Chapter 1821: Strengthen your troops
When the Qing army crossed the Yalu River and invaded North Korea, the coalition fleet hardly got much rest time, and continued to sweep the area near the Liaodong coast every day. Naturally, such high-frequency operations yielded huge rewards. During this period alone, more than 5,000 Han refugees were kidnapped from this area. Many villages and towns were packed away by the coalition forces. To describe this situation, ten rooms and nine empty rooms were taken away. The current status of population centers in this area cannot be overstated.
Although the more than 3,000 Qing troops deployed to garrison in this area some time ago also tried to resist, they were no match for the coalition forces due to their scattered strength. Instead, nearly half of them were lost in previous small-scale battles. Without manpower, the remaining defeated soldiers could only retreat to the inland mountains to avoid the edge of the coalition forces. During this process, the coalition forces had clear combat objectives, proper tactical deployment, and their strength greatly exceeded their opponents, so the number of casualties was relatively much smaller. The actual battle loss ratio between the two sides was more than 20 to one. This was for the coalition forces. It's completely acceptable.
Annan and Portugal did not express any objection to the Fujian Navy being separately transferred to fight in Korea. Among the coalition fleets heading north this time, the number of troops and ships dispatched by Fujian is second only to Haihan. Before the coalition forces have completed their operations in Liaodong, it is reasonable for them to go to North Korea to carry out combat missions against the Qing army. arrangement among them.
During this operation, the refugee camp on Guanglu Island continued to be full, so Wang Tom simply assigned more refugees to the Datong River base in North Korea. In order to get the local refugee management on the right track as soon as possible, Wang Tom also sent a telegram to Jinzhou, requesting that Liu Shang be temporarily transferred to North Korea to train a group of local personnel responsible for civil affairs and propaganda work.
The Jinzhou authorities have no objections to this transfer order. After all, the situation in Jinzhou is currently calm, and the Qing army has no plans to take the initiative to open a second battlefield in the Liaodong Peninsula, so the social order is relatively calm, and Liu Shang also has a group of subordinates Can temporarily take over his job. So after receiving the transfer order, Liu Shang arranged the transfer plan for the refugees on the island, then took a navy transport ship to meet with the coalition fleet near Shicheng Island, and then went south to North Korea with the fleet transporting refugees.
Liu Shang had never visited North Korea before, so he was still a little fresh about this errand. He generally knew that Haihan was currently building a military base on a piece of land on the coast of North Korea, but he only gradually learned the detailed situation on the way about the war pressure faced by the local area.
A military base that has been under construction for less than two months must serve as a bridgehead to block the southward offensive of tens of thousands of Qing troops. A large number of defenses must be built, and the labor force Haihan can use now is the labor force recently captured from Liaodong. It is not easy to effectively manage Han refugees and thousands of civilians provided by North Korea. The Qing army had already invaded North Korea, and the construction period left for Haihan was counting down. It was not difficult for Liu Shang to think of the urgent situation there, and he understood why Qian Tiandun and Wang Tom had to temporarily transfer themselves there.
Liu Shang didn't have much psychological pressure on such a task. When he went from Shandong to Liaodong, the local area was also facing the threat of war at any time. After two years, he had already become accustomed to this environment, and he was not concerned about the presence of the Qing army. They won't be as nervous as the Han people in Liaodong. However, being able to witness Haihan's attack on the Qing army on another battlefield is a rare experience for a civilian official.
A day and a half after setting off from Shicheng Island, the fleet carrying 1,500 refugees arrived at the mouth of the Datong River. Although the main force of the coalition fleet is fighting on the Liaodong coast and the Qingchuan River Basin in the north, the most basic water security system is still retained here, and there are two armed warships patrolling near the estuary at any time. When he saw the familiar two-color flag flying on the mast in the distance, Liu Shang knew that he had arrived on his own territory.
The mouth of the Datong River is ten miles wide and is visually very open. However, perhaps because it has entered the war period, North Korea has also strictly controlled the navigation in the Datong River basin and centralized all civilian ships for unified management. Naturally, There are no fishing boats or merchant ships going out to sea here.
However, when the fleet approached the Haihan base, the river became obviously more lively, and many ships could be seen entering and leaving the port. These ships are owned by North Korea and are continuously transporting personnel and materials to this base.
In less than two months, this originally deserted river bank has become the busiest construction site in northern North Korea. Next to several docks that have been put into use, thousands of migrant workers are working around the clock to clean the river banks and build new berths. Although the current berths can accommodate more than a dozen ships at the same time, there is still a clear gap with the standards of Haihan Military Port. The military still hopes to build as many berths as possible before the coalition fleet returns to the Datong River. A large number of warships completed rapid supplies here.
After Liu Shang got off the ship, he met Gao Qiaonan, who came to the dock to pick him up. Originally, such an errand should not be done by a senior military attaché like Gao Qiaonan, but now he temporarily holds the position of local security officer and human resources manager, and many The specific work had to be handed over to Liu Shang as soon as possible, so when I heard that the fleet from Liaodong had arrived, I took the initiative to run to the dock to pick them up.
"Captain Gao Qiao, my feet have just touched the ground. Are you so confident and leave everything to me?" Liu Shang was slightly surprised after hearing Gao Qiaonan's intention. He originally thought he would get at least one or two. He had three days to complete the handover, but Takahashi Minami wanted him to take over immediately and start work immediately, with no intention of leaving any buffer time.
"I may not be able to trust others, but I know you can." Gao Qiaonan reached out and patted Liu Shang on the shoulder and said: "You are a person that the chiefs are very optimistic about. I will hand over the management of things here to you. Very reassuring.”
Although Liu Shang was quite proud of such praise, he was still a little flattered. He quickly expressed his attitude to Gao Qiaonan that he would do his best.
Although Liu Shang now has some power in his hands, he is not arrogant enough to think that he can be on an equal footing with senior military attachés like Gao Qiaonan. He has always kept these four words in mind and never forgotten them. Gao Qiaonan was indeed so busy that he didn't even have time to catch up with Liu Shang. After briefly explaining the local situation, he asked his officers to hand over the work to Liu Shang, and hurried to the northern construction site to supervise the progress of trench construction. .
After sending Gao Qiaonan away, Liu Shang realized how big the stall he was about to take over was. There were nearly 10,000 Korean civilians and Han refugees combined, and they were assigned to two large construction sites, one in the south and one in the north, to work day and night. His task is to be responsible for the food, accommodation and logistics of these workers, as well as to take advantage of every opportunity to do propaganda work.
According to past experience, to cope with such a large stall, at least dozens of people must be responsible for various affairs to ensure a certain degree of work efficiency. However, Liu Shang brought less than ten people from Guanglu Island, which was obviously difficult to complete such a large workload, so he had to select a group of local people. Before his arrival, these tasks were managed by the independent regiment, and the specific persons in charge were all grassroots officers. Gao Qiaonan gave Liu Shang three days to set up his own team to take over these tasks from the military. This task was not easy for him. Fortunately, the Datong River base also carried out preliminary identity registration for the Han refugees transported, and selected some people with management experience to act as foremen and organizers, so that Liu Shang would choose some suitable people from them. Much simpler. In addition, North Korea has also sent many grassroots officials here to be responsible for the management of civilian husbands. Regarding the command and logistics issues of North Korean civilian husbands, they only need to communicate with them.
After obtaining a relatively sufficient labor force, new adjustments have been made to the defense line projects in the northern part of the base. Some defense fortifications that were originally considered to be handled in a simplified manner can now use more complete construction methods to improve defense capabilities.
Originally, the infantry's combat position was to use wooden parapets as bunkers. Such a project would be relatively small and the construction period could be controlled within a shorter time. However, after having enough labor, the military chose infantry trenches and earthen fortifications, which are more concealed, better protective, and easier to complete personnel mobilization and troop changes during wartime.
If you are using traditional flintlock troops, you need to use a horizontal rotational formation to ensure the frequency of shooting and intensive firepower. It is not very suitable to use trenches as infantry fighting positions. However, the two infantrymen, the Independent Regiment and the Marine Corps, who went to North Korea this time, are equipped with the most advanced seven-shot rifles in the Haihan Army. The intensity and accuracy of individual firepower output are far superior to ordinary musketeers, so they can Use trenches as frontline fighting positions for infantry.
In order to provide the best protection for the infantry on the firing line, the engineering department also specially mobilized hundreds of laborers to build wooden roofs for the front-line combat positions to withstand arrows thrown from the air during battles.
Of course, considering that the Qing army has a large number of cavalry troops, the thin defense line of infantry alone may not be able to prevent a large-scale charge. Therefore, outside this line of fire, there are iron nets tens of meters deep, horse traps, and barricades. The obstacle area constructed by fortifications such as horses and Haogou is enough to stop any form of charge.
Takahashi Minami personally supervised the work on the front line. These projects were related to the subsequent fighting situation. Water during the construction may cause unnecessary battle damage. Therefore, Takahashi Minami was also particularly attentive. After each project was completed, he I personally took a tape measure and went to the site for actual measurement to confirm that the North Koreans did not make any deviations or discounts in the project.
At this time, Qian Tiandun was leading a group of staff around the sand table and began to draw up tactical arrangements for the next battle. This sand table is not just a piece of land near the Datong River base, but covers a large area of 7,000 square kilometers south of the Daning River and east to the upper reaches of the Datong River.
According to the plan of Qian Tiandun and Wang Tom, the coalition forces rely on the front line of the Datong River for defense. The fleet is responsible for blocking the Datong River basin, and the length of the river that needs to be monitored may be close to two hundred miles. When the Qing army encounters resistance when they reach this place, they will definitely repeat their old tricks and go to the upper reaches of the Datong River to find a crossing point that the coalition forces cannot defend. But at this time, the terrain advantage of the Datong River for the defending side is revealed.
The section of the Datong River from its mouth to Pyongyang is basically a coastal plain. The east-west flow terrain is also conducive to the defenders blocking the Qing army on the north bank and preventing them from going south. However, the upstream section east of Pyongyang flows in a north-south direction, and all of them are in the The mountainous area winds back and forth, presenting a very complex terrain. The main force of the Qing army wanted to complete the crossing of the river in the upper reaches and then go around to the south bank. The operation difficulty was far more difficult than the earlier breakthrough of the Daning River defense line. As long as the defenders control the east-west downstream section of the river, it will be enough to make the Qing army look at the river and sigh.
After all the coalition fleets return to the front line of the Datong River, the surface armed forces will be unprecedentedly powerful, and it will be extremely difficult to complete the crossing on the river under their control. At that time, the only choice before the Qing army is to try to destroy the supply port of the coalition fleet and force it to leave the Datong River. Haihan specially placed this supply port on the north bank of the Datong River to attract the Qing army's firepower.
If the Qing army does not attack the Datong River base, they will have no choice but to face the tightly blocked river. If they send troops to attack, it will suit Haihan's wishes. Now they have sharpened their swords and are waiting. The Qing army put its head on the chopping block.
The strategic intention of Qian Tiandun and Wang Tom was to turn the Datong River base into a flesh-and-blood millstone, allowing the Qing army to consume as much of its effective forces as possible until the enemy could no longer hold on and retreated north, and then retreated from They launched a counterattack at sea and used several coastal river estuaries to block their retreat route, making it impossible for them to come and go.
To achieve such an effect, active weakness in the early stage is an indispensable link. Since withdrawing from the Yalu River, the main force of the Haihan Army has never had a direct confrontation with the Qing Army. It even blocked the Daning River to delay the Qing Army's attack. Anzhou also sent the Fujian Navy to carry out the mission. The North Korean army fighting alone would naturally not be able to stop the Qing army's offensive, but it would not let the Qing army realize that this was actually some kind of alternative tactic to lure the enemy deeper. When the Qing army reaches the front line of the Datong River, it will definitely be unable to continue to advance and will be unwilling to retreat. The coalition forces can give full play to their strengths in positional warfare and cause large-scale damage to them.
This combat plan is far different from the action plan they formulated before setting off from Sanya. They are even two completely different response plans. But if the expected combat effects can be achieved, the benefits Haihan will get from it are not just military subsidies and a military base paid by North Korea.
(End of chapter)