Chapter 1488 The power to fight back
When Haihan fought against pirates and Western countries along the coast of Fuguang, he actually relied on the base of the Ming Dynasty. He needed people and ships, but Haihan only acted as a vanguard and the final word on the battlefield. But if we really need to carefully analyze the battlefield situation at that time, without the logistical support from the Ming Dynasty, it would not be easy for Haihan to defeat his opponents who had a geographical advantage at that time. This is exactly what Haihan's army is currently facing in the Liaodong region. One of the biggest difficulties.
When fighting along the coast of the Ming Dynasty, the local government was willing to support Haihan because of relatively clear interests. In particular, Xu Xinsu, who had been under the threat of force from Shibazhi, was already in a desperate state at that time. If he wanted to protect himself, he could only follow Haihan to kill Shibazhi, and he would naturally try his best to arrange logistical affairs for Haihan. After attacking the Dutch and Spanish on Taiwan Island, Fuguang merchants received many promises from Haihan in advance and would give them many preferential treatment during the development of Taiwan Island in return. Only by mobilizing civilian forces to participate in logistics would the results be excellent.
But the situation in the north is a little different. Because it is too far away from the mainland, Haihan's business foundation here is far inferior to that in the south. If they want to mobilize civilian forces to be responsible for wartime logistics supply, the transportation capacity simply cannot meet the requirements of the military. . Even after opening up a new world in Liaodong, Haihan still needs to rely on its own transportation capacity to undertake most of the personnel and transportation tasks. The local shipping industry in Shandong recovered very slowly after the Denglai Rebellion, and the government also expressed explicitly or covertly that they did not want Haihan to get involved in Shandong's shipping industry, so they chose to recruit carriers from the south instead of the nearest. Such measures taken by merchants.
Therefore, the Jiangsu and Zhejiang merchants were not as understanding of Haihan's move to recruit investors in Liaodong as the Fuguang merchants were, because they lacked the experience of fighting side by side with Haihan's army and did not fully understand the nature of this kind of colonial investment. What Haihan wants is not just the liquidity and maritime transport capacity they have on hand, but more importantly, letting them invest these resources in Liaodong in order to quickly integrate this overseas enclave into Haihan's social system. Arranging for them to visit Liaodong is naturally to give them more confidence, but this part is not so important to Fuguang merchants. They have a much deeper understanding of Haihan's strength and Haihan's The confidence is also far better than that of its counterparts in Jiangsu and Zhejiang.
The Hou Jin Cavalry's offensive didn't have much new ideas. It was just that they were much more cautious after suffering losses many times. They did not pounce directly, but chose to wander back and forth around the periphery in a more dispersed formation, trying to mobilize Haihan. There are holes in the defense line, and then try to launch an assault. This tactic was quite effective when used on the Ming army. After all, the Ming army's weapons had a much shorter range and the area they could defend was more limited. A slight pressure from the Houjin cavalry would expose flaws in their formation. However, the weapons of the Haihan Army had a long range and were very lethal. Before the Houjin Cavalry even entered the distance that could create a threat, the officers in the formation were already being sniped to death by bullets flying from nowhere.
As a result, it would be very difficult for the Houjin Army to organize a decent offensive. Either charge directly, or retreat to the rear as early as possible. Haihan's side only needs to keep the current defensive formation unchanged, and long-range firepower alone is enough to suppress the position.
In fact, before Hou Jin's first thousand-man team could reach the distance to launch an attack, the artillery in the Haihan Formation had already fired first, and the artillery shells immediately tore open several bloody paths in the formation. Then the rain of bullets fired from the rifles came immediately, knocking down the Houjin cavalry on horseback in rows. For a moment, the horses neighed and the men fell on their backs. Houjin's offensive immediately stalled, but the spectators on Haihan's side were already cheering loudly.
For the merchants watching the battle, no matter what their stance was, it was a pleasant thing to see the Haihan army slaughtering the Houjin barbarians outside the pass with their own eyes. Although the direct victims of Hou Jin's march south were not the people present, the imperial court has levied more and more so-called "Liao pay" from the southern region in recent years, and they also contributed a lot of money, but the Ming army has been After suffering a defeat in the war, this anger is actually held in the hearts of every Mingren. Haihan and Ming Dynasty have a lot of trade exchanges, but the two countries have not officially established diplomatic relations, and they are not true allies. But now that they have a common enemy, Houjin, it naturally makes the merchants feel that the distance has become closer. A lot.
The Haihan Army was able to do what the Ming Army wanted to do but had been unable to do. This made the Ming merchants excited and became more intimate with this army. In fact, they knew very well that a considerable proportion of these soldiers were immigrants from the Ming Dynasty. However, when these people came under the command of Haihan, their combat effectiveness was far beyond that of the Ming army. This made the businessmen feel envious, but also very lucky that they had good vision. Hug this thigh.
The troops invested by the Hou Jin Army in the attack had a clear advantage, at least three times that of the Haihan Army, and they included a large number of cavalry. However, the advantage of mobility failed to turn into victory on the battlefield. In the face of the absolute gap in tactics and weapons, this advantage seemed to disappear. In front of the awaiting Haihan army, the Houjin cavalry could only use their lives to repeatedly prove that the body could not withstand guns.
"Ajige is really stubborn!" Qian Tiandun looked at the Houjin Cavalry who kept falling in the hail of bullets in the distance and sighed: "The same tactics are beaten every time, and if he keeps using them, he will I am not afraid that Huang Taiji will lose his patience and withdraw him!”
Harugong sat upright on the horse and responded in a deep voice: "If he fights like this, there should be no other way. If he avoids fighting, some people in the country will definitely say that he is afraid of fighting. If he fights but can't win, he will always be defeated." It sounds better than not daring to fight. One is lack of ability, and the other is lack of courage. For a general, the latter charge is obviously more serious. "
Qian Tiandun nodded slightly and said: "That makes sense, but I don't know how long they can endure it if they keep bleeding Hou Jin. The only troops that Hou Jin can fight are the Eight Banners of Manchuria, the Two Banners of Mongolia, and the One Banner of the Han Army. We After fighting in Liaodong for so long, at least one banner’s troops should have been crippled.”
"At least this year they should not have any spare energy to attack North Korea." Harugong said: "The North Korean envoy can see with his own eyes that we beat the Jin army, and the subsequent negotiations should be smoother."
Among the people traveling under their protection today, in addition to the two southern business groups on the surface, they also secretly arranged for an envoy from North Korea. However, because his identity was sensitive and it was difficult for the outside world to know, they simply pretended to be Qian Tiandun's accompanying officers followed him nearby.
In the original history, Huang Taiji would proclaim himself emperor in the first half of this year, name the country "Great Qing", change the Yuan Dynasty to Chongde, and change the clan name Jurchen to Manchuria. Then in the second half of the year, he would use the excuse of "North Korea's defeat of the alliance and rebellion against fate" , sent troops to attack him. This battle directly transformed North Korea from a vassal state of the Ming Dynasty to a vassal state of the Qing Dynasty. It also captured Pidao and killed Shen Shikui, the commander-in-chief of Dongjiang Town.
Of course, due to Haihan's active intervention in this time and space, the original historical trajectory has been greatly changed. Dongjiang Town can no longer be destroyed by Azig, and Huang Taiji's plan to change the Yuan Dynasty and proclaim himself emperor, and to conquer North Korea, etc. They were all forced to stop because of Haihan's actions in Liaodong.
Haihan got in touch with the North Korean King Li Zhu through his connections in Dongjiang Town. Li Zhu came to power through a palace coup. Originally, the Ming Dynasty had always regarded him as usurping the throne and would not grant him the throne. Later, with the help of Mao Wenlong, who was the commander-in-chief of Dongjiang Town at the time, in the fourth year of Tianqi, that is, in 1624, after he ascended the throne, he officially accepted the canonization of the Ming Dynasty and became the legal king of Korea. However, North Korea's national power was weak and it was caught in a dilemma between the Ming Dynasty and Hou Jin Dynasty. After Ding Mao's chaos in 1627, North Korea, which was beaten by Hou Jin and had no power to fight back, could only reach an alliance with Hou Jin on Ganghwa Island and become brothers. country. At this time, North Korea and the Ming Dynasty still maintained a vassal relationship and paid tribute to the Ming Dynasty. In 1635, the Later Jin Dynasty asked Li Zhu to take the initiative to persuade Huang Taiji to proclaim himself emperor. Li Zhu was worried about the reaction of the Ming Dynasty and refused this request, causing the relationship between the two countries to suddenly become tense.
The Bingzi Rebellion that was originally going to break out in 1636 has been eliminated by Haihan, and Huang Taiji's plan to lead an army of 120,000 to conquer North Korea can no longer be implemented. However, the North Koreans did not have a clear understanding of the huge role Haihan played in this process. They only vaguely knew that Dongjiang Town had a big and thick leg and received far more assistance than what was given by the Ming Dynasty. Shen Shikui, the commander-in-chief of Dongjiang Town, also personally contacted the Korean King Li Zhu, hoping that he could send an envoy to Liaodong secretly to inspect the combat status of the Dongjiang Army and this new ally to jointly attack Houjin.
North Korea's original alliance with Hou Jin was a helpless move. Of course, it was closer to the Ming Dynasty. And Li Jian also knew that the Ming Dynasty and Hou Jin were mortal enemies, and they fought continuously. As for the armed forces that had recently joined forces with Dongjiang Town to fight in Liaodong, it was said that they were also from Han families, so they were in the same camp as the Ming Dynasty, so for Dongjiang Town sent an envoy to Liaodong without much doubt about the invitation.
Of course, the Haihan military did not expect to be able to easily persuade North Korea to break away from its alliance with Houjin and Ming Dynasty and join its own camp. The military just hoped to make the North Korean king realize that in Northeast Asia, apart from Houjin and Ming Dynasty, In addition, there is now a powerful armed force that cannot be ignored. As for whether we will be friends or rivals in the future, it depends on whether North Korea understands current affairs.
It happened that the Fuguang Merchant Group also arrived at the Haihan front line at this time. After Qian Tiandun and others discussed it, they simply arranged for all these people to be sent to the front line together, so as to avoid repeated troubles.
The fierce offensive of the Hou Jin Army did not pose much threat to the Haihan Army. Under the continuous bombardment, the cavalry charge was quickly broken up, and the lucky ones who were not affected turned their horses around as quickly as possible. Away from the battlefield. One of the biggest improvements made by the Later Jin Army compared to the past is that they give up decisively when they find it difficult to break through the opponent's defense, instead of putting all their forces on the line like before, and then ending up with nothing back.
Therefore, Hou Jin's offensive was nothing more than thunder and light rain. Although he had assembled about 3,000 troops, he actually only suffered casualties of about 200 of the first batch of cavalry, and they retreated voluntarily. The biggest loss they can cause to the Haihan Army is probably the consumption of a considerable amount of ammunition. Even in this brief confrontation, the Haihan Army had already fired seventy or eighty rounds of artillery shells, and the number of bullets had already exceeded a thousand rounds. If the cost of ammunition is only averaged to the number of enemies killed, then the cost of killing a Houjin soldier is already considerable, and even the Ming Dynasty may not be able to afford such high military expenditures.
Qian Tiandun does not care about military expenditures, but he must control the consumption of ammunition properly, because these ammunition can only be manufactured in Sanya. It is too inconvenient for the troops stationed in Liaodong to supply. Once excessive consumption may lead to the loss of combat troops on the entire defense line, There was a shortage of ammunition. So when he saw that the enemy troops began to retreat, he did not order any more pursuit, but asked the troops to cease fire and stand by.
"Alas! These wild boar skins are so cowardly. They were so scared that they shrank away after so many people died!" Liu Shang shook his fist fiercely, as if he was also a member of the Haihan Army. He often heard Haihan generals use "boar skin" as a nickname for the post-Jin army, so he would use this title from time to time to show his consistency with Haihan senior officials.
He Li, who was next to him, chimed in: "Yes, the soldiers of the Haihan Army must have just warmed up. It seems that the golden thief still knew himself and took the initiative to withdraw."
After He Li spoke, the remaining businessmen from Jiangsu and Zhejiang also followed suit, praising the Haihan army for their bravery in fighting and defeating the enemy without any power to fight back. The Fuguang merchants were a little disapproving. They secretly thought that these Jiangsu and Zhejiang guys had never seen the world. Back then, Shibazhi had the same guns and cannons as the red-haired people, but they were beaten so hard by the Haihan army that they could not hold their heads up. These barbarians outside the Pass They only know how to use swords and bows on horseback, so of course they will die if they run into the Haihan army equipped with muskets and artillery. It's a pity that this battle was fought too quickly. As soon as the two sides clashed, Houjin's side was already defeated, which was really not enjoyable to watch.
However, the Jin Army did not seem to be planning to give up after today. After the cavalry withdrew, they began to regroup in the distance. It seemed that there would be another wave of offensive.
Qian Tiandun also noticed the enemy's abnormal behavior. After picking up a telescope and observing carefully, he finally discovered some clues: "Azig has moved out all the things he needs to look after his house!"
Harugong had also seen the enemy's movements from the field of view of the telescope, and responded in a deep voice: "I can't believe they dare to have such an arrangement!"
Li Nai took a telescope and looked again and again, but he didn't find the vision they said. He asked anxiously: "What are the two chiefs talking about?"
(End of chapter)