Chapter 2517
Chen Yixin had led the army in the north for many years and had fought with the Manchus countless times. Naturally, he knew the shortcomings of each other's tactics. Although Haihan could make the Manchus surrender by wiping out the main force of the Qing army, it was indeed difficult to wipe out all the areas under the rule of the Manchus. Therefore, Chen Yixin formulated a steady and steady strategy to gradually regain the northern region.
In Chen Yixin's view, since the Ming Dynasty was able to establish ruling institutions such as Dusi and Weisuo further north, Haihan could certainly do the same, but it would only cost time and money. It's just that Haihan's current focus is still on the areas formerly ruled by the Ming Dynasty, and the investment from the Liaodong Region alone is far from enough.
Under such circumstances, if Chen Yixin wanted to achieve results, he had to boldly use some reorganized former Qing army troops and let his officers command these troops to go out to areas not controlled by Haihan to attack and plunder. Northern tribes who surrendered to Haihan.
However, the risks and opportunities of this arrangement coexist. In order to win the trust of the new master, most of these reorganized armies are eager to make meritorious deeds, and their tactics will tend to be radical. This will lead to the situation encountered by the gruff-voiced officer, who has to travel hundreds of miles ahead. After the defeat, you will immediately face the problem of insufficient food and grass.
Ha Jianyi whispered to himself: "If it's just a lack of food and grass, as long as you retreat in time, it won't be a big problem. But if your opponent sees the right time, fights, and forcibly consumes your food, grass and ammunition, then it will be terrible." Big trouble.”
Sure enough, the officer with a rough voice sighed and said, "If I had known the secret earlier, I wouldn't have listened to the random ideas of these bastards! When we retreated south from there, the other side seemed to have noticed that our food and grass were limited, and they decisively fought back. He specially chose to fight with our army at night, and walked for ten days to the six to seven hundred miles of Tielingwei, fighting for ten days! He lost six to seven hundred people before being picked up by the defenders of Tielingwei. .”
Another officer with a beard on the table responded: "You made a mistake and lost a man, but you really ruined Marshal Chen's face. Could it be that the Marshal was angry, so he issued an order to kick you back to the south?"
The gruff-voiced officer chuckled and said, "It's not as bad as you said. I pretended to be invincible during the retreat just to lure the enemy deeper. After I met up with the Tieling Guards that day, I immediately killed them with a carbine. The more than 2,000 cavalrymen who came after me were all wiped out! The commander said that although I made a rash advance, I was able to assess the situation and make up for my mistakes, so I was given a special approval to take a further training course at the Sanya Army Academy and let me go south to study. It’s also a day off.”
"Congratulations, brother, on your upcoming promotion!"
The officers present were all veterans, so they naturally understood the significance of being sent to the military academy for further training. When this gruff-voiced officer completes his training in Sanya, the order for promotion and salary increase will come.
Tao Hongfang wanted to test Ha Jianyi, so he lowered his voice and asked him: "Brother Ha, what do you think his position is?"
Ha Jianyi whispered: "According to what I know, the regular army leads an integrated army to perform combat missions, usually with a strength of one to five. He just said that he led an integrated army of 3,000, so there are at least about 600 left. With the regular army, he has the strength of almost a battalion. According to the army’s establishment, he should be a major battalion commander.”
Ha Jianyi had his back to the table, but Tao Hongfang and others could see the rank mark on the officer's uniform. He was indeed a major. The question Tao Hongfang asked did not trouble Ha Jianyi at all. righteous.
Since the establishment of the Haihan Army, promotions have only been based on actual military merit, and family background has not mattered at all. Therefore, even the small soldiers in the Haihan Army knew that as long as they fought bravely to kill the enemy, there would be room for advancement. People like Minami Takahashi of the Army and Takemori of the Navy were all demoted from the rank of general. They were promoted to the rank of general by virtue of their military merit. They are also regarded as role models for their juniors who have enlisted in the army in recent years.
This rough-voiced officer was able to destroy two thousand enemy troops in one battle, which was indeed a great achievement. Most of his personnel losses in previous battles were in the reorganized army. For Haihan, the losses were limited, so he was not held accountable for any fault in his command. If he had defeated a battalion of regular troops before annihilating two thousand enemy troops, that would not be a great achievement, but a great overkill.
The officer with a rough voice spoke modestly and asked the bearded and black-faced men: "I only know that you two are on duty in Shandong. I don't know why you went south this time. Can you tell me something?"
The two looked at each other, and the bearded officer responded: "We are escorting an important person south, but the specific situation cannot be disclosed." The rough-voiced officer said: "If I were escorting me to a high-ranking official, you must not even know a word. Will mention it, since it can still be said, it must be a person from Qianming?”
The bearded man nodded slightly to acknowledge, but did not respond. Apparently he did not want to leak the news to this crowded place.
At this time, the three people at the table had finished their meal, and the rough-voiced officer no longer asked uninterested questions. The three people quickly got up and left the canteen.
"Hongfang, guess who they are escorting?" Bai Letong also wanted to take this opportunity to test Tao Hongfang's knowledge.
Tao Hongfang said: "The Ming Dynasty has surrendered to our country. It stands to reason that if former Ming officials want to go south to meet with our senior officials, although it is necessary to send someone to escort them, it will not be so mysterious... In my humble opinion, they escorted them Maybe..."
Tao Hongfang knew the taboo, so he didn't say it rashly. Instead, he dipped a chopstick into the soup and quickly wrote the word "Zhu" on the table.
"Hongfang and I have the same view!" Bai Letong saw this word and immediately expressed his agreement.
Ning Zijing looked at Ha Jianyi and said, "Brother Ha, does he know that there is such a special mission in the army?"
Ha Jianyi said: "I really don't know this. But if the matter is of great importance, it is reasonable for the military to send special personnel to escort it."
During the reign of Chongzhen, there were still many vassal kings of the Zhu family who were entrusted to areas mainly in the Central Plains. After Haihan took over the Ming Dynasty, he also faced the problem of placement of these Zhu clan kings.
During the reign of the Ming Dynasty, these vassal kings were top local dignitaries and had great influence in the fiefdom. In order to stabilize the transition and win over people's hearts, Haihan naturally had to treat these vassal kings with courtesy and make reasonable arrangements for their families. . In this process, of course, various overt and covert exchanges of interests are indispensable. What kind of cooperation conditions can be reached by both parties must be slowly negotiated.
During this process, if some Zhu family members want to have direct interviews with Haihan executives, arrangements can be made depending on the situation and they can be sent to Sanya for the meeting. The two officers from Shandong who were sitting next to them just now were probably performing this special escort mission.
What Tao Hongfang did not say clearly was that he knew that Haihan had such arrangements before, and that people from the Zhu family had already visited Sanya and met with senior officials of the executive committee.
(End of chapter)