Chapter 2226
The seven surnames spent a lot of money to send these children to Zhoushan for military training. On the one hand, they wanted to let them master authentic Haihan military skills, and strive to form a combat-effective armed force in Zhoushan, so that they could be deployed immediately after returning to Yangzhou; On the other hand, they are also required to move the entire Haihan military training system back to Yangzhou after completing their studies, so that they can form and train their own private armed forces in the future.
Therefore, every training that the children of the salt merchants received here will be copied to the training process of their own militia in the future. In order to ensure that there will be no distortion during the transportation process, they have to complete all the training projects honestly now and experience all the details firsthand, so that when they train new people in the future, they can be as comfortable as the instructors in front of them.
But using the training standards of the Haihan Army to deal with these pampered salt merchants' children, most of them would still be a little overwhelmed. However, in this way, people with better foundations like Dai Chengrong will have more opportunities to perform. When others were exhausted, Dai Chengrong was still able to complete various instructions given by the instructors well.
The children of salt merchants who came to Zhoushan for training all knew that the ultimate goal of this mission was to establish a musketry team, so they would consider the fact that they started to use muskets during training to be a sign of entering the formal training stage. However, after the initial excitement quickly faded, they have discovered that the gun training only looks majestic, but the intensity is much higher than before.
After the day's training, most of the people didn't even have the energy to complain. When they heard Chen Xiaoyu's order to disband, these people staggered and sat on the ground. However, after being warned in the previous training, they remembered not to throw the gun to the ground, and they still relied on the gun body on their shoulders.
Chen Xiaoyu smiled when he saw this and said, "Is it unbearable to just let you walk around the queue with guns? When we go into battle, we have to carry much more weight than this!"
Someone responded: "Instructor, do you think if someone like us joins the army, will they be kicked out after only a few days of training?"
Chen Xiaoyu didn't want to hit them blindly. He shook his head and said: "As long as there are no serious physical problems, generally speaking we will not kick people out during the training period of recruits. If the performance is not good enough, then we can practice more." . What you learned today will be practiced every day for the next two months. When you practice for a long enough time, you won’t be as weak as you are now.”
Everyone looked bitter when they heard that this kind of practice would last for the entire training period. Most of them have never been so tired since they were born as they were during training. When I think that these days will continue for more than two months, it's hard to feel good.
Even Dai Chengrong, who was relatively adaptable to this, couldn't help but feel a little sad at the moment. He had only heard about the glorious achievements of the Haihan Army before, but he had never thought about the price it would take to build such a strong army. But as Chen Xiaoyu said, if you practice for another month or two and adapt to the intensity of training, you may not feel how hard it is.
Duan Tiancheng did not stay to encourage these exhausted trainees. He was notified that he had to go to the staff headquarters for a meeting immediately, and hurried over after the training.
As the chief instructor of this group of people, Duan Tiancheng does not need to do everything personally. He would make a training plan and then leave it to his subordinates Chen Xiaoyu and others to implement it step by step. However, he still has to be there to watch during the training so that he can make immediate adjustments to the training program based on the progress of the students.
Although Duan Tiancheng is a naval officer, the training programs for new recruits that include basic military skills are actually the same for both the army and the navy, so if he is in charge of the training content for the salt merchants' children, there will be no professional mismatch.
It is reported that today's meeting will be hosted by Shi Diwen himself, but there was no news beforehand. This means that there is relatively important news to be announced in Zhoushan. When Duan Tiancheng arrived, most of the attendees had already sat down, waiting for Shi Diwen to appear.
Next to Duan Tiancheng was Ji Yuanqing from the Military Intelligence Bureau. Seeing the seriousness on his face, he asked, "What happened when a meeting was suddenly called?"
Ji Yuanqing obviously knew some inside information, but he refused to reveal it to him at this time. He just said vaguely: "It's not Zhoushan's business. Let's wait for General Shi to talk about it later."
"Isn't it Zhoushan's business?" Duan Tiancheng frowned slightly when he heard this. Generally speaking, only when an emergency military situation occurs, Shi Diwen will personally order such an emergency meeting. But this didn't happen in Zhoushan, but it made Shi Diwen pay so much attention to it. So what exactly is the situation?
After a while, a soldier shouted at the door: "General Shi is here!"
Upon hearing this, the officers in the conference room immediately stood up, raised their heads and held their chests high, welcoming Shi Diwen's arrival with military salutes.
After entering the room, Shi Diwen also raised his hand to return the salute, and then asked everyone to take their seats.
"This impromptu meeting was held because we got some intelligence news today. I think everyone here needs to be informed." Shi Diwen said in a deep voice: "There are foreign merchant ships coming to Zhoushan from Japan bringing information about the Hirado Domain. ”
Almost all of the officers here participated in the previous expedition to Hirado, and their ears immediately pricked up when they heard Shi Diwen's words.
The message sent to Zhoushan was a Portuguese merchant ship from Nagasaki Port. After setting off from Nagasaki Port, this ship made a special detour north to Hirado. However, the purpose was not to explore the subsequent response measures of the Hirado Domain, but that the owner of this merchant ship still had some cargo stored in Hirado Port. Although it was known that the entire Hirado Port and the city were destroyed by the war, he still Want to try my luck again.
After going to Hirado, the merchant ship crossed the sea to Zhoushan Port. When the port authority learned that the ship was coming from Japan, it immediately reported it to the military. Then the Military Intelligence Bureau visited the ship owner and obtained first-hand information from him, and quickly reported it to Shi Diwen. Shi Diwen believed that this matter must be paid enough attention to, so he immediately notified relevant people to convene a meeting.
"According to the description of the ship owner, the Lord of Hirado Domain, Tagawasuke, has returned to the local area and organized manpower to clean up the ruins of the city. However, the project to rebuild Hirado is too large, and the local population has been severely lost. It is estimated that they will not be able to start it for a while. "After this news came out from Shi Diwen's mouth, there was a sigh in the conference room.
After the Allied Forces captured Hirado Island, the Fujian Navy fleet led by Xu Yuzhuo defeated the main force of the Hirado Navy at Qiya Bay east of Hirado Island. Although they failed to capture the key figure of the Hirado Domain, Tagawa, in that battle Father and son, but due to supply problems, the coalition forces could no longer station themselves in Hirado for a long time, and they were worried that the Hizen Diet would gather strength to launch a counterattack, so they voluntarily evacuated the area.
As for the life and death of Hirado Domain Lord Tagawasuke, because there was no way to verify whether he had died in the Battle of Katiya Bay, the coalition command only listed him as a missing target at that time. However, many people hope that Tagawasuke can die quietly to eliminate this hidden danger lurking in the direction of Japan.
But things went against expectations. Tagawasuke's life seemed to be quite strong. Two months after Haihan withdrew his troops and returned to the camp, he showed up again. This was indeed a pity for Haihan's officers.
Shi Diwen tapped the table lightly, signaling everyone to stop, and then continued: "This is indeed disappointing news. For us, the survival of Tagawa Suke, or the Tagawa family, means hidden dangers They still exist. Even if they no longer threaten our security, in the long run, these hidden dangers still need to be eliminated. ”
Shi Diwen paused after saying this, looked at everyone in the room and said: "Considering all factors, we probably won't launch another expedition of the same scale in the short term, so I hope to hear your opinions. How to handle this.”
The last Eastern Expedition to Hirado had plundered a large amount of local property and people after the war, and basically earned back all the military expenses consumed during the operation. The East China Sea Fleet even made a small profit in the accounts calculated afterwards. But if Hirado is attacked again, the local bustling area is already in ruins, and there are no areas on the island where a large number of people live to plunder. The cross-sea expedition will definitely lose money. Unless ordered by the Executive Committee, Shi Diwen will definitely He will no longer take the initiative to raise troops.
However, among Haihan's ruling areas on the coastline of East Asia, the closest to Hirado is Zhoushan Dinghai Port, and it is also the most likely target of retaliation in the future, and Shi Diwen has to be on guard against this. Therefore, he also needs to listen to the opinions of his subordinates to see whether he should continue to use military measures against Hirado.
"General, I have a question. Since Hirado has been destroyed by us, and the main forces of the Hirado clan and armed fleet have also been annihilated, it can be said that the Tagawa family has completely lost power, and Tagawa Suke's methods for getting to the top are inherently tricky and unfair. If it doesn’t go well, then why don’t other clans in Hizen Kingdom take this opportunity to take over?”
Duan Tiancheng thought quickly and asked the question first. Tagawasuke came to power because the original feudal lord, the Matsuura clan, inexplicably suffered a massacre. In Haihan's view, this was most likely a good show directed and acted by Tagawasuke to seize power.
Although the Hizen Kingdom to which the Hirado Domain belongs did not raise any objections to this, there must be many people who are eyeing the fat piece of Hirado. However, it is just because Tagawasuke's domain army is equipped with a large number of muskets and artillery and Taira, who is known as the number one in Kyushu. The Tomizu Army is not very good at seizing power openly. The coalition forces organized by Haihan almost wiped out all the armed forces under Tagawasuke. Under such circumstances, no one took action against him, which made Duan Tiancheng a little surprised.
Shi Diwen responded: "As for the power structure within Hizen Country, we have too little information, and it is difficult to confirm whether other clans intend to replace Tagawasuke. But I think Tagawasuke can continue to maintain his position, and it is still difficult to confirm. One reason that deserves our attention is that he is likely to still have the production technology of muskets and artillery. If he is willing to exchange this, he is also likely to receive support from Hizen. "
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During the battle on Hirado Island, the coalition forces only destroyed one artillery casting workshop on Hirado Island, but did not find the workshop where Hirado Domain produced muskets. According to the information obtained from the later interrogation of the prisoners, the Hirado clan's musket workshop was set up in its territory on Kyushu Island, somewhere deep in the interior of the secret location. In order not to trigger a counterattack from Hizen Country, the coalition forces conducted this operation He had almost never set foot on Kyushu Island, so naturally he couldn't destroy the Hirado clan's musket workshop.
It is currently unknown how much weapons inventory the Hirado Domain still has, but it is conceivable that they may still be able to organize new armed forces after the war. If other forces in the Hizen Kingdom wanted to replace the Tagawa clan to rule the Hirado clan, they would probably still be wary of his armed forces.
At that moment, someone asked: "Is it possible for Nada Chuansuke to achieve a quick turnaround with the help of this special resource?"
Shi Diwen responded: "The prosperity of the Hirado clan in the past was not because of their possession of muskets and artillery, but because of their special trade status in Japan. They have now lost their most important source of financial resources, whether it was manufacturing weapons or recruiting people to rebuild the army. They all require a lot of money, and I think it is unlikely that they will be able to return to their pre-war level of armament in a short time.”
Someone else asked: "What else can the Portuguese businessmen gain from Hirado? For example, whether the local area will restart foreign trade activities, so that we can arrange our own manpower to go and gather information."
Shi Diwen responded: "As I said before, the project to rebuild Hirado Port is huge, and the entire city was burned to rubble by us, so it will be very difficult for them to restart trade activities in the near future. But you It makes sense. We can find a few merchant ships that have been visiting Hirado for many years and arrange for our people to go there to get more detailed information.”
After occupying the area, the Haihan Army made detailed registration of local Han merchants. Most of them chose to withdraw to the Ming Dynasty under the "escort" of the Haihan Army, and many of them followed the East China Sea Fleet to Zhoushan Island. These businessmen have personally experienced that war and know the power of the Haihan Army. If the military came forward to ask these businessmen to cooperate in the field of intelligence, I believe no one would dare to refuse.
However, considering the distance between the two places, it is difficult to guarantee the timeliness of the information obtained. For example, the information brought to Zhoushan by Portuguese businessmen this time was already about ten days ago and can only be used as countermeasures. A reference, if we use it as a basis to formulate combat operations, the reliability will be much worse.
As the head of the local military intelligence department, Ji Yuanqing responded very knowingly: "I accept the order from my humble position. I will find someone to make arrangements later and send a ship to Hirado as soon as possible to find out what is going on."
(End of chapter)