Chapter 1797 Entering enemy-occupied territory
The reason Wang Tom gave made Jin Shangjiu dumbfounded, and he immediately realized that his question was simply asking for humiliation. But at the moment, North Korea was looking for help from Haihan, and Jin Shangjiu did not dare to refute Wang Tom. He could only reply with a dry smile: "General Wang is really good at joking. In fact, I, a North Korean man, are as brave as the Han people. I also fought side by side with the Ming army back then." If General Wang is willing to let our army perform, I believe he will not be disappointed!"
Tom Wang responded expressionlessly: "Your army will definitely have the opportunity to fight in battle. I hope their performance will not disappoint me then!"
Due to the many problems exposed in North Korea's war preparations, Wang Tom did not dare to have high expectations for the performance of the North Korean army, and did not even allow North Korean generals to participate in the recent combat preparation meetings. In Wang Tom's view, it is difficult for people to have confidence in the combat effectiveness of the Korean army, which was defeated by the Qing cavalry in a single push. Perhaps there are many underlying reasons for North Korea's rapid retreat, and it is not just a matter of military combat effectiveness. But Wang Tom has no time to figure out the root cause at the moment. He can only minimize the Koreans' hindrance during the war by arranging troops and formations. opportunity.
Regarding General Haihan's "arrogant" attitude, Jin Sangjiu had actually experienced it many times on the way from Zhoushan to Ganghwa Island, and could only regard it as a joke with a wry smile. But if you think about it on the bright side, General Haihan is willing to take the lead and go to the Qing Dynasty to carry out reconnaissance missions. It is better than letting North Korea send troops to complete such a dangerous mission.
Of course, as a North Korean official, Kim Sang-jiu still hopes that his country's troops can gain recognition and appreciation from the Haihan people through their heroic performance on the battlefield. However, considering the strength of the opponent, this will inevitably result in a large number of casualties. The price may even affect the stability of the country's rule in the future, and North Korea will definitely not be able to withstand this kind of torment, which makes him very conflicted.
Who doesn’t want their motherland to become stronger? Of course, Jin Sangjiu also thought that if his country's army could live up to its expectations and inflict some hardships on the enemies in the north, maybe there would be no need to pray to gods and Buddhas to go around to invite reinforcements to come to North Korea to help in the war. It's a pity that this possibility is almost zero for North Korea. The Qing Dynasty only announced that it would teach North Korea some lessons. The entire North Korean officialdom from King Li Jian down was panicked. Calling for reinforcements almost immediately became the only option. Even Kim Sang-heon's faction, which advocated a decisive battle with the Qing army, did not place its hopes entirely on its own army.
Wang Tom did not have the energy to take into account Jin Shangjiu's feelings at the moment. He was very concerned about the reconnaissance operation to be carried out. Whenever he had time, he called Xu Yuzhuo to his side to give him instructions. The Fujian Navy took the initiative to take the lead this time. Wang Tom was somewhat worried that Xu Yuzhuo, who was inexperienced in fighting the Qing army, would have problems in on-the-spot command, so he deployed a detailed set of plans to Xu Yuzhuo in advance before arriving at the destination. Action plan.
Based on the hydrological conditions in the lower reaches of the Yalu River, it is not a big problem for the warships dispatched this time to go upstream from the estuary to Jiulian City. However, after the Majesty-class warship with the largest hull enters, it will have to do so on a river less than one mile wide. Turning around can be slow. Wang Tom was worried that when the Majestic-class battleship changed course on the Yalu River, it would affect the operational efficiency of the entire fleet. After careful consideration, he decided to leave the Majesty-class battleship at the estuary to guard the retreat.
Among the ten warships dispatched by the Fujian Navy, there are four exploration-class warships and one expedition-class warship exported by Haihan. The other five are traditional Fu ships. Although the scale is not too large, these The fleet is built according to the military system of Haihan Navy. All captains have received military training from Haihan. Several of them have even participated in several joint military operations including the Battle of Manila. For Haihan Navy's tactics, I am relatively familiar with the command system.
It was precisely because the Fujian Navy and the Haihan Navy had the same combat system that they could better implement the designated action plan, so Wang Tom made an exception and allowed Xu Yuzhuo to lead his troops to serve as the vanguard in this operation. However, the Fujian Navy is mainly responsible for river reconnaissance and hydrographic survey. The actual task of landing and entering the Qing occupied areas will still be completed by Haihan's marines.
This was not the first time that Wang Tom led his troops to the Yalu River estuary, but just like the previous times, Waihua Island at the estuary was silent, and there was no trace of human activity on the nearby river bank. The ten warships of the Fujian Navy were at the forefront and took the lead in sailing upstream into the Yalu River.
Wang Tom left his flagship and eight supply ships outside the estuary. For safety reasons, he also left four exploration-class warships. The remaining warships and troop transports, as the main force, entered the Yalu River at a distance of about five to six miles from the Fujian Navy ahead. In this way, if something happens ahead, the Navy will have time to reinforce the Fujian Navy, and the Fujian Navy will also have a relatively leisurely retreat space available. Of course, Wang Tom did not think that the Qing army could secretly build a combat fleet and hide it in the Yalu River to ambush.
Originally, for such an operation going deep into the inland, Wang Tom should have stayed on the flagship and commanded remotely from behind, but he still chose to change the command post to another expedition-class warship and lead the main force to the front line in person. Although it was a bit risky, under the protection of dozens of warships and more than 2,000 soldiers, Wang Tom was convinced that even if the mission did not go smoothly, he would definitely be able to escape unscathed.
In order to save the soldiers' physical strength, Wang Tom did not rush to arrange for the Marines to land ashore. He planned to let the Marines take action after entering the interior.
Lookouts with telescopes were arranged on the sides and masts of each ship to observe whether there were Qing army activities near the river bank. Wang Tom did not expect that his actions could be completely hidden from the enemy's eyes and ears. If the Qing army really chose to assemble troops in Jiulian City, then according to normal operations, the Qing army would definitely send ranger sentries to the upper and lower reaches of the river bank in order to Isolation may come from prying eyes across the Yalu River and at sea.
About ten miles after sailing into the Yalu River, a lookout finally discovered several horsemen and horses moving in the distance on the river bank. After careful identification, the lookout found the swords and bows on the horses, which were most likely the Qing army's cavalry. .
Naturally, such a large fleet of the United Fleet cannot be invisible on the river, so Wang Tom and others soon saw someone lighting up the smoke on the river bank. Based on the current weather conditions, I believe it can be seen twenty or thirty miles away. . Wang Tom could now basically confirm that there must be a certain number of Qing troops stationed nearby, but the scale could not be confirmed yet.
Jin Shangjiu did not choose to stay on the flagship, but followed Tom Wang bravely. At this time, when he saw the smoke on the shore, he couldn't help but hurriedly asked Tom Wang for advice: "General Wang, the enemy has discovered our whereabouts. What will happen next?" Is there going to be a fight?" "Don't be nervous, it won't be that fast." Wang Tom shook his head and said, "Besides, how can we let the archers shoot with arrows? Let’s confirm again whether the bow has the longer range or the musket has the longer range!”
Although it was the first time for Jin Shangjiu to follow the Haihan Army to the battlefield, he had seen the daily military training of the local garrison many times when he was in Zhoushan. Naturally, he knew that the range and accuracy of the Haihan muskets were far better than ordinary bows and arrows, and the first two In the several battles on the Liaodong Peninsula in 2008, the Hou Jin army at that time had suffered from the Haihan muskets many times, and they would definitely not easily form an array on the shore. That would be the same as actively acting as a living target. After listening to Wang Tom's light-hearted teasing, Jin Shangjiu's nervousness eased a lot.
The enemy's reaction was basically as expected by Wang Tom. This was not the first time that the Haihan Army had seen such a warning method. During the Haihan Navy's raids on the coast of the Liaodong Peninsula in the past two years, the Jin Army often adopted this response method. First, it could promptly notify the garrison at the rear stronghold, and secondly, it could persuade the Haihan troops who entered the warning area to retreat. . However, Tom Wang did not plan to retreat voluntarily today. He just wanted to force the Qing army to take action to determine how many troops the Qing army had assembled on the banks of the Yalu River at this stage.
Wang Tom calls this reconnaissance method of proactively alerting the enemy "pressure reconnaissance", which means putting pressure on the enemy to force him to reveal his strength. Adopting this method is more or less a last resort. After all, the area near Jiuliancheng is completely unfamiliar to Haihan. Although North Korea has provided local guides, the guides can only show the way, but they cannot take them with them. Lead the scouts deep behind enemy lines.
For the coalition forces led by North Korea and Haihan, the faster they can identify the Qing army's troop deployment on the banks of the Yalu River, the more time they will have for their own sides to make adjustments. The most concise and effective method is probably the "pressure reconnaissance" formulated by Wang Tom. Therefore, he gave up the traditional method of sending a small team of troops to covertly infiltrate into enemy-occupied areas, and directly formed a fleet to penetrate deep into the Yalu River.
If the Qing army then sends a small group of troops, the fleet can choose to ignore it and continue sailing upriver, or send marines ashore to fight, attracting the enemy to send more troops to fight. Wang Tom believed that with his own equipment advantages, he could move freely on this special battlefield on the river. Even if they encounter the most extreme situation, the Qing army has assembled tens of thousands of troops near Jiulian City, but they will still be unable to do anything to block the coalition fleet on the river.
If the Qing army still has the power to fight the Haihan army on land, then it has no power to fight back when fighting on the water. After being swept away for two consecutive years, the Qing army basically had few surface ships left that could undertake combat missions. The combined fleet has sailed upstream for almost twenty miles, but they haven't seen even a small sampan. Of course, this situation is also very likely because the Qing army has gathered all the ships on the Yalu River and will not use them until they cross the river.
But no matter what the situation is, Wang Tom has made up his mind to at least clean up the section of the river including Jiuliancheng. If there are still ships on this section of the river that can cross the river, then regardless of the size of the ship, the coalition fleet will They will destroy them all to delay the Qing army's invasion of North Korea across the river.
Seeing the distant wolf smoke rising across the mountains and fields like a relay, Wang Tom became more and more sure that there was something fishy in the upper reaches of the Yalu River. If the Qing army only stationed a small number of troops upstream, then this efficient signal transmission method would not have much practical significance. It would be wise to rush back quietly with fast horses to notify the garrison to avoid Haihan's sharp attack. But now the Qing army's cavalry openly used smoke as a warning to leave enough time for the garrison upstream to respond. It seems that the force should be of a certain size.
Thirty miles after sailing into the Yalu River, the rangers on the river bank were no longer secretive and began to appear more and more frequently in the sight of the coalition fleet. Wang Tom believed that this was the Qing army repeatedly confirming its offensive intentions and force size. However, he was not worried about any traps the other party could set. Moreover, the Fujian Navy, which was opening a road ahead on the river, had not yet discovered the real enemy situation and still maintained four directions. Going upstream at a speed of five knots.
After fifty miles of sailing, the scattered cavalry on the river bank began to gather together, and a small cavalry force of hundreds of riders appeared. Some even openly rode their horses on the river bank with flags to follow them.
Some Qing army cavalry, perhaps too excited or unaware of the power of the Haihan army, rode to the river bank and stopped. Then they bent their bows and arrows on horseback and fired at the Haihan warship a hundred feet away. . The light bows carried by these rangers had a range of only a hundred steps. Even if they were shot at a very high angle, the arrows would still have difficulty reaching the warships in the middle of the river. However, their behavior immediately attracted a counterattack from the sailors on the ship. After a burst of gunfire, a few unlucky guys were shot and fell down from their horses.
In fact, this distance is basically a random hit for the rifles equipped by the navy. However, the dense fire net formed by shooting in groups made up for the lack of accuracy, and they still hit several enemies after all. The remaining rangers realized that there was no chance for them in this kind of battle. They could only give up and continue to bend their bows and arrows. They quickly gathered the shot companions and then rode away.
After seeing this scene, Jin Shangjiu couldn't help but admired: "As expected of an ever-victorious army, this Qing cavalry is simply vulnerable to your army! If your warships can cruise on this river for a long time, the Qing army will definitely be defeated." You won’t have the guts to cross the river again!”
Wang Tom smiled and did not speak to attack Jin Sangjiu. It would not be difficult to cruise on the Yalu River for a long time, as long as North Korea could build a military base here in Yiju and help Haihan support a river fleet all year round. However, with the efficiency of the North Koreans, even if the project of this military base is approved immediately, it will probably take a year or two before it can be completed and put into use. The current situation certainly cannot afford to wait.
(End of chapter)