then continued: "The combat effectiveness that snipers can exert must be The degree is linked to logistical support. Snipers are generally lightly armed when operating in the field, and the ammunition, food and survival materials they can carry are relatively limited, so their activity radius is basically centered on the supply point. Of course, supply points can also operate within a radius of about forty miles like the soldiers of the special operations battalion. However, the special operations battalion can use horses to carry supplies, but the sniper's combat method excludes such conditions. For them, A larger radius of activity means that we need to carry more survival supplies, so I hope to establish a forward position somewhere in the mountainous area and push the supply point northward to provide better logistical support for the snipers." br>
Takahashi Nan replied with understanding: "We have already mastered at least two such locations, both centered on the water source. When we were confronting the Hou Jin Army in the mountainous area, the fighting around the water source never stopped for almost a day. . Mastering the water source in the mountainous area will give you control over the area. If the chief wants to locate the supply point in the mountainous area, then Beizhi believes that the water source will be a more suitable choice. ”
Under Morgan's instruction, these two water sources were quickly identified on the map. One was a ravine near the east coastline of the Liaodong Peninsula, and the other was located on the northern edge of the mountainous area, near the plain bordering the Jinzhou Isthmus. Morgan took a rough look at the location and selected the latter as the main supply point for the snipers during their operations because this place was almost exactly at the midpoint between Fort Lushun and the Jinzhou Isthmus, which could fully guarantee the snipers' departure. Supplies after mountainous areas.
"Tell me about the situation in this place." Morgan didn't waste any time and immediately asked Takahashi Minami for detailed information.
Gao Qiaonan responded: "This place is actually a mountain lake. There used to be several villages around it. However, after Hou Jin occupied Jinzhou, the people in these places were reduced to slaves and were kidnapped by Hou Jin one after another. Across the mountain ridge from the north bank of the lake is the plain area. Hou Jin's patrol troops will not enter the mountains, but they are more active in the plains outside the mountains. People will usually be sent there for rotation in about three days.”
Morgan nodded and said: "When is the next rotation?"
"Two days later."
"If the local epidemic situation stabilizes in two days, I will lead a team on a trip." Morgan made an immediate decision.
Regarding the specific arrangements for the operation, there were still many details that needed to be discussed slowly. The meeting lasted until midnight before it ended. In the next two days, all personnel involved in this operation will enter a state of preparation.
Starting from the second day, the military doctors and doctors who came with the team began to devote themselves to their work. On the one hand, it is necessary to organize personnel to carry out all-round disinfection of the isolation area and check whether the isolation measures have met the requirements set by Morgan; on the other hand, medical staff have begun to conduct consultations with patients in the isolation area to identify serious illnesses that are difficult to cure locally. They will be transported to the seaside and put on a ship, and then returned to Shandong for treatment.
This time the fleet brought a large amount of medicinal materials, and the doctors no longer had to worry about the prescriptions they prescribed remaining on paper in a short time. Although Morgan is not good at using Chinese medicinal materials to treat the disease, he believes that his judgment on the epidemic will not be too biased. As long as isolation and treatment measures are taken, this small-scale epidemic will not continue to rage and cause about as much trouble to the garrison. It will be terminated soon.
Liu Shang and Qin Wei were still not freed from the task of reading the letter. Since the doctors were all engaged in formal work today, they had to do even the letter writing. Qin Wei had no complaints about this, and just received the soldiers who came for help one by one.
After finally taking a break at noon, Liu Shang dropped his pen and stretched his wrist. He smiled bitterly and said to Tan Wei, "My hand is almost broken, but Brother Tan is so relaxed and at ease. Is there some secret to it?"
Qin Wei said solemnly: "Nothing but familiarity. To be honest with Brother Liu, when I first joined the army and served as a errand, I was a full-time ghostwriter in the army. My daily errand was to write letters home for the soldiers. More When I was young, I had to write thirty or forty letters a day"
Liu Shang was stunned for a moment, then laughed out loud: "No wonder you are so skilled, it turns out you are an old professional! I admire you!"
Qin Wei waved his hand and said: "Anyway, I am idle. It is also Qin's duty to do something for these brothers who are away from home. Brother Liu, in fact, he writes family letters and reads letters for the soldiers. The same It is also part of the political propaganda. As long as we work hard, this is also a place where you and I can shine.”
Liu Shanglian claimed that it was because he thought that Tan Wei had such a high level of consciousness, no wonder he could serve as a political cadre in the army.
(End of chapter)