Chapter 2088
A question that Amakusa Shiro had not figured out before was why the Eighteen Shiba Party members took the initiative to defect to the Tagawa clan and brought so many valuable resources to help them develop. This information provided by Garcia , undoubtedly gives all questions a reasonable answer.
For various reasons, after Haihan eliminated Shibazhi, he did not carry out an extermination-style extermination of the family members of Zheng Zhilong and other major leaders. Even though the intelligence agency knew that Zheng Zhilong still had family members in Japan, they did not take corresponding measures. To avoid future troubles. This kind of handling method cannot be judged simply by the standard of right and wrong, but judging from the current situation, the original soft-heartedness did leave some long-term hidden dangers for Haihan.
As a leader, Zheng Zhilong's prestige within Shibazhi is undoubtedly very high. Even many years after his death, there are still many people who are willing to continue to engage in the special business of armed maritime merchants for this sign. And it is the descendants of Zheng Zhilong who will inherit this cause. It is indeed the most appealing to the various unwilling 18 Zhiyu Party. No matter what purpose they have in gathering in Japan, the authority symbolized by the identity of the children of the Zheng family. Just the spiritual totem these people need.
Considering the special environment of the Hirado clan, they certainly could not openly use the banner of the Zheng clan, so providing support to the Tagawa clan became a compromised method of effectiveness. On the surface, these people are taking orders from the Tagawa family, but in fact they are still serving the Zheng family. This seems to be a good explanation for why the Tagawa clan's strength has expanded rapidly in recent years, and there are even faint signs of replacing the feudal lord.
Finding out about this matter was far more important than understanding the trade status of Nagasaki, so Shiro Amakusa adjusted his direction without hesitation, hoping that Garcia would provide more information about the descendants of the Tagawa family and the Zheng family.
However, Garcia's sources of information are not that reliable. He does not have much direct contact with the Tagawa family, so a lot of the information is actually hearsay. It is difficult for him to tell the specific situation. After Garcia learned of Amakusa Shiro's identity, he did not dare to make up false information at will to get through. He could only tell Amakusa Shiro honestly that the information he knew was limited and he did not know the specific situation of the Zheng family's descendants.
Shiro Amakusa feels very sorry for this. If the news about Zheng's descendants can be confirmed, the next situation will undoubtedly be much clearer, and Haihan can also take more targeted investigation measures. But what Amakusa Shiro didn't know was that after the information he had previously collected at Hirado Port was sent back to Sanya, Haihan executives had already confirmed someone's special identity.
"According to historical records, Tagawa Shichizaemon, also known as Tagawa Jirozaemon, the second son of Zheng Zhilong, was born in 1626, the year before we came here, and he is now twelve years old. The reason why his surname is Tagawa The reason why he did not take his father's surname was because Zheng Zhilong adopted him to his wife's natal family, the Tagawa clan. However, we still lack relevant information about how Tagawa Shichizaemon became the heir of the Tagawa clan. Perhaps it has something to do with the support of the Eighteenth Chiyu Party.”
After receiving the reconnaissance report from Hirado, the intelligence department has verified some of the key information, especially the famous person like "Tagawa Nanzaemon" mentioned in the report. He Xi specially A search was conducted using the information in the large database, and the result turned out to be that the person was indeed there. Moreover, the information was used to confirm another identity that made Haihan even more interested. This was reported to the Executive Committee at the security meeting. report.
Yan Chujie said: "Now that it is confirmed that this person is Zheng Zhilong's second son, it makes sense that the Eighteen Zhiyu Party chose Hirado Domain as the base for their renewed rebellion. They built ships and cannons locally and secretly formed an armed fleet. It seems that I want to recreate the glory of Shiba Shiba in Japan!”
"If it's just in Japan, that's fine, but their ambitions probably won't limit their scope of activities to Japan." Tao Donglai mused: "Judging from their previous layout in the southeast of the Ming Dynasty, probably the Ming Dynasty's The prosperous coastal areas are the real target of these people.”
If we count from the time of the attempted attack that occurred during the Joseon Crown Prince's inspection around the island in October last year, in the past five months, Haihan has seized several cases directly related to this group of people in a vast area from Sanya in the south to Liaodong in the north. or indirect relationship cases. At first, Haihan just treated it as weapons smuggling, but as more and more clues were obtained, the intelligence agencies gradually realized that the purpose of the mastermind behind the scenes was not only to obtain economic gains through smuggling arms.
When the time comes, it is hard to say where this group of people will choose to attack first, but it is obvious that they are unlikely to give up the deployment of spending a lot of resources and time in the coastal areas of the Ming Dynasty. Of course, now that Haihan has begun to eliminate the various institutions set up by this group of people along the coast of the Ming Dynasty, even if they are unwilling to give up voluntarily, it will be difficult to rebuild a similar network in a short time.
What the Executive Committee now needs to make a judgment is whether this armed force based on the Eighteen Chi Yu Party and the Zheng family will pose a threat to Haihan in the future. If the answer is yes, then Haihan must arrange to send troops to eliminate this hidden danger.
"Judging from the frontline reconnaissance, this group of people has mastered the technology of casting Western-style artillery. I think this is a very dangerous signal. It is likely that they have also mastered the technology of mass-manufacturing muskets to a certain extent, whether it is Whether it is a matchlock gun or a flintlock gun, it will cause us a lot of trouble!" Bai Kesi expressed his worries from the perspective of military technology. His subtext was that if this group of people can make their own guns, then even if Haihan manages to Blocking the sea lanes leading to the Spanish colonies in the south still cannot prevent the continuation of the transnational arms smuggling trade.
"Don't forget, they also have shipbuilding capabilities." Yue Zhiyun, who attended the meeting on behalf of the Ministry of Transport, added: "An armed fleet unknown to the world can do a lot of things with a little more courage. I There is reason to believe that this will pose a threat to our country’s northern route.”
Haihan actually had a lot of troops stationed in the north of the Ming Dynasty, but due to objective environmental constraints, Haihan controlled much fewer ports in the northern seas than in the south. There are only two ports north of the Yangtze River: Zhifu Port in Shandong and Lushun Port in Liaodong. It was not until the second half of last year that another Datong Jiang military port was added, which is not located on the main trade route. Pulling this dividing line further south to the north of the Fujian Strait will only create one more Zhoushan Dinghai Port. This situation makes most of the routes to the northern mainland area actually outside the protection scope of the navy. Ming Dynasty had various concerns that made it hesitant to attack Haihan's ships, but Japan did not cooperate with them. Haihan established any official relations, and the Hirado domain was a traditional Japanese pirate nest, so they had no worries at all. What's more, the armed fleet being formed in Hirado is still mainly Chinese-style sailing ships. When something happens, it will be difficult to associate it with Japan. If some tricks are used to blame the Ming Dynasty, it might actually be possible. To the effect of misleading Haihan.
Tao Donglai said: "With the troops we currently deploy in the north, can we solve this problem?"
Yan Chujie responded: "The military strength is actually more than sufficient. Even if the garrisons in Jinzhou, Liaodong and Dengzhou, Shandong are not used, the garrisons at Datongjiang Base in North Korea and Dinghai Port in Zhejiang are enough to complete the combat mission. Both of these places are Each has a fully equipped fleet that can prepare for war in a short period of time, and there are also special operations groups and marines stationed at the Datongjiang base to take on the task of landing operations. The force should be enough to take down the entire Hirado Island. . Of course, we still need to conduct further verification on the other party’s military strength.”
Yan Chujie's tone was full of confidence. After all, almost all the most elite combat units of the Haihan Army are stationed in the north, and more than half a year has passed since the end of the Korean War last year. They have already rested and recuperated, and they are fully capable of executing new tasks. A combat mission.
Yan Chujie estimated that there would be no problem in dispatching four to five thousand troops from both the navy and the army. Such a force should have greatly exceeded the total strength of the Hirado clan. Considering the gap in weapons, equipment and tactics between the two sides, it would basically not be possible. What chance does the other side leave for a comeback?
Of course, as a victorious army, the Haihan military now needs to consider not only how to win the battle when formulating combat plans, but also how to achieve the highest operational efficiency, the least casualties, and the lowest military expenditures. Consumption, to obtain the results needed by the Executive Committee. It is not difficult to win the battle, but to win a battle that satisfies all parties in Haihan, the military still needs to put in some effort.
Moreover, if the purpose of such a war against overseas targets is only to eliminate the opponent rather than expand the occupied area, then the result of launching such a war is most likely to win the war and lose military expenditures, and this will often become a part of the executive committee. Reasons against going to war. After all, for the business-oriented Haihan, almost everything can be quantified into economic benefits to weigh the pros and cons. If the economic loss is too large, it will be regarded as an uneconomical transaction, even if it is a war.
Sure enough, objections immediately appeared, and Schneider's lazy voice rang in the conference room: "Excuse me, are there any actual benefits for us from fighting this war? I don't think you are right. Are you interested in a small place like Hirado Island? The Japanese do not want to expand trade cooperation with foreign countries. We have previously discussed the plan to use force to open Japan's door, but it has also proven difficult to achieve at this stage, so it is just to eliminate one The local warlords are about to launch a war. Have you calculated the expenses we may incur? This is not like sending troops to North Korea last year. There will be North Koreans who will bear the military expenses for us, and we will even earn a fortune after the war. Pen, if we attack Japan, we will have to pay for it ourselves!”
Yan Chujie frowned and said: "But this is not a military operation based on economic interests. It is the remnant party of Shiba Zhi, a hostile armed force that has begun to cause us trouble!"
"There is a saying in Sun Tzu's Art of War, which is to conquer the enemy without fighting. Why don't we try to use other methods, such as using diplomacy to put pressure on the other party, making them aware of their situation and then taking the initiative? Give up some unrealistic illusions. Those people were once defeated by us. They should know the consequences of being targeted by us. If they must fight to the death, it will not be too late to use military means at that time. ” Schneider tried to persuade others to use negotiation to solve the current problem.
Gu Kai, the backbone of the anti-war faction in the executive committee, did not hesitate to express his support for Schneider: "War is an extreme means to solve problems and will bring many side effects. The war we launched against Shibazhi before did not Completely solve the problem. If we use military means to solve the Hirado Domain's problem this time, I think it will still treat the symptoms but not the root cause. It will be difficult to completely resolve the grievances between our country and the Shiba Shiyu Party. I think Schneider's idea is right. Yes, what we have to do is not to think about how to eliminate our opponents, but to make them retreat and give up their position against us. If they don't accept this kind of goodwill, then we can use a big stick to beat them hard. Go down.”
"The method you mentioned may cause our army to miss the best fighter opportunity." Yan Chujie shook his head and objected: "The current situation is that the other party thinks that we are showing that they are hiding, and they do not know that they have been exposed to our field of vision. At this time, we can catch them off guard, but if we use negotiation methods to put pressure, it actually gives them time to respond, but it is possible that they will give up the confrontation as you wish, but this is also ruled out. Without the possibility of taking risks, if we use military means to solve the problem at that time, we will lose the opportunity and may need to spend longer combat time and more casualties to achieve the effect.”
The main war faction and the peace faction hold their own opinions in such meetings and refuse to give in to each other. This has been considered the norm in recent years. However, in fact, the basic positions of both parties in this debate are consistent, that is, the situation of the Hirado Domain must be paid enough attention and corresponding measures must be taken to deal with it. Even those who advocate a peaceful solution to the problem do not exclude the use of military means to attack opponents after diplomatic means fail.
But if diplomacy can be effective and make opponents give up confrontation in fear of Haihan's power, then in the process it can indeed save a large amount of military expenditures, avoid casualties caused by war, and even have the opportunity to resolve Haihan and Haihan once and for all. The grudges between Shiba Zhi. Therefore, this is still a very tempting proposal for the decision-makers of the Executive Committee.
(End of chapter)