Chapter 1773 Flexible Response
Regarding North Korea's weak combat effectiveness, the Haihan military had learned a lesson last year. The fleet led by Wang Tom basically drove straight to the vicinity of its capital without any effort, and successfully blocked the Han River. During this process, the North Korean defenders did not take any effective resistance measures. If the Haihan Army landed and attacked the city at that time, it might only take two or three days to break through the Seoul city defenses. Therefore, although Haihan later asked North Korea to provide support for the war in the Liaodong Peninsula, he did not propose that they directly send troops to participate in the war, because the military really did not believe in the combat effectiveness of the Koreans. It is no joke to hold them back on the battlefield. Arrange for the Koreans to do this Just doing the logistics work is enough.
In the original history, Huang Taiji led his army to conquer North Korea in the first month of the year, conquering Yizhou and Anzhou, and approaching the capital of North Korea. King Li Zhu led his eldest son and hundreds of civil and military officials to flee to the mountain city of Nanhan to avoid the war. However, it was still difficult to withstand the offensive of the Qing army, and finally surrendered with an imperial seal the next month. When the Ming Dynasty got the news and sent troops across the sea, North Korea had already been defeated and surrendered to the Qing Dynasty, and the reinforcements had to return home as soon as they left.
The same situation is very likely to happen in another way on the Korean Peninsula. If the Qing army targets North Korea next, then Haihan will most likely not be able to save North Korea. When the time comes, the king and ministers can be brought out to form a government-in-exile, which is probably the most ideal outcome.
And the "striving for the initiative" mentioned by Yan Chujie does not mean that Haihan sent troops to North Korea to defend it from the Qing invasion. That would probably require all the troops from across the country to be mobilized to the north, which is obviously an unrealistic arrangement. . But if the Haihan Army can grasp the movements of the Qing army in advance, it can at least consider taking advantage of the enemy's military strength to gather on the Korean Peninsula and take some measures to attack the Qing Dynasty in the direction of Liaodong. They can even use their own advantages in water operations to intercept in the Yalu River. Qing army.
Of course, even if this method of military aid is unlikely to fundamentally change North Korea's predicament, Haihan will definitely charge North Korea for sending troops to fight. After all, relationships are relationships. Once the cannon is fired, it will be worth thousands of taels of gold, which will be spent in real money. Haihan has no obligation or responsibility to provide this military expenditure for North Korea. But this matter must be resolved with North Korea early, so as not to cause confusion between the two countries over factors other than the battlefield.
However, the direct impact of the founding of the Qing Dynasty on Haihan should not be great. The war in Jinzhou has been calm for about half a year, and there were no records of fighting before the winter of last year. The opponent built a large number of adobe fortresses a few miles north of the Jinzhou defense line to block the Haihan Army's northward advance. Although Haihan had taken the initiative several times before and destroyed some fortresses with field artillery, the Qing army quickly built new fortresses on the original sites, even faster than Haihan destroyed these fortresses.
After several elite troops quietly withdrew from Jinzhou and went south last winter, Haihan completely gave up the proactive combat method and settled down to defend Jinzhou's defense line. The Qing army seemed to be very satisfied with this confrontation and did not launch another offensive against the Jinzhou defense line throughout the winter. However, if you think carefully about the reasons for the tacit understanding between the two sides, Haihan's side is fighting in Manila followed by the National Day celebrations, so he naturally does not want the war to rekindle in the north during this period; while his opponent's side is facing heavy snowfall in winter and road closures, making it very difficult to gather troops and supplies. It is difficult to launch a large-scale war. Secondly, Huang Taiji will announce the change of Yuan Dynasty and proclaim himself emperor in the spring. It would be unlucky to lose the battle at this juncture.
In the first battle after the founding of the Qing Dynasty, whether to choose a soft persimmon and get off to a good start, or risk breaking a tooth and chewing on the hard bone of Haihan. Presumably normal people would choose the former. As long as the Qing Dynasty does not send heavy troops to attack the Jinzhou defense line, Haihan's basic position in Liaodong is safe, and the tacit truce between the two sides on the Jinzhou front is likely to continue for a period of time.
Of course, if the Qing Dynasty attacks North Korea, the chance of Haihan completely standing aside is very small. At least the military will not be willing to stand aside and watch, and this is what Yan Chujie said about "striving for the initiative."
"Let's arrange for the naval fleet to go north first!" Yan Chujie explained: "Currently there are only a few combat ships stationed in Liaodong, and the housekeepers are a bit stretched, let alone carry out combat missions. When the Northern Fleet returns, no matter what the situation in Liaodong is We can all be more flexible in our responses to changes.”
"Wang Tom has only been back for a few days. Wouldn't it be bad if we arrange for him to lead troops north again?" Tao Donglai asked.
Wang Tom stayed in Liaodong for almost the entire year last year to lead troops in combat. At the end of the year, he went south without going back to Sanya to rest and recuperate. He went directly to Manila. After the war, he returned to Sanya, but he was busy organizing the maritime parade and military exercises during the National Day. , almost never stopped to rest, and can be said to be one of the most tired senior generals in the military in recent times.
"It must be tiring, but this guy Tom can't stay on the shore!" Speaking of Tom Wang, Yan Chujie couldn't help but smile: "After the military exercise yesterday, he told me that there was still no actual combat in this military exercise. It was so enjoyable that just a few days after the battle in Manila, his hands started to itch again. If he hadn't thought about giving his men a holiday, he would have taken the troops out as soon as the military exercise was over."
"It seems that I have been running outside for too long and I am still not used to stopping and living a peaceful life!" Tao Donglai also laughed. He knew that Tom Wang was a relatively pure soldier and had a very strong obsession with becoming a naval admiral who could go down in history. As long as there was a battle to be fought, no matter how far away he was, nothing could stop him.
However, the Northern Fleet currently has more than 30 ships resting in Sanya. If the Marines are to be brought along with them, then the dispatch will be at least more than 2,000 people, and the required combat materials will not be the least bit prepared. Related The logistics department still needs some time to prepare. It would take three to five days to complete various supplies and deploy and assemble personnel. No matter how fast it was, it would take three to five days. Tom Wang could just leave if he wanted to, but that was really just a joke.
"The Ministry of National Defense should seize the time to come up with a charter to see what matters need to be coordinated by the Executive Committee. Taking advantage of the fact that most people are in Sanya these days, we will arrange it as soon as possible." There are other matters that need to be implemented at the moment. After discussion in the committee, Tao Donglai handed over the matter to Yan Chujie and stopped occupying the meeting too much for discussion.
The topic of the meeting returned to the matters Tao Donglai mentioned at the beginning, namely this year's business and immigration arrangements with Fujian and Annan. War immigration will still be the main theme of Haihan's population import this year, but the sources of immigrants from the two major importing places are different. One side is prisoners of war, and the other side is war refugees. "It is difficult to predict the specific number of people that can be transported to our country, but a conservative estimate should be more than 5,000 people." Tao Donglai said: "The civil affairs and shipping departments must make plans for the distribution and resettlement of these immigrants in advance. If necessary, The Ministry of Finance can allocate emergency funds, and your departments should do a good job of coordination first.”
Ning Qi was writing and drawing in his notebook while listening to Tao Donglai's work arrangements. Regarding the allocation of immigrants, it has always been a long-standing problem for the civil affairs department. This is not because there are no places willing to accept immigrants. On the contrary, reports from various places every year inevitably complain about the labor shortage problem and beg the Ministry of Civil Affairs to arrange more immigrants. Immigrants settled in the area. Even for low-end laborers like foreign prisoners of war who cannot obtain household registration in a short period of time and whose scope of activities must be restricted and can only be used as slaves, many labor-intensive industrial organizations are vying for them.
As a high-ranking official in charge of national immigration affairs, Ning Qi actually has no idea of a bowl of water, because that is simply unrealistic. Haihan absorbs and recruits immigrants through various means every year, and they will inevitably be given priority to key projects related to the national economy and people's livelihood.
Different resettlement plans will be selected based on the origin and quality of the immigrants. For example, Han immigrants from the Ming Dynasty are generally given priority to be resettled in major towns, and most of them are engaged in handicrafts and service industries. Han immigrants with a certain cultural background will be screened by factories in various places and have the opportunity to take up some technical positions after receiving skills training. Han immigrants with special skills are the most popular and often receive special treatment such as immediate naturalization and housing allocation. Of course, it doesn’t matter if you can’t do anything. As long as your body can pass the test, signing up to join the army is also an excellent way. Not only can you and your family obtain Haihan nationality immediately, but you can also receive generous retirement settlement benefits and benefits after serving. Farmland allocated by the state.
Immigrants from other countries and ethnic groups are not so ideal in terms of treatment. If they have no expertise, they are often assigned to farm in the countryside or even work in new colonial areas to reclaim wasteland. Due to cultural barriers, most of these immigrants are assigned to engage in agricultural production. If they cannot master communication methods such as Chinese and Chinese characters in a short period of time, they will basically have no chance to get ahead. We can only hope that the next generation will accept the Hai-Han style. Education comes later to change life conditions.
The even more humble immigrants are prisoners from foreign countries, prisoners of war, and slaves sold to Haihan through various channels. The identity and background of these people pose certain security risks to Haihan, so they are generally not included. Instead of being placed in towns where ordinary people live, they are packaged and sent to places such as mines, quarries, and plantations, where they are placed together with prisoners from the Haihan hard labor camp. This type of cheap labor often suffers the most severe oppression due to its low cost of use, and many people will never be able to regain their freedom.
Among the latter two types of immigrants, there are not no cases of successful transition, but they are few and far between. Especially the last type of immigrants, almost all get rid of their past identities by joining the army and winning military exploits. Even this kind of hard-working job for Haihan is not something everyone can get. The military selects soldiers from these low-status immigrants much higher than the standards for Han people to join the army. Five out of a hundred people can be recruited. Six passes is considered good.
This distribution method will naturally differentiate into different social classes over time, but the Executive Committee still acquiesced to this seemingly unfair method. Since the immigrant ethnic groups introduced by Haihan in the early stages of development were not taboo on meat and vegetables, although Han people accounted for more than half of the total population, the racial structure was far less stable than that of the Ming Dynasty. Although the Executive Committee claimed that Haihan State could accommodate other non-Han people Although they are of Chinese descent, deep down they still hope to build Haihan into a country in which Han people are in power. Therefore, the treatment of immigrants and resettlement has always been tilted towards Han people.
Ning Qi has been in charge of civil affairs work for many years, and he has gradually become accustomed to this resettlement method from being uncomfortable with it at the beginning, and no longer feels too much compassion for the fate of those immigrants at the bottom. Everyone's destiny is different. If he wants to forcefully change the destiny of some people out of sympathy, it will inevitably affect other people. The result is likely to be that while pulling some people out of the mire, he unintentionally During this time, others were pushed into the pit.
Haihan's social resources are limited, and there is no way to provide every immigrant with fair and equitable treatment. The current resettlement method has been tested in practice and is the most beneficial to Haihan's social stability and development. If changes are to be made in the future, it will not be a matter of Ning Qi alone. It must be achieved through the top-down policy modification and implementation of the Executive Committee. The immigration policy currently implemented by Haihan is still business as usual.
The application reports for increasing the labor force of Shilu Mine and Heitugang Coal Mine were forwarded to the Ministry of Civil Affairs at the end of last year, and have been sitting on Ning Qi's desk without approval. The reason is simple. These two places require thousands of laborers from the start, and Ning Qi does not have so many immigration resources to meet their needs. However, if Annan can provide thousands of Siamese prisoners of war in the short term as promised this time, then priority can be given to filling the labor gap in these two places. By then, Tao Donglai and Bai Kesi would not have to complain in front of themselves every day, saying that the output of ore and coal could not keep up with the needs of industrial development.
As for the inland refugees that Fujian may receive, Ning Qi intends to resettle some of them on the coastal plain on the west coast of Taiwan Island. The Ministry of Agriculture has been clamoring for development in central and western Taiwan every year, and perhaps this year there are just the right conditions to start implementing it.
In addition, newly occupied Manila also needs to move in more Han immigrants to improve the local population ratio and consolidate Haihan's local rule. According to calculations by the Ministry of Civil Affairs, at least about 3,000 immigrants per year must be sent to the area for several consecutive years to be enough to stabilize the situation there in the next few years.
The only thing that makes Ning Qi feel more relaxed is Liaodong. Due to the acceptance of the soldiers and civilians of Dongjiang Town, Jinzhou's social production has been restarted. In addition, North Korea has sent a large number of civilians there, so the Ministry of Civil Affairs does not need to worry too much about the local area. labor problem.
(End of chapter)