Chapter 2382
Haihan has been established in Dengzhou, Shandong for several years, but its main control area has always been within Fushan County and has not been eager to expand its territory. Haihan's restrained attitude involves many aspects, including international relations and long-term planning considerations. However, the most practical reason is that the resources Haihan can invest in Shandong at this stage are very limited, whether it is military strength or management. It is difficult to meet the management needs after the expansion of the territory. Therefore, maintaining the existing control area and not rushing to expand externally is a more practical strategy for Haihan.
But this restrained attitude is only relative to the means of military occupation, and it does not mean that Haihan will really do nothing honestly. In fact, in the past few years, Haihan's influence has gradually penetrated into the surrounding areas of Fushan County through trade channels, and more and more people have made fortunes relying on these cross-border trades, including some official figures.
Sun Zhen was very suspicious as to whether the magistrate who was hiding in the city and commanding Mr. Lou to negotiate the terms of cooperation was secretly a vested interest in transnational trade. Otherwise, how could he secretly provide material assistance to himself despite the pressure from Dengzhou Prefecture, and even ask the Haihan Army to help defend the county.
Regarding this situation, Sun Zhen, who had just been transferred from North Korea, definitely didn't know the inside story. Even if he asked Lou Bin, he probably wouldn't get a clear answer. Therefore, he could only make speculations without evidence and could not confirm their authenticity. However, such doubts did not bother him for too long, and soon someone who knew the inside story arrived in Zhaoyuan.
"Batalion Commander, a caravan came outside asking to see you, saying that you are one of our own."
"One of our own? Take a look!" Sun Zhen heard the report from his men and immediately stood up and left the tent. He had vaguely guessed the identity of the visitor, and now he just wanted to verify whether his hunch was accurate.
"Brother Gong, long time no see!" Sun Zhen saw that the person coming was indeed an old acquaintance, so he clasped his fists and saluted from a distance.
The man also smiled and clasped his fists to welcome him: "It turns out that Brother Sun is leading the team this time. I heard that Brother Sun has been promoted to battalion commander. Congratulations!"
The person who came was none other than Gong Shiqi, the top ace of the Security Department. When the special operations group was still stationed on Zhifu Island, Gong Shiqi was also transferred to Shandong, and he got acquainted with Sun Zhen at that time. However, later the special operations group was first deployed to Liaodong and then stationed in North Korea, so the two never had the chance to meet again. Although it can't be said that there is any fatal friendship, the two of them are the best in their respective departments, and there is a sense of heroes cherishing heroes.
Before setting off from Fushan County this time, Hao Wanqing had already informed the military that the Gong 17th team, which was still operating outside, would return to Dengzhou in the near future. The first stop would be Zhaoyuan County. As for an astute person like Gong Shiqi, he would certainly not miss the news of the Haihan Army's appearance in Zhaoyuan, and would find the Haihan Army to meet him by then.
The reason why the military pays special attention to this is naturally because Gong Shiqi may bring back the latest news about the war in Jinan Prefecture, which will be an important reference for Haihan to adjust his response strategy.
The two exchanged a few words, and Sun Zhen asked his men to welcome the men of Gong Shiqi's team into the camp to rest. He took Gong Shiqi back to the tent and ordered the orderlies to prepare hot tea and hot food for Gong Shiqi as a treat. .
"The conditions are limited and we are not well taken care of. Please take care of me, Brother Gong!" During the mission, Sun Zhen and his team had to plan their food and grass according to the daily schedule, so naturally they couldn't come up with anything good to entertain Gong Shiqi.
However, Gong Shiqi didn't care about these false gifts. He waved his hand and said: "We are all members of our own family. Brother Sun, there is no need to be so outspoken. I heard that you have only been here for two days. You must be here for refugees. After arriving in Zhaoyuan, there will be No trouble? ”
Sun Zhen shook his head and said: "I didn't encounter any trouble. It went much smoother than I expected. The local government was quite cooperative. Not only did they not interfere with us in guiding the refugees to Fushan County, but they also promised to send us some food. , it seems that they are not worried about our appearance.”
Gong Shiqi smiled and said: "The magistrate of Gu County in the city is a smart man. He knows what can and cannot be managed."
Sun Zhen said: "I haven't met with Guzhi County yet. He sent one of his subordinates out of the city to negotiate with me."
Gong Shiqi said: "If you want to meet the Guzhi County in person, I can make arrangements for you."
When Sun Zhen heard this, he immediately confirmed his previous guess: "It turns out that this magistrate of Gu County has had contacts with our country for a long time."
"More than just contacts, there are huge interests involved... But before it is done, it is temporarily inconvenient to publicize it to the outside world. Please forgive me, Brother Sun." Gong Shiqi stopped abruptly in the middle of his words. It was obvious that the confidentiality level of this matter was even higher than that of Sun. It's really not enough.
Although Sun Zhen couldn't help but feel curious after hearing this, he also knew that the Ministry of Security took orders directly from the Executive Committee, and the inside information of many secret missions could not be publicized to the outside world. Even the military could only cooperate but not interfere with its actions. Since the other party He said that the matter was confidential and he could not continue to ask further.
Sun Zhen recalled the behavior of Mr. Lou when he visited before. Indeed, he did not show any signs that he had been in contact with Haihan for a long time. This was either because his acting skills were extremely proficient and showed no flaws, or his master did not let him know at all. Related information. However, Gong Shiqi has obviously had a certain degree of interaction with Guzhi County, and has secretly reached some agreements involving interests. This shows that the Ministry of Security is indeed extremely powerful.
Sun Zhen said: "In this case, the trust shown by the Guzhi County in the arrival of our army should also come from the private cooperation with Brother Gong."
Gong Shiqi said noncommittally: "Keeping the peace in Zhaoyuan County is to keep his own black hat. As long as Zhaoyuan is not in chaos, there will naturally be a steady stream of benefits flowing into his pocket in the future. In contrast, the Dengzhou Prefecture imposes What does the little pressure mean? If it really makes him angry, I am afraid it will embarrass Dengzhou Mansion.”
The more Sun Zhen listened, the more curious he became about what project the Gu magistrate was secretly cooperating with Haihan to have such confidence, but he also knew that the rules could not be broken, so he had to take the initiative to change the topic: "Brother Gong should have been busy these days. Are you operating in a war zone? I wonder what the situation is like in Jinan Prefecture?" When he mentioned this, Gong Shiqi quickly put away the smile on his face and said in a deep voice: "When the Qing army arrived in Jinan Prefecture, I It is in Zhangqiu County, seventy miles east of Jinan City. Originally, I planned to sneak into Jinan City and witness the battle with my own eyes, but unfortunately the Qing army arrived too quickly. As soon as I left Zhangqiu, some people had already fled from Jinan. When the refugees arrived in Zhangqiu, they said that the Qing army had arrived with more than 100,000 troops and surrounded the entire city of Jinan. They also separated out countless small groups of cavalry and began to clear the surrounding areas of Jinan City. Anyone with good arms would be better. Any living person with legs who is found will be taken away as a slave.”
"Brother Sun also met the field operation team I led just now. Of course, such a small manpower cannot fight against the Qing army, so I can only give up the idea of going to Jinan City and return to Zhangqiu to wait and see the situation. But there is no way. Thinking that a Qing army arrived in Zhangqiu the next day, the garrison in the county only resisted for a while before the Qing army breached the city gate. In desperation, we had no choice but to leave Zhangqiu and continue to retreat eastward. This retreat did not stop, and we were driven away by the Qing army all the way. If we had not prepared enough horses in advance, we might not even be able to escape from Jinan Prefecture!"
"The Qing army's main method of combat was to encircle points for reinforcements. They had been searching for Ming army troops outside Jinan Prefecture who came for reinforcements. But judging from what I observed on the way, the Ming army probably failed to organize a decent rescue and rescue operation. Counterattack. I stopped in Zichuan and Qingzhou Fucheng, but there was no sign of a large number of local troops marching westward. There were no decent measures to guide and resettle the refugees who escaped from Jinan. It was obviously because of the The city was surrounded and in disarray.”
"When we arrived in Weixian, there was news from the west. It was said that Jinan City had been captured by the Qing army. Later, we found people in the local government to verify it. The news came from a message from the Ming army, and its authenticity should be relatively reliable."
After all, Jinan City was still not defended. This news was not too surprising to Sun Zhen. Chen Yixin had already told him about this possibility before setting off, but actually knowing that this was confirmed news still made Sun Zhen feel... I feel sad in my heart.
In the face of the massive offensive of the Qing army, the Ming Dynasty did not seem to perform better than the Korean country that had been invaded two years ago. The Qing army was also cutting melons and vegetables all the way into the hinterland. Fortunately, North Korea invited the international coalition led by the Haihan Army to assist in the battle, and finally stopped the menacing Qing army on the banks of the Datong River. Da Ming, who was fighting alone, obviously overestimated his own strength. The several lines of defense he set up failed to stop the Qing army, and even allowed the opponent to cross the Yellow River and capture a big city like Jinan.
Gong Shiqi took out a letter and handed it to Sun Zhen: "This is the official battle report we intercepted. You can read it."
According to the battle report, when Jinan City was besieged, there were only 500 Xiangyong combat troops left in the city, 700 reinforcements from Laizhou, and more than 100,000 Qing troops outside the city. But even with such a huge disparity in strength, the soldiers and civilians in the city still fought fiercely with the siege Qing troops for nine days and nights before the city was finally declared to have been lost.
It was reported that the Shandong censor Song Xuezhu, Shandong Zuobuzheng envoy Zhang Bingwen, Jinan magistrate Gou Haoshan, Licheng magistrate Han Chengxuan and other civilian officials stationed in the city were all killed in the battle. Zhu Youshu, the king of De, was kidnapped by the Qing army. Among his clan were Ninghai King Zhu Changqi, Tai'an Fengguo General Zhu Changbian, Tai'an Fengguo Fourth General Zhu Changqi, Linqu Fengguo General Zhu Changzhu, De Wang's son-in-law Chen Fengyi and his family. All died in the battle to defend the city.
In addition to these famous figures, the casualties among the people in the city were also extremely tragic. Only the scholars who participated in the battle and patrolled the city defenses lost 352 people. Women in the city threw themselves into lakes and wells to avoid being humiliated when the city was destroyed. Tens of thousands of people hanged themselves.
However, there was no more accurate statistics on the specific number of casualties when Gong Shiqi intercepted the battle report. The main purpose of the Qing army's attack on Jinan City was to plunder wealth and population. It is conceivable that they would only leave an empty city for the Ming Dynasty after their evacuation. It is difficult to make detailed statistics on how many Ming people were killed or injured in this war. .
Although the battle report is only a description on paper, as a soldier who has experienced hundreds of battles, it is not difficult for Sun Zhen to understand the cruelty of this war from the words. The ferocity and brutality of the Qing army and the Ming court's inability to respond were both fully revealed in the Battle of Jinan.
Gong Shiqi said: "If the Ming Dynasty had not foolishly concentrated Shandong's troops on the Dezhou front line, but insisted on deploying defenses with Jinan City as the center, perhaps this battle would not have been so tragic. If more than 100,000 Qing troops could be dragged into Jinan Under the city, we can buy more time to mobilize our troops, and then we might be able to fight a beautiful counterattack and eliminate the main force of the Qing army south of the Yellow River."
Sun Zhen sighed: "If our country's generals were commanding this war, they would not have made such a stupid mistake. It's a pity that the Ming court had too many people who harmed the country. The emperor asked these people to command the war against the Qing army. I’m afraid I can only lose one game in the future, and it will be this miserable every year.”
Gong Shiqi said: "The Qing army is getting stronger year by year. One day, they will no longer be satisfied with sending troops to plunder every year. They will definitely find a way to replace the Ming Dynasty!"
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Sun Zhen was silent for a long time before saying: "Our country will not sit back and watch such a situation happen. At that time, the Executive Committee will definitely order the dispatch of troops to assist Ming Dynasty."
Gong Shiqi said: "Then the Ming Dynasty must be willing to accept assistance... According to the current situation, the Emperor of the Ming Dynasty sees everyone as an enemy. The Qing army has invaded Shandong and has not expressed any request for help from our country. This is obviously They are afraid of us, afraid that we will take this opportunity to take over the Central Plains.”
Sun Zhen sighed again and said: "If the Ming Dynasty is willing to join forces with our country of Haihan, why should we be afraid of these barbarians outside the pass!"
The Ming Dynasty and Haihan had a nominal military alliance, and regarded the Manchu and Qing Dynasties as their common enemy. But what Ming wanted was only the advanced weapons produced by Haihan, and it had no intention of cooperating with Haihan or asking Haihan for military assistance. On the contrary, they were cautious about Haihan's army, fearing that Haihan would take advantage of it.
Of course, Ming's worries were not entirely unreasonable. Essentially, what Shanghai Han was doing was similar to what the Manchus were doing. They were encroaching on Ming's territory year after year, and continued to obtain wealth and population from Ming through various means. The difference is that the Manchu and Qing Dynasties used simple and crude force, and they just robbed it; while Haihan used both hard and soft tactics, absorbing Ming's wealth through trade, and at the same time using powerful force to frighten Ming and make him hostile to Haihan. All he could do was swallow his anger.
Although the two countries should be consistent in their attitudes towards the Manchus, the Ming Dynasty obviously still did not trust Haihan and had no intention of letting Haihan intervene in the Shandong war. I wonder if the tragic consequences of the Jinan War can make the Ming Dynasty, who was still intoxicated with the status of the Celestial Kingdom, sober up a little.
(End of chapter)