Chapter 2342
After capturing Zhuanghe County, the Haihan Army then launched a dragnet-like sweep of villages within a few miles of the county. Perhaps because of the existence of the county government office, the proportion of Manchus in this area was obviously much higher than elsewhere, and there were more cases of armed resistance.
However, the strength gap between the two sides was too great, and it would be no difficulty for the Haihan Army to defeat these rural armed forces. But in order to ensure safety, these Manchus must be separated from the Han civilians after they are captured, and more troops must be allocated to perform escort tasks, which is not a big trouble.
But for the commander, this kind of trouble that can be solved by simply sending more manpower is not a problem at all. The real trouble that is difficult to deal with now is the increasingly cold weather conditions in Liaodong.
It would be fine if the weather was just cold. After all, elite units such as the special operations group were given cold-weather clothing and sufficient food and supplies were prepared. However, the snowfall in Liaodong caused trouble to the infantry marching in the wild. It was not that troublesome. Easy to solve.
After landing, the special operations group spent most of their time operating inland twenty or thirty miles away from the coastline. In order to gain time, they had to march quickly between various towns and villages, so mobility was particularly important. Almost all the war horses raised at the Datong River base were used in this operation, but even so, it was still far from being able to solve the mobility needs of the troops.
Even if we include the packhorses snatched from the towns along the way during the operation, only about one-fifth of the troops are currently able to move forward on horseback. When the weather is fine, the impact is not too great, but recently Liaodong has begun to snow frequently, making long-distance marching and camping in the snowy wilderness extremely inconvenient. What's more, an army like the Haihan Army that relies heavily on the logistics system must keep supply channels open at all times. After snowfall, it becomes more difficult to transport combat materials from the sea to the inland. Commanders have to provide logistics support in the process. Invest more manpower.
"If it snows like this for two or three days in a row, we will probably have to withdraw our troops in advance." Qian Tiandun patted the snowflakes on his shoulders and said with concern: "The infantry's marching speed in the field has been reduced by half. , but the situation is still very difficult, and it is difficult to push it through like the past few days.”
Wang Tom said: "How about withdrawing the main force to the sea first, leaving only a small number of cavalry to operate on land, and then reorganizing the landing at the next location."
Qian Tiandun said: "Going back to the sea is certainly a solution, but if we do this, we may have to abandon those villages and towns located inland."
Withdrawing the main force of the troops to the sea for maneuvers will definitely be better than the current march situation, and it can also solve the problem of logistical supply. If one or two days of operations are only conducted against inshore targets, then the combat supplies carried by individual soldiers are basically sufficient. But if they want to go to targets that are dozens of miles away from the coastline, the landing troops will definitely have to carry more supplies, and even need to use vehicles such as carriages. The snow in the wilderness will become an obstacle to logistical supplies.
According to the information found in the county government, many villages and towns under the county seat are located in the interior of the mountainous area to the north of the county seat. A round trip from the county seat is estimated to take a day. If a large number of people have to be escorted on the return trip, the traveling speed will be inevitable. It will be much slower. In order to avoid spending the night on the way, it is even possible to delay the return trip by an extra day so that you can start early and complete the return trip during the day.
Tom Wang was silent for a moment before responding: "With the population size of those villages and towns, it is not worth spending too much time and energy. This time we will focus on the villages and towns near the coastline first. As for the inland places that have slipped through the net... maybe we can Come again next spring!”
Qian Tiandun nodded and agreed with his opinion: "It seems that this is the only way... I hope the weather will not continue to worsen and give us a few more days."
For most of the Han people who were forcibly relocated from here by the Haihan Army, they actually had no idea what kind of situation they were in. These Han people were kidnapped by the Qing army from the northern border area of the Ming Dynasty and moved thousands of miles before being resettled to where they live now, where they restarted their farming life of opening up wasteland. However, they fell into war again after only a few days of peace. among.
Haihan is still a strange existence to most of them. They don't know where Haihan is located and why the army of Haihan comes here to rescue them. But being able to escape Manchu rule is at least not a bad thing. Many people were very happy to see the Haihan soldiers publicly executing the Manchu landlords who were usually very arrogant.
Obviously, this is a more powerful army than the Qing army, and its strength seems to far exceed that of the Ming Dynasty's border army. It seems that this army has no intention of sending them back to the Ming Dynasty, but is preparing to send them to the place ruled by the Haihan Kingdom for resettlement. Although they were uneasy about such a prospect, the people could only obey the arrangements. After all, all the Manchus who tried to resist the Haihan army were killed. In order to survive, it was better to be obedient.
Perhaps thanks to God's blessing, the snowfall that lasted for several days suddenly stopped. Although the fields were still muddy due to snow, at least the situation did not get worse. After discussing with Qian Tiandun, Wang Tom decided to seize the opportunity when the weather cleared up and recruit as many people as possible from nearby villages and towns.
At the same time, in Jinzhou hundreds of miles away, Liu Shang, who was in charge of civil affairs, was in the busiest period since he came to Liaodong.
Liu Shang has also been responsible for accepting and settling immigrants brought back from the Manchu-controlled areas by the Haihan Army in the past two years. However, there has never been a large number of people arriving like this year, and at the same time, he also has to take care of the logistical support of the Jinzhou front line. , and handle local civil affairs.
Being unable to do anything else is Liu Shang's most real feeling at this time. He wants to arrange a fleet to go to sea to pick up the people who have just been taken out of the Changshan Islands. At the same time, he must do a good job in resettling and accepting immigrants locally, picking up thousands of people at once. For the Civil Affairs Office of Jinzhou Not an easy job.
The confrontation and sporadic battles between the frontline and the Qing army are still continuing. Various combat materials must be continuously transported to the frontline positions. It is also necessary to ensure that the military, civilians and civilians on the defense line can be fed and clothed, and that injuries and illnesses can be treated in a timely manner. Treatment, the complexity of these matters, can only be understood by him, the client.
Fortunately, Liu Shang has been training all the way from Shandong to Liaodong in the past few years. He has been dealing with civil affairs almost every day, so although there are many affairs at the moment, he can still be busy and not chaotic.
Chen Yixin has been guarding the isthmus defense line these days and has no time to carefully inquire about the civil affairs affairs in the rear. However, Liu Shangneng handled these matters in an orderly manner, and Chen Yixin also noticed it. With such a capable subordinate taking care of his worries, Chen Yixin was able to focus his attention on the confrontation with the Qing army. After using hidden artillery positions to launch a surprise attack on the Qing army a few days ago, Chen Yixin took the initiative to take the defensive and was not in a hurry to advance. As expected, the Qing army judged that Haihan might immediately launch an offensive against Daheishan because of this battle, so they invested thousands of troops in the front of the isthmus defense line to stop Haihan's actions.
However, the Qing army was also very careful. Although they dispatched large forces, they did not launch a counterattack on the isthmus defense line. They only ensured that the Haihan army could not easily advance northward.
Chen Yixin's purpose was to contain the main force of the Qing army with a feint attack, and the response of the Qing army was exactly what he expected. However, in order to ensure that the Qing army would not be suspicious, Chen Yixin still ordered the cavalry to go out for activities every day, and continued to make noises in the direction of Dongshan, preparing for a storm to confuse the Qing army.
But after two consecutive heavy snowfalls in Jinzhou, the snow in the wilderness has reached a foot thick, making it difficult for even the cavalry to move in the wild. Faced with such harsh weather, Chen Yixin had to cease his activities and temporarily withdraw his troops. As for the troops originally stationed in Dongshan, due to the heavy snow and the inconvenience of supplying the mountains, they had to withdraw from the sea first.
These two heavy snowfalls also completely reassured the Qing troops stationed in the Daheishan area. Under the current environment, the Haihan Army could no longer launch a large-scale attack. Even if there were scattered small groups of troops crossing the snowfields and entering the Daheishan area, , it is also difficult to form a climate. Azig directly ordered the troops to withdraw to the east and west camps, leaving only daily cavalry patrols.
Chen Yixin kept in touch with Tom Wang through the radio every day. He heard that not only did it not snow heavily where they were, but the weather turned sunny. At the moment, he couldn't help but sigh that God had blessed him, allowing them more time to grab supplies from the local area. transport population.
The Qing army in Daheishan did not learn until the end of the month that the Haihan Army was attacking coastal villages and towns from the sea to the mainland. More than ten towns and one county had been completely evacuated by the Haihan Army like locusts passing through. The population is at least four to five thousand.
After Azig received this news and combined with the recent performances of the Haihan troops in the Jinzhou Isthmus, he realized that Jinzhou should be using a feint attack to attract attention, but the real action was hundreds of miles away. on the coastline.
But even if he knew the movements of the Haihan Army, it would be difficult for Azig to respond effectively. The Haihan Army's attack was from sea to land, and the Qing army had no warships on the entire east coast of the Liaodong Peninsula, so it was impossible to completely drive away the Haihan Army. What's more, the place where the accident happened is hundreds of miles away from the Daheishan camp. By the time Azige sends troops to rush there, the situation there will probably be turned upside down.
But if we just sit idly by and let the Haihan army continue to plunder Haihan in Liaodong, Azig can roughly predict what the consequences will be. For Azig, whether to save or not to save, or how to save, is really a headache for him.
Due to the military pressure exerted by Haihan on the Jinzhou and Yalu River borders, the Qing army's deployment in Liaodong was also concentrated in these two places. On the one hand, it was to deal with Haihan, and on the other hand, it was also to facilitate the acquisition of supplies. During the war, Mobilize troops to defend key areas.
However, such a deployment will inevitably leave a large number of defensive gaps on the Liaodong coast, allowing the Haihan Army to take advantage of it. Outside of winter, timely warning can be provided by strengthening patrols and driving people inland to avoid the Haihan Army's offensive. But once the east and west fronts entered a wartime state, the Qing army had to concentrate its forces on the border to deal with it, and it would be difficult to maintain the density of patrols near the coast. This time, the Haihan Army caught the opportunity and pushed away more than a dozen villages and towns in one go. The Qing Army failed to respond in time.
After much thought, Azige thought that it was too late to send troops to rescue these places, and once a large-scale deployment of troops was carried out, the Haihan Army in Jinzhou would have the opportunity to take advantage, which would increase the risk.
In the end, Azig only sent a few teams of cavalry, and rushed to notify the villages and towns near the coast as soon as possible, organizing the people to evacuate inland first, and then return to their original residences after the Haihan Army retreated.
But there is a big problem with Azig's move, that is, it is already the middle of winter, and it is a big problem for people to escape in the cold wind and snow. It might be possible to make a fire to keep warm for a day or two, but for a few more days, it would be difficult for hundreds of people to survive in the wild. If these people were forcibly driven into the wild, many of them would freeze to death even if they were not snatched away by the Haihan army.
The special operations group took advantage of the slow response of the Qing army and continued to search for people near Zhuanghe County. The troops sent by Qian Tiandun found that the snow thirty miles west of Zhuanghe River was more than a foot deep, making it difficult for the infantry to march in the wild, so he decided to end the operation in Zhuanghe County. .
At this time, some nearby Han farmers heard that the county town had been conquered by foreign troops, all the Manchus were killed, and all Han people could leave the place by boat, so they came to seek refuge on their own. These people did not necessarily admire the majesty of the Haihan Army, but knew that if they did not leave at this time, they would probably be used as scapegoats when the Qing army came back to liquidate.
Since staying here is likely to bring disaster, it would be better to leave directly with the Haihan Army. Although these people don't know where the Haihan Kingdom is, at least these Haihan soldiers look like Han people and speak Chinese. They should be able to adapt to the local environment quickly when they go to the Haihan Kingdom.
It was early December, and the Haihan Army had taken away nearly 6,000 people from the Liaodong coast during the half-month-long snow-stepping operation. The ratio of Hans to Manchus is about ten to one. These Hans who came back from the Ming dynasty have all taken advantage of Haihan. When they settle down in Jinzhou, the number of naturalized citizens in the Liaodong colony will increase again. Thousands of dollars.
As for those Manchus, what awaits them will be a long and endless career as miners. Regardless of whether they participated in the war to invade the Ming Dynasty, most of them could only dig dirt in the pits of Fushan Copper Mine until they died. This arrangement actually has nothing to do with hatred, but due to the current international environment, it is the safest way to deal with them in this way.
(End of chapter)