Chapter 2313
The 1st and 2nd Battalions of the Special Forces Regiment stationed on Ganghwa Island, as well as the Navy's North Sea Fleet, were actually ready to go to Seoul before Li Zhi arrived at Ganghwa Island. Tom Wang and Qian Tiandun have been standing still, just waiting to reach an agreement with North Korea.
As for whether it is Li Zhi or the rebellious party in Seoul who comes to negotiate terms, it is not their focus. As long as they can provide enough benefits, it is not impossible to negotiate cooperation with another party. But so far Haihan has invested a lot of resources in Li Xie. If a latecomer wants to take over this position, the benefits that need to be paid to Haihan may not be just the few things Li Xie promised.
But the strange thing is that although the situation in Seoul has gradually calmed down, no one has come forward to negotiate with Haihan, as if the thousands of Haihan soldiers on Ganghwa Island are nothing.
Since no one came to negotiate, Li Xie became the only one who wanted to go next. However, this subordinate did not know the real situation in Seoul, and Haehan continued to use various means to make him anxious during the month, so he did not bargain again after arriving at Ganghwa Island, and the price remained almost intact. Agree to the exchange conditions proposed by Haihan.
Now that we have received the benefits, there will be no ambiguity in what we need to do. This is one of the fundamental principles that Haihan has maintained a good international reputation for many years. Regardless of whether it is negotiation or the use of force, it is now the time for the Haihan Army to perform.
Wang Tom and Qian Tiandun had reached a consensus before Li Zhi came back. They believed that the strength gap between the two sides was obvious. The chaos in Seoul should not have the courage to challenge the Haihan Army. Even if an armed conflict occurred, it should not turn into a war between the two countries. war between.
Of course, since the other party has made up its mind to rebel, it is probably difficult to make it surrender obediently by relying on verbal threats and pressure. Haihanjun must come up with something real to be able to scare these daring guys.
In addition, it is also necessary to let Li Zhi and his supporters see clearly who is the person who really has the power to determine the future direction of North Korea, and completely dispel some unrealistic ideas in their hearts.
This time the North Sea Fleet dispatched a large, seven and eight warships, in addition to more than twenty troop transports and comprehensive supply ships, as well as a dozen civilian ships belonging to Haihan temporarily requisitioned on Ganghwa Island and the lower reaches of the Han River. This fleet sailed upstream in the Han River with astonishing momentum. The last time a similar scene occurred probably dates back to the year before last when Wang Tom led a fleet to break into the Han River, marched directly to the city, and forced Li Zhu to sign a treaty of alliance with Haihan outside Seoul.
The relationship between Haihan and North Korea also underwent fundamental changes after that forced intrusion. Two years later, almost the same situation happened again on the Han River. The difference was that this time there was Li Zhen, the successor to the throne, in the fleet. The nature of the operation was no longer an invasion, but to assist the restoration of the crown prince of Joseon. country.
"I have been on your country's warships many times in the past year or so, but this is actually the first time I have actually participated in a war."
Li Xie stood at the bow of the boat and confessed his inner excitement to Tom Wang. The only thing wrong is that the destination of this expedition is actually the capital of the country. But as long as he can successfully regain the king's power, Li Zhi doesn't care so much.
Wang Tom responded: "When the new fleet of your country's navy is formed in the future, the prince will definitely have the opportunity to go to other places."
Li Xie nodded and said: "Sooner or later, the accounts in the north must be settled carefully."
What the two people said was naturally referring to North Korea's powerful northern neighbor, the Manchu Qing Dynasty. Although the north has become much quieter after the war ended last year, the grievances of the past ten years will certainly not be wiped away.
When Li Zhi was in Sanya, he had many exchanges with Haihan's senior officials, and he was well aware of Haihan's determination to suppress the Manchus. If Haihan wanted to take action against the Manchus, he would definitely need to involve North Korea. Although the current military strength of North Korea is not yet able to compete with the Qing army on the frontal battlefield, it will not be a big problem to provide support and be responsible for the logistics.
Li Zhen had witnessed the powerful force of the Haihan Army many times while studying abroad, and he would naturally imagine that his country's army would have similar strength in the future. If conditions allowed, he would also like to lead a personal expedition and lead an army to the north for revenge.
However, the premise of everything is that Li Zhi can regain power now, otherwise the plan to form a new army is likely to stall, and the Northern Expedition will be even more hopeless.
"If you encounter our navy on the river later, please ask General Wang to handle it as appropriate." Li Zhi made a request to Tom Wang in as calm a tone as possible.
North Korea's navy has old warships, lacks combat experience, and has very limited combat capabilities. During last year's war, they were directly assigned by the coalition to be responsible for logistics and were not even qualified to participate in front-line operations. After seeing the combat methods of the Haihan Navy, North Korea naturally took it as an example and planned to form a new army based on the Haihan warships. However, due to reasons such as funding and training, there is not much progress so far. Some sailors are still training at the Datong River base, waiting for Haihan to deliver the first batch of warships to North Korea.
Li Zhi knew that his country's navy was weak and not enough to pose a substantial threat to the Haihan Navy, so he asked Wang Tom not to take too radical measures to deal with the Korean warships on the Han River.
Wang Tom glanced at Li Xie and responded in a deep voice: "It's been a month since the accident happened, and no warships stationed in Seoul have come to Ganghwa Island to explain the situation. I don't think it's necessary for the Crown Prince to protect these people anymore. If you can't break it, you can't build it long ago. It will be clean after these things are dealt with. If we wait until the prince takes power, it will not be that simple.”
Li Yan was silent. He knew that what Tom Wang said made sense, but it was still a little hard to accept.
Such a big thing happened in Seoul, and the naval troops stationed on the Han River did not report the situation to Haihan for support. This is already telling. This naval force is either completely gone. If it is still active on the Han River at this time, it must be the rebels.
Wang Tom had already made suggestions to him before, taking advantage of the Haihan Army's counterinsurgency to deal with the stumbling blocks that would hinder his smooth governance in the future. It is obvious that Wang Tom wants to regard all North Korean troops still operating near Seoul as rebels, especially the navy troops who can come and go freely.
To deal with these rebels at this time, just kill them. Anyway, it was the Haihan Army who took action, so Li Zhi didn't have to get blood on his hands. However, if we leave it to be determined later, other variables or resistance may arise. Even if Li Xie wants to kill him, he may not be able to do so.
"We Haihan have a saying that if the old doesn't go, the new won't come." Wang Tom's eyes turned to the river in front of him again: "Your Majesty, you can think about this truth carefully."
This sentence is not unfamiliar to Li Yan. He heard it said more than once when he was studying abroad in Sanya, but he had never carefully considered its meaning before. At this moment, when I heard Tom Wang mention this sentence again, I suddenly had a different feeling.
What is old? Everything in Lee's Joseon that lasted for more than two hundred years can be classified as "old". What's new? Many of the concepts from Haihan are completely new compared to Korea.
Li Zhi and Li Zhi's father and son wanted to imitate Haihan's method to make Korea stronger, but they did not intend to make radical changes, so the effect would naturally be greatly reduced. Of course, this is not just the responsibility of the father and son. There are many vested interests who do not want the status quo to change, let alone give up their own interests to a group of outsiders to make the redistribution.
Some people are worried about this, while others can no longer hold back and come forward to fight. Haihan wanted to clear the roadblock with a storm, but Li Zhi was still worried that his movements would be too big and his jars would be broken.
Later, Li Xie relayed Wang Tom's words to his two civil and military subordinates, wanting to hear their opinions.
An Daoshi said: "I thought that everyone who participated in the rebellion this time could be killed! Those who still try to resist at this time will not regret their death! The Haihan people are willing to do it for me, why wouldn't I do it for you?"
Pu Hongye said: "The prince led us across the ocean to study in Haihan. Why? Isn't it just to implement the New Deal in the country in the future and strengthen the national strength? The minister agrees with General Wang's view. Since he has decided to take action, he should take action Use thunderous means to clear the way for the Crown Prince to take office in the future!”
Li Zhi knew that the civil and military men under him always had different opinions, so he planned to listen to the opinions of both sides for reference, but today the two men unexpectedly had the same opinion.
Li Zhi was about to say something when he heard the sound of a cannon outside, and he immediately swallowed the words that were on his lips again.
By the time he brought An and Pu back to the deck, the sound of gunfire had stopped. In fact, there was only one sound from beginning to end, which at least meant that no real battle took place.
"It's a ship belonging to your navy. I ordered the gunfire to drive it away." Wang Tom explained the reason for the gunfire just now in an understatement.
On the river in the distance, two warships were trying to get closer to the river, fearing that they would be treated as targets by this fleet. Li Zhi saw clearly that the two ships were indeed owned by the Navy. However, Wang Tom obviously had no interest in wasting time on this little shrimp. He just fired and drove them away without taking any further action.
Li Zhi did not question the purpose of the two ships cruising on the river. Since the Haihan people already regarded all naval forces operating in the Seoul area as rebels, it would be useless to say more at this time, and he was unable to interfere with the Haihan army. action.
"Don't worry, Your Majesty, we can't fight on the river." Wang Tom's tone was very calm: "There is no chance for these navy warships to connect to the side. If you want to fight our army head-on, you will only die."< br>
Li Zhi had no doubts about Wang Tom's words. The difference in strength between the two sides was so great that the navy had no way to confront them head-on. Just seeing Wang Tom so sure made Li Xie feel a little uncomfortable.
In Wang Tom's opinion, it was just a fly that flew in front of his eyes, so he just waved it away. Li Zhi also understood that this was because his own navy could not create a threat to the Haihan Army, so he was so despised.
"What's the use of keeping such waste!" Li Xie was angry, and suddenly felt that it would not be a bad thing to use Haihan's help to get rid of these useless wastes that were consuming the national treasury.
In fact, all ships on the river that saw this fleet took the initiative to avoid it, leaving the channel in the center of the river for them to pass. As Tom Wang said, no one would try to challenge this fleet on the river.
This is not the first time that Wang Tom has come to Seoul. From the year before last to this year, he has come at least seven or eight times in the past three years. However, the purpose of coming to Seoul this time is different from the past. He wants to become the conqueror of this city. . Not only did he force the North Koreans to sign an alliance like the first time he came here, he had already made up his mind to take this opportunity to teach the North Koreans some lessons and let them learn to respect him.
Just like when it first came to Seoul the year before last, the fleet docked without any obstruction. The naval warships stationed locally did not know where they had gone, and there were only a few civilian ships on the river bank that had not had time to leave.
As for the troops in Seoul, they certainly did not dare to go out of the city to prevent the Haihan army from landing on the river bank. A slap could not make a sound, so there was no battle here as Li Xie expected. The vanguard of the special operations battalion successfully landed here without encountering any resistance.
However, this is not surprising to the Haihan Army. There are always towers outside Seoul that keep an eye on the mobilization of troops and horses inside and outside the city. If the rebels set up defenses on the river bank, they will definitely not be able to avoid surveillance. The Haihan Army had sent the fleet escorting military supplies to Seoul the day before, which confirmed that the rebels had no plans to leave the city to fight.
Li Xie walked down the gangplank to the shore and took a deep breath. He had never been away from Seoul for such a long time in his life. When he returned here again and breathed the air of his hometown, he naturally felt a sense of closeness in his heart.
There are many warehouses near the river bank. It can be seen that the shipping trade here has increased a lot in the past year. Of course Li Xie knew where this new trade volume came from.
Then he noticed the tower in the distance. It was so conspicuous among the bungalows outside the city that it could be seen from miles away.
When Li Zhen left Seoul, Haihan's stronghold outside the city was still under construction. At that time, the tower had just been built, and it was not as prominent as it is today. Therefore, Li Zhen did not know that Haihan had built such a tower outside the city. A special building.
He quickly got the answer. It was not a newly built pagoda, but a tower built in the Haihan stronghold.
Li Zhi also learned some military knowledge while studying abroad, so he could roughly think of the purpose of the Haihan people in building this special building without anyone else explaining it.
Thinking that the capital of his country was under Haihan's surveillance at all times made Li Xie feel very uncomfortable. But at this time, he really needed the intelligence information Haihan collected through this tower, which really made him feel very conflicted.
(End of chapter)