Chapter 2464
The "Black Ship Incident", in which the U.S. fleet originally played the leading role in history, was forced to take place two centuries in advance by Shi Diwen, and the content of the trade treaty that forced the shogunate to sign was extremely beneficial to Haihan. Not only did he get many trade privileges of a Japanese port, and also obtained Sasebo Bay at a very low price.
However, compared with the American fleet that visited Edo Bay in historical records, the scale of the East China Sea Fleet mobilized by Shi Diwen was obviously much larger. The U.S. fleet entered Edo Bay twice to show off its force in 1853 and 1854, dispatching only eleven battleships in total. Although the largest frigate, the USS Sacona, was larger than Heihan's Majesty-class battleship, But it is also just a steam-powered wooden hull warship, and its shipboard firepower level is not even as good as the Haihan battleship.
During Shi Diwen's visit to Edo Bay, almost the entire main force of the East China Sea Fleet was dispatched. More than forty combat ships pressed into the area. The impact was naturally far beyond the U.S. fleet. As a result, the subsequent treaty signed Naturally, the favorable conditions obtained in China greatly exceed those of Americans.
However, the Black Ship Incident in history indirectly led to the collapse of the shogunate. However, the foundation of the shogunate's rule is still relatively solid today. Whether the treaty signed by the two countries will affect the shogunate's rule in Japan is difficult for the Kaihan Executive Committee to predict. Long-term observation remains to be made.
Apart from gold and silver mines, there are no other valuable large-scale mineral deposits in the Japanese archipelago, and the land is mainly mountainous. For Haihan, the development value is relatively limited, but as a sales market for industrial products and a source of population, it is more suitable for Haihan. Han interests. Therefore, Shi Diwen's actions against Japan were also based on this judgment. He first occupied the natural harbor of Sasebo Bay in Kyushu at the western end of the Japanese archipelago, so as to control the trade routes between the Japanese archipelago and the East Asian continent. In the future, this country's The foreign import and export trade is now under the control of Haihan.
Even if businessmen from European countries enter this market in the future, it is unlikely that they will be able to obtain the same trading conditions as Haihan. After all, if the Japanese shogunate is to make concessions, it will have to bring the armed fleet over under the eyes of the Haihan people. Such a move It is likely to cause unnecessary misunderstandings among the Haihan people and even risk conflicts. This is a completely unnecessary risk for Western businessmen seeking commercial interests.
Shi Diwen's approach also received the full support of Navy Commander Wang Tom. He and Shi Diwen were both members of the North American Gang back then, and they still had some obsession with Haihan's expansion in the Pacific, especially the development of North America. In the past few years, Wang Tom led the North Sea Fleet to visit the northern waters, and he had the idea of passing eastward from the Bering Sea to the North American continent in the future. However, although the voyage of the North Pacific route is relatively short, about more than 4,000 nautical miles, the navigation conditions are not ideal, and the route is all bitterly cold and uninhabited land. It is difficult for existing ships to complete the voyage, so its attention is also Back on the traditional route.
The South Pacific route used by both the Spaniards and the Portuguese extends from South America to Southeast Asia via New Zealand and Australia. The voyage is about 10,000 nautical miles and is also the longest route in the Pacific.
Wang Tom and Shi Diwen, who are familiar with the Pacific environment, believe that the Central Pacific route should be the most suitable ocean route to explore at this stage. Starting from Japan, you can reach the west coast of North America via the Ogasawara Islands-Midway Island-Hawaiian Islands, and from Taiwan Or starting from the Philippines, you can reach the west coast of North America via Guam-Marshall Islands-Hawaiian Islands. The voyages of these two routes are shorter than the southern route, and the islands where you can stop for supplies on the way are better than the desolate northern route. .
Although Guandao and the Marshall Islands in the second route are currently occupied by the Spanish, this small trouble will not stop Wang Tom and others from their determination to open a North American route. As long as the time comes, they can send an armed fleet to drive away these It was not difficult for the local Spanish colonists.
In the development report submitted by the Navy to the Executive Committee in 1646, Wang Tom pointed out very clearly that "the two natural harbors of San Francisco Bay and San Diego Bay on the west coast of North America must be in the hands of Haihan" and suggested that these two natural harbors must be in the hands of Haihan. This location was chosen for Haihan’s future first colonies in North America. Although the two bay areas have been discovered by Europeans at this time, large-scale settlements have not yet been established. As long as Haihan can organize an armed fleet to arrive in the area, he should be able to occupy the area.
However, the Executive Committee still believes that the current focus of external expansion should be on East Asia, especially since the struggle between the Ming Dynasty and the Manchu Qing Dynasty has entered a critical stage. Regardless of the victory or defeat of these two families, Haihan needs to have sufficient troops. They are gathered near the coastline of the East Asian continent, ready to take over any chaos.
In the original history, the Qing army had already reached Zhejiang in 1646, and the Ming Dynasty was over. However, due to the support of Haihan in this time and space, the Ming Dynasty did not suffer a complete defeat like in history, but still fought back and forth with the Manchu Qing in the Liaodong Bay area.
The top leaders of both sides knew that if they failed in this head-to-head confrontation, they would probably be driven straight in by their opponents and would no longer be able to fight back. What's more, in addition to the relentless opponent, there is also a Haihan who is eyeing him. If anyone loses, Haihan will definitely take advantage of it and take a bite out of him.
Based on this situation, both sides dare not hold back in this war. Even if the consumption of military expenditures, materials and personnel has reached the limit, they can no longer entertain the idea of a truce.
In comparison, the Ming Dynasty, which had superior national power and the support of Haihan, had an advantage in this protracted tug-of-war. Although the Manchu and Qing Dynasties had gained a large number of Han people through plunder in the past few years, it was difficult for these people to conquer the Han Dynasty. In the short term, it could be converted into combat effectiveness and could only be supported by the Manchu Qing's own armed forces.
Of course, Ming's advantage is only relative. The population base that far exceeds that of its opponents allows Ming to quickly replenish the troops consumed on the front line. But now that both sides are using firearms to fight, the number of casualties is higher than in the cold weapon era. Much more. In the first half of 1646 alone, tens of thousands of soldiers from both sides died in battles.
In sharp contrast, the coastal areas of Ming Dynasty that were brought under the rule of Haihan in recent years are peaceful and peaceful, and there are even prosperous cities like Ningbo and Guangzhou. Even though there are still a few people who still insist that the Ming Dynasty is the orthodox dynasty, there are still many people who feel that there is nothing wrong with living under the rule of Haihan. At least they are peaceful and don't have to worry about being affected by the war.
(End of chapter)