Chapter 2132
After three days of continuous bombardment of Hirado Port, the Kaihan East Sea Fleet finally stopped its offensive. This was not because their ammunition had run out, but because the conspicuous red and blue flags were finally raised on the coast. , which means that the Army troops have invaded Hirado Port and basically controlled the local coastal defenses built in the port area. In the past few days, the people who were prohibited from going to the port area to watch the battle finally began to understand why the port defenses, which had high hopes, failed to successfully block the enemy's invasion.
The battleship VIA that Shi Diwen was aboard slowly sailed into Hirado Port at dusk. For the Japanese of this era, this large warship with a displacement of nearly 2,000 tons was considered one of the largest sailing ships they had ever seen in their lives. It is the largest ship, and its visual impact is enough to make many local people who witnessed this scene remember it for a lifetime.
But it is precisely because of the large hull of the Haihan battleship that in order to make room for it to move, many warships of the East China Sea Fleet cannot even enter the narrow Hirado Port to berth. Therefore, another Majestic-class battleship in the fleet, the Majestic-class battleship The Bang had to leave here with some warships and go to Tiansuke, which has a slightly larger harbor in the north. There are no coastal defenses built there like the Hirado Port area. Three expedition-class warships sent by the East China Sea Fleet this afternoon have successfully occupied the area. Although the port conditions are not as good as Hirado Port, it can be used as a temporary anchorage.
"Is this the most important foreign trade port in Japan? Is this it?" Shi Diwen looked at the port facilities here after getting off the ship, shook his head disapprovingly and said: "This place reminds me of Dawanshan Island ten years ago. Look, It seems that the Hirado clan’s business capabilities are really not that good. They probably spend too much money on the military field, but coastal defenses cannot make this place more prosperous!”
Simon, the Portuguese officer who landed with him, had also been to Dawanshan Island. He agreed with Shi Diwen's view: "The size of Hirado Port is really similar to that of Dawanshan Island, but look at it. It seems that the cargo throughput here is not as good as Dawanshan Island.”
Dawanshan Island, located at the mouth of the Pearl River, was a very important maritime transfer station in the Sanya-Guangzhou trade route established by Haihan. Although the port was not large in scale, it was once responsible for the transshipment of two to three thousand tons of materials per month. A large number of goods produced in the Ming Dynasty were shipped to Sanya through here. The operating conditions of Dawanshan Island made the nearby Portuguese Council of Macau very envious. It was at that time that Simang paid attention to this island.
After many years, Haihan's regional trade center at the Pearl River Estuary had long been changed from Dawanshan Island to Hong Kong, but Xi Mang still remembered that place. Moreover, Dawanshan Island also had coastal fortifications such as forts built at that time. The coastal army also defeated the attacking Shibazhi armed fleet there.
However, Wanshan Port was not destroyed by the war, and its subsequent replacement by Hong Kong was purely due to Haihan's own development needs. However, the current Hirado Port was first dug to pieces due to the temporary construction of fortifications, and then experienced three days of artillery battles. This port has long ceased to look like the peacetime appearance, and Japan's number one trade has completely disappeared. It’s no wonder that Shi Diwen looked down upon Hong Kong’s charm.
In Shi Diwen's eyes, the situation of Hirado Port is only comparable to that of a small place like Dawanshan Island, while a large port like Zhoushan Dinghai Port under his rule is far from what Hirado Port is. It can be compared. Whether it is construction scale or management level, it far exceeds Hirado. Even if the Japanese are given another ten or eight years of development time, they will definitely not be able to catch up.
Of course, Shi Diwen also knew that the purpose of this war was not to occupy Hirado Port, so even if the war destroyed Hirado Port and the city, Shi Diwen would not feel anything wrong. Appropriate. In his personal opinion, perhaps destroying this place is the safest way to deal with it, which can greatly reduce the possibility of his opponent making a comeback.
Since the decision to send troops to Hirado was hasty and there were too many uncertain factors, the Executive Committee had not yet made a final decision on how to deal with Hirado after the war.
With the military strength dispatched by Haihan and the assistance of the Fujian Xu family army, there will not be much problem in defeating the Hirado Domain. However, Haihan is not interested in occupying this place. So should he withdraw his troops directly after the war or make further attacks on Hirado? The executive committee has not yet reached a unanimous opinion on reform control.
The ideal approach is to immediately support a puppet figure to take over Hirado after defeating the Tagawa clan that currently rules Hirado, in order to eliminate the influence left by Shiba Shiba and avoid the withdrawal of troops in the front foot, and the remaining Hachiba Shiba party will return. A resurgence occurs.
But the problem is that Haihan has no arrangements in Hirado before. Even if he wants to support him, there is still no candidate who is familiar with the local conditions who is qualified for this position. If we want to forcibly select an honest and obedient person from the locals as a support target, then for the sake of To stabilize the local social order, a certain size of armed forces must be left to ensure the bottom line. This is extremely uneconomical for Haihan, and even if he spends money, he may not be able to get a more ideal result.
Before the Executive Committee makes a final decision, the military generals participating in this operation can only temporarily implement military control over the occupied areas to further reduce the activity space of sporadic enemy forces in the city.
Shi Diwen met at the dock with Sun Zhen, commander of the first battalion of the special operations group who led his troops to occupy the port, and listened to a briefing on the army's attack on the port. Because Qian Tiandun is still sitting at the rear headquarters in Daye Village coordinating the mobilization of various troops and logistics support, etc., Shi Diwen, as the only senior general entering the city, automatically took over the field command.
"You mean, the high ground in the south hasn't been captured yet?" Shi Diwen noticed a detail in the battle report.
Sun Zhen responded: "We encountered relatively fierce resistance when we tried to enter this highland. I thought it was possible that the main force of the enemy army was huddled in this area. If we wanted to attack the highland first, we would not have time to capture it before dark. After weighing the situation, we decided to bypass the high ground and attack the port area first. If there is anything inappropriate, please ask the general for instructions!”
The seaside highland where the ruins of Hirado Castle are located had actually been cut off by the Haihan Army before the special forces attacked the port area. Therefore, Sun Zhen judged that there was no need to rush to attack the highland and instead bypass this For the more troublesome areas, first take control of the port area so that the navy can enter the port. The army troops that invade the city can also change their supply point from the southern defense line to the port, which greatly reduces the time required to obtain supplies.
Shi Diwen expressed his approval of the countermeasures taken by Sun Zhen. In fact, if he were to direct the army's battle, he would probably make the same choice. If the port area is not captured before dark today, the defenders will most likely use this night's buffer time to transfer the shore defense artillery from the port area defenses and deploy them to urban areas not yet controlled by the army. It caused trouble for one's own side during the battle. The flexible handling of the First Battalion has eliminated such hidden dangers, and as agreed before the war, solved the biggest obstacle for the East China Sea Fleet to enter the port.
Sun Zhen's battle report attracted Shi Diwen's attention to this highland. He immediately ordered the fleet to keep no less than two warships near the coastline on the east side of the highland tonight and conduct strict surveillance on this coast. To ensure that no one will escape from the highlands through the sea tonight.
Taking into account the complexity of the urban environment, the Haihan Army did not plan to continue to clear uncontrolled urban areas at night, and planned to wait until dawn before continuing the attack. Although the possibility of the enemy's counterattack at night was extremely slim, Haihan was still fully prepared for this. He assembled the troops who invaded the city in company units to establish temporary strongholds, and the distance between each stronghold was controlled to within 100 feet. Left and right, they are deployed in a triangle, which can not only support nearby friendly forces in time when necessary, but also form an effective cut and control of the urban area. This special tactical deployment is based on the rich combat experience of the special operations group and is specially used in urban street fighting environments. If the enemy tries to challenge this defense system, it will suffer.
That night, sporadic armed personnel did try to break out from the highlands to areas not yet controlled by Haihan, but this attempt failed without exception. Between the various small strongholds of the Haihan Army, a bonfire was lit at every street corner, making it difficult for anyone who wanted to pass through these open areas to hide their tracks. Once discovered by the Haihan Army, they would be greeted by a barrage of fire.
Of course, there are some innocent people who want to flee among these unlucky ghosts, but no one will identify them during the war. Anyone who appears on the streets after dark will be treated as resisters.
Takahashi Minami set out from the city's southern defense line after dark, passed through the city and arrived at the naval headquarters at the port. Before Qian Tiandun enters the city, Gao Qiaonan and his special forces will temporarily accept Shi Diwen's command.
However, Shi Diwen has no special interest in commanding this ace unit. On the one hand, this is out of respect for Qian Tiandun. On the other hand, his expertise is mainly at sea. Commanding the army to fight street battles is not his specialty. If any wrong instructions are given and affect the direction of the battle, it will be counterproductive.
Therefore, after Gao Qiaonan arrived at the port, Shi Diwen quickly handed the command back to him, allowing him to continue to direct the combat operations of the special operations group.
In the early morning of the next day, the Haihan Army continued to launch a clearing operation in the city, and the first to bear the brunt was the high ground of the Hirado Castle ruins, which was already under siege. In order to ensure a smooth operation, Gao Qiaonan invested an additional battalion of troops in addition to Sun Zhen's troops to launch a pincer attack from the south.
The dual advantages of military strength and weapons and equipment allowed the Haihan Army to not encounter much trouble during the attack on the highlands. After knocking down more than a hundred enemy troops, the opponent's defense collapsed.
The most conspicuous building on this highland is the ruins of Hirado Castle, but recently there was another ruin also caused by fire, which was the former feudal lord's mansion. The two ruins, one high and one low, are adjacent to each other, but they span nearly forty years. From here, you can also witness the history of the rise and fall of Hirado.
In addition to these two ruins, there are also many residences belonging to the feudal lords, including the residence of the new feudal lord Tagawasuke. Yesterday, Sun Zhenzhen took this into consideration and believed that the Hirado domain army might shrink to the high ground and resist stubbornly, so he did not rush to launch an offensive. But judging from the intensity of resistance he encountered today, he felt that his judgment seemed to be a bit wrong.
After spending more than an hour searching the high ground, Sun Zhen had to admit that he had been fooled. The opponent did not deploy heavy troops here for a last-ditch effort, but instead released three to four hundred men to lure the enemy. It was obvious that he wanted to take advantage of the opportunity. This delays time and covers the main force's evacuation.
However, after inspecting these houses, some gains were made. The owners here obviously did not have time to transfer all the valuable belongings in their homes, and there were quite a lot of gold and silver items.
In Tagawasuke's mansion, the soldiers found a secret vault, where they found more than thirty boxes of silver coins that had not yet been re-melted, as well as dozens of palm-sized gold bricks. This windfall alone is probably enough to cover the military expenses of this cross-sea battle. This is also a great achievement, and it cheered up Sun Zhen, who was frustrated by the defeat.
In fact, this secret vault is the current treasury of the Hirado clan, and the money in it is not entirely Tagawasuke's private property. He evacuated here too hastily, and he did not expect that he would not be able to come back once he left. He only took away a small part of the property in the vassal treasury, which gave the Haihan Army an advantage.
Because of the huge amount of wealth, Sun Zhen had to appoint a platoon of people to personally escort these cash boxes to the port area and hand them over to Shi Diwen.
Shi Diwen was not too surprised by this harvest. It would really surprise him if nothing was found in the homes of high-ranking figures like the Hirado clan. Although he once thought when he landed at Hirado Port yesterday that the leaders of the Hirado clan used all their wealth in the military field, as the manager of a large trading port, he certainly understood that Hirado's profits should be far more than used for military purposes. Some of the expenses for building ships and cannons must have been transferred to the private pockets of those in power, and the gold and silver seized also confirmed this.
According to Haihan’s current system, the Ministry of National Defense has the right to retain half of the wealth gained by the military during overseas combat operations as military expenses. Therefore, this is for the military, which is facing great financial pressure for this operation. It was a timely rain.
However, Shi Diwen also understood that this was not the goal of this operation. If Tagawa and his son were not caught, then this labor-intensive combat operation would not be called a success in any case.
(End of chapter)