Chapter 1512 Show off force
However, Mei Shengchuan immediately realized another problem. Since the people of Dongjiang Town fought side by side with the Haihan Army in Liaodong, they must have seen or even come into contact with these powerful weapons of Haihan. How could they send the information to the capital? The details of these weapons are not clear, and they are all mentioned briefly. Is Shen Shikui, the commander-in-chief of Dongjiang Town, deliberately concealing the military information related to Haihan? If so, what is the reason and purpose of Dongjiang Town's doing this? Are they still loyal to the Ming Dynasty, or are they hugging Haihan so much that they even change their stance? Mei Sheng Chuan couldn't help but feel a little headache when he thought about this series of questions.
After watching the army drill in the morning and having a brief lunch, the afternoon trip was about the navy drill. Of course, Mei Shengchuan understood that this arrangement was not entirely friendly. The Haihan people clearly wanted to scare themselves by showing off their force. But even if he knew the other party's plan, he could not refuse such an arrangement. In public, he had to understand Haihan's military strength in this way and collect relevant intelligence for Ming Dynasty. In private, he did have a strong curiosity and wanted to We must know how many secret weapons Haihan has that are not known to outsiders.
The changing of the guard fleet that just arrived in Lushun consists of six exploration-class warships, four expedition-class warships, four comprehensive supply ships, two troop carriers and two high-speed reconnaissance ships. Although there is no "majestic" flagship in the formation, such a lineup is enough to make Umeikawa sigh. After the Denglai Rebellion, there was no longer a fully-organized naval force in the Bohai Bay area in the north of the Ming Dynasty, and Haihan's armed fleet was obviously in much better condition.
In fact, there are not too many officers from the Ming Dynasty who have visited the Haihan Navy drills. There are very few senior officers above the rank of General Qian in the coastal prefectures of Fujian and Guangzhou provinces who have not seen the power of the Haihan Navy. Whenever Haihan conducts military exercises along the coast of Fujian and Guangzhou, or even in the South China Sea, he will invite military officers from various states to visit. However, after this military information reached the state level, it was terminated here with a tacit understanding, and was not fed back to the Ministry of War through official formal channels. Although spy organizations such as Jinyiwei and Dongchang have more or less collected some military intelligence, the level of detail and credibility is far from enough to attract the attention of the court and the Ministry of War, and many of them were deliberately released by Haihan. misleading information.
Therefore, under Haihan's intentional control, the military intelligence mastered by Ming Dynasty showed a very strange situation. On the one hand, it was very clear about Haihan's record. Who was defeated in what year, month, and where? Every one of them has Detailed battle reports; on the other hand, the weapons used by Haihan, the warships equipped, the status of ammunition used, and the specific tactics used by Haihan's army in the battle are completely unclear, and there is not much certainty. The specific data of the letter.
As a result, the Ming court's impression of Haihan's military strength remained at the level of being victorious and undefeated for a long time, but it did not have much specific military intelligence. In this way, when the Ming court wanted to use troops against Haihan, when it tried to formulate a battle plan, it would find that the valuable information for reference was limited, and it was simply not enough to formulate a complete and thorough battle plan. In addition, due to various interests considerations, local officials would not cooperate well with the imperial court's intention to raise troops against Haihan. Therefore, the situation in the south was delayed again and again. Finally, when the imperial court realized that Haihan was in power, When the controlled area in the south can no longer be disintegrated simply through local battles, the option of going to war can no longer be used as an active option for the Ming Dynasty.
From an intelligence point of view, this is actually a special way of combat, but when Ming Dynasty realized this, Haihan had already completely taken the initiative on the battlefield. As a current senior official of the Ministry of War, Mei Shengchuan naturally understands what Ming's difficulties are. It's not that he has never thought about breaking this vicious circle, but he just suffers from the fact that there is no one in the south who can be fully trusted to complete such a task. In the past, some military attachés tried to trick the Haihan military to obtain military intelligence. However, the lives of these brave attempters mostly ended in accidental death or mysterious disappearance. As time went by, more and more people chose rationally. To get money instead of risking your life.
However, Mei Shengchuan wanted to take advantage of this opportunity to visit Liaodong and try to see if he could not only get money, but also collect interesting military information. He considered himself as the Minister of War, and he could be regarded as the envoy who came to discuss the establishment of diplomatic relations between the two countries on behalf of the Ming Dynasty. Even if the Haihan people realized that his intentions were not so simple, they would not do anything to embarrass him.
And now that the Haihan people have arranged this kind of review event on their own, for Mei Shengchuan, it is as comfortable as sleeping on a pillow. Immediately, he happily took the carriage to Lushun Port and boarded the sailboat arranged by the Haihan military.
The maritime combat drills of the Haihan Navy basically have fixed routines, especially the drills that are specially shown to outsiders. They are as lively as they come. The high-speed march of the combat queue and the firing of artillery are enough to make people who have not experienced naval battles. People's blood is pumping.
It just so happened that Umeikawa was an official who had never participated in a naval battle. Although the live ammunition fire of the Haihan warship was only aimed at the coast, it was not difficult for Umeikawa to imagine that a Ming warship was ravaged by such artillery fire. What a tragedy it will be next. Dongjiang Town stated in the secret report that "the Haihan warship can defeat a hundred at sea, and defeat the enemy like chopping melons and vegetables." Now it seems that this description is not entirely a boast. Wouldn't an ordinary wooden warship, under such artillery bombardment, be like a dish on the chopping board?
"Our navy has already equipped hundreds of warships like this." Sha Xi gave Umeikawa another blow at the right time. In fact, the Haihan Navy has not reached such a large scale at present. Sha Xi's words are actually suspected of bragging. Of course, if troop transports, supply ships, and reconnaissance ships are all included in the warships, it would make sense.
Mei Shengchuan calculated in his mind that such a fleet would have to mobilize several times the number of warships to have a chance to fight a 50-50 battle. However, he heard that this was not the most powerful warship of the Haihan Navy, but he did not know what the so-called warships were. What exactly is the existence of the Haihan Battleship of the Sea Butcher?
As if he had seen through Mei Shengchuan's doubts, Sha Xi continued to introduce him: "As for the flagship of our Northern Fleet, the Majesty, it has been out on combat missions recently. I believe that Lord Mei will have a chance to see it in the next few days."
After watching the drill of Haihan Navy, Mei Shengchuan did have a more intuitive understanding of its strength, but at the same time, he also reduced the idea of going to war with Haihan. Although he has never personally experienced a naval battle before, various military books have described how to fight a naval battle and what common combat methods are. He has also spent time studying them. It can be said that he has a relatively good understanding of the common tactics of naval battles. But the tactics displayed by the Haihan fleet were obviously beyond his cognition. Such tactics of directly using artillery fire to defeat the enemy at a longer combat distance were completely unimaginable to him in the past, because the Ming Dynasty's warships simply did not have them. With such a weapon configuration, there has naturally been no similar tactics.
As for how to crack such a tactic, the only thing Umeikawa can think of now is to stay away from the Haihan fleet on the battlefield. Only staying outside the range of its naval guns is the safest way to deal with it. By extending the front line, there may be a chance to cut off the Haihan people's combat supply line. But he immediately woke up. How could this so-called tactic be reported back to the court? Besides, the Haihan people's battle line stretched from the South China Sea to Liaodong. The voyage of several thousand miles was already long enough. Obviously, the distance alone could not stop the actions of the Haihan fleet. There are quite a few Ming officers who have visited the Haihan fleet exercises, and there are naturally not a few who can think of this kind of response method, but who dares to report such a weak idea as a tactic. The wisest way is naturally to be vague about the specific tactics and strength of the Haihan Navy and confuse the higher-ups. At this time, Mei Shengchuan seemed to understand why the Ministry of War had never been able to obtain reliable military information about Haihan. If he reported it truthfully, he would definitely be criticized for boosting the enemy's morale and destroying his own prestige. As for the method of controlling the enemy, he would not be able to report it. He will definitely be charged with fear of war.
Thinking of the consequences, Mei Shengchuan could only complain secretly. The strength of the two armies was so different that ordinary tactics would not work at all. Sha Xi had been in contact with many Ming officials in his early years, and he was very aware of his changes in mentality during his visits to military exercises. He continued to exert invisible pressure on Mei Shengchuan: "Mr. Mei, in fact, our country has always been hostile to the Ming Dynasty. With an open mind, even in the military field, our country has never planned to hide it. Our country is happy to provide a complete set of military assistance plans to Ming Dynasty, including weapons and equipment, personnel training, joint operations, etc. "
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"But these so-called aids are certainly not free, right? Sir Sha, you might as well tell us what your conditions are. I heard that you have funded many local armies in the south." Mei Shengchuan heard Sha Xi take the initiative to mention After asking for military assistance, he calmed down and planned to take a closer look at how Haihan used the so-called "military assistance" method to control the garrison of coastal state capitals in the south.
"Of course it won't be free. Although we Haihan people are willing to do charity, we don't just do charity." Seeing that the other party was interested in listening, Sha Xi also seized this opportunity and began to use his eloquence: "But the military assistance we provide does not It is not necessary to obtain returns through cash transactions. In fact, many local garrisons in the south receive military assistance from us without paying any money as long as the local garrisons are willing to provide us with certain conveniences or even cooperate with us. , the conditions can actually be negotiated slowly. Does Mr. Mei know Mr. Xu Xinsu, the commander-in-chief of Fujian? "
Mei Shengchuan nodded slightly and replied: "Master Xu has a lot of properties in Fujian, and he is said to be as rich as the enemy. He has also refused many appointments from the imperial court to recruit him to Beijing. Naturally, I know this."
Sha Xi used this as an example: "Master Xu was one of the earliest military attachés in the south to cooperate with our country. The original intention of cooperating with our country was to eliminate the Shibazhi pirate gang that endangers the maritime security of Fuzhou and Guangzhou. Provided by us With weapons and personnel training, it took less than three years to completely eliminate the 30,000 pirates who had been roaming the Fuguang waters for many years. In the following years, the southern coast was peaceful, and the maritime trade business was very profitable. I am not afraid to tell the truth. Mr. Mei, Mr. Xu is like a local emperor in Fujian. If you want soldiers and money, why should you go to Beijing to be an official and suffer? "
Mei Shengchuan thought to himself that Xu Xinsu is so arrogant and does not take the appointment of the imperial court seriously, not because you are supporting him behind his back. However, the Fujian Navy is now known as the First Navy of the Ming Dynasty, and presumably it is inseparable from Haihan's military assistance.
Sha Xi continued: "To be honest with Mr. Mei, in addition to the troops in Dongjiang Town, there are also Ming Army officers from the Fuguang area in the south in Liaodong. What they have learned here is probably very good after being a soldier in the south all their lives." Hard to access. The military assistance provided by our country is not just the sale of weapons, but related military skills training is also a very important part.”
Mei Shengchuan secretly thought that the subjects of this military training were all Ming army officers. No wonder the army in the southern coastal state capital was so silent. These officers were half Haihan, so how could they go against Haihan? The Haihan people called this military assistance, but in fact they took the opportunity to poach and gradually deteriorate the local garrison in the Ming Dynasty. Even those who can withstand this kind of training and brainwashing may not be able to withstand the money offensive. Mei Shengchuan thought that he would be short-handed, let alone these local officials.
After watching the Haihan Navy's drill, instead of feeling that his curiosity was satisfied, Umeikawa felt even more uneasy. The strength of the Haihan Fleet is right in front of us, and it is only more powerful than what was described in the rumors. Mei Shengchuan has no doubt that if the Haihan Fleet marches westward to the Bohai Bay, the Ming Navy ships stationed in the Bohai Sea will not be able to do anything. There is no way to stop this tiger and wolf army.
Although Sha Xi raised the issue of military assistance, Umeikawa did not express his attitude towards it at the moment. He realized that there were too many plots of the Haihan people hidden behind this measure. Once accepted, the direction of the Ming army might change qualitatively in the future. If the Ming army were no longer loyal to the emperor and the court, Mei Shengchuan could not imagine what it would be like. Even if he accepts the benefits from Haihan, he is never willing to completely betray Ming's interests. He just hopes to find a balance between personal gain and peace between the two countries.
Although Sha Xi did not mention whether this issue would affect the final negotiation results between the two parties, Mei Shengchuan could foresee that there was still room for maneuver in the process, because he knew that in addition to Sha Xi, there were also higher-level people in Liaodong. Officer Haihan will meet with him at a later date. Perhaps then every word spoken by both parties will truly become a trace left in history.
(End of chapter)