Chapter 1494 The struggle for power
Azig does not have as many twists and turns as Geng Zhongming. He has only two goals at the moment. One is to defeat the Haihan Army and expel these uninvited guests from Liaodong; the other is to give Geng Zhongming some pain, preferably with Making some accusations will make Huang Taiji lose trust in this Han general and destroy his status as a favorite.
To achieve these two points, Azig certainly could not be upstaged by Geng Zhongming, who had just arrived in Jinzhou. Therefore, when Geng Zhongming asked him for relevant battle reports and information, he indeed laid an ambush and deceived the opponent. However, Azig didn't think there was anything wrong with what he did. In his opinion, Geng Zhongming was just a Han surrendered general, but he could hold command on an equal footing with him and enjoy the treatment of a Manchu general. This was unreasonable. And what I did was just to pull this deviation back to the right direction.
Geng Zhongming's troops could not defeat the Haihan army, which suited Azig's wishes. Anyway, most of Geng Zhongming's troops were Han. Even if all of these people died, Azig would not feel distressed. But Geng Zhongming wanted to avoid fighting. No matter what his purpose was, Azig would never let him succeed.
As for the intelligence analysis and tactical changes Geng Zhongming asked the messenger to bring, Azig was not interested in listening to his explanation. Does it matter what the Haihan people want to do? People have already knocked on the door, and the top priority is to summon a large army to drive these southerners out of Liaodong. It is best to kill them all. As for giving in, this word has never existed in Azig's dictionary, and he believed that Huang Taiji would never choose to give in to the enemy.
The strategies that Geng Zhongming came up with to deal with the enemy seemed to Azig to be cowardly and afraid of war. This was obviously Dajin's territory, so why should we tolerate the invaders? There are only a few thousand Haihan soldiers south of the Jinzhou Isthmus. If the elites from all the domestic banners are mobilized to Jinzhou, they can at least raise an army of 100,000. Is it still impossible to defeat them?
Azig ordered to beat Geng Zhongming's messenger with twenty military sticks, just to show his attitude that he would never choose to compromise with Haihan, and he would not agree with Geng Zhongming's appeasement methods. Of course, if possible, he would like to arrest Geng Zhongming and beat him up directly, so that the Han man can figure out who he is working for. It's a pity that Huang Taiji's order handed over the combat command of Jinzhou to Geng Zhongming. Even Azig had to temporarily obey this "unreasonable" order. Although he would not follow Geng Zhongming's arrangement, he really could not Directly break up with each other.
Haihan was not aware of the overt and covert struggles in the Houjin camp over combat command. After counting the results, the combat troops were withdrawn to Sujiapu for rest and recuperation. Although Bai Kesi is not too satisfied with the military's combat consumption situation, with the enemy at hand, he can only try his best to meet the needs of the military at this time and allow the rear to step up the transportation of combat supplies.
The two business groups waiting in Sujiapu were finally received by Bai Kesi that night. Except for Li Nai, it was basically the first time for everyone else to deal with a senior Haihan official of Bai Kesi's level. According to their understanding, Bai Kesi, who serves on the Haihan Executive Committee, is almost the same level of official as the Ming Dynasty's cabinet bachelor. Moreover, there is no emperor in Haihan, and the ones in charge are just a few people on the executive committee. The executive committee holds even greater power than the Grand Master of the Ming Dynasty Cabinet.
Of course, if you can see a senior Haihan official of Bai Kesi's level in a place like Liaodong, as long as you are not a fool, you can understand how much Haihan's senior officials value Liaodong. And Bai Kesi's personal appearance was undoubtedly a greater reassurance for them than Sha Xi, whom they had met before.
"Everyone has seen the battle between our army and the Jin army on the battlefield today. What do you think?" Bai Kesi asked pleasantly.
"The Haihan army is invincible in the world and is well-deserved. That golden thief is simply vulnerable to your army!"
"Golden thieves are known for being fierce and warlike. I didn't expect that when I saw them today, they were like chickens and dogs in the hands of your army. I think they will be able to attack Huanglong in the near future and break the golden thieves' lair!"
This group of businessmen are all well-informed and knowledgeable people, and they are indeed full of enthusiasm on the battlefield today. They are all sparing no effort to tout the combat power of the Haihan Army. Bai Kesi just smiled and said nothing. What he wanted to hear was not this kind of blind praise of the Haihan Army. It depends on who can understand his thoughts first.
Apart from Li Nai, who had been instructed in advance not to take the lead in expressing his stance at this time, He Li was probably the first to react. After everyone's flattery came to an end, he said: "Your country's army is very powerful. I believe that with its troops stationed at the Jinzhou Isthmus defense line in the future, we can safely and boldly start construction in these places in the south. We don't need to worry about it. What are the risks involved in Liaodong investment transactions? In a few years, this place will be another paradise under the rule of Haihan! ”
He Li's words were indeed what Bai Ke thought he heard, and he immediately responded: "What Boss He said makes sense. In addition to attacking the Jin people and rescuing the Han compatriots, the troops we deployed in Liaodong also have a The most important task is to ensure that the area south of the Jinzhou Isthmus can become a safe and livable place. All future business investments in Liaodong will be under the protection of the Haihan Army and there will be no security problems. "
Only then did everyone suddenly realize that you wanted to bring up this topic. The inspection of the front line was originally intended to reassure businessmen to invest, but after watching the battle between the two armies today, I was so excited that I temporarily forgot that my real mission here was to inspect the safety of the investment environment.
At the moment, no one would be ignorant to question whether the Haihan Army can guard this area for a long time, but since Bai Kesi has made a commitment, and these businessmen have long been prepared to participate in the development of Liaodong, this conversation is Seems happy.
Bai Kesi has naturally known about some of the investment projects prepared by the Ministry of Commerce, Ministry of Agriculture, Ministry of Shipping and other departments for the development of Liaodong. However, Sha Xi is responsible for the specific signing and follow-up arrangements here. Bai Kesi is only at present. At this stage, it is only responsible for endorsing the development of Liaodong. With his status in Haihan official circles, businessmen would obviously be more accepting of him if he came out and said a few words. After all, for a big shot at this level, what he said was considered to be gold-plated.
As for the competition issue that businessmen are most concerned about, Bai Kesi also made a commitment on behalf of the executive committee: "All investment projects will be conducted openly, and we will not restrict everyone's investment intentions in Liaodong. As long as in the projects announced by us, everyone will All can compete fairly, and there is no need to worry about any geographical restrictions we have.”
With this promise, the merchants' worries were basically put back in their stomachs. The projects prepared by Haihan basically have good profit prospects, and all they need to do is invest funds and manpower in Liaodong, and operate these projects to cooperate with the implementation of Haihan's overall development plan in Liaodong. Early the next morning, business groups from both places began to pack up and evacuate south. Haihan has already arranged for them to see what they need to see, and Bai Kesi has already made the necessary commitments on behalf of the executive committee. There are still some details that need to be bargained over, and they have to go back to Lushun to slowly argue with Sha Xi. .
While things were going smoothly on Haihan's side, the contradictions in Houjin's camp had become increasingly acute. Although Geng Zhongming expected that Azig would not cooperate with his idea, using a military stick to deal with the messenger he sent over so simply and crudely was clearly a deliberate slap in the face. Although Geng Zhongming knew that his status was not comparable to that of Azig, it was inevitable that he would be angry because of it.
Geng Zhongming just wanted to try to change the current passive situation of Houjin, but Azig deliberately held back, making it impossible for him to implement his ideas. When looking for responsibility afterwards, he will most likely have to take the blame for Azig. After all, Huang Taiji temporarily appointed him to be responsible for the battle command in the Jinzhou area. If the battle continues to be defeated, the responsibility will definitely fall on him.
"It's painful!" Geng Zhongming couldn't lead his troops into Jinzhou City to settle matters with Azig, so he could only hold back his voice and complain secretly.
When Huang Taiji gave him this task earlier, Geng Zhongming thought that he might have a good opportunity to make a contribution, but when he arrived in Jinzhou, he realized that it was not at all what he thought. How could it be possible to win such a battle with an opponent so powerful that it was almost invincible, coupled with pig teammates who would only hold him back?
If Azige doesn't cooperate, Geng Zhongming can only resort to another trick. Anyway, as long as he doesn't take the initiative to fight, the possibility of defeat will be greatly reduced. And Haihan seemed to have maintained a wonderful tacit understanding with him. In the next two days, he did not organize large troops to leave the isthmus defense line and take the initiative to attack. Of course, this is not the actual situation. Haihan only deliberately slowed down the combat pace to allow the rear baggage enough time to transport combat materials to the front line.
On the third day, someone finally became unable to sit still. This person is not from Haihan, nor is he Geng Zhongming, but Azige who is based in Jinzhou. Seeing that there was no new movement after the truce for three days, he sent people to Geng Zhongming's camp and asked him to lead his army to attack immediately. He could not give the Haihan army such a long time to rest.
The current situation was exactly what Geng Zhongming needed. How could he follow Azig's instructions and take the initiative to send troops to attack the isthmus defense line. But Azig has spoken, and there must be an explanation to deal with it. Geng Zhongming was so anxious that he simply said he couldn't afford it because he was ill. He didn't even see Azige's envoy and sent him back to the city. Of course, he didn't have the guts to arrest the other party's messenger and beat him with twenty army sticks. If he did, Azig would probably lead his troops out of the city to fight with him.
Azig didn't know that this guy was pretending to be ill, but he also knew that even if he sent troops, he would not be able to get a favor from the Haihan Army. The result would be just another increase in the number of defeats. As a result, the Hou Jin camp showed a very strange situation. The Manchu flag stationed in Jinzhou City and the Han army flag stationed five miles outside the city, for some strange reasons, invariably chose to attack Haihan. Unilateral ceasefire.
Such a strange situation was naturally noticed by General Haihan, but based on the intelligence at hand, they could not have imagined that the strange situation of the Hou Jin Army was caused by internal strife among its generals. Even a battle-hardened veteran like Qian Tiandun had begun to wonder if Hou Jin was plotting some big operation to deal with the Haihan Army. For example, more troops from other states could be mobilized to Jinzhou to attack the Jinzhou Isthmus defense line, which is still under construction, with an absolute strength advantage.
Five days after the armistice, Wang Tom was probably the only general in the Haihan camp who maintained a relaxed attitude. His plan was straightforward: "It doesn't matter which way he comes, I will only go all the way! We will follow the previously formulated battle plan. The navy will go directly to the north to land. We will capture the people when we need them. We will attack the city when we need to attack it. As long as we If the enemy's rear is in chaos, it will be difficult for them to concentrate their troops and resources to fight in Jinzhou."
Qian Tiandun said: "Don't underestimate the strength of Houjin. After all, they are a country. If they really want to mobilize for war, I think it is not impossible to gather an army of more than 100,000 to fight in Jinzhou. After all, According to the original history, the number of troops that Huang Taiji personally mobilized to attack North Korea this year exceeded 100,000. Now that North Korea cannot be defeated, it is reasonable to use them against us. "
"If the Houjin armistice is really preparing for a larger-scale military operation, what should we do?" Morgan raised a question that must be faced squarely.
The overall reconstruction project of the Isthmus defense line will take at least several months to be completed. If Hou Jin really forces tens of thousands of troops to attack this defense line during this period, the defensive pressure on the Haihan Army will become very great. Even if the garrison is equipped with advanced weapons with excellent performance, the ammunition consumption of high-intensity warfare will make logistical supplies unsustainable. Once the isthmus defense line is breached by the enemy, all previous efforts, including various plans to develop the Liaodong colony, will immediately come to nothing.
what to do? For the Haihan generals sitting on the front line, this is really a difficult decision to make immediately. A decisive battle with Hou Jin was not what Haihan wanted. A long-term and continuous bloodletting battle was what Haihan wanted. But if the situation really develops in a direction that Haihan does not want to see, then it may be necessary to prepare a combat plan for a large-scale battle in advance, as well as a follow-up response plan.
The Haihan Army relies heavily on ammunition and other combat supplies. If the logistics supplies cannot keep up with the consumption of combat and the troops lose ammunition supplies, then the only thing these thousands of troops can do is to withdraw from Liaodong as soon as possible to preserve their strength. But neither the army nor the navy would be happy to see such a day happen.
(End of chapter)